Weak Fitness

I talk to a lot of people who are interested in becoming personal trainers. In this article, I will briefly share some thoughts on motives, attitudes and resources if you are thinking of becoming a personal trainer.

I would recommend that you start by getting a legitimate certification. You can research theinternet or talk to personal trainers at health clubs or private studios. As a suggestion, you could check out the International Association of Resistance Trainers, ISSA or ACE. These three certification organizations can be found on the internet and have several areas for you to consider. When considering a legitimate certification program, check out personal training /liability insurance. Be sure that the certificate you earn will have clear guidelines on how to purchase insurance once you actually start to train clients. There are many fitness certifications that are not recognized by any insurance companies, stay away from these. If you choose to train without insurance, you are taking a big risk. Depending on the physical location of where you will train your clients (club, private training studio, corporate fitness center)

you will need to check with their individual requirements regarding acceptable certifications and insurance policies. After you have done your research on the above issues, if you are still interested, get started today! Whether you remain interested (out of the people who go into fitness training, many more drop out than stick with it) you can always use the information to further your own personal fitness programming. I believe that your initial training / certification will never be a waste.

You will want to check out other certification programs later (may be required based on place of employment) in order to get plenty of exposure to all the different training methodologies.

Try to stay grounded – many programs are not that reality based. With any training information, ask yourself the question: How will I use this for my own, as well as my clients, fitness program? I have many doctors, other trainers and people with sports / human performance degrees who hire me to help with training issues. The rubber hits the road when you have a client who is depending on you to give them a cardio, strength training, eating, supplementation, injury recovery and / or flexibility program complete with personalized scheduling. You do not need to have all the answers but try to establish your own process for giving them the answers or effective referrals for what they need.

Not knowing what your previous experience is regarding working with people in general, I would suggest that you assess what your tolerance is for complainers and whiners as there are so many issues for so many people that you will need to address at some level (as a fitness professional). If you want to be a good trainer, you need to commit to the total client. I think too many trainers end up wanting to legitimize their own training priorities and believe that by becoming a personal trainer / fitness professional, they can focus all their time on themselves  (not an acceptable mindset). They should stay out of personal training if they are not ready to commit to their clients. Do not fall prey to canned programs or using a cookie cutter approach for everyone you will train.

I come from a human service background (double major in Social Work / Criminal Justice) and worked my way up to manager in a juvenile diversion program over a period of 10 years before getting into personal training. BUT, in the first three years of being a personal trainer, I placed in three international personal trainer contests. These were great experiences but in all three instances, success was based on the commitment to the client more than caring about winning any contests.

Nutrition and eating plans are a much neglected area in personal training / fitness. I would suggest that you focus as much on the nutritional piece as the strength training, cardio or flexibility. All things being equal in a good training program, a good nutrition program can dramatically accelerate any progress (this should be obvious but so many trainers

miss this one). You would need to check with your state on how flexible you can be as a trainer in advising clients on good nutritional strategies. I live in Colorado, a state that is very flexible; other states can be very regulated in the area of nutritional programming.

Do not fall prey to the (miracle in a bottle) supplement marketing. Supplements can be very beneficial as long as they are not presented as a stand alone product apart from some type of exercise program. I believe a personal trainer should only reference supplements in the context of their use for supporting a person who is participating in a solid training and whole food nutrition program – not apart from a balanced fitness / nutrition lifestyle. You will want to learn the effects of dietary carbohydrates, protein and fat for helping clients reach their  goals. You will want to learn how to cycle training as well as nutritional strategies based on individual client goals. You will also want someone you can readily access for consultation or referral regarding clients with medical concerns or injuries.

In summary, start today at getting a recognized fitness training certification, begin to build a good resource library and seek out successful trainers who are willing to share their knowledge and experiences. It will take a lot of time and effort if you want to be a reputable trainer but most of what you learn, from the start, can immediately be applied to your own personal fitness

program as well as your guinea pigs (friends and family). Keep your focus on a holistic approach to lifestyle fitness as you gain experience and expertise; do not try to specialize until you have confidence and success in your ability to instruct clients on strength, cardio and flexibility programming supported by sound nutritional strategies.

Most of the sales are done based on weight. Bench scales, pocket scales, jewelry scales, industrial scales, laboratory scales, bathroom scales, and baby scales are some of the common types of scales. Lab balances are used in the measurement of small weights ranging from micrograms to a few kilograms. Laboratory balances are mostly used in food research laboratories, chemical research laboratories, manufacturing research laboratories, pharmaceutical research laboratories and other research laboratories.

