We all need motivation when it comes to physical fitness. Personal trainers are able to provide you with workout routines, weight loss coaching, and mental support to achieve your health goals.
Personal Training can Help you reach your goals
We can all use a little motivational boost every now and then, especially when it comes to personal fitness goals. Since physical fitness can be challenging, requiring us to push past boundaries and endure uncomfortable exercise that can be hard to pursue every single day, personal trainers are critically important to achieving fitness goals, weight loss, and overall balanced life.
As your personal fitness routine planner and support system, personal trainers embody everything you need to finally make a change in your life.
Here are 4 reasons you need a personal trainer:
Mental and Physical Support:
“Mind over matter.” We all know that fitness is strongly related to a mental component, more so than a physical component. Your mind is the deciding factor if you are going to push through a routine or not. Personal trainers will cheer you on and force you to push past those voices telling you “that you can’t do it.” They’ll keep you motivated and check in with you, helping to make fitness part of your habitual routine.
Certified Safe Training Routines:
We can become easily bored with the exact same cardio exercises every single day. Who wants to go on the same run, every single morning? Personal trainers are tasked with coming up with creative routines that are based on your body, goals, and capabilities, so you don’t have to worry about curating your own fitness moves. You simply get to step back and let the professionals handle the activity.
Proper Form:
Thousands of people every single year will end up in a doctor’s office from a fitness injury. There is a lot that goes into proper form when weights are concerned, which is why it can be highly dangerous to pursue this kind of exercise without professional oversight. Personal trainers will correct your form, over and over again, until your body grows accustomed to doing things the right way.
Weight Loss Coaching:
Personal trainers know more than just fitness routines; they know a thing or two about nutrition. They will teach you about macronutrients, as well as help weigh you, encouraging you to stick with your weight loss routine. It’s an all-in-one, personal coaching solution.
If you’re ready to live a fit life and maintain a fitness routine that is right for you, your body, and your weight loss goals, let’s set up a consultation call. In our call we will chat about your goals and make sure we are the right fit (usually we are!). Then, I create customized fitness and weight loss or build plans that will provide you with tangible results in just a few weeks. It’s time to make a commitment to your body and your health, and it starts today
It’s almost the end of the year, so within the next couple of weeks most of us will be making our resolutions for next year. Even as a personal trainer and health coach I make them too!
making personal goals with a coach
As of this month I’ve been coaching for seven years.
At the studios, the studios are usually packed every January first with people with New Year’s resolutions. Then, by the middle to the end of January the studio dies down to back to normal numbers with a few new faces continuing on, but lots gone.
What happens during those first 2 or 3 weeks of January?
Why is it so hard to stick to our New Year’s resolutions especially with fitness?
It is estimated that over 95% of us fail at our New Year’s resolutions. By fail I mean, failing = giving up.
Here are the top 5 reasons why we fail at our fitness resolutions.
1. Overwhelm: we overload ourselves with too many resolutions. We have fitness goals, nutrition goals, financial goals, relationship goals, we have goals for our spouse and even for our kids. We simply can’t handle that many serious goals.
Studies show that when we try to take on more than one life-changing goal at a time our success rate is near nil. We simply don’t have the necessary will power and energy to focus on more than one at a time.
Fortunately, willpower is like a muscle, it gets stronger as we use it But it also is finite. Overload it and you’ll run out too fast as well.
Solution: simplify and commit to one big goal. Once that goal becomes a habit and it doesn’t take so much energy and will power to complete, then you can start working on a different resolution.
2. Lack of a plan: When one creates a resolution without a plan they lack direction and step to get there. Just like those with fitness goals going into a gym for their first time; walking around not knowing what to do next. There was no order or direction to their workout. The workout was purely left to chance.
The cardio deck, however, is always packed. This happens for a couple of reasons. One, it’s the default form of exercise especially for those that don’t feel comfortable lifting weights. And, I get it. It’s a lot easier figuring out how to set up the treadmill than designing a strength training workout and figuring out lifting technique.
