While many people are familiar with doing dumbbell chest presses on a flat or incline bench, the dumbbell chest press performed on the ball is significantly more challenging. The ball forces you to stabilize your body while pressing the dumbbells.

You are also using you glutes and hamstrings to maintain proper position on the ball. This exercise requires you to focus your attention on using proper technique which helps you get more out of the exercise.

Starting Position

 To perform the exercise, begin with the dumbbells in your hands and maneuver into a “bridge” position on the stability ball. Your head, neck and upper back should be balanced on top of the ball. Keep your feet firmly on the ground and your hips up straight.

Start with the dumbbells up, arms straight. Slowly lower the dumbbells to the sides of your chest, bending at the elbows and then return them to the top.

To get the most from the exercise, be sure not to drop the hips or twist the torso while performing the movement. Always perform a good warm-up before doing any exercise or stretch.

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Scientists from Lund University in Sweden think so and now say that spinach may hold the key to keeping you slim. A compound in spinach leaves (they’re good for you and loaded with brain-boosting iron and anti-oxidants) can actually trick our bodies into thinking we’re full.

By slowing down the digestion of fat, the spinach compound tricks our bodies by telling the brain we’ve already eaten enough. Scientists say they aren’t sure why this works, but one of the plant cell components called thylakoids from chloroplasts slows down the digestion of fat.

Once scientists are able to isolate and purify the substance (right now, it takes more than a pound of spinach to produce the effect), then they suggest that all we would need is a few grams added to our fat-rich diets to help us drop the pounds.

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It’s an issue that’s been debated for years: Is stretching beneficial for athletic performance and prevention of workout soreness?

The British Journal of Sports Medicine reports that researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia reviewed dozens of recent studies of stretching, trying to determine whether stretching helped prevent soreness after a workout.

The authors found 12 studies completed in the past 25 years that focused on that subject. Although most of the studies were small and short-term, surprisingly, each produced essentially the same result: Stretching does not produce important reductions in muscle soreness in the days following exercise compared to those who did not stretch.

Among the notable findings is that roughly 54 percent of the 2,377 active adult participants in one study said that they regularly performed static stretching, and a majority of those studied said one of the main reasons they stretched was to avoid muscle soreness.

Other studies have shown that static stretching is not effective at reducing injury risk, as those who stretched experienced about the same number of sports-related injuries as those who didn’t.

But researchers caution to take the findings carefully. Reliable information about stretching remains elusive because stretching is difficult to study because no studies of stretching meet the scientific gold standard of being both randomized and blinded.

So, should you or should you not, stretch before, during or after a workout?

Dr. Michael Fredericson, a professor of sports medicine at Stanford University believes dynamic stretching, during which you move while lengthening muscles and connective tissues, could be more effective than static stretching at reducing injuries and soreness.

Dr. Fredericson advises to “try substituting jumping jacks for toe touches before a run. And if you feel frequent tightness in certain muscles or tissues (like in the iliotibial band that runs along the outside of your knee, a common occurrence in distance runners) then stretch those particular muscles after exercise to lessen your chances of serious injury.”

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Since 1988, over 180,000 students have joined our mission to create a stronger, healthier world—people just like you. We’re thrilled to be a part of their personal and professional success and stand ready to help you any way we can!

Dr. Stephen Zimmerman, Bellmore, NY

. . . bridging the gap between physical therapy and fitness training

Dr. Stephen Zimmerman is a healthcare professional practicing physical therapy for 38 years, a husband, father, and grandfather. He believes there will be a need for improved quality in years of functionality and as such pursued a new and complimentary pathway by obtaining his CFT via the ISSA program in 2010.

Stephen’s goal was to create a process that incorporates the complimentary health professions of rehabilitation and fitness for seniors. This has proven to be of benefit, and has put the seniors under his care, more at ease, and has enhanced the well-being of these patients/clients.

