All posts by NTrainers

Exercise Goals for The Newbie

February 26, 2019

First Things First

 Strength, weight loss, hypertrophy, and flexibility. All things a person new to exercise wants to achieve. All attainable goals wrapped up neatly in a customized “program” meant to be done a few times week. Although the word “program” is appropriate to communicate the work one is embarking on, it’s not really the starting point for the beginning strength training client.
As someone who specializes in working with beginners and people with multiple physical limitations, I’ve noticed that de-conditioned bodies and physical injuries are sometimes the smaller hurdles we need to jump. The larger ones seem to be the perceptions and beliefs of our clients. One of the most beneficial tools I utilize is the ability to release exercise stress by centering and breathing, When one is able to center and breathe, the reps and exercises flow. This flow reduces the chance of injury and increases the chances to achieve all the above mentioned goals. Centering yourself happens in two places, in the mind and the body. Obviously our thoughts control our actions so this is the best place to start.
It’s stressful coming to see your trainer for the first time. You’ve gone through the frightening task of carefully looking at their website and social media. You’ve no doubt envisioned what it might be like working with this person and imagining the ways that they can help you. You’ve thought about the fact that you’re going to be spending 2-3 hrs a week with them…… 1 on 1….. and In this fast paced world, that’s a long time. Above all else, you’ve already begun to trust them. Your trainer takes on a lot of responsibility, and as the client, so do you.
Ok, you’ve done it, you’ve chosen the individual that’s going to help you in your transformation. The day has arrived, you’re at the gym, filled out the forms, in your gear and ready to go. You and your trainer are approaching the gym floor, a million thoughts swirl in your head. What do you do?

RELAX and BREATHE.

Approach the space like you might approach any place that deserves your respect, humility, attention and focus. Adopt a “Yogic Mindset” when stepping onto the floor or training space. Try to clear your mind of the the worries global, familial, employment and personal. You are here, now, and have created this space in your day for this loving act of self care. This form of love is shrouded in intensity that comes over time and can alter the next few hours, the day, and your whole life. This attitude is 90% of what you need for success.
Over the course of the next hour you will probably find your shoulders creeping towards your ears, relax them and breathe. You will probably find your knees locking and lose the ability to connect your feet to the ground, relax and breathe. Each push will make your arms feel like spaghetti and you’ll be unable to connect to your shoulder, relax and breathe. You will feel everything in your neck, relax and breathe. There’s no specific way you should go about this, just set the intention “to drop everything” and do the best you can. This is all we will ever ask of you and all you should ever ask of yourself.
A saying I like to use with my clients all the time is to find “Grace Under Pressure”. Adopt it and own it, even if it’s just for 60 minutes. All of these difficult tasks will become easier over time and your reward will of course be that we just make them harder 🙂
Coming soon, the anatomical aspects of centering.
Ready to get started? Contact Hal today!

Online Personal Training With Michael Buckley

January 30, 2019

Is Online Personal Training For You?buckley

Online personal training is gaining traction with those interested in reaching their fitness goals. Here’s why:
  • Train wherever you are
  • Train whenever you want
  • Accountability to your trainer
  • Train at a lower cost
Schedule your sessions for the week.  Check in with me when you finish.
If you have a session scheduled and I don’t hear from you, you’ll hear from me. I’m like Santa Claus- “I know if you’ve been bad or good.”
Regularly scheduled check ins allow us to assess progress and set new goals.

 

Fitness Workout Recovery

January 28, 2019

Make recovery a major part of your New Year’s fitness routines

justinwalker
Epsom salt baths, foam rolling, and BCAAs (branch chain amino acids) are some of the more well known recovery tools. But don’t be afraid to try new methods like infrared saunas or Cryo-therapy.
Taking care of yourself post workout will lead to better workouts and it will keep you injury free.
Enjoy your workout and recovery…contact Justin!

5 Waistline Guidelines

5 quick guidelines to a better waistline

 
Are you confused or overwhelmed about what to eat? How much to eat? Are you asking “is the plan I’m on actually working?” These are all valid questions. Instead of giving you exactly what to eat, I will give you 5 simple habits to implement in your current nutrition strategies. These, however, works ideal with clean, nutritional densed, superfoods. They provide the nutrients you need in a low caloric intake. If you want a list of some superfoods to start incorporating into your eating regimen, e-mail me with “SUPERFOOD_LIST” in the subject line. Okay, now here are the 5 habits:
 

  1. Stop at 80 percent:

 
This is a simple but overlooked habit people forget to do. For performance or weight loss, we need to eat until satisfaction, not until we are full. In other words, we need to feel slightly hungry after eating. It takes approximately 15-20 minutes for our brain to get the “I’m full” signal from our stomachs. By eating slowly and enjoying the taste of your food, you can accurately gauge your fullness and control your caloric intake simultaneously.
 

