We all know that parent who wastes no time in getting their 3 year old fitted for that sport: golf, soccer, tennis, or racing. Thanks to the likes of Tiger Woods, the Williams sisters, and let’s not forget those young Olympic athletes, in which the minimum age for participation in the youth events is 13. At some point, kids must be introduced to a strength training program to help their bodies adjust and adapt to the stresses of resistance training and to help … [Read more...]
Let’s Talk About Sex: Keep It Simple, Seniors!
Back in my graduate research days, as an undergraduate Exercise Science major, I was fortunate to be a part of a pilot study in senior fitness assessments. The premise of this study was to institute a “gold standard” senior fitness assessment that was both reliable and valid; and with that, it was also effective in measuring fitness levels before starting an exercise program. My job: data collection. The Study - Seniors and Sex I was given the task to screen … [Read more...]
The Skinny on Essential Nutrients
Nutrient information is foundational for anyone interested in (healthy) weight maintenance, gain, or loss. No one can out train a poor diet, not even Lance Armstrong … ok, maybe Lance! Genetics play a huge role but after that, nutrition takes a close second in determining how a body responds to any given weight loss plan. The general consensus among armatures and experts is that a weight/fat loss plan needs a consistent and complementary resistance training … [Read more...]
The 5 Principles of Training: Why We Do What We Do
Let’s be real, the body isn’t a big fan of any form of change on any level. In fact, the human body is actually quite acquiescent to growth and change and at the same time, will fight tooth and nail against efforts to bring about said change. On a cellular level the body is highly adaptable and efficient at making both negative and positive changes but it does not like change that seeks to shed excess body fat or add muscle and it will protect itself by putting on … [Read more...]
Body Composition: Fat-Free Mass and Fat Mass
In the fitness world, we use body composition to describe the proportions of fat, bone, water, connective tissue, and lean muscle in the human body. When referring to body composition, we are talking about the percentage of body mass that is both fat mass and fat-free mass (Lean Mass: L%, Fat Mass: F%). When we talk about measuring body fat percentage, we must understand, first, that all fat is not accumulated equally, stored equally, and nor is it measured equally … [Read more...]