4fitbodies.com

Believe me, I know times can be tough at times. Or for some of us, all the time. There is nothing unique about wanting to save money. There is also nothing elitist about having a personal trainer. Yes, while some people see celebrities with personal trainers and think that could never be them, the reality is much different.

A personal trainer can be a necessity for many people. They just would not work out AT ALL if there was not someone to be accountable to. And for other people (and don’t be too proud to admit this) what to do to get in shape is a mystery. And for people who work out “all the time” and still are not where they want to be, this goes for you too. I see lots of “gym rats” just wasting their time with workouts that are not effective and many times not even safe for them.

So that said, how do you make personal training part of your life? Well, the first thing is to commit to being to every session. Any no-shows or late cancellations are lost sessions. And that is just flushing money away. Show up — ON TIME — and work out hard. A personal trainer cannot do the work for you. And I see people every day at the Douglasville Gym where I work, who are late, no-show and who do last minute cancellations. And trust me, I UNDERSTAND being busy. But plan your personal training and your workouts INTO your life. Do not put yourself last and blow it off. That does nothing for your body and nothing for your wallet.

So, once you have accepted that you need to make working out a priority and commit to showing up, that is a HUGE step. Now, I always suggest clients do their cardio on their own. The BEST WAY I have found to date to get this done is to show up 30-45 minutes early for your session and get your cardio done. It buffers you from being late for your paid time and it gets your cardio done and out of the way without another trip to the gym.

Now, if you are good at organizing your time and putting yourself first, then you can also drop your number of weekly sessions with your trainer. This will not work if you are blowing off sessions with your trainer and skipping cardio and not showing up. I mean this for people who are COMMITTED. Then for sure, drop your sessions with your trainer down to once a week. Some people even do fine with once or twice a month for a workout tuneup — but remember you have to be REALLY honest with yourself about your ability to do this alone.

So I hope that helps you find some ways to both reduce your expenses and increase your success!!!

Tags: Douglasville, Fitness, Personal Training by David Hansey, Personal Trainer
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Keeping Stress from Destroying You

David Hansey
NASM Certified Performance Enhancement Specialist
NASM Certified Sports Fitness Specialist
NASM Certified Personal Trainer

I write a lot about sports and fitness, but there is something that seriously affects every American and it leads to a multitude of health problems. So for July, I am going to focus on Stress.

Are you completely frazzled? Is the idea of adding anything more to your life overwhelming? Already overwhelmed? Many of us run on frazzled and it is not a good thing or a badge of honor to tell people how little sleep you get, how much travel you have to do, how many hours you are at the office. If you are feeling stressed, there is often nothing you can do to remove some of the stressors. It is hard to reduce work stress, debt, family obligations. These are facts of life.

But that said, here are some things you can do to reduce the effects. These things will keep you healthier and will also help to prevent the weight gain and other health complications that are part of a stressful lifestyle. First you must eliminate some of the things that make it worse. Psychologists call the following three things “avoidance coping” which means that you are using them to cope but basically, they offer no help because you are not confronting your actual stress issues. So, while it may be difficult, ditch the following three things from your life:

- Alcohol – Ditch booze from your diet. It is a depressant and while stress increases the desire to drink, alcohol will do more harm than good leaving you sluggish and depressed.
- Tobacco – Need I actually say it. Tobacco HAS TO GO. The “stress relief” is temporary, stop smoking!!
- Junk Food and Comfort Food. While these make you feel better very temporarily, they make you FAT and they do nothing to eliminate or reduce stress.

Now it is time to think of ways to DESTRESS, now that you have taken away those bad things that were doing nothing for you. While a little bit of TV time (like an hour) might be relaxing, sitting in front of the TV or Internet for hours on end is not and it is a MAJOR waste of time. Exercise is a natural way to reduce your stress and you need to find a way to make it a part of your life. Shifting a couple of hours away from the TV into activities such as walking with your family or dog or hitting the gym can make dramatic changes in not only your stress level but your health.

There are lots of different exercise techniques that help to relax you, the key is to finding the one that works for you. So if you are new to working out, try a variety of things. Breaking a sweat EVERY DAY significantly helps to not only lower your stress level but it also makes you feel like you are working toward a healthier you, taking away that helpless feeling that being overstressed can do to you.

For more information on Sports Specific Training and Personal Training, visit my website at www.4fitbodies.com.

