St Mary's Academics Publish New Book on Personal Training

Health and Exercise Science Academics at St Mary’s University, Twickenham Paul Hough and Simon Penn have published a new book Advanced Personal Training; Science to practice. Published by Routledge, the book is an essential text for personal trainers and sport and exercise science students. It is the first comprehensive fitness and training programme design resource to explore the evidence-base of effective programme design for a range of populations. The book uses cutting-edge scientific research to identify optimum training methods and dispel some common myths around fitness training and nutrition. The book has been designed to be simple to navigate and features: applied case studies, example training programmes and guides to further reading. The aims of the book are to help the reader develop a better understanding of the physiological and psychological principles at the core of successful programme design. Speaking of the book Paul Hough said, “The goal of this book is to enable readers to develop their understanding of the scientific rationale behind a number of aspects of personal training. For example, behaviour change, nutrition and training programme design. “The ultimate goal is for readers to improve their ability to critique information and develop a personal training philosophy, which is underpinned by good quality evidence. In other words, I hope the book encourages trainers to use scientific evidence alongside anecdotal evidence to inform their practice." Simon Penn added, “The book will bring exercise prescription up to date with current research. Therefore, the prescription of exercise should become more effective and achieve greater results. Both the trainer and the client should benefit from the material provided in the book.”