Archive for April 2013
Study: Plant-Based Diets With Nuts and Virgin Olive Oil Can Reduce Heart Disease Risk By 30%
We already understand the many benefits of the Mediterranean diet, but a new study casts yet another convincing health vote in its favor.
A landmark global study shows that people who eat a plant-based Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts or virgin olive oil may enjoy long-term benefits, including a 30% lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
“How much do you coach or emphasize breathing during a client’s workout? What do you do?”
I encourage my clients to breathe when they are working out, as in life. Jokingly, I say, “Breathing is the first thing you learned in life, so please do not forget to do it over the next hour that we are exercising.”
Read MorePersonal Training for Golfers
In the past, many golfers were not concerned about being fit. Today, however, golf fitness conditioning has come to the fore as amateur and pro golfers alike strive to enhance their golf game and reduce the risk of common golf injuries. Savvy golfers are discovering that golf-specific training can help them improve their power, flexibility…
Read MoreThe Role Model
client: Amy | personal trainer: Christie Bruner | location: St. Petersburg, Floridacalling all
Do you have a client who has overcome the odds to achieve new heights in health and fitness? Send your story to rhalvorson@ideafit.com and you and your client may be featured in an upcoming issue of IDEA Fitness Journal.
Making Wellness Matter
The IDEA team is not only setting industry standards with its products and events but also inspiring cutting-edge corporate wellness with its Exercise Your Happiness initiative. The ultimate goal of the initiative is not simply to create a wellness program, but rather to develop an ideal wellness community that revolves around movement, healthy nutrition, positive attitudes and thoughts, and a supportive environment.
A New Beginning
Read MoreDefining a Professional Code of Conduct
In the fitness business, where many personnel are part-time, employee conduct can easily be overlooked. Given their schedules, some fitness facility employees may not even have contact with management. Continued success and growth depend on a code of conduct that goes beyond such basics as punctuality and appropriate dress. If your facility doesn’t have a standard operating procedure that governs staff conduct, now is the time to start one. The areas of concern dealt with in this article are some of the most important ones to be addressed.
Read MorePilates: Keep Older Adults Injury Free
Pilates is a powerful tool for countering the aging process, but it must be taught and practiced safely. Here, three Pilates experts and educators share their experience and recommendations on how to work with mature clients: Lisa Graham owns Agile Monkey in Santa Cruz, California, and is a Balanced Body® faculty member; Rael Isacowitz, MA, is the founder and owner of Basi Pilates®; and PJ O’Clair owns clubXcel and Northeast Pilates, a STOTT PILATES® Licensed Training Center.
Biomechanics & Physiology
Read MoreChallenge Games Make Exercise Fun
Most people hire a personal trainer to achieve a goal, not to play. Clients expect to experience change, so failure to achieve change is seen as a failure in service. One way to bridge the gap between goal achievement and fun is to marry the concepts of exercise and play. As trainers, we can foster an environment where clients experience physical, mental and emotional transformation while enjoying an atmosphere that allows them to become lost in the moment. Think of it as “challenge play.”
Creating a Challenge Play Environment
Read MoreFunctional Strategies for Older Adults
Exercise for older adults is one of the hottest specialties in fitness today. How do you assess function levels and develop safe, challenging programs? We asked instructors to tell us about their strategies for senior clients.
Read MoreLower-Body Progressions on the Reformer
Many Pilates clients want to develop lower-body strength and definition, and the reformer is a perfect piece of equipment to help them meet this goal. Strong hamstrings, gluteals, quadriceps, adductors and abductors provide power for athletic moves and functional activities.
Read MoreThe Evolution of the Pilates Professional
Elizabeth Anderson is the executive director of the Pilates Method Alliance, the professional association and certifying agency for Pilates teachers. Anderson joined the PMA in mid-2007, after moving to the United States from London, where she’d lived for 17 years.
Read MoreSuspension Exercise for Older Adults
Suspension exercise (SE) is a popular way to get fit for many people, and it’s no secret as to why. This method of exercise, where an apparatus attached to a single overhead anchor point supports the hands or feet, offers numerous benefits. Due to its popularity and the results people see from performing SE, programming has evolved to a point where fitness professionals are introducing it to their older-adult clients in the 65–80 and older age range.
Read MoreHow Can Exercise Help People Who Have Multiple Sclerosis?
?As a personal trainer, you may recognize this scenario:
“Mary” is a fictional 30-year-old woman who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis soon after her 21st birthday. She is often tired in the morning, even when she gets a full night’s worth of restful sleep, which is rare. The fatigue is unpredictable, gets worse throughout the day and tends to be triggered easily. Muscle spasms and weakness in her legs make it difficult for her to walk long distances.
Nurturing a Whole-Food Habit
Fruit and vegetable consumption makes up a mere 8% of overall calorie intake in the average American diet, while processed-food consumption is at an all-time high (NFVA 2010). Americans consume 31% more processed foods than whole foods, and approximately 50% of Americans rely on vitamin and mineral supplements (Canning 2012; Bailey et al. 2011).
Read MoreAcupuncture for Athletic Performance?
Evidence is still sparse, but acupuncture may improve both exercise performance and postexercise recovery, according to preliminary evidence published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (2013; 19 [1], 9-16).
Read MoreGray Institute Launches Nonprofit
To help address some of the problems facing youth today—physical inactivity, diabetes and obesity, among them—the Gray Institute has launched the not-for-profit Free2Play.
Utilizing the institute’s Applied Functional Science™, Free2Play aims to improve “movement literacy” and athleticism through “progressive” lesson plans available via online learning with on-demand access. Free2Play doesn’t replace health and fitness programs or curriculum.
Stretching’s Impact on Strength
To stretch or not to stretch for improved strength is a question that endures. Some support the practice; others don’t. A new study may have put the debate to rest.
Read MoreOptimal Exercise Plan for Women?
There are many different
exercise protocols out there. When it comes to mature women, is there a best plan? New research suggests
there is.
Short Sprints Good for Fat Oxidation
High-intensity interval training is one of the hottest types of training these days. Several studies have examined its long-term effects. Recently, researchers wanted to learn about the impact of a single short bout of HIIT.
Read More“Safe Harbor” for Home Office Expenses
Tax season may have just ended, but that doesn’t mean preparation should take a vacation. Here’s news that every fitness professional who runs his or her business from a home office or uses a home office for management chores will be happy to learn: The Internal Revenue Service has announced that beginning with the 2013 tax year, a new “safe harbor” will allow qualified taxpayers to deduct as much as $1,500 in home office expenses—while reducing the administrative, recordkeeping and compliance burdens of claiming this deduction.
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