Every health and fitness professional understands that the holiday season is the most difficult time of the year for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. We bake, we feast, we travel, we party. In fact, every day throughout November and December seems like a day spent consuming more calories than expended.

The year is almost up and there were plenty of workouts that challenged you and your client! See ACE’s 10 best workouts that will have you working up a sweat.

f you find yourself counting sheep to no relent, wakefully staring at the ceiling when you should be deep in sleep-town, you’re not alone.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 40 million people in the United States don’t get an adequate amount of sleep (Liu et al., 2016). Besides the dreadful mornings that put you in slow motion for the day, lack of sleep has also been linked to a variety of health issues.

Data from numerous studies suggests that insufficient sleep can be linked to weight gain, type 2 diabetes, early death, high blood pressure and a wide range of other health problems (Grander et al., 2014; Killick, Banks and Liu, 2012; Strine and Chapman, 2005).

As a female in the exercise science field for the past 12 years, I have learned a thing or two about the importance of weight training. When the end goal is weight loss (or pretty much any end goal), a weight-training program is a must. 

Hip pain is a common problem for sedentary and non-sedentary individuals, and many health and fitness pros want to know how they can help their clients who are struggling with this issue.

Chronic pain is a sign that there is irritation or injury at a site. There are a multitude of conditions that can cause hip pain, from trochanteric bursitis to osteoarthritis. The great news is that movement is the panacea for many of these conditions.

In injury assessment, we talk first about the mechanism of injury. This is very simply a description of the condition(s) that led to the injury. By understanding the mechanism of injury, we better understand the injury itself and how to use exercise to heal, not harm.

If you are ready for a pectoral-pumping workout that doesn’t involve push-ups, this workout is for you. Each move is guaranteed to train some or all of the muscles used in push-ups without doing a single push-up.

The human body obtains nutrient energy (calories) from three macronutrients: fat, carbohydrates and protein. Fat functions as a source of energy to muscle at rest, helps carry fat-soluble vitamins and contributes to the structure of every cell in our body. Carbohydrates provide the primary fuel for most bodily functions and are the preferred fuel for the brain and entire nervous system. Protein is vital for cell turnover and antibody production, and assists the body in maintaining fluid balance. It is because of protein’s association with muscle rebuilding and repair that it’s easy to get carried away with the notion of “a little is good, so a lot must be better,” particularly in the quest for creating a more favorable body composition. But the truth is that excess calories, regardless if they come from fat, carbohydrates or protein, will be stored as fat tissue and can contribute to weight gain.

Healthy food doesn’t just magically show up at your house. You’ve got to shop for it, and with the overwhelming number of choices available in today’s grocery stores, this can be challenging. Here are seven tips on how to fill your cart with the good stuff.

There are so many ways to get fit and healthy for a lifetime; however, there are an equal number of ways to harm your health. Some strategies may seem healthy or even be healthy in the right amounts, but they’re often used in excess, negating their health benefits.

Love them or hate them, squats can work wonders for your strength, flexibility, physique and power. This multijoint movement engages the glutes, hamstrings, quad, back and core, making it a great total-body exercise.