Upon completing his CFT program, Stephen has become more of an educator and collaborative healthcare professional. He has developed a program directed at senior care, and is in the process of eradicating “ageism.” Stephen has given lectures on fall prevention and home safety to community groups, and has educated other healthcare professionals about fitness.

“The ISSA has augmented my skill as a practitioner with relevance to care of the body and mind. They have been my inspiration, and mentor along his new pathway making me continuously aware that the process of education never stops.”

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Ways to help you keep your body, health and fitness moving forward to better results

Tri sets are an exercise principle that can produce superb results if they are used sparingly; as in no more than once a week per bodypart.

Think of tri-sets as the sequence of doing three exercises (either for the same or different bodyparts) with absolutely minimal rest between exercises.

Tri-sets can be performed with heavy weights and low reps, but for many people, using tri-sets is easier and quicker if performed with lighter-to-moderate weight with reps higher than eight per set.

Here are a few exercises and bodypart combinations that work well in tri-sets:

Chest-to-Shoulders-to-Triceps

• Dumbbell incline bench press
• Standing one-arm alternating dumbbell press
• Dumbbell one-arm behind head French press

Back-to-Biceps-to-Forearms

• Seated cable row
• Standing curved bar cable curl on low-pulley
• Behind-body reverse barbell forearm roll-ups

Quads-to-Calves-to-Hamstrings

• Wide foot position leg press
• Narrow foot position toe raises on leg press
• Stiff-legged deadlifts with barbell standing on elevated platform or flat bench (to allow the bar to lower to at least shin height for a good hamstring stretch)

Abs-to-Low Back-to-Ab Twists

• Knee-ups (on either supported bench or hanging with arms straight from a chin-up station)
• Low back hyper-extension (no more than 12 reps per set and with only bodyweight)
• Broom handle trunk twists (1 minute continuous from side-to-side)

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Internal Revenue Service

Most of us know that an independent contractor is responsible for paying their own state and federal income taxes after receiving full payment from the contractor. Likewise, it is widely known that an employee status requires that the employer withhold federal, social security, and Medicare tax, as well as match employer social security and Medicare tax, pay unemployment tax, issue W-2 forms at the end of the year, and report all paid wages to the IRS. However, there is much more to the determination of status in personal trainer employment than these factors.

The IRS determines the status of an independent contractor by how much control the employer exerts over the worker in the performance of any tasks.  According to the IRS, the employer “has only the right to control or direct the result of [the independent contractor’s] work, not what will be done, or how it will be done.” In the case of personal training, the trainer must have the right to control the details of the training sessions and the specific methods of training if they are to maintain independent contractor status. While this may sound simple, it is not.

The Common Law Test

The IRS does differentiate between the amount of freedom given to a trainer and the amount of control which can be exerted on the trainer. In other words, even if the trainer is given free reign, the IRS will look at how much control could legally be impressed upon the trainer at any given time, and will judge the status of the trainer partially on the results of that test. This analyzing of the level of control the company exerts over the trainer is known as the Common Law Test. The findings of sufficient control over the trainer could result in the status of common law employee, and the company could be held liable for any payroll taxes paid to the employee and owed to the government.

In determining the status of a worker between contractor and employee, the courts have divided the determining facts into three categories:

Behavioral Control

This category is broken down into the subcategories of instruction and training to show whether the business owner has the right to direct and control the trainer’s actions through direct instructions or specific training. If the company instructs the trainer on such things as when, where, how, and in what order the work will be performed, who will assist with the work, and who will perform specific tasks, and/or offer any training or instruction in the performance of the job, then the trainer can be considered an employee.

Financial Control

In this category, the IRS looks at how much control the company or management has over the business aspects of the trainer’s job. Basically, if the trainer has expenses not reimbursed by the company, and makes investments of his or her own money, then the trainer is operating more like an independent contractor. However, if the company controls advertising the trainer’s service exclusively, and purchases or reimburses the trainer for advertising, assessment tools, office materials, etc., then the owner is treating the trainer like an employee.

