Woodmere Gym

Holiday Calorie Busting Tips

You don’t have to succumb to weight gain this holiday season. Escape the time crunch excuse in three easy steps:

Step One: Schedule Your Workouts: You’ve heard this before, and it makes so much sense. If you treat your exercise time with the importance of a work meeting then you’d never skip a workout and you’d be in amazing shape.

While the scheduling concept is brilliant in its simplicity, you have to put it into practice to reap the benefits. Pull out your calendar and a pen. Don’t laugh, I’m serious! Just do it. If you want to get into shape it starts with committing to a revised
schedule with a set exercise time.

Identify three 40-minute time slots and mark them on your calendar. That is when you’ll exercise.

Remember this: if the thought that you should exercise this week is floating around in your head, but you haven’t anchored it down to a specific time and date, then it will quickly disappear.

Step Two: Get the Most from Each Minute: The days of endless, mind numbing cardio are over. A great workout can take place in under an hour, when done correctly. The idea is to burn more calories each minute. This is done through short, intense bursts of exercise.

Use the following three tips to bring your routine up to the next level:

1. Be Unstable: Use your entire body, and target your core, by performing exercises that engage stabilizing muscles. To do this use an exercise ball, a balance board, a balance disk, or you could simply stand on one leg.
2. Add Resistance: The more resistance that you incorporate with your routine translates into higher intensity and more calories burned. Some ideas for adding resistance include: carrying dumbbells while doing lunges, wearing a weighted vest while walking or jogging, or putting a weight between your feet while doing leg raises.
3. Use Intervals: Interval training is an amazing tool for creating short yet effective workouts. Don’t worry, it’s not complicated. Interval training is simply alternating between different short bursts of activity.

Here’s an example: Let’s say you want to focus on your legs and abs and to also get an effective cardiovascular workout. This would be a great interval routine for your goals:

Lunge while curling dumbbells, 15-20 repetitions

30 seconds of intense cardio: sprint, jump rope, or jumping jacks

Squat while pressing dumbbells overhead, 15-20 repetitions

30 seconds of intense cardio: sprint, jump rope, or jumping jacks

Crunches on an exercise ball, 15-20 repetitions

30 seconds of intense cardio: sprint, jump rope, or jumping jacks

Leg raises off the end of an exercise bench, 15-20 repetitions

Step Three: Twice the Results in Half the Time: What if I told you that I have a proven way to deliver twice the fitness results in half the time? It’s simple really…

When you attempt to lose weight or meet a fitness goal on your own, the odds are stacked against you. Sure, you could do it over time – but it’s a long and lonely road. A road lined with detours that threaten to undermine your progress.

When you start a program with me, you suddenly have the upper hand on weight loss. You have me in your corner, coaching you each step of the way, keeping you accountable to workouts and giving you that dose of encouragement went the going gets tough.

And I’ll be the one congratulating you when your goal is met.

Live Life at Your Full Potential

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If you’ve ever wished that you were more motivated to experience life at your full potential then this is for you.

Most of us set goals and work hard only to find our motivation fizzle out after a couple of weeks. But there are little tricks that will help you harness the power of your mind and propel you toward achieving your goal.

The Two Motivators
When you boil it down, you’re motivated by two simple things:

1. To avoid pain (fear of failure)
2. To gain pleasure (promise of reward)

You are naturally geared toward one of these motivators. To figure out which, think of the last time you accomplished a task and then ask yourself the following: While doing the task were you thinking about what would happen if you failed to finish, or were you thinking about what you would gain when you finished?

Take note as to which motivator works for you – fear of failure, or promise of reward.

Set Your Goal: The first step towards unstoppable motivation is to determine your goal. You know you’re unhappy with your body, but what exactly do you want to change? Why is it important to you?

Perhaps you can relate to one of the following goals:

You need to lose weight for your health. Your doctor scared you straight or maybe you’ve had a recent health problem that landed you in the hospital. Your goal is to move away from the pain of sickness.

You want to look and feel incredible. You’ve always wanted to feel vibrant and attractive. The idea of having more energy really excites you. Your goal is to move toward the pleasure and reward of a fit body.

You’re worried about your kids. They don’t eat enough vegetables, they drink more soda pop than water and they play video games constantly. You have decided to model a healthier lifestyle and to encourage your kids to participate. Your goal is to move away from the risks of a sedentary lifestyle and to propel your kids toward a healthy future.

Train Your Mind for Weight Loss:
With your clear and important goal in mind, let’s take a few minutes to train your mind to achieve it. You know that weight loss comes as a result of eating right and regular challenging exercise, so let’s use your mind to conquer both.

Eating Right: Use this exercise to distance yourself from the self-sabotaging foods you really wish you didn’t eat, and to naturally begin selecting healthy foods.

