December 24, 2013

Ask the Expert – Blake Worrall-Thompson

With a new year just around the corner, resolutions and new starts are top of mind. TodaysFitnessTrainer.com has searched the globe for the “right” person to be a role model for a “new you” in the new year! Blake Worrall-Thompson, one of Australia’s leading health and fitness professionals, knows all about living a healthy, well-rounded and balanced life. As a celebrity trainer on “Eat Yourself Sexy” (on FOXTEL’s LifeStyle You channel) and contributing author to leading publications, including: Cosmopolitan, InStyle, CLEO, and Fitness First Magazine, he joins the TodaysFitnessTrainer.com team in sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience in helping people get fit and healthy for life!

Blake Worrall-Thompson – 12 Things I Do to Stay Fit and Healthy

As a personal trainer I think it’s important to lead by example if you want to have a positive influence on your clients. Below is a list of 12 things I do to stay fit and healthy:

1. Eat 5 to 6 times a day.

With most days turning out to be 16-hour days on my feet, I like to feed regularly but eat smaller portions. Read more.

December 22, 2013

Holiday HIIT “Fat Burning” Workout

TFT HolidayEggnog500x500 300x300 Holiday HIIT Fat Burning Workout Now that we’re in the middle of the holiday season, sharing time with family and friends (and more turkey and stuffing than we can possibly handle) it can get even harder to fit in a regular workout to combat the expanding waistline! No need to worry because TodaysFitnessTrainer.com has enlisted the help of Marcelo Vazquez, ACSM certified personal trainer and developer of Spin-Fit™ programs for youth. The Holiday HIIT “Fat Burning” Workout is a quick ten minutes of high-intensity of exercise that can be done several times a day (3 to 5 times is recommended), which is ideal to burn calories in between chocolate chip cookies and glasses of holiday punch! Read more.

December 19, 2013

Ask the Expert – ViPR Basics

inShare

ViPR bridges the gap between movement and strength training by combining full-body movement with external load

“Ask the Expert” is a series is designed to identify well-respected professionals in various fields related to health, fitness and wellness and get their expert opinion on questions relating to their field of expertise. The topic of this edition of “Ask the Expert” is ViPR and Loaded Movement Training. ViPR bridges the gap between movement and strength training and combines full body movement with load. Loaded Movement Training with ViPR effectively challenges and conditions muscle, soft tissue, the central nervous system, and other systems of the body. Science has shown many times over that moving with load improves balance, agility and dynamic strength, resulting in weight management, improved functionality in daily life and enhanced performance in sport. Read more.

December 12, 2013

Get Motivated – Words of Wisdom for Inspired Workouts (Vol. 2)

Get Motivated! (vol. 2)

The “GET MOTIVATED!” series includes words of wisdom to help people of all fitness backgrounds get back on track and ready for their best fitness performance (at home, in the gym, or out on the field). Getting ready and excited to exercise isn’t always easy (actually, it rarely is). To help you get off the couch, to the gym, and giving your absolute BEST effort, the second installment to the series includes the following inspirational messages:

Have a positive attitude.
Get back up and start again.
Surround yourself with supportive people.
Pay attention to your nutrition.
Make your workouts fun!
Use music to “boost” your workout.
Be accountable.
Be patient.
Appreciate the lessons you learn.
Be consistent with your workouts.
Don’t be afraid of change.
Clear your mind of “can’t”.
Tap into you inner “beast”.

Ask the Author – The Business of Personal Training

Successful personal trainers are continually learning new things and adding to their knowledge to stay ahead of the game. Unfortunately, their job requires a significant amount of time in the day, leaving very little spare time for developing greater knowledge to better their business. In an effort to help, TodaysFitnessTrainer.com has developed the “Ask the Author” series.

“Ask the Author” is focused on getting a different perspective directly from authors of fitness-oriented books and publications. This segment features the author of the new book, “The Business of Personal Training: Essential Guide for the Successful Personal Trainer”. Read more.

December 4, 2013

5 Traits of Great Personal Trainers

You can’t tell a great personal trainer by looks alone

Looking for a personal trainer is a lot like buying a new car. If you are looking for a safe and reliable car, you go to your local dealership where there are several inspected and certified models for sale. You look around the lot and find a car that looks right. You check out the specifications, built-in options, and any awards the vehicle may be known for (i.e., Kelly Blue Book or J.D. Power and Associates), which is taped to the backseat window. When you think you’ve narrowed it down to one or two, you take it for a test drive (10 minutes or so). When you think you’ve found the right one, you sign on the dotted line and drive the car off the lot. Read more.

November 26, 2013

Bodyweight Training for Muscle Growth – The Basics

TFT ChinUp334x500 200x300 Bodyweight Training for Muscle Growth The Basics Bodyweight training is an amazing mode of exercise for promoting total body conditioning (i.e. strength, endurance, flexibility, balance, and coordination). Unfortunately, if building muscle mass and size is important to you, this mode of training is not the fastest or easiest way to accomplish your goal. Regardless, it can be done and requires very specific focus and attention to training technique and a good understanding of the body to get maximum results. The “Bodyweight Training for Muscle Growth” series will provide valuable information on how to maximize your bodyweight workouts for optimal results. Read more.

November 18, 2013

Fitness Tip of the Day #10

Music makes exercise more enjoyable and has been proven to benefit overall performance

Fitness Tip of the Day:

Keep your music list current (and between 120 and 140 beats per minute) when you need a workout “boost”!

There’s no denying it! Music is a secret weapon to getting a great workout and making the time in the gym seem to go by a little bit faster. That’s why fitness clubs have music blasting in the background, group fitness classes are choreographed to music, and the majority of club members are wearing white earbuds as “standard uniform” in the cardio area and on the workout floor. Read more.

November 15, 2013

Fitness Industry Trends for 2014

ACSM Fitness Trends2014 231x300 Fitness Industry Trends for 2014

The eighth annual Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends was recently released by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) as a prediction of the top 20 fitness trends for 2014. Fitness industry trends are a reflection of the current needs and expectations of the general population. The definition of trend includes the phase “general development”, as opposed to a “fad”, which is described as “a fashion that is taken up with great enthusiasm for a brief period”. Over the past eight years, the editors of the ACSM Health and Fitness Journal have developed an electronic survey distributed to nearly 30,000 fitness professionals worldwide to determine trends in the industry. These surveys identify trends in the fitness industry in four sectors:

Commercial (for-profit fitness clubs, gyms and specialty studios)
Clinical (medical fitness centers, hospital fitness facilities)
Community (YMCA, JCC, not-for-profit facilities)
Corporate (wellness programs, onsite fitness facilities)

Finding a Personal Trainer – Interviewing the Candidate

It’s New Year’s Resolution time and many of us break out our workout clothes and dusty sneakers, motivated to get back in shape and fit into our “skinny” clothes. For those of us who need more than just access to a fitness club, personal trainers are a great option to get motivated, stay on track and get the results we are looking to achieve.

But like all things, no two personal trainers are alike. With over 250,000 personal trainers in the US, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the quality and level of expertise can run the gamut. Read more.

Todays Fitness Trainer

Physical exercise