  1. Eat complete protein with each meal:

 
So this a topic that you either feel one way or the other about the necessity of eating protein with each meal and, that is fine. I do know that suboptimal protein intake will definitely prevent you from achieving your health, performance, and/or aesthetic goals. This habit will stimulate your metabolism, improve muscle mass, recovery, and reduce body fat. A typically recommendation is 1 serving of protein per meal for females and 2 servings of protein per meal for males.
 

  1. Eat veggies with every meal:

 
This is a no brainer. Veggies are packed with vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. These things are vital for bodily function and health. They help counterbalance the acidic responses from eatings grains and proteins as well as help counterbalance free-radicals. Try to include 2 servings of veggie per meal and you should consume the desired daily recommendations.
 

  1. Time you carbs:

 
This isn’t a low carb diet strategy. This is a habit where you consume your simple, starchy carbs around your workouts. The body is more prone to utilize the carbs you consume more efficiently around your workouts because the body would use the sugars for energy. I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t state this: Swap unprocessed, simple sugar foods for whole foods with simple sugars (i.e. sports drink versus grapes). Basically, you must train for carbs. If you don’t exercise, start!!!
 

  1. Eat your fats:

 
Yes, eat your fats. Your healthy fats. There are three types of fats and each need to be consumed in a balanced ratio for optimum health. Try focusing on monounsaturated (extra virgin olive oil, avocados) and polyunsaturated (fish, nuts) more than saturated fats (animal fats, dairy). Please note that fats become more unhealthy as you heat them up. So, the idea of “raw is better” applies to this habit.
 
If you are new to the idea of changing your eating regimen, try to implement these habits one at a time. Give yourself time to adjust to the “new you” being created by yourself. Nutrition is not hard…if you just K.I.S.S. (Keep It Stupid Simple) it. Enjoy!
 
For more customized guidance,  contact Otis today!

How to do Crunches for Abdominals

Crunch Time

Crunches…  People either love them or hate them.  Almost any fitness class or personal training session you walk into now that focuses on abdominal strength will go to some pretty intense twister-esk positions to target your abs and avoid the unpopular crunch.  Its 2019!  Lets learn how to properly execute the FUNdemental crunch.
Here is why most people avoid crunches:
1) When done incorrectly, and most do it incorrectly, it can damage your spine.
2) Reinforcing bad posture (i.e. Text Neck!)
3) The hip flexors and neck try to do most of the work and the abs are left behind.
If you want to improve your crunching technique, take your time!  Explore and feel what is happening in your body as you crunch before you start adding all the pyrotechnics like twists and legs up.  As long as you are focused on what is occurring in your body, you will not be bored.  A little focus can go a very long way towards your goals.  Can you send more of the tension into the four layers of your abdominal muscles? Focus on closing or knitting your ribs together while meeting your low ribs and top of your pelvis in the front as you lift off the ground.
Here are a few more tips to help add the simple (not easy) and effective crunches back into your life:
1) Let your head and neck rest in your hands, as your elbows reach wide.
2) Exhale on the up as you lengthen your spine (both out the top of your head and out of your tailbone) and hollow out your body.
-pressing your low back ribs into the ground and belly button into a towel under your low back to maintain its natural curve.
3) Work hard to maintain this abdominal connectivity as you lower back down to the ground, don’t just collapse and let the ribs go.  Hold on!  Use your muscles and try to add more length and more depth into your hollowed out body for the next crunch.  Use each crunch as a building block to improve upon the last.
The final pitfall of crunches is that it only targets half of your abdominal muscles, so please don’t forget to include your obliques, pelvic floor, and back!  We are a multidimensional human being and our training has to reflect that.  If you can crunch properly, then you can find and use your core in almost any position you find yourself in.
Happy New Year and wishing you all the success and happiness this year!
Kyle James Adam

