Tag Archives: fitness professional

You don’t need to be flexible to do yoga – but doing yoga will make you more flexible

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One of the popular myths about yoga is that you have to be very flexible to do it. It’s one of the questions I get asked most. And I can see why. In popular media yoga practitioners are often photographed in very advanced poses that make them look like they are bent double with their limbs wrapped around their necks. I’ve seen videos of famous Ashtanga teachers who genuinely look like they can tie their legs in a knot behind their backs. These images scare people.

flexible to do yoga

The truth is that there are many levels for each yoga pose. The aim is not to dangerously contort the body, over stretch it or overload it, but to go as far as feels challenging. For many people, especially beginners, that might not be very far at all.

So no, you do not have to be very flexible to do yoga, but you will become more flexible by doing it.

I remember before I started going to yoga classes, long before I became a teacher, I couldn’t perform a forward fold and touch my toes. Nowhere near touching them actually. Within weeks of practising yoga I could get closer, and now I can get all the way down. As a result I am much more flexible now than I was when I was much younger.

Improved flexibility is just one of the physical benefits of yoga. Others include:

  • Better cardiovascular efficiency
  • Better respiratory efficiency
  • Better musculoskeletal flexibility and joint range of motion
  • Increase in breath-holding time
  • Better dexterity skills
  • Better posture
  • Better strength and resiliency
  • Higher energy levels

Very few of us will ever achieve the rubber elastic bodies of Ashtanga yoga video stars, but neither should that be a necessary goal. All of us can benefit from the physical improvements yoga can bring. And if that means getting just one inch closer to touching your toes then that is an achievement to be proud of.

Over to you: I would love to hear your stories about how yoga has improved you physically. How much difference have you noticed? Please post a comment let me know.

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What is power yoga? It’s a good workout and it ain’t easy.

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Why do health and fitness clubs always promote yoga based classes as “easy”? I find this to be the case even if the style of yoga on the time table is a more challenging type like Ashtanga. There are enough pre-conceptions that prevent people from trying yoga without creating any more barriers.

what is power yoga?

Look at the boys. They tend to shun fitness classes anyway because they are seen as something the girls go to. But tell them a class is easy and you’ll definitely never get them to give up the treadmill or weights room to give it a try.

And the girls? Labeling it as the more “sedate” class puts off the ladies who are looking for a calorie busting more intense cardio work out.

I wrote recently that there is a type of yoga for everyone. From those styles that include more of the spiritual elements, to those that offer a more physically challenging, strengthening and high heart rate experience. If the latter is what you are looking for the give power yoga a try.

What is power yoga? Well for one thing it isn’t easy. Let me repeat that slowly so the clubs can hear me. It isn’t easy!

I guess it developed as an Americanised version of traditional Ashtanga. Ashtanga can be tough and is always a set series of poses progressing through the so called standing, primary and intermediate series and beyond. Power yoga takes the physical intensity of Ashtanga but introduces variety. No two classes will be the same. You will do different sequences of poses in a different order in each session all linked together by a flow of movement.

There are variations of power yoga across the world. In the US there is Baptiste Power Yoga (named after a famous yoga teacher called Baron Baptiste – it is certainly worth googling his videos and books). In the UK it might appear on timetables as fitness yoga or dynamic yoga.

What is it like? Well you are going to get hot and sweaty and you will be almost constantly on the move. You’ll start with some deep breathing to calm you down and to get some oxygen into the muscles before they begin to work. Then on to some warm up stretches before the hard work begins.

You’ll do anything up to 12 rounds of sun salutations – which is a linked sequence of between 10 and 20 poses each one held for as long as it takes to inhale or exhale. This raises the heart rate, warms up the muscles and prepares you for the main series of exercises.

What is power yoga

There will be flowing sequences of standing strength exercises, some balances and moves on the floor to strengthen the tummy, the side abs and the back. Each group of exercises will be linked together by a vinyasa which again is a series of poses similar to part of the sun salutation.

The class will last for between an hour and an hour and a half. At the end you’ll relax for the last few minutes and allow the heart rate to return to it’s normal resting beat. And you’ll need it because your body will have been challenged, the muscles strengthened and stretched.

People who have tried my classes have been surprised how tough it has been. There are times when I will look up to find a few participants taking a break in child’s pose as they get their breath back under control. I often wear a bandana when teaching. Not because I think it is cool, but because I sweat like a tap. And I’ve even seen those doubting weight lifters admitting that it’s tough. Everyone seems to like the results. More strength, flexibility and range of movement in the body.

So clubs. Can we drop the “E” word?

Over to you: Have you tried power yoga? Do you agree that it is quite a good workout. Have you seen results? Please leave a comments and let me know.

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Fitness rocks on down at the Super Quarterly

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Imagine a fitness class crossed with a rock concert. A workout in “the round”. A group fitness experience at Glastonbury or “T in the Park”. This is a Super Quarterly

Any fitness instructor who teaches one of the Les Mills programmes – I teach Body Combat and Body Balance – has to go on what we call a quarterly workshop every 3 months to see the new music and the new moves.

