AEA E-News – February 2010
AEA E-News is designed to provide you with the information you need to know in a condensed and concise manner, as well as familiarize you with all that the AEA website has to offer!
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UP FRONT
IAFC 2010- Plan a HOT Trip to Orlando!
April 20-24
Have you registered yet? Online registrations are pouring in and preparations for the most anticipated aquatic fitness event of the year are under way. With over 160 exciting sessions and the world’s top presenters, IAFC 2010 is shaping up to be the biggest and best conference yet! Best of all, it’s earlier than usual. It’s in April! Put some sunshine on your calendar and plan your Spring Break to Orlando today.
Complete with a Mardi Gras celebration, featured workouts from IAFC sponsors & affiliates, Zumba sessions, new vendors, new equipment, cutting edge research, shopping at the Expo and much, much, more. The Wyndham Orlando is the place to be from April 20 to April 24!
The sun, the fun, the friendships, the shopping and the great food provide the frosting for IAFC. However, the backbone of the world’s largest aquatic fitness specific conference continues to be the education. IAFC participants leave Orlando with a vast amount of knowledge and practical skills from a variety of educational offerings. (See the Impressions of a First Timer below). Each year AEA asks IAFC presenters to compile a short article about their session. Good news! The articles are now available and at your finger tips. Find out what the world’s best instructors are working on! The AEA website features several presenter articles on topics that include teen fitness, deep water, upper body training, circuit formats, meditation, obesity and much more. AEA Members can expect more presenter articles featuring exciting IAFC sessions in the February/March edition of AKWA Magazine.
Click Here to read presenter articles on the AEA Website!
Hot Impressions of an IAFC 2009 First Timer!
Featuring Miff Hendriksen, AEA Ambassador and Aquatic Fitness Professional
AEA Gets an A+ on IAFC 2009! I have been certified with AEA since 1994 and through the years I have attended many workshops. If you take the absolute best workshop and multiply it by a thousand you might be close to what happens at IAFC. The information, the organization, the enthusiasm, not to mention the Florida sunshine all were first class.From dawn to dusk, you have so many options to choose from, including research, lectures and master classes. There was senior oriented programming, children’s programming, post-rehab and prenatal classes. It was amazing the variety of topics to choose from!
When I registered everything was organized in a packet. The schedule tells you the time and place of all programs as well as the instructor and topic. Amazingly every program ran on schedule AND they even had back up plans for rain outs. Included in my packet was a DVD with notes for all the programs presented at IAFC which I still refer to today.
AEA provided presenters not only from the US, but from all over the world. Every presenter brought an unbelievable amount of knowledge and their own special “spice.” Each program was informative and fun. The Wyndham Orland Resort is totally prepared with plenty of meeting rooms as well as two large pools. Poolside towels were provided by the hotel and their staff was very accommodating.
Oh, and the shopping…Don’t get me started! The Health and Fitness EXPO had loads of deals as well as contact information for all the vendors.
I was able to take an amazing amount of knowledge and practical experience back to my fitness class and share quality information with my fellow instructors.
On my first day at IAFC 2009, I knew that if it was at all possible, I would be attending IAFC 2010 to experience AEA’s excellence a second time. HATS OFF TO AEA!
WHAT’S NEW
AEA Weekend Events – Warm up your Winter with Some Hot Events
Can’t make it to IAFC but in search of warmth? Check out a sampling below of three AEA Weekend Events scheduled this March in warmer climates.
- March 5 & 6 – Houston, Texas The Memorial Hermann Wellness Center plays host to AEA and AEA Aquatic Training Specialist Monique Acton with an event that includes AEA’s Aquatic Fitness Professional Certification and Aquatic Options, a day long educational offering that features programming for special populations and post rehab. The facility’s host contact, John Ramirez, says Houston temperatures in early March range from lows in the 50’s to highs in the 80’s. Non-locals attending this event are encouraged by John to check out the Museum district and the Galleria Mall. As for dining out? “Mexican of course,” says John. According to him there are several good Mexican restaurants too choose from, including Escalante’s, Ninfa’s, Pappasito’s and Café Adobe.
- March 13 & 14 – Metairie, LA Aquatic Options is also the featured program here along with the Aquatic Fitness Professional Certification, both presented by AEA Aquatic Training Specialist Laurie Denomme. If you travel to the Bayou State at this time of year you can expect an average high temperature of 72 and average lows around 53 according to Kim Puissegur, the host contact at EJGH Wellness Center. Kim says you MUST visit the French Quarter of New Orleans. As for dining, she suggests Drago’s Seafood Restaurant where she says you should order the char-grilled oysters. “Even if you don’t like oysters, you have to give them a try because they are awesome,” says Kim.