And, reason number two, many people still falsely believe cardio to be the best form of exercise for fat loss despite dozens of studies pointing out how ineffective it is and that it is often counterproductive (people can actually get fatter from doing cardio). I see this in the studios a lot when women who have worked out for months complain that their body hasn’t changed even though they are working out so hard doing all these cardio classes.
Solution: hire a trainer to set you up on a program, or at the worst find a program online that targets the same goal you have and then watch some YouTube videos to learn technique.
3. Unrealistic expectations: We live in an extremely fast paced world. We can cue up any movie or TV show and watch it at any time. We can literally order anything in the world and have it shipped to us “next day “. We’re impatient, we want our perfect body and we want it yesterday.
Setting unrealistic goals is a dead end road. Instead of a goal being motivating, the goal becomes demoralizing and shame full. Week in and week out we beat ourselves up because we’re not hitting our numbers. So, of course, after a few weeks of that we’re gonna throw in the towel.
Solution: Hire a trainer. With their experience they can guide you to realistic expectations. Also, when setting a goal ask yourself how confident are you that you can accomplish it. If you’re not 90-100% confident that you can do it then modify it to the point that you are at least 90% confident.
Another part of being realistic is to expect plateaus. Nobody gets consistent progress week in and week out. There will be setbacks. Accept this fact and the road accomplishing your new year’s resolution will be a lot more enjoyable.
4. Skipping the goal setting process: “If you fail to plan, plan to fail.”
When talking to my clients about goals we talk about 3 types of goals: outcome goals, behavioral goals and purpose goals. When we first meet we will talk about these three types of goals.
At bare minimum you need to decide “what” it is that you’re trying to accomplish and then commit it to paper.
A goal gives you direction and writing it down helps hold you accountable while motivating you at the same time.
“An arrow without a target always hits its mark.” If you have vague goals your results will be vague as well.
So.. get super specific with your goals and review them daily.
Solution: carve out 20 minutes to visualize your goals and commit them in detail to paper. Then, review them daily. Remember to keep them simple and break them down #1 and #2 from above.
5. No accountability: Personal accountability is an oxymoron. By definition, you can not hold yourself accountable. There has to be a second person involved, a second person to which you report. Otherwise, it’s human nature to slack.
Accountability is the number one thing new clients ask me to do for them. It is usually why they hire me as their trainer or coach.
They want me to make sure they make it to their workouts and follow through with their nutrition goals.
Even without a trainer, studies have shown that just having a workout buddy can make a positive difference on consistency with your fitness goals.
Solution: hire a trainer to hold you accountable or at the very least find a buddy to hit the gym with and report to each other on your nutrition.
I teach my clients to make things effortless. Then they don’t have to think about winning, it is already set up for them. So for you, almost all of these five mistakes can be resolved by enlisting the help of a trainer or coach.
I believe this is a life lesson that crosses over to all aspects of life.
If you want to improve your golf swing, hire a golf pro.
If you want to get out of debt and prepare for retirement, hire a financial planner.
If you want to start a new business, hire a business coach.
The point is you don’t have to recreate the wheel with your fitness. An experienced trainer has “been there, done that” and they can get you to your goal in the shortest time possible.
Speaking of hiring a personal trainer or coach, I’d love to be yours.
It fixes all of the above mistakes and you’ll create the lifestyle that you envision for a healthy, happy life.
You will get world class training, nutrition coaching and accountability. And right now, I am offering a discounted rate going into the new year.
Follow this link to learn more. But hurry because my training and coaching spots fill in so fast.
I have just completed 15 weeks of a bikini prep program. No competition but all the work to get to one. Let’s say, I started full force with great success and came crawling through mud to the end. Wow, did I learn SO much! Pros and Cons! I cannot wait to share these things with you. As always, it may look different for each one of you. All our bodies are SO different and circumstances/lifestyles – so what I needed, wanted, experienced is all from my perspective and not through others. I’d love to hear what you have learned if you have done one before.
