Fitness

X-Factor:

Home:

X-Factor Training Zones we focus in four basic zones of fitness and human performance. We first focus on Function through evaluating basic movement patterns that we use in everyday life and in some cases cause muscle imbalances that can cause injuries or chronic aches and pains. We will help to increase each clients function through Dynamic flexibility. Dynamic Flexibility exercises are used to warm up the body, they help activate muscles that are going to be used during your workout and increase your range of motion in daily life. We then introduce Strength Training into the workout that will increase your lean muscle, increase in metabolism, decrease body fat, increased energy, increased power and strength, and increased “Life Strength” the ability to be more active and enjoy what life has to offer. Cardiovascular exercise is also incorporated to increase caloric output, better cardiovascular health and to have fun and enjoy life more. We also use Nutrition to help with everything! Nutrition makes a huge difference in attaining your fitness goals and bettering your overall health. We teach lifestyle changes to make a fun lifestyle change that will impact your life in ways that you did not think were possible. We are excited to help you with the first step to your new life!

X-Factor Training Zones:

ZONE 1
Function def something closely related to another thing and dependant on it for its existence, value or significance. This definition clarifies what functional training or core training or balance training or dynamic flexibility. Functional training helps restore range of motion and how our body functions. Everyone has seen the grandma or grandpa shuffling around or the person that limps or has a chronic back problem. When a person can not “function” in every day life a persons value on life goes down. When that person has restored function their existence and value and significance goes up. When you restore proper function ones enjoyment of life and quality of life increases. Function also transfers over to an athlete’s performance. With proper function an athlete is more efficient more powerful and quicker. Functional movement is the same for the elderly to add quality of life as it is for the high level athlete.

