53: 5 Injury Prevention Tips Every Group X Instructor Needs to Know

In this vital episode of Group X Appeal, Kimberly and Terry address one of the most critical yet overlooked aspects of being a successful group fitness instructor— taking care of yourself! Discover why prioritizing your own health isn't selfish, it's essential for sustaining a long, impactful teaching career. 

You love what you do and want to do it for a long time to come? Longevity is key! Learn the five fundamental injury prevention strategies that will keep you strong, healthy, and able to inspire your classes for years to come.

Key Takeaways:

• Warm-Up is a Non-negotiable - Why proper warm-up routines before teaching are so important for injury prevention and career sustainability
• Be a Coach, Not a Participant - How shifting from full participation to focused coaching during classes protects your body while improving your instruction
• Recovery Rituals That Work - Essential post-class practices like foam rolling, stretching, and massage therapy that maintain your physical health
• The Importance of Varying Your Routine - Why building your own strength outside of class time is crucial for handling the physical demands of teaching
• Listen to Your Body's Wisdom - How to recognize early warning signs, respect pain signals, and make smart decisions about when to modify or rest

Perfect for group exercise instructors and yoga teachers who want to build sustainable careers without sacrificing their own health. Remember, you can't pour from an empty (or injured🤪) cup - taking care of yourself enables you to better serve your participants and maintain the energy and enthusiasm that makes you an effective leader.

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Stay Connected with Kimberly:
- @kimberlyspreenglick on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube
- email: kimberly@theinspiredlifeuniversity.com
- website: www.theinspiredlifeuniversity.com

Stay Connected with Terry:
- @terryshorter on Instagram & Facebook
- email: terry@rippedplanet.com
- website: www.rippedplanet.com

Transcript

elcome back to Group X Appeal. am Kimberly Springglick here with Terry Shorter. We're glad to have you back with us or with us for the first time. And we want to talk about the fact that as instructors, we give everything to our classes. Yes, we do. We do, right? We do-dody-do. And then some. And then some. But we do. We give our energy, our voice, our bodies. my. Did we go down a path? But here's the truth. If you don't protect yourself,

Why are you laughing? Use protection.

We give our bodies but if you don't use protection, you're not going to be able to show up for the people without rashes or other And they're counting on you.

Kimberly/terry (01:24)
Welcome back to Group X Appeal, Kimberly Spreen Glick here with Terry Shorter. So as instructors, we give everything to our classes, our energy, our voice, our bodies. But here's the truth. If you don't protect yourself, you won't be able to keep showing up for the people who count on you. So today we just want to share five helpful tips that will help keep you healthy and strong to keep doing what you love and making a positive impact on others. So want to lead us off with the first tip? Number one. Number one.

So I think the most important thing for ⁓ injury prevention is to warm up for you. yeah. Not just the class. Warm up for you. A lot of times I see this happen all the time. Many instructors, they'll literally skip their own warm up while focusing on the participants. It's great to focus on the participants, but you want to make sure that you're able to perform at your best, right? So don't be afraid to take a few minutes before class.

to mobilize your joints, activate key muscles, maybe foam roll and prep your body for teaching. Personally, I love to jump on the power plate. yeah, he loves a good power plate. That's my favorite piece of equipment in the entire club. And I'll jump on the power plate for 10 to 15 minutes to get prepared for class. So I'm energized, blood's flowing, all the joints are lubricated and ready to go. And so that's my routine for literally.

every single class. do you have like a routine that you use like a warmup routine before jumping in to teach? Yeah, for me, it's just mobility. And I'll either do it in studio or in you know, not not all facilities have this but where we teach we're lucky enough to have kind of a little backstage and instructor office. So just popping in there and just doing some mobility work for the joints to kind of open up the spine, the shoulders, the hips in particular. Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So really take your time to do that.

will pay big dividends and really serve you for the long term. Yeah. And another tip to consider, you you mentioned keep your focus that a lot of instructors keep your focus on the class. That's a good thing. ⁓ but then also we've certainly met instructors along the way who focus on being more of a participant in their own class, getting their own workout in. And we want to encourage you to be the coach, not a participant. You're not there for your workout.

