We are all getting back to our routines after a long summer. It also time to schedule your routine activities in your life including exercise and wellness plan.

If you have fallen off the fitness wagon it may be due to the following reasons:

1) Too busy or too many priorities or should you be too busy for your own health?!

Some of us take our health for granted and put off the exercise program to the bottom of the list of priorities. Before you realize it, 10 years will get pass by you and inevitably being 10 years older means you are more susceptible to various ailments, metabolism slows down, more difficult to build muscle.  With this in mind, exercise helps slows down the aging process. Invest in your personal health or well being ASAP, don’t procrastinate!  We cannot reverse time! You could be at the height of your career, or your business is scoring the best profits ever, but what good is it when you are not in good health to enjoy it.   Like monetary investment, we should start building up our bodies when we are younger and that serve as a good foundation base.We should schedule some time to exercise for personal health.

Suggestions:

- book your workouts as appointments in your schedule: schedule in your workout time like you would schedule your doctor’s appointment. You need to maintain frequency in your workout program. Ideal frequency of workouts for an average person to maintain fitness level is 3 -4 workout sessions per week.

- schedule shorter but intensive workouts: schedule 30 mins. of intensive workout instead of hour long of low intensity workouts, workout your big muscle groups, do exercises like squats, chest press, rows, lat pulls, chin ups or pull ups, deadlift.  Big muscles burns more calories.

- workout first thing after you wake up: get your workouts out of the way before your priorities take over your day.

- hire a personal trainer: the notion of having a personal trainer forces you to be accountable to your health, you will have to show up for workout appointments that was scheduled ahead of time, since you have paid alot for the session with the trainer.

2) Bored of the same routine, or don’t like pumping iron

Perhaps you don’t feel challenge anymore with your current workout program. Tired of the same routine workout.

Suggestion:

- Update your workout program-change up your workouts with other types of exercise regimen or add other types of exercise routines to your current workout routines. For example, add some  kickboxing drills, kung fu moves, to spice up your exercise program.  Maybe take up a sport classes or take up a sport that you like: hockey, basketball, wrestling, etc. Cross-training will challenge your body. George St. Pierre (GSP), welterweight mixed martial arts champion, took gymnastic classes to strengthen his body, increase flexibility, and balance his body as a way to enhance his performance in the octagon.  (insert kickboxing/kung fu promo)

3) Not sure if the workout is effective

You have been working out for more than 3 months and you have not seen significant results.  Perhaps you will need to evaluate your workout plan, your workout intensity, frequency, etc.

Suggestions:

- get professional help i.e. personal trainer. Personal trainers are trained to design effective workout programs for your fitness goals. It is advisable to ensure that the trainer is certified and have liability insurance coverage. (HOT PTT promo-$540 plus HST for 10 sessions-expires Sep 30, 2012)

- group workout classes-having a personal trainer can be expensive.  More economical option, would be to enrol in group workout classes i.e.bootcamp classes, kickboxing classes, martial arts classes, or dance classes. Try to find out more about the teachers/coaches credentials who coach or lead the classes.  You can also get a general idea of the effectiveness of the class program surveying other class participants who have been in the class significantly longer than you. (insert Bamboo promotion)

- review diet and portion sizes
Our body processes the food that we eat to produce energy which is measured in Calorie.  Excess energy/calorie that is not used will be stored as fat in our body. In order to lose weight, total caloric intake i.e. calories from the food that we consume/eat must be less than the total calories expended i.e. calories or energy used in maintaining our body metabolism, energy used through physical activities. Today, our physical work is performed with machines. For example, we don’t need to walk too far to go to school or work, we have cars or buses to move us to anywhere we need to go. Therefore, less energy is expended. In order to burn off more calories, we need to get on an exercise program and limit our food portions to an optimal amount so we do not feel hungry or tired.

However, every individual has different in hormonal profiles due to age, sex, genetics, stress level. Some people gain weight easily, while some who are fortunate enough to have muscular build with little workout and some people are lanky and can hardly put on weight no matter they eat. Therefore, diet portions are different for every individual. If you need further help please seek a dietitian or nutritionist.

4) Injury, major sickness

Injury and sickness is sometimes inevitable. However, the goal is not to get injured or sick or minimize sickness/ injury risk. While exercising, use correct technique to prevent injury.  The stronger your muscles, the better chance in preventing injury or sickness.

Suggestions:

- work other body parts-If you injure yourself while exercising, seek professional medical help to bring you back to a healthy state. With your doctor’s approval, you can work out other areas of the body that is not injured.  For example, if you injured your shoulder you should avoid chest press, lat pulls but you can do leg presses, leg curls, bike, run, as an alternative exercises.  You can resume regular workout program after you fully recovered.

- chronic injury improves with exercise-However in some cases of chronic injury or diseases e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, doctors will prescribe exercises to improve condition (please read fitness training testimonials). Please consult your doctor before continue exercise.

5) Self conscious/intimidated-have not worked out in a long time or a beginner, you may feel self conscious or intimidated.

