Personal Trainer Tips: April 2016

Friday, April 29, 2016

How Busy Families Eat Healthy

How Busy Families Eat Healthy

You pull up to your daughter’s 6:30 pm soccer practice, and as she bounds out of the car, she has to

stop and pick up a few fast food wrappers that floated out of the car along with her. You’ve been known to feed your kids dry cereal, straight out of the box, for more than one meal. Your son has every drive-through restaurant’s kids’ menus memorized, along with the complimentary toys that are featured each month. Your car has a constant underlying odor of French fries. These aren’t signs of poor parenting or a lack of nutritional concern, but rather a simple sum when families mix active schedules with hungry mouths at dinnertime. There’s no doubt about it – eating healthy as a family is just plain hard, even without the stress of time and logistics that sports games, music practices, and after school clubs add to the mix. Though difficult, healthy eating on the run is far from impossible. We’d like to offer a few real-life ideas, for real-life, busy, hungry families.

Change up your notions of what, and when, “proper” meals should be. If your kids are hungry enough for a meal right after school, why not give them one? Consider doing an easy “dinner” in the afternoon of grilled cheese and veggies, whole grain spaghetti with tomato sauce, or a bean, cheese, and bell pepper quesadilla, instead of the usual apples or cookies. Then, before or after evening activities, you’ll feel much better about slipping them a quick granola bar as they run through the door.
Go thermal. Need a satisfying nibble in the car? Pack up a thermal lunch tote with plastic divided to-go dishes and your options are nearly endless. Cheese, crackers and olives? Hard-boiled eggs, baby carrots and a PB&J? Yogurt, granola and some rolled-up turkey slices? Celery spread with nut butter and raisins? Add in some fresh or canned fruit and you’ve got a meal-worthy snack that is easy, kid-delicious and healthy. What’s even better? Your handy thermal bag can even be packed first thing in the morning (cooling packs included, of course), and it will be ready for hungry, school-famished kids later that afternoon. Quick tip: Just don’t forget a car supply of napkins and filled-up water bottles!
Slow and steady wins the race. If you’ve become disenchanted with your slow-cooker, picturing gray, mushy meat and veggies, it’s time to dust it off and let it do its home-cooking, set-it-and-forget-it magic. Not only does food come out moist and delicious, but options abound for healthy, protein and veggie-rich dishes and soups. Many recipes call for vegetables to be added just in the last 30 minutes of cooking, retaining their flavor and nutrients. Also, it might be time to re-think slow-cooker dinners. Feeding a crowd at various times throughout the afternoon and evening? Try seasoned black or pinto beans for burritos, ground beef for sloppy joes, lime-and-cumin-flavored chicken and veggies for fajitas, or even sweet and comforting oatmeal that is ripe for toppings of walnuts and fresh fruit.

We promise that you will feel great about not ordering the 8-piece nugget meal, again, for a pre-soccer meal. Not only that, your kids will also feel better, perform better and even behave better with whole, nourishing, muscle-and-brain-enhancing foods in their systems. Oh, and as a side note—we hope this means a few less cheeseburgers and sugary coffee drinks on your end, too. By starting a trend of home-cooking, healthy eating and more economical food choices, you’re ensuring that your family will continue to make good nutrition choices, too . . . even when they’re old enough to be taking their own kids to lacrosse practices and piano lessons.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Feeling a little Taxed?

So how is April 15^th finding you this year? Wrought with stress, or breathing a little easier? Shuffling together last-minute receipts and W-2 forms, or calmly rifling through your bin of clearly-labeled folders? Depending on your situation, your timeliness, or perhaps your organization skills, Tax Day is either a mini-Christmas or a dreaded nightmare. Even if you’ve got the hang of tax season and can run the online quick tax programs in your sleep, chances are that it’s still no walk in the park. If you’re like most Americans, Tax Day can leave you feeling a little tense. Whether it’s because you’re significantly more likely to get in a car accident on this day, or because well over half of Americans find doing their taxes to be stressful, or because, per the IRS’ report, a full 1/3 of us wait until the last minute to file taxes; nationally speaking, we’re a hot mess come April 15^th. Why the anxiety? "Money is a major source of stress on people, and what tax season does is shine a great big spotlight on the issue," says Michael McKee, a Cleveland Clinic psychologist and president of the U.S. branch of the International Stress Management Association for the WebMD website. "Money takes center stage at tax time, even if you might have been able to push it to the wings the rest of the year." It’s like a giant spotlight illuminating your dirtiest closet, biggest pimple, or your giant Justin Bieber CD collection. Talk about a taxing process.

