Healthy Circle of Friends - Small Group Personal Training

Small-group training personal trainer sessions under five people may be just what you need to keep you motivated and moving towards your goals at the health club. Training with friends, families, or your significant other along with your "other significant other": your personal trainer puts you in a fun and comfortable atmosphere where you can train hard and cheer each other on even harder.

When beginning a fitness program, it is so important that you have the support of friends and family, not only so that they won't tempt you with indulgences or keep you from making your appointments at the gym, but so that they will encourage you to stick with your goals and pump you up when you are feeling sluggish. Well, why not bring this support system into the health club with you? After all, don't you think your loved ones need a little pumping up, too?

As a personal trainer myself, I have trained small groups, and I have seen the benefits first-hand. I had a group of five women""all great friends and a mother-daughter duo decide they wanted to train together with me. They had been training together for over a year, but weren't seeing the results they wanted. Following the first session, I could see what the first problem was: they came to the health club with good intentions to train, however ended up choosing to have social hour instead. Now, it wasn't like I didn't allow them to talk, laugh, joke, and have fun; I just kept them focused when they began discussing their weekend plans. After all, I believe a fit and healthy lifestyle should be enjoyable, and I believe you should have fun while you workout. Well, with my help and motivation, it didn't take long to see these women transform together!

Small-group training has other benefits as well. Not only does training with a group of friends allow you to motivate each other both in and out of the health club (how would you like to get a phone call from a fellow trainee just as you were slicing into that piece of chocolate cake, but it can be cost-effective, too. While a personal training session may range anywhere from $35 to $75, depending on where you live (sometimes even more), a group rate may only cost $25 a person. Now that is something to get pumped about! Most health clubs offer small-group training packages, but if yours doesn't you may want to ask if they can put one together for you.

Go ahead, call up a group of close friends today and rather than inviting them to happy hour, invite them to an hour of fitness, fun and slimming waistlines! You'll be hooked in no time.

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Exercise, Good Nutrition, Supplementation = Fat Loss

We know here at LIVE that exercise is the most effective method for instantly boosting metabolism. When weight loss is desired, combining exercise, proper diet and use of appropriate supplements naturally leads to maximum metabolic efficiency and the greatestg chance of results.

Both are absolutely essential. Effective diet which can include supplement intake should be your No. 1 priority. Here's why: Both your ability to exercise and your exercise results will naturally accelerate in the presence of proper nutrition. We tell the people that we are wokring with the 75% of your success will come from the nutrition side. Without proper diet, you won't be able to effectively access energy stores, nor will you be able replace nutrients lost during exercise. When that happens, metabolism declines. We have wonderful fat loss aids here at LIVE, like Yellow Subs, and we want you to take them when you are giving your body the best opportunity for results!

We deal with a lot of people who go to the gym almost religiously. Often, they spend hours working out, and still, over the course of months, they show little or no progress. Every day, they are there huffing and puffing - but they're still overweight in spite of their efforts. We also know people who work out far less and make amazing progress, and still others who maintain a healthy, lean look without even trying. Again, it can come down to the effective use of good diet with that exercise and the use of supplements that ensure the optimal delivery of nutrients for the goal, like Leukic by Muscletech.

Naturally, genetics are a key factor. But so is metabolism, and metabolism is inherently dependent on how you treat your body. If you attempt to exercise intensively without supporting your body's nutritional needs, you won't get very far.

Rest and relaxation, too, are every bit as important as action. Remember that under chronic stress or exhaustion, your body's nervous system (and thus your metabolism) suffers. Avoid compulsively long daily exercise routines. Instead, vary your workouts, including short, intense training sessions in the mix.

Many popular health gurus recommend moderate exercise, such as walking or gardening, as the best solution. Their reasoning is that moderate exercise puts less pressure on the body and the heart. Certainly, gentle exercise is good for you, and it results in less oxidation and fewer free radicals than intensive exercise, but it also limits the challenges you can approach and the level of fitness you can achieve.

I believe the best way to exercise is by providing your body with intense stimuli to which it will naturally adapt. Our body has the wisdom to adjust to physical strain by getting stronger and tougher. Through this adaptative process, the body improves it's own metabolic state.

Intense and short exercise intervals are also effective in pumping blood and oxygen to the entire body. Maximum oxygenation helps rejuvenate all body tissues and, again, this helps boost overall metabolism. A great Supplement that we sell that is perfect to help with short, intense bursts of energy is Cold fusion EX by LG Sciences.

If you haven't been exercising regularly and strenuously, don't try to force yourself to exercise with maximum intensity straight out of the gate. Instead, follow a constructive exercise routine in which you gradually increase intensity over a period of weeks or months. This is where the use of an online personal trainer comes into play.

