Anatomy/Kinesiology
Power Training vs. Strength Training for Older Adults
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.
Using Anti-Rotation to Coach Rotation
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).
The Science of Pilates Research
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.
Exercise and Pain: Teaching Clients to Follow the Signs
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.
Getting to the Bottom of the Piriformis
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).
Variable Resistance Training With Deadshifts and Deadlifts
It’s 2 a.m. Your 3-month-old son is screaming at the top of his tiny lungs, waking up everyone in the household. Begrudgingly, you get out of bed and zombie-walk over to your son’s crib in the next room. Your body aches, you haven’t slept in days, and now you must bend over to pick up a squirming child in the dead of night. Unfortunately, your son’s not a great strength coach and doesn’t allot enough warmup time to prepare your body for a deadlift.
The Food-Inflammation Connection
Many of the foods we eat—especially vegetables—can help us deal with the double-edged sword of inflammation.
How Strength Training Impacts Metabolism
Strength training (or resistance training) does much more than build strong muscles and bones. Research in the past few years has confirmed that lifting weights changes human metabolism in ways that improve health and well-being. Resistance exercise improves resting metabolic rate and cardiorespiratory fitness. Indeed, some authors call strength training an exercise therapy program (Strasser & Schobersberger 2011).
A Nod to Scalenes
How much do you know about your scalene muscles? If you just tilted your head in confusion, you can attribute that simple movement, in part, to your scalenes, three pairs of muscular tissue that flank the sides of the neck.
Anterior scalenes, on the front side of the neck, connect the third through sixth cervical vertebrae to the first rib.
Breath and Movement for Core Stability
When your participants ask about their core muscles, they’re most likely referring to the lauded “six-pack.” As a fitness instructor, you may think about transversus abdominis, obliques and pelvic-floor muscles. But almost everyone tends to forget about the diaphragm.
Gender Differences in Fitness and Brain Function
Many studies show that cardiorespiratory fitness improvements boost brain fitness in later life. New research in the Journal of Applied Physiology (2019; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01046.2018) reveals that effects may differ between men and women.
Eat Well, Breathe More Easily
If the eyes are a window to the soul, then the lungs are a door to the body—providing a gateway for the arrival of oxygen to every living cell.
The Fourth Trimester: Postpartum Exercise
It’s not over in 9 months. A new mother’s body keeps changing long after the baby arrives. Hormonal shifts, breastfeeding and risks like pelvic organ prolapse (see “3 Issues for Postpartum Exercisers,” below) complicate the weeks and months after childbirth.
Resistance Training Volume Is the Key to Muscle Size
Resistance training volume (RTV) is the total amount of work performed during a session of lifting; in other words, RTV = reps x sets x load (the product of repetitions times number of sets times intensity of load) (Figueiredo, de Salles & Trajano 2018). Any one of these variables can be adjusted to increase volume in a resistance training (RT) program. For example, you can increase RTV by performing extra sets of an exercise, adding more repetitions or increasing the weight being lifted.
Protein Is Not Necessarily Your Kidneys’ Nemesis
Eating more protein than your body needs won’t make you sprout more muscles, but it also seems unlikely to impair kidney functioning, according to research in the Journal of Nutrition. In a systematic review and meta-analysis of previous trials, Canadian researchers at McMaster University in Ontario and the University of Waterloo, Ontario, found no evidence that the glomerular filtration rate—an indicator of kidney function—is noticeably different among healthy adults who consume a higher-protein diet (1.5-plus grams per kilogram
Asthma and What You Eat
If the eyes are a window to the soul, then the lungs are a door to the body—providing a gateway for the arrival of oxygen to every living cell.
Bug Off, High-Fat Diets
High-fat diets have their fans on social media, but the pro-keto crowd is probably not cheering a recent finding that suggests a higher-fat, lower-carb diet can be bad news for your microbiome.
Unlocking the Pelvis
Eight in ten American adults and adolescents do not move enough! This alarming finding from Department of Health and Human Services 2018 research wholeheartedly underscores Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (2nd edition) recommendations to move more and sit less. Physical activity helps all of us to feel, function and sleep better, and decreases risk of many chronic diseases. We urgently need more aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities, along with greater variety of movement.
Self-Massage Techniques for Exercise Recovery
As a fitness pro, you no doubt value the restorative properties of professional massage. However, finding time for a massage may sometimes be difficult. That’s why it’s helpful to use self-care massage tools for preventing or treating pain or imbalances in the body. While these tools don’t provide “massage” as such (and can’t replace a professional therapist), the best ones offer some of the same benefits.
How to Improve Tennis Performance
Tennis is one of the most popular sports in the world. In the U.S. alone, there are almost 18 million players, with another 14 million expressing interest (TIA 2018). Unfortunately, the dynamic, forceful twists and turns of the game pose ever-present injury risks to players (Roetert & Kovacs 2011).