Expert Advice

Kettlebell Sport, known traditionally as Girevoy Sport (GS), is gaining popularity among athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike that want to try something new. Personal trainers should become familiar with the sport as it offers generous opportunities to enhance cardiorespiratory ability, endurance, power, stability, and confidence, all without impact to the joints… yes, it is a non-impact sport!

Similar to running, rowing, or swimming, GS involves movements of a cyclical nature, with a lifter’s success resulting from proper technique, flexibility, strength, power, breathing patterns, aerobic capacity, stability and mental focus.  As opposed to Olympic or Power Lifting, Girevoy Sport requires the person to lift a sub-maximal load and complete as many repetitions as possible in ten minutes with one change of sides on single-weighted lifts such as Snatch. 

Over the past six years, I have been studying and trying to identify the difference between what makes some people succeed and other people fail.   

I have found that most successful people have certain traits and a specific mindset. One of the most important things to remember when trying to strive for any type of success is that consistency is key and hard work is a must. If you’re anything like me, nothing is just handed to you, and you have to do certain things every day to get the outcome you want.

Below are six things that I have done over the last six years that have helped me achieve a certain level of success while keeping a balanced life.  

If you live your life and career as a strength coach or trainer, how many times do you ask yourself how well you are helping your clients?  Is the work you are doing making a difference in the lives of others?

We encourage others to lead a healthy lifestyle, improve their sports performance, and gain muscle.

It is easy to get caught up in the things we can see like how the body can move effortlessly with training, how we can improve athletic performance, and how we can achieve fat loss and gain muscle. But, we seem to neglect the things we cannot see.

This article focuses on the art of coaching in hopes that you will find a deeper level of coaching to help your clients.

According to the 2012 Census, people over the age of 65 make up almost 14% of the US population. That means there are over 43 million seniors (adults 65 or older) today, with the numbers continuing to grow, reaching 70 million by 2030. This aging population creates a unique opportunity for the fitness professional to work with. In this article, we will review the effects of aging on the musculoskeletal system, learn simple functional assessments and understand benefits of strength strengthening. In part 2, strength training guidelines and programming for common aging conditions will be discussed.

Effects of Aging on the Musculoskeletal System

The aging process involves changes to various structures and numerous systems within the body.  Research has shown that skeletal muscles change with age, specifically type II, where there is a decreased in these fibers, that atrophy over time, and a decrease in size (Brunner et al. 2007). 

Perimenopause is a phase of life that is somewhere in between.  Just when life is starting to be figured out with being secure in one’s career, the kids are either grown or on their way there or stability within one’s marital state this sneaky part of life sneaks up and one may feel as insecure as the neighborhood tween.  Perimenopause is the transition that begins 4 to 10 years before menopause.  It is a time when the ovaries make less estrogen and starts from a women’s late 30s to 50s.  It is the time that many women experience menopause symptoms but may feel confused as they continue to have the effects of being able to bear children, menstrual and hormonal fluxions in the meantime.  But take hope.  Even in this mixed up time in a female’s life, there is much you can do to ease, humor and enjoy this change of life.