Nourish your body, exercise intensely and get enough rest, and you can quickly reach a state of maximum metabolic efficiency. In this state, your body will efficiently burn body fat as fuel. Its base level of energy utilization will accelerate, and gradually, this will cause your body to naturally redesign itself.

When you reach maximum metabolic efficiency, you are literally re-creating yourself - at a cellular level - on an ongoing basis. Just because you weren't born with a super-fast metabolism doesn't mean you can't possess one. And just because you are carting around extra fat right now doesn't mean you have to keep it forever.

If you want to live in a young, vigorous, lean body, just give your body what it needs in order to reach a peak metabolic state: Eat well, exercise intensely, get enough rest. Most importantly, get to know your body from the inside out. Enjoy its power, respect its complexity, and it will repay you richly.

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Periodization Training: A Body Building Perspective

If you divide your yearly training into phases or cycles, you'll maintain a better mental outlook, more motivation and your body will also respond better physiologically.

The first phase of training is the one that builds muscle size and pre-orients your muscles to be geared up (condition-wise) to go for strength and power which will theoretically allow you to even add more muscle size. Plus, you will condition your tendons and joints to handle the stresses of heavier weights to come.

It is recommended that you do 6-15 reps per set for size with the great majority of reps falling somewhere from 8-12 reps. Try 3-4 heavier "work" sets after a systemic warm-up plus 2-3 warm-up weight sets per exercise. As you might note, so far this sounds pretty much like a standard common sense bodybuilding workout.

The strength and power phases are next. This will be another 8-week cycle. To develop strength and power, the greatest athletes in the world generally work with 2-6 reps. Since we are geared to bodybuilders we adjust this slightly and in this phase, we advocate 4 - 5 sets of 5 - 7 reps. Here is how this cycle works. We'll use our previous example for the Bench Press where you ended Phase 1 at 235 for 10 reps. Do an active system warm-up, then with weights 95 x 10 and 155 for 10. On your final warm up set do 205 for 6.

Then go to your "target weight" which is actually only 10-lbs. above the weight you ended up at sets of 10 in your first phase. So, start at 245-lbs. x 3 sets of 5-6 reps. You are leaving yourself some extra so you continue to gain positively all the way through the cycle.

In physics, work is a measure of force and distance. (w = f x d). Power means doing a specified amount of work per unit time. If you can move mass M over distance D in 10 seconds and then (after training) move the same mass M the same distance D, but do it in 5 seconds, you are twice as powerful!

Our experience has been to spend a maximum of four weeks in the power phase and to use 2 -3 reps in benches and deadlifts, 3 - 4 reps in the squats and bent-over rows, and 5 - 6 reps for all other exercises. Again, follow your 2-3 warm-ups, and 3 power work sets and then do a down set of 10 reps with about 70% of your target weight, just as you did in the strength phase.

Phase 4 is the rest cycle, a must for great results and essential for building strength and lean mass. Be sure to add about a week of rest into your online workout program, about 1 week every 12. You'll love the way you feel afterwards!

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Why Core Fitness is Important

If you've listened to the buzz around the fitness world lately or perused the latest workout books, you've probably heard the experts referencing core fitness in some shape or form. Traditionally, strength training has been dominated by exercises focused on isolating the muscles of the arms and legs. In fact, if you look at many of the weight machines that have become popular in modern gyms, you'll notice that they require you to sit or recline while you use them.

While these machines will effectively help you build the muscles that they target, the problem is that, in real life, we don't use our muscles that way. We lift a box from the floor to a shelf, swing a golf club, push our children on the swing set, or climb a rock wall. In fact, the vast majority of the things we do require all of the muscles in our bodies to function together and be coordinated through our mid-sections, or our "core."

While those activities may make the use of core muscles seem very obvious, this area, made up of the muscles of our midsection, are actually responsible for quite a few of the more subtle functions as well, including posture, balance and stability.

A weakened core will often result in poor posture and stability, yet we don't necessarily feel the results of it in areas that show us a direct cause and effect correlation. For example, poor posture, due to a weakened core, might allow our hips to slip out of alignment resulting in knee pain. In fact, quite a few of the chronic muscle and joint pain issues that Americans are suffering with today stem from a weakened core.

It is no wonder, then, that exercise science has taken a dramatic shift in recent years to include the core in strength training regimes. Now, rather than using a machine to first exercise your legs and then your arms, trainers are suggesting that their clients use free weights or bands to combine exercises such as a squat to overhead press. By linking the two, people are forced to transition the exercise movement through their core, and the core muscles in turn help to maintain good posture throughout the exercise. The end result is that we are exercising in a fashion that mimics the movements that we use in everyday life, while creating better posture and increasing our stability and balance.

