Archive for April 2013
Small-Group Secrets: Marketing
Marketing is the process of reaching out to new, potential customers. Done right, it’s a systematized, targeted and reusable way to gather fresh sales leads. But marketing small-group training (SGT)—the profitable new industry trend wherein one trainer works with three to 10 clients at a time—has its own special considerations.
Read MoreSaving a Sinking Ship, Part 5: The Relaunch
The “Saving a Sinking Ship” series has profiled a flailing business called Jacked Up Fitness. Part 1, “Bringing Your Business Back From the Brink,” covered an initial assessment I did that revealed several core issues needing improvement. In response, the facility’s owners made aesthetic changes, improved their systems, revamped leadership structure, added a set of policies and organized their financial infrastructure.
Read MoreIncreasing Professionalism: Achieving Balance
This is the final installment in our series on leadership development for fitness professionals. This segment will show you how to prioritize your time so you can work toward balancing your personal life and your professional life. Finding the right work–life balance will reduce stress and improve productivity.
Read MoreMake More Money: Become an Affiliate
As an autonomous fitness professional, you’re probably working hard to build your business and name. Promoting other companies may seem to run counter to developing your own brand, but the reality is that making connections and building affiliations can help your business grow.
What Is an Affiliate Program?
Read More“Organic” Doesn’t Mean “Healthy”
With so much emphasis on organic, non-GMO foods these days, many consumers are under the false
impression that foods labeled “organic” are bound to be healthy.
Not so. An ooey-gooey-chewy fudge brownie by any other name is still packed with fat and calories
and will bust a diet just as fast as its nonorganic chocolaty cousin.
Read MoreEssential Fatty Acids
In a culture that associates dietary fat with culinary coronaries and diabetes, Americans have
embraced low-fat diets as a path to wellness. True, an overabundance of energy-dense fat can
enlarge waistlines, but restricting dietary fat limits essential fatty acid (EFA) intake. When it
comes to health, the type of fat matters.
Read MoreSpring Clean Your Spice Rack
When was the last time you overhauled your spice rack? Chances are, most of what’s
languishing in your cabinet is old enough to have a driver’s license. If this sounds familiar, do
yourself and your cooking a “flavor favor” by beginning anew.
Here are some tips for a spice and dried-herb clean sweep from chef Mary Donovan,
editorial project manager at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.
Read More“Barefoot” Shoes Improve Balance
Barefoot-style shoes are growing in popularity, with some users convinced they improve running economy and help prevent injury. A new study suggests that wearing Vibram® FiveFingers “toe” shoes may have other positive benefits.
Read MoreCycling Program Sees Significant Growth
What started as a desire to find a physically and spiritually fulfilling workout has turned into a successful business.
SoulCycle®, a full-body workout that combines “inspirational coaching and high energy music” in a dark, candlelit setting has experienced healthy growth since its first studio opened in 2006.
Renew, Recycle and Reuse Your Ideas
?Whether you teach sculpting classes, Pilates or step, you likely feel pressure to deliver a top-notch, innovative and motivational workout week after week. You are part deejay, part emcee and part physiologist as you stay on the beat, execute perfect form and deliver cues a beat before you move.
How do you consistently deliver a fresh, rock star–style performance without investing hours of prep time (that you honestly don’t have)? Keep great records and refine your focus! Here’s a 3-month—and beyond—plan that will take your classes from stale to stunning.
Corral the Kids
Since many schools no longer offer physical education, a lot of fitness professionals are volunteering their time before and after school. This is a great (and needed) community service, but unless you have experience working with kids aged 7–11, you may not be fully prepared for the challenge of corralling them for a cool-down. When kids are having fun, they don’t want to stop, listen and be quiet. The transition from a workout to a cool-down can be tough. That’s why you need a plan.
The following activities offer many creative ways to rein in kids.
Sample Class: Triple T
As instructors, we like helping our students achieve the best results possible. In today’s busy world, people want better results in less workout time. The high-intensity interval training philosophy caters to this need. HIIT features short, intense cardiovascular exercises that improve athletic conditioning and many other markers of health and wellness. I call the HITT workout provided here the “Trainer’s Triple Threat,” or Triple T.
Read MoreCreative Ideas that Inspire
?Clap Attack, a youth program that combines sequenced exercises and hand clapping, is being introduced in physical education classes in Phoenix-area schools. The routine involves full-body exercises that require the children to think while moving. A selection of 15 exercises helps participants improve coordination and teamwork.
At Born 2 Dance Studio in Vienna, Virginia, participants experience a high-energy dance class with Bollywood-inspired music and moves. Doonya incorporates dance, cardio and strengthening into a 1-hour, full-body workout.
Salmon and Wild Rice–Stuffed Cabbage
A variety of fresh cabbage is readily available in spring gardens and at farmers’ markets. Here is a creative way to enjoy it and to introduce other ingredients to your family and friends. The faculty at The Culinary Institute of America suggests a delicious heart-healthy and diabetes-friendly variation on a traditional stuffed cabbage roll with this salmon and wild rice recipe.
Read MoreQ&A With Bobby Flay
?Chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and media personality Bobby Flay has turned his intense focus to a new project: Bobby Flay Fit, a seven-episode Web series in which he serves up recipes, workouts and tips based on his own experience and philosophy about healthy eating and fitness.
Read MoreAsk the RD
Answer: Sprouted grains offer all of the health benefits of a dry grain with the additional benefits of easy digestibility and optimal absorption of some vitamins and minerals. This doesn’t mean regular whole grains are not good for you; it’s just that sprouted grains offer a bit more.
Read MoreCookbook Hero
Seamus Mullen has blended his expertise as an award-winning chef, his childhood spent on the family farm in Vermont and a personal health crisis into a new book that may be the first gourmet publication to truly celebrate food as medicine.
Read MoreCabbage Grabs the Spotlight
Kale may be the dark leafy green on the red carpet right now, but cabbage is a close
relative that is stepping into a starring role on smart plates and in great recipes.
Part of the Brassicaceae family of
vegetables which, in addition to kale, includes broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and collards, cabbage is one of the oldest known cultivated vegetables; more than 100 types are grown throughout the world, with the majority cultivated in China, India and Russia.
The Gluten-Free Frenzy
Chances are that you, one of your friends or a client has adopted a gluten-free diet.
In fact, that is reality—according to a recent poll by The NPD Group, a leading global information company, that showed about 30% of adults want to cut down or be free of gluten in their diets.
What’s New in the Natural Products World?
Natural Products Expo West, produced by New Hope Natural Media, showcased a record number of new natural and organic product launches and provided a lively, articulate community platform for brands, retailers and influencers in the natural, organic and healthy living sector. It’s a showcase for emerging trends, and the atmosphere germinates meaningful conversations about topics relevant to our industry.
Read More