Communication Articles

The Internet offers plenty of opportunity to share helpful, positive content. However, it’s also a hotbed of negativity, especially when it comes to discussions on weight. A study facilitated by researchers at the National Institutes of Health in Rockville, Maryland, wanted to understand the types of conversations that are taking place on this subject. Using a commercial Web-crawling tool, the investigators explored popular social media sites and pulled posts that included fat, obese/obesity and/or overweight. The process lasted 60 days and culminated in 1.37 million posts.

Mobility can be an issue for adults with obesity, and exercise can help. But is there a preferred method for improving functional capacity in this population? Researchers may have the answer.

In a recent "Tricks of the Trade" column, IDEA asked some of its members how they establish relationships with and get referrals from medical professionals. Here are a few of their answers. How do you establish relationships with and get referrals from medical professionals? Share your answers in the comment box below.

It’s annual review time again, and you feel the tension in the group fitness studio. Regardless of experience level, instructors tend to become anxious around “judgment day.” It’s a nerve-racking experience to have a supervisor watching your every move and jotting down notes. newsletter_teaser: It’s annual review time again, and you feel the tension in the group fitness studio. Regardless of experience level, instructors tend to become anxious around “judgment day.” It’s a nerve-racking experience to have a supervisor watching your every move and jotting down notes.

Knowing the client. When Jessica Storm, owner of Storm Fitness, meets with a new client, the assessment process begins immediately—often without the client realizing it. Storm first assesses emotional readiness. “You need to know where clients are starting from and get a clear understanding of how they could be motivated so that you can guide them in the appropriate direction,” she explains. Storm conducts this assessment through casual conversation—usually via telephone initially and in the first in-person meeting.

By now you know it is to your distinct advantage to set up a profile in the IDEA FitnessConnect online directory. Whether or not you use all the features, it at least ensures you one more point of contact for potential clients. Why not take things to the next level and maximize how you promote yourself and your business? Here are 10 ideas (plus a bonus tip) on doing just that.

A list of current and prospective clients can be invaluable to fitness professionals promoting upcoming events, distributing newsletters and cultivating member relationships. IDEA FitnessConnect’s client management system makes it convenient for fitness professionals to manage and grow their clientele directly from their profile pages.

Fitness professionals use online videos to share training tips, demonstrate exercises and showcase their choreography. Since sites like YouTube revolutionized the way people view, create and share videos online, use of the medium has skyrocketed. Today hundreds of millions of videos are being watched daily via mobile devices and video players embedded across websites (YouTube 2011). And now, via IDEA FitnessConnect.

For almost 30 years, IDEA has operated on the premise that trained, certified professionals are key to helping individuals get positive results, remain highly engaged and become “inspired to fitness.” The August 2010 launch of IDEA FitnessConnect, our free online fitness directory, delivered the power of this philosophy right into your hands.