Weight Loss Is Not The Most Important Goal.
Last week while performing a consultation with a prospective client, I asked… what is your motivation for joining a gym? I could have scripted the response… I want to lose weight the prospect responded.
Setting weight loss goals is probably one of the most difficult things to do when you embark on and exercise or weight loss program. How much do I need to lose? That question is hard to answer and is often based on your particular goals.
Weight loss is one of the biggest reasons many people exercise in the first place. But it’s certainly not the sole benefit of an exercise program.
The long-term goal of weight loss is sold too heavily to people starting fitness programs, and that can be discouraging. Based on feedback provided clients and my personal assessment, people have trouble sticking with something if they don’t see results quickly.
So whatever weight loss goal you have when starting a fitness program, don’t make it your only goal. Strive to feel better, to have more energy, to be less stressed. Notice the small things that exercise does for you quickly, rather than getting hung up on the narrow goal of the number on a scale.
If you are determined you need to lose weight, your next step is to set a reasonable weight loss goal for yourself. You can base your goals on any number of factors, but a great place to start would be the general recommendations set out by the American College of Sports Medicine which are 5-10% of your body weight or one to two pounds per week.
Personally, I believe with the goal of losing weight and enhancing health, people should think more about the level of functioning in the activities of daily living, which can serve as greater motivation to achieving a healthier, stronger and more fit body.
Why Two Heart Rates? Fat Burning and Cardiovascular Benefit
Do you exercise because you want to lose weight? If so, you probably know that cardio exercise is a key factor in helping you lose weight. Many people are warned to stay within their ‘fat burning’ zone for the best results, but do you really burn more fat if you work at lower intensities? Is it the most effective way to help you lose weight?
Five Towns Personal Trainer reveals the what you need to know to maximize your ultimate results! I’ve seen exercise heart rate specs that specify two rates… one for fat loss and one (higher) cardiovascular benefit. Why are there two different rates?
ANSWER: Conventional exercise physiology teaches us that at a lower intensity within a target zone the body will burn more readily burns fat whereas as you up your intensity it calls more upon glycogen (sugar) energy stores. Intense cardiovascular training has a very distinct positive effect upon the cardiorespiratory system, thus, as your heart rate goes up, your are facilitating more cardio benefit. That is conventional wisdom. It is, however, flawed.
People are taught to estimate their maximum heart by subtracting their age from the number 220. That seems to offer a nice ball park figure that corresponds relatively well with the overall population. The “target zone” is estimated somewhere between 65% and 85% of the “age estimated maximum heart rate” The cardiovascular companies design charts to sell their “versatility” by offering programs that offer both for “fat burning” and for cardiorespiratory gain. In reality, you are very capable of burning fat anytime you are meeting oxygen demand, which includes when you drive, sit on the couch, and sleep! The premise that you have to be on a piece of aerobic equipment to burn fat is ludicrous.
Despite the criticism of this premise, the target zone is a valuable guideline for estimating intensity during aerobic exercise. If you are exercising at less than 65% of your maximum, you aren’t likely to stimulate great gains nor are you likely to burn significant amounts of fat during your exercise session. If you are exercising above 85%, you might be access glycolytic (sugar burning) energy stores and minimize fat access. Training towards the mid-high range of your target zone should bring you the best overall result.
Love Handles – How To Get Rid of Them!
Attention Residents of the Five Towns, Personal Trainer of the Five Towns lets you in on the secret of how to rid your body of “Love Handles”.
Love handles, aka “spare tires” are a growing problem for many man and women these days. Love handle is a nice way to describe the fat that accumulates on each side of the waist. Many people are misinformed on how to successfully lose those annoying love handles. Abdominal videos and fitness manufactures know people’s desperation and play upon this heavily. If you take the time to read the product you will notice in the fine print of the accompany booklet that a healthy diet should be used with the item for optimal results.
How To Lose Love Handles – Exercise
The accumulated fat that widens your waist never seems to dissipate no matter how many crunches or how much abdominal work you do, right? I can let you in on some little secrets on how to rid those saddles that have been weighing you down.
Step #1 – Since love handles are an accumulation of body fat, you have to clean up you eating habits. For some people this will be simply omitting the obvious junk food and for others it will require lower calories. Most of all, quality nutrition is the ultimate key.