01/09/2005
________________________________________
The physical benefits of functional training are many.
By Stephen A. Black, M.Ed., P.T., A.T.C./L., N.S.C.A.-C.P.T.
Fitness center members are looking for functional programming and equipment. They now realize that form follows function. What good is having "cut" biceps if you can't lift a toddler without wrenching your back? That's the premise behind the evolving concept of functional fitness -- an approach that can transform the fitness industry toward lifestyle enhancements and increased profitability.
Training for real life
What Pilates, yoga and functional training do is train for life. They prepare the body so it can perform daily activities -- walking, bending, lifting, and climbing stairs -- without pain, injury or discomfort. Functional training inclusive of balance, posture and coordination is critical for many older adults.
To receive the "real life" benefits of resistance training, exercisers should use multiple muscle groups in an integrated fashion. This runs counter to the idea behind machine-based weight training, which was developed to allow bodybuilders to isolate single muscle groups. The muscles get stronger using machines and free weights, which are an essential component of any fitness program, but the all-important synergy of the body, will not be accomplished. By contrast, functional training, such as SAQ (speed, agility and quickness), Pilates and yoga, challenges the body to work as a whole, firing up the muscles in a sequential pattern.
Considerations for program development
In putting together each workout, trainers can choose from thousands of exercises, including more than 25 ways to perform a simple forward lunge. Mixing it up helps mitigate boredom and the exercise dropout factor that so often follows. It may be more difficult to choreograph and perform, but it will be more fun and beneficial to the member.
Because of the integration of more muscles into the workout, functional fitness can also be an effective alternative to traditional training for those trying to lose weight. A good example is training on a stability ball. Every time the ball moves, the participant has to activate muscles deep in the pelvis, back, abdominals and hips. Because of the increased muscle activity, more calories are used, and more muscle is potentially built.
To maximize human performance, trainers must have a good understanding of what affects performance. The factors that play the greatest role in performance are power (strength and speed), agility (flexibility, mobility, and stability), cardiovascular and respiratory conditioning, sports skills (neuromuscular coordination and efficiency) and genetic potential.
Physiological benefits
Metabolism. A major fraction of total daily energy demand arises from resting metabolism, and it is, thus, important to document the resting metabolism of clients. Metabolism decreases by about 10 percent per decade after the third decade of life. One reason is the loss of metabolically active muscle mass, and a parallel increase in metabolically inert fat deposits.
The denser the muscle tissue, the more calories used, even at a complete stand-still. Those with dense muscles use more calories by just engaging in their regular daily activities. In fact, research shows that for each pound of muscle earned, a person will expend 35 to 50 more calories per day. So, by gaining 3 pounds of muscle, a person will use 40 more calories per pound, which equates to 120 additional calories per day, which translates into 3,600 additional calories per month and ultimately results in a weight loss of 10 to 12 pounds in a single year.
As age increases, there may also be some overall reduction in cellular metabolism. Food intake must be correspondingly adjusted if body fat is not to increase further.
Muscular-skeletal function. Muscle strength peaks at around 25 years of age, plateaus through 35 or 40, and then shows an accelerating decline, with a 25 percent loss of peak strength by age 65. Muscle mass decreases, apparently with a selective loss in the cross-section, if not the number of, type II fibers. Other possible causes of functional loss include a deterioration of fiber recruitment, prolonged relaxation time and decreased velocity. Changes are greater in the legs with aging.
Loss of strength progressively impedes everyday living. Muscle strength can be greatly improved by as little as eight weeks of resistance/functional training. Stronger muscles further enhance function by stabilizing joints, reducing the risks of falls, and improving balance and coordination.
There is a progressive decrease in the calcium content and a deterioration of bone with aging. Changes are more marked in women than in men, due, in part, to hormonal changes and a lower intake of calcium and protein. Regular load-bearing exercise can halt and sometimes even reverse bone mineral loss through the eighth decade of life. Functional exercises reproduce appropriate bone stress associated with activities of daily living.
Exercise training cannot restore tissue that has already been destroyed, but it can protect exercisers against a number of chronic diseases. More importantly, it maximizes residual function. In some instances, biological age is reduced by as much as 20 years. Life expectancy is increased, partial and total disability is delayed, and there are major gains in quality-adjusted life expectancy. Exercise is, thus, an important component of healthy living.
Functional equipment
The recommended equipment for functional training will vary from that used in traditional strength training. Recent findings in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning show that machine-based strength training has limited carryover in helping perform activities of daily living. There are many better equipment options for functional strength training that minimize equipment needs. These include the following:
Dumbbells. Begin with 3- to 4-pound weights, and progress to 8 to10.
Body weight. Combined with jump ropes or exercise balls, body weight is often challenging on its own, especially during lunges and push-ups.
Resistance bands and loops. Replicate activities of daily living with resistance bands.
Exercise balls. Exercise balls offer a fun way to combine balance work with other exercises.
Medicine balls. Medicine balls are great for combo moves involving the shoulders.
Fitness center revenue
Since functional training requires a high level of expertise, it comes at a premium price. Functional training sessions range from $25 to $200 an hour, depending on the instructor, and/or if it is a private or group session.
Appropriate testing will ensure optimal outcomes, and instill confidence in participants. Justifiably, this comes at a premium price. Revenue generation comes from the following:
* Exercise testing and prescription ($50 to $500 per session).
* Metabolic testing ($150 to $500 per test) and re-tests ($50 to $150) for resting metabolic rate, VO2, anaerobic threshold and BodyAge.
* Functional training sessions, for which you can charge $65 per session, or $85 for a group of four.
* Core training sessions teaching SAQ, which can cost clients $75 to $150 per session, or $85 to $200 per group of four to six.
* Sports-specific training.
* Fall-prevention training.
* Pilates (prevailing rates within geographic location), including individual reformer, group reformer and mat classes.
* Yoga (prevailing rates within geographic location).
Lifestyle and lifetime changes
All the workouts in the world won't mean anything if your clients don't change the way they move on a daily basis. While it is important to strengthen the core, clients and members also need to sit, stand and get out of bed in ways that don't strain the body. In other words, try combining functional training with changes in the way your clients and members function. The results could be with them for a lifetime. FM
Stephen A. Black, M.Ed., P.T., A.T.C./L., C.P.T., CEO of RockyMountain Human Performance Center Inc., Boulder, Colo., provides individualized programs for athletes, weekend warriors and post-rehab clients. Black has 20-plus years' experience in the health and wellness industry, and has worked with professional teams, including the NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA and ABL/NBL affiliates. He is also a presenter for the health and wellness industry. For more information, visit www.clubcoach.net.