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Heart Rate Training Optimizes Your 5k Training Program

Are you looking for a 5k training program? When you start looking you see many program offering beginner programs and advanced programs. What is interesting is that most beginner programs are too many miles for the average beginner. The key to effective 5k cardio plans is for every person to have their own heart rate profile. With optimal heart rate training every workout will be optimized for the greatest impact for your results. Heart rate training is for advanced and beginners; the difference is the heart rate profile not using a heart rate monitor.

The most effective cardio workout for running faster races and burning fat is interval training. Interval training is short durations of high intensity followed by short durations of low intensity and then repeated. Most programs only offer interval training for advanced programs though effective programming is good for all levels. The key is a person's heart rate profile. The most advanced you are the higher heart rate you want to train at for your interval.

Each person has a different level of fitness associated by their heart rate. As you run the energy required needs a certain consistent heart rate produce the energy. The more fit you are the lower your heart rate is for a given speed. This is why heart rate training is so effective. By finding a person's targeted heart rate profile you can make sure each workout is training in the right zone to optimally improve your performance. Often, people's lack of results comes from not training hard enough, or very common with cardio runners is overtraining by running with too high of a heart rate on every workout.

What is important for your metabolism and race speed is the rate at which you burn calories not how many calories you burn. This is why walkers and people who run mile after mile seem to never achieve their results. The more calories you burn the more calories you need to eat to restore energy back to your muscles cells. It is challenging your muscles to burn more energy by going harder relative to your fitness level forces your metabolism to improve and than makes you fun faster and burn more fat. People after completing an interval workout burn more fat 24 hours after their workout than any other form of cardio or strength exercise.

Though the interval workout is important it isn't the only workout that makes an effective 5k running program. Two other key workouts is a threshold workout and a long day. The threshold workout is a medium intensity workout that almost no person does. The reason why is people can always go harder and there is this myth that you have to push yourself in every work to your max. The other reason is people go on their slow steady pace never picking up the pace for a shorter run. An optimal threshold workout is between 15-30 min. If you can last longer than 30 min. you should run faster. When you run at your threshold level you are at the max at what your aerobic metabolism can burn for energy. When you go harder your anaerobic metabolism is kicked in to produce the needed extra energy. A threshold workout trains your body to burn energy the most effectively utilizing oxygen. It is the best workout for creating a good race pace.

The long day is the last workout you need every week in your 5k training program. Having running session that go for slower speeds and longer durations trains your body to burn fat and increases effectiveness of burning energy while running. You only need to do one long day a week and spending hours doing cardio during every workout may be a key reason why you are no longer seeing results.

To truly see your results you want a program that creates a personal heart rate profile. The charts on most treadmills are not accurate and the doctors who came up with the charts admit they made them up as a best guess for insurance companies and were never supposed to use as training heart rates. The other major key as you continue to run is a 5k program that uses specific and multiple threshold and interval workouts. The workout that worked for the first month won't work for the second as your body needs a new stimulus. With proper heart rate profiles you will be running your first or fastest 5k in no time.

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Build Your Own Fitness Home Gym

If you are looking to build a home gym this year, there are some important criteria that should be taken into consideration. A good home gym offers versatility, the ability to have a few pieces of exercise equipment perform a wide variety of exercises. It must be durable and be able to handle the rigors of hard resistance training over a long period of time. Exercise equipment shouldn't take up a lot of space. There are many exercises you can do with your own body weight and a mat, so the home gym equipment shouldn't clutter up the workout space, nor be difficult to store. Finally it should be affordable. No one likes investing in a $1000 home gym just to use it as a coat rack or have it collecting dust in the corner within 3 months. This list of exercise equipment should offer solutions in each category listed above and it should provide a challenging and fun workout environment.

Exercise Ball

One of the most versatile pieces of exercise equipment, the exercise ball can be used in place of a bench for any supine or seated exercise. The exercise ball comes in a variety of sizes and depending on brand, is made of varying material. Because of the stress placed on a ball during a workout, it is important to look for a ball that is burst proof and it will not pop under you during a workout. To obtain the right size, a ball that sits with your hips and knees at 90 degrees is most likely what you should use for a majority of the exercises. For most, a 55cm or 65cm ball is sufficient. An exercise ball can be purchased for around $25-$60.

The exercise ball will provide an element of instability that cannot be duplicated by a bench; therefore you can improve core stability, and strengthen the integrity of your joints including shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles. The more stable you become, the stronger you will be and will drastically reduce the incidence of injury.

Dumbbells

A good home gym isn't complete without a few sets of dumbbells. 5-50lbs in increments of 5 will make a complete set for every type of exercise. Dumbbells are good for full body exercises that resist gravity. Exercises such as lunges, squats, shoulder press, bicep curl and chest press are just a few on the list of dumbbell exercises. They are durable, versatile, and a good set will last you a lifetime. A good set of dumbbells may cost $50-$100 for 3-4 sets of varying weight.

