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Monday, January 22, 2018

Why You Need A Trainer


If you’re considering working with a personal trainer Glendale has some of the best in the business, but if you’re like most people you’re not quite convinced that you need a trainer.  After all, isn’t getting fit mostly a matter of discipline and willpower?  Frankly, that kind of thinking is why so many join gyms in January only to gradually fade out before Valentine’s Day.  If you’re serious about your health, you owe it to yourself to get a trainer.  Not convinced?  Here are some things to think about.

  1. What You’re Doing Isn’t Working

The oft-repeated definition of insanity is “doing the same thing and expecting different results”, but we prefer to point out that whatever it is you’re currently doing is what’s keeping your body looking the way it currently does.  Bodies adapt to the challenges they’re presented with, sometimes in healthy ways, and sometimes in unhealthy ways.  Our trainers have extensive experience and education that enables them to give you insight into ways that your current choices might not be advancing you toward your goals.  That gives you the power to make different decisions, and get better results.

  1. You’re A Newbie

Gyms, especially gyms centered around lifting, can be intimidating if you’re new to the fitness world.  However, if you want to build a sculpted physique, lifting isn’t really negotiable.  You’re going to need to learn how to navigate the weights without hurting yourself.  Instead of dangerous and discouraging trial-and-error, why not enlist someone who’s been in your shoes and come out victorious?  Most trainers love what we do, and we want to ensure that you have a safe, effective, and even enjoyable experience at the gym, especially if you’re new.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

What Your Trainer Really Thinks


If you’re looking for a personal trainer Eagle Rock has some amazing ones waiting for you at our personalized exercise studio.  But maybe you’re wondering how trainers really feel about some things you’ve considered doing during workouts.  If you’re hesitating, read on–we bet you won’t be hesitant by the time you’ve heard our true confessions.

Be Curious

Have you ever wondered why a trainer is asking you to stick out your elbow, exhale at a certain stage of the movement, or do more or fewer reps than you did the last time?  If so, don’t keep your curiosity to yourself.  Most trainers are passionate about exercise and physiology to a fault.  We love this stuff, and we love it when you ask questions.  If you’re the kind of person who does better when they understand the reason they’re being asked to do something, don’t feel like you have to censor yourself during your workout.

Be Up-front

We get that you don’t want to be pushy, and we also understand that not everybody is clear in their mind about what they want to achieve, but it’s important that you be open and honest with us as we’re working with you to help you set goals.  If you really want to look great in your wedding dress, tell us, even if you’re afraid that will make you look more shallow than saying you want to get fit for the sake of your health.  (We get it.  We like to look good, too.)  If you want to put on extra muscle, we’ll probably design a different program for you than we will if you’re just looking to lean out.  To make sure that we’re on the same page, it’s good to set aside time to track progress, set goals, and make sure that we’re providing exactly the expertise and guidance you want.

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Ready To Move To The Next Level?


In the world of personal fitness, the emphasis on personal discipline can be unrelenting: if you want to have a great body, all you have to do is have enough willpower, right?  In reality, however, there are plenty of people who will tell you that what made the difference in their fitness journey was a coach or a mentor.  So what are you supposed to do if you don’t happen to have a best friend who’s also an expert weightlifter?  Find your own expert, such as a  personal trainer East Hollywood has available.

How Personal Trainers Can Help You Upgrade Your Fitness Game

While grit and determination can get you a certain distance down the path of fitness, unless you have enough knowledge to fall back on, they can also lead to mistakes, injuries, and a lot of time wasted in trial-and-error.  If you seem to have stalled out and can’t reach your fitness goals, it might be time to call for backup.

  1. They Help You Set Short-Term Goals


Most of us are good at setting long-term goals: we want to run a marathon, climb a mountain, or fit into our college jeans.  But most big, long-term goals require meeting many smaller, short-term goals first, and we usually don’t have much practice at dealing with those.  When we fail to meet our big goal, we get discouraged, even though we haven’t taken any little concrete steps toward it.  If we do take small steps, we then tend to ignore the small indicators of progress because we haven’t yet reached the big goal.  Like any other good coach, a personal trainer is there to keep you moving forward, even if it’s a baby step at a time.

