Blog: Musings of a Boxing Fitness Coach
Top 10 Fitness Feats
Learn about some of the most impressive achievements in fitness history.
The Anatomical Planes
Explore the anatomical planes of the human body with this informative post. Learn about the different planes of motion and how they are used to describe movement and positioning in the body. Whether you're a personal trainer or simply interested in learning more about the human body, this post is a great starting point for understanding the fundamental principles of anatomy and physiology.
Warming Up with The Borg Scale
The Borg Scale of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is a numerical tool, ranging from 6 (No Exertion) to 20 (Maximal Exertion), used by coaches and athletes to subjectively gauge the intensity of their warm-up and training sessions. This scale is cleverly linked to heart rate, as multiplying the RPE score by 10 gives a decent estimate of the user's actual heart rate, with the target for a proper warm-up being 13 ("Somewhat Hard") to reach the target heart rate zone.
4 Health Measures
Fitness professionals rely on four basic measurements — Body Mass Index (BMI), Blood Pressure (BP), Resting Heart Rate (RHR), and Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR) — to broadly assess an individual's health and risk for metabolic complications. These simple metrics provide essential starting points for a training program and offer clear data on the effectiveness of lifestyle changes over time.
The Body Mass Index
Body Mass Index (BMI) is an inexpensive and easy screening tool used to determine a healthy body weight by calculating the ratio of weight (in kilograms) to height (in meters squared). While a basic measure with an ideal range of 18.5 to 24.9, BMI has limitations because it does not measure body composition and may inaccurately classify highly muscular athletes as overweight or obese.
Critical Thinking and Training
How might critical thinking fit into a training programme? Beyond the traditional SPORT principles, it is essential that all training methods are based on evidence and valid reasoning to combat ineffective fitness fads. The proposed Principle of Critical Thinking encourages trainees to ask sharp questions about the clarity, logic, and scientific support for every training claim.
Health Problems, Healthy Solutions
How often should people train in a given week? A healthy lifestyle is needed for physical and mental well-being, as exercise significantly reduces the risk of major illnesses and weight gain, which currently affects a majority of the population. To mitigate these risks, adults should aim for either 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75–150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, with a basic schedule of 15–30 minutes of activity per weekday being an achievable starting goal.
