Happy New Year!!!!

Who’s making a Fitness Resolution today? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?"

I have to be honest it hasn’t been a pretty site at my house. Now it’s time to say goodbye to the comfort food, Italian cookies (my favorite) eggnog, gingerbread houses and the entire array of feel-good-now-but-pay-for-it-later foods!

So what’s next? Well, gyms are crowded and folks are walking and running. This month is big in my profession. I’ll take it, but what went on the rest of the year?

It’s not too early to be thinking about fitting into your bikini. I know its months away, but basically you’re training now for your body and appearance for spring/summer!
 

So all together now, let’s get our butts back on track, healthy, fit and get energized for the New Year! If you want 2012 to be the year you take control of your health, make your body beautiful, strong and get your energy back, NOW is the time to do it. Temptation is gone. No more excuses!

I’m with some of you. My workouts were great, but food wasn’t. I know folks might say both their workouts and food weren’t up to par. So let’s get back to basics, so here are 5 helpful tips to get you back on the fitness track:

1. Let’s start with the easy one. Water, drink your water! This is the one that makes me crazy. When a client tells me they don’t have enough time to get water in, I want to scream. Yes, you go to the bathroom more, deal with it. Drink a lot of it because you probably drank more eggnog, wine, soda and beer more than you normally do these past few weeks, so now it’s time for a detox. Water will restore the balance in your body and get you back in health mode.

2. Get the meals in. Make sure you’re eating every 3-4 hours. 3 meals and 2 snacks are ideal. Increase your veggie intake; they are water-dense foods. Fruits and veggies boost your fiber intake, since it’s probably been insufficient this past month. These foods will get you off the fat-and-sugar track and on the fat-burning one in no time.

3. Throw away! My mother-in-law hates this one. She’s from the generation that forced us to finish our huge portions. Those poor kids in wherever are starving, so “finish what you have on your plate”. errrrrrrrr---So, watch your portion size at meals and its okay to, yes throw away or use as leftovers. Re-stock your shelves with GOOD food. The junk should be gone. Sorry, if you didn’t finish the sugar cookies, they must go, far, far away! 

 

4. Resistance training! Please don’t follow the cardio-crowd workout. You’ll notice the treadmills and elliptical machines are packed. Go to the weight room, if you’re unsure hire a trainer and learn to workout the right way. If you’ve taken time off from your training, don’t go all out. Start with a lighter workout that’ll remind you how it feels to work out and get your body back in the groove. I see too many people push way too hard too fast out of guilt for eating a lot and “not having time to work out.” And end up getting hurt or just quit. That first week is for getting back on track, not kill you! One of the keys to this is finding an activity you enjoy. If you do you’ll stick with it!

5. SLEEP! The last month for most of us has been hectic and stressful. Remember not enough sleep is stress on your body. Not good for fat-loss. So get back to a normal sleep schedule 7-8 hours a night.

Don’t forget to Plan!

Too many people just jump into things without proper planning. This is a huge mistake! Have a plan going forward. This could mean workouts and your food plan. Don’t take chances, it’s too important. Don’t just go to a gym and decide you’ll do this or that. A good workout program is crucial for your success. Remember “if you fail to plan”, “you plan to fail”.

With planning you need strategy to overcome potential roadblocks. If you have potential roadblocks, ask yourself, “What can I do differently to avoid this?” Willpower can only take you so far, remember this, thinking that more willpower is the best strategy is not the way to go……Let planning and preparation be your strategy.

Make Fitness a habit and be consistent. Commit to Thirty Days – Three to four weeks is all the time you need to make a habit automatic. If you can make it through the initial conditioning phase, it becomes much easier to sustain. A month is a good block of time to commit to a change since it easily fits in your calendar.

Goal Setting. Once you have a plan in place set a goal. This gives you a way to measure your progress, and provides a real boost when you realize that a goal which seemed out of reach last year, is easy this year. Set small goals for yourself that are somewhat challenging, but not so difficult that they are unattainable. Once you’ve achieved each goal, set your sights slightly higher and begin again. This is the only way to keep progressing.

The New Year often brings resolutions that turn into broken promises, but this year DECIDE to make it stick. If you do, besides not having this same resolution next year you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you have accomplished something very important. That will go a long way!

