I’ve seen it a million times. The new year starts, or summer draws near, and many new fitness enthusiasts hit the gym determined to get in the best shape of their lives. A month later they look no different than they did the month before, and they aren’t quite sure why. Aside from the fact that they are probably eating the wrong foods, they are probably not using the correct exercises to get their bodies in tip-top shape. A personal trainer can help you with this. And, they can do it in a record amount of time. The decision to hire a personal trainer is one only you can make. I can, however, give you the information needed to make that decision.

So, who needs a personal trainer? Everybody! No matter your goals or history in fitness, you can most likely benefit from hiring a personal trainer. When you see one of those “meat-heads” in the gym, you probably think they’ve got it all figured out. I mean, how could they chisel those rocks if they didn’t know what they were doing, right? WRONG! Many fitness enthusiasts, including body builders, hire personal trainers and nutritionists to ensure they are getting in shape the healthy way. (Yes, there are healthy and unhealthy ways to get in shape.) There is a lot of chemistry that goes in to developing the physique you want, so it’s important to have someone figure that out for you… before you waste your time. If you aren’t sure if hiring a personal trainer is right for you, maybe the following points will help you make that decision:

• You’re having trouble getting motivated. It happens to the best of us. We wake up in the morning and hit snooze. We leave work and drive straight home. Both options are a lot easier than actually hitting the gym for a workout. But, if you know someone is there waiting for you, you’ll probably go anyway. A personal trainer will do everything possible to make sure you get your butt to the gym. And, they’ll make sure you get work done while you’re there. If you make excuse after excuse as to why you can’t make it, the trainer will probably drop you like a bad habit. Hey, there’s nothing worse than feeling unwanted, so you’ll do what it takes to avoid that feeling.
• Nothing you do seems to work. Good for you, you’ve been working out! But you’re finding that you aren’t getting any results from your current program. There are many reasons this could be happening. Maybe you’re not staying on the same program for long enough, maybe you’ve been doing it for too long, maybe you’re performing the wrong exercises for your goals, or maybe you’re eating the wrong foods. Lots of different factors go in to developing a weight loss program. Let someone that knows what they’re doing prepare this program for you, and stop wasting your time and worry!
• You have no idea where to start or what to do. There are so many people out there that are just intimidated by the gym, and they use that as their excuse not to exercise. I’ll tell you right now, that’s not a good reason not to exercise! A personal trainer can help get you started. It only takes a session or two to get familiarized with the gym equipment and general exercises. They can tell you what will work best for you, and show you how to use it. They’ll show you the safe way to use equipment and perform exercises. After that, if you feel like you just can’t tackle it on your own, book more sessions with your trainer. They are more than happy to help you out… it’s their job!
• You don’t know anything about nutrition or what you should be eating. It’s not uncommon for most people to be confused about what to eat when trying to reach their fitness goals. Personal trainers learn about nutrition and how it works for different bodies. They are skilled in determining the different amounts of macro-nutrients that are necessary for different goals for those of every size. Some people want to lose fat, some want to gain lean muscle mass, and others just generally want to be healthy. Whatever the goal, a personal trainer can assist you with your nutrition as well as your fitness plan.
• You have a specific goal or time frame. I know for a fact that there are a lot of brides-to-be out there that would love to lose some pounds before their big day. And bodybuilders that need to get lean before their show. Everyone has their own individual goal in mind. Reading magazine articles and diet books aren’t going to work. The reason: they weren’t written for you! You need someone that is going to tailor a program to your individual needs based on your body measurements, lifestyle, and time stipulations. They know it’s going to work. Plus, if you have a time limit, they’ll help you reach your goals a lot faster than if you have to read a 300 page book first.
• You’ve stopped seeing results. Okay, so you’ve been working out and seeing great results. But it’s been awhile and your body has stopped changing. You can’t seem to do anything to drop a pound. Well, my friend, you’ve hit a plateau. Your body’s bored. This is a great reason to hire a personal trainer because they can give you new ideas on what to eat, what to do for workouts, and many other changes you can make in your life that will help you break through your plateau. You may only need one or two sessions for this kind of help, but they’ll be well worth it.
• You have a special health condition. Maybe you have knee or back problems. Maybe you recently had surgery. Maybe you are pregnant or just had a baby. Personal training can help you get back in gear. There are certain things that need to be taken in to consideration with different health conditions. A personal trainer can design a plan for you that won’t put you in danger of hurting yourself, while getting you in shape at the same time. Of course, most of them aren’t doctors so you’ll want to consult your physician prior to starting an exercise program.
• You work a 9 to 5. Most personal trainers are extremely dedicated to their jobs because they are passionate about fitness. If they’re not, then you don’t want to work with them. Their dedication is great for you because most of them will make house calls. They’ll also make themselves available at all hours of the day to help you out. So, you can’t excuse yourself from getting up early or going to bed later because they have to do the same. Your goal is their goal, so let them reach it with you.
• You need help in your weak moments. A personal trainer is always there for you in your time of need. If you’re having a tough time with eating or getting your workout in, they’ll do everything possible to keep you on track. Give them a call and let them know the deal. If you don’t succeed, they don’t either. It’s a negative reflection on their abilities as a trainer. So, they’ll work hard to help you out of your rut.

