Lawrence Biscontini's Articles

Our work as fitness and wellness professionals can be hugely rewarding. We are there on the frontlines, helping people win back their health from the jaws of obesity and seden...

Here’s an idea: Add spinal stabilization (in neutral) and mobilization movement to your core-training repertoire. Students’ posture will improve, and the exerc...

Aware Pilates instructors know that mat class participants need a variety of cues—visual, auditory and kinesthetic—in order to master the repertoire. Combine visua...

As the fitness industry embraces wellness concepts such as mental training, mindful movement and holistic programming, now more than ever the spa world offers viable career o...

Are you using cross-promotion to market and promote your new fitness program options? If not, it may be time to start. An often-untapped method of giving more exposure to prog...

Aware Pilates instructors know that mat class participants need a variety of cues—visual, auditory and kinesthetic—in order to master the repertoire. If they are p...

Welcome to part five of the “Crash Course in Excellence” with takeaway strategies for managers. This final article of the series explores ways to market and pr...

Your goal as a group fitness leader is to provide consistent, quality service each time you teach. When circumstances prevent you from appearing in your regularly scheduled ti...

Welcome to part four of our five-part “Crash Course in Excellence” series with takeaway strategies. This article explores two different kinds of customer service scripts: ...

Your goal as a group fitness leader is to provide consistent, predictable service in each experience you create. However, when circumstances prevent you from being able to app...

Welcome to part three of our five-part “Crash Course in Excellence” series with takeaway strategies. This article explores performance reviews in the fitness envir...

The following people will not really appear in every personal training session or group fitness class you offer, but having conscious awareness of these imaginary attendees wi...

Welcome to the Crash Course in Excellence column, a practical series with takeaway strategies. These useful methods will help you rise, like cream, to the top of your craft....

Regardless of our roles within the realm of fitness, communication unites all of us. Defined in Neuro-Linguistic Programming™ (NLP™) circles as “the response...

Members love group fitness programming, and it is truly the heart of the facility. The current financial situation, however, has affected most group fitness budgets. If this i...

You don’t have to teach a full mind-body class to pass along the benefits of mind-body moves to your participants. The cool-down portion of class—in which you brin...

As an international continuing education provider, I experience firsthand the fitness and wellness disciplines that are popular in different cultures and countries. One consis...

One of the largest trends in the wellness movement is the emergence of spas around the globe. Today’s evolved spa offers a plethora of self-care modalities, including bo...

If you are eager to create something new for your group fitness participants, fusion classes are a great way to go. Fusion programming combines (or blends) different...

Research continues to validate the need for effective cross-training and frequent changes in the way we train. Biomechanically, the more we train the muscles in the same w...

Fusion classes typically combine two or more formats, equipment choices and training methods. Sometimes these cross- training opportunities can yield more benefits than...

In 2005, I took time away from Puerto Rico’s Golden Door Spa (during a busy hurricane season!) to check out the state of fitness in a few different countries. In additio...

inner IDEA By Lawrence J.M. Biscontini, MA N - A - M - A - S - T- E Practical steps to mindfulness. Yoga instructors often greet students individually at the door with a sinc...

Learning Objectives After reading this article, readers should be able to: Identify the three main elements of mind-body training. List five specific ideas for integrati...

Our job is to find ways to reach out to these back-row participants while still giving our seasoned students what they have come to expect. Here are some proven practical stra...