Both the
American College of Sports Medicine and the
American Council on Exercise conduct surveys among their fitness trainers and related fitness professionals to track emerging trends in the field. Being aware of these trends can help you anticipate and better meet the health and fitness needs of your clients.
The following are some of the top fitness trends to consider and, where appropriate, a few sports nutrition reminders that can help your clients achieve the most from their workouts.
Budget-friendly workouts
When the economy is down, there is cost cutting. That can translate into fewer gym memberships and less frequent use of personal trainers. In tough times, get creative. Consider reducing your fees a bit to keep clients — and to keep them in shape. Better yet, encourage clients to bring a friend or two to their personal trainer sessions, so your fee can be spread among two or three people. Let your clients know that you can develop fitness programs that make use of free community resources such as parks, trails, and public school athletic facilities.
Exercise and weight loss
Increasingly, health and fitness programs are targeting the growing epidemic of excess weight and obesity. Calorie balance is critical. Burning calories through regular, moderate-intensity physical activity is a key component in any program that seeks to achieve weight loss or maintenance of a healthy weight. For adults desiring to lose weight, a deficit of about 500 calories per day through a combination of exercise and controlling caloric intake will lead to a safe rate of weight loss amounting to about 1 lb (0.45 kg) per week.
Boot camp and circuit training workouts
Total body workouts that burn many calories in a short period of time are extremely popular. Boot-camp-type sessions are challenging, offer lots of variety, provide both strength and cardiovascular benefits, and don’t necessarily require special equipment. Circuit training that combines strength training and cardiovascular conditioning at different intensities is a time-efficient way to stay fit and lean. Starting fully hydrated will help your clients achieve better-quality workouts. And a carbohydrate-protein snack after a workout will help jump-start the recovery process by supporting muscle tissue repair and helping build muscle in response to training.
Strength training for functional fitness
Men and women are increasingly incorporating strength training into their exercise regimens. We’re not talking hardcore bodybuilding. Instead, it’s the idea of using weights as part of a weekly exercise routine to maintain muscle strength. This is especially important for older adults, because muscle strength often declines with age. Fortunately, by incorporating strength training into an exercise regimen, your clients can help prevent the age-related decline in muscle strength and improve the ability to perform the activities of daily living. Suggest a carbohydrate-protein snack just before or just after working out when strength training is on the day’s agenda. The carbs help with muscle refueling, and the protein provides amino acid building blocks that are important after exercise, when muscle tissue repair and building is needed in order to adapt to the training workload.
Core training
Core training comes in many shapes and sizes — think Pilates, stability balls, wobble boards, and foam rollers. This type of training typically focuses on the muscles of the pelvis, lower back, hips, and abdomen, all of which support the spine. Exercising these muscles improves the overall stability of the spine and helps your clients perform the activities of everyday living as well as the sports they are interested in. Staying hydrated is important for clients during core training, and plain water will usually suffice.
Boomer fitness
As baby boomers get older and contemplate retirement, they want to remain fit and healthy. They often have the time and discretionary dollars to spend on a personal trainer. Their goals might include losing a few pounds, building strength, lowering their handicap on the links, or taking up triathlons. Sixty is the new 40, so you have to be prepared to meet the varied fitness demands of this ever-growing segment of the population. Attention to hydration during exercise is critical as we get older. We tend to be less effective at dissipating the heat generated during exercise, and thirst is slow to respond to fluid needs. Minimizing fluid loss during workouts is the sports nutrition goal for boomers, and having a hydration strategy for workouts is a key point to emphasize. For those doing light exercise, water is usually plenty adequate for hydration purposes. For those engaged in heavy workouts and/or losing lots of fluids due to the heat/humidity, a sports drink is a better hydration option.
Aerobic conditioning
Spinning classes and related aerobic mainstays such as walking/running on a treadmill, stair climbing, rowing, and pedaling a stationary bike may not be up-and-coming trends, but they remain popular ways of achieving cardiovascular fitness. Hydration is always of key importance during aerobic conditioning because of the large sweat losses that can occur. For short, moderate sessions, water is fine. For longer sessions that result in larger fluid losses, a sports drink that contains sodium is a more effective hydration option and can help improve the overall quality of your clients’ workouts.
