Tips To Help You Commit To Your New Year's Fitness Resolution

It's that time of year again. Time to focus on your New Year's resolutions. Many people begin an exercise program but abandon it before February. However, we’re here to break that redundant cycle! Here are some tips to achieve your fitness goals during the New Year.

Determine Your Readiness

Make sure you're both physically and mentally ready to start an exercise program. Check-in with your doctor if you decide to begin a fitness regimen.  You want to make sure you're healthy enough to start. Once you have been physically cleared, consider your mental readiness. In my opinion, this is the most important part. First ask yourself, how likely are you to stick with an exercise program once you begin? Obviously, there are many variables to successfully pursue a healthy lifestyle, but you are more likely to succeed if you

• Have confidence in your exercise ability.

• Receive positive reinforcement and support from those closest to you.

• Perform in a form of exercise that YOU find fun.

Plan Plan Plan

Before you start your exercise program, ask yourself these three questions

When will you exercise?

·         Create a schedule for yourself! Pick three days and times that are convenient for you to be active and commit to those days.

What type of exercise will you do?

·         Do something that you ENJOY. I can’t stress enough the amount of people that tell me they are going to start running, but completely hate running! There are plenty of exercises options to choose from! Don't worry about what everyone else is doing, pick an exercise that works for you.

How much time will you spend exercising?

·         Start small with each trip to the gym. Gradually build up to exercising for 45-60 minutes a session.

No Rush

Remember your resolution isn’t a quick fix, but a lifelong commitment to a healthier lifestyle. Don’t try to compare your journey with someone else’s fitness journey. You are much more likely to be successful if you take it at your own pace when you begin. We all start somewhere, and someday you will be the person who is doing high-intensity workouts looking like a psycho, but for now start slow. Ease fitness into your schedule and don’t try to completely turn your life around overnight.

Be Realistic

One of the biggest problems with New Year's resolutions people overreach. Setting goals is a great and all, but make sure they are realistic. If they aren’t then you’re more likely to get discouraged and disregard your New Year’s goal. A goal to lose 6 pounds in a month is allot more realistic than setting a goal to lose 20 pounds in a month. Remember, slow and steady wins the race! Take your time, build a solid base for your fitness and allow it to grow. Lastly, don’t forget to enjoy the process!

The Work-Life-Fitness Balance: How To Do It All

This past year, I’ve struggled to balance life and fitness. Yes, a personal trainer whose life revolves around fitness struggles to balance out having time to exercise himself. Balancing a business, life and also fitness is a tough line up to manage. But, it is possible. I get tons of people asking how I cope, and how I manage to do everything. To be totally honest, most of the time I don’t. It’s stressful, I’m not going to lie. It requires a lot of sacrifice. Not to mention, a lot of planning. But it is possible when we are realistic with ourselves, and our time.

Work-Life-Fitness Balance

Finding the right balance is something that I’m not sure I’ve mastered yet, what I do know is without balance we’ll eventually burn ourselves out and end up falling short at both life, work and everything in between. There’s no reason to be bodacious about overworking yourself! When I first got started with my business, I thought working hard and “grinding” at all hours of the day was the only way to succeed. I was COMPLETLY wrong! Don’t get me wrong, balancing life, fitness, and a business isn’t easy, and does require some level of dedication. But, work shouldn’t take priority life and/or leisurely activities. We should live to work, not work to live. Scheduling in “me” time is an important part of our mental wellbeing, and you’ll be happier in the long run. So definitely include activities into your weekly routine that look after your wellbeing, and relieves your stress levels.

Enjoy Your Workout

Personally, I love fitness and it’s my “happy time”. However, that isn’t the case for many people. There is an important thing to remember, and something I mention quite frequently. It sounds cliché, but do something that sets you love. As we lead busy lives, you’re only going to make time for fitness if you’re doing something you genuinely enjoy. If you’re working an 8 hour day and hate running, but planned to run after work, you’ll most likely not go on that run! There are plenty of options that you could take to get active. Find one, and stick to it! Doing something is better than doing nothing!

