A pdf version of the article is here: http://www.informz.net/acsm/data/images/worldwidetrends.pdf

In surveying nearly 2,000 fitness professionals throughout the world and corroborating with internationally known fitness experts, a list of 20 fitness trends was identified. I’m giving you the top 10 and adding my comments to each.

Take a look and let me know what you think. Are your New Year’s Resolutions aligned with any of these trends? Are you a member of a health club or fitness center that offers services like these? Do you have access to these services? ============================================

Number 1: Educated and Experienced Fitness Professionals There is currently no regulation of Certifying agencies for fitness professionals. Anyone can offer a “Personal Trainer” cerfitication and not have standards to meet. However, more and more certifying organizations and schools are becoming accredited. This is great. . . . → Read More: Fitness Trends for 2008]]> January 8, 2008

The American College of Sports Medicine published it’s fitness trends report for 2008 in December of last year.

A pdf version of the article is here: http://www.informz.net/acsm/data/images/worldwidetrends.pdf

In surveying nearly 2,000 fitness professionals throughout the world and corroborating with internationally known fitness experts, a list of 20 fitness trends was identified. I’m giving you the top 10 and adding my comments to each.

Take a look and let me know what you think. Are your New Year’s Resolutions aligned with any of these trends? Are you a member of a health club or fitness center that offers services like these? Do you have access to these services?
============================================

Number 1: Educated and Experienced Fitness Professionals
There is currently no regulation of Certifying agencies for fitness professionals. Anyone can offer a “Personal Trainer” cerfitication and not have standards to meet. However, more and more certifying organizations and schools are becoming accredited. This is great. Just as hiring a CPA gives confidence that certain levels of education have been obtained and demonstrated, so should it be with fitness professionals.

As a doctor, I continuously push for higher educational standards of personal trainers and you should too. After all, you literally put your life in their hands. And if a trainer you have chosen isn’t educated and trained regarding contraindications, you are taking a big risk.

Number 2: Children and Obesity
This is an important one. Reports have been saying for a while that this may be the first generation that doesn’t outlive their parents. And a big part of that is obesity and related lifestyle disorders. If we can keep physical education in the schools and take advantage of physically active based after school programs for our children, it will be a major step in the right direction.

Number 3: Personal Training
This will be a staple of the top 10 every year the survey is conducted. Learning to exercise properly, whether it be for health or sport, should be your number one priority. And a well-educated personal trainer is invaluable in that regard. Without proper instruction you are more likely to get injured and may never reach your goals.

Number 4: Strength Training
Personally, I’m glad this is in the top 10. The health benefits of strength training are simply too numerous and profound to ignore. You must incorporate strength training into your exercise routine.

Number 5: Core Training
At one time, people thought this was a fad. But it has certainly lasted long enough to be called a trend. Core training has been defined as training the muscles of the abdominals and lower back. Some include balance training too. Whatever the case, strength in the trunk of your body is needed for support. Strengthen your core and you’ll feel better.

Number 6: Special Fitness Programs for Older Adults
As you age, health becomes more important (it really should be important from day 1). And programs tailored to older individuals are more popular. Programs like these focus on increasing strength, flexibility and performing activities of daily living. As a side benefit, all of these things significantly improve your health too.

Number 7: Pilates
A form of core training, Pilates has been a staple of the fitness scene for years.

Number 8: Functional Fitness
This is a form of exercise that improves your ability to perform activities of daily living. A well-balanced program will improve overall strength, flexibility, balance and heart fitness. As you progress, you will feel more confident when performing regular tasks as your risk of injury and adverse events decreases.

Number 9: Swiss Ball
Most people refer to them as stability balls. These are the large balls most fitness centers now have. They can be used to perform an almost limitless number of exercises, focusing on training the abdominals, improving balance and overall stabilization. Core training incorporates the use of stability balls.

Number 10: Yoga
A form of mind-body exercise that focuses on flexibility, posture and meditation.

Additional thoughts by me…
I like the list and am considering posting 11-20. However, I think teasing out the differences in some of these is difficult. For example, Core Training, Functional Fitness, Pilates, Swiss Ball and Yoga aren’t all that different – at least not different enough to have their own categories.

There are a couple of things I would have liked to seen in the top 10:

1. Greater focus on dealing with chronic diseases and conditions that physical activity positvely effects. For example, there is no mention of type II diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease. This might fall under the auspices of education, which is #1. In my personal opinion, fitness professionals could do themselves (and their industry by default) a lot of good by educating themselves in these areas, creating services to help more people and having a positive impact in the lives of people.
2. More focus on developing services to help businesses improve the health of their employees. All fitness centers and personal training studios have small businesses close to them. They should be developing programs to help these businesses reduce health-related costs. For example, we recently performed a healthy back seminar for two different companies with amazing results. Based on worker productivity, reduced sick time and improvement in back pain, the companies were able to realize savings of more than $40,000. That’s a lot of money. Click here to read our press release.

