The Importance Of Stretching..

Hello there I hope every one had a happy and safe Thanksgiving. Now that you are all fueled up you are ready to hit the stores hard for the holiday season. I'm not going to hide it I was one of the people out there at 5 in the morning Friday. Anyway now that the holiday season is in full swing I know how difficult it can be for people to exercise. But there is something you could always do and it only takes 10 minutes. That my friends is stretching. Now I'm not saying you will lose weight by stretching, but what you will do is keeping your posture in check, prevent injuries, and keeping your health in check.

You can do tremendous things by stretching everyday and one of those is correct muscle imbalances you may have. Think about it, it is so simple spend 10 minutes a day stretching and you can prevent things like lower back pain, cramping, neck pain, and pretty much any joint or muscle pain can be prevented with static corrective stretching. BUT, very FEW people will actually do it. I think it is because people are just not aware of the power stretching holds.

Along with correcting muscle imbalances it will also prevent potential injuries. What happens is with people who are unconditioned they perform improper movements when exercising which leads to imbalances then ultimately ends with injury. With proper stretching and proper exercise you can stop improper movements which trickles down to you NOT getting injured. Here is a quick test you can do with yourself. Get a ruler sit on the floor and spread your legs out so they are a foot apart. Then put one hand over the other and reach as for as your can, if you can not reach the backside of your feet you are in danger of blowing out your back!

Now science is starting back up the importance of stretching even more. They have done studies to show how stretching can aid in the reversing the hardening of arteries. Researchers have shown that stretching regularly with your diet and exercise in check can significantly reduce your cholesterol levels and the hardening of arteries. If your a person who has a difficult time remembering to stretch maybe you could enroll in a yoga or martial arts class since they focus a lot on stretching.

I hope you have a greater understanding the importance of stretching and how it can greatly improve your life. No excuses now hahaha.

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Why Should YOU Get A Trainer...

That is the big question isn't it? Everyone tries to decide if they really need that person there telling them how to exercise. Well this may sound like I am trying to toot my own horn but I think it is important for people to really know why trainers are important to your success.

I like to start by saying that exercising properly and effectively is a skill that a lot of people lack. It is sad for me to see so many people at the gym that have no clue what they are doing. And instead of hiring a personal trainer to get them to where they want to be in a timely manner they will spend years trying to do something that could have been achieved in months. So in the long run you are spending more aimlessly wondering the gym versus getting a trainer and having a plan. It is not only that, I am also very concerned with how many people could be injuring themselves everyday do to lack of form. It scares me sometimes to see the crazy things people are doing to themselves. Talk about potentially saving yourself money. I'm sure for a lot of people having back surgery or knee surgery isn't in the budget.

First and for most people need to learn it is ok to ask for help if you are not sure what to do. Heck that is why I am a trainer and why I have this blog to offer information and guidance for people. I hope this is starting to get you thinking about your own workouts and if they are really benefiting you or not.

To break it down even more trainers will assess you. They will be looking for any imbalances in your posture which could lead to injuries and strengthen them. Is that something you would know on your own? Most likely not and that is perfectly FINE. If I didn't go through the schooling and training I did I wouldn't know that either. That is my point I'm trying to make is that a lot of this is not common knowledge. If you had a problem with your toilet you would call a plumber or if you needed a part installed into your car you would bring it to a garage why wouldn't you do the same thing with your health and fitness needs?

I'm sure I'm not only speaking for myself on this, I want to see you happy you got your body to where you want it and where it should be. It is unexplainable the feeling to know I made a positive impact on someones life. I'm not expecting you to go run out right now and sign up with a trainer, just to be a little bit more conscious of your health and fitness choices, and if that eventually leads to you getting a personal trainer I can promise you it will be one of your best investments you can do for yourself.

Oprah Winfrey, American TV personality

Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Workout...

What do you do once you decided to improve your health? How do you workout effectively? I first just want to congratulate you on making it this far in the process.

