The current state of personal training: managers' perspectives

Fitness managers play an integral role in the day-to-day operation of the facilities in which they work. One of the most critical responsibilities is that of hiring, training, and supervising personal trainers. Research studies have identified a number of qualities and competencies that an effective exercise leader is required to have, but there is little scholarly work addressing managers' attitudes surrounding the performance of personal trainers. Using focus group methodology, managers of personal trainers were recruited to provide viewpoints related to desirable qualities of personal trainers and opinions regarding certification and academic preparation. Responses of the participants were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for themes. Two global themes, Selection Rationale and Negative Characteristics, emerged. Selection Rationale consisted of qualities that influence a manager's decision to hire a particular trainer (e.g., physique, education, social skills). Negative characteristics referred to qualities considered unethical or unprofessional (e.g., sexual comments, misuse of power) and the consequences of those behaviors (e.g., loss of clients, potential for litigation). The results suggest that undergraduate exercise science programs devote additional time toward the development of the affective qualities of future fitness trainers. Managers also recommended licensure for employees.     

The National Strength and Conditioning Association is the preferred certification for personal training employment in southeastern Massachusetts

Offering a college program in exercise science presents challenges when attempting to mainstream credentialed students into the fitness industry, specifically as personal trainers. Unfortunately, today's clubs, regardless of their education or degree, are more interested in hiring personal trainers with specific certifications. With the growing number of available certifications, college students are expected to have a college degree and obtain multiple fitness related certifications before being considered for a personal training position. Is a college graduate still required to obtain a personal training certification? In an effort to have the best qualified individuals training clients, i.e., those with degrees, it becomes necessary to know what certification is the most preferred. The purpose of this study was to impact local college curriculums to increase the marketability of degree recipients upon graduation.     

Self-selected resistance training intensity in healthy women: the influence of a personal trainer

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the influence of resistance training with a personal trainer versus unsupervised resistance training on the self-selected intensities used by women during resistance exercise. Forty-six resistance-trained women (age = 26.6 +/- 6.4 years; body mass = 64.2 +/- 10.9 kg) who either trained individually (n = 27; No PT) or with a personal trainer (n = 19; PT) were carefully instructed to select a weight they used in their own resistance training workouts that enabled the completion of 10 repetitions for the chest press (CP), leg press (LP), seated row (SR), and leg extension (LE) exercises. Each participant was subsequently tested for one repetition-maximum (1RM) strength on each exercise, and the self-selected intensity was calculated based on a percent of each 1RM value. For self-selected relative intensity, the PT group selected significantly greater intensities for LP (50% vs. 41%), CP (57.4% vs. 48%), and SR (56% vs. 42%) whereas a trend (p = 0.10) was observed for LE (43% vs. 38%) compared with No PT. Overall, the average self-selected intensity for all exercises was approximately 51.4% in PT group and approximately 42.3% in the No PT group. 1RM values for LP, LE, and SR were greater in the PT than No PT group. Ratings of perceived exertion values were significantly greater in the PT compared with the No PT group for CP, LE, and SR but not LP. These results indicate that resistance training under the supervision of a personal trainer leads to greater initial 1RM strength values, self-selection of greater workout intensities, and greater ratings of perceived exertion values during resistance exercise.     

Dairy veterinarians’ skills in motivational interviewing are linked to client verbal behavior

