Industry Issues/Trends
One Size Fits One
Ozzy Osbourne was curious and decided to have his genome sequenced.
“Given the swimming pools of booze I’ve guzzled over the years—not to mention all of the cocaine, morphine, sleeping pills, cough syrup, LSD, Rohypnol . . . you name it—there’s really no plausible medical reason why I should still be alive,” he said in the Sunday Times of London in 2010.
“Maybe my DNA could say why.”
Social Support and Seniors
Fitness pros working with seniors deal with the physical and cognitive losses of aging every day. But what about the social support losses?
“How do you handle the situation when clients want to discuss political matters with you?
Handling political discussions during a training session can be tricky. Clients come to sessions stressed-out already, and talking politics does not help reduce their stress level. Living near Washington, D.C., many of my clients are involved in politics or hold positions that are severely affected by the new administration’s direction.
Does Having a Higher Income Make You More Active?
Higher earners may have more resources to boost activity levels than lower-income people, but that doesn’t make the better-off less sedentary, says a recent study.
In this study, published in Preventive Medicine (2017; 103, 91–97), researchers compared the activity levels of subjects with an annual income of $20,000 to those of people making $75,000 per year or more. The 5,206 subjects wore accelerometers for a week. The main variables were household income and amount and intensity of physical activity. Here’s what the scientists found:
Abdominal Separation and the Female Core
Imagine a balloon—a standard latex party balloon. You put a tiny seed in it. A watermelon starts to grow. You pick up the balloon with the watermelon growing inside. You carry it with you all day. You sit with it, stand up with it, run with it, take it wherever you go. What happens? How long will that balloon hold up?
Now imagine the same scenario with a stronger balloon, a Mylar balloon, with reinforced seams.
The Science of Yoga
“Jane,” like many clients, tried yoga to reduce her stress and anxiety, but she often held her breath during triggering moments, taxing her to the point where she’d feel faint and need to lie on the floor. After taking yoga sessions with Nicole DeAvilla, RYT 500, of Kentfield, California, Jane immediately felt calmer, more grounded and more optimistic.
Protecting the Aging Brain
Study after study shows that physical activity, diet and other lifestyle factors keep the brain healthy as we age—contrary to the popular notion that cognitive function inevitably declines in the later years of life.
A Fine Balance
No training program is complete without at least some focus on balance, an ability many people take for granted. We monitor the environment and our relationship to gravity quite automatically, thanks to the vestibular system, which helps us maintain our center of mass over a base of support. A properly functioning balance system allows us to see properly while in motion;
helps us orient ourselves to gravity;
determines direction and speed; and
makes automatic postural adjustments (Vestibular Disorders Association).
2017 IDEA® World Convention
Wherever they are, the best personal trainers, group exercise instructors, fitness entrepreneurs and nutrition/wellness professionals excel at what they do, but in the macrocosm of motion that is the IDEA World Convention, they redefine the limits of their potential. At the 2017 event, held in Las Vegas, July 19–23, more than 10,000 like-minded pros placed a bet on continued happiness and success, upping the ante as they attended more than 330 workshops and workouts taught by the industry’s greatest minds.
Shoulder Pain and Injury Prevention
Shoulder pain and injuries make it harder to exercise and play sports. Damaged shoulders also limit basic functions, impair quality of life and disturb sleep (Acton 2011). What’s more, research suggests that almost a quarter of your client base will experience shoulder pain/injury at one time or another (Ghosh 2012).
Exercise for Seniors
Certain types of exercise for seniors can lessen the chance that you develop more severe problems from the physical challenges of aging.
Recovery Tech—An Array of New Products, Services and Centers
New technologies, products and services are boosting the exercise-recovery business. What’s going on here?
The rising popularity of wearable devices is making people much more aware of their performance.
High-intensity interval training remains one of the most popular kinds of exercise.
Everyday exercisers can now afford treatments that were formerly reserved for pro athletes.
“How do you incorporate breathing strategies into clients’ workouts?”
Breathing strategies help keep clients focused on the movement and minimize distractions. When your clients take a deep breath just before a set, they can turn their thoughts inward and focus on proper body alignment, rather than moving the weight. This improves body awareness and posture and creates better engagement of the muscles needed for the lift.
Training a Competitive Equestrian
client: Rikki | personal trainer: Ajia Cherry, founder of Functional Innovative Training | location: Fairport, New York
2017 IDEA World Fitness Award Recipients
They are hard-working professionals who care deeply about the fitness industry, exemplifying the values and attributes that make it so rewarding for all of us: professionalism,
education, balance, health, social interaction, fun.
Many fitness professionals owe their careers to a desire to help a family member recover from a debilitating disease or injury. Others were determined to share the joy of movement. Some simply stepped forward when a leader was needed, enjoyed it, and decided to pursue further training and education.
The Smart Way to Move
Clients and attendees want to see results, and you want this, too. However, you’re with them a limited number of hours per week; you have little control over what they do when they’re not with you. What if you could provide additional tools that would help people reach their physical goals while also helping them make new neural connections?
The Functional Movement Screen and Active Older Clients
Study reviewed: Mitchell, U.H., et al. 2016. Performance on the Functional Movement Screen in older active adults. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 5 (1), 119–25.
Product Showcase
Nutrition By The Book
The Endurance Training Diet & Cookbook (Harmony 2017) by Jesse Kropelnicki is both a cookbook and a training nutrition manual. Kropelnicki shares his personal program of optimized nutrition, including 70 recipes that put his concepts into practice. The book provides nutrition information for distance runners, cyclists and triathletes and explores guidelines for what to eat pre-workout, post-workout and during recovery. There’s also a game plan for race-day nutrition.
Lifestyle Transformation Strategies That Work
These real-world clients reveal the secret ingredients that led to success.
2017 IDEA World Fitness Award Finalists
In setting after setting, from Europe to Southern California, from online videos to on-campus fitness rooms, in adversity and in action, the finalists for the 2017 IDEA World Fitness Awards exemplify all the diversity and excellence that exist in the world of fitness and health. Join us in recognizing the achievements of these nine personal trainers, fitness instructors and program directors.
2017 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year