Certified News - October 2011

CertifiedNeWSOctober 2011

Growing Up and Older in the Fitness Industry

2 | October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews

14Food Addiction: Truth or Scare

Could chocolate really be as addictive as cocaine or heroin? Possibly, ac-cording to new scientific evidence related to food addiction. Read on for a comprehensive overview on the topic, and learn exactly what food ad-diction is, the scientific evidence supporting the theory, and what to do if you see behavioral red flags that may indicate your client is a food addict

T a b l e o f C o n T e n T s

Growing Up—and Older—in the Fitness Industry In spite of working in a youth-oriented industry, numer-ous fitness pros are finding that age is working to their advantage. Here’s why—and what you can do to maintain longevity in your own career.

8 COver STOry

26Parenthood and the epidemic of Physical Inactivity

People cite many reasons for not being physically active—not enough time, not enough fun, not enough energy…the list goes on. But it turns out that one of the most telling factors is whether or not a person has kids. Here are some tips you can offer parents who claim that there’s just no way to balance the demands of parenthood and carve out an hour a day to work out.

23Help your Clients Create the Ultimate Mind- Body ConnectionAs we age, our bodies decline in function, especially if we’re not taking precautions against it. The same goes for the brain. As a fitness professional, you are in a perfect position to help older adults effectively exercise their brains along with their bodies, thereby creating the ultimate mind-body connection.

19Who Are the Fittest Athletes?

Who would you consider to be the fittest athletes on the planet? Triathletes? Boxers? Elite cyclists? We surveyed a range of fitness experts to de-termine which athletes achieve the highest level of total fitness, and we show you the types of workouts and dedica-tion it takes to get there.

sTaffPublisher Scott Goudeseune

Chief sCienCe OffiCer Cedric X. Bryant, Ph.D.

editOr Christine J. Ekeroth, M.S.H.S.

Art direCtOr Karen F. McGuire

Production Nancy M. Garcia

Mission sTaTeMenT The American Council on Exercise (ACE)® is a non-profit organization committed to enrich-ing quality of life through safe and effective physical activity. As America’s Authority on Fitness,™ ACE protects all segments of society against ineffective fitness products, programs and trends through its ongoing public educa-tion, outreach and research. ACE further pro-tects the public by setting certification and continuing education standards for fitness professionals.

This publication is not intended to provide medical advice on personal health issues, which should be obtained directly from a physician.

Have You Moved?If you move or change your e-mail address, please notify us immediately so we can update our records. That way you won’t miss any important communications from ACE. Just give us a call at 800-825-3636.

www.acefitness.org

ACE, American Council on Exercise, ACE Certified News and Workout Watchdog are registered trademarks of the American Council on Exercise.

ACE Certified News is published by the American Council on Exercise, 4851 Paramount Drive, San Diego, CA 92123.

© 2011 American Council on Exercise

6Are your Clients at risk for Major Weight Gain

There’s no question that major life changes and transitions can take a major toll on the body, putting one at greater risk for depression, anxiety and poor health. But new research suggests that two life changes—marriage and divorce—have a particularly strong effect on weight. Read on to learn how you can help your clients avoid gaining weight during some of life’s toughest transitions.

October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews | 3

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To earn 0.1 continuing education credits (CECs), you must carefully read this issue of ACE CertifiedNews answer the 10 questions below, achieve a passing score (a minimum of 70 percent), and complete and return the credit verification form below, confirming that you have read the materials and achieved a minimum passing score. In a hurry? Save money by taking the quiz online at www.acefitness.org/cnquiz for $15 and gain instant access to CECs.

Circle the single best answer for each of the following questions.

1. According to a recent study, which group exercised the least?

A. Executives B. College students C. Mothers D. Divorced adults without children

2. Which of the following are Not considered by most experts to be the fittest athletes?

A. Mixed martial artists B. Triathletes C. Skill-position football players D. Decathletes

3. Researchers discovered that women might be more likely to gain weight after ____________, while men are more likely to gain weight after _____________.

A. Getting married, getting divorced B. Getting married, losing their job C. Graduating from college, getting

married D. Getting divorced, getting married

5. Which part(s) of the brain benefit most from exercise?

A. Brainstem B. Prefrontal and frontal regions C. Cerebellum D. Temporal and parietal lobes

4. Which of the following is Not a recom-mended strategy for growing older grace-fully within the fitness industry?

A. Don’t let fitness be your primary identity.

B. Adjust your definition of what being “fit” means to you.

C. Maintain your typical fitness routine and don’t allow yourself to slow down.

D. Focus on your non-physical strengths, such as experience and wisdom.

6. Some researchers believe that the best way to help overweight children lose weight is to ________________.

A. Eliminate all sugar and white flour from their diets

B. Have them participate in organized sports

C. Provide their parents with healthy lifestyle education

D. Teach them about the health dangers of being overweight

7. Large epidemiologic studies have shown that middle-aged and senior people who __________________ experience less age-associated cognitive decline.

A. Follow a calorie-restricted diet B. Eat a diet rich in antioxidants C. Stay married D. Exercise regularly

8. Which of the following statements related to food addiction are Not true?

A. People who are addicted to food are always overweight.

B. Foods high in fat and sugar are poten-tially the most addictive.

C. The same medications can be used to treat withdrawal from both food and drugs.

D. Drugs and foods activate the same regions of the brain.

9. Which of the following are considered risk factors for dementia?

A. Lupus and multiple sclerosis B. Cardiovascular disease and diabetes C. Migraines and chronic fatigue syndrome D. Osteoporosis and Parkinson’s disease

10. Which of the following could be considered a red flag that your client may have a food addiction?

A. She eats most of her meals while standing in front of the refrigerator.

B. He can’t stop eating even though he feels full.

C. He always eats his lunch at his desk with the door closed.

D. She keeps food in her purse and snacks throughout the day.

4 | October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews

7 reasons to Attend the ACe Symposium November 3–5, 2011

ACe, AMerICA’S AUTHOrITy ON FITNeSS, HAS BeeN CAlled UPON By lIFeTIMe Television®, one of the top television networks for women, to contribute expert fitness content to a national audience over six consecutive months beginning in October.

ACE ambassadors and fitness authors Chris Freytag and Jonathan Ross will make their debut on Lifetime Television’s “The Balancing Act,” a one-hour morning TV show focusing on tips and trends from leading experts in a variety of areas. Freytag and Ross will appear in separate episodes where they’ll lend expert fitness information on some of today’s most relevant topics.

Freytag’s first segment, airing this month, will focus on debunking common fitness myths. In November, she’ll talk about exercise recommendations for diabetics and, just in time for the holidays, she’ll reveal her secrets to success with healthy treats and fun cold-weather family activities.

Ross will kick off the New Year with his segment on real fitness resolutions, followed by heart-healthy advice during National Heart Month in February, and Spring cleaning tips for health and fitness next March. learn more today!

ACe to Offer expert Advice on Popular Tv Series

Workshops• SmallGroupTraining—Chicago,IL10/11/2011

• ACE’sIntegratedFitnessTraining(ACEIFT)Model:Atlanta,GA,NewYork,NY,PortlandOR,Dallas,TX10/15/2011Madison,WI10/29/2011

• HeartsaverFirstAidwithCPRandAEDWorkshop—SanDiego,CA11/2/2011

Webinar• ReachingNewLengths—FlexibilityTrainingforResults10/5/20114:00–6:00pmPacificTime

bundle & save!Acquire specialized knowledge and save up to $98 when you purchase

convenient course bundles.

$

K e e p i n g Y o u p o s T e d

THe NeW yeAr BrINGS A TON OF ACTIvITy FrOM ClIeNTS ANd exPeCATIONS OF FITNeSS professionals. Have you geared up to ensure you can deliver and make the most of these op-portunities? The ACE Fitness Symposium being held November 3-5 can be your secret to success! Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to pump up your career in time for the new year.1. Interactive sessions on the topics you need most including nutrition, personal and small-

group training, mind/body exercise, lifestyle coaching and weight managment2. Meet and learn from industry experts Len Kravitz, Jonathan Ross, Lawrence Biscontini, Shan-

non Fable, Todd Durkin and more3. Networking, networking, networking including a welcome reception aboard a privately char-

tered yacht, networking lunch and complimentary meals4. Pre-conference workshops on functional training, sports conditioning and a post-conference

on Zumba’s Jump Start Gold.5. New products you should know about such as ViPR and Cor-tex6. A chance to earn all the CECs you need to recertify7. Direct hands-on training in special sessions from STOTT Pilates, TRX, SPRI and Hyperwear

Don’t miss this intimate and interactive educational event and see why people return year after year. learn more and register today!