First, I wanted to start with my why and motivation. For years I have pushed hard in the exercise realm and also ate well. But I noticed I was missing some key components to getting “ripped.” I wanted to prove to myself that getting my body fat % below 15% was possible and doable without a gym membership. I also was totally ready to grow as a personal trainer and nutrition coach. I wanted to experience the process so I can coach my own clients with empathy, understanding, and vision.
Next in the process. You start at a moderate but low calorie amount. Foods are mainly one ingredient foods with some exceptions. No sugar, no dairy, no gluten. Pairings of foods are placed together to give you the most bang for your pound. Every week there are subtractions or replacements to your feeds so you eat less but your body adapts because they are well placed adjustments. Exercise runs the opposite course – five one-hour sessions to six two- to three-hour sessions a week.
Alright, without further ado, my list. I have been pondering on this for about 5 weeks now as I came dragging into the homestretch. They are in no particular order and definitely aren’t exclusive to all of my thoughts.
The same insecurities I had 18 pounds ago are the same insecurities I have now.
Eating whole, one ingredient foods make me feel the best
I am emotionally connected to food
I am socially connected to food
There was a point where my body rejected more programming and I needed to pull back for a while and reset.
My mental health is almost MORE important than my physical health. Without good mental health, anything good I pursue didn’t matter.
Eating one ingredient foods and ridding my body of sugar, gluten, and dairy changed three things drastically that weren’t my size – my acne is all but gone, my hormones were in a better balance range, my mental health is DEPENDANT on whole, one ingredient foods
You need a good coach to guide you and talk you off of the wall at times
You need serious accountability to make serious changes
This world is obese because of added sugars and too little protein
What you learn about yourself is WAY more important than the results at the end
Even a small step forward is a BIG win!
I wanted to throw the towel in multiple times and I am SO thankful that I gritted up and tried again – because 80% or even 50% or even 30% is better than 0%
Different goals require different nutrition and exercise programs —- too many women try to do everything ALL at once. Example: I had a client text me to see if I could coach her while she 1) lost weight 2) built 10 lbs of muscle 3) trained for a triathlon 4) wanted to intuitively eat. Yikes! We do better when we pick one or we’ll be knocking heads with the cross points of our goals.
Supplementation is a must with a cutting diet
Timing in your eating is IMPERATIVE to keeping muscle and not crashing mid-day.
You can do anything!!!
Because of this program, I have revamped parts of my nutrition coaching in what I have learned and am implementing it to be a better coach for you.
If you don’t eat right, you won’t see change. I swear nutrition is 90% of the equation to body change.
Get a coach! Nuff said there!
Food can be ritualistic and there’s definitely a FOMO in certain ritual situations (like my birthday) when you don’t eat what everyone else is eating and what you look forward to so much.
I love allowing myself a treat on Sunday’s. It keeps me sane.
Sugar makes me feel SO junky and slow and bloated and all the wrong things.
But my body craves sugar if I am not eating the right kinds of foods at the right times.
When you lose enough weight to change clothes sizes, it is really strange and difficult to fork up the money to purchase new stuff.
Sometimes weight drops don’t lead to clothing size drops. Don’t go there with expectations.
When you lose a bunch of weight, there is a fear of gaining it all back every single time you eat or shop for a new clothing size or get close to finishing your program.
You can’t possibly maintain a super low weight on a restricted diet without injuring your hormones or body in general.
To achieve an extremely low body fat %, it will take complete sacrifice of all else. Between meal prep, recovery, and gym time, it is hours of each day. Too many women want the body but aren’t willing or can’t do 3 hours a day, 6 days a week in the gym.
My body can’t eat cake and cut weight at the same time.
It is always about trusting the process and hanging onto your coach’s knowledge
There is an end to every season – from the actual program and challenge it was to even the weight I ended with, it is all temporary and the only thing certain is change.
Peanut Butter is king!
