Archive for January 2006
Correcting Common Diet Myths
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Read MoreGetting to the Heart of Fitness
Subject: Lisa Brisse
Company: State of the Heart Fitness (co-founded by Brisse and Nora Wallace Walsh), based out of the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, Santa Monica, California
Types of Clientele. “We serve a diverse group of clients ranging from children to the elderly, from cancer patients to ‘hard core’ LA executives, and everyone in between,…
Read MoreAnd the Diet Winner Is . . .
Still fielding questions from clients as to which diet works best in the long term? Here’s some food for thought from the editors of Health magazine, who recently surveyed 1,000 women randomly assigned to one of four popular diets for a 6-month period.
1. Weight Watchers: Came in number one in most categories, most notably as the diet most people stuck with; the plan t…
Spa Treatments Integrate Body, Mind and Spirit
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Read MoreValentine’s Day Resistance?
Take a moment to remind your clients that eating a heart f…
Read MoreInjury Prevention: Yoga
According to the 2005 IDEA Fitness Programs & Equipment Survey, 66% of respondents offer yoga programming and 56% believe it will grow (Ryan 2005). Yoga is an increasingly popular choice because it adds a mindful dimension to fitness repertoires and is easier on joints. The improved strengthening and stretching element complements the appeal.
Many people use “fitne…
Potassium From Food VS. Supplements
Randomized clinical trials have shown that increasing potassium intake can lower blood pressure. However, most of these trials involved the use of potassium chloride supplements, as opposed to the potassium citrate form found in fruits and vegetables. Researchers in England recently compared the effects of potassium chloride to those of potassium citrate and published the results online o…
Read MoreMore Than 50 U.S. Hospitals Use Energy Healing
Energy healing, a noninvasive complementary treatment, is offered in more than 50 hospitals and clinics throughout the U.S., according to a recent review article published in Orthopaedic Nursing (2005; 24 [4], 259–69). Energy healing treatments include therapeutic touch, Reiki, chi kung, shamanic healing and healing touch, among others. According to the article, these therapi…
Read MoreThe Alphabet Soup of Nutrition Terminology
Staying abreast of emerging nutrition research studies can be a real challenge for busy fitness professionals. Half the battle is making sense of the terms used to describe new scientific findings. One day “genetics” is making headlines, while the next day everyone is talking about the “glycemic index.”
Things get even trickier when your clients pose quest…
Read MoreYoung Men With Job Stress at Higher Risk
Scientists continue to find evidence of a relationship between excess stress and the early development of heart disease, underscoring the significance of the body-mind connection. Young men with stressful jobs showed signs of early heart disease compared with peers who performed less stressful work, according to a recent Finnish study published in Psychosomatic Medicine (2005; 67, …
Read MoreGrowing With the Industry
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Read MorePilates Mat Exercises Reduce Low-Back Pain
People with low-back pain who practiced Pilates mat exercises for only 1 hour twice per week experienced improvement in their condition, according to a small study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (2005; 37 [5], S27).
For 12 weeks, researchers studied 22 subjects with a history of low-back pain. Fifteen participated in the Pilates mat program, …
“Edutaining” in Cyberspace
Wanting to teach your own kids about healthy food choices, but still perplexed by the government’s revised MyPyramid on the Internet? Check out a new website called Groovy Pyramid at www.groovypyramid.com. Sponsored by Positive Records and offering kid-friendly “educational entertainment for urban children,” the site “edutains&rdqu…
Read MoreWalking Meditation
“Walking meditation is a very wonderful way to go back to the present moment and to learn how to live deeply in this moment. . . . If you learn to walk [mindfully] for only 1 week, you may develop a good habit, and you may be able to learn to live much more deeply every minute of your daily life.” —Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk, speaking in Plum Village, France/i…
Read MoreChair Pilates Offers Alternative for Older Adults
As mind-body exercise goes mainstream, programs catering t…
Read MoreA Meaningful Methodology
When Omar Burgos is confronted with a challenge, his mind goes into creative overdrive. The 20-year fitness veteran from Bogotá, Colombia, sees a pyramid of possibilities where others see an empty lot. His academic prowess, love for dance and movement, and compassion for others combine to form a nonstop powerhouse. This drive served him well when he started working at Compensar, a not…
Read MoreHow to Feed a Cold
Jewish mothers around the world rejoiced when scientists proved that chicken soup can reduce the inflammation associated with the common cold. Now research is revealing that other home-brewed concoctions may also reduce the severity of those pesky cold symptoms. Here’s a look at what to stock up on during the long cold and flu season:
Orange and Grapefruit Jui…
Nia: the Body’s Way
1983.
“Debbie. Carlos. Let me see you move,” the martial artist said to us.
We just stared at each other. Move how? Straight-leg kick? Flat back? Cancan kick?
We began to do jumping jacks.
The sensei shook his head. “You have 15 seconds worth of knowledge,” he said softly. “You know how to exercise, but you do not know h…
Bring on the Burn!
Weston Fitness in Philadelphia gets the most out of its equipment stash with Pump Slide Workout. This 30-minute class features high-intensity, low-impact interval slide training combinations with Body Bars, stability balls, light weights and resistance tubing.
Participants get an intense athletic workout with BURN! Med Ball Conditioning at Equinox in New York City. The circuit tra…
Up the Creativity Factor
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