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Stick to it in 2013! Written by Brett Klika

December 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

GO GREEN AND GET FIT! This article is sponsored by AC4 Fitness. AC4Fitness is a neighborhood style health club specializing in strength training and cardio-equipment along with 24/7 access for members. That’s right, as an AC4 Fitness member you receive your own key allowing you to workout at any time that is best for you! And as featured in the LA Times, AC4 Fitness is a showcase for cardio-equipment that produces rather than uses electrical energy. Every time you exercise on an Elliptical your human power is fed into the electrical grid. Taking care of the environment while taking care of yourself just seems like a smart thing to do. And as a membership option you may also enjoy HydroMassage, Tanning, and Wi-Fi—all in a non-competitive, and clean environment with No Sales People. If you’re looking for an alternative health club that is: Simple – Affordable – Comfortable – Convenient – AND A LITTLE GREEN, give AC4 Fitness a look.You won’t be disappointed. Check out our modest membership fees and “paperless” enrollment process at www.AC4Fitness.com or visit us at 52 N Fairview Ave., Goleta, CA.

Stick to it in 2013!
Written by Brett Klika C.S.C.S.

Good resolutions are simply checks that people draw on a bank where they have no account.  ~Oscar Wilde

Ahh, The NewYear’s resolution. It’s often a little white lie we tell ourselves to paint a picture of hope, change, and a flat stomach for the year to come. It’s not that we’re dishonest. It’s not that we don’t really WANT change, we just don’t know how to stick to a program.

The above dilemma is why more than 50% of people who begin a workout plan in the New Year find their way back to the couch within six months.  The notion of “working out every day” looks good on paper in December but as the reality of time, energy, and motivation set in, the idea loses its sizzle by summer.

Do you find yourself in this same predicament year after year with diet and exercise? If so, let’s make a change in 2013.

Here are 5 tips to help you stick to your program in 2013.

Instead of just writing your resolution, write why you are making that resolution.
If there is a strong enough “why” we can make anything happen. If there was a $100 in the middle of a busy freeway, would you run out to get it? Probably not. What if a loved one was trapped in the middle of that freeway? It would probably change your motivation.  Your “why” for behavior got stronger!

If exercise is your plan, why? What will exercise do for you physically, mentally, and emotionally? What are the ramifications if you don’t succeed?

Find activities you enjoy.
Regardless of what the media marketing machine tells you, there is no “one” best way for everyone to exercise. Odds are, there are activities you enjoy doing more than others.  Do activities you enjoy (or dread less) and do them frequently. Don’t set yourself up for failure by resolving to do something you hate doing.

Get an “accountabilabuddy.”
Research has shown that you are more than twice as likely to exercise if you do the program with someone else. Why? Accountability!  It’s a lot harder to sleep through that alarm when you know a friend is waiting for you at the gym.

If you’re having a tough time finding a friend to commit, a personal trainer is a probably the most effective option there is for building accountability and expertise into a program.

Set realistic and specific goals.
Goals are easy to write. They are much more difficult to fulfill. Instead of saying you want to “lose 60 pounds by not eating any junk food and exercising every day”, you may want to be more specific and realistic. While 60 pounds may be your big goal, you can start with 10. If you currently don’t exercise at all, aim for 2 days per week and 30 minute workouts. If your diet is poor, make some subtle adjustments like “no sugary drinks Monday through Friday.”

These goals are more attainable and will deliver you increments of success. You can always build on them!

Exercise at the same time every day.
If you wait to “find the time” to exercise, it’s not going to happen. You need to make the time and build in a portion of your day reserved for exercise. For most people, first thing in the morning is the time of day they can control. Even those who claim to “not be morning people” eventually come to enjoy the uninterrupted solace of morning.

If it’s not the morning, create a time such as your lunch break, or on the way home from work, where you can commit to getting fit!

Exercise these tips as you’re committing to health and fitness in 2013!

This article is written by Brett Klika. Brett Klika C.S.C.S., author of “The Underground Workout Manual- Exercise and Fat Loss in the Real World” (www.undergroundworkoutmanual.com) is a world renowned human performance specialist, motivational speaker, author, and educator. In his 15 year career, Brett has accrued more than 20,000 hours of training with youth, athletes, executives, and everyday people. He uses this knowledge and experience to motivate individuals and audiences around the world through his writing, speaking, DVD’s, and free blog. To try the Underground Workout Manual for FREE and check out his blog, visit www.brettklika.com.

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New Year’s Healthy Living Prep by Maggie Ayre

December 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The New Year is a perfect time for trying something new. Unfortunately however, all too often our New Years Resolutions are set up to fail. The reason why is we tend to go over the top with our goals. For example:

 

  • Go to the gym EVERY day in January
  • ONLY eat fruit for breakfast
  • Eat 23 portions of fruit and vegetables EVERY day

You get the idea. Often our goals are simply unrealistic. Then as soon as we “fail” we go back to our old habits.

The good news is, there is a better way! Instead of focusing on what you’re going to do focus on what you want to achieve. For example:

  • Drop a dress size by February 1st
  • Be able to run a mile by 20th January
  • Get fit for skiing by half term

Each time you go to the gym or eat healthy, your actions will be a small step to achieving your goal.

Miss a single exercise session or eat an unhealthy snack? It doesn’t put you right back to square one all! It does mean however, that you’ll have to work a bit harder to keep on track.

