Last week on "The Biggest Loser," Amanda switched trainers. She had been struggling with Jillian and posting modest four pound losses. On her first week back with Bob, her trainer at the start of the season, Amanda lost a whopping seven pounds. She credited shedding more weight entirely to working with a trainer that she "clicked" with.

Amanda perfectly demonstrates that the right personal trainer often makes all the difference. I'm not talking about a trainer with the best certifications and education -- although you should always seek that -- I mean those trainers that will "click" with you. If you resonate with a certain instructor, you'll have a better workout and, ultimately, better results.

Not everyone can afford or even wants a personal trainer, but we are constantly seeking fitness advice and leadership. When you search for your fitness guru, look at all the options: group exercise teachers, yoga instructors, even fitness DVDs and books. Somewhere out there is a person who delivers the message, just the way you need to hear it.

Here's how to find that "click."

That's Fit Club is our feature devoted to you, the reader. We have all learned so much on our paths to becoming more fit, and now it's time to learn from and inspire each other. That's Fit Club members are constantly working to better themselves. Some are perfect; some are not. But all have health on the mind.

Besides showing you off, we want to reward you for all of your hard work! Adidas is giving gorgeous gym bags to each featured member. To join, please send Fitz your answers to these questions, with a photo of yourself. Time for you to be the motivator!

Name: Lauren Sapenoff

Age: 34

Occupation: Pilates Instructor

How often do you exercise? Pilates five days a week, cardio 3x a week

What type of exercise do you do? I do a little bit of everything from spinning to weights to bikram yoga and everything in between.

What gets you to work out, even when you're feeling lazy? Knowing how great I'm going to feel after I'm done and how awful I'll feel if I don't.

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Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answers. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions in the comments section below, and we'll choose one per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. I take a serious interval class on Friday mornings and get along well with the instructor. I have taken the class for over a year and actually exchange e-mails with her on various topics, fitness and otherwise; she's cool, competitive, and likes challenges. I admit, I'd like to ask her to arm wrestle (she's cute and wicked fit), but am somewhat afraid to do so. I'm happily married and so is she, so I don't want to come across as asking something inappropriate. Any advice on how I should handle it? Mark

A. Hi, Mark. Thanks for the question. Look, normally I wouldn't consider it an odd request to ask an instructor you're friendly with for a simple physical challenge. But the fact that you've mentioned she's hot and that you're married leaves me to believe your intentions aren't completely innocent.

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My exercise of choice is following a fitness DVD in my living room. It's private, convenient, and I know just how long it's going to take. I also know that my instructor is one I'm going to like ... because she never changes. But if you're taking fitness classes at a gym, you may not always know who your instructor is going to be. To help you sort out the fit hits from fit flops, Divine Caroline shares eight traits of a bad aerobics instructor:

• Forgetful Freddy. An occasional lapse in memory is just human but if your instructor is consistently forgetting the routine or what you did last week, odds are his mind is on something else.
• Lopsided Lola. If your trainer doesn't work both sides of your body equally, it's setting you up for possible injury and/or uneven muscle development -- especially if it happens week after week.
• Offbeat Olga. If your class is set to music, the rhythm should help motivate you. If your instructor can't keep a beat, it's a sure way to throw off the whole class.
  

Check out the full article on Divine Caroline for more signs that your fitness leader isn't the best.

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A while back, the physician that has been caring for my lower back injury suggested I go do Pilate's to help strengthen and stretch the muscles that are stuck in a chronic spasm. Now, I've been teaching fitness for 18 years and have been exposed to almost every type of training and equipment under the sun. I'm embedded in it. Strangely though, Pilate's and Yoga are things that have never interested me. I understand the benefit to doing those things, and have recommended them to others. I've just never wanted to pursue them myself. I'm a fighter; literally. If you don't believe me click here. I like to move fast, go hard, sweat, grunt, and pant like a lunatic. I like to GO, GO, GO! The one time I took yoga, I wanted to slit my wrists. The few times I used the Pilate's Reformer, I thought it was interesting....but not anything I'd want to pursue.