- March 20 & 21 – Visalia, CA The Lifestyle Center will be hosting the Aquatic Fitness Professional Certification and Class Construction workshops: Cardio Programming & Leadership and Core Training & Stretch Techniques Leading both days of programming will be Julie Seamster, who is one of AEA's newest aquatic training specialists. Located in the San Joaquin Valley, Lifestyle's host contact Jana Sweet says March weather is usually sunny with temperatures in the upper 60’s. According to Jana, downtown Visalia is filled with world-class restaurants, art galleries, boutiques, antique stores and an impressive outdoor gallery featuring more than 50 murals spread throughout the town.
The Aquatic Fitness Professional Certification and Class Construction workshops: Cardio Programming & Leadership and Core Training & Stretch Techniques will also be the featured programming in Moline, IL on February 27 & 28. Aquatic Training Specialist Terri Mitchell is packing her swimsuit, not for the pool but in hopes of finding some snow. Terri has a collection of photographs of herself posing in a swimsuit, in the SNOW, in several different U.S. States. (This 2007 photo shows Terri in Michigan.) As AEA’s longest serving trainer, Terri has had lots of opportunities to add to her collection. During her stay in Moline, Terri is hoping to cross the Mississippi River into Iowa since she does not have that state in her collection. Stay tuned for more of Terri’s “Snow Queen” pictures in future editions of AEA E-News!
Since the January edition of AEA E News, several new weekend events for May & June have been added to the calendar. Check out events in Webster, NY - Gardena, CA - N. Myrtle Beach, SC - Plymouth Meeting, PA - Rye, NY - Spokane, WA - Wyckoff, NJ.
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What is HOT in AEA Education?
Answer: Aquatic Circuits & Intervals
With the popularity of Boot Camp formats and more athletic based programs, circuit training has exploded in popularity. Interval training, with active work and recovery cycles, has long been a favored training style for group fitness, both land and aqua. This AEA program will teach you how to vary your aquatic class format from steady-state aerobic training to a mixture of exciting circuits and intervals. If you always do what you always did you will always get what you always got. Shake it up and your participants will continue to stay motivated and see progress.
Circuit Training can be used to showcase the variety of equipment your facility has by placing students into groups, with each group using different equipment simultaneously. Perhaps you have cool equipment you want to use but not enough for everyone? This is where circuit or station training comes in handy. In this AEA program you will learn how to combine muscular resistance with cardiovascular conditioning to provide an interesting and well-balanced workout in the pool with, or without, equipment.
Interval Training can be used in almost any class or training session. Learn how this aerobic format incorporates alternating segments of work and rest and can be effectively applied to an aquatic setting to challenge the well-conditioned individual or modified for entry-level participants or special pops.
Aquatic Circuits & Intervals will be featured in Sioux Falls, SD with AEA Aquatic Training Specialist Stephanie Thielen. (See Who’s Who article below.) Sioux Falls Family YMCA Health & Wellness Director, Capri Bergjord, says she chose Aquatic Circuits and Intervals from a list of several AEA programs because this style of training allows their facility to meet the needs of entry level health seekers as well as the more advanced athlete and anything in between. Capri has a background in sports medicine and used circuit and interval training to enhance the skills of the college and professional athletes she worked with. “I am so excited to be getting my instructors involved,” says Bergjord.
Aquatic Circuits and Intervals will also be offered in Harrisonburg, VA.
Click Here to view the AEA Weekend Event Calender
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MUSIC REVIEW
What is a HOT New Music CD you can use in your Aquatic & Circuit formats?
Answer: Instrumental Interval 3:30/1:30 Ratio
This 60-minute Dynamix Music CD features all instrumental music composed with alternating song lengths and BPM (3 minutes and 30 seconds at 135 BPM with 1 minute and 30 seconds at 128 BPM.) AEA had a hand in developing this music CD with contributing producers listed as Angie Proctor, Julie See and Mark Grevelding. The CD includes both a warm up and cool down song. If you like the B&K Howe Music CD, Trbial Exotique, you will definitely like Instrumental Intervals.