October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews | 5

Joining Forces Meets NASCAr

STreTCHING IS OFTeN THe leAST-eMPHASIzed COMPONeNT of an exercise program. And if done improperly or not enough, it can lead to injuries. Don’t let this happen to your clients.

Even among savvy fitness professionals, questions loom about when to stretch, how long to stretch and if stretching is really all that effective.

In our live webinar, Reaching New Lengths—Flexibility Training for Results, hosted by ACE Exercise Physiologist Pete McCall, you will explore different types of flexibility training and learn everything you need to know about the art of stretching, including the best time for static stretch-ing, when and how to stretch and the most effective ways to prepare your clients for a training session. You’ll also learn first-hand how to apply static, self–myofascial release, contract-relax and dynamic stretching, all of which are

techniques widely used by health professionals to help clients achieve desired results.

Upon successful completion of this course, you’ll be able to describe and explain to your clients the importance of various aspects of flexibility. You’ll also learn to identify causes for lack of flexibility, and thus play a key role in helping your clients prevent or recover from injury. Regard-less of the types of clients you train—from elite athletes to health-challenged populations—or if you lead group fitness classes, this webinar offers critical skills for hands-on flex-ibility training that your clients will remember, learn to appreciate and reward you for with referrals to their friends and family members.

Boost your stretching knowledge with this live webinar held on Oct. 5, 2011, from 4–6 p.m. PST. register today.

To Stretch or Not to Stretch? Get the Secrets of Proper Stretching Today

A BIG THANkS TO THe MANy FITNeSS PrOFeSSIONAlS across the U.S. who have responded to the Joining Forces initiative, which unites fitness professionals and organiza-tions nationwide to pledge 1 million hours of fitness-training services at no cost to actively deployed military reservists and National Guard members and their immediate families.

Tens of thousands of training service hours have been committed—with Sarasota, Fla.; Baltimore, Md.; and Brigh-ton, Mass., taking the lead. We thank you for your ongoing support.

Also, a big thanks to ACE’s strategic partner, the Presi-dent’s Council on Fitness, Sport and Nutrition, for their efforts.

On July 27th, the President’s Council invited NASCAR

driver Carl Edwards to speak to 1,400 National Guard Family

Support Volunteers and 10,000 attendees at a USO concert

in Louisville, Ky., about the Joining Forces initiative and the

importance of physical activity.

Edwards’ message was simple, “There are so many people

volunteering, we hope that you’ll take advantage of these

opportunities to be active.” The President’s Council said in a

written statement that it hopes to build upon this momen-

tum and expand on available resources.

We need EVERYONE to get involved to meet our goal!

Pledge your support today.

6 | October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews

Are Your Clients at Risk for

researCH reporT

October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews | 7

There’s no question that major life changes and transi-tions can take a major toll on the body, putting one at greater risk for depression, anxiety and poor health. But new research suggests that two life changes—marriage

and divorce—have a particularly strong effect on weight gain. And, in true venus and Mars fashion, women and men respond differently, with women more likely to gain weight after marriage, while men pack on the pounds following a divorce.

Researchers at Ohio State University examined data from the National Longitudinal

Survey of Youth ’79, which has periodically surveyed a nationally representative sample

of men and women who were aged 14 to 22 in 1979. For this study, data from more

than 10,000 people surveyed from 1986 to 2008 was used to identify weight changes

among participants during the two years following a marriage or divorce. Researchers

also took into account other factors that might affect weight gain or loss, such as preg-

nancy, poverty, education and socioeconomic status.

For women, the greatest risk of weight gain occurred during the two years follow-

ing marriage, while men gained the most weight after going through a divorce. These

effects were strongest among those over the age of 30, and increased at later ages.

“For someone in their mid-20s,” says lead researcher Dr. Dmitry Tumin, a doctoral

student in sociology at Ohio State University, “there is not much of a difference in the

probability of gaining weight between someone who just got married and someone who

never married. But later in life, there is much more of a difference.”

Tumin also believes these findings fit with previous studies that suggest that

increased household responsibilities leave women with less time to exercise, while the

health advantage afforded to men through marriage is lost following a divorce, which

may be responsible for the weight gain.

These findings are important for fitness professionals working with clients who may

be experiencing a major life transition like marriage or divorce. By understanding how

these transitions affect men and women differently, you can help your clients become

more aware of the possible pitfalls and behaviors that can lead to weight gain and

develop a plan to avoid them.

Source: Tumin, D. and Qian, Z. (20110). Marital transitions and weight changes. Presented at the 106th Annual American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, Nev. August 20−23, 2011.

Major Weight

Gain?T

8 | October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews

truE (aNd obviouS) StatEmENt: No mattEr whEN you StartEd your CarEEr iN thE FitNESS iNduStry, you wErE youNgEr thaN you arE Now. yEt For maNy oF you, you’rE CroSSiNg thE liNE whErE that oNCE youthFul body iS morPhiNg iNto a morE maturE PhySiquE, ComPlEtE with all oF thE aChES aNd PaiNS—both PhySiCal aNd EmotioNal—that agE oFtEN briNgS.

an aging body can often be tough to accept, especially in a society that

places a high value on looking and staying young. The fitness industry is no

exception, which begs this question: How can you maintain longevity as a

fitness professional as you face the woes of aging? To answer that question,

we turned to veterans of the fitness industry who reveal their secrets for maintaining a thriving,

successful career. What they have to say may convince you that age truly is just a number.

Why Mature Fitness Pros Have the Upper HandWith all of the anti-aging lotions on the market, birthday cards that poke fun at blowing

out yet another candle and spa treatments designed to defy aging, you might assume that

being older poses a disadvantage for fitness professionals. Surprisingly for

many, the opposite is true. “Because of my life experiences, I can relate so

much better to what my students are going through than when I first started

teaching 20 years ago,” says Chris Freytag, 46, member of the ACE Board

of Directors, Minnesota-based personal trainer and group fitness

instructor and creator of numerous fitness DVDs.

growing up—and older—in the fitness industryby Karen asP

are you planning on continuing to work in the fitness industry

as you grow older? what do you think your biggest

challenge will be?

October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews | 9

10 | October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews

For Joy Prouty, age plays to her advantage as well.

“Age is an asset,” says Prouty, director of training for

Zumba and co-developer of Zumba Gold, owner of Fitness

Programming in West Palm Beach, Fla., and an international

fitness instructor and program developer who taught her

first fitness class in 1965. She just turned 70 and is still

going strong. “In recent years, I’ve assumed more of a

role as educator and mentor in this business, which is

exactly where I want to be because I believe that with the

experience and knowledge I’ve gained over the years, I have

so much to offer younger fitness professionals.”

Another advantage? These more mature fitness

professionals have an emotional intelligence that younger

fitness professionals may not yet possess.

“Because you’re experiencing your own discomfort in

your body, you appreciate your own good health more

than you did when you were younger and, as a result,

you become more empathetic toward others,” says Ken

Alan, 57, lecturer at California State University in Fullerton,

Calif., who began teaching in 1976 and has been a leading

conference presenter, choreographer, program designer and

member of numerous ACE committees.

Compassion might be another facet of that emotional

intelligence, which is what Keli Roberts, California-based

personal trainer, international fitness presenter and star

of numerous fitness videos, says she’s gained from being

in the fitness industry since 1986. “When I first started

teaching, the only level I knew was hard, and if you didn’t

keep up, even if you were a beginner, I would yell at you,”

says Roberts, 50. But not anymore. “I know so much more

about the body now than I did then, and that’s helped me

soften my ways and become a better instructor.”

