What are the requirements for being a fitness instructor?

I would like to be a fitness teacher. One that teaches classes at a fitness center, & not a personal trainer. But I wasnt sure if certifications were mandatiory.

Staying Healthy in a Sick Economy

By: MANDY KATZ

ON Wall Street, when the going gets tough, will the tough get yoga mats?

Adding classes in yoga, meditation and other so-called mind-body regimens is just one way fitness professionals in the financial district are responding to recent economic uncertainties roiling their corporate clientele. Some are also offering shorter, cheaper personal training sessions and, in at least one health club, quiet discounts for members who lose their jobs.

Amid layoffs, concerns about staying buff could seem trivial. (Imagine the headline “World Markets Near Collapse: Muscle Tone Under Threat.) Yet, businesspeople themselves wonder how a perilous financial climate will affect their physical fitness — and if exercise could help them weather hard times.

Some struggle to squeeze in any workouts at all. But others, like Amy Sturtevant, an investment director for Oppenheimer & Company in Washington, find themselves doubling down on conditioning for relief. “Professionals are doing their best not to panic, but I know a lot of professionals who are panicking” about the markets, she said. “The only way to get away from it is to have some kind of outlet.”

Ms. Sturtevant, a mother of four, is training for her fourth marathon. With brokerage clients needing more hand-holding, she said, she stints on sleep rather than skip her 5 a.m. daily boot camp and 20-mile weekend runs.

But one of Ms. Sturtevant’s training partners, a portfolio manager, said in an e-mail message that she had not been as diligent as Ms. Sturtevant and had been “scarce” at their workouts. The portfolio manager said she had weathered some tough financial cycles, “but this one has been uniquely disabling.”

“Forget the 5 o’clock wake-up to run,” she wrote. “Who is sleeping?”

One business owner, Sheri David, is backsliding for business reasons. As chief executive of Impressions on Hold, a company based in New York that sells corporate voicemail systems, a tougher sales environment has meant Ms. David sees more of her customers and less of her personal trainer. Over the summer, she dropped from five sessions a week to three; by mid-September, she said, “it turned into one day for one hour.”

Her trainer, Chris Hall, chides Ms. David to make time and, when she does, to tune out her BlackBerry, she reported. “But I say, ‘You don’t understand — there’s 27,000 reasons I have to pay attention,’ ” referring to her accounts.

For his part, Mr. Hall — whose clients have included Catherine Zeta-Jones — is now offering 30-minute, “high-core, high-intensity” sessions and shared workouts, he said, “because people don’t necessarily have as much time as they used to, and they don’t want to spend as much money.”

According to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, there are 41.5 million health club members in the United States. To keep them on the roster, clubs may be willing to bargain. Most customers who quit the Telos Fitness Center in Dallas, for example, must pay to rejoin. But, for suddenly strapped longtime members, “I’ll put a note in their file and we’ll let them pick up their membership without any fees,” said Clarisa Duran, the center’s sales and marketing director.

For Plus One, which operates in-house fitness centers, corporate accounts are the issue; until recently, its major accounts included the investment banks Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Though still operating in all of those except Bear Stearns (which closed in March), the company now must look to its recent expansion in other regions and industries for growth, said Tom Maraday, the senior vice president. (Google is one new client.)

“We’re a little experienced with stress because we went through 9/11 down here,” said Grace DeSimone, Plus One’s national director of group fitness. When disaster strikes, she noted, demand for yoga goes up, and on-site gyms exert a special pull: “People come and they want someone to talk to — it’s like Cheers.”

And, as in a bar, the televisions stay on. “In the banks, we have to keep the news on,” Mr. Maraday said. But at Cadence Cycling and Multisport Centers, TV’s show training videos rather than CNBC, because “we want this to be an escape,” said Mikael Hanson, director of performance for Cadence in New York.

During the Bear Stearns collapse, as becalmed financiers sought their escape, midday classes at the in-house gym grew crowded, according to a former Bear Stearns trader who declined to be named. When the final ax fell, they lost not just jobs but access to a club offering “everything,” she recalled, a hint of longing in her voice.

“They even gave you the shirts and shorts so you didn’t have to worry about laundry.” Now she can no longer get in her daily 5:30 a.m. workout. Her new employer has no gym and, with the markets erupting, her workday starts even earlier. “I wish there was a gym that opened at 5 in midtown,” the trader said, “but there isn’t.”

Stephanie Shemin Feingold misses a cushy fitness center, too. Since leaving a Midtown law firm in June to work at a nonprofit in Harlem, she’s been using her apartment building’s spartan fitness room. “When there are only three treadmills, it can get crowded pretty quickly,” she said.

“I’m lucky if I get in 20 minutes instead of the hour I used to do,” Ms. Shemin Feingold said. “My pants are getting tight. I’m going to have to figure out a new routine, because I can’t afford a new wardrobe.”

