Be Fit With Biray

I am leaving today and taking 2 months off to live and play in Istanbul, Turkiye! I am dedicating a separate ‘Be Fit In Turkiye‘ blog to journal my travels. Please feel free to stop in on my adventures and drop me a comment there!

I will still maintain this blog and continue posting on my Second Life blog. I will periodically guest blog for Unleash the Power of Group Fitness, as well.

Although my text-messaging service and cell phone will be temporarily frozen, I still plan on providing Flickr updates and Twitter rants (just not as regularly). Anyone needing to contact me can do so via email (befitwithbiray [at] gmail [dot] com) or Skype (name: befitt).

Have a safe and pleasant summer to everyone – I hope to see most of you in Las Vegas at the IDEA World Fitness Conference or the National Wellness Conference in Stevens Point, Wisconsin when I return in July!

Today, most group fitness classes are sixty minutes long. Some indoor cycling classes operate within a 45-minute format. In recent years 30-minute “power” or “express” classes have also become more popular. But in the future, class times will get shorter and shorter.

How short? Think anywhere from 10-minutes to the ‘30-second’ class.

Now, we already know that short bouts of physical activity throughout the day (however long) is effective in achieving health-related benefits. We hear fitness professionals talk about simple ways people can exercise at work, at their desk, while watching TV, at the grocery store while standing in line… and so on. So why not officially put similar classes on the group fitness schedule?

We are seeing the beginnings of these shorter formats on YouTube. On most video websites (such as YouTube), users are limited to a maximum of 10-minutes of video. Fitness professionals have already started to upload mini-classes and fitness workouts, accordingly. Granted, some videos are more effective than others, others just pure rubbish. But it won’t be long before the ideal 10-minute design is perfected. Les Mills where are you?

Exergames (video games + exercise), such as Nintendo Wii, have also shown that players can reach moderate levels of intensity by just getting their game on! In fact, games like Dance Dance Revolution and EyeToy: Kinetic have given a players a sufficient rise in heart rate within 3 to 10 minute bouts of game play!

A new concept is also inspiring the idea of shorter classes. Fellow fitness colleagues Scott & Angie Tousignant have recently created the format called Twittercise. As most of you know, Twitter is a microblogging platform where people write about what they are doing, at the time they are doing it, then submitting these thoughts to the web. (Think instant-messaging to the world.) Twittercise is based on the thinking that people who have a few seconds to ‘tweet’ something, must have a few seconds to exercise. The idea is still in its infancy, but it has certainly caused interesting convesations in the ‘Twitterverse’.

Whether it’s a 30-second class, a 3-minute class, or a 30-minute class, shorter classes will eventually prevail. The shorter design may inspire non-traditional ways of exercising, but the format will definitely reach newer audiences. It may not be for everyone at every studio (especially your hard-core fitness enthusiasts), but those whose time is inconsistently spread throughout the day will appreciate the guidance and support of these new kinds of micro-classes.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to present a session entitled “Twitter and Other Mobile-izing Tools in Teaching & Learning” at the Maricopa District’s Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference. I discussed a few quick examples on how mobile technology might be integrated with students in and out of the classroom setting. I was mostly excited to share my findings from a pilot study I did this semester where I implemented Twitter in my health classes.

Below you can find the session description and the slides from my presentation (which are also available to download at Slideshare).

If there’s one piece of technology available in the hands of most students, it’s a cell phone. Text-messaging is an effective way for people communicate within their social networks. This session will demonstrate how we can use tools like Twitter and other mobile-based technology to connect with our students and establish a community outside of the classroom, as well as, convey information beyond emails.

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I welcome all questions and comments.

I’m always interested in how health instructors use web 2.0 technologies to educate about physical fitness and exercise. Here’s what I found on VoiceThread, an application where you can upload your pictures and let everyone make comments on it via text, flix, or audio.

This is how a health instructor used it to explain aerobic fitness:

It’s rather simple, but sparks ideas. VoiceThread allows the user to have multiple ‘personalities’ (hence the same voice w/ different character profiles). I haven’t figured out how I would apply it to my health course or use it with my fitness participants. I’ll need to find multiple applications before implementing it with my students or clients. Also, the free features have their limitations – you may have to upgrade to a $$ pro account to access all the features.

I came across this video while doing my weekly YouTube rounds; following up on the latest fitness clips.

Although this video comically blends the Jedi lifestyle with traditional fitness culture, it actually hits on a concept that we’re seeing more regularly in health clubs around the world: fusion classes.

People are always trying to figure out ways to motivate people to exercise. And if integrating or fusing two interests into one gets folks excited to workout, I say more power to them! After all, pole dancers and strippers branded “StripTease Aerobics” – why not Star Wars fans?

I interviewed VanRoble, the production team behind this video, and discovered more about the inspiration behind JediGym:

Biray: How many months of training did Darth Vader have to go through to prepare for his role as a fitness master? (Was it as enduring as the Spartans in movie 300?) Does he have a six pack under that black robe?
VanRoble: We’re not sure how long he has trained. He just showed up as himself- he’s actually very scary.

Biray: Will you be doing any promotional campaigns in conjunction with NBC’s Biggest Loser or any other gyms? Will ‘LightSaber’ combat classes be the next big craze to follow Taebo?
VanRoble: Surprisingly, JediGym is real. Go to NYJedi.com and you will meet the real Master Flynn. People really do work out in Star Wars wardrobe. We’re thinking of starting a Harry Potter gym, or maybe Lord of the Rings. We’ve heard that a guy in Iowa just started up a Matrix gym- and that they workout in slow motion.

Biray: Where did the team get the idea for this movie?
VanRoble: The real world- NYJedi is real.

Biray: When will we expect to see the full feature?
VanRoble: No feature, but a tight 6-minute short film will be out soon. We’ve submitted to the Atomfilms Star Wars challenge so stay tuned to see it. I can promise a laugh- which I hear is a good workout.

True, laughing is definitely the best medicine. I’ll be looking forward to getting my dose of health in their upcoming JediGym flick.