Big Boss, Big Boss

"Thank you for coming. My name is Kim," I say with an outstretched hand.

"Great to meet you."

"If you have any questions, let me know."

Pre-class selfie

If you are new to one of my group fitness classes, there's a 99 percent chance that I will approach you as we are putting away equipment and introduce myself – say those things.

And the case was no different on Tuesday.

My boot camp class at the Y was sparse when he walked in. Surprising in that there's been no new years influx but not because the weather was less than ideal. He asked if he could join in (we were doing the warmup), and I said of course. I told him to get a barbell, a heavy one, and to fall in when he could.

There were a couple more who straggled in as we did 2 minutes of high knees/jump squats, 8 reps of heavy deadlifts and rows, 30 seconds of boat pose and Russian twists. As we progressed, I moved around the room, joining in as I saw fit. I did skiers to encourage them, squats to show form. I advised rest when appropriate and urged water whenever we did so.

Same old, same old.

At the end of class, I introduced myself to the new guy. I shook his hand. And I went back to business.

When I exited, one of the gals who works at the Y pulled me aside and said, "How was it having the big guy in your class?"

I looked dumbfounded. The guy wasn't big. He was rather in shape, actually. She wasn't referring to his size, though. Nope. My new participant was the COO of the group of area YMCAs.

#smh I felt like a complete idiot that I didn't know who he was. I feel like I should know the administrators of the organization for which I work. Then again, as my co-worker said, it's not like I study the website and make flashcards of those folks ... because that would be, well, creepy.

Of course, I don't know that I'd do anything different. The class would have been the same, and I still would have approached him after we were through. If anything, I might have been more nervous, flubbed more and been an ineffective instructor by trying to show off.

And, in case you were wondering, I was told he liked my class. Mark, who was also there, not so much. Apparently, I was trying to kill him ;)