Personal Training

How to run a Bootcamp Whether you work full time in another industry, or work full time as a personal trainer, bootcamps are a great time-efficient way to engage a large group of clients, and earn an additional income. Outdoor services, such as bootcamps, account for 30% of the fitness market as many clients would rather exercise outdoors than in a gym. After all, what is better than watching the sun rise as you work out in the morning? So what sort of things should you consider when setting up a bootcamp? Here are some ideas to get you started: Setup Costs Compared to working self-employed in a gym, where you would pay a rent to hire out the facilities, the costs of using a local park or sports ground can be relatively cheap. If you plan to conduct your sessions in a local park, speak to the local council as you may need a permit. The costs of a permit vary massively across Australia – in some regions you may just need to notify the council (for free), compared to other popular locations, such as Bondi, where personal trainers are charged for each group session they run. Sports ovals are also great places to consider, as local clubs may be happy to hire out their grounds which would otherwise be empty most of the day. There may also be additional benefits–such as parking, or even changing facilities, toilets and showers at the club, which your clients may be able to use. As an outdoor activity, you don’t need a huge amount of equipment to get started. One of the big attractions of bootcamps is being outside, so make the most of it! Hills, steps, bollards and parkland make for a great obstacle course that you can adapt and use in your programs. Depending on the goals of your clients, you can simply add a few kettlebells, medicine balls, battle ropes or even boxing pads to your sessions to make them more interesting and varied. Using a circuit style class will mean you only need one or two pieces of equipment, and as you grow you can add more and more equipment. Just make sure you have room in your car! Marketing – how are you going to get clients to your bootcamps? You may already be an established personal trainer with your own website and social media accounts, but if you’re not, there are strategies you can implement to advertise your business online. If you need more help, our Online Marketing for Personal Trainers course is a great way to get started. Along with that, what can you specifically do for a bootcamp? As an outdoor location, you and your clients will often be exposed to others—runners, commuters, dog walkers etc. who may be curious to what you’re doing and what you can offer. It is definitely worth investing in a popup banner / flag which shows your business name, and even having a few flyers ready to hand out to interested passers-by. You can also look to target specific markets; are there local sports teams that want to run a fitness session around their sport-specific training, or are there local community groups that would like to exercise and socialise together? Perhaps a local business might want to implement a morning bootcamp for their employees to get them fired up for the day ahead. Bootcamp Location and Times Just like with a gym, clients will want to exercise at a location convenient for them, so you have a think about what clients you are looking to target as to where you setup your bootcamp. Are you looking to target city commuters? Then perhaps look to run your bootcamp in a city park where clients can train before or after work. Are you looking to target stay at home mums? Then perhaps look to run your bootcamps in a location close to a childcare facility or school. In regards to time, if you are targeting commuters, then perhaps look to run your sessions early in the morning, taking into account that your clients will need time to shower and change into their work clothes. And for evening sessions, aim for around 6pm, so they can attend on their way home. If you are looking to target other markets, find out when are they available and what times they would be able to commit to. Exposure is the key – if at all possible, try and run your bootcamp in a location that is visible to new potential customers. After all, if they see a great, engaging class, they might want to get involved. Remember though, some of your clients may not feel comfortable exercising in an area with too many people watching. Weather conditions are also a factor any time you exercise outdoors. In the winter months the sun may not have risen or may have set by the time you start your session, so finding an area with street lighting is highly recommended. A sports ground with lighting you can use would be a great choice. If at all possible have a backup for when it is raining; depending on your clients, they may want to grind out the session in any weather, but more likely they’d like to find cover, so being close to a shelter or roof can enable exercise under cover when it is really bad. Costs The average bootcamp session can cost a client anywhere from $10 to $30 per session, so choose your market carefully. If you are planning to run one session a week, it may be best to charge per session, but if you are able to run 2 or more sessions a week consider charging a weekly fee for clients to attend. This way you can try and build a regular routine with your clients to help grow your attendance. The more invested someone is, the more likely they are to attend. For just an hour of your time, bootcamps

