Recruiting From the Front Row
Programs: Your next best instructor may already be active in your facility.
Recruiting group exercise instructors can be a challenge. It’s an ongoing assignment, not something you do only when you're faced with a hole in the schedule. Be proactive and seek out talent on a regular basis. This allows you to build a stron ...
Sample Class: Bounce!
Class Take-Out: Recreate recess with medicine ball drills.
Shape and define your inner athlete in this nonstop, calorie-blasting medicine ball workout designed specifically to bring fun back to fitness. Bounce the ball, throw it, roll it, toss it, and reap the benefits of cardio and strength conditioning rolled ...
Sample Class: Dance-Inspired Moves
Class Takeout: Use this Latin-themed sampling to inspire your own foundation dance class.
Dance-inspired classes offer an exhilarating approach to movement, giving participants a chance to work their bodies in out-of-the-ordinary ways. This fun option also provides members a diversion—a place to feed their souls for an hour. Whethe ...
Sample Class: One-Step, Two-Step
Class Take-Out: Turn your single-step class into double the fun with some creative choreography.
The start of the new year is a great time to add a new twist or two on an old standard like step training. “One-Step, Two-Step” is an interactive workout that combines motivational partner training with creative double-step choreography to bring new ...
Sample Class:Roll With It, Baby!
Class Take-Out: Use the foam roller in creative, progressive ways for a full class.
Classes that use the foam roller have evolved over the past few years. With a little creativity, this piece of equipment—which comes in several varieties, from cylindrical to flat-bottomed—offers funct ...
Sample Class: Flash Mob Dance!
Class Take-Out: Turn up the volume on fun with these simple, inspiring moves.
Imagine you’re shopping in the mall when you hear Beyoncé’s girl-power anthem “Single Ladies” over the house speakers. One by one, dancers—whom you thought were shoppers like yourself—begin mimicking the moves ...
Reaching Out to Newcomers
When preparing to teach our group fitness classes, we sometimes overlook the participants who most need our help: the new attendees. Whether they are novice exercisers or just fresh faces in our own classes, these students tend to gravitate to the far recesses of the room, where they can’t see or hear properly. It’s a Catch-22 situation that these newcomers who need assistance more than anyone often get the least attention.
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 strategies that can help you extend a hand to even the most timid participants. ...
Kicking Around New Kickboxing Ideas
Experienced teachers know that class variety is one secret to long-term success and self-preservation. Teaching a wide repertoire of class modes—for instance, step, indoor cycling and kickboxing—can help prevent burnout and improve your teac ...
A Quest for Talent
Discover proven strategies for finding the group exercise instructors you need for a winning program.
Whether we directors want to admit it or not, group exercise is instructor driven. Solid programming can fall flat if the right
instructor is not teaching it. We need
talented, experienced, motivating and captivating instructors who can teach several ...
