From the info in my last post you should know your family’s health history to be aware of medical conditions you are at risk for developing simply by being who you are.

Another way to keep yourself fit is to make sure that you find ways to make fitness enjoyable. you are less likely to stay committed to an activity you disllike.

Not everybody loves to exercise, and if this is the case for you, try to figure out exactly what it is about exercise that you dislike.

There are so many ways to be active and exercise, the key is finding one that gives you a sense of pleasure and fullfilment. Here are some of my tips to finding a form of exercise you enjoy.

1. Exercise with your children. I know when I am playing outside with my son, I get the best feeling when he is smiling and laughing. He is 3 years old and let me tell you I get a lot of exercise chasing after balls and him.
2. Exercise with a friend. It helps to pair exercise with something you already enjoy, like spending time with friends. This also helps because you have someone else to help motivate you.
3. Try different activities. Ask those you know who are already active and find out what they like to do. There’s always a chance you will like it as well.
4. vary your routine. I always change up my routine every 2 weeks to prevent boredom. You can change your workout as often as you like. Play around with doing different activities on different days.
5. Always progress slowly. Too often people jump into exercise and don’t give their bodies enough time to gradually adjust. This can lead to injury or extreme soreness that will deter you from doing the same activity again.

Try something, everything, whatever it takes to make exercising fun. If it’s fun and enjoyable, you are more likely to stick with it.

The Fit Nation Checklist is a list compiled by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, medical correspondent for CNN.  On his Fit nation website he has posted the following list that provides great tips on how to get and stay fit.  I will look at each component separately and provide my own take on how to utilize the list.

FIT NATION CHECKLIST

1. Learn your family health history
2. Make fitness fun
3. Get at least 30-minutes of exercise daily
4. Drink water
5. Be a role model for children
6. Take the stairs
7. Be consistent
8. Do the math
9. Eat a healthy breakfast
10. Involve the whole family

1. Learn your family health history.

  You probably already know if your parents have any medical conditions, but take a closer look at the conditions and find out how exercise can decrease your risk for developing the same conditions.  Exercise does not have to be viewed as a chore. 

Think of your commitment to exercise as an investment in your life, or better yet, your quality of life.

The average life expectancy for Americans is 77.6 years, a record high according to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The longer we live the more likely we are to experience illnesses and physiological complications.  Just like a motor vehicle, the longer you have it, the more problems will arise do to normal wear and tear.  Our bodies aren’t built to last forever, but the better we take care of our bodies, just like your car, the more good or problem free years we can get out of it. 

By knowing what hereditary factors may influence your health, you can view exercise and fitness as a way to possibly, delay or avoid “family-related” health problems.

Check out the illustration by Wellington Grey describing obesity among may countries. 

 http://www.wellingtongrey.net/miscellanea/archive/2007-05-06–world-fatness.html

USA takes the cake of course at a whopping 31% obesity.  Obesity here is defined as a BMI of 30+. 

Of course BMI is not the best measure of body fatness because it doesn’t describe body composition, however, for the population as a whole, it does work since the avaerage American lives a sedentary lifestyle.

Looking at the countries with a smaller percentage of the population being obese I believe physical activity on a daily basis is the key.  The majority of people in those countries get more physical activity in their daily lives. 

After seeing this graphic, we should all go out for a walk, run, swim, bike ride, just be active.

Yesterday marked my 1st half marathon since relocating to the Triangle area 6 months ago. 

 For those of you who don’t know, I am an avid trail runner and have been a little distraught since moving out here at the lack of organized trail racing here in the raleigh, durham, chapel hill area. 

My race on saturday was great.  I could not have asked for better conditions.  the race began at 8:00 when the temp was nice and cool.  The the course wound its way through Bur Mil Park in Greensboro, NC. 

Got some great views of Lake Brandt, and met some great folks along the way.  This is  a trail race I would recommend to anyone, and I will definitely be present next year. 

I am very proud to say that this race helped me set a trail half marathon PR of 1:52:42.  and I earned 3rd place in my age group. 

I am currently searching for a good trail race closer to the area.  If anyone has any suggestion, please shoot them my way.  I do plan on running the Umstead marathon next spring.

Ok, so now you know to look for a background in health and fitness and make sure the certifications are legit.  What else should you know?

