Fitness instructors still lacking knowledge: Bodybuilder star

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.