Personal Training Blog with Douglasville Personal Trainer David Hansey

So, you ask yourself, is it possible to make personal training an option for anyone? Well, actually yes. Not that everyone needs or wants personal training all the time but it can add to everyone’s life.

I had a great new client last week who reminded me of this. One of my earliest clients was a wonderful lady who was having medical issues that were preventing her from walking. And I mean AT ALL. She came to her sessions in a scooter and really worked hard. We did a lot of corrective training and she still trains with me and walks — WALKS. It is such a dramatic change in a personal training client that it really touches your heart.

Well I was reminded of how important it is to have quality of life with my new client last week. She is a very nice lady also with medical issues that make day to day living uncomfortable and at times difficult. And when I have a client whose daily life can be so improved by personal training and I watch how hard they work — and how hard they want it — it is always dramatic.

Now I enjoy all my clients on many different levels and I love watching them succeed. But it is these clients who struggle with just their daily life that truly make my job rewarding and make me so happy to be a personal trainer so that I can help them to find a way to make that daily struggle easier.

Ok, here at the Personal Training Blog, I like to dish a good dose of reality.

I get a lot of people telling me that personal training is expensive. Like all professional services, it is not going to come cheap. And you get what you pay for. So a trainer who makes $9 an hour is going to most likely lack the professional training to give you a safe and effective workout.

Guidelines for personal training were established by IHRSA due to a serious need to determine the professional standard that you need to look at — CLICK BOARD CERTIFIED at the top of the page to read these guidelines. That is STEP ONE for you when looking for a personal trainer.

Now, once you have chosen a board certified trainer — you have a few responsibilities to meet your goals.
1- Show up early — and I mean at least 1/2 hour. This is when you do your cardio as well as get warmed up. It also buffers from any issues such as traffic so you don’t waste any of your time not training.

2- Show UP — Yes, if you cannot make an appointment, then cancel with 24 hour notice. Most trainers charge for last minute cancellations and be honest with why you are canceling. Is your child ill? Is your car tire flat? Or do you just want to do something else?

3 – Don’t sabotage yourself. If you are doing training with a personal trainer, disclose the other things you do. Do you not do ANYTHING else even though your trainer thinks you are doing cardio 3 times a week. Then be honest about it.

4 – Be realistic and honest about your goals. If you aren’t honest about your goals, it will be very hard for your trainer to establish a routine to meet them.

If you are able to stick to those things, you will find that your goals will come more into focus and become goals you can achieve.

I had an interesting e-mail recently from someone saying they were in their 50s and out of shape and asking if I work “with people like that”

It kinda made me take a pause. Everyone is unique and everyone is an individual. Fitness and personal training are not about living up to someone else’s ideal. It is about living healthy and being happy IN YOUR EYES.

I have clients who come to me and can barely (or not even) walk. I have clients who are very overweight and scared of the health issues they are facing. I have people who have never worked out before. I have people who are athletes and are looking to play professionally or improve their game.

Personal training is P-E-R-S-O-N-A-L. The reasons you do it are yours alone. How long you want to train with a trainer (or how often) are your choices. Many people know that they cannot afford a trainer 3 times forever. But they know that once a week (and doing their other workout sessions alone) keeps them on track.

So try not to assume that personal training is for someone else (or just for celebrities). It can be for anyone in some shape or form. You may not want (or be able to afford) a ton of sessions — so what. Do a few and show up to every single one on time, warmed up and ready to work out — and get the most bang for your buck.

I have had a lot of people asking me about nutrition. Nutrition is a HUGE part of a healthy lifestyle and I know it can be challenging.

But — Nutrition is a HUGE part of feeling healthy, being healthy and looking good.

If you have a terrible diet, you will be tired, you will have trouble losing weight, you will have trouble finding the energy to work out.

So, you need to find some easy ways to change your diet. I am talking about permanent change here. So first step is to identify some things in your diet that you can change. So keeping a diary for at least a week makes the most sense. Then identify how you can change a few things. Trust me — a few small changes will lead to big changes. Then look at how you can eat more fruit, vegetables and drink more water.

Those changes right there will make dramatic changes in how you look and feel so try these small changes for a bit and watch how they turn into big changes.

For a diary, there is an easy one on my 4 fit bodies site NUTRITIONAL DIARY FROM THE PERSONAL TRAINING BLOG (click to get the printable diary)

For ways to incorporate more fruit, veggies and water into your life, there are lots of ideas and recipes on my recipe site DOUGLASVILLE WEIGHT LOSS

We support resolutions if they are achievable and you can quantify them. A blanket resolution of “I want to lose weight” is USELESS.