Copyright 2005, Fitness Management magazine, Leisure Publications Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., www.fitnessmanagement.com

ZONE 2
Strength training is used to help increase lean muscle tissue which will help increase your metabolism. When your metabolism is up 24 hours a day from increased muscle your body is able to utilize fat. For those that want to change their body composition strength training plays a very important role in weight loss. Strength training helps the athlete get bigger faster and stronger. For the elderly strength training helps bone density and helps maintain much needed muscle and helps reinforce functional capability.

When you want to make a positive TOTAL life change we are here to help educate and guide you
Strength Training Section

Strength training is an essential element of fitness for virtually every sports man and woman. Long gone are the days when coaches believed resistance exercises only added unnecessary bulk to the athlete, hindering their ability to execute skill.
The benefits of strength training to athletic performance are enormous and many. Not only is it an integral conditioning component for power athletes such as football and rugby players, performance in the pure endurance events can be improved with a well-structured strength routine.
However, aside from perhaps bodybuilders, sport-specific resistance training requires a more refined approach than simply lifting heavy weights to complete exhaustion. A physiological analysis of any game or event will confirm that most athletes require explosive power, muscular endurance, maximal strength or some combination of all three in order to excel. Rarely is pure muscle bulk the primary concern and when it is, other elements of strength are equally as important.
________________________________________
Elements of a Strength Training Program
Hypertrophy
Synonymous with most people’s perception of strength training, hypertrophy refers to increased muscle bulk and size. This is only one aspect of a sport-specific strength training program and one that should be included for only a select group of athletes. Football and rugby players require significant bulk to withstand very aggressive body contact. For most athletes however, too much muscle bulk is a hindrance. And remember that a larger muscle is not necessarily a stronger muscle.
Maximal Strength
Maximal strength is the highest level of force an athlete can possibly generate. Its importance will vary between sports but this relates more to the length of the maximal strength training phase than whether it should be included or not (1). The greater an athlete’s maximal strength to begin with, the more of it can be converted into sport-specific strength endurance or explosive power.
Maximal strength training can improve exercise economy and endurance performance (2,3). Interestingly, it does not appear to lead to a significant increase in muscle hypertrophy (4).
Explosive Power
Rarely is an athlete required to produce a singular maximal effort in their sport. With the exception of powerlifting, most sports require movements that are much more rapid and demand a higher power output than is generated during maximal lifts (5,6). So while maximal strength training lays an important foundation increasing the potential for additional power development, if there is no conversion of this strength into sport-specific power, the program as a whole is much less effective.
An athlete can be exceptionally strong but lack substantial power due to an inability to contract muscle quickly. Power training is used to improve the rate of force production and a range of methods such as plyometrics can be employed to convert maximal strength into explosive power.
Strength Endurance
Explosive power is not always the predominant goal of the strength training program. For events such as distance running, cycling, swimming and rowing, strength endurance is a major limiting factor. Again, the greater amount of starting maximal strength, the more of it can be maintained for a prolonged period.
Strength endurance can be developed through circuit training or the use of low weights and high repetitions. However, many strength endurance programs are inadequate for endurance-based sports - a set of 15-20 repetitions for example does not condition the neuromuscular system in the same way as a long distance event.
Periodization
The concept of periodization is key to sport-specific strength training. Dividing the overall training plan into succinct phases or periods, each with a specific outcome, allows sport-specific strength to peak at the right times, whilst minimizing the risk of over-training.
It also allows more specific elements of strength to be built on a solid and more general fitness foundation. Athletes cannot progress week-in week-out indefinitely so periodization permits variations in intensity and volume to promote performance enhancements for as long as possible to reach your goals.

