Getting Started With WERQ

So……..  You’ve taken WERQ training.  What now?

Hi there new WERQ Instructors!  You have completed WERQ training, you’ve met the fitness requirement, you are in the WERQforce and you are READY TO WERQ!

Now what???

Feel overwhelmed?  You’re not alone.  I’ve been in the fitness industry for a decade and I have taught every fitness format under the sun.  Shooting straight, WERQ is the hardest format I have ever tackled.  It is also the most rewarding and worth every second of time I have put into it.

The WERQ Warmup will be your greatest challenge.  Putting together that perfect warmup will take time and practice.  I promise you it will get easier with every class you teach.  The WERQ Warmup is a dancer warmup that starts at your head and works down the body hitting all major muscle groups before moving into previewing the dance steps used in class.  You simply cannot preview everything so choose the moves from your playlist that will most help your students achieve.  Cue your warmup just like you cue your class.  Use the music, smile, make it look easy, size up your facility, size up your participants…perhaps above all, remember as a WERQ Instructor, you are the best of the best.  Confident.  Proud.  You are a leader.  Show your students what to do.

Remember that everyone currently teaching WERQ started where you are now.  They did it, and you can too!

Here’s a few quotes from WERQ Instructors:

“Learning my first two songs was the hardest part.  I laugh when I think about how long it took me to learn those first two songs.  I had to practice them each like 100 times and still I would screw up. I was so frustrated and I thought I would never be able to learn a whole playlist, but just as your legs get stronger with every squat that you do, your ‘memorization muscles’ get stronger with each song you learn and it gets SO much easier.  I try to keep those muscles strong by learning every new song that gets posted, even if I’m not going to put it in my playlist right away.  I feel like it’s just as good of a brain exercise as a body exercise!”  ~  Andriana Pachella  Chicago, IL

“How I did it – well – I picked my songs, listened to them like mad for 48 hours straight, learned to lead left by positioning my computer near a full length mirror, practiced, practiced, yep practiced some more, learned my warmup, copied Julie’s cooldown example for about 2 months until I felt comfortable putting together my own.  I’m now loving every minute of teaching WERQ.”  ~  Erin Winn  Bloomington IL

“I knew I wanted to get Kansas City WERQing as soon as I could – so I set a date and stuck with it.  There is no better motivation to practice than knowing you have a date and have to teach.  Now I can say I taught the first WERQ Class offered in Kansas City!”  ~ Jen Harmon  Kansas City, Missouri

“I locked myself in a room with the choreography library and I put my nose to the grindstone and I WERQed my hot little ass off.  I put together a warmup like a champion, I created a cooldown like a champion, and I learned how to lead left even though it was hard, and I dominated cueing.  I simply made it happen because I wanted it and I was not going to let anything get in my way.”  ~  Julie Steffen, WERQ Master Trainer.

“Know your music and burn WERQ Choreography into your brain so you can own the room.  Students get the best workout when the instructor isn’t distracted trying to remember the moves or remember to cue.  Students leave confident because they were able to follow an instructor who knew how to show them what to do – cue on the 2.  Students leave WERQ on a high because the music was amazing and they spend the entire next week trying to remember the moves when they hear a song on the radio.  Students begin to say, hey I’m a great dancer!  Students are WERQing in their kitchens while they are preparing dinner, WERQing in their cars, WERQing everywhere.  It’s your job as the instructor to bring the fantasy to life – they are a backup dancer for Britney Spears or Rihanna.  You cannot do all of this without knowing your music.  You have to believe it.  You have to love it.  That’s when the magic happens and you know you’ve created a group of WERQaholics”.  ~  KC Rickenbacker,  Summerville, South Carolina

“Listen to your music obsessively.  And I mean obsessively.  Every time you are in your car you should be practicing.  See the cues in your mind and make sure you know the move coming up before it happens.  Practice until you feel confident.  Get your friends together on a Sunday afternoon and make sure you’re ready to face a group of paying participants.  Make sure you love what you’re doing.  If you’re teaching something you don’t love, it shows.  If you’re teaching something you love, it shows.  Let your love for WERQ show.”   ~  Caeli Esser   Des Moines, Iowa

Please be encouraged.  The entire WERQ community is behind you.  Are you ready?