Laws

It's often relatively easy to tell when you've broken a law-for example, the flashing lights in your rear view mirror are a clear indication that you've been caught speeding.Simply put, laws are rules of conduct . The requirements of laws are spelled out exactly, and breaking a law has defined consequences. Laws may be based on ethical or moral principles, but they are written down, and political entities such as city or state government enforce them.

How Can You Lose Weight ?

Good question remember that the key to any successful weight-loss program is to taking in fewer calories than are expended. A3,500 calorie deficit leads to a loss of one pound of body weight. Most people gain weight slowly as a result of consuming slightly more calories than they are able to burn off each day .

Body Composition

Many adults start exercising because they want to lose excess body fat. Having excess body fat increases the risk of injury during physical activity and reduces an individual exercise endurance. It also is associated with a slew of other health risks such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and sleep disorder. Determining the client's initial body composition will help her set realistic goals.

Obesity Issue

You know that obesity puts a client at a higher risk for several health conditions. Therefore, it is essential that the personal fitness trainer asks clients to obtain physician clearance.

What is the Gold ?

As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you will have clients from all walks of life. Naturally, these people will come to you with varying goals. It is important for the personal fitness trainer to design programs to meet each individuals unique needs and goals. And oftentimes it's best to design programs that only address a client's needs and goals. While it would be ideal for everyone to achieve optimal fitness, this isn't always possible. Time constraints, injures, stress, existing physical characteristics, family , and work often stand in the way . Assigning a client a more vigorous or time-consuming regimen than is needed to achieve his desired goal or goals is likely to result in early termination of the program.

The Right Mode

Exercise mode refers to the type of exercise the client preforms, such as walking, running, hiking, or biking . Helping clients find an exercise mode that they enjoy is crucial to ensuring long-term fitness program success. When performed at the right intensity, all aerobic activities improve cardiovascular fitness. However, some exercise modes, such as swimming and rowing, provide a more thorough musculoskeletal workout than other.

The Right Method

A final factor to consider when designing a cardiorespiratory fitness program is the method of training. There are five basic methods of training, and the method or methods used depend on each client's exercise goals, current fitness level, and personal preferences. The five methods are :

continuous training
interval training
fartlek training
aerobic circuit training
aerobic cross training

Vitamins

Get Your Vitamin D From Salmon,Low-fat Milk,Eggs, Shrimp And cod to Help Preserve Fat-Burning Muscle.



You need 600 IU per day-a difficult amount to get through food alone so talk to your doctor about a supplement.

Updating the Prescription

The rate at which a client progresses through a fitness program will depend on several factors such as age, fitness level, health status, motivation level, and equipment access. There are three stages that personal fitness trainers use to describe a client's fitness progression.

Be a Role Model

A personal fitness trainer will be most effective when he practices what he preaches. In other words,a client is more likely to comply with a personal trainer's fitness advice when it is obvious that the personal fitness trainer follows this advice himself. In achieving and maintaining an appropriate level of fitness, the personal fitness trainer models the lifestyle he advocates to his clients.

Initial Conditioning Stage

The first four to six weeks of an exercise program are the initial conditioning stage.It is best to have clients in this stage exercise at a relatively low intensity to help them avoid the muscle soreness, discomfort,and discouragement that may accompany intense physical exercise. As a client progresses through this stage, the frequency, intensity, and duration of workouts can be increased gradually.

When Bad Feels Good

Another obstacle people face when trying to change their bad health habits is the pleasure they get from these unhealthy practices. For example, junk food and sweets are fun to eat. A person may crave her favorite food and derive grate pleasure from eating them.Many unhealthy behaviors are automatic, such as planting oneself in front of the television for several hours each night.Any habit that is pleasurable is difficult to break, and in our society eating junk food and watching hours of TV are two of the strongest.

Weight Loss Tools

Small changes big Results Wyn multivitamins are still a very good Idea
The daily multivitamin pill is no substitute for a good diet.But none of us is perfect when it comes to healthful eating.We may know all about the virtues of leafy green vegetables and whole grains,but convenience and carvings lead us astray. The multivitamin is partial protection from our lapses .

Summary

The pool is an excellent medium for training core muscles in a functional, upright position.Exercises can be performed with limited weight bearing, which is an important benefit for people with lower -extremity or trunk problems that limit exercise in a gravity environment. Activities can focus on mobility, strength, endurance, cardiorespiratory training, balance, or any combination of these systems. The pool makes an ideal alternative or complement to core muscle training on land.

Aquatic Exercise for Rehabilitation and Training

Ranges of motion should be avoided. Extension and rotation activities should be approached with caution. The grapevine crossing behind step can be a problem for these people. The amount of normal trunk rotation is limited. Any rotational activities should be initiated slowly and cautiously. In general,the clinician should watch out for any increase in peripheral pain associated with the exercise program.

When and How to Use Whey Protein

What I try to do is consume around 100 grams of protein from quality wholefood sources, like chicken, fish, or beef, each day, and then I try to take in another 150 grams of protein from supplements, like Myoplex Plus or Designer Protein.Of course, how much protein you need to supplement (and I'm convinced virtually every bodybuilder should be using a protein supplement) depends on how much quality protein you consume from regular food.

Obesity and Diabetes

Obesity puts a person at greater risk for developing several lifestyle related diseases. When a person ingests more food calories than his body uses, the excess calories are stored as fat. The American diet is very very high in fat, and people typically don't operate at the activity level necessary to use all of the calories they consume.You probably remember learning a little about Type 2 diabetes in your first lesson. Type 2 diabetes is a disease in which the body fails to use insulin effectively. Obese individuals are more likely to develop this condition than others. Just as Type 2 diabetes generally is brought on by poor lifestyle choices, many people can reverse this condition by achieving a healthy body weight through proper diet and exercise.

Identify The Problem

In this part of the problem resolution process,you are trying to determine whether the problem is actually an ethical problem. A good guideline is to determine how you feel about the situation if you're uncomfortable, chances are good that the situation is an ethical conflict.

Our sample situation clearly is an ethical problem it's full of issues of confidentiality, your professional future, and dual relationships.At this point, you can write down what you see as the problem. I'm worried about Carla, about losing Topher as a client, and about their relationship.

Because you have so many conflicting roles, it will be helpful to determine what parts of the problem are your issues to deal with, and what issue belong to Topher and Carla. To do that, you may need to gather more information. At the very least, you need to look more closely at all the information you already have .

The Listening Half of the Equation

The other half of the communication equation involves your ability to listen.You must be sure you understand the clients health conditions and their expectations. In that way,you can determine whether you even can provide appropriate training.

For example, a client sees a TV special and comes in asking for a specific type of session yoga that you aren't qualified to offer. Because your code of ethics prevents you from claiming expertise you don't have or performing work you don't have training in, you would then need to tell the client that you can't help her and refer her to a qualified yoga instructor.

