Program Design/Ex Rx/Sample Workouts
Get Up, Stand Up—For Your Health
We know that sitting long hours is a health hazard that can lead to early death. What’s been unclear is whether frequent breaks in sit time can reduce that risk even if total sit time remains the same. Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center looked into that question.
Millennials Prefer “Activacations”
According to a recent survey produced by Hotels.com, most millennials prefer to lift weights instead of piña coladas while on vacation. Savvy fitness professionals can leverage this
information when marketing and promoting programs to this demographic.
Muscle Activation During Kettlebell Exercises
Understanding how different exercises affect the body is a prerequisite for designing optimal training programs. In a study published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research (2017; 31 [9], 2363–70), scientists looked at muscle activation during three kettlebell movements.
On This Day in Fitness History
The first-ever Winter Olympics were held January 25–February 5, 1924, in Chamonix, France. The event involved eight sports and just over 250 athletes.
Weight Disparities in Children Worldwide
When it comes to childhood health, lots of emphasis is placed on the risks of being overweight or obese—and an estimated 124 million kids worldwide were in those weight categories in 2016, a tenfold increase since 1975. While this is of great concern, a new study has found that in the same year, 192 million boys and girls were moderately or severely underweight. The researchers believe that family income levels may play a role in a child’s weight.
Olympic Support Coach Talks Winter Games
In February, thousands of athletes from around the world will descend on PyeongChang, South Korea, with dreams of stepping onto a podium. Among them will be members of the U.S. speed skating team, who have received support from the Under Armour Performance Team.
Dan McDonogh, 2012 IDEA Fitness Instructor of the Year and UA senior manager of performance training, knows what it’s like to ready the athletes for competition:
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?
Row Your Way to Health
Did you know that rowing has been a competitive sport for hundreds of years (and an official Olympic event since the modern Games began)?
At lower intensity levels, rowing is a great training tool. As long as rowing form is correct and efficient, people of all ages, sizes and abilities will enjoy better cardiovascular and muscular function from rowing regularly. Rowing can strengthen your aerobic system, making it easier to take care of kids, work around the house, use the stairs at work and race from one meeting to the next without running out of breath.
Sample Class: Tabata-Inspired Blast
The high-intensity interval training wave is still cresting, thanks to its positive metabolic effects and its ability to elicit results. HIIT raises the anaerobic threshold and creates excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), or oxygen debt. Simply put, metabolism stays elevated for longer after an intense workout than it does after low-intensity exercise.
“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.
Training an Up-and-Coming Athlete
client: Lauren | personal trainer: Francesca Pucher, co-owner, Fitness 121 | location: Roseland, New Jersey
In search of progress. Lauren was just 13 years old when she first met Francesca Pucher, personal trainer and co-owner of Fitness 121 in Roseland, New Jersey. Lauren’s mom was working with Pucher and asked for some advice on how to help her daughter with her ice skating. She wondered if Lauren’s performance would improve if she incorporated some strength training into her weekly routine.
Mindfulness, Stress and Blood-Sugar Regulation
A Penn State University study found that women with overweight or obesity had significantly lower levels of stress and fasting glucose after participating in a mindfulness-based stress reduction [MBSR] program. Researchers evaluated the effects of MBSR on cardiometabolic outcomes in 86 women with overweight or obesity. The 8-week MBSR program—which consists of group training in mindfulness, stress reduction, mindful movement and meditation—includes weekly 2.5-hour sessions, one 6-hour retreat and a recommendation of daily home practice.
Getting Better at Recovery
A growing body of research is shedding more light on the importance of resting after exercise—providing vital clues on measuring and enhancing the recovery process. These insights are welcome news to personal trainers and coaches who see the consequences of overtraining and inadequate recovery every day. This column discusses some of the latest research on assessing and managing recovery and advises on tactics that may help your clients recover from exercise.
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).
Sample Class: Cardio-Strength Circuit
Circuit training remains a popular activity, which is not surprising since it provides an integrated and accessible full-body workout. Not only can you combine cardio and strength moves in one class, but you can offer a wide variety of easily modifiable moves, accommodating participants of all abilities.
Turn Negatives Into Positives
I was a new group fitness instructor taking someone else’s muscle-toning class. “You’re not going low enough,” the instructor yelled at me from across the crowded room. As flames of embarrassment burned my cheeks, I dropped lower into the Romanian dead lift even though I had just come from teaching my seventh cycling class of the week and my body was spent. But this was what the class required, I rationalized, and I was fit—I should be able to keep up.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep up, and as a result, I gave myself a nagging lower-back injury.
A Methodical Approach to Personal Training
A lifestyle change. When busy mom Caroline first met Los Angeles–based personal trainer Ara Keshishian, her goals were simple: She wanted to lose fat and build strength. She was eager and motivated and hoped to see fast results. The two agreed to a 1-month trial program, meeting 4–5 times per week early in the morning.
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.