Personal Training Blog with Douglasville Personal Trainer David Hansey

You are a unique creature. Not trying to be corny here — it is just that you are the only person on the Earth who has your genetics as well as your unique set of circumstances from your life.

Did you break your arm in 4th grade?

Are you allergic to shellfish?

Did you have rheumatic fever (most people don’t even know what that is anymore but my father had it when he was a child and it shaped his whole life)

What I am trying to say is that only you have your unique set of circumstances. So a program designed for you SPECIFICALLY is going to be the best for you. Classes may be fun and they can be a great addition but they are just that — an addition. The best workout is one designed for you. It is like custom made clothing – always better.

Now a comment to people who have medical conditions. A personal trainer cannot “give you some moves” This really goes for anyone but it is CRITICAL for anyone with hypertension, arthritis, joint issues, diabetes and a host of other conditions. I have people who are in cardio surgery rehab who have asked me “for a few moves” ARE YOU SERIOUS???

Believe me I fully understand that there are financial considerations and you want to keep your training within a budget. But I cannot effectively give you any exercise without knowing you.

It is one of the reasons that my new group fitness classes is restricted to personal training clients only. I am just more comfortable with ensuring your safety and giving you an effective workout.

Yes, I would rather give you nothing at all than suggest something that may not work for you. And that is not cruel — that is SAFETY.

For most of us, abs are about looks. We crunch and we crunch and we get a variety of results. There are many different muscles that make up your abdominals and some of them are very deep tissue muscles. We should probably look at training all of them and training them smarter. While the crunch is an effective exercise, too many can have negative results. According to Dr. Michael Yessis in his book “The Kinesiology of Exercise, doing excessive crunches can lead to a flattening of the lumbar curve, which will weaken your back.

There are a variety of exercises that are much more effective on the look and health of the abdominals that can be added to your routine. When you work with a trainer, you may hear about “drawing in”. Some instructors talk about holding your abs in. These tactics are introduced to protect your back and to help your abs, but it is important to know how to do this properly. It is not just “sucking it in”.

One of these maneuvers is called the “drawing in” and it can make your abdominals look and perform better if you learn to master it.
According to the National Academy of Sports Medicine, the drawing in maneuver should be performed at the beginning of every set. To learn this technique, you can ask a trainer, but here are the basics from the National Academy of Sports Medicine. From your hands and knees (on all fours), pull in your abdominals while keeping your back flat. Hold for as long as you can. Once you can hold this move for 3 reps of 20 seconds each, you can move onto the plank maneuver. The plank maneuver starts in a push-up position (a real push-up, not on your knees!) From that position, you perform the same drawing in as you did on all fours. Pull in your abdominals but maintain a flat back.

Both of these exercises work deep tissue muscles in your abdominals that will help you change the look of your abs as well as keep your core balanced which will keep your abdominal area and all of the areas it supports, healthy.

Abdominal training should also include some work on a Swiss Ball for most people. The Swiss Ball protects your back so even if you have issues with your back, it is usually a good option for most people. There are a whole variety of effective exercises that you can do on the ball. One “on the ball” exercise that you may want to try is a crunch. This is a much more effective way to work your abdominals because you get a greater stretch than a standard crunch.

This is part 4 of my series on Weight loss. This time I will write about empty calories. Empty calories are the downfall of many diets. If you are keeping a diary and writing everything down, you should be able to see these.

Do you drink soda? I don’t know how many times a day I hear from personal training clients that they don’t like the taste of diet soda. Somehow they think this justifies drinking 300-400 calories worth of sugary soda. IT DOESN”T. If you want a soda, limit yourself to ONE DIET SODA per day. You need to drink water, not soda. And sugar soda is completely off limits — it is bad for your teeth, your waistline and your health.

Do you like coffee drinks from Starbucks? ME TOO. But I have a Grande NONFAT latte and I limit it to a couple of times a month. I don’t have anything with full fat milk or added sugar or sugary flavors. Some of the chocolate chip/caramel drinks have over 800 calories — like 1/2 day worth of calories.

