Aerobic exercise is an integral part of every personal trainer’s programming prescription for an apparently health individual. But how much aerobic- in relation to resistance training depends in large part on each client’s current condition and his or her fitness goals.
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Collateral Vascular Damage: A Good or Bad Thing For Building Muscle?
The term “collateral damage” is typically a military term, one that denotes unintended damage to an area around a target. But as it applies to resistance training, collateral damage can be a good thing.
READ MORERecovery 101 for New Personal Trainers
Effective recovery strategies can significantly impact your personal training clients’ progress and overall satisfaction with their training program. Your clients rely on you as a…
READ MORESeasonal 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.
READ MOREGut Reaction: Neurotransmitters Serotonin, Dopamine, and Gut Health Synergy
The gut, aside from its primary role in absorption, blood sugar regulation, and nutrient distribution, also wields influence over our hormone and neurotransmitter regulation. Among…
READ MOREThe Gut Microbiome and Our Health
Perhaps the time-worn expression “having a gut feeling” holds more potency than any of us realized. Studies of the intestinal gut microbiome reveal how disturbances…
READ MOREPersonal Training Heart Attack Survivors
Over the last 24 years, I have trained at least a dozen men who’ve survived a heart attack, and I’d like to share some of my experience with these men, as well as information from medical authorities.
READ MOREWhy Sleep and Recovery Is So Important For Personal Training Clients
In pursuit of the perfect body, many people focus on things like workout routines and supplements, however, many fail to consider another vital component of training-recovery. Remember that training is the stimulus to which the body adapts, but sufficient rest is essential to allow time for the adaptations to take place.
READ MOREWhat 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.
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.
READ MOREUnderstanding Muscle Fibers and Function: The Foundation of Being a Personal Trainer
As a competent and effective personal trainer, who is equipped with the knowledge necessary to be considered a fitness “expert”, you need to know the basis of human movement. That is, how knowing the different muscle fibers and how they work.
READ MOREUnderstanding 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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