Like many personal trainers, sometimes I question how impactful my contributions are for the clients I serve. Insights include moments of confidence and pride mixed with self-doubt, and at times, impostor syndrome. Earlier this year I found myself preoccupied about...
Theresa Perales
Theresa Perales has an MA in Spanish, and is an ESL teacher at San Diego State University (SDSU). After years of struggling with her weight, she decided to give exercise a try. A passion for health and fitness grew instantly and inspired her to become certified as a personal trainer with NFPT, and as a group fitness instructor with AFAA Group Fitness and Madd Dog Athletics® Spinning. Theresa believes that nutrition and fitness are not about aesthetics but ultimately about feeling healthy and empowered.
Partner Workouts in the Virtual (or Social Distancing) World
Born out of necessity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual training sessions quickly became a saving grace in the fitness industry, and finding a way to train groups or pairs using partner workouts can help replicate in-person interactions more authentically, and can...
Temptation Bundling: How to Find Motivation to Exercise in Quarantine
Highly motivated individuals may have assumed that a global pandemic forcing them to stay home would be the perfect time to crush their fitness goals. What else is there to do with so much time at home? It might not be working out that way for everyone, what with a...
Glute Bridge Progressions: Add Variety to a Basic Movement
Last month glute bridges were a hot topic of conversation because of their versatility in serving a wide range of clients and client needs. This progressive exercise is great for both those who are working with limitations or injuries as well as those who are looking...
How to Execute a Hip Bridge
When you walk into the gym, there is no shortage of glute exercises being done in every corner of the facility with every piece of equipment you never even imagined using for one main purpose: a nice rear! But are we neglecting a movement that might make all the...
Healthy New Year Resolutions With a Twist
As personal trainers we’ve probably all heard this resolution 1,00 times over: “I want to be healthier this year,” but what exactly does that mean? The obvious cliché assumptions attached to that declaration are “lose weight” or “look better.” The vagueness of...
Fat Loss Game Plan for Resolutioners
As the new year approaches, clients, old and new, are starting to set their “fitness” resolutions. Many will likely set weight loss goals simply because that is the most realistic resolution, right? Well, not exactly. Making distinctions between fat loss and weight...
Deficit Training: Getting Creative With Progressive Overloading
If you’ve got an advanced client looking to spice up their strength training routine, deficit lifting might be one answer--successful at employing a greater range of motion at lower intensities. Over the last few months we’ve been exploring creative approaches to...
The Best Podcasts for Fitness Professionals
In recent years I’ve dubbed myself the “forever-a-student,” because learning new things has always been my jam; especially when it comes to my favorite topic: health & wellness. Whether it is fitness, nutrition, mind-body connection, better sleep, I can get lost...
Negative Lifting For Strength and Hypertrophy: Creative Progressive Overload
Introducing your strength-training clients to negative lifting, aka, employing negatives, might be a progressive overload approach worth considering, especially if you’re helping them to push through a slump or speed up results. Creative Approaches to Progressive...
Tempo Training for Endurance, Hypertrophy, and Strength: Creative Progressive Overload
Tempo training is one creative approach to progressively overloading your clients when they get stuck or bored. As personal trainers and fitness enthusiasts, we know firsthand that the human body's response to training comes in peaks and valleys, and realistically,...
5 Lower Body Resistance Band Exercises for a Workout on the Go
Summer is officially in full swing, which means many of my clients and I have been on the road traveling. The first thing I suggest packing is a collection of resistance bands because wherever we go, we can get a great workout in just using the bands. Last month I...
5 Upper Body Resistance Band Exercises for the Busy Summer Client
Summer is season of leisure; yet many clients find themselves busier than usual, which translates into logging fewer workouts. In preparation for the coming season, I have been testing out some quick upper body resistance band routines to introduce to my busy summer...
Pistol Squat Regressions–Progressing With a Twist
A pistol squat is a one-legged, bum-to-the-floor squat, and it is notoriously difficult for a fit person, let alone the average person, to execute. Quad and glute strength and mobility must be on point to perform a pistol squat effortlessly. Taking Pistol Squat...
6 Standing Core Exercises: Off the Back and on the Feet
Incorporating standing core exercises in favor of sets of crunches and Russian twists will save time and better improve functional strength. So if you like tricking your clients as much as I do, I've got some sneaky exercises for you. The "Love vs Hate" Core...
Mindfulness Challenge: Better Connect with Yourself and Your Clients
For clients and trainers alike, working out is often a time to disconnect from the outside world and reconnect to the moment by tuning into the mind-body. But ask yourself, are you being mindful? Or are you taking sneak peeks at your phone to play DJ, set a timer,...
“Love Your Body” Personal Trainer Challenge
After recently confronting my own body image struggles, I challenge you, as personal trainers, to do the same if you also face such issues. Despite outward appearances and how our clients may perceive our fit physiques, fitness professionals don't always have healthy...
Stepping Off the Scale for Weight Loss Success
Recently I overheard some clients commiserating about their “dreaded numbers on the scale.” This challenged me to troubleshoot the issue from many different angles until I saw a change. I decided to steer the conversation in the direction of body fat % as a more...