By, Martina Spencer, Discovery Learning Assessor

Are you stuck with same old routine and bored out of your mind? Then try interval training! I had been thinking about it for long time and knew all benefits, but have never been brave to apply this type of training in to my cardio workouts.

However, on my holiday last year, I was forced to experience a full on interval training with no warning!!

I was holidaying in Cuba and decided to for 5k run one morning. As you might know, Havana has lots of nice 5* hotels on the outskirts of the town, and each hotel has long driveway from the main road, leading to hotel reception. There is gate on the bottom of the driveway, and there is little cabin near the entrance for security people to keep away from direct sunlight and unbearable heat.

I put my trainers on and off I went, running along main road. When I got to the next hotel, the security guy was smiling at me and I felt so great being outside……life is great

That’s when I saw the little dog getting ready to chase me out of his territory. My face froze in horror. I like dogs, but those cute, nice and fluffy ones….not the vicious hungry Cuban dogs who will bite my heels if they catch me! I started sprinting to save my life!! I knew its only 200 meters until the gate so I put in the effort and escaped from the yappy dog. I could relax, until I reached another security cabin from the next hotel…and guess what…another dog chasing me again so had to run for my life again!! I must say, at the time it was really scary, but I actually enjoyed it because my workout wasn’t so boring.

Not convinced by interval training? Here are few facts which might convince you:

1. Interval training has been the basis for athletic training routines for years. The first forms of interval training, called “fartlek” involved alternating short, fast bursts of intensive exercise with slow, easy activity. Fartlek was casual, unstructured training that perfectly fit its English translation: “speed play.”

2. Interval training works both the aerobic and the anaerobic system.

3. Interval training also helps prevent the injuries often associated with repetitive endurance exercise, and they allow you to increase your training intensity without overtraining or burn-out

4. If you are counting calories burned, high intensity exercise such as intervals are better than long, slow endurance exercise

Next time you go for your run, try interval training and see all benefits yourself!

By, Caroline Newton, Discovery Learning Programme Director

I have been going to gym about 4 times a week for a while now and have started to get bored. So, I dug out my old workouts and came across the PHA training system that I used to use. I dusted of the cobwebs and decided to try it again to kick start my training again. The reasons why I came back to these systems was because it is fun, time efficient, ideal for toning up muscle, it works the whole body, excellent calorie burning workout and a excellent CV session.

PHA is short for ‘Peripheral heart Action’ and key aim of the approach is to train at high intensity without lactic acid building up and developing local muscular fatigue. It is specifically designed to keep the blood circulating through the whole body without it localising in one area. It is similar to circuit training, but your choice of resistance exercises are on the opposite ends of the body (e.g. upper body and lower body), therefore preventing blood becoming localised and lactic acid building up. The objective is to allow one muscle group to rest, while working another at the same time keeping the heart elevated, therefore eliminating the need to do a separate aerobic workout later.

There are a number of variations for the PHA depending on your goal and what you want to achieve. But the basic sequence of exercise is similar for most goals which is:

• Compound leg
• Compound upper body push exercise
• Compound leg (separate exercise from the first exercise)
• Compound upper body pull exercise

Run through all the exercises in sequence one after each other without rest until you get to the last exercise in the sequence. You can then have a rest 1-2 minutes then. The rep ranges and number of sets you do of the sequence will depend on the goal you wishing to achieve. But you would normally do about 3-4 sets of the sequence of exercises. You will have about 2-3 separate sequences of exercises in one workout (depending on your time).

I wanted to focus on my Muscular Endurance, CV fitness, toning up and weight loss. So my goal was to keep my heart rate up between 75% and 85% max heart rate.

Therefore my routine looks something like this:

• Front squat (20-25 reps)
• Dumb bell chest press on ball (20-25 reps)
• Persian one legged squat (20-25 reps)
• Bent over row (20-25 reps)
• 500m row (on ergometer)
• Repeat 3 times

Then move onto:

• Travelling lunges (20-25 reps)
• Press ups (20-25 reps)
• Hamstring curls on TRX (20-25 reps)
• Back row on TRX (20-25 reps)
• 500m row (on ergometer)

Repeat 3 times

Finally I finish off with a core circuit with 4 abdominal exercises back to back repeated 3 times.

