Teaching TRX Class – Tips to be Prepared

Hey guys! You know that I’ve recently started teaching TRX ® here at our Y, right?

No, that’s not me in the video 🙂

I’ve just started but I thought I’d share some sort of recap and tips after I’ve taught a few classes.

This post has some tips that I figured out for myself to make my first few classes as easy on me as possible, as I was pretty nervous. Some of my struggles teaching TRX for the first time and how I tried to overcome them.

I hope you find it helpful for teaching TRX for the first time (or not just the first time).

As this post has been written by a true gadget-head, you’ll see a lot of gadgets in it – naturally 🙂 Here we go!

What did I do to get ready for teaching TRX Class for the first time?

{1} THE  most important and useful thing I did for myself before teaching TRX for the first time was making index cards.

I made a card for each round (Warm up, Round 1 (Lower body), Round 2 (Upper body), Round 3 (Core) and Cool Down) in the circuit with the list of exercises and times on/off.

I also made an index card for every single exercise in my routine.

I made copies of cards with repeated exercises and stacked them all up beginning with the front card of the warm up, and ending with the last exercise of the cool down round.

When it was time to teach I had those cards in my hands, flipped through them as we moved through the class and was extremely happy that I had made them.

Reason #1 – words fail me when I’m nervous, and I WAS nervous. I was happy to have the cards in front of me with cues on them and pictures of the correct body position.

Reason #2 – these cards I made also have common faults, corrections for them and modifications on them. So it’s a great back up for all my 50 shades of nervous 🙂

I also got a FitDeck with TRX exercises, and though I didn’t use them in class, they were very helpful for getting ready for my classes.

Was my class judging me or thinking less of me because I had cards? No, I don’t think so. They all knew I was new to this, most of them know me from indoor cycling classes, so I think it didn’t diminish my reputation as a fitness professional 🙂 Everybody has to start somewhere.

{2} Time

Our previous instructor used the Interval Timer App to keep track of the intervals on/off. I downloaded it and even built my first routine in it, then changed my mind. I decided that teaching for the first time will have enough pressure on me to add even more – because having the timer running non-stop in front of everybody and missing a start time would stress me out even more. So I thought I’d just use my timer on my iPhone (so only I can see it) and my cards. This way no one sees when I start and stop the time and if/when I mess up 🙂

However, after a couple classes, when I started feeling more comfortable cueing the moves, correcting form and just breathing, I tried using the app and I absolutely loved it. It allowed me to have one less thing in my hands, not to worry about turning the timer on/off and also provided a visual for my class – they can see my iPhone screen as I stand my phone up with my JOBY Gorillapod Flexible Tripod.

{3} But then the question was…. Music.

Since I had my phone in my hand so I could use the timer in the first few classes, and I didn’t have any other music device to connect to the stereo in the office, I had to “cut the cord”.

This is a wireless receiver. All you have to do is plug the 3.5 mm cord you usually plug into your music streaming device into this thing, plug it into to a power source, turn on Bluetooth on your device, pair it with this receiver once and play music from your device without being “attached” to the stereo by the cord.

At $21.73 this little device doesn’t really break the bank either. Buy on Amazon.

So this little device gave me the freedom to walk around and use my iPhone as a timer while simultaneously playing music, and controlling the volume from my phone.

This receiver works great for me in the cycling room, however I noticed that the sound was interrupting when I used it for teaching TRX – most likely due to the fact that there is a wall between me and the stereo in the TRX® room and just a few feet of “pure” air between us in the cycling room.

SO. I ended up buying an iPod Nano for my music so I could use my phone as a timer and play good quality music.

And at the end, I’m going to share with you the wisdom one of my students (who is also a good friend and an educator herself) shared with me: DO NOT apologize.

As new instructors we make this mistake often (I am no exception) – we apologize: for being new, for not being their favorite instructor, for not being this and that. Don’t.

Act confident – fake it till you make it.

You were trained and educated to do what you’re doing. You spent time and money. You are a professional.

Act the part.

And that’s it, guys!

Good luck teaching TRX!