We turned up the heat in class last week with a group quiz. Students had to label parts of the Anterior Upper Body and Lower Body, if they guessed wrong they had to do 10 pushups! Luckily our students know their stuff and only suffered through 1 set of 10 pushups!
Workout programs are not universal, it is essential to modify workouts based on clients needs and concerns. Our students have been learning how to adjust various exercises to personalize programs for their future clients. Focusing on how to carry out movements and tweak programs when necessary.
Creating successful Trainers through Classroom and Hands On Gym Training. Certifications in Personal Training, Sports Nutrition Specialist, Strength Coach, Kettlebell, CPR/AED, and more!
Attention, Retention, Reproduction and Motivation-the four elements of observational learning that we implement into our Personal Trainer Curriculum. Being able to do a range of movement or exercise is one thing, but being able to visually see how to perform it correctly and teach it to someone else, can be difficult. This is why we try to split our hands on learning time at the Gym between observing and training.
Tuesdays are for Traps and Lats, our Saturday class killed their workout last week! Bent over rows are a great exercise to strengthen back muscles and improve posture; focus on the range of motion, rather than the weight to build a concrete form.
It all begins in the classroom, we offer the necessary tools, hands-on training and curriculum for you to succeed in the fitness industry. It's YOUR turn to take the next step! Check out the link in our bio to learn more about our Personal Trainer Programs!
While "Glute Bridges" and "Single Leg Bent Bridges" are great exercises to strengthen the Gluteus Maximus muscle, it also is a helpful exercise to stretch your hip flexors and relieve tension in your lower back muscles. If your job or daily routine includes sitting for most of the time, this exercise would be great to include in your workout regimen.
Our Wednesday Personal Trainer Class had the opportunity to shadow, while I trained a client. I try to give the students every opportunity to shadow me during training sessions. This approach gives the students a chance to ask questions and see how to apply their curriculum to a workout program for clients.
2020 is the year it's all happening! Don’t wait any longer!
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As our students get closer to the end of their programs, we have been giving them the opportunity to shadow our client sessions. During these shadow times we hope to give our students the opportunity to:
-Learn and become comfortable with cueing clients through exercises
-Gain real world experience and have a structured base to start from, once they begin their own journey in the fitness field.
-Become comfortable in learning how to work through clients concerns/injuries, weaknesses and strengths
-Become comfortable with day to day interactions with clients to learn how to adapt and cope within sessions if needed. Learning how to make modifications when necessary.
We changed up our usual gym routine by starting our Saturday morning with some Kickboxing! As many of you may know Kickboxing can be a great high intensity cardio workout, it helps to improve posture, coordination, and give you a boost of energy for the day!
It is important to balance heavy lifting sessions with recovery / rest days. A recovery or rest day does not necessarily require you to avoid any physical activity. You could do yoga, go for a light walk around the neighborhood, go for a swim, etc; there are many options to choose from to give your body the time to recover damaged tissue and regenerate energy to your muscles. Skipping a rest day can cause overtraining or "Burnout" that can decrease your productivity, cause moodiness, fatigue, insomnia and so much more.
While an exercise may seem easy to do, almost 50% of the time, people are doing an exercise incorrectly. Take a push-up for example, hands should be placed shoulder width apart under the shoulders.
While lowering into the pushup, make sure to keep elbows over the wrist, squeeze (retraction) the shoulder blades and the thoracic spine should be in slight extension. When pressing to the top of the pushup, you should protract the shoulder blades, press through the ground, while keeping the core, butt and thigh’s tight, the body should stay stacked (knees, hips, and shoulders should stay in line). Then repeat for as many reps as prescribed. Often times we speed up our exercises to create a more ""intense"" workout. This can be very efficient depending on the goal, but if we don't start with a strong base, you just increase your risk for injury.
We mentioned in our last post the importance of establishing and following through with short and long term goals to create a healthy new routine during this crazy year. While losing weight or gaining muscle is a benefit in getting 30 minutes to an hour a day of exercise; there are so many other benefits to getting up and moving your body! Such as: Reducing stress, improving heart health, Boost Serotonin levels (mood booster), Energy booster and can aid in having a more productive day! During student shadow sessions with my clients I really try to emphasize that there is more to fitness than just weight loss and muscle gain, its about helping your client achieve their most confident and healthy self.
I am personally a huge fan of the Joint Action Table and find it to be a fantastic resource for trainers and clients. The table helps break down exercises based on the primary mover being used, which helps to isolate the joint incorporated in the movement. The table can be used to determine what exercises an individual should do, in order to strengthen and recognize the the muscles involved in the movement.
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Joint Action Table- Scapular Movement
#testimonialtuesday- Neaomi Quartucci graduated in 2015 from PFTA-Austin with certifications in Personal Training, Sports Nutrition, Sandbell, Kettlebell, TRX and Trigger Point. Additionally, she later became an instructor for PFTA-Austin. She conducted multiple bootcamps and is now a private trainer at Gym One in Austin. As a result of her passion for training, she became a competitive Powerlifter achieving mutlpile state and national records. Recently she competed in two bodybuilding shows, both at the regional and national level in the physique class.
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With the start of the New Year (especially following the chaos of 2020), people aspire to change bad habits, turn a new leaf on life or even continue with healthy habits into the new year. For the past couple of weeks clients have been asking me about making their new goals to strive for (haha see what I did there? For those who don’t know my personal trainer company is Strive to Be Fit LLC...any-who…) in the new year. It can be very overwhelming to set goals to carry out for an entire year, we often get burned out, lose motivation or find it hard to keep ourselves accountable.
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Short-Term and Long-Term Goal Setting Worksheet
In one of our recent class lessons our students calculated the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and Body Mass Index (BMI) of a hypothetical client to determine their nutrition needs. BMR is essentially the amount of calories your body burns during its resting state, this determines the amount of calories your body needs to carry out in basic movements throughout the day. While BMI determines the amount of fat to muscle ratio on your body relative to your weight and height. This can provide potential trainers the opportunity to create fitness and nutrition goals with their clients and keep track of major milestones throughout their training.
We often get the question: "What is included in my program when I sign up with PFTA-Austin?" We understand that the cost of a quality personal trainer program can be overwhelming, we will always work with our students to figure out a suitable payment option so they can pursue their dream career. While in comparison, our program is pricier, we offer a numerous amount of NCSF approved resources, hands-on gym training, in-person classes with the instructor and so much more. While we understand that during this time of uncertainty there are certain barriers to signing up, we will always be willing to work out a plan with you and believe that "in-class programs", provide accountability and real time Q + A's with the instructor if you ever need help. Learn more about our programs and/or schedule a time to shadow a class! Stay strong and stay safe!