Step #2 – Increase your cardiovascular and resistance training exercise. I’m not suggesting hop on the elliptical and tear into for two hours a day. Simply increase what you are currently doing a small amount and do some resistance training to rev up your fat burning machine and challenge yourself weekly.
Step #3 – Train your transverse abdominal, this is the deepest layer of abdominal wall which is responsible for achieving the flat tummy that you long for. Your transverse abdominal wall can be challenged through movements such as the plank. Ask a Personal Trainer to show you the proper execution of this movement.
Osteoporosis and Exercise
Osteoporosis is a condition characterized by the loss of the normal density of bone, resulting in fragile bone. Osteoporosis leads to literally abnormally porous bone that is more compressible like a sponge, than dense like a brick. This disorder of the skeleton weakens the bone causing an increase in the risk for breaking bones (bone fracture).
Normal bone is composed of protein, collagen, and calcium all of which give bone its strength. Osteoporosis, or thinning bones, is a serious condition that can result in tremendous pain with fractures.
Risk factors for osteoporosis include aging, being female, low body weight, low sex hormones such as during menopause, smoking, and some medications.
With the aging of America, the number of people with osteoporosis related fractures will increase exponentially. The pain, suffering, and economic costs will be enormous. There are no symptoms of this bone disease until you fracture a bone. Prevention and treatment of osteoporosis include calcium and vitamin D, regular exercise, and osteoporosis medications, if needed.
Evidence shows that exercise may help build and maintain bone density at any age. Studies have seen bone density increase by doing regular resistance exercises, such as lifting weights, two or three times a week. This type of weight bearing exercise appears to stimulate bone formation, and the retention of calcium, in the bones that are bearing the load. The force of muscles pulling against bones stimulates this bone building process. So any exercise that places force on a bone will strengthen that bone.
Resistance exercise for osteoporosis includes:
Free weights or weight machines at home or in the gym
Resistance tubing that comes in a variety of strengths
Water exercises — any movement done in the water makes your muscles work harder.
Exercise for Diabetes Prevention and Precautions for Diabetics
Do you have diabetes, or have you been told by your physician that you’re going to have diabetes if you don’t change your lifestyle? Along with changing your eating habits, exercise is essential for regulating your blood sugar. Here’s what exercise can do for you:
- Helps your body use insulin more efficiently. Your muscles and other tissues use insulin more easily when you exercise. With physical activity, less insulin is needed to move sugar out of the blood and into the muscle cells.
- Improve your overall health. Regular physical activity has been shown to help protect against heart disease and stroke. It’s also a great way to reduce stress and help manage your weight
Exercises for Diabetes Prevention and Precautions for Diabetics
How many lean, muscular people do you know with diabetes? OK, so listen up!!! Begin to live a lean, healthy lifestyle and you will be way ahead of the diabetes game.
Exercise and exercise everyday. I’m talking cardiovascular activity and resistance training and you will increase your metabolic rate, as well as level out your blood sugar.
Some special things that people with diabetes need to remember:
- Take care of your feet. Make sure your shoes fit properly and your socks stay clean and dry. Check your feet for redness and sores after exercising. Call your doctor if you have sores that do not heal.
- Make sure the weights you lift aren’t so heavy that you feel pressure in your eyes.
- Drink about 2 cups of water before you exercise, about every 20 minutes during exercise, and after you finish, even if you don’t feel thirsty.
- Warm up and cool down for 5 to 10 minutes before and after exercising. Example walk slowly first, then walk faster. Finish up by walking slowly again
- Test your glucose before and after exercising
- Eat a small snack if your blood glucose is below 100. Know the signs of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and how to treat it.
References and Resources:
Understanding Weight Loss
If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, you know it can be a difficult process. But, there are ways to make it easier. Understanding exactly what you need to do to lose weight is your first step and these resources will help you learn about the basic steps to lose weight, how to set realistic goals and simple tips for making healthy lifestyle changes.
You already know how to lose weight. At it’s simplest, weight loss is a matter of balance, losing weight may seem complicated, but it really comes down to this: take in few calories than your body burns everyday.
Exercising and eating healthy is the healthiest way to do that, right? But, successful weight loss doesn’t start with your body–it starts with your mind and the understanding that our bodies are amazing complex machines.
