Archive for March 2011
Forge a Successful Fitness Career with Internships
Are you thinking about a career in fitness or looking to advance your position in the health and fitness industry? The outlook for personal trainers, fitness professionals and group fitness instructors is very bright indeed! Now is an excellent time to capitalize on this exciting and popular profession. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the personal fitness training industry is set to grow nearly 30% between now and 2018, making โpersonal trainer/fitness instructorโ one of the top growing occupations in the nation.
Read MoreHow to Become a Lifestyle Coach
If youโre like a lot of successful personal trainers, you know from years of working with clients that even the best fitness evaluations and strength, cardio and weight management programs arenโt always enough. The problemโlife gets in the way. From my own experience as a personal trainer, regardless of how great my programming was, it had zero value if my clients had adherence issues. Many of the hundreds Iโve helped over the years followed a plan for a while and then went back to their old self-sabotaging ways.
Read MoreHow to Become a Spa Professional
As the fitness industry embraces wellness concepts such as mental training, mindful movement and holistic programming, now more than ever the spa world offers viable career opportunities. Why? One reason is that it has long embraced these same healthy goals. The fitness professional who is curious about employment in the spa industry must take methodical steps toward discovering whether or not this specialty field is a good fit.
Spa History and Legacy
Read MoreHow to Become a Fitness Manager
The pathway beyond group exercise instruction and personal training is not exactly clear cut. Fitness professionals realize early on that adding classes and clients to their already jam-packed, hectic schedules may not be the best use of their time. However, figuring out a way to increase stability and cash flow is challenging. Since most fitness professionals end up working for several facilities simultaneously and/or fend for themselves as independent entrepreneurs, finding a mentor can be tough.
Read MoreHow to Become a Yoga Instructor
If you are enthusiastic about yoga and have seen its transformative effect in your own life, itโs natural to want to share that with others. And if you are comfortable in front of a group but also know how to connect one-on-one, teaching yoga may be a perfect fit.
Read MoreProgramming for Profit
As the health and wellness industry has developed, so has the understanding of what constitutes fitness โproductโ in the minds of consumers and facility operators alike. Nowadays, a companyโs product is more than a tangible โthing.โ It includes every aspect of fitness: personal training, group exercise, kidsโ training, the facility, staff training and development, studio-based classes, floor layout and, above all, member experience.
Read MoreThe Real Cost of Hiring the Wrong Employee
When Nick Locascio, club manager of The Leading Edge in Greenfield, Massachusetts, hired someone for his front desk, he had no idea how much she would cost himโemotionally and financially.
โInstead of greeting and interacting with our customers, she spent her time on Facebook, texting and chatting with friends,โ he says. โAt one point, I caught her watching a movie on her laptop [while] wearing earphones.โ
Read MoreRisk Management
We all understand that accidents happen. Unfortunately, in the fitness industry, lawsuits happen as well. And it takes only one small incident to put you out of business.
Read MoreDonโt Be That Manager: The Yes Person
Many personal trainers are promoted to manager or director solely on the basis of their success as a trainer and not necessarily because of their management skills. Now itโs your turn: You are the new personal training manager. Youโre finding out how different being the manager is from working with clients on the floor.
Read MoreManager Meltdowns
Regardless of how big or small your role is as group fitness manager (GFM), your success depends primarily on how effectively you communicate with a diverse audience. Each employee has a need to hear you, understand your message, store the information and act on it. Keeping employees informed can eat up a lot of time and may prevent you from getting to initiatives that could grow the business.
Read MoreThe Top 5 Sales Phrases Every Trainer Should Know
You stock your training tool kit with uber-adaptable equipment for every fitness level: a TRX, a stability ball, maybe some tubing or a yoga mat. Since you can never be completely certain what your fitness client will need on any given day, your go-to gear adapts to any training trial. But what about the tools you use to gain new training customersโdo you have a stash of stand-by sales phrases that adapt to diverse personalities equally well?
Read MoreThe Personal Training Membership Model
The 2010 IDEA Personal Training Programs & Equipment Survey found that approximately 75% of respondents ask clients to pay for individual sessions/classes or packages of sessions/classes. Some fitness professionals suggest this business model should become a thing of the past. โWhen you sell โpackagesโ of sessions, youโre chasing money and not building projectable income for yourself,โ warns Troy Fontana, CEO of Freedom Fitness Unlimited in Sparks, Nevada. โThe only security you have is the six, 12 or 20 sessions your client just purchased.
Read MoreManaging Your Online Reputation
Most personal trainers recognize the impact that social media investments can have on their business. By actively improving your online presence with blogs, Facebook pages, YouTube videos and/or Twitter updates, you can increase your opportunities to enhance client-trainer relationships, multiply promotional efforts and gain authority on a topic (Alsac 2010). But this article is not about creating a social media strategy. It is about course-correcting the one you already haveโto ensure that you are being portrayed in a positive light.
Read MoreBusiness Development and Marketing
In this article series we have covered a wealth of information to help you create and maintain a business edge so that you stand out from other trainers, coaches and fitness centers. I have enjoyed thinking through the elements that I believe have given my personal training and coaching business, Cross Coaching & Wellness, a business edge in my local community and in the fitness and wellness professional world as a whole. Writing these articles has also motivated me to stay on track with my own advice while I am sharing it with you.
Read MorePersonal Trainers Refine Their Purpose
When was the last time you got excitedโreally excitedโabout the programs you design for your clients? There was a time when you paid lavish attention to detail. From the ground up you considered all the variables and options. Somewhere along the way, however, you may have lost a little passion and focus. You didnโt stop caring, and you still inspire your clients, but what would you give to reignite your purpose?
Read MoreCreate Your Own Fitness DVD
Creating a fitness DVD is a great way to generate additional income. However, making a DVD is also a time-consuming venture that requires a lot of planning.
Step 1: Prepare a Production Plan
Read MoreInterval Training Advantages
One of the main reasons for all of the attention being given to interval training in the fitness industry is that it can improve fitness quickly, which is great news for busy people who donโt want to spend 2 hours in the gym.
Designing Interval Workouts
Read MoreContinuing Education Quizzes
IDEA Health & Fitness Association IDEA Code of Ethics: Owners and Managers
As a member of IDEA Health & Fitness Association, I will be guided by the best interests of the client. I will provide facilities and staff for effective exercise and lifestyle programs; ensure that staff maintains the eduยญcation and experience necessary to appropriately train clients; uphold fair business practices and safety guidelines; and use truth, fairness and integrity to guide all my professional decisions and relationships.
Ethical Practice Guidelines for Owners and Managers
Read MoreIDEA Health & Fitness Association IDEA Code of Ethics: Group Fitness Instructors
As a member of IDEA Health & Fitness Association, I will be guided by the best interests of the client and will practice within the scope of my education and knowledge. I will maintain the education and experience necessary to appropriately train clients; will behave in a positive and constructive manner; and will use truth, fairness and integrity to guide all my professional decisions and relationships.
?Ethical Practice Guidelines for Group Fitness Instructors
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