Upon meeting Kelly, what strikes you the most is just how much she has going on in her life; an alum of City of Bristol College, a vibrant career, a busy family life and a dedication to her fitness and wellness.
Kelly’s strong work ethic is evidenced through her previous career in the floristry industry that spanned for over two decades, a stint that saw her waking up in the very early hours to achieve as much as she could in a single working day.
Outside of her relentless working hours, she got involved in the world of spin, taking up leisure activity classes around 15 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, at one point attending between five and six classes each week.
It was this newfound love for this area of exercise that eventually lead Kelly to taking the leap and deciding to break into the world of instructing.
Kelly said: “Other instructors suggested that I do this for myself, they said I’d be really good and that I’d enjoy it, so I started to find courses. I couldn’t find anywhere for a long time and then I went to City of Bristol College to ask about it and they said I had to complete a Level 2.”
She completed a ‘Level 2 Gym Instructor’ qualification with City of Bristol College before progressing on to our ‘Instructing Group Exercise: Indoor Cycling YMCA Award’.
Kelly continued: “I completed a Level 2 qualification, sailed through that quite nicely, and then the spinning course was available to do here. I did the course here with Julian and absolutely loved it.
“I started out quite nervous, it was scary, the music was quite hard to work out for myself with the choreography, it took a lot of planning, a lot of effort but I just kept going and kept doing it because that was what I wanted.
“I kept thinking that I’ve come this far, I need to keep going and that’s what I did.”
It wasn’t long before Kelly was offered a teaching position once a week at Hengrove Park Leisure Centre, she commenced this role by shadowing some of the existing instructors who took her under their wing.
A few weeks ago, Kelly instructed a spin class for some of our students. Level 2 Gym Instructor students and Level 3 Personal Trainers came together to experience Kelly’s class at the leisure centre’s state-of-the-art cycling studio.
The studio is complete with a 4K projector and specialist lights that illuminate in time to various music tracks, an asset that was tracked down from a nightclub supplier no less.
It’s clear to see that enrolling in our Indoor Cycling Award has changed Kelly’s life unmeasurably. She commented: “The reason why I started spin was for myself so that I can be a better version of myself and that’s where I am now, I am a better version of who I was before. I was very unconfident, I was not a people person and instructing has really been motivating, that’s why I wanted to get into it.
“I teach a class for 45 minutes and it’s done; I can go home and I feel really good that I’ve left other people inspired and motivated to become better versions of themselves. You get a buzz when you get clients come up to you and say you’ve done amazingly well, I feel really good and just that feeling of knowing that you’ve done that for somebody is so rewarding.”
Our Instructing Group Exercise: Indoor Cycling YMCA Award is a qualification that is perfect for those who want the skills and knowledge to professionally deliver safe and effective group exercise programmes in a studio setting.
Classes take place at our South Bristol Skills Academy, where we work in partnership with Hengrove Park Leisure Centre, allowing us to offer use of an incredibly immersive cycling studio, complete with cutting-edge equipment.
Our next 6-week course kick starts on 12th May, with 6 hours contact time per week.
Why not apply and see what doors the course can open for you in the fitness world! For further information on the course, click here.
