Fitness Friday – Interview with Baby Boot Camp trainers Melinda and Elizabeth

Melinda and Elizabeth recently celebrated one year of teaching and owning Baby Boot Camp Los Angeles (Culver City and Marina Del Rey) with free classes all week and an open house party. During the open house party class, we had a fun “getting-to-know-you” where we had our choice of exercise based on our answer to a question. It was such a creative icebreaker!  I thought it might be interesting to hear what Melinda and Elizabeth have to say about the first year and the years to come. Here is the interview:

Q.) How much have your classes changed since you started teaching a year ago?

Melinda and Elizabeth: Although we change the routine and exercises daily, we still have the same class format as we did one year ago.  Both of us are continuing our education in fitness, and have learned so much this past year.  We love to incorporate new exercises and techniques into our classes.

[Check out the post on some of the cool new things Melinda and Elizabeth learned at the Baby Boot Camp conference they attended in September!]

Q.) How do you keep your clients motivated?

Melinda and Elizabeth: While using the normal positive reinforcement model for motivation, we also try to keep our clients motivated by making them aware of the changes we as coaches notice. Sometimes it is hard to see how far you have come in fitness, as it is a slow change. It is important to us to always try and point out to a client what we can see. Such as pointing out that when a client started, holding a plank for 30 seconds on their toes was difficult, and now they are doing a whole minute on their toes! These intrinsic motivators are the ones that mean the most. It is important to take the time to celebrate one’s own personal fitness milestones. 

[check out the results of my 35-day personal fitness challenge!]

Q.) What are your top 1, 2, or 3 favorite things about teaching BBC?

Melinda and Elizabeth: Our favorite thing about teaching is seeing our moms become stronger and more confident.  Seeing the friendships flourish between the moms in our group is so rewarding for us!  Baby Boot Camp is more than just fitness.

Q.) Working out with your baby is great but can also be distracting. How do you help your clients get the most out of their workout?

Melinda and Elizabeth: Yes working out with your baby can be distracting, we try to do our best to keep all the kids entertained and the babies happy (sometimes all a baby wants is someone standing there smiling at them)! Both of us love children and you will always see us pushing multiple strollers and holding a toddler all while demoing an exercise! Our job is to help moms get the best workout possible while they are with their babies. We always encourage taking the babies on a jog or to do walking lunges and will switch up the workout if we see that the babies need a jog. The other thing that helps with the babies is that we are a stationary group, meaning we don’t leave “home base”. If a mom has to stop to feed their baby or needs to tend to older children, they won’t be left behind!

 Q.) Looking to year two, are there any exciting plans you would like to share?

Melinda and Elizabeth: We have a lot of exciting things planned for next year!! We will be launching our 5K program.  It’s an 8 week training program, that will teach moms how to safely train for and complete a 5K.  We plan on participating in the Komen Los Angeles County Race for the Cure, in March 2015.  Training will begin January 10th!  We are also excited to offer our 4 week intensive Nutrition Solutions Program.  This program will teach women how to make small changes in their eating and activity habits to improve health, as well as maintain a healthy weight.  And lastly, Baby Boot Camp Culver City will be participating in national Mother Love Fitness Challenge in February.