…Recovering From Post-exercise Injury or Fatigue…

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Everybody knows that exercise, together with a healthy and balanced diet, is the best route to physical and mental fitness. Nothing equals the thrill of the ‘endorphin rush’ after a really good workout. Or the warm contentment following a good, brisk walk or bike ride.

But it’s all too easy to overdo things. Perhaps you’ve pushed yourself harder than your body really wanted, whether that’s in the gym, or a run that was just that bit longer and faster than usual.

It can take a day or two for muscle pain to really hit, and then it can be debilitating. It will certainly curtail any inclination to exercise for a while, and that’s self-defeating! Tiredness and injury can affect anyone, even those of us who consider ourselves to be seriously fit.

Recovery

The first tip is: don’t let it put you off or discourage you. Stiff muscles and a few aches are quite normal, and can actually be a sign that your level of fitness is improving. Delayed onset muscle soreness, known as DOMS, is likely to affect people starting a new exercise regime, or making changes to an existing one. The NHS has some really good advice from Dr Jonathan Folland, an expert in neuromuscular physiology at Loughborough University.

The simple truth is that time recovering is as important as time exercising, particularly for more strenuous workouts, walks, runs and bike rides.

Treatment

Injury is clearly more serious than simply overdoing things a bit, and there are several treatments available. Which you choose will depend on the type of injury, and what part of the body has been hurt. A few suggestions:

  • Hydrotherapy
  • Chiropractic
  • Stretching
  • Compression garments
  • Massage

Back Pain

One of the nastiest injuries that can lay the fittest person really low. There are several specialized treatments including IDD Therapy, Shockwave Therapy, and Low Level Laser Therapy. The physiotherapists and chiropractors at the Central Chiropractic Clinic have proved them all to be effective in treating chronic and recurrent injuries and conditions. They are all fully qualified and know exactly how to treat injuries from the ankle to the neck.

Stephen Small explains IDD Therapy Incidentally, although back injuries can be caused by failing to exercise safely, even stress can be a factor. We unconsciously contract our muscles when we’re stressed, and this can cause pain in the neck, upper back and lower back.

Yoga can also be a huge help, and special Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs courses devised by the University of York and Arthritis Research UK are well worth trying.

So, take care when exercising, try not to get stressed, and remember that help is available if you do fall victim to the dreaded injury!

…How to become a personal trainer…

What skills does a personal trainer need?

Before you even look in to starting any training courses, you need to assess your own personal skills and passions to make sure they line up with what a successful personal trainer is going to need. These would be our most important skills and traits:

    • Strong people skills including:
      1. Patience with clients
      2. Friendly, easy to talk to
      3. Enthusiasm & passion
      4. Tact
    • Knowledge of fitness, the body, healthy eating & anatomy
    • Strong organisational skills
    • Most importantly – a passion for the industry!


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What qualifications & skills does a personal trainer need?

There are four initial key qualifications you require in order to start working as a personal trainer in the UK:

 

Click each one to Get Trained.

The more added qualifications you can get, the more expanded your skillset will be. The CPD training (Continued Professional Development) that we offer allow you to go even further past your gym instructor or personal trainer qualifications.

You also need to be aware of specialist qualifications in addition to these basics. One of the best ways to break into the industry is to look at an area you’re passionate about and do it. To do this, though, you’re going to need qualifications and/or experience in your particular area.

This means you’ll master your trade and, when clients know exactly what they’re looking for, you’ll be there standing out on top!

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How much does a personal trainer earn / make?

It’s important to be realistic. A lot of people have mismanaged expectations of how much you can earn; you’re self-employed so it’s up to you to determine a realistic hourly rate, and aim to take on a manageable number of clients.

As a self-employed or freelance personal trainer, you can typically look to be earning between £20 and £40 per hour; be careful about people touting high-end figures talking about £100 an hour rates as these aren’t typical!

