For a couple of months, I’ve been taking a “high intensity” water aerobics class. The class meets on Tuesday and Thursday. Due to my personal workout scheduling, I attend only on Tuesdays. Our regular instructor is good. It’s a great class with a nice core group of participants. Most classes we have about 8 people. Our regular instructor came from another gym and she had followers come with her. A few weeks ago, there was a sub. It was on Thursday, so I wasn’t there, but I heard all about how terrible the class was.
Today, I walked in and it was obvious that Adam was substituting. Adam is one of our personal trainers in the fitness center and he also teaches two of the evening water classes.
At first, people were complaining because he didn’t want us to use the weights and was having us have our arms out of the water, etc. It really boiled down to people complaining because he wasn’t the regular instructor. Different doesn’t equal bad. Once everyone got a little used to his style, it was an amazing class. Instead of counting 8, 7, 6, 5, etc., Adam would have us do an exercise for a minute. At the end of the day, we are working all of the same muscles and moving. To me, that’s the point of exercise.
I really liked that Adam used a different piece of equipment. About 1/2 way through the class, he gave us Water Fan Paddles. I had never used them before. It was so different and hard compared to using the weights. I really can feel that I worked out my arms today.
I think that everyone gets in their comfort zone, especially at the gym. We take the same classes, talk to the same people, like the same instructors, etc. We forget that it’s good to get out of our comfort zone and try something new. I’d be lying if I said that I always like it when we have a substitute, but I always give them a chance. I strive embrace the differences and try to take something new away from each experience. It’s how we grow.
One of my principals used to make the morning PA announcements. He always ended with “make today a good day for learning”.