Be Fit With Biray

Fred Hoffman and I co-presented a session entitled “Embracing Interactive Technology: Positioning Your Group Exercise Department for Success in the Next Decade” at the ACSM Health & Fitness Summit this year in Atlanta, GA. Below is our session description and the abbreviated version of our presentation.

Session Description: Similar to the aerobics phenomenon of the 80’s, the coming decade will mark a turning point in group exercise with Interactive Technology playing an important role. Learn how these up-and-coming trends will affect your future programming, budget planning, staffing, and marketing. Discover 5 essential technology ‘must-haves’ that will guarantee success in the next 10 years.

Last year when I attended SXSW Interactive, I was sitting on the audience side of this panel. A panel of four presenters (whose tech-geek lifestyles had hindered their health) shared the non-tech related things they did to reverse the ill-effects of their sedentary behaviors (such as walking, yoga, etc). While panelists’ insights came from experiential perspective, at some point they entertained discussions outside the scope of their expertise (like diet and exercise prescription) and neglected to focus on anything tech-related or its potential interactivity in fitness.

My hope was to go back this year and share the ‘fitter’ side of tech by showing how people could actually *use* web 2.0 tools to jump start their personal fitness journey. In a way, my goal was to pick up where last year’s session left off. I suggested a wide-array of fitness-related (and non-fitness related, but web-based) tools available. Check out the list here.

My co-facilitator for the session was David Eckoff, a ‘tech-guy’ into fitness. He shared his experiences on how he overcame the barriers of sedentary, techno-driven lifestyle in order to adopt healthier habits.

Several conference attendees at our session wrote the following reviews. Feel free to check them out: Omar Gallaga, Tracy Russo, and Laura Moncur.

[Also, here is a picture from the session.]

I am looking forward to my second year attending SXSW interactive conference in Austin, Texas. Although I am only able to stay for one day (Friday), this year I will be moderating a “Core Conversation” with co-facilitator David Eckoff.

Our session is entitled “Reduce MySpace between My Waist & Thighs so Wiki Live Longer” – the description is as follows: Is being too ‘plugged in’ 24/7 destroying your health? There’s good news: web 2.0 technologies can help you optimize your fitness! Come learn and discuss. Our session is Friday, March 13th at 5pm.

During our conversation, we hope to engage attendees in a discussion about the health consequences of living in a techno-driven world. Obviously, we all depend on technologies for many of our daily conveniences. And some would even argue this has enabled us in making our lives more sedentary. However, I think there could be more positive sides to our technological influences and believe people can actually use web 2.0 tools to improve their health and fitness, not take away from it.

I look forward to sharing some of these tools during our conversation and learning from David’s experiences, as well as, my fellow colleagues and SXSW participants at this year’s interactive.

Get ready to ‘rawk’
(@befitt)

Fitness professionals are often told that they should take advantage of podcasting as a marketing tool. And while there are plenty of certified trainers and instructors out there, there are only a handful of them who share their exercise expertise through podcasting. (This does not include the fitness podcasts that guide you through a workout.)

One of my favorite podcasts is the Quick & Dirty Tip’s Nutrition Diva, hosted by Monica Reinagel, a board-certified Licensed Nutritionist and a professionally-trained chef (and opera singer!). She shares regular tips about nutrition and diet in about 5 minutes! Her episode topics are very relevant and easy for anyone to understand.

Besides having timely content (often in response to listener questions), this Nutrition Diva does an excellent job ENGAGING her audience via Twitter and in Facebook. Her responses are quick and personal. Also, Nutrition Diva recently launched a ‘widget’ that allows anyone to post her episodes on the web. Grab the code below by clicking on “get this widget”:

For those personal trainers or health coaches who want to get involved in podcasting, listen to Nutrition Diva and learn from her example. Even if you don’t want to create your own podcast, you can still benefit from knowing what podcasts to recommend. As a college health instructor, I often include these podcasts into the design of my course (especially during the nutrition unit). However, you can just as easily embed the Nutrition Diva widget on the side bar of a blog or website as supplemental information for your clients, too!

One of my favorite things to do is listen to various health and fitness podcasts. I have discovered many interesting programs and fitness workouts that keep me motivated during my workouts. I really believe this format truly gives a voice to fellow professionals in our field and allows them to express their passion, motivate their listeners, and educate audiences much more effectively.

