Is Weight Training a Collision Sport? Can a Fitness Trainer Make it Safer?

   There is a certain element of risk involved with sports and fitness activity. Collision sports such as football are responsible for frequent severe injuries and even deaths. However, even non-contact sports can be dangerous.
   Activities such as bicycling hold inherent risk because of issues of speed, balance, hazardous terrain, and  inattentive or hostile car drivers. Runners and walkers must also be wary of traffic as well as the threat of domestic dogs that turn into junkyard mongrels at the sight of bony human legs in motion. You could argue that any activity carries risk. Swimmers can drown! Skiers can fall!  Canadian women soccer players seem to brush off soccer wounds but in other parts of the world even a slight, unseen bump can leave a male player writhing in pain on death's doorstep! It must really hurt.
   How about some of my former avocations?

• Hockey - a high speed collision sport! Even as I graduated to old-timers, non-contact hockey the hurts were there. You just weren't expecting the hit when it came.
• What about my beloved amateur wrestling? Well, a basic set up move is to use a slapping motion to snap your opponent's head forward and down. Need I say more?
• Slow-pitch recreational softball - Someone once forgot the base bags and I blew out my ankle sprinting to 1st base. 
• Track and field - I was a middle distance runner. Okay, a scrawny miler isn't going to instill fear in your heart as he elbows you for position, but a wound from a track shoe spike can do damage. Field events such as high jump can make for a scary landing. There is a discussion about mandatory helmets for pole vaulters You don't want to misstep on a hurdle. Don't even think about wandering through the infield when a javelin, discus or shot put implement is flying through the sky. In high school crowds would migrate to the steeple chase water pit during a race to watch the potential train wreck.

   An outsider might presume that a weight room would would be a haven for hazardous happenings.
Iron is flung about with ferocious force! Muscle bound behemoths are suddenly distracted by spandex princesses in mid-lift. (Okay, maybe that was more in the 1980's. Spandex is passe now.)
Medicine balls are tossed around with grunting force. Muscles are manipulated to the max!
There must be an accident lurking behind every Nautilus machine!
   Actually in all of my time in the weight room, I have only witnessed 3 accidents of note.

1. One lifter was doing seated front barbell presses. He dislocated his collarbone. He wailed like a banshee until an ambulance carted him away.
2. A wandering muscle man was casting side glances at a nearby women's aerobics class when he walked eyeball first into the handle of a lat pull-down machine. He shook it off as he shouted blasphemous slogans to all 12 apostles. Mr. testament mouth wound up with a severe shiner and some wounded pride.
3. Somehow a woman got her fingers jammed between the weight plates of a machine. She too screamed to the heavens and went to emergency. Fortunately, no digits were severed.

   It should be noted that the 1st incident could have been preventable with proper technique or the guidance of a Fitness Trainer. The 2nd and 3rd incidents were due to lack of attentiveness. Always be aware of what is happening around you in a weight room setting!
   Now, I will not deny that there is risk in iron land. Three exercises in particular can be hazardous:

1. Bench presses can be hard on shoulder joints and deadly on the neck. Never lift heavy without a spotter. I've been stuck and it's scary.
2. Barbell squats to the front or back can be hard on the spine. If you blow out a knee, the weight can collapse on to you.
3. Certain types of seated calf machines are designed so that it is difficult to rack the weight at full contraction.

With all three exercises, either use a weight well within your range or have an assistant present to spot you.

For Fitness Trainers, safety is crucial at all times. You do NOT want an accident to happen to a client under your watch! Always take the following precautions:

• Watch your client like a hawk during training.
• Avoid distractions while working with a client.
• Ensure proper lifting technique at all times.
• Follow proper safety standards.
• Always watch to be sure that the environment is free of potential hazards.
• Know the safety protocol at whatever facility that you are using as your base.
• Keep your own first aid and CPR current and updated.
• Use common sense.
• Avoid the following;.....Distraction, Inattentiveness, Showboating.