The different types of balances namely ultra micro analytical and micro analytical can weigh objects upto 3 grams. Semi micro analytical has a maximum capacity of 30 grams. Macro analytical has a maximum capacity of 160 grams, but precision can weigh objects between 160g-60 kg. These can measure tiny objects such as dust and lint. Floor scales can be used for both industrial and household purposes. Big industries use floor scale to measure the weight of their metals and other heavy objects. Bathroom weighing scale is mostly used at homes.

Bathroom scales can also be used in fitness centers and health clubs. Bathroom scales are used to measure the body fat. Large floor scales have capacities from 2500 lb to more than 30,000 lb. Drum scales can weigh from 500 lb to 800 lb. Bench scales have certain features like battery operator, adaptor, auto shutoff, battery indicator etc. some of the bench scales are quad spring, A & D model FG series, A& D model HV-G-HW-G series, titan stainless steel series, and GSE model 4400. Bench scales can weigh upto 100 lb. Truck scale weighing scale is used to measure the weight when the object is loaded in the truck. Once the scale is installed, it is difficult to move around. In United Kingdom they are called as weighbridges. Truck scales are mostly used in mines or quarries, recycling and bulk liquid and powder movement. Truck scales can be used by selling or charging by weight over the bridge and check weighing both axle weights and gross vehicle weights.

Economic digital scale is used to calculate small amounts in the kitchen. Make sure that the economic digital scale will give you accurate measurement. For smaller recipes if there is smaller difference between 1 gram and 15 grams of cinnamon will make a huge difference in the final product. Pocket scales can be carried in pockets. These are mostly used in military, hunting, and building construction applications. These can weigh items upto 500 grams. Industrial scales are mostly used in automotive and trucking, food service, processing, retail, hospitality, agriculture, railroad, engineering and construction. Jewelry scales are used to weigh pearl, silver, semi precious and precious stones, diamond, and gold. Spring scales are used in many industries. Those with high load capacities are frequently suspended from crane hooks and are known as crane scales. Small scales are household purpose are called as fish scales. Steel Coil scales have capacities from 20,000 lbs to 80,000 lbs. Heavy capacity scale has capacities from 10,000 lbs to 100,000 lbs. Scales are used for both household and industrial purpose.

As a former physical education teacher I had the opportunity to hone my teaching skills and develop many teaching styles. In the 80’s I became intrigued with fitness and watched virtually every fitness related program and read all the magazines and journals available to me. The one stark difference that I would notice between my profession as a teacher and my new passion, fitness, was that there didn’t seem to be a solid base of teaching methodology in the fitness arena. Most trainers were giving their clients the same workout routine they did that morning, plus they were using more of a motivational without instruction teaching style. In other words there was a lot of yelling but not much teaching.

As time went on I became more serious about the fitness industry and I began teaching athletes to improve their athletic abilities. Because my past exposure was from other coaches and what I has seen on TV and read about, I basically adopted those methods for my teaching style. But it didn’t take long for me to realize that there had to be a better way of tapping into the athletes learning abilities to get more natural results. What I mean by natural results is that I wanted the body to move as it was intended and not so robotic and rehearsed.

Relying on my teaching background I began to use a method of teaching called guided discovery. I remembered back in college taking a class called movement education. It was based on experimenting and figuring out how to accomplish a task. So what I began to do is use this form of teaching to get my athletes to move correctly and more natural. The other important aspect of guided discovery that always benefited me as an athlete is when I did something correctly due to feel, it was an instantaneous kinesthetic understanding of my body and how it should move. It didn’t matter how many times a coach or teacher told me how to do it, I had to feel it to learn it and reproduce it.

So I began to incorporate this style of teaching and learning into the athletes. Over time I became more adept at recognizing what skills needed a more direct approach to teaching and which skills needed to be figured out through kinesthetic awareness. Some skills required a little of both and some athletes varied greatly on how they needed to be taught. The most important benefit I wanted all my athletes to gain from the learning experience is empowerment. I wanted them to take charge of their bodies and mind and try to draw a connection that would be ingrained. I truly felt if I could empower athletes to realize the basic balance and body positions to perform movements they could make needed adjustments for virtually any athletic skill.

So how did I use guided discovery? What was the basic foundation of this teaching method on a day to day basis of learning? First off, I had developed a set of rules that fit my personality as a teacher and made sense in the role of using guided discovery. Listed are 6 basic ruled I adopted over time:

1. Never put the athlete in an injurious setting. If the athlete has a potential for hurting them self, it is your responsibility as a coach to reduce this potential.

