personal fitness trainer & nutritional...

Personal Fitness Trainer & Nutritional Specialist

Explore the possibilities 0203401LB01A-24

Instruction Pack 1 Lessons 1-5


Instruction Pack 1

Lesson 1: The Fitness Industry and YouLesson 2: The Fitness-Wellness

ConnectionLesson 3: The Psychology of WellnessLesson 4: Exercise Physiology 101Lesson 5: Nutrition 101

No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of U.S. Career Institute.

Copyright © 2014, Weston Distance Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 0203401LB01A-24

AcknowledgmentsAuthorsMarion Agnew, M.S.Carly Burkhart, B.S.

Editorial StaffTrish Bowen, M.Ed.Kimberly Fields, M.A.Stephanie MacLeod, M.S.Leslie Ballentine, M.S.Katy Little, M.S.Ryan Johnson, B.A.Elizabeth Munson, Ph.D.Sue Schildge, B.S.Bridget Tisthammer, B.S.

Design/LayoutConnie HunsaderSandy PetersenD. Brent Hauseman

U.S. Career InstituteFort Collins, CO 80525

www.uscareerinstitute.edu

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Table of Contents

Lesson 1: The Fitness Industry and YouStep 1: Learning Objectives for Lesson 1...................................................................................................................... 1Step 2: Lesson Preview .................................................................................................................................................... 1Step 3: A Hot Topic: The Fitness Industry ................................................................................................................... 2

Health and Fitness Clubs ................................................................................................................................. 2Trends in the Industry ..................................................................................................................................... 3The Fitness and Nutrition Connection .......................................................................................................... 4Roles of the Personal Fitness Trainer and Nutritional Specialist ............................................................... 4

Step 4: A Little Vocabulary Lesson ................................................................................................................................ 4Sound in Body and Mind ................................................................................................................................ 5The Balance of Good Health ........................................................................................................................... 5Physical Health ................................................................................................................................................. 5“You Are What You Eat” .................................................................................................................................. 6

Step 5: Practice Exercise 1-1 .......................................................................................................................................... 6Step 6: Review Practice Exercise 1-1 ............................................................................................................................. 7Step 7: Where Can I Work? ............................................................................................................................................ 7

Wanted: Personal Fitness Trainers ................................................................................................................. 7Wanted: Nutritional Specialists ...................................................................................................................... 7Wanted: Independent Contractors ................................................................................................................. 8

Step 8: The Question of the Day: How Much Will I Earn? ..............................................................................................8Step 9: A Day in the Life of a Personal Fitness Trainer and Nutritional Specialist ................................................. 9

At Home ............................................................................................................................................................. 9At the Gym ...................................................................................................................................................... 10Working with Athletes ................................................................................................................................... 10

Step 10: Practice Exercise 1-2 ...................................................................................................................................... 11Step 11: Review Practice Exercise 1-2 ......................................................................................................................... 12Step 12: Lesson Summary ............................................................................................................................................. 12Step 13: Quiz 1 ............................................................................................................................................................... 13

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Lesson 2: The Fitness-Wellness ConnectionStep 1: Learning Objectives for Lesson 2...................................................................................................................... 1Step 2: Lesson Preview .................................................................................................................................................... 1Step 3: The Importance of Fitness and Nutrition ........................................................................................................ 2

An Ounce of Prevention .................................................................................................................................. 2The Young and the Young at Heart ................................................................................................................ 2Fitness: The Gift That Keeps on Giving........................................................................................................ 2

Step 4: Components of Wellness ................................................................................................................................... 4Physical Health ................................................................................................................................................. 4Mental Health ................................................................................................................................................... 4Social Relationships .......................................................................................................................................... 5A Delicate Balance ............................................................................................................................................ 5

Step 5: Factors Influencing Wellness ............................................................................................................................. 6Nutrition Factors .............................................................................................................................................. 6Lifestyle Factors ................................................................................................................................................ 6Demographic Factors ....................................................................................................................................... 6Social Factors .................................................................................................................................................... 7

Step 6: Practice Exercise 2-1 ........................................................................................................................................... 7Step 7: Review Practice Exercise 2-1 ............................................................................................................................. 8Step 8: Challenges of Our Modern Lifestyles............................................................................................................... 8

Sedentary Lifestyle ............................................................................................................................................ 8Stress and Busy Lives ........................................................................................................................................ 8The Modern Diet .............................................................................................................................................. 9

Step 9: Lifestyle-related Diseases ................................................................................................................................... 9High Blood Pressure ........................................................................................................................................ 9Heart Disease and Stroke ................................................................................................................................. 9Obesity and Diabetes ..................................................................................................................................... 10Psychological Diseases ................................................................................................................................... 10

Step 10: Assess Your Own Health and Lifestyle ........................................................................................................ 10Assess Your Fitness Level ............................................................................................................................... 10Assess Your Diet ............................................................................................................................................. 11Assess Your Psychological Health ................................................................................................................ 11General Health ................................................................................................................................................ 11

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Lesson 3: The Psychology of WellnessStep 1: Learning Objectives for Lesson 3...................................................................................................................... 1Step 2: Lesson Preview .................................................................................................................................................... 1Step 3: Nutrition: A Piece of the Wellness Puzzle ...................................................................................................... 2Step 4: Lifestyle Choices ................................................................................................................................................. 2

Don’t Just Sit There!.......................................................................................................................................... 2Step 5: Address Your Client’s Attitude Toward Fitness ............................................................................................... 3

Stages of Behavior Change .............................................................................................................................. 3Step 6: Challenges to Changing Behavior .................................................................................................................... 5

The Start of Unhealthy Habits ........................................................................................................................ 5When Bad Feels Good ..................................................................................................................................... 6What Controls Our Health Habits? ................................................................................................................ 6

Step 7: Practice Exercise 3-1 ........................................................................................................................................... 7Step 8: Review Practice Exercise 3-1 ............................................................................................................................. 8Step 9: Mental Assessment ............................................................................................................................................. 8Step 10: Keep It Real ........................................................................................................................................................ 9

Why Are Goals Important? ............................................................................................................................. 9Goals: The Fitness Trainer’s Role .................................................................................................................... 9Who Is Responsible? ...................................................................................................................................... 11Different Goals for Different Folks .............................................................................................................. 11

Step 11: Motivation: The Key to Success .................................................................................................................... 12Motivating Clients .......................................................................................................................................... 12Positive Reinforcement .................................................................................................................................. 13Intrinsic Motivation ....................................................................................................................................... 13

Step 12: The Trainer’s Scope of Practice ..................................................................................................................... 14Step 13: Practice Exercise 3-2 ...................................................................................................................................... 14Step 14: Review Practice Exercise 3-2 ......................................................................................................................... 15Step 15: Lesson Summary ............................................................................................................................................. 16Step 16: Quiz 3 ............................................................................................................................................................... 16

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Lesson 4: Exercise Physiology 101Step 1: Learning Objectives for Lesson 4...................................................................................................................... 1Step 2: Lesson Preview .................................................................................................................................................... 1Step 3: The Total Picture ................................................................................................................................................. 2

Muscle Mass ..................................................................................................................................................... 3Fat Mass ............................................................................................................................................................. 3Water Weight ..................................................................................................................................................... 3Bone Weight ...................................................................................................................................................... 3Balance Is the Key ............................................................................................................................................. 4

Step 4: More Balance: True Strength Requires Flexibility .......................................................................................... 4Building Muscle ............................................................................................................................................... 4Flexibility ........................................................................................................................................................... 5

Step 5: Practice Exercise 4-1 ........................................................................................................................................... 5Step 6: Review Practice Exercise 4-1 ............................................................................................................................. 6Step 7: The Heart of It All ............................................................................................................................................... 6

The Cardiovascular System ............................................................................................................................. 7Your Heart in Parts .......................................................................................................................................... 7Your Heart at Work ......................................................................................................................................... 8Important Measurements .............................................................................................................................. 10

Step 8: The Respiratory System ................................................................................................................................... 11The Big Picture................................................................................................................................................ 11Out with the Bad Air, in with the Good ...................................................................................................... 13

Step 9: Practice Exercise 4-2 ......................................................................................................................................... 15Step 10: Review Practice Exercise 4-2 ......................................................................................................................... 16Step 11: Oxygen: The Most Basic Need ...................................................................................................................... 16

The Body in Balance: Homeostasis .............................................................................................................. 17Stoking the Energy Factory ........................................................................................................................... 17

Step 12: The System at Work ........................................................................................................................................ 18Immediate Effects of Exercise ....................................................................................................................... 19VO2 Max .......................................................................................................................................................... 19Long-term Effects of Aerobic Exercise ........................................................................................................ 20Take Advantage of Aerobic and Anaerobic Energy Production............................................................... 20

Step 13: Knowledge in Action ...................................................................................................................................... 21Where am I? .................................................................................................................................................... 22What Do I Do to Change? ............................................................................................................................. 23Exercise Intensity ............................................................................................................................................ 24

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Lesson 5: Nutrition 101Step 1: Learning Objectives for Lesson 5...................................................................................................................... 1Step 2: Lesson Preview .................................................................................................................................................... 1Step 3: The Relationship Between Fitness and Nutrition ........................................................................................... 2

Carbohydrates ................................................................................................................................................... 2Protein ................................................................................................................................................................ 3Fat ....................................................................................................................................................................... 3What’s in a Label ............................................................................................................................................... 4

Step 4: Vitamins and Minerals ....................................................................................................................................... 5Vitamins ............................................................................................................................................................. 5Vitamins that Affect Muscle Function and Bone Density .......................................................................... 6Minerals ............................................................................................................................................................. 6Minerals that Affect Muscle Function and Bone Density ........................................................................... 7

Step 5: Practice Exercise 5-1 ......................................................................................................................................... 10tep 6: Review Practice Exercise 5-1 ............................................................................................................................. 12Step 7: MyPlate Guidelines ........................................................................................................................................... 12

A History of Dietary Guidelines ................................................................................................................... 12How Much Is a Serving? ................................................................................................................................ 14

Step 8: What Else Affects Our Bodies? ....................................................................................................................... 15Sodium ............................................................................................................................................................. 15Processed Sugar .............................................................................................................................................. 16Sweetener Substitutes ..................................................................................................................................... 16Caffeine ............................................................................................................................................................ 17Alcohol ............................................................................................................................................................. 17Smoking ........................................................................................................................................................... 17

Step 9: All About Cholesterol ....................................................................................................................................... 17Cholesterol Levels ........................................................................................................................................... 17Types of Cholesterol ....................................................................................................................................... 18

Step 10: Allergic or Intolerant? .................................................................................................................................... 18Food Allergy Versus Food Intolerance ........................................................................................................ 19

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Step 11: Practice Exercise 5-2 ...................................................................................................................................... 19Step 12: Review Practice Exercise 5-2 ......................................................................................................................... 21Step 13: Water: The Liquid of Life ............................................................................................................................... 21Step 14: Calculating Caloric Needs ............................................................................................................................. 22

Basal Metabolism and Resting Metabolism ................................................................................................ 22Activity Level ................................................................................................................................................... 22Thermic Effect of Food .................................................................................................................................. 23Caloric Needs for Weight Loss and Gain .................................................................................................... 23

Step 15: Nutritional Needs of Young Athletes ........................................................................................................... 24Step 16: Practice Exercise 5-3 ...................................................................................................................................... 24Step 17: Review Practice Exercise 5-3 ......................................................................................................................... 25Step 18: Lesson Summary ............................................................................................................................................. 26Step 19: Quiz 5 ............................................................................................................................................................... 26

Just for Fun ...................................................................................................................................................... 27

Answer KeyLesson 1 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 1

Practice Exercise 1-1 ........................................................................................................................................ 1Practice Exercise 1-2 ........................................................................................................................................ 1

Lesson 2 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 2Practice Exercise 2-1 ........................................................................................................................................ 2Practice Exercise 2-2 ........................................................................................................................................ 2

Lesson 3 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 3Practice Exercise 3-1 ........................................................................................................................................ 3Practice Exercise 3-2 ........................................................................................................................................ 3

Lesson 4 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 4Practice Exercise 4-1 ........................................................................................................................................ 4Practice Exercise 4-2 ........................................................................................................................................ 4Practice Exercise 4-3 ........................................................................................................................................ 5

Lesson 5 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 5Practice Exercise 5-1 ........................................................................................................................................ 5Practice Exercise 5-2 ........................................................................................................................................ 6Practice Exercise 5-3 ........................................................................................................................................ 6

Lesson 1 The Fitness Industry and You

Step 1: Learning Objectives for Lesson 1When you have completed the instruction in this lesson, you will be trained to:

● Define the terms health, wellness, fitness and nutrition.

● Discuss today’s trends in the fitness and nutrition industry.

● Explain the roles of a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist.

● Identify the various career opportunities in the fitness and nutrition field.

● Discuss the different salaries of employees working in the fitness and nutrition field.

Step 2: Lesson PreviewWelcome to the Personal Fitness Trainer & Nutritional Specialist Course! You are probably eager to learn about the career you’ve chosen. As you work through your lessons, you’ll see how personal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists help clients achieve their personal fitness goals. Additionally, they teach clients good nutrition guidelines to improve their own health. We’ll talk about how you will use your fitness and nutrition knowledge to educate clients on how to feel and look their best. Think of yourself as a personal coach. You’ll motivate and encourage your clients to take charge of their own health and achieve personal wellness!

By taking this course, you’ll learn how to work with clients and help them achieve personal wellness through nutrition and exercise. In your course, you’ll learn about the anatomy of the human body, nutrition and exercise plans, tools of the trade, alternative pathways to health and interpersonal skills to enhance client relations. We’ll teach you exercises for every muscle group of the body, as well as proper equipment usage and safety precautions. Also, to give you every tool you’ll need for success, we’ll help you develop and market your business skills.

Each lesson will build upon what you have learned from previous lessons so that you can move toward your goal with confidence. At its conclusion, the course allows you to apply your new skills by developing real-world fitness and nutrition programs. Completing this lesson is the first step toward achieving your own goal of becoming a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist! In just a few months, you’ll be on your way to earning up to $35,000 per year!

The fitness and nutrition industry offers a wide variety of exciting and fulfilling career possibilities. Maybe you want to work in a gym or fitness center that would provide you with a client base. You may choose to work in a school or hospital, for a sports team or in the homes of your clients. Or perhaps you would prefer to counsel clients out of your home and run your own business. Whatever you choose to do, this course will help you develop the skills necessary to be successful in the fitness and nutrition field.

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As we get started with this first lesson, we’ll introduce you to the field of fitness and nutrition. You’ll learn some basic terms essential to this industry, as well as discover the many career opportunities available in this field. Finally, you’ll get a glimpse into the lives of several personal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists. Along the way, self-graded Practice Exercises will provide review for the concepts you’ll learn.

Each lesson takes you through the material at your own pace. You’ll gain your new knowledge step by step. Try to devote some time to your studies each day. Even a few minutes a day will help you progress toward your goal. And we will be with you throughout the course. The staff and faculty at U.S. Career Institute are only a phone call or e-mail away to answer any questions that arise—or to offer a jumpstart in motivation if you need it. Later, we’ll offer you lifetime graduate support services, too. So if you need additional guidance on landing that first job or starting your own business, we’re here for you. We want you to succeed in your goal of becoming a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist! We want to make your dreams a reality. So, are you ready to begin your first lesson? Let’s go!

Step 3: A Hot Topic: The Fitness IndustryYou listen to your coworkers talk about the gyms they belong to, you hear about the latest nutrition studies on the evening news and you try all the latest diet and exercise programs. But do you really know how all of this fits into the fitness and nutrition industry? Or for that matter, what that industry incorporates? Most people think of gyms when they hear the word fitness. But the fitness industry includes much more than just gyms. It includes everyone who works to help people get and stay in shape. So, let’s take a look at the different components of the fitness and nutrition industry.

Health and Fitness ClubsIn 2009, 45 million people in the United States belonged to health clubs, and this number is only expected to grow. Most people belong to commercial health clubs, YMCA/YWCA and company fitness programs. The baby boomers, ages 44 to 64, make up the largest percentage of those who belong to health clubs, followed closely by adults ages 18 to 43.

Not only is the total number of individuals attending health clubs increasing, but so is the frequency with which these members attend. So what do health clubs offer people that keep them coming back? Nearly all health clubs offer personal training, making it one of the number-one programs they offer. Additionally, many clubs offer several types of aerobic classes, access to free weights, stationery bikes and climbers/steppers, as well as the opportunity to have a fitness evaluation. To attract mothers of young children, more clubs now offer childcare facilities.

An increasing trend we see in the industry is the specialty club. Look in the yellow pages of your phone book under “Health Clubs” or “gyms.” Do you see the range of specialty clubs listed? You might find yoga clubs, Pilates clubs and women-only clubs, just to name a few. So you see, the industry truly offers something for everyone! This rapid expansion of health club membership will lead to an increased demand for personal fitness trainers and nutrition specialists—you!

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Trends in the IndustryOver the past several decades, the fitness industry has experienced booming growth and change. In the 1970s, distance running was all the rage. Then, in the 1980s, Jane Fonda led us into step aerobics—complete with leg warmers and headbands! The 1990s proved to the world that we could, indeed, exercise at home. Treadmills, stationery bikes and various exercise equipment made their way into many American homes. No matter the decade, walking and hiking, however, have always been—and will always remain—popular.

As we move into the 21st century, the fitness industry trends have evolved a bit. It seems that more Americans are joining gyms and clubs these days. Many Americans enjoy high-intensity classes, such as Tae-Bo and Spinning.

ZumbaZumba fuses fitness, entertainment and culture into an exhilarating dance-fitness sensation. Zumba exercise classes blend upbeat world rhythms with easy-to-follow choreography, for a total-body workout. Gyms, rec centers and other exercise centers offer different types of Zumba classes.

CrossfitCrossFit is an all-encompassing, open-source fitness movement involving gymnastics, Olympic lifting and aerobic work. The exercises are all done very quickly, and with great intensity.

Spin-Art: Spin Your Way to FitnessSpinning involves intense stationery bike riding—usually in a group setting. Imagine loud music and energetic instructors leading you on a fantasy bike ride through busy streets, race tracks and peaceful mountains!

Today’s fitness trends also include lower-impact, stress-relieving exercises, such as yoga, Pilates and Tai-Chi. These forms of exercise work the body as well as the mind.

Exercise Your Way to Calm, Inner Peace: Yoga Created in India more than 5,000 years ago, yoga involves focusing intently on one’s own body through breathing, strength, flexibility and balance. These days, yoga is booming! Our fast-paced lives have led us to re-discover the mind calming and stress release that yoga provides.

Yoga’s Offspring: PilatesPilates has been all the rage in recent years. Pilates works the body and relaxes the mind. It involves exercises (often with specialty equipment) that strengthen and elongate muscles. Correct posture and breathing techniques are critical to each exercise.

Slow It Down: Tai-ChiFor all ages, Tai-Chi helps one achieve mental and spiritual peace through slow and methodical movements. This low-intensity workout is easy on the muscles and joints.

A New Wave: GyrotronicsThe Gyrotronic Expansion System (GES) provides a workout for the body’s core. Gyrotronics uses circular, pulling movements on a weight-and-pulley system and combines principles of ballet, swimming, gymnastics, Tai-Chi and yoga. You may find many men and serious athletes participating in gyrotronics.

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So did we wet your whistle? Aren’t you amazed at the endless possibilities for a fitness trainer? Keep in mind that specialties usually require additional certifications or continuing education courses. Some certifications are only a few hours in length, while others may require a short-term commitment to a course. And as a reward for additional education and certifications, certified trainers with these credentials can expect to charge between $20 and $100 per session, per person, depending on the specialty, the location and the terms between the trainer and the club. Either way, however, the earnings and potential are there and will only continue to grow as our population becomes increasingly aware of the long-term effects of wellness.

You’ll learn much more about these exciting specialties later in the course, so stay tuned!

The Fitness and Nutrition ConnectionTo achieve optimal fitness, a body must follow an effective exercise program, as well as have a supply of adequate nutrition. Good nutrition gives the body the energy it needs to complete a physical workout and repair itself following the workout. Nutritionists who earn four-year degrees may prescribe programs to help clients treat various health conditions and diseases. In contrast, a nutritional specialist can expect to provide much more basic information about nutrition—as it relates to his or her clients’ fitness. Let’s take a look at the role you will play as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist.

Roles of the Personal Fitness Trainer and Nutritional SpecialistAs a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you will serve several roles. First and foremost, you will fill the role of a professional helper in your field—much as a lawyer or psychologist would provide advice in her field. Roles you can also expect to fill in your new career include teacher, coach and motivator.

As a teacher you will share your knowledge of fitness and nutrition. You will teach clients how to use equipment correctly, follow a sensible nutrition plan and exercises to perform to reach their goals. You will coach clients by helping them to make better dietary choices and improve their form and technique while exercising. As a motivator you will offer your clients encouragement as they work toward their fitness goals. Personal fitness trainers also serve as good listeners by asking about the personal difficulties that may stand in the way of achieving clients’ fitness goals. However, it is important to note that, as a personal fitness trainer, you are not a doctor or psychologist. When a client’s personal or health problems lie outside a fitness trainer’s professional expertise, you should refer him to other qualified health professionals.

While a personal fitness trainer can offer a client a variety of services, the ultimate responsibility for achieving fitness lies within the client himself. By encouraging, empowering and educating, personal fitness trainers increase the likelihood that their clients will reach their fitness goals. This, in turn, increases the likelihood that you will achieve your financial and professional goals!

Step 4: A Little Vocabulary LessonAs a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you’ll help your clients get healthy and motivate them to achieve their fitness goals. But to really begin to understand the fitness and nutrition industry, you need to be familiar with several terms. You’ll hear these terms throughout this course and your new career.

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Sound in Body and MindHealth is the state of being sound in body and mind. A healthy person is free from both physical disease and pain. A healthy body can perform all vital functions properly—both mentally and physically. Health applies to other areas, too. For instance, a person may be financially healthy if he has a good job, a steady income and is free of excess debt.

As a fitness professional, you will learn to take into account both a person’s physical and mental status when determining his overall health. Your course will teach you how physical and mental health affect wellness. And completing this course will help you improve your own financial—and possibly physical—health!

The Balance of Good HealthWellness is the quality or state of being in good health, especially as an actively sought goal. To achieve a state of wellness, a person must take into account numerous areas of her life, including physical health, mental attitude and social relationships. Working to balance the various areas of one’s life can also help one achieve better overall wellness. Unfortunately, people commonly focus on one or two health practices while neglecting the others, thus keeping them from achieving a state of wellness. For instance, you may know someone who has a great mental attitude and social life; however, without the element of physical health, that person may not achieve total wellness.

How can you help a client achieve wellness? Let’s take Claire, for example. Claire is a working mother who focuses on keeping her diet low in calories and fat while running on her treadmill daily. She complains about not being at her ideal weight despite dieting and regular exercise. She wishes she had more energy to give her children the attention they need and finds it difficult to focus on tasks at work.

Claire visits you—a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist—and you reveal Claire’s need to increase her caloric intake and quality, incorporate strength training into her routine and begin yoga or a meditative practice. The diet changes and strength training will help her to lose fat while building lean muscle. Claire begins to achieve her ideal body weight, while increasing her energy and stamina. Yoga helps her to learn to focus better at work. This allows her to become more productive, thus cutting down on time spent at the office while increasing time spent with family.

This example shows the importance of taking all areas of a person’s life into account when working to achieve wellness. It also displays how diverse areas of a person’s life intertwine and come together to achieve overall wellness.

Physical HealthThe term fitness refers to the condition of being physically strong and healthy. Fitness is generally achieved through regular exercise combined with other healthy lifestyle practices. Exercise that strengthens the heart and lungs, as well as the muscles, will help a person achieve or maintain personal fitness. Heart and lung health, as well as muscular health, are critical elements when you evaluate overall fitness. For example, a bodybuilder may have extremely strong muscles as a result of weight lifting, yet may forego all forms of aerobic exercise, thus neglecting the health of his heart and lungs.

We can achieve optimal fitness through a balance of different types of exercise. So, how do your clients know which exercises to do and for how long? Well, they call you, a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist.

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“You Are What You Eat”Nutrition refers to the food that a person takes into his body and the way that food influences his health. What we eat plays an important role in determining how we feel. Our diet can help or hinder our daily physical and mental functioning and affect our long-term health. You have probably heard the saying, “You are what you eat.” Modern medical studies have concluded that this is true! Just as your car runs best when maintained properly and given the best gasoline, our bodies function best when we eat healthy and nutritious foods and beverages. Not only does good nutrition help us to be at our mental and physical best on a day-to-day basis, but it also plays a large role in keeping our bodies healthy and disease-free over a lifetime. As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you’ll be able to help your clients eat a more healthy diet.

Now, before we explore the multitude of job opportunities that await you, let’s review what you’ve read so far.

Step 5: Practice Exercise 1-1 Select the best answer from the choices provided and write your answers on scratch paper.

1. One common mistake people make when trying to achieve wellness is _____.a. taking too much time off from workb. not giving their children enough attentionc. focusing only on one or two areas of their health while

neglecting othersd. only eating a more nutritious diet

2. Most people belong to which type of health club? a. University-based b. Commercial c. Home-based d. Church-based

3. _____ make up the largest percentage of those belonging to health clubs.a. Childrenb. Young adults c. Baby boomers d. Adults ages 65 and older

4. One way a health club can make itself more convenient to members is to _____.a. allow only those who are in good physical condition to joinb. provide less equipment to shorten members’ workoutsc. provide a childcare facility for membersd. give out prizes to members who attend the club frequently

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5. One difference between a nutritionist and a nutritional specialist is that _____.a. nutritionists earn four-year degreesb. nutritional specialists have more educationc. nutritional specialists must be self-employedd. nutritional specialists only work in hospitals

Step 6: Review Practice Exercise 1-1Check your answers with the Answer Key at the back of this book. Correct any mistakes you have made.