It's also important to remember that the client has the right to refuse the services you offer or even to consent to a session and then decide to stop it partway through.This right sometimes is called the right of refusal. As part of the process of obtaining informed consent, you should talk with the client about her right of refusal.

Communicate,Communicate, Communicate

The first time you meet with a client is the ideal time to exchange information so that you avoid the communication problems that the green haired woman experienced. It's important that you help a client outline and verbalize his needs and goals. You can get consent while you learn about a client's exercise and nutritional history and goals.

Triceps Brachii

The triceps brachii muscle, usually just referred to as the triceps, is the three headed tri means three and ceps means head muscle on the backside or posterior of the humerus. In fact, the triceps is the only muscle located on the back of the arm.

Flexor Muscle Group

As you know by now, flexion refers to decreasing the angle of a joint. A number of muscles function as flexors of the elbow, wrist, hand, and finger joints. Some of these flexors also support one or more other movements, depending on their location and their relationship with other muscles. So don't be surprised if you see a muscle included in more than one group.

The Serratus Anterior Muscle

The serratus anterior muscle's name comes from the fact that its fibers are serrated or notched. The Latin word serratus means a notching.This muscle lies in the lateral regions of the ribcage, with most of its bibers deep to the scapula, the lats, and the pec major. The serratus anterior attaches to both the ribs and the scapula, originating on the surfaces of the upper eight or nine ribs and inserting underneath the scapula on the medial border of its anterior surface. The action of the serratus anterior is primarily upward rotation of the scapula, although it is also involved in protraction and depression of the scapula. You can see the location of the serratus anterior muscle and its attachments to the ribs and scapula.

Lower Back Pain

As mentioned earlier in this lesson, lumbar or lower back pain is a common problem for all people, even if they don't exercise. But paying attention to posture and pelvic alignment and strengthening your abdominal muscles can help prevent such pain.

Engaging your transversus abdominus muscle compresses the contents of the abdomen and supports your lower back. When you educate your clients about the proper way to lift heavy abjects using the legs and back instead of only the back be sure to tell them to engage the transversus abdominus. Also,work with your clients on proper form. For example, keeping the pelvis horizontal, not tipped left, right, backward or forward, while performing resistance exercises protects the lower back from injury.

Also, as was previously mentioned, simple stretching exercises can prevent and alleviate lower back pain.For example, lie on your back and gently pull one knee toward your chest, relaxing your back muscles as your pull. Hold for a count of five and then release. Repeat the exercise on the other side. Then pull both knees in, holding for a count of five.Repeat this regimen five to 10 times before you get up in the morning.

Good Pain ? Bad Pain ?

Yes, some pain is better than others. You and  your clients need to be able to describe the kind of discomfort or pain that's being experienced. Generally, if you feel a dull, achy, or general pain through a large part of your body your left triceps muscle, your abdominal, your quadriceps you're probably feeling good pain. Your body has been challenged, and it's responding, making itself stronger for its next challenge.

A History of Dietary Guidelines

Food group guides have been a part of the American diet for several decades. You may remember the Basic Four Food Groups, which was introduced in 1956 and served as the guide to balanced eating for nearly four decades. The Basic Four Food Groups described the minimum number of servings a person should get from each of the food groups each vegetable group, and bread group. In 1992 the Food Guide Pyramid replaced the Basic Four Food Groups. This new guide consists of five food groups and gives a range of servings a person should eat from each group depending on the person's activity level, age, and caloric need.

Vitamins That Affect Muscle Function and Bone Density

There are several vitamins that, when in adequate amount,contribute to proper energy utilization, improve exercise performance,and play an important role in the tissue repair that must take place following exercise. Specifically, several of the B vitamins including thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, and pantothenic acid help the body release energy from or metabolize food, build proteins, and repair muscle tissue.

Heart Rate

The heart Rate, sometime called a pulse, is simply the number of times your heart beats every minute. One measurement of a person's fitness is his resting heart rate how hard his heart has to work while the person is sitting.Resting heart rates vary from 60 to 90 beats per minute. Physically fit people and people with good genes have a lower resting heart rate.Less fit people, people on some medications, people dealing with stress, and people who have just come from the coffee shop may have higher resting heart rates. (Caffeine tends to increase resting heart rate.)

Your Heart in Parts

The heart is a muscle that is a larger than your clenched fist.Encased in a protective membrane, it lies in the middle of your chest,just behind and somewhat to the Left of the sternum or breastbone.The lungs are on bothy sides of it and behind it.

Who Is Respinsible ?

You now know the many ways that a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist can help a client achieve fitness goals. But sometimes a personal fitness trainer  does all these things right, and the client still doesn't succeed. Even the best personal fitness trainers in the world have clients who drop out of their programs or fail to follow their advice. Ultimately, the responsibility of a client's health lies within the client who refuses to do her part.

Some clients may try to blame their personal fitness trainer for their failings in the gym.Therefore, it is important that clients understand from the beginning that you, as their trainer, cannot do the work for them,ultimately,clients are responsible for their own success or failure. The personal fitness trainer is responsible for creating a program that is as easy as possible for the client to adhere to, but the client must adhere to this program both in the gym and in daily life. Until the client is ready to help himself, there is little chance for success

Working Toward Goals

Once SMART goals are set, a personal fitness trainer plays numerous role to increase the chances of a client attaining the goals. We talked about some of these roles in a previous lesson. First, a personal fitness trainer plays the of teacher, educating clients on safety measures to take while exercising.

A second role of the personal fitness trainer is to coach clients in a variety of workouts to reduce boredom. Personal fitness trainers know that there are numerous ways to work any given muscle group, and they use a variety of workouts to help their clients attain their fitness goals.Finding ways that a client can use his new strength or stamina in everyday life contributes to the likelihood that he will commit to a new lifestyle. Keeping a client's diet varied and interesting also can make a big difference. Just as the body changes during physical workout, the fuel the body needs changes as well.

Obesity and Diabetes

Obesity puts a person at greater risk for developing several lifestyle related diseases. When a person ingests more food calories than his body uses, the excess calories are stored as fat. The American diet is high in fat, and people typically don't operate at the activity level necessary to use all of the calories they consume.

You probably remember learning a little about type 2 diabetes in your first lesson. Type 2 diabetes is a disease in which the body fails to use insulin effectively. Obese individuals are more likely to develop this condition than others. Just as Type 2 diabetes generally is brought on by poor lifestyle choices, many people can reverse this condition by achieving a healthy body weight through proper diet and exercise.

The Modern Diet

The average American diet is high in sugar, fat,and refined carbohydrate. Many Americans choose fast foods for convenience despite these foods lack of nutrition. We are bombarded with advertisements for food and are served gigantic portions. As a result, obesity has become a widespread. problem in both children and adults.Obesity is the condition of having greater than 20 percent of one's total body weight as fat in men and greater that 30 percent of one's total body weight in women.

