Hi all - I hosted a Twitter for the Fitness business introduction webinar last week. I recorded it and posted it here for you to watch. Enjoy!
Download 2009-11-05 13.01 Marketing Workshop _ Twitter For Fitness Business
Recent Posts
- Twitter for the Fitness Business
- Visualizing Success
- Dangling The Carrot: Rewarding Healthy Behavior
- Celebrate Without The Weight
- Get Noticed
- Do's and Don't of Exercising When Sick
- Physical Activity Bill Guidelines Applauded from ACSM
- Training with Partial Repetitions
- Real Business Growth Takes Amazing Customer Service
- Flexibility the Forgotten Component of Fitness
Weblogs
November 10, 2009
September 15, 2009
NSCA Webinar
NSCA Webinar: Testing Essentials for
Strength & Conditioning Professionals.
Whether you need to accumulate continuing education units, want to keep up with the latest training methods or interested in current research findings, webinars are a convenient and cost effective approach to professional development. The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) is offering an interesting webinar on September 16, 2009: Testing Essentials for Strength & Conditioning Professionals.
This one-hour presentation will provide strength and conditioning professionals with the tools necessary to select, administer, and evaluate the tests used to increase athletic performance. Topics will include body composition, flexibility, muscular strength and endurance, power, agility, and running speed, as well as sport specific assessment. This presentation sounds like a must for professionals working with a sport specific population or interested in strength and conditioning assessments.
Presenter: Frank Spaniol, Ed.D., CSCS, *D, FNSCA.
According to the biography provided on the NSCA website, Frank Spaniol is a Professor of Kinesiology at Texas A & M University where he instructs testing and measurements and research design, as well as directs the biomechanics laboratory. Between the years 1989 and 1995, Doctor Spaniol served as Head Baseball Coach at Morehead State University and currently chairs the Executive Council of the NSCA Baseball SIG. His research interest is in sport performance and he is noted for numerous publications and presentations in this area.
For more information about this webinar
check out the NSCA website at: https://nsca.webex.com/
Karen Moreno, MA Candidacy Kinesiology/Exercise Physiology
BA Social Science/Education
September 01, 2009
Client Retention - Keep 'em Coming Back!
Client Retention:
Three Reasons Clients Keep Coming Back
During a recent conversation with
a client, she described her pervious experience and dissatisfaction
with personal trainers. She recounted how the trainers would put her
on a treadmill and walk away to converse with their friends. When she
expressed discomfort or mentioned an aliment, she felt her concerns
were ignored or not taken seriously, and frequently she was put through
a workout that made her feel sick, inadequate and sore for days afterword.
Unfortunately, she is not the first client to share these or similar
experiences with me.
There are three things I consistently hear from clients about why they keep coming back: their concerns are listened to and taken seriously, they have the trainers complete attention throughout the session, and they feel challenged yet successful with the activities.
1) Listening to Client Concerns
- just before your client session begins, you review the file and plan
the workout based on the client’s goals and the pervious training
sessions, however your client is sleep deprived from a business trip
and experiencing some low back discomfort.
Previous Experience
According to several clients I have spoken with, the trainer would nod or worse ignore the client and proceed with the planned workout. The trainer did not consider if the planned activity was too demanding or met the client’s current needs for that session.
Client Retention Experience
Using active listening skills,
the trainer makes eye contact and nod empathically while listening to
the client’s concerns. This would be followed with the trainer summarizing
what the client said and an opportunity for the client to clarify and
elaborate on certain points. After the client has completely finished,
the trainer might say “based on what you are telling me, I would
like to focus on some low impact aerobic training and flexibility exercises
today. How does that sound to you?”
Two situations occur with this type of response; 1) the client feels
they have heard, understood and taken seriously, and 2) the client is
part of the process and their input to the session is valued.
2) Attention on the Client – You greet your client and walk them over to the treadmill and suggest a 5 to 10 minute warm-up, or use the last 15-20 minute of a session for aerobic training on the treadmill.
Previous Experience
More than one client has mentioned being put on the treadmill while the trainer walks away to chat with colleagues. The clients experience is that the trainer is bored and doesn’t truly care about them.
Client Retention Experience
Warm up activities are a great opportunity to find out how the client is feeling, what issues or concerns they may be dealing with and how their goals are progressing. End of the session endurance training is a great time to check in with the client about how they thought the session went, where they felt strongest and where they would like to improve. Many times short-term goals can be derived from this type of discussion, which can be used to increase the client’s motivation while working toward long- term goals.
