Hello!
January 1 is just around the corner. 2013 can be YOUR year. Dream something BIG and dare something NEW for 2013!
Is this going to be the year that you get in shape and lose the extra weight or are you going to put it off AGAIN? Quit making excuses and do something about it! Now!
What should you do? Check out this list.
1. Go to the gym almost every day. Rest when you need to. You know that, so do it. Keep tracking your food intake. Make these healthy habits into a lifestyle. It's just who you are.
5. Forget the steady state cardio workouts. Embrace weight training and high intensity short intervals. Believe this - steady-state cardiovascular work will not lead to fitness.
The body uses three distinct energy pathways, each employed based on the demands placed on the body. Two of these systems (the lactic acid system and the glycolytic system) are called into play when the rate of muscle contraction exceeds the body's ability to produce contractions using oxygen. The key to the fitness level you are looking for (and the rocking hot body) is not found in long cardio sessions. Skip the mindless machine workouts and old 80's aerobics and step classes. Waste of time except for the very deconditioned.
6. Mental focus is more critical to success than physical ability.You have to get your head in the game and make a real comittment to changing your life. If you can't do that, forget it. You will fail.
7. You do not need a complicated piece of exercise equipment. In fact, the more complicated it is, the less effective.The most effective tools for building lean muscle tissue and shedding fat are simple. They have few or no moving parts, and they don't plug into the wall. These tools require effort to use. You've got to pick them up off the ground and hoist them around. They don't give you a place to sit, and they don't read your heart rate every ten seconds. If your exercise routine involves blinking lights, vibrating seats, or mounted televisions, you're doing yourself a disservice. Find the stuff that's simple, heavy and made of metal. It's the true route to fitness.
8. Find a trainer or friend to help you. Having someone to guide you is a huge bonus. A good trainer will recognize your weaknesses and develop a plan to address your specific needs. Left to your own devices you will probably choose the activities that you like the best or that are most convenient. But, is that what you really need?
I have classes every day of the week except Sundays. I also offer one-on-one personal training. Contact me for details. I would love to work with you!
Kathy Wilson
I love fitness! I love an intense workout that leaves me sweaty and exhilerated! Crossfit has become my passion. I teach a lot of "Boot Camp" and "Crossfit style" workouts at my home gym. Crossfit is known for it's onstant variation and intensity. Both elements are right up my alley and they should appeal to you too if you want to become leaner, stronger and more athletic. We are all athletes!
I am a Level 1 certified Crossfit Coach and I also hold various personal training certifications. You can check out my qualifications on my profile page at www.ideafit.com/profile/kathy-wilson-1
Beginning a Crossfit style or Boot Camp style workout can be daunting because of the intensity and the number of exercises and skills. Yes, you will develop new skills! A positive for your body and your mind! You'll learn Olympic lifts, gymnastics, innovative stretches, kettlebell exercises, medicine ball work and a new respect for your abilities. Every workout is different, but challenging. There is always a new skill to learn while you work on mastering previously learned stretches or exercises. Here are a few tips to help you get started with any exercise program:
1.) Virtuosity: Strive to do every rep correctly, every time. Virtuosity is the pursuit of perfection. Be a virtuoso of exercise! Crossfit describes virtuosity as doing the common uncommonly well. Practice is the mother of all skills! You must practice.
2.) Consistency: Get in the habit of working out. Once in while is not good enough to see any real results. Enough said.
3.) Intensity: Go hard! Minimize the amount of time you spend resting during your workout. The less you rest, the stronger you'll become. The juice is worth the squeeze.
4.) Nutrition: Eat enough calories to support vigorous exercise. Not eating is not a solution. Avoid alcohol, starch, and sugar like poison. Eat lean meats, vegetables, fruits, and good fats. Fat is necessary for athletic performance--get it from almonds, avocados, olive oil, and fish oil. Set up your environment for success. Clear all the crap out of your pantry and fridge and never ever buy it again.
5.) Sleep: Sleep is essential to your athletic development. When you sleep, you heal. Progress is a constant give and take between breaking down and building up--exercise breaks you down and sleep builds you up. Sleep at least 8 hours every night. It really is important!
6.) Rest: Don't exercise every day. You'll burn out and increase your chances of developing an injury. Schedule rest days after every two or three days of heavy training. Don't be a slave to your exercise program. Listen to your body. Rest after your workouts - not during them!
7.) Your trainer and your gym: Spend money on quality trainers and gyms. A few hundred bucks here will be money well spent. You will progress faster. Be picky about the advice you follow. Check out your trainers qualifications and ask questions. Choose your gym carefully. Don't believe everything you read on the internet. Do you really need to pay for all that equipment, sauna, pool, etc that you will never utilize? Use your own body as your machine!