Stress and Busy Lives

You've probably heard the saying, There aren't enough hours in the day. Well, when it comes to modern life, one thing most all of us are guilty of is trying to squeeze doing more into less time, and this no doubt cause stress. Stress may stem from jobs, finances, family schedules, and even daily commutes. For example, road rage , a fairly new phenomenon unheard of one generation ago, can raise a person's stress level, thus adversely affecting his health. The stress of daily life also can lead people to overeat or eat when they aren't even hungry.

Mental Health

Mental health refers to the health of the mind. Sometimes referred to as psychological health, this includes what a person thinks and feels and the behaviors resulting from his thought processes. Psychologically healthy people tend to possess a positive attitude toward their abilities and life in general. As a result, they are more likely to possess the motivation needed to start and continue a fitness program than those who feel negatively about themselves and their abilities. This in no way means that someone who suffers from a psychological disease, such as depression, cannot become physically fit. While these people may require More encouragement and motivation from their fitness trainers, oftentimes the improvement in their physical health is followed by an improvement in their mental. The feelings of accomplishment and new found physical abilities can help a person to develop a better self image.

The Young and the Young at Heart

You already know that today the baby boomers are the age group that make up the largest percentage of those who attend health and fitness clubs. They want to maintain their bodies and health. Many baby boomers exercise and choose a health diet because they want to age with as little pain and physical disease as possible.This age group has kept personal fitness trainers in such high demand. Gyms and health clubs across the country have vacancies for personal fitness trainers because not enough qualified trainers exist. So you see,this means more job possibilities for you!

At The Gym

Jenna works as a personal fitness trainer at a YMCA. A true social butterfly, she loves to be around people of all different backgrounds. Growing up, she could never sit

Fitness The Gift That Keeps on Giving

When asked why they want to start on exercise program or more healthful diet, many people will say that they want to lose weight. We agree that weight management is an undeniable benefit of, and strong motivational factor for, embarking on a personal fitness program,however, individuals stand to gain much more from their fitness program than just a loss of weight.

Ksokinetic Exercise

In isokinetic exercises, the speed of the movement matches the amount of resistance. The more muscle force you apply, the more resistance you encounter. If you pull harder, you will pull against more resistance.
Equipment for isokinetic exercises includes hydraulic equipment and some electronic resistance machines. Generally, the equipment provides resistance only when your muscles are performing concentric actions, though some electronic equipment also works during eccentric actions.You can get detailed feedback using isokinetic exercises. Also, they seem to work without producing much muscle soreness. However, the equipment is costly and not widely available.

Exercising Muscles

Everybody moves throughout the day, and to move, we use muscles. Dancing, snapping your fingers, waving to your neighbor outside washing his car all of these activities use muscles. However, to build strength in specific muscles, you must be sure to give them appropriate exercise. You can exercise muscles to build strength in three ways.

With isometric exercises
with isotonic or dynamic resistance exercises
with isokinetic

Isometric Exercise

In the previous lesson you learned that isometric contraction occurs when a muscle tries to shorten but shortening is prevented. In isometric exercises, your muscles contract at high intensities but don't change their length. The most common way to get that contraction is to press against an immovable object, such as a wall or a piece of furniture. Your muscles develop strength at that point in their range of motion.

The Body at Rest

Your body digests carbohydrates quickly they're through the digestive system in two hours and then are in use. However, protein requires more effort for your body to digest. Digesting protein takes longer and may divert blood to the digestive system from the rest of the body.That's why when you're out for a bike ride, it's better to eat a banana than a hard boiled egg. It's easier on your body to eat your protein while you're resting.

Going The Distance

To build your endurance, you have to be sure that your body has stored enough glycogen, which comes from carbohydrates.

For most of us, even moderately active adults, the standard recommendation 1.8 to 2.7 grams of carbohydrates per pound of body weight per day gives us plenty of glycogen. However,people who participate in high intensity activities such as marathons or triathlons may benefit from carbohydrate loading. do you remember learning about carbohydrate loading in a previous lesson?

Building Strong Muscles

You already know that the most important food component the body uses to fuel a workout is carbohydrates. Carbohydrates also help your body use fat efficiently and support the function of the brain and nervous system.About 55 percent to 65 percent of your calories should come from carbohydrates. People who exercise more than one hour every day should be at the upper end of the scale, people who exercise moderately should aim for 55 percent to 65 percent. The easiest way to measure this is to count carbohydrate grams, being sure to take in between 1.8 and 2.7 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight per day.

Muscle Fiber Type

Our muscles are composed of two main fiber types. The first type of muscle fiber is referred to as slow twitch fibers and is used heavily during aerobic activity activities that use oxygen and can be sustained for a fairly long period of time. Slow twitch muscle fibers have a large number of mitochondria. Remember,it is those mitochondria that let them generate ATP so efficiently. This, in turn, lets slow twitch muscle fibers fuel the repeated muscle contractions that are used in aerobic activities. Examples of aerobic activity include biking, swimming laps, and jogging.The second main type of muscle fiber is called fast twitch fibers .Fast Twitch Fibers are better suited for anaerobic exercises that require short bursts of intense activity. This is  because they don't contain the amount of mitochondria that slow twitch fibers do,so they aren't as efficient when it comes to generating ATP. Remember, anaerobic activities are performed with insufficient oxygen,and examples include power lifting and short sprints.

Plantar Flexion of The Ankle

Plantar flexion is the movement at the ankle joint that occurs when the toe is pointed. For instance, when the foot is stepping on an accelerator pedal in a car, the ankle is in a plantar flexion movement.Ballerinas and gymnasts frequently have their feet in a plantar flexion movement.

ATP Energy's Building Block

Let's do another quick review.As you learned in Lesson 4, the energy that drives muscle contraction comes from a substance called adenosine triphosphate or ATP. ATP is produced from the glucose in the muscle cell.Although cells can store some small amounts of ATP, a working muscle uses up the stores quickly in two to three seconds. Therefore, the rate at which a muscle produces ATP determines how much energy that cell can produce before it is tired.As part of the process of supplying energy to active muscles, ATP is converted to ATP, which is a lower compound that can be reconverted into ATP .If the muscles aren't working too hard, the cell's mitochondria use oxygen to regenerate ATP from ATP. The mitochondria oxidize fuel in the forms of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, to produce energy, yielding carbon dioxide and water as by products of the process. However, if the activity lasts a longer period of time and is at a certain level of intensity, the aerobic system can't keep up with the demands for ATP. At this point, the body uses different methods for producing energy.We'll take an in depth look at anaerobic energy systems later in this lesson.

FITT Principle

Take a moment to think about what we've discussed in this section. We talked about the type of activity, frequency, duration or time, and intensity.If you take the first letters of frequency, intensity, time, and type, you spell FITT.U sing these four items to create a workout program is called the FITT principle.

What Else Stresses The Respiratory System?

