Personal Training Blog with Douglasville Personal Trainer David Hansey

Changing your body is like looking for buried treasure. It is much easier but it still requires a few things. Personal training is the map, your personal trainer is the compass. And you are the captain of the ship who must take your body on the course to improvement.

As I have mentioned before, you need to really evaluate a personal trainer’s credentials. Make sure they are BOARD CERTIFIED, see the link above if you need more details on that. And make sure that they are professional. Watch them train someone. Do they keep track of your workout and your weight, yes, write it down. Watch their style. Make sure they have what you want.

Then do the things they say. I require a medical form before you start. I don’t just want it. It is not just a formality. I NEED IT. So if a personal trainer asks you to do something (like fill out a medical form prior to your first visit) then do it.

Then follow their advice. If they say you should show up early to do your cardio or warm up. Then show up. I find clients who show up 30-45 minutes early to do their cardio are never late for their session and get the most bang for their personal training buck. While 45 minutes of cardio is ideal for most people, it you have to cut it to 30 because you were stuck in traffic, then so be it. Better than missing the sessions that you are paying for, isn’t it.

Then if the trainer asks you to do something besides your sessions, be honest. If I ask someone to do cardio 3 times a week for 45 minutes, it is because it is what they need to meet the goals they have told me. It is not for me! It is for you!! As your personal trainer, I want you to meet your goals (and regardless of your personal trainer, they should be focused on your goals!) If something is impossible for you, be honest, the trainer can explain to you how this will affect your training. I really don’t see (sorry, but I don’t) how you cannot squeeze an hour for yourself into a day. I work from about 5 in the morning until around 8 most nights and I always find time for family and fitness. Not a lot of time for TV watching, video games and sleeping on the couch, but make YOU a priority in your life.

Watch your food intake. Just because you are working out more does not mean you have a free pass when it comes to food and drink. Your body is a complex machine and natural whole foods are best for it. Lean proteins, beans, vegetables, fruit. Restaurant meals, frying, processed foods and simple sugars are rare treats, not a part of your daily nutrition. You will find your body works best when you fuel it properly. Need to know what to make for dinner. I have made a free recipe and food site just for that. Douglasville Weight Loss is my site to help you get healthy and figure out what to cook when you can’t think of a healthy thing to cook. There are lots of cool new things coming to that site every day so I hope it helps everyone develop a great way to eat and enjoy food in a more healthy natural way.

I have seen some SAD ASS personal trainers in my days at the gym here in Douglasville. They show up (often late!) unprepared, unprofessionally dressed and without a personalized workout for the client. Then they float around the gym with their client in tow dishing out some of their half-assed advice.

Sorry to be so blunt, but that is NOT a personal trainer!!!

A personal trainer is professional. They are on time and expect you to be too. They have a customized, personalized workout prepared for you based on your goals, your needs, your limitations and your medical history. This workout is WRITTEN DOWN so your progress can be tracked.

A professional personal trainer also is board certified. If you are not sure what I mean by board certified, there are INDUSTRY STANDARDS that you want your personal trainer to have. To not only get you a good workout but to get you a safe and effective workout. Click Here for more info on board certified personal training.

Sorry if this is a bit of a rant. But I see people making their decisions every day based on less than the ideal amount of information. Don’t based your decision on friendship, sex, looks or price. There is no reason to work out with a male or female, old or young or a friend.

Get the BEST personal trainer you can afford. One session a week with a highly qualified personal trainer will do more for you than 3 sessions a week with a mediocre one.

I hope that helps you in finding the PERFECT personal trainer for you!!

God, I can’t tell you how many people I see every day struggling with their workout. Even people who think they have a good routine and think they are doing something good for themselves usually have it wrong. Fitness and strength training are like any other behavior, they are learned. You don’t just show up at the gym and know what to do with every piece of fitness equipment and every accessory. I mean, come on, is that realistic?

I watch people every day at the Douglasville gym where I do some of my personal training doing things that are ineffective, dangerous and sometimes just plain crazy. I also see people doing things that are considered rude by other gym members (remember you are in public here).

Let me cover a few of these things.
Rude things – at a gym, you should remember that you SHARE your space with others. So just like when you were in Kindergarten, you put the weights back where you found them. And you wipe you sweat off the bench or machine where you left it. And if you are doing a lot of sets and someone is waiting, then you should ask them if they want to “work in” where they do their set while you do your rest. Seems really simple, doesn’t it.

Now, on to the incorrect — this list could be endless. I see almost every move being done wrong almost every day. Want to see a bunch of them at once, then look in on one of the fitness classes with weights and you can see every incorrect version of a deadlift you ever wanted.

Basically, your body should not move outside of its normal range. So elbows stay close to the body, back does not round or arch, knees do not extend over the toes– get the idea?