The important thing is to choose the right goal!  It’s got to be something that means something to YOU. For example, as a teen I often joined my friends on a diet or exercise regime but I never stuck to it.  It was their goal, not mine. Here’s the bottom line:

Choose carefully.  What do you want to achieve in 2013?

Answer these questions:

  • If you could be the very best version of yourself what would you look like? What would you be capable of? What would you do?
  • What one step can you take in January 2013 to move towards becoming this person?

This single step should form the basis for your first goal.

When could you accomplish this by?  This should become your end date.  If your end date is further than 6 weeks into the New Year you need to set a mini-goal or mile stone along the way.

For example, my goal may be to be a size 10.  If I am currently a size 16 this will take longer than 6 weeks to achieve.  What could I achieve in 6 weeks?  If I work really hard I could drop 2 dress sizes but a more realistic goal would be to be a size 14 by 31st January and a size 12 by 28th February.

The next step is to decide how to achieve your goal.  In this example I might decide to snack only on fruit and only drink water whilst making sure I do 60 minutes activity everyday and 30 minutes of higher intensity activity 3 times a week.

What will your goals be for January 2013? Leave a comment and share your goal. Decide and commit!

Maggie Ayre is the UKs leading Fitness Coach for Teen Girls.As well as one-to-one and small group nutrition and fitness work with teens she has developed the 3G Program designed to be run at schools as part of the PE curriculum. She also offers mentoring for PE departments on how to re-engage teen girls with PE and has recently published her third book; “Nutrition for Exam Success – A Parent’s Guide” which is now available as a Kindle and paperback at Amazon. Maggie may be reached via www.maggieayre.com, www.nutritionplansforteens.com, www.femalefitnessrevolution.com

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How to Work in Movement When Working! By Tammy Beasley

September 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Ran out of time to catch your spinning class at the gym? Worked too late to go for a walk? Overslept and missed your morning yoga class? It’s easy to get discouraged when your busy week seems to block every plan you have made to exercise. And it’s even easier to let one missed class lead to another missed walk and then end up giving up on exercise for the entire week, maybe even the month. That’s the perfect time to change your focus. Instead of stressing over what you haven’t done, look for the small opportunities to make exercise a part of your every day routine, not just a gym class on your weekly calendar. 

You can burn extra calories every single day by adding just a few small movements or changing a few simple behaviors. 

Try these: 
1) Use “standing in line” at the grocery store or gas station as a chance to tighten your abs or tighten your glutes.
2) Perform calf raises while talking on the telephone. Studies show that simply standing doing every day activities like talking on the telephone burns more calories than sitting behind a desk.                                                                                                                                                          3) If you have stairs at home, take them every time you do a load of laundry instead of accumulating all the loads into one before you make the trip.
4) Do crunches or push ups while watching TV – maybe not every time, but challenge yourself to see how many you can accomplish during the first ten minutes of your favorite sitcom You might be surprised how quickly the number increases.
5) Do jumping jacks during commercials. Your younger kids will love the new game, and your teenagers already expect odd behavior from you anyway!
6) Do upper-body stretches in the shower, like shoulder shrugs. 

Remember, wellness is a lifestyle, not just an aerobics class. The small steps matter in the big picture of health. A stressful week with limited time will not get the best of you when you put these new habits into play to keep you motivated and moving.

Tammy Beasley, RD, CSSD, LD, CEDRD
Rev It Up for Life
www.revitup4life.com

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Why Pilates Works by Chanda Fetter

August 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Pilates was created as a way to address injured soldiers in WWI. It was a means to keep the integrity and strength of the muscle while recovering from battle wounds. Yes, it was designed originally for men and as a sense of rehab and ultimately preventative care. Since in America, Pilates has taken on all different forms, but the foundation has always been  a common thread; people function better as a result of training in the Pilates method.

Corrects Muscular Imbalances. Through conscious repetition and attention to detail, any function can be re-learned. When the body is traumatized by an injury or accident its protective mechanism is to “shut down” the injured area. The only problem is the body doesn’t naturally “turn on” that same area once it’s better. Whatever compensation the body has done to work around the injured area is now the new norm of that junction. Over time, this uneven recruitment of muscle tissue creates asymmetries (mismatched sides, imbalances). These asymmetries lead to improper wear and tear on the joints and spine, ultimately causing improper GAIT (how we transfer weight through the body), stress on hips, back and spine.

Repairs and improves Muscle Recruitment Patterns. Once you’ve worked to correct your muscular imbalances the body will naturally grab hold of these learned behaviors and the neurological relationship between brain and body will be repaired. After all your body wants to behave properly, we just need to be conscience in our movements while this process is taking place, then ultimately it will do it on it’s own.

Functional Adaptation. Pilates has many parallels to functional movement patterns. For instance, when working any weight over our heads we teach the clients to draw down into their middle back muscles (Lattisimus Dorsi) as opposed to taking that weight directly into the neck and shoulders. This is functional to life, all movements should translate as such to all activities of daily living.

Everybody can do it. Pilates is based out of a rehabilitative principle and has adapted to the general population over the years to be one of the most safe and effective forms of exercise. It allows you to maximize the potential of each muscle group without compromising the spine or joints. It promotes core strength, balance, flexibility in a way that helps you understand the limits and potential of your body.

By Chanda Fetter
IM=X Pilates Studio, Owner

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