So last week I show up at the Gainesville Health and Fitness Center, and the advanced Pilate's mat class was just about to start. Feeling guilty for not following up on my doctor's advice from months ago, I half-heartedly asked the perky front desk chic if there was any room in the class. Yep. There was. And she handed me a little butterfly thing with a number on it to hold my place.

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When I was about 35 pounds heavier, I used to think about my body all the time. I was constantly fretting over the parts I didn't like, wondering how I was going to change, stressing over food and agonizing over clothes. I was all-consumed. I spent so much time thinking about my body, that I kind of lost track of the more important things in life. I certainly must have been far less productive and thoughtful to others than I am now as well.

Throughout my fitness journey, which truly began when I started teaching group fitness classes at 15 years old....I have had many great and not-so-great moments with my body. I even enjoyed a few great years in my teens as a bulimic. Whoopee! (That was really the low point.) Having said that. Along the way, I've learned to enjoy a variety of challenging exercises and balance my fitness. I also learned to appreciate and enjoy produce more than Cheetos. I got a grip on eating right and now I never fret at all over what I put in my mouth. I simply make great choices most of the time.

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Fitzness Fiends is a section devoted to you, the reader! We all have learned so much on our path to becoming more fit, and now it's time to learn from and inspire each other! Fitzness Fiends are constantly working to better themselves. Some are perfect, some are not. All have health on the mind. Please send Fitz your answers to these questions with a photo of yourself. Time for you to be the motivator!

Name: Dawn-Elise Snipes

Age: 36

Occupation: CEO of AllCEUs.com, and the Descartes Academy K-8 online umbrella school

How often do you exercise? Daily

What type of exercise do you do? Spin, stadiums, jogging, hiking, and ballet.

If you're a real yoga fanatic, then why not consider sharing your enthusiasm and help others by starting yoga teacher training? And even if teaching isn't your thing, going through an instructor course can take your personal workout to a whole new level by improving your knowledge of anatomy, philosophy, sequencing and alignment.

If you're interested in something like this the best place to start is your nearest yoga studio. Most offer yoga teacher-training programs, and if they don't they should certainly be able to point you to someone who does. It's important to filter out phonies by making sure the training program is Yoga Alliance certified. And if you're having trouble finding something in your area, you can always check out the Yoga Alliance website.

Yoga training can be expensive, and you may not make much money as an instructor once you've completed it, but the rewards can still be worthwhile. Even if just for you!

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Kickboxing aerobics and tae-fitness classes have been the rage for the past few years. To some, they are a bit more fun and interesting than the traditional dance aerobics style group fitness classes. Instead of screaming "reach", instructors yell "punch" and the students go wild. Men are more inclined to venture into these fighting style classes as well. All good news.

As a competitive kickboxer of a little more than a decade I understand the lure. I was compelled toward the sport as a teen, and finally found a legitimate trainer at age 20. My first fight came soon after. I didn't invent kickboxing so I can truly brag about it. It works every muscle in your body from head to toe. It offers the benefits of intense cardiovascular training, builds strength, and increases flexibility. Not to mention it burns a bazillion calories. Oh! And so far, fighting is the most fun thing I've ever done in my life.

Back to those classes. I'm a fan of anything that makes people huff and puff, but if you're into that you may want to take it further. Find a class that utilizes equipment such as heavy bags, focus pads or kicking shields. Hitting the air is fun, but hitting an actual heavy bag is amazing. To me, hitting willing opponents........PRICELESS!

To find a martial arts school near you, visit http://www.martialsearch.com/usa.asp.

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Nice to meet you! I'm Fitz and I'm ready to help you get happy in the skin you're in. I'm on a mission to tack ten years of quality life on to everyone I come across and fortunately I've been offered a position here as a blogger so I can hound you every day about it.

I've been teaching Fitzness (my brand of fitness) for over 17 years and have a Master's Degree in Exercise and Sports sciences, but more importantly... I GET IT! Get what? I get this whole fitness/healthy living thing, and I'm really excited to share it all with you.

Expect straight talk, fun and effective ideas for exercise and eating right, monster motivation and always the truth. Got questions? Send em. I'm eager to get into your heads and get you where you want to be. It's FITZNESS time!

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