8.) Comfort: Get out of your comfort zone. It's what you do when you thought your couldn't do anymore that really counts. Stay away from the famaliar path. Approach new skills as an opportunity to learn, not an opportunity to fail. The best athletes in the world spend all day working on their weaknesses, not reinforcing their strengths.
9.) Goals: Write down your goals and work to meet them every day. Look back over your progress, and change what needs to be changed.Keep a food log and an exercise log. Simple, but effective.
10.) Stress: Your body doesn't distinguish between training stress and life stress. Minimize life stress to maximize your progress. Do Yoga. Meditate. Take time to enjoy your family and friends. Smell the roses along the way!
Nothing I have said is new or novel. Simple tips to make the most of your workouts and your life. You are an athlete. Train like one. I hope to see you in a class or personal training session soon.
Our workouts can teach us a lot about ourselves and the people around us. There are always lessons to be learned. Here are a few things I have learned from my own workouts and from training my clients.
1. I have learned to be a healthier person.
2. I have learned to be grateful for my good health. Cherish it. It could be gone in a minute.
3. I have learned to enjoy trying new things and traveling to new destinations. I love meeting new people and forming new friendships.
4. I have learned to be confident to feel good about myself when I succeed.
5. I have learned to accept my short comings and failures. Embrace your failures and work hard to overcome them. It's ok to fail. A good workout will humble you and pinpoint your short comings.
6. I have learned that when things get hard, keep going. Never give up.
7. I have learned to be confident in my abilities, in spite of my age, weaknesses, or my situation. Do not let the negative comments from your critics cause you to doubt yourself. We all have critics who want to pull us down.
8. I have learned that some of the best friendships have been forged in the gym. You get to know a more authentic and genuine person while sweating together. The workout breaks down the usual social barriers that keep us from connecting to one another.
9. I have learned to be adaptable. When one door closes, another door opens. There is always a way.
10. I have learned that I have all that I need to be the best person I can be. I always had it, even if I didn't realize it. Don't wait to start living life to it's fullest, start today. There will never be a better time.
Work for a cause, not applause. Live life to express, not impress. Don't strive to make your presence noticed, strive to make your absence felt.
Kathy Wilson
Are you looking for a workout that will transform your body? Want to lose some weight and tighten up around the middle? Are you short on free time for exercise? Need help putting an effective workout together? My my new Fit Lite classes are your answer.
I will put together an effective workout that will give you real results in 30 to 45 minutes. I will guide you through every exercise. You just need to show up and I will help you with everything else. Short, fun workouts with a few like-minded friends. Just what you need to get started on your new fit body. You could be looking tighter and toned - better than you have in years.
Rates are reasonable for all budgets. Small groups meet on Wednesdays and Fridays at 10:15 a.m. and Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m.
Please contact me by email or phone for details. I would love the opportunity to help you!
It's summer! Time for a change of pace from your same old gym routine. Get out in the sunshine and put your fitness skills to use. Challenge yourself with a new workout or new location. I will be offering outdoor boot camps at Southeastway Park through the summer and fall seasons. Please check here or my facebook page for updates and schedules. I will be offering Boxing classes in my gym on select Saturdays. I would love to workout with my friends every Saturday. But, let's be honest. I need time to go camping, hiking, biking in the sunshine too!
If you are ready for a change of pace or just want to get started on a fitness routine, please contact me. I offer classes for beginner to advanced level exercisers. I recently added a new class, Fit Lite. Fit Lite meets on Wednesdays and Fridays at 10:15 a.m. for 30 to 45 minutes. I designed the class as a easy way to get into fitness or to get back to fitness after a long absence or injury. The class has been very popular and a lot of fun.
I continue to offer my intermediate to advanced level workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:15 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. The class is called the Fitness Protection group. The classes are really kicking some serious butt! Everyone is experiencing measureable improvements in strength and weight loss too.
Boxing is available on Wednesdays at 9:00 am. Always a challenge and great for stress reduction! Of course, one-on-one personal training or small group training is available. Please contact me to set up an appointment. I would love to help you realize your dreams!
Have a wonderful summer!
Do you really know about the credentials of your personal trainer or fitness instructor? Are you making a wise investment in your gym membership or personal training package? Be wary!
