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Home » Fitness » Loud Fitness Classes Take a Toll on Instructors Voices – The New York Times

Patrick Frost, now a Nike Master trainer and the creator of Frostfit, started his fitness career nearly a decade ago at Barrys Bootcamp, a full-body treadmill-and-weights workout studio with locations around the world. He quickly rose through the ranks and, by his account, was teaching close to 22 classes per week.

Talk to any other instructor, he says. If you say you teach 22 Barrys Bootcamp classes a week, theyll tell you thats insane. Which is probably why, about two years into his job, Mr. Frost was frantically casting around for last-minute subs and calling in sick.

Sometimes Id wake up and not even know if I had a voice, he said. He soon discovered he had major vocal cord polyps, with some hemorrhaging. To conserve his voice, Mr. Frost often found himself choosing between his career and his social life. He eventually had surgery in February 2015. As part of his recovery, Mr. Frost had to be diligent about his at-home exercises, warming up his voice by doing trills and repeating lines hed say to his classes (My name is Patrick Frost, Frost like the snowman) at various volumes and pitches. Mind you, Im doing this in the shower, at 5 a.m., getting ready for work and dating somebody brand-new, Mr. Frost said.

Stories like Mr. Frosts are becoming more common as the industry expands. (According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for trainers is projected to grow 13 percent by 2028, faster than most occupations.) Take the case of Gerren Liles, for instance. He works not only for Equinox, but also for Mirror, a fitness start-up that streams fitness classes right into a persons home (via a special wall-mounted mirror hence the name). With that, Mr. Liless class load went from 14 per week to 25. Even before joining Mirror, he had vocal problems, and his expanded schedule only exacerbated them. Mr. Liles said that when it became really, really painful, he underwent surgery this past March, posting photos on Instagram.

I needed to be able to present myself at my best, Mr. Liles said, explaining his decision to have the operation. His career had reached a point where his future depended on the strength of his voice. It wasnt just enough to look good; he had to sound good, too.

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Loud Fitness Classes Take a Toll on Instructors Voices - The New York Times

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Home » Fitness » Loud Fitness Classes Take a Toll on Instructors Voices – The New York Times