Training is something I love to do. I got into it because I love exercise, hard-work, and results and I wanted to help others who were looking for answers to health and fitness goals. But I also want to make a successful business out of it without losing any integrity. This means that I want to provide my very best service to each client to achieve their results while still making a living. As making a living as a trainer can be difficult do to the fact it is an unnecessary expense in most individuals budgets it is not uncommon to lose client volume very fast and in large amounts. This calls for a trainer to use very effective methods that get results and provide a unique atmosphere that will facilitate client retention.
In saying this I want to get a feed back on an idea I had earlier this week. My girlfriend loves the show biggest loser and I am often in the room while she watches it. I enjoy the show not for the drama, but I am often more interested in each trainer's methods, coaching, and atmosphere they create in the gym and evaluating each trainer based on my own style of training. After watching the show I got curious as to the number of viewers this show receives on average as I have often argued with other trainers who state that the biggest loser scares more people away from the gym rather than get them into it. I have always rolled my eyes to this assertion as I myself know plenty that enjoy the show and find the exercise atmosphere on the show attractive and stimulating. When I went to look up the viewer data for the show I was astounded to see that on it's premiere date this year it received 6.2 million viewers. Now what I am proposing is that viewers who are watching this show desire a workout atmosphere similar to what the biggest loser provides and their desire can be filled. I can provide the exact same atmosphere to a group of individuals seeking weight loss. The training done on this show is not special it can be recreated and was way before this show began. So in closing I am wanting to know how many individuals out there currently unsatisfied with their health to date would be interested in a program that is team oriented. Involving group workouts that are high-intensity, nutritional group education, and a high sense of accountability and camaraderie. If this sounds like something you would be interested in please leave me a comment below. I want to evaluate whether there truly is a market for such a progra
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I preach to every single client I meet with that nutrition is by far the biggest factor in achieving results in altering their body. I believe this myself and I am backed up by years of science to solidify this belief. Yet I sometimes feel beside myself when trying to coach my clients in nutrition as I direct them to eat healthy whole foods, but I myself understand the difficulty that comes with this challenge finding truly healthy foods is hard in our current food environment. I am not a supporter of the adage that is cost to much to eat healthy because unless my math is wrong it has never cost more to eat less which is often the first step in most clients journey to a more healthy diet. If there are any out there who would like to challenge me on this I am more than happy to take your weekly food expenditure total and by you a weeks worth of more healthy whole food for the same amount of money. Back to the topic yes the current food environment is horrible it takes a truly educated consumer to find true healthy foods today. This is due to current food production that is practiced in America today. Food production is currently equal to mass production and everyone knows as quantity increases quality often suffers. This has held true in the food industry because we as consumers demand large amounts of food readily available at all times we have fed a the demand for this mass production of our food. And to meet this demand food production has been forced to accept the downgrade of quality of the food. Take for example wheat bread true original wheat bread was originally made from true to god wheat grass, but as the demand for great production rose the food industry in an effort to meet this need genetically modified this plant to make it more abundant and easier to produce creating somewhat of a frankenstein wheat bread that is often sold in today's grocery stores as healthy whole grains when it is actually is terrible for you. This is where it becomes difficult for consumers to eat healthy because even though we think we are buying and eating healthy we are truly not. But this is not a hopeless cause it lies with us as consumers to fix this problem. We as consumers must stop demanding mass production of our foods, we must stop contributing to large power hungry monopoly holding food companies that are holding our nutrition ransom. We as consumers must start buying locally grown whole foods from our local farmers markets we must bring back the days of weekly market runs rather than monthly grocery stock-ups. I understand this is difficult as the prices at farmers markets are often much higher than at your local food stores, but this is simply due to a lack of demand for local grown foods. If we as consumers change where we place our demand we can quickly turn the tables on big food companies we can make local farms more economically viable raising local competition which will increase local food quality. And because this food is grown locally and correctly we can get back to the original foods are grandparents grew up eating leading to improved health and improved communities. The choice lies with us the consumers we drive the market if we want