Tags: Chapel Hill News, Douglasville by David Hansey, Personal Trainer
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Keeping Summer Sports Safe for Kids

David Hansey
NASM Certified Performance Enhancement Specialist
NASM Certified Sports Fitness Specialist
NASM Certified Personal Trainer

As you read this, you will be seeing more and more kids in the neighborhood and maybe in your household because school is out for summer. And many of those kids will be playing sports. And whether these are organized sports such as baseball or pick up sports like playing in the neighborhood or swimming. Even if it does not seem like a sport, things like inline skating, trampoline or skateboarding are still sports. And these sports still require your kids to be in shape in order to be safe. Think it won’t happen to your kid? Well, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), more than 3.5 million children under age 14 get hurt annually playing sports.

Yes, 3.5 MILLION!!! And it is a sad fact that children die every year doing what they love. This should also be a huge wake up call for you as a parent to ensure you are doing everything that you can to prevent your child from having any kind of injury. There are lots of things you can do to help prevent your child from being a statistic. First, ensure your child has had a recent visit with the doctor and that you discussed the sports they play. And be sure to LISTEN to your doctor. If they talk about your child being overweight or out of shape, then don’t assume your child can just bounce off the couch without you putting some work into it.

So along with ensuring your children are in shape or helping them to get there, you also need to ensure you invest (your money or your time or both) to ensure their safety. Do they have all the safety equipment (does your trampoline have a net – I mention this one because 3 of them in my neighborhood do not!) Do your kids have the right footwear that fits them properly? Do your kids have helmets and gloves and wrist guards and elbow pads, etc?

A missing thing with a lot of kids is knowing the rules of the game (and the rules of the road) Many kids are injured because they don’t know how to do something properly (such as how to hit a ball in tennis or swing a bat) and they end up with injuries from the poor mechanics. And millions of kids are injured because they are unfamiliar with how to properly ride a bike. And by ride, I mean stop quickly as well as which side of the road to ride on and how to signal.

Many kids also do not know how to properly hydrate their bodies. They do not know when to drink water and how much and it is your responsibility as a parent to ensure they have water available and also to tell them how often to drink. Keep in mind that many children visit the emergency room every year for heat related conditions that are preventable. And many kids are dropped off at group sports activities without a bottle of water so be sure that your kid is not one of them.

While these suggestions are directed at children, remember, these guidelines also apply to you!! So do what you can to have a healthy, injury-free summer for the entire family!! For more information on Sports Specific Training and Personal Training, visit my website at www.4fitbodies.com.

Tags: Chapel Hill News by David Hansey, Personal Trainer
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Sports Specific Training – Baseball

David Hansey
NASM Certified Performance Enhancement Specialist
NASM Certified Sports Fitness Specialist
NASM Certified Personal Trainer

As summer begins, I am returning to focusing on the sports specific training requirements for specific sports. I have chosen baseball this month as it is a popular sport for the weekend warrior as well as for kids and teens.
Good baseball comes from proper mechanics. It is not a sport of power nor it is a test of strength. Good baseball players are strong but there are many who are much stronger who are not as good at the game. Baseball, like golf and tennis, requires a specific skill set and very good body mechanics. Some baseball players just naturally have this but not most. Knowing how to throw a ball is basic. Knowing how to throw a ball far, hard and accurate comes from a combination of strength, force transfer, proper angle and balance. If you lack one, your throw (or hit) will have less accuracy and speed.
Many amateur baseball players make up for poor mechanics with strength. This option only gets them so far. First, it stresses joints such as the elbow and shoulder because you are not aligned properly. Well you say, that is how you were taught to throw (or hit). It may very well be but usually players have adapted those teachings to their own body and their own set of strengths and limitations.
Players with poor flexibility often overcompensate by throwing harder when they would have an equally strong, forceful throw if they were just better conditioned. Throwing and swinging a bat is mostly about force transfer. You need to transfer power from other parts of your body through your arm and to the ball. Any weaknesses in your body will reduce the amount of force transferred.
That is where baseball-specific strength training comes in. It is not enough for you to do a general strength training program. You need to incorporate your sport into your training not only to get better at your sport but also to avoid damage to your elbows, back and shoulders when you hit and throw and your knees and ankles when you field and run.
The first step is determining which muscles are weak and tight and how those impact your throw and swing. This can be done with a simple posture alignment test and movement test and takes less than 10 minutes. Any Board Certified Personal Trainer has the ability to do this for you and it is a very important first step when you first start training. It allows the trainer to design your personal training program to be specific for what muscles you need to strengthen and stretch in order to improve.
Don’t worry about needing to spend hours and hours in the gym. 2-3 strength training workouts a week which includes moves specific to your needs and to baseball should do it for most people. That and a few cardio sessions every week and you will notice dramatic improvements not only in your game but how you feel during the game, after, and the next day (no more sore elbows and stiff back).

Tags: Sports Fitness by David Hansey, Personal Trainer
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