Skills/Tools for Personal Trainers Archives - Page 9 of 19

Secrets of Muscle Growth

Muscle growth is often a goal for people seeking guidance from qualified fitness professionals. Recently, researchers from the University of Cumbria in Lancaster, England, reviewed relevant scientific papers to find best practices for achieving that goal.
The review authors looked at several primary factors associated with muscle hypertrophy: training volume, load, training frequency, training to momentary muscle failure, exercise variation, contraction type, exercise order, repetition tempo and interest recovery. Here’s a sampling of the conclusions:

Creative Ideas That Inspire

KONGA®, at Funk & Twist Fitness in Basingstoke, England, is a high-intensity offering that incorporates elements of boxing, cardio, dance and sculpt. The program vibe is fierce and wild, and sessions are set to upbeat music designed to inspire and motivate. The class is updated each month with fresh choreography so that participants don’t become bored or hit fitness plateaus. It’s appropriate for all levels, from beginners to seasoned fitness enthusiasts.

Learn, Connect and Thrive at the IDEA® World Convention

Education is the foundation of the IDEA World Convention, but this fitness event offers plenty more than stellar instruction. For Jonathan Bernath, publicist-turned-personal-trainer, it’s where he discovered the “fitness family” that would guide him in his new career.

May I Have This Dance?

client: Bert | personal trainer: Ann Heizer | location: Oceanside, California

Doctor’s orders. “Thanks for coming into my life and helping me deal with Parkinson’s disease,” says Bert, warmly sharing his respect for his trainer, Ann Heizer. “Working out with you has helped me stay positive and flexible.”

Primed to Squat

Why is it that so few people can squat correctly, yet my 8-year-old son squats perfectly? I’ve never taught him how to squat; he innately learned how, just as he learned to roll over, crawl, pull himself up and eventually walk. He simply needed the freedom to allow his body to move. Movement before strength is key.

Sample Class: Strength by Numbers

Do you love planning your strength training classes but need to find new ways to keep things interesting? If so, this is your class! Offer a challenge boost by adjusting your sequencing and repetitions. This approach helps students stay engaged and in the moment while getting more done in less time. As a bonus, you learn a variety of drills to apply to all your classes.

Strength by Numbers Details
Goal/emphasis: muscular strength and endurance
Total time: 40 minutes

Range of Motion: Full or Partial?

Research shows there’s a time and place for both full and partial range of motion in resistance training program design.
Some training systems purposely use partial ROM for various exercises. Moreover, certain surgeries and orthopedic injuries require partial-ROM movements during rehabilitation (Pinto et al. 2012). It seems natural for personal trainers to wonder which is superior: full ROM or partial ROM? ,/p>
Two studies comparing the benefits of partial ROM and full ROM give a clearer view of the landscape.

Green Exercise: How It Benefits You

Here’s a look at what the latest findings tell us about why you may want to incorporate green exercise into your programs.

Simplicity Steers Success

client: Jennifer | personal trainer: John Parker | location: San Diego

Keeping it simple. Every day it seems there’s a new supplement, food plan or training program that purports to produce unparalleled results. But all of these choices can make it difficult for clients to make wise choices and remain consistent in their approach. That was the problem faced by Jennifer, a florist and part-time kickboxing instructor, and it’s why she reached out to San Diego–based personal trainer John Parker, CSCS.

The Best Exercise to Prevent Mental Decline

Exercise can boost brain health and slow cognitive decline. One form of exercise in particular seems to produce the best benefits—dancing!

Sample Class: Functional-Impact Fun!

Get participants jumping with a combination of functional fitness movements and plyometric exercises that create an intense and enjoyable interval workout. The functional moves build strength and coordination, while the plyometric drills focus on muscle power and cardiovascular fitness. Together, they provide a total-body conditioning workout.

Functional-Impact Fun! Details:
Goal/emphasis: total-body fitness
Total time: 45–60 minutes

Community Cooldown

Life isn’t predictable, so why should our movements be? Add fun games to your cooldowns to help active agers learn to react to on-the-spot activities in a functional way. The following games include a social neuroscience component that builds camaraderie, upgrades reaction time and improves balance. Try them toward the end of class to get seniors on the same page.

Storks and Gazelles
Purpose: to train gait efficiency and reaction time.

The Achilles Tendon

Many fitness professionals have dealt with an Achilles tendon injury, either their own or a client’s. The largest and strongest tendon in the body, the Achilles connects the lower-leg muscles and calf to the heel. “Synchronous functioning” of the tendon and calf is crucial for many activities, including standing on tiptoe, running, jumping and climbing stairs (Bhimji 2016).
Dutch surgeon Philip Verheyen named the tendon (after the Greek hero Achilles) in 1693. Previously, it was known as “tendo magnus of Hippocrates” (van Dijk 2011).

Resistance Training for Youth: 10 Tips for Success

Resistance training for youth can be a polarizing topic, mostly because of misconceptions about safety, injury rates and training techniques. Though parents and trainers alike often worry about the hazards of youth resistance training, research shows that it has a host of benefits—if it’s done properly.

Combined Training for Fitness and Weight Loss Clients

In today’s marketplace, knowing how to offer combined training is a must-have skill. People want it all—cardiovascular, strength and flexibility training—in just 50 minutes.

The Anatomy of Functional Training Risks

Many clients can’t seem to get enough of workouts that meld functional movements with high-intensity resistance training. Indeed, workouts using dynamic, high-intensity, full-body movements are great for strength and health—provided the body functions properly and exercisers use correct technique.

Creative Ideas That Inspire

Camp 4 at Mountain Challenge in Maryville, Tennessee, is an outdoor fitness facility inspired by Yosemite and created to counteract the obesity and inactivity epidemic. Once a week, Mountain Challenge’s backyard is open for recreational exercise and includes access to climbing, bouldering, group fitness classes and a yoga deck, as well as resistance bands and kettlebells for customized workouts. Student interns from the local college’s exercise science and physical education departments oversee the activities and help design programs.

Cultivate Joy Through Mindfulness

It’s a busy, technology-dominated world—and most of us are continually spinning, twisting and turning in an effort to “get things done” and “produce.” We work, we raise families, we have countless responsibilities. The truth is, this is distracted living, and it raises stress levels, lowers productivity and interferes with our ability to focus. When we live this way, we fail to cultivate a sense of contentment and joy.