2015 IDEA Award Recipients: Congratulations!

Today’s fitness professionals know the importance of taking a holistic approach to health and wellness. It’s not enough to count push-ups or to program a list of sets and reps for clients. Many people are stressed out by life’s demands; the pros who truly have a positive influence are the ones who listen to their clients, understand what they need, help them improve their lives and strive to create a deep bond of trust and respect.

This year’s IDEA award recipients take exactly this approach to working with their clients and communities. The 2015 Program Director of the Year, Personal Trainer of the Year and Fitness Instructor of the Year were celebrated at the IDEA World Fitness Convention™ in Los Angeles in July.

Here, these leaders share their passion for the industry, what is meaningful for them and what contributes most to their clients’ success.

2015 IDEA Program Director of the Year
Kimberly Spreen-Glick

What is Kimberly Spreen-Glick’s wish for the future of the industry? “To continue to broaden our scope well beyond the physical, and to redefine ‘fitness’ to include the mental, emotional and spiritual,” she says. “I believe this holistic approach will take us to an entirely new level and truly enable our industry to inspire the world with a focus on much more than just losing a pants size.”

She says she’s lucky to have an amazing husband, Rob Glick, who shares a holistic perspective while also being fully engaged in the fitness industry. “In balancing a full-time job with being a wife and mom, I’ve definitely had to broaden my definition of ‘physical activity.’ Often, the right choice for me is to chase my 3-year-old son Ty around the park to get my heart rate up, as opposed to taking a group fitness class. In addition to being my ‘personal trainer,’ Ty is my greatest teacher, as he’s so present in every moment.”

Based in Aliso Viejo, California, Spreen-Glick is the senior national director of group fitness, yoga and cycling for Life Time Fitness®, a company that operates more than 115 centers across the United States and Canada. She is also co-producer of EMPOWER! fitness events and a continuing education provider.

2015 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year
Mike Z. Robinson

One of Mike Z. Robinson’s favorite sayings is “Everything that happens inside of the gym makes everything outside of the gym better.” His commitment to helping his clients—and himself—to live authentic, healthy lives inside and outside of physical training drives his success.

Robinson owns MZR Fitness in San Luis Obispo, California, training clients 38-40 hours a week and managing six staff members. He is also the founder of Mike Z. Robinson Enterprises, which features mentorship and personal trainer development programs, gym design, speaking and consulting. He recently completed his first e-book, Fitness Up, Everything Up.

“I always want to learn more,” he says. “I love improving myself to be better. No matter how long I’m in the industry, my personal goal for myself is to get better every day.“

His mission for the personal training industry? “Raise the bar in a saturated field of fitness professionals,” he says. “The higher the bar, the less full the industry will be with unqualified personal trainers. Then clients will be able to get reputable assistance and reach fitness success like never before!” He raises the bar for his clients by never repeating a workout. “My clients love the diversity that I bring them in our workouts,” he notes.

2015 Fitness Instructor of the Year
Amy Dixon

Amy Dixon believes in paying it forward. Having taught group fitness classes since she was 15, she’s had the opportunity to be surrounded by some of the best fitness instructors in the world. She’s applied her knowledge to better herself and to educate other instructors in how to bring current, effective movement to their students.

“It’s important to help raise the level of professionalism within the industry,” she says. “The better, more educated and more innovative every fitness professional becomes, the more successful we’ll be in helping to Inspire the World to Fitness®.”

Dixon has worked for Equinox Fitness Clubs for more than 11 years, and she was recently named national group fitness creative manager, a role in which she develops and creates group fitness programming. She is also West Coast cycling master trainer with Equinox, helping to teach newer instructors how to deliver an unparalleled member experience. Based in Los Angeles, she teaches several fitness classes per week and is a master trainer and international program developer for Schwinn®, BOSU®, GRAVITY® and SHOCKWAVE®.

“I have always felt connected to the collective energy that elevates everyone in a group fitness class to do better,” Dixon says. “I truly love teaching movement in all forms.”

For award criteria and more information on each award recipient, please see “2015 IDEA World Fitness Awards Recipients” in the online IDEA Library or in the September 2015 issue of IDEA Fitness Journal. If you cannot access the full article and would like to, please contact the IDEA Inspired Service Team at (800) 999-4332, ext. 7.