Lifestyle Family Fitness News

How Trainers Motivate Themselves

2009-09-10T15:44:36-04:00:00

We asked a few trainers from Lifestyle Family Fitness locations across the nation, how they get motivated to workout after spending all day in the Health club pushing others. Here is what they had to say.

“I am fortunate to find myself doing work that I love…so much so that it often feels more like fun rather than work. However, there are times that the routine of being in the gym all day and, at times, all night wears down my own personal motivation to workout.

To keep myself motivated I love competing in races. If I know I have an upcoming triathlon or 5k it keeps me accountable to my training.”

Melissa Trinidad from Hyde Park was the season premier winner of American Gladiator.

“My motivation comes in part from my clients. If I don’t workout and push myself to achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle how can I make my client do the extra 10 reps?

The remainder comes from that feeling of knowing my workout is my time to clean out my emotional closet. All of the stresses of life disappear in the 90 minutes with my I-pod and sweat. It’s like pushing the reset button on my attitude and creating a feeling of self-accomplishment with the newest challenge overcome.”

Diana Novak from North Meridian holds special certifications in IFA, PTS and a B.S. degree in Sports Management.

“For me, in the long-term it is about Health, and being there for my family. I want to be healthy for my future children, and be able to be a dad that can do things with his kids.

Plus looking at family history with cancer and diabetes in my family, I don't want my Health to be the cause of either one.”

Kevin Maag, from our Downtown Columbus club, holds a Fitness Management degree from Ohio State University.

"My inspiration comes from being a competitive person by nature.

Exercise is a great way to push my body to finish just one more rep, one more exercise, or one more minute; and the sense of accomplishment and pride - not to mention the way my body feels when I am finished - can't be matched by anything else!"

Dawn Burkhart from Greenwood is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and a certified YogaFit instructor.

“A lot of people see me as being able to do things that most people can't and that belief pushes me.

I tell myself, ‘Mike, you can do anything you want because you've proven it over and over. You’re blessed with the physical and mental strength to do so. The only thing stopping you is your body's primal desire to be lazy. You’re stronger than that. Now go out there and do it again.’

I guess at the end of the day it’s a belief in yourself and knowing the benefits on the other side.”

Michael Davis II is the District Manager of Personal Training in the Manasota region of Florida.

“I believe it is important to resemble what good Health is, in all aspects. Eating clean and training hard prove to my clients it can be done at any level of Health and Fitness.

I am excited about obtaining personal goals of: decreasing body fat, eating healthy, striving for the best, and pursuing figure modeling.”

Sarah Bay will compete in the NPC Mid -Atlantic Carolina Classic in October 17. She works at the Matthews club will soon complete an exam to become a registered dietician.

“Prior to becoming a personal trainer at LFF, I had always read Fitness magazines and thought that there was no way I’d ever be able to look like the cover model. I convinced myself that I was cursed with my families’ hips and big arms.

It had taken a while to realize that I was capable of a body transformation, even with my NASM certification, continued education, and all the success stories of my clients here at LFF. As a PT, we are always ‘on stage’. Our members see us in such a different light than we see ourselves.

I felt it was important for me to set a new goal for myself and accomplish it, so I entered a figure modeling competition. My success will inspire members to believe in hard work and not to give up on goals and dreams.”

Jessica Siegel is a trainer at the Matthews club and will compete alongside Sarah Bay on October 17.

Importance of Resistance Training for Weight Loss

2009-07-30T09:07:50-04:00:00

By, BRIAN SWARTZ, CPT (Pickerington, OH)

All too often I see members walk right past all of our beautiful resistance training equipment, only to use our cardiovascular oriented equipment such as our treadmills and elliptical units.

The most common Fitness goal today is weight loss, hands down. Cardio is excellent; it burns calories and is great for your heart, circulation, energy levels, and much more. However, if you want to shed body fat you need to resistance train, also.

