Sample Classes
HIIT Cycling With a Side of Strength
A well-rounded program includes cardio and resistance training, so how do you bridge the gap? Try HIIT cycling with strength.
Boost Intensity With a Body-Weight Ladder Workout
If you’re looking for a way to improve endurance and fitness without equipment, this body-weight ladder workout is a perfect option.
A Time of Renewal
Many of us in the industry have been feeling lost in the weeds after 2 years of constant turmoil. In this time of renewal, as you work to dig yourself out and sow new seeds of success, it’s important to use all the tools at your disposal so you can grow and flourish.
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!
Mobility Workout
Adding a mobility workout to the cooldown may kickstart the parasympathetic nervous system. Try the following sequence.
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.
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.
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.
Sample Class: Band Blast!
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.
Sample Class: Seated Exercises for Older Adults
Older adults are more susceptible to deficits in cardiovascular fitness, muscle mass, strength and power, which may ultimately lead to losses in physical function. The following chair-based format focuses on improving outcomes for older participants, especially those who may need the support of a chair during exercise. Ready, Set, Sit! offers the variety of three 15-minute training segments (cardiovascular, high intensity and strength/power), while targeting important components that boost overall function.
Complex Training: Pairing for Power
If you work with athletes, you’ve likely run into the challenge of how to incorporate power components into their already-packed training schedules. Whether you’re working with a clutch outfielder, a center or a lineman, your client’s athletic skills need refinement, and power is one aspect that requires attention. Trainers typically program resistance training to develop strength and plyometric drills to improve speed.
Sample Class: Every Minute on the Minute
If you enjoy teaching (and doing) high-intensity classes, this workout is for you! The “every minute on the minute” (EMOM) protocol is fun, fast-moving and challenging. You start a predetermined number of reps at the top of a minute and rest for the time you have left until the next minute begins.
Gamify the Fitness Class Cooldown
There are 5 minutes left in your class, the energy is high, and everyone is sweating and having a great time. As you wrap up the last set, participants cheer and exchange high-fives to celebrate another awesome workout. You turn the music down to prepare for the cooldown, then you look up—and notice that people are packing up and leaving.
Sample Class: Tabata for Every Rider
This indoor cycling routine introduces Tabata-inspired intervals that provide a great workout for both beginner and advanced cyclists.
Try Different Plank Variations in Your Class
Forearm plank, side plank, plank with hip dips—all are group exercise favorites. The plank is one of the most familiar and effective choices for core work, and it’s an easy addition. However, how many times can you program that same old plank? Fortunately, with a little creativity, a basic plank can be amazingly versatile. Just add simple movements and a little resistance to make an already challenging move even more interesting and effective.
Sample Class: EMOM Workout
If you enjoy teaching high-intensity classes, this fun, fast-moving and challenging EMOM workout is for you!
Using Anti-Rotation to Coach Rotation
When you watch someone hit a golf ball, throw a punch or simply retrieve groceries from the car, it’s evident that human movement occurs in all three planes of motion. A review of basic core anatomy—major muscles attached to the trunk, above the ischial tuberosity and below the superior aspect of the sternum—reveals that 87.5% of the core muscles are oriented either diagonally or horizontally, and one action that these muscles perform is rotation (Santana 2000).
Winning Combination: Mindfulness and Strength
If you teach high-intensity classes, you may have noticed that many of your devoted students don’t take advantage of gentler options, such as restorative yoga, foam rolling or low-impact classes. Cross-training is necessary for peak fitness and reduced injury risk, yet persuading participants to try something new or different is not so easy. This class, Mindfulness and Strength, prioritizes mindfulness and flexibility.