If you’re a personal trainer in full-time employment (e.g. working with a fitness centre or gym) then you can earn anywhere between £12,000 and £20,000 a year

There are so many factors that go into what a personal trainer can earn, that it’s really difficult to pin an exact or average figure down. It all depends on your qualifications, whether you’ve undertaken CPD training, how much experience you’ve got and the number of clients you can draw in (particularly freelance).

RESOURCES: Gov.uk National Careers Service – Personal Trainer

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How do I make it as a personal trainer?

How long have you got? We’ve talked about this before on our blog, which you can read here from Andi, and a lot of it can fall outside of your initial training. Once you’ve got this under your belt you need to stand out; choose your specialisms and run with them. Get more experience and (if possible) more qualifications so that you don’t get lost amongst the large number of personal trainers out there.

It’s a competitive market, so you need to be realistic about your rates, the number of clients you can take on and what specialisms and USPs you can boast!

What’s next?
Our Advice Centre is constantly being updated with new posts and information that can help expand you knowledge outside of formal training; it’s important to keep it topped up! You can also click on the courses above to get more information on starting your training.

…Yoga for Fitter, Happier Health Workers…

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Yoga has been around for centuries and has been helping people achieve enlightenment for the same amount of time. It traces its roots to India where it laid the foundations for Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Yoga is a discipline that requires and improves one’s mind, body and soul. This practice has also gained prominence through the ages because of the healthy elements it imparts on practitioners. There are even stories and cases of men and women suffering from severe maladies that have been cured by constant yoga practice. This is the best reason why the tired and weary health worker needs to get off the couch and into the yoga mat; to stay fit and healthy.

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There are conflicting origins for yoga. Some would cite the pre-Vedic Indian traditions which have been mentioned many times in the Rigveda. Others claim yoga to have been developed around the fifth and sixth centuries BC as part of Indian movements known as ascetic and sramana. As time progressed, Yoga gurus found several ways to introduce the discipline to the west after the success of Swami Vivekananda in the early 20th century. While the east practiced yoga for both mind and body, the west embraced yoga as a physical exercise.

Yoga practice, tree concept for your design

Yoga practice, tree concept for your design

But how can health workers, involve yoga in their lives? Yoga isn’t just about doing strenuous poses for a fixed amount of time. It involves reflection and proper breathing. It will also call some serious dedication and perseverance. Would you believe that those poses are only a part that makes up the philosophy behind yoga? It’s a deeper and richer practice if you take the time to learn the teachings.

Let’s first examine the physical benefits that health workers like doctors, nurses and paramedics can get when they start doing yoga. Improved muscle strength – muscle strength is important for health workers especially when they are responding to emergencies which require them to lift something heavy.

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Increase blood flow – practicing yoga and following the proper breathing exercise can help keep your blood flowing faster, making you more alert.

Boosts Immunity – mastering the different yoga poses also gives nurses and EMTs a boosted immunity that will be a big factor when dealing with patients. This comes in handy especially in situations where there is a need to handle patients with communicable diseases.

Makes You Happier – a happy worker is a healthy one. The physical aspect of yoga helps your body release all sorts of hormones that can improve a person’s mood. This in turn can lead to better output and a positive outlook towards work and colleagues. A study found out that constant yoga practice can gradually relieve you of depression and an increased amount of serotonin levels. The same study states that the physical exertion also lowered the levels of monoamine oxidase and cortisol. Long term yoga practitioners also showed large amounts of activity on the left side of their brains.

Gives Back your Focus – in an industry like the health care industry, its so easy to lose focus especially when ridden with fatigue and insane amounts of stress. Practicing yoga not only keeps your mind alert and active it also brings back your focus. Studies show that yoga improves coordination, reaction time while at the same time vastly improving IQ scores. There was even one case where the respondent was practicing transcendental meditation and showed prowess in problem solving as well as recalling things. This is really important especially for doctors who deal with life-and-death situations most of the time.

This proves that there is nothing wrong with allotting sometime to take care of yourself by practicing this ancient discipline. If anything, this could prove to be beneficial and could even help you improve your performance at work, garnering more praises and even a promotion down the line.