That experience is something that appeals to older

adults, especially those who are seeking help from fitness

professionals who understand their woes. Take, for instance,

65-year-old Josie Gardiner, who is a Zumba education

specialist, co-author (with Prouty) of Core! (Harvard Medical

School, 2011), 2002 IDEA Instructor of the Year and 2005

ACE Group Fitness Instructor of the Year, and teaches and

trains clients in Boston. “One of my more mature clients

recently said she loves working with me because I’m not

going to make her do something that doesn’t feel good,”

Gardiner says. However, if that same client were to go to

a younger trainer, the story might be different. “Because

younger trainers don’t have the same experience and don’t

understand the aging body, they sometimes push clients

too hard and too fast, which often results in clients getting

injured and not wanting to exercise anymore.”

That emotional maturity yields another advantage:

“Teaching and training become so much more about your

students and not about you,” Prouty says. Your participants

often sense that, which is what has helped professionals like

Prouty build a loyal following.

There may also be another reason clients are drawn to

older fitness pros: Simply put, they offer unique inspiration.

“It’s easy to look great when you’re 25,” says Sheila Cluff,

76, founder of the destination spa resort Oaks at Ojai in Ojai,

Calif., and internationally known fitness expert who began

teaching fitness in her 20s. “Yet when students see how I

look and what I can do at my age, they say I want to be just

like you. The more of an example I can be at my age, the

more it motivates students, especially younger ones.”

The Unique Challenges Older Fitness Professionals Face

Yet let’s be honest: While older fitness professionals

do hold numerous advantages over their younger peers,

there are some unique obstacles to overcome. Ageism,

“yet when students see how i look and what i can do

at my age, they say i want to be just like you.”

October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews | 11

lEttiNg go oF your old (youNgEr?) SElF

is perhaps one of the most challenging parts of aging.

Maybe you’re not able to exercise as long or as hard

as you used to. Maybe you feel more twinges in your

body. Or maybe you just look and feel, well, older.

This evolution is something everyone will undergo,

but for fitness professionals who are so attached to

their body’s performance, it can often be a difficult

transition—unless, that is, you learn how to move

forward.

This change begins with what Vivian Diller, Ph.D.,

psychologist in New York City and author of Face

It (Hay House, 2011), calls an “aha moment.” “You

have that gut feeling or maybe even a physical clue

that your body’s changing, and you know there’s no

turning back,” she says.

These changes usually trigger a certain sadness, and

that’s completely normal. “Psychological mourning,

which includes sadness, almost always follows

loss, no matter what that loss is,” Diller says.

Yet in the long run, that sadness will work to

your advantage. “Until you go through that

mourning process, you can’t let go of that

older self,” she says, adding that it’s often

easy to spot individuals who

are having trouble letting

go. They’re the ones who

continue to push their

bodies and don’t give their

bodies room to be different.

Alan, for instance, admits

that he had trouble dealing with

his aging body. “It took me a

while to accept my fitness level,” he says,

adding that there are workouts he’s done

for 20 years that are harder to do now

than they were 20 years ago. “I have the

same spirit but a different body, and I’ve

had to accept this change.”

As Alan learned, once you do let go,

you can begin to work on a different goal:

Being the best you can be at your current age. To get to

that point, follow these strategies:

1. Don’t let fitness define you. For years, you’ve

probably been used to having physical activity be the

main part of your identity. Yet although fitness can

be a large part of your identify, it shouldn’t be the

only thing that defines you. “Connect your identity to

other aspects of yourself that are less dependent on

physicality and youth,” Diller says.

2. shift your definition of fitness. When Diller works

with professional athletes who are forced to retire, she

constantly reminds them that they have to become

more flexible in how they measure their fitness. “You

have to be able to see yourself as being fit without

using the same standards to measure your fitness as

when you were in your 20s and 30s,” Diller says. For

instance, maybe you can’t do as many push-ups at

60 years old as you did at 40 years old or maybe

you can’t run a mile as fast as you did a decade

ago, and that’s okay. “If you want to learn to love

your new body, your perception of being fit has to

change,” she adds.

3. Home in on your

non-physical strengths.

Remember that you bring to

the table much more than

your physical assets. “You

bring wisdom and experience

to your clients that younger

fitness professionals can’t

offer,” Diller says. Perhaps

even more importantly, you

serve as a living example

of how a fit lifestyle can benefit

people, and this is perhaps the greatest

gift you can give clients. “If you can teach the

millions of baby boomers what it means to stay

strong and fit as their bodies change, you’ll be

doing them a great service,” she says.

12 | October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews

for instance, is one of the biggest challenges. “Consumers

and other fitness professionals have this idea that once

you reach a certain age, you can no longer do things,” Alan

says. Of course, what many people forget is that even if

you’re not physically able to perform the “feats” you once

used to, you can still bring out the best in others. “Some of

the best coaches in the world have never done what their

athletes have done,” he adds.

Gardiner actually faced the challenge of ageism almost

four years ago when she began teaching at Equinox Fitness

Club in Boston, where the youthful clientele often seek killer

classes and where younger instructors are happy to oblige.

“I had to work hard to prove myself to this younger crowd,

and although it took me a while, it’s paid off,” she says.

Gardiner, for instance, currently teaches a core-focused

class called Synergy in which many of her participants are

20-year-olds who no longer question why an “old lady,” as

Gardiner says, is teaching the class.

Yet while she’s been able to carve out her own niche

at the club, Gardiner admits that you will have to accept

your limitations, which could lead to changes in what you

do physically. “You have to be willing to accept that as

you age, you won’t be able to do what you did when you

were younger,” Gardiner says. That’s why Gardiner is now

selective about what classes she teaches, and when she’s

called to sub, she often declines if she thinks the class will

put her body in jeopardy or not allow her to give students

the workout they’re expecting. “I can still teach a great class,

but I’m not going to kill my students like younger instructors

often do,” she says. “It’s not fair to the students—or me—to

teach that class. I don’t believe in killer workouts, and I’m not

going to hurt myself trying to teach them.”

Along with accepting physical limitations, you may

have to pamper that body a little more than you had to in

the past. “You have to learn to be smart about how you

teach and train,” Prouty says. “Otherwise, you could wind

up with serious injuries.”

For Freytag, for instance, getting smarter has meant putting

more emphasis on warming up and stretching. “Those are

two elements I didn’t think about much when I was in my

20s,” she says. “But they’re so much more important now,

as I wind up with low-back problems or tight hamstrings and

glutes if I don’t warm up and stretch properly.”

Roberts also began a serious stretching routine when

she was 30, adding that the flexibility she’s gained has

helped her decrease aches and pain. Her other secret?

Recognizing that her body requires more sleep, she’s

made sleep a bigger priority, which has helped her avoid

becoming overtrained.

Maintaining your Longevity in this IndustryPerhaps the biggest question isn’t whether you can be

successful as an older fitness professional, but how you

can maintain your longevity in this industry. Surprisingly,

as long as you take certain precautions, it may be easier

than you think.

For starters, protect your body and be smart about the

workouts you do—and don’t—lead. Prouty, for instance,

is careful to vary her workouts and realizes that high-

intensity workouts aren’t always possible. “If I do a high-

impact workout one day, I’ll do a sculpting class the next,

perhaps followed by a stretching workout,” she says. Most

importantly, practice what you preach and listen to your

body: If it doesn’t feel like doing what you’re asking it to do,

don’t push it.

This extends to your own workouts as well, something

Cluff learned when she transitioned away from competitive

running. After decades of running, her body no longer felt

good after doing it so she found other activities like ice

skating to keep herself fit. “Just because you have to change

your workouts doesn’t mean you can’t stay fit,” she says.

“But you have to accept that you may have to find other

ways to do it.”

“even if you’re not physically able to perform the ‘feats’ you once used to, you can still bring out the

best in others.”

October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews | 13

Physical recovery will also be more important as you age.

“Because recovery takes longer, I rest more in relation to

the amount and intensity of exercise,” says Gwen Hyatt, 62,

a 40-year veteran of the fitness industry and president of

DSWFitness, which offers correspondence courses for health

and fitness professionals. She also stresses that stretching

and total-body strength training become even more crucial

to keeping your aging body active and injury-free.

