Here’s a little confession: before becoming a trainer, I was a history geek. Seriously, at one point, I thought about becoming a (cool) high school history teacher, which is why it’s fun for me to study the history of the fitness industry; because by ...

With the growing utilization of technology in both personal and professional life, there seems to be less time to “just be” without a plethora of stimuli around us. Between computer use at work, smartphone use in our personal life, and the popularity of ...

Each month, we’ll shine the spotlight on a different NASM Certified Personal Trainer who’s making a difference in their community. For August, we spoke with Daniel Stein, NASM-CPT, and founder of Special Strong, a company that helps children and adults ...

This episode is a review of the skeletal systems. Anatomy only! No ROM or joint actions. Today Rick talks about the bones themselves, names, locations, and mnemonics to help remember and recall their names. This is a high-level overview, so we will just ...

Lifespan, Healthspan and Playspan Humans are living longer than ever before with the help of modern medicine, science, technology, and access to adequate nutrition. Although the human lifespan can now extend past the century mark, healthspan, which is ...

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children and adolescents should participate in at least 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily (1). However, less than 24% of children ages 6-17 meet this daily ...

One of the most common questions I get after a workshop is “how do you remember the names of all those muscles?” So, today we discuss anatomical words for muscles and from where they are derived. It’s important to learn the language of your profession ...

Our fitness careers demand an almost nonstop service-oriented approach to work. ­Unfortunately, constantly empowering other people’s wellness can leave us feeling empty, which is why I often tell people I mentor, “We can’t serve tea from an empty teapot.”

The OPT Model™, or Optimum Performance Training Model, is a fitness training system developed by NASM. The OPT Model is based on scientific evidence and principles that progresses an individual through five training phases: stabilization endurance, ...

Originally published in the Summer 2019 issue of American Fitness Magazine. Cancer is serious business. It is second only to heart disease as Americans’ leading cause of death, and more than 1.7 million new cases of cancer are expected to be diagnosed ...