IDEA is on the Move!

Warm-Up:

In recognition of the spirit and passion of IDEA members, we have created a new logo that honors your dedication to Inspire the World to Fitness^™. The new design symbolizes an energetic fitness professional and underscores the role you can play in addressing the public health crises of obesity and sedentary living. We hope you agree that this new logo is a strong symbol of our common mission. We will begin incorporating it into our publications and member communications over the course of the next few months.

We also have relocated IDEA’s San Diego headquarters to a site just a short distance from our old offices. Our new address is 10455 Pacific Center Court, San Diego, CA 92121-4339. Our telephone numbers—(858) 535-8979 and (800) 999-4332—remain the same. Our Web site—www.ideafit.com—is also unchanged, as is our fax number (858-535-8234). We have more exciting developments in store for 2004 and look forward to sharing them with you as they come about.

This month’s issue contains two excellent features that reinforce the notion that personal fitness trainers (PFTs) need to be adept at a number of skill sets to be successful. The first article, “The Evolution Method” (page 20), focuses on strategies your overweight clients can use to beat the “diet mind-set” and establish a manageable 80/20 living program. Greg Hottinger, MPH, RD, and Michael Scholtz, MA, offer a model that identifies six key elements to keep clients in sync with their programs. This method, which combines personal training, nutrition counseling and coaching, can go a long way toward helping your clients achieve healthy body weight and lifestyle changes that are sustainable over a long period of time.

The other feature concentrates on an important business aspect of personal training. Web sites are an increasingly important marketing and business communication tool for PFTs; use the article “Web Design That Works” (page 28) by Joe Dysart as your guide to attracting new clients and satisfying current ones with inviting Web design. If you’re not among the many trainers who have already tapped into the great potential of having your own Web site, we suggest you take advantage of the author’s seasoned advice and investigate adding this powerful component to your business marketing strategy.

Motivational skills, weight loss techniques and sound business procedures all are topics that will be covered in depth for PFTs at IDEA’s three educational conferences in 2004. We look forward to seeing you at one or more of these events! You can always find the latest information on www.ideafit.com.

Yours in good health,

Kathie & Peter