Another way to decrease wear and tear and avoid getting

injured? Become a better coach. “Many fitness professionals

rely too much on their bodies to do the talking,” Alan says.

“Yet make your words as good as your moves, and you can

lead almost any workout.”

You might also seek out situations that don’t place as

much physical demand on your body. For instance, consider

teaching fitness classes that are gentler on the body,

including stretching, yoga, chair-based aerobics, Zumba

Gold and even water aerobics. Or if you’re not already,

consider becoming a personal trainer so you

can assume more of a

coaching role.

Along with teaching

different classes or getting

into personal training,

consider expanding your

client base. Older adults,

for instance, would be an

ideal population to work

with, especially since

they’re one of the fastest

growing segments of the

American population. “The tsunami of adults over 50 is

providing a multitude of excellent opportunities for veteran

fitness professionals to work with clients who feel more

comfortable with a trainer closer to their age and one who

understands the aging body and its response to exercise,”

Hyatt says.

In fact, ACE recently partnered with AARP to encourage

older adults to exercise. Through this partnership, AARP

members can comb through a database of ACE-certified

Fitness Professionals who have agreed to extend a discount

on their services. To learn how to get involved with this

program, visit www.acefitness.org/aarp.

Post-rehab exercise programming could be another

lucrative option for older fitness professionals. “More doctors

are getting savvy about how exercise can help their patients,

and they’ll no doubt be calling on fitness professionals

to help their patients,” says Gardiner, who knows this

firsthand. After she was diagnosed with uterine cancer,

she co-authored The Breast Cancer Survivor’s Fitness Plan

(McGraw-Hill, 2006) and then co-designed (with Prouty) a

12-week exercise program for breast cancer survivors that is

offered through the YMCA. Additionally, Prouty and Gardiner

will be presenting a session on this topic at the ACE Fitness

Symposium on November 4, 2011 in San Diego.

To accomplish all of this, you’ll need to continue building

your knowledge. “Don’t just rely on what you’ve been doing

for the past 20 years,” Prouty says. “If you want to maintain

your career, you have to remain active by brushing up on

your education and learning about new programming and

new philosophies.”

Letting go of your ego is perhaps the final crucial

ingredient for your survival as a fitness professional. “I have a

lot of definition in my muscles, but I also have stretched-out

skin,” Cluff says. Those physical changes are an inevitable

fact of aging, and rather

than mourning her body’s

changing appearance, Cluff

celebrates the fact that she’s

doing things most people

her own age, even those

who are younger, can’t do.

“I can outski my 18-year-old

grandson, and that makes

me really proud,” she says.

Granted, no matter who

you are, aging can be a

tough pill to swallow, but if you tweak how you train yourself

and others and treat your body kindly, you’ll find that

becoming an older fitness professional may benefit you in

ways you never imagined. As Hyatt says, “We can’t change

the fact of aging, but we can change the face of aging,

acknowledging the wisdom and beauty of age, and rocking

the rules when it comes to how older individuals, especially

women, are supposed to look and act.”

KarEN aSP, journalist and ACE-certified Fitness Professional, is a contributing editor for Woman’s Day and co-author of Understanding Your Food Allergies and Intolerances (available May 2012). She also writes for numerous other publications, including Self, Glamour, Better Homes and Gardens,

O, Family Circle, Natural Health, Real Simple, Prevention, Redbook and Men’s Fitness. Follow her on Twitter (@karenaspwriter).

“we can’t change the fact of aging, but we can change the face of aging,

acknowledging the wisdom and beauty of age and rocking the rules when it comes to how older

individuals, especially women, are supposed to look and act.”

14 | October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews

Food Addiction: Truth or Scare?f e a T u r e s T o r Y

Food Addiction: Truth or Scare?

October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews | 15

C o c a i n e . Heroin. Chocolate fudge

brownies. All could be dangerous substances of abuse leading to chronic addiction and possibly death,

recent research suggests. So when your fitness client sheepishly says he can’t help gorging on ice cream, you may in fact be speaking to

someone with a clinical problem.But can a person really be addicted to food? While rarely discussed in scientific literature as recently

as a decade ago, the nascent concept of food addiction is making rapid inroads in the academic community

and popular culture. “It’s still a relatively new area [of scientific inquiry,] but as more studies emerge on this topic

the concept is gaining more validity,” says researcher Nicole Avena, Ph.D.

Because this is an emerging theory, you and your clients may be unfamiliar with this

growing field of study. Read on for a comprehensive overview on the topic, and learn

exactly what food addiction is, the scientific evidence supporting the theory, and what to do

if you see behavioral red flags that may indicate your client is a food addict.

Food Addiction Def inedFood addiction is a chronic, out-of-control or compulsive overconsumption of certain types

of pleasure-giving foods despite potentially negative social and health consequences.

“Food addiction involves the compulsive pursuit of a mood change [through binge eating],” says Kay Sheppard, M.A.,

a mental health counselor and certified eating disorder professional who has authored three books on food addiction.

“This is a disease that is primary, chronic, progressive and potentially fatal.”

Are all foods addictive? Scientific literature describes the plausibility of becoming addicted to certain highly palatable components of food such

as fats, sugars and potentially salt, which are typically found in abundance in processed food products.

Interestingly, there are virtually no whole foods found in nature containing high amounts of both sugar and fat

(with human breast milk being one notable exception), explains Ashley Gearhardt, M.S., M.Phil., a doctoral

candidate in clinical psychology at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., and a student affiliate of the

Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

The absence of high sugar-and-fat combinations in nature means that foods with

the strongest addictive potential are most likely modern and man-made. Yet

whether the mere presence of fat or sugar—or their presence in specific

proportions to each other—increases a food’s addictive

potential remains relatively unstudied and

unknown.

Food Addiction: Truth or Scare?By MegAn Senger

Food Addiction: Truth or Scare?

have you experienced

or witnessed addic-tive behaviors related to food? let us know your thoughts in the

comment section below.

16 | October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews

Are all food addicts obese? Size and addiction do not necessarily correlate, says

Avena, an assistant research professor at the University

of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville,

Fla. “It is likely that a subset of obese people

have food addiction, but not all,” she

explains. “Also, there is likely a subset

of people who are not obese, but

who may also meet the criteria for food

addiction.”

Science Weighs In: The Evidence for Food Addiction

“Food addiction is still a controversial issue, but

evidence for its existence is steadily building,”

Gearhardt notes. Such substantiation comes

from three sources: evolutionary plausibility,

behavioral evidence and biological

evidence.

evolutionary Plausibility For our early ancestors, it would

have been highly advantageous for a fat/sugar

“high” to be hard-wired into our brains, as it would

encourage the search for, and consumption of, life-

sustaining energy sources.

Yet today’s food environment—with its easily

accessible, mass-produced sources of fat, sugar and

salt—is unique in human evolution, Gearhardt explains.

The accessibility of these so-called “palatable”

foods, combined with this Darwinian enjoyment

of fats and sweets, supports the notion that food

addiction is highly plausible in the modern junk-

food era (Taylor, Curtis and Davis, 2010).

Behavioral evidence The medical community recognizes

certain behaviors to be associated

with substance abuse. According

to the American Society of Addictive

Medicine (ASAM), a physicians’

professional organization, these include an

increased “hunger” for substances of abuse (i.e.,

cravings) and an inability to consistently abstain from use

(see sidebar, “Addiction Defined,” for more details). Put

in terms of food addiction:

• Sugary foods stimulate the same “tolerance” and

“withdrawal” behaviors associated with drug

addiction. Rats allowed to binge-feed on sugar

solution consume increasingly greater amounts

over time, demonstrating an increasing tolerance

to the effects of the substance. When deprived of

the sugar solution, the rats also showed signs of

opiate-like withdrawal, including teeth-chattering,

tremors, shakes and “behavioral manifestations of

anxiety” (Avena et al., 2009).

• Some gastric bypass patients who lose weight

“transfer” their addictive behaviors to other

compulsions, such as gambling or compulsive

spending. Known as a “transfer of addictions,” this

phenomenon supports the notion that some people

have a “hard-wired” tendency to become addicted

(Taylor, Curtis and Davis, 2010).

