PRINZ Health and Fitness

Prinz Health Fitness was THE PLACE to teach if you were an aerobic instructor!

It was a brand new State of the Art facility; but the quality of the instructors and the classes were stellar. The majority of the instructors were American; Canadian instructors were also present along with Swedish and Danish sprinkled in. 

It felt great to be training in this exclusive club. We all got along and were one big family. Germany was not the upbeat place that we were all used to back in our home countries. As a result, we would all hang out after our classes. We would gather for a meal or drink at Luigi Malones, Rollerblading at promenade platz or just hanging out at the restaurant in the gym. We had a great time laughing, talking and teasing each other as if we were siblings. AJ, an incredible and popular Black instructor from Canada was the “captain of the ship” and managed the Club.  He was a great leader who loved to have fun. AJ would create these shows where he could showcase the talent of the instructors at the Studio. The Show would be a wonderfully choreographed Step, Hi/Low, Slide or Sculpt presentation, and AJ would also be in the show since he had a large following. They were very impressive and brought lots of new members to the gym. 

My fondest memory of AJ was when he had partnered with a Scuba Diving School to get lessons and your PADI certification. It was offered at a discount to the members of the gym. I had always wanted to learn to scuba dive but was a little apprehensive . I was training a client at the time who had his certification as a Master Diver and taught other instructors. He needed to lose ten pounds to help him improve his health. We made a bet that if he lost ten pounds I would get my PADI scuba license. He lost ten pounds and I signed up for the course. The course was taught in German I still can’t believe I made 

it through the entire course understanding all of the instructions in German.  There were however a few times that I asked for the English translation because the situation looked life threatening. AJ of course signed up and we all started instruction in the pool. It came down to finally getting in the pool with the tank and regulator. There weren’t many of us in the class so I had a clear view of everyone. I watched as AJ slowly eased his way in the pool as if he was terrified. Cripping tightly to the wall of the pool. I asked one of my friends about his AJ’S behavior and she said that AJ couldn’t swim. My mouth dropped open. I couldn’t imagine how terrified this would be if I couldn’t swim. He came back each week and with each class I could see his confidence increasing. When we finally began to train in a lake he went right in with little hesitation. My respect and appreciation for AJ as a leader was at the top of the scale. 

I am so glad we had PRINZ to keep life in Munich fun. I will always cherish my time teaching there. It was at PRINZ where I first met the manager of the Munich Cowboys Cheerleader. She had heard that I was a cheerleader in America and asked if I would be interested in coaching the girls. We would rehearse there when my schedule was busy and we needed extra time to practice for the Championships.

PRINZ had nothing but great memories for me. Most of the  people I worked with I’m still in contact with via Facebook. This particular time in my life will always bring a smile to my face.