I know for most of you it can be over whelming stepping into a gym for the first time. Believe me I was there too. I look back at how I used to workout when I had no clue what I was doing, and all I can do is laugh. I also know because of this feeling of not belonging you will go with whatever you know. For most cases that would be either a treadmill, bike, stair stepper, basically cardio machines. You might see results from using these in the beginning but that will quickly wear off. Why? You might be thinking that doesn't make sense your moving right? You are moving but unfortunately our bodies like to make things more complicated then that.

What happens is your body becomes used to the stress you are placing on it. Which means a new stress must be placed upon it to continue progressing. Most people don't realize this which leads them to become stressed out and annoyed about there lack of progress. With that said what you want to do is to keep your body guessing on what your going to hit it with next. That is why I am very fond of circuit training. It allows you to hit your whole body, do different exercises, with the end product being SUCCESS! There are many ways to go about doing a circuit.

1. Do a full body circuit starting with the upper portion of your body and working down.
2. Do the opposite of the first one
3. Mix between doing upper body and lower (ex. shoulder presses followed by lunges)
4. Do a all upper body circuit one day then do all lower body the next day
   

Doing this type of training may take some getting used to. Once you have it down your goals will come a lot faster then you thought. So the next time you go to the gym and you find yourself drifting towards the treadmills STOP! And think have I been doing this for the past month now? If yes its time for change. Don't be the people that become frustrated with working out and stop all together.

Don't bunt. Aim out of the ballpark.
David Ogilvy

I Can't Find The Time To Workout.....

What do I have to say to that statement? UNWILLING! By making a claim like that clearly shows that you haven't even giving the idea of exercising a second shot.

Lets break it down we all know that there are 24 hours in a day right? Well lets say you sleep for 8 hours that brings your tally to 16 hours. Then you work for 8 hours and lets say your total travel time is 2 hours you are now looking at 7 hours. I'll even take out 2 hours for any activity or hobby you might have. That means you have 5 hours of time to play around with. But, yet I will still hear that famous line I can't find the time.

Not to long ago I saw an article in the paper in the section where people can offer tips on how to do things. Well this lady wrote in saying she had the solution to every ones time issues. Her grand idea was she relocated her exercise bike into her living room in front of the TV. Then she would proceed to pedal her heart out during commercial breaks. SERIOUSLY. That definitely made me laugh out loud. She clearly had the time to work out she just decided that her TV shows hold more importance.

My whole point to this is not to bash you for making poor decisions, but to bring to light how prioritizing your life is crucial. So, make that little extra effort to slot some exercise into your life.

Keep working toward your goals!

Starting You on Your Path to Healthy Living

Some Basic health and fitness information:

For a lot of people the goal behind working out is to lose body fat and achieve a healthy lifestyle. One simple concept that a lot of people don't pay attention to is something known as the Law of Thermodynamics. This principle states that in order to effectively lose weight you must burn more calories then you are taking in. Simple right? Unfortunately that is the biggest area of failure.

Some basic nutrition facts:

-In order to lose a pound a week you should generally cut 500 calories

out of you diet a day
-50-70% of your diet should consist of carbohydrates 15-35% should be

proteins 10-30% should be fats
-Eating three meals a day plus to snacks is ideal for maintaining a health metabolism

Now, for the exercise part of your routine. I will start by saying that you CAN NOT SPOT CHECK BODY FAT! You can not use the "AB ROCKET" and expect to lose fat in your stomach area. Your body just doesn't work like that. You have to lose overall body fat to hit that area you want to hit. That is why it is important to do full body workouts and doing compound exercises. This is more effective because the more muscles you recruit the more calories you are burning.

Some basic workout facts:

-Workouts should be anywhere from 40-60min at least 3 times a week
-To build muscle you should do 8-12 reps with 3-4 sets for Stabilization / Endurance 12-25 reps with 1-3 sets power 1-5 reps with 2-3 sets
-Three to four exercises per body part

Good Luck! Look to see more soon!