Biological evidence Research in this area is extensive and

biochemically complex. Major findings include

the following:

• drugs and sugar release the same pleasure-

inducing chemicals in the brain. Ingestion of

sugar stimulates the release of opioids (a morphine-

like chemical) and dopamine (a neurotransmitter that

regulates nerve functions) in the brain—as do drugs

of abuse. Dopamine, in particular, is known to play

a major part in the brain’s ability to predict reward

and motivation, and is associated with the feelings of

enjoyment felt from alcohol, cocaine and heroin use

(Wang et al., 2009).

• drugs and food activate the same regions of the

brain. Imaging studies show that the same areas of

the mesolimbic pathways (i.e., neural areas associated

with motivation and reward) are activated by both

drugs and food (Taylor, Curtis and Davis, 2010).

• the same medications can be used to treat

withdrawal from both food and drugs. The

medication naltrexone is used to help recovering

addicts combat cravings for alcohol, heroin, morphine

and other drugs of abuse. As an opioid blocker, it has

also been shown to reduce cravings for food (Taylor,

Curtis and Davis, 2010).

• brain activity associated with substance abuse

correlates positively to self-assessed levels of

October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews | 17

food addiction−related behaviors. The Yale

Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) is a psychometric

questionnaire that asks subjects to self-assess

how frequently they display food addiction−related

behaviors. By using magnetic resonance imaging

(MRI) scans of the subjects’ brains, high YFAS

scores were shown to positively correlate to neural

activation patterns associated with substance

abuse (Gearhardt et al., 2011).

Yet the concept of food addiction it is not without

its detractors, including David Benton, Ph.D., D.Sc., a

professor of psychology at the University of Swansea

in Swansea, Wales. Benton authored a 2010 paper

questioning the conclusiveness of current theory.

“Remember that animal models and brain scans can

never demonstrate addiction,” Benton says. “Rather,

they can only generate a hypothesis that needs testing.”

For example, while it is true that eating sugar

and ingesting drugs each correlate to a pleasurable

dopamine response in the brain, Benton argues that

such a chemical response is also elicited by food, sex,

music and humor, and does not necessarily signal a

physical addiction.

Nevertheless, the vast majority of scientific inquiry to

date supports the theory of food addiction, and papers

refuting the concept outright are few and far between.

“I would say that the topic is burgeoning, but that it is

not as well established as that of alcohol addiction,”

notes Avena.

Scientific debate aside, there are many clinicians who

believe that food addiction is both real and treatable.

And for fitness professionals, the key to helping starts

with understanding how and why to refer a troubled

client for professional assistance.

For physicians and mental health professionals, the clinical

definition of a “substance-use disorder” is recorded in the standard reference for psychiatric diagnoses, the

Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM-V.) The DSM-V defines addiction as “a maladaptive pattern of substance-use leading to clinically significant

impairment or distress, as manifested by two (or more) of the listed criteria occurring within a 12-month period.” Such DSM criteria include: consuming

a substance in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended and a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control substance use.

The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) cautions that “the diagnosis of addiction requires a comprehensive biological, psychological, social and spiritual assessment by a trained and certified professional.” And while food addiction is not as of yet specifically recognized by either the DSM or the ASAM, Gearhardt notes t htat this may change. “If evidence continues to build, acceptance in the DSM and ASAM would be an important indicator of validity and may allow people to get

insurance funding for food-addiction treatment,” she says.For additional information on red-flag behaviors that may indicate food addiction, check out the following resources:

• Kay Sheppard’s food addiction definition and self-assessment for clients

• Full YFAS study self-assessment criteria for food addiction

Ad

diction Defined

Ad

diction Defined

18 | October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews

Is Your Client a Food Addict?Perhaps you have noticed suspicious patterns in your

client’s food journal, or maybe a trainee’s lack of successful

weight loss seems to indicate secret binging. “It is likely

that many of [a fitness professional’s] clients are secret

sufferers of this disease and experience great shame

about it. They may not even know that there is a

solution and they may think they are alone,” says

Naomi Lippel, the managing director of Overeaters

Anonymous in Rio Rancho, N.M.

When to refer? To assess a client’s situation, Sheppard suggests

taking a closer look at some of his or her behaviors.

Red flags might include if a client can’t stop eating

whenever he or she wishes; if a client manipulates ways

to be alone so that he or she can eat privately; if he or

she has ever hidden food or eaten in secret; or if his

or her eating or weight has ever interfered with jobs,

relationships or finances. If these types of behaviors

seems to exist in a client’s life, it is possible he or she

needs professional help.

How to refer? Approaching a client whom you suspect to

be a food addict can be a delicate process,

since treatment of addiction is not within

your scope of practice and the client may

be in denial. Adding confusion to the referral

question is the fact that food addiction is an

emerging field of research lacking a clear

conclusion as to what treatment type is

most effective, Gearhardt says.

With these caveats in mind, she suggests first mentioning

to your client that you have noticed certain patterns of

consumption and that you are concerned for his or her

well-being. She recommends referring troubled clients to a

12-step program (such as Overeaters Anonymous) or to a

clinician who does behavioral treatment (refer to www.abct.

org). Alternately, making a referral to a medical doctor could

also be of help, adds Avena.

What’s the fix?Through private therapy and self-help groups,

therapists who specialize in the treatment of addictive

illness can provide clients with tools for stabilizing difficult

emotions, Sheppard says. Treatment begins with breaking

the binge cycle and providing emotional and dietary

support through withdrawal and recovery, she adds.

Will exercise help? Although research studies have not yet formally

explored this question, Mark Gold, M.D., Chair of

the Department of Psychiatry at the University of

Florida and an eminent addiction-research specialist,

notes that the scientific community anecdotally

supports the notion that exercise helps with recovery

and is, therefore, typically encouraged.

Moving forward, it is universally agreed that more

research is needed. “There are a few important questions we

still need to answer, such as which foods or things in foods

are addictive, and whether food addicts respond differently

to clinical treatment,” says Gearhardt.

Regardless of future findings, using compassion to

approach clients who struggle with food issues will always

be good medicine.

ReferencesAvena, N.M., Rada, P. and Hoebel, B.G. (2009).

Sugar and Fat Bingeing Have Notable Differences in Addictive-like Behavior. Journal of Nutrition, 139, 3, 623–628.

Benton, D. (2010). The plausibility of sugar addiction and its role in obesity and eating disorders. Clinical Nutrition, 29, 3, 288–303.

Gearhardt, A. et al. (2011). Neural correlates of food addiction. Archives of General Psychiatry, 68, 8, 808–816.

Taylor, V.H., Curtis, C. and Davis, C. (2010). The obesity epidemic: the role of addiction. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 182, 4, 327–328.

Wang, G.J., et al., (2009). Imaging of brain dopamine pathways: Implications for understanding

obesity. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 3, 8–18.

mEgaN SENgEr is a writer, speaker and fitness sales consultant based in Southern California. Active in the exercise industry since 1995, she holds a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and English. When not writing on health and lifestyle trends, techniques, and business opportunities for leading trade magazines, she can be found in ardha uttanasana

becoming reacquainted with her toes. She can be reached at www.megansenger.com.

Who are the

Fittest Athletes?

October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews | 19

* Probably the closest thing were the findings, published in The Wall Street Journal in 2008, of a panel of five sports scientists and exercise physiologists. Using criteria very similar to those used in this article, they named decathlete Roman Sobrely as the world’s fittest athlete.

By Jim Gerard

Who are the

Fittest Athletes?

Heckler in stands to the notoriously paunchy John Kruk, the former Philadelphia Phillie: You call yourself an athlete!?

Imagine that there is a super-

olympics, in which athletes

from every conceivable sport

would be judged by the same

standard. who would win? lance

armstrong? manny Pacquiao? lebron

James? lionel messi? michael Phelps?

This article hopes to, if not answer, at least shed much light on what is essentially the stuff

of barroom—or juice bar—arguments: What type of athletes are the most fit?

