By ANDREA CIRIGNANO Maria wants to lose weight. The 46-year-old mother of two never lost the “baby weight” she gained after having her second child 5 years ago, and the extra 40 pounds is compounding other challenges in her life. She’s overworked, tired and stressed,...
By NASM As featured in our nutrition course – Navigating Diets – which is a detailed sampling of the overall CNC curriculum. To truly grasp the complexities of nutrition means learning what separates – and connects – the most common diets. This...
By SARAH SNYDER Youth exercise professionals are in a powerful position to positively influence eating behaviors. This is when independence begins to be established with regard to food and beverage choices and meal preparation. Coaches and trainers – even Youth...
By NASM The Paleolithic or “Paleo” diet derives from the superior cardiometabolic health and physical fitness of indigenous hunter-gatherer populations (Hills Jr & Erpenbeck, 2018). The Paleo diet is promoted across the world as a way of improving health of human...
By RICH FAHMY, MS, NASM-CPT, CES, PES, MASTER INSTRUCTOR Training modifications and exercise programming for older adults are popular topics across health and fitness publications and conferences. There’s good reason for this: By 2050, the number of people 60 or older...
By Alyssa Parten Learning how to coach an athlete is far more complicated than training general population clientele and, arguably, more fulfilling. There are many more factors, modalities, thinking, and planning strategies involved with coaching an athlete of any...
By Sam Arnold Meeting new people can lead to many things in life. For personal trainers and behavior change specialists specifically, the situation can offer up opportunities to network, connect with someone in a new field or part of town, and potentially even gain a...
By Nicole Golden Squat mechanics are very highly debated amongst fitness professionals and corrective exercise experts. Performing an internet search of “squat form” will turn up a plethora of results including focusing most on squat depth and lifting the most weight...
By RICK RICHEY, MS · I was sweating profusely before I trained my first client, and it wasn’t from a workout. I was a nervous wreck, continually second-guessing what I was supposed to do. Would I be worth the money? Would I be able to train the client the “right” way?...
By NASM As discussed in our nutritional supplement course – Making Sense of Supplements – sometimes navigating the vitamin aisle can be a little tricky. Even for the most seasoned of certified nutrition coaches, the endless barrage of advertisements and...
By DAVID A. TITCOMB · JUNE 4, 20200 Similar to other structures in the body, the cervical spine (CS) has a significant influence on body regions located above and below its location. Not only does CS musculature produce movement of the head and neck, but it also plays...
By PETE MCCALL My career as a personal trainer began back when the years started with a one, 1998, to be exact. At that time, I never imagined that our cell phones would allow us to carry mini-computers in our pockets – let alone ones with high definition...
By Nino Magaddino Fit or not, pay attention to the warning signs your heart is giving you. Your life depends on it. Even as “fit” fitness professionals, we are not immune to heart disease. Here’s how this NASM Master Trainer found out.Recently I made...
By Ken Miller MS, NASM MASTER INSTRUCTOR, NASM-CPT, CES, PES, GFS If you’re like the millions of people who use electronic tools such as a cell phone, tablet, laptop or desk computer, you’ve probably spent hours upon hours looking at the screen with your head jutted...
By Nicole Nichols As a Pilates instructor, I’ve worked with many women who wanted to regain strength and muscle tone after pregnancy. Some of them complained about abdominal pressure, pain or weakness even years after giving birth. Others returned to class with their...
By Brad Dieter The leading cause of death in the United States, and the rest of the world, is heart disease. While there is some genetic risk for developing heart disease, much of the risk is due to lifestyle, which means you can actively manage a lot of your risk for...
By Lara Quaglio With so much of life happening at the front of the body (driving a car, typing on a computer and even doing many exercises, such as pushup and bench press), a lot of people have developed upper crossed syndrome, which is characterized by a forward head...
By Sam Arnold WHY SHOULD ATHLETES TRUST THEIR PERSONAL TRAINER? Working with an athlete to achieve on-field success can be one of the most intimidating and complicated tasks for a young trainer to master. There are so many training methods available that “analysis...