Fitness matters more than ever if you’re laid off, career counselors advise, not just for health, but to network and stay positive. “The last thing you want is to gain 20 pounds during a job search, ” said Dr. Jan Cannon, author of “Finding a Job in a Slow Economy.” “That just compounds that sense of, ‘What’s wrong with me?’ ”

Exercise, she added, can also spur creativity. “You know how we always have those ‘aha’ moments in the shower?” Dr. Cannon said. In the same way, “a good brisk walk can be very helpful.”

Jenny Herring, a Des Moines financial writer, usually walks or bikes for respite from the fulltime job search she began in June, after being downsized as part of the subprime mortgage fallout. But one day last month, feeling frustrated when her phone refused to ring, she varied the routine: “I said, I’m going to get outside, and I mowed the front and back yards” for exercise.

For a motivated few, extra time for conditioning actually proves a rare upside of unemployment. “A lot of people who are between jobs are using this downtime to go after a goal,” like a triathlon, said Mr. Hanson of Cadence Cycling.

Dr. Cannon recalled a client whose workouts last spring “got more frequent as time went on” — to block out the disappointment, and to give her something to get up and do every day.

“She lost 40 pounds.”

 

Top ten tips for running safely

Poor running technique means that you are not using your body efficiently. Biomechanical inefficiencies lead to repetitive motions which put unnecessary strain on bone, joints, ligaments and muscles and increase the likelihood of injury.

1.    Above all, run tall and keep your body relaxed.  And stay alert and aware of your surroundings.

2.    Hold your head erect and don’t stick your chin out – this will create tension in your shoulders. Look ahead, scanning the horizon, not at your feet. Keep the back of your neck and spine in a straight line, perpendicular to the ground. Leaning forward may lead to lower back strain.  Leaning back will cause pronounced heal strike (see below), which will put your joints at risk.

3.    Watch out for rounded or hunched shoulders and for ‘shrugging’ when you run. Keep them square and relaxed. Tense, raised shoulders will slow you down, waste energy and prevent your lungs from expanding to their fullest range, thereby depriving your muscles of oxygen.

4.    Keep your arms relaxed at your sides with elbows flexed at 90º. Let your arms swing freely in a forwards/backwards motion ie. in the direction you are running and not laterally across your body. Don’t exaggerate the arm swing – as you bring one foot forward, swing the opposite hand forward and up just below sternum (mid-chest) level.

5.    Try to keep your hands in a relaxed fist, letting the thumbs rest on your index fingers and your finger tips gently connecting with your palms – clenched fists will create unnecessary tension throughout your whole body.

6.    Don’t twist in your midriff from side-to-side – this causes imbalances in your body, which place stress on all the major joint areas. This is also extremely inefficient as it displaces your forward momentum sideways. The same goes for a bouncing gait – it displaces your momentum upwards.

7.    The knees and feet should be aligned generally in a straight-ahead direction.

8.    Take short steps and land your feet approximately under your body/hips with each stride. If your lower leg lands ahead of the knee, you are over striding and increasing your risk of injuries. Keep your knees slightly bent at all times and do not lift them too high.

9.    Don’t strike the ground with your toes. Instead, strike softly with your midfoot and roll through to your forefoot smoothly.  A heel to toe foot strike means that the leg is straight when the heel makes contact with the floor sending the shock directly into your back and causing you to lose speed as you literally brake each time your foot lands. This is bad for your joints and affects your speed.

10.    Reduce your times by increasing pace/cadence (number of steps per minute) rather than stride length. As mentioned above overstriding increases the likelihood of injury.

These are general guidelines. For individual training programmes and recommendations, consult a personal trainer or physiotherapist.

 

You don’t need to go to the gym to get fit

By: Carol Bardelli

Home gyms are nice but not necessary to get fit.

The CTV.ca News Staff (article link) and other news sources including Reuters reported that new research from the University of Maryland School of Medicine suggests that a predisposition to obesity may be as easy to overcome as spending a few hours a week at the gym. This study found that study subjects performing a high level of physical activity basically counteract effects of gene mutations that predisposes them to obesity. The findings were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Did they really need to go to a gym to accomplish this? Probably not.

When we exercise – be it aerobic activity or anaerobic resistance training – our bodies don't care how or where we get it done. After you stimulate a muscle it doesn't second guess whether it should grow based on whether you used top of the line dumbbells, an expensive space age machine, or you simply used your own body for resistance and did push ups or pull ups.

Your cardiovascular system doesn't give a hoot whether you got your running done on a $5000 treadmill or a free track at a public park. And your fat cells will not refuse to release fat for fuel based on whether your caloric deficit was achieved at a high end gym or in your own garage.

