Interesting week this past week, as my favorite teacher was away for most of it. I actually had to (gasp!) branch out and take classes from new instructors. I find that most of the teachers at SCLA are very good – and I can appreciate that it has to be really hard to step in for an extremely popular teacher – but I don’t get why some of them feel the need to force energy in a class.
I went to a class I sometimes attend that had a sub this week – very nice girl – but I should’ve known when she announced at least three times before class that she was “not Teacher X and we should all feel free to leave if that’s what we were expecting – she wouldn’t be offended” that it probably wasn’t going to be the best experience. I don’t mind teachers that try to talk/engage with the class – I usually am pretty vocal back because I feel bad when nobody answers and I can’t imagine being up in front of 30 people and feeling ignored. However, this girl would not shut up. I’m not kidding. Whether it was asking “is everybody ready” before a drill, not being satisfied with the 3-4 people who answered, and asking again (this happened at least 3 different times in the class) – or assigning “row captains” to cheer and motivate (???!!!) other riders – I almost felt like I was back in kindergarten. The thing is – the class was actually a really good workout – but she was so annoying that for the last 10 minutes I tuned her out and did my own thing (a friend of mine thought the same thing and left early).
What I also found weird was that 45 minutes into class, she said “just want to let everyone know, it’s 6:30 – so feel free to leave if there are other classes you want to go to”. Who does that?!!! I have to think this is a self confidence issue – which hopefully she gets over because she has the potential to be a solid teacher if she would just stop trying to force her brand of energy/interaction onto people. And no, I’m not naming names. My philosophy has always been that if I don’t like a class, I don’t need to complain to anyone – nobody’s forcing me to go to it and there are plenty of other classes I can take.
In other news – took an AMAZING spin class on Wednesday at lunch at SCLA with Kelly C – who IMO is one of the best spinning instructors in the city – and whose class I wish I could go to more often. She also teaches at Equinox. Great music, great energy and a workout so intense that I had to wring out my top halfway through the class because I was sweating so much.
I also went to Life in Synergy on Friday night for “Bollywood Dance Party” – again, LiS delivers a fabulously fun event on a Friday night (they did this a few weeks ago with “Thriller”). We learned the dance to Jai-Ho this Friday – which actually has much simpler choreography than Thriller (a lot of the Jai-Ho stuff repeats itself). I think they’re planning more of these Friday night dance party type events – definitely worth attending (with or without pre-gaming at Vinny T’s downstairs) if you’re looking for a fun class. LiS has no memberships – strictly pay per class ($15 for 1, or you can buy a 10-pack for $120) – and an amazing schedule. Their two Zumba teachers (Lauren and Katie, both of whom led Friday’s event) are really good. Eventually I am going to make it to that Cheer Fit class that I’ve been dying to try (taught by a former Patriots cheerleader)!
(Broken record alert!) My primary yoga teacher, Marc McDonald, opened up his new studio Om Warrior this week. SUCH an amazing space. Marc is one of the best teachers in the city – if you’ve never taken his class you should head over to 133 Pearl Street sooner rather than later – the space has a very zen and comfortable feel to it. I took 6 classes there this week and haven’t had that much fun doing yoga in a long time.
This week will involve squeezing classes in when I can with the Sox back at home (going Tuesday and Wednesday nights – so gotta rearrange the gym sched). At the end of next week, I’ll be visiting the Reebok HQ to be a guinea pig for a new class they’re developing – which I likely won’t be able to talk about (assuming I’ll have to sign an NDA). I live for doing stuff like that though – always fun to give honest feedback about fitness.
Until next time. . .