Inspire Others

Some people are inspirational and giving.

  The following is a true story.
 I have a new client who is enjoying her training and asking a lot of questions about nutrition.  By the way I love clients who are like this.
 She came to the gym on Monday and told me that she has been in touch with friends from Hawaii who are very overweight. She offered to walk the Hawaii Marathon with them in December if they would agree to prepare..  The friends have started walking small distances trying to get in shape for this Big Adventure.  I am so impressed with the attitudes of all these women.

  It clearly doesn't take that much to encourage and motivate others.
  Maybe there's someone in your life who needs a nudge and could use some help.

I am sure you will be appreciated and the reward will be obvious.

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Workout vs Cardio

One of the most common questions I am asked is:  What should I do first cardio or weights?

My preference would be to do them at different times altogether.
That being unrealistic for most people, the next best plan would be weights followed by cardio.

Believe it or not weight training, and the ability to contract muscles takes concentration. If you exhaust yourself with cardio before your weight training session, most likely  the weight work will suffer.

Try getting a good workout when you are depleted. Not likely.

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Cardio and Muscle Mass

Call me a "groupie" but, my favorite athletes to watch in competition are short track sprinters.  Why - because they look so damn good.

So what makes this rock hard muscular look that's so appealing -  Sprinting.  So if I translate this to an average person I would suggest that the cardio be done more like sprints than long distance running.  We have all seen people who are in the gym day after day, year after year doing endless cardio and not looking a bit different.  So try something else - INTERVALS - short bursts which can be done on a tread mill, bike, stair stepper or any cardio equipment.

Try starting with a warm up and then sprint for 30 seconds.   Follow with an active rest for 90 seconds.  Continue for 20 minutes.  After you are comfortable with this output, increase your sprint time and decrease the rest until you are able to go one minute on one minute off for 20 minutes.  Alternatively you can experiment with the length of sprint and active rest times. Now that's CARDIO.

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First Things First

It is impossible to have an effective training plan unless you are clear about your goals.

Thinking about what you would like to accomplish is serious business.

A strong personal commitment must be made - for example wanting to lose  20 pounds of fat while gaining some lean muscle requires training, cardio and dietary changes.

The exact program for training, the method of cardio and how the diet is changed will require some personal choices.  The more seriously you approach the method, the more likely you will be to reach your goals.

Luck has nothing to do with this.  

You can accomplish whatever you set out to as long as the goal is clear and the plan is doable. Seek some good information and or help from a personal trainer and get going.

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