TRX Fitness At Home

Home Fitness Tools- TRX

New clients constantly ask, “How can I work out in a New York apartment? I don’t have room!” One of the tools that can help is the TRX — bands based on gymnastics rings, but with comfortable padded handles. Though it’s wildly popular at gyms and studios nationwide, many people don’t realize TRX is something they can do at home, too.
Small enough to hide in your sock drawer, and light enough to throw in your bag for a weekend trip, the TRX can help you work on strength, core stability, and flexibility. Even when just hooked over the top of a standard home door frame, the straps are strong enough to support users of all shapes & sizes, from athletes to the obese. (I’ve had clients up to 400 lbs have fun with the TRX, without worrying!) TRX is also a great option for very tall or very short individuals who can never seem to find a comfortable setting on traditional weight machines.
You can use the straps to make bodyweight exercises harder. For example, if standard squats are too easy for you, but you don’t have heavy dumbbells at home, TRX can let you transform your squat into a much harder single leg squat (aka “pistol squat”).
But my favorite use of the TRX is to UNLOAD bodyweight exercises, making them easier. Can’t do a chin-up yet? Even beginners can do a TRX row, because they’re only lifting part of their body weight. Not ready for push-ups? With TRX, your pushup is on an incline, much more doable. Just getting back to the gym after months of rehab from knee surgery? You can use your hands to help you pull up from  the bottom of a squat or a lunge.
ACE & NSCA Certified Personal Trainer
President
On the Mend Customized Fitness and Massage

Keep New Years Resolutions

RESOLVE TO KEEP YOUR NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

The holidays and festivities are over. The decorations have been put away. The new year is in full swing. You might be wondering, “The excitement is over and reality has set in. How am I going to do this?!”
Part of the secret to success is to change your perception. If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always get what you’ve always got. Realize that you have the rest of your life to do this. You didn’t get here overnight. It doesn’t have to, and generally can’t, be done overnight.

Count Burpees, Not Sheep

The importance of restful sleep can’t be emphasized enough. If you wake up exhausted, you drink too much caffeine and/or sugar, which eventually makes you crash … you reach for more (and don’t eat properly) … then you rebound and are up all night. The next day, you’re too tired and frustrated to work out … and the cycle continues.
Research has shown that each night, you should hit 5 consecutive REM (Rapid Eye Movement) cycles, which occur approximately every 90 minutes. Develop and commit to a sleep hygiene routine, and guard it like a jealous lover!

Food is Fuel, Not a Reward

When you truly realize this, your relationship with food will change. You’re not at the mercy of your thoughts and emotions. When you experience negative thoughts, train yourself to quickly pivot to positive ones. The only time food is a “reward” is pre-/intra-/post-workout – because you need it!

Slow and Steady Wins This Race

One of the biggest mistakes is to go from the proverbial 0-100 mph in 60 seconds – and maintain that blistering pace, especially when committing to a new lifestyle.
You join a gym or buy a DVD, do it every day for a few weeks, then come screeching to a halt. You bit off more than you could “chew.” Instead, try committing to working out one hour each week – without fail. Continue until you have comfortably incorporated that one hour into your weekly routine. Add an ARD (Active Recovery Day) – an activity that doesn’t exert enough energy to interfere with your previous workout’s recovery. A great example is walking. Park your car farther away than usual and walk to your destination. Instead of taking the elevator, walk some (or all) of the flights. Walk your dog, if you have one.
The same applies to nutrition. Try to make one easy change. For example, if you’re drinking a lot of your calories, start by diluting them with water, or mixing half sweetened and unsweetened. The less sugar you consume, the less you’ll crave. Then, make another change. Consistency is key!

Be Your Own Hero

We all have heroes and role models. Close your eyes and imagine yours. What is their nutrition and exercise program like? How do they take care of themselves? How do they live their lives? Every day is a new chance to be who you want to be!
Resolve to reach your fitness goals?  Contact Susanne today!

Personal Trainer Custom Workout Plan

Create a Customized Workout Plan with a Personal Trainer

A lot of people think that by going to the gym they are automatically going to get healthier. And while it is true that going to the gym is better than not going, working out without a well-thought through training plan is not going to help anyone realize their goals.

Creating a Customized Workout Plan

The first step to accomplishing weight training or cardiovascular training goals is to have a plan. But, if you’re not aware of all the available exercises or not really knowledgeable about which ones will be the most beneficial, how do you make a plan? That is why it is so important to connect with a Brooklyn personal trainer who can provide guidance throughout the process. With a trainer, it is easy to have a conversation about fitness and training goals. A trainer will question you about your current fitness activities as well as your goals and create a Park Slope personal training plan that can help achieve them.

For instance, an individual who wants to lose 30 pounds in the coming months does not need to lift massive amounts of weight. Adding muscle mass may be an eventual goal, but it is not what is needed right now. A trainer would ensure the individual is doing plenty of cardio while focusing the weight training on form and repetitions.

With lower weights, more repetitions and fewer breaks in between sets, it is possible to burn more calories during a weight training session. Combine that with a good dose of cardio every day along with the right diet and those weight loss goals will be realized sooner than later.