A few minutes ago we mentioned that exercise isn't the only thing that stresses your respiratory system. Anything that gives your body less oxygen to work with will influence how well your body functions. Fortunately, the human body is highly adaptable.Altitude greatly affects your respiratory system because at higher elevations the air contains less oxygen. If you've ever taken a trip to the mountains and felt tired, that's why !Your system is getting a lot less oxygen than the amount it's used to getting. At about 3,900 feet the body starts to make changes to compensate for this lack of oxygen. At first, your rate of ventilation increases this happen at rest as well as during exercise. Although your muscle strength is relatively unaffected, your heart also adapts to the reduced levels of oxygen, increasing its output anywhere from 30 percent to 50 percent.

Gas Exchange

When we breathe the air around us the respiratory and pulmonary circulation systems exchange oxygen in the air for carbon dioxide in the blood. The exchange of carbon dioxide for oxygen and vice versa is called gas exchange, which you learned in Lesson 4. Gas exchange occurs at the level of the alveoli those buds that cluster around the last bit of the bronchial tree, across the respiratory membrane.

Steroids and Performance

There is a clear relationship between taking anabolic steroids and muscle mass gains. However, whether these gains lead to increased strength or improved athletic performance is less clear. No study to date has demonstrated a Studies fail to show that steroids are able to do many of the things that people take them for including better muscle endurance, improved sprinting abilities, and shortened recovery times following workout.There are side effects that steroids bring on that can adversely influence performance such as unwanted increases in body weight, as well as declines in performance when steroid use is stopped.Furthermore, athletes who participate in team sports may find that the emotional outbursts that accompany steroid use hinder teamwork.

How Much is Right for You ?

The body ensures that its energy requirements are fulfilled before using protein to build and repair tissue. So when the body lacks the energy calories it needs from carbohydrates and fats, it uses protein instead.This means that when a person's overall caloric intake is low, the protein requirements increase to ensure that enough is available for tissue maintenance.
Regardless of activity level or muscle mass, everyone has a daily dietary need for protein. For each pound of body weight, a person generally needs to consume. 36 grams of protein each day. Therefore, a 160 pound person needs to consume about 58 grams of protein each day .To get this answer, simply work the equation. 36 x 160 =57.6.

Basic Muscle Movements

You've seen cartoons or animated stories on TV or in the movie theater. Do you know how complicated it is to create animated pictures? Sixty years ago, a team of artists had to draw millions of pictures to make a certain rabbit chew his carrot and spout wisecracks. Recently, computers have made the process of animating slightly less tedious but no less complicated.Animated movies still are incredibly time consuming to make, sometimes requiring several years.

Professional Boundaries

Like an auto body shop, your job as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist is to work with your client's body.
 Just as you're pulling into a parking spot, you child spills a cup of soda in your lap, and you get distracted. You accidentally bump into the parking meter and dent your car's front  fender.
When you take it to the body shop to fix the dent, that's exactly what you expect the shop to fix the dent. You don't expect the shop's employees to improve your concentration or warn you against drinking soda in the car. Their job is to fix your car and only your car .As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you will be in a slightly different position because you will work with people, not objects. When your clients come to you, you know that a lot of what you address in their bodies may be caused by events in their lives. For example, your client may feel frustrated because his child spilled soda in his lap, and he dented the front fender of his car. As you see how tense his shoulders are, he may tell you he's angry at his child's carelessness.Your responsibility as a personal fitness trainer is to increase his range of motion, for example. Although it is perfectly acceptable for you to share basic relaxation tips for instance, stretching and breathing exercises it is not within your scope of practice to advise your client as to how to deal with his anger unless you're a licensed psychologist or psychotherapist. he has come to you seeking a specific kind of help personal fitness training. Let's take this situation one step further by acknowledging that this client is also your next door neighbor. When you get home from your training session that day, you discover that his child has told your son, Dad hits me when he gets angry. Now the situation is more complicated. What are your responsibilities as a personal fitness trainer? What are your responsibilities as a neighbor, both to your client and to his son? To resolve these issues, it's crucial to understand the nature and pitfalls of dual relationships and where your boundaries professional, legal, and personal lie.

Biceps Brachil

The biceps brachii muscle, usually just referred to as the biceps,is a superficial muscle located on the anterior arm. Remember, superficial means on or close to the skin or surface of an organ. You're familiar with this muscle as the one most people think they are flexing when they want to show off their arm muscles! Little do they know, right? Remember that it is the joint that does the flexing.As we mentioned earlier, the biceps muscle gets its name from the fact that it has two heads bi means two, and ceps means head and that each head of the muscle originates in a different place.The muscle fibers converge and have one point of insertion.An important distinction of the biceps is that, although it is the biggest muscle of the anterior arm, the biceps doesn't attach anywhere on the arm! You can see the shape and location of the biceps in Figure 18-7.

In addition to  its role as an elbow flexor, the biceps also is a player in flexion of the shoulder joint together with the anterior deltoid, pectoralis major, and the coracobrachialis coco-brake which you learned about previously. The biceps works as an antagonist to the triceps brachii muscle group at both the shoulder and elbow joints. You'll learn about the triceps in the extensor group of muscles.

The Heat of The Moment

When exercising outdoors or in a warm environment, clothing should be light weight, porous, and loose fitting. Light colors reflect sunlight best, helping to keep an exerciser cool.Wearing a light colored hat to protect the face from the sun while also avoiding the absorption of excess heat through the heat can be a big help.
Sunscreen should be used when exercising outdoors regardless of air temperature to prevent both sunburn and skin cancer.Waterproof garments should be avoided during exercise as these prevent the evaporation of sweat and can easily lead to overheating.

There's a Chill in the Air

When exercising in a cool climate, it is best to dress in layers that can be removed to control body temperature throughout a workout. The clothing layer closest to the exerciser's skin should pull away sweat and allow it to pass it through the fabric. Wool and polypropylene are two good materials for these purposes.Special jackets can be worn on windy days to provide protection from the wind and keep exercisers warm.Wearing a hat prevents heat loss from the head, while gloves or mittens protect against frostbite.

What Are Elliptical trainers?

Elliptical trainers have taken the fitness industry by storm in recent years thank to the low impact, weight bearing aerobic workout they provide. These machines offer an efficient, high intensity workout without endangering delicate or injury prone joints. Elliptical trainers require the lower body to move in a way that combines cycling with stair climbing as the feet move in a special egg shaped elliptical pattern without ever leaving the footpads. The upper body also can be incorporated, which makes the workout resemble a walking or running stride even more.

Row,Row Row Your Rowing Machine

Not only do rowing machines provide an excellent cardiovascular workout, they also improve muscular endurance in the arms, back, and thights.This makes them the machine of choice for many exercisers. Most rowing machines allow the exerciser to vary her workout intensity by adjusting the angle of the rowing arm and level of rowing resistance.How fast a person rows, as well as the workout length, affects workout intensity.Proper rowing form requires the feet to be fixed on the front part of the machine with the arms, back, and legs contributing to a smooth rowing motion. Start clients at a low intensity and resistance blevel, encouraging about eight to 10 rows a minute to warm up the muscles. After a five to 10 minute warm up, rowing rate should be increased to between 15 and 30 strokes per minute for about 15 to 30 minutes. As a client's fitness level improves, workout intensity gradually is increased.

