What Is A Personal Trainer

Imagine stepping into the gym for the first time in your life. There are so many machines and gadgets. What do you do first? Is this one safe? Are you using it right? There are so many questions to ask about trying to get physically fit as well. How much should you push yourself? How much is too much? A personal trainer is someone who steps in and will coach you through your weight loss regime. What is it that a personal trainer does exactly? Finding Out What A Personal Trainer Does Is Step Number One Whenever I want to find out what it is that a personal trainer does, I simply visit the website or look at an advertisement of another personal trainer. From one location that is located in California, I have found the following list to be exactly what a personal trainer does. Coaching workouts that intensify gradually at different stages Working to increase improvement function of the body from walking and running, etc. Keeping a client up to date on nutrition Practices safe stretching and exercise techniques Helps to increase muscle tone and metabolism in the body Minimize the possibility of injury Increase the client’s self-confidence and put good ‘stress’ to encourage Eliminate laziness and excuses from stopping the client from getting what they want What is it that Clients Ask When Looking for a Personal Trainer? One that I have found says that finding the best personal trainer is to simply ask a lot of questions. If you ask questions of your personal trainer and he or she does not know the answer or doesn’t give an answer you are particularly happy with, a client should simply walk away. If you are looking to become a personal trainer, expect to hear questions. What is your background? How long have you been doing this? How are you involved in the industry? Do you stay competitive in the industry? What is the education level that you have? Did you get certified in a weekend or are you university educated? Are you continuing to educate yourself on the latest health techniques? Insurance? CPR? First Aid? If you are able to answer these questions to a client, you’ll be much more likely to sign a client. Above all, personal trainer will make a customer state his or her reasonable goals and set a plan to reach those goal in a healthy and constructive learning environment that will let the client keep the regime for years to come, even if they stop using the personal trainer. What is it That Separates a Good Personal Trainer from a Bad One? Like when you shop for anything else, there are good trainers and there are bad personal trainers, but what is the difference? A good personal trainer would tell you that you should shop around and find the right trainer for you. A lot of corporate gym trainers have sales quotas, do you really think they’re primary interest is your health? Most of them have minimal training and are more of a sales person than a trainer. If you are looking to become a personal trainer, what is it you should do first? Try to take course on exercise, fitness and health. If you also stay involved personally in the body building industry, you’re also staying on top of the competition. Commitment is the key; you have to be committed, as your clients certainly will not be. They will want to quit and give excuses. You can’t let them. Above all, a personal trainer really cares about the client. You can’t simply treat them like another paycheck. A customer has personal goals and needs and is asking you to help them along a path they can’t walk on their own. What a personal trainer is, is not a salesman or a drill sergeant, a personal trainer is a coach, a mentor and a partner on a road to a goal.

Atkins Diet -- The Final Verdict

Supporters of the Atkins Diet claim that a low carbohydrate diet is a safe and effective method for losing weight. This article evaluates the low carbohydrate diet and specifically the claims made about ketosis.

The Low Carb-Ketosis Link

By severely limiting carbohydrates in your diet, the main energy source used by your body, glucose, drops to low levels. In return, insulin levels also drop. With low glucose and low insulin levels, the body turns to alternative sources of energy.
Because of a significant change in your body's chemistry when on the Atkins Diet, certain metabolic pathways are turned "on" that are normally not "on" or run at very low levels. One such pathway involves the breakdown of fat, called Beta-Oxidation of Fats.
Now, normally fats are broken down to produce energy when your body senses a need. But in the context of a low Carb diet, the normal breakdown pathway of fats is altered and an alternative pathway kicks in. This alternative pathway produces what are called ketone bodies.
Ketosis is the term used to describe when ketone bodies are circulating in your bloodstream. The ketone bodies can be used as alternative sources of energy by, most importantly, your brain.
In case you might be curious, the three ketone bodies produced by this alternative pathway for breaking down fat are acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, and acetone. These ketone bodies are formed in your liver and then are transported to other tissues, mainly the brain. In your brain, they are converted back to a form that can provide direct energy during times of starvation.
Here is the whole process...

