TRX plus Spin = TRX Spin Fusion

The SouthWest Fitness Club a local Five Towns Health Club located in Woodmere, launches  a dynamic new group fitness class.  Resistance training is a great compliment to Spinning. But how do you combine a Spinning ride and resistance training in one class when space is tight and you are short on time?

SouthWest Fitness Club Presents:

TRX SPIN FUSION - is a combo class format integrating the TRX for upper and lower body strength with Spin intervals for cardiovascular benefit. Get ready to work, sweat, have fun, lose weight, tighten and firm your body with TRX SPIN FUSION

Click on the link below for a Complimentary 14 Day Pass and experience how TRX SPIN FUSION and our other great Group Fitness Classes can help you reach your fitness goals.

Get Your 14 Day Complimentary Pass Today!

Reshaping The Five Towns One Body At A Time!

Exercise. Are You Lazy?

I know a lot of lazy people.

People who would rather spend the day planted on their couch than anywhere else.

People who choose take-out over home cooked, every night of the week.

People who would rather have a root canal than go do a workout.

Sure, I know that we all have our occasional lazy day on the couch, but lately it seems that more and more people are turning laziness into a career.

What about you? Check if the following describe you:

  • You are habitually inactive.
  • You’d rather be a passive observer than an active participant.
  • You’re a master excuse-maker.
  • You find shortcuts in order to avoid the long haul.

If that’s you, don’t get down on yourself. There are many legitimate causes of laziness. Here are just a few…

1. Sleep Deprivation: When you’re short on sleep it’s easy to become unmotivated, which quickly turns into laziness. Get a minimum of eight hours of sleep each night in order to maintain enough energy to get you through the day. Some experts even say that ten hours of sleep each night is what you need to function at your best.
2. Caffeine Abuse: Starting your day with a jolt of java may help with your initial alertness, but the dip in energy that takes place a few hours later could be the reason that you become lazy later in the day. Avoid the rush and crash of caffeine and instead rely on your steady supply of natural energy.
3. Bad Habit: At some point being lazy simply becomes a habit. If every night after work you head straight to the couch, it soon becomes automatic and not a conscious decision. Breaking the habit of laziness is actually quite easy. Simply take yourself off of autopilot and make the conscious decision to do something productive instead – like heading to the gym rather than the couch.
4. Inactivity: If your job keeps you in a chair for hours at a time, and you don’t exercise when off the clock, then your body is just accustomed to inactivity. It’s time to wake up your under-used muscles and to reacquaint yourself with the joy of motion. A simple way to get back into the swing of things is to go on a 30 to 60 minute walk either before work or after you return home. Once you’ve broken yourself in with consistent walks, contact me to get started on a fitness program that will quickly get your body back into great shape.

Laziness begins when you ignore that little nagging voice in your head. You know, the one that reminds you when you should take action on something rather than sit by and let the opportunity slip away.

Is today the day that you will kick laziness to the curb?

Is today the day that you will take action toward achieving your goals?

Is today the day that you will listen to that little voice of reason.

5 Stupid Things Healthy People Do

You are not a stupid person. Not by any means.

In fact, it’s my guess that you’re healthier than most.

You probably exercise regularly. You watch what you eat. You keep up-to-date on the latest health concerns. You don’t binge on sugar.

And you never – ever – eat fast food. Well, almost never.

But you do have a few unhealthy skeletons in your closet -ones that you probably aren’t even aware of.

The following 5 Stupid Things are frequently committed by health conscious people. Once you break these bad habits, you’ll find that achieving your weight loss goals just became a whole lot easier.

1. You’re Dehydrated

  • It has been said that 75 percent of the population is chronically dehydrated. Would you disagree? When was the last time that you actually drank 8 glasses of water in a day?
  • Dehydration occurs when more fluid leaves your body than is taken in. Symptoms include: fatigue, irritability, headaches, nausea, rapid heart rate, and, in extreme cases, even death.
  • Dehydration also slows your metabolism, which hinders weight loss.

You shouldn’t wait until the feeling of thirst or dry mouth hits you, at that point damage has already been done. Instead, constantly rehydrate throughout your day to avoid dehydration.