Type of Relationship

The final criteria is solely based on any written contracts describing the relationship, what employee benefits the trainer is supplied with, the length of relationship, and how important the trainer’s services are to the operation of the owner’s overall business. Whatever plan you start out with should be the plan for the long run. While it may be easy to convert an independent contractor to an employee, converting an employee to an independent contractor is scrutinized very heavily and most often will not be a legally defensible move on behalf of a company.

Contracts: Who is in control?

Another important fact to consider is a non-compete agreement or other exclusivity contract between trainer and facility. In most cases, an independent contractor cannot be precluded from seeking training opportunities at other facilities or anywhere else, while simultaneously working for a particular company. The independent contractor also has the right to refuse assignments from the company. While most trainers are not aware of these intricacies, these are the areas most often abused or exploited by club owners.
An employee can legally be barred from training at other facilities, in clients’ homes, etc. They also can not refuse assignments, and can be instructed to use specific methods and programs exclusive to the employer’s gym or studio.

The independent contractor can, however, be held to a form of non-compete called a non-disclosure. The contract will forbid the independent contractor from pursuing the clients or members of a particular facility, and from the luring away of the trainers, employees, and staff of the facility. The contract will also forbid the trainer from revealing or utilizing any information he or she learned during their tenure with the facility that would not be otherwise publicly available.

In other words, the trainer will come into contact with membership lists, advertising plans, client personal information and addresses, and other information or methods used by the company exclusively and privately—information that is not available for public disclosure. The non-disclosure forbids the trainer from using or employing any of the information or business methods outside of the facility. This type of contract will be for a length of time extending beyond the termination of the relationship.

Non-compete and non-disclosure contracts are often viewed lightly by trainers and club owners alike. However, there are many instances where both parties have been on the losing end of one of these contracts. The business world is a hostile one, and you should always cover your blind spots and protect your hard work and investments. Judges will not allow anyone to deny another person the “right to work,” so the language and stipulations in any agreement should be realistic; if it is not, don’t sign it! A company should only seek to limit someone’s actions that would directly interfere with that company’s act of doing business. Most contracts are dated for between six-months to two years following termination of the relationship, and hold a reasonable geographic limitation.

While it is not necessary, it is advisable that you have an attorney review any contracts you use or consider signing in your business. Successful trainers combine great personal training with strong business knowledge, and in today’s fast-moving fitness industry, that knowledge can be the key to your longevity in this industry.

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People train vigorously throughout the winter and spring, preparing for the summer season. June 21 will be the first official day of summer and with it begins a period of travel and leisure for many families and individuals. Doesn’t it feel great when your workout perseverance translates into a lean and healthy body! Unfortunately, time spent traveling in cars, campers, and planes or the time spent in hotels can compromise all the hard work and sacrifices you made preparing for summer. However, with a little thoughtful preparation, you can have a great time while on the road and still stay in top shape. Many of us travel by car to our favorite destinations. But time spent on the road can wreak havoc on your nutrition if you do not prepare in advance. Here are a few tips to consider when traveling on the road.

• Follow a basic behavior modification technique and never eat while moving. The amount of food eaten unconsciously while focusing on riding or driving can add up dramatically. Easy access to food and the distraction of the road make automatic, even unconscious, excess snacking occur.

• Never eat from the original package or bag. Snack food placed on plates takes up more space and will cut the risk of unconsciously eating the entire bag.

• Choose snacks that’ll fulfill a portion of your nutritional requirements rather than an empty-calorie snack. A good choice would be unbuttered popcorn. At twenty-three calories per cup, popcorn is a filing high fiber snack, which takes a long time to eat, for those who can not avoid snacking in the car.

• Choose foods that are high in nutrient density and foods that are low in energy density. Vegetables are full of vitamins and minerals and will keep you energized through your day. An eight ounce broccoli stalk is approximately forty calories. The energy it takes to metabolize the broccoli will be burned up in the digestion and absorption process.