Take a moment to review your current eating habits. Identify the foods that you should stop eating (hint: sweets, anything fried, refined carbohydrates, sugary drinks). Identify the worst food that you eat regularly but know you shouldn’t.

Now imagine the healthy foods that you should eat (hint: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean protein). Identify the healthiest food that you know you should eat regularly.

Now with the image of these two foods in mind, find a quiet place and do the following exercise (seriously this stuff works):

Draw up the image of your unhealthy food item. This image will likely be quite vivid, with smell, taste and bright color. In your mind, fade this picture to black and white and distance the image until it is dull, fuzzy and remote.

Draw up the image of your healthy food item. This image will likely be fuzzy and faded. In your mind, bring this picture to life with smell, taste, sound and bright color.

Regular Exercise: This technique can be applied in a way that encourages you to crave exercise rather than avoid it.

Take a moment to imagine how you feel after a great workout (notice the emphasis on the word after). Remember the physical satisfaction as well as the sweet feeling of accomplishment.

Now bring to your mind the aspects of exercise that you dislike. What is your biggest reason for avoiding exercise? Are you too tired? Do you not have enough time? Is physical exertion too much of a hassle? Pinpoint your greatest complaint about exercise.

Now with the image of these two aspects of exercise in mind, find a quiet place and do the following exercise:

Draw up the image of your exercise complaint. The image is likely to be clear and accompanied by the sounds, smells and sensations. In your mind, fade this picture to black and white and distance the image until it is dull, fuzzy and remote.

Draw up the image of the wonderful feeling you have after accomplishing a great workout. Magnify this image in your mind. Fixate on how you feel physically, mentally and emotionally. View the experience in bright colors and add a sound track of inspirational music.

Why It Works
If this was your first experience with training your mind (also called Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP) it may have felt a little odd. Many of the world’s top achievers regularly use techniques like these to accomplish astounding goals.

The techniques above work because they train your mind to bring your behavior in line with your values. Think about it, you value health, you desire to be fit and attractive and you want to instill healthy habits in your kids.

These techniques encourage you to avoid self-sabotage and to make choices that line up with what you truly value.

Now that you are ready to accomplish your goals, call or email me today to start your fitness program that will greatly improve your life.

Why Finding a Fitness Buddy for the Gym in Woodmere, Five Towns and Nassau Can Be Beneficial

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Finding a fitness buddy at the gym in Woodmere can be beneficial by keeping you motivated to succeed and to maintain fitness over the long term. It’s easy to start a fitness program full of good intentions, but over the long haul many people quit because they get bored or lose their motivation. When you have a fitness partner who is working on their personal set of fitness goals, they are able to encourage, motivate and challenge each other to stay fit.

Good Intentions

There are millions of people who had good intentions to adhere to a fitness program at the gym in Woodmere. They started their fitness program ready to make a lifetime commitment to good health. But one day it is cold outside and so trip to the gym in Woodmere is skipped. Then there were the days they had to work late making it impossible to make it to the fitness center.

The next thing you know, the whole fitness program has flown out the window. It would have been much better if you had a friend or fitness partner to help you stay on track. It’s hard to tell someone else you are too tired (or too lazy) to workout when he or she is excited about staying fit.

Staying motivated in the fitness world is challenging. That is why many people find a fitness buddy who has similar goals. For example, if you are a senior citizen who wants to stay flexible and maintain overall conditioning, your fitness partner would not be a bodybuilder working on developing muscle mass.

A fitness partner will motivate you to keep those good intentions at the gym in Woodmere. But even if you are able to stay fit on your own, an exercise partner offers many other benefits which make staying fit more challenging and interesting.

Committing to Each Other

It’s much more likely you will keep a commitment to stay fit if you have someone else working on similar goals. A fitness partner can help in many ways.

Challenge you to work harder than you would otherwise
Keep you on schedule making it less likely you will skip workout sessions
Reinforces your commitment to fitness
Offers variety and new ideas to keep your fitness program interesting
Makes the time pass more quickly
Provides encouragement
Offers a way to measure success when compared to another person

You are much more likely to stick with a fitness program at the gym in Woodmere when you have a partner or buddy who is ready to work out! You can also share nutritional information and new fitness concepts you learn so your fitness program is never boring.

How Working Out at a Gym in Woodmere, Five Towns and Nassau Can Prevent High Cholesterol

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Working out at a gym in Woodmere on a regular basis can prevent high cholesterol by reducing the amount of plaque build-up in the arteries. People talk about high and low cholesterol readings, but many don’t really understand what cholesterol consists of in the body. All they know is that too much cholesterol lining the arteries can cause blockage leading to heart disease.

Not All Cholesterol is Bad

There are two types of cholesterol called HDL (high density lipoproteins) and LDL (low density lipoproteins). Cholesterol is actually like a natural patching system your body uses to repair artery and blood vessel damage caused by disease.