2. Always set your athlete up for success. The athlete must be placed in a position that they can achieve success. This doesn’t mean they don’t have to work for it, but never give them a task that will guarantee failure.

3. Give them as little cuing as possible to guide them in the correct direction. The goal is for the athlete to figure out how to properly move through feel and guidance.

4. Ask questions that give you as much input as possible as to how they physically feel during the skill as well as make them figure out what you want. For example; “Can you feel your glutes fire when your heel is in contact with the floor”? This will give you the answer you want, but also guide them into making sure the heel in contact with the floor with out actually saying, “get you heel on the floor”.

5. Reward the correct movement pattern with strong Phrases or words. “Fantastic, you got it” or “You nailed it” or “Great job”. Psychologically this is more powerful and rewarding and attaches a good feeling to the correct movement.

6. Don’t reward sloppy or poor movements. You don’t want to chastise either. You simply use terms like; “your not quite there yet” or “you can do better than that”. Give them the feeling that they have to concentrate and deliver a better performance than the one they just did.

Guided discovery is used in such a way that instruction is limited to the point of making sure the athlete understands what the skill is and what it should look like, but the athlete must use his or her feel to perform it correctly.

Important points:

* The coach must recognize immediately if the skill is not correct even if it feels correct to the athlete. This is where the coach must have adequate working knowledge of what the skill should look and feel like.
* The coach can give cues that will guide the athletes into performing the skill correctly but not actually give them a step by step approach that may enter more confusion due to too many instructions. Sometimes less is more.

Another important aspect of guided discovery that hasn’t been touched on yet is the act by the coach of physically forcing the athlete to self-correct a poor movement. Gray Cook, highly notable physical therapist and strength coach, uses reactive neuromuscular training (RNT) to guide his clients into a correct movement pattern. This is done by pushing the client into their mistake and forcing the client to self correct. This can be done by using the hands or by using an elastic band. An example of RNT would be to force a client that goes into valgus (medial collapse of the knees) into further values by placing the elastic band around the outside of the knees, to obviously force the knees inward. The only cuing that needs to be given is to not let the band collapse the knees or keep the knees over the middle of the toes.

As you can see guided discovery is about putting the obligation of correct movement on the individual. The responsibility of the coach is to guide when needed. I have always felt that too many coaches try to find something to say because they feel it is there job, when, in actuality, saying little can get quicker and more resounding results.

Now, I am certainly not advocating that guided discovery is used as the only teaching method, but if used properly it can create a lasting learning effect. It can establish a framework of understanding by the athlete to make self corrections when needed.

I strongly encourage coaches to become fully educated on the skill or movement pattern they are teaching. For the foundation of education is knowledge. A coach can not guide another if they have not gained a working knowledge of the task at hand. Enjoy the results you will unearth as a result of guided discovery.

One of the most superior brands of treadmills available, Life Fitness treadmills are featured extensively in gyms and health clubs around the globe. Highly regarded by several top magazines and newspapers, this treadmill reigns supreme when it comes to fitness equipment. Although a bit on the pricey side, Life Fitness treadmills offer various options and features which make your purchase worth every penny.

Life Fitness treadmills are known for their top quality materials and exquisite design. The Life Fitness company offers both commercial treadmills for use in exercise facilities and also smaller, yet durable machines that are aimed towards home use. This world renowned company is committed to supplying the most advanced health equipment available. Life Fitness treadmills also offer a generous warranty; five years for motor protection, and three years for parts.

Life Fitness treadmills range in price from $2,500 to almost $5,000. Although expensive, the wide variety of features makes these machines a value. Programmed workouts and workout feedback, and a heart rate monitor are just some of the basic options available. Each model is equipped with a specially designed system called ‘Flex Deck,’ which has been proven to decrease pressure on joints of the body. Every model also has a powerful 2.5 horsepower motor which can reach a speed of up to 10 miles per hour.

With a hefty price tag, and a diverse selection of features offered, Life Fitness treadmills are created for the dedicated athlete in mind. Searching for the very best in regards to exercise equipment? The Life Fitness treadmill rates at the top.

Though many people don’t realize it, golf is a physically demanding game. It involves coordination, timing, strength, and flexibility. Especially for older golfers, staying in good condition is a vital part of continued enjoyment of the game. Here are a few things to think about as you consider setting up a golf fitness program.