The "corporate" gym mentality is changing the fitness business. Many corporate gyms hire fast talking sales staff to sell personal training packages and gym memberships. The sales staff sells the package and hands off the client (you) to a trainer you have never met. The sales person is rarely a trainer, despite their claims. The sales staff usually has quotas they need to meet and are willing to make promises to a potential client to secure the sale. The trainer has the job of attempting to met the expectations that the sales person has promised the new member. After the gym and the sales person have taken their cut the trainer gets the remainder (sometimes as low as $10-$12 per hour). What fitness professional wants to work for that kind of hourly rate?
Do not fall into this trap. You are buying the services of a "here-for-now-gone-tomorrow" trainer. What happens if you do not like your trainer? What do you do if your trainer leaves?
There are plenty of complaints about these business practices. It's nothing new. But, greed can drive gym owners and managers to continue the practice. The gym and sales staff can potentially earn 75% of the personal training fee. Of course, it also drives the good trainers out of a job. What legitimate trainer wants to spend a lot of money and many hours keeping on top of the latest education and staying current with certifications to earn just $10 per hour? Hardly a wise career choice.
Here are a couple of questions to ask your trainer or instructor (taken from a recent IDEA article):
What is your exercise and educational background? Are you certified by a nationally recognized organization?
To properly design a safe and effective workout, a personal trainer should have a good grounding in exercise technique, including exercise physiology, anatomy and injury prevention. A four-year degree in a fitness-related field or certification—or, preferably, both—indicates the personal trainer knows at least the basics of conducting a quality session. Be certain that your trainer has an actual nationally recognized certification. You can check it out here on www.ideafit.com.
What is your level of personal training experience? How do you keep current on the latest personal training techniques, research and trends?
Fitness is a fast-moving field, and you want to be able to rely on your personal trainer for current information on fitness, exercise and healthy lifestyle activities. Membership in a professional association such as IDEA is one way to tell the personal trainer is staying abreast of the latest information on a variety of important topics.
Will you keep track of my workouts and conduct regular fitness assessments?
A legitimate trainer will chart your progress and have a plan to help you meet your goals in a reasonable manner. If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. Look for a trainer with great credentials, references and lots of experience. A good trainer can help you get in the best shape of your life and make an impact on your future.
Make a wise investment.
Fondly,
To burn more body fat, burn more total calories! Make a healthy lifestyle change to incorporate exercise into your daily life and eat sensibly. Log your food intake and do some self-analysis. Do you need to reduce your portion sizes? Make healthier food choices? Do you eat 3 balanced meals per day along with a couple of snacks? Drop some unhealthy habits and replace them with habits that are more in line with your weight loss goals. Take a walk instead of sitting in front of the tube eating. Make the behavior changes that support the new healthier, leaner you!
The best possible exercise combination is cardiovascular exercise along with weight training. Do some longer cardio workouts at a moderate intensity once or twice a week. On the other days, alternate some challenging cardio intervals with weight training to maximize your calorie burn.
Regular cardio exercise will turn your body into a better fat burner. Some of the physiological and metabolic adaptations that occur with cardiovascular exercise which enhance fat metabolism are listed below:
Your body improves your cardiovascular system with exercise by increasing the number of capillaries that deliver oxygen and extract oxygen. This helps from a cellular level to burn fat more efficiently.
The sensitivity of muscle and fat cells to epinephrine is enhanced, leading to improved release of fatty acids into the blood and within the muscle where fat is in its triglyceride storage form.
Your improved circulatory system aids in the delivery of fatty acids to the muscle. Also, the amount of fatty acids your body will allow to enter the muscles is increased, making fat more available as fuel.
An improvement in the specialized protein transporters that admit the fatty acids into the muscle cells makes the fat more readily available.
The mitochondria, sometimes referred to as the cells “fat-burning furnaces,” increase meaningfully in number and size. Again, the changes happen at the cellular level before you see and feel the results. Your body is masterful at adapting to the demands placed on it.
There are only 3 sources for weight loss. They are from water, muscle tissue or fatty tissue. Regular weight training helps to preserve your muscle tissue. Also, regular and challenging weight training workouts will build and enhance your muscles improving your metabolism. Additional muscle tissue will burn more calories, even at rest. The “after burn” or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) refers to the number of calories expended above resting values after a workout. Both cardiovascular and weight training programs may elicit EPOC, but weight training will expend more calories over a longer period of time (the actual number depends on the exercise intensity).
Be consistent with your program. Make exercise and healthy eating a habit. If you must miss a few days for illness or other obligations, get back to it as soon as possible. Do not make excuses or indulge yourself. Stay on track. Small, daily changes add up to significant, measureable changes. Enjoy your new leaner body and increased self confidence along the way. Don’t wait until you reach your goal weight. Reward yourself all along the journey. You deserve it!