In this fast-past world of ‘Bigger is Better’ and ‘Super-Size My Meal’… many tend make poor meal choices, lack discipline, and rarely consider the consequences of the types of foods we fuel our bodies with.
Discipline is a part of successful weight loss and just another way of saying self-control. Think of how you practice self-control in the other parts of your life. Each day you fulfill your obligations to work and family, even when you’d rather just lie in bed and sleep late. That takes discipline. The same can be true of exercise and eating habits. Of course, it’s easy to make yourself go to work because there are consequences if you don’t–you won’t make as much money or you could lose your job. But if you don’t workout or eat healthy, the consequences aren’t as immediate, are they? Try these ideas to get more disciplined with exercise and eating:
Regular exercise, in combination with a reduced-calorie diet, can promote fat loss. However, the real value of regular physical activity is that it will help you keep weight off once you’ve lost it, or prevent you from gaining unwanted fat in the first place!
To lose body fat, you must simply burn more calories than you take in. Many people try sit-ups and leg lifts to target certain areas of the body. This may improve specific muscle endurance, but doesn’t selectively reduce fat. Your body has its own genetic pattern which determines where you deposit extra fat and how you respond to diet and activity changes. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends exercising 200-300 minutes/week for effective weight loss and the prevention of weight regain (for example, 40-60 mins, 5 days/wk). At the same time, individuals seeking to lose weight should reduce their overall calorie intake by 500-1000 calories and reduce fat intake to less than 30% of total calories. For weight control, the National Institute of Medicine recommends a program of moderate intensity exercise (for example, walking 4 mph), 60 mins/session, 5 days/wk.
Cardiovascular exercise is a great choice for burning calories and fat, no matter where the fat is on your body. Cardiovascular exercise elevates your metabolism during the activity, requires lots of energy and makes you a more effective fat-burner. Cardiovascular exercise activities include:
* Brisk walking or Jogging
* Group fitness classes
* Elliptical training
* Field sports such like Soccer, Basketball and other high movement sports
Any activity that uses large muscle groups in continuous motion for 20-30 minutes will improve your stamina. The more muscles involved and the harder you exercise the more calories you burn!
How do I get started?
If you’re new to exercise, start slowly. Begin with a 10-15 minute workout and add a minute or two each week. Limit increases in time or distance to about 10% weekly. This may feel slow, but you are setting the stage for more vigorous or high-volume activity. Although you may not be burning that many calories now, you’ll avoid the “too much, too soon” injury trap. This is particularly important if you’re carrying extra weight which can put undue stress on your joints. Gradually add a form of interval training: Exercise briskly for a 1-2 minutes, then exercise easily until you catch your breath, then briskly, then easily and so on. Each week, try to add a few more minutes of challenging intervals.
If you have previous muscle or joint injuries (for example: back pain, knee problems) ask your doctor to refer you to a physical therapist who can give you strengthening and stretching exercises related to your injury. This will help protect weakened joints and muscles from re-injury.
How hard do you have to exercise to burn up body fat? The harder the intensity of exercise, the more calories are burned by the body. However, when starting a new exercise program, it’s unwise and unsafe to exercise at high intensities. That’s why a low to moderate pace is recommended for beginners. You’ll just need to exercise longer to burn up the calories. Make your pace as brisk as you can handle. When you have established a good routine, try to add intervals of higher intensity effort into your workout – or just stick with it! Over time, the regularity of your exercise program is even more important than intensity level. Remember, keep exercise up and you’ll keep weight off!
Variety and enjoyment are the keys to exercise adherence. To lose fat you’ll want to incorporate more than one type of activity into your life and find things you enjoy for many different reasons. This will help you avoid overuse injuries, keep exercise fun and give you a menu of activity choices depending on your mood, schedule and weather.
Can strength training help me lose weight?
YES! Strength training 2-3 times/week can build or maintain muscle, the type of body tissue associated with a speedy metabolism and high activity patterns. People with healthy levels of muscle burn more calories all day long! Initially, you may actually gain a little muscle weight through strength training, but that will help you lose unwanted fat. Strength training can be done at home or at the gym. Ask a fitness professional to show you correct technique for about 10 total exercises for your legs, arms and trunk. Start off with light weights, but after 4 weeks, try to work against more challenging resistance. Lifting weights increases your strength to help you engage in calorie-burning activities without injury. Strength training can also slow down muscle loss related to inactivity and aging.