Bring on The Stair Climbers

The stair climber is a type of aerobic equipment found in most gyms.Most of today's stair climbers are electrically controlled and provide a variety of workout intensities as they vary step speed, step depth, and resistance level. Many also offer structured workouts at the touch of a button with warm ups and cool downs built right in.

These Shoes Were Made for Walking or Jogging or Running

Perhaps the most popular form of aerobic exercise equipment is the treadmill, which allows exercisers to walk, jog, or run in place.Nearly anyone can benefit from a good walking program, and clients who desire a low intensity workout, are oldre than age 60, or are over weight are the best candidates for this type of aerobic activity. The injury rate of those participating in a walking program is low compared to other forms of aerobic activity, and when walking is done at five miles per hour or faster it can burn nearly as bmany calories as jogging or running.When done at a more moderate pace, walking burns about 50 to 60 percent of the calories burned when running.

The Older Adult

As the baby boomers age, being young get older all the time. Now more than ever, aging adults not only pursue recreational activities, such as gardening and golf, but also participate in highly competitive sporting events, including triathlons and weightlifting.

Exercise is the best way to prevent many of the degeneration problems that occur naturally with age.You already know that, as we age, muscle strength decreases and aging bones are more fragile because they have less bone mineral content and are more porous.

Resistance training programs increase muscle strength,muscle mass, bone mineral density, and general abilities such as mobility. Through exercise, older adults can improve exercise performance, decrease their likelihood of injury, and improve their well being .A low intensity strength training program produces modest improvements in strength, a slightly more ambitious training program can produce strength increases in adults that are the same as or greater than you'd see in a younger adult.

Post Pregnancy

Exercise also is important after a woman has a baby.It not only helps women lose weight, but it also increases circulation and can help relieve the depression some women experience after giving birth.

While most doctors recommend their patients wait to resume exercise until six weeks after delivery, there are a few exercises that are OK to do before then, assuming you had a normal, uncomplicated delivery. For example, kegel exercises that strengthen the pelvic floor and bring blood flow to the area leg stretches and head and shoulder raises are good ways to ease back into exercise.If you've had a C-section, it's likely you'll have to wait  the full six weeks before doing any sort of exercise.

Once your doctor has cleared you to Begin more intense exercise, you might consider setups, crunches and reverse crunches to get your midsection back in shape.Walking, jogging, swimming, aerobics classes, and yoga also are popular forms of post pregnancy exercise.

Pregnancy

Women do one thing that men can't, no matter how hard they may try .Women give birth.Currently it is believed that a well designed exercise program benefits the mother greatly and poses on risk for the baby.In general,exercise may make labor and delivery easier if for no other reasons then a woman who exercises is more familiar with her body, has experienced sweaty discomfort before, and delivery faster, as well.
The changes a woman's body undergoes during the stages of pregnancy include.
First trimester drop in energy levels, increased progesterone in relation to estrogen levels, and acute nausea Second trimester uterine activity, weight gain, decrease in blood pressure, increase in blood volume Third trimester profound weight gain, increase in spinal curve, joint discomfort Pregnant women should not perform exercises that require them to lie on their stomachs after the fourth month. Women in their third trimester may find some forms of exercise logistically difficult to perform.

Here are some basic guidelines to use while working with pregnant women.
Exercising regularly is better than exercising once in awhile.But listen to your body.If you're not feeling well on certain days, don't push yourself.

The Shoulder Rotator Cuff

Most people who exercise have shoulder pain at some time or another. The structure of the shoulder joint itself is to blame for some of this pain .Like the hip, the shoulder is a ball and socket joint, however, the hip socket is deeper, which gives it more stability.The hip socket is deeper, which gives it more stability.The benefit to the shoulder's shallow socket is increased mobility. Watching a few softball pitches in slow motion will give you a whole new appreciation for the mobility of the rotator cuff. Also, thinking back to our calculations about torque and levers, remember that the long arm segments can apply huge force to the shallow shoulder socket. For a person with average length arms, 10 pounds held straight out creates 45 pounds of force at the shoulder.The muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the shoulder have a lot of work to do. Keeping the shoulder blades or scapula down and in as you perform upper body exercises gives the shoulder girdle good support. You'll learn more about the shoulder region in an upcoming muscular focus lesson.

Obesity Issues

You know that obesity puts a client at a higher risk for several health conditions.Therefore, it is essential that the personal fitness trainer asks clients to obtain physician clearance.Besides the health risks that obese clients face, these individuals also may encounter greater difficulties in engaging in exercise as a result of their body size.Obese clients often have decreased joint range of motion and are more likely to suffer from joint trauma during activity. By making exercise modifications the personal fitness trainer can increase client comfort. For instance,if a client's body size prevents him from using certain resistance machines comfortably, the personal fitness trainer can employ hand weights, rubber tubing, or medicine balls as an alternative source of resistance.

Get It in Writing

Another important aspect of action stage is contracting.You already know that contracts are verbal or written agreements stating what the client is to accomplish and what will happen when the accomplishment takes place.For instance a client and personal fitness trainer might produce a contract in which the client states.If I loss five pounds,I will buy myself a new skirt. Contracts should be stated in clear, positive terms.Avoid contracts that come off as a threat instead focus on positive rewards.Contracts can be effective motivation tools, especially when the reinforcement is received immediately following contract completion.

Be a Role Model

A personal fitness trainer will be most effective when he practices what he preaches.In other words, a client is more likely to comply with a personal trainer's fitness advice when it is obvious that the personal fitness trainer follows this advice himself.In achieving and maintaining an appropriate level of fitness, the personal fitness trainer models the lifestyle he advocates to his clients.

Dealing With Stress

The hurried pace of modern life along with the seemingly endless stream of work and family responsibilities can leave a person frazzled, to say the least.The body has built in fight or flight mechanisms designed to respond to stressful situations.While these responses can be extremely useful during acute emergency situations, the constant activation of these mechanisms as a result of chronic daily stress can have detrimental effects on nearly every system in the body.

Chronic stress affects the musculoskeletal system, causing headaches and muscle and joint pain.It also increases tension in the neck,back,and shoulders.Stress leaves a person more vulnerable to cardiovascular disease, heart attack, and hypertension and suppresses the immune system, which leads to more viral diseases and bacterial infections.Chronic stress can impair a person's memory and even lead to gastrointestinal problems ranging from nausea to constipation and diarrhea.

