ACE Personal Trainer
Manual, 4th edition
Chapter 13:
Mind-Body Exercise
1
Learning Objectives
 This session, which is based on Chapter 13 of the ACE
Personal Trainer Manual, 4th ed., reviews many of the popular
forms of mind-body exercise and offers practical suggestions
for how trainers can incorporate mind-body techniques into
training sessions.
 After completing this session, you will have a better
understanding of:
– The neurological foundations of mind-body exercise
– The classical forms of mind-body exercise—yoga, tai chi, and qigong
– The roots of contemporary forms of mind-body exercise, including
Pilates and Nia
– The role of mind-body exercise in chronic disease management
– The general precautions associated with each of these types of exercise
Introduction
 Any form or level of physical activity can be “mind-body.”
 Mind-body exercise is physical exercise executed with a
profound inward mental focus.
 Regular participation in mind-body exercise has been
associated with:
– Improved muscular strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination
– Increased mental development and self-efficacy
Neurobiological Foundations of Mind-body Exercise
 Muscle afferents have direct
access to mechanisms of
perception.
– Projections of the muscle
afferent pathways to the
cortex
– Muscle fiber–brain pathways
are involved in affective
responses to muscular
contraction.
 The hypothalamus–pituitary
CRH interface is truly the
consummate “mind-body
connection.”
Roots of Contemporary Mind-body Exercise Programs
 The Asian yoga and tai chi disciplines are at the root of
most contemporary mind-body exercise programs.
 Yoga
– A complex system of physical and spiritual disciplines that is
fundamental to a number of Asian religions
 Tai chi
– Derived from the practice of qigong (also called chi kung)
– Best described as a moving meditation
Differentiating Characteristics of Mind-body Exercise
 Mind-body exercise is attentive to the present moment and is
process-oriented.
 Mind-body exercise generally relies on self-monitoring of perceived
effort, breathing, and nonjudgmental self-awareness.
 Conventional aerobic and resistance-training programs can manifest
mind-body qualities.
 Mind-body exercise can assist in the management of a number of
chronic diseases, including:
– Cardiovascular disease (CVD)
– Diabetes
– Arthritis
Benefits of Mind-body Exercise
 Hatha yoga has been helpful in improving:
– Arthritis
– Asthma
– Low-back pain
– Postural problems
 Tai chi has been helpful in improving:
– Anxiety
– Blood pressure
– Depression
Common Components of Mind-body Exercise Programs
 Meditative/contemplative
 Proprioceptive and kinesthetic body awareness
 Breath-centering or breathwork
 Anatomic alignment or proper choreographic form
 Energycentric
Yogic Breathing
 Yogic breathing training (pranayama)
– The practice of voluntary breath control, consisting of conscious
inhalation, retention, and exhalation
– The fundamental purpose of breathwork is to develop the ability to:
• Sustain relaxed attention to the flow of the breath
• Refine and control respiratory movements
• Integrate awareness and breathing to reduce stress and enhance
psychological functioning
General Precautions With Hatha Yoga Programs
 Hemodynamic and cardiac ventricular responses
 Those who are initially deconditioned or have a chronic
disease should:
– Minimize acute rapid changes in body position in the early
stages of hatha yoga training
– Use slower transitions from one yoga pose to the next
 Ashtanga, Iyengar, and Bikram yoga asanas and
sequences are appropriate for higher-functioning clients.
 Clients with cardiovascular or pulmonary disease should
avoid breath retentions and breath suspensions.
Qigong Exercise
 Qigong is a system of self-healing exercise and
meditation that includes healing:
– Postures
– Movement
– Visualization
– Breathwork
– Meditation
 There are two general categories of qigong:
– Active, or physical, qigong exercise (dong gong)
– Tranquil, or passive, qigong (jing gong)
 Many qigong styles are named after animals whose
movements they imitate.
Tai Chi
 Tai chi chuan is a complex martial arts choreography of
108 flowing graceful movements.
 It is commonly accepted that all tai chi styles follow three
similar essential principles:
 Major distinguishable styles of tai chi:
– Original Chen style
– Yang style
– Chang style
– Wu style
– Sun Style
Contemporary Mind-body Exercise Programs