The CD starts out with a very enjoyable warm up tune that makes you feel like swing dancing. After the warm up, the Intervals start to crank. The first 3:30 song launches into Tribal Drums, followed by a 1:30 song, Fiesta, which gets the pool sizzling with some Latin spice. The intervals continue on with nine more music intervals. The entire collection is an energetic and eclectic cultural mix of tribal, Latin, trance and Middle Eastern selections. The cool down concludes with an ethereal yet rhythmic tune titled Dream in Color.
If you have been dying to create a kick butt interval or circuit program, this music CD provides you with the perfect structure and energy to do so! Imagine the programming you can create with a CD that structures your strength work for 3:30 and all-out cardio drills for 1:30. How about a deep water program with running patterns at 1:30 and recovery choreography segments at 3:30? Perhaps you can do kickboxing drills for 3:30 and flexibility or yoga inspired movement for 1:30? The list of programming opportunities goes on and on. Buy this CD today at an incrediby discounted price and let your imagination take charge!
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Who’s Who? Meet a HOT New Trainer!
Stephanie Thielen, AEA Aquatic Training Specialist
Written by Lori Templeman, frequent AKWA contributor and AEA Fitness Professional
Stephanie Thielen is one hot, hip, fitness mama! Making the choice to work in the fitness industry came easy to her. After switching her college major twice, she realized that fitness was her passion and she could actually make a living doing it! A group fitness chick through and through, she has been teaching classes for over 20 years. Some of her formats include aquatic exercise, kickboxing, dance classes and cycling. Stephanie’s passion for group exercise comes from the amazing feeling she gets when she implements well-planned choreography and sees participants execute the movements successfully.
Stephanie wears many hats in the industry as an instructor, personal trainer, presenter and consultant. Based in Omaha, NE, she juggles life between fitness, a husband, and a 3 year-old son. During the course of a week her days consist of teaching fitness classes and looking after her son. By night she develops her fitness projects and presentations. On the weekend she is on the road presenting workshops. Her mother has been very helpful in making this all possible. “She is my back up, my rock, and is very supportive of how my world is at the moment,” says Thielen.
As her fitness career has grown she has realized that her path is education. Stephanie is an AEA Aquatic Training Specialist and a Master Trainer for NETA and BOSU. She is also a premier consultant with Sunshine Fitness Resources, an organization that provides educational resources to fitness professionals. “I truly enjoy teaching other professionals how to develop their teaching and presenting skills; and providing methods to help instructors teach to their participants,” she says.
If you are attending IAFC 2010, you can see her in action. She will be presenting two workshops: Tube It or Lose It, which will showcase exercises that can be done with resistance tubing and is perfect for personal trainers as well as land and aquatic instructors. Triple Play the Aqua Way will feature total body conditioning in the pool in 10-minute cycles of cardio with lower and upper body strength.
Stephanie will also be the featured AEA Aquatic Training Specialist for the Sioux Falls, SD AEA Weekend Event on March 27 & 28. This event features the AEA Aquatic Fitness Professional Certification and Aquatic Circuits & Intervals.
Stephanie Thielen’s humor, positive attitude and ability to add an entertaining sizzle to her classes and presentations are just a part of what makes her one hot mama!
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TRAINING IDEAS
What’s HOT on the WEST Coast?
Answer: Themed Small Group Training
Written by Melanie Sparks, AEA Ambassador (CA) & Aquatic Fitness Professional
Do you need an exciting option for personal training or traditional group exercise classes? Do you need an option that makes good business sense, is a lot of fun to teach and inspires clients? Themed Small Group Training (TSGT) is a creative and fresh business model for aquatic fitness professionals. Imagine a water fitness group of 10 people or less where everyone can hear you and where they all came to exercise and have a good time. TSGT is just that! The theme can be anything from Hardcore Aqua XX (core water work) to Guy-quatics (an all men’s fitness group), or perhaps Cross Training for Runners (deep water running). Use your imagination based on what you already know about your existing class participants or the potential target markets in your facility.
By starting a TSGT last year, I was able to recruit new members for my facility and create a new revenue stream for myself. It was a WIN-WIN situation for me, the facility and the clients I serve.
HOW AQUA FITNESS PROFESSIONALS BENEFIT
WIN - Burnout Prevention. TSGT adds variety for the aqua fitness professional and the sessions are fun to teach. It is a great way to use exercises or ideas you acquire from IAFC or other trainings that may not work for your whole class but might be perfect for a small group.
WIN - Extra Money. Advertising your small groups also gives students an idea of your talents as a private trainer in aquatic fitness. When participants hear about your TSGT sessions you may get more private clients in addition to small group participants.