• Vary your fruit snacks. Wrap bananas in foil and freeze them for the trip. Seedless grapes and berries that are frozen make a great snack as well.

• Sandwiches can be frozen overnight: they will be ready to eat by noon the next day. Choose coarse whole grain bread with fillings that freeze well. Chicken breast and tuna fish are good choices as well.

If you have to stop at a restaurant along the way, consider the following:

• Avoid ordering mixed foods, processed foods, and foods that might be prepared in lard, oil, butter or margarine.

• Order plain meats, baked potatoes or rice, and steamed vegetables.

• Salad bars are offered in most restaurants and are an excellent source of fiber and vitamins A and C. However, many salad bar items are high in sodium, fat, and calories and should be eaten in moderation. The following are good choices that are lower in calories and fat:
• Dark leafy greens and lettuce such as spinach and romaine (which are higher in nutrients than iceberg lettuce).
• All fresh vegetables: bean sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, cucumbers, green beans, mushrooms, onions, peas, peppers, radishes, red cabbage, and tomatoes, all of which are high in fiber and vitamins and low in calories.
• Turkey, egg whites, chicken or lean beef, which are good sources of protein.

• Salad dressing considerations: To conserve calories, salads should not be dressed at the salad bar but spooned into a small side dish and taken to the table. Choose oil and vinegar over other salad dressings like Thousand Island, Blue Cheese or Italian. Tossing the salad thoroughly ensures that only a small amount is needed.

Those traveling by plane should consider the following:

• You do not have to settle for airline food. If you call twenty-four hours before your flight, you can request to have a specialized meal ready for you. Most airlines provide a variety of special meals to accommodate vegetarians, diabetics, or individuals on low-sodium or low-calorie diets.

• Salty foods such as pretzels, peanuts, potato chips, and saltine crackers should be avoided. Fatty foods coat the lining of the stomach and delay stomach emptying.

• Over seas traveling can take as long as ten hours or more, with little opportunity to engage in activity. With this in mind, consider that a twelve ounce beer would require a thirty minute walk to burn off the empty calories consumed or a one and a half ounce eighty proof gin or vodka requires twenty minutes of rowing to burn off those empty calories.

• Designate a portion of the meal, such as a glass of juice, a salad, or a piece of fruit, to be eaten later as a snack.

Finally, considerations to be made once you arrive:

• When dining out, select restaurants that offer a large variety. These are more likely to include nutritious, low-calorie choices.

• Keep in mind that a restaurant or a hotel is not a private kitchen and that the chef is not your personal employee. When making a request, the following considerations should be taken into account:

Learn about cooking basics. Béchamel, béarnaise, and hollandaise sauces, as well as Thousand Island and creamy Italian dressings are made of high-cholesterol ingredients. Sautéed always means cooked in butter. All fried food, no matter what it is fried in, is high in calories.

Make your request clear, specific, and easy to follow. Do not interrogate the waiter or waitress. Your request should be precise and, if you don’t want a particular ingredient, state what is acceptable. Many times an establishment will substitute a “no butter” request with margarine if not specifically noted.

• Do not overeat.

• Do not eat too fast.

• Do not talk when you are eating.

• Do not skip lunch and make dinner a huge meal, as many travelers do. Keep in mind that many restaurants offer the same food for lunch as for dinner, but at lower prices.

• Finally, do not forget to exercise. Walk to your destinations instead of taking a taxi or bus. Use the stairs instead of the elevators. Take advantage of the hotel pool or fitness facility to help burn calories, help assure a restful nights sleep, and give you an opportunity to release some of the pressures of the day that usually lead to excessive eating or drinking.

With all of the fun and sun the summer time brings, following these tips can help assure that when fall rolls around, you’ll still be in the best shape of your life. Have a fit and fabulous summer season.

