Obesity ranks as one of the most serious public health challenges today. Despite the best efforts of fitness/nutrition professionals, as many as 1.6 billion adults currently fit the medical parameters of “overweight”, with a frightening 400 million falling into the ...
All personal trainers and their clients should be familiar with what the "burn" associated with repetitive or intense activity feels like. Historically, the blame for such discomfort fell on the build-up of lactic acid, a condition referred to as lactic acidosis, and...
Is athleticism genetic? We often use the phrase “natural-born athlete” to describe one who excels in sports. While genetics does play a role, let's discuss what else creates a distinction between a person with athletic prowess and a client who goes through the...
Through dedicated data collection, research professionals have arrived at distinct categories of “exercisers” within our population. As we might predict, the subtle variations in their activity levels do impact key aspects of health which, in turn, impacts longevity....
When training an athlete toward peak/competitive performance whether post-rehabilitation or from current ability, training load must exceed capacity. With carefully planned increases in load, the athlete’s capacity tolerance improves. However, if the applied training...
Can the drive for extreme muscularity turn into an unhealthy obsession? “The Adonis Complex”, aptly named after the Greek mythological character whose body was said to represent the ideal standard of muscularity, is a real thing. As men obsessively chase an impossibly...
As coaches and trainers, many of us work with adolescents who show promising athletic prowess. We must take into account, however, that human development falls on a continuum; as such, not all budding athletes will mature at a level commensurate with their dates of...
Autism refers to the complexity of neurobiological development disorders. Affecting 1% of the population within this continent, many experts consider it among the most serious of all mental health conditions. Recent studies indicate that physical exercise can confer...
Hunger hormones control the degree to which individuals sense hunger and fullness or, satiety, and can contribute to weight loss and maintenance success. Research shows that a significant percentage of dieters regain most, if not all, of the weight they shed within a...
Accumulating evidence suggests that any athletically-inclined individual can benefit from a shift of energy metabolism toward the utilization of ketone bodies. However, the good news does not end there. Clinical research evidence on exogenous and physiological ketones...
For peak performance every day, athletically and otherwise, the human body requires water. Our cells, bones, organs, and muscles count on sufficient hydration to function properly. However, overloading the body with fluids can cause water intoxication, or...
The fitness industry defines muscular strength as the physical ability to generate force against an external load. The 1RM simply represents the maximum amount of force that a muscle can exert against an external resistance, moving through a full range of motion to...
Understanding lifting tempo is complicated enough for trainers, and most likely completely escaping your clients' attention. Science reveals different outcomes for how we apply such cadences in our lifting, specifically with regard to hypertrophy and strength gains....
When working with clients, personal trainers are likely to come up against lifestyle habits that need to change, one of which is very problematic and difficult to quit: Soft drink consumption. Those clients who may drink a six-pack of Coca-Cola daily or admit to...
Since its inception, Everesting has experienced growth far beyond its creators’ wildest dreams. Now considered a worldwide sensation, cycling athletes can choose from almost 20,000 Everesting offerings of different kinds in just about every country, large or small....
As fitness professionals, we accept the premise that most serious strength-training athletes and bodybuilders will experience injuries at some point in time. Within a 1-year period of regular strenuous workouts, almost 50% of bodybuilders report suffering from some...
Mountain biking and competitive cycling, among the world’s most popular modes of exercise, carry the potential risk of male infertility and other risks to men's health. Learn about the challenges, and how best to inform and support your clients who ride frequently and...
Mushrooms, members of the general class of edible fungi, enjoy popularity in global cuisine. From the exotic truffle to the ordinary white caps, mushrooms now also figure prominently in scientific research as one of the top nutritional sources of the amino acid...