Important?

Gotta quick question for y'all...as business professionals, doctors, lawyers, construction workers, restaurateurs, students, stay at home mom's or dad's, etc., do you keep a planner or calendar that tells you what you have to do that day? For the most part, the vast majority of my clients and associates do have some kind of system. Now here is another question...how important are those items on your calendar? I am going to guess that each of them is fairly important or else it wouldn't be written. Right. Okay...now questions number three and four...did your fitness appointments make it to the calendar? Did your meal times make it to the calendar? If you are reading this blog post (or any others that are predicated on fat/weight loss) then your health is a priority for you. Based on my experiences with my private clients, these important appointments are NOT listed on their calendar. Why not? If being healthy is important to you, set appointments with yourself and get them on your calendar! Not only do they remind you about the time, but they serve as reminders to how important it is to you. While most will start to enter their training times, most will not enter when they need to eat. Make sure these times are entered as well. If nutrition plays the largest part of results, meals HAVE TO BE ENTERED!

I look forward to being part of your fitness education and challenge you to reach farther, dream bigger, and believe in yourself.

GYM ETIQUETTE

Ahhh...gym etiquette...something that no one seems to blog about or teach you at the gym. Why not? It has seemingly lost importance in the new "techno" bombarded world of IPOD's and MP3 players and TV's. But, alas, it carries far more importance than anyone may think. Whether you are new to fitness or a seasoned veteran, this is one of the most important attributes to possess.

There is no book on each rule to follow as each gym typically has a set culture; however, there are certainly some unwritten rules that have to be followed to keep you coming back. This is only a partial list, but some of the most important.

We'll start in the resistance training area:

1. When you are finished using a dumbbell, kettle bell, tension band, or anything that wasn't yours when you entered the gym PUT IT BACK (fitness lingo..."Re rack your weights")! If you found it on the ground, ask a gym employee where it belongs.

2. If you are using a bench or anything that you lay down on or sit down on, WIPE IT DOWN AFTER YOU ARE DONE! There is nothing nastier than finding out the hard way that someone didn't clean up after themselves...trust me!

3. DO NOT WALK IN FRONT OF SOMEONE IF THEY ARE LIFTING! This drives me insane. Mirrors are not around the gym as a vanity supporter, rather a check and balance. It provides an opportunity for someone to make sure that the exercise is being performed correctly.

4. DO NOT SCREAM & YELL WHEN YOU ARE LIFTING! Granted, the gym is not a library, but there is no need to make yourself a spectacle. A grunt here and there is perfectly acceptable, but unless you are going for a one rep max with all-out effort, don't make a scene.

5. DO NOT SIT AND SOCIALIZE ON A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT! Some of the exercise selections that I will provide videos of require machines. Always be aware of people who are waiting to use it when you finish.

Once again, this is simply a partial list and there a many others. But if you follow these 5 rules, you will have a much better experience.

I look forward to being part of your fitness education and challenge you to reach farther, dream bigger, and believe in yourself.

Planning to Adjust

I absolutely love training! It gives me a rush to know that I have left everything that I had during that session. And to top it off, I get to do it again on another day! There is absolutely nothing like it. Maybe it is the athlete in me, or maybe I am just a fitness nerd:) Having said that, there are extremely frustrating moments in each training session. But, this is the time to adjust your game plan. Some of the best training sessions that I have ever had were ones that I changed on the fly. Plans change...if they didn't, everyone would be perfect. Right:) I'll give you a prime example. Today, I had a fantastic training session. I Deadlifted my personal best for 5 reps. It felt great! After that, I supersetted two upper body exercises for about 10 minutes. I felt absolutely spectacular when I finished! Here is where it gets interesting. I came home to do 1/4 mile sprints on my treadmill. I was shooting for under 60 seconds each sprint. Well...I found out that my treadmill gets up to that, but it shorts out on any speed over 9.0 MPH. So, what do I do now? Quit? No way...no how! This is where creativity takes over. How do you make a treadmill session harder? Speed and/or INCLINE. Well...treadmill speed 9.0MPH, treadmill incline 4.0. Let me tell ya'...I was beat down when I was done:) 4 was plenty! Why do I share this? Because as important as a plan is when you begin, adjustments will assuredly need to be made. If you are reading the plan as gospel, you are missing the point of fat loss/weight loss. Think about it...if one plan worked the best, everyone would use it. Do not lose sight of everything else at your disposal. In the coming weeks and months, I will be highlighting lots of exercises and their variations to get you results, 'cause face it, isn't that what we are all after...RESULTS!

I look forward to being part of your fitness education and challenge you to reach farther, dream bigger, and believe in yourself.