Step 7: Where Can I Work?You’ve grasped a background in the fitness and nutrition industry, and you understand some of the important terms commonly used in the field. Now let’s take a moment to discuss where you might like to work.

Wanted: Personal Fitness TrainersOne common misconception about personal fitness trainers is that they all work in gyms and health clubs. While many are employed by gyms, many trainers work in a wide variety of other settings. Many high schools and colleges hire personal fitness trainers to work with their athletic teams. Having a trainer on hand helps to prevent injuries many athletes sustain because they exercise incorrectly. Even some hospitals and rehabilitation clinics hire personal fitness trainers to help their patients learn about fitness and exercise. And some community centers and civic and social organizations also like to have personal fitness trainers on staff.

Many other personal fitness trainers run their own businesses out of their homes. These trainers may have clients come to their homes, or they may travel to the clients’ homes since many people prefer the privacy and convenience of exercising at home. You will learn more about special considerations when choosing to work from home later in this course. Given the desire to get in shape that so many people share today, the possibilities for employment in the fitness and nutrition field are nearly endless!

Wanted: Nutritional SpecialistsNutritional specialists often work for similar employers as do personal fitness trainers, including health clubs, schools, sports teams and hospitals. In addition, nutritional specialists work for companies that sponsor corporate or community health promotion programs. They work to establish and promote programs that benefit whole segments of the population.

Examples of this type of work include helping to establish a state-wide campaign to encourage children to eat more fruits and vegetables or creating a community healthy cooking club to help citizens battle obesity. Some nutritional specialists opt to work from their own homes. Others may choose to work on cruise ships or at vacation resorts, both of which tend to have nutritional specialists on staff to serve their clients. Health insurance and managed care companies commonly hire nutritional specialists to help their consumers follow a healthy diet. In addition, some nutritional specialists may be employed assisting nutritionists.

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It is important not to confuse a nutritionist with a nutritional specialist. Nutritionists differ from nutritional specialists in that nutritionists must pass a national examination, hold a Bachelor’s degree and complete continuing education requirements to maintain their certification. Nutritionists have extensive skills to provide dietary information for a variety of needs, including the varied diets of hospitals and nursing facilities.

Wanted: Independent ContractorsBoth personal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists have the option to work from home. Some trainers may choose to combine working in a gym or other facility with working from home or traveling to clients’ homes. A nutritional specialist may run his own business while working as a consultant to one or more companies, thereby cutting down on marketing costs and increasing his client base.

A self-employed trainer who chooses to work out of her or his home can expect to spend anywhere between $100 and $1,000 for start-up equipment. Step platforms, free weights, small trampolines and rubber bands are inexpensive pieces of equipment that can minimize start-up costs and be used for a variety of exercises. (Don’t worry. We’ll teach you all about these tools of the trade a bit later!) A nutritional specialist working from home would generally need a computer, reference books, a tape measure, scales for measuring weight and fat mass, skin fold calipers and visual aids to demonstrate portion sizes to clients. The nutritional specialist could expect to pay anywhere between $500 and $1,000 in start-up costs.

Marketing costs for a home business can vary depending on the method. Word of mouth, flyers, brochures and paid advertisements are all possible ways of establishing a client base and attracting new customers. Later in the course, you’ll learn some tried-and-true methods for marketing your new skills. And don’t forget, the Graduate Services Department will provide lifelong marketing help and job search guidelines!

Step 8: The Question of the Day: How Much Will I Earn?As you get ready to embark on your new career, the biggest question in your mind, no doubt, is, “How much money can I make?” The answer can be frustrating, as earnings vary by experience, location and job site. However, we can give you some idea as to how much you can expect to earn as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist.

Once you have some experience, you can expect to make an average of $30,000 to $35,000 annually. The average hourly rate for employed personal fitness trainers starts around $14; trainers tend to earn less working at fitness clubs and gyms because the owners have to cover their overhead, thus keeping a portion of what the client pays for these services. However, with experience, trainers may earn up to $100 an hour, depending on the types of training certifications and amount of experience they possess.

You’re on the right track! In just a few short months, you’ll be prepared to obtain an entry-level position as a fitness trainer. Keep in mind, though, the possibilities are endless for your income and career potential! It all depends on you. How strong is your desire to continue your education and gain experience in this money-making, health-promoting industry?

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Step 9: A Day in the Life of a Personal Fitness Trainer and Nutritional Specialist

Let’s take a peek into the lives of several personal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists. This will give you a better idea of what to expect in your new career. We’ll “visit” with a new client, as well as with an established client. You’ll see how the tasks each person performs differ according to work environment and level of experience. Let’s start by following Melanie, who focuses on her nutritional specialist skills and runs her own consulting business from home.

At HomeMelanie is a single mother with two school-aged children. She chose a career as a nutritional specialist because she enjoys helping and motivating others. By working out of her home, she is able to make her own hours while being more available to her children without placing them in childcare.

Melanie’s day starts at 7 a.m. when she wakes her children and gets them ready for school. After her children board the bus at 8 a.m., she showers and prepares for the arrival of her first client. Melanie works as a consultant for both a local fitness club and a health insurance company. Lucky for her, she works with a wide variety of clients.

Her first client of the day, Daniel, has been strength training daily for several months at the local fitness club, yet has not gained as much muscle mass as he had hoped. Melanie interviews Daniel to find out more about his diet and workouts and what may be keeping him from achieving the gains he had wanted. Together, they conclude that Daniel needs to add more protein to his diet to help build muscle. She also suggests that Daniel cut back on the frequency of his workouts. This will allow his muscles to repair themselves between exercise sessions. She gives him protein shake samples and suggests foods that will supply his body with the lean protein necessary to build muscle.

After Daniel leaves, Melanie phones a client for a follow-up appointment. Because the health insurance company for which she consults provides coverage for people in several states, Melanie is used to doing much of her work over the phone and through e-mail. Her client, Lydia, has struggled with obesity and related health problems for several years. With Melanie’s instruction and encouragement, Lydia has been able to lose 30 pounds during the past six months while bringing her type 2 diabetes—a disease that often plagues those who are overweight—under control. Lydia is excited to tell Melanie that she has lost another three pounds since they last spoke and has joined a community softball league—something she never could have done in the past given her health and weight problems. (Can you imagine the reward Melanie feels after this phone call?! She is proud of Lydia’s commitment to success.)

At noon Melanie enjoys a quick lunch, then visits a Web site created by the health insurance company for which she consults. Melanie writes nutrition articles for the site and answers questions people post regarding diet and wellness. She spends about an hour answering questions, then prepares for the arrival of another client. Later that afternoon, Melanie picks up her children from school. She spends time talking to her children about their day while sharing an afternoon snack. The three of them bike to the park and play Frisbee golf.

Upon returning, Melanie consults with a client on the phone while she prepares dinner. Her evenings are generally free to spend with her family, and on this particular night, they watch a favorite television show and then play a board game.

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At the GymJenna works as a personal fitness trainer at a YWCA. A true social butterfly, she loves to be around people of all different backgrounds. Growing up, she could never sit still for long and played on several athletic teams. Jenna enjoys her job because she is able to interact with people throughout her workday while remaining active.

Jenna’s day begins early. She is often the first person at the YWCA and arrives when it opens at 6 a.m. She teaches a sunrise yoga class that draws a variety of members—from a 65-year-old woman to a group of college coeds. She instructs the class through a variety of stretches and poses and then concludes the class with a relaxation session. Her students leave feeling refreshed and ready to begin their days.

At 7:30 a.m., she meets her first client of the day, Sara. Sara is a new mother of twin boys and is anxious to get back into shape following her pregnancy. Jenna interviews Sara to learn more about her health, activity history and current goals. She takes some initial body measurements, including body weight and body fat percentage. Jenna works with Sara for the next half hour to create a fitness plan that will help Sara to get back her pre-pregnancy figure. Jenna forms a plan for Sara that is realistic about the amount of time the new mother will be able to spend at the gym. Sara leaves feeling confident that she will now be able to lose her extra pregnancy weight safely and gradually while building lean muscle.

Jenna’s next client, Lily, arrives at 8:30 a.m. for her exercise session. Lily is 55 and has stayed slender all her life despite never engaging in a formal exercise program. Her doctor recently advised that she do some weight-bearing exercise after a bone scan showed that her bones were thinning as a result of menopause. Jenna leads Lily through a variety of exercises, including various machines and free weights. Jenna ensures that her client does the exercises correctly to prevent injury while making them as effective as possible.

Next, Jenna leads a 9:30 a.m. step aerobics class. She plays music and moves around the room encouraging and motivating her students to push themselves throughout the workout. Following the class, she meets with the gym’s director and two other trainers who also work at the YWCA. Together they plan and discuss a new health promotion program that the center plans to launch. The program will award committed members who complete a personal fitness program with free tickets to a local water park.

After lunch, Jenna leads the YWCA’s newest class. In the class, Jenna teaches students how to ballroom dance. The class is popular, especially with retired couples. Dancing offers a fun alternative to traditional, cardiovascular exercises. At 2 p.m. Jenna is finished with work. She heads home to shower and spend the evening with her husband.

Working with AthletesMeet Jake, a trainer for a state college for the past five years. He works with both the football and baseball teams. An avid sports fan, Jake can think of no better job than his. He works to keep the players in peak shape throughout the season by coaching and encouraging them during workouts. He works alongside the teams’ physical therapist, who helps athletes recover from surgeries and injuries.

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Jake is expected to travel to all games and be present at practices, so his schedule varies greatly from one day to the next. On this morning, the baseball players have a weighttraining session, so Jake’s workday begins at 9 a.m. During this time Jake instructs several athletes on correct weightlifting form and motivates them throughout their workout.

At 11 a.m. Jake and the physical therapist meet with a pitcher complaining of back pains that prevent him from throwing his best. Jake shows the pitcher how the way he throws the ball puts excess strain on his back muscles and works with him to adjust his throwing style. Jake also teaches the young pitcher several simple exercises to strengthen his shoulder muscles, along with some stretch exercises for his back. This will prevent overuse and subsequent injury of his back muscles.

Jake grabs a healthy lunch, then puts the finishing touches on the off-season training program he developed for the football team. He turns it in for approval from the head coach and heads to baseball practice. He chats with the players while leading them through stretching exercises. During practice, players have the opportunity to consult with Jake if they need encouragement regarding their training program.

It’s 4 p.m., and before heading home, Jake and the physical therapist head back to the weight room to help Marcus, a football player who is rehabilitating after a knee injury. Marcus has been on crutches for nearly a month. The therapist shows him a variety of exercises that will help strengthen his leg while regaining movement of his knee. Jake helps ensure that Marcus’ form is correct.

As you can see, personal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists have fun and rewarding jobs encouraging others to work toward optimal wellness. And all while earning good money!

You’ve taken the first step toward your own new, exciting career as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist! Take a moment to bask in thoughts of your new career. Will you work primarily from home, like Melanie? Or are you more of a social butterfly, like Jenna? Perhaps you see yourself working with athletes, like Jake. The possibilities are endless. Whatever work you choose, the choice is yours!

Now take a few moments to review what you’ve learned. Remember that it’s fine to review your course material anytime you take Practice Exercises or Quizzes. At U.S. Career Institute, we encourage you to find the correct answers, which are always at your fingertips. This tactic will help you retain the important information.

Step 10: Practice Exercise 1-2Select the best answer from the choices provided and write your answers on scratch paper.

1. One reason an athletic team might hire a personal fitness trainer would be to _____.a. coach and encourage athletes during workoutsb. eliminate the need for a doctor’s advicec. save the coaches from doing extra paperworkd. tell the public how talented the team is

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2. Insurance companies hire nutritional specialists to _____.a. cook their clients healthy mealsb. educate their clients on how to follow a healthy dietc. develop programs to improve the health of the world populationd. give their clients exercise programs to follow

3. One way that a personal fitness trainer who owns his own business could save money would be to _____.a. refuse to do consulting work for local gymsb. higher a secretary to do his paperworkc. train his clients using rubber bands, step platforms, and free weightsd. use television advertisements to market his services

4. Which of the following professionals is likely to make the highest salary? a. A personal fitness trainer who recently earned her certificate and is working in a small gymb. A nutritional specialist working part-time on a cruise shipc. A self-employed personal fitness trainer who holds a number of certifications and has been

in the field for 15 yearsd. A nutritional specialist who does consulting work for a managed care company

5. A trainer working for an athletic team can expect to _____.a. work Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.b. have work hours that depend on game and practice schedulesc. be at work early every morningd. never have time to eat lunch


Step 12: Lesson SummaryFitness and nutrition is an exciting and growing field! As more people recognize the relationships among exercise, nutrition, health and wellness, the demand for educated professionals in this field will continue to increase. Personal fitness trainers educate, encourage and empower clients to achieve their optimum fitness levels. Nutritional specialists teach clients how correct dietary choices can help them achieve their wellness goals.

As you know, a variety of job opportunities exist for personal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists. Some work in gyms and health clubs. Others choose hospitals, insurance companies or colleges. Still others work from home or live and work at a vacation resort. The exciting job possibilities that await you are nearly endless!

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Now that you know the basics of the fitness and nutrition industry, the next lesson will focus on the importance of wellness and the factors that influence it. You will also learn how modern lifestyles can affect personal wellness, and you’ll have the chance to assess your own health and lifestyle. You’re doing a great job so far, but before we move on to your next lesson, take some time to complete the final quiz for this lesson. And remember, if you found any of the material you’ve read confusing, just pick up the phone and call your instructor. We’re here for you; we want you to succeed in the new career you have chosen!

Step 13: Quiz 1Once you have mastered the course content, locate this Quiz in your Assignment Pack. Read and follow the Quiz instructions carefully.

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Lesson 2 The Fitness-Wellness Connection


● Discuss the importance of fitness and nutrition in overall health.

● Define the components of wellness and the factors that influence wellness.

● Identify the challenges of modern lifestyles.

● Determine how the challenges of modern lifestyles affect fitness and wellness.

● Assess your own health and lifestyle.

Step 2: Lesson PreviewWelcome to your second lesson! You have now completed your first step to becoming a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist. In this lesson, we’ll discuss how a person’s wellness influences his fitness level and nutrition habits. As a personal fitness trainer and nutrition specialist, you will need to convey the fitness-wellness connection to your clients. Clients need to understand how each workout and dietary choice affects the larger picture of personal wellness. When your clients understand the big picture, they are more likely to continue investing time and money into achieving personal fitness.

You’ll also learn about the many factors and components of wellness and how the lifestyle that people choose may prevent them from achieving their fitness goals. Additionally, we’ll talk about some of the challenges that modern lifestyles present, including how to eat a healthy diet despite rushed schedules and exercise sufficiently to combat sedentary jobs.

Finally, this lesson will help you assess your own health and lifestyle choices, and you’ll come to see how these choices affect your overall wellness. As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you will be a role model to your clients as you teach them how to live healthy and balanced lives. Therefore, it is important that you first work to achieve and maintain your own personal wellness before helping others do the same. What could be more inspiring than working on your own fitness and wellness as a means to help others? Are you ready to get started? Let’s go!

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Step 3: The Importance of Fitness and NutritionYou’ve already learned the definitions of health, fitness and nutrition. Now, let’s take a look at how the combination of fitness and nutrition affects a person’s health.

An Ounce of PreventionAs you know, a healthy person is sound in both body and mind. The healthy body is able to perform all of its vital functions and is free from both physical disease and pain. Most of us come into the world with a fairly clean slate of health. Unfortunately, as time passes our state of health often begins to deteriorate, especially if we don’t work to maintain it. Fitness and nutrition each play a role in maintaining our health. In fact, a new scientific study on the relationship between health and fitness or nutrition emerges almost daily, and the media passes these study findings to the public. The result is a population interested in doing all it can to maintain its health and youthfulness.

This population tends to seek the help of personal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists, to learn how to put fitness and nutrition into practice. It is the personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist’s job to provide clients with wellness programs to follow. Additionally, trainers work to further educate clients on maintaining their health through diet and exercise.

The Young and the Young at HeartYou already know that baby boomers are the age group that make up the largest percentage of those who attend health and fitness clubs today. They have realized the importance of maintaining their bodies and their health. Many baby boomers exercise and choose a healthy diet because they want to age with as little pain and physical disease as possible. This age group has helped to keep personal fitness trainers in high demand. Gyms and health clubs across the country have vacancies for personal fitness trainers because not enough qualified trainers exist. So, as you can see, this means more job possibilities for you!

Not only are people able to maintain their health as they age, but they also live longer. The average life expectancy in the United States continues to increase, with more people living past age 100 than ever before. Once considered “over the hill,” being 40 today is quite different. Now we know people of all ages have the ability to maintain their health through fitness and nutrition. You may have also noticed that exercise programs tailored toward the elderly have sprouted across the country. Exercise helps this population improve its health, mobility and quality of life. As you can see, the importance of fitness and nutrition is evident not only for the young, but for the young at heart as well!

Fitness: The Gift That Keeps on GivingWhen asked why they want to start an exercise program or begin eating a more healthful diet, many people will say that they want to lose weight. We agree that weight management is an undeniable benefit of, and strong motivational factor for, embarking on a personal fitness program. However, individuals stand to gain much more from their fitness programs than just weight loss alone.

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The Fitness-Wellness Connection

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Let’s take a look at an example. Robert is a 38-year-old man who is discouraged by his widening waistline. He also has high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Cholesterol is a fat that our bodies produce naturally and that exists in certain foods, as well. There are two types of cholesterol, one of which is good for the body and one of which is not. LDL, or low-density lipoprotein, is commonly known as the “bad” type of cholesterol.

Too much of this “bad” cholesterol clogs the arteries, forcing the heart to pump harder. In turn, this increases the pressure against artery walls, resulting in high blood pressure and potentially serious health conditions.

Because he knows he needs to make some changes in his lifestyle, Robert schedules an appointment with a personal fitness trainer and nutrition specialist at his local gym. On the first day of his fitness program, 5’ 6” Robert weighs in at 185 pounds. He has a “spare tire” around his waist, and his arms and legs are flabby from inactivity.

Robert finds that the first several weeks of adjusting to his prescribed wellness program are extremely difficult. He admits to nearly calling it quits several times during this period. However, with his personal fitness trainer’s guidance and encouragement, Robert is able to stick with his wellness program. He exercises, eats healthfully and keeps a positive attitude. After three months on his new program, the positive changes that Robert feels and sees encourage him to continue. After six months, the results from a physician checkup and the continued weight loss, toned muscles and increased energy are all the motivation he needs to make fitness and good nutrition permanent priorities in his life.

In fact, Robert’s new lifestyle resulted in more than a sleeker body. Robert’s latest physical exam revealed a dramatic decrease in both his LDL cholesterol level and blood pressure. And while the scale shows only a slight decrease in Robert’s body weight—from 185 pounds to 175 pounds—the mirror and his clothes tell another story. Robert has shed the extra fat around his midsection and firmed and toned muscles all over his body. He has significantly decreased his body fat percentage, replacing the fat with muscle. (Because muscle weighs more than fat, weight changes on a scale should never be the only method for tracking one’s fitness progress. Some people may actually put on a bit of weight as their body composition changes and becomes more muscular.)

Meanwhile, Robert has noticed new clarity and optimism in his thinking. This clarity has helped him in numerous areas of his life. Exercise increases blood and oxygen flow to the brain, leading to reduced blood vessel blockages and a boost in the release of endorphins. Endorphins are beneficial brain chemicals that result in an increased sense of well-being and improved mood.

When doing yard work that once proved exhausting, Robert notices improved stamina, coordination, and balance. His exercise program makes him less susceptible to falls and injuries as his flexibility, balance and core strength improve. The core of the body includes the trunk—from the waist up, excluding the arms. Weight training has increased his overall strength and bone mass, aiding him in the prevention of osteoporosis, a debilitating disease in which bones become thin and brittle with age. Prior to his new approach to wellness, Robert suffered from joint problems for which he took pain-relieving medication several days a week. His doctor has noticed a gradual reduction in his symptoms to the point where he no longer needs medication.

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Since muscle burns more energy than fat burns, Robert’s increased muscle mass has resulted in a more efficient metabolism. Metabolism is the process by which our cells convert the food we eat into energy. A higher metabolism allows Robert to eat more calories than he did prior to starting his fitness program. He realizes this is because he now eats a healthier makeup of calories, including increased protein, decreased fat and complex carbohydrates. Robert also notices that exercise has helped him listen to his body, prevent mindless eating and make healthier food choices. His increased energy and vigor during the day help him sleep better at night, improving his moods. Robert’s wife and two teenagers have noticed these changes in Robert, and as a result, each has begun a fitness routine.

As you can see from this example, a fitness and nutrition program can affect a person positively in endless ways. The numerous benefits a person experiences as a result of regular exercise and a healthier diet are interrelated. For example, you learned that through exercise and a healthy diet, Robert lowered his cholesterol level, which in turn lowered his blood pressure.

Personal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists work with clients to show and teach them the benefits of being healthy. Once people get a taste of what exercise and proper nutrition can do to improve their health and quality of life, they are often motivated to continue to pursue a healthier lifestyle. And imagine the sense of accomplishment you, as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, will feel from helping your clients! You get to share in their successes, and what better reward for your hard work is there?

Step 4: Components of WellnessNow that you have an idea of how important fitness and proper nutrition are to a person’s overall health, let’s take a closer look at the many components of personal wellness and how they influence one another.

Physical HealthIn the first lesson, you learned that wellness is the quality or state of being in good health. Wellness is best achieved through an appropriate balance of several areas of one’s life: physical health, mental health and social relationships. A personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist helps a client improve his physical health through better nutrition and an exercise program.

Robert’s story in the previous section provides examples of how physical health contributes to an individual’s overall wellness. Robert reduced his high blood pressure and cholesterol, thus decreasing his chance of developing diseases. He improved his core strength and awareness, decreasing his chances of falling or injuring himself. In addition, his exercise routine includes weight training and flexibility exercises that increase his bone strength while noticeably decreasing his joint pain. All of these things contribute to Robert’s physical health and, thus, his overall state of wellness.

When a person improves his physical health, a corresponding change in mental health often occurs.

Mental HealthMental health refers to the health of the mind. Sometimes known as psychological health, this includes what a person thinks and feels and the behaviors resulting from his thought processes. Psychologically healthy people tend to possess a positive attitude toward their abilities—and life in general. As a result, they are more likely to possess the motivation needed to start and continue a fitness program than those who feel negatively

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about themselves and their abilities.

This in no way means that someone who suffers from a psychological disease, such as depression, cannot become physically fit. While these people may require more encouragement and motivation from their fitness trainers, the improvement in their physical health is often followed by an improvement in their mental health. The feelings of accomplishment and newfound physical abilities can help a person to develop a better self image.

The endorphins released during exercise act as natural anti-depressants, thereby improving moods—as was noted in Robert’s example. Physical activity often results in better sleep and increased mental clarity, both of which contribute to a person’s mental health. As you can see, a person’s mental health may play a role in whether he takes care of his physical health. And good physical health and regular exercise can have a profound impact on mental health.

Social RelationshipsA person who is mentally healthy is more likely to develop and maintain healthy social relationships. As humans, we are social creatures, and we require social support. Healthy relationships between adults are marked by mutual respect, love and support for one another. Strong and rewarding relationships can fulfill a person’s social needs while improving self image and mental health.

The relationship between a personal fitness trainer and her client provides a unique type of social support that helps the client achieve exercise goals. A gym or fitness club can be an overwhelming and even frightening place to an individual who is new to structured exercise. However, the support and guidance of a personal fitness trainer can provide the encouragement the exerciser needs to start and continue a fitness program. As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you must be sensitive to a client’s fears when starting a fitness program, and you should help her feel comfortable and welcome in the gym or fitness club.

A Delicate BalanceYou now know that the three main components of wellness include physical health, mental health and social relationships. A fulfilling occupation, spiritual meaning and adequate time to pursue recreational activities are other components that can affect personal wellness. We can better achieve wellness when we find a healthy balance among these components. When we neglect any of these components, our personal wellness suffers because the components of wellness are so intertwined.

Let’s look at another example. Jim is a working husband and father who devotes little time to his own interests. Lately, Jim feels angry and resentful about all he must do for his family, despite having a wife whom he loves very much and three young children whom he adores. His family doctor has diagnosed him with mild depression and referred him to a counselor. At the counselor’s suggestion, Jim begins to make some time each week for pursuing his interest in golf. This time on the green provides him with a relaxing atmosphere away from job and family, as well as a place to develop social relationships with others who share his interest in golf.

Jim finds that he is better able to appreciate the time he spends with his family once he has taken care of his need for recreational fulfillment and developed some strong new relationships. His depression subsides, and he finds work less stressful since golfing now provides an outlet for him. In taking care of one aspect of wellness in his life, Jim is able to improve his mental health and build new social relationships, both of which contribute to his personal wellness. Do you see how the components of wellness are related?

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Step 5: Factors Influencing WellnessEach component of wellness contains several factors that influence a person’s overall well-being. As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, it is important for you to recognize that nutrition, fitness, demographic and social factors can affect each individual client’s road to wellness. Let’s take a look at each of these factors in more detail.

