Monday 26 December 2016

How To Squeeze In A Workout While The Relatives Are In Town

It’s The Busiest Time of The Year

The relatives are coming to town, presents are piling up under the tree, and your workout starts to get pushed back. It’s all too easy to put your own goals on hold during the holidays. Here are three tips for how to squeeze in a workout while the relatives are in town.

Get Out Before They Get Up

Whether or not you are a morning person, early morning workouts might be just what you need this holiday season. Before the sun comes up, before your family wakes up, head to the gym. You’ll be back home right as they’re waking up for the day! Starting your day off with a workout with ensure that you do it, as well as get your body going for the day. Plus, increasing your waking hours will help increase your daily calorie burn!

Make It a Family Affair

You’re family is only here for a limited amount of time and you want to spend time with them, right? So how do you get your workout in? Take them with you! Most gyms have a day use fee so they can workout right along with you! You can show them the ropes and introduce them to your favorite personal trainers. It will be a fun bonding activity while burning some extra calories.

Make It Short and Sweet

It’s not about how long you workout, it’s how hard you work. You don’t have to spend hours in the gym. You can get a great workout in 30 minutes as long as you are working hard and pushing yourself. By setting a time limit and working as hard as you can during that time, fitting in a workout will feel more realistic.

Have a Holly Jolly Workout

Getting a workout in while the relatives are in town doesn’t have to be an impossible dream. Get out to workout before they get up for the day, make it a family affair by bringing them with you, and make it a short and sweet workout. By following these three tips, it will be easier for you to stay active through the holidays.

 

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Thursday 15 December 2016

How To Stay Off Of Your Trainer’s Naughty List

Naughty or Nice

The holidays are here. This is a busy time of year where it can be easy to let your fitness goals slip away. Don’t let this happen though! Here are three tips to staying off of your trainer’s naughty list and on track with your fitness goals this Holiday season.

Keep Coming to Sessions on a Regular Basis

We all know that time is limited during the holidays. You have family in town, you have gifts to buy, and it can be difficult to find time to workout. Make your training sessions a priority. You can sit down with your trainer and plan out your day to be able to fit in everything that you do. They can help you find one hour for a workout somewhere, even if it’s outside of your normal time. This is not the time to take a break. Do it for you.

Make Sure That Your Food Log is Complete and Accurate

Work parties, school parties, family parties… Oh My! That one piece of chocolate that you grabbed out of the bowl, is it in your log? What about the one slice of apple with caramel that you ate? It ALL still counts. If you eat it, it needs to go in your log. Two little Hershey’s Kisses are almost 50 calories. If you have an extra 50 calories a day, you will gain 5 pounds a year. It may not seem like much but it all adds up and needs to be in your log.

Discuss Any Issues With Your Trainer

Are there any issues that you foresee popping up? In the past, have you struggled with staying motivated during the holidays? These are all issues that you should discuss with your trainer. Honesty is key in the trainer/ trainee relationship. This is important because your trainer is there to help you. The only way that they can help you stay on track when it gets harder, is if you are communicating these struggles to them. Don’t worry about being judged or think that it’s too small of an issue and that you should be able to handle it on your own. Let your trainer help you.

Now You Know

To stay on track this holiday season, make sure to attend your regularly scheduled sessions, make sure that you keep logging your food, and that you are open and honest with your trainer. This is the key to success. Talk to a trainer today to learn how to get started. 

 

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Monday 12 December 2016

Give The Gift of Fitness

The Holidays are Here

Christmas is coming and all through the malls, are husbands and friends running into walls… from not knowing what that perfect gift is! Christmas shopping can be hard. Does your Dad really need a new tie? Does you wife really need another scarf? Step it up this holiday season by giving the gift of fitness.

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

It may not be shiny, but it will last. You are giving the gift of change. This means more than a one time ticket item. You are helping them change their life for the better. Think about it. An iphone dies, a car breaks, but a lifestyle of health and fitness will keep on going.

The Gift that is Needed

Buying Holiday gifts can be difficult. How many times do you think, “what do they really need”? Fitness is your answer! Not only are you giving them the gift of health and fitness now, but by making a change now, you are helping to secure a healthier future. A healthy lifestyle change can add years to your life. Health and fitness is something that EVERYONE truly needs no matter who you are.

The Gift that they are Too Scared to Buy Themselves

A lot of people want to exercise but are paralyzed by fear. They don’t know what to do or what to expect. They get in their own way, which stops them from moving forward. This holiday season, buy your loved ones the gift that they need but are too afraid to buy themselves.

Be The Hero

As you can see, the gift of fitness is the gift to give this holiday season. It keeps giving because a healthy lifestyle will do wonders for the recipient’s future. Fitness is needed to maintain a long and healthy life. It is also the gift that people may want but won’t buy themselves out of fear of what could happen if they do. Talk to a trainer today about how you can be the hero this holiday season and give the gift of fitness.

