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Muscle cramps can stop athletes in their tracks. Although they usually self-extinguish within seconds or minutes, the abrupt, harsh, involuntary muscle contractions can cause mild-to-severe agony and immobility, often accompanied by knotting of the affected muscle (Minetto et al. 2013). And cramps are common; 50%–60% of healthy people suffer muscle cramps during exercise, sleep or pregnancy or after vigorous physical exertion (Giuriato et al. 2018).
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As the control center for the body’s nervous system, the brain participates in every human function. From sensing to controlling motor skills, its vital role in movement means this cognitive powerhouse is—literally—the brains behind your work as a fitness professional.
There are three main components that make up your mind:
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Often we are told to rise up from our chairs to help offset the health woes associated with sitting too much. But if we want to glean more joy from a meal, says a study in the Journal of Consumer Research, then we’re better off taking a seat.
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More and more people choose exercising at gyms and studios to stay healthy. The trend is occurring across the age spectrum, from baby boomers to millennials. Americans choose the convenience, expertise, and comradery found at gyms and studios to stay at their fitness best.
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As a fit pro, you are all too familiar with training muscles to build strength, mass and better movement in your clients—by now, you might consider it muscle memory!
Yet, as a major system present throughout the body, the muscular system is vast and intricate with plenty to explore. After all, muscles produce every movement, from the basic, like digestion and respiration, to the complex, like running, dancing and weightlifting.
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Here’s one more solid reason to inspire kids to exercise. The secret to maintaining cognitive fitness later in life may lie in getting active while young and staying active throughout teen, young-adult and middle-aged years.
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Here’s a good reason to encourage your midlife clients to try an inaugural running event. First-time marathon runners who trained for 6 months saw a 4-year reduction in arterial age, according to study findings presented at EuroCMR 2019, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology.
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Minimalism is trending in many areas of life, including athletic shoes, with many fans touting numerous benefits. But does the evidence support the hype? Yes, according to research findings published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (2018; doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000001751). Walking in minimalist shoes is as effective as foot-strengthening exercises and may result in better compliance than doing specific exercises.
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Clients may ask you about calories or how to “tone,” but how often do they ask questions about bone health and osteoporosis? If clients aren’t asking these questions, they should: 54 million adult Americans are at risk of breaking a bone (NOF 2019a). You probably already know that people who have osteoporosis should do weight-bearing exercises to slow the degradation and ease the effects. However, most people are given no more explanation than that. You may be in a position to offer answers to some of your clients’ questions.
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Muscle cramps can stop athletes in their tracks. Although they usually self-extinguish within seconds or minutes, the abrupt, harsh, involuntary muscle contractions can cause mild-to-severe agony and immobility, often accompanied by knotting of the affected muscle (Minetto et al. 2013). And cramps are common; 50%–60% of healthy people suffer muscle cramps during exercise, sleep or pregnancy or after vigorous physical exertion (Giuriato et al. 2018).
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How much do you think your clients spend on pain relief? It’s a rhetorical question, but statistics show that the annual cost of healthcare due to pain ranges from $560 billion to $635 billion in 2010. This is in the United States alone, which combines the economic and medical costs to disability days, lost wages, and productivity.
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Competitive athletes often train for peak neuromuscular power to excel at the complex movements their sports require. Many personal training clients want to apply the same principle to their favorite sports.
With the right power training, fitness competitors can improve their tennis serve, golf swing, running speed, volleyball spike, soccer performance, basketball vertical jump and so on.
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Many of your clients likely work desk jobs and sit most of the day. This is not an ideal situation for many reasons, one being the risk of developing chronic lower-back pain. If you or a client is experiencing aches or sharp pains in the lower back, the issue may stem from problems with the quadratus lumborum.
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Purpose, passion and people! The fitness industry is all about forging relationships that lift others up. Fitness professionals have energy to spare, and they are dedicated to mentoring new generations of pros, networking with peers, and motivating clients and participants every day.
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For maintaining functional ability—and potentially even for living longer—growing research
supports the benefits of power training, particularly as we age. Power is the ability to move weight with speed and to generate force and velocity with coordinated movement.
When you watch someone hit a golf ball, throw a punch or simply retrieve groceries from the car, it’s evident that human movement occurs in all three planes of motion. A review of basic core anatomy—major muscles attached to the trunk, above the ischial tuberosity and below the superior aspect of the sternum—reveals that 87.5% of the core muscles are oriented either diagonally or horizontally, and one action that these muscles perform is rotation (Santana 2000).
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When Victor Sanakai was playing tennis for the Auburn University Montgomery National Championship team, he thought he was going to need rotator cuff surgery. But first he sought the advice of Michele Olson, PhD, a Pilates researcher who works with student athletes.
Olson, a senior clinical professor of sport science at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama, suggested Sanakai try Pilates exercises for the shoulders, upper back and abdominals.
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Until recently pain has been thought to be an indicator of the amount of tissue injury present in the body. The belief is that a high amount of pain equates to a serious injury, and a small amount of pain equates to a minor injury. However, through extensive research, we now know that pain has surprisingly little correlation to the amount of tissue damage present. For example, it’s estimated that 40% of people without any low back pain have at least one “bulging” disc on a lumbar spine MRI.
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Every time you take a step, your piriformis muscles help to keep your stride in good form.
The piriformis is a flat, pyramid-shaped muscle in the gluteal region (you have one on each side of the body). Located behind the gluteus maximus, the piriformis attaches to the base of the spine (the sacrum) on one end and to the top of the femur, the trochanter, on the other end (Kenhub 2019; Chang, Jeno & Varacallo 2019).
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By now, you’ve heard that “sitting is the new smoking.” It’s a catchy phrase with a powerful message: A sedentary lifestyle can impact your health—and not in a good way.
Consider your average client. She takes time to exercise (which is so good!) But, her other 23 hours are likely seated. She drives to work, appointments, shopping centers, the gym and then likely relaxes with screen time.
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