Veterinarians often give advice in a persuasive form, a style that has been shown to evoke resistance to change in clients experiencing psychological ambivalence (i.e. those who see both advantages and disadvantages to changing). With this style of communication, veterinarians run the risk of counteracting their purpose to encourage clients to follow recommendations. Motivational interviewing (MI) is a client-centered communication methodology that aims to facilitate clients’ internal motivation to change. In MI, Change Talk represents clients’ own statements expressing consideration of, motivation for or commitment to behavior change and has been shown to be strongly correlated with behavior change. Sustain Talk is corresponding statements related to maintaining the status quo. The aim of this exploratory study was to evaluate the potential of MI to facilitate behavior change in veterinary herd health management (VHHM) by investigating the effect of dairy cattle veterinarians’ MI skills on client Change and Sustain Talk. We recorded VHHM consultancies on 170 Swedish cattle farms performed by 36 veterinarians, randomly distributed into 2 groups: MI veterinarians (n = 18) had received 6-month training in MI and control veterinarians (n = 18) had not received any training. Veterinarians’ MI skills were assessed using the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity coding system 4.2.1 and categorized as poor_untrained, poor_trained, near moderate and moderate. Client communication was coded using the Client Language Easy Rating coding system. The effect of MI skills on Change Talk, Sustain Talk and Proportion of Change Talk (Change Talk divided by the sum of Sustain Talk plus Change Talk) was investigated using cross-classified regression models with random intercepts for veterinarian and client (farm). The models also included additional explanatory variables (e.g. type of veterinarian and client’s satisfaction with the consultation). The veterinarian’s MI skills were associated with the client’s Change Talk, but results regarding Sustain Talk or Proportion of Change Talk were inconclusive. Clients of veterinarians reaching the highest (i.e. moderate) MI skills expressed 1.5 times more Change Talk than clients of untrained veterinarians. Clients of general large animal practitioners expressed less Sustain Talk than clients of animal health veterinarians and had higher Proportion of Change Talk. Results indicate that learning to practice MI may be one means to improve adherence to veterinary recommendations and to improve efficiency in VHHM services.     

Making and Maintaining Lifestyle Changes with the Support of a Lay Health Advisor: Longitudinal Qualitative Study of Health Trainer Services in Northern England

Objective

To explore and document the experiences of those receiving support from a lay health trainer, in order to inform the optimisation and evaluation of such interventions.

Design

Longitudinal qualitative study with up to four serial interviews conducted over 12 months. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using the constant comparative approach associated with grounded theory.

Participants

13 health trainers, 5 managers and 26 clients.

Setting

Three health trainer services targeting disadvantaged communities in northern England.

Results

The final dataset comprised 116 interviews (88 with clients and 28 with staff). Discussions with health trainers and managers revealed a high degree of heterogeneity between the local services in terms of their primary aims and activities. However, these were found to converge over time. There was agreement that health trainer interventions are generally ‘person-centred’ in terms of being tailored to the needs of individual clients. This led to a range of self-reported outcomes, including behaviour changes, physical health improvements and increased social activity. Factors impacting on the maintenance of lifestyle changes included the cost and timing of health-promoting activities, ill-health or low mood. Participants perceived a need for ongoing access to low cost facilities to ensure that any lifestyle changes can be maintained in the longer term.

Conclusions

Health trainers may be successful in terms of supporting people from socio-economically disadvantaged communities to make positive lifestyle changes, as well as achieving other health-related outcomes. This is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach; commissioners and providers should select the intervention models that best meet the needs of their local populations. By delivering holistic interventions that address multiple lifestyle risks and incorporate relapse prevention strategies, health trainers could potentially have a significant impact on health inequalities. However, rigorous, formal outcome and economic evaluation of the range of health trainer delivery models is needed.     

Practical application of fundamental concepts in exercise physiology

The collection of primary data in laboratory classes enhances undergraduate practical and critical thinking skills. The present article describes the use of a lecture program, running in parallel with a series of linked practical classes, that emphasizes classical or standard concepts in exercise physiology. The academic and practical program ran under the title of a particular year II module named Sports Performance: Physiology and Assessment, and results are presented over a 3-yr period (2004-2006), based on an undergraduate population of 31 men and 34 women. The module compared laboratory-based indexes of endurance (e.g., ventilatory threshold and exercise economy) and high-intensity exercise (e.g., anaerobic power), respectively, with measures of human performance (based on 20-m shuttle run tests). The specific experimental protocols reinforced the lecture content to improve student understanding of the physiological and metabolic responses (and later adaptations) to exercise. In the present study, the strongest relationship with endurance performance was the treadmill velocity at maximal aerobic power (r = +0.88, P < 0.01, n = 51); in contrast, the strongest relationship with high-intensity exercise performance was the mean power output (in W/kg) measured during a 30-s all-out cycle ergometer sprint (r = +0.80, P < 0.01, n = 48). In class student data analysis improved undergraduate indepth or critical thinking during seminars and enhanced computer and data presentation skills. The endurance-based laboratories are particularly useful for examining the underlying scientific principles that determine aerobic performance but could equally well be adapted to investigate other topics, e.g., differences in the exercise response between men and women.     

