On The Edge Fitness Educators

What is a teleseminar?

2007-10-10T16:56:00.000-07:00

Growing up in the 1960's did not make learning technology any easier. I still remember typing on a manual typewriter. As a matter of fact I was a telex operator for a couple of years. Do any of you remember what that is?

Well things sure have come along way since then. Now we are technology that is changing so rapidly it's almost impossible to keep up. One such example is a Teleseminar. To be honest the first time I ever heard that word was at a conference I attended in the Spring 2007. Alex Mandosian, who is the king of the teleseminars is making a zillion dollars through his teleseminar series so of course I became interested in this product. First I had to understand what it was.

The basic anatomy of a teleseminar is that it is a live phone call or webcast. You are given an access code upon registration and you can either phone in, (long distance) or logon via the website. You listen to the presenter give their session and you can ask live questions or type in questions throughout the seminar. The presenter may send you a handout or ask you view a power point presentation during the session. It can be interactive and is great for theory based information or discussions.

I also liked the fact that you can listen in the comfort of your own home, you don't have to travel, pay for parking and best of all you can stay in your jammies. The last part really intrigued me.

Well to stay on the cutting edge I decided to offer teleseminars to my students and I am looking forward to receiving feedback on the process. I guess my only concern is that this technology is kind of new and maybe people are not really sure how it all works. I decided to offer the programs for only $20.00 so that people would try them out and not feel as though they were sacrificing alot of money.

Best of all the sessions are recorded which means you don't have to be present at the time of the presentation to get the benefits of the session. You can purchase the replay and listen it to at your convenience. I know this all sounds very foreign but try one out and let me know what you think. Check the website at http://www.edgefit.ca/ and click on TELESEMINARS to register.

Book Review - The Business Personal Training

2007-10-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

The Business of Personal Training
Written by : Scott O. Roberts et al.
ISBN: 0-87322-605-4

The Business of Personal Training was first published in 1996. It may have been one of the first books written on the subject. I am sure for its time it was a very useful resource for many new trainers as the personal training industry was only just starting to explode. However, there have been no further revisions since 1996 and therefore lacks an up-to-date feel. For instance, there is no mention of technology or internet marketing strategies for personal training. The book does cover fundamental business principles which may be useful for new trainers who are not familiar with business practices.

Each chapter is written by a different author specializing in their area of expertise. I am sure many of the authors probably have a lot more to share after over a decade since its publication. Part I briefly covers the history and origins of personal training. Part II dives into creating, marketing, managing and understanding the legal aspects of a personal training business. The concepts covered in this section are fairly rudimentary.

Part III deals with the personal part of personal training with an exploration of the client trainer relationship and psychology behind personal training. The entire length of the book is less then 150 pages so each chapter is very small. It was really hard to get into each section because each topic was covered very superficially.

The business of personal training has certainly come a long way since this book was first written. I would treat this resource as a very basic introduction to the business of personal training and perhaps look for a more up-to-date resource.

Oh what a difference a dog can make

2007-09-21T12:41:00.000-07:00

It was a year ago today that my husband and I welcomed Bailey into our lives. We debated for quite a long time whether or not we should get a dog. We are both very busy in our careers and with our own fitness so we weren't sure how we would adapt to this added responsibility.

Well it's been great. Bailey is a little trail dog and he runs with me everywhere. Since I live in North Vancouver, BC I spend most of my time running the local trails and now I have a buddy to run with all the time.

They say that people who own dogs are much healthier. Well they do need to be walked on a daily basis and they require alot of lovin, which is no problem. In return Bailey makes me laugh with all his quirky little habits. Laughing is good for the soul and the more we laugh the better.

If you do not own a dog you probably think I am alittle over the top writting about my dog. If you own a dog then will you automatically understand how a little furry creature can really enhance your life. I've only lost one pair of slippers so that's not so bad.

Book Review - Lifestyle Fitness Coaching

2007-09-03T12:00:00.002-07:00

Lifestyle Fitness Coaching
James Gavin
Human Kinetics
ISBN: 0-7360-5206-2

The On The Edge book club chose Lifestyle Fitness Coaching written by James Gavin for its July book of the month review. It is a very detailed book on the subject of Lifestyle Fitness Coaching which is a much needed topic for anyone working on-one-one.

Unfortunately, we found the book very difficult to get into and thus became kind of unmotivated to continue to read it. Although Gavin offers a lot of good information, the way in which he chose to write it made it difficult for the reader to really sink their teeth into the material.