I'd like to point you to some free workout sources in this segment. Our budgets and saving money are on most of our minds these days. Even in better economic times I've heard people use lack of money as an excuse not to work out.

It's time to debunk the myth you must spend a lot of dough to keep from looking like the Pillsbury dough boy. Free workout resources are out there and available to nearly all of us. When my son was a preschooler, he and I got in the habit of listening to the radio in the morning and dancing to the music. Most forms of dance are great aerobics workouts. And if you dance in your kitchen like we do you don't even have to be good at it. You can also dance to television shows like VH1 Jump Start and MTV You Rock The Deuce.

Other free workout opportunities are available in many community parks. Check out walking trails, bike paths, free fitness courses like Tai Chi, and guided workout stations in your city. Guided workout stations generally have instructions posted on signs for each exercise. These exercises typically include resistance training like push ups and pull ups.

If you subscribe to cable or satellite services many carry FitTV network which broadcasts a wide variety of guided workout programs for up to four hours a day. We absolutely love Gilad Bodies In Motion, Total Body Sculpt With Gilad, and all their other exercise programs which include aerobics, yoga, stretching, resistance training and more. ESPN Classic has exercise programs including Kiana's Flex Appeal and Denise Austin's Getting Fit. If you're already paying for it why not make use of it.

Online workout resources include websites with free exercise videos and demonstrations including one I plan to review for you soon. You can also find guides online for learning isometrics and calisthenics. These two forms of resistance training require only your body and another surface like a wall or floor as a piece of exercise equipment. Check out the Bodybuilding.com Article 'New Age Isometric Training’ by Kelly Baggett on two types of isometric exercises, yielding and overcoming isometrics, including sample exercises.

YouTube has many well executed exercise demonstrations. If you don't know how to perform certain exercises (ie. bicep curls, squats, push ups) and can't afford sessions with a personal trainer these videos can be just as educational.

You really can get fit without ever stepping foot in a gym. Any of the examples above are a great place to start.

Always consult you physician before starting any exercise program.

The Runner’s Diet

Build your own custom video playlist at embedr.com

As a runner, your diet is important not only for maintaining good health, but also to promote peak performance. Proper nutrition and hydration can make or break a workout or race, and also greatly affects how you feel, work and think. A balanced diet for healthy runners should include these essentials: carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals.

 

  Runner's Diet Books  

   This collection is a must-have for every runners.

 

 

 

Endurance Nutrition   Nutrition expert and ultra endurance cyclist, Steve Born of Hammer Nutrition, answers these and many other questions inside Endurance Nutrition. Gain top advice on how you can dramatically improve your training, racing and health through a simple, well thought out endurance nutrition plan. Steve puts it all together with easy-to-follow steps that endurance athletes of all levels can understand. From his 5 keys to a healthy eating strategy to his advice on pre-race and post-workout meal strategies, you'll find something that will take your endurance performance to the next level. (DVD) approx. 45 mins.

 

The Paleo Diet Cookbooks   The Paleo Diet for Athletes, which is based on clinical, nutritional, and historical science. Subtitled "A Nutritional Formula for Peak Athletic Performance" this is an athletes diet that will improve and enhance your performance at all levels. Should you be eating like the cavemen? Read the article by Runner's World

 

 

TRAIN LIKE THE PROS – WITH A PRO

Diet and nutrition is important for everyone but it is especially important for runners. Having a proper diet which is well balanced and follows guidelines provided for good health can help a runner to stay in good shape but some runner may also have other specific dietary needs which help the runner to train properly and excel in his sport.

Unlike other fitness programs, once you join, you will receive your own online personal trainer (certified) and a proven nutrition and fitness system for reaching your goals priced at a fraction of traditional face-to-face personal training. 

 

 

 

Eating For Energy A complete diet and fitness program with a focus on raw foods. Learn the Astonishing Nutritional Truths That You'll Never Hear From the Medical Establishment, Dietitians, or Even Your Doctor. Thousands of Years of Real Life Proof, and Nature's Secrets to Abundant Health, Revealed for the First Time! The Eat for Energy program promises to help you lose weight, rid yourself from chronic health ailments, increase your energy and improve your overall wellness. The program was created by kinesiologist, personal trainer, motivational speaker, nutritionist and raw foodist, Yuri Elkaim. Eat for Energy is a very healthy way of eating Promotes eating plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes Facilitates weight loss Environmentally-friendly diet Creator is experienced and educated in nutrition

 

 

Food Matters DVD While this is not realy a diet for runners, FoodMatters movie illustrates how nutrition is a safe, simple, cheap, and an effective way to prevent disease, improve the quality of your life, and even cure disease. This journey reveals why a back to basics approach to eating and life can keep you healthy and disease free late into life. Hope and inspiration are built in to this film. Words from experts and case studies on nutrition make the viewer want to know more. This movie is fast paced, with comical flashbacks to 1950’s clips of films on doctor’s and drugs. Interview clips inform without being wordy.