Muscle work, with resistance, burns a boat load of calories. Even after you leave the Fitness center, the body is still burning calories at a higher rate because the muscles have to recover! Exercise post-oxygen consumption (EPOC) remains at a much higher rate for several hours after an intense weight training session. All this means is that your metabolic rate (how many calories your body burns off) stays elevated for sometimes as much as 48 hours after your session!

This means more calories burned, hence, more weight loss.

For all of the biochemical and physiological adaptations the muscles go through in order to regenerate back to homeostasis could take up to 72 hours! Yes, this means that we are burning extra calories for days after a resistance training session.

Think about what would happen if you were involved in a three to four day a week resistance training program. The more muscle you have, the easier it is to lose weight. Each pound of muscle burns an additional 50 calories per day, roughly.

Do not worry about bulking up, as you need to have a surplus of calories for this to happen. If you take in more calories than you burn, your body will respond by increasing in size, weather it be lean muscle or adipose tissue (fat). This is grounds for another article.

Here is the deal, incorporate resistance training into your visits to Lifestyle Family Fitness, and you will see a huge difference in your results. Seek the guidance of any Lifestyle Family Fitness certified Personal Trainer for more details.

Fit, Not Frail: Exercise as a Tonic for Aging

2008-08-05T09:53:19-04:00:00

By JANE E. BRODY

Fact: Every hour of every day, 330 Americans turn 60.

Fact: By 2030, one in five Americans will be older than 65.

Fact: The number of people over 100 doubles every decade.

Fact: As they age, people lose muscle mass and strength, flexibility and bone.

Fact: The resulting frailty leads to a loss of mobility and independence.

The last two facts may sound discouraging. But they can be countered by another. Regular participation in aerobics, strength training and balance and flexibility exercises can delay and may even prevent a life-limiting loss of physical abilities into one's 90s and beyond.

This last fact has given rise to a new group of professionals who specialize in what they call "active aging" and an updated series of physical activity recommendations for older adults from the American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine. These recommendations are expected to match new federal activity guidelines due in October from the United States Health and Human Services Department.

But you need not - indeed should not - wait for the government. Even if you have a chronic Health problem or physical limitation, there are safe ways to improve Fitness and well-being. Any delay can increase the risk of injury and make it harder to recoup your losses.

Miriam E. Nelson, director of the John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Tufts University in Boston and lead author of the new recommendations, observed last fall in The Journal on Active Aging that "with every increasing decade of age, people become less and less active."

"But," Dr. Nelson said, "the evidence shows that with every increasing decade, exercise becomes more important in terms of quality of life, independence and having a full life. So as of now, Americans are not on the right path."

Jim Concotelli of the Horizon Bay Senior Communities in Tampa, who oversees Fitness and wellness program development for communities for the elderly in several states, noted this year in The Journal on Active Aging that many older Americans were unfamiliar with exercise activities and feared that they would cause injury and pain, especially if they have arthritis or other chronic problems. Yet by strengthening muscles, he said, they can improve joints and bones and function with less pain and less risk of injury.

The key is start slowly and build gradually as ability and strength improve. Most important is simply to start - now- perhaps under the guidance of a Fitness professional or by creating a program based on the guidelines outlined here.

Although medical clearance may not be necessary for everyone for the moderate level of activity suggested, those with a known or possible problem would be wise to consult a doctor. And a few sessions with a trainer can help assure that the exercises are being done correctly and not likely to cause injury.

Until recently, physical activity recommendations for all ages have emphasized aerobics, or cardiovascular conditioning, through moderate to vigorous activities like brisk walking, cycling, lap swimming or jogging for half an hour a day five or more days a week. For those unable to do 30 minutes at a time, the activities can be broken up into three 10-minute intervals a day. If you have long been sedentary, start with even shorter intervals.

For people who prefer indoor workouts, a treadmill, cross-trainer, step machine or exercise bike can provide excellent aerobic training for the heart, lungs and circulation. Those unable to do weight-bearing exercise might try swimming or water aerobics. Keep in mind that 30 minutes a day of aerobic activity five days a week is the minimum recommendation. More is better and can reduce the risk of chronic disease related to inactivity.

