The Answers

Last week�s post was about personal training certification. I posted 3 simple questions for everyone to answer just to test your knowledge on Fitness and I thank those who actually took the trouble to answer the questions. So, now that you have patiently waited for one week, its time to reveal the answers to last weeks posting. Are you ready? The answers may shock you as to how much you did or didn�t know about fitness. So here we go.

1) How long should you rest between sets?
I got a few variations in the answers here and honestly, when I was first asked this question, I answered just like you guys. The sad part is, when you walk into a gym and ask their so called �Master Trainers�, how long you should rest between sets, you still get all kinds of answers from 2 minutes to 10 minutes. The sad part is, no one can give you a clear answer as to why 2 minutes or why 1 minute and what benefits can you gain and why. It�s all just opinion and not based on any scientific fact.

The truth is, resting time is very crucial depending on what the athlete wants to achieve. If you don�t have any specific goals (you just want to �get in shape�), then it probably doesn�t matter much. But for a more serious minded athlete, rest times depend on the fiber composition and training goals of the athlete. A red fiber (endurance) athlete will recover far more quickly than a white fiber (strength) athlete. Also, shorter rest times tend to trigger a greater release of human growth hormone (hGH), which is more closely associated with size increases (body building). Longer rest times tend to trigger a greater release of testosterone, which is more closely associated with strength increases (weight lifting / power lifting). So again, depending on what your client wants to achieve, it is important to know how long they should rest to get the maximum benefits. When attending the course, there is a table which shows you the differences between different rest times and the different results that you get, so you know what is best to prescribe to your client. Sorry, can�t share the table with you guys here as it is Copyright material.

2) Is being flexible beneficial to all athletes?
In general, the ability to move through a full range of motion can be important for sports and for every day life. However, a lack of flexibility can be just as important. Many do not realize that tightness can be beneficial, depending on your goals. For powerlifters, a certain level of tightness at the bottom of a squat can not only help resist the downward motion of the weight, but can also work as a kind of �spring� to help the athlete begin his ascent to the standing position. A sprinter may find that a little tightness in his hams and gluts can help slingshot his legs back once they�re in front of him. So flexibility is not necessarily beneficial to all athletes. Again, it depends on what the athlete needs. A lot of times, Personal Trainers try to impose their own ideals onto their clients.

3) Name 2 exercises you can do to train your lower abs?
OK, this one was actually a trick question. Sorry guys, but I had to make it hard, or else everyone would get it. The fact is, there is no way to train your lower abs. Your ab muscles is one long muscle which is attached at 2 points (refer to diagram below).


When muscles pull, the fibers between the 2 attached points contract and it is not possible for just part of the fibers to contract while the rest are relaxed. The best way to picture this is imagine having a string tied to a door knob. The string represents your muscle fiber and as you pull on the string (to pull the door closer to you) the entire rope gets tight, and it�s impossible to leave any part of it somehow �less tight� or �more tight� than other parts. For the same reason it is impossible to target just the lower part of your abs, just as it is impossible for you to target just the lower part of your biceps. So whether you are doing sit ups or leg raises, you are essentially using the entire ab muscles and not targeting anything specific. But the idea that leg raises specifically target your lower ab muscles is a myth. Now I am not saying you should stop doing it, but saying that you cannot target you lower abs by doing leg raises.

So there you have it, the answers to the questions. Any comments? Quite shocking isn�t it. Also, I hope this gives you a preview of how technical and scientific the Am-FIT certification course is. I know it is new in the market and people will be skeptical, but I hope this shows you the quality of what you are learning and how beneficial this kind of information will be to your client. Train your client with scientific knowledge and not opinions that someone taught you. Once the course is ready to be launched to the public, I will inform you guys. I am trying to negotiate a discount for those who frequently visit my blog and share their comments. Will let you know.

As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.