Restaurants and Fast Food Outlets

The restaurant business is booming, and people seem to be eating out more and more.In order to successfully attract customers, restaurants are offering larger portions and more hidden fats and sweeteners than ever before. Hidden fats are fats in foods where you would not expect them. Many restaurants use a lot of fat or sweeteners to make their food taste good and keep their customers coming back.It is important for athletes who are closely monitoring their calorie intake to ask the server about how foods are prepared and to find out what types and how much fat and sweetener are being used. Full dinners don't often fit with the way a top athlete should eat. Athletes shouldn't be afraid to order menu items separately.For example, the grilled Salmon may come with mashed potatoes, gravy, and broccoli in cheese sauce.To make this meal conform To the needs of an athlete, the athlete should ask for a baked potato or rice and steamed broccoli or carrots without sauce.When eating out, athlete can look for these high fat buzz words when ordering fried,pan fried, crispy,buttery, butter sauce, creamed, creamy, gravy, Au gratin, cheese sauce, scampi, breaded,meat sauce, sauteed, Alfredo sauce.In addition, follow the guidelines in the table 21.1 on how to make food choices at restaurant that will fuel the body for top performance.

The Bottom Line

The human body is resilient and can continue to function under extreme states of stress such as starvation, sickness, and injury. Adequate nutrient intake can help athletes recover as quickly as possible from injuries and can help them keep their bodies strong, thereby preventing future injury. There is no magic pill that will heal broken bones or injured muscles, but providing the body with adequate amounts of the essential calories and nutrients, including proteins, vitamins, and minerals, can speed healing and reduce recover time.

Physical Activity and Diabetes Mellitus

Physical activity causes increased metabolic demands that stimulate an increase in fuel mobilization and oxidation, or burning, in the body, In the athlete without diabetes mellitus, the body adjusts to these metabolic demands appropriately by altering hormonal balances and secretions.This appropriate hormonal regulation helps maintain blood glucose levels within desirable range.Unfortunately, these metabolic and hormonal adjustments are absent or impaired in athletes with diabetes Mellitus.Without this appropriate metabolic and hormonal control,athletes with diabetes are at risk for serious complications ( hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia ) that can adversely affect their ability to exercise and perform to their best. Ultimately, the physiological,  hormonal, and metabolic effects physical activity has on the athlete with diabetes significantly influence the type, duration, and intensity of activity the athlete can safely participate in.There are two basic types of diabetes Mellitus.Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus ( IDDM ) or type 1 diabetes ( in the past this was known as juvenile onset diabetes ).Noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus ( NIDDM ),or type 2 diabetes (in the pass this was known as adult onset diabetes ).

Updating The Prescrition

The rate at which a client progresses through a fitness program will depend on several factors such as age, fitness level,health status, motivation level,and equipment access.There are three stages that personal fitness trainers use to describe a client's fitness progression.


Initial Conditioning Stage

The first four to six weeks of an exercise program are the initial conditioning stage. It is best to have clients in this stage exercise at a relatively low intensity to help them avoid the muscle soreness, discomfort, and discouragement that may accompany intense physical exercise.As a client progresses through this stage, the frequency, intensity, and duration of workouts can be increased gradually.

Improvement Conditioning Stage

After the initial conditioning stage, a client moves into the improvement conditioning stage, during which the client makes the majority of his fitness progress.This stage generally lasts fore between eight and 20 weeks and includes a gradual increase in the client's workout intensity, frequency,and duration.Fitness level will progress quickly during this stage, and the personal fitness trainer should retest the client's abilities every three months to review this progress and check goal attainment.


Maintenance Conditioning Stage

When the client has reached her desired level of fitness,she enters the maintenance conditioning stage.This stage usually is reached five to six months after the exercise program begin, but it can be delayed depending on the client's initial fitness level and specific goal.Once a client enters the maintenance stage of her exercise program, the focus is on making fitness a lifetime commitment.

Wow! You've certainly learned a lot i this lesson.You're almost ready to develop exercise prescriptions for your clients.But before you complete the final practicum and this course let's do a quick review with the following Practice Exercise.

Cool Your Jets

Some people think the cool down is a waste of time  walking out to the car after a tough game of racquetball should be plenty of cooling down!Others treat post exercise time as a sort of happy hour, plopping down on the Grass after touch football with a cold beer. The truth is that the cool down is as important as the warm up, and stretching is more important in the cool down because warm muscles respond better to stretching .Allowing the body to gradually slow down helps the muscles get rid of waste products such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid more efficiently than slamming on the exercise bikes.
The duration of the cool down should be in proportion to the duration and intensity of the aerobic activity in general, another five to 10 minutes for a 30 to 40 minute aerobic session. The activities for a cool down, like those for a warm up session, really are limitless. Walk , cycle slowly with no resistance, swim with a slower rate of arm stroke, even marching in place at a gradually reduced speed and intensity will help your body recover from the hard work it's done.

What Else Stresses The Respiratory System?

A few minutes ago we mentioned that exercise isn't the only thing that stresses your respiratory system.Anything that gives your body less oxygen to work with will influence how well your body function. Fortunately,the human body is highly adaptable.Altitude greatly affects your respiratory system because at higher elevations the air contains less oxygen.If you've ever taken a trip to the mountains and felt tired, that's why! Your system is getting a lot less oxygen than the amount it's used to getting.At about 3,900 feet the body starts to make changes to compensate for this lack of oxygen.At first, your rate of ventilation increases this happens at rest as well as during exercise.Although your muscle strength is relatively unaffected, your heart also adapts to the reduced levels of oxygen,increasing its output anywhere from 30 percent to 50 percent.Overall, the result is that your body will perform aerobic activity worse than usual when you first are at a higher altitude. Over three to six weeks, your body may adjust enough that it can perform nearly as well as it did at sea level, but it may always perform slightly worse  at that higher altitude. However, after adjusting to the altitude and returning to sea level, your performance may be better for a month or so before your body readjusts to the oxygen rich air.This is why some athletes especially marathon runners prefer to train in places with high altitudes.Another huge influence on your respiratory system is smoking.Some lung problems and diseases that smoking causes don't appear until later in life.However, smoking tobacco impairs the ability of your lungs to function in several ways.

Alcohol

Alcohol also influences the body.Within five minutes of its consumption,alcohol begins to take effect.If enters the bloodstream, slowing reaction time and affecting awareness, speech, and coordination. In large amounts, the consumption of alcohol leads to vomiting and unconsciousness.Longterm effects of alcohol include damage to the liver and pancreas and an increased risk of heart disease. Alcohol contains about seven calories per gram, and these calories offer no nutritional benefits.

Caffeine

Caffeine is  found in coffee, cocoa, soft drinks, and some teas and medications. America's demand for coffee products has exploded in recent years, and many people rely on caffeine to remain alert and energetic throughout the day. Unfortunately, consuming too much caffeine may result in sleeplessness at night,among other health risks and issues. Furthermore, many people rely on the energy boost they get from caffeine containing products and find the use of these products to be habit forming.The headaches that tend to occur when people are deprived of their regular caffeine fix also contribute to the continued usage of these products.