The best way to determine if hiring a personal trainer is right for you is to use the free consultation card. Almost every trainer will offer a free, no obligation, initial consultation. During this consultation, they usually weigh you, take your body measurements, calculate your body fat percentage, and generally tell you how bad the situation really is. Then, at least you’ll know where you stand. If nothing else, it’s a great way to put fire under your butt. After that, you can decide if you can stand the reality of your body, if you’re going to brave the gym on your own, or if you’d like to hire a trainer to help you out. Only you can make the right decision for you. With all the problems that come along with bad health, hiring a personal trainer to get healthy could be the best investment of your life! Your body will thank you with extra years.

 Good luck!

 What have YOU got to lose? www.goalfitnessandnutrition.com

New Year’s is upon us which means it’s time you’re probably ready to lose all that holiday weight and work towards the perfect summer body you’ve always wanted. In this three part series we’ll look at exactly what you need to do to lose that stubborn fat.

“Part 1: What to Eat” will look at not only what to eat but when and how much.

“Part 2: Exercise” will examine what exercise you need to perform and how to perform it for the best results.

“Part 3: Myths Debunked” addresses several well-known health truths and explains why they will actual make reaching your goals more difficult.

Let’s get started with nutrition. In the fitness community it is generally accepted as fact that your body is made in the kitchen. 80% of your results are because of what you put in your body, when you put it in your body, in what amounts, and in what combinations. Think about it: you can spend 3 hours per day in the gym but if you consistently eat high-calorie foods with low nutritional value you’ll be countering the positive effects of your exercise. Thus, you’ll find your exercise isn’t generating the results you expect. Equip yourself with the knowledge to make excellent food choices and you’ll find that you generate superior results than if you were eating pizza and burgers. Sounds like common sense.

In order to lose weight your calorie expenditure must be greater than your calorie intake (commonly reffered to as a “calorie deficit”). You see, your body requires a certain number of calories to perform all of the activities in your day. Exercise, typing, walking to the restroom, cooking, driving, and even sleeping all require energy. The calorie is your body’s energy source. When your calorie intake is less than your calorie output your body gets it’s energy by breaking down carbs, fat, and sometimes muscle. The calorie deficit is the only way (with exception to certain diseases, disorders, or parasites) that you can lose weight.

With that in mind, it’s absolutely critical that you determine your average daily calorie expenditure (after all, you can’t create a healthy calorie deficit if you don’t know how many calories your body expends). Your daily expenditure is referred to as your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). To determine your, use a BMR calculator (e.g http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l/blcalcalc.htm). The simplest and most assured way to lose weight is to consume less calories daily than your BMR. There are roughly 3,500 calories in a pound of fat. If you have a daily calorie deficit of 500 calories you could expect to lose one pound per week.