The best way to do this is to incorporate water into your daily schedule. Have a water bottle at your desk and train yourself to sip on it often, and get into the habit of drinking a full glass of water with each meal and snack.

2. You Eat Out Too Often

  • Research suggests that most people eat out one out of every 4 meals and snacks. That’s an average of once a day.
  • Restaurant food is designed to do one thing: to taste good. In order to increase eating pleasure, each item is loaded with fat, salt and sugar. This causes you to eat way more calories than you actually need.
  • Even when you order ‘healthy’ items, you’re still taking in more calories and fat grams than you would if you had prepared the item at home. Imagine the last salad you ordered out. Didn’t it come with cream dressing, croutons, cheese sprinkles and a piece of butter laden bread on the side?

The main reason people eat out is for convenience, so with a little organization you’ll find that preparing your own meals takes less time than you thought it would. On the weekend sit down and plan out your meals for the week. Then go to the grocery store and stock up on everything you’ll need for those meals.

Pack your lunch and snacks each night before bed, then grab it on your way out the door in the morning. When you prepare dinner at home, make enough for at least the next day as well. Your efforts will pay off both in terms of weight loss and in money saved.

3. You’re Sleep Deprived

  • In Gallup Poll surveys, 56% of the adult population reported that drowsiness is a problem in the daytime. That’s more than half of us that clearly don’t get enough sleep.
  • Healthy adults require 7-8 hours of sleep each night. When you fail to meet this need your body goes into sleep debt, which continues to accumulate indefinitely until you catch up.
  • A lack of sleep negatively affects your immune system, your nervous system, and interferes with healthy hormone release and cellular repairs.

The best way to combat sleep deprivation is to set a scheduled bedtime. Your body will benefit from a consistent sleeping and waking routine, and you’re sure to get all the rest you need.

If you have trouble falling asleep once you’re in bed, then try these two tips. First, make sure that you don’t drink any caffeinated beverages after lunchtime. Second, don’t eat for three hours before you go to bed. This helps eliminate sleeplessness due to indigestion, and will also turbo-charge your weight loss.

4. You’re Stressed Out

  • I don’t have to tell you that we are living in a fast-paced world and that most of us have stress levels that are through the roof. But what you might not realize is that your stress levels are making you fat.
  • Stress creates an increase in the hormone cortisol, and chronic stress creates a chronic increase in cortisol. This is a problem because is slows your metabolism, leads to cravings and is linked to greater levels of abdominal fat storage.
  • The vicious cycle of stress and weight gain goes around and around. Stress causes you to eat emotionally, and your raised cortisol levels cause that food to be stored as fat.

One of the most effective ways to instantly eliminate stress is to sit down and write out a list of all the things that are bothering you. This should include things that you need to get done, issues that weigh on your mind and anything you believe contributes to your stress level.

Once it’s all down on paper, organize it like a to-do list and start resolving each item. Doing so will get the stress off of your mind and will put your body into the motion of resolving each issue.

5. You’re on Exercise Autopilot

  • You do the same thing each and every time you exercise. Same machines, same pace, same duration. While your routine sure feels comfortable, your results have long since halted.
  • A plateau occurs when your body adapts to your routine and weight loss stops. It is incredibly frustrating, and totally avoidable.
  • You don’t have to increase the amount of time that you spend exercising in order to see quicker, faster results. It’s all about challenging your body.

There are two simple ways to instantly increase the effectiveness of your exercise routine. First, increase your pace. Secondly, increase your intensity. Constantly vary your speed and intensity in order to keep your muscles guessing and adapting.

Another way to break through the exercise plateau is to do something totally new. If you regularly use weight machines then start using free weights. If you normally jog on the treadmill then start using the bike.

Are you ready to break the plateau as you take your routine to the next level?

Would you like to know without a shadow of a doubt that you are going to lose weight in the coming months?

It’s my goal to see you achieve greatness. I believe that you’ve got what it takes.

It’s so simple. Call or email today to get started on a program that will improve your health and well being, and will get you amazing results.

