Fitness instructors still lacking knowledge: Bodybuilder star

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia's fitness and aerobics instructors are still lacking knowledge about their field, which appears to be hampering its development, according to the country's number one bodybuilder.

"Fitness centers are mushrooming here in Jakarta. The number could be the hundreds. But many of them are of a quality that is far from acceptable," Ade Rai said here on Saturday on the sidelines of a two-day workshop on international fitness and aerobics.

The workshop is being held by Reebok University, a worldwide fitness institution established in 1993, at the Red Top Hotel and will run until Sunday.

The institution is now seeking cooperation with the Department of National Education, which could lead to fitness education being taught at schools, in its attempt to obtain public recognition.

Ade said that fitness discipline in Indonesia was entering the earliest phase of its development and that workshops and seminars on it were urgently required to equip local instructors with sophisticated knowledge about aerobics.

Ade is one of four local lecturers at the workshop, which is being attended by around 400 participants. Some of them have come from outside Java.

"This workshop aims to disseminate more information on fitness so that they will be able to do their jobs better," said the 32- year-old, who is one of six members of the national bodybuilding team currently preparing for the 2002 Asian Games in South Korea.

Meanwhile, Fred Hoffman, a France-based training master at the workshop, emphasized the need for good knowledge of the field by fitness instructors.

"We encourage them to be open to new ideas and innovations. We are giving them a fitness program that they can use with their students," he said.