 

 

Why buy from me?   I review all my products with great care. Only the best one are selected for you. Fitness is my primary passion since years. You can be confident that I associate my name only with reputable products that are proven to be effective.   Ray Gill Owner of myfitnessdepot.com

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The metabolism is one of the most understood processes of the human body. You may have even made the mistake of thinking it was a body part! (It’s not) And the lack of information is leaving people confused.

Each year, tens of millions of people attempt to retake control over their health and the shape of their body; and each year, tens of millions of people feel that they’ve "failed" because, try as they might, they just can’t speed up their metabolism.

This book is the antidote to that way of thinking and feeling, because the perceived failure is not a failure in any of these hard working dieters and exercisers (of which you may be one). The failure is with the medical and nutritional sector as a whole, which has simply not provided people with the information that they need to know in order to speed up their metabolism!

 

Who Else Wants To Boost Their Metabolism To Levels Never Experienced Before And Shed Pounds At A Rapid Pace?

The best time to start changing your financial habits for the better is when you are faced with a lack-of-cash emergency. Suddenly your faced with the fact that something needs to change if you are ever going to be financially free.

Within my 51 page guide, "How To Boost Your Metabolism," you’ll discover the truth on how to speed up your metabolism with simple changes to exercise, diet, and daily life. The report is 100% downloadable and you can be reading in just minutes from now…

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• What metabolism is and what metabolism isn’t. ( Page 8 )

• How metabolism helps you (in ways you’ve never thought of). ( Pages 8-11 )

• The truth behind calories and how your body deals with them (it’s the same with fruit as with ice cream). ( Pages 11-14 )

• How anyone can speed up their metabolism by making changes in these 3 areas of their life. ( Page 18 )

• The place to start when trying to boost your metabolism through exercise. ( Page 19 )

• Why jogging isn’t enough to boost your metabolism and lose weight by itself. ( Page 20 )

• The secret to burning more calories while you sit around doing nothing. ( Page 21 )

• Interval training as your secret weapon for fitness (and burning extra calories). ( Pages 22-25 )

• How the most health-conscious add variety to their fitness routines (for better results). ( Pages 25-28 )

• How wine with dinner can help you lose the battle over your metabolism. ( Pages 29-30 )

• Why getting just the right amount of sleep can help your metabolism grow strong (Plus 6 tricks for getting to sleep on time). ( Pages 30-32 )

• Will learning to relax turn into one of your best weapons for fighting a slow metabolism? The truth is revealed… ( Pages 32-33 )

• Why most people are wrong about how they look at calories. ( Pages 35-37 )

• How to stay within your calorie limit and still get the proper nourishment. ( Page 37 )

• The secret to eating more to weigh less. ( Pages 37-38 )

• Experts choose to eat early in the day for this reason. ( Page 39 )

• Breakfasts that will only make you more hungry later – and you should avoid. ( Page 40 )

• This type of food takes more energy to breakdown (burning more calories) – and you should get your hands on some. ( Page 41 )

• Why a trip to the grocery store can be an adventure even for the health conscious. ( Page 41 )

• The truth about carbohydrates (once adored by weight watchers)! ( Pages 42-43 )

And there’s MUCH more – guaranteed!

 

Do You Make These Mistakes With Your Diet And Lifestyle?

Many people start jogging when they decide to lose weight…

…not knowing that jogging by itself just doesn’t cut it. On page 20, I’ll explain how you can add to your jogging routine (it doesn’t take much) to finally speed up your metabolism.

In fact, you’ll even learn how to change your jogging style to instantly increase (substantially) how many calories you burn each time out. ( Page 22 )

If you’re drinking wine or having a beer with dinner. There’s something you need to know that could be keeping you from losing weight. (It doesn’t have to do with how many calories you’re consuming) When you read pages 29-30 of my guide, you won’t be mistaking the same mistakes others make.

When you get my guide, you’ll be able to start speeding up your metabolism from day one. No longer will you have to blame your extra pounds on a slow metabolism.

In 51 pages, I break everything down for you. So you can start making a change today. If you were to hire a personal trainer to give you all this information, it’d cost you $50/hour for many hours.

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Click the link below and get my free report today. Start to look through it and then decide for yourself. Decide if it looks different to you. Like you’re finally getting information that will change your life and help give your metabolism a boost.

 

 

Thanks for reading,

Ray Gill

P.S. The secret of boosting your metabolism to shed pounds effortlessly! When you get my guide today, you’ll learn practical ways to raise your metabolism starting right away. All you have to do is scroll up to see all the ways you can start improving your life today.

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