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For the first time in 38 years, the global fitness community that is the IDEA® World Convention was not able to meet in person. Despite that, the crackling energy and essential rite of gathering to share ideas and buoy each other breathed fresh air into the 8,000 attendees, sponsors and presenters who attended via the ether on August 21–22.
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The IDEA World Fitness Award recipients and finalists each have a tale to tell. Here, all the honorees share their journeys, strategies and triumphs.
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Learn how to notice the stages and inspire participants from where they are within the transtheoretical model of behavior change (TTM).
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What are the benefits of attending someone else’s class, and how do you make the most of your experience as a participant?
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Although a warmup can be simple, it doesn’t need to be boring—you can mix things up with unique sequencing and formatting through creative warmups.
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Whether you’re an instructor wanting to add a class to your schedule or a manager feeling pressured to find the right personality and the best fit for an opening, knowing how others handle this decision may guide you to that “perfect match.” Fortunately, experienced program directors from around the world are willing to share their strategies and suggestions.
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Group exercise instructors, take heart: Your leadership skills significantly influence participants’ attendance and effort. Australian researchers conducted a study to examine how an instructor’s ability to create a sense of community and group identity among class members affected both effort and attendance. The study examined 249 participants and instructors across a variety of group formats.
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Indoor rowing is having a well-deserved moment. It’s both low-impact and intense, and no matter which brand of machine your facility uses, a well-instructed experience will fatigue the same muscles and make participants glad they showed up. While it may be low-impact, rowing does include repeated spinal flexion and hip and knee extension; it’s therefore important to weave in stretches that counteract imbalances.
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Jack Welch, American businessman and former CEO of General Electric, once said, “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” This is the reason the IDEA World Convention exists—to bring together some of the brightest people in the fitness industry so they can grow into greatness and inspire that growth in clients, students, athletes, co-workers and staff.
Comprising more than 330 sessions led by top coaches, entrepreneurs, and fitness, nutrition and wellness professionals, IDEA World offers the full spectrum of education you are seeking for instant and ongoing career growth, regardless of your position in the industry.
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Resistance tubing has been popular for years, and it’s still one of the most versatile and inexpensive fitness tools available. There are countless styles of tubing, which vary in size, resistance, shape, material and covering. They even come braided! Regardless of which ones you work with, they are portable, they’re easy to pull out and put away, and they take up very little space to store.
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If you want to keep participants engaged and challenged, this high-energy class will do the trick. Break out the exercise bands and add targeted strength moves to high-intensity intervals. This format includes three phases, each consisting of one Tabata round followed by four resistance exercises. Bands are safe, easy to use and portable, making this a great class to offer in any location.
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To be “well” means seeking a state of physical, mental, and social well-being. Wellness is a lifelong effort, and fitness is a part of the quest. There are multiple dimensions of wellness—including physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, environmental, social, and occupational. It turns out that when you work out, you’re not only boosting your physical wellness but other dimensions as well. As part of the Mindbody Wellness Index, we asked more than 20,000 Americans from 50 major U.S. cities about their fitness habits. We learned which cities are most dedicated to fitness, how often they’re getting their sweat on, and what forms of exercise they want to try next.
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Until a couple of years ago I was still attacking my workouts with the same intensity I did when I was a young competitor with lofty goals and dreams of athletic greatness. Eventually, I found myself dreading sessions and feeling burned out. There was no point in hating my workouts, I decided, and I vowed to let go of the negativity. Though I still craved movement, I was doing it for the wrong reasons—or I really didn’t have a good reason—and it was affecting the outcome of my hours in the gym.
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When the graceful world of barre meets the athleticism of kickboxing, the results are hot! This in-demand fusion class provides the best of both worlds and appeals to a wide audience.
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Like many instructors, you may feel as though you’re expected to do it all and be all things to all people. However, you also need to ensure that you are sustaining your own physical and mental health. How do you keep your standards high and your teaching schedule full while also remaining healthy and injury-free? Read on to find out how three avid veteran instructors achieve balance. Their experiences and advice model best self-care practices for a long and successful career.
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Michael Taylor Member Since 2010 :: Los Angeles “I am a Jedi,” says Michael Taylor, with a smile. And once you know him, the idea isn’t at all far-fetched. Taylor harnesses the power of a positive attitude to help his clients succeed. Through his personal training business, he has “the opportunity to help people get…
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If you use wearables with clients, consider adding competitive challenges to improve results. University of Pennsylvania and Deloitte Consulting LLP researchers found that simply giving wearables to people in the workplace did not increase physical activity; the key was to add fun and competition.
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Indoor cyclists who wore virtual-reality headsets experienced less leg-muscle pain during brief, high-intensity intervals than cyclists who wore headsets showing static images, according to a study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (2019; 51 [10], 2088–97).
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What activities or equipment-based program trends are you seeing in the new year? Are you boosting promotion of any particular programs like high-intensity interval training, indoor cycling, yoga or barre? Or are you offering shorter class times or opportunities for virtual training? Please share your success stories.
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Walking was the most popular activity. Western women and Midwestern men did more intensive exercise than those in any other region. The South had the biggest gender gap in exercise intensity
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IDEA Fitness Journal
Current Issue:
December 2019
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