   There seems to be a trend in newer fitness centers to have rules forbidding any ballistic lifting.This basically rules out any Olympic style lifts which should  form the backbone for any sports related training. (Conversely, a breed of clubs such as Cross Fit have done the opposite and focused on ballistic lifts.) The fear is that ballistic training is dangerous and is not worth the risk.
The risk can be mostly nullified with proper supervision. A good compromise is to set aside a corner of the facility for ballistic lifting. Proper equipment and flooring would be a must. Members should be instructed in proper technique and procedure. The section must be properly watched by knowledgeable staff. Unfortunately many fitness centers set membership sales as their sole priority. Setting up a properly monitored area

Distraction!   Inattentiveness!  Showboating!
Accidents can happen if you're not careful!

 for Olympic style lifts is usually low on their wish list.
   Remember, think safety first in the weight room! It does not have to be a dangerous place.

Until next time,........keep fit! 

Little Bobby Strong









Links
schwabe27.uwmfatloss.hop.clickbank.net
AudienceBuilder.ca
www.fitnwell.com


 

Canadian Cyclist Admits to Doping

It doesn't seem to shock me anymore! About a month or so ago another professional endurance bicyclist has admitted to doping. This time it was a Canadian - the best Canadian male cyclist of the last decade. Ryder Hesjedal was outed in a book written by former Danish pro cyclist Michael Rasmussen called 'Yellow Fever'  ('Gul Feber' in Danish).  Rasmussen claims that he observed Ryder Hesjedal partaking of endurance enhancing doping products when they were teammates.
   Ryder Hesjedal. came out and admitted to the allegations - in a way. He claims that he tried performance enhancing substances for a short time about ten years ago. He then realized the error of his ways and has not doped since then. This may be a partial truth! It's like the mayor of Toronto admitting that he did smoke crack - but only once while under the seductive influence of the Rum Goddess.
   Like the party-loving mayor, Ryder H. may be confessing but only to the sins that have been discovered. Only the tip of the iceberg appears above the water. There is much lurking down below in the darkness of the deep.
   Let us look at the facts:

• Ryder Hesjedal. won the Giro d'Italia in 2012.
• Ryder Hesjedal. was contending in the Tour de France the same year. He had to drop out due to injury. The Tour de France is the summit event of professional endurance bicycling.
• Ryder Hesjedal won the Lionel Conacher Award in 2013 as Canada'a best male athlete.

   Are we to believe that Ryder Hesjedal. only took performance enhancing drugs 10 years ago. Eight years later he has his best year ever in endurance cycling. Sorry, but it just doesn't work that way!
Ryder Hesjedal was also a member of Lance Armstrong's Discovery team a few years back. I suppose every one else on Lance's team was dirty except him!
   Don't get me wrong. I like the guy. He seems humble and personable. He is also trying to succeed in a sport in which the culture of doping runs deep. I suspect that a Tour de France aspirant isn't going to make the team without chemical enhancement. You either join the program or quit!
    I remember a triple jumper from Edmonton, Alberta failing a doping test in the early 1990's. He was a heck of a nice kid. He was a perennial Canadian Champion but he kept missing out on making World Championship or Olympic teams. The standards were too tough. The standards, of course, were based on the results of the world's top triple jumpers.Many of them were likely juiced and helped drive the qualifying standards to an impossible level. My triple jumping acquaintance finally got sick of working his butt off and missing out. He got on the program and made the World Championship and Olympic teams. Then he got busted. To his credit, he admitted to it all - not just some of it.
   What I don't like are these partial truths. Olympic sprinter Marion Jones didn't juice before 2000. A Rod only took P.E.D.'s one winter in the Dominican Republic at the urging of his 'cousin'.  Give me a break!  Love him or hate him, at least Jose Canseco admitted to a long history of PED use.

   For many years the Canadian bodybuilding gurus, Joe and Ben Weider, petitioned to have bodybuilding admitted as an Olympic sport. The reason for rejection was usually said to be that posing on a stage was more art than sport. However, the rampant use of steroids at bodybuilding's top levels probably scared the International Olympic Committee the most. Yet other sports continue to operate under dark clouds of suspicion. Track and field, endurance cycling, and weightlifting endure scandal after scandal. Amateur wrestling runs mostly scandal free but got dropped from the Olympics before finally being reinstated!  I don't get it! This brings up some points of debate:

• Could there be an argument to allow these Performance Enhancing Drugs and hire a multitude of doctors to try and keep the risks minimal?
• The users usually seem to be a step ahead of the testers
• Spectators and fans want to see the phenomenal performances no matter how they were achieved.
• There are those who will protest this point of view for moral, ethical and medical reasons.
• Would you rather have your legal age kids on steroids and doing sports at a high level or doing narcotics and hanging with the riff raff? 
• I like track and field, cycling and weightlifting as a fanatical spectator. I don't want them dropped. I love watching them! There are many like me.