Processed Sugar

Now, let's have an in depth discussion about sugars.Americans eat too many processed sugars. In fact the average American eats more than double the maximum recommended intake of sugar everyday . Processed sugar is found in high amounts in many of the packaged foods we eat. Even foods considered healthy by most standards such as commercial yogurt,some bran cereals,and boxed granola bars, often have large amounts of processed sugars in them.Sugar in Processed food goes by a variety of different names, often making it difficult to identify on nutrition labels and ingredient lists. A few of the more common names that sugars go by are high fructose com syrup, sucrose, and sorghum syrup.So what's the problem with processed sugar?Many of the accusations regarding sugar, including the idea that it causes hyperactivity in children or Type 2 diabetes in adults, have not panned out in scientific studies.The main problem with America's love of processed sugars is that sugar is one of the few foods that provides calories but has little nutritional value. It's not to say that all sugars are bad. Sugars found in fruit, honey, and molasses do provide some nutrients as well as energy over time.After all,sugar is a carbohydrate that the body turns into glucose, which we talked about in Lesson 1. But when people fill up on processed sugar they may fail to eat the nutrient containing foods their bodies need to function correctly, resulting in one or more nutrient deficiencies.

Sodium

We've already talked about sodium briefly, but now let's examine it more closely. Sodium has been said to cause a rise in blood pressure and the retention of water.There is truth to both of these claims, but first let's look at the benefits of sodium. Sodium is vital for fluid balance, thus during exercise it.
increases your thirst, encouraging you to drink
helps you retain water to aid in preventing dehydration
replaces water lost through sweating

The human body needs sodium both to maintain proper water balance and for normal nerve and muscle activity.Sodium,more commonly referred to as salt, draws water to it, ensuring that the proper amount of water is kept both inside and outside the body's cells.Sodium's water attracting abilities explain why we often get thirsty after eating salty foods such as popcorn or potato chips.Salt in the food we eat  draws water away from our cells, causing the body to excrete the water and leave us feeling dehydrated. As mentioned previously, sodium is an essential that people must ingest for their bodies to function properly.Too little sodium can cause health problems such as low blood pressure, dizziness, muscle cramps, and in the worst case, coma.However, the majority of Americans get far too much salt in their diets, leading to health problems such as high blood pressure.Americans tend to get too much sodium as a result of the highly processed modem diet.Sodium and potassium combine to regulate the balance of fluid in cells.However, when too much sodium is taken in ,the regulation does not take place. Too much fluid is left in the cells, causing blood volume to expand and thus causing high blood pressure.

High blood pressure affects nearly 25 percent of all adults in this country, and the risk of developing it increases as one gets older.High blood pressure is dangerous because its presence greatly increases a person's chances of having a stroke or heart attack or of developing heart disease or kidney failure.

Exercise Intensity

For cardiorespiratory training benefits strengthening your heart and improving your cells ability to manufacture energy exercising at 40 percent to 85 percent of your VO2 max or 55 percent to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate is recommended.Beginners will benefit from exercising at 40 percent to 50 percent of VO2 max, but even 50 percent to 60 percent is a good goal to have.

Maintenance

A person who remains consistently committed to his healthy new lifestyle for an extended length of time, is in the maintenance stage of behavior change.The specific length of time that needs to pass before one is declared to be in this stage varies depending on several factors.Such as the behavior that was changed and the mental feelings a client has toward the change.For example, does he still require a personal fitness trainer to motivate and reward him for staying on his program, or does he do the exercise because he now enjoys it? Establishing a new habit takes a minimum of 30 days, and when it come to diet and exercise practices, three to six months often is needed before a person feels that the behavior change is a part of his lifestyle.

Contemplation

An individual in the contemplation stage of behavior change is aware that she has a problem whether it is obesity risk of disease, or simply being out of shape.Despite the realization of their problem,people in the contemplation stage have not made a commitment to change their unhealthy behavior or behaviors and are probably still weighing the pros and cons of making a change.

Action

A person is in the action stage of behavior change when he makes the time and commitment to modify his lifestyle.In the action stage, people make lifestyle choices that benefit their health on a daily basis.Personal fitness trainers help clients in the action stage cope with obstacles that may interfere with their new, healthy lifestyle choices.For example, a nutritional specialist might develop a plan to help a client avoid overeating at an upcoming family gathering.A personal fitness trainer might encourage a client to continue to exercise despite a recent romantic break up.

Psychological Diseases

Our rushed, modern lifestyles also contribute to the development of mental or psychological diseases.Chronic worry and stress lead to depression, anxiety, and sleeping problems.Often, the medications prescribed for these problems have unwanted side effects such as headaches or nausea, and these medications only mask the underlying problem.Worse yet, some people become tolerant to the medications,causing them to need higher and higher doses to achieve the desired effect.Stress also leads to painful ulcers, which are lesions in the lining of the stomach.Soft drinks, fatty foods, coffee, and alcohol all common in the modern diet aggravate ulcer.

Assess Your Fitness Level

As you assess your fitness level, it is important to judge yourself in relation to those close to your own age.Fitness has four main components. Cardiovascular efficiency and endurance, muscular strength and endurance, muscle and joint flexibility,and body composition.Let's start with cardiovascular efficiency and endurance. Do you perform regular aerobic activities that increase your heart rate?Are you able to run up several flights of stairs or perform everyday activities without becoming winded? if so, great! If not, there's no time like the present to get started!

Motivating Clients

Keeping a client motivated during the first few months of a new exercise program is vital since this is when a person is most likely to drop out and revert to old behaviors. A personal fitness trainer creates a feeling of teamwork by encouraging a client to be open and honest in communicating feelings regarding an exercise program.

Who Is Responsible?

Some clients may try to blame their personal fitness trainer for their failings in the gym.Therefore, it is important that clients understand from the beginning that you, as their trainer,cannot do the work for them, ultimately,clients are responsible for their own success or failure.The personal fitness trainer is responsible for creating a program that is as easy as possible for the client to adhere to, but the client must adhere to this program both in the gym and in daily life.Until the client is ready to help himself, there is little chance for success.

Who Is Responsible?

You now know the many ways that a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist can help a client achieve fitness goals.But sometimes a personal fitness trainer does all these things right, and the client still doesn't succeed.Even the best personal fitness trainers in the world have clients who drop out of their programs or fail to follow their advice. Ultimately, the responsibility of a client's health lies within the client herself, and there is little a personal fitness trainer can do to help a client who refuses to do her part.

You Are What You Eat

Nutrition refers to the food that a person takes into his body and the way that food influences his health.What we eat plays an important role in determining how we feel.Our diet can help or hinder our daily physical and mental functioning and affect our long term health.You probably have heard the saying, "You are what you eat." Modern medical studies have concluded that this is true! just as your car runs best when maintained properly and give the best gesoline, our bodies function best when we ear healthy and nutritious foods and beverages. Not only does good nutrition help us to be at our mental and physical best on a day to day basis, but it also plays a large role in keeping our bodies healthy and disease free over a lifetime.As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you'll be able to help your cvlients eat a more healthy diet.