Pilates
–

Alexander Technique
–



A form of movement re-education in which the exerciser learns to overcome faulty
compensatory movement patterns
Corrects unconscious habits of posture and movement that may be precursors to injuries
Feldenkrais Method
–
Awareness Through Movement (ATM) and Functional Integration
–
Combination of verbal direction and manual-contact techniques to enhance kinesthetic
awareness and coordination
Nia
–
Classes blend movements and concepts from a variety of mind-body programs
–
Includes a moderate-level aerobic component that fosters spontaneity
Native American and Alaskan Spiritual Dancing
–
Ethnic mind-body routines that integrate nature into the movements
Assessing Outcomes
 There are a variety of methods, other than muscular
strength and flexibility measures, available to objectively
measure the response to mind-body exercise.
– Quality of life
– Blood pressure
– Pulmonary function
– Balance control
– Anxiety and tension
– Spirituality
Quality of Life and Blood Pressure
 Quality-of-life measures are reasonably well suited for
characterizing the overall functional response.
– www.qmetric.com
 Blood pressure
– Baseline and serial resting blood
pressure measurements after
four to six weeks of mind-body
exercise are appropriate outcome
measures.
Pulmonary Function and Balance Control
 Pulmonary function measures
– FEV1 (maximum forced expiratory volume in one second) is a
valid assessment outcome when baseline FEV1 is less than
80%.
 Balance control
– Balance assessment is appropriate for evaluating the response
to mind-body exercise programs in which balance control is a
primary component.
Anxiety and Spirituality
 Anxiety measures
– May be helpful in evaluating stress and tension
– The Spielberger State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) assesses anxietyproneness (trait) and the current level of anxiety (state).
– The STAI Computer Program is an inexpensive administration and
scoring program that is an alternative to paper-and-pencil versions.
• www.mhs.com
 Spirituality
– Spirituality assessment tools may be used before and after a period of
mind-body exercise training.
• Brief Serenity Scale
• Mindful Attention Awareness Scale
• Spirituality Index of Well-Being
Indications for Mind-body Exercise
 Two key considerations for selecting mind-body exercise for clients
with chronic disease management:
– Only use forms where the intensity of effort begins with very low physical effort
and can be graduated slowly.
– Only those with stable chronic disease states should consider mind-body
exercise.
 Characteristics of mind-body exercise programs that are helpful for
those with stable chronic disease include:
– Can be taught at a relatively low-intensity level and can be individualized
– Decrease real-time cognitive arousal and stress hormone activation
– Enhance proprioception and kinesthesis
– Can improve muscular strength, posture, and balance
– Can improve self-efficacy and confidence
Personal Trainers and Mind-body Exercise

Personal trainers can teach a client to use two mind-body techniques that
are the focuses of nearly all stress-reduction programs:
–
Sustained attention to the present
–
Internal awareness

Meditation and yogic-breathing exercises can be integrated with existing
warm-up and cool-down exercises.

Personal trainers can incorporate muscle sense and
breathing work into the aerobic phase of an exercise session.

Personal trainers can incorporate select yoga poses into the
flexibility and strength-training components of the program.

The popular tree pose can be included as part of a circuit
of exercises to help stimulate balance control.

Diaphragmatic breathing work can be presented to clients,
many of whom will find it very therapeutic.
Summary
 Mind-body exercise continues to emerge as an effective
fitness and health-enhancement modality.
 This session covered:
– Neurobiological foundations of mind-body exercise
– Roots of contemporary mind-body exercise programs
– Differentiating characteristics of mind-body exercise
– Benefits of mind-body exercise
– Mind-body exercise modalities and programs
– Contemporary mind-body exercise programs
– Assessing outcomes
– Indications for mind-body exercise
– Personal trainers and mind-body exercise