Suggestions:

-workout with a friend who can advice you how to workout.

-seek help of personal trainer- Personal trainer can provide coaching and guidance to get you from beginner to advanced level.

-join group workout class-If private training with a personal trainer is not affordable, enrol yourself in group classes i.e. kickboxing classes, kung fu classes, dance classes, bootcamp classes, etc. Enrol in classes with the appropriate skill/conditioning level for you.

6) Deep emotional issues: A death in the family can cause a lot of pain or grief.  Coping cope with grief can be very overwhelming and debilitating and therefore, not in mindset to workout.

Suggestion:

- Seek professional help-engaging in grief counselling will help with coping with grief.  One of the steps was to take one’s health; eat well, exercise regularly, get enough sleep.  Read more here http://www.toronto.ca/health/epp/pdf/coping_death.pdf.

Exercising will release feel good hormones i.e. endorphins and you will feel better.   Exercise also decrease frequency bouts of anxiety attacks, depression and improve focus and feels refreshing (http://www.bambamboo.com/blog/martial-arts-information/martial-arts-training-nelson-mandela.html)

Got 15 minutes to spare in your schedule? If you do, then you can work out and still get some health benefits, even without your Oshawa personal trainers!

Scientists have long promoted 30 minutes a day almost every day of the week as the standard and bare minimum for health benefits. If you’re an adult, that means you have to exercise, at moderate intensity, for at least that long to stay fit and reap the benefits. An example of a moderate intensity workout would be a brisk walk. But let’s be serious – 30 minutes is a long time and somewhat of a luxury when you’re on the go all day and can barely breathe, let alone exercise!

But here’s some good news for the oh-so-busy: a study has found that a quick 15 minute workout may still give you a boost fitness-wise.

The study, published in the medical journal, The Lancet, followed 400,000 people living in Taiwan who self-reported their activity to the country’s National Health Research Institutes. According to the participants, even performing 15 minutes of exercise at moderate intensity experienced a reduction of:

all-cause mortality by 14%
all-cancer mortality by 10%
cardiovascular mortality by 20%
and an average of a three-year longer life expectancy when compared to participants who were inactive.

The more exercise the participants performed, unsurprisingly, the more health benefits they obtained.

Why is this interesting to us, Oshawa personal trainers?

You’ll be surprised by the number of people who don’t do anything at all just because they don’t have enough time to do a full workout (half an hour to an hour, usually). Many people will simply give up and say, “well, I don’t have enough time so it’s not worth it. Might as well watch tv instead.” That’s the wrong attitude! While 30 minutes is still better (only because it’s longer), 15 is still acceptable.

If you have the choice of doing a short 15 minute workout and doing nothing at all, go for the 15. At least you’ll still be getting something out of it!  And no worries if you can’t do a full hour – there’s no harm in breaking up your hour into smaller segments you can do throughout the day. 30 minutes in the morning, 15 at lunch, then 15 before dinner – it’s all good.

Sample 15 minute workout, courtesy of Personal Trainer Toronto. This is roughly 15 minutes. Modify for intensity if you wish by switching up the regular pushups with one-arm ones, for example.

4 minutes: Light jogging on the spot to warm up. Throw in some jumping jacks for good measure.
2 minutes: 10 pushups
3 minutes: 12 deep squats
4 minutes: as many burpees as possible – pay attention to your form!
2 minutes: shallow squats and light stretch

Sounds easy enough. Try it out!

Unless you’re chosen career is in the fitness industry, you aren’t spending most of your day exercising and working out. You probably just have a bit of time set aside out of your hectic schedule to work out – and even doing that forces you to adjust your schedule to accommodate your work out. You don’t have a lot of time to spare, and you demand that your work out is as efficient as possible to maximize the benefits. You need to do circuit training.

Circuit training is not for the faint of heart. This style of training is high intensity for a shorter period of time and demands the effort of your entire body for muscular and cardiovascular improvement. You’ll be moving your body in a variety of ways to target all parts of your body, whether it’s the your legs, arms, abs, back, or wherever else you want to improve. No muscle group is left untouched. Here’s an example of what a regular circuit training session would be like with your Scarborough personal trainer:

pushups
squats
pull ups
situps
lunges

Each exercise would be done slowly or quickly, depending on the intensity level, and some jumping may also be incorporated into the routine to increase the cardio level. Between each exercise, don’t expect much of a break – you need to keep your heart rate up to get the full benefits. Rethink what a “break” is – you’ll be giving your arms a break while you do squats, but rarely will you be allowing your entire body rest. Your personal trainer will customize the circuit according to what your fitness goals are.

It is typical that no weights are used during circuit training when you first start exercising this way. Your body is sufficient in providing enough weight resistance during each exercise. Of course, after a while weights may be added to increase intensity, but again, this will be quite light.

No weights or ones that are very light – sound too easy? We challenge you to try a bit of circuit training with us, your Scarborough personal trainer. Your first session is free so what do you have to lose?