Top 5 Fitness Tips From a Boston Personal Trainer

Fitness is one of the most important aspects in an American’s life today. As a personal trainer in Boston; I work with people every day to help them effectively integrate fitness into their lifestyle. With the obesity rates in this country over 50% and the pressure, stress and hectic lives that people lead; it can be tough to make fitness a priority. Once you develop a steady schedule of fitness training; you will be amazed at how much better you feel and you will wonder how you ever did without it.

Here are some major benefits of fitness:

•Increased stamina
•Increased strength
•Decreased levels of body fat
•Weight loss
•Increased confidence
•Better posture and bone density
•Better sleep patterns
•More productive at work
•More energy for family and children
•Less instance of injury or illness
•Reduced risk of disease
•Reduced use of medication (blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes)

With benefits like that, how can you ignore something that can easily be done in 30-45 minutes per day? Here are some major reasons why people do not exercise:

•No time
•Stressed at work
•Tired after work
•Tired in the morning so they do not get up early
•Low energy levels or sick
•No motivation
•Family and life gets in the way

Compare the benefits of fitness to the “reasons” why people do not exercise. These reasons are mostly perceived issues that can be remedied with the right attitude. Do not get me wrong, I know life is stressful and there are days when you simply do not have time. If this is a problem too much of the time, you will never exercise. You need to make time and make the people around you understand that it has to be done.

Here are seven fitness training tips that can be implemented into your life today. Do not wait until tomorrow or next week, because tomorrow or next week becomes next month or next year.

1. Set goals: Set short term goals for each week and long term goals for each month and for the year. Weekly goals can be getting to the gym or exercising 5 times, performing a certain number of push ups, hiring a personal trainer to help you get on track, or increasing your speed on your bike interval training. Monthly goals should be things like losing 5 pounds, losing 1-2% body fat, increasing resistance on certain exercises, learning new exercises, and sticking with your personal trainer. Goals for the year can be losing a certain amount of weight or body fat, completing a fitness goal (depending on your fitness levels) such as a 5k race or ½ marathon. Find things that you can hold yourself accountable to and are challenging, yet realistic.

2. Set your fitness training appointments: One of the best ways to stay accountable is to work with a personal trainer. Having a set appointment with your trainer or fitness group 2 days per week will push you to get there and keep you motivated. It is much easier to cancel on yourself than it is on someone else, especially if you are paying for it. On the days that you are not with your trainer, write down exactly what time you will be working out on the other days. Keep it in your calendar or planner just like a doctor’s appointment.

3. Focus on short, intense workouts: Training for fitness and fat loss is a tough process but the workouts do not need to be 2 hours long. Many people feel that if they cannot get to the gym for an hour, it is not worth going. This usually leads to a lot of missed workouts. An hour is great and I often enjoy that time because then I do not have to rush and I can effectively warm up and cool down. There are many days during the week with my busy personal training schedule that I only have 20 or 30 minutes. These are often my hardest workouts. If you have a short time, focus on super setting exercises and circuit strength training, or performing short intervals such as jumping rope or sprinting. These types of workouts will elevate your metabolism due to short rest times, and will give you a great training session without spending too much time that you do not have.

4. Hire a personal trainer: As mentioned in tip number two, having a personal trainer will help you stay accountable to your workouts. There are many other benefits including motivation, technique instruction, program design for maximum results, and making sure you avoid plateau. Personal trainers should push you past the point that you normally would go, in a safe setting. If you are injured, your weight loss and fat loss goals will suffer. Staying healthy and challenging your bodies with new workouts are major benefits to hiring a trainer. Find someone that you feel comfortable with, that motivates you, and that is experienced.

5. Stick to the basics. It is very easy to lose focus in today’s society with the internet, magazines, media and celebrities pitching crazy diets and workout plans. There are three things to focus on and keep your training simple:

•Strength Training- This will increase your metabolism and allow your body to burn calories at rest, and torch additional fat calories. Perform large movements such as squats, chin ups, push ups, lunges, and overhead presses. These exercises will burn more calories both during and after the workout and will give you results much quicker than machines and isolated movements.

•Interval conditioning- Forget slow, steady cardio training and incorporate interval style conditioning for a metabolic increase and huge calorie burn. Workouts such as sprints, hill sprints, stair sprints, jump rope, kettle bell circuits, and bike sprints are all great ways to improve your cardiovascular health, burn calories, increase your metabolism for calorie burn at rest, and to get done your workout in a short time.

•Basic nutrition- Avoid fad diets and restriction diets. Eat 5-6 small meals and snacks per day and fill up on fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, lean meat proteins, low fat dairy proteins, beans, and legumes. Stay away from starch and sugar, and be sure to consume a liquid recovery drink after your training session. Chocolate milk is one of the best recovery drinks. This will help muscular recovery, keep your metabolism up, and help you avoid overeating.

If you are serious about fitness, or if you need a bit of motivation, try these five tips today. Do not wait for the best time to get in shape because there will never be one. You need to step up and take action in order to see all of the great benefits to fitness. Do not get stuck in the every day grind and lose sight of your own health.