Effect of pre-exhaustion exercise on lower-extremity muscle activation during a leg press exercise

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of pre-exhaustion exercise on lower-extremity muscle activation during a leg press exercise. Pre-exhaustion exercise, a technique frequently used by weight trainers, involves combining a single-joint exercise immediately followed by a related multijoint exercise (e.g., a knee extension exercise followed by a leg press exercise). Seventeen healthy male subjects performed 1 set of a leg press exercise with and without pre-exhaustion exercise, which consisted of 1 set of a knee extension exercise. Both exercises were performed at a load of 10 repetitions maximum (10 RM). Electromyography (EMG) was recorded from the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, and gluteus maximus muscles simultaneously during the leg press exercise. The number of repetitions of the leg press exercise performed by subjects with and without pre-exhaustion exercise was also documented. The activation of the rectus femoris and the vastus lateralis muscles during the leg press exercise was significantly less when subjects were pre-exhausted (p < 0.05). No significant EMG change was observed for the gluteus maximus muscle. When in a pre-exhausted state, subjects performed significantly (p < 0.001) less repetitions of the leg press exercise. Our findings do not support the popular belief of weight trainers that performing pre-exhaustion exercise is more effective in order to enhance muscle activity compared with regular weight training. Conversely, pre-exhaustion exercise may have disadvantageous effects on performance, such as decreased muscle activity and reduction in strength, during multijoint exercise.     

Performance of soccer passing skills under moderate and high-intensity localized muscle fatigue

Despite the acknowledged importance of fatigue on performance, ecologically sound studies investigating fatigue and its effects on sport-specific skills are surprisingly limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of moderate and high-intensity localized muscle fatigue on passing performance in soccer. Twenty physically active male college students (age, 22.9 +/- 5.3 years) participated in this study. Subjects performed the modified Loughborough Soccer Passing Test under the following three conditions: rest, moderate fatigue, and high-intensity fatigue. Fatigue intensity was established using a percentage of the maximal number of alternate split squats performed by the subject in 1 minute. Results revealed a significant difference between performance at rest and performance following high-intensity, localized muscle fatigue. The results suggest the need for trainers and coaches to incorporate high-intensity exercise drills into training plans to help players better cope with the demands of the game on the pitch.     

GPs' experiences of the Returner (Induction and Refreshment) scheme in Severn: a qualitative study

The introduction of the General Practice Returner (since renamed the Induction and Refreshment) scheme in England by the Department of Health and London Deanery in 2002 provided placements providing training for qualified GPs seeking to return to the primary care workforce after significant time away from clinical general practice. This qualitative research study sought to explore issues around such placements and involved in-depth telephone interviews with an opportunistic sample of 14 GP returners and five trainers on their experiences of the GP returner scheme within Severn Deanery. Findings showed unequivocal and universal support from both returners and trainers for the value of the scheme. However, issues around the 'two-year rule' and funding arrangements whilst returning to practice may need to be re-addressed. GP returners reported significant improvements in their clinical skills and knowledge, understanding of changing NHS policy/protocols and enhanced perceived self-confidence. The importance of a peer-respected scheme organiser, easily accessible internationally, was felt to be crucial. Opportunities for the transferability of unique experiences from GPs returning from overseas should also be further explored.     

Downhill running: a model of exercise hyperemia in the rat spinotrapezius muscle.

To utilize the rat spinotrapezius muscle as a model to investigate the microcirculatory consequences of exercise training, it is necessary to design an exercise protocol that recruits this muscle. There is evidence that the spinotrapezius is derecruited during standard treadmill exercise protocols performed on the uphill treadmill (i.e., 6 degrees incline). This investigation tested the hypothesis that downhill running would effectively recruit the spinotrapezius muscle as assessed by the presence of an exercise hyperemia response. We used radioactive 15-microm microspheres to determine blood flows in the spinotrapezius and selected hindlimb muscles of female Sprague-Dawley rats at rest and during downhill (i.e., -14 degrees incline; 331 +/- 5 g body wt, n = 7) and level (i.e., 0 degrees incline; 320 +/- 11 g body wt, n = 5) running at 30 m/min. Both level and downhill exercise increased blood flow to all hindlimb muscles (P < 0.01). However, in marked contrast to the absence of a hyperemic response to level running, blood flow to the spinotrapezius muscle increased from 26 +/- 6 ml.min(-1).100 g(-1) at rest to 69 +/- 8 ml.min(-1).100 g(-1) during downhill running (P < 0.01). These findings indicate that downhill running represents an exercise paradigm that recruits the spinotrapezius muscle and thereby constitutes a tenable physiological model for investigating the adaptations induced by exercise training (i.e., the mechanisms of altered microcirculatory control by transmission light microscopy).     

