GroupFitPower has been honored to share the insights of a very talented and very successful fitness blogger and presenter with you in the past. She has provided a wealth of advice to us and we are thankful she let us pick her brain for this interview. Many thanks to Biray for taking time to answer some questions about who she is and what she does! (more…)
If you are trying to gain the competitve advantage in your business, seeking out experts in your field from whom you can glean knowledge is a smart place to start. This is true whether you are striving to be the top instructor at your club or you are the CEO of a company. There is no better way to avoid mistakes and set your path to success straighter than by consulting with folks who have already done what you strive to do. I had a chance to speak with one of the most accomplished women in the fitness industry. She has a great deal of insight to share with us about how to get ahead in the world of group fitness.
I just came across this excellent file which provides a side-by-side comparison of six certification options: Fitness Resource Associates (FRA), National Exercise Trainers Association (NETA), American Council on
Exercise (ACE), Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA), and American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). This document is a great resource if you are struggling to determine where to go to get certified to teach group fitness. It is just a reference, and does not include every certifying body available. But it is a great way to see you major choices in an easy to read format. Bonus if you live in the Boston area — it includes reference to when these companies are offering workshops in your area!
http://www.ultimatebootcamp.com/static/contact/UBC_certification_review.pdf
A recent news story about a cancelled American Airlines flight provides an excellent example of how NOT to conduct Customer Service. While I empathize with the crew and can completely understand the outrage of the passengers, the situation was not handled very professionally, in my opinion. While the story might be aggravating, reading it reminded me how important customer service skills are to Group Fitness Instructors. In this post, we’ll examine how we might better mitigate student complaints and help everyone win.
If you haven’t checked it out already, AFAA APEX’s weekend for this fall has been announced. This year, it will happen September 19-21. You can’t find a better deal on a group fit certification , so it is worth it to take a peek: http://www.afaaapex.com.
And once you get registered, don’t forget to check out the guide to surviving the Primary Group Cert process!
By Biray Alsac
What makes a great instructor an extra-ordinary one? While there isn’t a golden answer to this question, there are certainly things every instructor should do. For extra ideas, you can learn from other successful colleagues and fitness professionals around the world. Last week I was an invited guest at FitnessTurk 2008, a conference for fitness professionals based in Istanbul, Turkey. In my down time, I attended a session facilitated by Lawrence Biscontini, an international presenter and extra-ordinary instructor, himself!
I am really hard to impress. At least, when it comes to buying stuff. I have what my grandma calls the blood of a “Scotch-Irish Indian” which accounts for all or most of my penny-pinching, value-searching, non-impulse-buying characteristics. I’m a tough sell, and for good reason — I worked hard for this money and I’m not a fool to be soon parted with it!
That said, when I find a product that I find particularly valuable or that is money well-spent, I enjoy sharing it with the friends I think can benefit from it. That’s why I want to tell you about a program I joined just before Christmas 2007, called iTRAIN. iTRAIN is an excellent place to download workouts to your iPod/mp3 Player for use on traditional cardio equipment or in the weight room. At first, I was skeptical of the concept. I mean, I am a Fitness Instructor for goodness’ sake. I can do this stuff on my own, right? However, I went for it and have gotten several benefits from using the program.
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Another great contribution by guest blogger, Biray Alsac!
Biray Alsac
http://fittmaxxinstitute.com
http://befitwithbiray.com
It’s refreshing to meet a gym member who is a ‘first-timer’ to a health club or a newbie to our group exercise classes. You know the ones – they aren’t very fitness-savvy, are overwhelmed by the classes available on the schedule, and aren’t entirely familiar with gym culture. But, bless their hearts, they are open to trying something new.
As instructors, we love these people. Why? Because it gives us an opportunity to dispel any myths about group exercise and a chance to create an experience that will hopefully motivate them to come back for more – not scare them away.
Biray Alsac
http://fittmaxxinstitute.com
http://befitwithbiray.com
Every year mega-conventions (SCW Fitness Mania, IDEA, CanFitPro, WSSC) offer opportunities for group fitness instructors to develop their professional skills while accumulating all of their continuing education credits in one fell swoop.