Logic would lead you to believe that to lose weight faster, say, at a rate of two pounds per week you could create a deficit of 1,000 calories. To that I say, “Whoa! Whoa!” This may cause faster weight loss but it also encourages a decrease in your metabolism. Here’s why… Muscle drives your metabolism. The more muscle one has the more calories one burns. One pound of muscle burns roughly 50 calories in a day. We can use that fact to our advantage. However, our bodies are built to go long periods of time without food. When we repeatedly give provide our bodies with significant sized calorie deficits (e.g. a deficit of 500+ calories) we enter starvation mode. Since muscle takes so many calories to maintain it’s the first to go. Later, when we decide we’re done losing weight and begin eating “regular” amounts of food again, we find that our BMR has dropped. Our body doesn’t know if/when it’ll be starved again so it stores as many of the calories as fat. Uh, oh! You’re about to gain that weight back and then some! To prevent your BMR from dropping you need about 3 days of consuming a calorie deficit followed by 1 or 2 days of at-BMR calorie consumption. Repeat this process and you’ll keep your BMR up so when you get off your diet you won’t get fat. This is known as the zig-zag approach.

Enough of the “nutrition speak.” Here’s what to do:

1. Don’t create too large of a calorie deficit. Your deficit should be no larger than 3-4 times your body weight.
2. Limit fat intake to 10-15% of your total daily calories consumed. You should focus on good fats like olive oil, almonds, natural peanut butter, walnuts, etc.
3. Eat lots of protein. Roughly 40-45% of your calories should come from good sources of protein – chicken, fish, turkey, cottage cheese, egg whites, beans, etc. Protein encourages muscle growth. Additionally, your body’s temperature increases to digest protein. This “thermogenic efffect” temporarily raises your metabolism.
4. Limit simple carbs like soda, sports drinks, fruits, sugar, etc.
5. Eat lots of fibrous complex carbohydrates such as broccoli, spinach, asparagus, etc. Fibrous carbs have a negative net calorie value meaning the body expends more energy digesting them than they are actually worth. Nothing like burning calories by eating!
6. Keep carb intake to about 40-45% of your calories consumed. Try to eat all carbs before 4:00pm. Eating carbs at night increases the likelihood that they’ll be stored as fat.
7. Never eat carbs with fat. It’s a recipe for fat storage.
8. Eat no less than 5 times per day. Eating regularly curbs cravings and keeps your metabolism elevated.
9. Never skip breakfast. Your largest meal of the day should be breakfast and it should consist of protein and starchy complex carbs (oats, All Bran, pasta, etc).
10. Focus on consuming low-GI carbs. Low-GI carbs provide a steady energy release and prevent the spiking of insulin levels which can promote the storage of fat. Search the internet for “Glycemic index” to learn more.
11. Plan your meals and snacks. Having a plan to consume a certain calorie amount increases the likelihood that you’ll stick to it.
12. Eat protein immediately before bed. Your body enters a catabolic state (e.g. muscle destroying) while you sleep. Eating protein prior to bedtime causes the body to burn ingested protein rather than existing muscle.
13. Remember, muscle is key! Losing muscle will doom your diet in the end.

This should be enough for you to get an adequate start on weight loss. Your goals are achievable if you can maintain discipline and determination.

Have weight loss questions you’d like answered?  Send me an email: kottmannd@goalfitnessandnutrition.com

Goal Fitness & Nutrition: What have you got to lose?

If you’re not the type of person that gets excited about going for a jog, you are not alone. Who likes the idea of sweating profusely and being out of breath while their muscles are burning?! But when you’re done, how do you feel? Freakin’ awesome, right?! Well, amongst the treadmills, bikes, and stair steppers there are some secrets. Secrets everyone should know regarding cardio. Allow me to share these secrets with you, and hopefully enlighten you to some things you can do to have fun with your cardio… yes, I said fun!

 HIIT it!

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval training. The best part? It’s short! The best thing you can do for your body is shorten your cardio workout, and I’m sure no one will complain about that. HIIT increases your burning potential for a 24-hour period, which means that your metabolism is raised. Not bad, huh?! With HIIT you alternate periods of high intensity work with periods of low to moderate intensity work. For example, run as fast as you possibly can for 30 seconds… I’m talking all-out effort here. Then, jog or walk at a comfortable pace for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or however long it takes you to recover and get your breath back. Then, repeat this for about 12-15 minutes. Of course, you can do this with any cardio activity or machine you’d like. Maybe even find a track where you can sprint the straights and walk the curves. At the end of the session you should be exhausted and sweaty, but feeling great! Oh, and you should be proud of yourself, too!

 Go outside!