Just how much weight should I expect to lose by exercising?
Exercise is most effective for fat loss when combined with a program of reduced calorie and fat intake. With exercise alone, your fat loss will be slow and steady, determined by the intensity and volume of exercise you perform each week. A fat loss of no more than 1-2 lbs/week is recommended for most people. The faster you lose weight, the more likely you will be to gain it back. If you lose 2-4 pounds of fat every month through realistic lifestyle changes, you will be 24-48 pounds lighter at the end of a year! And remember that no matter how you lose your extra fat, regular physical activity is critical for preventing weight regain.
If you’d like a little help losing weight, why not take a look at your food? There are actually foods that promote weight loss that can make your weight loss efforts more effective. These foods help fill us up, fight cravings, and even burn fat. So if you’re serious about losing weight, try to incorporate these foods and drinks into your daily diet.
List of weight loss foods and their benefits:
• Vegetables – they consists Vitamins and minerals that are essential to sustain life. Vegetables also preserve from constipation and support your digestive system in good condition.
• Whole grain bread – this type of bread is healthy and you can include 2 slices of it in your daily diet.
• Oatmeal – consist of good (slow) carbohydrates, gives you energy for a long period, so you have the chance to spend it. Recent studies show that eating one bowl of oatmeal per day lower the bad cholesterol (there are two types of cholesterol – bad and good).
• Lean meat – it contains mainly protein, which is important food to sustain your muscles. Usually weight loss is related to fat loss, not to muscle loss, that’s why eating lean meat is a must for your weight loss diet. Meat must be prepared baked, on barbeque or boiled. Fried meat is not good for your diet and also most of the fried foods are not healthy.
• Fish – it contains protein and omega 3 fatty acids which are very important in supporting heart and people at high risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Nuts – especially eaten raw. Nuts contain fat from the good type, good proportion of carbohydrates and protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber. Most of the nuts contain potassium, research shows that potassium can reduce the risk of hypertension.
Water is an important factor in any weight loss program. Drinking water helps banish fluid retention and fills you up to help fight overeating at meals. According to the American Dietetic Association, people who drink water before each meal actually save an average of 75 calories per meal. Water flushes the kidneys so that they work at their optimum level. This keeps the liver free to metabolize fat, which keeps our metabolism in perfect working order. Drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of filtered water each day for best results. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, drink 75 ounces of water each day.
10 Ways To Stay Motivated To Workout In Woodmere, Five Towns and Nassau
STAYING MOTIVATED
The Top Ten Ways to Stick to Your Exercise Plan
Congratulations on your decision to live a healthier lifestyle. So you’ve started your exercise program but you need a little extra help staying motivated? Here are a few tips:
1) Based on the feedback from out members, having a friend, family member or co-worker as a exercise buddy provides great support helps to keep you motivated … and so will the guilt of standing them up.
2) Make a bet with a friend. Placing a money wager that you will hit your goal by a certain date makes every workout count. It also puts your honor on the line.
3) Share the news… Tell everyone you know about your fitness goals. That way, you that many more people to answer to.
4) Buy yourself new exercise clothes, sneakers, or a workout bag. Not wanting new/or expensive equipment to go to waste will make you more apt to get off the couch and use it.
5) Join a gym that you pass by everyday – perhaps on the road between your home and work. Seeing it regularly will eventually draw you in there to train.
6) Get on a professionally designed, long-term program. The sooner you start seeing real results, the more you’ll want to keep training to continue them. Aimlessly hopping from workout to workout – or even worse from machine to machine will only waste your time.
7) Join a Group Exercise Class. The camaraderie you develop with your classmates should be enough to keep you coming back.
Buy an iPod or portable CD player that you can take to the gym. Associating your workouts with fun music or escapism will make you not want to miss them
9) Keep a workout log recording your progress from session to session (or lack thereof) will show you what you’re doing right and what you are doing wrong.
10) Put a picture of your family or loved ones in your gym bag. It will remind you who you want to be healthy for.
