Here is the link to the gym in the Dominican,

www.clubbodyshop.com

Best fitness club in the Caribbean

My non official co-op placement

Before i went on my co-op in Miami Fl to work with kids and in a gym, I was requested my my employe that I needed some reference and some experience in the fitness industry. They had told me that with at least one month of experience I could later on in the summer go work in my placement in Miami on Shulas club.

I worked on a gym in the Dominican called Club Body Shop, it is the most well known, biggest, modern, and fancy gym in the whole Dominican. I had the opportunity to had good contacts as I always network and socialize with as many people as I can, I had the privilege to explain my situation to the club owner who is really close to me, and has taken me through a lot of procedures so i could start to know the industry.

month and a half went by will i worked full time for really low pay at the front desk of the gym and i could see most of the procedures every client had to go threw, from signing in, to making payments, requesting information, how to manage clients and many others task i could get familiar with so I would not be in limbo when I got to Miami to my better paid job.

Effectively this first job gave me a lot of knowledge on the fitness industry and a good reference for my new employment. I would like to thank the Body Shop for giving me the opportunity of my life not only for this placement they offered me but for other things they had done for me, this is my second home in the Dominican I know almost everyone there, and they had always been there for me.

To close this post want to say I look forward for another great and even more challenging co-op next year that will make me implement what I have learned during my studies. If i am not wrong thats what co-op is all about and i want to give thanks to Micki for being such a great person thanks for being there for us.

week #7

Unfortunately my official co-op in miami has ended after 7 hard working weeks. During this experience I can know say that I know how a gym is runed, although I have much more to learn about the marketing and administrative aspect of the industry, I could not focus on on this in this short period of time. In the other hand I did learned about how everything works inside the gym, from how to train different types of people, to cleaning the machines, i did a lot of different jobs in the gym are, assisted clients, showed how to use the gym equipment, learned how to teach fitness classes and personalized classes to old and young people. I also worked in the beginning with kids and learned how to deal with my patience and how to deal with different situations such as angry parents or a crying kid.

I believe this co op has helped me learned a lot of things that only experience can give me, without this experience i would never have any idea of what this was like. Now I can say I did it...

Week # 6

This week has finished and has been a normal working week were I could attend to a different speeche by our head instructor Ricki Ali this guy is fifty years old and looks like 30 and works out like 2o its just amazing his physic at his age, and it is even more impacting the knowledge he has about the fitness industry, he ofteb provides all the trainers withb one spech once a week.

Know I am in my oficial last week of work on Shulas Club and hopfully will be to see my family in the next couple of weeks.

Fifth Week

Surprisingly I have more than one month working full time and it has past by really fast, I had worked before in diffrent jobs but most of them were part time or only two or three weekdays aa week. Working on the th gym has helped me gain a lot of knowledge on the fitness indusrty and during this week I could attend a training meeting were we talked about the how people lifstyle affect their life and what we as trainers can do to help them out. This was one of the several things we have been doing this week. Sometimes I work extra hours to cover a working partner or something like that, for that reason I am being paid more and can get more working hours. Because I work eight hours a day, I dont count those hours I spend playing in the basketball court or working out oustside my working hours.

Forth Week

The fourth week has past by really fast, it has been fun to work inside the gym the whole day but what is know happening to me is that after i am done work I want to leave the gym as fast as possible and I do not get any time to do my own workout, even though I sometimes go to another gym closer to my house to lift some weights whenever I can.  For instance last week and this week  my schedule was reassign and now i get to work until the gym closes at 11, because of this change i have more responsibilities, I have to make sure the whole gym is cleaned, organized and everything of before i leave, and of course make sure no one stays inside the gym.

Third Week

The third week has past by and it felt pretty quick compared to the first two weeks, this week I was working in a totally different position that i got because someone had to replace the only floor staff the gym ha at Shulas. Because they knew I had experience working with the machinery and knew how to deal with clients they told me if i wanted to take this position, and of course I said yes no problem. With this sudden promotion i know get little more pay and is a totally different experience were i have to deal with grown up people an not with little kids. Although I love working with kids it is not the area that I am interested to learn about, I am searching to acquire good relations and knowledge about the fitness industry and since last week I am working my way up. 

As a floor staff i need to make sure every piece of equipment is working correctly, everything is its place and that the clubs clients are satisfy. I also have to deal with any problem or inquiries this clients might have.

Second Week

Today was the last day of my second week it went awesome and went even better when the first week pay check arrived, I earned 370 dollars the first week and I might be getting a little more because I will be replacing another person on the gym floor at Shulas which is  a better paid job, I will learn more of what I came to learn about and would not get so tired after the day with almost thirty kids on your back. I like working with kids but after the group gets to big is more stress than a good job, you would never want something bad to happen to any of your kids.

During the second week I gave to personal training classes to the teen tennis team, and a teen strength and conditioning class, this is what I would be doing for the next couple of weeks and by doing this I will learn more have more fun, workout myself, and get a better pay.

First week

Last week I started as a counselor in the smaller age group in the summer camp at Shulas Athletic Club. Having past experience working with young kids I knew what to expect, but I did not know was, that I was responsible of twenty 4 and 5 year old kids wanting to wonder around and run like crazy. I used to work with smaller groups of 10 and 12 kids but having twice as much has been a challenge, the first week has passed by and everything went good, we had fun, their were no accidents and the parents were happy.   

Know I am going threw my second week were ten new kids came into my group and all my responsibility I was facing before are know even bigger, and i have to be ten times more alert so no one would get injured or lost. Although I get a hand by four junior counselors their work is minimal and we as head counselors have two work twice as hard to make the Shulas summer camp a safe and fun place to be. 

In the other hand all this hard work is really rewarding at the end of the day because I like to offer a good service were I know all this young kids are learning the  basics on sports and games that they did not know before.

Tony Bernal's Co-op @ Shula's Club

Introduction

I have the blessing to be a very sociable person with the ability to make a lot of friends and be able to interact and make new contacts. Networking has open many doors which I never thought I would be able to enter. As everyone knows, the world economic crisis has affected a vast number of families and individuals that have lost there jobs, but i was able to obtain a full time position in one of the most reputable athletic clubs in Miami Florida. Without having as much experience as other candidates I was able to show that I was not only capable but that i could exceed their expectations as a young adult.

When i first contacted the general manager of the club i was told i needed at least 2 months of job experience in another gym so he could have a reference on how i worked in the fitness area. That was when I could get a full time job as a receptionist on a gym called body Shop Athletic Club in the Dominican Republic, although currently during those two months of April and May I was getting a low salary I got an amazing recommendation letter that helped me get into Shula's club.

The Process to apply and get accepted into Shula's Athletic Club was a very complex procedure that took some time. I first needed to show and prove I was an American citizen which I am, I had to show social security number, passport, and active Florida license. A background check was taken place to verify that I was clean, then i had to go through a drug and alcohol test because the company has a drug and alcohol free workplace policy. After a huge amount of paper work and talking I finally when on to my induction and they took me over to what my position was going to be in the club.

About Shula's Athletic Club

Shula's Athletic Club is located in beautiful Miami Lakes, Florida and has been one of South Florida's premier fitness and wellness centers since 1982.

Our staff is dedicated to improving the “quality of life” of our members and the community of Miami Lakes. This is achieved every day by providing our members with a warm and welcoming environment, extensive programming, a team of caring professionals, and the best fitness equipment and sports facilities available.

We provide only the finest exercise apparatus, friendly attentive service, all in our luxurious fitness center. Our goal is to provide a refreshingly positive workout experience and change the way people view health clubs.