Osteoporosis and Exercise

Osteoporosis is a condition characterized by the loss of the normal density of bone, resulting in fragile bone. Osteoporosis leads to literally abnormally porous bone that is more compressible like a sponge, than dense like a brick. This disorder of the skeleton weakens the bone causing an increase in the risk for breaking bones (bone fracture).

Normal bone is composed of protein, collagen, and calcium all of which give bone its strength. Osteoporosis, or thinning bones, is a serious condition that can result in tremendous pain with fractures.

Risk factors for osteoporosis include aging, being female, low body weight, low sex hormones such as during menopause, smoking, and some medications.

With the aging of America, the number of people with osteoporosis related fractures will increase exponentially. The pain, suffering, and economic costs will be enormous. There are no symptoms of this bone disease until you fracture a bone. Prevention and treatment of osteoporosis include calcium and vitamin D, regular exercise, and osteoporosis medications, if needed.

Evidence shows that exercise may help build and maintain bone density at any age. Studies have seen bone density increase by doing regular resistance exercises, such as lifting weights, two or three times a week. This type of weight bearing exercise appears to stimulate bone formation, and the retention of calcium, in the bones that are bearing the load. The force of muscles pulling against bones stimulates this bone building process. So any exercise that places force on a bone will strengthen that bone.

Resistance exercise for osteoporosis includes:

Free weights or weight machines at home or in the gym

Resistance tubing that comes in a variety of strengths

Water exercises — any movement done in the water makes your muscles work harder.

Cardio Vs. Strength Training at Gyms in Woodmere, Five Towns and Nassau

The SouthWest Fitness Club in Woodmere which also services the Five Towns and Nassau offers options for both cardiovascular exercise and strength training. Depending on your fitness goals, you might be inclined towards one or the other. But is cardio or strength training better for you? How can you get the best of both worlds and still achieve your most targeted fitness goals?

First, let’s see what the benefits of each are.

Benefits Of Cardiovascular Exercise

It seems as fitness and cardiovascular exercise go you either love it or hate it. Nevertheless, cardio is an important part of being fit and healthy, regardless of your workout goals. The SouthWest Fitness Club, the gym with the “Personal Touch” in Woodmere makes cardiovascular health within your reach. Here’s how everyone can benefit from cardiovascular exercise.

  • Cardiovascular exercise gets the heart pumping and increases blood circulation. It works out the heart like any other muscle and strengthens it for endurance, long life, and increased productivity.
  • Cardio is the primary calorie and (by default) fat burner, so is the primary exercise for weight loss.
  • Metabolism is increased by cardiovascular workouts, too, which translates into better calorie and fat burning when you are not working out.
  • Cardio helps regulate hormone production so that you live on a more even plain, reduce stress, live happier, and maximize hormones that contribute to good health.
  • Cardiovascular exercise helps manage metabolic diseases like diabetes by maximizing glucose use.
  • Cardio helps you recover from other, more strenuous exercises (such as strength training) by processing muscle and blood by-products.

Benefits Of Strength Training

Strength training produces a similar love/hate emotion from people. As far as gyms in Woodmere go, we can help make strength training easier. Just as cardio is essential to overall fitness, though, so too is strength training; Here’s how everyone benefits from strength training exercises.

  • Strength training also improves your metabolism and increases your ability to burn calories and fat (because muscle requires more food energy).
  • Strength training increases the amount of lean muscle in the body which increases strength but also endurance and translates into better functioning and athletic performance.
  • Strength training significantly increases bone density. Weight-bearing exercises keep bones strong and healthy and restore bone loss caused by aging and inactivity.
  • Stronger muscles help protect the body, bones, and joints from injury.
  • Stronger muscles improve and maintain balance, movement, flexibility, and stability. You will feel better and again, be less likely to become injured due to weakness, strains, and falls. Strong muscles also help heal after an injury.
  • Like cardio, strength training also helps fight off diseases like heart disease.

Reaping The Rewards Of Cardiovascular Exercise & Strength Training

Although you may gravitate more towards cardio or strength training depending on your fitness goals and preference, one is not better than the other and total fitness relies upon the two. Our Gym in Woodmere offer facilities for both kinds of training. Whether you want to run a marathon or win bodybuilding competitions, or just be healthier, you should be incorporating some cardio and strength training to maximize your program.

