One of the predicted fitness trends for 2011 is buddy/group workouts. Why? For the support. About 95% of all participants in an exercise program will stop exercising due to a lack of support. Research has shown that exercisers with some kind of support system have a better chance of continuing.
There are many ways to get support for your fitness efforts. Having a supportive family who works with your schedule so you can get your workouts in is a big help. So are supportive friends and co-workers, even if they don’t workout themselves.
But having a support system to workout with can be the most beneficial. Hiring a personal trainer who will always hold you accountable is the step many people need to get started and keep going. Even if you only meet once every week or two, you have to show up and tell your trainer what you have done (or not done!) since the last time you met.
Having a buddy to work out with can also make you more accountable and make the workout more fun. Keys to a successful workout buddy are having similar fitness levels and goals. Want a workout buddy but no friends or family members available? Talk to your personal trainer. Chances are they know someone else looking for a buddy, and sharing the pain (and cost) of the trainer can turn strangers into friends. Ready to give it a try? We are offering a Partner Training special through mid-March. Check out the homepage for details.
Another option is a small group workout, say 4-5 people total. While you may not know each other when you start, the shared goal of improved fitness and regular contact through the workouts can create a support network in a short time.
Still having trouble finding the support you need to maintain your fitness routine? Try some online resources. This article contains links to a wide variety of sites designed to support you and hold you accountable. And if you are already on Facebook, post your exercise goals and results there. Chances are several of your Facebook friends are doing something similar and you can offer support to each other.
Healthy Habits is on Facebook as well. We’d love to have our members “like” us and share their triumphs and challenges. If you goof off we won’t let it slide, but no one will support you more when you keep going.
If you feel your fitness motivation slipping away, take some steps and get the support you need to keep going.
Are you thinking about hiring a personal trainer but can’t afford or don’t want one 3 times a week? Are you motivated to workout but just need some guidance? Do you need accountability, not supervision?
A personal trainer can help. We are contractors, just like builders or financial planners. You hire us to do the job that you want done; we advise you on the best way to do it, we tell you the cost, and you hire us or not.
If the job is to get you ready and able to workout on your own, the solution may be to start out at 3 times a week with a trainer, but then taper off to once a week, then once a month, maybe even once a quarter. Since changing up the workout is important, I would advise some kind of continuing contact with your trainer, but the timing can be yours. In this case, the trainer should be transitioning to more of a coach over time, helping you to understand the basics of planning your own workouts and workout schedule to achieve your goals.
Feeling stressed? Most people do, and our response to stress can either be healthy or not. Exercise is one healthy response.
In addition to the overall health benefits of regular exercise, there are also direct stress reduction benefits as well. Any physical activity ups your production of endorphines, the feel good chemicals, while also reducing stress hormones like cortisol.
Exercise forces your attention on your movement and activity, and off of whatever is stressing you. This single-minded focus can help calm you and give you more clarity to deal with the situation later.
Regular exercise can improve your sleep, which is often disrupted by stress. And more sleep is always a good thing in this sleep-deprived society of ours.
If you haven’t been physically active, you don’t have to jump into a high level activity. Start where you can and work your way up slowly. And pick an activity that you enjoy and will stick with.
As you continue to exercise regularly, your overall health will improve, which will give you one less thing to stress over.
No, its not a snake or a mistake. The SSS is for Sitting, Standing and Sleeping postures, which can have a profound effect on how we feel and function. Humans are designed to be upright on two feet, with our torsos and heads supported by our spines and hips. We have functioned this way for thousands of years, until now. Now we sit most of the time, and this is causing us problems.
Sitting too much for too long causes a long list of problems: weak glutes, excessively curved spine, shortened abs, tight hip flexors, rounded shoulders, overly arched neck, all of which cause further complications by themselves and in conjunction with each other.
One such complication is that Standing becomes problematical, since it requires the joints to work in the opposite way from Sitting. Feet are less used to weight bearing, the spine is hard to erect, and the hips don’t like to extend. So, we have to compensate, causing other complications. If you throw in high heels, then it’s really a mess! The center of gravity shifts forward, so the knees may have to continuously bend, and the pelvis tilts forward, causing the low back to arch. So, now you have pain in the knees and low back.
Sleeping would seem to be safe, right? But the same consequences of Sitting too much which make Standing a problem also affect those who Sleep on their backs, causing low back pain. Side Sleepers commonly have their arms and shoulders in front of them, further rounding the back and tightening the chest muscles. Face down Sleepers often have pain from too much arching of the low back and from twisting the neck.
So, what’s a body to do?
Be aware of your own postural issues and compensations and try to alleviate them
Sit as little as possible, change positions and chairs often, get up and move around periodically
Make sure that your desk, computer, etc are set up to promote good posture, not bad
Choose smart shoes based on health not fashion
Eliminate upper body posture habits when Standing that make things worse (crossing your arms, carrying a heavy bag on one shoulder, putting your hands in your pockets)
Try sleeping with a pillow under your knees when face up, and between your knees when on your side
Use a pillow that keeps your head in line with your spine
It turns out that “the Great Satan” is not America or Iran, but Sitting!
Got a new personal training client last week. JM belongs to a local Memphis club and wanted to use a personal trainer on occasion to update his workouts and keep him on target for his goals. He doesn’t need someone to meet him every workout or even every week – monthly may be enough. The trainers at his club were not interested in working with him, I guess because it wasn’t going to be regular enough.
