Honest Source of Fitness and Health Information

Do you have questions about exercise and health that nobody you know has good answers.
The American Council on Exercise might be the place to go for simple, easy to understand information. Their new site provides a large library of health and fitness information. It's not aimed at 'experts' or people that have been working out for many years and know it all.

Give it a try.

You can look me up on this web site. Click on the Find a Personal Trainer button and put in zip code 30022. I'm about 20 down - you have lots of choice of personal trainers in the Atlanta Metro area.

Still a favorite is the Len Kravitz web-site and lurking deep in the site library is a concise set of practical guidelines for health fitness professionals and personal trainers. I quote Len's guidelines in their entirety:

1. Develop programs that will utilize a greater amount of energy expenditure during the workouts. Programs that utilize the larger muscle groups provide a structural basis for the preferred loading that is recommended for improvements in bone mass and mineral density. This will also contribute to the caloric cost of the programs, helping to facilitate weight management goals.

2. Use moderate intensity programs, with multiple sets of 8 to 12 repetitions (Stone et al., 1991) . A frequency of 2 - 3 times a week of resistance training appears applicable and attainable. Programs designed to increase total workout volume (total repetitions x weight) are encouraged.

3. As with any effective exercise prescription, individualize the program, with a carefully planned, progressive overload.

4. Be guarded in the use of isometric contractions and high-intensity load training due to the marked increase observed in diastolic and systolic blood pressure.

5. Incorporate a variety of exercises. In order to avoid the effects of over-training, muscle soreness, and injury, a prescription of resistance training using a variety of exercises is prudent.

6. With certain organic conditions, such as musculo-skeletal conditions (i.e., arthritis), hypertension, and previous injuries, it may be advisable to seek the guidance of a qualified health practitioner for suggestions in designing a safe and effective resistance training program.

7. Take the time to teach the correct performance techniques of the resistance exercises. In the methodology sections in a number of the studies, the researchers emphasized the importance of teaching the subjects safe and correct resistance training mechanics.


8. Be aware that the training demands of resistance training may be greater for novice, low-fitness level, and elder individuals, due to the unique physiological challenges of the activity, and the level of fitness of the individuals. Often times, the use of longer rest periods between sets may be beneficial to help these populations adapt to the training demands.

9. Multiple-joint exercises are more demanding than single-joint exercises, and thus suggest that the training frequency (days per week) may need to be provide adequate recovery (up to 48 hrs) for the clients, especially when just beginning a resistance training program.

10. Develop an effective dialog with your students. In an attempt to keep the training regimen satisfactory for the study, some researchers mentioned the importance of communication with the subjects in order to sustain the investigation. Effective communication is also consequential in developing and maintaining effective training programs for your students.