Archive for March 2014
How To Be A Sound Friend
As a group fitness instructor, you are the first line of defense when it comes to sound safety. Excessive noise can not only drive away customers but can also damage the ear drum.
Use the following tips to make sure you and your fitness facility are staying within safe sound-level parameters.
Read MoreGetting Clients Through Training Plateaus
IDEA asked some of it’s members how they go about helping clients through their training plateaus. Here are a few of their responses:
Clients who have hit a plateau may need some additional tweaking of their program or lifestyle to get them to progress toward their goals. In my studio, we focus on the trifecta for success: nutrition, stress management and sleep.
Read MoreEnjoy a Sweet Green Smoothie
This juice recipe is terrific for mornings when you feel sluggish. Very smooth and slightly sweet, it also makes a great afternoon snack if you have a sugar craving. Rinse the greens; chop the cucumber and pear in halves; and peel the lemon. If you have a Vitamix® or similar high-power blender, toss in all…
Read MoreFuel Your Passion at the Must-Attend Fitness Event of the Year
You’ve got the passion to succeed in fitness—now you can fuel passion with new energy, ideas, skills, connections and motivators at the action-packed 2014 IDEA World Fitness Convention in Anaheim, California, August 13–17.
The IDEA World Fitness Convention could well be the healthiest place on earth this summer with 10,000 personal trainers, group fitness instructors, mind-body professionals, and fitness facility owners and managers from more than 60 countries coming together to experience the best education and top new trends in the industry.
Read MoreThe Cost of Diabetes
Training for a Marathon
Whether you want to run a marathon for the thrill of it, to cross it off your bucket list or to qualify for the prestigious Boston Marathon, it all starts with a single step. When you put together enough steps to cover 26.2 miles, you become a marathoner!
So how do you run a marathon? Jason Karp, PhD, the 2011 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year and author of Running a Marathon for Dummies, gives you strategies below.
Mileage
Read MoreMaking Realistic Lifestyle Changes
After serving many years as director of fitness research for the YMCA, Wayne Westcott, PhD, now works as director for fitness research programs at Quincy College in Massachusetts. Westcott has been a strength training consultant for the U.S. Navy, ACE, the YMCA of the USA, and Nautilus. He has also served as an editorial advisor for numerous publications, including The Physician and Sportsmedicine, ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal, Prevention and Shape, and he’s written more than 20 books on strength training.
Read MoreSample Class: The Perfect Party Ride
Where’s the party? In your cycling class! This segmented ride allows participants to discover their thresholds, stay fully engaged and leave feeling empowered. Ask three questions throughout class to ensure that participants know what’s expected at each stage and can therefore give their best effort:
What’s the goal?
How long is the drill?
How should it feel?
The Perfect Ride Details
Read MoreCreative Ideas That Inspire
Zumba® Step puts a twist on the traditional Zumba format by blending step training into the mix. This class, which is available at 24 Hour Fitness® in San Diego, improves strength and cardiovascular endurance with a special focus on the lower body.
At Diamond Athletic Club in Anchorage, Alaska, members build strength and endurance with Sweat Shop. This high-energy class combines hip-hop moves, strength training and endurance exercises, and is suitable for all Fitness levels, including families and children, according to the online description.
Read MoreRoll Out to Warm Up
If you’re looking for a fresh, effective way to help your group participants move better, why not include foam rolling in your next class? Chances are some of your attendees are curious and could use some guided instruction.
This simple foam roller warm-up uses self-myofascial-release (SMR) techniques to warm up the fascia, allowing tissues to move more freely. Trauma, irritation, repetitive use and a sedentary lifestyle create stiffness and can shorten the muscles and/or fascia. A few minutes of SMR offers many benefits.
Read MoreLEAD or Get Out of the Way
When someone asks you what you do for a living, how do you respond? Perhaps you say you’re “a group fitness instructor,” “a yoga instructor” or “a Zumba® instructor.” The correct response is, “I’m a leader.” You do more than simply host amazing classes that help people get fit. It’s time to think bigger about who you are and what you do, if you truly want to Inspire the World to Fitness®.
Read MoreRecipe For Health: Quinoa With Dried Fruit Medley
As the cold winter months wind down, there is still a limited amount of local fresh fruit available. This is a great opportunity to use dried-fruit varieties and reap nutritional benefits such as fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, says Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, founder of Toby Amidor Nutrition (http://tobyamidornutrition.com) and author of The Greek Yogurt Kitchen (Grand Central May 2014).
Read MoreQuestion of the Month
A growing national trend? Over the past couple of years, southern Minnesota grocery stores have been employing licensed dietitians in retail locations to educate shoppers about making better food choices as well as the positive health impact of eating a healthy diet. Services include personal shopping assistance; supermarket tours; cooking demonstrations; blood pressure screenings; and school and community outreach. Have you provided any of these services? Do you plan to?
Read MoreCash or Credit? The Psychoeconomics of Childhood Obesity
It seems that debit card purchases promote the same type of frivolity in children as in adults, but when cards are swiped to pay for school lunches, the impact goes deeper than just free spending. Kids’ food choices also become foolish, according to a study that appeared in the January issue of Obesity (2014; 22 [1], 24–26).
Read MoreAsk The RD
Question: I know omega-3 fatty acids are good for me and I should include them in my diet, but I keep reading about the different types—EPA, DHA, ALA—and I am very confused. Can you help me sort out the abbreviations and tell me what I should be looking out for?
Read MoreCreating an Injury Policy for Instructors
I started teaching (like many of you fellow managers) more than 25 years ago. The 1980s were great: We jumped around in our spandex with little concern for our safety. We were obsessed with being fit and toned, and our mission was to “bring it.”
Read MoreHow to Launch a Successful Small-Group Training Program, Part Three
Small-group training, an option that allows anywhere from three to 10 individuals to work with a personal trainer, is gaining mass appeal. SGT is considered personal training without the price tag, as it gives budget-conscious consumers an opportunity to gain professional guidance without emptying the coffer.
Read MoreHow to Evaluate Mind-Body Staff, Part Two
Our first installment of this series advised managers on the basics of conducting performance evaluations for mind-body staff. Focusing on managers with little or no mind-body experience, we talked about the importance of preparation, shared tips on building a knowledge base and provided ways to formulate a comprehensive observation checklist. In Part Two, we explore more evaluation tips and offer deeper insight into how to use review information to strengthen staff resources and programming.
Read MoreLeadership Series, Part Two: What’s Your Strength?
It’s the American way to focus on your weaknesses in order to improve your overall strengths. But in StrengthsFinder® 2.0 (Gallup Press 2007), author Tom Rath says that that approach has its priorities out of order.
Let’s say a child brings home a report card with five A grades and one D in math. How do parents typically respond?
Fitness Managers Fuel Their Passion at Must-Attend Event
You’ve got the passion to succeed in fitness management—now you can fuel that passion with new energy, ideas, skills, connections and motivators at the action-packed 2014 IDEA World Fitness Convention in Anaheim, California, August 13–17.
The IDEA World Fitness Convention could well be the healthiest place on earth this summer, with 12,000 personal trainers, group fitness instructors, mind-body professionals, and fitness facility owners and managers from more than 60 countries coming together to experience the best education and top new trends in the industry.
Read More