Suspension Training: The advantages and disadvantages As a fitness course provider, it is vital that we are keeping up to date with the latest industry trends. One of the more popular trends over the last decade has been the introduction of suspension training. Suspension training is considered a resistance based training method involving a system of ropes, straps and handles to allow the user to work against their own bodyweight. Some of the brands associated to suspension training devices include TRX and CrankIt, both of which have their own advantages and disadvantages. In my experience, both devices work well and will be more than capable of providing clients with an engaging, enjoyable, yet challenging training session. From the Personal Trainer point of view, one of the great advantages of utilising suspension training devices is that they are a portable piece of equipment which can be adapted to almost all training scenarios. If you are a PT who works within the gym environment you can quite easily anchor them from many exercise machines. In addition to this, if you are a PT who works outdoors they have the flexibility of being able to be anchored from trees, playground equipment, light poles or goal posts. Essentially wherever you run your sessions, there will no doubt be an option available to utilise suspension training methods. Beyond this, suspension training methods also allow the Personal Trainer to program for many different forms of basic resistance exercises including; squats, push ups, pull ups,  and the plank as well as more complex movements such as squats jumps, lunge jumps, the pike and the standing dive just to name a few. If you’re looking to include some cardiovascular exercises into the program then the suspension training device can also help with exercises such as sprinters and mountain climbers. All in all suspension training should be considered is an excellent, versatile tool for all Personal Trainers. From the clients point of view this training method has many advantages. One of these advantages is the development of functional strength. Functional strength, is that considered to be important to activities of daily life and is best demonstrated in suspension training through the ability to move in multiple planes. As human beings we are not robots, we do not only move forwards and backwards, we also have the capacity to move side to side and rotate. Suspension training exercises allow you to move through each of these phases individually and in some cases more than one plane at a time. Look up the rotational pull! Another advantage includes greater amounts of core activation and stability due to the fact that these exercises are unsupported and the core muscles need to be activated to protect the lower back. This increased activation of stabiliser muscles around the core as well as at other joints such as the shoulder and hip may also assist with the prevention of injury. On the negative side, suspension training exercises, due to their unsupported nature can be quite complex and not always the first choice for beginners to resistance training. The following considerations should be made when working with suspension training devices. These include; breathing, tension in the straps and positioning of the body. Clients are encouraged to focus on breathing technique during each exercise. It is recommended that the client breathe in through the nose during the relaxation phase and breath out through the mouth on the exertion phase. Tension should be maintained in the straps at all times throughout the exercise to avoid injury and the client should look to avoid rounding of the lower back and hunching of the shoulders at all times. Suspension training opens up a huge array of exercises and uses to a personal trainer. If you’d like to know more, we offer both an online and face-to-face course on the subject, aptly named Suspension Training for Personal Trainers. You can find out more by visiting our workshops page. The post Suspension Training: The advantages and disadvantages appeared first on Australian Fitness Academy. As a fitness course provider, it is vital that we are keeping up to date with the latest industry trends. One of the more popular trends over the last decade has been the introduction of suspension training. Suspension training is considered a resistance based training method involving a system of ropes, straps and handles to […] The post Suspension Training: The advantages and disadvantages appeared first on Australian Fitness Academy. khore{authorlink}https://www.fitnesseducation.edu.au/blog/personal-training/suspension-training-the-advantages-and-disadvantages/Australian Fitness Academy Training tomorrow’s fitness leaders… https://www.fitnesseducation.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/favicon-1.png

How to Push Up: Proper Bodyweight Push Up Technique A bodyweight push up is one of the most effective functional exercises to enhance our upper body strength, and the best part is, you can do it anywhere. However, it can be a difficult exercise to master, as keeping that neutral spine throughout can be a challenge for most when developing a proper push up technique. Starting Position: The best way to start your push up is to make sure that you get the exact position required. To do this, lie on your stomach and place your hands directly under your arm pits. From here, move your hands away from your body by exactly one hand—this will give you a good base start position. Coming up onto your toes: You should try to imagine that you have a broom stick on your back, and that your head, upper thoracic (upper back) and top of the pelvis are all touching the broom stick with only a slight gap at your lumbar spine. This will give you your neutral spine, and will keep your arms directly in line with your shoulders. Push Up Teaching Points Begin in prone position on the floor with your arms slightly wider than shoulder width Arms should be directly under the shoulder with soft elbows Body in neutral position with even balance throughout both hands and toes Concentric Phase – pushing through the palm of the hands and keeping neutral position. Contact the chest muscles and straighten the arms Breathing out during the concentric phase Eccentric phase – slowly lower your body by bending through the elbows and keeping neutral alignment until your chest is almost at the floor Breathing in as you come down Common Errors Placing the arms forwards in line with the head rather than the shoulders, causing a weaker stance and putting a lot of pressure on the shoulders Loosing alignment of neutral spine – increased lumber lordosis (sagging bum downwards) increased thoracic kyphosis (arching of the middle of the back) Not moving through the elbows or bringing the chest to the ground, cause the neck to go forwards Push Up Variations Knee Push Up – same technique however on knees rather than toes. Wall Push up – Use a wall as the base rather than on the ground. Decline Push Up – Placing toes on a bench and hands on the ground. Bosu Push Up – Placing your hands on a Bosu. Push Up Clap – Plyometric movement adding in a clap when coming up through the concentric phase.   