By the time I finish this workout – I feel truly worked. I have lost 3 kgs in the last 3 weeks by performing this 3 times a week plus a personal trainer session and an extra CV session mixed in! I will keep you informed of my progress and hopefully more weight will come off!

By, Andrea Hughes, Discovery Learning Sales Team

I can’t believe it.  I look outside my window and I just cannot believe my eyes.  The sun…it’s burning bright in the sky…in London!! It’s finally happened.  The sun has proven it hasn’t forgotten about us!

Well, this has been a great summer so far and I can’t say I’m not enjoying it! Well, there are some things that I’m not enjoying.  The main one—the lack of good air conditioning in this city! The worst of which is my gym! I go in at 6:30 in the morning and basically walk in with the Gym Instructor and that’s when he switches on the air conditioning.  Well, it takes the gym about an hour to get cool and by the time it is I’m dripping in sweat (I mean, gracefully glowing), and it’s almost time to go home!

So, I’ve thought up some alternatives to training in my increasingly hot gym, and they also help us appreciate this amazing weather we’re experiencing.  My solution is to train outside! Obviously you have to be careful not to train when the weather’s at its hottest, but there are plenty of ways to train while still being comfortable and enjoying the weather!

Here are some ideas:

• Do your cardio outside, but make sure to run/walk/skip/hop in the morning or early evening before the weather gets too hot.
• Swim! Why not find a nice lido near you so you can get a great cardio workout and work on your tan at the same time?
• Grab a TRX and go! Training with a TRX offers a great full body workout and, the best part is, you can do it anywhere! You can hook it to a tree or post and go! It’s a great way to enjoy the weather and an even better way to keep fit!
• Kettlebells! You might want to keep this one closer to home as they might be a bit heavy to lug all over town, but they’re great because they provide the weight you need when training and they’re portable.  Always a favourite with outside training.
• Outdoor boot camps. These are so great because it’s practically like a PT session with someone pushing you, but for less money! And, if you’re a PT yourself, these are so popular at the moment because people are tired of the gym!
• Any other exercise that you can do on the go! Some ideas are: lunges, squats, press-ups, step ups, chin ups and duck walks.  All of these are effective exercises that can be done while appreciating this beautiful weather!

So, what are you waiting for? You and I know that this weather won’t be around forever—before we know it we’ll be in dreary November and we’ll all be complaining about the rain! Enjoy it while you can and get out of the gym to train! Now, if we can only figure out a way to move this office outside then we’ll be in business…

By, Caroline Newton, Discovery Learning Tutor

The foundation qualifications are the personal trainer certificate (offered by CYQ or Active IQ awarding bodies). This is your basic license to become a Personal Trainer. However, if you wish to earn more money, then we recommend that you specialise in certain areas. This means that you will have to gain more specialist qualifications on top of your personal trainer certificate.

Specialist areas can include Weight Management and Nutrition, Posture Correction and Functional Training, Strength Conditioning, group exercise, etc. You will need to decide which route you would like to take (remember you can do more than one route, but it also means more training).

Many training companies, like ourselves, offer Personal Trainer Packages. These aim to get you to your desired level in the shortest time possible, and at an affordable price.

There are three levels of personal training (however, different companies will have different names):

• Personal Trainer (can charge £25-£35 per hour)
• Advanced Personal Trainer (can charge £35-£45 per hour)
• Master Personal Trainer (can charge £45-£65 per hour)

You can progress at your own time through these categories, depending on the amount of time you have available to study and how much you can afford. However, it is often cheaper to book onto one of the specially designed personal trainer packages, as they have been specifically designed to meet the employers’ needs and increase your earning potential.

Ideally you want to aim to become a Master Personal Trainer. This is when you can charge a higher rate and stand out from the rest of the Personal Trainers in your gym or area.

The most “in demand” specialist modules that employers and clients are looking for are:

• Posture correction/ functional training/injury prevention and treatment
• Weight management and nutrition
• Strength and conditioning
• Boot camp/circuits

At Discovery Learning we offer all of these in our Master Personal Trainer Course (apart from Strength and conditioning).

So if you would like more advice on choosing a personal trainer course, then please email info@discovery.uk.com or phone 0208 543 1017 and we will help you choose the correct courses for you.