One of the most toted phrases currently used by the common gym-goer is the "muscle confusion". Alot of people cite this as a reason to change their workout programs every 4 to 6weeks. But I am going to discredit this phrase based on three sound principles regarding strength and conditioning programs. The first principle I am going to discuss is the Identity Principle this states that a thing can only be that thing it can be no more or no less. This being said the very idea of a confused muscle breaks this principle. How can a muscle become confused? How does a muscle know whether you are training with a dumbbell or kettlebell? The answer to this is a muscle can't. A muscle does not have eyes, ears, or a mind it is simply muscle fibers bundled together connected to motor units that are controlled by the individuals brain. So to say that you are achieving results due to muscle confusion is incorrect and is a bad justification to changing one exercise program for another. But then how come when I decide to change my current workout program by using a different mode of training(this is what most people say to me when discussing muscle confusion because they seem to have been told that using barbells instead of dumbbells can trick your muscle into working harder)? This reasons for the gains following a change in an individual's workout program is a direct result of one thing added intensity or difficulty to the exercise program. Any good strength and conditioning program is built upon atleast one identical principle and that is The Principle of Progression. The Principle of Progression states that for any improvements or changes to be made or see from our current state we must force are training to progress by using a number of different methods including a change in mode, volume, set and rep scheme, and weight used during a particular exercise. What has come to be labeled as muscle confusion is just truthfully the progression principle in action. You see the so called plateau that every gym goers experiences after starting an exercise routine is a result of your body becoming conditioned to an equalized point with your current level of training meaning that no matter how many times your train if you continue to train at the same level you will see no more training effects. Most take this as a sign that they have peaked or that what they are currently doing for exercise isn't correct. False if you have made alot of progress thus far using your current method chances are you are exercising correctly so don't fall into the pit that it all comes down to confusing your muscle by switching what your current training program is the answer to your plateau is to simply push yourself to progress in any of the aforementioned areas. One can either increase volume of their current exercise routine meaning performing more sets and reps per workout, one can add intensity to the program through adding weight to each lift by 5lbs when a set is completed with target reps reached or one can use a different mode of training to stimulate an increase in intensity due to lack of strength in that new particular mode say going from machine weights to free weights. In any instance your muscle is never aware of these changes the only factor your muscle is aware of is the amount of fatigue and inroads that are being made to the muscle for each workout. The more inroads made during training the more progress that is made. Muscle confusion is a poor description of this process and gives the common gym goer a terrible understanding of the effectiveness of th
As hinted in the last blog I am a strong believer in discrediting the concept of muscle confusion so I am going to be writing my next upcoming blog on why this is a made up concept used to convince gym goers that they much deviate from basic exercise principles and tried and true methods for novelty training programs in order to overcome what has been labeled the "plateau". But really it is a sales pitched used for profit.
From a scientific there really isn't much we know about muscle growth what we do know is mostly based on theory and speculation. What we do know based on research and hundreds of anecdotal evidence provided by hundreds of different bodybuilders is that an 8 to 12 rep range seems to be the best range to work in to enhance muscle hypertrophy. Yet I often find myself listening to persons discuss what the best range is for building muscle or answering a similar question.
Research performed in Finland and the U.S. demonstrated incredible support for higher reps ranges of 8-12. The researchers had individuals perform a leg workout doing either 5 sets of 10 reps or 15 sets of 1 rep then immediately taking a sample of muscle from the quads to analyze for biochemical factors that instigate muscle growth. They specifically were looking at mitogen-activated protein kinase, a particular enzyme involved in protein synthesis, (MAPK) signaling pathways. These particular pathways are one the few scientific biological pathologies we know are involved in muscle growth. So the message to obtain from this particular blog is that if your goal is muscle growth the ideal rep range to achieve this desired training effect is between 8 to 12. But in saying this you do not want to get stuck only working within this rep range for the rest of your workout history it is important to work your body through the entire variety of rep schemes not that this is going to help confuse your muscle because a muscle can not be confused its a muscle this is simply to say that its important to use all the schemes to reap the benefits o |
Stevan FreebornHi I am ACSM Personal Trainer who has a passion for spreading the knowledge of healthy living. I will do my best to give you the information you need and want. If there is any topic you wish to know about please ask and I will share my full scope of knowledge on that topic and point you in the right direction to further your understanding. I hope you enjoy the site. Archives
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