Eat, Eat, Eat

Healthy eating is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. When people think of healthy nutrition they normally connect it to weight loss, or the physical benefits that someone might benefit from nutrition. Very few will connect eating habits with productivity at work or their mental health. The foods we eat have a direct impact on our overall daily performance. If you want to increase your productivity, you should pay close attention to your eating habits. Sometimes we feel as if we can endure not eating a meal because we have work to do, but in reality your body is crying for food. When it comes to balancing nutrition, it can be tough and there are numerous barriers surrounding nutrition such as food availability or time constraints that might hinder our ability to get our nutrients. Personally I recommend planning out your time to eat. If I don’t plan my meals, I either forget to eat because I’m constantly on the move or I end up eating anything in sight due to convenience. To me, I think this is extremely important because nutrition plays such an enormous part in my wellbeing and health. So, if you want to stay on track, and see results it’s important to work around your lifestyle. Spend some time figuring out when you can have a home cooked meal, or when you need to prepare double to cover lunch the next day. Plan what meals you’re going to eat, and make up a weekly shopping list. Ultimately, it’s all about thinking ahead, preparing in advance and staying on top. You got this!

Why Sleep Is the No. 1 Most Important Thing for a Better Body

Isn't it funny how we dreaded bedtime as children and look forward to it as adults? Now I feel like I can never get enough of it! It feel as if there aren't enough hours in a day. If you are working, going to school, or just have a hectic daily routine, I'm sure you can relate. Some people can function well on little to no sleep, while others feel the effects more. We have things like coffee and energy to help energize us on days we need a little boost, but becoming dependent on these things long term may not be ideal in regards to our health.

When you are well-rested, you perform at your best capacity. That means more intense gym sessions and less fatigue. We all know that feeling mid-workout when you want to give up because you are so tired. I also think everyone has had that time where they have chosen sleep over a workout. The goal is to schedule your day to fit in 7-8 hours of sleep along with time for physical activity, to balance the effects of both. Without a consistent sleep pattern it could potentially lead to weight gain due to various reasons such as your hormones being thrown off, including the hormone that increases hunger and appetite. Also, since you are awake for a longer period of time, you may become hungry more often. If you are up until 2am and you usually go to bed around 10pm, your body may feel hungry since your schedule is thrown off.

If you think you build muscle while you are in the gym, well you are wrong! You tear muscle fibers in the gym and repair/grow stronger muscle while you rest. Recovery time is crucial to a fitness regimen, which is why you should pay attention to your sleep schedule. Getting the 8 hour recommendation into your routine may help you feel more energized, work out harder and build lean muscle quicker than your lack-of-sleep regimen. When your muscles recover adequately, you are more likely to come back stronger than before.

Sleep tips:

• Create a consistent schedule
• Make sure you aren't hungry or stuffed when you go to bed
• Hours slept before midnight are usually higher quality than those following
• If you have trouble sleeping, avoid naps, especially in the afternoon
• Practice a relaxing bedtime ritual

How Exercise Can Ease Your Stress

With the holidays around the corner, it’s that time of the year when life start’s to become overwhelmingly stressful. Work becoming busier, students studying for their finals, or exhaustion could be one the reasons why you’re feeling stressed. Stress is “a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances”. When stress affects the brain, the rest of the body feels the impact as well. If your body feels better, so does your mind.

Your body plays a bigger role in your mental health than you might think. Exercise, in many ways, can be a remedy when it comes to your mental outlook. Notice the sense of ease and positivity you feel immediately after your workout. Exercise helps produce endorphins which are chemicals in the brain that act as a natural painkiller. Endorphins help trigger a positive feeling in the body that will help reduce stress, anxiety, and feelings of depression. If you suffer from depression or anxiety, your workout can play a key role in managing your symptoms, thanks to the powerful link between your physical and mental health. Studies show that it is very effective at reducing fatigue, improving alertness and concentration, and at enhancing overall cognitive function. This can be especially helpful when stress has depleted your energy or ability to concentrate.

It has been found that regular bouts of aerobic exercise can decrease overall levels of tension, elevate and stabilize mood, improve sleep, and improve self-esteem. About five minutes of aerobic exercise can begin to stimulate anti-anxiety effects.

Recently I’ve found myself under a large amount stress, and felt my quality of life slowly starting to deteriorate due to the fact that I found myself giving myself into that stress. Normally I make it a goal to exercise at least 3 times a week, because I personally become extremely anxious and stressed without performing some sort of physically activity, but when I find myself already under an insurmountable amount of stress, cognitively I cannot function, nor do I have an appetite. I completely shut down mentally and physically! I have to slowly help myself back into a working state through low-intensity to moderate exercise. We all have our own exercise-niches, but for me, three things that help me ease my stress are

Walking

Hiking

Running

I would rather conquer a hill-climb outside than be inside aerobically exercising. Even if it’s cold and wet, or the middle of winter, outdoors is the right environment for me. I feel a sense of clarity and calmness. I also feel as if I could take on the world! I only spend about 30-45 minutes performing any of these activities, but yet it means the world to my mental health. Eventually, I return to hitting the weight-room and the world doesn’t seem as grim as it did when I was stressed!

