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Updated CPR Guidelines

The American Heart Association has recently released an updated guide to CPR. The 2010 American Heart Association Guidelines for CPR and ECC includes the following changes to previous CPR protocol:

Compression rate should be at least 100 compressions per minute, as opposed to “approximately” 100 per minute.

Compression depth should be at least 2 inches in adults, approximately 2 inches in children and 1.5 inches in infants.

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New Year, New Business Plan?

January is often a time for exploring hopes and goals for self-improvement in the new year. While clients and club members develop New Year’s resolutions for 2011, business owners can also benefit from self-assessment and goal setting. “An important part of running a successful business is taking the time to see what your potential customers see,” advises Mary Bratcher, MA, DipLC, co-owner of The BioMechanics in San Diego.

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The Cost of Obesity

Much of the focus on obesity has concentrated on its negative impact on individual health. A new report from the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services’ department of health policy has discovered that obesity can also negatively impact a person’s bank account. The report’s authors analyzed lost productivity, medical expenditures and…

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Fitness Motivation Research and Reality

happy exerciser

Although the list of exercise benefits is impressive, it is apparent that just hearing about them does not assure consistent exercise compliance in most individuals. Regular exercise is a complex, multifactorial behavior that fitness professionals and scientists need to understand better in order to help clients stay active and healthy.

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Profiting From Fitness Retreats

Have you ever dreamed of taking your clients on a fitness retreat to Mexico? Or a weekend of hiking in your local mountains? Maybe you’ve imagined leading an introspective Pilates retreat, a five-star motivational weekend or an energizing boot-camp getaway?

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What do you do if a client comes to you complaining of carpal tunnel issues?

The traditional approaches of stretching, immobilization braces, corticosteroid injections and surgical release are not working because they seek to address the symptoms instead of addressing the underlying root cause of the problem. Clients always seem to come to us with their aches and pains. Sometimes the area that hurts is not the area that causes the pain. As a trainer, I am not qualified to make a diagnosis, so I would tell my client to see a doctor for a diagnosis and then offer to show the client some stretches to alleviate the pain and reduce the symptoms.

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2010 IDEA Fitness Industry Compensation Trends Report

Since this survey was last published in January 2009, the national unemployment rate has increased from 6.1% (August 2008) to 9.6% (October 2010), which equates to about 14.8 million unemployed individuals in the United States (U.S. Department of Labor 2010a). However, the silver lining for fitness professionals is that even though the national job market has declined, our industry is still expected to see better-than-average growth (29%) in positions over the next decade (2008–2018) (U.S. Department of Labor 2010b).

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Educate the Parent, Empower the Young Athlete

If you’re fortunate enough to work with children and adolescents, you’ve likely fielded thousands of questions and concerns from parents regarding the safety and validity of organized physical training. Parents are bombarded with conflicting information on this topic. Unfortunately, most of their information is based on opinion, speculation and improperly drawn conclusions. As a fitness…

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empowering kids to make healthy choices

Cranberries aren’t just for chutneys and turkeys. Try this delicious salad for something light and bright this new year! For the Vinaigrette 1 cup fresh or frozen and thawed cranberries 1/2 cup fresh orange juice 1 tablespoon (tbs) finely chopped shallot or green onion,

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black beans in brownies?

Okay, this may sound completely unorthodox or even a little bit gross—especially for dessert purists—but it could be worth a try. Consumer Reports on Health recently suggested that you can swap out fat for fiber in your favorite brownie mix by substituting a 15.5 oz can of liquefied black beans for the eggs and oil. Justadd water to get the right batter consistency before baking. Hmmm. If you try it, report the results to [email protected].

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walnuts: the new stress buster

It’s 2:00 pm and you’ve been going nonstop since your own workout at 5:30 this morning. You still have two clients to go and a big presentation to get ready for the Chamber of Commerce tomorrow. You are stressed out and can feel the cortisol bludgeoning your system. Stop, take a deep, cleansing breath—and grab…

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cranberries: not just for the holidays!

The tart, tangy cranberry often accompanies a holiday meal, but did you know that the berry can offer year-round benefits? Here are five factoids you may not know about this unassuming superfruit: 1. Research has shown that consuming cranberry products helps to protect against urinary tract infections (UTI) in men and women (Howell 2002; Howell et al. 2005; Gupta et al. 2007; Vidlar et al. 2010). UTIs cause pain and inconvenience for approximately 11 million women per year and cost over $1.6 billion annually to treat (Foxman et al. 2000). 2.

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chef du jour: does it matter who makes dinner?

If most adults participated in making their own meals versus letting someone else take charge of the prep, would it influence diet quality? Surprisingly not, says a new study in the September 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. During 2004–2006, a sample of 2,814 Australian adults aged 26–36 completed a self-administered questionnaire on demographics, diet and lifestyle factors. Participants were asked to report who was usually responsible for preparing the main meal on working days. Researchers Kylie J.

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corn refiners association asks FDA to consider name change for high-fructose corn syrup

In mid-September, the Corn Refiners Association (CRA)—the national trade association representing the corn-refining industry of the United States—petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow manufacturers the option of using “corn sugar” as an alternative name for high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Proposing the change, they say, is “an effort to help clarify the labeling of food products for consumers.”

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january picks

Unless you live in the warmest regions of the U.S., the pickings get slim for farm-fresh-to-table and locally sustainable agriculture this time of year. Let’s face it: when the ground is frozen, there’s not much coming out of it. This is when we turn to seasonal citrus and “cellar” or “storage” vegetables with a long shelf life.

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Fueling Athletes for Training and Competition

Some of the questions most frequently asked of sports dietitians deal with food and fluid consumption before, during and after exercise. Indeed, athletes are bombarded with nutrition misinformation, resulting in confusion about what they should eat or drink during training or, more crucially, during competition. This article provides science-based guidelines on food and beverage choices that are easy to understand and adopt and that allow athletes to maximize their potential.

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Sample Class: Short Circuits

High-intensity, short-duration circuit training is a type of metabolic training that breaks the mold of traditional group exercise. You can use this circuit format with recreational exercisers—to jumpstart their routines—or intensify it to challenge your fittest participants and athletes with great success.

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Instructors With Class

Have you forgotten your roots? Did you become a group fitness instructor because you loved taking classes? Once you become a teacher, you sometimes lose touch with that spark of joy you felt in the beginning. Sure, you may attend continuing education workshops, but you don’t even think about attending classes in your own facility. Maybe it’s time to rethink that. Attending someone else’s class may be just what you need to supplement your education and growth.

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Get This Body Started

Group strength training formats continue to be some of the most popular options in our facilities. However, the focus is typically on the main workout, and the warm-up becomes secondary. Sometimes we forget that the warm-up is as essential as a good breakfast. Given the intensity of most strength conditioning classes, it is imperative that…

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