Get the motivation you need
If you feel like you’ve hit a wall and just don’t know how to get around it, consider employing some of the above suggestions or hiring a personal trainer at our Woodmere gym to help you stay motivated. A Woodmere gym expert can evaluate your current fitness program and revise it in order to help you get over the hump. Sometimes all we need is another person’s point of view to help us push through and think of ways to vary the fitness routine that we hadn’t though of ourselves, and the best choice is a professional that can make sure you make safe changes that will put you back on the path of reaching your goal.
Cardio Vs. Strength Training at Gyms in Woodmere, Five Towns and Nassau
The SouthWest Fitness Club in Woodmere which also services the Five Towns and Nassau offers options for both cardiovascular exercise and strength training. Depending on your fitness goals, you might be inclined towards one or the other. But is cardio or strength training better for you? How can you get the best of both worlds and still achieve your most targeted fitness goals?
First, let’s see what the benefits of each are.
Benefits Of Cardiovascular Exercise
It seems as fitness and cardiovascular exercise go you either love it or hate it. Nevertheless, cardio is an important part of being fit and healthy, regardless of your workout goals. The SouthWest Fitness Club, the gym with the “Personal Touch” in Woodmere makes cardiovascular health within your reach. Here’s how everyone can benefit from cardiovascular exercise.
- Cardiovascular exercise gets the heart pumping and increases blood circulation. It works out the heart like any other muscle and strengthens it for endurance, long life, and increased productivity.
- Cardio is the primary calorie and (by default) fat burner, so is the primary exercise for weight loss.
- Metabolism is increased by cardiovascular workouts, too, which translates into better calorie and fat burning when you are not working out.
- Cardio helps regulate hormone production so that you live on a more even plain, reduce stress, live happier, and maximize hormones that contribute to good health.
- Cardiovascular exercise helps manage metabolic diseases like diabetes by maximizing glucose use.
- Cardio helps you recover from other, more strenuous exercises (such as strength training) by processing muscle and blood by-products.
Benefits Of Strength Training
Strength training produces a similar love/hate emotion from people. As far as gyms in Woodmere go, we can help make strength training easier. Just as cardio is essential to overall fitness, though, so too is strength training; Here’s how everyone benefits from strength training exercises.
- Strength training also improves your metabolism and increases your ability to burn calories and fat (because muscle requires more food energy).
- Strength training increases the amount of lean muscle in the body which increases strength but also endurance and translates into better functioning and athletic performance.
- Strength training significantly increases bone density. Weight-bearing exercises keep bones strong and healthy and restore bone loss caused by aging and inactivity.
- Stronger muscles help protect the body, bones, and joints from injury.
- Stronger muscles improve and maintain balance, movement, flexibility, and stability. You will feel better and again, be less likely to become injured due to weakness, strains, and falls. Strong muscles also help heal after an injury.
- Like cardio, strength training also helps fight off diseases like heart disease.
Reaping The Rewards Of Cardiovascular Exercise & Strength Training
Although you may gravitate more towards cardio or strength training depending on your fitness goals and preference, one is not better than the other and total fitness relies upon the two. Our Gym in Woodmere offer facilities for both kinds of training. Whether you want to run a marathon or win bodybuilding competitions, or just be healthier, you should be incorporating some cardio and strength training to maximize your program.
A personal trainer is one of the best resources to help you learn about how one type of exercise can complement the other. With the help of a personal trainer, you can outline your fitness goals and find out what exercises and what amount of each will best help get you there. A personal trainer will also help you learn how to perform the exercises so that you enjoy the total benefits of the gyms in Woodmere and enhance your fitness program. Often, people who have focused in one area—either cardio or strength training—lack experience with other, and need the extra guidance of a trainer to really benefit.
Cardiovascular and strength training are not either/or propositions for total body fitness. Every fitness plan needs elements of both, and a little education as to where your program is lacking will get you to your fitness goals. SouthWest Fitness Club in Woodmere the Gym with a “Personal Touch” can provide you with many available resources that will help make your fitness goals easier to reach.
How Working Out at Gyms in Woodmere, Five Towns and Nassau Can Prevent High Blood Pressure
A well designed workout program at the SouthWest Fitness Club which services Woodmere , Five Towns, and Nassau will include a balanced set of exercises that include both aerobic and strength training exercises. The exercises will also be combined with a balanced diet which provides essential nutrients. An effective workout program coupled with good nutrition can go a long way towards preventing high blood pressure.