Let’s do it!
Looking forward to a great year!

 Keep Training!!!

Hoilday Weight Gain --NOT a great gift.........

One Holiday down 2 to go, here’s the thing, enjoy yourself. We look forward to this season, let’s enjoy. But I have to admit it can be a challenge, especially if you’re trying to lose weight. For the next month you are going to have some of the biggest challenges you have faced all year to losing weight and keeping it off. In my experience from Thanksgiving to New Year's can raise havoc with your plan.

Many people easily gain 5-10 pounds over this time and when they finally realize this, they don’t know what hit them. I guess the mindset is that you can let everything slide now since once Ryan Seacrest finishes his New Year’s Eve countdown you'll get right back on track.

I have to be honest with you letting things go and gaining 5+ pounds over the next several weeks is going to put a dent in your weight loss process. The reason being that you will have to spend January losing that last 7 pounds you gained before you can even start on the new weight you want to lose.

To compound this, during this time-period most people have a harder time fitting in their workouts –double-whammy. More calories and less exercise equals you know what. Let’s avoid this Holiday weight-gain, now more than ever you need to stick to your planning.

1) Get your workouts in. Make an appointment with yourself. It’s much easier to get it done in the morning. Yes get your butt out of bed 45 minutes earlier and do your workout. I don’t have the time is the poorest excuse on the planet---PLEASE.

2) Plan your meals and snacks –yes you may have to do that the night before –Modern Family can wait –use your DVR and watch later.

3) If you’re attending a Party –don’t go in hungry ---eat before you get there.

You don’t have to miss out, but stay the course and only indulge during a few special occasions such as Christmas Eve, Christmas dinner and New Year's Eve. The rest of the times try avoiding the excess food and drinks - you'll be happy you did come January 2nd!

Great Holiday Workout ---from Val Waters.

Keep Training!

Snowy Outdoor Bootcamp!

It wasn't suppose to stick!!  It's only October............ Thanks FOX25 Boston --great forecast!!

It didn't stop some of you --great job!!

Last Outdoor Camp of Year!!!

Eye of the Tiger!!

One of the biggest obstacles to getting and staying in shape is putting off workouts. I know life gets in the way, but if you’re serious about making changes YOU’LL FIND TIME. Yes, that could mean 6am workouts. Get your butt out of bed if it’s the only way……. When it comes to fitness, telling yourself you’ll “do it later” will sabotage your progress and hold you back from reaching your goals.

Yes, I’ll repeat myself. You NEED GOALS! The urge to procrastinate can be a daily struggle if the motivation you have for working out is too broad, unspecific or unattainable. An example of a great goal is getting in super shape for a Wedding that’s a few months away. Here’s the opposite of that, I want to workout to be alive to see my Grandkids get married, that’s great, but the goal expands so far into the future that it’s easy to say, “what’s one missed workout? I’ll do it tomorrow.” Think of Apollo Creed yelling at Rocky in Rocky III, “there is no tomorrow!” “there is no tomorrow!”

But if you have that shorter term goal, that’s another story, you’ll know that a missed workout is a missed opportunity and could result in a setback. I’m not saying it’s the end of the world if you miss one or two. I’m talking about continually blowing off workouts for no good reasons. Bottom line, if you have a more pressing reason to get to the gym, you’ll be more likely to continue going on a daily basis.

Once you establish a reasonable goal, you may still have trouble sticking to your program. Ask yourself why you REALLY work out. What is your primary motivation? To be honest, I miss an occasional workout, like I said, “Life happens.” But here’s the thing, I work out because it keeps me centered and positive. I notice that when I miss a workout I feel less calm and many times I don’t sleep as well that night. For me, I love that feeling of working out hard. Yes I do enjoy it, that’s another key. Finding something you enjoy physically and you will continue. Everyone has their own reasons for working out that don’t necessarily involve what your doctor tells you, i.e. exercise is important for bone density and longevity, etc.

One way to motivate yourself to get to the next level is to visualize what you want. Imagine yourself already having the energy you want to have, the shape you want to be in, or riding that 100 mile bike ride you’ve always wished you could complete. Whatever encourages you immediately is the key to your fitness success.

