BodyPump Bloopers….

When I was growing up, one of my favorite things to watch on TV were sports bloopers. As a prospective athlete, I knew then it was OK to screw up once in a while, and have a laugh at yourself, and I’ve had plenty of my share of faux pas, in track and field, BodyPump, everything.

Yes, even when you’re a strong, talented instructor, you screw up every once in a while. Most of my bloopers have been few and far between, but there have been some laughable ones in the nearly 2 years since red and black have been my colors of choice. Here is my top four, for your amusement:

1. The CD player is busted! Many BodyPump instructors, including myself, use Ipods to teach and store their music. In April 2011, while vacationing in California with friends, my Ipod touch had been stolen from my San Diego hotel room while I was enjoying a Red Sox-Angels game just up the road in Anaheim, and all my Les Mills music was on it.

Fast-forward about a month later, while preparing for my lunchtime class at BBAC, with a mix all burned on a CD ready to go, I discovered the CD player in our group exercise room wasn’t working! Instead of panicking, I called our group fitness director, who discovered she had a boom box in her office, and we somehow got that hooked up and ready after a 10-minute delay. It wasn’t my proudest moment, but the class went off without a hitch, Soon after, I had a new Ipod touch, and things were back to normal.

2. Throwing my plates away. One of the first things you’re taught to do as an instructor is make sure your plates are on securely, and that proved to be my undoing in December 2011. Thankfully, it was snowing that Wednesday night, so I didn’t have the 20-plus crowd of participants I usually do, and nobody was right next to the stage.

We got to the lunge track, and I was teaching the track from Release 75, which starts with lunges and ends with squats. About halfway through the first set of lunges, one of my  plates fell right off the barbell, rolled around the stage and into a trash can just to my left. Realizing I had uneven weight on my bar, I had to finish the lunges with two plates and re-load the bar quickly during the lunge/squat transition while trying not to laugh. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, except for my pride, but only for a few moments 😛

3. Still on vacation? Teaching a PUMP class after a week-long layoff for vacation is tough enough, but doing it after road-tripping to Baltimore, back to New York City, then home, and running up a mountain in a 6-day span? Ouch.

After a week-long road trip with Alissa, my friend Quincy and I headed to Sunday River to conquer the Tough Mountain Challenge, which we both did on a hot, humid day, each ruining a pair of shoes in the process. However, me being a dumbass, forgot to throw said shoes out, not realizing I had to teach a class a day and a half after climbing a mountain. The challenges were so muddy, I wound up tracking mud into the Group Ex room, and had no idea I was doing it! Hey, at least I sent that pair of shoes out with a bang, right? In the end, I wound up blaming it on the dogs. Let’s just say 36 hours after running up a mountain, I thought twice about going for PR’s on squats or lunges!

4. Stand IN FRONT of the benchtop! In September 2010, I was on quite a high after passing my video, and attending my first big quarterly workshop. The following Monday, Wendy and I took to the stage at BBAC to team up, and despite the fact my body was going on very little sleep, I was focused, but made the most obvious mistake and had no idea I was doing it.

Instructors are supposed to stand in front of the benchtop while on stage, as opposed to behind it if on the floor participating, and it wasn’t until after class – and three PRs – that Wendy said, “you were behind that benchtop for three tracks.” OOPS! At least those on the floor didn’t notice it 😛 And thank God that camera was not rolling!


Ryan McLaughlin

About Ryan McLaughlin

BDN sports reporter Ryan McLaughlin grew up in Brewer and is a lifelong fan of the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins. In "The Boston Blitz" he'll be sharing his perspective with BDN readers about what's happening on the Boston professional sports scene.