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Bone Modeling and Remodeling

The skeleton is composed of two types of bone: cortical and trabecular. Cortical (compact) bone comprises 80% of the volume in the adult skeleton and forms the outer layer of bone (Lerner 2012). Trabecular (cancellous) bone makes up the inner layer; has a spongy, honeycomb structure; and is mostly found in the skull, pelvis, sacrum and vertebrae. Although peak bone mass is reached in late adolescence, bones never stop changing. An adult skeleton replaces its bone mass every 10 years (OSG 2004).

As the Nutrition Label Turns

The nutrition label on packaged products is to be revamped—but when is anyone’s guess. The Obama administration approved a July 2018 deadline, which the Trump team pushed back to January 2020, citing concerns that industry needed more time to comply (the 2020 date is for larger companies; smaller businesses have a year longer).
In March, the FDA issued guidance to industry on the new labels, prompting some consumer advocacy organizations to urge the FDA to move up compliance dates. After all, more than 15,000 products on shelves already carry the new label.

High-Intensity Functional Training—Make It Safe

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.

Positioning Yourself to Get Hired

Corporate wellness represents significant growth opportunities as organizations embrace a culture of personal well-being and optimal health to retain the best employees and reduce healthcare costs. Fitness professionals who enjoy being part of a collaborative team with employees, other wellness staff and corporate management are likely to thrive.

Egg Whites or Whole Eggs for Muscle Building?

Here’s more evidence that whole foods are the winning choice for athletic success. University of Illinois researchers gave resistance-trained men either three whole eggs (yolk plus whites) or just egg whites after two separate bouts of resistance exercise and then measured rates of muscle protein synthesis. Though each option had identical protein volume—18 g—the men built about 40% more muscle after eating whole eggs than they did with egg whites alone, according to research in the December 2017 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Fit Pros Face Body Image Pressures From Both Directions

How do personal trainers and fitness instructors fare in the face of body insecurities? A lot of us put pressure on ourselves—and each other—to look a certain way. Individually, fitness pros vary widely in where they fall on the body image spectrum, which extends from abject dissatisfaction to healthy self-perception. But even if our own perspective falls within the “contented range,” we must recognize that, as an industry, we have a problem. There’s tacit, and sometimes blatant, body shaming.

Question of the Month

What strategies do you use to improve work–life balance?
We want to hear from you! Email swebster@ideafit.com .

Partner Warmups

Have you noticed the latest trend? Instructors are incorporating partner work to add intensity, motivation and a sense of community. Prepare your class for success by teaming people up during the warmup. Below are a few full-body exercises that hit the upper body, lower body and core in a coordinated movement pattern. Before you start, get everyone in the “sidekick spirit” with these tips:

Cardio–Strength Combo: Maximizing the Benefits

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.

It’s easy to design individual or small-group programs that combine several exercise modes so that clients can meet multiple goals in a single session. But there is one challenge to keep in mind: Doing cardio, strength and flexibility training during the same session seems to confuse muscles at the molecular level, in effect interfering with their ability to respond properly (Doma & Deakin 2013).

A Body Image Problem in the Fitness Industry?

Fitness professionals often bemoan how clients can be too appearance-oriented in their fitness pursuits, harboring a negative body image and/or unrealistic expectations around shaping the “perfect” physique.

What about us?

Good Nutrition Pays Off Down the Road

Is one of your clients a grandma or grandpa who is striving
to be fit? Eating well appears to be a key piece of the
puzzle, says an investigation published in The Journals of
Gerontology. The study found that those who stuck to a
higher-quality diet with abundant fruits, vegetables and
whole grains throughout adulthood performed better in
various measures of physical fitness—including mobility
and balance—in their early 60s than those who took less
interest in eating healthfully.

Creative Ideas That Inspire

UH2O is part of Rock Steady Boxing’s “Fight Back” program at the YMCA in Randolph, New Jersey. Offered in the facility’s warm water pool—and the only aquatic boxing class in the country—UH20 empowers participants with Parkinson’s disease to work on balance and gait training without the added fear of falling. The splashy format helps participants to improve their flexibility, range of motion, strength and balance as they relieve and manage their Parkinson’s symptoms.

How to Become a Personal Trainer

If you love to work out and help others stay in shape, you could have a promising future as a personal fitness trainer. But don’t be blinded by the prospect of earning $60 an hour to exercise: Becoming a successful personal trainer requires education, personality and diligence.

Building a Successful Business: IDEA® Personal Trainer Institute

Elevate your purpose at the IDEA® Personal Trainer Institute in Alexandria, Virginia, March 1-4, and for the first time ever, in Dallas, April 5-8!

When Jake Trione, owner of TriAffect Fitness, Health and Wellness in Houston, thought about what he wanted to do after 13 years of active duty in the United States Coast Guard, he knew he’d become a personal trainer. “I thought to myself, ÔÇÿIf I am serious, I should find the most successful professionals in the business and spend time with them,’” he says.