So, he called Healthy Habits because we state on our website that we see people on their schedule, not ours. We have clients come in 4 times a week, 4 times a month, 4 times a year. JM bought our smallest package, 6 hours of 1 to 1 sessions, which we will schedule as needed.
Anyway, in our first meeting, we did a Fitness Assessment on JM, including many components of the Golf Fitness Assessment. Based on those results and his goals, I devised a workout for him to do. In our second meeting, I taught him the basics of the exercises and why he was doing them. We both agreed that he understood them well enough to get in the gym and try them out. Some of them are stretches and floor exercises that he may choose to do at home. We agreed that he will call me if he has any questions or concerns, unless he can get one of the apparently really busy trainers at his club to answer a quick question. Finally, we agreed that he would call me after Thanksgiving to report on his progress and discuss timing on our next session.
The point of this blog is that there are many ways to use a personal trainer, and many personal trainers who will give you what you want / need. You are the boss, you should get what you want. If you don’t find someone who will give it to you, keep looking.
JBo is the anti-Jlo, and in fact, she probably doesn’t even know who JLo is. JBo is 84 and has been a personal training client of mine for at least 8 years. She mostly does strength training, with some cardio, stretching and balance work. She takes care of the plants, which were her gift, along with a bird feeder and bird bath. She has numerous charitable commitments and is active at her church. She sends other clients and our trainers cards and gifts for special occasions (or for no reason at all), and adds a sunny presence in the studio. She even had an embroidery done for me that reads “The Lord loveth a cheerful lifter”.
JBo started because she “was afraid of becoming frail.” Now, she wants more definition in her shoulders and triceps, to match what she has in her biceps. Despite such physical challenges as arthritis and easy bruising, she works out hard three times a week, and does some treadmill work at home. Occasionally, we meet at Shelby Farms to walk and enjoy the weather.
JBo likes “peppy” music for working out, and she certainly peps things up when she’s here. She even pays her bill before it’s due! I highly recommend every personal trainer have his/her own JBo. But you can’t have mine!
It can be hard to fit in everything you have to do each day. Work, family, errands, cooking, cleaning, time for fun…and, oh yeah, exercise. And exercise is usually the first thing to go when you are busy and stressed. But exercise can help reduce stress and give you more energy to get through busy times, so it is important to find ways to fit it in.
Research is showing that you don’t have to always fit in a single 60 minute workout at the gym. Would six 10-minute sessions during the day be more manageable?
And when could you do these sessions? Try getting up 10 minutes earlier in the morning for one session. Easier to do than getting up an hour earlier for a long workout, and it gets your day off to a good start. Take 10 minutes of your lunch break and fit in some exercise. And try another 10 minute session when you get home from work and change your clothes. How about a 10 minute walk after dinner for one session? And after you get home from your evening walk and sit in front of the TV? Why not fit in some microbursts of exercise? Pick from the lists below and do one or two things during each commercial break.
For a 10 minute cardio session you could do one minute each of:
jumping jacks
running/walking briskly in place (put on favorite music that is at a tempo fast enough for a good cardio workout, or go to You Tube, search for “cadence” and use some of the military cadence videos to help you keep the pace)
jumping rope either with a real jump rope, or a “pretend” one
shadow boxing
walking lunges
Repeat the circuit twice and you have a 10 minute workout completed.
For a strength building circuit you could do:
one-legged squats
bicep curls
tricep dips
crunches
push-ups
Again, do each for a minute, and repeat circuit twice for a 10 minute workout.
These are just some ideas to get you started. Think about your day and when you could fit the exercise in. Make sure you do both cardio and strength training over the course of the week, and always remember to include some regular gym workouts and personal training sessions to make sure your fitness plan stays on track.
I talk about weight loss often because most of our clients want to lose weight, most of our potential clients need to lose weight, losing weight is difficult, and keeping it off is even harder. The SUCCESS formula has been derived from the habits of people who have lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off for over a year.
Selections
Choices are critical. Choose carefully which diet to try, which foods to eat daily, how much to eat, what portion size is appropriate, which liquids to drink.
Unplug yourself from the TV
We’ve already devoted a post to this piece of the formula. Successful weight managers watch TV for an average of less than 10 hours a week. If TV is not your problem, what other sedentary activity is? Gaming? Web surfing? Reading?
Commitment
Managing weight is a lifetime commitment. Relapses will happen. Commit to the long term.
Calories
Limiting calories is the bottom line, so be sure the calories you eat are high-quality – lean protein, healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, nutritious low calorie liquids.
Exercise
Successful weight managers exercise for 1 hour a day.
Schedule
Make appointments with yourself to exercise, eat 5-6 small meals a day (preferably earlier in the day), watch your high priority TV shows only, and do the other things needed to support your new lifestyle.
Self-Monitoring
Weigh in weekly in the same circumstances. Keep a record of eating, exercising, TV time, and any other activity that supports your new lifestyle. Have someone else (trainer, coach) reveiw those logs regularly and keep you accountable. Yes, it is a pain but it works!
These are the factors that have been PROVEN to work. So lets get going!
This article originally appeared in the Healthy Habituator, our monthly e-newsletter. Sign up box is in the left column – add your email address so you don’t miss out!
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Habits offers 1 to 1 personal training, partner and group fitness
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ram will stop exercising due to a lack of support. Research has shown that exercisers with some kind of support system have a better chance of continuing.