General Condition

As any doctor will tell you, you shouldn’t begin any golf fitness program or any other type of regular exercise without a good working knowledge of your general physical condition. Also, your physical strengths and weaknesses will directly impact your ability to consistently perform the actions needed for a correct and consistent golf swing. A trainer-or, if you’re the do-it-yourself type-a web site like pgatour.com can give you some ideas about specific exercises to help you work on those areas that might be a problem for you.

Back to the Basics

Every golf magazine is loaded with ads for the latest gimmick, gizmo, or tool that will fix your swing, increase your clubhead speed, cure your slice, or guarantee twenty-foot putts. But many golfers, eager to lower their scores, forget that the basic component of a good golf fitness program can do more to increase consistency, balance, and club control than most of the latest gadgets on the market. Especially during those winter months when it’s often too cold to get on the course, a solid golf fitness program can help keep your body-and your swing-in tune and ready for those warmer days in the spring when the links start beckoning.

Anyone thinking of going on a sensible weight loss program in order to shed a few pounds and learn how to live a healthier lifestyle should certainly give Weight watchers a glance. Weight watchers are an established name in the field of dieting and are one of the few who have had great success throughout the world and had remained successful ever since its beginning in the early 1960`s.

Since its beginning millions of people the world over have joined Weight watchers clubs and have managed to succeed in their weight loss and stuck with it. This is perhaps due to the fact that at a weight watchers club meeting, while being encouraged to eat a sensible well balanced diet you are also given a plan to follow that is interesting enough to make sure that boredom doesn’t set in. This is the main downfall about of any weight loss plan, there are many restrictions and boredom quickly brings about the downfall of the diet.

The weight watchers diet allows you to eat the things you enjoy while showing you how to do this the sensible way and encouraging you to take more exercise. Weight watchers are well known for their club meetings and the encouragement they bring to the individual, the clubs are an excellent way to get this encouragement and this has always been one of Weight watchers strongest factors, the support it gives.

The weight watchers club is more than just a diet which the individual has to struggle through alone, it becomes more like a family and this is the mainstay of the system. While during the initial meeting when you sign up for weight watchers you will be weighed alone and go through an interview about your lifestyle and your weight loss plans for the future, after this the whole system is done in a group. Meetings take place once a week and there are discussions, talks, here you can let your thoughts and feelings out and share them with people all in the same boat. This leads to the feeling of never going through this alone and this is what makes Weight watchers unlike any other system and is probably the main reason why the system is so popular and has stuck around where so many other diets have failed.

Weight watchers is available in almost every town and city, they very often have introductions and special deals which waiver the fee to join, this is usually after Christmas which is when the majority of people decide to go a weight loss plan.

Your body and golf operate together, its crucial to realise your body’s limitations otherwise you will not better your performance. You should workout regularly, remembering to practice on your golf game as well or you will not improve, even though your body will still be able to make a good golf stroke.

Its vital to remember that your body is a golf machine Your body recognises and interprets your golfing ability! You should keep working on your natural ability, only after a while, aging kicks in and you lose strength, flexibility, coordination, stability and a great deal more. When this happens, your game starts to weaken.

One method of stopping this is to maintain your fitness and health and never quit practicing. Practicing in groups is better than practicing on your own so invite a couple of your buddy’s to join you.

You must understand the limitations of your body thereafter your game will improve, you will discover you can make a better, more powerful swing, but with more precision and accuracy. The final result is a huge decrease in marks and mix hit, and a huge improvement in distance and accuracy. Also make sure you are comfortable in your golf shoes and with your golf clubs. Also try to use a golf cart if you can get access to one.

You are a golfing pro and all pro’s train their body’s in alignment with the sport they play You need to follow suite. The more you focus on the physical demands the swing puts on your physical structure, the more you will be able see the importance of golf training like in any other sport. If you are competitive with yourself on the course, you should want to make changes that will quickly improve your game. You must start thinking like a high-level golfing pro.

Exercise often to build up your stamina and you will see and feel the difference in your golf game.

Advanced ab exercises are the key to building a good torso, but a lot of people simply keep doing their basic crunches and sit ups to little or no effect. What most people don’t know is that there are good ab exercises that show immediate, lasting results are a lot easier to do than sit ups!

Whether you are trying to lose weight or build muscle one of the exercises that should always be in your routine is the vacuum. The vacuum is a breathing exercise technique that was developed in the 1950s and still enjoys a lot of popularity among professional trainers and bodybuilders. It requires a lot of discipline to master, but can give you incredible results.