  1. They Push You Out Of Your Comfort Zone


It may seem like a cliche to say that training happens as much in the mind as it does in the muscle, but it’s true.  A good trainer can help you overcome mental patterns and thought habits that are holding you back from reaching your true potential, or simply encourage you to try some physical feats that you may have assumed you weren’t able to do.  Remember, the job of a trainer is to push you without breaking you.

Friday, January 12, 2018

Tired Of The Hype?


In the world of finding a personal trainer Hollywood seems even more fraught than the rest of the country.  After all, this is the part of the country that produces super-muscular actors in superhero costumes, and questionable exercise and diet gurus seem to be hawking their wares on every corner.  How can you be sure that the person you trust to help you with your exercise and fitness regime is a real expert, and not a huckster?  Here’s a few tips to keep from being hoodwinked.

Do They Promise Instant Results?

It’s entirely possible to make drastic changes in your physique.  But those changes are often the product of extremely hard work, diligently maintained over a period of several months or years.  If you meet a so-called “expert” who promises that you can make drastic changes in a short amount of time, without significant investment of time and effort, the odds are that they’re not being totally forthcoming with you.

Are They Selling The One True Widget?

If your “expert” insists that their clients buy one particular type of workout gear, supplements, or fitness equipment, you should consider it a red flag.  Ultimately, your muscles don’t care which brand of barbell you lift, and your trainer shouldn’t, either.  We all have our preferences, and if you ask your trainer for recommendations they should be able to give you some, but you should never feel pressured to buy.

Do They Say They Can Spot-Reduce?

Much like late-night infomercials that promise to “zap your abs”, some sketchy trainers claim that they can teach you a sequence of exercises that will specifically target fat in one area.  Ethical trainers will tell you what they know to be true: there’s no such thing as spot reduction, and in order to lose fat in one area, you have to reduce fat in your body as a whole.

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

In The Market For Some Expertise?


So you’ve decided to take the plunge and get some help with your fitness routine.  If you’re looking for a personal trainer Echo Park might have exactly the expert that you need.  Does that surprise you?  Many people assume that in order to get high-level expertise they need to leave their local area.  Here’s our take on why you might have more success by keeping your workouts local.

  1. You’ll Be More Likely To Keep Your Appointments

While getting to the gym can be occasionally difficult for even the best of us, if your gym is a long distance away from the area where you live and work, odds are that your gym-skipping excuses will sound more compelling.  Choosing a trainer based at local gym is an advantage just by virtue of location.

  1. You’ll Appreciate The Personal Attention

Some trainers, particularly the ones that might require you to travel long distances to your appointments, have so many clients that it’s difficult for them to keep individual variations in mind.  It really comes down to the type of workout experience that you’re looking for.  Do you want a personal trainer who is truly personal, designing a customized plan for you and remembering any challenges or special considerations that you have?  Or are you all right with a generic, one-size-fits-all plan?

Monday, January 8, 2018

Where’s My Results?


If you’ve been exercising with someone you feel is the best personal trainer Atwater Village has to offer you, odds are that you’re excitedly watching for changes in your waistline, the scale, or your muscular ability.  After all, you’ve been faithfully making your workouts, watching what you eat, and working hard.  Yet, for some, results are slow to come.  This can be discouraging, especially if you don’t understand what to look for.  Here are a few ideas to troubleshoot your situation.

Are Your Goals Realistic?

You know that you can’t go from being sedentary to bench-pressing 150 pounds in a week, but you may have inadvertently set a private goal that is just that unachievable (such as losing 20 pounds of fat in a month).  Setting goals that are too lofty or difficult is setting yourself up for failure, which is unnecessary and discouraging.  Sometimes having several smaller, more doable goals is more motivating than having one large, ambitious one.  Discuss your goals with your trainer to make sure that you’re not expecting too much of yourself too quickly.

Are Your Goals Too Small?

On the other end of the spectrum from the person who wants to climb Mt. Everest out of the gate is the person who feels like walking up a hill might be too difficult.  If you’re not regularly feeling challenged in the gym, odds are that your goals are not ambitious enough.  Remember, your body only changes when you ask it to adapt to new work, so your workout routine has to gradually get more difficult.  If that sounds intimidating, don’t worry: that’s what your trainer is for.  We have extensive experience designing programs that are challenging without being heartbreaking.

