Archive for October 2009
Creating an Adwords Campaign to Build Your Practice
In this article you’ll learn how to use Google’s Sponsored Link advertising to build your personal training practice.
Sponsored Links are advertisements that appear when you do a Google search. The ads contain content that
is pertinent to the keywords used in
the Google search. Figure 1 shows the Sponsored Link ads that appeared when I searched the keywords personal trainer troy mi.
Seasonal Change: Winter Doldrums
I have to admit that, as a native Texan, I love winter. Although it may be bleak and dreary, I still look forward to this season every year. For me it means that the holidays are here and it is time again for special gatherings with family and friends.
Winter comes from an old Germanic word meaning “time of water” and refers to the rain and snow that arrive in the middle and high latitudes. The low temperatures of winter occur only in the middle and high latitudes; equatorial regions do not experience those temperature lows.
Let Failure Guide You to Success
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had some opportunities in my life that I’ve let pass me by because I was afraid of failing. The good news is that I figured out the power of failure many years ago. The bad news is that I still see many people passing up opportunities, as I once did, simply because fear of failure tends to inhibit forward thinking.
Read MoreIDEA Trainer Success Goes Digital in February 2010!
We launched IDEA Trainer Success nearly 6 years ago to provide personal trainer entrepreneurs with the first—and still only—publication dedicated strictly to the business insights, strategies and concerns of running a successful in-home, studio or independent personal training enterprise. More than 25 issues and hundreds of articles later, this power-packed newsletter has consistently delivered timely, practical information that has directly impacted your career and supported your success.
Read MorePodcast Yourself
6 Inspirational
Power Points
Let Failure Guide
You to Success
9 Training for Growth
Seasonal Change:
Winter Doldrums
12 Internet Marketing
Creating an Adwords® Campaign to Build
Your PracticePersonal trainers acquire a wealth of information and fitness experiences over their careers. Most are willing to share their expertise if they know it might help enlighten a colleague or motivate a gym member.
Voice Safety for Fitness Instructors
Vocal cord damage can be a bane for group fitness instructors. Since the voice is a primary component in cuing, instructors who teach multiple classes daily may be at great risk for harm to their vocal cords. But vocal cord injury doesn’t have to be a part of the job. IDEA author and presenter Julz Arney offers the following tips
to keep your voice healthy and strong for years
to come.
Use Visual Cues. In choreography classes, the most effective cue can often be just one or two words coupled with a strong, clear visual cue.
Biomechanic Basics for Safe, Effective, Efficient Workouts
To most people, personal trainers are the solution to a huge problem: unsafe, ineffective and inefficient workouts. When the three goals of kinesiology and applied biomechanics—safety, effectiveness and efficiency (Hamilton, Weimar & Luttgens 2008)—are met, it results in successful participation in physical activity and improvements in the physical and physiological factors associated with fitness.
Read MoreCreative Ideas That Inspire
Hoopilates is a new Pilates-based workout created by Brooklyn, New York, resident Jen Bleier. The hybrid class combines the Hula-Hoop with Pilates moves. According to the website, “A waist-hooping warm-up is followed by seated and standing Pilates exercises and stretches.” Hula dance intervals keep the heart rate up, and participants also learn hooping tricks.
Read MoreMirrors Do Not Enhance Pilates Movement Learning
Instructors debate the benefits and drawbacks of using mirrors as a teaching tool. According to a small study published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (2009; 13, 283–90), taking Pilates classes in a room with mirrors will not necessarily enhance the subsequent performance of a skill when mirrors are not present.
Read MorePositive Emotions Increase Resilience and Life Satisfaction
Appreciating the positive moments of daily life can boost overall life satisfaction and build resilience in the face of adversity, according to a study published in Emotion (2009; 9 (3), 361–68). A team of researchers led by Barbara Frederickson, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and principal investigator at the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory, designed a study to test whether positive emotions are associated with ego resilience, which in turn predicts more positive emotions.
Read MoreFitness, Friendship and the Autistic Teen
Client: Kevin
Personal Trainer: Bret Bondlow, owner of Compelling Fitness
Location: Hanover, Massachusettes
Physical Activity, Weight Loss and Weight Regain
The recent American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) position stand on physical activity intervention strategies for weight loss reflects an update from the previous guidelines, synthesizing all published data–based research from 1999 to the beginning of 2009.
Read MoreExercise Is Hot Stuff in Mexico
Dance is a key word on group exercise schedules in Mexico, as dance-based fitness classes are heating up gyms everywhere. Latin rhythms, hip-hop, salsa and belly dancing are popular, according to Norma Zurita, a 23-year veteran of the fitness industry and group fitness coordinator of Sport City in Mexico City. Indoor cycling, circuit training, kickboxing, step and strength training classes are also well-liked. On the other hand, high-impact classes or those featuring complicated, advanced choreography get a thumbs-down.
Read MoreFrom a Fitness Client to a Wellbeing
bBroadening focus from fitness to well-being involves more than acknowledging the multiple components of physical, emotional and mental functioning. It represents a revolution, or more accurately an evolution, in consciousness. Awareness of ourselves and awareness of our relationships and our purpose in this world constitute important elements of human consciousness. Read on to appreciate how clients’ levels of consciousness impact their engagement in fitness and, more broadly, their well-being.
Read MoreCut to the Core
Training the core requires an exercise regime that goes beyond a simple “abs and back” workout. A strong base of support at the core of the body allows for better transfer of forces to the extremities. The human kinetic chain is able to transfer load optimally because of the relationships of two functionally integrated musculoskeletal groups known as the inner unit and outer unit. The inner core muscles assist in stabilizing the spine and pelvis, whereas the outer core muscles are the movers of the spine.
Read MoreFitness for Cancer Survivors
Eleven years ago, personal trainer and fitness instructor Judy Cerrito was diagnosed with breast cancer. When she looked for an exercise program to help her overcome the pain, stiffness and other side effects of treatment, she could not find anything specifically for breast cancer survivors. So as soon as she was back to work at the YMCA of Greater Providence, Rhode Island, she created something herself.
Read MoreCreating a Successful Internship Program
Internship programs provide supervised practical experience for people wanting to gain hands-on knowledge in a specific area of the health and fitness industry. Designing and running your own internship program can be a rewarding experience for both you and your students. It can also become an additional revenue stream for your business and increase awareness of your name as a leader in the personal training industry.
Read MorePilates on the Ball
From its earliest beginnings, the Pilates Method used a rich variety of equipment—the reformer, the wunda or stability chair, the trap table or cadillac, and so on. Joseph Pilates himself was known as an innovator, and his approach to movement was quite playful; he gave exercises names like cat, monkey, elephant, swan, grasshopper and flying…
Read MoreCranberry-Pear Holiday Chutney
Happy holidays to all you cooks (and eaters) out there. Here is a brightly colored relish
that will brighten your festive table and act as a sweet and savory accompaniment to
a cornucopia of seasonal treats. It also makes a great hostess or holiday gift when
packaged in a small, decorative glass jar and topped with a bow!
11/2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon (tsp) salt
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
why fasting can backfire
People who want to lose weight should make it a point to eat breakfast to avoid craving high-calorie foods later in the day,
say researchers who presented their findings at the Endocrine Society’s annual conference in June.