Experience and References

Just like you wouldn’t want a first time surgeon operating on you, you want a trainer with some experience.  The best way to get a feel for how much experience a trainer has is to ask him or her specific questions as to when and where they trained previously and ask to speak to former clients, not present clients.

In the business of personal training, word of mouth is one of the best marketing strategies. Former clients will give you a good idea of their experience.  I know from my own experiences that sometimes you can’t make everyone happy, but if you can get about 3 names from your trainer it should be enough.   

Make sure to ask about contracts, how payment is made, how sessions are tracked, and any cancellation/rescheduling policies.  You can also ask for a free trial session, you get a test drive before you buy a car right?  Why not test out your trainer.

Just as with any profession, there are good apples and bad apples.  The take home message from these last few posts is to make sure you examine the apple before you buy it.

My last post dealt with how to shop for a personal trainer and the first key thing to look for is a fitness/exercise related degree.

Another thing to look for is:

Certification

    There are a ton of different certifications out there and some are exetremely easy to attain.  Some gyms offer their own certification.  certifications can be obtained by taking a course online.  I have even seen some trainers put down certifications that do not even exist.  but since there is no regulatory agency to define the quality of a certification, it is up to you (the consumer) to do some research.

 I will help you out by naming some very creditable organizations who offer personal training certifications. you are also encouraged to check out the websites for these organizations. Continue reading "Buyer Beware Cont’d"

Obviously I am an advocate of using a personal trainer to help you reach your fitness goals whatever they may be, but there are a lot of trainers out there with little or no business taking someone’s health or fitness into their hands. 

The problem is that there is no independent regulatory agency for personal trainers.  This means that any idiot can call himself/herself a  personal trainer. 

There are a lot of scam artists out there, and I have run into a few of them personally.  It may take a little leg work, but before you spend any money, find out what you are really paying for. 

My next few blogs will highlight the most important things you should know before working with a personal trainer.

Key things to look for when shopping for a personal trainer.

1. Education-  Find out where he/she went to school.  make sure the degree is in a health and exercise related field. 

Good degrees to have would be Physical Education, Athletic Training, Exercise Science or physiology, etc.  They key here is that you want someone who has been around fitness and exercise for a long time, has an obvious interest in the field, and makes health and fitness part of their own lifestyle.

 My next post will look at what certifications to look for and how to spot a fake. 

I cannot recall how many someone has asked me this question. 

It all depends on what your goal is. 

If you are looking to improve your cardiovascular endurance, do that first.  If you want to increase your muscle strength, lift weights first.

Follow the principle of specificity.  When your body is fueled up and fresh, do the activity you want to improve first, that way you can devote the highest level of effort and concentration.

If you are more concerned with weight loss the answer is a bit more complicated.  Weight lifting requires a more concentration and effort than cardio.  It is best to do the activity that is more complex at the beginning. 

If you do cardio first, you won’t be able to put forth the calorie burning effort to get the most from weight training.

If fat loss is your goal, then the same order applies to you too.  The body burns carbohydrate more quickly and easily than fat and more carbohydrate is used to fuel intense activities like weight training. 

It also takes time for you to start burning more calories from fat which is why cardio is so important to any fat loss program.  By weight training first you will use up a lot of your carbohydrate stores and you body will need to rely more on fat to give you calories to use during your cardio.

If your weight lifting program is not very intense then the order is not as important as the amount of effort you put into both cardio and lifting. 

So which is better for fat loss, long duration, low intensity cardio, or high intensity interval training?  We’ll talk about that next time.

Bulky Women (part 2) 

The second important thing you need to build muscle is the proper training program.

The program needs to be intense enough to overload your muscular system and signal your body to start building more muscle.  Remember that you also have to be eating enough calories too. And we are talking about a lot of calories.

The training programs used for muscle growth (hypertrophy) use high intensity and high volume weight lifting.  The way to overload muscle is to make it lift more weight than it’s used to.  Body builders are sometimes jokingly referred to as “gym rats” because they spend so much time there.  It’s not because they can’t find anywhere else to hang out, it’s because they have to do so many sets and repetitions and include enough rest between those sets. 

Some bodybuilders even train multiple times during the day for hours at a time. 

Most of us can’t afford to spend the time most bodybuilders need to spend shaping their bodies. 

I’ll discuss the third component to building muscle in the next post so keep a lookout.