 

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Friday 9 December 2016

3 Things You Should Know About Metabolism

How Much Do You Really Know?

Do you feel like you just can’t lose weight because you have a slow metabolism? Do you know someone who must have a fast metabolism because they never gain weight but eat all the time? I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that you are wrong. There’s no such thing as a fast or slow metabolism. The good news is that weight loss is something you can have control over! Here are 3 things that you should know about metabolism to help you lose weight.

1. Metabolism is a Chemical Process in The Body

The definition of metabolism according to NASM is, “All of the chemical reactions that occur in the body to maintain itself. Metabolism is the process in which nutrients are acquired, transported, used, and disposed of by the body.” (NASM)

That’s right. All metabolism is is a fancy word to say that the body goes through a lot of changes and processes in order to keep itself running. It isn’t specific or even really directly related to weight loss. This is just a common misconception because the body uses energy, or calories, to function, and we know that if you are taking in more calories than your body is using, it gets stored as body fat for later use.

2. There’s No Such Thing As a Slow or Fast Metabolism

Nope, it’s a fallacy. You may think that you have a slow metabolism but you don’t. Everyone actually has the same metabolism speed give or take a percentage. This is good news because it means that there isn’t anything inherently wrong with you! Think of it this way. One pound of lean body mass is one pound of lean body mass and it burns the same amount of calories no matter who it is on. The thing is, different people have a different amount of lean body mass, so naturally, the person with more lean body mass will burn more calories.

3. Metabolism Doesn’t Control Your Ability to Burn Calories

The amount of calories that you burn every day depends on how much lean body mass (muscle), you have and how much you move with it. As I said above, one pound of lean body mass burns the same amount of calories no matter who it is on.

Let’s look at an example. Say you have two people, one with 80 pounds of lean body mass, and the other with 120 pounds of lean body mass. Person number 2 has an extra 40 pounds of calorie burning muscle on their body than person number 1. This means that they will naturally have an easier time burning more calories. The second factor in calorie burn is how much you move. If person number one only gets 10,000 steps with their 80 pounds of lean body mass, but person number 2 gets 15,000 steps with their 120 pounds of lean body mass, it is a no brainer why person number 2 is thought to have a fast metabolism. It is what they are doing, not who they are that helps them lose weight.

Now You Know

The word “metabolism” has been used in the wrong context your whole life. There is no such thing as a fast or slow metabolism because one pound of muscle burns the same amount of calories no matter who it is on. If you want to burn more calories, then build more muscle and move more with that muscle! Now that you know this, you can start living your life without fear of your own metabolism. Talk to a trainer today to find out how you can boost your daily calorie burn through muscle building and movement.

 

Sources

2012. NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training. Fourth Edition. Philadelphia, PA. Lippincott Williams & WIlkins, a Wolters Kluwer business.

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Saturday 3 December 2016

You Should Start Your Weight Loss Resolution Now

Let’s Make a Change

Did you make a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight this year? If so, did you stick to it? That’s okay. In fact, most people don’t stick to their New Year’s Resolution. That doesn’t make you a bad person, it just means that something needs to change. How so, you ask? Start your resolution early! Here are three reasons why you should start your weight loss resolution now.

1. You’ll Have Time To Make a Plan

By starting early, you will have enough time to make a plan. You can find a trainer, sit down for a consultation, and come up with a plan that will work for you. One reason why people don’t stick to their resolution is because they don’t have the right plan in place. What do you want to achieve? How many calories do you burn? How many calories should you eat? Should you exercise every day? These are all questions that need to be answered in your plan.

The best goals are S.M.A.R.T goals; Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. Your goal needs to be specific and measureable, such as a particular body fat percentage that you want to achieve. In addition, it should be attainable and realistic for your body and your lifestyle. You should also give yourself a timeline and goal date to work towards. By making SMART goals, it will be easier to stay on track.

2. You Can Get a Head Start

Start your weight loss resolution early to get a head start. If you know you want it and it is important to you, why wait another month? There will always be an excuse to wait. Don’t let these excuses stop you. Haven’t you spent enough time waiting already? There’s no better day than today to start your weight loss goal.

3. You Can Build Lasting Habits

By starting early, you will have time to build the habits that will ensure success. As you probably know, habits aren’t instant. They don’t sink in the moment that you start. Until your new lifestyle becomes a habit, it will be something that you are going to have to work on everyday. So, why wait to start building new habits? If you start today, you will have an extra month under your belt. This will help you to be more successful in the long run.

Don’t Wait!

Why wait to make a change? By starting today, you will have enough time to make a plan and get a head start on your goals. Finally, by starting now, you can build the habits that will lead to a lasting change. Make this the year where you really achieve your weight loss resolution. Talk to a trainer today to get started!

 

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