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Sample Classes

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Exercise/Class Formats

Sample Class: Cycle Diversion

You spend so much time making play- lists and designing your indoor cycling classes, but there are days when the creativity doesn’t flow or you’re asked to sub last minute. The following class not only demonstrates the power of cuing and careful drill selection; it also helps you multitask. For example, mix and match this ride by taking one stage and adding it to a preexisting class. Other options: Use two of the stages for 30-minute classes, or use all three for a complete ride.

Cycle Diversion Details

Wake Up Your Glutes!

It’s a sad fact of modern life that the gluteus maximus, the largest muscle in the body, often becomes inhibited and “turns off.” Ironically, this inhibition can be the culprit behind some cases of back and knee pain.

Sample Class: Add It Up!

There are several ways to define “functional training,” but essentially it involves moving the body through different planes of motion while working multiple muscle groups and challenging balance. While complex moves are perfect for one-on-one training, teaching functional movements to a large group is also possible with a straightforward strategy that allows for modification.

Sample Class: Creative Core & Cardio

Group fitness participants can’t seem to get enough of creative core and cardiovascular exercises. If you need innovative ideas to challenge your students, this class is for you! Target core muscles while introducing unique variations of familiar moves. Round out the routine by torching calories with high-intensity interval training exercises.

Creative Cardio and Core Details

GOAL/EMPHASIS: core strengthening and HIIT

TIME: approximately 60 minutes

Raising the Bar

Asymmetrical bar training (ABT) can help clients enhance their sense of balance while improving their core strength and rotational power.

Functional Training for Pregnancy

Are you pregnant? Did you know that a woman’s body will change more in 9 months of pregnancy than a man’s will in his lifetime—and that you need an exercise program to match the transfor- mation? So says maternal exercise expert Farel Hruska, national fitness director of FIT4MOM® (a brand that includes Stroller Strides®) in San Diego. “A mom- to-be will need to master strength, agility, balance, speed, acceleration, deceleration, directional change and rotation . . . all with a load that increases every day,” she explains.

Sample Class: Twisted!

Rotational movement is part of everyday life, but in order to have high levels of rotational strength, you need good trunk stability. No single muscle causes rotation or stabilization; the movements depend on a combination of several muscles working together in the transverse plane. These core muscles are always working, either to cause rotation or to resist it (to stabilize). This condensed specialty class introduces students to rotation and antirotation exercises.

Find Your Center in the Water

Countless exercises target the core—but the majority are land-based. What happens when you bring core work into the pool? The aquatic environment complements this type of training and challenges participants in new ways. While the core is activated during most of a water fitness class, setting aside time for core-specific drills can inject even more fun. Try the following variations in your next class.

Pool Plank

5 Ways to Evolve Your Yoga Lesson Plans

How many times do you design your yoga class in your head on the way to the studio? While you may get by with this approach, it can’t always prepare you for the unpredictable variables you may encounter in class. On the other hand, you don’t want to fall into the template trap, which can water down your instruction and potentially harm students. To reinvigorate your passion for teaching, educate yourself on a regular basis.

Creative Ideas That Inspire

CABARRET: Strong & Sexy, offered at MindBody Trendz in Cooper City, Florida, combines barre and burlesque dancing for a full-body conditioning class. The session begins with ballet-inspired moves that strengthen the core, legs and upper arms and then transitions to an upbeat, easy-to-follow dance routine.

How to Make the Most of Express Classes

Time is a precious commodity, and everyone is looking for the fastest, most effective way to exercise. Between jobs, family, daily errands and the occasional social gathering, people work hard to squeeze group fitness classes into their busy lives. That’s why express classes— high-calorie-burning, energy-packed, condensed workouts—are all the rage.

“What do you need to consider when training perimenopausal, menopausal or postmenopausal women?”

Perimenopause presents an array of challenges for women, including mood swings, depression, irritability and sleep disturbances. Pilates is an excellent way to improve a woman’s mood and ability to sleep, as well as increase her energy. The breathing techniques used in Pilates calm and relax the mind. The weight gain around a woman’s midsection, which often accompanies menopause, can be reduced with Pilates.

Sparks of Inspiration

Looking to make more money in your training business? Trying to shake up your programming? Want to bring the benefits of fitness to a certain population? Here are examples of interesting programs that personal trainers invented to meet a specific need. See how they developed their ideas, and get inspired to start a new program of your own.

#1: FitGuy, Alamogordo, New Mexico

Resistance And Aerobic Training Recommendations for People With Type 2 Diabetes

Resistance Training Recommendations

Frequency. At least twice weekly on nonconsecutive days (Colberg et al. 2010); ideally at least three times a week. Colberg and colleagues propose that resistance training should be coordinated with other regular aerobic activities.

Intensity. For optimal gains in strength and insulin action, resistance training should be performed at moderate intensity (50% of 1-repetition maximum) or vigorous intensity (75%–80% 1-Rm) (Colberg et al. 2010).

Creative Ideas that Inspire

At Studio KTM in Pacific Palisades, California, members improve their cardiovascular fitness and strength with K Training™. Each participant gets his or her own “K station,” which uses cable resistance and a variety of functional moves to improve balance, stability, strength, flexibility and endurance.

Step Up to Warm Up

Step training has been a staple in the fitness industry for a quarter of a century. Although participation started to wane a few years ago, it has resurged thanks in part to the fusion of traditional and newer classes. Whether choreographed, stylized or athletic in nature, step training remains a great form of exercise.

Creative Class Design

You’ve worked hard to become the best instructor you can be. You now have a “following” and, while you no longer feel the need to prove yourself, you some- times worry about how to keep your classes enticing and effective. It requires great effort and planning—not to men- tion talent and skill—to be an effective group fitness leader. But don’t let your- self get bogged down in the “admin- istration” aspect, which can zap all the creativity and fun out of the experience.