Strength and Conditioning Certification

By the simplest definition health means a sound body, mind and spirit.  The World Health Organization defines health as “not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,” but “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being.”  Health is the process of discovering, using and protecting all the resources within our bodies, minds, spirits, families, communities, and environment.  Health has many components: physical, psychological, spiritual, social, intellectual, and environmental.  This blog takes a holistic approach, one that looks at health and the individual as a whole, rather than part by part.  Your own definition of health may include different elements, but chances are that you and your friends would probably agree that it includes at least some of the following: A positive optimistic outlook, a sense of control over stress and worries (time to relax), energy and vitality (freedom from pain or serious illness), supportive friends and family (and a nurturing intimate relationship with someone you love), a personally satisfying job like studying how to become an accountant, and a clean environment.  Increasingly Americans are striving to achieve the state of optimal health known as wellness.  Wellness has defined as as purposeful, enjoyable living or more specifically, a deliberate lifestyle choice characterized by personal responsibility and optimal enhancement of physical, mental and spiritual health.  Wellness means more then not being sick; it means taking steps to prevent illness and to lead a richer, more balanced and satisfying life.  While physical well-being is essential to health, the term wellness, as used by health professionals has taken on a broader meaning.

Don’t be surprised if you see a mom-to-be stretching at the gym with her legs wrapped around her shoulders.  Pregnant women produce a hormone called relaxin, which helps women expecting to give birth prepare their ligaments for the stretching of childbirth.  The relaxin in the hips is especially helpful because it helps the pelvis to allow the hips to spread wide enough to let the baby through.

This should serve as a warning for personal trainers too.  Relaxin can sometimes be a little too effective and it can make other joints in the body super flexible as well.  The bad news is that because of this handy dandy hormone created to help mom-to-be, women can accidentally overstretch, pulling muscles and tendons in the process.  Expectant mothers also should not sit or stand in certain positions because doing so places stress on the uterus, which can possibly lead to complications in pregnancy.  Specializing in pre- and post natal clientele requires some mom savvy knowledge and skills gained from a specialty certification ACE (www.acefitness.org) offers certification in this area.

Training while pregnant has been a topic of controversy for many years.  Some mothers are able to work out almost until the day they give birth, while others are better off doing stretching and strength building.  Many mothers-to-be may come in panicking because their metabolism has slowed down while pregnant and they are gaining weight rapidly.  If a mother was an athlete or worked our regularly before her pregnancy, balancing strength training, cardio, and stretching can be very helpful and healthy during pregnancy.  Always get a doctors note before training a woman who is pregnant.

People choose to use or not use accountants for a variety of reasons.  However, the fact is they are a great asset to any business owner and can save you a great deal of time, money and hassle.  The service of an accountant are particularly important when starting a business, so you get off on the right foot.  If you begin with the proper systems, you will not have to fix expensive mistakes later on.  Just as you are an expert on training people, accountants are experts in the area of taxes.  It would be foolish for an accountant to try to develop a training program for a body builder and in the same way, an accountant studied how to become an accountant and is the most qualified person to handle your taxes.

The major advantage to using an accountant is that you are dealing with a professional who is trained to handle the financial aspects of your business.  As a personal trainer, it is likely you have very little financial background.  Accountants help with bookkeeping and measuring the progress of your personal training business.  They also keep up with rapidly changing tax laws.  It is a simple fact that people who use accountants claim more deductions on their returns that those who file themselves.  Tax laws are so complex, that even with computer programs you may omit important information and deductions.

If you are just getting started you may decide to do accounting yourself.  Tomorrow we will talk about the technicalities of hiring an accountant if you decide to.

Every client wants and needs something different from you.  Some of your clients will wish to be pushed to their limit.  The more closely you resemble a drill sergeant, the happier they will be.  These people want to exercise until they are completely spent.  If they are still standing after the workout, they will feel they haven’t done anything.  On the opposite end of the spectrum are the people who want you to coddle them and hold their hands.  They may not like to sweat or breathe too heavily.  Perhaps this is the first time in their lives they are exercising.  If you design the same workout for both types of clients, one or both groups will be disappointed and unsatisfied.  There is a good chance they will fire you as a trainer.  These are extreme examples, and the majority of your clients will fall somewhere in between these two stereotypes.  However, with every client you must determine what they want from you and provide them with it.

Exercise is a science, and when properly applied it gives results.  However, each person is unique, and the key is to discover what will bring success to each individual.  The best way to obtain this information is by interview and questionnaire.  Your instincts will also play a role, as will experience and commonsense.  During your initial consultation, make sure you ask in-depth, open ended questions.  The more information you have, the better equipped you will be to feel good about themselves.  When they feel good about themselves, they are happy, and happy customers are long-term customers.  On the other hand, if your client is not satisfied, she probably won’t tell you.  She will stop working with you and tell other people that she was dissatisfied with your services.  In that case, you lose a current client and countless other potential clients.