Athletes' use of exercise imagery during weight training

Imagery is a cognitive process during which people use their minds to create (or recreate) experiences that are similar to real-life situations. This study examined how college athletes used imagery during weight training. Subjects were 295 Division I (n = 163) and Division II (n = 132) college student athletes (men: n = 138, women: n = 157) who participated in a weight training program as a requirement of their sport. They completed a slightly modified version of the "Weight Lifting Imagery Questionnaire." Results showed that appearance imagery (i.e., images related to the attainment of a fit-looking body) was used and considered the most effective followed by technique imagery (i.e., images related to performing the skill and techniques correctly with good form) and energy imagery (i.e., images related to getting "psyched up" or feeling energized). Other variables that effected imagery use were gender, age, time of season, and levels of motivation. In addition, gender, previous imagery training, and level of motivation had an effect on the perceptions of imagery effectiveness. Confidence in the ability to image was associated with both imagery use and effectiveness, and imagery use and effectiveness were associated with confidence in the weight room. The findings support previous research in exercise imagery that appearance imagery is most used followed by technique and energy imagery and extend them in such a way that strength coaches have practical advice on how to use imagery in a positive way with their athletes. Suggestions about how strength coaches can use imagery with their clients are provided.     

Post-consumer use efficacies of preservatives in personal care and topical drug products: relationship to preservative category

Ninety-six used personal care and topical OTC drug items collected from consumers in the USA were examined for the presence of microbial contaminants. Of the eye and face product type containing global preservative chemistries (i.e., acceptable for use in Japan without major restrictions), 55% yielded numbers of microorganisms in excess of 500 CFU/g (P < 0.1814). For the mascara products with global preservative chemistries, 79% yielded numbers of microorganisms in excess of 500 CFU/g (P < 0.024). Products containing global preservative chemistries accounted for 88% (n = 14) of the products that had microbial contents above 10(4) CFU/g (P < 0.001). Prominent contaminants were species of Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, Bacillus, Corynebacterium, and yeast. In general, under the stress of consumer use, products preserved with global preservative chemistries did not maintain as adequate preservation as products with non-global preservatives.     

Relationship between running loads and soft-tissue injury in elite team sport athletes

Although the potential link between running loads and soft-tissue injury is appealing, the evidence supporting or refuting this relationship in high-performance team sport athletes is nonexistent, with all published studies using subjective measures (e.g., ratings of perceived exertion) to quantify training loads. The purpose of this study was to investigate the risk of low-intensity (e.g., walking, jogging, total distances) and high-intensity (e.g., high acceleration and velocity efforts, repeated high-intensity exercise bouts) movement activities on lower body soft-tissue injury in elite team sport athletes. Thirty-four elite rugby league players participated in this study. Global positioning system data and the incidence of lower body soft-tissue injuries were monitored in 117 skill training sessions during the preseason and in-season periods. The frailty model (an extension of the Cox proportional regression model for recurrent events) was applied to calculate the relative risk of injury after controlling for all other training data. The risk of injury was 2.7 (95% confidence interval 1.2-6.5) times higher when very high-velocity running (i.e., sprinting) exceeded 9 m per session. Greater distances covered in mild, moderate, and maximum accelerations and low- and very low-intensity movement velocities were associated with a reduced risk of injury. These results demonstrate that greater amounts of very high-velocity running (i.e., sprinting) are associated with an increased risk of lower body soft-tissue injury, whereas distances covered at low and moderate speeds offer a protective effect against soft-tissue injury. From an injury prevention perspective, these findings provide empirical support for restricting the amount of sprinting performed in preparation for elite team sport competition. However, coaches should also consider the consequences of reducing training loads on the development of physical qualities and playing performance.     