Science is of little help, because sports physiologists don’t have a system to rank all athletes

and, due to differences in criteria, there have been no scientifically valid

studies on the subject.* Add to this the fact that there are no tests that can

accurately measure whole-body flexibility and agility, plus the difficulty

of obtaining the results of existing tests such as athletes’ V• O2 max

from professional sports organizations and the like, and we’re left with

enlightened subjectivity.

Dr. Jonathan L. Chang, clinical associate professor of orthopedics at

the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, says that like many

complex but ultimately unanswerable questions, “The determination of who’s the fittest athlete is

based on your definition of fitness. And if you stick to one criterion, it makes answering easier.”

Kruk:

Lady, I’m not an athlete, I’m a baseball player.

For the average gym-goer or

recreational athlete, fitness is a

combination of its four most basic

components: cardiorespiratory endurance

(as measured by V• O2 max), muscular

strength and endurance, and flexibility.

However, because we wanted to evaluate the

“fittest” from as many sides as possible, we are

using a much broader definition of fitness—the sum

of cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength

and endurance, balance, power, flexibility, agility and

physical skills.

A rough survey of experts in the field, including

exercise physiologists and high-level athletic

trainers, yielded some fascinating answers. In short,

decathletes, boxers (and practitioners of Mixed

Martial Arts, or MMA), “skill position” pro football

players (meaning running backs, wide receivers and

cornerbacks) and hockey players ranked highest.

The Case for DecathletesPodiatrist Dr. John W. Pagliano, an American

College of Sports Medicine fellow who ran in the 1968

Olympic trials, ranks athletes using the same broad

criteria we used and believes that decathlon athletes

are the most fit. His reasoning rests on the broad

range of aptitudes these athletes must possess to

participate in 10 track-and-field events over a two-

day span. You want cardiorespiratory endurance?

They can run 1,500 meters in 4 minutes, 20 seconds.

Speed? 100 meters in 10 seconds. The shot put,

discus and javelin require power, and

the high jump and long jump call

for agility. Balance, coordination

and what Pagliano calls

“skill” are needed for the

pole vault and 110-meter

hurdles. “And they need

flexibility for every event,”

says Pagliano.

Yet even these

incredibly versatile

performers are not

without their detractors.

Chang says that their

relative ranking is a

controversial topic. “[Decathletes] are

considered either the best athletes or

the most mediocre ones. There’s no

question they’re fantastically in shape.

But because they have to compete in

10 events, they can’t be great at any

one of them. Their performance in any single event is

substantially behind elite specialists in that event.”

Boxers and Mixed Martial ArtistsBoxers scored high in the informal ACE poll. Exercise

physiologist Dr. Jeffrey A. Potteiger, a professor at

Grand Rapids State University in Grand Rapids, Mich.,

spoke for the “sweet science” contingent. “While

I haven’t seen any measures of fitness for boxers,

they’re very strong, powerful and

quick, and have a pretty high level

of cardiorespiratory

fitness.” (He

pondered including

wrestlers, but had

reservations about their

endurance levels.)

Chang agrees that boxers are

extremely fit in many ways, “and if

they’re not good at everything they

do, they’re going to get knocked

out.” However, he felt that while

boxers needed agility and upper-

body speed (to throw punches),

leg speed was not crucial, which

is why he ranked them slightly

behind football players.

Todd Durkin, owner of Fitness

Quest 10 in San Diego, and

author of The IMPACT! Body

Plan, disagrees. Having worked

with dozens of professional athletes in the National

Football League and Major League Baseball, Durkin

asserts, “I would put a top mixed martial artist

(MMA) or boxer up against a decathlete, strictly on

the basis of fitness performance.” After all, an MMA

athlete employs a wide range of fitness attributes

(including perhaps the leg speed for kicking that

Chang felt boxers lacked) at high intensity “while

someone is trying to choke him.”

20 | October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews

who do you think are the fittest athletes? Chime in with your

opinion in the comments section.

October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews | 21

Football PlayersIn Chang’s estimation,

a skills player in the NFL

will probably have the

widest combination of

fitness attributes. “In

most sports, you need to

concentrate on only one or

two criteria,” he says. “But to

succeed in football, you have

to do many things well—and take

a hit.”

Durkin echoes this: “Cornerbacks,

wide receivers and running backs are

some of the fittest athletes possible.

They can train at extremely high

intensity, for a prolonged period of

60 to 90 minutes. They apply speed,

power, endurance, coordination,

quickness, rhythm and strength

to many skills and tasks. And they

have very low body fat.”

Yet Durkin admits that they’re not perfect. “If

you reduced your criteria to strength, endurance

and flexibility, football players would lose a bit,

because they’re not as flexible as, say, basketball

players.”

Hockey PlayersThe typical NHL player comes in a package

that melds strength, agility, power,

speed and flexibility. That’s why

Pagliano ranked them only behind

decathletes and boxers. “They

gain points for overall fitness and

lose a few because they’re on

skates, which requires less effort

than, say, basketball players. On

the other hand, they require a high

degree of skill and balance.”

Potteiger disagrees: “I consider

hockey as more of a skill sport. I’ve

done some performance testing on

them and they’re strong, but not as

much as you think. They don’t have the

endurance of basketball players. Hockey players

go all out in 30- to 60-second shifts, then get a

break.”

Who Didn’t Make the Cut—and WhySurprisingly, triathletes ranked near the bottom

of our unofficial survey. Pagliano says, “They

lack speed, strength and the skill to, say, hoist

themselves with a pole over an 18-foot bar.”

The same caveats apply to endurance runners

and cyclists. “Lance Armstrong,” argues Potteiger,

“doesn’t have upper-body strength and he

wouldn’t do as well throwing the shot put, for

example, as a pro football player. Even sprinters,

who possess plyometric power and speed,

don’t have the all-around physical ability of a

decathlete.”

Dr. Carl Foster, director of the Human

Performance Laboratory at the University of

Wisconsin, LaCrosse, rules out some other

candidates: “Soccer players are neither

remarkably strong nor do they have remarkable

endurance, but they are better than average in

both. Strongman competitors usually have poor

endurance, but they are very strong.”

Sports such as baseball and golf (does it even

qualify?) tilt more toward elite skills than overall

fitness. “You could be a very good baseball player,

but not necessarily be a good athlete,” Potteiger says.

More Questions Than AnswersPotteiger says that factors beyond physical

capacity also cloud our ability to evaluate

the fittest athlete.

First, there’s the issue of self-selection.

Potteiger believes that many pro athletes—

such as LeBron James—would be

successful decathletes, but choose not

to, probably because of the sport’s lower

profile and earning potential. At some point,

the multisport athlete has to specialize to

become successful. And even within a sport,

certain skills are more or less important than

others. (Take basketball—a point guard

needs quickness, but a center may not.)

22 | October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews

How the Fittest TrainNow that we’ve reached educated conclusions about

the fittest athletes, you may be wondering what kind of

training it takes to become one. Durkin, who trains many

pro athletes, gave us a detailed look. In the off-season

his charges will do 45- to 60-minute high-intensity interval

workouts three to four times a week. As the season

approaches, they’ll work out longer (up to two-and-a-half

hours a day), working both the upper and lower body,

incorporating weights and on-field sport-specific activities. A

typical weekly breakdown is:

• Monday and Thursday: lower body and core

• Tuesday and Friday: upper body

• A peak workout for the lower body consists of some

combination of squats, lunges, side lunges, plyometrics,

single leg Romanian deadlifts, kettlebell swings and

lateral band walks (for the hips), using a Superband.

Core work includes exercises using the TRX Suspension

Trainer, Swiss balls and BOSU balls, push-passes with

a medicine ball, total gym knee tucks and rotational

training work for the hips and core on the TRX Rip

trainer. “We’ll do four to six lower-body exercises, plus

five to 10 sets of core training,” Durkin says.

• The next day, the upper-body work consists of four

to six exercises (two to four sets of each) from among

the following: balance-board push-ups, stability ball

dumbbell bench press, TRX rows, Total Gym pull-

ups, TRX movements for the shoulder and back, and

one-arm rows and other traditional strength-training

exercises on machines or with free weights. He also

uses relatively esoteric equipment such as fat bars

(which are thicker, harder-to-grip barbells) or rice

buckets (to strengthen fingertip grip).