By Angie Miller Personal trainers are individuals who inspire, motivate, and guide others to achieve their fitness goals. It is a rewarding, highly-ranked career with immense job satisfaction (CNN Money, 2012). If you are ready to become more involved in the fitness...
By Shirley Archer It’s likely that many of your clients spend the majority of their time sitting at a desk, staring at a screen. They then sit in their cars for a long commute. When they arrive at their final destination, they sit down to eat and then watch...
By Kat Barfield I recently visited my optometrist for an annual exam. He has a pleasant bedside manner and happens to be among the 40% of the U.S. adult population who are obese. As I stepped into his office, I noticed he looked different but couldn’t quite pinpoint...
By STACEY PENNEY, MS, NASM-CPT, CES, PES, FNS New clients, or even those that you’ve been working with for some time, can all benefit from focusing some of their training on stabilization work. Without a strong structural base to move from, how can we continue to...
By Scott Josephson American consumers today have a multitude of options when it comes to choosing low- or no-calorie sweeteners to cut down on sugar and carbs. For those who favor natural products over artificial ones, honey and agave are far from the only options on...
By Alexandra Williams Differences in taste perception may explain, in part, why people diagnosed with obesity tend to eat more than their counterparts with a lower body mass index, according to researchers at the University of Iowa. Recently, a team at UI conducted a...
By Kyle Stull In the last decade, the use of foam rolling has become increasingly popular for athletes and average Joes alike. Foam rolling as a corrective exercise method makes sense – they feel “good,” seem to work well, have an excellent cost to benefit ratio, and...
By Kyle Stull Corrective Exercises are a technique used by health & fitness professionals to address and fix movement compensations and imbalances. These exercises are commonly used by personal trainers, massage therapists and chiropractors, to help clients move...
By Kyle Stull Effective and efficient rolling means identifying and targeting the muscles that need it – the muscles that are likely the root cause of less than optimal movement. In many cases, muscles become overactive and short, leading to sensations of tightness...
By DR. Allison BRAGER The expression “training around the clock” has more scientific merit than many would expect. Typically, it’s used to refer to the daily grind of balancing training with work, meal preparation for training, and finding time to recover. For sleep...
By Justin Kompf Most personal trainers, at some point, will have a consultation with a client who has a weight loss goal. For a few weeks, I had one of my clients message me everything they ate along with their exercise routine outside of the gym. We’re talking times,...
BY DR. ALLISON BRAGER As a result of advancing technologies in science and engineering, we can study the brain in real-time from many different angles. We can study the strength and intensity of connections between different brain areas as well as...
By Trish Muse Chances are, at some point in your personal training career, you will work with clients who’ve had a knee replacement or are on track to get one. This can be a daunting prospect to consider, but it doesn’t have to be. With a combination of cultivated...
By Kyle Stull When we think of corrective exercise, we often picture the process of trying to correct a less than optimal movement pattern with rolling, lengthening, activation, and integration techniques. Improving movement quality requires an individual to inhibit...
By NASM Periodization and programming are not necessarily the same thing. Periodization is the cycles of training that take place. Often, we talk about macro, meso, and micro cycles. In sports, the periodization may include those concepts, but change based on the...
By Brad Dieter We often hear people say, “I have a slow metabolism” or “they just have a fast metabolism,” and we all nod our head in agreement. But do we understand what that means? What is your metabolism? Can it be fast or slow? Does having a slow metabolism make...
By Adam Annaccone Knee pain is common in physically active males and females. According to a new clinical guideline in the Journal of Sports Physical Therapy examining patellofemoral pain, approximately 25% of individuals will suffer from idiopathic (no specific...
By Laura Quaglio As an early adopter of fitness technology, Ted Vickey, PhD, once conducted a survey of about 200 fitness professionals. “The thing that I found most shocking was that trainers use technology for themselves, but they don’t yet use it for their...
Periodization and programming are not necessarily the same thing. Periodization is the cycles of training that take place. Often, we talk about macro, meso, and micro cycles. In sports, the periodization may include those concepts, but change based on the season:...