This is one of the few advanced ab exercises that targets the transverse abdominus, the inner band of muscle that wraps around the torso and is responsible for your core strength. This muscle is the basic platform upon which you will build all of your other abdominal muscles, so spending a few minutes each day doing the vacuum will yield some incredible results. To perform this exercise simply inhale until your lungs are full, and then exhale slowly while trying to suck your belly button up into your chest cavity.

This might sound uncomfortable but keep at it. Once you reach a point where you feel your sides tighten, hold that position. Keep it there for a few seconds and then exhale, counting that as one repetition. After the first one of these you should feel a deep burn that you know is helping you to build muscle quickly!

Another one of the advanced ab exercises going around at fitness clubs at the moment is the upside-down dumbbell lift. Lying on your stomach on a weight bench, edge your torso off the edge of the bench and clasp a flat weight against your chest with your arms crossed. Perform small up and down movements, being careful to only use your stomach muscles to lift your body. If it feels like it is hurting the wrong parts of your body, try to switch to a smaller weight or ask a trainer if you are in the right position. This exercise can be extremely dangerous if performed correctly, so ask for help if you are ever in doubt.

One of the most important things that people do not realize is that you can do as many advanced ab exercises as you like, but if you do not have the correct diet to go with it you will get nowhere. If you already have a significant body fat percentage then it is always best to combine your abdominal exercises with a good cardio routine and a low fat, low carbohydrate, high protein diet.

Your meal before you exercise should consist of a protein shake (or at least two eggs) and one or two pieces of fruit. The meal you take after your exercise should be enough to replace the protein you burned during your exercise, but also contain enough natural sugar to keep your blood glucose levels up. If you do not stick to a good eating plan, you might as well not be doing all of those advanced ab exercises!

Remember that no matter how experienced you are at toning your body, you can never see what you look like when you are exercising. It is always good to train with a partner to make sure that you are getting the most out of your advanced ab exercises, and not simply doing damage to your hips, neck and back. If you do not have a training partner, enlist the help of a personal trainer to help you get the maximum results out of your workout.

One of the questions I have been repeatedly asked by those new to aerobic exercise is how to tell

if they are getting the most from their efforts. They are unsure if they are at the ‘right’ heart

rate to get the most effective aerobic benefits.

First, a brief explanation of what ‘aerobic’ exercise is and why it is so important to your

health. Your body converts food into energy by two very different forms of metabolism. Aerobic -

with oxygen, and anaerobic – without oxygen.

Anaerobic metabolism is the creation of energy through the burning of carbohydrates in the

absence of oxygen. This happens when the lungs cannot supply enough oxygen to the blood to keep

up with the demands from the muscles.

Anaerobic metabolism is most generally associated with short, very intense, forms of exercise,

mostly with weight training or sprinting. Anaerobic metabolism is crucial to increasing muscle

mass. This why you will hear from weight lifters that they do very little, if any, aerobic types

of exercise.

The biology of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism is very complex and with very little research you

can quickly become lost in the complexity without a degree in biology.

I am going to simplify this complex process as the vast number of people who are interested in

improving their health are not necessarily interested in becoming biologists.

The primary fuels used by the body for energy are glucose and fatty acids, with protein used when

the first two are depleted. The first two are burned by the body aerobically during most of our

normal activity, including moderate exercise. When the activity intensity reaches approximately

80% of the maximum possible the body switches to anaerobic metabolism.

Aerobic metabolism is very efficient and produces few negative byproducts. This is not true of

anaerobic metabolism which produces lactic acid which causes muscle pain and is the reason our

muscles ‘burn’ after intensive weight training.

Aerobic metabolism is like burning natural gas, clean hot flame with little waste.
Anaerobic exercise is like burning old tires, with lots of thick sooty smoke. Which one do you

think is better for your body?

As long as you can breath without gasping for air you are burning your fuel aerobically. There

are different formulas for figuring out your ‘correct’ aerobic threshold. Look on the wall of

most gyms and you will see one of these formulas on a chart comparing age with intensity.

These charts are clinical formulas based on countless measurements of people exercising at

different rates to come up with an average. These numbers are good as a general indicator,

especially when first beginning your exercise program.

Far more accurate is your own personal aerobic threshold and you can figure this out fairly

easily. Your own personal number is the heartbeat you have when you first become

breathless…when you can no longer tell someone your name without gasping for breath.