ZONE 3
Cardiovascular training is personalized to what your goals are. Cardiovascular training is important to health in general by increasing your heart rate exercising the most important muscle in your body and increasing your metabolism. Depending on your exercise goals and health needs. If you have to train for a specific sporting event you will have a cardio program specifically designed for you.
The Truth About Cardio Programming
By Paul Robbins
Date Released : 18 Jul 2001

There are three main components of an effective weight loss program: Proper diet, effective weight training and a complete cardiovascular program. You can find hundreds of books on diets and weight loss plans in any bookstore. You will also find dozens of books on weight training. However, few books in the mainstream media provide information about proper cardiovascular training.
This article will help personal trainers and group fitness instructors understand the true benefits of cardiovascular training. Coming from a career in the fitness business and seeing a lot of frustrated club members, my goal is to educate you on how to get the most out of every cardiovascular workout. I will address the myth of those "fat-burning zones" and help you to design a cardiovascular program.
The "Fat Burning Zone" Myth
What is the "fat burning zone?" It's the time when your body is mainly using fat as fuel. This can be determined using a metabolic analyzer to measure an individual’s respiratory exchange ratio-RER. Simply put, this is the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) you expire, divided by the oxygen (O2) you inhale while you breathe. Your body uses the highest percent of its fuel from fat when the body has a RER of .71.
So, you may ask, if your body wants to use a high percent of its fuel from fat when you are at .71 RER, why wouldn’t you want to exercise at this level all the time? Because the only time your body can be at .71 RER is at complete rest. This is where the real fat burning zone theory breaks down, because you simply don’t burn very many calories when resting. As you increase your activity level, your RER will rise.
Some fitness professionals designate your "fat burning zone" somewhere between an RER of .80-.90, (also referred as 65% of max heart rate) and you could still be using some fat as a fuel but you are now doing moderate exercise such as a fast walk or light jog. But more importantly, you are now also burning a fair amount of calories. This is a great zone to start in and I consistently use it for beginners to improve their blood’s capability to deliver oxygen throughout the body and remove waste. When you exercise regularly, your body increases its output of blood and your blood volume increases – this allows more blood to get to the cells. The result is a greater flow of oxygen to a greater number of cells throughout the body, thus helping the cells work to their capacity and allowing the heart to become stronger.
From this point on we will refer to this RER of .80-.90 as zone one. Even though many people know this as the "fat burning zone," we will refer to it as more of a "recovery zone" – which it truly is. Later I will discuss a beginner stage-training program that illustrates how to design programs using three different zones. The problem with using only zone one is that you will hit a plateau and not be able to increase your fitness level. As a result, your weight will remain the same. (I've witnessed this phenomenon in about half of my clients.)
Important Disclaimer:
No express or implied warranty (whether of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or otherwise) or other guaranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of any of the information or content contained in any of the pages in this web site or otherwise provided by personal training on the net. No responsibility is accepted and all responsibility is hereby disclaimed for any loss or damage suffered as a result of the use or misuse of any information or content or any reliance thereon. It is the responsibility of all users of this website to satisfy themselves as to the medical and physical condition of themselves and their clients in determining whether or not to use or adapt the information or content provided in each circumstance. Notwithstanding the medical or physical condition of each user, no responsibility or liability is accepted and all responsibility and liability is hereby disclaimed for any loss or damage suffered by any person as a result of the use or misuse of any of the information or content in this website, and any and all liability for incidental and consequential damages is hereby expressly excluded.
© Copyright Personal Training on the Net 1998 ¬ 2006 All rights reserved

ZONE 4
Nutrition is one of the most important pieces of the fitness and health puzzle. Nutrition is how we feed our bodies the fuel that we need to function as a healthy vibrant person. Food is difficult for people to understand yet the first thing that everyone professes that they do right. I have been a trainer for 10 years and talked to literally thousands of people who think that they eat healthy. There are the few people that are brutally honest and tell you what they really eat. The obesity rate in this country is out of control yet there are more fad diets then ever. The food pyramid made us believe that processed carbohydrates were good for you and low fat was how to diet. What is the proper way to eat? We have Stax Systems to help us simplify it and make good nutrition part of your lifestyle. Proper nutrition can help to reduce people’s dependence on pharmaceutical drugs (with doctor involvement).