By Alexandra Williams Avocados may be one solution to manage hunger and aid in metabolic control, according to findings from the Center for Nutrition at Illinois Institute of Technology. In a crossover clinical trial with 31 adults classified as overweight/obese,...
By Kyle Stull Getting the most out of each workout requires more than just following a great training program. Consistent performance also requires an optimal balance between training and recovery. Mention the subject to most clients, though, and you’re likely to meet...
By Joy Keller It’s an hour before your session starts, and you get a text from your client Kelly, a 33-year-old mom of two who is 50 pounds overweight, has just been diagnosed as being prediabetic, and is trying to change her lifestyle. She’s late again. This is not...
By Andrea Cirignana Your clients hire you to help them reach a goal, and you commit just as much time and effort as (if not more than) they do. However, sometimes even the most dedicated clients are completely clueless when it comes to diet and nutrition. That can be...
By Brad Dieter Over the last 10-15 years, there has been a lot of discussion about the role that fructose plays in many of our chronic health issues, including obesity, diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and many others. However, most of these discussions...
By Alexandra Williams As a fitness professional, you’re likely familiar with exercise-induced asthma (EIA) or exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB), which can cause symptoms like wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath or a tightness in the chest—particularly in...
By Angie Miller MS In the gym, we expect to use our body’s full range of motion. In life, we’re entitled to a full range of emotions, too. Provided we’re able to express and manage our emotions appropriately, this is healthy. But for some people, emotions can affect...
By Laura Quaglio BUILD NECK STRENGTH TO LOWER CONCUSSION RISK In recent news published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, researchers who examined previous studies on concussion concluded that increasing neck strength “could substantially...
By Sohee Lee There has been a growing interest in personal fitness over the past few decades, and with high-speed access to information, images, and other people at our fingertips, this comes as no surprise. Since the dawn of the fitness industry in the 1970s, we’ve...
By Brad Dieter One of the most important things regarding “healthy eating” is to understand that what we eat is tied into our habits. A habit is defined as: “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.” Think about it for a...
By Tony Nunez This is part 3 of a 3 part Q&A series that answers: What does current research tell us about aerobic fitness and metformin, strength training recovery times, and obesity intervention methods? Part 1: Can metformin have a negative impact on...
By Brad Dieter In an era of catchy blogs, celebrity diets, and access to all of the world’s information at your fingertips, managing a client’s expectations for safe and healthy weight loss can be a challenge. Despite these challenges, the amount of information and...
By Tony Nunez This is part 1 of a 3 part Q&A series that answers: What does current research tell us about aerobic fitness and metformin, strength training recovery times, and obesity intervention methods? Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), as measured by maximal...
By Maria Luque Stephanie is your newest fitness client. She’s 42 years old and works 50 hours a week as a certified public accountant. She would like to quit smoking, give up junk food and get active—all the foundations of a healthy lifestyle. Fast-forward 6 months....
By Kat Barefield Lifespan, Healthspan and Playspan Humans are living longer than ever before with the help of modern medicine, science, technology, and access to adequate nutrition. Although the human lifespan can now extend past the century mark, healthspan, which is...
By Fabio Comana Mention the term ‘metabolism’ and it captures attention given how obsessed many of us have become over calories. As a certified personal trainer, this is a topic you may get asked about from time to time. To the general public, boosting your metabolism...
By Rick Richey The OPT Model, or Optimum Performance Training Model, is a fitness training system developed by NASM. The OPT Model is based on scientific evidence and principles that progresses an individual through five training phases: stabilization endurance,...
By Kyle Stull Proper assessment and training of the foot musculature are vital to optimal health. Given that the feet are our foundation and interact with our environment daily, it affects the whole body if they hurt. The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society...
By Brad Dieter PROTEIN AND WEIGHT LOSS: HOW MUCH PROTEIN SHOULD YOU EAT TO LOSE WEIGHT? Decades of scientific research on weight loss has uncovered a few key pieces of information on what helps people successfully lose weight. First, we know that while exercise is...
By JOSEPH WEISS , DANIELLE WEISS Each of us has held beliefs—obtained through observation, experience or even formal education—that were later found to be wrong. In fact, medical schooling begins with a warning: “Half of all that you will be taught will be proven...