Taking Your Heart Seriously
High blood pressure is also called hypertension. Unfortunately it is one of the most common health issues people face in developed nations due to making poor dietary choices and lack of exercise. Blood pressure refers to the pressure being placed on the blood vessels as the blood flows through the body.
Blood pressure has two readings called systolic and diastolic. The systolic reading is the measure of the pressure as the heart contracts. The diastolic reading measure the pressure as the heart rests. A reading that is higher than 140/90 indicates high blood pressure exists.
High blood pressure is called the “silent killer” because it often has very few or no noticeable symptoms. When left untreated, it can lead to severe cardiovascular problems such as heart disease, stroke or hardening of the arteries. It is a serious disease that often goes undetected for many years until a major health issue reveals the damage it has done.
Getting regular exercise is one of the best ways to prevent high blood pressure. You should maintain a healthy weight and get plenty of aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise, in conjunction with a low fat and low sodium diet, can improve cardiovascular health and assist with weight loss both of which can prevent high blood pressure.
When you get 30 minutes of aerobic exercise 5 days a week at gyms in Woodmere, you are exercising your heart muscle and improving the circulatory system. This can lead to a reduction in high blood pressure by preventing blood vessels from constricting.
“Heart”-ily Yours
Aerobic exercises at gyms in Woodmere improve the cardiovascular system in a number of ways.
- Lowers blood pressure
- Lowers cholesterol
- Reduces body fat content
- Reduces stress
- Improves general cardiovascular health
There is a definitive link between your chances of developing high blood pressure and the amount of exercise you get on a regular basis. Aerobic exercise increases your heart rate so the heart muscle “workouts” lead to more efficient blood flow.
In addition, the reduction in body fat and lower cholesterol promotes healthier blood flow also as veins and artery walls are not damaged by unhealthy substances. The importance of regularly working out at gyms in Woodmere and eating a heart-healthy balanced diet cannot be overstated.
A personal trainer at our gym in Woodmere can show you how to prevent or naturally lower high blood pressure. Of course, prevention is always the best course of action. If you already have hypertension though, it is very possible you can begin a fitness program and begin improving your health in a short period of time.
Why Finding a Fitness Buddy for the Gym in Woodmere, Five Towns and Nassau Can Be Beneficial
Finding a fitness buddy at the gym in Woodmere can be beneficial by keeping you motivated to succeed and to maintain fitness over the long term. It’s easy to start a fitness program full of good intentions, but over the long haul many people quit because they get bored or lose their motivation. When you have a fitness partner who is working on their personal set of fitness goals, they are able to encourage, motivate and challenge each other to stay fit.
Good Intentions
There are millions of people who had good intentions to adhere to a fitness program at the gym in Woodmere. They started their fitness program ready to make a lifetime commitment to good health. But one day it is cold outside and so trip to the gym in Woodmere is skipped. Then there were the days they had to work late making it impossible to make it to the fitness center.
The next thing you know, the whole fitness program has flown out the window. It would have been much better if you had a friend or fitness partner to help you stay on track. It’s hard to tell someone else you are too tired (or too lazy) to workout when he or she is excited about staying fit.
Staying motivated in the fitness world is challenging. That is why many people find a fitness buddy who has similar goals. For example, if you are a senior citizen who wants to stay flexible and maintain overall conditioning, your fitness partner would not be a bodybuilder working on developing muscle mass.
A fitness partner will motivate you to keep those good intentions at the gym in Woodmere. But even if you are able to stay fit on your own, an exercise partner offers many other benefits which make staying fit more challenging and interesting.
Committing to Each Other
It’s much more likely you will keep a commitment to stay fit if you have someone else working on similar goals. A fitness partner can help in many ways.
- Challenge you to work harder than you would otherwise
- Keep you on schedule making it less likely you will skip workout sessions
- Reinforces your commitment to fitness
- Offers variety and new ideas to keep your fitness program interesting
- Makes the time pass more quickly
- Provides encouragement
- Offers a way to measure success when compared to another person
You are much more likely to stick with a fitness program at the gym in Woodmere when you have a partner or buddy who is ready to work out! You can also share nutritional information and new fitness concepts you learn so your fitness program is never boring.
