Archive for December 2018
To Eat Better, Don’t Pump Up the Jams
No wonder people tend to order fried wings and other nutritional duds at rowdy sports bars. A recent study from the University of South Florida’s Muma College of Business discovered that people tend to make healthier food choices in the presence of low-volume, softer music or background noise than they do in loud environments.
Read MoreWhen Diverse Diets Go Wrong
It’s common healthy-eating advice: Consume a greater variety of foods so your body gets all the necessary nutrients. But a research review of the topic by scientists affiliated with the American Heart Association found that dietary diversity can sometimes backfire.
Read MoreCan We All Learn to Love Broccoli?
From arugula to kale to radicchio, some of the healthiest foods tend to be the most bitter. That’s why many people won’t eat them. Well, it turns out the secret to eating more bitter-tasting foods may be—wait for it—simply eating more bitter foods.
Read MoreAlcohol Pushes Iron Over the Limit
Write this down as another way that drinking too much can be a health menace: In a study of African women, published in the journal Clinical Nutrition, British and South African researchers found that levels of ferritin, a protein that stores iron, were higher in drinkers than in nondrinkers. Ferritin levels are a predictor for all-cause mortality.
Read MoreWhat A PURE Diet Looks Like
Perhaps a heart-healthy diet has room for steak, after all.
Read MoreA New Approach to Food Labeling
Maybe graphic health messages on food and beverage packaging like those that adorn cigarette boxes could steer people toward better eating habits.
An Australian study published in the journal Appetite asked participants to rate healthy and unhealthy foods and choose which they would like to eat at the end of the experiment. Next they were shown negative and positive health messages: Some were text only; others had pictures. Study participants then had another chance to rate their desire for the foods.
Read MoreNutrition Hacks Based on Hard Science
“Diets” don’t work. By now, most health and fitness professionals know that restrictive meal plans usually fail. We also see how diets deprive people of foods they enjoy, fueling a constant cycle of weight loss and gain.
But what do we tell fitness clients who want to lose weight? The key is helping them reframe their diet mentality toward healthful living and better nutrition—without sacrificing their favorite foods or compromising taste. These tips will help you provide that guidance.
Read MoreYoga for Optimal Performance
Yoga, as both a philosophy and a physical practice, is one valuable tool to consider integrating into your training programs to help clients
Read MoreBoosting the Brain Health of Older Adults
Exercise is good for promoting brain health. Indeed, the right kind of exercise can protect against the natural decline of brain.
Read MoreExercise Is Good for Mental Health
STUDY REVIEWED: Chekroud, S.R., et al. 2018. Association between physical exercise and mental health in 1.2 million individuals in the USA between 2011 and 2015: A cross-sectional study. Lancet Psychiatry, 5 (9), 739–46.
Exercise has proven benefits for improving physical health. But what about mental health? For starters, active people are nearly 45% less likely to have depressive symptoms than inactive people (Booth, Roberts & Laye 2012). But a deeper look at the connections between exercise and mental health raises complicated questions:
Read MoreFind success for your personal training business
If you want to know how to become a successful personal trainer and influential leader to your clients, you need to invest in yourself as a professional. How? Seek out resources, people and a personal training business plan that will enhance your career. The good news?
Read MoreThe ABCs of Teaching Yoga
What makes a yoga teacher skilled, effective and relatable? In reality, you could answer this in several ways, but there are some key principles that make up the foundation of a teaching practice. Let’s call them The ABCs of Teaching Yoga.
Surprisingly, the ABCs are not always taught in professional training programs, and many teachers find themselves stumbling through their classes when just starting out. The good news is you don’t have to! I’ve outlined everything you need to know here.
Read MoreWonder Women
CLIENT: Kim Emery | PERSONAL TRAINER: Tanya Roark | LOCATION: Balance Health + Fitness, Sarasota, Florida
“She’s the real Wonder Woman,” says Tanya Roark, an ACE-certified personal trainer, speaking of her client Kim Emery, “one of the most amazing women you could ever meet.”
Dig a little, and you’ll find there are really two superheroes in this story—a client overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds and a trainer willing to power through to help that client reach her goals.
Read MoreQuestion of the Month
What programs, program features or marketing initiatives are you or your facility using in the new year to attract novice exercisers?
For example, are you introducing any incentives, Move It Monday themes or new technologies such as immersive fitness classes? Share your success stories and why you or your facility chose these strategies.
We want to hear from you! Email executive editor Joy Keller, jkeller@ideafit.com.
Read MoreMove It Monday
There’s a reason why #motivationmonday has more than 11 million social media posts. Health promotion researchers from the Johns Hopkins University Center for a Livable Future determined that Mondays are a particularly motivating day for people to begin or renew commitments to improve health behaviors (see bit.ly/2NSVSTq).
Read MoreIDEA Member Spotlight
SHOSHANA GORDON • Member Since 2015 • Portland, Oregon
Read MoreLess Netflix, More Exercise
If you want to help your clients find more time to exercise, try asking them how much time they spend watching Netflix.
An analysis by the Streaming Observer, a website dedicated to streaming technology information, showed that the average Netflix user watches 71 minutes of Netflix daily. Other data sources show that the average American spends 17.4 minutes a day exercising. In other words, people spend four times as much time watching Netflix as they do being active.
Read MoreHealthy Moms, Healthy Kids
Motivate moms to keep up the great work by letting them know their healthy lifestyle choices are likely to have a powerful impact on their kids’ health. Researchers at the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that children are 75% less likely to develop obesity when mothers stick to the following five healthy habits:
Read MoreOvercoming the Couch Potato Urge
The challenge with fitness is making training both effective and pleasurable, particularly for people who want to get active but may not yet have the power to maintain their resolve. Why is it so tough? New research reported in Neuropsychologia (2018; doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.07.029) suggests we are hard-wired to avoid activity, and researchers have good advice for training.
Read MoreMild Physical Activity Improves Memory
“Even short walking breaks throughout the day may have considerable effects on improving memory and cognition,” says Michael A. Yassa, PhD, professor at the University of California, Irvine, and director of the UCI Brain Initiative. This news helps to promote the message that even small amounts of light exercise (30% of VO2max) can have powerful benefits.
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