By, Yvette Nevrkla, author of the PT Business Gym

If you’re a personal trainer with a strong desire for more clients but an equally strong dislike of sales and marketing, then you must pay attention to this strategy.

The usual approach used by personal trainers to getting clients is to use the one-step sales strategy. This relies on complete strangers becoming full paying clients in just one step which is a risky strategy. It results in lots of rejections and a lot of wasted time doing free consultations and sessions without converting them into paying clients. This strategy also requires you to be a highly accomplished sales person. Let’s face it, the majority of personal trainers don’t relish the sales aspect of their profession and few would describe themselves as sales masters.

When it comes to marketing and promoting your services the normal approach involves printing business cards and leaflets and handing them out in the hope that you will get called. Increasingly trainers are developing websites too but these tend to be simply biographical sites where the information is all about the trainer instead of the client. The majority of PT websites look lovely but fail to generate clients or income making them a costly but ineffective strategy for achieving a steady stream of clients.

So what’s the answer?

I want to share a simple strategy with you. It’s a strategy that means no more hard sales and no more chasing clients. It’s really a very simple strategy that will completely change the way you approach the challenge of getting yourself fully booked.

Here are the Five Steps:

Step 1. Introduce Yourself to Your Market

Think about where you’ll find the kind of clients you most want to work with. If you work within the gym environment, then get thinking about how you can actually introduce yourself to them. It might be as simple as just approaching members and holding a short conversation to introduce yourself and what you do. Your Club might hold events giving you an opportunity to meet and chat to members. It might be a referral you’ve been given.

If you operate outside of the gym environment then you need to be more creative and proactive in seeking out your potential clients. Do your clients attend specific events? Who else works with your clients? Where do they hang out? You’re looking for opportunities to introduce yourself to people who could be your kind of clients or to people who can put you in touch with your ideal clients.

Step 2. Give Your Potential Clients Some Valuable Information

Once you’ve introduced yourself to a potential client, they are looking for just one thing from you. They are looking for more information. They want more information about you and about what you do. Most importantly they want to know what it will do for them and how you might be right for them. It’s about increasing your credibility and authority as a professional PT. So, instead of just giving out a business card or leaflet like every other PT, and waiting for interested clients to call you, you’re going to offer them something of real value. You need to get creative because you’ll need to create something of value that you can give away for free. This might be an article or a short report you’ve written which addresses the issues or challenges that your clients are facing. The content you provide here will help your clients to get to know you and what you do a little better, and help them to work out whether you are someone that could help them.

If you have a website then you can start directing potential clients there to download the free report or article. In this way your site progresses from being all about you to offering something valuable plus you start to build up your database of future clients.

Step 3. Follow Up

Following up is so important. You can’t just sit back and wait for people to take action because invariably they don’t. It’s not necessarily because they don’t want to. Things just get in the way. It’s your job to follow up, not to ask for a sale, but to offer further information and value. You might follow up to see how they found your article and get their feedback and answer any questions it raised for them. If you’ve made a good connection with these individuals during your first meeting and through your article, then they’ll generally be happy to speak with you. You don’t have to give away free training sessions at this point. Instead you’re holding a form of consultation to get to know them better, to find out more about their situation and what their challenges are.

This conversation might lead quite naturally into a sales conversation because some people are ready to take action and make buying decisions more easily. But they may not be ready yet. If, during this conversation you establish that they really are the right kind of client for you, then you might want to give them the opportunity to experience your service. You could offer them an initial personal training consultation which, if they agree, will then become your sales opportunity. Pitch the consultation as an opportunity to answer the questions the individual has so that it’s providing them with additional value. Those who are serious about doing the thing they say they want to do will be the ones who’ll take this small step towards actually getting started.

Step 4: Convert Your Prospect into a Paying Client

By this stage these people are no longer strangers. They are getting familiar with you and with what you do. They are getting a good sense of whether you’re the right person for them to work with. This sales conversation then becomes about helping them to focus on their goal and on the benefits achieving this goal will bring. It’s about getting them firmly connected with their goal and associating the achievement of that goal with you.

