Archive for June 2019
Meet an IDEA Team Member: Kelly Nakai
You may feel the hummingbirdlike whoosh as she speeds by you in the hallways at IDEA headquarters, but your brain may not always process that the voltage you felt pass by was teammate Kelly Nakai. This woman is calibrated at a higher speed than most people youโll ever meet, and from Day One of her more than 15 years at IDEA, she has moved with purpose. Driven by her love of our mission to Inspire the World to Fitnessยฎ, Kelly. Gets. Stuff. Done!
Read MoreAmplifying Your IDEA Membership Benefits
Itโs part of IDEAโs DNA to keep evaluating our membership model and look for new and relevant ways to increase the value of our offerings to you. This drive for excellence is the holy grail of our Inspired Service deliverables as we strive to help you be the smartest and most successful fitness professional you can be. With that in mind, Iโm thrilled to tell you about a few new initiatives that our team has just launched or that are on the cusp of release.
Read MoreGetting to the Bottom of the Piriformis
Every time you take a step, your piriformis muscles help to keep your stride in good form.
The piriformis is a flat, pyramid-shaped muscle in the gluteal region (you have one on each side of the body). Located behind the gluteus maximus, the piriformis attaches to the base of the spine (the sacrum) on one end and to the top of the femur, the trochanter, on the other end (Kenhub 2019; Chang, Jeno & Varacallo 2019).
Read MoreEmbracing Health at Every Size
People who have worked to lose weight may have found that achieving short-term weight loss is relatively easy. But weight loss success all too often ends in weight regain. Soon, dieters embark on a new diet, launching a round of weight cycling that wreaks havoc on the body and causes many problems routinely blamed on obesity.
Read MoreBreak Up a Sedentary Day With Active Standing
It is an inspiring time to be a fitness professional. Now, more than at any other time, we have scientific evidence that physical activity and exercise are tremendously beneficial for managing and reducing chronic diseases, improving brain health, lowering blood pressure, reducing depression and anxiety, controlling obesity, and more. How do we help people gain these benefits? Three scientific reports begin to define a road map of where we are headed to effectively combat sedentary lifestyles.
Read MoreTwo of a Kind
When Colleen Evans wanted to improve her strength while healing from Lyme disease, her doctor knew exactly who could help her: fellow patient and personal trainer Shona Curley.
Like Colleen, Curley had been diagnosed with Lyme disease and was coping with its symptoms.
Read MoreWhy You Need a Client Avatar
Remember the days when all you had to do to usher in a rush of new clients was run a Facebook campaign or a Groupon offer? Those days are long gone. The market is becoming saturated, and fitness facilities are popping up on every corner, each wanting a piece of the pie. Also, consumers are becoming more educated about fitness; theyโre more cautious about where they spend their hard-earned exercise dollarsโand for good reason!
Read MoreNot So Fast: Questions to Ask Before You Accept That Fitness Class
Too often, yoga and group fitness instructors are so eager to teach that they say yes to any class they can squeeze into their schedule. Tatiana Kolovou, MBA, owner of Ethos Cycling in Bloomington, Indiana, is among those who believe you shouldnโt undervalue your skills in order to do something you love. โThere are many jobs that have strong purpose, and the individuals who do them have passion, and many of them make a lot of money,โ Kolovou says.
Read MoreUsing LinkedIn to Generate Leads
Every business owner knows that consumers are spending more time on social media than ever before. If you want to reach prospective clients, you must have a social media presence. Be where your prospects are.
Read MorePlant-Based Diets Can Help Reduce Heart Failure Risk
Plant-based diets are associated with a lower risk of heart failure in adults without known heart disease, while Southern diets consisting of more fried and processed foods and sweetened drinks are associated with greater risk, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2019; 73, [16], April 30). The study looked at the association between five dietary patterns and risk of heart failure.
Read MoreKeys to Motivational Interviewing
Do you want to be a wrestler or a dancer?
This question stands at the center of motivational interviewing (MI), which emerged more than three decades ago to assist people in making difficult changes like overcoming addiction. Health coaches can use MI to help people stop harmful behaviors and start helpful ones. Consider a likely scenario:
Read MoreA Barre-Cardio-Core Class
When you take the strong, efficient movements of barre and mix in cardiovascular intensity and a comprehensive core routine, you get a winning combination for a full-body workout that appeals to a wide variety of people. Traditional barre classes use small, repetitive movements from a standing posture to work on balance while strengthening the lower body. Simultaneously, the upper body receives graceful range-of-motion benefits.
Read MoreVariable Resistance Training With Deadshifts and Deadlifts
Itโs 2 a.m. Your 3-month-old son is screaming at the top of his tiny lungs, waking up everyone in the household. Begrudgingly, you get out of bed and zombie-walk over to your sonโs crib in the next room. Your body aches, you havenโt slept in days, and now you must bend over to pick up a squirming child in the dead of night. Unfortunately, your sonโs not a great strength coach and doesnโt allot enough warmup time to prepare your body for a deadlift.
Read MoreRecipe for Health: Mediterranean Lentil Sandwiches
Over the past few decades, the much-vaunted Mediterranean dietโs ability to lessen the risk for an array of ills, including heart disease and Alzheimerโs, has featured prominently in research. But there werenโt any randomized trials conducted in the United States to determine this dietโs long-term impact on Americansโ health measuresโuntil now.
Read MoreAsk the RD: Farmed or Wild Fish for Nutrition Value?
Question
I have been trying to eat more salmon for the omega-3 fatty acids. Whatโs better nutritionally, wild or farmed fish?
Read MoreJuly 2019 Question of the Month: Eggs and Cholesterol
Here we go again. Just when we thought we could eat our omelets guilt-free, out comes another headline-grabbing study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that rekindles the debate on whether we should fret about cholesterol intake.
Read MoreLow-Carb May Not Be Heart Friendly
While Instagram feeds are awash with people broadcasting the weight loss benefits of living off butter and steak, there has been little data addressing the impacts of carb-stingy diets on various health measures down the line. Now we have some indication that there is cause for concern.
Read MoreHow Much Fiber Should We Eat to Stay Healthy?
The fact that fiber is good for us isnโt breaking news. But now we have a better idea of just how much we should be eating to add years to our lives. A study commissioned by several health and educational entities, including the World Health Organization, and published in The Lancet analyzed 40 yearsโ worth of data from 243 previous observational studies and randomized controlled trials.
Read MoreSocial Media May Sway Kids to Eat More Junk
Any child active on social media is likely following one or more so-called influencers, and if those influencers are fans of chips and cookies, parents trying to persuade their kids to eat more veggies could be facing another hurdle.
Read MoreTake the Steam Out of Tea Time
Tea is the drink of choice for more than a billion people. Recent decades have borne witness to a raft of research suggesting that sipping the ancient beverage brings certain health perks. But it is best to brew your cuppa and then let it cool.
Read More