Nutrition FactorsWhat we eat contributes to our physical health and influences our mental health. Unfortunately, when it comes to diet, there is no single “perfect diet” that everyone can follow with optimum results. Nutrition must be tailored to each individual by considering things, such as activeness, natural metabolism, fitness goals and personal tastes. For example, some people find that they can eat nearly anything and never put on weight. Ironically, these are often the people who want to gain some muscle. Some people feel their best on a diet that emphasizes protein, while others prefer a low-fat diet. We will go into more detail about various diets and nutrition information in a later lesson, but for now it is simply important to note that there is no “one-size-fits-all” diet.

Lifestyle FactorsExamples of lifestyle factors might include the amount, type and frequency of physical activity that an individual includes in his daily routine. For example, Colleen is a college sophomore who doesn’t have a car on campus. She walks or rides her bike nearly everywhere she goes. Not having a car is a lifestyle factor that allows Colleen to get adequate physical activity each day. Other lifestyle factors that can influence a person’s fitness level include occupation, hobbies and personal responsibilities, such as household chores or lawn work. For example, a person who enjoys pick-up football games and hiking has hobbies that allow him to get more exercise than someone who spends his spare time playing video games and watching movies.

It is important that you, as a personal fitness trainer, promote wellness inside, as well as outside, the gym. Help clients discover hobbies and activities that not only increase their level of activity but also that they enjoy. By making clients aware of how their lifestyle can affect their fitness level, a personal fitness trainer may initiate changes in a person’s life that can contribute positively to his overall wellness.

Demographic FactorsDemographic factors can also influence a person’s overall wellness. Perhaps the most obvious of these factors would be a person’s age. Some 75-year-olds may not be able to achieve the same level of physical wellness as some 20-year-olds. However, many seniors lead lives that promote improved wellness. When working with your clients, consider their personal goals, as well as the level of fitness that is practical and safe to accomplish at their age.

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Gender and ethnicity are other demographic factors that may influence an individual’s wellness. This is because some ethnicities are more susceptible to various diseases. For example, Asian and Caucasian women are more susceptible to osteoporosis than are African- or Hispanic-American women. Furthermore, females as a group are more likely to suffer from thin, brittle bones than males. Often, a person’s diet is affected by his ethnic background, which in turn can influence his health. For example, an Italian American’s diet could be quite different from a Chinese American’s. The consistency of these diets certainly can affect an individual’s personal wellness.

Social FactorsExamples of social factors include the amount of familial support a person has, whether a person belongs to a church or temple and how frequently a person participates in social activities with others. Laughter and connecting with others helps keep our stress levels low, which in turn contributes positively to our health and wellness.

Later in this lesson, we’ll discuss how modern lifestyles influence our overall wellness. But first, complete the following Practice Exercise to review what you’ve read so far.


1. People often seek the help of a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist to _____.a. develop a social relationshipb. decrease depressionc. learn to put the science of fitness and nutrition to work in their own livesd. learn how to stay on a low-carbohydrate diet

2. The number on a scale should not be the only method used to measure a person’s fitness progress because _____.a. people who exercise drink more waterb. muscle weighs more than fatc. numbers don’t mean anything when measuring fitness leveld. most people dislike being weighed

3. Wellness is best achieved through a(n) _____.a. an occupation that requires a great deal of physical activityb. a low-fat dietc. a daily running programd. an appropriate balance of several areas of one’s life

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4. People who are mentally healthy tend to _____.a. possess a positive attitude toward their abilities and life in generalb. seek the help of a personal fitness trainer more than othersc. build muscle faster than depressed individualsd. not exercise regularly

5. Age and ethnicity are examples of _____ factors that influence wellness.a. lifestyleb. socialc. nutritiond. demographic


Step 8: Challenges of Our Modern LifestylesFrom our overindulgence in fast food and our sedentary jobs—jobs that require much sitting—to our rushed schedules, it can be tricky to get and stay healthy. In this section we will examine the many challenges that modern lifestyles pose to wellness. And remember, it is these challenges that create such a demand for your new career. You already know you can work in countless settings to help people overcome these challenges!

Sedentary LifestyleToday, technological advances and modern conveniences have led to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle for many Americans. Many people have jobs that require them to sit in front of a computer all day, while modern machinery has made physical labor nearly nonexistent in many occupations. Children opt to play video games, foregoing physical activities that were popular a generation ago. Cable TV provides hundreds of channels to choose from, and the average American watches several hours of television daily. People drive their cars even short distances rather than biking; they use drive-thru windows for everything from purchasing food and prescriptions to getting money from the bank. Unfortunately, a sedentary lifestyle has become the norm in America today.

Stress and Busy LivesYou’ve probably heard the saying, “There aren’t enough hours in the day.” Well, when it comes to modern life, most of us are guilty of trying to squeeze doing more into less time, and this no doubt causes stress. Stress may stem from jobs, finances, family schedules and even daily commutes. For example, road rage, a phenomenon unheard of one generation ago, can raise a person’s stress level, thus adversely affecting his health. The stress of daily life also can lead people to overeat or eat when they aren’t even hungry.

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The Modern DietThe average American diet is high in sugar, fat and refined carbohydrates. Many Americans choose fast foods for convenience despite these foods’ lack of nutrition. We are bombarded with advertisements for food and are served gigantic portions. As a result, obesity has become a widespread problem in both children and adults. Obesity is the condition of having greater than 25 percent of one’s total body weight as fat in men and greater than 32 percent of one’s total body weight in women.

Step 9: Lifestyle-related DiseasesSo how do the combination of a sedentary lifestyle, modern diet and high stress levels influence our overall health and wellness? Well, the modern lifestyle may contribute to the development of several common diseases, including high blood pressure, ulcers, heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes and psychological problems. Many of the lifestyle factors that cause these diseases are the same. Therefore, having one of these diseases makes a person more likely to develop the others.

High Blood Pressure Do you remember briefly discussing high blood pressure in Robert’s example earlier in this lesson? You know that it is caused by increased pressure on artery walls. High blood pressure often is called the silent killer because many people don’t even know they have it. This disease claims many lives in the United States each year.

Some factors that put one at risk for high blood pressure are not within a person’s control. These include age, race, heredity and gender. Risk factors that can be controlled include obesity, alcohol use, sodium intake, oral contraceptive use, stress and physical inactivity. High blood pressure puts people at risk for heart attack, stroke and kidney failure. Medication can often help to control high blood pressure, but people also can lower blood pressure through lifestyle adjustments, just as Robert did.

Heart Disease and StrokeHeart disease comes in many forms and causes more deaths each year than any other disease. More women die of heart disease each year than all types of cancer combined, yet many women don’t think they are at risk. Much of what contributes to heart disease is a direct result of our modern lifestyle. Recent studies show that trans fat, which is found in most prepackaged and boxed foods, is as dangerous to heart health as the saturated fats found in animal products. Stress, obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, poor diet and high blood pressure are all risk factors for heart disease.

The same risk factors that contribute to heart disease also can cause a stroke. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain becomes blocked or ruptures, cutting off blood supply to part of the brain.

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Obesity and DiabetesObesity puts a person at greater risk for developing several lifestyle-related diseases. When a person ingests more calories than his body uses, the excess calories are stored as fat. The American diet is high in fat, and people typically don’t operate at the activity level necessary to use all of the calories they consume.

You probably remember learning a little about type 2 diabetes in your first lesson. Type 2 diabetes is a disease in which the body fails to use insulin effectively. Obese individuals are more likely to develop this condition than others. Just as type 2 diabetes is generally brought on by poor lifestyle choices, many people can reverse this condition by achieving a healthy body weight through proper diet and exercise.

Psychological DiseasesOur rushed, modern lifestyles also contribute to the development of mental or psychological diseases. Chronic worry and stress lead to depression, anxiety and sleeping problems. Often, the medications prescribed for these problems have unwanted side effects, such as headaches or nausea, and these medications only mask the underlying problem. Worse yet, some people become tolerant to the medications, causing them to need higher and higher doses to achieve the desired effect. Stress also leads to painful ulcers, which are lesions in the lining of the stomach. Soft drinks, fatty foods, coffee and alcohol—all common in the modern diet—aggravate ulcers.

Step 10: Assess Your Own Health and LifestyleHow can we help others be healthier if we don’t help ourselves first? You know as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist that you will be a role model for your clients when it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle. In the final section of this lesson, you’ll learn how to assess your own health and lifestyle.

As you read through this material, answering the questions we pose will help you in your self assessment. Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything we discuss in this section, or if your answers to these questions are less satisfactory than you would like. The purpose of this course is not only to prepare you for your new career, but also to teach you how to better your own health and lifestyle. As you complete the course, you’ll find an improvement in your answers to these questions!

Assess Your Fitness LevelAs you assess your fitness level, it is important to judge yourself in relation to those close to your own age. Fitness has four main components: cardiovascular efficiency and endurance, muscular strength and endurance, muscle and joint flexibility, and body composition. Let’s start with cardiovascular efficiency and endurance. Do you perform regular aerobic activities that increase your heart rate? Are you able to run up several flights of stairs or perform everyday activities without becoming winded? If so, great! If not, there’s no time like the present to get started!

Muscular strength and endurance includes how much you can lift with various muscle groups, as well as how many repetitions or for what length of time you can lift weights before your muscles become fatigued. Do you participate in regular weight training exercises or activities?

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Another important aspect of fitness includes muscle and joint flexibility. Activities, such as yoga and Pilates, increase balance and flexibility, cutting down on the risk of injury. Do you participate in either of these activities?

A final aspect of fitness is body composition. Knowing your body fat percentage often reveals more about your overall fitness level than a bathroom scale. Do you know your body fat percentage or how to calculate it?

Assess Your DietYou’ve already learned that no one diet is appropriate for everyone. However, there are some components of a healthy diet that prove beneficial to nearly everyone’s health. For example, getting adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables in your diet will supply your body with the vitamins it needs while helping to fight diseases. Do you give your body adequate protein to rebuild the muscle that you use during workouts? Do you choose whole-grain sources of carbohydrates that give your brain and body a sustained source of energy? Is your calcium intake, whether from dairy products or dark green, leafy vegetables, adequate? Do you choose heart-healthy fats, such as olive oil, instead of saturated and trans fats?

Another aspect to consider when evaluating your dietary intake is your use of dietary supplements. A proper diet generally provides most of the vitamins and minerals a healthy body needs to maintain itself; however, certain nutrient levels cannot be achieved through a healthy diet alone. So, many physicians recommend a daily multivitamin. Do you take a daily multivitamin?

Assess Your Psychological HealthSince psychological health plays a key role in wellness, it is an important aspect to consider when evaluating your overall health. Even small adjustment problems can become troublesome if they are not addressed in an effective manner. Do you have a positive outlook on life, or do you view things pessimistically? If you suffer from a psychological disease, such as depression or an eating disorder, are you taking steps to address your illness?

General HealthSmoking, drug use and excess alcohol and caffeine consumption can be extremely damaging to your health. Do you overindulge in any of these? Yearly physicals are a good idea even for the most healthy and active individuals. Do you suffer from any chronic pain or illness? Do you take any medications, and, if so, are these medications still necessary?

Take a look at the big picture of your life. In answering the questions we’ve posed here, do you find you have a health-promoting lifestyle, or are there many areas that you need to address? Perhaps you weren’t even aware of some of these areas. Don’t worry! As you continue your studies, you’ll soon have a firm grasp on all aspects of a healthy lifestyle. Remember that by setting a good example and taking care of yourself, you will be a more effective personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist to each of your clients!

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1. Which of the following could a person do to increase the amount of physical activity he gets? a. Drive his car to the corner grocery store.b. Take a job as a secretary.c. Increase the number of friends he has.d. Ride his bike to work or school.

2. _____, a phenomenon unheard of one generation ago, can raise a person’s stress level, thus adversely affecting his health.a. Automobile angerb. Financial hardshipc. Road raged. Family problems

3. Which of the following often is called the silent killer? a. Heart diseaseb. High blood pressurec. Cancerd. Depression

4. One problem with medications prescribed to help people sleep is that _____.a. they only relieve anxietyb. doctors don’t like to prescribe themc. people may need to increase the dose to achieve the desired effects d. most people refuse to take them

5. As you assess your fitness level, consider the _____ main components of fitness.a. fiveb. twoc. threed. four


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Step 13: Lesson SummaryCongratulations! You are almost finished with your second lesson! You’ve learned how physical health, mental health and social relationships affect each other and how each component plays an important role in overall wellness. We discussed the many obstacles that modern life poses to our health, as well as the ways in which people can live healthier lives despite these obstacles. Finally, we gave you questions to ponder regarding your own health and lifestyle, and you learned how your own personal wellness can make you more effective as you work with future clients.

In the next lesson, we’re going to talk about the psychology of wellness. The ability to interact with your clients will be key as you move through this course, and the information you receive on this topic will ensure that you become a confident and knowledgeable personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist! Remember, there are many clients who will turn to you for guidance in fitness and nutrition. You will be in great demand as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, and the more knowledge you demonstrate, the more likely you will be to earn more money or even be promoted! So keep up the good work as you progress through the course.

If you found parts of this lesson confusing, go back and reread these sections before you move on to the quiz. If you have a question, don’t hesitate to call your instructor. We want you to succeed. Remember that the completion of each lesson brings you closer to your exciting new career!


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Lesson 3 The Psychology of Wellness


● Discuss the role nutrition and lifestyle play in both physical and mental wellness.

● Define the stages of behavior change.

● Identify the challenges to changing one’s behavior.

● Assess clients’ mental attitudes toward training.

● Determine how to help clients set goals and stay motivated.

● Establish your role and responsibilities as a personal fitness trainer.

Step 2: Lesson PreviewIf you’ve ever set a New Year’s resolution to eat healthier or begin a new exercise program, you know that these goals are far more difficult to attain than one might expect. This is because numerous obstacles delay or interfere with such fitness goals. Many of these obstacles are psychological or lifestyle factors that hinder the ability to change physical behaviors.

In this lesson we first will discuss how an individual’s lifestyle and nutrition choices contribute to his physical and mental health. The next part of this lesson describes the stages of behavior change and the challenges one often faces when trying to initiate change. You will learn what your role as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist will be in helping clients make behavior changes.

Since the mind and body are so intertwined, people find it difficult to try to change one without considering the other. Unfortunately, this is an all too common trap many people fall into as they look to secure better health. This lesson will help you discover some tricks of the trade—such as setting goals and providing motivation—that personal fitness trainers use to help clients successfully change their behavior. A personal fitness trainer’s awareness of a client’s psychological state can help break down lifestyle and mental barriers that previously prevented him from achieving an optimal state of health.

As in the two previous lessons, Practice Exercises will help you review what you read. Applying what you learned in previous lessons will help you understand any new material you may encounter. Each lesson increases your knowledge of what it takes to be a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist while bringing you closer to your exciting new career. And remember to call your instructor if you have questions or even if you just need a little pep talk. We want you to succeed, and we’re here to help you and cheer you on! So are you ready to learn more? Then keep reading!

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Step 3: Nutrition: A Piece of the Wellness Puzzle When it comes to developing a fitness program, the importance of nutrition cannot be underestimated. In Lesson 2, you learned how a body’s performance, much like a car’s, is influenced greatly by the quality of food or fuel it is given. A person cannot expect to build muscle if he does not give his body the fuel it needs to do so. Likewise, a person cannot expect to lose weight on an exercise program if she continues to consume more calories than she uses.

While personal fitness trainers can lead a client through an exercise routine, a trainer does not monitor a client’s food intake, making it easier to slip up. Furthermore, there is much confusion when it comes to the subject of nutrition. Some clients fail to understand the need to make dietary changes when it comes to improving their wellness, while other clients simply don’t want to do the extra work that addressing nutrition involves. Some clients even believe that they will see immediate results upon making nutritional changes. Some may even think if a diet works for one person, it certainly will work for everyone else. However, you probably remember from your previous lesson that there is no diet that fits everyone’s needs.

Eating too much of the wrong foods is all too easy given the abundance of unhealthy fare that modern life presents. Therefore, it is important that clients are educated regarding their dietary needs and how these needs will change as their lifestyles change. Dietary choices also have an impact on a person’s mental state. Have you ever tried to make a big decision or focus on a task when you’re hungry? You’ve probably noticed it’s rather difficult to do! So you see, what a client eats not only impacts his stamina but his concentration, as well.

It is important for the personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist to stress that going on a diet doesn’t always mean losing weight. Various diets (or meal plans) can help people achieve a variety of fitness goals such as increasing energy or relieving stress. You will learn more about the specifics of fueling activity and nutrition in later lessons. For now, simply note that exercise and nutrition are equally important. What a person eats certainly can influence his psychological state when it comes to developing and maintaining personal wellness.

Step 4: Lifestyle ChoicesEvery day each of us makes dozens of choices that can influence health positively or negatively. Many of these choices are so much a part of our daily lives that they have become habits. For example, most people look for the closest parking spot at the grocery store without considering that by parking at the end of the lot they could fit a brief yet beneficial walk into their daily errands. A lot of people buy prepackaged meals at the store, and these meals often sacrifice nutrition for convenience. But by taking a few extra minutes in the kitchen and avoiding such meals, people could greatly improve their diets.

Improving one’s health doesn’t occur through gym workouts alone. Let’s examine how you, as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, can educate a client and help him improve his health outside of the gym.

Don’t Just Sit There!Our bodies are meant to move. You don’t have to be an expert in human anatomy to see that the muscles and joints of the human body are put together so that it can bend, stretch, jump and run. So why is it so hard for most of us to get on that treadmill or bike and exercise each day?

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The Psychology of Wellness

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When it comes to our bodies and muscles, the saying “use it or lose it” really applies. By failing to use our bodies, we allow our muscles to weaken and our joints to become stiff. Then, when we try to start an exercise routine, our bodies resist the sudden extra force. And this isn’t just physically discouraging. Mentally, someone who tries to exercise and finds it too difficult or painful will be quick to pick up a defeated attitude.

Now, consider that children love to move about and can’t seem to sit still. Kids provide an excellent example of the human body in its natural, desired state—full of movement and life! Their bodies haven’t had the chance to stiffen and resist movement. The same can be true for adults. People who get regular exercise tend to look forward to physical activity and say that this movement feels good, both physically and mentally.

Personal fitness trainers help their clients use their muscles inside the gym, but it is also important for clients to be educated about how they can use their muscles in their everyday lives, whether helping out at their child’s soccer practice or taking the stairs instead of the elevator at work. The sooner a personal fitness trainer gets clients to think about spending a little time on these health-promoting choices each day, the more likely clients will be to successfully meet their fitness goals.

Step 5: Address Your Client’s Attitude Toward FitnessA person who makes the decision to hire a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist is most likely embarking on some form of change in his life. Beginning a new exercise or nutrition program is a form of behavior change. Therefore, as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you will constantly work with people in various stages of behavioral change.

Understanding the stages of change and how to work with people throughout this process is an important part of your training. It is this understanding that will set you apart from other personal fitness trainers. Your knowledge will be in demand! Remember, the need for personal fitness trainers is only going to grow in the future as our society continues to focus on getting fit. This means job security and more money for you! Now, let’s talk about those stages of behavior change.

Stages of Behavior ChangeBehavior change is exactly what it sounds like: a change in behavior. There are five stages to behavior change. Let’s take a moment to discuss each one.

Precontemplation The first stage of behavioral change is precontemplation. In the precontemplation stage, a person has no intention of changing his behavior and may not even see any need to do so. However, something has taken place to at least get his attention. Take a look at the following example.

Dave is a 56-year-old male whose high blood pressure indicates a possible heart attack and lab results point to the development of adult onset of diabetes. Both conditions are probably a result of his dietary habits and sedentary lifestyle. Dave refuses to quit smoking and sees a personal fitness trainer once a week only to satisfy his wife and physician. Not surprisingly, a person who begins an exercise program in this stage of behavioral change is likely to drop out and revert to old behaviors. So, what can a trainer and nutritional specialist do to help those like Dave, who are in the precontemplation stage of change?

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One possibility might be to talk to the client about what fitness means to him. Why is he seeing a personal fitness trainer? Is it due to health problems? And, if so, does he want to live long enough to retire, see his kids grow up or attain some goal or dream he’s always had? He may also need information on why it’s so important that he change his lifestyle and diet. The personal fitness trainer can give someone like Dave literature about his health problems and tell him what he can do to make changes. This may be enough to get him to move into the next stage of behavioral change, which is contemplation.

ContemplationAn individual in the contemplation stage of behavior change is aware that she has a problem, whether it is obesity, increased risk of disease or simply being out of shape. Despite the realization of their problems, people in the contemplation stage have not made a commitment to change their unhealthy behaviors and are probably still weighing the pros and cons of making a change.

Personal fitness trainers can ask a client in this stage how she feels about herself with respect to her unhealthy behaviors. The trainer can help the client visualize how living a healthier lifestyle might change her. Personal fitness trainers might also find out what form of exercise the client would like to try and talk to her about how this exercise can help her. Such visualization exercises can be powerful tools in getting a person to move forward into the preparation stage of change.

PreparationWhen a person is in the preparation stage of behavioral change, she has made the decision to change her behavior, but has yet to put the change into action. People in this stage may have made attempts at change in the past and failed because they didn’t have a plan.

An example of a person in this stage is Dana, a 33-year-old mother who knows that her eating habits are unhealthy and has made dozens of failed attempts at dieting during the past few years. However, she consistently falls back to her old, familiar patterns. There have been times in which Dana has modified her eating behaviors by choosing a healthier snack or ordering a salad rather than the normal high-fat dishes she routinely gets when out to eat with her husband. However, she has been unable to reduce or eliminate her junk food cravings or consistently increase her physical activity.

Dana tends to blame stressful life events for her inability to successfully change her eating behaviors. She says that she will start to exercise and eat right just as soon as her life becomes more manageable. Delaying action and previous failed attempts of behavior modification both are signs that a person is in the preparation stage of change.

When working with a client in this stage, a personal fitness trainer might write up a contract between trainer and client that states the client’s commitment to behavior change. A contract makes a client accountable for her goals by stating when and how she will change her behavior. In Dana’s case, a contract might read something like, “I will take a walk around the block at least once each day this week.” When a person has someone besides herself to whom to report her behavior modification goals, she is more likely to make and stick with a commitment.

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ActionA person is in the action stage of behavior change when he makes the time and commitment to modify his lifestyle. In the action stage, people make lifestyle choices that benefit their health on a daily basis.

Personal fitness trainers help clients in the action stage cope with obstacles that may interfere with their new, healthy lifestyle choices. For example, a nutritional specialist might develop a plan to help a client avoid overeating at an upcoming family gathering. A personal fitness trainer might encourage a client to continue to exercise despite a recent romantic break-up.

Positive reinforcement or rewards can also be powerful motivators for a person who is just beginning an exercise program. Treating oneself to a favorite movie after an especially demanding workout is a good example of this. We’ll talk more about positive reinforcement and rewards later in this lesson.

MaintenanceA person who remains consistently committed to his healthy new lifestyle for an extended length of time is in the maintenance stage of behavior change. The specific length of time that needs to pass before one is declared to be in this stage varies depending on several factors, such as the behavior that was changed and the mental feelings a client has toward the change. For example, does he still require a personal fitness trainer to motivate and reward him for staying on his program, or does he do the exercise because he now enjoys it? Establishing a new habit takes a minimum of 30 days; when it comes to diet and exercise practices, an individual may need three to six months before feeling that the behavior change is a part of his lifestyle.

It is important to keep in mind that not all individuals will move through these stages of behavioral change in order. Some people remain stuck in one of the stages for an extended period of time, while others bounce back and forth between them. As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, it will be your job to identify the stage of behavior change a given client is in. Then, you’ll work to give her the support that will prove most beneficial at that stage.

Now, let’s move on and discuss the various challenges people face when it comes to making behavior changes.

Step 6: Challenges to Changing BehaviorNumerous psychological, physiological and lifestyle factors come together to influence diet and exercise. You’ll recall from the beginning of the lesson that lifestyle factors and nutrition decisions can affect a person both physically and mentally. So, why is it so hard to change our behavior when it comes to how much we exercise and what we eat? Well, let’s take a look at how we establish and maintain unhealthy behaviors.

The Start of Unhealthy HabitsWhen asked when they started an exercise program, most people are able to give a fairly specific answer—even to the day that they initiated their healthier lifestyle. On the other hand, ask people when they began an unhealthy habit, such as smoking or a sedentary lifestyle, and you’re much more likely to get a rather vague answer, such as “during college” or “after I had kids.”

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Unhealthy habits tend to sneak up on us just when the time and environment are right. For example, as children, most of us had little trouble getting adequate physical activity, but as we got older things that kept us active—including mandatory physical education classes, recess and school sports—were no longer a part of our days. A sedentary lifestyle is easy to fall into, especially given the habits and conveniences of modern life that were discussed in the previous lesson.

Often, people develop eating habits as a child or young adult. To young people, there isn’t as much incentive to eat healthy, since many of the ill effects of a poor diet don’t show up until later in life. Unfortunately, poor habits that a person starts at a young age tend to be the most difficult to break.

When Bad Feels GoodAnother obstacle people face when trying to change their bad health habits is the pleasure they get from these unhealthy practices. For example, junk food and sweets are fun to eat. A person may crave her favorite foods and derive great pleasure from eating them. Many unhealthy behaviors are automatic, such as planting oneself in front of the television for several hours each night. Any habit that is pleasurable is difficult to break, and in our society, eating junk food and watching hours of TV are two of the strongest.