For some of us it’s not possible to exercise outside year round. But, that’s even more reason to take advantage of the outdoors during the months we can. There are so many options outside, and you can change it up every day. Here are some ideas of outdoor cardio activities:

• Run hills: Run up a steep hill, or walk if you can’t run. Jog back down and repeat. You’ll only have to do it a few times to feel the burn. However, push yourself to do more!
• Run lines: You probably had to do this in gym class, or if you were ever a part of a sports team. I happen to live near a grade school, so I jog down to their 4-square blacktop and get to work. I start at one end, then run and touch the first line, then turn around and run back. Then, I run and touch the second line, then turn around and run back. I think you get the picture. The key is to move as fast as you possibly can.
• Jog: Okay, so it doesn’t sound that fun. But, you get a better calorie burn jogging outdoors because the terrain varies so much. You can also vary your pace more naturally than being on a treadmill. There are hills, slight inclines, slight declines, etc. Plus, you’re not staring at the wall or a television. Outdoors you are constantly surrounded by different things. Things that are not the same every day… like that chipped paint on your wall.
• Walk: Again, it may not sound that fun. However, you can take your dog, your spouse, your baby, your friend, etc. with you. It can also be a great time to be alone, clear your mind, and de-stress.
• Play a sport: Even if you aren’t very good you should get out and play something… tennis, basketball, football, volleyball, soccer, etc. Don’t take it too seriously, though. If you do, you’ll consider it exercise. The goal here is to make your cardio fun. Try something new, you may find you are really great at something!
• Run stairs: You can find them somewhere. This is a great workout, and you feel accomplished when you’re done because you can see how far you’ve gone… and your legs kill!
• Ride your bike: It was fun when you were little, and you were confined to your street. Imagine how exciting it would be to explore the rest of the city!
• Rollerblade or skate: There are a lot of places you can go, and you can enjoy the scenery, too. Just watch out for those cracks! Not nice outside? I’m sure you can find a rink you can hit up. You may be the oldest one there, but it’ll bring out your inner child, so you’ll fit right in.
• Ski or snowboard: Nothing will get your heart racing faster than staring down a mountain. And maneuvering skis or a snowboard on top of that, you’ve got a win-win combination!

Honestly, pretty much anything you think of can be done outside. You can even make an obstacle course or something fun like that! The world is your oyster.

Watch a video!

Don’t pop that corn yet! I mean you should get an exercise video going. There are so many different types of videos you can get. Anything from simple aerobic workouts to strip teases! Don’t be afraid to try something new… who’s going to see you? The only trouble with videos is that you can hit the stop button at any time. DON’T DO IT! See it through to the end and stay committed. Set aside a certain time every day and do it. It should be an appointment… a business meeting with your body. Give it the time, care, and attention it deserves, and it will work for you. 

Take a class!

Again, there are so many options for classes to take. Many places offer them for a small fee, and most fitness centers offer them free with your membership! Most places offer step, kickboxing, spinning, aerobics, and other great options. If you think you’ll be embarrassed among strangers, get a friend to go with you! You should also remember that a lot of the people in the class are in the same boat.

Box!

A punching bag is a great investment. They make all different kinds, from those you place on the floor to those that hang from the ceiling. There are different sizes and weights. There is definitely one to suit every person, every budget, and every dwelling. You can use your arms and legs. You sweat, sweat, sweat! It’s a total body workout. Have you ever seen a fat boxer? I didn’t think so.

Create your own bootcamp!

This is really fun. Come up with a list of different exercises, including cardio options. Do one exercise for 30-60 seconds, then immediately switch to the next exercise. You can do it as long as you’d like, but I’d shoot for somewhere around 30-45 minutes to start. Visit Fitness Bootcamp! for a sample workout you can do at home! Anything goes in bootcamp, so get creative and use what you’ve got.

Swim!

This is a great option for those that don’t like to run, or can’t run due to health issues. This is a low-impact form of cardio that really gets your heart rate up fast. Swim some laps and you’ll know what I’m talking about. You can even take a water aerobics class on top of that if you’re a natural-born fish!

I include almost everything I’ve listed above in my exercise regimen. It’s so important to switch things up at least every few weeks to avoid boredom. The second you get bored is the second you start to slip off that bandwagon. Being bored is not an excuse to stop exercising. It’s just an excuse, and excuses are lies. So quit lying, get up, get your heart rate up, and do some good for yourself… and have fun, too!

 Good luck!

What have YOU got to lose? www.goalfitnessandnutrition.com