First time back to the Les Mills workshops in Adelaide. The initial plan was to get a babysitter and both Alex and I would go to combat in the morning, however after deciding getting a baby sitter would be too hard in the morning, and realising that combat was at 8am, we decided to can the whole idea of going. We decided that we really wouldn’t enjoy the class and if we didn’t have a baby sitter then only one of us could do the class anyway.
So we decided just to go to balance in the afternoon. I was planning on doing balance and Alex hoped to watch a bit if it was permitted with Connor around. As it turned out Alex was invited to take Connor upstairs where he could the class from the balcony. Upon going upstairs we were talking and then shortly later we got strictly reprimanded and told that this was restricted area for trainers only. Hmmmm, well, I explained that we were told to come up there. The trainer said we couldn’t because they needed their privacy and needed to get changed etc.
Now, I’m totally in support of the fact that they need somewhere to get changed, but I thought this attitude was pretty rude. It was the last class of the day and almost everyone was gone. I couldn’t image many more clothes changes occurring at that late stage of the day. At the very least, she could have asked a bit more nicely. I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I’ve noticed over the last few years the trainers are becoming a bit more “elite” and less approachable. We’re seeing at Sydney Filex the Program Directors are not contactable at all except for during a brief “signing session”. I understand the whole concept of LM wanting workshops to be more “professional”, but I don’t think this is a good impression in the long run as it’ll make instructors behave more this way towards participants. We should remain totally down to earth and approachable and I don’t believe you should ever put yourself up on a pedestal, that’s something we should let other people do!
So, back at the workshop, I was very angry about the way the trainer spoke to us and how protective she was of their precious little change space and I didn’t feel motivated to stay for the balance masterclass anymore even though it was a beautiful day outside and Alex could have played with Connor in the outside gardens. Eventually I did decide to stay and participated in the class.
I enjoyed the class, although somehow I’m struggling to find that same buzz I used to. As usual I can’t remember much of the class, but I do remember that I didn’t notice the cover music AT ALL. There was one point in the class that I remembered to notice, but when I did listen to the music intently I could find anything “different” about the music to complain about. This really does go to show that participants really aren’t going to notice the PPCA free music.