Exercise/Class Formats
5 Most Popular Articles in 2021
What piqued reader interest this past year? Here we recap our top 5 popular articles that received the most reads in 2021!
Overpronation in Fitness Classes
Overpronation is a fairly common problem among many fitness enthusiasts, including the ones who take your classes.
Mobility Workout
Adding a mobility workout to the cooldown may kickstart the parasympathetic nervous system. Try the following sequence.
Fitness Classes for Everyone
Fitness classes abound and it has never been easier for movement-hungry people to find a workout experience that appeals to them.
Small Group Training Remains #1 Income Earner
The landscape of the fitness industry looks different these days. Fitness enthusiasts and newcomers alike are approaching the gym with a different perspective. Large gyms with big groups are not as appealing, nor is the price tag of a personal trainer. Small group training (SGT) via boutique studios, private trainers, or online platforms is the preferred activity of fitness participants, especially for personalized instruction. SGT also remains the number one profit center in clubs. If you are stuck in a rut of instructing one-on-one training or group classes (online or in-person), now is the time to enter the “Sweet Spot” of SGT, increase your offerings, and begin earning your worth.
Meditation Basics
What Is Meditation? Meditation is an approach to training the mind, similar to the way fitness is an approach to training the body. Someone with no knowledge of fitness tools…
Sample Class: Cardio, Core and Balance
If your students enjoy a challenging workout but you sense they may be growing bored with your traditional HIIT class, try adding unique bonus exercises to keep people interested, engaged and motivated! This cardio, core and balance class incorporates lower-intensity (but not easy!) unilateral balance and core moves in between cardio intervals.
Upgraded Movement Preparation
The warmup is an obvious time to prepare muscles and educate people about their bodies. Why not use this time for movement preparation?
Exercise Boosts Neuroplasticity, Helping Depression
In studying physical activity’s effect on depression, researchers from Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany found that exercise simultaneously lifts mood and boosts neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change. It is neuroplasticity that…
How To Create a Workout Community
As we return to the group exercise studio, it’s good to remember how a workout community not only brings us together, but helps us thrive.
Tai Chi Is Good for Older Adults
Why tai chi? These Chinese movement patterns have been around for centuries. In recent years, study after study has proven their benefits—particularly for older exercisers—yet most fitness professionals seem to…
Posture Correction for Static Damage
The word posture tends to evoke the image of a schoolgirl standing perfectly erect with a book on her head. More accurately, static posture refers to the way in which a person holds his or her body or assumes certain positions, such as sitting, standing or sleeping. The cumulative effect of the time spent in certain positions can lead to prolonged static-posture damage to both the musculoskeletal and myofascial systems of the body.
Yoga for the Back
Updated on June 17, 2021. According to the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University, about 16 million adults in the U.S. have persistent or chronic back pain and are limited in…
Teach a Family Fitness Cycling Class
Family fitness events are a great way to bring people together and model healthy habits. Indoor cycling is a perfect choice.
Fit to Travel: Exercises for Seniors
Programming exercises for seniors is more important than ever, especially now that travel is opening up again, but your clients may not have kept up with their workouts over this last year. Here are some great ways to prepare your active agers for more adventure.
Stretches After Sitting All Day
Encourage your fitness class participants to use these simple stretches after sitting all day to help their muscles return to a relaxed state.
Sample Class: Tape-Box Workout
This fitness class with “tape box” workouts uses painter’s tape on the floor to create high-intensity agility and body-weight strength drills.
Sample Class: Slam It!
This exercise class utilizes sand bells, sandbags or slam balls and incorporates elements of strength, agility, core work and mobility.
Sample Class: Quick Conditioning Circuits
This quick conditioning circuit class includes all the ingredients necessary to help people reach their fitness goals, cycling between strength and cardio.
Innovative Warmups
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.