Contrary to what many active adults seem to believe, physical Fitness does not end with aerobics. Strength training has long been advocated by the National Institute on Aging, and the heart association has finally recognized the added value of muscle strength to reduce stress on joints, bones and soft tissues; enhance stability and reduce the risk of falls; and increase the ability to meet the demands of daily life, like rising from a chair, climbing stairs and opening jars.

Strength training can be done in a gym on a series of machines, each working a different set of major muscle groups: hips, legs, chest, back, shoulders, arms and abdomen. Or it can be done at home with resistance bands or tubes, hand-held barbells or dumbbells or even body weight. One program, the Key 3 program diagrammed here, was devised by Michael J. Hewitt, research director for exercise science at the Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson. It can be completed in 10 minutes with practice.

As Dr. Hewitt explained in the International Longevity Center-USA newsletter, skeletal muscles can only contract and thus are always arranged in pairs. "One muscle of the pair pulls to bend the joint (flexion), and its antagonist pulls to straighten the joint (extension)." Thus, a strengthening program must be balanced, he said, "pairing every pulling lift with an opposite pushing action."

Dr. Hewitt emphasized that to reduce the risk of injury and premature muscle fatigue, the large muscles should be exercised first, followed by the smaller muscles, with the postural muscles exercised last. For example, one would start with chest and upper back muscles, then the arms and shoulders and finally the lower back and abdomen.

Muscles have to be overworked to grow stronger. The goal for each exercise is three sets of 8 to 12 repetitions to muscle fatigue. Muscles also need time to recover. So strength training should be done two or three times a week on nonconsecutive days.

The new recommendations add flexibility and balance to the mix. Improving balance and reducing the risk of falls is critical as you age - if you fall, break your hip and die of pneumonia, aerobic capacity will not save you. Ten minutes a day stretching legs, arms, shoulders, hips and trunk can help assure continued mobility, and daily exercises like standing on one foot and then the other, walking heel to toe or practicing tai chi can improve balance.

The recommendations, issued last August, are geared to healthy adults 18 to 64, with a companion set for those 65 and older or those 50 to 64 who have chronic Health problems or physical limitations. Details can be found at www.acsm.org. Under "Influence," click on Physical Activity Guidelines From ACSM and AHA.

The experts who made these recommendations urge all adults to adopt them now. As C. Jessie Jones, co-director of the Center for Successful Aging at California State University, Fullerton, said, "People can't wait until they're in residential or long-term care to get started."

Obesity-Related Cancer On The Rise

2008-08-05T09:51:49-04:00:00

As Americans' collective waistline has continued to expand, so has the prevalence of obesity-related cancer.
According to the June issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter, an estimated 14 percent of cancer deaths in older men and 20 percent in older women can be attributed to excess body fat. It's not fully understood why excess body fat increases the risk of cancer.

Theories include:
Insulin -- Obesity and inactivity generally lead to higher levels of insulin circulating in the blood. Excess insulin is believed to fuel the growth of cancer cells. In addition, it increases circulating levels of other hormones that likely play a role in cancer development and growth, such as estrogen.
Estrogen -- Adding to insulin's influence on estrogen levels, fat tissue also produces this hormone. Estrogen levels are 50 percent to 100 percent higher in postmenopausal women who are overweight versus those who are lean. It's believed that this alteration increases the risk of estrogen-sensitive cancers such as certain types of breast cancers.
Immune system -- Excess fat is thought to release proteins that may suppress the immune system and increase inflammation. Both may play a role in cancer development and progression.
Other risks of obesity -- Obesity-related problems such as acid reflux, high blood pressure, gallstones and fatty liver may damage tissues of the esophagus, kidney, gallbladder and liver, respectively. This may set the stage for cancer development.
Although there's evidence that gaining weight increases the risk of cancer, there has been almost no research that demonstrates whether losing weight will reduce that risk. Two major components of weight loss -- a healthy diet and exercise -- appear to be excellent ways to reduce cancer risk.
Mayo Clinic200 First St. SWRochester, MN 55902United States
http://www.mayoclinic.com