Susan Renata Shows Her Vulnerable Side

SARAH SHORTT: 

Hi Susan! When I saw you in the gym last week you told me you were \"being brave\" in teaching your first ever class of THE TRIP. What made you decide to start teaching the program? 

SUSAN RENATA: 

As Group Fitness Manager for Les Mills Auckland City, I was part of the team overseeing the launch of the class in-club. Because the program was so different to anything we’d had before, we were encouraged to find Instructors who were new to teaching. At the time, I automatically bracketed myself into the category of “not right for this program” – and set about recruiting completely brand-new Instructors who'd be really passionate and excited to teach THE TRIP. 

I’m in the cycle studio just about every day and I’ve seen the enthusiasm for the program since it launched. The program is just incredible, and though I'd thought about teaching it, I was still telling myself the same old story that I wouldn’t be the right fit. However, at the start of 2022 I decided I wanted to do something that would be a stretch for me – out of my comfort zone, just to make sure that I still have a pulse – and teaching THE TRIP seemed the perfect challenge. 

You've trained countless Instructors over the years in many Les Mills programs. How did it feel to be back in the learner's seat again? 

I’m attending Initial Training in a few months, but I figured that given my 25-odd years’ experience of teaching, I could try learning a release before module. I thought I’d pull out the music and notes and try learning it from scratch, to potentially teach a track in class to see how I would feel and fit in with the program. And what I realised, very early on, was that learning THE TRIP is completely different to learning any other program. 

Initially I had a complete block around learning it. I was really struggling and so I reached out to one of my TRIP Instructors, Laura Johnson, for help. She broke it down for me and said: “You don’t learn it like that, you learn it like this.” I had to put away my iPod (and, you know, I’m very attached to my iPod) and approach it with a totally new lens. I discovered that just listening to the music and reading the notes isn’t how you learn this program, because there’s a visual component with the screen. I had to completely rewire my system of learning, which was a challenge after 20-odd years of teaching.