What Controls Our Health Habits?Contributing to the difficulty in changing our health habits is also the fact that these habits often are unstable over time. For example, some people go on crash diets for special occasions, such as weddings and reunions. In doing so, they restrict their caloric intake for a short time—losing large amounts of weight—only to return to their old eating habits following the special occasion. Other people might adopt a healthier lifestyle only to slip back into their old patterns during a time of high stress. The job of a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist is to help clients establish and maintain healthy behaviors that they can sustain for a lifetime.

Another obstacle people face when trying to change their health behaviors is that health habits are often independent of one another. This means that just because a person is healthy in one area of his life doesn’t mean he is healthy in another area. An example of this is the college student who exercises daily yet refuses to quit smoking. Health behaviors are independent of one another because different factors control different health habits. Smoking, for example, may be related to stress in a person’s life, while exercise might be related to a person’s enjoyment of a particular activity.

Further complicating this matter is yet another issue: the same health behavior may be controlled by different factors depending on the individual. One person’s overeating may be related to stress at work, while another person’s overeating could be related to social factors, such as traditional family meals. The factors that control a health behavior often change across a person’s lifespan. One example of this would be mandatory physical education classes that ensure children are active during at least part of their day. Adults, on the other hand, must make time for physical activity, as it is no longer built into their daily lives.

As you can see, people begin practicing poor health behaviors for different reasons and often without even realizing they are doing so. Each behavior has its own set of contributing factors; therefore, these independent behaviors must each be addressed and fixed separately. In helping a client identify the factors contributing to his poor health behavior, a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist plays an important role in getting the client to change his behavior.

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Wow! You’ve already learned so much about the psychology of wellness. Let’s take a moment to review by completing the following Practice Exercise.


1. What a client eats not only impacts his stamina but also his _____.a. relationship with a trainerb. relationship with his familyc. attituded. concentration

2. After years of a sedentary lifestyle, people may find it difficult to exercise because_____.a. we are meant to be inactiveb. we are meant to be activec. our weakened muscles resist movementd. adults don’t find movement pleasurable

3. A person who has no intention of changing his or her behavior and may not even see any need to do so is in which stage of behavior change? a. Precontemplationb. Contemplationc. Preparationd. Action

4. Delaying action and previous failed attempts of behavior modification both are signs that a person is in which stage of behavior change? a. Precontemplationb. Contemplationc. Preparationd. Action

5. When a person has made the time and commitment to modify his lifestyle in one or more ways, he is considered to be in which stage of behavior change? a. Precontemplationb. Contemplationc. Preparationd. Action

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6. Establishing a new habit takes a minimum of _____.a. seven monthsb. three monthsc. 30 daysd. 10 days

7. Which of the following statements that describe health habits is true?a. All people develop bad health habits because of stress.b. Health habits tend to be independent of one another.c. The factors that control a health habit remain the same over a lifetime.d. It only takes a few days to establish a new health habit.


Step 9: Mental AssessmentPersonal fitness trainers work closely with their clients to help them achieve their wellness goals. Therefore, a personal fitness trainer must have some idea of her client’s mental attitude toward exercise and fitness. The conversation between client and personal fitness trainer during an initial interview often reveals important information regarding the client’s attitude toward exercise. Sometimes, however, it may be necessary for the trainer to ask more direct questions during the initial interview to better mentally assess a client. Let’s take a look at some of the questions personal fitness trainers ask to gain more information about a client’s attitude and past exercise experiences.

Mental Assessment ChecklistWhat is your history with physical activities?

What physical activities did you participate in as a child? As a young adult? As an adult?

Why did you stop them?

What activities would you like to begin again?

What prevents you from resuming them?

What physical activities do you currently participate in?

Have you ever participated in a formal exercise program?

What were the results of the previous program or programs?

What did or didn’t work for you in previous programs?

What are your main reasons for starting an exercise program?

What do you hope to achieve through an exercise program?

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What is your biggest obstacle to achieving this goal?

What motivates you to be healthy and physically fit or to work toward a healthy lifestyle?

What has kept you from achieving your desired fitness level in the past?

Are you ready to make some changes in your life to overcome any of these obstacles?

What has changed to make now the successful time to attain a healthy lifestyle?

As you can see, there are a number of questions that can help the personal fitness trainer mentally assess clients. Obviously, this is only a sampling of possible questions the trainer might ask, since each client is different. With a little experience, you’ll figure out the appropriate questions to ask to get the necessary information.

Some of the questions listed can help the personal fitness trainer identify the client’s stage of behavior change. And some of the questions provide valuable information about the client’s attitude. In any case, the information acquired gives the trainer a clear picture of a client’s feelings and past experiences regarding exercise. Armed with this knowledge, personal fitness trainers are better able to help a client overcome fitness obstacles and achieve wellness.

Step 10: Keep It RealSetting appropriate goals with realistic expectations is a vital part of any effective and fun fitness program. Working toward goals provides clients with motivation, letting them measure and observe their fitness progress and feel accomplishment.

Why Are Goals Important?When a person sets a goal for himself, he acknowledges his desire to make a change in his life. When it comes to personal fitness, goals provide a long-term vision while serving as motivators on a day-to-day basis. This is why a personal fitness trainer and client work as a team toward the client’s fitness goals.

It is not the job of a personal fitness trainer to set expectations for the client. The client must take responsibility for setting his or her own goals, using the personal fitness trainer only as a guide. Ideally, client and trainer work together to set initial fitness goals and update these on a regular basis as the client progresses through the fitness program.

Goal setting improves the quality of fitness training and the client’s performance. People who set goals in the gym tend to achieve more and feel a greater sense of satisfaction with their workouts. Furthermore, accomplishing a goal leads to greater self-confidence and a sense of pride, both of which increase motivation for exercising.

Goals: The Fitness Trainer’s RoleIn the first lesson, you learned about the various roles that a personal fitness trainer plays, including coach, teacher and supporter. Now, we’re going to see how to apply these roles to helping clients attain their specific fitness goals.

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Setting SMART GoalsPersonal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists work with clients to ensure that the goals they set are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time specific. One easy way to remember these attributes is that the first letter of each can be used to spell SMART.

S—specific

M—measurable

A—attainable

R—revalent

T—time specific

Let’s take a few moments to discuss each goal attribute. Goals should be specific, rather than unclear. Goals that can be put into measurable terms give people something definite and tangible to work toward. Some examples of such goals might be losing three inches off one’s waist, losing 10 pounds, or running an eight-minute mile. Setting a vague goal, such as eating better or getting in shape, can leave a person unsure of where to start in achieving the goal or how to measure progress.

Attainable goals are realistic given the client’s abilities. It’s important that personal fitness trainers educate their clients regarding what is realistic for them to achieve in a given time frame. You don’t want to set up clients for failure, but you do want to challenge them to accomplish as much as possible.

Goals also should be relevant to the client’s health, fitness and well being. A goal of fitting into a size four might not be in a client’s best health interest if she is a diabetic, suffers from hypoglycemia or her natural build doesn’t allow this. A better goal might be to reduce her body fat by a certain percentage while building muscle. A smaller clothing size most likely would result from attaining this goal. However, using clothing sizes to measure a person’s level of fitness success isn’t wise—just as you learned in the previous lesson that a scale should never be the only method used for tracking one’s fitness progress. After all, there are many unfit people who are a size four, while other people in great shape wear larger sizes.

Setting a time frame in which one plans to achieve a certain goal helps to keep a person focused and motivated. It is important that goals be challenging yet realistic—based on a client’s fitness level and abilities.

In addition to the five attributes, there are a few other things to remember when helping a client set goals. Often, it is helpful to write down goals so that both client and personal fitness trainer can refer to them and check progress toward them. If a long-term goal seems out of reach for a client, break it down into smaller steps or goals. For instance, a client who can’t run a lap without stopping to catch his breath may feel that a goal of running a mile is out of reach. A better goal for that client might be to run one lap without stopping. Breaking a goal into smaller steps allows the client to focus on achieving these steps one at a time. Achieving these smaller goals gives the client a sense of accomplishment that keeps him motivated.

As you can see, setting goals is a delicate balance for both personal fitness trainer and client, and it is up to the personal fitness trainer to educate clients about how to set goals.

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Working Toward GoalsOnce SMART goals are set, a personal fitness trainer plays numerous roles to increase the chances of a client attaining the goals. We talked about some of these roles in a previous lesson. First, a personal fitness trainer plays the role of teacher, educating clients on safety measures to take while exercising.

A second role of the personal fitness trainer is to coach clients in a variety of workouts to reduce boredom. Personal fitness trainers know that there are numerous ways to work any given muscle group, and they use a variety of workouts to help their clients attain their fitness goals. Finding ways that a client can use his new strength or stamina in everyday life contributes to the likelihood that he will commit to a new lifestyle. Keeping a client’s diet varied and interesting also can make a big difference. Just as the body changes during physical workouts, the fuel the body needs changes, as well.

A final role a personal fitness trainer plays is that of supporter. The personal fitness trainer must remain interested and mentally and physically active in the client’s program, never giving up on the client. Clients must be held accountable for their goals, as this keeps them focused on what they are trying to accomplish.

Once the trainer and client pass through the stages of behavior change, the client will feel confident and knowledgeable about the different activities she can do and the foods that fuel these activities. However, the personal fitness trainer must still provide support. Be aware of any warning signs that a client might be losing interest. When a client succeeds in accomplishing a goal, bring attention to the victory and share in the celebration of it. The ultimate goal for a personal fitness trainer is to produce independent exercisers who can attain and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Who Is Responsible?You now know the many ways that a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist can help a client achieve fitness goals. But sometimes a personal fitness trainer does all these things right, and the client still doesn’t succeed. Even the best personal fitness trainers in the world have clients who drop out of their programs or fail to follow their advice. Ultimately, the responsibility of a client’s health lies within the client herself, and there is little a personal fitness trainer can do to help a client who refuses to do her part.

Some clients may try to blame their personal fitness trainer for their failings in the gym. Therefore, it is important that clients understand from the beginning that you, as their trainer, cannot do the work for them; ultimately, clients are responsible for their own success or failure. The personal fitness trainer is responsible for creating a program that is as easy as possible for the client to follow, but the client must adhere to this program both in the gym and in daily life. Until the client is ready to help himself, there is little chance for success.

Different Goals for Different FolksWhen it comes to fitness abilities, no two people are exactly the same. Age, lifestyle, genetics and a variety of other factors come together to determine each person’s capability. Part of the job of a personal fitness trainer is to determine those capabilities. Let’s take a moment to discuss the different types of clients with which a personal fitness trainer might work.

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Gracie, a 55-year-old mother of two grown children, recently has decided to join a gym after years of inactivity. Another client, Josh, is a 19-year-old college student who started attending a gym to avoid gaining weight during school and to maintain the active lifestyle he led as a high-school athlete. Then we have Ellie, a 74-year-old grandmother who has difficulty standing after sitting as a result of her weakened leg and back muscles. Her doctor advised that she work with a personal fitness trainer to increase her muscle tone, flexibility and mobility, all of which will decrease her chances of falling.

As you can see, each of these clients comes to a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist with different capabilities and intentions. Therefore, it is the personal fitness trainer’s responsibility to consider each client’s unique situation, mental attitude, physical ability and particular goals when planning a fitness program.

Step 11: Motivation: The Key to SuccessOne key to successfully changing behavior involves persistence, and being persistent requires motivation. In this section, we will examine what a personal fitness trainer can do to help her clients become and remain motivated to exercise and make a healthy lifestyle a priority.

Motivating ClientsKeeping a client motivated during the first few months of a new exercise program is vital since this is when a person is most likely to drop out and revert to old behaviors. A personal fitness trainer creates a feeling of teamwork by encouraging a client to be open and honest in communicating feelings regarding an exercise program.

A personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist must be aware of her client’s difficulties in staying with a program. The trainer can then offer mental exercises to improve client motivation. One helpful exercise might be to ask a client to consider the advantages of staying with the program and becoming more physically fit and healthy. Trainers also may have their clients consider the negative consequences of quitting the program. Keeping a list of reasons for exercising posted on the refrigerator door can be a powerful motivator on days when a client doesn’t want to go to the gym.

Studies show that people are more likely to stick with a fitness program if they truly believe that exercise is essential to good health and take personal responsibility for their own health. You can instill these ideas in the client’s mind through both literature and verbal education; these ideas serve as powerful motivators. You can teach a client to see parts of her workout as a form of relaxation or encourage her to make a written or verbal commitment to a healthy lifestyle.

Personal fitness trainers can motivate clients by adding activities a client enjoys into a workout. Sessions shouldn’t fit only the personal fitness trainer’s expectations and desires. Furthermore, a personal fitness trainer can instill this same attitude in her client by modeling a healthy lifestyle and sharing a positive and realistic attitude about exercise. As a personal fitness trainer, be realistic. Don’t expect a client who has family and work commitments to spend three hours a day in the gym. Recognize that a healthy lifestyle balances a number of different commitments.

Simply knowing that their personal fitness trainer will be waiting for them at the gym often motivates clients to show up day after day. A friend or family member to exercise with and provide social support can serve the same purpose on days when people don’t have an appointment with a personal fitness trainer.

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Another powerful motivator for exercising is the use of visualization. Teach clients to visualize themselves succeeding at their exercise goals and becoming fitter and healthier. Some personal fitness trainers also teach clients to repeat positive affirmations to themselves throughout their workouts. Examples of these might include, “I am strong and healthy,” or, “I can achieve my fitness goals.” A person who repeats positive affirmations develops a more positive attitude regarding exercise. Positive affirmations also increase a person’s confidence in her own abilities—the first step to achieving a goal is believing that you can achieve it!

Positive ReinforcementPositive reinforcement serves as another method to motivate a client. Examples of positive reinforcement include a pat on the back, a high five or verbal praise following the completion of an exercise. A trainer who is enthusiastic about his client’s progress results in a client who is more likely to work even harder.

Personal fitness trainers also teach their clients how to use rewards as motivation. Treating oneself to a massage following a grueling workout or buying tickets to a concert after a successful week on a wellness program are two examples of rewards people might use. While most anything a person enjoys can be used as motivation, it is important not to choose a reward that sabotages fitness goals. A woman who is trying to lose weight shouldn’t treat herself to a large brownie sundae after each workout. Keep in mind that rewards need not be big or expensive, and are often no longer needed once a person becomes motivated by the positive effects of exercise itself.

Intrinsic MotivationIntrinsic motivation is motivation coming from within oneself. An intrinsically motivated person is more likely to be consistent and maintain her efforts than someone who must find all her motivation from external sources and rewards. For this reason, it is best for a person to develop intrinsic motivation for performing his fitness program.

There are several ways in which a personal fitness trainer can increase a client’s intrinsic motivation to exercise. The trainer who gives her clients consistent, positive feedback regarding their fitness abilities increases her clients’ feelings of competence and intrinsic motivation. Commenting on a client’s good form while lifting weights or improved endurance or flexibility are ways a personal fitness trainer can increase competence, as well.

A person who has had competitive success at something is more likely to be motivated to continue doing it. Personal fitness trainers can use games and other forms of competition during workouts to make exercise more fun and exciting for their clients. It is important to note that there is no need for a client to compete against another individual for a workout to be competitive. In fact, many people dislike this type of confrontation and would be uncomfortable competing against others. However, a person may enjoy competing against a machine, personal best or his trainer’s stated expectations for him.

A final way to increase a client’s intrinsic motivation is to provide a workout that is varied in both content and sequence. The more new exercises and abilities a client masters, the more confident and motivated she will be to continue physical activity. The possibilities are endless when it comes to activities a trainer can use to increase a client’s fitness level. Most gyms offer an array of equipment, such as balance balls, elliptical machines, treadmills and stationary bikes. Having a client dribble a basketball around cones, swim laps in the pool, play a game of racquetball or go outdoors on a nice day to jog are all creative ways of adding excitement to a workout. New and varied workouts give clients something to look forward to when coming to their training session.

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Step 12: The Trainer’s Scope of PracticeA large part of a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist’s responsibility is getting to know her clients well enough to establish their needs, wants and limitations. The trainer uses the initial interview to gather information about a client and then builds upon this information as the relationship evolves. If the chemistry between client and trainer is poor, it is the personal fitness trainer’s responsibility to address this issue by discussing the matter with the client and, if necessary, referring the client to someone else. A client who is uncomfortable with her trainer won’t enjoy her workout sessions, and her fitness progress may suffer as a result.

It is important that the trainer not make any promises or guarantees regarding what the client will achieve. While personal fitness trainers may consider their client’s mental attitude regarding exercise, they are not psychologists or mental health professionals. It is not the personal fitness trainer’s job to solve clients’ psychological problems, nor is it appropriate for a trainer to counsel or advise clients on mental health issues.

One exciting aspect of the personal fitness field is the ability to add to your scope of practice as a personal fitness trainer through additional training and certifications. Completion of this course will prepare you for a career as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, but you may choose to pursue further training in other areas, such as yoga and Pilates, or a specific sport, such as swimming or volleyball. Maybe you want to learn more about working with people in a specific age group or with certain health risks. The training you receive through this course, the experience you gain through your work and any continuing education you choose to pursue all open numerous career opportunities—as well as an increase in salary potential—for you, as a personal fitness trainer. The possibilities in this fun and expanding field are nearly endless!


1. Working toward goals provides clients with _____.a. guaranteed fitness successb. a way to measure and observe their fitness progressc. a lack of motivationd. an adequate substitute for a personal trainer

2. Goal setting _____.a. tends to upset people in the long runb. makes people less likely to perform wellc. improves the quality of fitness training and the performance of the clientd. should only be practiced by adults

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3. Which of the following is a specific and measurable goal? a. Doing 12 pull-ups in a rowb. Eating healthierc. Becoming fitd. Becoming a fast runner

4. If a long-term goal seems out of reach for a client, it is often helpful to _____.a. forget about ever achieving the goalb. break the goal down into smaller goals or stepsc. refer the client to another trainerd. reword the goal to make it less vague and more specific

5. Which of the following is an attribute of a good fitness goal? a. Responsibleb. Attainablec. Optimisticd. Impossible

6. Why is using clothing size to measure a person’s level of fitness success unwise? a. Because all thin people are healthyb. Because no one likes to talk about clothing sizec. Because people can be healthy and fit at all different sizesd. Because body fat percentage has nothing to do with fitness level

7. The ultimate goal for a personal fitness trainer is to _____.a. keep information about themselves confidentialb. make all their clients Olympiansc. choose only naturally athletic people to traind. produce independent exercisers who can attain and maintain a healthy lifestyle

8. Which of the following is a good competitive exercise to give a client who is uncomfortable with confrontation? a. Competing against her personal best time running a mileb. Dribbling a basketball around cones c. Swimming laps in a poold. A one-on-one basketball tournament


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Step 15: Lesson SummaryIn this lesson, you gained new insight into the roles and responsibilities of personal fitness trainers. You now know how personal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists educate their clients and encourage them to lead healthy lifestyles both inside and outside the gym. This lesson has provided you with several ways of motivating your future clients. You will be able to help them make behavior changes, accomplish their goals and improve their fitness levels.

In our next lesson, we’ll study the physiology of exercise. You’ll begin learning about strength and flexibility, and we’ll introduce you to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.

Remember, with each lesson you complete, you are drawing nearer to making this expanding field your own! Many personal fitness trainers have so many clients that the clients are placed on waiting lists. There simply aren’t enough qualified personal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists to keep up with client demand. So you see, the exciting new career you have chosen needs you!


Lesson 4 Exercise Physiology 101


● Define the four components of body weight.

● Describe the importance of strength and flexibility.

● Identify the major parts of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and explain how they work together.

● Determine the importance of oxygen to the body.

● Differentiate between aerobic and anaerobic exercise.

● Measure fat mass, aerobic fitness and activity levels.

● Calculate target heart rates and gauge workout intensity.

Step 2: Lesson PreviewAmanda and her husband Nick have been your friends for several years. Amanda recently told you that she feels stuck in her life. She is tired all the time, she can’t keep up with her two young children and all of her clothes feel tight. She has asked you to be her personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist.

Now let’s jump ahead a bit. You have worked with Amanda as her trainer for six months. You designed an exercise program for her that incorporates cardiovascular fitness, strength training and flexibility exercises. The two of you have worked out a nutrition plan that she has introduced to her family. Amanda has made excellent progress!

After six months, you think you know Amanda pretty well, right? And you do. But remember, the client you’ve seen about 20 times has been a slightly different person each time. As she’s changed her eating habits, lengthened her daily walks and added resistance training to her life, her body has changed.

In this lesson, we’ll learn about physiology, and this will help you see how Amanda’s body has changed. You’ll learn about the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and the four components of body weight. We’ll discuss why strength and flexibility are important, as well as the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise. And you’ll learn to calculate target heart rate and measure fat mass, aerobic fitness and activity levels.

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The lesson you are about to read is a little more technical than your previous lessons. But don’t worry! Everything will be presented to you in an easy-to-understand manner, and if you have questions, simply contact your instructor. To be a competent personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you’ll need to have a good understanding of physiology. It is this understanding that will enable you to help your clients reach their full potential. And understanding physiology also will help you reach your full potential in your new career! Don’t forget, qualified personal fitness trainers are in demand, and health clubs, as well as individuals, are willing to pay these professionals well for their work. So don’t waste any time as you embark on this next phase in your life. Start reading!

Step 3: The Total PictureIn the preview, we used the term physiology, and you’re probably wondering exactly what that term means. Well, physiology is the study of the functions of living organisms and their parts. Therefore, what you read in this lesson will educate you about our bodies and body parts. So, let’s begin by discussing the four components that make up our bodies.

Two clients, Bill and Sam, stand in front of you. Each man is about six feet tall and weighs about 160 pounds. They should look about the same and be equally healthy, right?

Well, maybe or maybe not! You can tell just by looking—if you know how to look—how different two people can be. Bill is a long-distance runner. He is fairly lean, with long, smooth muscles. On the other hand, Sam is a weekend warrior and plays on his company’s softball team when he has time. He has a little bit of a gut and skinny arms and legs without much muscle.

If you were to take their bodies apart, you’d find four different components that add up to their weight of 160 pounds:

● Muscle mass

● Fat mass

● Water weight

● Bone weight

In our example, it’s safe to guess that Bill’s 160 pounds contain a higher percentage of muscle mass and a lower percentage of fat than do Sam’s. Each person’s body contains the four body components in different proportions. Measuring the proportions of each of these parts of the body can be tricky. Often, our culture tends to rely incorrectly on weight as the most important measurement of fitness. It’s important that you, as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, have an understanding of these four components. Let’s take a look at each.

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Exercise Physiology 101

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Muscle Mass Muscle mass refers to the percentage of body weight from a body’s muscles. The muscular system is responsible for movement—both visible and invisible. In combination with the bones and the skin, skeletal muscles give a body its shape. The body has more than 640 skeletal muscles that are controlled with voluntary movements. We also have two other types of muscle: cardiac muscle, which pumps the heart, and smooth muscle, which makes up the walls of hollow organs, such as the bladder or blood vessels. About 40 percent of the body’s weight comes from the muscular system. You’ll learn more about the muscular system in a later lesson.

Fat MassFat mass is the percentage of body weight composed of fat. As a personal fitness trainer, you’ll probably talk about fat a lot. Although fat often has a bad reputation, it plays an important role in the body—it protects the internal organs and insulates the body. It is involved in the female reproductive system, since women must have a minimum level of fat to menstruate. Fat even stores energy for you to use.

Unfortunately, you already know that most of us perform sedentary work, eat on the run and don’t get enough exercise, so we have plenty of fat—too much, in fact. Some diseases, including diabetes and some cancers, are more common in people with higher percentages of body fat.

BMI—Body Mass IndexAs a trainer, you’ll often hear about BMI, or body mass index. Essentially, BMI is the measurement of your total body fat percentage. The BMI formula divides weight in pounds by height in inches squared (or weight in kilograms by height squared, for the metric system). The result is a measure of overweight or obesity. See the BMI chart in Pack 1 to learn more.

Water WeightWater weight is the percentage of body weight made up of water. Water makes up more than 75 percent of your body. Without enough water, your digestive system doesn’t work smoothly, and your blood doesn’t flow properly.

In a typical day, you lose about 10 cups of water from your system through sweating, evaporation, breathing and waste removal. Food contains some water, but you still need to drink about eight cups of water a day. As you exercise, your rate of water loss goes up and, therefore, so does your body’s need for water.

Bone WeightBone weight is the percentage of body weight made up of bone. The human body has a complicated skeleton that includes 206 bones—22 in the skull and 27 in each hand alone! All together, the skeletal system, which includes flexible cartilage and ligaments, accounts for about 20 percent of body mass.

Our bones provide a very stable framework for our muscles and skin, as well as protect our internal organs. However, bones in a living person aren’t like the dry, dusty bones you’ve seen in a museum. They are made up of living tissue that makes blood cells and stores minerals, such as calcium. Bones are light, yet they are five times stronger than steel. We’ll talk more about the skeletal system later in this course.

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Balance Is the KeyWith our busy lives, it’s easy to focus only on one aspect of our bodies that we want to change. As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you may have clients who are obsessed with losing weight instead of gaining fitness. But you know from your previous lessons that you can’t have one without the other if you want to achieve overall wellness.

Each of the four body elements plays a vital role in our health. A healthy person isn’t necessarily someone with low cholesterol or a person who can run an eight-minute mile. Even one person with both of these characteristics wouldn’t be considered healthy if she was obsessed about her health to the point of developing ulcers!

We want each of the body elements to be in proper proportions: strong bones and muscles, a relatively low percentage of body fat and appropriate levels of water. And remember what you learned in Lesson 3! Your mental attitude and outlook on life are just as important. You know that balance is the key.