The Fitness and Nutrition Connection

To achieve optimal fitness,a body must follow an effective exercise program, as well as be supplied with adequate nutrition.Good nutrition gives the body the energy it needs to complete a physical workout and repair itself following the workout. Nutritionists who earn four years degrees may prescribe programs to help clients treat various health conditions and diseases. In contrast, a nutritional specialist can expect to provide much more basic information about nutrition as it relates to his or her clients fitness.Let's take a look at the role I play as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist.


Roles of the Personal Fitness Trainer and Nutritional Specialist

As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you will serve several roles.First and foremost, you will fill the role of a professional helper in your field much as a lawyer or psychologist is looked to for advice in her field.Roles you also can expect to fill in your new career include teacher, coach, and motivator.

As a teacher you will share your knowledge of fitness and nutrition. You will teach subjects such as how to use equipment correctly, follow a sensible nutrition plan,and exercises to perform to reach clients goals. You will coach clients by helping them to make better dietary choices and improving their form and technique while exercising. As a motivator you will offer your clients encouragement as they work toward their fitness goals.Personal fitness trainers also serve as good listeners by listening to the personal difficulties that may stand in the way of achieving clients fitness goals.However, it is important to note that as a personal fitness trainer you are not a doctor or psychologist. When a client's personal or health problems lie outside a fitness trainer's professional expertise, you should refer him to other qualified health professionals.While a personal fitness trainer can offer a client a variety of services, the ultimate responsibility for achieving fitness lies within the client himself. By encouraging, empowering, and educating, personal fitness trainers increase the likelihood that their clients will succeed in their fitness goals.This, in turn, increases the likelihood that you will achieve your financial goals!As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you''ll help your clients get healthy and motivate them to achieve their fitness goals. But to really begin to understand the fitness and nutrition industry, you need to be familiar with several terms. You'll hear these terms throughout this course and your new career.

Range of Motion or Rom

As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist,I often work with a client's range of motion.As you know,each synovial joint performs a particular ROM.For instance,the elbow joint only can bend and straighten flex and extend whereas the shoulder joint can raise,lower,open wide,hold close, and roll around.In other words it can flex,extend,rotate,abduct,adduct,and circumduct all terms you'll learn in the next section.

Blood in Motion

Now let's review how blood moves throughout the cardiovascular system.Remember,cardio refers to the heart,while vascular refers to veins,arteries,and capillaries.The right side of the heart receives blood from the body through systemic veins the superior and inferior venae cavae.This blood has delivered its oxygen load to the cells.First,the blood flows into the right upper chamber,the right atrium.It passes into the right ventricle,where it is pumped through pulmonary arteries to each lung.At the lungs, it gives off carbon dioxide and receives a fresh supply of oxygen,then returns to the left side of the heart through pulmonary veins.The blood fills the left atrium and passes into the left ventricle,where it is pumped through the aorta to take its supply of oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.

Body and Mind are Connected in Many Ways.

Whenever a person chooses to move,her body messages are sent from the brain and spinal cord to the bones and muscles, telling them what to do .Thought processes guide voluntary muscles.So when a person wants her arms or legs to move, her brain can control this action.Besides voluntary actions, the brain also sends out signals to individual blood vessels and organs, telling them  to ensure the muscles have what they need to perform.The brain does this involuntarily, meaning it's not something a person needs to think about doing or has any control over.Finally, the brain causes the body to excrete certain hormones that play an important role in physical performance.For instance,the hormone testosterone plays a role in muscle maintenance during exercise.

Steroids and Performance

There is a clear relationship between taking anabolic steroids and muscle mass gains.However, whether these gains lead to increased strength or improved athletic performance is less clear.No study to date has demonstrated a clear link between steroid use and improved athletic performance.Studies fail to show that steroids and able to do many of the things that people take them for including better muscle endurance, improved sprinting abilities,and shortened recovery times following workout.There are side effects that steroids bring on that can adversely influence performance such as unwanted increases in body weight,as well as declines in performance when steroid use is stopped.Furthermore,athletes who participate in team sports may find that the emotional outbursts that accompany steroid use hinder teamwork.

Athletes and Supplements

When advising the use of supplements as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, it is important to consider each client's case individually.In doing so, you will be able to make a recommendation that will prove most beneficial to that person.Some supplements can have a positive impact on athletic performance,especially if the diet is deficient in certain vitamins and minerals.Diets lacking in key vitamins and minerals provides the body with what it needs to perform at its best.People who restrict food intake or avoid certain food groups are most likely to need supplementation to meet their daily vitamin and mineral requirements.

Increaseing Calcium Intake

Calcium is a mineral that composes much of the bone tissue found in the body.From birth we must obtain all our bodies calcium needs from dietary sources.Calcium supplements may be necessary particularly for those who avoid dairy products or have a low caloric intake.Exercise increases the rate at which the body breaks down bone.Physically active people must be sure to meet their calcium needs if they want to avoid bone loss.

Some People have Special Needs

Today,we know that some groups of people require more of certain vitamins and minerals than others to function at their best.For example,women of childbearing age especially those who are pregnant require more folic acid.Our client Jessie falls into this category.Those taking oral contraceptives have an increased need for several vitamins such as thiamin and riboflavin.Smokers should consume more vitamin C, while heavy drinkers require more of the B vitamins.Older people may need higher amounts of all vitamins and minerals as a result of their bodies decreased absorption abilities.Those who take certain medications or are recovering from surgery,illness,or injury also can benefit from supplements.Along with a healthy,balanced diet,taking a daily multivitamin helps ensure that your client is providing her body with all the vitamins and minerals it need to function properly.

Eating Well To Get and Stay Healthy

When some people Begin a new exercise program they see it as an excuse to eat whatever they want.What they may not realize is how important a part their diet plays not only in achieving their fitness goals but in their exercise performance and overall health.Remember,our client Jessie didn't realize the impact her diet had on her ability to get in shape until she spoke with Carrie.Failing to give the body what it needs to recover from a workout can result in sore muscles and overall fatigue.This,in turn,may delay the next workout or hinder the quality of that workout both of which act as setbacks to achieving fitness goals.After a workout the body needs both protein and carbohydrates to repair itself and replace valuable glycogen stores.

Don't Just Sit There!

Our bodies are meant to move . You don't have to be an expert in human anatomy to see that the muscles and joints of the human body are put together so that it can bend, stretch, jump, and run.So why is it so hard for most of us to get on that treadmill or bike and exercise each day? When it comes to our bodies and muscles, the saying ,"Use it or lose it "really applies. By failing to use bodies, we allow our muscles to weaken and our joints to become stiff .Then, when we try to start an exercise routine,our bodies resist the sudden extra force. And this isn't just physically discouraging. Mentally , someone who tries to exercise and finds it too difficult or painful will be quick to pick up a defeated attitude.Now , consider that children love to move about and can't seem to sit still. Kids provide an excellent example of the human body in its natural, desired state full of movement and life! Their bodies haven't had the chance to stiffen and resist movement.The same can be true for adults. People who get regular exercise tend to look forward to physical activity and say that this movement feels good, both physically and mentally.