3) Feeling Challenged and Successful – feeling exhilarated and empowered after successfully meeting a physical challenge motivates clients to do more. However, feeling incompetent and beaten down usually results in the client dreading each session and eventually quitting.
Previous Experience
I recall one client recounting how she felt the trainer was disappointed with her because she was not capable of the executing the exercises correctly. The sessions became increasingly brutal and she left each session feeling defeated and sore for days.
Client Retention Experience
Understanding each clients strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes will go along way in developing an appropriate exercise program with adequate challenge and proper progression. A fitness assessment is one method to gain this information. Not only can fitness assessments be used to develop an appropriate training program, but can also be used to establish goals and chart progress. Hyperstrike offers the FITScore tool for a general assessment of your clients’ current fitness level.
To increase client retention,
focus on the client experience during each session through these three
key ideas; listening, focused attention, and success.
Karen Moreno, MA Candidacy Kinesiology/Exercise Physiology
BA Social Science/Education
August 20, 2009
August 18, 2009
Three Core Skills of Wellness Coaching
Wellness coaching is a rewarding and
challenging skill to develop. In the role of fitness trainer, we give
advice, make suggestions, and provide solutions concerning the mechanics
of movement and physiological adaptations of exercise, as well as techniques
for skill acquisition and improved exercise performance. However, the
key to being a great wellness coach is to listen, inquire
and reflect. According to Moore and Tschannen-Moran (2010), these
three skills are the core of coaching.
1)
Mindful listening asks the wellness coach to be completely present
in the moment and give undivided attention, without judgment, to what
the client is saying. According to Moore and Tschannen-Moran the motto
of a great coach is “listen until I don’t exist.” The skill
of mindful listening requires that we set aside our own ideas for the
plan of action and focus on the client’s agenda. This can be challenging
for those of us use to designing exercise prescription. When a client
comes to you with movement issues the first thing we do is to analyze
the situation and provide a solution, however the goal of wellness coaching
is to allow the client to find their own solution.
How does the client know I am listening?
Applying the five
key elements of active listening
will let your client know that you are completing engaged in listening
to what they have to say. The purpose of mindful listening is to allow
the client to tell their stories, and in the process reveal their experiences,
values, feelings, challenges and goals. Periodical summarize what the
client has said provides an opportunity to clarify meaning, encourage
deeper thinking, and promote open communication. Moore and Tschannen-Moran
have provided the following five tips for mindful listening.
Quick tips for mindful listening
- Do not interrupt or plan your respond until your client has completely finished speaking.
- Create silence and pause between your client’s thoughts and your response.
- Use the client’s last words to begin open-ended inquiry.
- Use the client’s story for perceptive reflections.
- Listen for emotions.
- Reflect back to client what you have perceived whenever possible.
2)
Open-ended Inquiry prompts the client to elaborate and elicits more
of their story. This is contrary to closed ended questions which elicit
short, usually yes or no, responses that halt deeper communication.
Examples:
Closed Ended Questions
Do you like to exercise?
When did you exercise last week?
Have you heard about the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables?
Open Ended Questions
What do you enjoy most about exercising?
How did things go with your exercise last week?
What have you heard about the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables?
According to Moore and Tschanned-Moran, “What” and “how” questions encourage more elaboration and are the key to great coaching, where as “why” questions can be more challenging. For example the question, “why didn’t you exercise last week?” asks for some type of analysis and may stimulate resistance or even be perceived as judgmental. However, if properly used, “why” questions can also help gain deeper insight. For example, “why do these goals deeply matter to you?”
3) Perception reflection provides an opportunity for clients to hear what they are saying from the perspective of another person. The purpose is for the wellness coach to elicit statements of change from the client. Rather than the coach providing the rational for making the change, the client is encouraged to present his or her own case for change. In Motivational Interviewing this is referred to as eliciting “change talk.” The researcher’s that developed Motivational Interviewing have found greater progress moving toward behavioral change adoption when the client provides the reasons for change rather than the coach. The job of the coach is to use perception reflection to identify “change talk” and make the prospect of change sound positive, rewarding, and inviting.
Skill acquisition requires practice,
practice and more practice. This coming weekend I’m going to a party and I plan to change
all close ended-questions to open ending questions, employ active listen
skills and use pauses before responding. I am looking forward to the
opportunity to practice valuable skills and elicit deeper communication
throughout the evening.