There is no need for hard selling here. You have a relationship with this person so now it’s about asking good questions so that your prospect can think about what they want and what they need to achieve what they want so they can make the right decision.

Tip – Be clear about what you’re offering. What is your programme? What are the options? If you know the kind of clients you want to work with, it’s easy to tailor your offers and your programmes to meet your market. If you’ve done this effectively, then the numbers of clients saying yes will grow.

Now I said there were five steps and for me the fifth step is the most important. Without doing this you make achieving the other four steps far more difficult for yourself.  Step Five is really the first step.

Step 5. Make Some Key Decisions About Your PT Business

Decide who you want to work with. The more specific you can be about this the better. This is your target market.

Decide exactly what you want to do with this target market, the service you want to offer, what you want to focus on. It’s more specific than just offering personal training services. This is your niche.

Decide exactly who your ideal clients are. Within your target market there will be a whole range of individuals with different character traits and qualities. Who is right for you? What kind of person will get the best results from working with you and will bring out the best in you.

If you can make these decisions about your PT business early on, you’ll find that you’re able to follow through on your marketing with relative ease. You’ll know where to find them, how to communicate with them. You’ll be able to research and get to know your target market in depth which will increase your ability to provide real value. Making these decisions as a personal trainer can make the difference between an empty diary and a steady stream of clients who are perfect for you.

Yvette Nevrkla – accomplished business coach, author of the book, The PT Business Gym, and founder of The PT Business Gym which offers business coaching and mentoring support and resources specifically for personal trainers. If you’re a personal trainer with aspirations and big plans for your business, then visit www.theptbusinessgym.com where you can download a FREE chapter of The PT Business Gym book.

By, Carolin Newton, Discovery Learning Operations Manager

It’s that time of year again…everyone is hitting the slopes for a bit of powder!  Most of my personal trainer clients are busy talking to me about wanting to improve their skiing skills and fitness to get ready for their trip. So I developed a “Snowboarding/Skiing Personal Trainer” package for people going on holiday. It was a great way to start off the New Year, and I saw a great increase in personal training sessions sold to new clients.

My “Personal Training for Snowboarding” package was designed over 8 Personal Trainer sessions, with a programme for the clients to follow when training on their own. The first couple of sessions focus on balance, flexibility and stability training. This was complemented by developing the anaerobic threshold with cardiovascular training. Exercises included a lot of bosu ball exercises, wobble boards and stability ball exercises all focusing on the lower body and core (especially the rotational exercises). I based most of my lower body exercises on compound movements such as squat and lunge patterns, with ever decreasing base of support. I also included a lot of upper body push exercises to ensure the client can push themselves up of the snow to stand up (I know from experience – that your triceps, chest and abs get very stiff and sore!!). All my exercises were within the Muscular Endurance variable ranges (i.e. high reps, moderate to light weight, and little rest).  For my cardiovascular work – I base it on hill runs, the rowing machine, step machine etc.  The aim is not fast, but more resistance – to increase the lactic acid tolerance.  In terms of flexibility, I focused on doing some self myofascial release techniques on their ITB, glutes, piriformis, quads and hamstrings. I then performed some PNF stretches on the same muscles. It is important that you focus on the flexibility so that they can twist, turn and perform tricks without injuring themselves.

From this point, I developed the programme to end off with power and isometric exercises. Here I did a lot of plyometric exercises focusing on squat jumps with power bags, squat rotational jumps, one legged squat jumps, etc. I also included lots of medicine ball upper body throwing and catching exercises that incorporated core rotations. Kettlebells also feature in the phase of training. I still maintained the flexibility and self myofascial release programmes to ensure optimum length of muscle was developed and maintained.

It is important to note—you must focus on developing the hip and knee stability before developing onto power and isometric exercises. The knee is one of the joints that is most at risk when snowboarding, so you must ensure your clients have developed the Vastus Medialis; Vastus Latralis; hamstrings muscles to support the joint.

Shoulder dislocation is also common – so strengthen the rotator cuff and the surrounding shoulder muscles by doing stability work on them.

So now that I have given a very brief overview of the snowboarding programme and the key aims—think about developing your own personal trainer programmes to maximise your personal trainer skills and ultimately pick up more clients!!!

