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Today’s fast-paced, digital world pressures children to grow up fast. Instead of running around grassy playgrounds, most of them live highly structured lives, shuttling from one organized activity to the next, often while playing with hyper-stimulating devices. For school-age children, homework, peer pressure, teasing, poor grades, bullying, parental demands and isolation can all trigger stress.
We know that the right home environment can lay a strong foundation for health and fitness. Help your clients improve their kids’ health with these suggestions from IDEA member Jennifer Salter, director of Lifeline Personal Training in Toronto:
Are you training for a race or a run or exercising for health benefits? Did you know that recovery from training is actually more important than the training itself, as repair and rebuilding of damaged muscle tissue can occur only during a recovery period.
Charlie Hoolihan, director of personal training for the Pelican Athletic Club in Mandeville, Louisiana, talks below about two crucial steps for recovery:
There’s no denying the growth and popularity of high-intensity interval training. HIIT classes— which also ride on the coattails of CrossFit®—sometimes use fast paced, complex movements against external resistance. While this type of training can yield impressive physical and mental results, it can also lead to injuries and burnout. Why not end your sessions with a mind-body-cool-down designed to calm the nervous system and potentially lessen the chance of injury?
We all want to belong to something. We all want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. A group. A club. An association.
To reach our highest potential, we need to go beyond thinking of our “customer base” and our “employees” and start thinking of our tribe. You may have a group of clients or a number of employees, but that is not a tribe. In a tribe, people feel a deep affiliation with— and take pride in—your fitness business.
?Did you know that getting enough zzzzzzs may actually improve your exercise performance? If you regularly cut sleep short, you may want to reconsider this practice.
Why is sleep so important for exercise, and what can you do to sleep longer and more deeply? Mike Bracko, EdD, FACSM, director of Dr. Bracko’s Fitness and of the Institute for Hockey Research, examines these questions.
Why Sleep Helps
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.
When you’re looking to build a successful personal training business, having a sound understanding of finances is a must. Most fitness experts possess exceptional interpersonal skills and are able to transform lives. But they often lack the ability to effectively manage and balance a budget and to use it to forecast and take advantage of financial trends. Financial mishaps and misunderstandings can lead to business failure in no time. In this article, I will share several simple strategies that you can implement today to get your business on track to financial freedom.
With the recent fluctuation in the economy, businesses have become acutely aware of the need to provide a high level of customer service. Businesses that can create a competitive advantage through the service they provide will find themselves one step closer to success. Those that ignore the value of service will find themselves falling toward failure. In this article, I will share sound principles for creating a culture of excellence in customer service.
Kids naturally love to move. Why not take advantage of their innate urge to wiggle? This kickboxing class not only helps kids strengthen their muscles and hearts; it also teaches body awareness, coordination and balance. You’ll even provide an environment that builds self-confidence; however, students won’t know that! They’ll just remember how much fun they had and will spend the rest of the day showing everyone the cool moves they learned in class.