Top 10 reasons for a PT

Many automatically equate personal training with gyms full of hard-core strength trainers and body builders. This is only part of the picture. More and more people, novice and veteran exercisers alike, are working with personal trainers because they offer a practical and affordable means of getting and staying healthy. ACE, America’s Authority on Fitness, shares the following top ten reasons why you should hire a personal trainer.

1. Motivation. Personal trainers wear many hats, serving not only as coach, but also as an educator, confidant, role model and a major source of motivation and encouragement.
2. Consistency. Do you find it difficult to stick to your program? Scheduling regular appointments with a personal trainer helps eliminate any excuses you may come up with for not exercising.
3. Safety. Are you unsure about how to use the chest-press machine at the gym or how to perform walking lunges without hurting your knees? A personal trainer will show you how to exercise safely (including which exercises to avoid), and instruct you on the proper and safe use of exercise equipment.
4. Individualized instruction. An exercise program that works for one person may not work for another. A personal trainer will develop the most effective program for you based on your fitness evaluation results and personal goals.
5. Effective workouts. Today's hectic lifestyles mean you don't have time to waste on ineffective exercise routines. Personal trainers help maximize your time by providing workouts designed to meet your goals quickly and efficiently.
6. Supervision. Personal attention during exercise is the primary function of personal trainers. Need someone to spot you while you do pull-ups? Looking for feedback on your running form? That's what your personal trainer is for: to observe, assist and, if necessary, correct as needed.
7. Sports-specific training. Many amateur and professional athletes work with a personal trainer during the off-season to prepare themselves for in-season competition. Whether you want to shave some strokes off your golf score or beat your brother-in-law at tennis, a personal trainer can tailor your program to your sport of choice.
8. Injury rehabilitation. Injuries and accidents can prevent you from participating in your favorite activities. An experienced personal trainer, however, can make the road to recovery a smooth one by recommending exercises that emphasize overall muscular balance to prevent future injuries.
9. Special-needs training. Research confirms that individuals with health challenges such as diabetes, asthma, osteoporosis or heart disease benefit greatly from regular physical activity. These conditions, however, can make exercising safely a challenge. Many personal trainers are experienced in designing programs that address the special needs of these and other conditions.
10. Ego boost. It's a fact - feeling good makes you look good, and vice versa. Not only can personal trainers help you achieve your health and fitness goals, they provide you with positive feedback on your performance and bolster your confidence to take on new challenges.

Recherchiert von ACE The American Council on Exercise is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the benefits of physical activity and protecting consumers against unsafe and ineffective fitness products and instruction.

It's what's eating you!

You've probably heard the expression: "It's not what you're eating. It's what's eating you!" This well-known saying reminds us that the thoughts we entertain can have an impact on our health. Scientists have discovered that what you're thinking actually affects your physical health as well as your emotional well-being. Ulcers, indigestion, nervousness, high blood pressure and a wide variety of diseases can result from an injured immune system brought on by harmful thought patterns.

There are thoughts that heal and thoughts that hurt. If you read this article through to the end, you will discover an effective tool to enhance your emotional and physical health.

Here are five keys to emotional well-being:

1. Emotions tag right along behind your thoughts, so guard your mind carefully.
   Your emotions can't tell if what you're thinking about is really happening or if it's just an image in your head. Prove this to yourself by thinking back to when you watched a terrifying scene on television on in a movie. Even though you knew what you were watching wasn't actually happening, you were still scared - weren't you? Here's something to consider. About ten minutes after you start to dwell on something, corresponding emotions will follow.
   We are what we eat - both physically and mentally. Pay close attention to what you're feeding your mind. The books, television, movies, newspapers and even the jokes we hear enter into our lives and become part of us. So what's eating you? Examine what you're feeling and then ask yourself this question, "What have I been thinking about recently?" If you have a garbage can for a head, life will look like garbage to you.
2. Learn to develop a cheerful attitude toward life
   Life can be painful, but it's possible to overcome. Choose to behave in a cheerful way as much as possible even if you don't feel like it. You may be surprised at what happens. Cheerfulness is contagious. A positive attitude toward life may help ward off sicknesses. Psychology Professor Sheldon Cohen (Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh) found that relaxed, happy people are less prone to catch colds than unhappy, anxious people.
3. Deal with stress as an opportunity to grow
   Stress can be a killer. People who go through stressful events seem to get sicker more often than those who have less problems confronting them. But some people thrive on stress. This tends to show that the problem is not stress, but how we deal with it. When we experience times of anxiety and fear, our brains release hormones as part of the fight-flight syndrone to prepare us for dangerous situations. When the body receives too many of these "danger" messages from our brains, our disease-resistance systems are weakened. Stressful situations seem to cause increased illnesses in those who consider themselves to be victims and who react with anxiety and frustration. Others see stressful situations as opportunities to overcome. So why not choose this positive approach yourself?
4. Make the right friends
   Select people who are cheerful instead of depressed for the majority of your friends. Emotions can be transferred almost by osmosis. Retired baseball Coach, John Scolinos (from California Polytechnic College, Pomona), used to tell his winning baseball players, "Show me who you're with and I'll tell you who you are." We need a positive social life that includes friends, close family members, churches and members of organizations. Those who have satisfying social lives enjoy improved resistance to illness
5. Let wisdom from the world's greatest book be your guide
   "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones" (Proverbs 17:22 NIV). "All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast." (Proverbs 15:15 NASV).
   

Recherchiert von Patricia Wagner Patricia Wagner offers informative tips on living a more energetic lifestyle at http://www.a-to-z-wellness.com and through her free "A to Z Health Tips" newsletter.

ACE Lists Top Ten Ways to Improve Your Workout

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – June 16, 2004 – The first step in improving your health is finding—or making—the time to exercise. But just going through the motions won’t give you the health benefits you’re looking for. Doing the same workout over and over can get boring and you are unlikely to see improvements because you are always recruiting the same muscle fibers. Changing things up can bring amazing results. ACE, America’s Authority on Fitness, shares the following top ten 10 ways to improve your workout.

1. Change the mode or intensity of your training. Altering your routine will help you avoid conditioning plateaus and force your body to adapt to new movements and levels of intensity. Get creative and challenge yourself.
2. Hire a personal trainer. Working out with a certified personal trainer allows you to focus on the exercise at hand and let the trainer worry about the routine. A trainer will keep your workouts fresh and always progressing.
3. Eat properly and stay hydrated. Without proper nutrition and fluid intake, there is no way you can have a great workout. Your body needs these fuels to build muscle and repair damaged tissue.
4. Emphasize quality over quantity. Although it may seem that working out more often would be the best way to get fit, more intense workouts performed less often will actually produce greater results. Your body needs rest to recover and repair damaged muscle tissue and avoid injury.
5. Incorporate mind-body training. Mind-body fitness has been associated with improved muscular strength, flexibility, balance and coordination, as well as increased mental development and self-efficacy.
6. Exercise at the right time for your body. Work with your body’s natural energy level—not against it. Exercise when you usually have the most energy, rather than putting your workout off until a time when you might not feel your best.
7. Get a workout partner. Exercising with a partner makes you accountable to someone else for each workout and can improve adherence to a program. A partner can inspire you to push yourself a little bit harder when your energy level is not at its peak.
8. Emphasize breathing. When strength training, take full breaths during each exercise, exhaling on the exertion and inhaling as you release. During cardiovascular exercise, full breaths will deliver as much oxygen as possible to the working muscles, making them more efficient.
9. Use a heart-rate monitor. A heart-rate monitor is a great tool to gauge how hard your body is working and can help you stay within your target heart-rate training zone.
10. Listen to music. Music can make a workout more fun and give you that extra burst of energy you need to work your hardest.

Recherchiert von ACE The American Council on Exercise is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the benefits of physical activity and protecting consumers against unsafe and ineffective fitness products and instruction.