We found it to be very wordy and not reader friendly. We all enjoyed the accompanying CD and agreed that we would continue to read each chapter but realized that we would be in no hurry to do so.

Book Review - Athletic Development

2007-09-03T12:00:00.001-07:00

Athletic Development
The Art & Science of Functional Sports Conditioning
Vern Gambetta
Human Kinetics
ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-5100-2

Anyone who works with athletes or advanced clients with a goal towards developing functional sport conditioning needs to read this book written by Vern Gambetta. In his book on Athletic Development, Gambetta uses his practical coaching expertise and experience to inform the reader about what factors to consider when developing athletes. Throughout his book he uses real life examples and shares his personal successes and is open about his failures. The book is definitely written with coaches in mind but I still found most of the material absolutely applicable to personal trainers.

If you are training predominantly beginner clients then perhaps you might want to give this book a miss. However, those trainers who are working with the extremely fit or athletic client would benefit from Gambetta’s knowledge on athletic development.

I found his views on effectively training the core to be very insightful. He also explains some of the history behind where these concepts originated from and how they may have been taken out of context from their original intent. Basically this book provides information on how to train an athlete from the ground up. The book contains two sections. Section one covers the Elements of a Training System and contains six chapters. Section two covers the Physical Contributors to Performance and contains seven chapters. Each chapter builds on the next until the reader has a complete picture of all the elements involved in developing a program for functional sport conditioning.

Pick up this book, you won’t be disappointed.

Book Review - Stretching Anatomy

2007-09-03T11:57:00.000-07:00

Stretching Anatomy
By; Arnold G. Nelson and Jouko Kokkonen
Published by: Human Kinetics
ISBN: 13:978-0-7360-5972-5

If you are like me and enjoy color illustrations and detailed anatomy then you will appreciate the thoroughness of this stretching book. Every muscle is labeled and you know exactly what is being stretched. It is a very simple guide and does not over load the reader with a lot of scientific information regarding the mechanisms of stretching. I believe the book can be used as a quick reference guide for the new fitness leader and may even be a good resource for the public.

Stretching Anatomy is divided into seven chapters, each focusing on a different area of the body to stretch. There are plenty of stretching examples for each muscle group all shown in a variety of different poses. At the end of each chapter there is a summary table indicating the muscle and what action it is responsible for. This can serve as a nice review for fitness professionals as muscle and actions tend to be hard to remember.

The only concerns I had with this resource were that some of the stretches seemed out dated and not current with the latest research on flexibility. I would have liked to have seen more supported stretches where the muscles were in a completely relaxed position. I am referring to the illustration of the gastrocnemius and soleus stretch where the heel was suspended from a step. Also, the neck stretches showed the model pulling on the head as apposed to supporting it.

Other then a few minor details I believe this would be a good addition to a new leaders’ library.

Teleworkshop Technology

2007-08-01T19:29:00.000-07:00

Wow to think that when I was in high school just 20 years ago we were still typing on typewriters. Technology certainly has come a long way since then. I can totally understand why some seniors feel really intimidated by computers. With technology changing so fast it's hard to keep up with it all let alone understand the new lingo.

However, I recently attended a series of workshops on teleworkshops. Basically, it blends the old technology of the telephone with the new technology of the computer. I am really excited about the potential this seems to offer. I still believe that face to face training is the best option but there is a place for new models of learning.

I know sometimes I get really busy and I would like to take a workshop but am not really keen to travel. Or the workshop is being offered at a date, time or location that is not convenient, sound familiar? I also spend a lot of money on workshops throughout the year so it would be nice to learn and save money at the same time. Well all this is possible through teleworkshops.

I hope you are getting just as excited as me. I am learning and working on adapting this into the services being offered through On The Edge. I've posted two teleseminars. One is on preparing your weight training ICE evaluation and the other is on preparing your PT ICE evaluation. I am looking at building more content and workshops. I hope you enjoy this new learning option. Look for more information on the website in the fall.

Cheers

He who cannot change...

2007-07-31T19:45:00.000-07:00

He who cannot change the very fabric of his thoughts will never be able to change reality, and will never, therefore, make any progress. Anwar Sadat

This is the lesson I learned from Chapter four of the 8th Habit by Stephen Covey. I actually had to stop and read this statement four times. I was so blown away by its meaning that I needed to slow down and really take it in.