Work Smart

No matter what the goal, the best way to train is by working out intelligently. That means doing the right exercises, the right way and at the right times. It is about knowing when to take a rest day, when to do an extra session or cardio, or when to stop working out for the day. Mill Basin personal trainers know how to help you work smart while sticking to your plan and achieving your objectives.

Rebooting New Years Resolutions

December 22, 2018

New Year’s Resolution Rebooted

How changing approaches to your goal would yield results 

It’s the holiday season. This is the time for family, friends, celebrations, food, and overall appreciation of all the things you have in your life. The holiday season also means we are approaching the infamous ” new year’s resolution” time period . Most people have tried numerous times to create and follow their goals as a new year’s resolution; unfortunately, many are not successful and has just abandon their new year’s resolution idea completely. The problem most people are not successful with their goals is they create outcome-based goals versus behavioral-based goals. I’m here to tell you that behavioral-based goals yield much better results compared to outcome-based goals. I’m going to explain to you how you can improve your chances of reaching your goals.
 
Outcome- This is when you focus on the end result without having a specific plan to measure your outcomes constantly and tangibly. (“The destiny is the goal. It doesn’t matter how I get there”)
 
Behavior- This is when you achieve your goal by focusing on activities you perform intentionally to accomplish your outcome (“The journey is the focus, which will get me to the goal”).
 
Here are examples on how you change alter a few common goals:
 

Weight loss goal

Outcome approach (little control over the outcome with no plan)- “I want to lose 20 lbs in 10 weeks”
Behavior approach (direct control over the outcome with a plan)- “I will exercise 5x days for 10 weeks”
 

Health goal

Outcome approach (little control over the outcome with no plan)-“I want to become healthier“
 
Behavior approach (direct control of outcome with a plan)- “I will meditate for 15 mins everydays at 7pm in a dimly lit room with candles and soft music to reduce my stress“
 
By simply changing your mindset from an outcome to a behavior based approach, the likelihood of achieving your goal increases because you would be able to track your progress precisely.
 
Here are 3 easy steps on how to change from an outcome approach to a behavioral approach:
 
  1. Set specific, intentional steps. Please do not confuse “movement with progress”. Be intentional with your plan.
 
  1. Have specific outcome measurements with each intentional step. For example: Your water intake will overall increase because you are exercising 5x days per week. This is help with digestion and hydration.
 
  1. Allow yourself room for adjustments. Sometimes life happens. Do not beat yourself up if you missed a day at the gym, you follow you nutritional guidelines exactly. It’s okay. You can continue your journey the next day. The key is to be consistent for the long haul.
 
Okay, you are now equipped with the tools to help you embrace and master your goals confidently. Contact me if you need help creating a plan and jump starting you to a better version of you.
New year. New Goals. New Approach. New You.

Strengthen Lower Abs

How Your Pelvis Position Could Be The Cause of Your Troublesome Lower Abs

 
Now, let’s get this part out of the way first. You can not overcome improper nutrition with exercise. In other words, do not expect to develop and see your abdominals if you are not in a caloric deficit and nutritional surplus. It just will not work. Reach out to me for further assistance on how to establish this nutritional task.
            Once your nutrition is addressed, the next and very common culprit for people not developing abs, especially lower abs, is their pelvis position. Your pelvis, or what people commonly refer to as their “hips”, plays an important part in your ab training because of where the muscle attachment site is located on your pelvis. Your rectus rectus abdominis, or “6 pack”, are muscles that starts from the bottom of your sternum and ends at the top of your pelvis. Along with force transfer and preventing movements, your 6 pack muscles basically bring your pelvis closer to your chest.
This is a key point to establish: the muscles around your pelvis region is connected to each other in a “X” fashion. In layman terms, when one muscle is weak, the other is strong and, this is based on pelvic position. So, if your abs are weak, then your lower back and hip flexors are strong.
            Here is how your pelvis position completely determines if your are exercising your abs or not. If you have an anterior pelvic tilt, or excessive lumbar lordosis, your abs are at a mechanical disadvantage to perform a muscle contraction. When a muscle is at a mechanical disadvantage over a long period of time, them become weak and lose their force production capability. This results in your hip flexors and lower back performing more work while your abs are not. Here is an example of an anterior pelvic tilt.
 
No worries. You can fix your pelvic position by targeting your hamstrings. Because of their attachment on the bottom, backside region of the pelvis, they help shift your pelvis from an anterior pelvic tilt to a posterior pelvic tilt. This is a good thing because the 6 pack muscles are in a mechanical advantage to bring your pelvis towards your chest hence a better muscle contraction. Watch this video and this video to see how you can change your pelvic position and start working your abs.
 
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Straighten up! Contact Otis today!