Motivate Yourself Any Way You Can

Consistency is the key to maintaining your fitness goals.  Many things can get in your way like holidays, kids, snuffles or just plain old Lack of Desire.  No matter what your road blocks are, we need to find ways to avoid missing those workouts.  I am lucky to have a job that I love very much. I take it very seriously.  Part of my responsibility is to make sure you want to come in and exercise.  I know many of you are probably thinking, "Then maybe you shouldn't hurt me."   I do it because I care. I get to be with wonderful people and I try and help you keep healthy by motivating or encouraging your fitness passion.  Cole is one of my favorites (Well all of my clients are favorites.)  We have found creative ways to get him excited about exercising.  One day he came to his workout with his Santa hat and from there our workout developed into a Santa's Workshop theme. All  exercises were based on chores that Santa would do.  Taking care of reindeer is a lot of work.  He worked non-stop for the whole hour.  Enjoy the pictures below.

Santa on his sleigh

Ho Ho Ho

Reindeer got away from him.  Barely holding on.

Hit some rough weather.

Santa got a little hot.  Had to lose the belly and coat.

Cole's idea to add the belly after he ate all the cookies at every stop.

Santa jumping for joy.

ACSM Guidelines for Flexibility 2011

2011 ACSM Guidelines for Flexibility

Our schedules are so full that we are lucky to just get our workout in and stretching takes a back seat.  Flexibility is a major component of fitness, therefore, it is crucial that we make it a part of our daily routine.  As we age, stretching and recovery become even more important.  Please try and make sure you are able to pamper those muscles a little bit by stretching.

When you stretch, try and do active stretching before your workout and static (Hold) stretching at the end.  As you incorporate stretching make sure you allow your body and muscles to be warm so as to avoid even more stress to your muscles.  Stretching shouldn't create more strain or pain so do it gently.

Love the 80's

Yikes.

We were required to wear a costume to work on Halloween.  My friend thought it would be very fitting if I went in traditional 80's workout attire since I am a trainer at a gym.  I am starting to wonder if she is really my friend.  There is a reason that those old leotards went out of style.  Giggles.  I was a good sport and was able to help bring lots of bad leotard memories to so many at the fitness club.  Once the belt was cinched up and the leg were warmers on, I had to resist the urge to do some of the old exercises.  Do you remember?

• Windmills (Still not recommended today.)
• Squat Thrusts (Thrust idea is still bad.)
• High impact aerobics (Loved to flail my arms and legs around.)
• Fire Hydrants (Remember Jane Fonda saying "Feel the Burn.")
• Hip Lifts (Still and effective today if done properly and without a thong leotard.)
• Burpees (Still used today.)
• Balistic Stretching (Bounce, bounce, bounce.)

Do you also remember the fashion trends?

• High cut leotards at the hip?
• Thong leotards?
• Leg Warmers (They're back.)
• Spandex
• Headbands
• Belts (Worn inside and then pulled out at the hips.  (See Photo)

In spite of some serious fashion decisions back then, I am still grateful for having fitness and health in my life.  Feel free to share some of your 80's memories.

New ACSM Guidelines for Resistance Training

You can use resistance tubing

Resistance training is a form of strength training in which each effort is performed against a specific opposing force generated by resistance (ex. resistance to being pushed, squeezed, stretched or bent).  Exercises are isotonic if a body part is moving against force or isometric if a body part is holding still against the force.  Resistance exercise is used to develop the strength and size of skeletal muscles.  Properly performed resistance training can provide significant functional benefits and improvement in overall health and well-being.


The goal of resistance training, according to the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI), is to "gradually and progressively overload the musculoskeletal system so it gets stronger. "  Research shows that regular resistance training will strengthen and tone muscles and increase bone mass.  Resistance training should not be confused  with weight lifting, power lifting or body building, which are competitive sports involving different types of strength training with non-elastic forces such as gravity (weight training or plyometrics) rather an immovable resistance.  Full range of motion is important in resistance training because muscle overload occurs only at the specific joint angles where the muscle is worked.

ACSM Guidelines for Resistance Training

You know exercise is good for you. Ideally, you're looking for ways to incorporate physical activity into your daily routine. If your aerobic workouts aren't balanced by a proper dose of strength training, though, you're missing out on a key component of overall health and fitness. Strength training is important for everyone. With a regular strength training program, you can reduce your body fat, increase your lean muscle mass and burn calories more efficiently

Muscle mass naturally diminishes with age. "If you don't do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose, you'll increase the percentage of fat in your body," says Edward Laskowski, M.D., a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., and co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center. "But strength training can help you preserve and enhance your muscle mass — at any age."