Do you like to eat out? Really watch your portions — obviously – but also what you eat. Appetizers in restaurants can MURDER a diet. A blooming onion has over 2000 calories and potato skins can have over 2000 calories — avoid anything that even resembles fried cheese.

Do you eat off your kids plate? WHY?? Those couple of mouthfuls of mac and cheese can be the difference between you losing anything that week or not.

Do you hit the candy bowl at work? Work treats like candy and birthday cake. AVOID. And with any cake situation, use the two bite limit. That allows you to taste and be done.

Check back soon for part 5 on weight loss from Douglasville Personal Trainer, Dave Hansey and the Personal Training Blog!

Ok, here at the personal training blog, I deal in reality. I don’t expect you to be Superman or Superwoman. Sometimes when the holidays come though, people blow off their diet and workout completely.

Do you REALLY want to have to start all over again?

Most people only need about 5-6 hours a week to workout. And if during the holidays you drop this down a bit, that is a lot better than blowing it off completely

BUT before you give yourself a license to do less, consider this….. Strength training of 30 mins – an hour 2 -3 times a week is at most 3 hours a week. And cardio of 45 minutes, 4 times a week is 3 hours a week. Total at the very most is 6 hours a week and there are 168 hours in a week.

THAT’S RIGHT — you only need to 6 out of 168. So hmmmmmm, is your workout really the thing in your life that you do not have time for? If you work full time, you are putting about 40-80 hours a week into your job most likely depending on your commute and profession. If you sleep 8 hours every night, you are spending 56 hours asleep.

Since most people do not work 80 hour work weeks, then I think you can see where I am going here. Spending an hour every night watching TV and winding down is a nice way to relax. Spending 3-4 hours a night in front of the TV and blowing off your workout because you are “too busy” is fooling yourself.

Do an honest analysis of how you use your time and your priorities. I think most people will find after they do this that their workout fits in easily.

New to fitness?

There are a lot of group fitness class options here in Douglasville and I know it can be very tempting to try some of the more advanced ones like full contact kickboxing. But……. make sure your body is ready for that. Many people get into commitments and get an injury and then never come back because they feel they have failed. Better to start small and stick with it than to start and stop.

I personally always suggest the spinning type classes. Most of us rode a bike as kids so we are familiar with the movement and you can go fast, slow, hard, soft and make it very personal for you. It is a good cardio workout and you can progress at your own pace.

If you like something that is more of a class atmosphere, then start with one that does not have contact or weights. Classes with full contact and weights are not strength training, they are still aerobic conditioning so you will still need to strength train so start with something that gets you motivated and moving.

If you are a SENIOR CITIZEN or have a family member who is — I always suggest Silver Sneakers. It is FREE on many insurance programs and is available at many gyms around the country. Here in Georgia, if you have Blue Cross, Humana or AARP as an insurance company or supplemental insurance, there is a good chance you can get Silver Sneakers for free. So if that interests you — CHECK!! All gyms who participate throughout the country offer the same classes and programs.

Hope that gives you a bit more details on getting started with starting a fitness program!!

Ok, I get questions every single day about group fitness classes at the Douglasville gym where I work. And people all have different opinions on what is fun and what kind of group fitness class they would like to do. Now once you figure out what you WANT to do – there is another question — WHAT CAN YOU DO — and following that — WHAT SHOULD YOU DO. Those steps are often ignored by people when choosing group fitness classes and they end up trying and getting frustrated.

There are some really amazing group fitness classes here in Douglasville. But some of them are really advanced classes – like full contact kickboxing classes — that are not for everyone. And while these might be classes you can do at some point or at some age, they may not be the class for you right now. There is a reason the injury rate in some of these high contact classes – such as full contact kickboxing – is high — it is because people are attempting to do these with no adjustments for their physical limitations.

A better plan for ANYONE — not just beginners — is to really research group fitness classes. A visit to your doctor is a must for everyone. And personally I feel a consultation with a personal trainer is well worth it. You can get your strength training workout customized for you AND you can find out what the details of every class are and decide which one is for you.