By, Martina Spencer, Discovery Learning Personal Trainer

I still remember the day I was about to teach my first Aerobics class. Actually it was a dance class and to make it even worse, I was covering for my friend who is who is champion in Latin and Ballroom and even appeared on Strictly Come Dancing programme as professional dancer.

I was a newly qualified instructor, with no experience and still counting the beats in my head (you guys from ETM courses know exactly what I mean ). Anyway, there I was, standing in front of packed class trying to concentrate on my first track. I felt so nervous; I couldn’t even speak and had a big lump in my throat. The first track was a blur but got through it (ufff) only to find out that the stereo was on a loop and the song was repeatedly played over and over again! This was the last straw and I broke down. Luckily a friend who came with me for moral support stepped in and fetched little stereo from my car. From then on, class was ok(ish), but still pretty bad. Definitely not what I expected and I felt so down that I was on the verge on giving up and not teaching ever again.

My friend called later to ask how it went in the class and, almost crying, I told her that this was my first and very last class. She just laughed and told me not to be silly and get on with it as she was accepted on Strictly and she is leaving in few days week for 4 weeks.

I came back and taught all her classes and I must say, once I got to know people and they got used to me, it was actually quite enjoyable and I gained the confidence I needed. After all, my friend stayed for an extra 6 weeks as she was doing surprisingly well with her celebrity dance partner and I got to teach for the whole 10 weeks. I was very sad when I had to hand her classes back but as my friend got more publicity from the programme and was getting really busy, I could keep most of her classes anyway.  Three years later, I was still teaching few of those and also got lots more and started teaching in different health clubs.

This blog  is for all newly qualified aerobics instructors: You hang in there, your fame is not going to happen overnight and there will be lots of tears and tantrums but I am sure career you chose is the best and most rewarding job, it’s fun and it keeps you fit. Seven years on, I still remember my first class and all I can do is laugh!

By, Louise Court, Discovery Learning Tutor

In 2005 I decided to enter a bodybuilding competition.  For many years I had been training hard in the gym lifting weights.  For a woman, I was lifting quite good weights (bench pressing 65kg, deadlifting 80kg, squatting 85kg and pushing oult 6-8 reps on these exercises).  Someone suggested I should enter a competition.  I went and saw a competitive bodybuilder who had been Mr Great Britain, and he was also a judge.   He gave me advice and sorted out my diet plan.

I had six weeks to diet down and get in shape for the competition.  Most competitors take at least 12 weeks to diet, if not more.  I had the muscle, just had to decrease my body fat percentage.  I think I was about 20 -21% body fat when I started the diet.  At this stage I had told all my friends about the competition and they had bought tickets to the show, so there was no turning back.  I had a very short period time to cut down (get lean), but I was committed and stuck to the diet.

The diet was very strict, cooked egg whites, tuna, turkey, lots of vegetables and before I did weight training I had a small jacket potato with my protein.  I was having 5-6 small meals a day with high protein and vegetables for my carbs.  At the start, the diet was very easy because I had the fat reserve to keep me going, when that went it was tough!  My target every day was to burn 1000kcal (through weight training and cardio), and eat a strict diet.

All my hard training and focus had paid off; I managed to drop my body fat to 14%.  I won the Southern Championships for the Miss Physique class.

I was invited to the Great Britain finals.  I had 6 weeks to train hard, and that I did.  I was working as a freelance personal trainer and aerobics instructor at the time.  It was very hard to work as I had no energy, motivating my clients was a big struggle.

When you compete you have to be 100% focused, otherwise you will not do well.  This means family, friends and relationships are sacrificed.  No Sunday roasts, BBQ on the beach, drinking alcohol, movie with popcorn or chocolates and no takeaways.  My focus was only on training and preparing my food.

I got in very good shape for the Great Britain Championships and got down to 9% bodyfat, which is extremely low for a woman.   I did very well for my first national competition; I did not win but was in very good shape and gave the other competitors a run for their money!

I loved being on stage showing off, doing my routines and I had lots of fun.  But the diet was harsh and I would not recommend anyone doing it, as I lacked energy and became very weak.

After the competitions I got my health back on track, I had a healthy body fat % and my personal training business soared.  I don’t suggest you doing a bodybuilding competition, but training for an event or sport will inspire people, and that will increase your personal training clientele base.