A personal trainer is one of the best resources to help you learn about how one type of exercise can complement the other. With the help of a personal trainer, you can outline your fitness goals and find out what exercises and what amount of each will best help get you there. A personal trainer will also help you learn how to perform the exercises so that you enjoy the total benefits of the gyms in Woodmere and enhance your fitness program. Often, people who have focused in one area—either cardio or strength training—lack experience with other, and need the extra guidance of a trainer to really benefit.

Cardiovascular and strength training are not either/or propositions for total body fitness. Every fitness plan needs elements of both, and a little education as to where your program is lacking will get you to your fitness goals. SouthWest Fitness Club in Woodmere the Gym with a “Personal Touch” can provide you with many available resources that will help make your fitness goals easier to reach.

How Working Out at Gyms in Woodmere, Five Towns and Nassau Can Prevent High Blood Pressure

A well designed workout program at the SouthWest Fitness Club which services Woodmere , Five Towns, and Nassau will include a balanced set of exercises that include both aerobic and strength training exercises. The exercises will also be combined with a balanced diet which provides essential nutrients. An effective workout program coupled with good nutrition can go a long way towards preventing high blood pressure.

Taking Your Heart Seriously

High blood pressure is also called hypertension. Unfortunately it is one of the most common health issues people face in developed nations due to making poor dietary choices and lack of exercise. Blood pressure refers to the pressure being placed on the blood vessels as the blood flows through the body.

Blood pressure has two readings called systolic and diastolic. The systolic reading is the measure of the pressure as the heart contracts. The diastolic reading measure the pressure as the heart rests. A reading that is higher than 140/90 indicates high blood pressure exists.

High blood pressure is called the “silent killer” because it often has very few or no noticeable symptoms. When left untreated, it can lead to severe cardiovascular problems such as heart disease, stroke or hardening of the arteries. It is a serious disease that often goes undetected for many years until a major health issue reveals the damage it has done.

Getting regular exercise is one of the best ways to prevent high blood pressure. You should maintain a healthy weight and get plenty of aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise, in conjunction with a low fat and low sodium diet, can improve cardiovascular health and assist with weight loss both of which can prevent high blood pressure.

When you get 30 minutes of aerobic exercise 5 days a week at gyms in Woodmere, you are exercising your heart muscle and improving the circulatory system. This can lead to a reduction in high blood pressure by preventing blood vessels from constricting.

“Heart”-ily Yours

Aerobic exercises at gyms in Woodmere improve the cardiovascular system in a number of ways.

  • Lowers blood pressure
  • Lowers cholesterol
  • Reduces body fat content
  • Reduces stress
  • Improves general cardiovascular health

There is a definitive link between your chances of developing high blood pressure and the amount of exercise you get on a regular basis. Aerobic exercise increases your heart rate so the heart muscle “workouts” lead to more efficient blood flow.

In addition, the reduction in body fat and lower cholesterol promotes healthier blood flow also as veins and artery walls are not damaged by unhealthy substances. The importance of regularly working out at gyms in Woodmere and eating a heart-healthy balanced diet cannot be overstated.

A personal trainer at our gym in Woodmere can show you how to prevent or naturally lower high blood pressure. Of course, prevention is always the best course of action. If you already have hypertension though, it is very possible you can begin a fitness program and begin improving your health in a short period of time.

New Year, New You: Pro's & Con's Of New Year's Fitness Goals At Woodmere and Five Towns Gyms

New Year’s is prime-time for increased enrollment at Woodmere gyms and fitness centers as people re-commit to weight loss and fitness; though well-intended, New Year’s fitness goals are not always advantageous, particularly if they are planned with the wrong motivation or goals in mind. Learn how to maximize New Year’s fitness goals to create a truly achievable health and fitness plan.

Starting Fitness Anew

New Year’s is a good time for weight loss and fitness planning in that the time of year is recognized as the time for fresh starts, and joining any of the Woodmere gyms is usually the first step. Often we find ourselves reflective, taking stock of both the inner and outer aspects of life that we would like to focus on. This inner reflection can easily be translated into fitness motivation, since both mental and physical fitness are both key to overall healthy living.