1. Atkins Diet lowers glucose and insulin (the body's main energy source)
   
2. Alternative pathways are turned "on" to provide energy
   
3. One alternative pathway breaks down fat and produces ketone bodies
   
4. Ketone bodies represent the state called ketosis
   
5. The brain uses ketone bodies as an alternative source of energy

So, the Atkins Diet (and any low Carb diet) produces a low energy state (low glucose) that causes the breakdown fat using an alternative pathway that leads to the development of ketosis.
So far it sounds pretty good. By limiting Carbs in your diet, you can essentially force your body into breaking down stored fat, the very thing you need to get rid of to lose weight.
But there are problems...

Atkins Diet and Toxicity

Ketone bodies are toxic. Many supporters of low Carb diets claim that ketosis is safe. They state that they are natural byproducts of fat breakdown and even babies have high levels of circulating ketone bodies.
First, they are not natural by-products of fat metabolism. The normal beta-oxidation of fats does produce ketone bodies but these are incorporated into the normal cycle of energy production, called the Krebs cycle. When ketone bodies are circulating in your bloodstream, it signals an abnormal physiologic state, called starvation. They are not incorporated into the normal energy cycle, the Krebs cycle, and spill into the bloodstream.
Just because your body has the ability to transport ketone bodies to certain tissues and then use them for energy, does not make it a normal process. It is an alternative pathway that turns "on" only when your body is faced with depleted levels of the main energy source, glucose.
Secondly, babies are not small adults. A baby's liver and brain tissue are made up of different chemicals and pathways, specifically geared to handle the high fat diet coming from mother's milk. These pathways change as a baby grows and starts to eat other foods. Eventually, the normal adult pathways are set up and the infantile chemistry used as evidence to support the safety of ketosis, stop working.
But this is not even related to the fact that ketone bodies are toxic. In medicine, the three ketone bodies mentioned above are classified as toxic acidic chemicals. At high levels, they can cause your blood to become too acidic, a disease state called ketoacidosis.
Granted, this is rare because most of the ketone bodies will be used by the brain as an energy source. Ketoacidosis is usually seen in type 1 diabetics. It is a medical emergency.
So, is ketosis dangerous to your body? Yes and no. Yes, ketosis represents a state of starvation. Losing weight when the body thinks you're starving is the best way to guarantee weight regain. The weight will come back and come back as fat. No, ketosis will not cause ketoacidosis in non-diabetics. And as long as you have a large storage of fat, your brain will not starve for energy.

The Final Verdict

1. As an alternative physiologic state, ketosis is not dangerous, assuming the levels of ketone bodies do not increase to acidic levels.
   
2. As a diet plan, ketogenic diets are not recommended because of the state of starvation they create. Your metabolism will eventually slow down setting you up for weight regain in the near the future.
   
3. Ketogenic diets, like the Atkins Diet, may also be dangerous not because they cause ketosis, but because they promote high protein and fat intake. High protein diets, unless you're body building, increases urea production and can damage the kidneys. Supporters claim that this just doesn't happen, reporting that no kidney damage has occurred to the millions of dieters on Atkins Diet or other ketogenic diets.
   However, it is well known that microscopic damage can occur to the kidneys effecting their ability to filter the blood. But clinical signs of this damage may take several years to manifest. Chronic renal insufficiency is a concern for ketogenic dieters, which may cause problems in the years to come.

Conclusion

Atkins Diet and other ketogenic diets (low Carb) can be safe and effective in causing weight loss. However, I recommend keeping ketosis to a minimum and keep your carbohydrate intake above 50 grams a day. Don't follow the suggestions for reaching an "induction" phase. It's not necessary to turn "on" the alternative pathways described above and burn fat.
Remember, healthy weight loss is to burn fat and fat only. But it also involves keeping your rate of weight loss around 2-3 pounds/week. The induction phase promoted by the Atkins Diet can result in a rate of weight loss far greater than 2-3 pounds/week. It may sound good to you now, but how does gaining it all back as fat sound? Because that will happen if you lose weight too fast.
For more information on ways to experience healthy weight loss, visit
www.weight-loss-professional.com/articles
To Healthy Living!