Listing out every single way to do a move wrong would take me forever so my personal feeling is that everyone owes it to themselves to invest in their body. Even if that investment is one training session to go over your current routine for improvements or criticism. Even if it a month’s worth of sessions to get a routine you can do on your own that is safe and effective. Make the investment. Seriously, even if you think personal training is not in your budget. Most of us have a few things we can adjust (like dropping out the 800 calorie whipped cream covered coffee sundae drink in the morning that is $6). Hmm — just doing that and you already have a couple of sessions a month!

I will go into some basics about alignment and incorrect moves again in my next post with details on some of the moves that are performed wrong almost all the time!!

Until then, I wish you the best of health and greetings from beautiful Douglasville, Georgia.

Dave Hansey
Personal Training Blog

Well, there are many group fitness options here in Douglasville and everywhere else. And they can be a good addition to your workout routine. I caution you though about assuming group fitness and fitness classes will be enough to make dramatic changes to your body.

Fitness classes are made for the masses. So many of them are good cardio options. I like to suggest spinning and cycling classes for cardio to many of my clients as a cardio alternative. Fitness classes cannot get you the same results as personal training for obvious reasons. Personal training is all about you. Customized for you, personal training takes your personal needs, limitations, injuries and everything else that is unique about your body into account. How can anything made for the masses compare to that?

Now, while I am discussing personal training and fitness classes, let me make another comment. A great healthy body is like any other pursuit. You have to invest the time. You can’t just show up to your session with me a couple of times a week and expect huge differences. First, you must do cardio and warm-up prior to your personal training session. You must do enough cardio to burn more calories per week than you put in your mouth.

Now, I hope you are not feeling depressed thinking that you now need to do lots of group fitness and personal training. Au Contraire! Most of my personal training clients who were doing their own routine or taking group classes have found that the total time they spend in the gym has gone down when they start to perform movements that are geared to their needs using a scientific approach.

So if you are not getting the results you want from fitness classes or from your workout and need or want to get serious, give personal training a try by giving me a call.

I push certifications a lot and there are MANY reasons for it. First, your trainer may be great at training their own body but be clueless about yours. Certification ensures they have training on how to develop programs for particular circumstances.

When I say “Certified Personal Trainer” I have a narrow view. I am referring to BOARD CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINERS which use 3rd party testing to ensure the industry standard. The industry standard as laid out by The International Health Club, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) requires a third party board to give accredited certification.

There are only 6 certifying bodies who are currently board certified by the NCCA which is the board chosen to oversea the testing. These certifications are from the following organizations:

* – NASM
* -ACE
* -NCSF
* -NFPT
* -NSCA
* – Cooper Institute

If your trainer does not hold certification from one of these organizations, then you may not be getting safe and effective training per IHRSA.

PLAIN AND SIMPLE.

If your trainer tries to justify not having one of these, ask yourself why. If they are serious about personal training and about giving you THE BEST PERSONAL TRAINING, why would they not do everything they could to ensure they have the most knowledge possible. A professional personal trainer should be just that, professional, and these certifications make sure they meet the standards.

So whether you train with me, another trainer in Douglasville or somewhere else, ensure you are getting the best by making your trainer prove they have the education to back up their talk.

I hope you are enjoying my new personal training blog! Until next time! Dave Hansey

Not sure where to start with your workout? Well that is one of the reasons I always suggest a few personal training sessions to anyone who is new to working out. If money is no object or you can afford the investment, then it makes the most sense to buy 6 weeks worth. Whether you come one, two or three times a week is up to you but 6 weeks is a good target for working out to become a fixed habit.

If you are not lucky enough to have unlimited resources, then go for 10 sessions and split them up over a 5-6 week period. This will be enough sessions for you to get working out as a habit as well as enough for you to learn the correct, safe way to lift weights and to get a firm grasp on the most effective ways to work out.

Do you like classes? Well good, then do those too. Fitness classes are NO SUBSTITUTE for weight training. They are plain and simple just aerobics classes so use them for cardio.

Since I have brought up cardio, do your cardio BEFORE your personal training session so you are warmed up and you do not waste a single second of time that you have your trainer.

Now how much cardio is a personal thing. As a general rule, I usually say 30-45 minutes and at least 3 times a week. For weight loss, I usually say 5-6 days a week. The reason for that is that most people respond better to working out every day and it becomes a firm habit when you just add it to your daily routine. It is too easy to say you will do it tomorrow.

Now with any “general” guideline, I caution you. Each person is an individual and needs to have a unique program designed for them to get the best results. That is one of the reasons I view fitness classes as simply a form of cardio. How can something made for anyone be the ideal thing for you? Well quite obviously it cannot. So if you do classes and you feel like something is “wrong” then it is so stop doing that. A personal training program lays out a unique custom workout built to your needs and your wishes as well as your limitations.

Check back often for more tips!! Until then, I will see you at the gym or out on the road here in Douglasville as I train for the Atlanta Marathon.