If the very thought of paperwork makes your hair stand on end, you’re not alone.  Keeping records as a business owner, and maintaining files is probably not on any personal trainer’s or strength and conditioning coach’s top-ten list.  In the following blogs we will simplify ideas to make record-keeping as easy and painless as possible. Whether you are learning how to become an accountant, or you just want to brush up on your accounting knowledge, it will benefit you and your business.

You may become a fan of record keeping when you discover that keeping good records can save you hundreds of dollars.  For example, say your forget to record a $20 business expense, which would have taken you a mere five minutes to record had you remembered it.  This oversight raises your business’s net income by $20 for which you will now be taxed.  As a result, your federal, state and Social Security taxes go up – even if you’re very conservative in your estimate, the taxes may go up by $5 dollars.  If you had recorded the deduction you would have saved $5 dollars in taxes in five minutes which comes up to a whopping $60 dollars per hours.

Part of maintaining records is learning how to keep books correctly.  This will help you keep track of your income and expenses, and also will help you to have the data on hand when it is time to file tax returns.  Whenever you’re feeling overwhelmed by by the details of keeping your books, keep two simple goals in mind; It will help you to keep track of your income and expenses, and it will help you have the date you need on hand to file your tax returns.  Remember, you can keep the financial records in any way you want, as long as they work for you, but we’ll explain in they upcoming blogs about the most common methods that will make your life easier.

If you are a personal trainer and you are opening or starting your own business, a business plan is a must.  Financial institutions and private investors will not even consider funding your project without seeing a concrete plan.  Banks will take some risks, but they need to see financial projections, and want to know that you are adequately prepared for the endeavor.

While there is not one right way to create a business plan, most contain similar types of information.  Start with a cover page and and you should include an executive summary.  The executive summary is one-to-two page document that summarizes the business plan.  It is included so people do not need to read the entire document if they so choose.  While the executive summary is place in the front of your plan, it is easier to write once you have completed all of the other sections.  The other information generally included in the business plan includes a description of your business and other services you will provide, market analysis, information on owners, and personnel, competition, financial information, and a marketing plan.  The appendix should include tax returns from the past three years, a copy of the lease agreement, your resume, and any other legal documents.  The most important factor for a successful business plan is that the information is clear, thorough and accurate.

Many books, articles, software and websites have been devoted to the topic of creating a business plan.  A simple Google search for “writing a business plan” will provide you with a dozen of helpful resources as will a search on Amazon.com.  For free advice try www.business.gov, click on “Launching” then on “Task 3 Writing a Business Plan” This invaluable resource includes detailed information on writing business plans, sample business plans, FAQ’s, and an interactive business planner.

Fitness routines often need to be varied to prevent your body from plateauing.  There are many ways to keep your body challenged.  Here are four training ideas you can use to boost your conditioning and improve your fitness.

Interval training:  Interval training is a technique that has you incorporate several fairly intense but short exercises with periods of easy exercise.  For example, let’s say that you want to jog a 10K marathon but you have never run in a marathon before.  After warming up for 5 minutes of easy walking, you may try running for 1 minute and then walking for 90 seconds.  If you monitor your heart rate, you should walk until your heart rate slows down to about 120 beats or fewer per minute.  Then jog or run for another minute and repeat this process for about 30 minutes.

Interval training is most effective when you keep the high intensity periods short and follow these periods with periods of active rest for about 45 to 90 seconds.  Active rest means that you continue to move your body between intervals instead of completely stopping.  If you are beginning a fitness program you may need to take longer periods of active rest.  As you become more conditioned you can increase the length of the high-intensity intervals and decrease the length of the low-intensity intervals.

Fartlek:  Fartlek is a Swedish word that means “speed play.”  This type of training is similar to interval training without using a specific timeline or distance.  So instead of doing high-intensity intervals for a certain period of time, you would do them whenever you wanted to.  A good example would be to run or sprint to every other telephone along your route.  Or perhaps you tell yourself that you will run as fast as you can to the corner.  This type of training is more carefree and does not require a watch.  However, it can be difficult to keep track of how long or how far you are running and walking.

Uphill:  If you want to maximize your workout, adding hills to your routine can improve your strength and stamina.  Walking, running, biking, or skating up a hill can burn twice as many calories as exercising on flat ground.  You can even do hill workout on a treadmill.  A really effective drill is to run up a fairly steep hill and to jog down eight times.  Hill workouts can be very challenging.  If you pick a landmark that is halfway up the hill and pretend that you have to pull yourself up and then repeat the process until you get to the top, it is much easier than focusing on the very top of the hill at the beginning of your workout.

Tempo workouts:  If you want to learn how to move faster than tempo workouts are an effective training option.  During a tempo workout you must move at a pace that is challenging but not too intense.  You should maintain a challenging pace for four to ten minutes, two to three times a week.  On days when you are not doing a tempo workout you should perform your training at a normal pace.  When you incorporate this training style for the first time you should start with short tempos and gradually increase the length of the workout.  This type of training can be very helpful for people who are training for road races or bike-a-thons.