• Some days Durkin adds 30 to 40 minutes of agility drills

that replicate moves on the field (with a 1:2 or 1:3 work-

to-rest ratio; that is, 20 seconds of work, 40 seconds of

rest) using cones, ladders, hurdles and Superbands.

• If those weren’t enough, he adds supplementary

exercises for the neck, feet and ankles.

So, if as Chang says, “the fittest athlete is in the eye of the

beholder,” anyone who can survive Durkin’s workouts can

probably claim the mantle.

Jim gErard is an author, journalist, playwright and stand-up comic. He has written for the New Republic, Travel & Leisure, Maxim, Cosmopolitan, Washington Post, Salon, Details, New York Observer and many other magazines. For more information, visit his site at www.gangof60.com.

October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews | 23

Neuroplas-what?“With aging, a loss of synapses may contribute to a

slowing in the speed of cognitive processing, including thought and mental recall,”

says Janie Clark, M.A., president of the American Senior Fitness Association and author of “Brain Fitness for Older Adults,” a continuing-education course for fitness professionals. “However,

we can mitigate the degenerative cognitive loss commonly associated with normal aging by encouraging neuroplasticity.”Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to change, adapt

and even rewire itself based on new experience. One issue with seniors, however, is that they tend to fall into routines and either avoid or do not have the opportunity to experience new activities or events.

“Many seniors never change their experience. They do the same things all the time and seem to be afraid to do anything different,” says Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D., medical director of The Nutritional Magnesium Association. “That fear keeps

them from engaging in new experiences that could help foster neuroplasticity.”If you work with this population, you are already setting them on the track to

neuroplasticity, because exercise alone has been shown to improve brain health. “Large epidemiologic studies have shown that middle-aged and senior people

who exercise regularly experience less age-associated cognitive decline,” says Catherine Sarkisian, M.D., a geriatrician and researcher at the David Geffen

School of Medicine at UCLA. “We also know from randomized trials of aero-bic exercise programs that people who improve their cardiac fitness are

also more likely to improve their cognitive function, especially in the domains of cognitive speed and attention. One reason

for this is because blood flow to your brain increases with the increased cardiac output from the

aerobic exercise.

By Carrie Myers

Creating the Ultimate Mind-Body Connection

As we age, our bodies decline in function, especially if we’re not taking precautions against it. The same goes for the brain.

While it was once believed that the brain was hardwired during childhood and there was nothing you could do to change that, today we know that the brain is plastic in nature, able to form new cells and neural connections. As a fitness professional, you are in a perfect position to help older adults effectively exercise their brains along with their bodies, thereby creating the ultimate mind-body connection.

brain Fitness for older adults CEC course

american Senior Fitness association

Superbrain yoga by Master Choa

Kok Sui

Brain Fitness Resources

24 | October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews

“Aerobic exercise in turn prevents cardiovascular

disease and diabetes,” Sarkisian continues, “both

of which are risk factors for dementia, so it makes

sense that people who maintain excellent cardiac

fitness are at lower risk of [developing dementia].”

But it goes further than that. There are even

specific changes within the brain itself. “When

participating in cardio exercise, the brain releases

and increases the brain-derived neurotrophic

factor (BDNF) level, which is like Miracle-Gro for

new brain cells, forming new cells, neural path-

ways and connections,” explains Aneil Koerper,

C.S.C.S., health and fitness coordinator for The

Terraces of Phoenix in Phoenix, Ariz.

“Research suggests that physical fitness may

foster cognitive health through more than one

mechanism,” adds Clark. Besides stepping up the

secretion of BDNF, “it also appears to increase the

rate of neurogenesis—the actual creation of new

neurons—across one’s lifespan. It also improves

circulation while increasing the oxygen-carrying ca-

pacity of one’s blood; enhanced blood flow to the

brain has been linked to corresponding improve-

ments in cognitive functioning.”

Mark Poisall, M.S., C.S.C.S., a behavioral

specialist for Medifast, Inc., cites a 2006 study by

Colcombe et al. in which 59 older adults were ran-

domly assigned to either a cardiovascular exercise

group or a nonaerobic exercise control group in

which they did only stretching and strength train-

ing. Participants exercised for three hours a week

for six months. Their brains were scanned before

and after the training period.

After six months, the brain volume of the aer-

obic-exercising group increased in several areas

compared to the control group. Volume increase

occurred primarily in frontal and temporal areas of

the brain, which are involved in executive control

and memory processes. (See sidebar, “What Parts

of the Brain Benefit Most From Exercise?”)

“The authors do not know what underlying cel-

lular changes might have caused these volume

changes,” says Poisall. “However, they suspect,

based on animal research, that volume changes

may be due to an increased number of blood

vessels and an increased number of connections

between neurons.”

What Parts of the Brain Benefit Most From Exercise?

The entire brain benefits from physical activ-ity, but it appears to especially enrich functions based in the prefrontal and frontal regions of the brain. “This was reinforced by an exercise-versus-medication study conducted by a team of Duke University researchers,” explains Clark. Researchers measured 84 clinically depressed middle-aged and older subjects at baseline and again after four months in a variety of cognitive domains. Compared to the medica-tion users, the exercisers had greater improve-ments in memory, as well as in executive func-tions pertaining to planning, organization and intellectual multitasking.

Source: Khatri, P. et al. (2001). Effects of exercise training on cognitive functioning among depressed older men and women. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 9, 1, 43−57.

October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews | 25

Tease the BrainWhile aerobic exercise alone appears to

benefit the brain, some programs, includ-ing The Terraces of Phoenix, are adding brainteaser activities to their exercise pro-grams to further improve the brain’s potential toward neuroplasticity.

“We decided to add brainteasers to our residents’ cardio routines to improve their memory and hearts at the same time,” says Koerper. “During the new fitness class, ‘Heart and Mind Cycle,’ older adults cycle on a recumbent bike while [our trainers] ask them brain teasers. This has been very popular among our residents.”

Vista del Monte, a front-porch retirement community in Santa Barbara, Calif., takes a similar approach. “We’ve just begun offering ‘Brain Fitness Classes’ as part of the pro-gramming from the fitness and aquatic cen-ter,” explains Peggy Buchanan, M.A., director of fitness aquatics and physical therapy at Vista del Monte. “These one-hour classes begin with simple dance steps, then incorpo-rate word games, puzzles and memorization techniques, along with a brief PowerPoint presentation explaining how exercise, nutri-tion and socialization stimulate cognition, delaying the onset of dementia.”

The Bottom LineThe aging population offers you a wonder-

ful opportunity to help people improve their quality of life at a time when they may be fac-ing increasing challenges performing activi-ties that were once automatic and done with ease. The brain is an amazing organ that has the ability to adapt, grow and change—at ev-ery age. The outdated adage that “old dogs” can’t learn new tricks has no application to the older adult who is willing to continue to engage in physical activity and partake in new experiences.

Carrie myers has a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and has been a freelance writer for more than 11 years. She is the author of the award-winning book, Squeez-ing Your Size 14 Self into a Size 6 World: A

Real Woman’s Guide to Food, Fitness, and Self-Accep-tance and presents, teaches and trains in N.H. and Vt.

Easy Ways to Tease the BrainYou can easily begin incorporating brain exercises into your

clients’ or participants’ routines today. Consider trying the follow-ing techniques for challenging your clients’ brains:R Encourage them to do a crossword puzzle, word find, math

problems, or Sodoku while on the exercycle.R Have participants alternate five minutes of brainteasers with

10 minutes of aerobic activity.R Play a Wii FitTM game that requires a client to do math and

jump at the same time.R Educate your clients about the muscles they are using during

each exercise and quiz them during their sessions to see if they remember the names.

R Play a game of Simon Says, incorporating physical activity into the game.

R Incorporate activities that require clients to take directions, such as dance, tai chi and yoga, as these create a greater challenge for the brain.

R Bat a balloon back and forth. To increase the challenge, make a rule that they have to alternate hands, or tell them before they hit the balloon back to you which hand they have to use.