You're there to provide a workout experience for those who have chosen to come to your class. So just remember that you don't have to do every rep with the class, you know, use verbal clues, spot cues or clues. They might want to use verbal clues for sure. Well, speaking of clues, if you're really in the role as a coach, you are looking at the class. You're not just focused on your own workout. You are looking at both, ⁓

as a broad spectrum, also moving around the room. And you're looking for clues that will lead to your cues. You're looking for different. Well, it's kind of a Dr. Seuss moment, right? I do love a good Dr. Seuss moment. If you get a chance, hop on pop too while you're at it.

So as you're moving around the room, your participants will give you the verbal cues that you need to give them the best possible and safest experience. So when we teach that way, we're able to have more bandwidth for all the classes and be able to give the energy we want to be able to give and reduce unnecessary repetitive stress on our bodies. So be the coach, not a participant in your own class. I cannot stress that enough.

I even did the hand smack. Did you see that? Like bam. on YouTube, saw it. if you're listening, she was smacking it, smacking it, flip it, it down. my. no.

Did you just BBD me I did BBD Wow It's amazing. So your third tip today in between all our silliness Prioritize recovery rituals. ⁓ gosh. I I sense the power plate is coming back The foam roller so, you know, it's it's a matter of scheduling recovery the same way that you schedule classes or your appointments with your doctor's stretching

Like I said, foam rolling, yoga, and rest days are and should be non-negotiable. That's if you want long-term teaching longevity. That's up to you. Yeah, only if you want that. Only if you want that. But truly, before class, like I said, I'm on the power plate post, you my post-recovery ritual is on a foam roller. I have several.

probably see them here in the studio. have several that I choose from, some that I travel with, some that are my go-to's. My favorite one is my Roller. Yeah. Favorite of all time. Okay. So that's my baby. I call it my sugar boy. Wow. We just perhaps learned way too much. Well, you got to be good to your body. Yes, indeed. And the sugar boy, the sugar boy, the sugar boy is a helpful. Okay.

Yeah. You need prevention. I apparently, well, apparently I need a sugar boy. Yes, do. Or brown sugar boy. ⁓ goodness. I definitely didn't start at that time. So another tip we have for you is to vary your routine and make sure you're training for you outside of class. You know, one of the things that definitely tends to get missed is strength training. So make sure that you strength train for your body because teaching is not training.

So incorporate, yeah, I'm just making up words now, but you want to incorporate strength training. I would say mobility work as part of your own personal workout, keep your joints supported, the muscles balance, keep your body prepared for the physical demands of the classes you're leading. look at the schedule of what you're teaching. Like when I was in my early twenties, I wasn't that long ago, but I remember.

Your giggle said everything. I where you're going. But I would teach 10 to 15 high, low classes a week where you're jumping up and down almost the entire time. And I was okay. But now a couple years later, just a couple, just a few. Yeah. You know, it is, it has become more apparent than ever. I should have been doing this in my twenties. If I had been doing this in my twenties, there wouldn't have been the overuse injuries over the years that many of us deal with, but very your routine.

Like I teach 10 classes a week right now, but it's such a varied schedule that there's nothing that becomes too repetitive. So encourage you. I know not everyone teaches multiple modalities, but between the earlier tip of coaching more than you're in it for your own workout. And then of course, getting your, your own personal workout in a way that supports your ability to teach. And then if you do teach multiple modalities, then mix things up. Yeah. Yeah. That's one of

One of the things I think that has allowed us to have the longevity, I think in the industry is the diverse style of modalities that we've decided to choose from. And I think that's going to be one of our next episodes is the encouragement of different certifications. Oh yeah. You should definitely talk about that. Yeah. I mean, what I was most into for the longest time was kickboxing, but if that was all I ever taught for 30 years, my body would be wrecked times two. Yeah. Yeah.

