Personal Trainers of Virginia

1.)Map out a plan-getting in great shape requires having a plan of action. Without a plan a fitness regimen has no direction and will not succeed.

2.)Set goals-goals keep you focused and ensures progress. Make sure to set realistic, measurable, and attainable goals. Make sure to set short term, intermediate, and long term goals.

3.)Keep a dietary log-nutrition is the difference between somebody who looks in great shape, and somebody who just works out. Keeping a log will help to keep you more cognizant of what you are putting into your body.

4.)Get everybody on the same page-when trying to succeed in an exercise program, it helps to have significant others, siblings, children, etc aware of your goals. This can help with adherence as well as motivation.

5.)Lift weights-lifting weights will help to add muscle tissue, which burns way more calories at rest than body fat. Lean muscle will increase your metabolism and give you that "tone" look.

6.)YOU MUST DO CARDIO-you can lift all the weight you want, but the cardio will melt down that body fat so that you can see the fruits of your labor. Cardio must be done at least three times a week for at least a half an hour. Keep the intensity high, get in the target heart rate range.

7.)Be consistent-exercise and nutrition only work if they are done consistently. YOU MUST make sure you get your workouts in, if you do not, do not expect the results you desire.

8.)Be intense-anybody can step foot in a gym. Those that get the results reach deep, and give it everything they have.

9.)Have fun-the more fun you have in your program, the more likely you will stay with it.

10.)Don't give up-exercise adherence is very low, and for good reason. Exercise is not easy, however, those who do not give up or get frustrated WILL see the results.

How can Exercise help prevent Osteoporosis?

Recent studies have shown that the risk of osteoporosis is lower for people who are active, and especially those who do load bearing , or weight resistance activities at least three times a week.

How can exercise prevent osteoporosis? Muscle pulling on bone builds bone, so weight-bearing exercise builds denser, stronger bones. Exercise can help you maintain bone density in the later years of life.

The best exercises for building bone are weight resistance exercises. These include weight lifting, jogging and other activities that require your muscles to work against gravity. Simply walking although good for cardiovascular fitness, is not good for building bones. Thirty minutes of weight resistance exercises 3 times a week benefit not only your bones, but improves heart health, muscle strength, coordination, and balance.

If you already have osteoporosis it is important to learn what type of exercises you can safely perform to preserve bone and to strengthen your back and hips.

Men and Osteoporosis!

People often think that osteoporosis only happens to women, but that is not true. This disease also strikes men and can be a major health problem for them. In fact, I in every 8 men over age 50 will suffer bone fractures from osteoporosis. The likelihood of a hip fracture increase with age because the elderly tend to fall more often.

Men can experience significant bone loss as they age, and this can lead to osteoporosis. There are several reasons that men lose bone as they age: declining hormones, decreased physical activity, and eating less calcium may cause bone loss.

Osteoporosis is less common in men than women because men have larger skeletons, normal bone loss starts later in life with slower progress, and they don’t have rapid bone loss that women may experience during menopause. But despite these differences, men can be at high risk for this disease.

Teens and Bone Health

Nearly 9 out of 10 teens don’t get enough calcium in their daily diets. Bones are made up of mostly calcium, so lots of calcium is needed for fast growing teenage bones.

If teens don’t get enough calcium during the growing years, they are at risk for severe health problems, such as increased susceptibility to fractures, or osteoporosis later in life..

With childhood obesity on the rise, which contributes to high blood pressure and high cholesterol it is important for teens to participate in regular exercise weight resistance and consume a balanced diet.

Weight resistance exercise will build healthy bones and great bodies!..

Great Exercises to Tone the Lower Body

Keys To a Successful Fitness Program

Often people ask me what's the quickest way to lose weight. Well, unfortunately there is no shortcut or easy way to lose weight or tackle the problem areas, despite what most gimmicky products lead us to believe. But there are three keys that must be adhered to if you ultimately want to achieve success in your health & fitness program. Whether you're trying to lose weight, train for a 10K run, or just feel better.

These three components include: commitment, consistency and accountability. First and foremost, you have to be committed to your goals. To be completely committed you must to be willing to make lifestyle changes. Exercising at high intensities, multiple times each week is important but equally important is eating a sensible diet. Following a structured meal plan is imperative and has proven effective to meet the desired goal. Counter measures will lead to frustration, discouragement, and ultimately resignation from any program.

To really begin to start feeling and looking better you must exercise consistently. At the very minimum you have to workout at least twice a week - preferably three or four times. Consistency doesn't mean skipping workouts on a regular basis. If you plan on working out three times a week but miss a workout once every two weeks, that accounts for 26 missed workouts in a year. That's almost a whole month of not exercising!

Finally, you have to be accountable. Being accountable can include monitoring your diet by keeping a food log everyday (not once in a while), drinking plenty of water, and exercising regularly. Too often people think that since they worked out today they are "allowed" to eat an extra serving of dessert or have a bigger portion of lunch or dinner. By doing this you're adding back the calories you burned during your workout. This is not going to help you lose those extra pounds that you work so hard to burn. This is something to keep in mind being in the holiday season.

