Archive for March 2017
Does Your Training Space Repel Clients?
Learn from a real-life client’s struggle to save his business, and discover how simple updates to his studio turned everything around. Whether you train in a gym or a park, this story will help you create a space that promotes profits instead of losses.
Read MoreA TED® Talk Approach to Group Fitness
If you’ve ever watched a TED Talk, you’ve spent 18 minutes wrapped in a message presented by a credible, passionate and often entertaining speaker. TED Talk messages are motivating and thought-provoking. Have you ever considered that engaging TED Talks have a lot in common with engaging group fitness classes?
Read MorePole Position: Try Nordic Walking
Nordic pole walking is a highly enjoyable, easy-to-learn way for exercisers of all ages to get outdoors and get moving. If you’re unfamiliar with Nordic pole walking, this primer will provide key reasons why it can be such a good fit for your clients.
Read MoreThe “New” Knee Ligament, Rediscovered
Hasn't the knee been thoroughly mapped? Perhaps. However, the following bold headline reverberated throughout the allied health community in 2013: "Doctors Identify a New Knee Ligament."
Really?
Preventing Golf Injuries
As a golfer, you want to stay injury-free to practice and compete regularly, which ultimately lets you hone your skills and elevate your performance.
To help avoid injury and boost level of play, you need to understand how two key muscle and soft-tissue systems—the posterior oblique system and the anterior oblique system—affect the golf swing.
Fitness Technology That Shakes Things Up
For me, the annual Consumer Electronics Show combines the joy of Christmas morning with the wonder of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. The massive Las Vegas trade show surrounds me with the bells and whistles of the latest and greatest technologies from around the world, with booth after booth full of people showing me why their products will be the next game changer in the health-and-fitness industry.
Read MoreThe Best of Times Are Yet to Come
Anytime Fitness CEO Chuck Runyon helped to revolutionize the fitness industry when he and Dave Mortensen co-founded the juggernaut brand in 2002. Now massive in scale and influence, Anytime's success grew by focusing on a model of smaller neighborhood gyms that emphasized convenience, affordability, quality equipment and personable service in friendly, nonintimidating facilities.
Read MoreCreative Ideas That Inspire
H.I.I.P. Hype (High-Intensity Interval Painting) in New York challenges body, mind and creativity. Ninety–minute sessions begin with a warm-up followed by short intervals of high-intensity body-weight exercises interspersed with periods of painting. The energy participants generate while exercising helps them express themselves more freely when they paint, according to organizers. The last 15 minutes of class are reserved for a cool-down, as well as painting presentations. Mats and art materials are provided.
Read MoreThe Tabata-Inspired Water Workout
Why not take one of your higher-intensity classes into the pool and see just how different, fun and healing it can be? This Tabata-inspired workout will create new raving fans.
Read More3 Steps to Help Clients Unplug
Use the warmup to create a bridge from digital distraction to full, present engagement.
Read MoreWhy Cross-Train Flexibility?
In nearly 40 years as a fitness educator, I have never been sidelined by a significant injury, in spite of decades of high-impact classes, rigorous weight training, participation in competitive aerobics, and group exercise schedules that sometimes exceeded 25 hours per week. I attribute my longevity in this grueling business to one thing—cross-training all aspects of fitness, including flexibility.
Read More“How did you finance your personal training business or studio when you started it?”
The journey I took to open my own facility was long and happened in small steps. I was working in a big gym in Washington, D.C., when I decided it was time to step out on my own. My landlord was also a client, and when I told her what my intentions were, she suggested moving out of my studio and into a one-bedroom apartment in the same building. I turned the living room into the workout space and used the bedroom as my living space. I financed the move through what little savings I had, $2,000, plus a $1,500 loan from my parents.
Read MoreThe 4-Step Marketing Funnel to Attract New Clients
Discover a targeted client-attraction system that provides results.
Read MoreOvercoming the Fear of Change
client: Erin | personal trainer: Don Bahneman, MS, CSCS, general manager, fitness director and master personal trainer, The Energy Club | location: Arlington, Virginia
Fear of change. Erin, a member of The Energy Club, was searching for a new personal trainer in 2014. The one she had been working with was leaving for medical school, and Erin still had sessions remaining. After observing the trainers in the gym, she zeroed in on general manager and master personal trainer Don Bahneman.
Read MoreThe Foundation of a Fulfilling Future
Las Vegas has a reputation for secrets. As they say, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." This July, more than 10,000 professionals will break that cardinal rule because what happens at the 2017 IDEA World Convention will be shared with millions of people worldwide. With more than 335 workshops, lectures and workouts, plus tons of special events planned to celebrate IDEA's 35th anniversary, it will be impossible to keep quiet about the career-changing experiences and top-level knowledge offered at this year's event.
Read MoreTai Chi and Women’s Heart Health
Tai chi may also be helpful for women with higher-than-average risk of developing heart disease. A study from Virginia Commonwealth University suggests the
practice may reduce fatigue and inflammation, while increasing mindfulness, self–compassion and spirituality, in this population.
Tai Chi, PTSD and Veterans
Tai chi practice may help veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder to manage symptoms like instrusive thoughts, concentration difficulties and psychological arousal. Boston University Medical Center researchers conducted a small pilot study with 17 veterans with PTSD to
evaluate whether tai chi would be a feasible and beneficial activity.
“Fat Shaming” Has Negative Consequences
The term "fat shaming" has garnered plenty of attention lately. Some believe that criticizing people for their size will inspire them to lose weight. According to researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the practice can be harmful.
Read MoreThe Effects of Intensive Weight Loss on Female Physiology
Experts often raise concerns over intensive weight loss protocols. A recent study, published in Frontiers in Physiology (2017; https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2016.00689), sought to better understand the ramifications of rapid and significant weight loss in female participants. The research took place at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland.
Read MoreToo Much Sitting Accelerates Aging, Dementia Risk
Scientists have linked extended bouts of sitting with increased risk of heart disease; certain types of cancers; pain and injury; early mortality; and more. Two new studies add to the long list of potential risks associated with sitting too long.
Read More