Sport-specific training
More and more high school athletes are engaging the services of fitness professionals, especially during the off-season, as a means of getting a leg up on the competition and so they can achieve greater success in their sports. Training programs for these athletes include skill and technique development, aerobic conditioning, and strength training, and these types of workouts often require a full sports nutrition arsenal. These athletes will benefit from starting their workouts fully hydrated and fueled, rehydrating and refueling during long exercise sessions, and then focusing on rapid and effective recovery after exercise to get maximum benefit from their training. PowerBar.com offers a full array of sport-specific sports nutrition recommendations to meet the needs of athletes across a variety of sports. To learn more, click on
PowerBar Sports Playbooks at PowerBar.com.
Tailor your sports nutrition recommendations
One size does not fit all when it comes to sports nutrition. Some of your clients may do just fine with a few swallows of water here and there during very light workouts, while elite athletes may require the best that sports nutrition can offer to achieve maximum benefit from their workouts. Most of your clients probably fall somewhere in between and will have better workouts and results by applying basic sports nutrition strategies as summarized in the following. Tailor your sports nutrition recommendations to the varied workout demands of your clientele.
Hydration
- Drink 14–20 oz (400–600 ml) of water or sports drink 2–3 hours before exercise
- Monitor hydration status before and after exercise by checking urine color: Light-yellow color is consistent with adequate hydration; darker color (think: apple juice) is a sign that more fluids are needed
- During exercise, follow a disciplined hydration plan, and match fluid intake to sweat rate — e.g., 3–7 oz (100–200 ml) of fluid every 15 minutes
- For an easy guide to calculating sweat rate and to obtain a personalized hydration plan, click on the Sweat Rate Calculator at PowerBar.com
Fueling
- Consume a high-carbohydrate, moderate-protein meal 2–4 hours before exercise and/or a high-carbohydrate snack about an hour before exercise
- If workouts begin to consistently exceed 60–90 minutes, refuel with 30–60 grams of carbs every hour over the course of exercise
Recovery
- Consume about 40–80 grams of carbs and 10–20 grams of protein as soon as possible after exercise
- Gradually drink about 23 oz of fluid for every lb (1,500 ml per kg) of weight lost during exercise, and consume sodium sources along with fluids
- Consume enough total carbohydrates every day to fully replenish fuel stores
PowerBar®: Your sports nutrition resource
PowerBar is a sports nutrition resource for your clients and your business. PowerBar offers a comprehensive line of sports nutrition products designed to help meet the needs of individuals of all types. PowerBar.com features cutting-edge sports nutrition information and easy-to-use tools that can help you do your job more effectively.
References:
American College of Sports Medicine; American Dietetic Association; Dietitians of Canada. Joint Position Statement: Nutrition and Athletic Performance. American College of Sports Medicine, American Dietetic Association, and Dietitians of Canada. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2009; 41: 709–731.
American College of Sports Medicine, Sawka MN, Burke LM, Eichner ER, Maughan RJ, Montain SJ, Stachenfeld NS. American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand. Exercise and Fluid Replacement. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2007; 39: 377–390.
Burke L. Preparation for Competition. In: Burke L, Dean V, eds. Clinical Sports Nutrition. McGraw-Hill Companies, Australia, 2006; 355–384.
Burke L. Fluid and CHO Intake During Exercise. In: Burke L, Dean V, eds. Clinical Sports Nutrition. McGraw-Hill Companies, Australia, 2006; 385–414.
Burke L. Nutrition for Recovery After Training and Competition. In: Burke L, Dean V, eds. Clinical Sports Nutrition. McGraw-Hill Companies, Australia, 2006; 415–453.
Thompson WR. Worldwide Survey Reveals Fitness Trends for 2009. ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal 2008; 12: 1–8.
Fitness Industry Leader Releases Top Workout Trends for the New Year (available at www.acefitness.org)
Topics:
General, Hydration, Recovery, Energy, Stamina, Skills, Strength training, Shape
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