HOW FACILTIES BENEFIT
WIN - Increased Retention. Instructors bond more closely with students in small group settings. The group participants also bond with each other and this peer support can increase retention and adherence.
WIN – More Income. The math is simple. If your price is $5 per person/ per class and you usually have 10-15 people, your facility earns $50 - $75. If you train a small group at $20 per person and have 5-6 people, your facility earns $100 - $120 for the same hour.
HOW CLIENTS BENEFIT
WIN – More Affordable. TSGT can provide a cost-effective service for the clients, since it costs less per person than private training.
WIN - More Effective Workout. With fewer participants, the common goal, fitness challenge or theme becomes more effective and achievable. Instructors can use more creativity to tailor each session to the needs of the small themed group.
BONUS - Increased Support. We all know participants can be VERY competitive and exercising with like-minded people in a themed small group really pushes them to work harder. This can be especially true if the theme is goal-oriented. Although the logistics can be challenging (i.e. acquiring private or almost private pool time for your themed training, etc.) the rewards from TSGT are immense.
Expand your horizons, fire up your imagination and start your own themed small group!
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Health & Nutrition for You
Feeling HOT with a Fever? Should you Teach or Get a Sub?
The Perils of Being a Sick Instructor
Written by Tara Palmer-Schaeffer, frequent AKWA contributor and AEA Fitness Professional
You are getting ready to teach your class in a few hours and then you feel “it”. You are coming down with something. Who knows if it is just a cold or if it is the start of something worse? Then the questions flood your mind as you think “OH NO” … Do I feel bad enough to get a sub? Who can I call to sub? What if no one is available? Maybe I will I feel better by then. What if I don’t feel better and I end up having to teach?
We have all been faced with this situation. When should you tough it out and when should you get a sub? What is the responsible and professional way to solve this dilemma? As a former group fitness director one of my biggest frustrations was dealing with instructors who called out frequently. Instructing is not just a passion; it is a commitment and should be treated like a full time job. Students come to see the instructor. They depend on us to be role models. If the instructor’s attendance is inconsistent then why should their class attendance be consistent?
When instructors call out on a frequent basis the class numbers tend to diminish. Your scheduled class is a standing commitment to your students and should be taken very seriously. How you handle yourself in these situations tells a lot about your professionalism. Your attendance is directly related to:
- How others view your work ethic
- Respect for the facility where you teach
- Respect for management
- Commitment to your students
Just because you have a strong work ethic does not mean you should go in to teach when you are sick. Teaching sick may expose your colleagues and students to illness. It is not worth spreading the germs and putting others at risk. In addition, teaching while you are sick may also cause your condition to worsen, it can prolong your recovery and it can cause a relapse.
I have been guilty myself of teaching when I should not have been. I have taught with the stomach flu, bronchitis and more. I pushed myself to the limits making sure my class was not cancelled. However, I was also young and stupid. Not only would I show up and teach but I failed to modify my teaching. I often taught full out and then made myself sicker. I prolonged my healing and ended up teaching sub par classes for weeks because I could not get better. Sometimes my condition got so bad that I ended spending a lot of money on doctor appointments and losing more time out than if I had just let myself heal. Lesson learned!
Fitness professionals need to find balance when it comes to teaching injured or ill:
- Make sure you don’t call out when you don’t need to. Build the respect of your students by being accountable, coming on time, being happy to be there and engaging your students.
- If you think you may need a sub, line one up quickly just in case.
- If you are knowingly contagious under no circumstances should you show up and teach.
- If you think you can make it through or can’t find a sub and end up teaching, it is important to modify, modify, modify.
Here are some helpful hints to modify your teaching:
- Let the students know you are under the weather (don’t give too many details, you are not asking for violins). Inform them you will do your best but that you will need their help. Remind them that this is their workout and it is up to them to add the work!
- Don’t use complicated choreography or new moves that need explanation.
- Try using cue cards.
- Use a chair or stool to demonstrate.
- Do less cardio and add in more abs or stretching to help you fill your class time.
- Develop better visual cueing skills.
Remember risking your health is not worth it. If you are truly committed and don’t call out very often your students will understand when you do need a sub.
Wishing you a healthy and responsible conclusion to the winter season!
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Spice Up Your Health with These HOT & Healthy Spice Ideas.
Want to stay healthy? This short article explains how you can spice up your food for optimal health, including ideas for turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, garlic and red pepper flakes. Crank up the spices and crank up your immune system!
STAY TUNED FOR THE MARCH EDITION OF AEA E-NEWS!