Special Populations
Preparing Clients for Active Vacations
Do your over-55 clients or class members want to travel for pleasure but need more strength, stamina and mobility? Do they worry they’ll miss seeing the world because they lack physical ability?
Creating Enjoyable Training Programs
Physical inactivity levels continue to rise in spite of widespread knowledge of the negative consequences. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers suggest the issue may not come from a lack of knowledge but from how exercise is programmed. Studies show that simply manipulating elements of the FITT principle (frequency, intensity, time and type of exercise) does not improve adherence to exercise.
The State of Metabolic Health
Public health may be compromised unless people shift their lifestyle choices from bad to better, according to new research. A recent study found that only 12% of American adults are “metabolically healthy,” and current trends raise a red flag on efforts to lower associated risks of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and other complications.
The Benefits of Plyometrics in the Water
Athletes who practiced jump training in water significantly improved jump height and peak power without increased injury risk, according to findings published in PLOS One (2018; 13 [12], e0208439). Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney compared athletes who performed jump training in water 1.2 meters (3 feet 11 inches) deep with athletes who followed their regular sports training—without added jump training—on land. Both groups trained three times a week for 8 weeks.
The Link Between “Tip-of-the-Tongue State” and Cardio Training
It might be time to motivate your senior clients to do more cardio. Evidence suggests that aerobic exercise can improve language skills by positively affecting brain regions associated with language processing. A recent study found that fitness and language skills are related, with cardiovascular fitness levels in healthy older adults directly linked to the ability to retrieve words hovering on the “tip of the tongue.”
Kids’ Inactivity: A Global Crisis
Children worldwide, in both developed and developing nations, are not engaging in enough physical activity, according to research published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health (2018; 15 [S251]). The report evaluated global trends using data from 49 countries across six continents. Nations with the most success in supporting active children are Slovenia, Japan and Denmark; the least successful nations are Ethiopia, Venezuela and China.
Children Have Natural Muscle Endurance
A recent study shows that children are suited to endurance activities, not only because kids have fatigue-resistant muscles, but because they recover quickly from high-intensity exercise—even more quickly than trained adult endurance athletes. Researchers conducted the study to determine whether prepubescent children are metabolically comparable to well-trained adult endurance athletes, since it’s been established that children can complete repeated high-intensity exercise bouts more easily than untrained adults.
Integrating Cognitive Training Into Exercise Programs for Older Adults
How can you “cognify” exercises to give your clients a big kick in the hippocampus? The basic ideas here can help you integrate cognitive stimuli into most exercises.
Women and Weight Training
Every day, more women are moving from the cardio room to the weight room. It’s a welcome transition; getting stronger can transform their self-esteem, confidence and self-efficacy.
Ignite Your Passion and Watch Your Career Thrive
The most powerful industry event in the world, IDEA® World Convention, lands in Anaheim, California, June 26–30.
Cook and Taste the World for Health
A few weeks ago, I purged my extensive collection of cookbooks to make way for new ones. Like the 30 or so I just weeded from the mix, the new books will be learned from, splattered upon and well-loved until I’ve extracted all of their goodness.
Inspiring Functionality
CLIENT: Erika Miller
PERSONAL TRAINER: Michele DeJesus, MS (movement therapy), PhD (nutrition)
LOCATION: Lexington Athletic Club, Lexington, Kentucky
Neuromuscular Power Training for Athlete Clients
To help clients with power training, you need to understand the fundamentals of neuromuscular power development.
Diet Can Fight The Effect Of Fat Genes
Over the past few decades, researchers have shown that an individual’s
genetic makeup can play a big role in his or her propensity to gain weight and keep it on. For instance, one person may have a gene that makes him more efficient at converting food calories into body fat, while someone lacking this gene can apparently eat as much as she wants without packing on a single pound. Maddening for some, to be sure. But now it seems that dietary choices may have the power to override certain genes associated with body weight.
Go Fish To Nourish A Baby Bump
Moms-to-be should visit the fishmonger more often. In a study published in the journal Pediatric Research, scientists in Finland collected nutrition information from 56 pregnant women using food diaries; the scientists then measured blood levels of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (aka omega-3 fats) in both mothers and babies when the newborns were 1 month old.
Crunch Your Way to a Six-Pack
Calorie counts notwithstanding, research keeps showing that nuts can help in the battle of the bulge. One example was a study presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2018 in Chicago. In that experiment, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that eating a daily 1-ounce serving of any type of nut—including peanuts and nut butters—in place of calories from low-nutrition foods was associated with a lower risk of long-term weight gain and obesity in more than 125,000 adult men and women.
Question Of The Month: Physical Activity Classes in College?
Are you training college students on campus, or is your facility offering physical activity programs for college students at a local campus? If yes, does the college require physical activity courses, or are they elective? In view of your experience working with college students, do you support a requirement for physical activity classes in college?
Share your experiences teaching at local colleges. We want to hear from you! Email executive editor Joy Keller, jkeller@ideafit.com.
College Physical Activity Classes
Findings from a recent study may lead to more opportunities for fitness professionals to teach at college campuses. Evidence suggests that requiring physical activity classes in college encourages sedentary students to become more active, while elective classes simply support those who are already active.
Sitting Is Not the New Smoking
The evidence is definitive. Risks of smoking far outweigh the health dangers of a sedentary lifestyle. It’s important to raise awareness of the hazards of inactivity, but distorted information about risks of behavioral choices can confuse the public. “The simple fact is, smoking is one of the greatest public health disasters of the past century. Sitting is not, and you can’t really compare the two,” said study author Terry Boyle, PhD, an epidemiologist at the University of South Australia, Adelaide.
Body Image And Social Media
A recent study provides more evidence that body image suffers when young women view photos of attractive peers on social media.