R Incorporate exercises that require clients to think left to right and diagonally. For example, have the client assume a stand-ing or seated position on a stability ball and:• hold a 1- to 4-pound soft medicine ball in each hand. Hold

arms out to the sides at shoulder height. Adduct the extended arms to the body’s midline, open the arms back up, and then bring the extended arms up overhead and back down to the starting position. Repeat for eight to 12 repetitions.

• position the extended arms so that they are at a diagonal to the body, with one arm up and one arm down. Hold a 1- to 4-pound soft medicine ball in one hand. Close the arms, bringing them both to chest height, and move the ball to the opposite hand. Continue to exchange the ball in this manner for eight to 12 reps and then switch the direction of the diagonal and repeat.

• position the arms in the same manner as the previous exercise, but hold the ball in the top hand. After you exchange the ball to the other hand, switch the direction of the diagonal, so that the ball is always in the top hand. Repeat for eight to 12 reps.

26 | October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews

eople cite many reasons for not being physically

active—not enough time, not enough fun, not enough

energy…the list goes on. but it turns out that one of

the most telling factors is whether or not a person has kids.It’s no secret that parenting young children is time-consuming and stressful, a fact

confirmed by studies like the one conducted by researchers from the University of Minnesota

comparing the health habits of young adults with and without children. This study assessed

the eating and physical-activity behaviors of 1,500 socioeconomically and ethnically diverse

young adults. Results showed that moms drank more sugary drinks and ate 400 more

calories per day, more saturated fat and fewer dark green vegetables (the healthiest kind of

vegetable), and exercised less than the non-moms. With all that bad news, it’s not surprising

that the moms also weighed more than the non-moms. Dads had lower physical-activity

levels, but no major nutrition changes and no difference in BMI than the non-dads (Berge

et al., 2011). From this study, and others like it, it is clear that parenthood can take quite a

toll on the health habits of parents. In fact, a review of 25 studies on the topic of parenting

and physical activity found that parents with young kids are far less active than non-parents

(Bellows-Riecken and Rhodes, 2008).

Parenthood and the Epidemic of

By Natalie Digate Muth,

M.D., M.P.H., R.D. P

October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews | 27

Parenthood and the Epidemic of

Parents as Role Models for Healthy BehaviorsThe activities that parents engage in every day just to care for and play with their children count,

but finding the time to commit to an exercise program helps a person feel better and achieve or

maintain a healthy weight. Furthermore, in the current environment of rampant physical inactivity,

ready access to highly processed and calorie-dense foods, and epidemic rates of childhood

and adult obesity, the best thing parents can do to help set their children on the path to maximal

health and well-being—which includes eating healthfully and engaging in physical activity on a

regular basis—is to model healthy behaviors. In fact, time and again, research has shown that

the most effective strategy for preventing and reducing childhood obesity is to focus exclusively

on the parent (Golan, Kaufman and Shahar, 2006; Golan and Crow, 2004; Golan et al., 1998).

One study found that specifically training parents in healthy lifestyle habits led to a 10 percent

weight loss in moderately obese five- to nine-year-old children—and this loss was maintained

for two years (Magarey et al., 2011). Another found that a parent-centered nutritional program

that focused on parental goal-setting, role modeling and positive reinforcement was essential for

sustainable weight improvements in obese kids (Collins et al., 2011). In short, one promising way

to help both adults and children to adopt healthier habits and a more active lifestyle is to convince

the parent, as primary caretaker and role model, to make physical activity a family priority.

Physical Inactivity

28 | October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews

Easy to Say, Harder to DoParents commonly cite fatigue and lack of time, childcare and social support as barriers to getting

the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity each day. So what can be done to help parents

reverse the trend toward decreased activity that so often follows the joyous arrival of a new family

member? Here are a few tips you can offer parents who claim that there’s just no way to balance

the demands of parenthood and carve out an hour a day to work out.

1. Take the kids along for the ride. “The best way for me to exercise is to take both kids out in the jogging

stroller. Once or twice a week I meet some other moms at the walking

trail. Pushing 60-plus pounds of kids and stroller up and down hills

for an hour is a pretty good workout!” recommends Danielle Rattray,

mother to Owen (4) and Hannah (1).

2. Ask for help. Lean on a spouse or partner to watch the kids for a few minutes

and go for a quick workout. Working parents often want to spend

every non-working moment with the kids, but sometimes carving

out a few minutes of personal time can make all the difference.

“It’s hard not to feel guilty taking time to exercise by yourself when

I already feel like I don’t get to spend enough time with [two-year-

old] Xavier,” says Amber Curran. “But it keeps me happier and less

crazy, so I figure that benefits him as well.” After all, she says, “No

one wants a nutty mother!”

3. Make a game of it. Barb Ruvarac, mother of school-aged children, Samantha and Zach,

pushed herself to meet a predefined number of steps each day. If that

means staying up late to get the steps in, so be it. “When Samantha

went to bed I would finish my steps on the treadmill to reach 10,000

steps. Some days I’d only have to walk for 30 minutes, some days it

would take longer. Then, I graduated from walking to running. Then my

husband signed us up for the Shamrock Shuffle in 2010—first running

event ever! And by May of 2010, I’d lost 20 pounds and two dress

sizes!” Barb is now an avid half-marathoner and highly active role

model to her highly active children.

October 2011 • ACE CertifiedNews | 29

4. Prioritize. In describing her commitment to exercise despite working full-time and

raising a nine-month-old, Beth Read uses an analogy that we all can relate

to: “Like they tell you in the airplane . . . put on your oxygen mask first

before assisting others.” Whether that means waking up before the children

or staying up a little bit later, getting a few minutes of physical activity sets

the stage for a more productive day and well-balanced person.

5. Set goals. Tackling the most challenging health struggles becomes a little bit easier

with goal-setting. Try this exercise: Write down three goals—a nutrition goal,

a fitness goal and a behavioral goal. Operationalize this goal as much as

possible by trying to make sure that the goal is Smart. Specific: What is it

exactly that you hope to achieve? measurable: How will you know if you got

there? attainable: Make sure it is something realistic that you are going to

be able to achieve with some moderate amount of effort. relevant: Choose

goals that really are meaningful to you and that will help you feel like you’ve

really accomplished something. And timely: Set a date for when you hope to

achieve your goal that is far enough in the future to give you time to meet it,

but not so far that you will lose interest before reaching it.

6. Commit to setting an example. It’s simple: Kids pay attention to what their parents are doing. Despite the

many barriers to physical activity, taking the time—even if it’s just a few

minutes per day—to engage in physical activity sets a powerful example for

children. The repeated opportunities to see how you eat and play make it

easy for kids to remember the experiences. And kids are motivated to copy

their parents’ actions.

While there are a million reasons not to be physically active, parents who

make getting regular exercise a priority are not only more likely to be fit and

healthy themselves, they are also more likely to raise fit and healthy children.

To fight the epidemic of obesity in the United States—especially reversing

childhood obesity—parents have to be the first ones to stand up, lace our

shoes and lead the charge.

Natalie digate muth, m.d., m.P.h., r.d., is a pediatrics resident at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. She’s also mom to two young children, Tommy (3) and Mariella (11 months).

ReferencesBellows-Riecken, K.H. and Rhodes, R.E. (2008). A birth of inactivity? A review of physical activity and parenthood. Preventive Medicine, 46, 2, 99−110.

Berge, J.M. et al. (2011). Are parents of young children practicing healthy nutrition and physical activity behaviors? Pediatrics, 127, 5, 881−887.

Collins, C.E. et al. (2011). Parent diet modification, child activity, or both in obese children: An RCT. Pediatrics, 127, 4, 619−627.

Golan, M., Kaufman, V. and Shahar, D.R. (2006). Childhood obesity treatment: Targeting parents exclusively v. parents and children. British Journal of Nutrition, 95, 5, 1008−1015.

Golan, M. and Crow, S. (2004). Targeting parents exclusively in the treatment of childhood obesity: Long-term results. Obesity Research,12, 2, 357−361.

Golan, M. et al. (1998). Parents as the exclusive agents of change in the treatment of childhood obesity. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 67, 6, 1130−1135.

Magarey, A.M. et al. (2011). A parent-led family-focused treatment program for overweight children aged 5 to 9 years: The PEACH RCT. Pediatrics, 127, 2, 214−222.

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