So often people are caught up in negative self talk and thoughts. They feel victimized by life around them and feel powerless to change their situation. The first lesson I learned from this chapter was that we can change our response to a stimulus. We can choose our thoughts and are responsble for our actions and outcomes. If we can choose to feel better, is it really that simple? If I change my thoughts to be more positive will this really change my reality? I believe so.

So why then does it sometimes feel so challenging to do that. I think its because we have been conditioned to think that good things aren't supposed to happen to us. We believe that if good things happen that we are lucky and if bad things happen then we are unlucky. Have you ever heard someone say, "good things never happen to me" or "I never win anything". Well they are probably right. I wonder if they changed their thinking to "I have abundance in my life" or "I am grateful for everything I have", if that would make a difference in how they view things. I believe it would, don't you?

I guess the only really way to know if this works or not is to try it. Are you up for the challenge? Write this quote down in a place of prominence. Say it everyday to yourself and commit to changing your thoughts so that they are only positive. Let's see what happens.

He who cannot change the very fabric of his thoughts will never be able to change reality, and will never therefore, make any progress.

The 8th Habit Challenge - Stephen R. Covey

2007-07-29T15:46:00.000-07:00

I just recently started reading the 8th Habit -From Effectiveness to Greatness by Stephen R. Covey. Since the release of Harry Potter's lastest book it has been challenging finding anyone who is reading anything else. I also read the 7 habits but so far I am really enjoying this book better.

Stephen asked readers to take a challenge while reading his book. He wants readers to read a chapter and then take a month before reading the next one. He also encourages people to teach what they've learned and digest the material slowly by incorporating the lessons into their everyday life. Well this manner of book reading and interaction really intrigued me so I decided to give it a shot.

Chapter four deals with discovering your voice. I haven't gotten through the whole chapter yet but I wanted to share with you an excerpt that I found interesting. Read this passage a few times and really think about it.

Between stimulus and response there is a space.

In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response.

In those choices lie our growth and our happiness.

It made me think of situations where people are given a stimulus and then react to it. Most of the time negatively. Like waiting in line or dealing with traffic. Maybe even dealing with difficult people. There are stimuli around us all the time and we choose how we are going to react to them.

I guess what really made me say ah, ha, was that the fact that we choose our response. We don't have to react in a negative way, we can choose a positive response. We can choose to make ourselves feel better any time we want. Now some of us have been conditioned to react very fast and in a negative fashion. It may take more time and effort to re-program these responses. However, knowing that we can choose is very empowering don't you think? Rather then have things just happen to us, we can control how it affects us.

Even in situations where we don't feel like we have much control we can still choose the outcome of our responses. Wow!

Next time you find yourself in a situation where their is a less then ideal stimulus remember you choose your response so why not choose one that makes you feel better rather than worse. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

I look forward to sharing other teachings with you as I go along. Feel free to comment if you have read the book or are taking the same challenge.

The Edge Book Club - Lifestyle Coaching

2007-06-01T08:03:00.000-07:00

The next book we are going to be reviewing is called Lifestyle Fitness Coaching and is written by James Gavin, publised through Human Kinetics. If you wish to be part of the book club just email me your interest, send payment and read away. The cost of the book is $70.00 incl. tax. You receive a 20% discount for the book club.

Our next meeting will be in July where we get together to talk about the book.

See you then.

Donna

The Edge Book Club - Power Eating Questions

2007-06-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow book club members. Here are the questions you need to answer in order to receive your .5 BCRPA Credit.

1) What information did you find most useful about the book?
2) Did you change your eating habits after reading this book?
3) How do you think the book compares to the Canada Food Guide?

Cheers

Donna

Book Review - Body Building Anatomy

2007-04-02T05:32:00.000-07:00

Body Building Anatomy

by: Nick Evans

Published by Human Kinetics

ISBN: 13:978-0-7360-5926-8

Body Building Anatomy contains over 180 pages of exercise illustrations. The book is sectioned into the following chapters, shoulders, chest, back, arms, legs, abdominals. Each section contains roughly 40 pages of exercises with complete descriptions and illustrations highlighting the target muscles. There is a variety of different exercises for each muscle group featuring free weight, cables, machines and barbells.

If there is such a thing as "old school" weight training then this book would certainly fit the bill with regards to the type of exercises being selected. You won't find any "functional" or cross-kinetic chain exercises however, it does a good job at covering the basics and giving a lot of variety and variations on the exercises.

I believe this book would be a a valuable tool for the new fitness professional.