Step 4: More Balance: True Strength Requires FlexibilityPerhaps you’ve seen bodybuilders who are so heavily muscled that they can hardly move. Or maybe you’ve noticed contortionists who can fold themselves up to fit into a carry-on suitcase. Muscles of that size and flexibility may excite curiosity and perhaps generate fame and fortune, but is it healthy? Maybe, but unless you’re going to make a living as a professional bodybuilder or run away to join the circus, a body that balances flexibility and strength will better serve your daily life. Therefore, you need to both build and stretch your muscles.

Building Muscle For many people, the main reason to work out is to look good. If this reason gets these people to the gym, that’s a great start, and building muscle can help them achieve that goal. This is because stronger muscles tend to be larger and have a more attractive shape. Also, adding a few pounds of muscle can increase metabolism, or at least help make up for the decrease in metabolism that occurs naturally as we age. However, the desire to look good is just one reason why strengthening your muscles is smart.

Consider tasks you complete every day, such as carrying a sleeping child down the hall, toting a load of clean laundry up to the bedroom, pushing a lawnmower or shoveling the front walk. You can perform the odd jobs of everyday life more easily with stronger muscles. Unfortunately, as we age, we lose muscle strength unless we build it proactively.

Because the body is made up of interconnected systems, having strong muscles strengthens bones, too. Stress on your bones stimulates the growth of bone tissue, and that helps prevent osteoporosis, which you studied in a previous lesson. If you lift more weight, you put more stress on your bones, thereby stimulating their growth. People lose bone density as they age, so—as is the case with muscle strength—unless we build it on purpose, we lose it. Strong muscles aren’t the only way to prevent bone loss, but they can play a major role.

Finally, stronger muscles are safer muscles. If you’re strong overall, your balance is better. You learned this in Lesson 2 as you read about how Robert improved his balance as he built muscle.

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FlexibilityThe term flexibility means how far and how easily your muscles can move a joint. Stretching exercises, the most common ways to maintain and increase flexibility, are like going to your dental appointments and cleaning the top of your refrigerator—it’s something you know you should do but don’t exactly look forward to doing.

But imagine how difficult your life would be in an inflexible body. Think about being unable to step up onto a curb, walk with ease, reach the top shelf or bend to tie your shoes. Examine your inflexible body in a mirror, and you would find that your posture is horrible.

If you keep neglecting your flexibility, you won’t have to imagine such a scenario. Flexibility, like bone density and muscle strength, naturally decreases as we age. Our tendons tighten and our joints stiffen. Increasing your flexibility will improve your posture and make it easier for you to move.

Increasing flexibility can even fix problems you aren’t aware of, such as muscle imbalances. For example, if the muscles in the front of your thighs are strong but the muscles in the back of your thighs are weak, you will depend on your front thigh muscles too much. When you walk, you may use an unusually short stride. This may not seem like a big deal in the short term, but over time, it can lead to an injury, such as a pulled muscle.

Improving your flexibility may not be a glamorous goal, like slimming down or building great abs. However, improving your body’s flexibility is an excellent investment in your well being, both now and through the years.

Next, we’re going to talk about two of our body’s systems—the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. But first, let’s take a few minutes to review what you’ve read about the four body components and the importance of strength and flexibility.


1. _____ is the study of the functions of living organisms and their parts.a. Biologyb. Psychologyc. Physiologyd. Body mass

2. About 40 percent of the body’s weight comes from _____.a. muscle massb. fat massc. bone weightd. water weight

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3. In a typical day, you may lose about _____ cups of water from your system through sweating, evaporation, breathing and waste removal. a. fiveb. 10c. 11d. eight

4. When it comes to the four body elements, _____.a. each of the body elements should be in proper proportionsb. bones should be stronger than musclesc. the percentage of body fat should be highd. water weight is the least important

5. People lose _____ as they age. a. neither muscle strength nor bone densityb. only muscle strengthc. only bone densityd. both bone density and muscle strength

6. _____ the most common way(s) to maintain and increase flexibility.a. Running and jumping areb. Playing team sports isc. Walking isd. Stretching exercises are


Step 7: The Heart of It AllLet’s talk about your heart. Many people in the fitness world think of the heart as a machine. They’re not wrong, and this step focuses on the mechanical aspects of the heart—but the heart shouldn’t only be considered a machine.

Before we turn to the practical, let’s consider for a moment other ways we talk about the heart. “Her heart wasn’t in it,” “Home is where the heart is” and “Let’s get to the heart of the matter” are just a few sayings with which you probably are familiar.

Obviously, these sayings don’t refer to the physical pump inside the body. They mean the heart is something at a person’s core—the center or spirit. As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you must remember that core is an important part of your clients. And just as the heart is central to a person’s spirit, it’s central to a person’s bodily functions, too. Now let’s talk about the cardiovascular system!

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The Cardiovascular SystemThe cardiovascular system is the supply transportation system for the body. It brings nutrients, oxygen, glucose, amino acids and hormones to all the cells in the body and carries off the waste products of cell metabolism. The cardio part of cardiovascular refers to the heart. The vascular part of cardiovascular refers to the blood vessels—the arteries, veins and capillaries, as well as the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is a subsystem that maintains fluid balance and defends the body from disease. Lymph is the fluid in this system; along with blood, it is also a part of the whole cardiovascular picture.

The heart is like the dispatcher, sending blood out in regular shipments through all the organs and cells of the body. The arteries, veins, capillaries and lymph channels of the vascular system are like highways and city streets. They provide a well-planned flow to and from delivery and pickup points. The blood and lymph carry materials to and from their destinations.

Your Heart in Parts The heart is a muscle that is a little larger than your clenched fist. Encased in a protective membrane, it lies in the middle of your chest, just behind and somewhat to the left of the sternum or breastbone. The lungs are on both sides of it and behind it.

Internal Cardiac Anatomy and Circulation Flow (a. refers to artery; v. refers to vein)

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Chambers, Veins, Arteries and ValvesThe human heart has four chambers—four different cavities that contain blood. Two chambers are on the right side of the heart, and two are on the left. Each chamber is divided into two parts, as well. Each of the superior or upper chambers is called the atrium; each of the inferior or lower chambers is called the ventricle.

The heart, of course, is attached to the rest of the body through veins and arteries. Arteries lead blood away from the heart, while veins bring blood back to the heart.

Let’s start with the right side of the heart. The systemic veins or veins from the body lead into the right atrium. The two major veins are called the superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava. The pulmonary trunk or artery heading toward the lungs leads out from the right ventricle, and the right and left pulmonary arteries branch off from the pulmonary trunk.

On the left side of the heart, pulmonary veins come into the left atrium from the lungs. There are four pulmonary veins—two on the left and two on the right side of the left atrium. The aorta, a huge artery, leads out from the left ventricle and supplies blood to the rest of the body.

In the heart, the blood flows in only one direction. Cardiac valves prevent any backwash of blood and keep the blood moving in the proper direction.

The valves open and close in an alternating pattern. In a process called diastole, when the ventricles are relaxed, the AV valves are open, allowing blood to flow from the atria into the ventricles. In a process called systole, when the ventricles contract, the AV valves are forced shut, and the semilunar valves open, allowing blood to pump from the heart.

Your Heart at Work Now that you have seen all the parts of the heart, let’s look at how the heart actually works.

General Circulation SystemsThe right and left sides of the heart coordinate two separate circulatory systems. The blood that flows through the heart chamber is part of pulmonary circulation, which goes to and from the lungs, or systemic circulation, which goes to and from the rest of the body.

The systemic circulation system takes oxygenated blood from the heart to the body. Blood leaves the left side of the heart through the aorta, winds through the body and returns to the right side of the heart through the vena cavae.

In pulmonary circulation, deoxygenated blood leaves the heart through the pulmonary arteries, releasing carbon dioxide into the lungs and taking up oxygen. The pulmonary veins return oxygenated blood to the heart.

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From Here to There: Blood’s Travels Now let’s follow blood as it travels through the cardiovascular system from start to finish, choosing the right atrium as our starting point.

The right side of the heart receives blood from the body through systemic veins—the superior and inferior venae cavae. This blood has delivered its oxygen load to the cells. First, the blood flows into the right upper chamber, the right atrium. It passes into the right ventricle, where it is pumped through pulmonary arteries to each lung. At the lungs, it gives off carbon dioxide and receives a fresh supply of oxygen, then returns to the left side of the heart through pulmonary veins. The blood fills the left atrium and passes into the left ventricle, where it is pumped through the aorta to take its supply of oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.

Arteries branch off into smaller and smaller vessels until they feed the capillaries. Capillaries are the smallest blood vessels in the body. Oxygen exchange occurs in the capillaries. From the capillaries, the blood moves into small veins, and systems of small veins join to become larger veins. Eventually, the veins return the blood to the heart through the superior and inferior vena cavae.

Both sides of the heart work at the same time. Blood fills the left and right atria while the heart is relaxed. At this same time, the heart itself receives its blood flow and oxygen.

The same amount of blood moves through the left and right sides of the heart at any given time. However, blood from the left ventricle must go all the way through the body, while blood from the right ventricle has to travel only to the lungs and back. Therefore, the blood is ejected from the left ventricle with much greater force.

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Important MeasurementsAs you’ve read about the cardiovascular system, you might be wondering what all this new information has to do with the career of a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist. Well, two heart-related measurements—heart rate and blood pressure—are important indicators of a client’s baseline fitness level. Because both are measured at most routine doctor’s appointments, your clients will be somewhat familiar with them, though they may not understand exactly what the numbers mean. Do you?

Heart Rate The heart rate, sometimes called a pulse, is simply the number of times your heart beats every minute. One measurement of a person’s fitness is his resting heart rate—how hard his heart has to work while the person is sitting. Resting heart rates vary from 60 to 80 beats per minute. Physically fit people and people with good genes often have a lower resting heart rate. Unfit or sedentary people, people on some medications, people dealing with stress and people who drink coffee may have higher resting heart rates. (Caffeine tends to increase resting heart rate.)

Cardiovascular workouts can help reduce your resting heart rate, which means your heart has to work less hard. Therefore, learning to measure heart rate accurately is important to monitoring fitness. Fortunately, it’s also pretty easy—you simply count heartbeats. The only tricky part is finding a good place to count them.

The inside of the wrist, just below the thumb, is a good place—you may even be able to see the bluish line of the radial artery. Place the fingertips of your index and middle fingers on your wrist. You also can place those fingertips on your neck, about halfway between your jaw and your ear, on the carotid artery. Then, start counting. Count for one minute—or for 30 seconds and multiply by two. Early in the morning, before the stresses of the day begin, is a good time to get an accurate resting heart rate.

Let’s look at an example. Perhaps you take a client’s resting heart rate for 30 seconds and count 38 beats. Multiply 38 by two, and you’ll find your client has a resting heart rate of 76 beats per minute.

Your maximum heart rate is more difficult to measure directly because it’s the absolute most number of times your heart can beat in a minute. Still, it’s relatively easy to estimate. The most common estimate is to subtract a person’s age from 220, according to the American Heart Association. Although this is just an estimate, it’s at least a starting point. We’ll return to the idea of maximum heart rate later in this lesson.

Blood PressureYou learned a bit about blood pressure in a previous lesson, but now let’s talk about it in more detail. Blood pressure, which measures the force with which the heart pumps and the stress left when the heart is at rest, is expressed in two numbers—an ideal blood pressure is 120/80. The top number, which usually varies between 110 and 140, is the systolic blood pressure—the pressure generated in the blood vessels when the left ventricle contracts to pump blood throughout the body. The bottom number, which is usually between 70 and 80, is diastolic blood pressure, or the amount of pressure left when the heart muscle relaxes between beats.

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If the top number is high, the heart must work very hard to get blood through the system. If the bottom number is high, the heart and venous system don’t really get a chance to relax, even between beats.

Stress, illness, caffeine or even running late can elevate blood pressure—in fact, the stress of having your blood pressure measured can skew the results. However, the good news is that regular exercise can make your heart more efficient, which will show up in many ways, including lower blood pressure, just as you learned earlier.

Now that you know all about the cardiovascular system, let’s move on and discuss the respiratory system.

Step 8: The Respiratory SystemEvery cell in your body needs two things to stay alive: glucose and oxygen. The digestive system takes care of the glucose, which is a sugar. It’s the job of the respiratory system to make sure your cells get oxygen. The respiratory system brings oxygen into contact with the bloodstream in the lungs and removes carbon dioxide from the blood. Then, the pulmonary circulation system sends the oxygenated blood back to the heart, which sends it out to the cells in your body.

Let’s look at the details of this process.

The Big PictureThe respiratory system, of course, contains the lungs; however, it also includes the organs in the pathway of air through the body:

● The nose—The part of the respiratory system that is open to the air around us

● The pharynx—A hallway, with entrances from the nasal system and the mouth, that contains the adenoids and tonsils

● The larynx—The voice box and entrance to the trachea

● The trachea—Commonly known as the windpipe, a tube with several branches extending into the lungs

Of course, all the organs of the respiratory system, like the other organs in the body, contain blood vessels, nerves and muscles, too. But we’ll focus our examination of the respiratory system on the trachea and lungs.

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Gross and microscopic anatomy of the tracheobronchial tree

The Pathway: The Tracheobronchial TreeThe trachea, or windpipe, is part of a larger, more complicated system called the tracheobronchial tree, which is a pathway into the lungs. As you might imagine from its name, the entire structure looks like a tree.

The trachea extends from the larynx to the entrance of the lungs and lies just behind the heart and its large blood vessels.

At the entrance to the lungs, the trachea branches into two parts, and from there it branches many times. The smallest branches are called bronchioles; they end in small clusters of air sacs called alveoli, which cluster around the bronchioles like buds on a tree.

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Take a Deep Breath: We’ve Arrived at the LungsThe two lungs fill two-thirds of the chest or thoracic cavity. Each lung is shaped somewhat like a pyramid, and the lungs rest on the diaphragm. The diaphragm is a partition that divides the chest and abdominal cavities.

Lungs contain two components:

● The airways—the tracheobronchial tree and alveoli, which we just discussed

● The parenchyma—intercellular fluid, blood vessels, nerves and smooth muscles

Out with the Bad Air, in with the GoodYou breathe about 20,000 times every day. No matter how much yoga or meditation you do, you can’t be mindful of even half of those breaths! Fortunately, your respiratory system operates efficiently, regardless of your mindfulness.

Respiration and VentilationSometimes the terms used to discuss the functions of the respiratory system can be confusing, because they are used slightly differently in the technical world of fitness and medicine than they are by the rest of us. In this section, we’ll look at two processes: respiration and ventilation.

Respiration describes the process by which the atmosphere, our blood and our cells exchange gases—oxygen and carbon dioxide. There are three types of respiration:

● External respiration—This is the process through which blood receives oxygen in the lungs. The large capillaries in the lungs exchange oxygen in the atmosphere for carbon dioxide in the blood and then send the freshly oxygenated blood back to the heart to go to the rest of the body. This process happens during pulmonary circulation.

● Internal respiration—In this process, cells throughout the body receive oxygen from blood and exchange it for carbon dioxide. This process happens during systemic circulation.

● Cellular respiration—This process happens within the cells themselves. They metabolize the oxygen they’ve received from the blood and create the carbon dioxide that they will exchange in internal respiration.

As you can see, respiration isn’t the same as breathing.

Pulmonary ventilation is the process we think of as normal breathing. It can be divided into two parts: inspiration and expiration. Ventilation occurs when the lungs expand and relax, but the lungs don’t do this themselves. Instead, the diaphragm, on which the lungs rest, moves down and up, thereby lengthening and shortening the chest cavity. Another way to breathe is to rely on the ribs’ forward and backward movement, which increases the front-to-back size of the chest cavity.

Inspiration or inhaling occurs when the diaphragm contracts, pulling down and creating a vacuum that fills the lungs with air. In expiration or exhaling, the diaphragm relaxes, and the lungs, chest wall and abdominal muscles compress the lungs to expel air.

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Movement of Gas MoleculesSo how exactly do the blood or cells receive oxygen and give up carbon dioxide? Well, it’s actually a simple, random movement of gas molecules.

When you breathe, oxygen moves through your tracheobronchial tree down into the alveoli. The capillaries in the alveoli are small, and the membrane walls are thin, so oxygen readily diffuses—that is, it moves from the air in the alveoli through the capillary walls into the blood. Similarly, the carbon dioxide diffuses, moving from the blood into the capillaries.

Controlling Your BreathingIn general, inspiration is an active process that requires muscles to contract, while expiration is a less-active process of relaxation. However, the process of breathing is usually involuntary—that is, you don’t have to consciously inhale and exhale—even though it uses voluntary muscles. Ventilation responds to a number of control factors:

● Involuntary (autonomic) control

● Voluntary control

● Chemical control

A normal respiratory rate is approximately 12 to 15 respirations per minute. Other movements in the respiratory system aren’t really related to respiration; they’re also often reflexes but can be voluntary, such as sneezing, coughing or yawning.

Breathing can be voluntary. We can consciously control our breathing, for example, by holding our breath. However, the brain eventually overrides your ability to hold your breath. Although it’s possible to hold your breath until you are unconscious, once you’re unconscious, the brain takes control, and you’re breathing again.

Chemical factors also regulate respiratory rate. In fact, respiration plays a key role in maintaining the blood pH balance. The pH balance is the balance between acids and bases. Human blood needs to maintain a relatively stable pH balance. Because the body produces acids during metabolism, maintaining an appropriate acid-to-base ratio requires constant monitoring in the body.

Although the kidneys play a role in maintaining the balance, so does breathing. Fast, deep breathing is called hyperventilation. Hyperventilation corrects the imbalance caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide or decreased blood pH. Very slow or shallow breathing is called hypoventilation. Hypoventilation is stimulated by increased blood pH. Because breathing is slower, less carbon dioxide is eliminated, increasing carbon dioxide levels in the blood.

As we move through this lesson, you’ll come to understand why knowledge of the respiratory system is important to you, as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist. But first, let’s take a moment to review what you’ve learned about the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.

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1. The cardiovascular system includes all of the following except _____.a. bloodb. capillariesc. ligamentsd. heart

2. The heart has _____.a. two chambers, the left chambers and the right chambersb. two chambers, the ventricle and the atriumc. four chambers, the atrium, the ventricle, the pulmonary and the aortad. four chambers, the atrium and ventricle on the right and left sides

3. Inside the heart, _____.a. the ventricles are the lower, pumping chambers of the heartb. the heart valves allow blood to flow in only two directionsc. the aorta brings blood from the body back to the heartd. veins lead blood away from the heart

4. The two major circulatory systems _____.a. are the systemic and coronary circulation systemsb. take turns supplying blood to the lungs and to the bodyc. have specialized functions—one sends blood to the lungs and the other sends blood

to the bodyd. are represented by the two numbers making up blood pressure

5. Blood pressure _____.a. incorporates a measure of heart rateb. measures the force with which the heart pumps and the stress left when the heart is at restc. is made of two parts, the vena cava and the SA noded. transports nutrients throughout the body

6. The respiratory system _____.a. gets blood to your extremitiesb. makes sure all your cells get oxygenc. gets blood to the heartd. is made up of two parts, the lungs and trachea

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7. The windpipe is a common name for the _____.a. pharynxb. larynxc. bronchid. trachea

8. The lungs _____.a. are shaped like diamondsb. rest on the diaphragmc. fill about one-fourth of the chest cavityd. are completely dry

9. Normal breathing _____.a. is the expansion and contraction of the lungs using the diaphragm and/or rib musclesb. can be divided into respiration and ventilationc. is completely beyond our controld. requires hyperventilation

10. If you take your client’s resting heart rate for 30 seconds and count 42 beats, his resting heart rate is _____ beats per minute.a. 21b. 42c. 84d. 80


Step 11: Oxygen: The Most Basic NeedAlthough muscles can work for a while without oxygen, the body as a whole can’t live without fresh oxygen supplies for more than three to five minutes. Lack of oxygen for more than that period can cause permanent damage to the heart and the brain, which can lead to death.

But how exactly is oxygen so critical to the body? Oxygen helps the body maintain its internal equilibrium and, even more importantly, oxygen is necessary for producing energy.

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The Body in Balance: HomeostasisOxygen helps the body maintain homeostasis, which is a state of equilibrium. For example, the body constantly monitors the levels of hormones transported in the bloodstream. When the blood passes through certain points, such as the brain, the hormone levels are measured. If some hormone level is slightly off, the brain stimulates or inhibits the appropriate gland.

Part of maintaining homeostasis is maintaining an appropriate pH level in the blood; in the previous step, we talked briefly about pH levels and how breathing can increase or decrease them.

Oxygen is also important in maintaining appropriate body temperature. You already learned that, in the capillaries, oxygen passes from the alveoli in the lungs and into the blood cells, and carbon dioxide moves from the blood into the lungs. When the red blood cell takes in the oxygen, the oxygen binds with the hemoglobin of the red blood cells. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that transports oxygen. Immediately after this binding occurs, the temperature of the blood in the capillary decreases slightly. That decrease helps maintain the appropriate overall body temperature. It’s just a slight decrease, but if you imagine the number of cells in which it occurs, you can start to see that a small change in the way the system functions can have a huge impact on the body.

Stoking the Energy FactoryYou now know that two of the systems in the body are the cardiovascular system and the respiratory system. One major goal of the two systems working together is to get adequate oxygenated blood to the body. With so much of the body’s systems focusing on oxygen, you can surely see that oxygen is pretty important! The body’s cells use oxygen to manufacture energy, which drives the body. Clap your hands, digest your lunch or think about the weekend—all of these activities require energy, which requires oxygen.

Let’s look in detail at how energy is created in the cells and how oxygen fits in.

ATPWhen you tap your finger, the energy that drives the muscles to contract comes mostly from ATP, or adenosine triphosphate. To keep your finger going, part of the cell structure in the muscle cells in your hand has to produce this ATP. Mitochondria are the part of the cell structure responsible for this production. Cells can store some ATP, but not much; therefore, the mitochondria in the cells have to keep producing ATP. When the cell is out of ATP, it can’t do any more work.

Cells produce ATP using mostly fat and carbohydrates. Cells rarely use protein for producing ATP except in cases when a person’s diet is too low in calories or the diet is imbalanced. Then, cells pull amino acids from muscles to produce ATP—but this isn’t the best-case scenario for the cells or the muscles, for that matter.

Fortunately, cells have more than one healthy way to produce ATP. They can produce ATP through the aerobic or anaerobic energy system.

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Aerobic Versus AnaerobicYou may remember that, in the 1970s, a new form of exercise began to flourish. Originally known as just aerobics or aerobic dance, it has splintered into many forms—low-impact aerobics, boot camp, tribal dance, step aerobics and more. Back then, the change in the fitness world was nothing short of revolutionary. Almost overnight, gyms and health clubs changed from weight-training centers serving mostly bodybuilders to a version of the facilities we know today.

This emphasis on aerobic exercise took advantage of the aerobic system for creating energy. You’ve probably already figured out that the word aerobic means with oxygen. When the blood delivers enough oxygen into the cell to meet the cell’s need to produce energy—for example, when a muscle is at rest—the aerobic system is the dominant method of energy production. When there isn’t enough oxygen getting to the cell to produce energy fast enough—for example, when a muscle must lift a heavy weight quickly—the muscle depends on anaerobic methods for producing energy.

Anaerobic means without oxygen. When the cells are producing ATP anaerobically, they don’t use fat as a fuel. Instead, they use the glucose that’s available in the blood, which tends to run out quickly. They can also use creatine phosphate, which is a molecule that’s stored in the muscles. However, the stored supply of creatine phosphate isn’t very high, either.

Therefore, muscle cells can’t use anaerobic means to produce energy for very long. In fact, when the anaerobic system uses creatine phosphate, the muscle can perform a high-intensity exercise for fewer than 10 seconds. Breaking down glucose gives a muscle from one to three minutes of high-intensity exercise—long enough for a world-class athlete to run the 400-meter hurdles or swim 200 meters, but that’s about it. For long-term, low-intensity exercise, the aerobic system of producing energy is much more efficient.

The aerobic system produces more ATP than the anaerobic system, and when you think about it, it makes sense. The aerobic system uses both fat, at nine calories of energy per gram, and glucose, at four calories of energy per gram. However, the anaerobic system doesn’t use fat to create energy, so it is working with less-efficient fuel that is also not readily available.

Now, let’s move on and talk about the exercise implications of producing energy aerobically and anaerobically and why these implications are important to the personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist.

Step 12: The System at WorkAfter learning about the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, you know what parts of your body are doing at any given time. Your diaphragm expands and contracts to fill your lungs; carbon dioxide and oxygen trade places in the blood; your heart pushes blood up to your brain and down to your fingers and toes; and cells take oxygen from your blood and produce energy, which lets your muscles punch the numbers on a telephone, sign contracts and pick up your kids.

But what happens when you or your clients decide that you want to improve your fitness level? How does your body respond?

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Immediate Effects of ExerciseThe next time you stand up and walk after sitting for a long time, pay attention to your body. What do you notice? You may feel your heart beating a little more rapidly, which makes sense. Your muscles are moving, and they need more oxygen to produce more energy. Your arteries help the process. The arteries leading to your arms and legs dilate to let more blood get to those areas; the arteries that lead to your abdominal area constrict because that area needs less blood. Your breathing rate also increases to help get oxygen to the active areas.

