Fitness Reads: Does stress make you fat? And how beautiful can a boot camp be?

What did the SNEWS team learn this week that other industry insiders might find interesting? Read on to find out.

• Some of our favorite specialty retail shops have been promoting informational sessions on how to use fitness tracking items like the Fitbit or Jawbone. This PC Mag story said the gadget shipments are expected to rise to 56.2 million in 2017, up from 43.8 million this year. Clearly, more people want to track their fitness progress. Topping the list? Fitness and heart-rate monitors with a strap.

• We love stories about how exercise is the key to a long life — like this one in the Post-Tribune. There’s still some grim news on Americans’ average fitness levels, but if we keep seeing more people getting active, we might be able to buck that trend.

• Boot camps are still a popular way to get folks in shape for bikini season, this Telegraph story tells us. It features a women’s-only boot camp at a luxury hotel conducted in serene settings — definitely a less harsh experience than military-style boot camps. The article described that even though it was beautiful, the workouts were grueling and utilized items that could be purchased in your stores.

• For a lot of folks, finding a personal trainer is a very intimate thing. After all, they’re going to be spending a lot of time with that trainer. Personal trainers see clients at their most vulnerable (and stinkiest) moments. So how do trainers who work in your stores (or how do you if you’re a trainer) make them feel at ease during an assessment? Check out this Cybex blog post about how to properly asses a client in a way that makes them feel comfortable enough to hire you.

• As people become more aware of health and start exercise regimens, you might see some customers who are brand new to exercise, or are returning after a long hiatus. Share with them this LifeHacker article about the effect exercise has on the body, tips on how to ease into it, what causes muscle soreness and how to deal with it.

• People practice yoga for different reasons — some to stay in shape, others to be more mindful and still others to relieve stress. But this article in USA Today reports that one family in Encinitas, Calif., is fighting its school district for incorporating yoga into its physical education classes because they say it promotes religious beliefs. This suit could affect the inclusion of yoga across the state, and potentially the country, if it’s successful.

• Though not all specialty fitness retailers carry active apparel or sports bras, it’s worth having some knowledge on how to direct women to proper, supportive undergarments. According to this DNA India story, sore breasts are common among women who work out, no matter their age or size. Tenderness is aggravated with exercise, researchers said. Fitting them with a proper sports bra is a key to avoiding this.

• Retailers, are you doing business in one of the fittest or fattest cities in the United States? This MSN story reports on the country’s fittest cities (SNEWS’ home base of Boulder, Colo., is the No. 1 fittest place in the country. We looked in the mirror this morning and realized why) and the fattest cities. The No. 1 most obese city in the country is McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas.

• Maybe wedding registries should include exercise equipment. Especially if they agree with this rule reported in the Herald Sun: Vow to stay thin. Fitness writers Sharny and Julius Keiser said they made their own weight vow to ensure they stay attracted to one another — and they say that it should be a priority to all married couples. What are your thoughts on the topic?

• If your customers are in highly stressful jobs they may have higher blood fat levels, according to this India Times story. The story reports on results from a study conducted by the Sociedad de Prevencion de Ibermutuamur, in collaboration with experts from the Virgen de la Victoria Hospital (Malaga) and the Santiago de Compostela University, which showed that bad cholesterol levels were higher in people who were more stressed out.

Read anything interesting this week? Email it to us because we want to read it, too!