Fitness classes are fun and they can be motivating and they make a GREAT PART — yes PART not WHOLE — of your fitness routine. So do the research and find the right one for you right now.

June is Men’s Health Month and it is a great time to reflect on the issues that PLAGUE men in the United States. There are so many health issues affecting men that it is hard to know where to start. Men suffer from a variety of diseases, but there are a few key diseases that all men should be concerned with as they affect a large number of men and there are many things you can do to prevent them.

When you are under 40, the top cause of death is accidental. Once you pass the threshold of 40, the top causes shift to heart disease, cancer, stroke and lung disease. Is 40 a magic number where you should change your lifestyle? NO! All of these causes have at least some factors that can reduce your risk (or prevent the issue all together).

There is no magic bullet here. I know you would like to hear that there is something simple that you can do. And, to be honest, there is something VERY SIMPLE that you can do to reduce your risk of DYING from these diseases.

They are things that your doctor has told you for years. Eat better. Exercise more. Control your stress. Live a healthy, active lifestyle.

If you continue to live with poor dietary habits, you increase your risk. If you continue to smoke or drink when your doctor has advised against it, you increase your risk. If you continue to eat more processed food than vegetables and fresh food, you increase your risk. If you don’t know your cholesterol level and haven’t visited your doctor in years, you increase your risk.

Does it make sense?

Weight loss can be challenging. It can also be frustrating. There are lots of things you can do to help make it easier and make those results more consistent.

My first suggestion to everyone starting out or stalling out is to keep a weight loss diary. Not forever, I know that can be tedious. Try a week to start. Write down EVERYTHING!!! All that you eat and all that you drink. There are often a lot of hidden calories in things like coffee drinks and gum and candy and snacks and juices and condiments and salad dressings — you get the idea. So focus on writing everything down. Then at the end of the week, do the calculations and find out where you have issues. This can be a huge asset when your weight loss slows or stalls.

Ok, now here is a simple fact. Apply the same logic to your workout. Write it down. Add up the time. While you may have INTENDED to get to the gym 4 times this week — if you only made it once and did not work out with the intensity or amount of time — then you are not being honest with yourself when it comes to working out.

Sometimes you truly need professional help like a dietician or a personal trainer. And those are great assets, especially if you have never worked out before or are just getting started. But for a lot of people, dramatic changes can happen by just getting honest.

Well, I love to watch people get results and I am a realist. I understand that not everyone can afford to come to train a few times a week. And realistically, there are things that you can AND SHOULD do on your own. There is a commitment that you must make in order to get fit, lose weight and be healthy.

And YOU are the one who has to make that commitment. A personal trainer is a great aid. Personal training can show you a healthy, safe way to achieve your results in the shortest time possible. However, a personal trainer cannot be with you all day to encourage you to make the right food choices, to encourage you to drink water instead of coke, to encourage you to prioritize your workout and quit putting it off — see where I am going.

Personal training is a guide and is a great thing and a very needed thing for many people. But YOU are the one who makes the real difference. So if you cannot afford personal training or cannot afford as many sessions a week as you would like, do not use that as an excuse to not get fit. Make the most of the personal training sessions you do have and commit to finally getting fit.

Some people just find cardio hard. Either it is boring or not entertaining or easy to skip or you want it to be more social.

Well here is an easy way to make some family time, enjoy the fresh air and enjoy the beauty that is Douglas County. Douglasville and the surrounding area offers so many great places to go hiking — from Sweetwater to Cochran Mills to Clinton Farms to the amazing Silver Comet if you prefer walking on pavement to hiking.

And it is warm and beautiful and not hot and humid yet. So get outside. Try to vary your routine and hike at least once a week for a nice variety to your cardio.

I had a great hike this weekend (and a different one last weekend) just across the border in Alabama. There are literally HUNDREDS of places to hike within an hour of here — and there are DOZENS within 10 miles — so no excuses. Use nature for your workout and watch how if changes not only your fitness but also you mood.