Blood vessels are composed of layers and one of them is called the intima. The intima is the innermost vein layer. When the intima gets a tiny hole for any reason, the body tries to repair the damage. Veins can be damaged by diseases like high blood pressure or diabetes.

The way the body repairs the nick in the vein is by filling it with LDL. When too much repairing LDL accumulates, the HDL cholesterol clears the excess LDL away. Low density cholesterol can collect in the arteries due to diet and genetics also.

The problem is that a build-up of cholesterol in the blood stream can cause blood clotting and blocked arteries. This in turn can lead to strokes, heart attacks or heart disease.

High density lipoprotein is called the “good” cholesterol because it helps keep the “bad” LDL cholesterol at a healthy level. But sometimes the whole system fails to work properly due to lack of fitness or poor dietary habits. When you eat a lot of foods containing trans fats, for example, you can raise your LDL level even when the vein does not have a hole to repair.

Obviously, you want to raise your HDL levels as much as possible in order to keep your arteries cleared of plaque build-up.

Give Yourself the Gift of Exercise at a Gym in Woodmere, Five Towns and Nassau

Though medical science does not completely understand the process yet, exercise is known to increase the production of good cholesterol. That means a workout program can actually prevent high cholesterol formed by LDL. Your exercise program at a gym in Woodmere should be combined with a healthy diet to get the maximum benefit.

Working out regularly will also insure you maintain a healthy cardiovascular system. Your blood flow is improved and your veins are kept cleared. The amount of exercise you should get as a minimum is 30 minutes a day of aerobic exercise five days a week.

A fitness trainer at a gym in Woodmere can structure a fitness program that will include the right amount of aerobic exercise needed to prevent high cholesterol. Natural treatments for high cholesterol that already exist include losing weight, eliminating unhealthy foods from the diet, and exercising regularly. In many cases, it is even possible to avoid medications.

One of the best gifts you can give your heart and circulatory system is plenty of exercise at a gym in Woodmere.

Aerobics vs. Strength Training At Our Woodmere Gym

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If you’ve made the commitment to improve your health or fitness level, our Woodmere gym is just what you’re looking for! If your goals are to lose weight, you may think that strength training isn’t for you – after all, you want to get lean, not bulk up! On the other side of the coin, weight lifters may consider aerobic training a waste of time. The truth is, both of these disciplines are important and will help you reach your goals, no matter what they are. In this article, we’ll show you why you should incorporate both aerobics and strength training at our Woodmere gym.

Why aerobics is good for you

Weight lifters should take heart – aerobics doesn’t necessarily mean donning spandex and jumping around to electronic music. Aerobic exercise, or cardio exercise, is any exercise that raises your heart rate. There are dozens of benefits of adding an aerobic work out to your fitness regime. It makes your heart stronger, increases your lung capacity, burns fat and helps raise the metabolism. Even if your goals don’t include losing fat, aerobics can be beneficial, as it can help increase your energy, giving you the strength to increase the number of weight lifting reps or keep up with the ball on the tennis court.

A good aerobic work out is one in which the body reaches its target heart rate and sustains it anywhere from ten to twenty minutes at a time. When it comes to aerobic exercise, the possibilities are endless; exercises could include running, cycling, swimming, even walking, not to mention the dozens of cardio machines available at our Woodmere gym.

Why strength training is good for you

Those that are trying to lose weight may dismiss strength training as unnecessary, but the truth is that is can be very beneficial. Just as aerobic exercise helps raise the metabolism, strength training can help sustain it. This is because the more muscle mass you have, the more calories you’ll burn over the course of a day. But that doesn’t mean you’ll have to bulk up muscle mass in order to reap the benefits – even those with lean muscles can profit.

In addition to helping the body burn calories more efficiently, benefits of strength training include protecting the joints and even preventing the risk of osteoporosis, as strength training helps build healthy bones as well as muscles. There is a wide variety of strength training techniques, including machines that can be found at our Woodmere gym that are great for beginners, as well as free weights, which can also aid in balance and coordination.

Both aerobics and strength training can help you reach your goal

It is widely accepted today by both researchers and fitness professionals that a fitness routine that incorporates both aerobics and strength training is the best way to reach your fitness goals. Each of these disciplines compliments the other and will help, no matter what your fitness goals are, from losing weight to becoming a better, faster, or stronger athlete, so try to include three sessions of aerobics per week and two sessions of strength training at our Woodmere gym, and you’ll see the difference in no time!

If you have questions or need an extra push, contact a personal trainer at our Woodmere gym. A personal trainer will be able to motivate you to challenge yourself and they’ll ensure you reach your fitness goals!

