Archive for May 2017
Fitness and Flexible Blood Vessels
Clients often focus on the many aesthetic benefits of exercise, including weight loss and improved skin tone (Jaret 2011). Remind your hard-working clients of the numerous other benefits they’re reaping when they’re repping—the good stuff that happens behind the scenes, or rather, beneath the skin.
Read MoreMind-Body Exercise and Menopause
Are you in menopause? Chances are that you sometimes feel that you are not in control of your body! If you are seeking ways to cope with unpleasant menopausal symptoms, you may want to try yoga and other mind-body practices.
Shirley Archer, JD, MA, 2008 IDEA Fitness Instructor of the Year, an award-winning author and IDEA’s mind-body spokesperson, explains the research and application of mind-body exercise on menopause.
Irritability and Mood Swings
Read MoreGet in the Game!
Fitness facilities compete to offer cutting-edge movement trends, but what about cutting-edge technology? The fitness world is becoming ever more virtual, and incoming clients are looking for more than a fun indoor cycling class or a cool cardio machine; they want to play a game!
Read MorePhysical Literacy Is a Journey, Not a Destination
Steve Boyle is the CEO of the National Association of Physical Literacy (NAPL) and principal/founder of 2-4-1 Sports, a national organization that teaches children physical literacy using sports sampling through camps, clinics and school-based programming. Recently recognized by the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program as one of eight model programs in the United States in the original Project Play report, 2-4-1 Sports embodies its motto, Life’s 2 Short 4 Just 1 Sport
Read MoreEmpowered Entrepreneur Podcast
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IFBS Article 1
Read MoreHow Pilates Helps Athletes
Professional athletes of all kinds have discovered that adding Pilates to their training can improve performance, reduce injury, speed recovery and help their hardworking bodies stay balanced and healthy (Caple 2016; Knowlton 2016; Knowles 2016; Saxon 2016). For recreational athletes or simply athletic clients in general, Pilates can provide the same benefits professional athletes enjoy.
Read MoreWhich Stretching Program Is Best for You?
Regardless of fitness level, flexibility training is vital. Here’s how to figure out which technique is best for your clients.
Read MoreThe Poetry of Yoga
Some 80 million Americans were expected to try yoga last year, according to the 2016 Yoga in America Study (Yoga Journal & Yoga Alliance 2016). Couple this statistic with the continuing effort to entice baby boomers with new and effective movement class designs, and you get a sense of the opportunity yoga provides for dedicated teachers with skill and creativity.
Read MoreCreative ideas that Inspire
Rumble at Rebel in London is a high-energy HIIT format in a fully immersive environment. With low, creative lighting and a specially curated soundtrack, participants build strength with explosive speed as they punch, jab and perfect their boxing footwork in “a cardio boxing battle that’s no holds barred.” The gym, which has two locations, also features an adjacent hair salon where participants can go after their class for a blow dry, cut, beard trim or other beauty service.
Read MoreA 55-Minute Lower-Body Workout With Strength and Cardio Intervals
Help your students improve lower-body strength by taking them through unique variations of the lunge, squat and dead lift.
Read More3 Effective Abs Exercises Anyone Can Do
Essentially, any exercise that uses the anterior and/or posterior muscles to stabilize the spine—and is performed in a coordinated fashion—works the core. It’s important to include some kind of core moves in all classes, particularly those in which core training might not be emphasized. Try the following exercises in one of your next classes; these moves are appropriate in a range of settings and will be effective with various pieces of equipment.
Read More9 Ways to Elevate the Group Fitness Experience
Think about all the feel-good experiences that compete with your group fitness classes: a fun night out on the town, quality time with family, a favorite Netflix series cued up after a stressful day at work. It’s no wonder half the beginners who start exercising drop out within the first 6 months (Wilson & Brookfield 2009)!
Read More“Detoxing” Requires Guts!
Attempting to inspire better eating habits, nutrition educators have long told people, “You are what you eat,” with the notion that “being” broccoli is more compelling than “being” a double cheeseburger or a supersized beverage. Yet, as we observe the global obesity epidemic and the dietary challenges we see daily with clients, it’s clear that most of the time the idea of being broccoli isn’t motivating people to drive past the burger joint instead of through it.
Read More“What smartphone app or computer program could you not live without in your business?”
I could not live without the Tabata Pro™ Timer and MyFitnessPal apps. Tabata Pro Timer is essential to my private and small-group training sessions and our group running program. I can set three different timers to meet all my interval needs.
MyFitnessPal enables my clients to track exercise as well as food and water intake, and to share these publicly or just with me. The app provides accountability for my clients’ fitness and nutrition goals.
Is Advertising on Social Media Worth the Cost?
Remember social media 5 or 6 years ago? A lot of people thought of Facebook and Twitter as “free advertising” hubs for companies and entrepreneurs, because it was easier back then to gain attention with your posts (Snapchat and Instagram were just getting started at that time). If you were committed to posting decent content, you could expect ample clicks, likes, replies, etc. Now, however, times have changed.
Read MoreWeight Loss and the Resistant Client
client: Paul | personal trainer: Joe Carson, Wellness Coordinator, Spann Wellness Center | location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
The power of fear. It was early morning, and personal trainer Joe Carson had instructed his client, Paul, to complete a progressive-load “up-down” circuit that included a lat pull-down. The two had worked together for some time, so Carson knew that Paul was strong enough to finish.
Read More6 Reasons Why Nature May Be the Best Gym
Across the country, trainers are increasingly taking their clients outside.
From the trailheads of the San Francisco Bay Area to the boulders of Manhattan’s Central Park, more trainers and clients are lunging up hills, playing bear-crawl tag in the grass and soaking up the experience of exercising under open skies.
From Stroke to Strength
It’s not often that a personal training client’s initial screening reads “blocked cranial arteries in the left hemisphere, 1 billion destroyed brain cells, inability to speak, and paralysis and loss of feeling in both right limbs.”
Read MoreLab-Grown Meat? It May Be a More Compassionate Choice
If you love meat but hate the idea of killing farm animals or damaging the environment to raise them, then take heed: Scientists are developing potential alternatives. Several companies are working on creating meat in labs using stem cells (unspecified cells that can be induced to become cells with a particular function) from animals.
Read MoreDASH of This and That: Best Diet Ever?
Fad diets come and go, but one healthy-eating diet that has endured is the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension).
For the seventh year in a row, DASH was named “best overall diet” by a panel of experts. DASH also topped the list as “best plan for healthy eating” and “best diabetes plan,” and it tied with the Ornish Diet for “best diet for heart health.”