You can use weights

Benefits of Resistance training are:

• Better Body Composition
• Stronger
• Develop stronger bones
• Reduce risk of injury
• Boost Stamina
• Control Weight

Strength training can do wonders for your physical and emotional well-being. Make it part of your quest for better health.

New American College of Sport Medicine (ACSM) guidelines for Cardiovascular Exercise 2011

The last time guidelines were published was in 1998.  I will be posting the latest on Cardiovascular, Resistance Training and Flexibility.  Things have changed and all the changes are scientifically based.  As far as cardiovascular training is concerned, daily activity can help diminish the devastating affects of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, elevated blood pressure and cholesterol.   We need to just keep moving.  

Cardio is short for cardiovascular, which refers to the heart. Cardiovascular exercise is exercise that raises your heart rate and keeps it elevated for a period of time. Another name for it is aerobic exercise. The kinds of exercise that are associated with cardiovascular workouts are things like jogging, fast walking, and swimming, spinning, skating, sporting events, skipping, dancing, etc.  where there is continuous movement.  

Weight Loss Made Simple

I hope this title will catch your attention.  Weight loss is actually hard work but you can do it.  Just remember these simple principles.

Your body gets its energy from the food you take into your body in the form of calories.  The number of calories will determine if you gain, lose or maintain your weight.  Extra calories are stored as body fat.  A pound of fat is made up of 3,500 stored calories. 

• 500 extra calories a day   X   7 days a week  =  3,500 unused calories or 1 lbs.

 If you eat fewer calories than your body uses, you will lose weight.  The recommendation for weight loss in a week is 2 lbs.  If you lose more than that, it is usually water or lean muscle instead of fat.  

• 200 calories cut from food  +  200 calories burned from exercise  =  400 fewer calories a day

Don't try and accomplish this goal alone.  Buddy Up, Join a Gym, Get family support or a trainer to help you achieve your goals.  Good Luck.

Tempo Games Workout

I'm back.  I have no good excuses but I'm going to try.  My boys play college ball and we have had the great opportunity to go to all of their games.  I have been out of town a lot and enjoying every minute of it but I have neglected my blogging duties and my attentiveness to your well being.  I promise to be better.  While you are trying to forgive me, please do the following workout.  It is a simple but effective concept.  The workout is endurance based.  We focus on strength, moving in multiple planes and even throw in a few anaerobic intervals to get our cardio push.  You do the same sequence with every exercise.  Below is the sequences written in terms of counts to perform the movement.

The Sequence
Up two counts Down two counts (cts)
Single cts Up and Down
Isometric hold (Example:  Lunge down and hold) 8 cts
Pulse 8 cts (Small contractions, not just bounces.  Try and pulse up against gravity instead of down with gravity)
Up three cts, Down one ct-4 sets
Up one cts, Down three cts-4 sets
Up 4 cts, Down 4 cts (Uber Slow)
Single counts

The exercise outline was the following:

1. Warm Up (rehearsal effect-practice all the movements you will be performing later on)
2. Lower body sequence(Depending on your leg work selection, you may have to repeat to work other leg, example: lunges
3. Upper body sequence
4. Anaerobic Interval (30-90 high intensity movement)
5. Cool Down

Let me tell you,  my Chisel class did this workout today and it's simple but intense.  You keep the same sequence for the legs as well as the upper body exercises.  Pick a weight and try and stay with that same weight the entire sequence.  While your are doing endurance training, it is not a good time to have heavy weights.  Go lighter and Endure.  I will list the exercises that we did today but you can definitely implement your own moves.  Just try to consider moving in different directions or planes of movement when you put your exercises together.  The changes in tempos are  a catalyst to get those calories burning.  You keep changing things up on your muscles and they have to respond to all of the changes.  You also incorporate both slow twitch and fast twitch muscles fibers when you mix up the speed of how you recruit your muscles which is another plus.

Lower Body

• Squats
• Side Lunges with slider disk under outside leg.  (Weight is on inside leg)j
• Reverse Lunges with ball
• Goblet Squats

Upper Body

• Bicep Curls
• Tricep Extensions
• Overhead Presses
• Chest Presses while lying with upper back on ball

If you haven't forgiven me by the time you read this blog then go and do the workout and you will be too weak not too.  Giggles.