Archive for December 2013
Your Body on Exercise: Preventive Magic?
Meditation & You
Have you ever thought about adding meditation to your wellness practice? The new year is the perfect time to start! People are meditating to promote over- all wellness and also to cope with anxiety, pain, depression, stress, insomnia and physical or emotional symptoms associated with chronic illnesses such as heart disease, cancer and HIV/AIDS (NCCAM 2010).
Shirley Archer, JD, MA, IDEA’s mind- body-spirit spokesperson and an award- winning author, shares some insights on this popular mind-body practice.
Changes in the Brain
Read MorePutting Health Over Convenience
Kara A. Witzke, PhD, leads the exercise and sport science program at Oregon State University-Cascades. Her work in the health and fitness industry spans more than 20 years and has included positions in personal training, cardiac rehabilitation, workplace wellness, fit- ness certification, weight management, education and research. Most recently, her research has focused on the effects of exercise on musculoskeletal and metabolic systems through funding from the National Institutes of Health.
Read MoreCreative Ideas That Inspire
Masterpiece Fitness Training in Bandon, Oregon, offers a large variety of classes for all fitness levels, including Recess and Integrated Training. Recess takes busy moms through a fun dynamic training routine at a local park. Integrated Training is an all-inclusive format that combines flexibility, cardio, core, balance, reaction and resistance training.
Read MoreSample Class: Pump Up!
If your students want to build upper- body strength while being challenged with intense, calorie-burning intervals, try Pump Up! The exercises focus on muscular strength and endurance, core stabilization and cardiovascular condi- tioning. The workout also incorporates balance challenges to recruit additional muscles and offer a functional approach to fitness.
Pump Up! Details
Read MorePlayful Warm-Ups in the Water
Aquatic exercise is a great way to get and stay in shape. In addition to being a fantastic cross-training option and full- body workout, exercising in the pool helps the body stay balanced. A water workout might not be the first thing your class participants think of when they’re looking to shape up and slim down—but perhaps it should be. Water fitness burns calories, boosts metabolism and strengthens muscles without putting extra stress on joints.
Read MoreReboot Your Boot Camp
Why do people come to your boot-camp classes instead of booting up their Blu- rayTM disks? There are a lot of reasons: Variety, camaraderie, encouragement and motivating music are all essential elements of a perfect experience. There’s nothing worse than a bummer boot camp, and you work hard to keep participants motivated and on track to reach their fitness goals.
Read MoreKale and Quinoa Dolmades With Yogurt Dipping Sauce
In her new book Cooking & Eating Wisdom for Better Health (Balboa Press), Maria Benardis revisits her Greek roots and shares the simple splendor of Mediterranean food philosophy. This dish is her modern twist on the quintessentially Greek dish, dolmades. Instead of grapevine leaves, she has used another ancient Greek ingredient: kale.
Read MoreAsk The RD
Question: I’m working toward a career change to health and wellness, and I have a particular interest in nutrition. My interests are in coaching individuals to adopt healthier eating patterns (I’m currently an ACE-certified health coach) and lose weight, and in working with people whose doctors may have suggested “lifestyle changes” to help prevent cholesterol or blood sugars from creeping up further, but who have not yet become diabetic or developed serious heart issues.
Read MoreVegetarians, Vegans Slimmer Than Meat Eaters
If you believe a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, this research might give you pause. Researchers from Loma Linda University Health System
in Loma Linda, California, recently published a study showing that despite similar caloric intake, vegetarians tend to have lower body mass index than nonvegetarians, with vegans being the most slender of all.
Question of the Month
Please share your ideas and experiences with editor in chief Sandy Todd Webster at swebster@ideafit.com.
Read MorePeanuts Can Curb Appetite
A new study in the British Journal of Nutrition (2013; 109 [11], 2015–23) has found that eating either peanuts or peanut butter as part of your break- fast can control blood sugar throughout most of the day, even following a high-carb lunch.
Read MoreNHANES Study Flawed?
Researchers from the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina reported recently in PLoS ONE (2013; 8 [10], e76632) that 40 years of nutrition information from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey—the gold-standard database for such information—may be fatally flawed.
Read MoreThe Golden-Orange Goodness of Turmeric
You may not know what turmeric is at first mention, but if you’ve ever slathered plain old ballpark mustard on a hot dog, you’ve eaten turmeric. However, sampling it as a simple condiment hardly honors the properties of this powerful plant derivative.
Read MoreScience Shows Yo-Yo Dieters Probably Can’t Win
You likely have clients who
have been dieting most of their
adult lives. A study published
in the International Journal of
Obesity (2013; doi: 10.1038/ijo.2013.138)
New Diabetes Standards Emphasize Personal Approach Over Diets
A new study in the British Journal of Nutrition (2013; 109 [11], 2015–23) has found that eating either peanuts or peanut butter as part of your break- fast can control blood sugar through- out most of the day, even following a high-carb lunch.
Read MoreExperiential Exercise: The New Way to Sweat
It’s Friday night in tiny Willits, California (population: 4,888.) There’s no Walmart®; there are no chain stores. As usual, this small town is quiet. Yet, at Studio Joy, owner Maddy Avena’s Zumba® class is about to be packed and jamming.
Read More“How do you handle negative body issues, either for yourself or when clients obviously have issues with their own body image?”
When I was growing up, I was proud of my body. No one had shorter shorts than I had. I didn’t think twice about how my clothes fit or what I was eating. After I started college, I grew a few sizes pretty quickly and began thinking about my body image. I heard a few comments here and there about my body, and my clothes no longer fit. I knew I needed to change.
Read MoreEnhancing Your Brand
As a personal trainer, you’re faced every day with the challenge of selling yourself.
To keep your income flowing, you strive to keep your current clients, hunt for new clients and develop new program ideas. But there’s a big difference between cash flow and long-term profitability. The personal training business is increasingly competitive. Personal trainers who compete on price, train too wide a variety of needs or say that their program is “great for anyone” don’t have a good grasp of personal branding. If you’re underpaid and
undervalued, this might be you.
Making Strides With Gait Dysfunction
Client:Carol Ann
Personal Trainer: Eric Taylor, owner, Taylor Made Training
Location: St. Simons Island, Georgia
Origin. At age 67, Carol Ann knew she needed help. She longed to improve her health and fitness, but a dysfunction in her gait produced a significant roadblock. She’d made little progress with physical therapists and doctors, so she decided to try a new approach: personal training.
“I met with Carol Ann about 6 months ago,” explains Eric Taylor, owner of Taylor Made Training. “She was very nervous and apprehensive for two reasons: One, she had been to physical therapists and doctors and had not had much success; two, she had never had a trainer before.”
Read More