Sessions from 2007 IDEA Personal Trainer Institute™ DVDs

All factors considered, everyday consumers, who can potentially be or who are actually utilizing the services of a fitness professional, are becoming better educated. In the process, they are better able to assess their own needs and discern substance from hype. Journey to Success: How to Sell Without Selling! explains how easy it is for personal trainers to master the art of building relationships and sell without really selling—so much so that their clients might actually be “happy” about spending their hard-earned money on fitness services.

As the fitness industry evolves, more trainers are breaking away from the safety net of being employed and venturing out into the world of entrepreneurship. Making the decision to go out on their own is the easy part! From developing a solid business plan to creating a successful marketing strategy and brand, much more needs to be learned.

By observing a movement actively, passively, toward gravity, away from gravity, with different lever length, and other changing variables, fitness professionals can get a better idea of precisely what their clients need. The Never-Ending Looking Glass of Movement examines three different movement patterns performed in numerous ways, and details a specific thought process that fitness professionals can utilize to better identify the possible missing links in their clients’ progress.

Periodization has been used to help optimize training responses in athletes for decades. Featuring a hands-on demonstration, Periodization for Everyone links the scientific to the practical and explains how fitness professionals can apply this powerful tool to provide maximal benefits and functional improvement for their clients, regardless of their age or fitness level.

Expanding business and income options demands creativity. Partner and small group training is not only an efficient way for personal trainers to increase their income, it can attract potential clients who might otherwise not have been attracted to private personal training.

Getting Serious About Functional Training reviews the concepts underlying functional training and explains why they pose challenges for many traditional training methods. The DVD explores why “posture first” training helps address compensation and mobility issues before performance and offers a hands-on approach to integrated multijoint training that identifies ideal movement speeds.

Adhering to sound nutritional practices is an essential part of any well-considered fitness program. Unfortunately, some fitness professionals are confused about how much and what types of nutrition information they should give to their clients. Scope of Practice…Where Fitness Ends and Nutrition Begins discusses what a proper scope of practice involves and provides practical tips to help fitness professionals educate their clients about healthy eating, while staying within their professional boundaries.

Pricing Your Services offers a thought-provoking discussion from three renowned fitness professionals (Nicki Anderson, Darren Jacobson, and Tony Tamules), who address many of the issues that face owners, general managers, fitness managers, and trainers when it comes to pricing training services. The DVD covers a variety of key factors involved in pricing training services, including discounting, multilevel-tier systems,  handling member objections, building in value, and setting staff up to succeed.

Why does an exercise work for some people and not for others? Force and the Nervous System: You Have a Lot of Nerve answers this and other questions in order to help fitness professionals to get more from the training techniques and regimens that they currently employ. The DVD also explores how the nervous system orchestrates muscular contraction and how it interacts with the immune system to affect the strength of contractile tissue.

TRX® Suspension Training Techniques for Functional Strength, Core Conditioning, and Flexibility reviews why some of the most accomplished athletes in the world are using this new and effective training modality to help improve their performance. The DVD explains the basics behind suspension training and offers solutions for anchoring the unit, as well as new exercises for every skill level.

Are Your Warm-Ups Hitting the Mark? explains how kinesthetic awareness, proper body alignment, symmetrical ranges of motion, and teaching the body to be resilient to vertical (gravity) loading are all commonly ignored qualities of the active dynamic warm-up, and how, if cued correctly and consistently, they can make a dramatic improvement in the performance of athletes.

One of the best ways to bring people through the door of personal trainers is through TOMA: Top of Mind Awareness. When people in your community think of personal trainers, do they think of you? If not, you need to get the word out by establishing TOMA for your business! TOMA—Marketing Magic for Your Small Business takes you step-by-step through the process of developing TOMA, so you can get and retain the business success you deserve.

Stretching “Sole-utions” for the Upper and Lower Body explains how using small equipment can enable participants to experience a comprehensive approach to improved mobility. The DVD teaches fitness professionals how to release soft tissue and stiff joints, as well as details techniques to mobilize the spine.

The Training and Coaching Partnership provides an overview of the emerging field of wellness coaching, and how it can help bring the career of personal trainers and the personal fitness achievements of their clients to a new level. Featuring a live coaching session, the DVD explains how coaching tools increase “self-efficacy” in clients, making the job of a personal trainer easier, less frustrating, and more rewarding.

Boot Camp Complete: From Start to Finish examines several of the key factors involved in conducting boot camps, including marketing, recruiting, retention, safety issues, equipment needs, and specific protocols, AND concludes with a demonstration of a real boot-camp class. Whether a person is currently leading boot camps or is just getting started, this DVD provides plenty of fresh ideas for running a successful boot-camp program.

Experienced personal trainers who are consistently booked know that there are only so many hours in the day/month to train clients. Increasing their income once their client base is full can be a real challenge for most personal trainers. Training 24-7? How to Increase Your Profit Potential! details the key steps that personal trainers can take to help secure their business and increase profits by developing multiple revenue streams.

Purposeful management is critical when working with a personal-training team that is made up of several different personalities. Managing With Intention explores five common mistakes that managers make when setting goals and interacting with their staff. In addition, the DVD pinpoints five strategies for identifying risk in training staff, affecting change, recruiting with confidence, and gaining recognition for staff that is consistent and credible.