My body craves nuts and peanut butter when I am in a calorie deficit – like cannot stop thinking about anything in that realm.
This is a lifestyle I’d like to continue in – I truly was eating the right foods, just in a deficit. So now, I get to keep eating them in, but more!!!
You can fuel your body super efficiently with whole, one ingredient food.
It is all about finding volume foods and spices to liven and fill you.
There is always an event or an excuse. There just is.
Foods during low hormone phases vs high hormone phases tasted and pleased/disgusted differently.
Two hours in the gym plus little caloric intake wipes you out. YOU MUST REST and rest MORE.
So here are some before and after photos – honestly, I can’t see much change in myself but I FEEL better and have had others notice a difference. I guess it is all the eye of the beholder and sometimes we have to hold onto how others see us if we cannot see that change and know there is one.
Hopefully you have gained some insight into all the thoughts (even contradicting ones) of a rigorous program. There is a right season to everything, just not all at once. That is why I NEVER give my clients the same program as anyone else and NEVER try to achieve too many goals at one time. Everything is thought out to where the client is at and the circumstances they are in and where they want to be. Time, accountability, and consistency in anything is key and that is what I, as your coach, can do for you.
If you’d like to take a 12 week nutrition coaching course, do a bikini prep program, or get some amazing personal, personal training, reach out via the Contact Us link in the Train menu up top. I’d love to coach with you.
Overall, would I do the program again? Yes, I would, and I am planning on it already – I know there is more progress I can make. Would I make some changes in how the program is set up and given? Yes, I would. Was I perfect in keeping with my guidelines? Nope, I definitely had fails, but we have to be honest in our mortal bodies. Can I be a better coach because of this? Yes, I can and have already implemented some of the process to dos into my coaching to get better results for my clients.
***We do not claim to be a doctor or anything of the like. This document is for educational and journaling purposes only. Any action taken by the reader is their sole responsibility and should be done with discretion. No claim can be made against Adagio FIT or its employees. If you ever have any questions, take them to your primary care doctor.***
***We do not claim to be a doctor or anything of the like. This document is for educational purposes only. Any action taken by the reader is their sole responsibility and should be done with discretion. No claim can be made against Adagio FIT or its employees. If you ever have any questions, take them to your primary care doctor.***
Just as much as any other aspect of training, your warmup should be top priority. Yeah, yeah. I know, it is such a nuisance when you are just rearing to go with anticipation and pre-workout 🙂 But there are potential benefits you will be missing and run the risk of serious injury which may prevent you from working out anyway.
Let’s talk about the benefits of choosing a good warmup, the downfalls if you don’t warm up at all, and then look at different ideas you can implement into your workouts.
Here are some benefits of a warmup –
Warming up prepares your heart, lungs, and muscles for the more strenuous focus of your workout.
Activates your heating and cooling systems which is really important during aerobic activity.
Blood temperature rises and as blood travels through your muscles, your body makes oxygen more available to the working muscles which will help endurance.
Blood vessels dilate and this increases blood flow and oxygen flow. Again, helping with endurance and keeping stress away from the heart.
Hormones also change when you warmup. Cortisol and epinephrine production increase. They are in charge of regulating energy production.
Muscles get warm and allow for more deep and forceful contraction and a faster release and relax.
Range of motion increases in your joints – warming up helps lubricate the joints to help the move smoothly
Mental clearing of the mind, focusing and reviewing form and technique.
Downfalls of missing a warmup
You may feel slow and have less power at the start of your warmup because you have to try to get your muscle warm and focused in
You run the risk of injury to joints and muscles without proper warming up – tears, sprains, tweaks, whatever you may call them are more likely to happen because the joints and muscles aren’t flexible and engaged for work.
Ideas and Tips for Proper Warmups
The general guidelines from the AMA state that a warmup should be between 5-10 mins.
Tailor your warmup to your workout – if you are running, do a slow jog or speed walk. If you are doing a leg day, air squats and lunges. You want to have this be a gradual step to the main push of your workout.
