May 2012 - Page 3 of 3 - IDEA Health & Fitness Association

Pilates Equipment Teaching Techniques

By Sharon Goldman | May 4, 2012 |

Pilates, like any fitness discipline, can be challenging to teach—especially for new instructors. After all, there are many aspects of teaching that take time and experience to improve, including motivating students, sequencing exercises and getting clients to follow verbal cues.

Equipment: Which Items Are Favorites?

By Mary Monroe | May 3, 2012 |

What piece of Pilates equipment is your favorite, and why? For this issue, we asked instructors to share their equipment preferences, along with teaching tips and equipment mistakes to avoid.

Multitasking on the Chair

Active-Aging Stretches

By Christy Stevenson | May 1, 2012 |

People invest a lot of money in the search for eternal youth. But one of the most effective, inexpensive and pain-free ways to look and feel younger is to exercise and perform daily stretches that ward off kyphosis (rounding of the thoracic spine, resulting in a hunched shape); that keep the spine mobile; that lengthen the quadriceps to help sustain a tall, lifted posture; and that maintain a healthy range of motion in the hips.

Sample Class: Iron Fusion

By Debra Orringer, MS | May 1, 2012 |

Creative group fitness instructors have been developing fun fusion experiences for years now. Bringing together two or more concepts in one class continues to be popular. It’s a great way to offer participants the best of different formats. This class, Iron Fusion, is based on cardio kickboxing and high-intensity interval training (HIIT), with the added benefit of Pilates principles.

5 Components of Business Greatness

By Troy Fontana | May 1, 2012 |

Have you ever heard the saying, “Greatness is by design not by chance”? Think about the organizations and people you admire. Are their successes derived from chance, or did they spend time intricately creating what they believed greatness to be? Most likely, the latter is true.

“What are your favorite fitness-related smartphone apps?”

By IDEA Authors | May 1, 2012 |

At our personal training studio, we’ve encouraged tech-savvy clients to use fitness apps of their choice for a couple of years now. Over the last few months, we have begun to systemize the use of fitness apps within our business to add value for clients.

Social Media Success: Measuring Your Return on Investment

By Melissa Spraul | May 1, 2012 |

While social media continues to grow as a marketing tool, people often struggle to find the most effective ways to use it to generate business. One question facing companies large and small is this: How do you measure social media success? Which data provide the most accurate and effective overview of your online presence? What tools can show whether you are getting the best return on your social media investment?

Identifying Your Metrics

Building a Successful and Sustainable Boot Camp Business

By Cat Smiley | May 1, 2012 |

Running a successful business is much like being an athlete. You’ve got to attack the task with dedication, commitment, passion, integrity and respect for the road ahead and the people who are part of it. Just as you keep clients by training them to run faster and jump higher, you’ll build a long-lasting boot camp by starting out great and just getting better.

How to Host a Profitable Educational Workshop

By Mary Bratcher, MA | May 1, 2012 |

Hosting an educational workshop is an excellent way to raise your profile as an expert in a health and fitness specialty while providing a great additional revenue stream for your business. The teaching experience can also help you refine your theoretical and practical skills while providing attendees with valuable knowledge and information.

The Anatomy of a Successful Client Testimonial

By Megan Senger | May 1, 2012 |

Customer testimonials can be fantastic tools for driving new business to your door. But boring, photo-free client comments buried deep inside your website are unlikely to do the trick. To quickly capture the imagination (and training dollars) of the masses, it is critical to breathe life into client success stories.

So what makes some testimonials tedious and others terrific? Follow these four steps to avoid the mistakes of time-wasting customer snooze stories. Bring your facility’s testimonials back from the brink—and attract new-member dollars to your door.

Resistance Training Benefits Mind and Body

By IDEA Authors | May 1, 2012 |

You probably know that strength training has many physical health–related benefits, including a lower risk of all causes of death, fewer heart attacks and strokes and improved body composition (Garber et al. 2011). However, did you know that it can also help with your mental health? O’Connor, Herring and Caravalho (2010) completed an extensive review of the research on this topic, admitting only studies that met certain criteria for quality research.

Impacting the Quality of Clients’ Lives

By April Durrett | May 1, 2012 |

Michael Massafra, CPT/NCSF, is the owner of Dynamic Fitness and Wellness in-home training in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. He also trains and teaches classes at Ellis Athletic Center in Newtown. He strives to help people improve their health, fitness, attitude and vitality. His sincere wish for his clients is that they feel good every day and live life as a rewarding experience.

Self-Care: Managing the Damage

By Lawrence Biscontini, MA | May 1, 2012 |

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 sedentary living. We give loyal participants the joy of those regular exercise sessions they love. And we train some of the fittest people in the country as they strive to break through plateaus and achieve new personal bests.

Your Career: Rediscover, Redirect and Refocus

By Jennifer Renfroe | May 1, 2012 |

A group fitness instructor’s career path often has many sharp turns and curves. New trends, club openings and closings, fluctuating job opportunities and shifts in teaching interest are just a few of the changes you might face. Learning how to deal successfully with these turns and curves can be challenging. Whether planned or unexpected, good or bad, change can cause even the most seasoned instructor to re-evaluate her desire to teach.