In fact, your heart also pumps more blood with each beat, which changes your blood pressure. You’ll remember the basic concepts of blood pressure from earlier in the lesson. It’s expressed as two numbers, with the top number representing the systolic pressure, or pressure generated when the left ventricle contracts, and the bottom number representing the diastolic pressure, or the pressure left in the system when the heart relaxes between beats. When you start to exercise, your systolic pressure increases because your cardiovascular system works harder to get more blood to those muscles. On the other hand, the diastolic number stays the same or perhaps decreases slightly—as the arteries in the exercising muscles dilate, it relieves some of the residual pressure in the system.

As long as your body is able to continue to supply oxygen to the muscles and the cells in those muscles are able to produce energy using oxygen—aerobically—your body can continue to move for some time. However, at some point, your cardiovascular and respiratory systems won’t be able to keep up with your body’s energy needs. To understand how, we need to look at how to measure the rate at which the body uses oxygen.

VO2 MaxThe measurement of how much oxygen a person’s cells can consume is called maximal oxygen consumption, or VO2 max. It describes a person’s maximum aerobic capacity—the point at which the body’s cells stop using oxygen to produce energy and start using an anaerobic method.

Two factors influence VO2 max:

● How much blood gets to the working muscle or cardiac output—Increases in heart rate and the volume of blood pumped with each beat control this.

● How much oxygen the cells can actually extract from the blood. Increases in temperature, acidity and level of carbon dioxide in muscles influence how efficient the cells are at using the oxygen available in the blood.

One problem with measuring VO2 max is that most people aren’t likely to be part of fitness research studies that perform the kinds of tests that produce direct measurements of the stroke volume—how much blood the heart pumps with each beat—and oxygen extraction. Most health clubs perform tests that take a client to about 75 to 85 percent of her maximum heart rate while monitoring her blood pressure. Tests of VO2 max should be performed by physicians, or at least when physicians are present, because of the stress they can put on your heart and your respiratory system.

Let’s look at an example. Jenny is a serious runner who wants to increase her speed and endurance in races. Her trainer, Ryan, suggested she try VO2 training. First, she sees her physician for a VO2 max test. Jenny breathes into a tube that collects and measures exhaled gases while she runs on a treadmill. The belt speed and/or gradient continues to increase incrementally until the athlete reaches exhaustion. The physician records Jenny’s maximum rate of oxygen consumption as her current VO2 max. With this information, Jenny and Ryan can develop a training program that pushes Jenny to her VO2 max in order to improve her race performance.

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Long-term Effects of Aerobic ExerciseWhen you exercise aerobically over a period of time, your cardiovascular system adapts to the increased challenges you’re giving it, and your aerobic capacity increases. Several specific changes occur. Your resting heart rate decreases because the ventricles in the heart grow larger and can hold more blood. Because they hold more blood, more blood is pushed out with each stroke, and the heart has to beat less often to maintain the body’s functions.

This means that you can do the same intensity of exercise with more ease. It also means that to continue challenging your heart, you need to increase the intensity of your exercise. If you start exercising by walking 18-minute miles and your heart rate is 150 beats per minute, in three months, 18-minute miles might raise your heart rate to only 130 beats per minute. To keep your heart rate higher, you might need to walk 15-minute miles.

Besides the changes in your heart muscle, your blood vessels also change in response to exercise. The skeletal muscles you exercise are producing new capillaries, so there’s more physical area available for oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange. Also, the mitochondria—remember, these are the part of the cell that actually manufacture the ATP—become denser in the cells. Even if your blood flow stayed the same, more mitochondria would allow for increased ATP production.

So, improving your cardiac output and your cells’ ability to use oxygen gives your body an improved aerobic capacity and a higher anaerobic threshold. Anaerobic threshold is the point at which byproducts begin to build up in the muscles. Aerobic training makes other changes throughout your body, too. Your endurance improves, and the body produces more ATP when it’s exercising.

Take Advantage of Aerobic and Anaerobic Energy ProductionImproving your body’s fitness is similar to teaching yourself a new language. Learning 10 words in French is great, but it’s not enough. Just reviewing those 10 words every day won’t teach you anything more than those 10 words. You still won’t be able to do more than communicate the most basic information, if that!

The same is true of improving your body’s fitness. To train the body’s systems, you can’t just let them do what they have been used to doing. You have to ask those systems to work slightly harder than they are used to working. If you sit on the couch all day, adding a walk around the block will challenge your body. However, if your body is used to walking around the block, you have to do a little more.

But what kind of stress is appropriate? That’s part of what you, the personal fitness trainer, will learn to determine as you design exercise plans for your clients. We’ll get to assessing a client’s exercise abilities in the next step. But first, let’s talk about the two types of training: continuous training and interval training.

Continuous TrainingContinuous training, or steady state is pretty much what is sounds like—a sustained activity, such as walking, over a period of time.

Intermediate slow distance training is 20 minutes to one hour of aerobic exercise, which is about the length of a step or spinning class. This is probably what most of us think of as a normal aerobic workout. This type of training reduces body fat and improves cardiovascular fitness and health. It’s appropriate for most people as long as they monitor the intensity at which they exercise.

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Long slow distance training is one hour or more of continuous aerobic exercise. This type of training is more common among people preparing for specific athletic events, such as road races or bicycle races. Bodies can’t handle this type of cardiorespiratory and metabolic demand without a solid base of intermediate slow distance training for six months or more.

Interval TrainingInterval training alternates periods of exercise with periods of rest. However, in practice, interval training isn’t running for five minutes and then lying down for 10—it’s usually a period of intense cardiovascular activity, followed by a period of less-intense cardiovascular intensity. That can be faster running alternating with slow jogging or walking. It can also be stair-climbing followed by walking in place.

The good news is that you don’t have to be a highly trained athlete to take advantage of the benefits of interval training. In fact, interval training is perfect for people coming to a personal fitness trainer for the first time or after a long layoff from exercise.

Aerobic interval training is an excellent way to help people just starting out on their fitness path because it is less intense. Generally, aerobic interval training consists of bouts of exercise lasting between two and 15 minutes, followed by a rest interval of approximately the same length. The intervals can be repeated five to 10 times, depending on the client’s goals.

For example, your client could walk briskly for three minutes and slowly for two minutes, repeating the five-minute cycle five to 10 times for a total exercise time of 25 to 50 minutes. If your client happens to be very fit and interested in greater increases in aerobic endurance and speed, she may be able to run for 10 minutes at 80 percent of her capacity, then jog more slowly for three minutes.

Interval training can also be anaerobic, although anaerobic interval training is more appropriate for people who are fitter and want to increase speed and overall aerobic power. Anaerobic training can consist of bouts of very intense exercise, such as sprinting for 30 seconds to four minutes. However, the risk of injury to the musculoskeletal system is high; even trained athletes doing anaerobic interval training should warm up their cardiovascular systems and be sure their muscles are stretched and flexible.

Step 13: Knowledge in ActionNow, let’s get back to your friend and client Amanda and apply what you have learned about the human body. As you’ll recall from the preview of this lesson, Amanda’s body had changed during the last six months. Some of the changes are visible and obvious—those are the changes you both can probably see fairly easily. For example, Amanda’s smaller jeans fit, and her body looks sleek. But she is also changing in ways that neither of you can see as easily.

Exercise has boosted her metabolism; her new focus on eating more vegetables and less refined sugar is forcing her body to work with a different type of fuel, like a car running on gas with a different octane level. Her body may respond to this change in different ways. Depending on the day and her goals, she may feel hungry slightly more often during the day. If you suggest that she eat more small meals during the day, she may notice she’s never ravenous and never sluggishly stuffed.

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Amanda’s muscles are changing, too. Even if Amanda can’t see a difference in the mirror, working out with rubber bands is toning her muscles. Now, she may be able to do things she couldn’t do before—simple things, like lifting the pressure cooker down from the cupboard. It may be easier for her to carry groceries in from the car or lift her two-year-old from the car seat.

As Amanda exercises, her skeletal system is changing. The walking and resistance training, along with the balanced diet you’ve prescribed, are actually strengthening her bones. She says she sleeps better at night and has more energy; you notice that she is more optimistic and laughs easily. In fact, you find that her attitudes toward food, exercise and her life as a whole are very different than they were at your first session.

When you started working with Amanda, you helped her gauge her starting fitness level. You helped her figure out where she wanted to go and how to get there, choosing an activity to match her interests. You also taught her how to achieve the results she wanted safely by monitoring her body while she exercises. Now, let’s take a look at how you gauged that starting fitness level.

Where am I?Let’s say you want to go to Tahiti. You can picture yourself there. However, it will be difficult for you to get there if you don’t know where you are now. And you need to know specifically—it doesn’t help to say, “I’m in Paris,” when Paris, Texas, isn’t the same as Paris, France.

The same is true when a person, like Amanda, starts a fitness program. Because tape measures and bathroom scales are readily available, people depend too much on height and weight charts to determine how fit they are. But you know that other measurements are better tests for a person’s overall fitness. Taking these measurements is a little more work than standing on the scale in the morning, but the information you and your clients will have is well worth it.

Measuring Fat MassThe standard way to measure fat mass at most gyms is with calipers, an instrument used to measure skinfolds. They’re usually available at health clubs, easy to use and reasonably accurate. But a more accurate method for measuring body fat is underwater weighing, in which you sit on a scale in a tank of water and completely empty your lungs. Unfortunately, this method is obviously not something you or your clients can try at home, although you can pay to have the test done at some facilities, such as sports medicine clinics.

A newer technology is called bioelectrical impedance, which is measured when a small electrical signal carried by water is passed through the body. Electrodes are attached to your hand and your foot, and a signal travels between them. The slower the signal moves between the electrodes, the more fat mass you have. However, the margin of error with bioelectrical impedance can be huge, especially for very overweight or very lean people. Though other new technologies are being developed all the time, they tend to be less reliable than calipers and underwater weighing.

You’ll remember from your previous lessons that the scale doesn’t always tell the whole story. In Amanda’s case, her scale may show a seven-pound weight loss, but body fat measurements can tell her that she actually lost ten pounds of fat and gained three pounds of muscle.

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Measuring Aerobic CapacityYou’ll recall that a client can perform a test to evaluate her aerobic fitness. For example, you have Amanda perform some kind of aerobic activity while her heart rate and blood pressure are monitored closely. Health clubs tend to use a stationary bicycle, treadmill or step bench. For about 15 minutes of exercise, Amanda increases her intensity every three or four minutes; the goal is to get to about 75 percent to 85 percent of her maximum heart rate. One minute after the exercise is complete, her blood pressure and heart rate are measured again to see how quickly she recovered from the aerobic activity.

It’s possible to measure a client’s aerobic capacity without any equipment other than a stopwatch and place to walk or run that’s exactly one mile. After the client warms up by walking slowly for five to 10 minutes, time him as he walks or runs the one-mile course as briskly as possible. Take his pulse right before he stops. Write down the pulse, as well as the time it took the client to finish the course. One minute later, take the client’s pulse again to see how far it’s dropped. Make a note of that, too. Then, repeat the test in two months to gauge progress.

Strength and FlexibilityIn a future lesson, we’ll get into the details of testing and increasing flexibility. For some people, simply trying to touch their toes is an eye-opening experience. However flexible a client is, be sure to make a note of it so that she can see progress in a few months.

To measure a client’s strength, go to the gym and ask her to lift weights, or you can test her outside of the gym. To test her upper-body strength, ask her to do as many pushups as she can. To test her abdominal strength, ask her to do as many abdominal crunches as she can. To test her lower body, she can do squats. For each strength test, take into account information specific to the client—for example, lower-back problems would probably prevent her from doing the abdominal crunches.

What Do I Do to Change?If you’re looking for a recommendation about the best type of exercise to do, consider that the best exercise is the one you or your client actually will do. Professional fitness trainers and sports medicine consultants can argue about whether basketball or running is the perfect exercise. But if a client like Amanda would prefer to watch TV to playing basketball, she’s less likely to get off the couch.

That said, we do know something about the types of exercises that are effective when it comes to improving cardiovascular fitness. The most effective aerobic exercises tend to be rhythmic, continuous and involve the large muscle groups—usually the lower body. However, a combination of upper- and lower-body muscles works fine, too. Activities that increase aerobic capacity include jogging, stair-climbing, swimming and cross-country skiing.

Various sports medicine and fitness groups have charts that describe the intensity of various aerobic activities, sometimes measured in aerobic capacity and sometimes in calories burned. You can get information for everything from pitching horseshoes to running six-minute miles.

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Exercise IntensityFor cardiorespiratory training benefits—strengthening your heart and improving your cells’ ability to manufacture energy—exercising at 40 percent to 85 percent of your VO2 max or 55 percent to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate is recommended. Beginners will benefit from exercising at 40 percent to 50 percent of VO2 max, but even 50 percent to 60 percent is a good goal to have.

Target Heart RateAfter you determine that a client, like Amanda, for example, is in relatively good health, you agree that she can start exercising at an intensity that she can measure by calculating 65 percent of her heart rate reserve. Let’s say that Amanda is 32 years old, and her resting heart rate is 70 beats per minute. Earlier in the lesson you learned the formula:

220 – a person’s age = predicted maximum heart rate

In Amanda’s case, the equation would be 220 – 32 = 188. The number 188 is Amanda’s predicted maximum heart rate. Once you have the predicted maximum heart rate, you plug it into the following equation:

Predicted maximum heart rate – resting heart rate = heart rate reserve

Again, we’ll use Amanda as our example. Her equation would be 188 (predicted maximum heart rate) – 70 (resting heart rate) = 118 (heart rate reserve)

Lastly, you take the heart rate reserve and insert it into the following equation:

Heart rate reserve x desired intensity + resting heart rate = target heart rate

For Amanda, the equation is 118 (heart rate reserve) x .65 (65 percent intensity) = 76.7 + 70 (resting heart rate) = 146.7

So, to exercise at 65 percent intensity, Amanda needs to keep her heart rate at or near 147 beats per minute. To know where she is, she’ll have to measure her pulse periodically during her workout. The math is easiest if you count a pulse for six seconds and multiply the result by 10. If Amanda’s heart beats 18 times in six seconds, it works out to 180 beats per minute. In this case, Amanda should ease up a bit to get her heart rate at or near 147 beats.

Perceived ExertionAnother popular way to rate the intensity of exercise is for the client to assign a number to the intensity. Official scales ranging from zero to 10 and from six to 20 have been developed, and you can show these to your client. Using the client’s perceived intensity of working out tells you, the personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, a lot of information about the client’s mental and physical fatigue.

Although this rating is based on perception and is therefore subjective, research shows that estimates of perceived exertion correlate with cardiorespiratory and metabolic factors, such as heart rate, breathing rate, oxygen consumption and overall fatigue.

An other unofficial, subjective method for rating the intensity of exercise is called the talk-test method. Amanda should be able to breathe comfortably, in a steady rhythm, throughout all phases of her workout—especially as she’s just beginning. She should be able to carry on a limited conversation, but she shouldn’t be able to sing.

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As you can see, there are a number of ways to gauge a client’s fitness level. Now, before we conclude this lesson, let’s take a moment to review what you’ve just read.


1. The human body can live without oxygen for _____.a. up to two minutesb. between 10 and 12 minutesc. between eight and 12 minutesd. between three and five minutes

2. Oxygen _____.a. prevents homeostasisb. is necessary for producing energyc. is controlled by coronary circulationd. is required for any muscular movement

3. The term aerobic means _____.a. with oxygenb. without oxygenc. with carbon dioxided. the same thing as the term anaerobic

4. When you first start moving after sitting still, _____.a. both numbers of your blood pressure increaseb. your heartbeat dropsc. your systolic blood pressure goes up, while the diastolic blood pressure stays

the same or dropsd. your breathing rate drops

5. VO2 max is _____.a. the point at which the body’s cells stop using oxygen to manufacture energyb. a person’s minimum aerobic capacityc. the point at which the cells begin using oxygen to manufacture energyd. a person’s minimum anaerobic capacity

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6. The standard way to measure fat mass at most gyms is with _____.a. a scaleb. bioelectrical impedancec. calipersd. an underwater scale

7. Once you have the predicted maximum heart rate, you plug it into which of the following equations? _____a. Predicted maximum heart rate – resting heart rate = heart rate reserveb. Resting heart rate – predicted maximum heart rate = heart rate reservec. Heart rate reserve x desired intensity + resting heart rate = target heart rate d. 226 – a woman’s age = predicted maximum heart rate


Step 16: Lesson SummaryThe human body is amazing. In some senses, it is a machine—it requires fuel, produces waste, needs to be tuned up occasionally and works better when it’s used often.

But the body is much more than a machine—it has the capacity to change, just as you learned in this lesson. We talked about the four components of body weight and why both strength and flexibility are important. You learned about the cardiovascular and respiratory systems and the role oxygen plays in your body. We discussed the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise, and you now know how to measure fat mass, aerobic fitness and activity levels; calculate target heart rates; and gauge workout intensity.

In the next lesson, we will discuss nutrition. You will learn about food components, vitamins and minerals. We’ll also teach you to calculate the calories needed to maintain weight, increase muscle mass or decrease fat mass.

By learning the ins and outs of your body’s physiology, you have new information that can help you make the most of the body you have and help your clients do the same. Your knowledge of physiology will only help you as you tackle your next lesson and embark on your new career as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist!


Lesson 5 Nutrition 101


● Identify the components of food and the purpose each component serves.

● Determine the functions of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fatty acids in the body.

● Describe the Food Guide Pyramid and how nutrition guidelines have changed during the previous decades.

● Discuss the effects of salt, processed sugar and caffeine on the body.

● Calculate the calories needed to maintain weight, increase muscle mass or decrease fat mass.

Step 2: Lesson PreviewDo you remember when you were a child and your parents told you to eat your vegetables? Well, like it or not, Mom and Dad knew best! Stressing a healthy diet is not a new phenomenon, but it is only recently that modern science uncovered the numerous health benefits of eating well. New studies regarding the effects of various foods and food components on short- and long-term health are released to the public daily; much of this information affects the way we eat. The field of nutrition continually evolves. What was considered healthy a generation—or even a decade—ago may no longer prove beneficial to one’s health.

As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, it will be your job to stay up to date on nutrition issues that affect people’s health and well-being. Educating your clients about nutrition as it relates to fitness will be an essential aspect of your services. You will also need to know the difference between nutrition facts and fads as your clients ask you about information they’ve read in magazines or seen on television. Keep in mind that the ever-changing subject of nutrition just increases the need for guidance in this field. As more people have questions about nutrition, more will turn to person fitness trainers and nutritional specialists for answers. And this, of course, means more clients—and income—for you!

In this lesson, you will learn about the basics of nutrition and how what a person eats influences overall health and the success of a fitness program. You will examine both the short- and long-term impacts of diet on the body and how the different components of food can affect the body in positive and negative ways. Also, you’ll learn a bit about food allergies and intolerances.

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When you give your body healthy foods, it returns the favor by performing at its best. Likewise, the more dedicated you are to your studies, the more you will gain from this course and the better you will be able to perform in your new career as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist. By devoting the time and effort to learning this material, you will reap the endless benefits of a fun and rewarding job. Your future awaits! Are you ready to take the next step toward it? Read on!

Step 3: The Relationship Between Fitness and NutritionThroughout this course, we have stressed the importance of the nutrition component when it comes to addressing an individual’s health and fitness. As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, it will be your job to educate your clients regarding nutrition as it pertains to their fitness program and goals. A client who lacks the understanding of basic nutrition principles can sabotage her fitness program without even realizing it. When it comes to achieving optimum fitness, taking in the right foods in the right amounts often is critical to the client’s success. Let’s begin by taking a look at the macronutrients, which are the three nutrients that provide the body with its energy needs. The macronutrients are carbohydrates, protein and fat.

CarbohydratesCarbohydrates provide the body with a source of energy. We need them to do everything from walking and jumping to skipping and running. The three main types of carbohydrates are simple sugars, complex carbohydrates and dietary fiber. Simple sugars require little or no digestion before the body can use them. They provide the body with quick bursts of energy followed by a drop in blood sugar—and energy level. Blood sugar is the concentration of glucose in the blood. Simple sugars are found in high amounts in foods, such as fruit and fruit juices, candy, soft drinks and sweeteners including corn syrup, honey and table sugar.

In contrast to the quick, short-lived bursts of energy that simple sugars provide, complex carbohydrates provide the body with a more sustained source of energy. Complex carbohydrates include fresh fruits and vegetables, beans and natural whole grains. Whole-grain sources of complex carbohydrates are most beneficial to the body and include oatmeal, whole-wheat bread and Cheerios. Whole-grain, complex carbohydrates are broken down and released into the bloodstream more slowly than simple sugars; therefore, they keep a person’s blood sugar level even while helping him feel satisfied for a longer period of time.

All carbohydrates provide four calories per gram, while dietary fiber provides zero calories per gram. Dietary fiber is the substance in plants that we eat. The body cannot digest fiber, yet it is an important part of our diets. Coincidentally, the typical American gets plenty of simple sugars and refined carbohydrates through diet but consumes much less dietary fiber. Good sources of dietary fiber include bran cereal, pinto beans, black beans and avocado. Dietary fiber is important for healthy digestion, and 20 to 30 grams is the recommended daily serving for adults.

The popularity of low-carbohydrate diets has given carbohydrates a bad name in recent years. However, eating carbohydrates supplies the body with needed energy and nutrients while serving a multitude of other purposes. The important things to remember when choosing carbohydrates is to pick whole grains instead of refined starches and to eat foods that are good sources of dietary fiber. Exercising without eating carbohydrates is like driving a car without gas. The body will find it difficult to perform properly without a source of energy; therefore, carbohydrates are an important component of a healthy and balanced diet.

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ProteinLike carbohydrates, protein also provides four calories per gram. The body uses protein in the construction and maintenance of muscle, bone and organ tissue. Protein also plays an important role in the manufacture of hormones, antibodies and red and white blood cells.

Amino acids, the “building blocks” of protein, are the substances that make up protein. Many amino acids are essential, meaning the body cannot make them by itself, so they must be provided by the diet. Nonessential amino acids are those the body makes in sufficient amounts on its own. Amino acids don’t stay stored in the body for long, so it is important that a person ingests enough essential amino acids each day to provide the body with an adequate source of protein.

Complete protein sources provide all the essential amino acids in an adequate quantity to enable the body to form protein. Complete proteins are found in animal products, such as milk, meat and eggs. However, these products often get a bad reputation because they have a higher content of fat—even if it is unsaturated fat.

In contrast, incomplete proteins lack one or more of the essential amino acids needed to make protein. Sources of incomplete protein are found in plant products, such as rice and beans, and must be combined with one another to provide all the essential amino acids needed. Food combining allows vegetarians to provide their bodies with all the essential components of protein.

When a person exercises, he breaks down muscle tissue. Therefore, protein is needed to help rebuild muscle fibers following workouts. Aside from amino acids, food sources of protein also provide several other essential nutrients, including zinc, iron and Vitamin B12. In choosing lean sources of protein, people can avoid excess saturated fat and calories while providing their bodies with an adequate amount of this food component.

FatThe third component of our diet is fats, and they serve several important functions in the body. First, fat provides nine calories per gram, making it an extremely concentrated energy source, especially for endurance activities. Fat remains in the stomach for a longer period of time than carbohydrates or protein, helping us feel full longer. In the body, fat serves as an essential component of cells, making them flexible and able to transfer nutrients from cell to cell. It also cushions and insulates the body’s internal organs.

Fat is needed to carry essential fatty acids, fat-soluble vitamins and phytochemicals throughout the body. Essential fatty acids are a particular component of fat, and they are needed to produce certain hormones. As with the essential amino acids, the diet must provide the essential fatty acids since the body is unable to manufacture them on its own.

Now, let’s discuss the following types of fat:

● Omega-3

● Omega-6

● Monounsaturated

● Saturated

● Trans

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The omegas are types of polyunsaturated fats and are the essential fats crucial for building a strong immune system and healthy skin. We must get these fats from our diet. Omega-3s protect people from age-related ailments, such as heart disease, some cancers, immune disorders and arthritis. Good sources of these are salmon, flaxseed meal and oil, nuts, soybeans and canola oils. Omega-6s keep skin and brain function healthy, but people need less of these omegas, and our diet supplies these readily. Some sources of these omegas are corn, sunflower and other vegetable oils.

Monounsaturated fat is a good fat since getting the majority of fats in this form helps lower cholesterol levels and heart disease risk. Sources of this type of fat are olive, canola and peanut oils.

Saturated fats increase cholesterol levels, thus raising the risk for heart disease. This form of fat is found in butter, margarine, fatty meats, full-fat dairy products and most fast foods.

Trans fat is formed when vegetable oils are hydrogenated. These fats are as harmful as saturated fats are to heart health. Trans fat is found in most crackers, chips, margarine and fast foods. It is listed as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated in an item’s ingredients. It offers no nutritional value.

Since fat is the most calorie-dense food component, consuming foods that contain little or no fat is one way that many people reduce the number of calories they consume and lose weight. Research about the benefits of including the right types of fat in the diet and the vital role that fat plays in the body helped ease the fat-free frenzy that gripped the diet industry in the past. Still, misinformation regarding dietary fat exists, so it is important that personal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists educate their clients regarding the correct types and amounts of fat to include in their diets.

As you can see, some types of fats serve many purposes and are vital to the function of a healthy body. Despite all this, fat can cause problems in the body when too much or the wrong kinds of it are ingested. In general, fat intake should represent up to 30 percent of the average person’s diet. Because high-fat foods are so dense in calories, ingesting too many of them can lead to obesity and weight gain. Furthermore, saturated and trans fats can have adverse health effects and contribute to the development of several of the lifestyle diseases we discussed in Lesson 2. By eating these foods in moderation and choosing foods containing unsaturated fats including fish, olive oil and nuts, a person will be able to provide her body with the dietary fat necessary while controlling caloric intake.

