The elite Fitness Presenters used to be so easy to spot. Take a look at any IDEA Journal and the fitness industry leaders were always there promoting. Maybe they were more obvious because most everything came by postal mail forcing me to at least pay attention between the mail box and my front door.

Today our attention, and likely even more so mine, are spread very thing.  Finding the target audience at the economical price can be tough. Finding them with tools to most effectively spread the message and allow you to personalize the event message is also not easy.

Today I am sending a notice to all members designating themselves as Fitness Education Presenters at FitnessProTravel.com  Most I believe do it old school providing workshops at local fitness facilities. Others provide their fitness presentations online or at large conferences.

Either way I simply wanted to let them know of the tremendous resources available to them with their membership to the Fit Pro Travel Network.

What I’d like to make available here is the case for why I suggest all fitness presenters do not pass up the opportunity to utilize the fitness events calendar as well as other resources for the promotion of their programs…. So here it goes.

The Biggest Issues We Ran Into as Fitness Presenters:

• Economically reaching the correct target audience was never easy.
• Having the ability to list the event with the freedom for full descriptions, logo, and delivered to outside web links; we could rarely do all that.
• Rarely was there an opportunity to send with a click of a button my posted event to all connections

How Fitness Pro Travel Network Solves These Issues:

• With more than 8000 North American fitness professionals registered in the network a targeted audience is available.
• Additionally, connecting directly with fitness pros via networking, operating your own education based group, contributing articles providing you even more of an authority position… each of these continues to extend your reach.
• More than 300 registered Fit Pros are accessing the network daily. When they do visit more than 45% stay for more than 5 minutes exploring various areas (that puts us in the top 2% of the internet). In the past year the number of new accounts each week has doubled.
• The audience is there and available to view and benefit from information on educational opportunities happening, online, offline, and throughout North America. What we need is for our Continuing Education Providers (YOU) to begin championing your own cause and at a minimum list your own fitness education events.

What do you think? A Fitness Industry Only Professional Network a good location for a fitness education presenter to promote their fitness educational offerings?

There have been several hints that Phase II planning and building had begun within the FPT Network.  Rumors were true

and the result should be seen before the end of the month.  New member options that include more networking, travel benefit, and participation bonuses.  It’s a good time to be a member as extended benefit will be provided existing members.  Keep an eye here as details are released.

The events calendar currently has a couple special opportunities specifically for our network members. View December events for details and remember you can add events you are attending for the benefit of others.

Golf Pros – Your time has come.  We are now booking golf pros at Breezes Runaway Bay.  We are also working on a golf tournament for April 2010.  More details to follow. Pros be sure to tell your Golf Pro friends of the new opportunity.

Oh Canada – Following are the names of the currently available locations at this new partner site. Further details can be found at Fit Bodies Canada. View all 3 hotels by visiting http://www.iberostar.com

• Hotel Iberostar Varadero,  $375
• The Iberostar Tainos  $300
• Hotel Iberostar Daiquiri  $300

On December 10th, we are opening up all the Superclubs resorts for booking fitness pros starting with the week of  December 13th, 2009…  All your favorites and some you haven’t even seen yet…

Some have changed their name but definitely not their special appeal. See View Resorts Pages

In Jamaica

Hedonism II – adult resort

Hedonism III – adult resort

Breezes Grand Negril  (formerly Grand Lido Negril) adult resort

Breezes Rio Bueno (formerly Braco Grand Lido) – adult resort

Breezes Runaway Bay – adult resort

Breezes Trelawny (formerly Starfish) – family resort

In Curacao

Breezes Curacao – family resort

In Bahamas

Breezes Bahamas – adult resort

And Brand NEW in ~Panama~

Breezes Panama – family resort

In Brazil

Breezes  Costa do Sauipe – family resort

BRAND NEW Starfish Santa Luzia – family resort

Breezes Buzios – family resort (NEW & OPENING SOON)

We will have two positions available each week at all of these hotels.  Group fitness positions for pros who teach land and aqua; yoga/pilates positions for those who teach either or both; and personal trainer positions for those who are qualified to lead fitness camp, sculpting, or group programs in addition to their one on one skills.  Once two pros are booked the other position will be deleted.

Please Note: We will not be able to switch anyone who is presently booked at another resort to one of the above mentioned resorts for any reason.  There will be no exceptions.

Golf Pros – Your time has come.  We are now booking golf pros at Breezes Runaway Bay.  We are also working on a golf tournament for April 2010.  More details to follow. Pros be sure to tell your Golf Pro friends of the new opportunity.

More good news: Haven’t figured out what you are doing for the holidays yet?  Many of these resorts have openings for Christmas week December 20-27 and New Year’s week December 27th – January 3rd.   There are only a few of these coveted positions available so book quickly.  Note: we will be charging $100 extra for these weeks.  This will be added once the order is confirmed.

If you’ve been to these old friend locations feel free to post a comment for others to know of your experience.

Ever been to a fitness workshop or wandered a conference expo and been amazed by some of the toys and movements that have become so popular in our industry?

How about this, have you ever been humbled by said toys or movements? Meaning, you try, you look like an absolute idiot because you don’t know what your doing?

I have! Better yet, I’ve gone in thinking I was strong and centered but come out feeling foolish and ridiculous because I can’t figure out how to engage this or that, while I swing from the apparatus or stand on the toy.

Of course, if you are a like-minded fitness pro you will keep practicing the activity because you bought the damn thing that made a fool out of you, and will have it down within a week to 10 days. It’s that learning curve that gets us at first, but once we understand the technical side of things we can usually master the skill. Well, most of the time anyways.

Yes, I’ve been humbled, embarrassed, shocked and amazed by some of the things my body does and does not do when it is called upon. Let’s just think for a moment how our clients and class participants feel when we introduce things to them for the first time. Put yourself in the shoes of a beginning exerciser who comes to a unstable core training class for the first time- poor dears! They are still wondering how to stand or sit on the object and now you want them to engage their core and perform a one-legged push-up. Are we crazy?

I think at times we can be a little crazy. We are creative and we love a challenge because that’s what we encourage others to do, but we often forget that not everybody is up for the circus fitness trick that we are trying to teach or train. I see this a lot more in group exercise classes than I do in personal training sessions, unless it is a boot camp session taught by a trainer.

It often frustrates me because these participants feel defeated and lost in the activity. “I can’t keep up with that!” “How do you expect me to do that?” are comments I hear.

They want to perform and they should be able to do something, but the fit pro is lost in excitement of their super, cool one-legged balance drill. Personally, sometimes it seems like they are showing off (showcasing) their skills rather than teaching their group properly, which is one of the reasons participants may feel lost in translation. Professionally speaking this is not acceptable behavior for a certified fitness pro!

As a fellow fitness presenter I understand the need to show progressions and cool tricks on toys. Reason being is we want to show the versatility and level of difficulty of exercise progression.

I don’t expect everyone to walk out of my sessions with the idea they are doing to teach every challenging thing the next day, rather I want them to see where it can go and hopefully open up their minds to the vast challenge and creative pulse that feeds their individual style.

We need to remember first and foremost we are professionals. We educate, train, motivate and model exercises that fit into our group or individual training sessions. We are not performers who encourage a “keep up with me” attitude or try to showcase our ability to do the most amazing human tricks on earth. Save that for your advanced clients, classes or for your You Tube videos.

Be enthusiastic, compassionate and show modifications and/or break-down complex movements into smaller bits people can handle.

Who knows, maybe with good teaching and training tactics they will be performing those humbling circus tricks with gusto. Then you can stand proud and bang on your chest in response to their super human strength and ability.

Amy