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Most leg exercises fall under the quad dominant category. Squats, deadlifts, leg presses and the like are all quad dominant exercises. While the hip extensor muscle groups (hamstrings and glutes) are activated during these movements, the quads take most of the training stress, and therefore receive the largest training response. If you do not make a conscious effort to balance your quad and hip extensor training, you will eventually develop a strength imbalance between the two muscle groups.

This imbalance can lead to several less than desirable conditions, with both physical (frequently pulled hamstrings) and cosmetic (less than perky backside) manifestations. Because hip extensor training can have such a wide range of benefits, it makes sense for everyone to include it in their training program – from general health and fitness clients looking for some improved “assets,” to athletes looking for improved performance and injury prevention.

So what exactly are hip dominant exercises? The hip extensors are the muscle groups that act to extend the hip which, as mentioned earlier, are primarily the hamstrings and the glutes. When most people hear the word “hamstrings” attatched to the hip extensor definition, they automatically start to think “leg curls,” and why not? Leg curl variations are probably the most common and popular hamstring exercises in the history of the iron game.

In fact, if you asked someone in the gym who was doing leg curls to name another exercise that targeted the hamstrings, they would probably give you a blank stare and go back to reeling off their 12 reps on the lying leg curl machine.

But guess what? Leg curls are not hip dominant exercises. To qualify as one, there has to be movement at the hip joint, and the leg curls simply do not do this, making them a poor choice for balancing the strength levels between the two main sections of the upper leg.

So, considering that the only exercise that most people associate with hamstring training is woefully inadequate for our ultimate purposes, what should you be doing as a hip dominant exercise? One of the most effective, most overlooked, and on the rare occasion it is performed, most poorly executed exercises for this purpose is the Romanian Deadlift (RDL).

The RDL isn’t a true deadlift, and its origins are not Romanian (American lifters saw a World Champion weightlifter from Romania performing this exercise back in the ‘50’s and dubbed it the “Romanian Deadlift”). The term RDL proved to be a catchy name, and has stuck with this exercise throughout the years. Certified Fitness Instructors with the ISSA will recognize this exercise from the CFT text, although Dr. Hatfield referred to it by another less common name, “keystone deadlifts.”

First let’s establish what proper form is for this exercise, before we start to get into why it’s one of the best hip extensor exercises available to you, and how you should integrate it into your training program.

Set the racks in a power rack to just about knee level (there is no need for safety rods – if you lose control during a lift, simply drop the weight), and set a standard Olympic bar on the rack. Walk up, squat down slightly while maintaining a small curve in the lower back, grasp the bar, and stand back up. You want your hands to be shoulder width apart, perhaps slightly wider if you find it to be more comfortable. Take a few steps back, and set yourself for the exercise. Being set includes making sure your feet are shoulder width apart, your chest is up, your lower back has a slight curve in it, and your knees are slightly bent (not locked). Once set you’re ready to start the exercise.

Start by tightening your core musculature (abs and lower back) to ensure a secure spine. Keeping the bar close in to your body (it should maintain slight contact with the body at all times) start to bend at the hips, taking care that the lower back does not move.

It may take some people a few sessions of practice to make this distinction. Your lower back should not loose its natural curvature at any time during the movement. Loosing this curve and bending or even straitening the lower back will put your lower back in a potentially injurious position. Practice with a light weight until you can bend over at the hips without bending the lower back as well.

As you descend, your butt should move back ever so slightly and you should feel a stretch in your hamstrings. In fact, I find it’s easier to learn this exercise if you visualize it as a hamstring stretch with no lower back movement. Most people will find that they can safely bring the bar down to around knee level before their lower back begins to straighten.

At the point right before you reach the limit of your hamstring range of motion you should stop and then reverse the movement, taking care to keep the bar in close and maintaining a safe (slightly curved) lower back position. Towards the top of the movement really force the hips through be squeezing the glutes. Repeat for the prescribed number of repetitions, walk the bar in over the racks, squat down slightly and return the bar to the rack.