Book Review - ACSM's Health/Fitness Facility Standards and Guidelines

2007-03-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

ACSM: Health/Fitness Facility Standards and Guidelines – Third Edition
Publisher: Human Kinetics
ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-5153-8
Editors: Stephen J. Tharrett, Kyle J. McInnis, James A. Peterson

Wow, I wish I had this book before I started planning for the new weight room in the District of West Vancouver. This book is so amazing because it contains everything you need to know about the proper standards and guidelines to follow in order to design and operate a health and fitness facility. It is a fantastic resource for club managers, supervisors and entrepreneurs. I can see using this reference in my consulting business and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who is thinking of opening or even renovating an existing space. Every facility should have a copy of this book.

The chapters are short, to the point and jammed packed with information. It covers topics such as pre-activity screening, risk management, staffing and independent contractors, facility design, equipment, operating practices and signage.

The book can be broken into two sections. The first half is dedicated to the guidelines and standards and the second half contains all kinds of supplemental material on various topics. There is also quite an extensive supply of forms such as emergency procedures sheets, health questionnaires, sample exercise cards, physican's approval form to name a few. In total there are over 30 forms provided. This resource is so detailed that it contains exact dimensions of a pool, tennis court gymnasium, weight room and much more.

It's obvious that the authors know a lot about the industry and how to set up anything and everything to so with a facility. I've used many of the forms provided for my personal training business. It was so refreshing not to have to re-invent the wheel.

Book Review - Pilates by Rael Isocowitz

2007-03-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

Pilates

Your complete guide to mat work and apparatus exercises

Published by Human Kinetics

ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-5623-6

The first thought that came to my mind when I started going through this amazing resource is "wow, there was alot of effort put into this book". With over 300 pages of pictures, explanations and content covering mat work, universal reformer, cadillac, wunda chair, barrels, ped-a-pul, arm chair and magic circle I can't image a more complete resource. The sample routines at the end of the book were really helpful as a reference.

Each section is indexed so there is no problem navigating through the material. Each picture clearly demonstration the start, middle and end postures of every exercise. One each page the author takes the time to explain what muscles are being focused, objectives of the exercise, imagery and a brief explanation. Within each area the author starts with fundamental exercises and builds into the intermediate and advanced work making this an excellent tool for novice to advanced instructors.

D.I.E.T. is a four letter word

2007-01-04T07:11:00.000-08:00

D.I.E.T. is a 4 letter word but did you know it's an acronym for Discipline in Energy Transfer? Interesting.

The Sucrose/Fructose Addiction - Can you give it up?

2006-12-31T08:16:00.000-08:00

The question is can you give up processed foods which contain surcrose and fructose? I bet you will find it quite difficult especially if your diet happens to contain a lot of processed foods. I just recently jumped on the no processed foods bandwagon and I am shocked at how much of that stuff contains sucrose, sodium and a whole host of other chemicals inhibiting my good health.

I guess it's not uncommon for people to take on new years resolutions at this time of year. Mine is to eat cleaner which means whole, fresh organic fruits and vegetables and more nutrient dense proteins. I have discovered Whey Protein Isolate as a good source of dietary protein and its made a huge difference in my energy and bringing some balance back to my diet. I wasn't getting enough protein.

Back to the sucrose/fructose challenge. What do you think? Are you up for it? Can you give up the refined, processed foods and eat healthier? Let me know what you think.

Gidget, Gadget or Gizmo - The Equalizer

2006-12-18T10:25:00.000-08:00

The Lebert Equalizer Total Body Strengthener - Reviewed by Donna Hutchinson

The Lebert Equalizer was created by Marc Lebert and first hit the market in 2004 at The FAME show in Toronto. Marc is a Certified Personal Trainer and holds a BA in psychology. He is also quite involved in Taekwondo and boxing so I am not surprised that he developed a piece of equipment that would be suited for more intermediate or advanced exercisers.

The Equalizer comes with two bars and a laminated card with 9 exercises to get you started. Marc’s website has an additional 77 free exercises for viewing. It was nice that I didn’t have to spend extra money to get more exercise ideas. The Equalizer initially requires some assembly which took me about 10 minutes. Weighing in at 9lbs, the Equalizer is a solid piece of equipment. It’s marketed as being very portable, however it is assembled using bolts (allen key included) so I doubt whether trainers would spend time taking it apart. Storage for the bars shouldn’t be too much of an issue because of their slim design. The cost is probably the best selling feature at only $99.00 CDN plus tax and shipping, I would have expected the price point to be around $200.00 so its good value for the money.

