Jessica Smith, ME
Article Archive
Nowadays, metabolic equivalents (METs) are commonplace on display panels of treadmills, stair climbers, elliptical trainers and other cardiovascular machines, yet METs are often ignored because exercisers simply don’t know what they are or how to use them. This is unfortuna…
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Our quest for knowledge regarding body composition and how it affects our propensity for disease and overall health has intensified in recent years, driven in large part by the desire to better understand health concerns and risk of disability associated with obesity (Goodpaster 2002). Indeed, research has focused not only on absolute measures of fat and fat-free mass but also on how the distribution of these affects our risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer, to name a few.
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While most fitness professionals are familiar with the basics of energy metabolism, it can be difficult to explain to clients the intricacies of how the body breaks down and uses nutrients to fuel physical activity. For example, can you explain why a greater percentage of fat is burned during low-intensity exercise, when the potential for losing weight is greater if exercise is performed at a higher intensity for an equivalent period of time? Or can you describe why power lifting requires longer rest intervals than circuit training?
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As fitness leaders, we desire to be creative, motivating and fresh. However, we must balance this creative drive with our responsibility to teach safe classes. To achieve a successful balance, we must not only increase our knowledge, but also apply this knowledge. We can minimize risk and maximize continued participation by applying common sense and…
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