What’s in a LabelTo people who have never been educated regarding food contents and ingredients, food labels can look like a foreign language. This makes it difficult to apply what’s on the label to health. When it comes to educating clients regarding nutrition, it is important that the personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist teaches clients how to understand food labels. This allows the client to make educated food choices.

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It wasn’t always easy to see what a food contained. The Food and Drug Administration did not begin regulating food labels until 1924. And while the amount of information mandatory on food labels has increased through time, the food label with which we are familiar today did not become standard until 1990. Labels must now:

● Contain a column called Percent Daily Value that explains how the food fits into a healthy diet

● Contain information about the amount of saturated fat, cholesterol, fiber, sugar and calories from fat

● Contain serving sizes

● Adhere to strict government regulations if claims that a food is light or low fat are made to ensure consistency

When we read food labels, we see the total number of calories in a product by protein, carbohydrates and fats, as well as the level of cholesterol and sodium. Clients should be taught to examine the ingredient lists of the packaged foods they buy and to avoid products that contain trans fats—those partially hydrogenated oils that we just learned about—and refined carbohydrates or large amounts of processed sugar. We will discuss sugar and sodium in greater detail later in this lesson.

When it comes to food labels and a person’s health, there is no doubt that knowledge is power. The more a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist can educate her client regarding the food label, the more she can empower the client to take charge of his health.

Step 4: Vitamins and MineralsNow that we’ve discussed food labels and the components of food, let’s talk about the importance of vitamins and minerals.

VitaminsVitamins are chemical substances that serve a wide variety of purposes in the body. They regulate the chemical processes responsible for converting ingested food into an energy source that the body can use. Vitamins also feed metabolism, aid in cell rejuvenation and help process the foods you eat, which in turn helps keep your skin, muscles and bones healthy. Vitamins assemble proteins and allow these proteins to build and repair body tissue. To date, 13 vitamins have been discovered, and it is possible that more will be identified in the future. Failure to consume any one of these essential vitamins results in a deficiency disease.

Vitamins are typically split into two categories: water-soluble and fat-soluble. Fat-soluble vitamins dissolve in fat and are stored in the liver and body fat. Because they can remain in the body for a fairly long period, deficiencies of fat-soluble vitamins usually take time to develop. The four fat-soluble vitamins are vitamins A, D, E and K. The remaining vitamins are water-soluble and can only be stored in the body in small amounts at a time. The body will eliminate excess amounts of water-soluble vitamins, and deficiencies in these vitamins can develop within a few weeks to several months.

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Taking in too much or too little of a vitamin tends to have adverse health effects. Getting too much of a vitamin from food sources alone is nearly impossible, so vitamin overdose tends to be the result of over-supplementation. The best way to ensure an adequate intake of vitamins is to eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day as a part of a balanced diet. Some people may also choose to take a daily multivitamin to further protect themselves from deficiencies.

Vitamins that Affect Muscle Function and Bone DensityThere are several vitamins that, when taken in adequate amounts, contribute to proper energy utilization, improve exercise performance and play an important role in the tissue repair that must take place following exercise. Specifically, several of the B vitamins, including thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12 and pantothenic acid, help the body release energy from or metabolize food, build proteins and repair muscle tissue.

Folate or folic acid is important in the fight against heart disease. It may also prevent cervical, lung and colon cancer. Adequate intake of the B vitamins aids in stress reduction, and their muscle-building function helps in the efficiency with which a person metabolizes food, thus aiding weight loss. Meats of all types are good sources of B vitamins as are ready-to-eat cereals, milk, yogurt and cheeses.

Similar to muscle, bone is broken down during exercise—especially during weight-bearing activity—and then rebuilt to an increased density during the rest periods between workouts. Vitamins D and K play an essential role in the bone formation that occurs following exercise. Specifically, these vitamins are needed for the bones to absorb calcium and phosphorus, both of which contribute to bone density.

Good sources of Vitamin D include eggs, fish, liver and Vitamin D-fortified milk, while Vitamin K is found in green, leafy vegetables and grain products. In addition to getting Vitamin D through dietary sources, a person can produce a day’s supply of this vitamin simply by exposing the hands and face to sunlight for five to 10 minutes.

MineralsMinerals are elements that originate from the earth’s soil and water but are needed in our bodies. Our bodies do not metabolize minerals, but in small yet vital amounts they assist the body’s physical performance and overall health. Even though our bodies need only small amounts of minerals, getting the adequate amounts is sometimes a challenge. Our bodies absorb minerals poorly, and this is why we need to ingest larger amounts than needed. Red meat is a source of minerals.

Minerals are substances that carry a charge. Like a magnet, minerals with opposite charges combine to form bones, teeth, cartilage and other tissues. Minerals are also responsible for muscle contraction, nerve function, water regulation, aiding in metabolism and a variety of other processes in the body. Minerals also work with enzymes and can serve as electrolytes for the body. Furthermore, some minerals serve as structural components of the body. There are 15 essential minerals that the diet must provid, and much like vitamins, inadequate intake of any one of these substances results in a deficiency disease. Excessive amounts may cause equally serious health problems.

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Minerals can be grouped into two categories, major and trace, by the amount of that mineral found in the body. The major minerals are calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and sodium. Our bodies require more than 50 milligrams per day of these minerals. Trace minerals include chromium, copper, fluoride, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium and zinc. Our bodies require fewer than 50 milligrams per day of these minerals. Major minerals are also referred to as macrominerals, and trace minerals can be called microminerals.

Minerals that Affect Muscle Function and Bone DensityWe just discussed the importance of bone reformation following exercise. Because several essential minerals serve as structural components of bone, getting adequate amounts of these is vital to the process of bone remodeling. Calcium is the most abundant mineral found in bone, but other minerals, including phosphorus and fluoride, also serve to make bones strong and resistant to thinning. In addition to these structural components of bone, the mineral manganese plays an important role in the process of bone formation.

You probably remember learning about osteoporosis in a previous lesson. The key to preventing osteoporosis lies in building strong bones—especially during the first 30 years of life, as this is the prime time for bone formation—and keeping the bones dense throughout life. A person can keep her bones strong and prevent osteoporosis in three ways:

● Consume adequate dietary calcium

● Exercise regularly

● Perform weight-bearing activities

Certain foods such as skim milk, low-fat yogurt, broccoli and kale, are all healthy sources of calcium. Studies also suggest that calcium may help the body burn fat more efficiently, making calcium-rich foods a doubly important part of a healthy diet!

Thanks to modern medicine, those who suffer from thinning bones can now get help. A weight-lifting program, along with proper diet and calcium supplementation, are often prescribed.

Several minerals play a role in energy and protein formation and thus are important to those participating in an exercise program. Zinc, found in meat and nuts, is required in the formation of protein from amino acids, while magnesium, which is found in peanuts and green vegetables, serves a similar function. Phosphorus, found in fish, poultry and milk products, is involved in energy formation.

Sodium, potassium and chloride are three minerals that work together to maintain an appropriate fluid balance in the body. This is especially important when it comes to hydration practices during exercise. The influences of water and dehydration on the body will be discussed in greater detail later in this lesson. Good sources of potassium include bananas, tomatoes, potatoes and milk products, while sodium and chloride are both found in salad dressing, cured foods and table salt.

To learn more about all of the vitamins and minerals that we discussed in this section, examine the following charts.

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Adapted from the National Academies Press. “Dietary Reference Reports,” at www.nap.edu.

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Adapted from the National Academies Press. “Dietary Reference Reports,” at www.nap.edu.

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Now, before we go on with this lesson, let’s review what you’ve learned so far with the following Practice Exercise.


1. A client who lacks the understanding of basic nutrition principles can _____.a. still get the best results from her fitness programb. sabotage her fitness program without even realizing itc. easily achieve optimum fitnessd. eat too many fruits and vegetables

2. Which of the following is one of the three main types of carbohydrates? a. Amino acidsb. Essential fatty acidsc. Simple sugarsd. Protein

3. Which of the following types of carbohydrates requires little or no digestion before the body can use it? a. Complex carbohydratesb. Simple sugarsc. Whole wheat breadd. Brown rice

4. Which of the following foods contains a high amount of simple sugars? a. Apple juiceb. Oatmealc. Chickend. Cheerios

5. Whole grains keep a person’s blood sugar level even and keep him satisfied for a longer period of time because _____.a. they contain high amounts of proteinb. they are broken down slowly by the bodyc. people eat large quantities of themd. they always contain fat

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6. Which type of carbohydrate has no caloric value? a. Complex carbohydratesb. Simple sugarsc. Dietary fiberd. Complex sugars

7. Vitamins are typically split into two categories: _____.a. water-soluble and mineralsb. water-soluble and fat-solublec. minerals and fat-solubled. major and trace

8. Failure to consume adequate amounts of a vitamin results in _____.a. increased hungerb. a greater need for other vitaminsc. a deficiency diseased. a lifestyle disease

9. Which of the following vitamins plays an essential role in bone formation? a. Vitamin B12b. Vitamin Cc. Vitamin Ad. Vitamin D

10. _____ are elements that originate from the earth’s soil and water but are needed in our bodies. a. Carbohydratesb. Fatsc. Mineralsd. Vitamins

11. _____ is the most abundant mineral found in bone.a. Magnesiumb. Zincc. Potassiumd. Calcium

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12. Bananas are a good source of _____.a. potassiumb. phosphorusc. zincd. magnesium


Step 7: MyPlate GuidelinesHealthy diets are adequate and balanced, meaning they supply the body with all the essential nutrients in the proper amounts that it needs to function at its best. The average American diet is unbalanced in several ways. Most people eat too much sugar, salt, and saturated and trans fats, while consuming too few fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Let’s take a look at what the government has done during the past several years to educate Americans about what to eat.

A History of Dietary GuidelinesFood group guides have been a part of the American diet for several decades. You may remember the Basic Four Food Groups model, which was introduced in 1956 and served as the guide to balanced eating for nearly four decades. The Basic Four Food Groups described the minimum number of servings a person should get from each of the food groups each day. The food groups were the milk group, meat group, fruit and vegetable group and bread group.

In 1992, the Food Guide Pyramid replaced the Basic Four Food Groups. This version contained five food groups and gave a range of servings a person should eat from each group depending on the person’s activity level, age and caloric need.

The base of the 1992 pyramid was the Bread, Cereal, Rice and Pasta group. The recommendation was that people get six to 11 servings from this group each day. Located one tier up on the pyramid was the Vegetable Group—three to five servings per day—and the Fruit Group—two to four servings per day. By giving fruits and vegetables each their own group, the intention was that people would eat more from both groups. The next tier included the Milk, Yogurt and Cheese Group and the Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs and Nuts Group. The recommendation was two to three servings daily from each of these groups.

The top of the pyramid was a reminder to use fats, oils and sweets sparingly. These 1992 food group labels gave people a better idea as to the many foods that fit into each group as a part of a balanced diet. The pyramid stressed the importance of eating foods from each group every day.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services created the Food Guide Pyramid. It served as a general guide as to what the average American should eat each day to follow an adequate and balanced diet and maintain a healthy weight. In 2000, the pyramid was again updated to bring the focus to how diet can ward off chronic diseases. The dietary guidelines were designed to educate people about how to prepare foods that decreased their risk of developing diet-related chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis and certain cancers.

In 2010, MyPyramid became MyPlate to help Americans make better choices about food. MyPlate illustrates the five food groups using a familiar mealtime visual, a place setting. Creators of MyPlate hope that this visual will remind Americans to eat healthier. ChooseMyPlate.gov includes much of the same information included from www.mypryamid.gov. For example, Americans are encouraged to do the following:

● Enjoy your food, but eat less.

● Avoid oversized portions.

● Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.

● Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.

● Make at least half your grains whole grains.

● Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread and frozen meals in order to choose foods with lower sodium.

● Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

Since the advent of the original Food Guide Pyramid, new information in the field of nutrition has come to light that affects the use of it. For example, we now know that not all grains are nutritionally equal. People should choose foods, such as whole-wheat bread, whole-grain cereals and brown rice, instead of white bread, white rice and refined pasta.

Choosing low- or no-fat milk, cheese and yogurt instead of full-fat versions helps control the ingestion of saturated fat and calories. The importance of eating fish for its essential fatty acids has recently come to light, and new nutrition guidelines recommend eating low-mercury, fatty fish two or more times a week. Even the use of fats in our diet has undergone a makeover since the introduction of the original Food Guide Pyramid as we now recognize that certain fats, such as those we studied previously, are essential to our health.

Finally, the importance of fruits and vegetables to a person’s health has led to new guidelines that encourage people to eat more servings from these two food groups. And with all of the food groups, emphasis is put on eating foods closest to their natural forms, with as little processing as possible.

As you can see, the field of health and nutrition evolves all the time, making it important for you, the personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, to stay up to date on new findings. Doing so enables you to educate clients with the most accurate information. You know that your knowledge of nutrition will put you in great demand as you embark on your new career!

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How Much Is a Serving?Educating clients regarding serving size is an important part of any healthy eating plan.

Food Category One Serving SizeGrain Products

1 cup of cereal flakes fist1 pancake compact disc½ cup of cooked rice, pasta or potato ½ baseball1 slice of bread cassette tape1 piece of cornbread bar of soap

Vegetables and Fruit1 cup of salad greens baseball1 baked potato fist1 med. fruit baseball½ cup of fresh fruit ½ baseball¼ cup of raisins large egg

Dairy and Cheese1½ oz. cheese 4 stacked dice or 2 cheese slices½ cup of ice cream ½ baseball

Fats1 tsp. margarine or spreads 1 die

Meat and Alternatives3 oz. meat, fish and poultry deck of cards3 oz. grilled/baked fish checkbook2 Tbsp. peanut butter ping pong ball

One drawback of the guidelines is the failure to address foods that have components from two or more food groups. Many of the foods we eat, such as pizza, tacos and soups, are combination foods, making it difficult for the average American to apply parts of her diet to MyPlate. A personal fitness trainer and nutrition specialist must teach clients to decode the content of various combination foods, helping these foods fit into the new MyPlate eating plan.

A final note to consider when using MyPlate is to remember that the information it contains are guidelines only, and what an individual person needs nutritionally may differ somewhat from the recommendations. In fact, age and the amount of physical activity a person gets affect nutritional needs. For example, a teenager needs more servings of dairy products than a small child or a person in his 50s, because it is during the teen years that the body must build strong bones. Up to age 40, the grains are the most prevalent. However, after age 40, servings from this group aren’t as necessary as people look for ways to cut calories.

As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you will work with each of your clients to find the diet that allows achievement of fitness goals while providing adequate nutrition.

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Step 8: What Else Affects Our Bodies?Now, let’s talk in detail about other substances, such as sodium, processed sugar and caffeine, and examine how they influence our bodies.

SodiumWe’ve already talked about sodium briefly, but now let’s examine it more closely. Sodium has been said to cause a rise in blood pressure and the retention of water. There is truth to both of these claims, but let’s first look at the benefits of sodium. Sodium is vital for fluid balance; thus, during exercise, it:

● increases your thirst, encouraging you to drink

● helps you retain water to aid in preventing dehydration

● replaces water lost through sweating

The human body needs sodium both to maintain proper water balance and for normal nerve and muscle activity. Sodium, more commonly known as salt, draws water to it, ensuring that the proper amount of water is kept both inside and outside the body’s cells. Sodium’s water-attracting abilities explain why we often get thirsty after eating salty foods, such as popcorn or potato chips. Salt in the food we eat draws water away from our cells, causing the body to excrete the water and leave us feeling dehydrated.

As you’ve learned, sodium is an essential mineral that people must ingest for their bodies to function properly. Too little sodium can cause health problems, such as low blood pressure, dizziness, muscle cramps and, in the worst case, coma. However, the majority of Americans get far too much salt in their diets, leading to health problems, such as high blood pressure. Americans tend to get too much sodium as a result of the highly processed modern diet. Sodium and potassium combine to regulate the balance of fluid in cells. However, when too much sodium is taken in, this regulation does not take place. Too much fluid is left in the cells, causing blood volume to expand and leading to high blood pressure.

High blood pressure affects nearly 25 percent of all adults in this country, and the risk of developing it increases as one gets older. High blood pressure is dangerous because its presence greatly increases a person’s chances of having a stroke or heart attack or of developing heart disease or kidney failure.

Rather than coming from the table salt we add to our food, most of the salt we eat is hidden in foods, such as canned soups, salad dressings, lunchmeats and snack foods. Many foods that don’t even taste salty contain a high amount of salt, so the only way of knowing a packaged food’s sodium content is to examine the label.

In addition to limiting sodium intake, losing extra body weight and participation in a regular exercise program have proved helpful in normalizing a person’s high blood pressure, as you learned in Lesson 2. Therefore, those with high blood pressure are often referred to a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist for help in addressing their diet and activity patterns. The personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist must educate the client about reading food labels to help him keep his daily sodium intake at or less than two grams, while also reducing saturated fat and alcohol intake. Clients with high blood pressure can also participate in an exercise program to strengthen their heart and lungs while shedding excess body fat.

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Processed SugarNow, let’s have an in-depth discussion about sugars. Americans eat too many processed sugars. In fact, the average American eats more than double the maximum recommended intake of sugar everyday. Processed sugar occurs in high amounts in many of the packaged foods we eat. Even foods considered healthy by most standards, such as commercial yogurt, some bran cereals and boxed granola bars, often have large amounts of processed sugars in them. Sugar in processed foods goes by a variety of different names, often making it difficult to identify on nutrition labels and ingredient lists. A few of the more common names for sugars include high-fructose corn syrup, sucrose and sorghum syrup.

So, what’s the problem with processed sugar? Many of the accusations regarding sugar, including the idea that it causes hyperactivity in children or type 2 diabetes in adults, have not panned out in scientific studies. The main problem with America’s love of processed sugars is that sugar is one of the few foods that provides calories with little nutritional value. It’s not to say that all sugars are bad. Sugars found in fruit, honey and molasses do provide some nutrients, as well as energy over time. After all, sugar is a carbohydrate that the body turns into glucose, which we discussed in Lesson 4. But when people fill up on processed sugar, they may fail to eat the nutrient-containing foods their bodies need to function correctly, resulting in one or more nutrient deficiencies.

The sweet taste of processed sugars increases the likelihood that people will consume more of these foods. The taste buds become accustomed to artificially sweet foods, and people often forgo naturally sweet foods, such as fruit, missing out on the nutritional value these foods provide. Furthermore, all processed sugars are forms of simple sugars, and unlike the sugar in fruit or honey, they provide only a quick, short-lived source of energy. Such sugars also leave people feeling hungry again shortly after their consumption. As you can see, it’s not so much that sugar itself is harmful to one’s health, but that consuming excess processed sugar often leaves one’s diet nutritionally deficient, leading to poor health.

Sweetener SubstitutesSugar substitutes are a growing market and are put into many foods to reduce calorie content while satisfying America’s ever-growing sweet tooth. Despite their usage, sugar substitutes have not been shown to lead to weight loss. These substitutes do, however, give diabetics an alternative. People with diabetes do not produce enough insulin, and insulin is needed to move glucose, a sugar, into the body’s cells. Therefore, diabetics must control the amount of sugar in their diet, as well as take insulin.

The first artificial sweetener, saccharin or Sweet’ N Low, was used to relieve the sugar shortage America experienced during the World Wars. It was taken off the market for a brief time during the late 1970s after high doses of the substance were found to cause cancer in laboratory animals. Today, products containing saccharin must display a warning label regarding its cancer-causing properties, and some countries, including Canada, permanently banned its usage.

Available since the early 1980s, aspartame or NutraSweet is now used to sweeten several thousands of products worldwide. Aspartame is made of two amino acids. This sugar substitute provides four calories per gram, but because it is 400 times as sweet as ordinary table sugar, very little is needed to sweeten products. This makes it a good choice for use in diet soft drinks, whipped toppings and yogurt. Unfortunately, aspartame breaks down when it is heated, and this prevents its usage in a number of products. Furthermore, some individuals develop unpleasant side effects when they ingest aspartame, including headaches, dizziness or anxiety.

One more artificial sweetener that is gaining popularity is sucralose or Splenda. Sucralose is highly sweet, provides no calories and can be heated. This makes it ideal for use in baked goods and frostings.

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CaffeineCaffeine occurs in coffee, cocoa, soft drinks, some teas and medications. America’s demand for coffee products has exploded in recent years, and many people rely on caffeine to remain alert and energetic throughout the day. Unfortunately, consuming too much caffeine may result in sleeplessness at night, among other health risks and issues. Furthermore, many people rely on the energy boost they get from caffeine-containing products and find the use of these products to be habit forming. The headaches that tend to occur when people are deprived of their regular caffeine fix also contribute to the continued usage of these products.

AlcoholAlcohol also influences the body. Within five minutes of its consumption, alcohol begins to take effect. It enters the bloodstream, slowing reaction time and affecting awareness, speech and coordination. In large amounts, the consumption of alcohol leads to vomiting and unconsciousness. Long-term effects of alcohol include damage to the liver and pancreas and an increased risk of heart disease. Alcohol contains seven calories per gram, and these calories offer no nutritional benefits.

SmokingCigarette smoking is the main preventable cause of death and illness in the United States. Smoking harms nearly every organ in the body, including the heart, blood vessels, lungs, eyes, mouth, reproductive organs, bones, bladder and digestive organs.

The chemicals in tobacco smoke harm the blood cells. They also can damage the function of the heart and the structure and function of blood vessels. This damage increases the risk of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a disease in which a waxy substance called plaque builds up in the arteries. Over time, plaque hardens and narrows the arteries, limiting the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the organs and other parts of the body.

Smoking is a major risk factor for heart disease. Smoking can cause coronary artery disease (CAD) and coronary heart disease (CHD), which can lead to chest pain, heart attack, heart failure, arrhythmias or even death.

Step 9: All About CholesterolDo you remember briefly talking about cholesterol in Lesson 2? Cholesterol is a fatty substance that can clog arteries. While an excess of cholesterol can cause health problems, this substance actually serves many useful and even vital purposes in the human body, and you wouldn’t want to be without it! Cholesterol is found in every cell in the body, is an important component of the brain and nerves and is vital to the production of several hormones.

Cholesterol LevelsCholesterol comes from two main sources. The liver produces the majority of the cholesterol we have in our bodies, while the rest comes from our diets. Only animal products contain cholesterol, so the main dietary sources of this oily liquid are milk, meats and eggs. Even lean animal products contain some cholesterol, yet it is not considered to be an essential nutrient since the liver makes it naturally. Adults should eat less than 300 milligrams of cholesterol per day. However, cholesterol intake isn’t the only factor that influences cholesterol level.

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While high dietary cholesterol can raise a person’s blood cholesterol levels, eating saturated and trans fats is the main culprit. Another important factor in determining what a person’s blood cholesterol levels will be is genetic background. Some people are naturally more sensitive to even small amounts of fat and cholesterol. Because high cholesterol levels are related to the development of heart disease, it is important for people to keep an eye on their levels. However, not all cholesterol is created equal, and one type is actually good for the heart.

Types of CholesterolWhen it comes to nutritional value, not all carbohydrates are created equal. Many of the bread and cereal products available today are processed to improve their taste and texture. Unfortunately, when food is processed, much of the naturally occurring nutritional value is removed. A case in point is white bread, which contains very little wheat kernel. As you have learned, consuming whole-wheat bread is better than eating white bread. However, food companies usually enrich their nutritionally void white breads with some vitamins and minerals and present them as a nutritious food. The problem is that most of the fiber, wheat bran and wheat germ have been removed, leaving a food product that acts more like a simple sugar in the body instead of providing the sustained energy that foods made from whole grains offer.

Eating processed sources of carbohydrates leads to a diet lacking in fiber—an important part of a healthy diet. Fiber helps reduce LDL cholesterol, improve digestion and prevent ulcers, heartburn and some types of cancer. LDL, or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, is known as the harmful type of cholesterol. We’ll discuss lipoproteins further in a later lesson. You already know that whole grains also digest more slowly than refined carbohydrates, making people feel fuller longer and leading to sustained energy. This is why eating whole grains often helps people consume fewer calories throughout the day.

HDL, or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, is the cholesterol that is considered “good” because it removes cholesterol from the blood and takes it to the liver, where the body can excrete it. When it comes to cholesterol, the key to health lies in lowering the LDL level while raising the HDL level. Let’s take a look at the many factors that determine our good and bad cholesterol levels.

Many of the factors that decrease bad (LDL) cholesterol also increase good (HDL) cholesterol. Therefore, paying special attention to these key factors can doubly affect an individual’s health. Adequate amounts of physical activity and regular exercise raise good cholesterol as does body fat loss in overweight people. Conversely, smoking, being overweight and eating a diet high in cholesterol and saturated and trans fats all raise bad levels while lowering good levels.

There are also several dietary factors that work to lower a person’s bad cholesterol level, including eating more unsaturated fats, less saturated or animal fats and more foods rich in soluble fiber, such as oats, fruit and dried beans. As you can see, diet and exercise play key roles in determining an individual’s cholesterol levels. Modifying these factors can reduce the risk of heart disease while improving overall health.

Step 10: Allergic or Intolerant?Nearly half of all Americans claim to be allergic to one or more foods. Actually, the percentage of people with food allergies is probably closer to one percent of the adult population. However, food allergies cause a variety of problems, from stomachaches and rashes to death. Let’s take a look at what causes food allergies and some common foods that give people trouble.