Loosen the joints with small movements in preparation for range of motion movements such as yoga and lifting
Don’t static stretch! – This means that you don’t hold the pull in one position. This actually increases your risk for injury.
DO dynamic stretching – hip swings, big arm circles, pelvic tilts, toe touches, etc.
For my lifting clients,we focus more on functional stretching – I suggest doing each move on their workout using no weights for about 10 reps each. Keeping the range of motion smaller than their “best”. And then after this a short series of dynamic stretches.
For cardio clients, we do more dynamic stretching first and then a little run/jog to finish up.
Mainly, we want you to connect your body and mind together to decrease injuries and increase power and progress. Warmups won’t look the same for different kinds of workouts and different personalities too so think about what you would like to do and what your workout will require of you and move from there.
Overall – Don’t skip it!
*** For those training with me, after our initial weight in and reconnect, we usually don’t have a lot of time to do an hour workout. Therefore, I ask that you each warmup before you come to the studio… or you may have a shortened workout since we will be focusing more on making sure we are warming up properly. Thanks for understanding this. In any other gym, you would come 10-15 mins early to do your warmup before you met with your trainer. If you want to do it like this, let’s set that up or just do it before you come ***
***We do not claim to be a doctor or anything of the like. This document is for educational purposes only. Any action taken by the reader is their sole responsibility and should be done with discretion. No claim can be made against Adagio FIT or its employees. If you ever have any questions, take them to your primary care doctor.***
Rest and recovery is essential to any training program, especially if you want to train long-term and sustainable growth. From personal experience doing the wrong thing, I think it is more important than training itself. We only workout for a small portion of our days and if we are giving everything we have to that workout we will have nothing left.
While training is good for your body, the more intense you train the more intensely you need to schedule rest. If you don’t schedule rest, you could stall in your progress, deplete nutrients faster, and sustain injuries.
It is easy to get caught up in the muscle gains and weight losses and start to train for hours and hours without rest. Kind of leading to an obsession (although you may not realize it or call it that).
This happened to me this year. I was teaching and training 3-4 hours a day – I couldn’t gain muscle or lose weight so I worked out harder because I had gotten caught in the momentum of training for results. After 3 months of this I experienced great adrenal fatigue. I could barely get out of bed and was forced to stop training at all. My hormones were greatly imbalanced and took over a month for me to even get back to the gym. Even now I have to take it easy and am lifting little volume compared to what I was doing in the spring.
Here are some of my rest and recovery tips to replenish your body and give you the ability to sustain your training and your life.
Plan it Out!
Every 3-5 weeks plan a rest week – half the reps and half the weight used for big lifts.
Delayed onset muscle soreness—DOMS, for short—is a common sensation felt after lifting weights. Most trainees actually base the success or effectiveness of their training sessions on how sore they get; however, this is not a good way to think about your progress. Typically, DOMS is characterized by muscle tenderness, stiffness, and reduced joint range of motion, muscle flexibility and force production, about 24 hours after your training session. Compensating for muscle fiber damage and returning to the gym prematurely will increase your risk for injury.
Ensure you have 24-72 hours rest between intense training sessions involving the same musculature. Less rest is needed between sub-maximal training sessions.
Sleep
It has been shown that lack of adequate sleep can decrease the tolerance to training, throw off hormone balance, alter mood, increase perception of fatigue and negatively affect the physiological mechanisms responsible for adaptation from the stresses of training. Hormonal secretion during sleep is one of the most important factors influencing recovery; after all, the purpose of sleep is to induce a state of recovery in the body. Anabolic (muscle-building) hormone concentrations and activity increase during sleep while catabolic (muscle-wasting) hormone concentrations and activity decrease. Disrupted or shortened sleep will negatively influence the effects of these anabolic hormones.