Top Ten Reasons to Perform Resistance Training


There are many benefits of adding resistance training to your exercise regimen. The following are ten reasons why it is important to add weight training to your fitness routine.

Reason #1-adding lean tissue through resistance training will help to burn more calories at rest.

Reason #2-resistance training increases bone mineral density and helps prevent against osteoporosis. Reason #3-resistance training increase overall muscular strength and endurance.

Reason #4-as we age, we lose a percentage of our muscular strength. Resistance training prevents the loss of muscular strength as we age.

Reason #5-exercising with weights can be a great stress reliever.

Reason #6-strong muscles prevent injury.

Reason #7-by strengthening your muscles, especially the back and abdominal muscles, posture will improve putting less stress on the lower back.

Reason #8-weight training combined with aerobic training, dramatically increases the metabolism. Reason #9-weight training helps to tone and create nice lean muscles.

Reason #10-it can be fun!!!

Top Ten Exercises for Toning the Upper Arms

When training the arms, it is important to take into consideration the anatomy of the upper arms. The upper arm is divided into two muscle groups, the biceps and the triceps. The biceps is the muscle group, which from an anatomical perspective, is the muscle anterior, or to the front of, the upper arm. The triceps is the muscle group in the back of the arm, or posterior anatomically. The term biceps indicates that the muscle has two muscular heads as opposed to the tricep which has three muscular heads. As a result, the triceps makes up the majority of the upper arm. So what are the top ten exercises to tone the upper arms???

TRICEPS 1.) Tricep Pressdown-the tricep pressdown is a great exercise to tone the triceps. Targets most of the tricep with an increased emphasis on the long tricep head. 2.) Lying tricep extensions (e.z. bar)-great for targeting most of the tricep, especially the medial head of the tricep. 3) Dumbell kickbacks-when performed correctly really isolates the triceps well. 4.) Close grip bench press-great exercise to increase overall strength of the tricep. 5.) Overhead tricep extension-really targets the long head, and helps to tone the tricep.

BICEPS 1.) Standing barbell curls-the king of bicep exercises. Great for overall strength and excellent for creating an overload on the biceps. 2.) Incline dumbell curls-great for isolating the biceps and the incline angle allows for an increase in the overload on the biceps. 3.) Concentration curls-excellent isolation exercise that allows for a great controlled contraction of the biceps. 4.) Preacher curls-helps to improve the length and the definition of the bicep. 5.) Hammer curls-works to improve the length of the bicep, and helps strengthen the forearms. Ask your trainer about these great exercises for the upper arms.

Warm-Up to Workout

Suppose you were told that you only had to add an extra five to 10 minutes to each of your workouts in order to prevent injury and lessen fatigue. Would you do it?

Most people would say yes. Then they might be surprised to learn that they already know about those few minutes called a warm-up. If done correctly, a pre-exercise warm-up can have a multitude of beneficial effects on a person's workout and, consequently, their overall health.

What happens in your body?

When you begin to exercise, your cardiorespiratory and neuromuscular systems and metabolic energy pathways are stimulated. Muscles contract and, to meet their increasing demands for oxygen, your heart rate, blood flow, cardiac output and breathing rate increase. Blood moves faster through your arteries and veins, and is gradually routed to working muscles.

Your blood temperature rises and oxygen is released more quickly, raising the temperature of the muscles. This allows the muscles to use glucose and fatty acids to burn calories and create energy for the exercise. All of these processes prepare the body for higher-intensity action.

Specifically...a gradual warm-up:

	Leads to efficient calorie burning by increasing your core body temperature
	Produces faster, more forceful muscle contractions
	Increases your metabolic rate so oxygen is delivered to the working muscles more quickly
	Prevents injuries by improving the elasticity of your muscles
	Gives you better muscle control by speeding up your neural message pathways to the muscles
	Allows you to work out comfortably longer because all your energy systems are able to adjust to exercise, preventing the buildup of lactic acid in the blood
	Improves joint range of motion
	Psychologically prepares you for higher intensities by increasing your arousal and focus on exercise

Where to begin

Your warm-up should consist of two phases: 1) progressive aerobic activity that utilizes the muscles you will be using during your workout, and 2) flexibility exercises. Choosing which warm-up activity to use is as easy as slowing down what you will be doing during your work-out.

For example, if you will be running, warm up with a slow jog, or if you will be cycling outdoors, begin in lower gears.

An ideal intensity for an aerobic warm-up has yet to be established, but a basic guideline is to work at a level that produces a small amount of perspiration, but doesn't leave you feeling fatigued. The duration of the warm-up activity will depend on the intensity of your workout as well as your own fitness level.

After the aerobic warm-up activity you should incorporate flexibility/stretching exercises. Stretching muscles after warming them up with low-intensity aerobic activity will produce a better stretch since the rise in muscle temperature and circulation increases muscle elasticity, making them more pliable. Be sure to choose flexibility exercises that stretch the primary muscles you will be using during your workout.

Make the time

In order to fully reap the benefits of the time you are spending exercising, you must warm up. Taking those extra few minutes to adjust to increased activity will ensure a better performance from your body and, in turn, will make your workout more efficient, productive and, best of all, enjoyable.