Make it something you can measure — like I want to drink 8 glasses of water a day — and you will be able to do it.

So here is one we suggest — I will do cardio for at least 30 minutes 3 days a week. On the days that I don’t feel like it, I will go to the gym and stand on a treadmill

Yep – that’s it!! On the days that you don’t want to or don’t feel like, you will go to the gym. Blowing it off completely is where you fail. So show up and commit to just standing there — I bet that makes you actually work out once you are there.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE PERSONAL TRAINING BLOG — Wishing you a happy, healthy 2008!!

Here at the personal training blog, it is no secret that I feel that the best workout is one designed just for you. While doing a fitness class can be fun and some of them are even a good workout, group fitness classes do not (and NEVER WILL) give you a workout that is as good as a personally designed one. It is like the difference between a custom made suit and one off the rack. The one off the rack may not be the right length, the sleeves may be too long, in order to make it fit in the shoulders, the waist may be too big. You get the idea.

And I am not going to sugar coat it here. Fitness classes are the suit off the rack. They are designed for the masses. They are not concerned with your goals, your weight loss, your risk of osteoporosis — because they don’t know YOU. Only a workout custom designed for you knows you and your goals and needs. Personal training is the custom made suit and it is designed for you specifically.

So for the new year, if you have a resolution and the commitment and strength to see it through — Come on, of course you do — I am going to suggest one thing to you. Use personal training as one of the tools to help get you there. For some people, it only takes a few sessions for them to learn a great routine. Other people find that having a trainer with them for the first few weeks can really help keep them on track. Again, custom for you — what YOU NEED!!

It is the time of year that I see people starting to get into the fitness lifestyle. I know it can be hard to start something new so let’s go over a few things. First a few myth busters.

1 – you don’t need to hurt. I have so many people tell me that they hurt a lot. Working out sometimes causes aches and pains but it should not hurt you to the point that it interferes with your life. If you can’t walk down stairs or raise your arms or conduct your life normally, then there is something wrong with your workout and it needs to be adjusted. Be sure to tell your personal trainer if you have any pain, stiffness or anything that interferes with your quality of life.

2 – it does not take a lot of time. Two strength training sessions a week and three cardio sessions a week. You can bust that out in 3 trips to the gym or two to the gym and one run around the block.

So now that you realize it does not have to be painful and that it will not take a lot of your time — you need to realize a few of the realities.

1 – working out is not a license to eat anything and everything. The average workout burns about 300- 600 calories so realistically, you will lose about a pound a week if you don’t change your diet plan. Adding sweets and treats will just sabotage your workout.

2 – you need to know what you are doing. Just showing up and spinning your wheels will just frustrate you. A few sessions of personal training will give you a thorough program that is unique for you and your needs and your goals. And realistically, every budget can afford a few sessions. So seriously think about it — personal training can make a dramatic difference in your success.

I would like to take a minute to thank everyone for the wonderful year I have had. I am truly blessed to have been a part of your lives and your fitness and to have had the opportunity to help so many of you change your lives. I look forward to more in 2008 and would like to wish all my readers here at the Personal Training Blog as well as all my clients at the gym and in Douglasville — Merry Christmas.

I love blogging here on the personal training blog. I find personal training to be a passion and seeing people succeed and get past their challenges (whether it be weight loss, injury rehabilitation or getting past some other challenge)

So I know that regardless of what challenges you face, the holidays put extra pressure. They put time pressure on you and for some people, it all falls apart during the holidays.

Realistically, working out is just a few hours a week so it should not be something that you need to give up. Try multi-tasking like watching your favorite program on TiVo while you are on the treadmill. That said, some people enjoy NOT multitasking and just being able to work out and relax and not have to think of a million things so find what works for you here.

NOW — let’s talk about fitness classes. I see lots of people frustrated by their success with fitness classes at the gym where I do personal training. And I also see lots of people at the same Douglasville gym completely happy with their results from fitness classes. So really, when considering taking fitness classes, remember, THIS IS ABOUT YOU. If a group fitness class does not fit into your schedule — you won’t go. If a class leaves you hurting — you won’t go. If a class does not get you the results you want — you won’t go. SO the KEY with FITNESS CLASSES and group fitness is just to make sure that this works for you.

Now for your strength training. Oh you know you need strength training!!! Best way to reduce the time of your strength training, you can not rest between exercises. Now, your muscles need the rest but you can alternate your upper and lower body. Like do one set of lunges, then your pushups, then back to lunges — see what I mean — no sitting there resting — active resting. A great way to make the most of your time without reducing the quality of your workout. Check back soon for more details from the personal training blog and personal trainer, Dave Hansey.