Karen Moreno, MA Candidacy Kinesiology/Exercise Physiology
BA Social Science/Education
Co-Founder Fitness In Action
Reference:
Moore, M., & Tschannen0Morean, B. 2010. Coaching psychology manual. In E. Lupash (ED.), Coaching
relationship
skills (pp. 22-24). Baltimore, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
August 05, 2009
Muscle Fatique - Is it all in our Heads?
Contributed by Kareno Moreno
Muscle Fatigue
Is It All In Our Heads?
I recently read an article in The New York Times Magazine discussing the findings from a study out of England that examined the effects of rinsing your mouth with a carbohydrate sports drink on muscle fatigue. The results suggested the observed improvements in exercise performance when carbohydrate was present in the mouth maybe related to the activation of brain regions associated with reward and motor control. Could improved exercise performance be a matter of stimulating specific regions of our brains? Intrigued by the article, I found the published study in The Journal of Physiology.
Basic Outline of the Study
Researchers Chambers, Bridge and Jones (2009) conducted a two-part study exploring the possibility of central nervous system response to carbohydrates on exercise performance without a peripheral metabolic response. Eight male cyclists regularly involved in endurance training completed one hour time trails where they were given artificially sweetened solutions containing either glucose, maltodextrin or a placebo to rinse around their months at regular intervals. Each athlete completed the trails separately with minimal contact with the investigator to reduce external effects on performance. All the athletes participated in an over night fast and each time trail was separated by 3 rest days to reduce the effects of prior nutrition and fatigue.
The second part of the study was
to determine what, if any, effects of oral rinsing of the carbohydrate
solutions had on the brain. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
was used to identify the regions of the brain activated by each of the
three solutions. This portion of the study was independent of the time
trails and the proportions of glucose and maltodextrin were three times
greater than those used during the exercise performance. This is a limitation
of the study and raises the question of whether the lower doses used
during the time trails would activate the same regions of the brain
as the higher doses. However, the amounts were chosen to replicate as
well as provide comparison with previous glucose studies. The researchers
also pointed out that the fMRI was conducted during rest and the possibility
of exercise induced changes in the body, such as hyperthermia, could
alter the brains response to the carbohydrate solution. It was noted
that replicating the time trails inside the fMRI would be extremely
difficult and the head movement would alter the readings. However, it
would be interesting to see what images resulted during and immediately
following the time trail. Both saccharin and aspartame were used as
artificial sweeteners during the exercise, however only the effects
of saccharin was observed with fMRI. The researchers suggested the only
way this could invalidate their findings was if aspartame activated
similar brain regions as the glucose and maltodextrin, which was considered
unlikely. Over all this was a strong randomized, counterbalanced, double
blind study, which was carefully designed and easily reproducible.
The Results
The results from the time trails
confirmed findings by Carter et al. (2004a), which found a 2.9% performance
improvement using non-sweet maltodextrin solution compared with a plain
water placebo. Chambers, Bridge and Jones (2009) reported a 2% reduction
in completion time with an increase in mean power output with the artificially
sweetened glucose solution compared to the placebo and a 3.1% increase
with the artificially sweetened maltodextrin solution. The fMRI showed
that both the glucose and maltodextrin activated a variety of regions
in the brain, which may be associated with reward and the regulation
of motor activity, that were not activated with the saccharin solution.
Researchers Conclusions
The researchers concluded that
rinsing the month with non-sweetened and sweetened carbohydrate improved
simulated one-hour trail performance. The possible mechanism for this
observed improvement is the various regions of the brain associated
with reward and motor control activated by the carbohydrate. It was
also suggested that the findings support the existence of receptors
in the mouth that are sensitive to carbohydrate regardless of sweetness.
This, of course, requires further investigations.
Implications of the Study
Muscular fatigue has been explained through peripheral metabolic responses to intense exercise, such as the depletion of energy sources, and the accumulation of lactate and hydrogen ions. This study suggests the brain plays a greater role in motor activity and fatigue and may change the way we approach exercise performance.
To read the published research, check out the link below.
Chambers, E.S., Bridge, M.W., and Jones, D.A. (2009) Carbohydrate sensing in the human month:
effects on exercise performance and brain activity. The Journal of Physiology, 587, 8,
1779-1794.
