Communication
BlogHer: Through My Lens
Health. When you hear that word, what comes to mind? What about when someone says, “I’m living a healthy lifestyle?” What does that mean to you? What does it mean to the world? Today, when celery cleanses and keto diets are all the rage, it appears the meaning of health is directly related to one’s waistline. However, “health,” as defined by the World Health Organization, is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO 2019).
East Meets West
If you read this column last month, you know that our team jetted off to Shanghai just weeks after the IDEA® World Convention to host the inaugural IDEA China, August 16–18. This absolute first for a major U.S.-Chinese fitness education event was a sold-out success! Over 1,500 enthusiastic Chinese fitness professionals packed every session over 3 days to absorb the most edgy and practical fitness information available today from a faculty of 28 standout IDEA subject-matter experts.
On This Day in Fitness History
On September 25, 1974, the first modern triathlon event was held in San Diego, sponsored by the San Diego Track Club. Prior to this, other three-sport events existed but did not feature the swim-bike-run combination. The first triathlon included a 6-mile run, a 5-mile cycle and a 500-yard swim. In 1978, The Hawaii Ironman Triathlon® debuted with a 2.4-mile open-water swim, a 112-mile bike race and a 26.2-mile marathon run.
Question of the Month
When you offer training advice to clients, are you discussing the significance of sleep? If yes, are you using sleep trackers and monitoring results? Please describe how you are educating clients regarding the role of sleep in effective training and weight management and share any success stories you have had.
Share your responses with executive editor Joy Keller, jkeller@ideafit.com.
A for Effort
client: Kent Denver School Students | personal trainer: Laura Bordeaux, strength and conditioning coach, Kent Denver School location: Englewood, Colorado
A complete course load. Think of it as core curriculum—literally. The Kent Denver School, a college-preparatory institution outside of Denver, offers a comprehensive educational experience that emphasizes both academics and sports. That’s where Laura Bordeaux comes in.
On This Day in Fitness History
In June 1956, President Eisenhower called for a President’s Conference on Fitness of American Youth to be held at the U.S. Naval Academy. This meeting led to the formation of the President’s Council on Youth Fitness, later renamed the President’s Council on Physical Fitness. The conference convened in response to a study showing that American children were not as fit as European children in tests of muscular strength and flexibility in the trunk and legs.
NEAT Exercise for the Brain
Have you heard that prolonged sitting can be as bad for health as smoking (Owen, Bauman & Brown 2008)? The good news is that movement can help, and it doesn’t have to be a marathon. One avenue worth exploring is nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). NEAT encompasses the calories burned while living life: walking to work, fidgeting, typing, folding clothes, washing dishes, running errands and so on; only sleeping, eating and sports are not included (Levine & Yeager 2009).
9 Simple Ways to Keep Your Clients
The success of your business relies solely on your ability to attract and keep clients. Use these tips to enhance the client-trainer relationship so that you can focus more on providing quality service to your current clients and less on finding new ones.
7 Keys to Creating an Unforgettable Onboarding Experience
Do you want to strategically and consistently educate and motivate your new clients so they feel like they’re getting incredible results—and so you’re getting a steady flow of referrals and earning positive social proof? Are you ready to not just deliver but over-deliver? If your answer is yes, then one of your most important next moves is to create a step-by-step onboarding process.
Learn, Connect and Thrive at the IDEA® World Convention
Education is the foundation of the IDEA World Convention, but this fitness event offers plenty more than stellar instruction. For Jonathan Bernath, publicist-turned-personal-trainer, it’s where he discovered the “fitness family” that would guide him in his new career.
Healthy-Eating Blogs
Thinking of starting a nutrition or healthy-eating blog? Start by knowing the data on what end users find most useful.
Simplicity Steers Success
client: Jennifer | personal trainer: John Parker | location: San Diego
Keeping it simple. Every day it seems there’s a new supplement, food plan or training program that purports to produce unparalleled results. But all of these choices can make it difficult for clients to make wise choices and remain consistent in their approach. That was the problem faced by Jennifer, a florist and part-time kickboxing instructor, and it’s why she reached out to San Diego–based personal trainer John Parker, CSCS.
How to Find Your Epic
The fitness industry is a rewarding and inspiring place to be. However, it’s not without its challenges, and getting ahead with passion alone can be difficult. The most successful fit pros know that to build an epic life and career, they must invest in education and learn from those who’ve been there and done it.
Understanding Set-Point Weight
Humans are hardwired to resist dietary restrictions. Science bears this out: In the absence of an ongoing weight maintenance program, half of the people who lose 10% or more of body weight gain it all back within 5 years or so (Montesi et al. 2016).
A Scientific Approach to Core Training
Core training can improve functional capacity and reduce injury potential. But accurately programming a successful, tailored and progressive core- training protocol can be a complicated endeavor. Now, researchers from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, have developed a model they hope gives fitness pros a solid platform to work from.
Turn Negatives Into Positives
I was a new group fitness instructor taking someone else’s muscle-toning class. “You’re not going low enough,” the instructor yelled at me from across the crowded room. As flames of embarrassment burned my cheeks, I dropped lower into the Romanian dead lift even though I had just come from teaching my seventh cycling class of the week and my body was spent. But this was what the class required, I rationalized, and I was fit—I should be able to keep up.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep up, and as a result, I gave myself a nagging lower-back injury.
Recovery Tech—An Array of New Products, Services and Centers
New technologies, products and services are boosting the exercise-recovery business. What’s going on here?
The rising popularity of wearable devices is making people much more aware of their performance.
High-intensity interval training remains one of the most popular kinds of exercise.
Everyday exercisers can now afford treatments that were formerly reserved for pro athletes.
Streamline Your Yoga Cuing
When you were new to teaching yoga, you had a lot to focus on. You navigated the room, demonstrated poses, gave hands-on adjustments, held space for emotions and skillfully managed time. In the early days, it may have felt like a victory just to make it through a class successfully!
7 Ways We All Can Bridge the Gap
Over the course of writing this column, I’ve had the opportunity to interview 60-plus experts from a variety of fields, including medicine, nutrition, exercise science, fitness and psychology. In this, the final installment of the series, I highlight major themes and key insights that professionals across the healthcare continuum use to help clients bridge their personal gaps and challenges.
Get in the Game!
Fitness facilities compete to offer cutting-edge movement trends, but what about cutting-edge technology? The fitness world is becoming ever more virtual, and incoming clients are looking for more than a fun indoor cycling class or a cool cardio machine; they want to play a game!