By Dana Bender SELF-TALK IN ATHLETES AND EXERCISERS: 4 STEPS TO REWIRE YOUR THOUGHTS There is a lot to think about during exercise such as maintaining proper body mechanics and posture, controlling effort and force, and breathing properly. These efforts all occur at...
By Alexandra Williams After 15 days of supplementation with a combination of peanut husk extract (luteolin) and mango leaf extract (mangiferin), a group of healthy male university students from Spain showed improvements in exercise performance, including increases in...
By STACEY PENNEY, MS, NASM-CPT, CES, PES, FNS What muscle fiber types will take an athlete from good to great? Looking to build endurance? What about power? Do dreams of being an all-star hitter or marathon runner need to be dashed if twitch ratios aren’t ideal? Not...
By DAVID CRUZ, DC, CSCS, FMS, SFMA Cyclist can be prone to ITB Syndrome IT BAND SYNDROME: SYMPTOMS, RISK FACTORS, EXERCISES The warm summer weather is the perfect setting for people to get outdoors and participate in the activities they enjoy. However, too much of a...
BY JENNIFER KLAU, PHD Being a little low on water is a bigger deal than most people think. Here’s research to prove it, plus a physiology review to explain why even a 2% deficit can affect mental and physical well-being. News flash! There’s a substance, available...
By Brad Dieter IS SUGAR REALLY BAD FOR YOU? Sugar has been in the headlines of popular media sites, the tagline of diet books, and the sole focus of many blogs over the last decade. Despite recent interest from mainstream media and the health industry, sugar has been...
Before you help your clients achieve their goals, you have to establish what their starting point is. NASM’s Optimum Performance Training Model – or OPT™ -does exactly that. The OPT™ model. It’s one of the fitness industry’s first training...
By Julia Malacoff and Jennifer Nickle From ruining your progress to making you feel like a failure, food cravings aren’t your friend (no matter what they say). In this article, we break down the real reasons you can’t stop over-snacking, and explain how to combine...
By John Berardi, Ph.D. Work stressing you out? Life in general? Having trouble staying consistent with your exercise and nutrition plan? If so, this article is for you. Why do most guys tend to get weaker, fatter, and less healthy when they get into their 30s, 40s,...
By Geoff Lecovin KETOGENIC DIET: SHOULD YOU JOIN THE KETO KRAZE? In this article you will learn: What constitutes a ketogenic diet? Ketogenic diet foods/sample meal plan Potential health benefits of the ketogenic diet Potential adverse health effects of the ketogenic...
By Alex Picot-Annand Effective ways to deal with negative peer pressure and sabotage. Changing your eating and exercise habits is hard enough. Getting loved ones to support your healthy lifestyle changes? Prepare to grit your teeth. The company you keep does affect...
By Krista Scott-Dixon, Ph.D. How to solve the two biggest health and fitness problems most women face. Feeling overworked and under-appreciated? Having trouble staying consistent with nutrition and fitness because of life’s demands? Wondering if you’ll ever be able to...
By Krista Scott-Dixon, Ph.D. It’s not about busting your butt to get a gym body. It’s about being capable, confident, and free. To most people, healthy movement = exercise. As in cardio, crunches, and fitness models. But moving your body is about so much...
By Krista Scott-Dixon, Ph.D. Diet challenges are usually all about what you can’t eat. But what if you could see huge results from a self-experiment that doesn’t make any foods off-limits? Instead of focusing on what you eat, our 30-day eating challenge emphasizes how...
By NASM Discomfort from too much sitting? Inactive glutes? Buttock and leg pain? Though small in size, the piriformis could have a big impact on keeping the human movement system moving smoothly. Addressing an overactive piriformis may be part of the solution. WHAT IS...
By Andrew Payne Do you have trouble losing body fat, yet seem to gain it after even the smallest slip up with your diet? Or does it feel like you can eat for days without gaining an ounce? It could have something to do with your current body type. But is it really...