The biggest mistake most people will make in the execution of this exercise is not maintaining the position of their lower back. Some will even go so far as to bend all the way over till the weight touches the ground. This is a huge no-no and is a reflection of the misunderstanding of this exercise and its purposes by most fitness instructors. It is not meant simply as a hamstring stretch as some would claim, nor is it meant to directly work the lower back, although the lower back will get stronger from performing this exercise.

In order to properly stress the hip extensor muscle groups, you must use intensity levels that are much too high for the lower back to handle in a prime mover or synergistic role. In order to derive maximum benefits from the RDL, you must keep the lower back from moving and let it play a much safer role as a stabilizer.

In fact, if done properly, you can safely handle extremely large weights on this movement with little to no danger to your lower back. I have personally done 405 pounds for sets of 8 on this movement with absolutely no ill effect on my lower back (that’s for all the “don’t go heavy, it’s dangerous for your lower back” critics out there).

So what makes the RDL so great? Two words – intensity and functionality. First, the RDL allows a much higher intensity level (basically more weight can be used) than a leg curl does. Considering that hamstrings are made up of primarily fast twitch muscle fibers which are best trained with higher intensity levels, the RDL is one of the most effective hamstring exercises you can do.

Second, the RDL is also far more functional than leg curls. Sorry folks, but leg curls are not a functional exercise. Although it may seem like knee flexion is a big part of your every day activities like running and walking, a look at the true biomechanics of these activities shows that it is, in fact, hip extension that plays the major role in these activities.

Your knee simply flexes in order to reset the leg and start the locomotion movement again, and even there the momentum generated from the hip extension helps swing the lower leg back. Hip extension plays a huge role in several everyday activities, such as the above mentioned running and walking, not to mention jumping and biking. In addition, when you learn to bend over with a heavy weight in the gym while protecting your lower back, you have learned better body mechanics for use outside the gym as well.

There is one last thing that makes the RDL special, at least in most of my client’s eyes. I’ve yet to find an exercise that delivers better results as far as firming up the hindquarters, if you catch my drift. I’ve had dozens of frustrated people come to me after years of leg lifts and donkey kicks and all sorts of other silly exercises that supposedly target the glutes. These frustrated athletes are ready to give up their dream of looking good in tight pants again.

After a little instruction, every single one of them saw better and more satisfying results in just a few months of executing the RDL than all their previous training combined. Some may scoff at it, but most people work out with an eye on improving their physique, so these benefits do rank high on a lot of people’s priority list.

When you add the RDL (or any other hip extensor exercise) into your program, your best bet is to split your leg work up over two different days. Day one, use a quad intensive exercise; day two, use a hip extensor intensive exercise. Allow at least two days between your two leg workouts so as not to overly stress any of the stabilizers and synergists that assist in lower body movements. I’ve found the following split to be very effective:

• Day 1 – Leg Workout #1 (Quad Dominant)
• Day 2 – Chest/Biceps
• Day 3 – Rest
• Day 4 – Leg Workout #2 (Hip Extensor Dominant)/ Back/ Triceps
• Day 5 – Shoulders/ Abs/ Rotator Cuff
• Day 6 – Rest
• Day 7 – Rest

Note: You’ll probably notice that there is no direct tricep work, and that is because I prefer to use pressing movements such as bench press and military press to work the triceps. Since I split my chest and shoulder work up over two days, I’ve effectively hit the triceps twice in one week, making more direct work unnecessary and possibly counterproductive.

Look at your training log (you do keep one, don’t you?) and take a peek at your last dozen or so leg workouts. Odds are all of them used nothing but quad dominant exercises with perhaps some leg curls thrown in. Isn’t it about time you stopped working only half your upper leg musculature? Now that you know the benefits, you’d be a fool not to start incorporating the RDL into your routine. After all, who doesn’t want to run faster, jump higher and be able to bounce a quarter off their butt?

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