By taking one of our fitness courses, you’ll be able to learn a wide array of exercise techniques and a whole lot more!   What is a body weight push up? A push up using no additional weights or equipment – just the weight of your body What are some tips for doing a push up? 1) Lie on your stomach and place your hands under your arm pits. 2) Move your hands away from your body by exactly one hand 3) Try to image you have a broom stick on your back to keep a neutral spine What are some push up variations? Knees – push up but rest some weight on your knees Wall push up – use a wall instead of the ground Decline – Place toes on a bench and hands on the ground Bosu – Place hands on a Bosu Push up clap – clap your hands through the concentric phase of the push up The post How to Push Up: Proper Bodyweight Push Up Technique appeared first on Australian Fitness Academy. A bodyweight push up is one of the most effective functional exercises to enhance our upper body strength, and the best part is, you can do it anywhere. However, it can be a difficult exercise to master, as keeping that neutral spine throughout can be a challenge for most when developing a proper push up […] The post How to Push Up: Proper Bodyweight Push Up Technique appeared first on Australian Fitness Academy. khore{authorlink}https://www.fitnesseducation.edu.au/blog/personal-training/how-to-push-up-proper-bodyweight-push-up-technique/Australian Fitness Academy Training tomorrow’s fitness leaders… https://www.fitnesseducation.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/favicon-1.png

Start rounding up new Personal Training clients Are you a newly qualified Personal Trainer? Are you an experienced Personal Trainer with some space for new clients? Do you want some more new clients? Do you want to start a new bootcamp? If you answered yes to any of those questions, now is the perfect time of the year to put some extra effort into signing up new clients. For many people, the new year includes resolutions to become fitter and healthier. In order to make this resolution a reality, they’ll need your help – though they may not know it! You have to convince them that you are the person that can make it happen. We suggest you adopt the following techniques in marketing material, on social media, or when talking face to face or over the phone. 1. A reminder of past years No doubt this will not be the first time many potential personal training clients have tried to make getting healthy a new year’s resolution. Subtly remind them that in order to be successful in their new healthier self, they will need a personal trainer, and that personal trainer is you 2. Promote your success stories Before and after photos work great, as it shows your success in the past. You can also write or talk about your own personal journey to fitness and how you required a PT, or talk about how you’ve changed a friend’s life for the healthier. Using real stories is a great way to prove your credentials and convince people to use you as their personal trainer. 3. Call past clients Now might be the best time of the year to call any clients you used to work with that gave up at some point. They might have made that commitment to start again, and this time they mean it. Encourage them to come back to you as a personal training client. Make the call personal, and remind them of the progress they were making and the success you could achieve together. 4. Talk to local businesses Exercising in the morning is a great way to wake the body and get the endorphins firing. This is great for work morale and efficiency. Therefore, convincing local businesses that this is a relatively cheap way to improve their staffs’ work rate and happiness is quite easy. By hosting a bootcamp for the company, they can pay you $200 for the hour. If 20 of their staff participate, that’s merely $10 a head for that local business, and an extra $200 for you. You also have the opportunity to make some of the staff more permanent clients. 5. Send out emails Use email marketing to blast persuasive emails to every email address you can get your hands on. This is a low effort way to bring in more clients that you may not have spoken to because you didn’t have time. It’s also a great way to warm up your leads before calling them. 6. Use social media advertising With social media advertising you can set the ads to only be shown to a very specific audience, those who may be interested in becoming your personal training client. The level of specificity is huge, you can go right down to people who live near to you, and have a specific interest, such as weight loss or muscle gain. You then create specific ads to advertise to these segments. For example, to those wanting to lose weight, advertise your ability to help them with that. There are many ways to build up your client list, and putting some effort into that aspect of your business at this time of the year will reap greater rewards. Anything you have tried in the past that has had success, do it again now with extra effort. If you’re not yet a personal trainer but want to become one, check out our Personal Trainer Course, and start your journey towards a healthier and more fulfilling career. The post Start rounding up new Personal Training clients appeared first on Australian Fitness Academy. Are you a newly qualified Personal Trainer? Are you an experienced Personal Trainer with some space for new clients? Do you want some more new clients? Do you want to start a new bootcamp? If you answered yes to any of those questions, now is the perfect time of the year to put some extra […] The post Start rounding up new Personal Training clients appeared first on Australian Fitness Academy. khore{authorlink}https://www.fitnesseducation.edu.au/blog/personal-training/start-rounding-up-new-personal-training-clients/Australian Fitness Academy Training tomorrow’s fitness leaders… https://www.fitnesseducation.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/favicon-1.png