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Food Allergy Versus Food IntoleranceShaun is an eight-year-old second-grader with a severe allergy to peanuts. Even touching peanut butter or being in the same room with people who are consuming peanut products can trigger a severe, life-threatening reaction. The school Shaun attends takes special precautions by keeping other children from bringing peanut products into the classroom or eating these products near Shaun during lunch. When grocery shopping, Shaun’s mother must be careful not to select packaged items that are processed on the same equipment as peanut-containing products.

So what causes people like Shaun to develop hives, rashes, respiratory problems, stomachaches and even go into shock when exposed to certain foods that are harmless to others? The answer lies in a person’s immune system. When a person has a food allergy, his immune system reacts to substances in that food much like it would a virus or bacteria—it produces antibodies. Antibodies are special proteins that combat anything the body considers to be a foreign invader. Antibodies also tell the body to release a substance called histamine that is responsible for the symptoms of an allergic individual.

Currently, the only treatment for food allergies is avoidance of the food. Some infants with food allergies outgrow these allergies by early childhood. The most common food allergies are to cow’s milk, eggs, nuts, peanuts, seafood and wheat. The presence of a food allergy can be confirmed using skin prick tests; however, these tests often give false positives.

In contrast to food allergies, food intolerances do not involve a person’s immune system but may still result in adverse or uncomfortable reactions to certain foods. One common food intolerance is lactose intolerance, in which a person’s body has difficulty digesting the type of sugar contained in milk. People with this food intolerance experience stomachaches after ingesting milk or other dairy products. Other food substances people commonly exhibit intolerances to include red wine, aged cheeses and sulfites.

When developing an individual nutrition program for a client, it is important that a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist consider any food allergies or intolerances her client might have and plan menus accordingly. If food allergies or intolerances are suspected, the personal fitness trainer should refer the client to a professional who specializes in this field. The presence of an undetected allergy or intolerance can be a frustrating piece of a person’s wellness puzzle, as his moods, overall energy and metabolism are the most common things affected.

Now let’s review what you learned in this section. Then, we will talk about the importance of water.


1. In 1992, the _____ replaced the Basic Four Food Groups.a. Fruits and Vegetables Groupb. Dietary Guidelinesc. Food Guide Pyramidd. Basic Five Food Groups

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2. _____ is an example of one serving of vegetables. a. One-half cup of leafy green vegetablesb. One-half cup of cooked vegetablesc. One cup of cooked vegetablesd. Three bananas

3. The human body needs sodium to _____.a. keep its bones strongb. maintain proper water balancec. insulate cellsd. aid in the repair of ligaments

4. ____ percent of American adults are affected by high blood pressure.a. Fiveb. Tenc. Twenty-fived. Thirty-five

5. Which of the following is another name for processed simple sugars? a. Splendab. Aspartamec. Saccharind. Sucrose

6. Consuming too much caffeine can result in _____.a. feeling overly sleepy at nightb. sleeplessness at nightc. infertility in womend. increased fertility in women

7. _____ cholesterol has often been termed the good cholesterol because it removes cholesterol from the blood and takes it to the liver, where the body can excrete it.a. High-lipitorb. HLHc. LDLd. HDL

8. _____ raises bad cholesterol levels while lowering good levels. a. Eating a diet high in cholesterol and saturated and trans fatsb. Eating a diet low in cholesterol and saturated and trans fatsc. Regular exercised. Adequate physical activity

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9. What is the difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance? a. Food intolerances are always more severe than food allergies. b. Food intolerances don’t result in adverse reactions.c. Food allergies involve the immune system.d. Only children have food allergies.


Step 13: Water: The Liquid of LifeOne essential nutrient that is overlooked all too often is water. Like other essential nutrients, the failure to get enough water from the foods and liquids we consume leads to deficiency symptoms. In fact, without water the body cannot survive much longer than about six days. Water is a structural component of muscle, bone, ligament and a variety of other body tissues. It also transports nutrients and waste products while regulating and controlling several body processes. For example, when we get too hot during exercise or other physical activity, water transfers the excess body heat to our skin and releases it in the form of perspiration. This regulates our body temperature.

Adequate hydration when doing any type of physical activity is extremely important. It is recommended that a person drink two cups of water 15 to 20 minutes prior to exercise and continue to replace water losses during a workout by consuming one-half to one cup of water for every 15 minutes of activity.

Heat and humidity increase the body’s need for water, but it is just as important to adequately hydrate the body during cold weather. High-protein diets and alcohol consumption also increase the body’s water needs because they increase urination, thus causing dehydration. Unfortunately, people engaged in activity—especially if it’s physically demanding exercise—cannot rely on the thirst cues that normally indicate their need for hydration. This is because by the time a person realizes she is thirsty, she is already dehydrated. Therefore, it is vital to stick to a hydration schedule before, during and after a workout.

Any amount of dehydration affects a person’s performance. Symptoms of dehydration range from nausea and dizziness to increased body temperature, difficulty moving and quickened heart rate. Extreme cases lead to kidney failure, heat exhaustion and even death. People participating in particularly long and physically demanding activities, such as triathlons or marathons, are at risk of developing a deficiency in sodium, which also is lost during exercise.

Sodium is an electrolyte, and your body needs a balance of electrolytes to function properly. When a person becomes deficient in sodium, an electrolyte imbalance occurs, causing the condition hyponatremia. Hyponatremia can lead to coma and death.

Consuming a sports drink that delivers hydration, sodium, potassium and other electrolytes can prevent sodium deficiency. Some people prefer to drink flavored waters as the pleasant taste ensures that they will drink enough to remain hydrated. Drinking fluoridated water improves dental health, but many people prefer the taste of bottled distilled or spring water, which tends to lack this essential mineral. Some bottled water companies are now adding fluoride to their products because of the demand for this nutrient.

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Step 14: Calculating Caloric NeedsA kilocalorie is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water one degree Celsius. So how does this pertain to food? Well, the energy content of food is generally measured in calories. In this section, you will learn about the three processes that require the body to exert energy and, therefore, calories. You also will discover how to calculate a person’s caloric needs.

Basal Metabolism and Resting MetabolismThe basal metabolic rate, or BMR, refers to the energy required to perform normal, life-sustaining body functions including breathing, temperature regulation, transport of nutrients and heart beat. The resting metabolic rate or RMR includes the caloric need of BMR plus the energy needed to perform daily physical tasks, such as walking, sitting and climbing stairs. RMR is a more common measurement, and even though RMR and BMR often are used interchangeably, it’s important to note they are not the same thing.

Let’s look at an equation used to calculate a person’s RMR.

Men: bodyweight in kilograms x 24.2 Women: bodyweight in kilograms x 22.0

Using this equation, let’s calculate the RMR of a 143-pound woman. First, we must convert the pounds to kilograms. Conversion calculators can be found online. Just search for one and enter the measurements you want to convert. So we convert 143 pounds to 64.8 kilograms using a conversion calculator and multiply 64.8 by 22.0. We find this client has a RMR of about 1,426 calories per day.

It’s important to remember that this formula offers only an estimate. The best way to measure RMR is in a laboratory after fasting overnight and sleeping for eight hours.

Activity LevelA second process that requires energy is physical activity. The energy a person requires to support his physical activity is calculated as a percentage of his resting metabolism needs. For example, an inactive person who sits most of the day and is on his feet or moving slowly less than a total of two hours will need approximately 30 percent of his resting metabolism expenditure to support his activity level.

People who walk or stand for two to four hours during an average day but do no strenuous activity need 50 percent of their resting metabolism for activity, while those who engage in four or more hours of physical activity each day require 75 percent.

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Thermic Effect of FoodA final process that utilizes calories is the thermic effect of food. The thermic effect of food, or TEF, is the energy the body uses to eat and process food. The number of calories the body uses for TEF is estimated at 10 percent of the total number of calories a person uses for RMR and physical activity. For example, a person who uses 1,800 calories for his RMR and activity need would require 180 calories expended for TEF. When calculating this number, remember that the numerical value of 10 percent is 0.1. To get our answer, we just multiplied 1,800 by 0.1.

A person wanting to maintain her present body weight needs to take in the same number of calories that her body expends through RMR, physical activity and TEF combined.

While personal fitness trainers used to work through complicated equations to calculate clients’ caloric needs, technology has made this a thing of the past. Most gyms now have devices that calculate caloric needs. One such device is the Body Gem, which measures a person’s RMR and calculates how many calories he burns each day.

Caloric Needs for Weight Loss and GainThe key to any successful weight-loss program is taking in fewer calories than a person expends through the three calorie-burning processes. The most modifiable of these processes is the amount of physical activity in which a person engages. Therefore, exercise is almost always an important aspect of a weight-loss program. A 3,500-calorie deficit leads to a loss of one pound of body weight. Most people gain weight slowly as a result of consuming slightly more calories than they are able to burn off each day. For example, a person who takes in just 50 calories more than her body uses each day can expect to gain approximately five pounds during the course of a year.

The amount of lean muscle mass a person has can also affect his resting metabolism level because muscle maintenance requires calories. This is why resistance training often leads to weight loss without modifying the number of calories that one consumes. Replacing excess fat with muscle also results in a slimmer, more toned appearance, making resistance training a valuable part of any weight-loss program.

When a person participates in weight-bearing exercise, his muscles are pushed to the point where some of the individual muscle fibers break down. Muscle fibers are long cells that make up the muscles and contract when stimulated. The body then uses the protein it assembles from dietary sources to repair and build the muscle fibers, resulting in a gain in muscle mass. For this reason, it is especially important for people on weight-bearing exercise programs and long-distance runners to provide their bodies with adequate protein intake. In fact, some people, such as bodybuilders, often require more calories than their body weight or activity level would suggest to build and maintain their muscle mass. Starvation diets prevent the body from repairing and maintaining muscle tissue, resulting in decreased muscle mass and a lower resting metabolism.

Even small changes in diet and activity levels can add up to gradual yet significant weight loss, and while they don’t take factors, such as age and metabolism, into account, these changes are often easy to incorporate into daily life. For example, by replacing the juice or soda she drinks with water at one meal, a person can reduce her daily caloric intake by 100 calories, resulting in a weight loss of 10 pounds during the course of a year. Likewise, jogging for 20 minutes three times a week can shave off another 10 pounds during a year’s time. Helping people make small, acceptable and lasting changes in their lifestyle is an important part of a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist’s job.

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Step 15: Nutritional Needs of Young AthletesThe impact of proper nutrition on a young athlete’s performance and its importance in her proper growth and development cannot be stressed enough, yet many coaches overlook the nutrition component when it comes to training their junior-high and high-school athletes. If not educated properly regarding their dietary needs, young athletes may take in diets deficient in energy calories, nutrients or both. As a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist, you may work with young athletes from time to time. Thus, it is important to understand what their bodies need.

When a young girl fails to meet her body’s caloric needs, it often leads to weight loss and delayed maturation, both of which contribute to bone loss and even osteoporosis. Girls at this age should be building their bone density; therefore, adequate dietary calcium is vital, and supplementation in at-risk individuals is also a good idea. Young athletes need to take in extra carbohydrates to fuel their activity and ensure proper development. While wholesome foods are the best sources of fuel for active growing bodies, if time is a factor, nutrition bars and drinks may be helpful in supplementing an athlete’s diet and preventing deficiencies.

Young athletes are also at greater risk for developing dehydration than active adults. One reason for this is because children tend not to think about rehydrating until they feel thirsty. You now know that this means they already are dehydrated. Educating young athletes regarding proper hydration before, during and after activity can help them avoid dehydration and heat stroke. Knowing that eight large gulps from a drinking fountain is equal to one cup of water enables an athlete to better monitor her water intake.

Some young athletes now use creatine, a supplement that claims to improve athletic performance. Creatine use is not recommended in individuals younger than the age of 18. Likewise, young athletes should be cautioned against using amino acid supplements because the long-term effects of these on growth and development are not known. Furthermore, these supplements increase an athlete’s risk of dehydration. If 15 to 20 percent of a young athlete’s diet is protein, he or she will have more than enough to aid in the repair and maintenance of bone and muscle tissue. Educating young athletes regarding supplement use and keeping them properly fueled and hydrated are the first steps to ensuring their safety in and enjoyment of an active lifestyle.

Wow! We’re almost finished with this lesson. Let’s take a few moments to review what you’ve just read. Remember, if you found anything confusing, take another look at the material. And if you have questions, don’t hesitate to call your instructor. We’re here to help!


1. _____ transports nutrients and waste products while regulating our body temperature.a. Bloodb. Sodiumc. Metabolismd. Water

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2. Sodium deficiency can be prevented during demanding exercise by _____.a. taking in enough waterb. drinking spring waterc. avoiding sun exposured. consuming a sports drink

3. A _____ is the amount of energy required to raise one kilogram of water one degree Celsius.a. kilocalorieb. resting metabolic ratec. basal metabolic rated. supplement

4. The _____ is the energy the body uses to eat and process food.a. basal metabolic rateb. thermic effect of foodc. fast-food effectd. processing effect of food

5. The key to any successful weight-loss program is taking in _____ expended through the three calorie-burning processes. a. the same amount of caloriesb. more calories than arec. fewer calories than ared. none of the calories

6. One problem with amino acid supplements is that they _____.a. increase the risk of dehydrationb. lead to bone loss in young womenc. are strictly regulated by the U.S. governmentd. increase a person’s caloric need


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Step 18: Lesson SummaryIn this lesson, you learned about the components of food and how these various components affect exercise performance and overall health. We talked about the function of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fatty acids in the body, as well as the impact that salt, processed sugar and caffeine have on the body. You now have a good understanding of the new MyPyramid and its nutritional guidelines. And you are able to calculate the calories necessary to maintain weight, increase muscle mass or decrease fat mass. The relationship between nutrition and fitness is one that you will visit on a daily basis as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist. The importance of educating your future clients regarding diet and its role in weight control and fitness performance is vital. Everything you learned in this lesson will help you better serve your clients. And remember, as new information about nutrition becomes available daily, keeping abreast of any changes about this topic will ensure your guidance as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist is in demand.

In the first lesson of your next pack, you will learn how to fuel the body for a variety of fitness goals. We’ll examine the role that proteins, carbohydrates and amino acids play in muscle function, as well as discuss supplements and steroids.

The work you put into each lesson of this course is moving you toward the ultimate reward of an exciting new career as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist. Keep up your dedication, and don’t forget that we are with you 100 percent of the way. We are here to help you succeed!


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Just for FunIn this pack, we talked a bit about your job options as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist. You learned that some personal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists work from home. One of the problems with working at home is isolation. Isolation can be both a blessing and a curse. It’s nice not to have interruptions when you are working. On the other hand, if you have a question or want to share something exciting, you have no one with whom to talk—or at least no one with whom to talk until your next client arrives or phones!

When you work at home, you usually have less contact with other people than when working at a gym or health club. Because of this, the impression you make when you do have contact with others is important. In addition, the kind of people you meet often depends on the kind of professional image you project.

This is where business etiquette comes into the picture. To get you thinking about business manners, here are some typical questions and answers that business people often ask.

Q: Business cards are a great way of marketing yourself, but how do you give someone your business card without seeming pushy?

A: Ask him for one of his. He will be flattered. When he gives you one, study it and then hand him one of yours, which you just happen to have with you. If he doesn’t carry a card, use one of your cards to write down his name or business name and then give him one of your business cards.

Q: How do you meet other personal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists?

A: Look into joining the local chapter of a fitness trainer or nutritional specialist organization or association. If there is no local chapter, this is a good opportunity to meet others in the field. Call other personal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists to see if there is an interest in starting a group in your town. Have a casual meeting in your home to talk about forming a chapter.

Q: How do you dress when you work at home?

A: Now that you are building a career, dress like a professional whenever you are in the public eye or when you are meeting prospective clients. You don’t need expensive clothes. You want your appearance to reflect the quality and kind of work you do. Personal fitness trainers and nutritional specialists usually wear conservative, casual, comfortable styles. At home, dressing for work means wearing something in which you can train your clients. You wouldn’t wear jeans or a dress to work out; you’d wear shorts and a top. But remember, dress appropriately. No one wants to show up for a session to find his trainer wearing a low-cut shirt and ripped sweats.

There are three steps to developing good business etiquette habits.1. Study up on business etiquette. Read about it and watch how others you respect handle

different situations.

2. Practice etiquette with your instructors while you are a student.

3. Polish your skills with your friends, family and people you deal with in everyday life. After all, even sterling silver will tarnish and must be polished at regular intervals to shine!

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Congratulations on completing your first pack! As they say, the first step is the hardest. Now you’re well on your way. With your understanding of the fitness and nutrition industry, the psychology of wellness, and the basics of exercise and nutrition, you’re ready to start exploring the ins and outs of being a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist!

You’ve learned a lot about fitness in these lessons. However, the most important thing you’ve learned is determination. Successful personal fitness trainers like yourself have the determination it takes to finish a fitness and nutrition education, find clients, and enjoy all the excitement and challenges of a new career. You can’t make it in the exercise business without solid preparation. You’ve made the right choice in studying with U.S. Career Institute! We bring together veteran personal fitness trainers, seasoned nutritional specialists, and experienced educators to provide you with the best training available. You get up-to-date knowledge on fitness and nutrition issues, as well as all the career-building basics you need to know.

All of the lessons are designed with you in mind. We know that you’re busy. That’s why we make our courses home-study courses. This gives you the greatest flexibility and control over your learning.

Everything you need is right at your fingertips exactly when you need it. Have a question? Don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-347-7899. We have friendly, knowledgeable, and experienced support staff, instructors, and faculty ready to help. We’re working hard to make sure you realize your dream of becoming a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist.

Are you excited to begin your next pack? In Pack 2, you’ll learn about cardiovascular exercise and the anatomy of the human body. You’ll also take an up-close and personal look at the musculoskeletal system! There are still plenty of exciting lessons to train your mind and your body.

Keep studying and keep up the good work!

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Answer Key

Lesson 1

Practice Exercise 1-11. One common mistake people make when trying to achieve wellness is c. focusing only on one or

two areas of their health while neglecting others.

2. Most people belong to which type of health club? b. Commercial

3. c. Baby boomers make up the largest percentage of those belonging to health clubs.

4. One way a health club can make its establishment more convenient to members is to c. provide a childcare facility for members.

5. One difference between a nutritionist and a nutritional specialist is that a. nutritionists earn four-year degrees.

Practice Exercise 1-21. One reason an athletic team might hire a personal fitness trainer would be to a. coach and

encourage athletes during workouts.

2. Insurance companies hire nutritional specialists to b. educate their clients on how to follow a healthy diet.

3. One way that a personal fitness trainer who owns his own business could save money would be to c. train his clients using rubber bands, step platforms and free weights.

4. Which of the following professionals is likely to make the highest salary? c. A self-employed personal fitness trainer who holds a number of certifications and has been in the field for 15 years

5. A trainer working for an athletic team can expect to b. have work hours that depend on game and practice schedules.

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Lesson 2

Practice Exercise 2-11. People often seek the help of a personal fitness trainer and nutritional specialist to c. learn to put

the science of fitness and nutrition to work in their own lives.

2. The number on a scale should not be the only method used to measure a person’s fitness progress because b. muscle weighs more than fat.

3. Wellness is best achieved through a(n) d. appropriate balance of several areas of one’s life.

4. People who are mentally healthy tend to a. possess a positive attitude toward their abilities and life in general.

5. Age and ethnicity are examples of d. demographic factors that influence wellness.

Practice Exercise 2-21. Which of the following could a person do to increase the amount of physical activity he gets?

d. Ride his bike to work or school

2. c. Road rage, a phenomenon unheard of one generation ago, can raise a person’s stress level, thus adversely affecting his health.

3. Which of the following often is called the silent killer? b. High blood pressure

4. One problem with medications prescribed to help people sleep is that c. people may need to increase the dose to achieve the desired effects.

5. As you assess your fitness level, consider the d. four main components of fitness.

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Answer Key

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Lesson 3

Practice Exercise 3-11. What a client eats not only impacts his stamina but also his d. concentration.

2. After years of a sedentary lifestyle, people may find it difficult to exercise because c. our weakened muscles resist movement.

3. A person who has no intention of changing his or her behavior and may not even see any need to do so is in which stage of behavior change? a. Precontemplation

4. Delaying action and previous failed attempts of behavior modification both are signs that a person is in which stage of behavior change? c. Preparation

5. When a person has made the time and commitment to modify his lifestyle in one or more ways, he is considered to be in which stage of behavior change? d. Action

6. Establishing a new habit takes a minimum of c. 30 days.

7. Which of the following statements that describe health habits is true? b. Health habits tend to be independent of one another.

Practice Exercise 3-21. Working toward goals provides clients with b. a way to measure and observe their

fitness progress.

2. Goal setting c. improves the quality of fitness training and the performance of the client.

3. Which of the following is a specific and measurable goal? a. Doing 12 pull-ups in a row

4. If a long-term goal seems out of reach for a client, it is often helpful to b. break the goal down into smaller goals or steps.

5. Which of the following is an attribute of a good fitness goal? b. Attainable

6. Why is using clothing size to measure a person’s level of fitness success unwise? c. Because people can be healthy and fit at all different sizes

7. The ultimate goal for a personal fitness trainer is to d. produce independent exercisers who can attain and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

8. Which of the following is a good competitive exercise to give a client who is uncomfortable with confrontation? a. Competing against her personal best time running a mile

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Lesson 4

Practice Exercise 4-11. c. Physiology is the study of the functions of living organisms and their parts.

2. About 40 percent of the body’s weight comes from a. muscle mass.

3. In a typical day, you may lose about b. 10 cups of water from your system through sweating, evaporation, breathing and waste removal.

4. When it comes to the four body elements a. each of the body elements should be in proper proportions.

5. People lose d. both bone density and muscle strength as they age.

6. d. Stretching exercises are the most common way(s) to maintain and increase flexibility.

Practice Exercise 4-21. The cardiovascular system includes all of the following except c. ligaments.

2. The heart has d. four chambers, the atrium and ventricle on the right and left sides.

3. Inside the heart, a. the ventricles are the lower, pumping chambers of the heart.

4. The two major circulatory systems c. have specialized functions—one sends blood to the lungs and the other sends blood to the body.

5. Blood pressure b. measures the force with which the heart pumps and the stress left when the heart is at rest.

6. The respiratory system b. makes sure all your cells get oxygen.

7. The windpipe is a common name for the d. trachea.

8. The lungs b. rest on the diaphragm.

9. Normal breathing a. is the expansion and contraction of the lungs using the diaphragm and/or rib muscles.

10. If you take your client’s resting heart rate for 30 seconds and count 42 beats, his resting heart rate is c. 84 beats per minute

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Answer Key

AK-5

Practice Exercise 4-31. The human body can live without oxygen for d. between three and five minutes.

2. Oxygen b. is necessary for producing energy.

3. The term aerobic means a. with oxygen.

4. When you first start moving after sitting still, c. your systolic blood pressure goes up, while the diastolic blood pressure stays the same or drops.

5. VO2 max is a. the point at which the body’s cells stop using oxygen to manufacture energy.

6. The standard way to measure fat mass at most gyms is with c. calipers.

7. Once you have the predicted maximum heart rate, you plug it into which of the following equations? a. Predicted maximum heart rate – resting heart rate = heart rate reserve

Lesson 5

Practice Exercise 5-11. A client who lacks the understanding of basic nutrition principles can b. sabotage her fitness

program without even realizing it.

2. Which of the following is one of the three main types of carbohydrates? c. Simple sugars

3. Which of the following types of carbohydrates requires little or no digestion before the body can use it? b. Simple sugars

4. Which of the following foods contains a high amount of simple sugars? a. Apple juice

5. Whole grains keep a person’s blood sugar level even and keep him satisfied for a longer period of time because b. they are broken down slowly by the body.

6. Which type of carbohydrate has no caloric value? c. Dietary fiber

7. Vitamins are typically split into two categories: b. water-soluble and fat-soluble.

8. Failure to consume adequate amounts of a vitamin results in c. a deficiency disease.

9. Which of the following vitamins plays an essential role in bone formation? d. Vitamin D

10. c. Minerals are elements that originate from the earth’s soil and water but are needed in our bodies.

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11. d. Calcium is the most abundant mineral found in bone.

12. Bananas are a good source of a. potassium.

Practice Exercise 5-21. In 1992, the c. Food Guide Pyramid replaced the Basic Four Food Groups.

2. b. One-half cup of cooked vegetables is an example of one serving of vegetables.

3. The human body needs sodium to b. maintain proper water balance.

4. c. 25 percent of American adults are affected by high blood pressure.

5. Which of the following is another name for processed simple sugars? d. Sucrose

6. Consuming too much caffeine can result in b. sleeplessness at night.

7. d. HDL cholesterol has often been termed the good cholesterol because it removes cholesterol from the blood and takes it to the liver, where the body can excrete it.

8. a. Eating a diet high in cholesterol and saturated and trans fats raises bad cholesterol levels while lowering good levels.

9. What is the difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance? c. Food allergies involve the immune system.

Practice Exercise 5-31. d. Water transports nutrients and waste products while regulating our body temperature.

2. Sodium deficiency can be prevented during demanding exercise by d. consuming a sports drink.

3. A a. kilocalorie is the amount of energy required to raise one kilogram of water one degree Celsius.

4. The b. thermic effect of food is the energy the body uses to eat and process food.

5. The key to any successful weight-loss program is taking in c. fewer calories than are expended through the three calorie-burning processes.

6. One problem with amino acid supplements is that they a. increase the risk of dehydration.

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