When it comes to cycling, I have a list of podcasts I’ve been anxious to try. This weekend was the perfect opportunity to try one since I wasn’t quite in the mood to run. I downloaded one of the latest vodcasts to hit the iTunes circuit. David McQuillen, a cyclist from Zurich (Switzerland), recently started an indoor cycling series called “The Sufferfest“. Here’s how David came up with the idea:

A couple of years ago, when I really started training again, I started looking for good iPod workouts. I couldn’t find anything I liked. It was either some hyped up fitness instructor doing some mix of spiritual and physical spin training, or a cycling coach who bored me to tears with 10 minute time trial efforts (on the road, that’s fine, on a spinbike, it’s hell). Wasn’t there anything out there that was meant for cyclists, but that was also fun?

Fun, indeed! David not only creates interesting (and challenging) rides, but couples them with musical and video montages which makes for an entertaining experience. I decided to do his latest vodcast in the series, #5 “Glory Days of Tears and Pain”. The vodcast highlighted classic European cycling tours from the 80s (showcasing famous athletes like Greg Lemond during the height of his career) and married these videos with musical tributes to 80s/90s rock n’ roll songs. It was hard-core and completely awesome!

So far, there are only 5 vodcasts in the Sufferfest series (workouts 1 & 2 have been removed from the web for remastering). Having done podcasting production myself, producing hour-long rides is definitely time-consuming and production-intensive. So I can certainly appreciate David’s effort (and humor) that he puts into making these workouts exciting. While the vodcast concept has great potential for the indoor cycling format, the only thing I question is its sustainability. Currently, the SufferFest is a fairly amateur production and said to be listener supported (not that there’s anything wrong with this). But to produce these vodcasts must cost a fortune, if not for the video clips, but for the songs (musical licenses can increase production costs exponentially). So, for the sake of SufferFest fans (like me), I sure hope David and his team have enough capital to fund this project (or at least not get caught breaking any copyright laws.)

Exercising to a video is not a new thing. Cyclists have set up their trainers in front of their TVs for years. Group exercise rooms have been equipped with TV screens to show videos of cycling courses and races to motivate participantes during classes. But I suspect we will see more of these cycling vodcasts in the future. Some may not prefer watching a small screen during a workout, but others may find these images are just what they need to boost their training.

For me, watching the shot of the lone cyclist struggling through a snowy race day was just the visual I needed to keep me going on my last sprint interval. “If this guy can finish a race in a blizzard, I can certainly pedal a bit harder in this temperature controlled, cycling room.”

I don’t think vodcasts are appropriate for every activity or training format. In some cases, a regular podcast may be the better alternative. But for indoor cycling, vodcasts may be the next wave of media to make this cardiovascular activity worth pedaling.

Every year the American Council on Exercise (ACE) publishes their top 10 predictions for the fitness industry. This year, technology-based fitness was included as a major upcoming trend:

Technology-Based Fitness: From iPods to Cardio Cinema to exergaming (i.e., Wii Fit, Expresso Bikes) the latest in technology will continue to infuse itself in all aspects of fitness. Look for 2009 to provide more interactive video games that provide fitness benefits, as well as new inventions to make exercising a more engaging experience.

Although more programs will be enhanced through technology, 2009 will be the year where we will see less resistance from fitness professionals and commercial health clubs to adopt these newer technologies into their mainstream programming. For the past few years, there have been questions whether or not these alternative programs (such as, exergaming, fitness-related podcasts, online training, etc.) would be sustainable or even complementary to the efforts of most fitness professionals. I have heard many of my colleagues ask (and rightfully so) if these ideas would be short-lived or truly the beginning of a new era in fitness. And ACE confirms that this trend will only continue to grow. (Yes!)

For fitness pros and health clubs owners, 2009 will be less about immediate implementation of techno-based fitness programs (primarily due to economic concerns and the high costs associated with some technologies). Instead, growing efforts will go towards ‘behind-the-scene’ preparations for a stronger, bigger market-entry in late-2009, early-2010. Preparations that may or may not include: 1) offering and/or attending trainings on new technologies (i.e. workshops on fitness podcasting, certifications for exergaming, etc.); 2) budget considerations for future equipment purchases and club renovations to attract a new demographic; 3) recruiting or organzing staff/employees for new departments and fitness roles… and much, much more, I’m sure…

With that said, to all fitness professionals who are interested in marrying technology with their fitness efforts, I say: take this year to educate and experiment with new technologies (if you aren’t doing so already)! Attend sessions at conferences that introduce and discuss these topic areas. Talk to the early-adopters of these technologies and learn from their research and successes! Be a part of this conversation!