Strength training for women over 50 “It’s as critical to your health as mammograms and annual doctor visits.” – Holly Perkins, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist What is strength training? Strength training (also called resistance training or weight training) involves applying resistance to muscular contraction to build your muscle strength and endurance, using free weights, weight machines, resistance bands or even your own body weight. An effective program will have you progressively increase the weights as you become stronger, so that your muscle strength gradually improves. The benefits of strength training for women after 50 You are never too old to gain muscle strength. Strength training has mental and physical benefits for people of all ages. The documented benefits of training with weights after turning 50, include: Impact of strength training Personal benefits Improved posture, mobility, flexibility and balance Makes you less likely to fall Supports your physical independence Allows you to fully participate in the activities of daily living Improved muscle strength and tone Protects your joints from injury Increased muscle-to-fat ratio Helps you to manage your weight Prevention/improvement of chronic conditions Helps you to manage your symptoms of diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis and depression Increased bone density and strength Reduces your risk of osteoporosis Improved sleep Helps you to avoid insomnia Increased confidence and self-esteem Makes you feel better about yourself Key health concerns for training over 50 Most women reach menopause between the ages of 45 and 55. For some women, the effects of menopause can significantly disrupt their daily activities and sense of well-being. Associated with menopause are increased risks of osteoporosis (bone thinning) and cardiovascular disease, even in women without any previous significant history. Women lose lean mass tissue at the rate of 5% per decade from their 30s, and will generally find they gain more belly fat after turning 50.   Setting up a strength training program for women over 50 Implementing a pre-exercise screening tool It is important that a pre-screening assessment is undertaken, especially for those new to fitness training and for older adults. A screening process will help to identify those women over 50 with medical conditions who may be at greater risk when exercising. AUSActive advocates the use of a pre-exercise screening tool and strongly advise you to consult with health professionals before starting a new fitness program. 2. Determining baseline fitness assessment Older adults should take a baseline fitness assessment to determine their current exercise tolerance and to define their limits. If it is to be effective, a strength training program should be properly matched to the individual, with exercises prescribed at the intensity, frequency, and duration that the person can perform. 3. Designing a program The Australian Government’s Department of Health has released Australian Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines. The recommendations for older adults include light strength training 2 to 3 times a week, using exercises to work all the major muscle groups of your body (i.e., legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders and arms). It is important for older adults to apply only low levels of impact on the muscles to avoid injuries. Elastic band exercises, for example, are ideal. 4. Starting strength training Take time to learn the skills and correct techniques for exercising and lifting weights. Develop awareness of how to exercise safely. This will be very important for reducing your risk of injury and making your program effective. A typical beginner’s program will involve 8 to 10 exercises across the body’s major muscle groups in 2 to 3 sessions per week. The average amount of repetitions for each exercise is usually 8 to 12. There is a range of strength exercises available for you to work into your program. Be guided by your fitness instructor. Good instruction will advise you on why you are doing each exercise and learn how to do each exercise properly. For example, check out Holly Perkins’ 10 best strength-training moves for women over 50 (5)— along with her explanations about what makes each one so vital. 5. Monitoring progress It is important to maintain a strength training program that results in muscle gains. Sometimes, a doctor or health care provider neglects to emphasise this. Under-dosed strength training programs are relatively ineffective and should be avoided. Instead, your program should have a goal of increased strength as compared to your original baseline measurements. The aim is to maintain good technique and use a resistant force/weight that will challenge you. Regular adjustments to the training variables (frequency, duration, sets and repetitions) will make you progress and improve.   Tailoring a program for women over 50 Foster a safe and supportive environment Provide opportunities to socialise (e.g., over a cup of coffee after each session) Allow time for muscle recovery between sessions – at least 48 hours is usually required. Integrate cross-training with strength training, to support cardiovascular and aerobic development. Provide ongoing education, training and monitoring of skills and techniques for performing strength exercises effectively and safely.   If you’re interested in taking the first step towards a fitness career, check out our Personal Training Course. The post Strength training for women over 50 appeared first on Australian Fitness Academy. “It’s as critical to your health as mammograms and annual doctor visits.” – Holly Perkins, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist What is strength training? Strength training (also called resistance training or weight training) involves applying resistance to muscular contraction to build your muscle strength and endurance, using free weights, weight machines, resistance bands or even […] The post Strength training for women over 50 appeared first on Australian Fitness Academy. khore{authorlink}https://www.fitnesseducation.edu.au/blog/personal-training/strength-training-for-women-over-50/Australian Fitness Academy Training tomorrow’s fitness leaders… https://www.fitnesseducation.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/favicon-1.png