Super Quarterly

These are usually held in fitness clubs like David Lloyd or Bannatyne’s, and it is essentially a load of instructors attending their own class just like a participant would. Except our instructor is a Master Trainer.

Occasionally they hold a Super Quarterly where the new classes are showcased in a massive venue. We recently had a Super Quarterly in Edinburgh and the atmosphere was incredible. Hundreds of instructors. Loud music. International Master Trainers. It is so motivational and uplifting to feel so much fitness power in one room.

First up was CXWorx - I’ve written about this work out before – it is a 30 minute core training programme and it hurts. In the days that followed I discovered muscle soreness I never thought possible. Abs and butt muscles were totally on fire. I imagine doing this several times a week will yield impressive results.

Then came Body Balance, a delightful mixture of Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates. And it’s tough too. Not in an aerobic sense but it strengthens, stretches and tones. The guest presenter from New Zealand was Corey Baird. He has a soft soothing manner and looks like he was chiseled from oak. The girls love his body and I guess I can see why. Ann-See Yeoh and Kathryn Cullen from the UK put in their usual precise and calmly motivational performances.

super quartery

Of course everyone was building up the last class of the day, Body Combat. This highly intensive, heart thumping mixed martial arts class takes participants out of their daily lives and into a land of make believe – the Bruce Lee film. Or Bruce Willis, or Captain Jack Sparrow, depending upon who your action hero is. Presented by programme director Dan Cohen, the Vauxhall brother, who is short in stature, but giant in technique, moves and motivation. The room simply shook to the thunder of the music and the intensity of the workout. Our UK trainers Dave Cross and Phil Harrison proved their worth alongside the wee man, and the crowd roared its approval.

Here’s a brief video of the Combat masterclass. Just look at all those people fighting for their fitness.

I’m now learning Body Combat 51 and Body Balance 56. I’ll be launching soon. It’s going to be amazing. It’s going to hurt. And it’s going to work.

Over to you: Are you a Les Mills Instructor? Did you go to a Super Quarterly? What do you think of the new releases. If you are a participant in a class – let me know what you think of the new moves and the new music. Please post a comment below.

3 Fitness Marketing Tips inspired by a Dragon

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Last year I spent a couple of weeks traveling the UK doing a roadshow for my day job. Our guest presenter was well known Dragon’s Den star Duncan Bannatyne. Through his contribution to the seminars, and over a few drinks and dinners, it was fascinating to hear his stories about how he built up, first a care home chain, and now an empire of health and fitness clubs. Given my alter ego as a fitness and Yoga instructor, and my keen interest in the fitness industry, his insights into marketing, communications and business development were relevant for both my guises.

fitness marketing tips inspired by a dragon

Here are some of the fitness marketing tips I came away with which I think will interest to my fitness friends.

1) PR your business within the local community

This is not just about advertising in local newspapers, it’s developing PR relationships with those newspapers. Getting onto local radio. Sponsoring events in local schools and clubs. And above all embracing social media to create a network of links across Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin to draw visitors to your website.

For more on PR see my earlier blog on PR for fitness professionals.

2) Seek business development opportunities from change

When Margaret Thatcher changed legislation for the care of the elderly in the 1980s, Bannatyne cashed in on this opportunity by building a chain of care homes. Whilst we are not seeing legislative change in the fitness industry it is still evolving daily. New programmes like ViPR create opportunities for new adopters. And just look at the success of Zumba and how that has taken fitness out of the club chains and back into the community. Some instructors have tapped into the huge demand for Zumba and seen their earnings rocket.

The most exciting change is in marketing itself and this makes it easier to be successful. The Internet has ushered in a new era of “content based marketing” (know as inbound marketing by academics). Until recently we have been more used to “interruption marketing” (known as outbound marketing).

That’s adverts on TV, unsolicited calls, junk mail; i.e. stuff that companies bombard us with to try and get us to buy their products and experiences. With content marketing the customer is in control because they are the ones searching the web for information. Whether it is the price of clothes, the cost of a car, or information about a new fitness programme, they are searching for specifics. If you have a website or blog that provides content that meets that specific desire for information you can succeed at this new marketing style.

3 fitness marketing tips

As a fitness professional do you have your own website and blog? Maybe you think you haven’t got time or the writing skills to think of enough things to say. Well just create a list of all the questions your clients ask about exercise, diet, classes and lifestyle. Then provide the answers. There you immediately have the content you need. Get it online, ensure that the search engines can find it and customers will start to come.

Of course it isn’t quite that easy, but with a little planning this is an exciting way forward.

3) Relentlessly network for new ideas and opportunities

Network either online or face to face. Our industry colleagues, and again those in the local community, all face similar challenges but all will have different views and solutions as to how to solve them. Again through social media we have access to a world wide club of like minded people, and a library of ideas, and business tools.

But the most important lesson a entrepreneurial Dragon can impart is to “get on and do it”. Yes there is information out there. You could read websites and white papers on how to use content marketing forever. The best thing to do to expand your business is to do more marketing straight away.

Over to you: Have you been successfully marketing your business via a blog or content based website? What are your fitness marketing tips? Please leave a comment and post a link. Would you like to read more on this subject on this blog? Please let me know.