Moving Beyond Resistance: Understanding and Addressing Self-sabotage

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Moving Beyond Resistance: Understanding and Addressing Self-sabotage

You may have clients who just can’t seem to stick with their goals, despite the best of intentions. It can be tempting to think of them as being resistant or self-sabotaging, but those labels aren’t helpful. Learn how fear can keep clients stuck in a pattern of failure and what you can do, as a health coach, to help them feel supported and successful.

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Rethinking Ibuprofen: Important Considerations for Your Clients’ Health

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Rethinking Ibuprofen: Important Considerations for Your Clients’ Health

Your knees are acting up, or you’ve worked out more strenuously than usual and feel sore, so you pop a couple ibuprofen to minimize the pain. But is this really as safe as it seems? A growing body of research suggests that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs—better known as NSAIDs—could cause harm to the heart, kidneys and gastrointestinal system. Learn how to inform your clients about these dangers and offer some safer alternatives to ease the pain of inflammation.

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The Life-changing Power of Pelvic Floor Training

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The Life-changing Power of Pelvic Floor Training

Pelvic floor issues can cause a wide range of problems, including urinary continence, and affect one out of three women in their lifetimes. Other than recommending Kegels, is there anything you can do to help your clients who may struggle with these issues? As it turns out, you are in a position to change the lives of many of the women who come to you for health and exercise guidance.

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Hypermobility: What It Is and How to Safely Train Clients Who May Have It

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Hypermobility: What It Is and How to Safely Train Clients Who May Have It

You know that client you’re always reminding to not hyperextend their knees during deadlifts? Or that student in class who hyperextends their elbows in upward-facing dog? There’s a good chance they have hypermobile joints, which could make exercise painful or make them more prone to injury. Learn some important precautions and guidelines that will allow you to help these clients in meaningful, productive ways to get the results they’re after.

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Movement Matters: How to Help Clients Who Have Chronic Pain

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Movement Matters: How to Help Clients Who Have Chronic Pain

Pain is the body’s way of signaling that something is wrong, but what about the pain that doesn’t go away? New research into chronic pain suggests that it is influenced by a range of biological, psychological and social factors. In this article, you’ll learn practical insights and interventions, and gain valuable tools to support clients in alleviating and managing chronic pain.

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Does Willpower Actually Exist?

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Does Willpower Actually Exist?

We’re told we need more of it to stick to our goals, but does willpower even exist? And if it does, are we just born with it, or is it a learned thing? Or is it like a muscle and we have to build it up over time? As always, we turn to the research—and a few experts—to answer tough questions like these. Read on to learn more about willpower and what it can and can’t do when it comes to sticking with healthy habits and working toward big and small goals.

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Can You Coach Your Clients to Greater Happiness?

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Can You Coach Your Clients to Greater Happiness?

As a health and exercise professional, you coach your clients to help them achieve their goals, but can you coach them to greater happiness? Discover the impact of specific habits and practices on happiness and learn strategies you can use to help your clients increase their resilience, maintain a positive state of being (even in the face of challenges), and achieve deeper joy and a more meaningful, satisfying life.

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Is Exercise Dependence a Real Thing?

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Is Exercise Dependence a Real Thing?

As a health and exercise professional, your job is to inspire others toward healthier living—including engaging in regular exercise—but what happens if one of your clients seems addicted to exercise? Is exercise addiction a real thing—and if so, how do you talk to your clients about this issue if you suspect they may be addicted? Take a deep dive into this topic as we uncover the answers to these and other questions related to this important issue.  

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Building the Body’s Foundation: How to Safely Progress Core Training

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Building the Body’s Foundation: How to Safely Progress Core Training

Because the core is the body’s foundation, it is imperative that it is built solidly before other, more difficult exercises are added. Having clients do more difficult exercises with a weak core could set them up for injury. Learn how to help your clients build a strong foundation by starting slowly and using proper progressions to create a three-dimensional, well-functioning core.

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Avoiding Muscular Imbalances: The Key to Safe and Effective Core Training

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Avoiding Muscular Imbalances: The Key to Safe and Effective Core Training

As a health and exercise professional, you know the importance of developing muscular fitness in the core musculature, but are you completely clear on what muscles make up the core and are you following a safe progression of strengthening exercises? Do you know how to train to avoid imbalances in the core musculature? Like many of your clients, you may have a few questions about this all-important area of the body. Here are your much-needed answers.

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Is Self-esteem or Self-compassion the Key to Success?

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Is Self-esteem or Self-compassion the Key to Success?

If you lived through the ‘80s and ‘90s, you are probably familiar with the self-esteem movement, which rewarded participation and regarded positive reinforcement as essential to a child’s development and future success. But did this movement create more harm than good? As a health coach, should you coach your clients toward higher self-esteem—or something else?

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Does Willpower Actually Exist?

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Does Willpower Actually Exist?

We’re told we need more of it to stick to our goals, but does willpower even exist? And if it does, are we just born with it, or is it a learned thing? Or is it like a muscle and we have to build it up over time? As always, we turn to the research—and a few experts—to answer tough questions like these. Read on to learn more about willpower and what it can and can’t do when it comes to sticking with healthy habits and working toward big and small goals.

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Pregnancy and Infant Loss: What to Say (and What Not to Say)

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Pregnancy and Infant Loss: What to Say (and What Not to Say)

As a health and wellness professional, it's likely that at some point in your career, one of your clients will unfortunately experience a pregnancy or infant loss. Are you prepared to offer empathy and a gentle return-to-exercise protocol when they're ready? Read on for some suggested do's and don'ts when it comes to offering support for someone going through this grieving process.

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Shifting Weight: Is the Focus on Obesity Making It Worse?

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Shifting Weight: Is the Focus on Obesity Making It Worse?

Today, we know more than ever about what it takes to achieve health and wellness, and yet more people are living in larger bodies than ever before. What are we doing wrong? This article examines the effects of focusing so much on weight loss and how shifting our focus to other aspects of health, such as stress and sleep, could have a much greater impact.

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Is Self-esteem or Self-compassion the Key to Success?

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Is Self-esteem or Self-compassion the Key to Success?

If you lived through the ‘80s and ‘90s, you are probably familiar with the self-esteem movement, which rewarded participation and regarded positive reinforcement as essential to a child’s development and future success. But did this movement create more harm than good? As a health coach, should you coach your clients toward higher self-esteem—or something else?

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Eat Your Way Happy

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Eat Your Way Happy

Food can be a powerful tool in reducing one’s risk of depression, while also helping to improve focus and reduce inflammation. Learn which foods play a role in brain health and mood, the role of the gut’s microbiome, and how one’s relationship with food can help improve both physical and mental health. 

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