Category: Physiology

SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER

Seasonal Affective Disorder: How Personal Trainers Can Help Clients See the Light

For those of us who are winter sports enthusiasts, the onset of colder weather signals the beginning of snow-related fun. Yet for others, the shorter days and colder temperatures trigger a cascade of symptoms that are anything but pleasant. Feelings of depression, anxiety, and moodiness are symptoms commonly associated with what scientists have termed Seasonal Affective Disorder, or quite aptly, SAD.

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Calorie

What Is a Calorie? Personal Trainers Need to Know!

Weight loss to improve cardiovascular health is a high priority of the American Heart Association because approximately 34 percent of the population is overweight.
The most basic and fundamental law that governs whether you gain weight or lose weight is the first law of thermodynamics, which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be transformed from one type to another. For our purposes here, the most common unit of energy measure is the calorie.

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VO2 max

Understanding VO2 Max and the Altitude Challenge

When embarking on a new exercise program, there are many factors to keep in mind. One must decide on the frequency of workouts, their duration, and most importantly, their intensity. For more seasoned athletes, these factors are often broken down into much more specific areas; one such area is the consideration of VO2 max.

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hypertrophy

Understanding Hypertrophy: Why Do Muscles Get Bigger?

We know that muscle will grow when properly trained and when proper nutrients are supplied. But what biological system is responsible for this growth stimulus? Is it one or is it all of them? Is growth caused by the forces applied to the muscles through weight training , or on a more cerebral level, is resistance exercise merely a means by which we expose, through recruitment, as many muscle fibers as possible to some other stimulus responsible for growth?

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