FitnessGlo

Found a new site today - FitnessGlo. International presenters providing free workouts in a studio in California, or for a small price per month, online workouts. Instructors include Amy Dixon, Petra Kolber, Jeffrey Scott and more. To me...these instructors are spreading the love of fitness for the love of fitness. 

get discounts on fitness gear - because you're an instructor!

http://www.adidas3si.com/

http://www.rykafit.com/

I'm a big fan of discounts, and especially because we go through fitness gear so much/fast/often, here are a couple of links that offer discounts for instructors.

MotionTraxx Workouts

http://www.motiontraxx.com/


When you want your own workout, check this out...free downloads.

BOSU - where to get cool ideas to add to your class

love finding new ideas for equipment we already have, and BOSU is great at coming up with new fun stuff. here's a few links/videos to help keep ideas flowing for you!

http://www.facebook.com/The.Official.BOSU.Fan.Page?sk=app_7146470109#!/The.Official.BOSU.Fan.Page

when you go to the link above, click on videos. they have a ton of video clips from conferences - ideas that you can maybe use in your classes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFwm4Z04dss&feature=player_embedded#at=107

another fun video to watch, can take pieces, i would think, that you can incorporate into a boot camp type class - just off the top of my head

http://www.youtube.com/user/bosufitness

BOSU fitness channel on youtube

Senior Playgrounds?!

saw some pics of "senior playgrounds" based out of london and HAD to share... what do you think about this?! Each picture has a link to where I found an article in relation to this.

Spotlight - Keli Roberts

another master fitness trainer who's been around for a while - Keli Roberts.

as quoted from her website:

"IT’S NOT WHAT YOU DO; IT’S HOW YOU DO IT!

Fitness goes far beyond just making you look good, it improves your health and well being, quality of life, self esteem and self concept. I believe fitness should be fun and enjoyable, something to look forward to and something that leaves you feeling satisfied and successful.

When I work with a client and design their program, I take into account the whole person, not just their body, but also their mind, spirit and sense of humor. I also believe that you don’t need to put in long hours to get results. I’m not one to waste time so every exercise I choose is goal specific, effective and efficient. Finally I know from experience that an exercise is only as good as how it’s being performed…It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it!"

you can also find her on facebook. check out her pages and info - she's inspirational and if you ever get a chance to take a class with keli, do NOT pass it up!

ACE Fitness YouTube Channel

ACE Fitness has a youtube channel that is good to check out every now and then for tips, tricks, safety/form cues and ideas to incorporate into your own workout.

Fitness Professionals to Know - Patrick Goudeau

There are a ton of fitness professionals out there - and the elite few master presenters who help us when we need to be inspired, gain a new insight or just get to get your own great workout. Patrick Goudeau is one of those master trainers i've been fortunate to meet myself. what i like about him is he's not only a great guy in person, he's an excellent instructor in a variety of formats and i believe can even be found "on demand" on tv. some places you can find patrick and get a few free tips/tricks is:

• at his website
• on his blog
• twitter
• facebook
• you can find a lot of youtube clips on PG

i'll try to post info about lots of different fitness professionals, so if you ever get a chance to go to a MANIA or IDEA or other huge fitness conference where they might be, you'll have a better idea who they are!

http://turnstep.com/

since even before i started teaching, www.turnstep.com has been a source for instructors to share choreography for not just step, but also hi/lo, boot camp, cycle, kickboxing, etc etc etc. it has it's pros and cons, but is still something to always keep bookmarked

PROS:

• has a library of all step moves and what they are called. this is important, because then a participant can go anywhere in the world and take a step class because the V step will always look like a V step and a turn step will always look like a turn step. so...know what step moves are called so if you ever have to teach a class, your participants can follow you with ease
• has a huge variety of class formats to pick and choose from
• is still being updated - maybe not as often, but considering it's been around for longer than 20 years (and you can tell by the way the design hasn't changed in over that long!) that's pretty amazing.
• do you have a fave combo you want to share? you CAN!

CONS:

• sometimes, the way people write their choreography is UNCLEAR and just a OMG??? moment. so...you cannot expect to just write some choreo down and think you can teach it in the next 30 min. you really do have to practice it to make sure it's appropriate, flows correctly and is understandable
• personally i wish the creators would have kept up with it more and progressed it to include not only step moves, but moves and examples in other formats. and i wish they would have changed the color of the page years ago as well...but it's functional!

Fitness Music Companies - and my opinions

Ok...so you think you want to purchase your own music, but not sure of where all you can go for appropriate music. Here's some links to companies i have used in the past along with my own opinions of each company.

power music - they were one of the first - i have stuff from power music from when i first started teaching - in cassette format! not original artists, and for a while, i couldn't handle their music because it wasn't even close, but they're getting better in making the music sound more like the original. i'm not especially fond of how they compile their music - i haven't found much lately that really draw me in, but that could just be me!

dynamix music - another first - i think they've gotten better quicker at making sound more real and have a better variety of all types of music. i am especially liking their top ten (at 45 now). we have 41 and 42 in our library and i LOVE them. i like how they usually come out with 2 at a time and one might be more top 100/pop and the other is more dance/club. - and they're promoting that in the near future, you will be able to pick your own favorite songs and have them turned into a fitness CD, so we'll see how quickly that comes about!

multitrax - one of my absolute faves. they're out of the UK and have original artists. there was some issue with them selling in the US, and I used to have to go through all kinds of loops to acquire them, but now it's a lot easier with an online system. my personal fave is to wait until they come out at the end of the year with a 3-CD Annual for either Step or Hi/Lo. That way, I get 3 CDs for the price of 2 - and the 3 CDs are organized where one is more "club", another is more "chart" and the other is more "pop" (i think that's how they categorize them!).

yes fitness - a newer company - also promoting that in the near future, you will be able to pick your own favorite songs and have them turned into a fitness CD, so we'll see how quickly that comes about! they have free music downloads - i've downloaded them and have them in our library. not my favorite company so far, but will keep my eyes and ears open to see what they keep producing. I have purchased a mashup mania 4 that i think is pretty fun and it's in our library for you as well.

move-ya - out of germany, with original artists - this site will sometimes rock my socks off, but it's very european, and doesn't always have a lot of what our audience will enjoy. it's more dance/club and most of the music is compiled and promoted by master presenters from around the world. checking out this site helped me discover that step was trying to progress into 3/4 step, which hasn't seemed to win over many people, but it's progressive. i tend to find one or two songs i really really like and try to find them elsewhere to use on cycle playlists.