Yes, I am not done cleaning out your cupboards and fridge!! Don’t worry, there are lots of healthy delicious foods you can have in your cupboard..

So let’s look in the rest of the cupboard. What do you have for condiments and spices? If you have very few spices, you should question why. Trying a new recipe every week will get you trying new healthy foods. There are lots on my weight loss site, www.douglasvilleweightloss.com Trying a new recipe every week should not be a drag, it will open your eyes to a new way of eating.

What about oils and vinegars. Got any? I have at least 4 different vinegars along with olive and canola oil and so should you. They are the ingredients of healthy ways to dress salads as opposed to heavy dressings.

On to the rest of your condiments. Ketchup is tomato flavored sugar. If you use it rarely and sparsely, then ok. If you use it in large amounts, you would be surprised how much sugar and calories you are getting from just ketchup. I would say toss it unless you are super confident that it is used extremely rarely.

On to your mayo — hah, what? You have some? Say bye. Regardless of whether it is real mayo, some spread, light, fat free whatever — toss, toss, toss.

Got mustard. Very few calories, lots of taste and low in sugar….. hmm, sounds like a keeper to me!

Sugar in a bottle — this is anything from chocolate sauce to jam to syrup. Sorry, ditch em all

You may be able to add these things back later when you are more in control of your eating and able to portion — be honest, you are not capable of doing that yet. So all these things must go so you can learn to eat properly

Don’t worry, there are more details coming to help you with your progress toward the fit new you.

If you have questions, feel free to comment me here at personal training blog. I hope these tips help you with your new fitness routine!

Some people have willpower – others do not.

If you are not at your ideal weight, you are in the DO NOT category. Do not try to kid yourself. Be honest with yourself and realize that you do not have the ability to have things in your home that are not healthy. And in reality, those things that you have in the house “for the kids” or “for the spouse”, why are you encouraging them to eat poorly?

So let’s go clean out that pantry and get real with honest eating.

First, remember that fresh food is usually your best choice. So let’s start with the fridge and freezer. Toss out the margerine – a tub of fat — come on. If you actually need to add a small amount of butter or oil to something, you are better off with olive oil and even butter so get rid of the tub of margerine.

Check your sugars — while yogurt is healthy, getting one with sugar as a top ingredient and a million grams of sugar is a NO GO. If you can’t find one that is low in sugar, you are not trying hard enough. Check out the brands meant for babies, the organic brands and check out plain yogurt (and add your own fruit)

Consider new alternatives – plain yogurt makes a great alternate to sour cream — trust me it is good!!! Vegetarian corn dogs for the kids have more vitamins, less fat and about 1/2 the calories of the real thing and they taste good. Veggie burgers such as Gardenburger and Morningstar Farms make a great alternative to a greasy burger.

Is your crisper full — it takes a lot of veggies to have a healthy diet and if your fridge has almost none, you have to ask yourself where do you plan to get your 5 servings a day.

In the freezer, is it full of ice cream, greasy toaster pastries and instant biscuits. – Ya, gee, I wonder why you can’t stay on track too. Throw it all out.

Moving on to the pantry!!! I will have more on fridge fixing in the future too so stay tuned!

In your pantry, the biggest enemy is sugar. And he hangs out in there with his evil friend, fat. Watch out for fat free products because to make you not miss the fat, they usually add more sugar.

Cookies — You really should not have any packaged cookies in the house. Sorry, but this is not something that should be part of your diet. A cookie while you are out somewhere once in a while with a coffee is going to be a lot more satisfying and it has a built in calorie limit because you only buy one not a whole bag.

Crackers — I have some plain soda crackers in the cupboard and I use them rarely with things like tuna but there are very few crackers that are not pure carbs. Some of the flatbread crackers like Wasa are a good alternative because they have a TON of fiber and very little calories.

Bread — read the label on your bread. Does it have ingredients like fructose, maltrose, molasses — well those are all SUGAR so they should not be main ingredients in your bread. And eating a bread with 100 calories a slice is crazy. That means your whole lunch is pretty much just your bread. Use your calories more wisely.

Cereal — I see very few people who talk about their weight problem who eat oatmeal (not sugar loaded instant but just oatmeal) for breakfast. Along with some fruit and some protein, you have a low calorie nutritious breakfast. Can you say that about frosted anykind of cereal. Most boxed cereal is sugar city and even the ones who dropped their sugar, are still loaded and have almost the same amount of carbs as the original

I will be having a part 2 of this coming out soon – the changes listed above will make dramatic changes to your diet and weight loss success. TRY them if you are not getting the results you want.