By Danny Lennon In this article: What is the Mediterranean Diet? Mediterranean Diet Foods Mediterranean Diet Nutrient Profile Daily Food Servings Mediterranean Lifestyle Health Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet Mediterranean Diet and Weight Loss Take-Home Points...
BY CANDICE DYER The SoheeFit studio in San Diego is a gleaming, modern and welcoming fitness center with upbeat music. One thing is noticeably missing, though. There is no cardio equipment. That’s because owner Sohee Lee, MS, typically ends up prying her driven,...
9 reasons eating well isn’t as straightforward as we’d like it to be. By John Berardi, Ph.D. From a certain perspective, nutrition science can seem like a mess. From another, it illustrates the very nature (and beauty) of the scientific process. Here we’ll...
By NASM Early to bed and early to rise? This sleep pattern may not make you wealthy or wise (as the saying goes), but it does seem to be linked to better health. Early risers not only have healthier eating patterns, but they also show a lower risk of heart disease and...
By Brian St. Pierre, M.S., RD, CSCS and Helen Kollias, Ph.D. Academic studies aren’t going to top any “best summer reads” lists: They can be complicated, confusing, and well, pretty boring. But learning to read scientific research can help you answer important client...
By Brian St. Pierre, M.S., RD, CSCS and Helen Kollias, Ph.D. Academic studies aren’t going to top any “best summer reads” lists: They can be complicated, confusing, and well, pretty boring. But learning to read scientific research can help you answer important client...
By James Heathers, Ph.D. Forget heart attacks and skinny jeans. This is why weight loss is important. Avoiding heart disease and looking ‘fab’ aren’t always great reasons to lose weight. However, here are 5 immediate and significant ways your life can change when you...
By Geoff Lecovin Vitamin D, also known as the “sunshine vitamin,” was identified in the 17th century by Dr. Daniel Whistler and Professor Francis Glisson when they discovered the causative factors of rickets. Circa 1920, Sir Edward Mellanby worked with dogs raised...
By Amanda Boyer MS, RDN, CD, NASM-CPT First and foremost, the pursuit of health is an individual choice and will look very different from person to person. Second, nutrition and movement are just two tiny pieces to the big pie. Genetics, sleep hygiene, stress, stigma...
By NASM With fad diets flooding the marketplace, obesity and heart disease numbers rapidly increasing, and more confusing food choices than ever before, Nutrition Coaches are in particularly high demand. This is an exciting, rewarding career for people who love...
BY NASM Designed to help fitness professionals discover solutions for their clients’ health and dietary needs. Obesity, heart disease, and cancer are on the rise. Fad diets are muddying today’s culture with misconceptions and fallacies. And the marketplace is filled...
Why wishful thinking won’t get you results, but science might. By Dan Garner Nutrition is often seen as a belief system. In other words, the answer to “What should I eat?” is often based on faith, magical thinking, emotional attachments, and/or what feels...
By John Berardi, Ph.D. When it comes to body change, there’s no topic more polarizing than “calories in vs. calories out.” Some argue it’s the be-all and end-all of weight loss. Others say it’s oversimplified and misguided. In this article, we explore every angle of...
By Kyle Stull What is thoracic outlet syndrome? Are there assessments that personal trainers can consider to identify it, and can corrective exercise programming help? Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) is a condition involving the vessels of the neck, shoulder, and arm....
By KEN MILLER, MS, NASM MASTER INSTRUCTOR, NASM-CPT, CES, PES, GFS “You need good form,” or “technique is everything” are just a couple of the staple statements you hear fitness professionals and strength coaches say. This is what personal trainers are known and hired...
How to solve the two biggest health and fitness problems most women face. By Krista Scott-Dixon Feeling overworked and under-appreciated? Having trouble staying consistent with nutrition and fitness because of life’s demands? Wondering if you’ll ever be able to find...
Let’s get to the bottom of this never-ending debate. By Brian St. Pierre, MS, RD, CSCS Sweet potatoes vs. potatoes: A nutritional debate fueled by misinformation, baseless ‘superfood’ obsessions, and carbohydrate phobias. Here’s how these tubers compare — and...
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