myfitnesshut

Have you looked at your beginning-of-year fitness goals to see how you are progressing? Did you fall “off track” months ago? Have you given up? The good news is this: you can get started again on your exercise program today! If you are “on track” to meet your fitness goals, that is great! Keep up the hard work! Reassess your fitness goals. You may have underestimated what you are capable of achieving with health and fitness.

If you need help, download my “Fat Blaster eBooks”

Starting today and every Friday thereafter, I will answer the client fitness question of the week! I just thought that if one person is asking a question, then there must be many others with the same question. And, real questions lead to real answers and real results. Call me or email with your fitness question! People want to know the answer!

So, here we go! Question numero uno!

Client Q: “I am working out 5-6 days a week for 1-2 hours every workout. I’m not losing any weight and I’m starting to get frustrated and skip some workouts!”

Mark’s A: There could be many factors including:

1) Your body might have reached a plateau. Weight often comes off easily at the beginning of a workout program. But then your body adapts to your workouts. When this happens, you need to vary your workout routines and intensity. Do different lifts for the different body parts, such as substituting bench presses with stability ball dumbbell presses or doing step-ups and lunges instead of leg presses and squats. A shorter, more intense 30 minute full-body circuit weight workout will work better than a 1 hour weight workout when you are trying to lose body fat and weight. A circuit workout is one in which you do one exercise after the other with little or no rest between exercises. Also, change up your cardio routines such as rotating treadmill, bike, elliptical, stair-stepper and swimming or do sprint cardio intervals.

2) It is more important to lose body fat and lose inches than it is to lose weight. Have your body fat percentage checked and your circumference measurements done by a trainer to see how much fat and inches you have lost. Muscle weighs more than fat, so your body could be shrinking. Don’t worry, the weight loss will take care of itself.

3) Longer workouts are not always better. You could be over-training. Shorter, more intense workouts burn more fat. An intense 20 minute interval cardio session at 75%-85% maximum heartrate will give you more health and cardio benefits than a 1 hour cardio session at 65% maximum heartrate.

4) You need to know your basal metabolic rate-BMR (how many calories your body would burn each day if you did nothing). Base your daily caloric intake on your BMR and activity level. If you don’t eat enough (severe calorie restriction), your body will store fat because it thinks you are starving. You will gain weight even on the days you work out really hard if you take in more calories than you burn.

Continue to eat right and exercise. When you do that, you will win the fitness war even if you lose a few battles along the way. You probably need to exercise smarter! Keep exercising and eating healthy and your heart, mind and body will thank you!

Call me or email with your fitness question! People want to know the answer!

That’s right! You don’t need equipment to workout! All you need is—-YOU! You don’t need a gym, health club, treadmill, bike, dumbbells, etc. You can do a bodyweight workout at home, at the park, while waiting for your kid to finish practice or in a hotel room. It is the most convenient workout available so it takes away the “I’m too busy” excuse!

One of the best workouts to do is a full-body bodyweight workout. You don’t need fancy fitness gadgets or gimmicks! Save your money! You can also concentrate on doing the exercises the right way before proceeding to add weights.

Here are some good bodyweight exercises:

1) Squats
2) Bridges
3) Planks
4) Back Extensions
5) Lunges
6) Step Ups
7) Pushups
Pullups
9) Seated Knee Ups
10) Reverse Crunches and Crunches
11) Run-In-Place
12) Jump Rope
13) Jumping Jacks
14) Tricep Dips
15) Hanging Leg Raises

If you do the workout circuit-style, the workout will be both a strength workout and a cardio workout. All you need is 30-45 minutes. There’s a reason you don’t see many people doing hanging leg raises and pullups! These are very tough exercises and two of the best for your abs and back muscles.

It is a good idea for kids (as early as age 4-5) to begin resistance training with bodyweight exercises. These exercises will stabilize and strengthen kids’ bodies without the hazards of handling weights.

Try a bodyweight workout the next time you’re sitting in front of the television!

Okay, its summer….the kids are out of school, it’s hot outside (100 degrees every day where I live), there’s vacations to go on (gas is $4 a gallon!), practices to attend, ball games to attend, reunions to go to….the list goes on forever! Well, while you are busy doing your thing this summer, don’t forget your summer workout schedule! You can still exercise and do everything you need to do this summer! You just have to be a little creative.

So, here’s some summer exercise tips for you:

1. Never skip both your Friday and Monday workouts! If you do this, you will probably go 4 full days (Fri, Sat, Sun, Monday) without working out. Four missed workout days could turn into weeks, months, summers and years!

2. Exercise during your kid’s practices. Why sit around for 1-2 hours watching kids practice? Take advantage of the time and walk or jog.

3. Get a stability ball and dumbbells to exercise while watching “Desperate Housewives” re-runs (or whatever you watch).

4. Walk or bike to the store a few blocks away instead of driving.

5. Exercise at your hotel while on vacation.

6. Take advantage of the summer family discounts at the local health club and go exercise with your kids.

7. Don’t forget to “reasonably” (at least 90% compliance) stay on your nutrition plan during the summer!

8. Remember that sweating has nothing to do with losing fat or weight! Sweating just cools down your body. A caloric deficit (burning more calories than you consume) will cause you to lose weight.

9. Plan your menus and pack your food while on vacation or on the go. This will help you avoid the fast food trap.

10. Have fun! Change up your exercise routine and include fun exercises like jump rope games, dancing, relay games, obstacle courses and speed hop-scotch.

Take care this summer, have fun and keep exercising!

It happened to me this week! It happens to everyone! Sometimes you have a week where the things you planned just didn’t happen for you—-for whatever reason! Believe it or not, even personal trainers get off track when it comes to exercising!

It’s Friday and I have only had 1 workout this week! Usually I have had at least 3 workouts by this time of the week. So, what now? It’s very simple. I’m going to go workout today and get back in my “exercise groove!” My body is ready for a hard, intense workout. I’m going to do circuit weight training and interval cardio. That’s all it will take to get going again.

What does it take for you to get back into “your exercise groove?” How long has it been since you really exercised? The good news is that it doesn’t matter if you have been off track for one week like me or for 3 months! Just get started again! Today! Don’t put it off! Your body is ready for it! Your health depends on it!

Ready, set, go!