Foam Roll

A hard foam cylinder is used for self myfascial release, or self massage. A supplement to stretching, a foam roll can help to increase flexibility in a way that stretching cannot. In addition, it can help to relieve knots and adhesions within muscle tissue. If you don't like being sore after a workout, a foam roll can help to alleviate the soreness and therefore should be a staple item for your home gym. Invest $20 in a good foam roll that will take away your pain and soreness after a tough workout.

Xerdisc

The Xerdisc is an air filled rubber disc used for improving balance, and stability. The same exercises that you do while standing (ie..shoulder press, squat, bicep curl) can all be done while standing on an Exerdisc. Improving joint integrity and balance will allow you to become a more stable, stronger individual and the exercises are fun and challenging. It can also be used for ab exercises such as crunches, and anything you can do to make ab exercises harder has to be good! A quality Xerdisc may run about $40.

Xertube

Tubing comes in a variety of sizes based on the level of tension you want. Tubing can be used for most exercises in place of dumbbells and they will provide a variable tension. The plus side to using tubing is that you can gain resistance from a lateral position that dumbbells cannot provide. Exercises such as wood chops, torso twists, and pulling exercises like the bent row and lat pull are just a few that you can do with tubing that you can't get with other forms or resistance. Tubing is also safe for seniors looking to stay active as there is no risk of dropping the weight. Tubing is color coded in relation to the resistance it provides. I suggest 3-5 different tubes from thin to thick to give you opportunity to perform many exercises with small and large muscle groups. They are usually about $5-$8 a piece and can be used around doorknobs, in door jams and any other stationary post.

This exercise equipment should provide everyone from the novice to the advanced, a well rounded home gym that you can invest in for less than $200 total. The level of versatility, durability, and challenge that is provided by these pieces of equipment is unmatched by any single unit you can buy, and should give you years of workouts that can be changed and progressed as you continue to get into better and better shape. Consult with your personal trainer as to what exercise equipment may be best for your home gym.

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Urban Health and Fitness Myths

Go to any gym or to your last social party and some person with spit out some urban legend as it relates to health, fitness, or weight loss. So many wise tales have been passed down from generations and especially on college campuses that we start to take them as fact. So, we have list 5 of the top urban myths around health and dieting to see do they tread water or not. Who hasn't thought that alcohol kills brain cells?

Urban Health and Fitness Myth or Fact

1. Inactivity turns muscle into fat: Almost Fact

a. The reality is that muscle and fat are two very different tissues with in the body. No, muscle can't turn into the fat though a sedentary lifestyle will cause your muscles to burn less calories. The fewer calories your muscles burn the greater amounts of fat a person will store. The correct statement is with inactivity fat replaces muscle. This is another way of saying you have a slow metabolism.

2. Women are going to get drunk quicker than Men: Fact

a. The key difference is body weight. The average male has more weight than the average female. The extra weight results in greater amounts of water in male bodies. The extra water lower the concentration of alcohol for men allowing them to stave off impairment longer. Another key difference is men has high amounts of gastric alcohol dehydrogenase, which breaks down alcohol is the liver. This allows men to break down more alcohol leaving less in the blood stream.

3. Drinking Alcohol Loses Brain Cells: Myth

a. Alcohol won't make you dumber though you may act dumber. Even binge drinkers are not going to kill brain cells. Studies have shown that heavy drinkers have the same amount of brain cells as the non drinker. Alcohol can kill brain cells though the amounts are too high to consume. You won't pass out or stop breathing before you would kill any cells.

4. Holiday 5 Pounds is a given: Myth

a. People don't gain an average of 5 pounds during the holidays. The average person gains about 1 pound over the 6 weeks from Thanksgiving to New Years. This isn't that different than the weight, from poor food diet and fitness choices that the average American gains at any point in time. The big reason we think about is that come January 1st we are making New Years resolutions and we are thinking about our weight more.

5. Drink green tea to lose weight: Myth

a. Many products and marketing are stating all the weight loss benefits of green tea. Green tea extract has been demonstrated to support weight loss and support increase in calorie burning from your metabolism. The amounts in the tea you drink are too low in concentration though to make much difference. You can still get the antioxidant properties of green tea in your drink though weight loss not much. If you want the benefits of green tea for weight loss you will have to go with nutritional supplements which deliver high concentrations.

Every myth or urban legend typically has some sort of truth to them. The issue it typically isn't exactly the way people think. The goal with any myth passed down is to do your homework.

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Key to success online personal training

Have you been working hard and still not seeing your results? Most people who are overweight are working hard and taking steps to improve only to find that their results just aren't coming. Using an online personal trainer is the difference for most people. As online personal training is able to work with in your schedule and the professional support is able to see areas of improvement that you didn't know existed.