Category: Health Blog

The first step in starting an exercise program is getting up the nerve to get going. For those that have had a lapse in working out it can be hard to get going in the first place. Once an individual makes the commitment to start an exercise program, the number one thing that puts a stop to it is overdoing it at the start and getting frustrated and disruption to every day life.

Fitting a new program of exercise into a busy lifestyle can be difficult. Changing habits after years of ignoring your body is tough, but altering your perception of a daily routine is critical to success.

Going in, it is also essential to understand that no one gets into shape overnight. Finding the right balance of exercise is important to make sure your mental state stays positive and frustration is kept to a minimum. Getting advice and setting up a program to fit your goals with a qualified personal trainer will keep you on track and away from those negative thoughts. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Every gym has a personal trainer that is there to help you reach your ideal body.

It is also important before starting a workout program that you check with your doctor first. Make sure to know of any restrictions that you may need to put on yourself to avoid serious sports related injury. Also, don’t be afraid to ask those that have been able to continuously maintain an active lifestyle how they have been able to keep it going. Having the advice from those that have achieved similar goals can be invaluable.

Another key is routine. Schedule your workouts and stick to them. After several weeks the thought of going for a workout will seem less daunting and more like second nature.

Don’t be afraid to have fun with your workouts. No one is going to stick with something that endlessly feels like a chore. Many people loath the idea of running on a treadmill or lifting weights day after day. Mix it up. Try swimming, tennis, bike riding or rollerblading to keep things interesting. There are also many classes at your local gym for activities like yoga, pilates or zumba. These activities sprinkled into your regular routine will keep you fresh and fit at the same time.

The most important step is making the choice to better your physical fitness. These steps will help in ensuring that it becomes a part of your day for life.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us at Transform Personal Training. We are here to help YOU.

Do you find waking up in the morning too difficult for you? Does it feel like you have gotten enough hours of sleep and yet you feel you hardly slept at all? Or have you counted thousands of sheep already yet your eyes are still wide open? One of the many benefits of having a personal trainer in Chicago is to provide you with important information you need to understand concerning your sleep patterns.

Lack of sleep affects our ability to remember things. It also affects our moods and the way we perform our tasks. A lack of sleep affects the way we interact with others. We tend to be grouchy and snappy at other people or develop nasal and mouth snoring which affects our routine completely.

Addressing the sleep disruption pattern is something we all know we should do, but few of us take the initiative to improve our emotional and physical wellbeing. We tend to stay in the cycle and try to deal with our lack of energy or with the associated problems of relating to others appropriately.

So, how do you address this problem?  Understanding where the problem is coming from is crucial. Is your lack of sleep due to some problems you are going through right now? Are you stressed with your work?  Have you eaten or drunk something that is keeping you awake like coffee or carbonated drinks or chocolates?

If the sleeping problem happens once in a while, then you can conclude you do not have anything to worry about. But if it happens frequently, and if the problem with continuing the sleepless cycle goes on, then you should seek for proper professional help.

The very things that were initially a symptom of sleeplessness eventually becomes the cause of it as we lie in bed concerned about sleeping.  Breaking the cycle is necessary to improve not only our sleep patterns but also our emotional, physical and social well-being.

Normally, our sleep cycles are directed by hormonal responses in our body to light and darkness.  When our bodies learn to resist its normal responses to light and dark, you will eventually start having sleep problems.

Set the vital standards your body can follow and you will achieve your goal in having good sleep patterns. For example, make your body clock work that at 9PM, you are already in your bed fast asleep. Do not let this schedule get disturbed by unimportant things. Should you need to sleep later, try not to get distracted frequently or else your body might unlearn the pattern and bring you sleeping troubles again.

At Transform Personal Training we want to make sure you are functioning at your best by providing you with knowledge vital as this for your total health.

How would you like to lose 22lbs in 7 weeks? Well one of our clients did it and she is not stopping!

Meg has only been with Transform Personal Training for 7 weeks yet she is having amazing success.  Her accomplishments are just another of the many examples of what the amazing personal trainers here at Transform can do.

One of the most amazing parts of her Transformation too is that she is a pastry chef so she is surrounded by amazing sweets ALL DAY LONG. So next time you think you have a good excuse for not eating well and not hitting your goals then just think of Meg.

Anything is possible if you just put your mind to it and put in the effort. Way to go Meg!

For a powerful upper body and developed arms, the pull up is one of the more effective exercises. Use good form for as long as you can then rest and do more. Be patient. You might use up some time to get this exercise but the wait will be well worth it.

If you are not sure how to do the exercise properly, ask your friendly personal trainer at Transform Personal Training

If you desire to lose fat or change your body, one of the most important things that you need to do is to lift weights.