If you are stressed, I recommend finding the right exercise-niche for you. Running or hiking may not be for you, but something like yoga might work out better for you. Everyone responds differently to different types of exercise, but I bet you will find your own form of exercise that helps you relieve your stresses!!

Why You Should Try A Yoga Class

The art of practicing yoga helps in controlling an individual's mind, body and soul. It brings together physical and mental exercises to achieve a peaceful body and mind. At the physical level, the methods comprise various yoga postures that aim to keep the body healthy. The mental techniques include breathing exercises and meditation to discipline the mind. The ultimate goal of yoga is to help the individual to transcend the self and attain enlightenment

Yoga offers an alternative approach at physical activity in comparison to the typical weight-lifting session. Yoga allows your mind and body to unwind, while ignoring the outside world for the duration of your session. What’s great about a typical yoga class is if you’ve ever been to a class or watched people do yoga, you will probably notice that the class is really diverse. You don’t have to be a yoga guru or fitness enthusiast to participate. It allows people of all levels to participate alongside a supportive group of people, which I think is amazing!

To some people, practicing yoga might seem like just stretching and breathing, but it can do much more for your body from the way you feel, look and move. By practicing regularly you can:

• Increase Flexibility
• Increase Muscle Tone & Strength
• Lose Weight
• Reduce Injuries
• Improve Posture
• Improve Anxiety & Depression
• Reduce Stress
• And So Much More!

There’s various styles of yoga, but most styles of yoga are based on the same basic yoga poses, however the experience of one style can be COMPLETELY different than another. Here are a few examples of different yoga styles that I have experienced:

Hatha - This is definitely the best for beginners because of its slower pace. It’s all about the basics in these slower moving classes that require you to hold each pose for a few breaths.

Vinyasa - Intense exercisers might enjoy Vinyasa because of its faster pace. Runners and endurance athletes are also drawn to Vinyasa class because of the continuous movement.

Yin - Poses are held for an extended period of time and it’s excellent for your joints. Since you’re stretching for a long time, it’s an amazing way to target your deeper connective tissues and fascia, restoring length and elasticity.

Hot Yoga – It’s practiced in a heated room, and you’ll leave drenched in sweat! If you love a tough workout that will leave you drenched, sign up for a beginner-friendly heated class.

There are plenty of other styles that people take advantage of, and I would definitely recommend incorporating yoga into your weekly fitness routine. If you ever try out a yoga class feel free to let me know how it goes! I would love to hear about it!

Establishing a Healthy Lifestyle

If you really want to make a change, then let’s start together. I won't lie to you, it's not going to be easy. Establishing a healthy lifestyle is a common goal, but it's not always clear where to begin. The first step is to believe you can make any change you want. Commitment is key, and it will take a huge commitment to living a healthier lifestyle, but in the end it’ll be worth it. All it takes are small adjustments within your diet and exercise until you’re on track towards a healthy lifestyle.

Here are some steps to help you get started!

Set Realistic Goals
To make a permanent change, start by writing down your short-term and long-term goals, then write down your plan on how you will achieve your goals. No matter what it may be, setting specific, realistic goals are going to help you see the progress that you’re making and it will also help you stay motivated. Remember to start small with your goals before gradually making them more difficult. Someone’s small goals might be “consuming more water” or “adding fruit into their diet”, before gradually setting larger goals. With goal accomplished, be proud of yourself, and use it as motivation progressing forward.

Nutritional Habits
Good nutrition can form the necessary foundation towards cultivating a healthy lifestyle. It's not always easy to change dietary habits, but starting slow and setting small, attainable goals can help make the transition less overwhelming. Start filling your fridge with healthy choices, one at a time if you need to. Over time, eating healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, lean meats and whole grains will become second nature. As you fill your fridge with these foods, slowly remove junk foods like candy, soda, cookies, etc.

Exercise
Start incorporating exercise into your weekly routine. You should aim for at least 30 to 45 minutes of exercise a day. Exercise burns calories and fat while building muscle and bone strength.  It’ll also help release hormones called endorphin's, which will trigger a positive feeling in the body. Exercise will also help reduce stress, boost your energy level, strengthen your immune system and reduce the risk of many diseases including heart disease, stroke and several chronic illnesses. Start by walking just 10 minutes a day and continue to increase the duration and intensity of your exercise sessions.