Try to develop a regular sleeping routine where you go to bed at a similar time each night of the week. Remove distractions like light, smartphones, and TVs. If possible, try for 8 hours of sleep per night and/or fit in an afternoon power nap for 30 minutes to rejuvenate the body.
Hydrate
Dehydration can reduce performance potential, but also delay the recovery process. Exercise and an increased metabolic rate both increase the body’s need for water and electrolytes. So water just isn’t enough.
If you are sweating, you are losing not just H2O but magnesium, sodium, and potassium. If you are just drinking water thinking this will do it, you are also just washing out and depleting those micronutrients more. For excessive workouts (intensity and/or longer than 40 minutes), workouts in the heat, or the like, add in an electrolyte. BUT watch those packets for added sugars and make sure they have sodium, potassium, and magnesium… not just one of them.
Also, shoot for ½ the ounces of weight in pounds you are. So if I weighed 150lbs I would need at least 75 ounces for a normal day. Add in 8 ounces for every 30-60 minutes of activity too depending on the intensity level.
Nutrition
Recovery is a time where proper nutrition is essential. Protein sources are required to rebuild muscle tissue and to supply the building blocks for various cells, tissues, enzymes, and hormones. Depending on how often you train during the week, protein recommendations can range from .08 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.
Carbohydrates, on the other hand, are muscles’ major source of energy; therefore, eating carbohydrates is essential at refueling your body’s glycogen stores. Your body refuels glycogen at a higher rate within 3.0 to 60 minutes post workout so it’s important to consume a post workout snack or shake during this time. It has also been shown that including a small amount of protein in this snack speeds up the rebuilding and recovery process.
Eat a post workout snack that contains roughly 50 grams of carbohydrates and 30 grams of protein. A well-balanced meal should be consumed roughly 2 hours post workout to continue the recovery process.
A great and easy way to do this is to make a protein shake using the rule of 5:
I love to make two or three of these for a day. I will just put in extra ice when I blend them, and then take them in a cooler bag for after workout and usually my lunch. This is a complete meal and is fun to play around with.
Sometimes I will add almond, pumpkin spice, vanilla, or coconut extract. I love to add cinnamon or even some stevia drops to change up flavors
Massage
Massage from a therapist or self-massage AKA self myofascial release (SMR) with foam rollers, massage sticks and even baseballs can reduce muscle stiffness, promote circulation and induce a state of relaxation in the muscle. It might be painful during, but SMR can be performed the night of a hard workout to remove scar tissue, adhesions in the muscle and restrictions in the fascia (a type of connective tissue that wraps around the whole body).
Gently roll a baseball or massage stick over all major muscle groups until you find a sensitive spot. Apply direct pressure until the pain dissipates. Roll over the muscle again and repeat if necessary. Even if massage doesn’t speed up recovery, it might make you feel better compared to not getting massaged in the first place.
OVER TRAINING
There is a fine line between overtraining and a healthy lifestyle. Many (especially women who have an innate desire to feel confident and beautiful) have no clue how much they actually are overtraining.
You can overtrain by hitting it too hard in the gym as a beginner. Don’t ever think that the inability to sit on the toilet because you’re sore is a good thing. No go hard or go home mentality here. You can also over train by training too long, too heavy, and too often.
Symptoms of overtraining are mainly in three categories: performance, physiological, and psychological
Performance
Decreasing in stats
Early onset of fatigue during workouts
Slowed or delayed recovery
Not scheduling rest
Not able to lose weight even with extended workout sessions or even gaining in spite of being spot on in nutrition
Physiological
Feeling sore for extended periods of time
Increase in injuries
Always getting or feeling sick
Increase in Resting Heart Rate
Feeling low energy and fatigue all the time
Not sleeping well
Psychological
Impatient
Irritable
Mood swings
Large dips in motivation, enthusiasm, and drive
Difficulty concentrating
Tips to help overtraining and balance your hormones better – decrease your lifting days, switch up your workout routines, decrease the amount of time in the gym, get more sleep, and make sure you are getting the correct micronutrients.