Stuart, one of the tutors from Discovery is training for a bodybuilding competition.  So watch this space…

By, Caroline Newton, Discovery Learning Tutor

At present, it is hard to understand all the different types of qualification that learners hold—what level they are, how long they take to complete, what content they cover, and how they compare to other qualifications. A new framework was required to help present qualifications in a way that is easy to understand and measure. The QCF is that new framework responsible for recognising and accrediting qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Its role is to set the standard for the skills and knowledge the qualifications require and it also classes them at a particular Level. Skills Active and REPs are the fitness industry professional bodies that set the relevant fitness qualifications at the correct level.  So, for example; Personal Trainer Qualification is set at Level 3, Gym Instructor, Exercise to Music Instructor and Health Related Exercise for Children Instructor Qualifications are Level 2. All validated UK fitness qualifications will now be linked to the QCF and they must comply with certain criteria such as learning hours and educational standard. The Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs) regulates individuals’ qualifications, and ensures they are appropriate and recognised. The highest level which an individual can achieve in the fitness level is currently Level 4. The Table below explains what these levels mean, as they can be quite confusing:

• GCSEs (grade A*- C) = Level 2
• GCE A levels = Level 3
• HNC = Level 4
• HND or foundation degree =  Level 5
• Honours degree = Level 6
• Masters (Post Graduate) =  Level 7
• PhD = Level 8

Fitness courses can be provided as an Award, a Certificate or a Diploma depending upon the number of credits achieved. Every unit and qualification in the framework will have a credit value (one credit represents 10 hours, showing how much time it takes to complete) and a level between Entry level and level 8 (showing how difficult it is).

There are three sizes of qualifications in the QCF:

• Awards (1 to 12 credits)
• Certificates (13 to 36 credits)
• Diplomas (37 credits or more).

So in the new framework you can have a fitness award at level 1 or an award at level 4. This is because the qualification type  ‘award, certificate, diploma’ represents the size of a qualification, not how difficult it is. The level represents how difficult it is. This is something that can easily be confused.

Each qualification title contains the following:

• the level of the qualification (from Entry level at the bottom to level 8 at the top)
• the size of qualification (award/certificate/diploma)
• details indicating the content of the qualification.

So when choosing your qualifications, simply look at the title of a fitness qualification and you will be able to see how difficult it is, how long it will take the average learner to complete, and its general content.

But if this has not been explained to you before – it is very difficult to know what you are getting yourself into!

By, Victoria Clout, Discovery Learning Tutor

On a daily basis, myself and the student support interact with many of the students on Discovery Learning courses; we are always on hand to answer any questions about the courses, assessments, etc.

The main questions I get asked are:

• Will I be judged on my physical fitness?
• Will I be the only one there over 25?
• Will I be the only female for the PT course?
• Will I be the only man on the Exercise to Music (ETM) course?

The answer to all the above questions is no! Your level of physical fitness is not important; we are not expecting all our students to be elite athletes! But it does come down to your own preferences and where you see yourself working in the future. Shape and size doesn’t matter but remember Gym Instructing and Personal Training are physical jobs and you must be able to cope with the demands.

My personal example is my level of flexibility.  I can’t squat/deadlift due to tight gastrocnemius, the result of many years of swim training. The squat is incorporated into many other moves and is an excellent toning exercise. If I can’t do something, then I need to know how to explain and teach to a high standard. Although my demonstrations of a squat are not great, I do understand why clients find it hard. I have developed ways to overcome my weakness and maintain a professional demeanour.

The age range of students on our courses range from 16 to 65 years old; the range of courses are open to everyone. At Discovery Learning, we pride ourselves in being inclusive and having the relevant support systems in place for a wide demographic.

There are an equal number of males and females on all of the courses we offer at Discovery Learning.  The Exercise to Music Instructor Level 2 course is the basis of so many choreographed courses that you get a wide range of students. As with Personal Training courses, the male to female ratio is equal.

Have other questions that need answering? We can help!

Our Student Support is open from 9 to 5 pm Monday to Friday, and on Monday and Wednesday we are available 9 to 7.30 pm to cater for all students who work or have other commitments.

Hope this helped! Check this space for more answers to your questions.