Positivity
Honestly there are going to be some days where you will have no desire to be physically active and you might want to give up, but don’t! Stay positive and remember why you started your journey. Once you start telling yourself you can’t, you probably are going to give up. Trying to change your habits won’t happen overnight and it’ll be challenging, but as long as you remind yourself of your goals, it will keep you from straying from your journey. 
 

Myths Of Muscle Building

There are various methods to build muscle, lose fat, and improve your overall physical capabilities, but since there are multiple ways to do so, there are many inaccuracies that plague the fitness community. Despite the lack of scientific evidence, these myths still run strong within some communities, and there's no scientific evidence supporting their theories. Let's see analyze three common myths about building muscle.

 
Myth #1: Cardio Will Reduce My Muscle Size
Cardiovascular activity, no matter what phase of muscle building or fat burning you are in is very important for a variety of reasons. Cardiovascular exercise elevates your heart rate for a sustained period, burn calories, which can help you lose excess fat that hides muscle definition, and it will help increase your overall muscular endurance. Performing cardio too frequently, too intensely, or for too long can certainly prevent you from gaining muscle, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t incorporate cardiovascular exercises into your workout. Consider all the necessary resources required by your body to build muscle. You need good nutrition to provide protein for muscle growth, and carbohydrates and fats to fuel and enhance recovery from your intense workouts. You also need rest and recovery time between workouts to allow your body to rebuild and increase your muscle mass.

Myth #2: If You Eat More Protein, You'll Build More Muscle.
Protein promotes the muscle-building process, called protein synthesis, but you don't need an excessive amount of protein to do this. If you are consistently exercising, consuming more than 0.9 to 1.25 grams of protein per pound of body weight is a waste. Excess protein breaks down into amino acids and nitrogen, which are either excreted or converted into carbohydrates and stored.

When you consume protein it’s important that you have the right balance of carbohydrates with it. This will help stabilize blood sugar within the body. Simply put, without carbs, your body would not be able to function, and without protein, you could not build muscle. If your diet is exclusively protein, then your body will use protein as its energy source in comparison to carbohydrates. 

Myth #3: Always Workout With Free Weights.
Sometimes machines are a better alternative for muscle growth. For example, when you need to isolate specific muscles after an injury, or when you are too inexperienced to perform a free-weight exercise. Newcomers will see benefits with either machines or free weights, but as they become more trained, free weights should make up the major portion of their training program. If someone is fresh to exercising and they can't complete a pull-up, then they won't build their back and lat muscles. So instead they should do lat pull-downs with a machine to develop these muscles before they incorporate new advanced exercises. If you're a veteran lifter, free weights would be best to build strength or burn fat.
 

Getting Back Into Shape

There was a time where you were consistently exercising, healthily eating, and living a pretty active lifestyle. You felt stronger and healthier than ever! There was also a boost in your confidence and you felt as if nothing could tear you down. Well, until life got crazy, or you got sick, etc. Whatever it was, it completely ruined your consistency when it came to living a healthier lifestyle. It feels as if you’ll never get back into that previous rhythm you had before “the incident,” but honestly you shouldn’t let one setback discourage you from continuing your journey towards living a healthier lifestyle. Keep the following tips in mind and you'll be back on track before you know it.

Don’t Rush Back into It

Everybody wants to exercise at the same intensity from when they were in-shape, but you’ll notice you’ll be panting 10 minutes into the grueling workout that you’re normally used to. It’s best to start small and gradually work your way back into your typical routine. It would be best to decrease your weight, repetitions, and sets so you aren’t straining your muscles or sloppily completing your exercises. Since your muscles won’t use to the stress of exercise, increasing your resting periods is an important factor to keep in mind. Finally, when you make your star-studded entrance back into exercise, don’t try to attend the gym 5 days a week. Remember, allow your muscles to recover because you do not want to overload your body with excessive exercise. If you do, that could adhere to negative results instead of the positive results you’re looking for.

Be Realistic

Realistically, the longer you’ve been inactive, the more time your body is going to need for your illustrious comeback. The first couple of weeks, you will start to notice plenty of progress, physically & aerobically. For the average person, it should take about six to eight weeks to return your body back into shape. Have short-term and long-term goals during that time you are exercising again. Goal setting is going to help you track your progression and also help you stay focused on your end-game goal. Remember, it takes time, so don’t try to rush the process!

Don’t Give Up

Honestly, getting back into shape is frustrating and disheartening especially when we remind ourselves how fit we used to be, but don’t give up! Everything takes time and you can’t progress if you’re reminiscing on what you used to be. Move forward and surpass your previous fitness milestones.