And sometimes we have those days that it’s not going to happen. No motivational trick will get you to where you’re supposed to be. I’m not talking when you’re sick or injured or totally exhausted. You know what days I’m talking about. Basically, you’re very comfortable and looking for any excuse to not workout. On those days, you just need to step it up and do it anyway. That’s what commitment is about–you do it no matter what. Pretty much everyone who’s ever done a workout out of sheer focus and determination would agree that they’ve never regretted it. Even if you limit your exercise and maybe walk, you’ll be surprised how quickly you may change your tune!

Procrastinating will always hold you back from reaching your fitness goals. Don’t let this be you. Regretting. Putting yourself in a position where you’re looking back and realizing you could have been farther along if you had just done the workouts you decided to miss. Time is passing by anyway.

You can either be in better shape in a month, or you could be the same depending on the decision you make today. And I don’t want to have to quote Adrian in Rocky III, don’t make me go there!!

Keep Training!!
mh

Fall Session------- Outdoor Fitness!

It's already September --can you believe it?

Outdoor Class starts Wednesday Sept 7

WED & FRI 7:00AM-7:45AM

WED & FRI 9:15AM-10:00AM

COME JOIN US!!!!!

Some other Cardio Options!

People who hire a personal trainer always need goals, if they don’t their results will be limited. You always need something to shoot for. Many clients have a goal of losing body fat and transforming their bodies. If that's your goal, then you know interval or cardio training are a must, and it doesn't have to be boring.......

Whenever a client comes to me with the goal of losing fat, they always ask, "How long do I have to ride the bike or run for?" Well, thing is, it doesn’t take a tremendous amount of time on the bike or treadmill to get results. Some folks still can’t get over this and some “Cardio Queens” will never change their ways. Traditional cardio has its’ place, but it’s not the best option for fat loss.

Here’s the thing: people still think they must be a slave to a treadmill, elliptical or bike in order to lose fat, get a better body, and get healthy. It's just not the case. In fact, there are other training methods that could get you results faster and in less time.

First of all, if you hate doing something (such as spending endless time on a machine), what makes you think you're going to be consistent? If you're not consistent, you won't get long lasting results. It's as simple as that. Plus, who has the time to spend hours per week on a machine?

Instead of spending time on a machine, I suggest other, more effective, alternatives.

1) Bodyweight circuits . Pick a few exercises and perform them back-to-back with no or minimal rest time. For example: squats, pushups, jumping jacks, lunges, and planks. You could perform several repetitions (about 10-15) of each exercise and perform the circuit for 10-15 minutes. The other benefit to this over a treadmill: you'll build muscle. Muscle increases your metabolism, which allows you to burn more calories. Get creative here: pick any bodyweight movements you can think of. Also, feel free to perform each exercise, rest 1-2 minutes, and repeat the circuit for about 5-6 total rounds.

2) Dumbbell intervals . Pick an exercise: dumbbell squat & press* for example. Perform 10 repetitions of this exercise, rest 60 seconds, and repeat for about 5-6 more rounds. You could pick many other exercises too, and mix and match. For example: you could do a few rounds of squat & press, and then perform a few rounds of Burpees**. For a progression, you should either increase the number of rounds you perform and/or decrease your rest periods.
Other great combo’s: KB Swings & Pushups Jumping Jacks & Skaters –the list is endless.

*Dumbbell squat & press: stand with the dumbbells at your shoulders. Perform a squat, and as you are standing up, simultaneously press the dumbbells overhead. Lower the dumbbells back to your shoulders, and immediately perform another squat.

**Burpee: stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Squat down and put your hands outside your feet on the floor. Kick your feet back so you are in the top of a pushup position. From here, jump your feet back up to your hands, and then stand up. You could also use dumbbells for extra resistance. You would just hold them in your hands the entire time. Make sure they don't roll away from you.

So next time you’re thinking about doing 45min on the treadmill –think again, maybe I’ll try something new, you might be surprised…….

Here’s LeeAnne, using a few pieces of in-expensive equipment and putting a cardio circuit together. The Bosu exercise is an example of the Burpee with progression.