You don’t need to buy any fancy equipment to check your pulse, however, checking your pulse manually will require concentration for an accurate reading.  There are two different methods you can use to check your pulse.  Both methods can be somewhat inaccurate if you do not pay close attention to counting the heart beats.  Sometimes it is easiest to have your personal trainer or strength and conditioning coach help.  If you are studying how to become a personal trainer, checking clients pulse can be a good indicator to how many calories are being burned and at what level they are working.

The neck method is one option that requires you to place your index and middle fingers on either side of your throat pipe.  You will know when you have found your carotid artery when you feel your heart beat in that area.  It can be difficult to find your pulse using this method.  If you press too hard on your neck you could shut off blood and oxygen to your brain and faint.

The wrist method is used and suggested more often by professional health care providers and fitness trainers.  To check your pulse on your wrist, place your middle and index fingertips on the opposite wrist, below the base of your thumb.  If you look closely at this area you may notice a faint blue looking line that is the radial artery.  This is the area that you should place your fingertips.  You should feel the steady pounding of blood flowing through your arteries in this area.  Count how many beats take place in 15 seconds and multiply that number by four.  The result is your heart rate.  An easier way of calculating your heart rate is to count the number of beats that occur for six seconds and simply add a zero to the result.  For example if your heart beats 6 times in 6 seconds than your heart rate is 60 beats per minute.  This is a very inaccurate method of checking your heart rate because missing a single beat can greatly throw off your results.

Keeping track of your heart rate is sometimes the last thing you want to think about when you are exercising.  Sometimes you can barely keep the air in your lungs let alone count how many times your heart beats in a minute.  Keeping track of your heart rate can make your work out more effective.

If you exercise for time or for distance than you may not be maximizing your body’s potential or you may be overexerting you self and potentially causing more harm than good.  Knowing how hard you are working can be difficult to determine by means other than monitoring your heart rate.  Your heart rate is a really great indication of how hard your body is working.  By keeping track of your heart rate over a long period of time, you can see your progress.  As you become more physically fit your body will use blood and oxygen more efficiently and your heart will not have to pump as fast.  You will be able to determine when you should increase your effort as your heart rate lowers.

To determine how fit you are, check your heart rate immediately after your workout and then again one minute later.  If you are in good shape your heart rate should drop at least 20 beats in the first minute.  People in great shape should see a decrease of 40 beats or more in the first minute.  If you keep track of your heart rate you will be able to see a gradual improvement over several weeks or months.

Your resting heart rate is the number of times that your heart beats per minute when you are not doing anything physical or strenuous.  When you exercise your resting heart rate can be as high as 90 beats per minute.  As you exercise regularly, your resting heart rate will may drop down by 30 beats depending on your fitness level.

Monitoring your heart rate can also provide you information about how well your body is recovering from a workout.  Monitor your heart rate each morning.  If you heart rate is ten beats higher than usual then you have not recovered from the previous day’s workout yet.  Take it easy during your workout that day or take the day off to recover completely.

Taking a few minutes each morning and after your workouts to check your heart rate is a great way of knowing how your body is adapting, recovering, and strengthening.  It can help you to prevent injury and give you some motivation to continue your efforts.

Strains and sprains sound a lot alike but there are some major differences between the two injuries.  Both injuries can occur very easily during a typical workout routine.  To avoid either of these injuries you should be aware of how you are moving your body and pay attention to any pain that you may be experiencing.

Here is some information about the differences between sprains and strains for personal trainers, strength and conditioning coach, and the average person who exercises on the regular.

A strained muscle is typically a pulled muscle that you over-stretched.  Whenever a muscle is over-stretched the tendon can tear.  The tendon is the tough, cord-like end of the muscle that attaches to the bone.  Athletes usually suffer from strains because they typically try to push their bodies to improve performance.

A sprain is different from a strain in that it involves an over-stretched ligament, instead of an over-stretched muscle.  A ligament is the connective tissue that joins two bones together.  A muscle cannot be sprained but a joint can.

The hamstrings and the groin are two muscles that are commonly strained.  The hamstrings are the rear thigh muscles of the leg.  The groin is the inner-thigh muscles of the leg.  These muscles are often strained when people do not take some time to stretch and warm up their muscles before a workout.  A lot of injuries can occur if rush into physical exercise.  Ideally, you should gradually increase your physical exertion over a five minute period.

You will feel pain in both muscles if they are strained.  You can tell that you have strained your hamstrings if you feel a stabbing pain up the back of your thigh when you straighten your leg.  If it is painful to lift your leg in toward your other leg or out to the side, then you most likely pulled your groin muscle.   A lump or knot will usually appear in the area where the muscle tightened.  The best way to recover from a sprain is to take it easy for a few days so that your body can repair itself.  If you do not give your body time to heal then you could end up with a tear that can take several months to heal.