This is the level that you will get the most benefit from your efforts. Keep your heart rate a

few beats per minute below the point where you are beginning to gasp for breath. You need to

maintain this level for a minimum of 15 minutes to attain the benefits of aerobic exercise.

Clinical studies have shown that doing aerobic exercise at least 3 or 4 time a week will increase

the left ventricle – the chamber of the heart that pumps the freshly oxygenated blood into the

body – by 15% to 20%. It will do this in four to six weeks!

As you continue to train your body you will be able to do more work, or go longer without

exceeding your aerobic threshold. This very positive feedback will be helpful in keeping your

commitment to stay with your program. You will have proof that your efforts are having a positive

effect.

Another very important benefit of aerobic exercise is that when you have substantially raised

your heartbeat you are moving a lot of blood through the body. This improves the nutrient flow to

the cells and helps to get rid of waste materials that accumulate during normal cell function.

It also helps to move hormones and other necessary complex chemicals produced by some cells for

the benefit of other cells located throughout the body. The cardio-vascular system, and its

health, is the single most important factor in your good health.

The author has been an aerobics instructor for 28 years. He has taught at privately owned fitness

clubs, but has been mostly associated with the Y.M.C.A where he has been a Certified Group

Instructor since 1980. He is currently developing web sites that deal with health and fitness

related topics.

In this age of the internet, when virtually any business transaction can be handled from your own personal computer, the trade show seems like a quaint and clunky relic. Why would you trek off with staff in gear in tow, erect the grownup equivalent of a lemonade stand, and spend hours on your feet in a theater lobby, smiling, schmoozing, shaking hands, and selling until you are ready to drop? Why, in short, should you bother with a trade show at all? For most businesses the answer is clear: Because you have to.

While the exhibition industry prematurely predicted its own demise earlier this decade because of the Web, something curious happened: The rise of the virtual office served only to reaffirm the importance of the human touch in doing business. In many industries, the trade show has become a must-seize marketing opportunity. It’s a time to meet prospective customers, get valuable feedback on your product or service, and close sales.

According to Tradeshow Week’s 1999 Data Book, 86% of show attendees called the shots or influenced buying, 85% had not been called by a salesperson before the show, and 75% left the show with at least one purchase.

Despite the outlay of time and money, a trade show is still a very economical way to build your business. While a small business can easily plunk down upwards of $500 – $1,000 for exhibition costs, it’s one way to gain a leg up on your industry’s Goliath’s. And unlike the social vacuum of the Web, you can see immediately what customers think of your product.

Once you have decided you’re going to exhibit, you need to inform your prospective customers. Allocate part of your budget for pre-show advertising, direct mailers, and personal phone calls to make sure that those prospects write you into their agendas. Direct mail motivates 53% of previous show attendees and 29% of new-comers to visit your booth, according to industry data.

On the show floor it is important that your staff is well trained to demonstrate your product – and sell it. Trade show attendees who leave dissatisfied complain that salespeople did not meet their needs, weren’t available to help them, or seemed untrustworthy, industry surveys show. Have approachable, knowledgeable people behind your booth with your company logo on their shirt and provide them with a name tag.

Getting attention on a crowded show floor isn’t easy for a newcomer. However, you can create a respectable-looking booth inexpensively without being tacky: Buy good quality, three-sided skirts for your tables and portable banner stands for signage, make flyers on your computer to set plastic literature racks. Provide lots of small giveaways and raffles to gain qualified leads, and hand out your business card and a small gift with your logo and phone number on it.

For most exhibitors, the really hard work begins once the show is over. That’s when you will have to follow up on all of your sales leads – preferably as soon as possible, so your company is still fresh in their minds. You should also analyze what you learned from the show experience and adjust what you are doing accordingly. Experts suggest you commit at least a third of your trade-show budget to follow-up. And if you think you can skip the whole affair because all your deals are done elsewhere, think again. Trade shows become a gossipy society unto themselves, where your competitors might float rumors in your absence that your company is ready to bite the dust. In some sectors trade shows are the preferred venue for doing business.

For exhibiting and/or sponsoring our fitness events in the Spring and Fall contact us and commit early to ensure that your company is involved from the start of pre-show promotion.

Brian Cannone began his full-time career in the fitness industry in 1991 and continues to manage health clubs in Connecticut today. His experience in this business has lead him to run many successful health clubs and his responsibilities include setting up new facilities, building and managing a staff, daily membership sales, personal training, and club marketing and promotion. He is also certified as a personal trainer, nutrition consultant, and spin instructor.