“Research shows that when properly supervised and prescribed in the light of a patient’s history and condition, whether they have cardiovascular disease or not, resistance training increases muscular strength, endurance, independence, and ability to perform a large range of activities. It reduces disability and enhances quality of life. Other benefits include increase in bone mineral density and lean body mass.”In their recently updated public statement (a full pdf version can be found here) on weight lifitng and heart disease, the AHA has recommended doctors encourage their patients to participate in strength training exercise. Anyone in the fitness industry worth their credentials on the wall could have told you this years ago. I don’t know how many older clients I’ve trained that walked at least twice as fast once their session was over compared to when it started – no comments about trying to get away from me . . . → Read More: Resistance training good for heart health?]]> From the American Heart Association…

“Research shows that when properly supervised and prescribed in the light of a patient’s history and condition, whether they have cardiovascular disease or not, resistance training increases muscular strength, endurance, independence, and ability to perform a large range of activities. It reduces disability and enhances quality of life. Other benefits include increase in bone mineral density and lean body mass.”

In their recently updated public statement (a full pdf version can be found here) on weight lifitng and heart disease, the AHA has recommended doctors encourage their patients to participate in strength training exercise.

Anyone in the fitness industry worth their credentials on the wall could have told you this years ago. I don’t know how many older clients I’ve trained that walked at least twice as fast once their session was over compared to when it started – no comments about trying to get away from me as fast as possible either .

But it’s good to know that an organization the size of the AHA is getting serious about weight training for heart health. As we age, health becomes our main concern. And rightfully so. If we can’t live independently, the golden years are less enjoyable.

Resistance training increases our ability to live independently. We are stronger. Our joints are more mobile. And, importantly, our balance is better by default. So what other benefits could be more important? If you have some better (or if I’ve left something important out), please let me know.

If you’re not lifting weights, start a program now. It’s never too late. There are even fitness centers that cater to those 55 and older. Additionally, most clubs will offer a discount to senior citizens. If the one you’re looking into doesn’t, go somewhere else.

Until next time, lift weights today and break a sweat. It just might do you some good!

The rest of the summary can be read here.

My only question is why?

I can understand the need for people to consume healthier foods – particularly than those listed in the quote above. But what if we just ate less of that food and more fruits and vegetables, healthier meats and drank more water? What if we just ate grains as they grow in the field?

Look in your pantry. Foods in plastic bags and carboard boxes are loaded with things that used to be good, healthy foods. Take enriched white flour for example. Out in the field, its a perfectly healthy . . . → Read More: Why do they do this?]]> “Scientists in Indiana are reporting progress toward development of low glycemic and slowly digestible starch, a form of starch that would be less apt to cause the spike in blood sugar – and perhaps sharp hunger pangs – that many individuals experience after eating bread, baked goods, and other high-carbohydrate foods.”

The rest of the summary can be read here.

My only question is why?

I can understand the need for people to consume healthier foods – particularly than those listed in the quote above. But what if we just ate less of that food and more fruits and vegetables, healthier meats and drank more water? What if we just ate grains as they grow in the field?

Look in your pantry. Foods in plastic bags and carboard boxes are loaded with things that used to be good, healthy foods. Take enriched white flour for example. Out in the field, its a perfectly healthy and natural food.

To end up as a cake, bread or other food, it gets processed. The problem with processing is that it removes the good stuff, mainly the fiber, vitamins and minerals. As the end-product food stuff, it’s a plain-old, bland, quickly digesting starch.

Now, based on the objectives of these scientists, a new, more slowly digesting starch is being manufactured. And they’re making progress. I don’t know if I should jump for joy or just ask the question: “What is wrong with this picture?”

If we have a perfectly healthy food, process it and turn it into something that is not good for our digestive system, why do we want to further alter it so that it is better for our digestive system? Before you answer, think about the steps being taken to make the food better.

Is this coming full circle or am I just missing something completely obvious here? Please enlighten me!

Over the 18-year period, men in the low-testosterone group had a 33% greater risk from all-cause mortality than the normal / high testosterone group. This is a stout finding given the characteristics of the study, indicating that even if problems exist in methodology the results are likely . . . → Read More: Is your testosterone low?]]> A recent study presented at the Endocrine Society Annual meeting suggested that males over 50 with low testosterone had a 33% greater risk of all-cause mortality than those who had higher levels of testerone. Low testosterone was identified as the lower-limit found in healthy young males.

The study followed 800 men for 18 years on average, a large sample size for a very long period of time. The low testosterone group had the following characteristics:

• higher levels of inflammation markers, which contribute to several forms of cardiovascular disease
• larger waist measurement (greater than 40 inches)
• metabolic syndrome – low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood sugars and hypertension.

Over the 18-year period, men in the low-testosterone group had a 33% greater risk from all-cause mortality than the normal / high testosterone group. This is a stout finding given the characteristics of the study, indicating that even if problems exist in methodology the results are likely portable in more controlled studies.

So what does this mean for you? If you are male, over 50 and taking prescription medication for hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes and have a waist over 40 inches, get your testosterone levels checked. If you aren’t taking medication for anything listed above but have any of the symptoms below, get them checked too. Preferably by an MD trained in Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy. The synthetic hormones cranked out by big pharma just don’t seem to work as well.

Other symptoms of low testosterone include:

• reduced quality of sleep
• easier to lose your temper
• lack of drive
• reduced sex drive
• significant decrease in muscle mass
• significant increase in body fat

The symptoms above can happen from time-to-time but persistent appearances indicate something beyond the natural aging process.

If you notice these symptoms, the best thing you can do is, again, have your testosterone levels checked, start an exercise program and modify your diet.