Archive for fitness commentary, interviews
5 Reasons You Need to Up Your Education
Last week, PTontheNET ran a great interview with Tom Purvis, a 30-year educator in the fitness industry. I highly encourage you to read the full article, but here are some of Tom’s take-home points – and 5 reasons you need to up your education if you want to succeed as a personal trainer:
1. You have to be worth it. The personal training field may be growing at a rate of 24% per year, but that doesn’t mean people will pay for lesser service. On the contrary, the more trainers there are to choose from, the pickier clients can be. As Tom says, “If people want to be successful in personal training, they need to give their clients several things: 100% of their attention, customized exercises that are specific to joint integrity and specific to a joint’s active range of motion, and muscular tension-generating capabilities.” Well, this takes a foundation of knowledge that only comes through education. The days are gone when personal trainers can get away with just counting reps and yelling.
Sports Rehab to Sports Performance
In case anyone hadn’t heard, Joe Heiler’s Annual Sports Rehab to Sports Performance Teleseminar kicked off last night with one of my favorite speakers: Dan John.
In addition to one of his big areas of focus – goal-setting (“The goal is to keep the goal THE GOAL!”) – Dan discussed progressions of our six basic movement patterns. Here’s a glimpse:
Training For Parenthood: Part 3
Hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend.
So far, Ilene has talked to us about both lifting and cardiovascular modifications for parents. But there’s an equally important consideration when it comes to exercise programming for new moms and dads: Sleep (or lack thereof).
Training For Parenthood: Part 2
In Part 1 of our interview with Ilene Bergelson, Ilene discussed lifting considerations for pregnant women and people with excess abdominal weight. Today, she adresses the necessary adjustments in cardiovascular programming for these populations.
Training for Parenthood: Part 1 with Ilene Bergelson
If you missed our introductory Q & A with Ilene, be sure to check that out first here. Today, we talk with her about some specific lifting considerations for pregnant women and people with excess abdominal weight.
Training For the Sport of Motherhood
Jillian Michaels adopting a kid from the Congo might be the scariest news I’ve heard in a while… When it comes to moms in training, I’d rather turn to someone like Ilene Bergelson for advice.
You may recall Ilene’s past posts on peri-natal core training here and here; now, she’s back to share her philosophies on training to keep up with a growing child.
Ilene will be giving a workshop on June 17th at FPTI in NYC called Training For the Sport of Motherhood. Here’s a brief glimpse of what she’ll be covering (fast forward to about the 1:30 mark, in particular):
The EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT ENDS Wednesday, May 18th, so be sure to sign up soon if you plan on attending. And if you can’t make it, stay tuned for some great information. There will be more to come, but since I promised my good friend and new mom Wendy some expert training tips, here’s a little Q&A to start:
Industry Interview: Ilene Bergelson
As promised, today we’re back talking with Ilene Bergelson about her views on core training. (If you missed her guest blog on understanding the core, you can check it out here.) Brace yourselves (pun intended); we’ve got some fantastic information here!
Finally Understanding The Core
Core training takes many forms these days – some good, some bad and some just plain ugly. While there’s always room for debate in exercise, the main reason for the disconnect is that many people don’t really understand the core. Today, we have a guest post from someone who does: Core-training expert Ilene Bergelson.
Ilene is Founder of LifeMoves Health, and she has over 20 years of experience training and teaching in the industry. One of her specialties is perinatal core training, and she has uniquely taken this background and combined it with the most up-to-date research to develop safe and effective core conditioning programs for…well, anyone with a core.
The great thing about Ilene’s approach is that it’s grounded in fundamental principles that really apply to everyone. She’ll be giving a workshop on March 23rd at The Focus Personal Training Institute discussing her techniques, and you’ll get a DISCOUNTED RATE if you REGISTER BY FEBRUARY 28th.
Here’s a little more about Ilene, her views on the core and how to train it, and a glimpse of what to expect from the workshop:
Industry Interview: Nick Tumminello
One of my goals this year was to get more interviews up on this blog. A couple weeks ago we had a great one from Chris McGrath (whose FMS workshop this past weekend was FANTASTIC), and today we have another from leading trainer and strength coach Nick Tumminello – so I guess I’m right on track!
Nick is the owner of Performance University in Baltimore, Maryland. He has written for several fitness magazines – including Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Muscle & Fitness and Oxygen – and has a number of instructional DVDs available, including his latest, Joint Friendly Strength Training.
Nick has also made quite a name for himself as an international educator in the fitness field. He will be presenting at the IDEA Personal Trainer Institute in Virginia this coming weekend, in Iceland the following week and again at the Arnold Classic the first week in March. If you can attend any of Nick’s events, I highly suggest you do. Here’s what he’ll be covering at his Vancouver workshop in November:
Now, on to the interview!
Industry Interview: Chris McGrath (Part 2)
In case you missed it, you can find Part 1 of this interview here. Now, onto Part 2!
Which corrective techniques have you found to be most effective?
It really depends on the issue. One of the first questions we ask is whether the movement impairment is a mobility or stability issue. In the absence of stability, the body will give up functional mobility, but not necessarily passive mobility. Someone may appear tight through movement, but when we check their range of motion (ROM) in an unloaded position, they aren’t actually “tight.”
For example, we see a lot of squats that have a very limited range of motion when screened. But when we unload the person, they are perfectly capable of assuming a deep squat position. Their problem isn’t with mobility; it’s actually a lack of stability. In this case, stretching is not the appropriate corrective strategy.
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