Retrieved August 3, 2009 http://jp.physoc.org/content/
July 24, 2009
HyperStrikePro Club Admin Online Trainer Demo
We just recorded a live demo of our Club Admin Features for our Online Personal training and Nutrition. Check it out here: Download 2009-07-24 12.45 Club Admin Demo
July 23, 2009
The Personal Health Investment Act by Karen Moreno
Financial Incentive To Be More Physically Active
H.R. 2105, The Personal Health Investment Today Act of 2009
Washington is taking a positive step toward reinforcing the importance of physical activity on the health and well-being of Americans. On April 27, 2009 H.R. 2105 was referred to the House committee. If passed, the bill would amend the Internal Revenue Tax Code of 1986 and allow pre-tax medical accounts, such as medical spending accounts (MSAs) or flexible spending accounts (FSAs), to be used for qualified fitness memberships, physical exercise programs, and exercise equipment.
The Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) act would allow taxpayers to place an annual sum of up to $1000 for individuals and $2000 for families in existing pre-tax medical accounts. The intention is that lower activity costs will promote more active lifestyle and improve the health of Americans.
Although I am a big proponent of disease prevention and physical activity, I wonder if this financial incentive is enough to motivate people to adopt a more active lifestyle. How many pieces of home exercise equipment are used as clothing hangers or stored in the garage or the guest room/den/crafts room? How many people have gym memberships but only use them in January or May? How many people have access to corporate wellness facilitates, however never seem to find the time to participate? And here is the big question, what about the people who don’t have or cannot afford health insurance or medical savings plans. How do they gain access to affordable resources for improved health through physical activity? As health and fitness professionals we understand the complexity of the issues surrounding making physical activity a priority, and I wonder if this bill is really addressing the issues surrounding the American people’s motivation to be physical active. My purpose here is not to solve the problem, but to ask questions and start the discussion.
To read more about this bill check out http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-2105
July 22, 2009
Goal Mapping - check out demo
Just recorded a brief demo of our goal mapping software we just launched called Goalster. You share your goals with friends and they all help you reach your potential together. You can post results to Twitter and Facebook too.
Check it out here:
Download 2009-07-22 12.14 Meet Now
July 20, 2009
Building Client Relationships Through Listening by Karen Moreno
As health and fitness professionals
we have invested valuable time and money in our education and credentials
to provide the best service to our clients. However, how much time have
we invested in listening? Listening is one of the most important skills
we can develop. How well we listen can effective our job performance
and the relationships we build with our clients.
Through listening, I was able
to strengthen our relationship and build trust…
A favorite, and most challenging client of mine would start each weekly session with a list of concerns. Instead of ignoring her comments or addressing them with pat responses and off handed remarks, I would make eye contact, nod sympathetically, and paraphrase what I understood her to say. Then I took time to ask some very specific questions. At this point my client felt that her concerns were being taken seriously and I gained valuable information. Through listening, I was able to strengthen our relationship and build trust, which resulted in her being open and responsive to discussions and trying more challenging activities.
We remember only 25-50% of what we hear.
According to the Mind Tools website, we remember only 25-50% of what we hear. That means only 2 1/2 – 5 minutes of a 10 minutes conversation is being heard, and important information could be missed. Developing good listening skills takes time, practice and a lot of concentration. However, the dedication put into becoming a better communicator through active listening will be rewarded with greater client relationships. Here are five key elements for active listening to get you started.
Five Key Elements for Active Listening
- Pay attention – look directly at the speaker and give them your full attention. Watch for their body language and be aware of the unspoken message. Avoid being distracted by mental and environmental factors, and don’t mentally prepare your response during the communication.
- Show that you are listening - use gestures such as nodding and facial expressions to convey that you are listening. Keep your body language open, positive and inviting. Crossed arms and legs are perceived as guarded or defensive body language.
- Provide feedback – providing feedback should be viewed as an opportunity to clarify what we are hearing by paraphrasing the message, asking questions to verify our understanding, and periodically summarizing the speaker’s comments. Allow the speaker to finish and don’t interrupt with counterarguments. Counterarguments at this point of the discussion will only frustrate both you and the speaker.
- Defer judgment – our own personal beliefs, assumptions and judgments can distort the speaker’s message and should be suspended. Remember the purpose of active listening is to understand what is being communicated and build a respectful and trusting relationship.
- Respond appropriately – before responding, make sure you completely understand the message being communicated. Form your response to be respectful and convey understanding. Be candid, open and honest in your responses and use respect when asserting your opinions. This will go along way in generating good communication and a strong relationship between you and your client.
For more information and tips on Active
Listening check out http://www.mindtools.com/
Karen Moreno MA Candidacy Kinesiology/Exercise Physiology
BA Social Science/Education
Co-Founder Fitness In Action
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