In a previous post, Krista mentioned her plans to attend SCW Fitness Mania in Orlando, Florida. And since there may be instructors out there also considering attending this or other conferences this year, I thought it might be best to write a post on how to get the most from a conference.
If you’ve attended conferences before, you know what an overwhelming experience they can be. Session after session, cognitive overload. Workout after workout, physical exhaustion. By the time we come home, we’ve retained key pieces of the conference, perhaps spent too much at the expo, and forgotten the names of the people we’ve met.
Below are five different ways to make your conference-going experience successful.
1. SESSIONS: Couple your session notes with visual cues. Nothing is more frustrating than coming home from a conference and not being able to decipher your session notes. (This is especially true with choreography-based notes). We often pepper our notes with stick figures or expand our explanations to help us remember, but that may not be enough. In addition, write what you were wearing, who you were with, or where in the room you were standing. Sometimes visualizing ourselves in the room can be more effective when it comes to information recall. The more you write about the experience of that session, the more likely you’ll remember what the session was about.
2. PRESENTERS: Introduce yourself to the presenter before the session begins. This may seem counter-intuitive, but many presenters are bombarded with questions right after their sessions. If you want to stand out, make the connection beforehand. I’m not suggesting you engage in a lengthy conversation or disrupt the presenter while he/she is prepping for her session. But an inviting message or an encouraging comment is often welcomed. Example: “I’ve never done double step before, so I’m really looking forward to this session” or “Where do you suggest is the best place in the room to set up for your session?” When you follow-up via email or in-person, presenters are more likely to remember you.
3. ATTENDEES: Create a temporary community at the conference. You’ll meet a lot of people throughout the conference. Not all will be potential business relationships or future friends (though you never know), yet everyone will be experiencing similar moments together. When you meet someone new, find a way to stay connected during the event. If there is a conflict between two sessions in the same time block, try finding someone already attending one of the sessions and ask if they’d be willing to meet briefly afterwards to go over any take-away points. More often than not, you’ll find yourself taking better notes, knowing you’ll be delivering this information again to a colleague. Text messaging is also a great way to send bits of information during the sessions. Text websites URLs, choreography combos, or quick positive messages.
4. EXPO: Explore the expo with your eyes first. I don’t know about you, but somehow I always end up spending way too much money at the expos. A penny-wise way to keep from going broke is taking a tour of the entire exhibit floor first. Get the ‘lay of the land’. It helps if you take pictures of the things you might consider buying (bring a cell phone, if it has a built-in camera). Sounds odd? Well, sometimes this helps avoid impulse buys. You can look through the pictures throughout the day or later when you retire to your hotel for the evening. Share ideas with your friends and get their opinions before going back to the expo and purchasing what you need. (Note: Nowadays, you can find better or similar deals online on Amazon and/or ebay.)
5. WILD CARD: Do something you’ve never done before! Although we attend conferences to get new ideas, be better fitness instructors, and improve our professional careers – at some point during the conference do something completely different. Whether you attend a session on a topic unrelated to your field of expertise or explore the host town with some newfound friends – just remember that the experience isn’t always limited to fitness.
Enjoy your conferences this year! And if anyone is going to IDEA World this summer, send me an email – Let’s organize a meet-up so we can “unleash the power of group fitness” together…
This isn’t really a profile, as much as it was my teaching plan for the month of January. When I can pull the music together on iTunes and Napster, I’ll be posting actual profiles on my website. Time is a huge issue for me right now, so you are just going to have to accept that tease from me for now, I’m afraid!!
Even without the playlists, I hope you get something out of this concept. First a little background: I am very much into having a plan and knowing WHY I am asking my students to do something. Are they improving or growing? Does the ride have a purpose? To that end, I developed a class plan for my regular Tues/Thurs morning group who have progressed so far I had to stretch my teaching muscles to figure out how to challenge them more….