Face your fears: cleaning gobies inspect predators despite being stressed by them

social stressors typically elicit two distinct behavioural responses in vertebrates: an active response (i.e., "fight or flight") or behavioural inhibition (i.e., freezing). Here, we report an interesting exception to this dichotomy in a Caribbean cleaner fish, which interacts with a wide variety of reef fish clients, including predatory species. Cleaning gobies appraise predatory clients as potential threat and become stressed in their presence, as evidenced by their higher cortisol levels when exposed to predatory rather than to non-predatory clients. Nevertheless, cleaning gobies neither flee nor freeze in response to dangerous clients but instead approach predators faster (both in captivity and in the wild), and interact longer with these clients than with non-predatory clients (in the wild). We hypothesise that cleaners interrupt the potentially harmful physiological consequences elicited by predatory clients by becoming increasingly proactive and by reducing the time elapsed between client approach and the start of the interaction process. The activation of a stress response may therefore also be responsible for the longer cleaning service provided by these cleaners to predatory clients in the wild. Future experimental studies may reveal similar patterns in other social vertebrate species when, for instance, individuals approach an opponent for reconciliation after a conflict.     

Does Enrichment Improve Well Being in Animals under Human Care? A Case Study of Two Harbor Seals (Phoca Vitulina)

Harbor seals in the wild live in a stimulating environment; therefore, nonhuman-animal caretakers have increasingly been using environmental enrichment to improve the well being of seals under human care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an object-based environmental enrichment program during a four-month period on stimulating exploration and play and improving conspecific social interactions and human–animal relationships (HAR). Zoo staff conducted the environmental enrichment program as part of the animal care program. Seals were given objects haphazardly and were observed for 20 minutes, and seals’ responsiveness during training sessions before and after enrichment was assessed. Seals showed interest in objects throughout the study and interacted more times per session with objects during the later months. Seals showed preferences for objects that were suspended in the water column (e.g., rope). Seals did not show more affiliative behavior but did show some aggressive behavior during enrichment sessions in comparison with free-swimming sessions. One seal showed better responsiveness to trainers in training sessions that followed an enrichment session than in other trainings sessions. Overall, the enrichment program was successful in increasing intrinsically motivated behaviors and showed that object-based enrichment has the potential to improve HAR between seals and their trainers.     

Improving Tree-Thinking One Learnable Skill at a Time

Representations are a critical way to communicate scientific knowledge. Systematists biologists are acknowledged as expert tree thinkers who can both read and build phylogenetic trees (e.g., cladograms) accurately. The purpose of this study was to identify the core skills essential to help college students overcome tree-thinking challenges. In this study, I used pre/posttests, interviews, weekly reflective journal entries, field notes from course observations, and student responses to coursework to learn how upper-level college biology students developed representational competence with phylogenetic trees. I identified essential core skills by investigating students’ tree-thinking progression over the course of the semester. Three major patterns emerged from the data: (1) students became better tree readers than tree builders by the end of the plant systematics course; (2) core skills are essential for students to develop tree-thinking competence; and (3) tree reading skills developed before tree building skills. By diagnosing challenges students face with tree-thinking, identifying core skills necessary to overcome these challenges, and developing a starting point for a context-based framework for representational competence, this study adds to our understanding of critical elements necessary for designing effective instructional interventions and improving student learning with phylogenetic trees.     

Age and the neural network of personal familiarity

Background

Accessing information that defines personally familiar context in real-world situations is essential for the social interactions and the independent functioning of an individual. Personal familiarity is associated with the availability of semantic and episodic information as well as the emotional meaningfulness surrounding a stimulus. These features are known to be associated with neural activity in distinct brain regions across different stimulus conditions (e.g., when perceiving faces, voices, places, objects), which may reflect a shared neural basis. Although perceiving context-rich personal familiarity may appear unchanged in aging on the behavioral level, it has not yet been studied whether this can be supported by neuroimaging data.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural network associated with personal familiarity during the perception of personally familiar faces and places. Twelve young and twelve elderly cognitively healthy subjects participated in the study. Both age groups showed a similar activation pattern underlying personal familiarity, predominantly in anterior cingulate and posterior cingulate cortices, irrespective of the stimulus type. The young subjects, but not the elderly subjects demonstrated an additional anterior cingulate deactivation when perceiving unfamiliar stimuli.

Conclusions/Significance

Although we found evidence for an age-dependent reduction in frontal cortical deactivation, our data show that there is a stimulus-independent neural network associated with personal familiarity of faces and places, which is less susceptible to aging-related changes.