what profession does idea target
the mission of IDEA has changed, or rather grown, over the years. As you can see from the acronym, IDEA, it was originally seen as a professional association for those who taught dance exercise (International Dance Exercise Association) but it grew to represent personal trainers as well, particularly as many who started in the world of dance exercise moved on to offer personal training as well. Covering those who work in mind body was a natural extension, as many people who teach things like yoga work in the same facilities and teach other formats, or do one on one training. I would say a greater number of people who are full time in group fitness and/or personal training would be likely to be members of IDEA than those who are full time in yoga. Not all yoga teachers self reference primarily as fitness instructors, and not all who work full time ever work in fitness clubs. The latest extension has been toward wellness coaching and nutrition. My sense is that IDEA is less likely to be the primary professional home for fully trained and licensed nutritionists, unless they are involved in other areas of fitness, since they have their own professional association. There are however, many fitness people who are involved in various ways in teaching about healthy living and other aspects of nutritional education.
I’ve always viewed IDEA as an organization who supports fitness and wellness professionals.
The first time I joined was in the 90’s and glad to be back. So many options, YAY!
Your question made me curious, not a big leap for me 😉 and I found this:
https://www.ideafit.com/history
IDEA represents the fitness & wellness profession. It is a great source of resource material for the fitness professional. There are many informative articles and resources for education, certification, & career building. When I first started in the business, education material was primarily focused on aerobic dance instructors. Now the industry has grown tremendously to include many areas of wellness. All the others provided some very useful information.