4fitbodies.com

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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Ok, being a personal trainer means I get to see more details into people’s lives than someone who rings up your groceries in the local Douglasville grocery store. But it also means that I am able to see things from a safe distance. So I tend to see what is holding people back before they do.

So if your weight loss or fitness has stalled out, here are a few of the things I see:

- Restaurant Meals — Eating out a LOT is a challenge for a diet. Even grilled veggies are brushed with butter in most restaurants to make them more attractive so if you want to continue to eat out regularly and frequently, you will need to make a serious adjustment to what you eat and the portion. Try things like grilled salmon and a tossed salad or soup and 1/2 sandwich. Or chicken and vegetables (tell them to add no additional oils or butter). There are things you CAN eat on every menu – but trust me — it will be some work!

- Blowing off training and cardio sessions. Yes, everyone is busy and everyone has too much to do. But blowing off cardio sessions is not healthy and canceling strength training is not either. Commit to a set amount of time — I personally like 5-7 hours a week — but pick something you can do — and REFUSE to let yourself cancel that!

- Liquid Calories — Calories in drinks are hidden to many people. They don’t get that there are TONS of calories — sometimes 1/2 day’s worth of calories in one sugary drink. So read labels!! And drink water and plain coffee and unsweetened herbal teas and dilute things like juice and sports drinks if you cannot eliminate them completely.

- Cheating on your workout — If you are committed to doing 30 minutes of cardio – that is 30 REAL minutes. Not a 5 minute warm up, 5 minutes talking to your friend, 3 minutes stopped while you answer your cell phone — could you really not have left that in your locker and given yourself time to spend JUST on you — see where I am going here — when you think 30 minutes cardio, make it truly that!! And if you tend to cheat on the elliptical, then get off it and onto the treadmill.

These are just a few of the things that I see stall personal training clients of mine at the Douglasville Gym where I work — I hope you will take them to heart if you are struggling with a plateau or a stall in your fitness and weight loss goals.

Tags: Douglasville, Fitness, Personal Training by David Hansey, Personal Trainer
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I have a lot of great success stories from my clients. They inspire me EVERY DAY to keep going. From J who looks 10 years younger with his much smaller face from his weight loss to L who came to me unable to walk and now walks and does so well — I am so proud!!

And now a new one, Miss T who stuck to her diet this week and lost 7 pounds IN A WEEK. I know it was an eye-opening experience for her and when she told me I was so proud like a father watching his little child learn to walk. She learned this week what her body needs and how to care for it. And while that amazing amount of weight loss will slow — yes, it will – it starts her on a path to her new healthier version of herself and that — MADE MY WEEK. That change right there makes personal training so rewarding. Congrats to her and to all my personal training clients who try and work!!!!!

Dave

Tags: Chapel Hill News, Douglasville, Fitness, Motivation, Personal Training, fitness classes by David Hansey, Personal Trainer
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Think you are healthy? Check out the following list of healthy habits and see how you are doing.

Do you smoke?

This is a death nail in your coffin. If you smoke, do everything you can to quit. It makes all other health problems worse!

Do you drink alcohol?

A couple of drinks on occasion with friends may not have long-term effects on most people. If you have other health problems, you should discuss your drinking habits with your doctor as they affect other conditions and medications. An example is diabetes. Alcohol is a NO-GO for diabetics as well as some other conditions.

When was the last time you went to the doctor?

There are MILLIONS of men in the US who have not seen a doctor in more than 10 years. If that is you, go for a check-up. Hypertension and diabetes can cause you lots of problems without being obvious so if it has been a while, go for a visit.

Is you plate colorful and full of a variety of foods?

A healthy diet has lots of variety and lots of natural foods like fruit and vegetables. If you aren’t eating a good variety of veggies EVERY DAY, you should have a hard look at your diet.

Is your workout full of variety?

If your workout is stale or you do the same thing every time, you are not making forward progress. You need to work your body in a variety of ways in order to not stop progress.

Tags: Douglasville, Fitness, Personal Training by David Hansey, Personal Trainer
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Being busy, you need to look at doing efficient moves to reduce the amount of time that you spend without sacrificing your workout. Multi functional moves may be your best bet. They make you work hard and they do double duty. Some great moves combine upper and lower body, such as side lunges with lateral raise or squats with a bicep curl. These moves really make you work so you will continue to burn calories at a higher rate than if you split them into separate moves.

Another great time saver is to cut out your rest periods. You need to be careful here! You want to ensure the body part still gets a rest – so you move on to another body part. An example would be doing one set of push-ups (upper body) and then moving right into a set of squats. This way, your upper body is resting while you work your lower body.

Be sure you are lifting enough weight to make a difference. A study by the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that participants chose a weight that was only 42 to 57 % of their one-rep maximum. You need to lift more than 70% of your one-rep maximum to gain strength. You want to be efficient, but it is also important to be effective and using heavy weights is the only way to get that done.

Tags: Douglasville, Fitness, Personal Training by David Hansey, Personal Trainer
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