How A Woodmere Gym Expert Can Help When You’ve Hit a Fitness Plateau

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Hitting a fitness plateau after months of hitting a Woodmere gym is frustrating and demoralizing. It’s no wonder many people abandon their fitness routines when this happens, as it’s easy to feel like you’ve hit a wall that you just can’t get around or over. If you’ve recently hit a plateau, take heart; it is possible to push through by using a little creative thinking and getting help from our Woodmere gym personal trainers. In this article, we’ll learn more about fitness plateaus, what our Woodmere gym personal trainers can do to help you push through them to continue on the path of reaching your fitness goals.

What is a fitness plateau?

You’ve been working out for months with a specific goal in mind, whether it’s to lose weight or become a better athlete. Suddenly, you notice that your progress has come to a standstill. The numbers on the scale aren’t moving, or you can’t seem to cut anymore time off your running mile, or your weight lifting is stuck at a certain limit. For those that have changed all their bad habits for good ones and are committed to improving their lifestyle, this sudden halt in progress, called a fitness plateau, can be best described as frustrating.

Fitness plateaus often occur thanks to repetition in the work out routine. Our bodies are incredibly efficient machines and are able to adapt to any kind of work that we give it. When we give it the same tasks to perform over and over again, the body adapts to the level of work and becomes more proficient. Once the body gets to its optimal efficiency in performing these tasks, it requires less energy and consequently burn less calories, putting a stop to our progress.

Subtle changes make the difference

In order to push through the plateau, some changes have to be made, but they don’t have to turn your whole fitness routine upside down. We’ve learned that the body has adapted to the level of fitness, so it is using less energy and burning less calories. That means that we either need to lower the number of calories or step up the level of exercise. In most cases, the number of calories should not need to be lowered. It is tempting to drop one hundred of more calories from your daily intake, but lowering the calorie intake below what your body needs to work at its optimum efficiency is dangerous and could lead to health problems.

Instead, most people should seek the help of a Woodmere gym expert and change their fitness routines, even if it’s only in small ways. Those losing weight may need to change the disciplines or exercises they’ve been doing, while weight lifters can change the amount of time that they rest between sets or the number of sets they do during a work out.

Get the help you need

If you feel like you’ve hit a wall and just don’t know how to get around it, consider hiring a personal trainer at our Woodmere gym to help you get to the other side. A Woodmere gym expert can evaluate your current fitness program and revise it in order to help you get over the hump. Sometimes all we need is another person’s point of view to help us push through and think of ways to vary the fitness routine that we hadn’t though of ourselves, and the best choice is a professional that can make sure you make safe changes that will put you back on the path of reaching your goal.

Calorie Intake, Fitness Goals, and Our Five Towns Fitness Club

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A Five Towns Gym Expert Reports! Most of us already know the magic formula for losing weight: burn more calories than you consume. But what if your goals aren’t to lose weight, but to become a better athlete? And how many calories do you need to consume during the day, anyway? For those just beginning at our fitness club, matching up their caloric intake with their fitness goals can be confusing, and they may under or overcompensate. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at why you need a healthy amount of calories in your diet, why the calories will change depending on your goals, and how you can get help to determine the right amount of calories for you.

Healthy amount of calories

No matter what our fitness goals are, we already know that we need to keep an eye on the amount of calories we consume everyday. We need a healthy amount of calories everyday because this is what gives us the energy to do our everyday tasks and give us fuel for getting to our gym. But some forget that we still need a minimum amount of calories everyday in order to be healthy and they try to overcompensate with vastly reducing the number of calories they intake.

Often called crash dieting, this is a dangerous road and many crash dieters may find that they gain the weight back they’ve just lost plus a bonus of a few extra pounds when they resume their former caloric intake. Crash dieters deprive their bodies of important nutrients that the body needs to function and could end up doing more harm than good. On the other end of the scale, athletes that want to “bulk up” and spend lots of time at our Woodmere gym, should be careful with the amount of calories they consume and how they consume them. A larger diet consisting of proteins and carbohydrates will help them much better than simply overeating.

The right caloric intake for your goal

There is no magic number of calories to consume that will help everyone across the board. There are quite a number of things to consider, none the least of which is what your fitness goals are. Certainly those wishing to lose weight should decrease the number of calories they consume, but it is certainly possible to decrease this number too much. The number will change depending on if you are young or old or male or female, but the goal is to find a healthy balance between the amount of calories you intake everyday and the level of exercise you do. This is true if you goal is to become a better weightlifter or long distance runner. The more intense your workout level, the more calories you will need to consume to find the correct balance.

Finding the right balance for you

Those that aren’t sure how many calories they should be consuming in order to reach their fitness goals would do well to consult the advice of a personal trainer at our Five Towns fitness club. Not only can a personal trainer give you a full assessment of your present fitness level, help you map out your goals and how to reach them, and help you along the way to achieve your goals, a personal trainer can also help give you a guideline to how many calories you should intake over the course of the day that will help you in your quest. If you are interested in working with a personal training at the SouthWest Fitness Club here in the Five Towns, contact us today!

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