Club Blog

(ARA) – Working out, exercising, training, conditioning – it all puts stress on your body as you stretch, tone and build your muscles.

But these stresses could cause you injury and pain, especially if you do an exercise incorrectly, or push your body too hard.

Hiring a certified or personal trainer to help you develop a workout can really help you achieve your goals – safely. Here are some situations in which a certified trainer could come in handy.

* Training for a specific sport – A certified trainer knows you need to develop strength and flexibility in specific muscles and areas of your body for different sports. Having a trainer will help you to target those muscles with unique workouts.

* Losing weight – Losing weight is hard to do by yourself. It’s difficult to keep motivated, and if you were to become injured, the setbacks could be tremendous. Hiring a personal trainer who gives you encouragement, keeps you focused on your goal and provides you with healthy methods for losing weight can make the process a lot easier.

One of the newest exercise trends is exercising with hula hoops, and Sports Hoop Inc. is holding a certified trainer program, providing you with the knowledge and tools needed to facilitate your own class. Using Sports Hoops can energize your body, empower your self confidence, help you to relieve stress, strengthen your core muscles, assist in losing weight and slim your waistline.

* Toning muscles – Get Michele Obama’s arms or abs like “The Situation” from “Jersey Shore.” If you’re going for a specific toned look, a trainer can help you target those specific areas of your body.

* Training for a special event – If you are planning to participate in a long run, swim, hike or need to get into shape for a certain kind of physical event, a trainer will help you prepare safely so you are in the best shape possible at the time of the event.

Getting into shape and helping your body to stay healthy is great, but make sure you train safely so you don’t get sidelined by an injury.

Ladies, I truly believe in the power of weight training…and yes…heavy lifting, while working your muscles to failure.  
The more muscle you pack on the more fat and calories you burn throughout the day. 1 pound of muscle burns over 50 calories a day and 1 pound of body fat burns about 3 calories.

Don’t worry about getting big, muscle is so much denser than fat and if your diet is clean you will have a physique that will blow you away.

It’s easy to fall into the trap: A workout buddy passes along an exercise tip, and then you pass it on to several folks you know. One day, you’re at the fitness gym, and sure enough, you hear the same tip repeated, so you figure it must be true. But in the world of fitness, myths and half-truths get passed around often – and some of them may be keeping you from getting the workout you need.

Some myths are just harmless half-truths, but many others can actually be harmful, according to La Jolla Health Fitness Trainers. They can be very frustrating and sometimes even lead to serious injuries.

One reason myths get started is because we all react a little differently to exercise. So what’s true for one person may not be true for another. In this sense you sometimes have to find your own ‘exercise truths’ – the things that are true for you. That being said, experts say there are also some fitness myths that just need busting, and the sooner the better! So to help put you on the path to a healthier, safer, and more enjoyable workout, we figured we would discuss what’s not true when it comes to exercise tips:

Fitness Myth No. 1: Running on a treadmill puts less stress on your knees than running on asphalt or pavement.

Fitness Myth No. 2: Doing crunches or working on an “ab machine” will get rid of belly fat.

Fitness Myth No. 3: An aerobic workout will boost your metabolism for hours after you stop working out.

Fitness Myth No. 4: Swimming is a great weight loss activity.

Fitness Myth No. 5: Yoga can help with all sorts of back pain.

Fitness Myth No. 6: If you’re not working up a sweat, you’re not working hard enough.

Fitness Myth No. 7: As long as you feel OK when you’re working out, you’re probably not overdoing it.

Fitness Myth No. 8: Machines are a safer way to exercise because you’re doing it right every time.

Fitness Myth No. 9: When it comes to working out, you’ve got to feel some pain if you’re going to gain any benefits.