This year I will be discussing many of these topics in my sessions at IHRSA, ACSM, and IDEA World. Check my speaking schedule for exact times and dates.

Happy New Year!

I must admit, I was briefly impressed when Exercise.TV (a website that streams exercise videos on demand) started categorizing their workout plans by “personality types”. As fitness professionals, we are always encouraged to assess a client’s full profile when designing an exercise plan – beyond simply considering their physical fitness levels. Clearly, the Fitness Newbie should receive a different workout plan then a Fitness Trendster. But, on the website, it is also nice to see that the Busy Businessman would be receiving a different plan than the Dorm Room Diva.

So, imagine my surprise when out of 30 different personality-based workout plans, I came across the ones for Gamer and Cubicle Geek (the two groups I enjoy training the most).

Each profile has its own description. For instance, Gamers “see a lot of action every day: gunfire, hand grenades, street races, drug busts, and archeological adventures… and the adventure is 100% virtual.” And Cubicle Geek is said to benefit from a workout design that upgrades his current exercise ritual of “walking from his chair to the water cooler.”

So… what does Exercise.TV have in store for these two characters?

A 14-day series of conventional exercises that include working out with Resist-a-Balls, Stretch bands, and foam rollers. I’m not sure this really catches the eyes of the gamer/geek. Do you?

Now, I’m not suggesting that Gamers should exercise with a Wii-Fit and Cubicle Geeks should connect treadmills to their computers. That would be much too cliche. But I’m also not implying that gamers/geeks wouldn’t be able to execute these workout plans successfully – cuz some of them, I’m sure, could.

All I’m saying is, if you’re going to design a program around a type of lifestyle, at least make the effort to provide a plan that is relevant to that audience.

I mean, seriously – can you really see the someone like Chris Pirillo doing this?

Just sayin’…

About two months ago I wrote a post called Why Are Students Taking Health Ed In College because I wondered why college students felt a course on basic health was necessary when, let’s face it, most of them knew the basics to healthful living. Regardless of their motivations, my main objective was to discover methods of making student learning experiences about health & fitness be more meaningful. I wanted to know how I could extend this class beyond the textbook of “eat your veggies and exercise.”

After many discussions with Shelley Rodrigo and leaning from the classroom experiences of Alisa Cooper, who have both inspired me to continue thinking outside the box in my teaching, I have come up with a new class project for this semester’s online fitness & wellness course.

The assignment is called HEALTH SLIDES. Every week students create 3 PowerPoint slides around and assigned topic. I, then, compile these slides into one large presentation and post them on the class blog (which is slowly growing into a repository of student produced health media). I realized that while their individual messages were informative, when combined, their messages are more powerful.

Here are two presentations that were compiled by the collaborative efforts of 13 to 15 online students whose independent efforts aligned into educational messages.

At the end of every week, students watch these presentations and learn from each other’s slides. At the same time, the online community can also learn from these messages, as well.

As I continue to pursue the question of WHY students take health education courses in college when they already know the basics (or more importantly, what my role as an educator is besides going beyond the basics), I realize that I am also in charge of educating them on how to educate others about health. It’s when students share their work and what they’ve learned with others, that matters, too. It’s when a student can say to a friend or family member, “Hey, check out this presentation that we did in my health class last semester” where you can see  student learning extend beyond the classroom.

FitnessFest, the largest fitness and wellness conference in the Southwest, is always offered twice a year. Once in April (at Ariz. State University in Tempe, AZ) and once in October (at Univ. of Arizona in Tucson, AZ.) And yesterday (10/9) marked the first day of the fall conference which will continue through this Sunday (10/12).

Earlier in April I was the official social media gal for the spring conference – creating YouTube videos, uploading flickr photos from the event. Podcasting interviews with the presenters and even live blogging various sessions.

This time, I have been invited to come back as a presenter to discuss these social media tools and how they can be used in the context of fitness and wellness. The session is entitled “Taking Your Offline Presence, Online” (which I also presented at IDEA World Convention in July) where I will discuss ways fitness professionals can connect with the Internet-savvy client of today by leveraging web 2.0 tools to develop their online authority, enhance their client-business communication skills, and become better health-fitness resources.

If you are interested in coming to the session, please check out their website for more information.