Absolutely. So great tip. Thank you. ⁓ thank you. No, thank you. No, no, no. No, really, truly. Muchas gracias. Hello. more for the road. So our fifth and final tip for today. Hopefully you're writing these all down. ⁓ Listen early and don't push through the pain. So

What does that mean? Well, pain is feedback. Yeah, your body is telling you that, you know, that that something's happening. It's not a weakness at all. So even when you have the smallest aches, address them before they turn into something major, you know, those, those, those injuries that could eventually seek treatment, right? And some of the things you can do modify or just kind of change up, maybe tone down perhaps some of the movements that you're doing, taking the necessary

rest when you need to. ⁓ I ice on a regular basis as well. ⁓ Sports injuries, soccer injuries, know, reconstructive knee surgeries, a couple of those. I will, you know, ice post workout or post training to keep the swelling down, to stay mobile, to stay, you know, ⁓ efficient and stay, ⁓ you know, just to stay healthy on a regular basis. And so

Do listen to your body. It's, intelligent and tell you when you need to kind of tone it down a little bit. You know, I gotta be honest. This is one that for a long time I was not very good at. I would, I would feel the pain associated with overuse and such. And what's so funny is the psychology is I don't want to stop teaching. love teaching. I don't want to give up my classes to be able to pull back, rest and recover. And yet

If you don't pull back, rest and recover. What happens? You end up worsening the injury and you end up being out longer than you would have if you would just give yourself the opportunity to recover. Yeah, absolutely. And so what are some of the, know, for you, are there any rituals that you take up post training post teaching to

you know, to, ⁓ to help with any sort of injuries. Absolutely. So I also ice, ⁓ absolutely ice baby. And, I've done the cryo chamber a number of times. I like that a lot. ⁓ it's not, I haven't done the cold plunge yet. I kind of want to challenge myself to the cold plunge, but let's face it, wet cold is a whole different story than dry cold, even though the cryo chambers are colder technically, but,

Yeah, so that I've found is really helpful. I'm also really big on the foam rolling. So I've got multiple foam rollers at home as well as the massage therapy balls. And then infrared heating pad. That is just been a lifesaver for me. So yeah, I've got a, I'm like you, I've got a supply of, oh, and a good Epsom salt bath. Oh yeah. Heck yeah. Yeah. Epsom salts, that's one of my favorites as well. It's good stuff.

Be good to your body. Don't push through the pain. Exactly. So again, those are some of the key tips that we have for you warm up for you. Right? Not just the class. Be the coach, not the participant. Prioritize recovery rituals, strength train outside of class, find a good variety of different kinds of training modalities to create that balance and

Listen again early. Don't try to push through the pain. So nothing good comes from not listening to your body. That is for sure. You got to remember that your body is your career's most valuable asset. Whether you are teaching two classes a week or 20, you want to treat it with the same care. You ask your participants to give theirs. So this week we want to ask you to commit to one injury prevention habit and share that with us. If you're on YouTube, put it in the comments or share it with us. When you see a clip posted on Instagram, we'd love to know.

What is a habit that you're going to commit to this week? Could be adding a more extensive warmup, booking a recovery session. Oh, massage. We forgot about massage. She's literally right after this. She's booking her massage. I am. I am a huge part. Massage is not luxury. It is therapy and it's a necessity for those of us who use our bodies as our livelihood. So it's so, so important. Um, and then think about maybe dialing back how much you demo in class.

At the end of the day, you just have to protect yourself so that you can keep inspiring, keep leading, and keep changing lives for the long haul. Yeah, that's why we're doing this. Yeah, right? So take care of yourself. Take care of yourself. Yeah, it's not that difficult. I would have to say probably in order to do all these things, we've talked about it before, scheduling it. Scheduling it. Oh, for sure. These things come a little bit earlier before your classes to get those warm-ups in.

save a little bit of time on the back end post class to get the stretching ritual and the foam rolling, whatever the case is.

Kimberly's right. uses all the, she has all the tools, all the things. She's let me borrow that, that red heating pad, which is amazing. That's awesome. Isn't it? Yeah. That's so good. It's so healing. So hopefully some of these tips or maybe perhaps all the tips have helped out today. as a reminder. And we appreciate you listening in to episode number 50, I believe 53. Oh my goodness gracious. Yes, indeed.

So thanks again for joining us. Please be sure to share, like, comment, and we really appreciate you taking the time to listen to our nonsense. Hey, we had some really good things here. Just some nonsense mixed in just to keep it fun. Absolutely, gotta keep it fun. So that's it for today. We appreciate your time. We appreciate your energy. Keep sharing, keep listening, and...

can't wait to share with you what's gonna happen in episode number 54. I have no idea what you're talking about. We'll figure it out. Yeah, we certainly will. I'm Terry Shorter. I'm Kimberly Spreen Glick. And as always, we wish you a great day today and why? Because it is a great day to have. It certainly is. Take care. Much love. Peace out.