So, what do you do all day when you’re not teaching?
I get asked this question fairly often — and I totally get it. On any given day I’m teaching 3-5 classes. What the hell do I do with all of that other time during my day?
I’m sure it’s totally different for all fitness instructors, but here is what I’m up to when I’m not teaching.
What this fitness instructor does all-day
I’m prepping for upcoming classes
A lot of time and energy goes into prepping every class I teach.
For Y7: I teach the same yoga sequence all week and use the same playlist [unless it’s a themed class]. For Y7 I typically spend about 90 minutes on Sunday or Monday prepping my sequence and playlist for the full week. And then I might tweak it here and thereafter teaching on Monday if I realize a song or pose isn’t working.
For Bar Method: I teach a different class every day. Since I’m still a relatively new instructor (or at least it still feels like I am 😂) I spend about 30-60 minutes prepping for each class I teach.
Right now that looks like coming up with what exercise I’m going to teach when, the choreography, and often times I’m reviewing the set-up for exercises. Every Bar Method move is so nuanced and specific, I’m constantly reviewing my notes.
I work front desk at The Bar Method
In addition to being a Bar Method instructor, I also work 2 front desk shifts (~6 hours) a week to make a little extra $$. It’s not the most glamorous survival job but it means I get to spend even more time at a place I love and I get to hang out with people I love. Plus my good friend Leslie is my boss, so that’s pretty sweet.
I’m working on all things KITC and @kaylakleinman
In addition to teaching, I also run my own business, this here blog that you’re currently looking at 🙂
About 80% of my income comes from teaching + front desk (give or take depending on the week) but the remaining 20% comes from partnerships I do as a blogger and content creator. The work looks like:
- answering emails. Not to brag (or complain…) but I get 50 or so emails on any given day from brands wanting to work with me in some capacity. Sometimes it’s something legit. And sometimes it’s a brand wanting me to give them a shady backlink in an old blog post. I don’t have an assistant or anything (lolz) so it’s just me sifting through emails and figuring out which opportunities make sense for me to say yes or no to.
- phone calls and video chats with brands that want to talk more in-depth about a partnership.
- going back and forth with a brand on contracts and posting requirements.
- taking photos for the partnership. Most of my photoshoots happen on the weekend since it’s when I can ask Jeremy or my parents for help 😂 And during the week I’m usually a disgusting sweaty mess thanks to teaching…
- writing blog posts or Instagram captions.
- emailing the blog post or caption for approval from the brand.
- reporting the analytics from a partnership.
And then, of course, there is the work I do for KITC + Instagram that I’m not directly paid for:
- the blog posts like this that I sit down and write but are not sponsored or anything like that.
- the photos I take of something I want to share but is not a part of a partnership
- answering emails from readers wanting to learn about things which yoga teacher training to sign up for or how to start a blog (I love receiving emails from readers and try to do my best to always respond as fully and as helpfully as I can)
- responding to messages and comments on Instagram + interacting with people on the platform.
I’m working out
Even though my job is super physical and I’m on my feet for 5 or so hours every day I also make time for my own workout 5-6 days a week. One of the perks of being a fitness instructor is getting to take class for free at the studios you work out (Y7 also has a pretty sweet partnership with SoulCycle and a few other studios too!).
I take full advantage of these job perks 🙂
I’m relaxing
My job as a fitness instructor requires me to be very “on” and extroverted when I’m teaching. While I love what I do, that shit is EXHAUSTING. I spend a good chunk of my day sitting on the couch watching mindless TV. It’s super necessary on days I’m teaching 4-5 classes.
In these warm months, I also try to take a 45-minute walk at some point every day, and I also like to read outside whenever I can.
Every once in a blue moon I’ll take a nap if I’m real tired from waking up at 5:00 AM. I’m actually really bad at napping though (always have been since I was little) so this is a pretty rare occurrence.
So there you have it! Life behind the scenes as a full-time fitness instructor.
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