I don't have the absolute answers. I just like to provoke a discussion on a topic that seems to have no conclusion in sight!

One other thing. If you are a Fitness Trainer and get involved in the world of Performance Enhancing Drugs you are hovering like a fly - waiting for the windshield on the freeway!


Until next time,...........keep fit!

Little Bobby Strong

Professional endurance bicycling has a long history of  tainted  performers and unscrupulous handlers overstepping the boundaries of fairness with questionable substances and illicit elixirs !

 Links
schwabe.uwmfatloss.hop.clickbank.net
AudienceBuilder.ca
www.fitnwell.com

    

Did the Jolly Fat Man Hire A Convicted Steroid Dealer as a Fitness Trainer?

Yes you read the title right. We'll get back to that later. It's all connected. I figured that it would get your attention.

   Suppose that you are a potential client. What should you look for in a Fitness Trainer?
How should you screen out Fitness Trainers that may not meet your expectations so you don't wind up like the jolly Fat Man with a Fitness Trainer of a dubious past?
 
   Let's start with the qualities and criteria that an interested fitness buyer should focus on:

• Credentials - Ideally you want a Fitness Trainer that has the education, certification, and experience that would make them a good investment for your money
• Insurance - Confirm that the Fitness Trainer or the Fitness Center has liability coverage in case something does go wrong and you wind up injured or in cardiac arrest because of potential negligence.
• Affordability - You may need to get fit but not at the cost of going into financial debt. Insist on signing up for shorter term contracts that will not break you. Don't get sucked in beyond your means.
• Convenience - The Fitness Trainer should be able to schedule you in at reasonable hours. if you are skipping off work early to make sessions you may wind up looking for another means of employment. If you are compromising family time to make sessions you may wind up getting a cold shoulder from a significant other. This is another reason to insist on a short beginner's contract as a trial before signing n long term.
• Safety - You want to ensure that your well being will be a priority along with your fitness.
• Compatibility - Your fitness sessions will be more palatable if the trainer is more in tune with your personality type. A dead serious client with absolutely no sense of humor would be best served by someone other than me as their Trainer.
• Individual Customization - The Trainer must be willing to tailor the fitness sessions to what YOU personally need to succeed in your fitness goals. A generic cookie cutter fitness program is not the answer to what will work for you.
• Initial assessment and fitness evaluation - If the prospective Fitness Trainer wants to jump right into training without this step walk away fast!
• Get references if possible. Ask around with other clients.

   You may note that I did not include appearance. For some prospective clients this may be very important. I suppose that a sloppy demeanor could be a warning sign. However a Fitness Trainer may look somewhat casual or be less that physically buffed  but be a very knowledgeable and effective practitioner. Conversely someone else may be very professional in appearance and athletically built but be a disaster as a trainer. Try to look beyond the superficial!  

Watch out for these red flags:

• Vague or questionable credentials. 
• Less than stellar references
• Lack of professionalism, e.g. tardiness, lack of attentiveness, acting like they are too busy for you, poor preparation, no fitness studio or fitness club to work out at (believe me - it happens),  bullying mannerisms. 
• Suggestions of inappropriate behavior. Women clients especially, but not exclusively, should be cautious about one-on-one sessions at the Trainer's house, a secluded private studio, or a visit to your own home to train.  Do your research! If possible get references and trust your instincts. Unfortunately there can be some sleazy people in this profession. Also be wary of a Trainer wanting before and after pictures of you wearing something like black lingerie. Trust me- I've heard of such stories!
• Fitness Trainer's that make you feel like a cash cow and constantly cajole you to purchase extra features apart from the Fitness Trainer package or purchase fitness sessions beyond your means. Some Fitness Trainers may be always pushing you to shell out money for costly food supplements.

