Sunday, May 22, 2011

Who do you rely on for quality information?

With the explosion of fitness and health magazines, it’s not surprising that many personal trainers and strength coaches get asked to write articles and provide their opinion on a range of current and relevant issues. This provides the opportunity for many professionals to gain great publicity and increase their profile and as a result increase their income. This was not available 20 years ago and has totally changed the way in which other professionals access and use information. The issue with this is that is some cases the person selected to contribute to the resource may not always be the ideal person to influence industry knowledge and standards.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Functional Movement Screen and Core Stability show no relationship to performance

I have long been doubtful about the value of core stability in strength training. Whilst I believe that motor control stability of each joint is a must for good health and performance, I have felt that the average personal trainer, fitness professional, and strength coach places too much emphasis on both functional movement and core stability in training programs. Both the strength coaching and fitness industry love gimmicks and many professionals in both industries need or persist in having the latest and greatest to use with clients as if to prove they are well educated, experienced or worthy of the dollars being paid for their services.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Resistance Training Is an Effective Tool against Metabolic and Frailty Syndromes

The evidence is overwhelming in support of the benefits of strength training towards many health related lifestyle diseases. This paper review the value of resistance training in managing and improving metabolic syndrome, and associated frailty issues. I always like reading reviews and this one is no exception. Whilst it saves a lot of time in reading and digesting large numbers of papers, there are always a few things to consider when reading reviews.