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Eyes On The Prize?


So you’ve found a gym, and connected with the best-fit personal trainer Los Feliz has to offer you.  Great job!  But where do you go from here?  That depends on what your goals are.  You will need to work with your trainer to determine the answer.  But don’t worry.  Between your trainer’s expertise and our helpful guide, you’ll be setting goals like a pro in no time.

  1. What’s The End Game?

First, choose a big, overarching goal.  This is often the same goal that was your motivation for coming to the gym in the first place, so go ahead and shoot for the stars.  Are you trying to get healthy enough to go hiking with your kids?  Do you want to complete a particular race?  Maybe you’d just like to get back into your old jeans.  Whatever your big goal is, write it down.

  1. How Do You Get There From Here?

Now it’s time to break down your big goal into steps.  Experts tell us that good goals have the following characteristics:
  • Specific – This means that you know exactly what you want.  For example, “I want to be able to hike longer with my kids” is more specific than “I’d like to be more fit.”
  • Measurable – How will you know when you’ve met your goal?  Let’s take our hiking example and make it even better by putting a measurement in: “I’d like to be able to hike three miles with my kids.”
  • Actionable – Is this a goal that you can actively work on?  Again, saying “I want to be in better shape” isn’t very actionable–it isn’t easy to see the steps leading up to it.  “I want to go to the gym three times a week and go hiking with my kids every weekend until I can hike three miles” is.

Saturday, January 6, 2018

Meet Your New Best Friend


If you’re considering working with a Silver Lake personal trainer you probably already know that there are all kinds of benefits associated with personalized fitness instruction.  From built-in accountability to customized workout plans, working with a trainer is the ultimate invesetment in your fitness.  But that doesn’t mean that you should dive in and sign up with the first trainer you see.  To make sure that your personality and goals align with those of your trainer, check out our hand cheat sheet below.

  1. What Kind Of Experience Do They Have?

All of our trainers are qualified, but if you’re scouting around other gyms it’s important to know what authority your trainer has behind the advice they’re giving.  While certificates and advanced training might not be everything, they can help give you an insight into your trainer’s background.  Plus, checking on experience can help you feel more comfortable about any special circumstances you may have.  For example, if you’re trying to shed some weight after having a baby, it can be reassuring to learn that your trainer has worked with many new moms in the past.

  1. What Should You Expect?

If you’re hoping do to a lot of barre work and your trainer has you slated to lift heavy, one of you is going to go home unhappy.  Before signing up with a trainer ask about their philosophy and what you should know going in to each session.  Ideally, you’ll find that you and your trainer share a similar approach to fitness, and that your trainer can design a session for you based around your goals and abilities.

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Staying On Track Through The Winter At Your Silver Lake Gym



You probably already know that most people who joined a Silver Lake gym on a whim or for the sake of a resolution recently will only go a few times.  That strikes us as a terrible shame!  Getting fit requires commitment, smart strategy, and even some devious self-manipulation.  Here are our best tips for making regular gym visits a habit that you won’t want to skip.

  1. Make It Non-Negotiable

Odds are that you don’t engage in a lengthy cost/benefit analysis every time you realize it’s time to get ready to go to work.  You know that if you want to continue paying your mortgage, skipping work isn’t an option, so you just get up and go.  Ideally, going to the gym would be similar: a routine that just happens every day, without your having to think about very much.  If you treat going to the gym as non-negotiable, whether you feel like it or not, then you won’t have to make a new decision every day.

  1. Find Your Motivation

Have you ever noticed that doing an exercise routine you hate seems to take forever and it feels unpleasant the whole time you’re doing it?  If you’re using exercise to punish yourself, or doing it because you’ve got your doctor or your spouse on your case, odds are you will find it much more difficult to stick with than if you’re doing it for yourself.  Ultimately, everyone’s reason for getting in shape will be different.  You might want to avoid a family history of heart attacks or diabetes, or you might just love how you feel swinging a kettle bell around.  Thinking about the reasons why you want to be in better shape can keep you coming to the gym when you’d rather stay snug at home.