After the hectic holidays have passed, many people are ready for a new beginning, and charged to pursue a new interest. Harnessing this power can be very beneficial to starting a new fitness program as long as it is done in an effective and lasting way.

It’s Always Time For Fitness

Although New Year’s is the time of year that people often target for setting new fitness goals and joining Woodmere gyms, there is a certain danger associated with tying fitness efforts exclusively to the day. There is a tendency to want to achieve your New Year’s fitness resolution quickly to be able to check it off the list of improvements. Sometimes, though, the result is that a true commitment to total fitness and living well is not made, and we allow ourselves to fall victim to the cliché of failed New Year’s resolutions.

Really achieving a New Year’s resolution fitness goal requires that you recognize the effort as a whole-life commitment, not just something you add to a list of New Year’s goals because you should. Becoming one of the many who enroll in Woodmere gyms around New Year’s is only the first step towards fitness.

Common Fitness Resolution Mistakes

The reasons people fail at achieving New Year’s fitness resolutions are fairly common. Below are some of the common reasons fitness goals are not reached.

  • Too much focus is placed on short-term goals of a month or a year
  • Setbacks are viewed as end-all failures
  • Fast-action fitness plans are too restrictive and not sustainable
  • Whole lifestyle changes are not effected
  • The right motivation is not utilized (fitness and nutrition for healthy long life)
  • Goals are not clear and written
  • Support of family and professionals is not enlisted

New Year’s is a wonderful time to commit to a better way of living, but to effect that change the commitment must be recognized as something more far-reaching. Health and fitness is a goal for life that can be pursued regardless of the date on the calendar and is not just a goal to be undertaken for a year. Although joining one of the Woodmere gyms is the first start, maintaining that membership and using it to the full effect is the most vital step. A personal trainer can help create a lifelong commitment to fitness so that you reap the greatest reward—a long and healthy, fit life.

How Working at Woodmere and Five Towns Gyms Out Can Prevent Sprains, Bruises and More

Working out at Woodmere gyms can prevent sprains, bruises and more by keeping joints and muscles strong and healthy in addition to improving the cardiovascular system. Many injuries can be prevented by keeping the body conditioned and learning how to complete exercises properly. Sprains and bruises are often the result of forcing weak body areas to do too much.

Stretching and Strengthening

A fitness program provides many health benefits and one of those is a reduced chance of causing injury to the body while working out, performing daily activities, or completing work duties. Muscles and joints that are not fit are much more likely to be strained and sprained when stiff and inflexible. A wrong move and the next thing you know there has been an injury.

Fitness programs serve many purposes including strengthening and stretching muscles and joints that are asked to carry many of the loads throughout the day. For example, if you do a lot of lifting at work or are involved in sports, your muscles and joints are subjected to a lot of stress.

When the body is out of shape, it is not able to perform efficiently. Weak muscles are more prone to strains that can be very painful. Joints that are not kept in good condition can be bruised and injured when ligaments and tendons tear or the joint itself is damaged.

But working out at Woodmere gyms can prevent sprains, bruises, strains and much more by developing a conditioned body ready to handle a variety of activities. Strong core muscles can prevent back strains for example. It is the total body condition that is the focus of an effective workout program and that means you get total body benefits.

Techniques That Prevent Injury

Working out at Woodmere gyms can help you avoid injuries in another way. When you learn proper exercise techniques, the same principles can be applied to the every day chores and activities you handle at work and at home. For example, a personal trainer can teach you how to properly lift weights. You can take that same information and use it to properly lift your small child or the box of groceries without straining your muscles or bruising your body.

Reducing your injury risk is one of the goals of a fitness program at Woodmere gyms. Painful injuries can interfere with your ability to lead a normal life and can even lead to complications. Working out regularly builds strong muscles, strengthens joints, improves the circulatory system and improves general health.

When exercise at Woodmere gyms is combined with proper nutrition, you are doing all you can to reduce your chances of incurring injury. A good workout program will condition the whole body which improves the musculoskeletal system, increases bone density, and increases physical flexibility.