   This last point brings us back to my title. A small minority of less than scrupulous fitness trainers have been known to push supplements that may come from the shadier side of the periodic table.

Canada's national newspaper, the Globe and Mail, has broken a story that the Jolly Fat Man has decided to lose weight. That's a good thing! The bad thing is that it is rumored that the jolly Fat Man may have obtained the services of a Fitness Trainer with a past history as a steroid dealer. Say it ain't so Saint Nick! 

   Wait a minute. We're not talking about Saint Nicholas who gives presents out at Christmas time.

We're talking about the other Jolly Fat man.  The honorable mayor of Toronto is also a Jolly Fat Man who has been known to make poor choices in the

Be wary of prospective Fitness Trainers or Fitness Centers that
treat you as though you are a money tree.
Your pockets likely aren't as deep as those of a certain Jolly Fat Man!

 people that he associates with. His camp denies that the Mayor has obtained the services of this
 particular Trainer. If he has obtained these services, this Trainer may have moved on from his past mistakes..It may be a positive partnership.

 Kudos for the mayor for having decided upon the path of active living!
Better that he should be sucking for oxygen  on a step machine than sucking for sickly
smoke from some street sorcerers stem of a pipe!

Here is the link from the Globe and Mail. It's a good read.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/11/20/rob-ford-fitness-consultant-a-convicted-steroid-trafficker-banned-from-coaching-in-canada/

Until next time, ...............keep fit!

Little Bobby Strong

Links
schwabe27.uwmfatloss.hop.clickbank.net
AudienceBuilder.ca
www.fitnwell.com

Fitness Breakthrough - A Pill in Place of Exercise?

   I came across something quite astonishing in the internet recently. The Salk Institute of Biological Studies is currently working on a pill that may have a groundbreaking effect. Supposedly the human body can be altered so that it will increase endurance and burn fat without resorting to exercise. Thus far, it has worked on lab mice. Scientists have been able to turn on the genetic machinery to enable the mice to automatically burn fat to create energy. The verdict is still out on whether or not this works effectively with humans. The studies suggest that it will.  This could turn the world of exercise science upside down! It could also have important implications for Fitness Trainers!
   This physiological manipulation increases the mitochondria of the slow twitch muscle fibers. More mitochondria means more fat burning and better oxygen utilization. More fat burning means a leaner body down the road.
   Think of what this could possibly lead to in the future:

• People with chronic issues that inhibit exercise may be able to get fit.
• The severely obese may be able to fast track their way to a healthier body without the stress of their weight on their joints.
• There may be benefits for AIDS or cancer patients.
• Endurance athletes could obtain superhuman stamina. 
• Sofa slugs can lose weight without leaving the sofa.

   On the negative side, there could be some potential pitfalls.

• There could be physical side effects. The studies are not that far evolved yet. Cancers or other bodily malfunctions could be a consequence of using the magic pill.
• Competitive endurance athletes may want to obtain this pill to cheat. The Salk Institute has actually collaborated with the World Anti Doping Agency to help identify this substance for testing.
• The sofa slug may lose weight and gain endurance but without a lifestyle change, the sedentary lifestyle will still leave them susceptible to other physical dysfunctions and ailments.

   As a Fitness Trainer, I always try to forecast how such potential breakthroughs may affect the profession.

Could such a future fast track to fitness mean a drop in demand for fitness professionals?

Fitness Trainers have managed to survive in spite of the availability of muscle building drugs such as anabolic steroids and Human Growth Hormone. An optimistic view would be that Fitness Training could survive and adapt to a fat burning stamina pill. Besides, the people that seek out Trainers also want things such as muscle tone, strength, health and well being.

    I strongly believe that Fitness Trainer's should not just be providing personal guidance to get fit. They should be providing an enjoyable, physically invigorating session of positive reinforcement. This sort of personal touch doesn't come in a pill.
  Treat your clients as though they

A pill for fat burning. No need for vigorous exercise.
The television remote will do the trick!
Will it be that easy in the future?

 are important!

This should help you weather any  
 potential scientific storm.

Until next time,.........keep fit!

Little Bobby Strong

   








Links
schwabe27.uwmfatloss.hop.clickbank.net
AudienceBuilder.ca
www.fitnwell.com