Cardio and diet are just as important, but changing the way that your body looks is achieved by strength training. If you have no idea what strength training can do to your body, here is a quick run down to get you started in a strength training program:

•             Help increase your metabolism

•             Strengthen your bones

•             Increase your muscular resistance

•             Help you avoid injuries

•             Increase your self-esteem and confidence

•             Improve your balance and coordination

Once you decide to start strength training, you might find yourself at a loss on what you should do next, as well as the kind of exercises that you should do and how. Generally, your routine will largely be based on your fitness goals, the equipment that is available, and the time that you can spare for your workouts.

Strength Training Basics

If you intend to set up your own program, you need to have an idea of some basic strength training principles. It is these basics that will teach you to ensure that you using enough weight, the right sets and reps, and that you are always progressing with your workouts.

•             Overload: In order to build muscle, you have to use more resistance than your muscles are accustomed to. However, you need to lift weight that you can complete with the required number of reps. You should be able to finish the final rep with difficulty but still in good form.

•             Progression: You need to regularly increase your intensity in order to avoid plateaus. Do so by increasing your weight, changing your resistance type, changing your sets or reps, or changing your type of resistance. You should be able to make the transition in a week or month’s time.

•             Specificity: Train for your goal. So if you want to increase your strength, you need to come up with a program that is designed to do so. If losing weight is your main goal, you will have to use rep changes that will target different muscle fibers.

•             Rest and recovery: Your rest days are equally as important as your workout days. During your rest period, your muscles will grow and change.

Strength Training Tips

Before setting up and getting started with your routine, keep these points in mind to ensure that you get a safe and effective strength training workout.

•             Warm up: Do this before you start lifting weights. This will help get your muscles warm and prevent injury. You can do so with a light cardio or doing some bodyweight exercises like pushups and squats before moving on to heavier weights.

•             Slowly lift and lower weights: Do not use momentum to lift your weights. If you need to swing just to get the weight up, then you are using too much weight.

•             Breathe: Do not hold your breath while lifting weights. Use your full range of motion throughout the movement.

•             Stand up straight: Keep close tabs on your posture and include your abs in all your movements to protect your spine and keep your balance.

Are you now ready to get started with a strength training program? If you are still not sure, contact the best personal trainer in Chicago at Transform Personal Training for more information.

Junk food is addictive, and this addiction works on the same neurochemical pathways in your brain that do drugs, alcohol and gambling.

You want to know what else works on those same neurological pathways? The good feelings you get from exercise. What this means is that people who exercise a lot can get that same feel-good “fix” from exercise as they do from eating crap.

When your need for a rush is satisfied via strenuous effort rather than food, that’s a good thing.

So how do you get there?

EXERCISE MUST BE DONE MINDFULLY TO CONTROL FOOD INTAKE

The key to success is to do this in a mindful way. There are cases of people who actually gain weight when they start an exercise program (and I’m not talking about building muscle) because they adopt a “reward mentality” that I mentioned earlier.

The key with exercise is the way you visualise what it does for you. You’ve got to go way beyond seeing it as just a calorie burner because, again, that’s just about the least important thing it does until you get up into hardcore territory – then it can start making a significant contribution to weight loss and weight management. The vast majority of the population is never going to burn a ton of calories via exercise. Weight loss will always mostly be a dietary issue.

So, instead of seeing exercise as something that allows you to be rewarded with eating junk, you must view it as something that gives you the power to resist such garbage. What’s more, you can cross over to the good side and visualise it as something that makes you crave healthier foods to fuel your new, high-performance lifestyle.

There’s a lot of chemical interactions taking place in your brain that help the above come to fruition, but you’ve got to think it to make it happen. It’s a mixture of physiology, with your body starting to send you signals about what healthy foods you should be eating, and psychology, which involves some positive self-talk and self-hypnosis even about convincing yourself that you’re ready to handle giving up the crap and embracing good food.

ARE YOU WORKING UP AN APPETITE?

But what about working up an appetite? Doesn’t exercise cause you to eat more?

This is a myth that is in desperate need of busting. Yes, there are some critics of exercise who say that exercising will “work up an appetite” and cause you to actually gain weight.

It sounds good as a hypothesis. If you exercise really hard then you are going to want to eat more to fuel that exercise, right? That axiom about working up an appetite has been around for a long time, hasn’t it?

There is also the fact that stress can lead to eating, and exercise is proven to reduce stress, creating an environment better for making healthy food choices.

To get your brain in the right head space, contact Transform Personal Training, your personal trainer in Chicago.