The Equalizer attempts to covers all areas of fitness such as upper body, lower body, core, agility and flexibility. I found that there were many exercises focusing on dips and push-ups using just the Equalizer or incorporating it with other tools such as the stability ball. In a few pictures they used the equalizer as hurdles for plyometric training. Standing at 2.5 feet without adjustability this would be for more advanced athletes due to safety concerns.

What I really liked about the product was the ability to target the back muscles by performing chin-ups. In a home or fitness class setting these muscles can be difficult to isolate. I see the Equalizer being used with people who have stability issues as the bars would give them support. One aspect to be improved is the fact that there were so many dip exercises that were shown and chest exercises. It seemed like it was the focus of the exercises shown on the website. While I did try a variety of the lower body exercises I was concerned about the safety of the knee joint as in many exercises the knee traveled too far forward. I would also like to see Marc re-shoot some of the photos so that the technique and posture of his models mirrors what we should be asking of our clients.

With the many tools available to trainers today the Equalizer has potential to earn its place in our personal training tool kit. For the price I think trainers would find many uses for this product and continue to develop exercises. I rate it a good gizmo.

Book Review - Advanced Fitness Assessment and Exercise Prescription

2006-12-13T13:48:00.000-08:00

Advanced Fitness Assessment and Exercise Prescription
Written by: Vivian H. Heyward 2006 Human Kinetics
ISBN-12:978-0-7360-5732-5
Reviewed by: Donna Hutchinson

Advanced Fitness Assessment and Exercise Prescription provides a comprehensive approach on how to perform and interpret fitness assessment results. The information is then applied to individual program design. The assessments covered are cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular fitness, flexibility, body weight and composition.

The book does not bog the reader down with too much technical jargon and I especially liked the format. It covers the specific assessments in one chapter and then follows up with a chapter on program design making the information more practically oriented. The reader can then see the link between the assessment done and how to incorporate that information into a program.

Having taken a fitness assessment course with hands on experience, I found this book to be a good refresher and review of the protocols. If I were to try and learn how to perform fitness assessments having never done them before, an accompanying DVD would have been especially useful to see how the assessments are performed. However, the book does try to break each assessment down in a step-by-step approach so in this way the author is attempting to make it as clear as possible. Human Kinetics also offers a supplemental online course which contains access to additional course material and exams allowing for a more distance education feel.

There are over 90 pages of supplemental material in the appendices including forms, norm tables, pictures and diagrams of assessments. However, some of the pictures in the flexibility section could use updating as correct postural positioning was not always taken into account.

Overall I enjoyed the book and felt it would make a nice addition to a fitness leaders’ library and a good resource on fitness assessments.

Book Review - The Science and Practice of Strength Training

2006-12-13T13:45:00.000-08:00

Science and Practice of Strength Training (2nd Edition)
Author: Vladimir M. Zatsiorsky & William J. Kraemer

ISBN # 0-7360-5628-1
Reviewed by: Donna Hutchinson

If you are looking for a book that focuses on athletes and does not oversimplify strength training methods then you will enjoy reading the Science and Practice of Strength Training. The book is extremely comprehensive and focuses heavily on the biomechanics of strength training. So much so in fact, that if you do not have a good grasp of biomechanics and physics you will be lost amongst the graphs and formulas. You need an excellent foundation in biomechanics to fully appreciate its content. Therefore the book seems well suited for coaches and advanced personal trainers.

The first three chapters are dedicated to basic concepts of training theory. I use the term basic rather loosely as there are many studies, tables and formulas to navigate. With all the research presented in these chapters you will undoubtedly gain a deeper understanding of the how and why’s of program design.

The next four chapters deal exclusively with methods of strength conditioning. This is where the information from the first three chapters ties into the actual design of programs. The book does not offer cookie cutter scenarios and this was intentional. The authors stated that they believe strongly in individuality of program design for athletes so they were careful not to offer much in the way of sample programs. They prefer the reader to use the information presented and adapt it to their athletes in developing their sport specific programs.

The last three chapters were dedicated towards strength training for women athletes, young athletes and senior athletes. Compared to the first half of the book, these chapters seem overly simplistic with no new information being offered. I would have expected the same level of detail in the last chapters as there were in the first. These chapters may serve as a review of these topics and a good refresher.

Overall, The Science and Practice of Strength training is an awesome resource book for those looking to train athletes and really understand the underlying principles guiding their program design.

This text is published by Human Kinetics (www.humankinetics.com)