Painful process aside, statistics are actually in your favor for getting money back from the IRS. In 2015 it was estimated by CNN that nearly eight out of ten of us get a tax return. If you find yourself in that happy majority, the question stands: just what to do with this mid-spring mini windfall. You could treat your family to a fancy dinner, yourself to a spa weekend, or your pooch to a week at Dan’s Doggy Daycare. Want an even better idea? We believe that treating yourself to a few more personal training and nutrition sessions at our studio is, hands-down, the very best use of your tax return. Here’s why:

You know that stress we were talking about earlier? The cortisol-raising, brownie-binge-inducing, sleep-stealing, brain-zapping stress? It turns out that exercise zaps every one of those nasty effects of stress, plus does way more.
Exercise can also elevate our self-esteem. Which is much-needed after our dirty (financial) laundry has been thoroughly aired and exposed.
Forcing yourself now to keep a healthy routine of regular exercise and good nutrition drastically raises your likelihood of keeping it up in the future. Making exercise a top priority today is some of the best health insurance there is.

Filing your taxes is, for many people, one of the most stressful times of the year, second only to tornados or other natural disasters. When you finally finish, the return you get is like a little reward – for your hard work at your job, for your tax preparation and filing, and for making sure that you get enough taxes taken out all year long. Why not put the sudden extra funds toward maintaining your physical health and mental health, ensuring that you’ll be able to live the life you want for years to come? This year’s tax return could be a huge step toward an ongoing lifetime of health. Who knows? If you make a proactive health decision with your tax return every year, you might actually start looking forward to Tax Day.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

How to Avoid Over-Training When You Exercise

Trainer Tuesdays

Welcome back to the weekly edition on Trainer Tuesdays. Make sure to check in at our blog every Tuesday evening to learn the expertise of our great staff of expert personal trainers. Aside from being fantastic exercise coaches, they are also extremely knowledgeable in many aspects of health and fitness; so, it's time that you get to know them a little better! Each week, we will post a frequently asked, or sometimes just a fun fitness related question followed by the answers of each of the personal trainers at Fitness Together Brecksville.

How to Avoid Over-Training When You Exercise

Lisa Clark: We all are aware of what happens when you aren't exercising enough-- you won't meet your goals, whether those goals are losing weight or building muscle; however, not many people are aware of how dangerous over-training can be to your body. When people start exercising too much, that stress you are putting on your muscles can effect your central nervous system which controls your muscles, and the nerve impulses can weaken and become inefficient. This can lead to a lot of different symptoms.

Mentally it can fatigue you to the point where you lose your motivation to train. Everyone has days where they lack motivation, but if it continues for days or weeks, over-training may be leading to that lack of desire.
You can actually stop seeing results, and if you have over-trained to the point where your hormones become out of whack, it is even possible to lose muscle and gain unwanted fat. This is due to your body producing higher levels of cortisol and inadequate amounts of testosterone.
The decreased levels of testosterone and increase in cortisol also can make you feel very sluggish, which again goes against what we all have learned about exercise and how we gain energy the more we exercise.
You are more susceptible to viruses and you find you are sick more often.
Chronic soreness in your joints, bones and limbs (longer than the typical soreness you might feel after a good workout)

The effects from over-training may take weeks or months to correct themselves, so make sure you train smart and allow your body plenty of time to recover, get plenty of sleep, proper nutrition and hydration, avoid excess stress in your life and consult one of your professional personal trainers at Fitness Together if you have questions or think you may be over-training!

Adam Teplitz: There are plenty of us that are not only training more, but harder than ever. Extreme modes of exercise such as high intensity interval training are gaining in popularity, with some people training six or seven days a week. This can have many adverse effects.

Over-training happens when you perform more training, both in and out of a gym or studio, than your body can recover from. Some of the factors that lead to intense over-training include a sudden increase in exercise frequency, intensity or duration of training sessions; as well as not allowing your body adequate recovery.

Since no one trains exactly the same way, you should watch out for varying symptoms of over-training. These symptoms include: lack of motivation, extreme soreness following a workout, restlessness, loss of focus, lack of results, and sluggishness.

Once over-training sets in, it may take days, weeks or even months to recover completely.
To avoid over-training, make sure to train smart and allow your body adequate time to recover. Always be sure to get plenty of sleep. Sleep is vital because it helps repair your body.

Focus on keeping a clean diet. Your nutrition habits play a huge role in

Fitness Together owner Sean Sullivan promoting our Nutrition Together program

recovery. To prevent over-training, you should have the proper intake of protein, fats, and carbs. Our Nutrition Together program can help you get started on the right path.

Monitor your stress levels. If everything else is on point, and you're still not achieving results, stress might be the culprit.

Lastly, make sure to allow enough time for recovery. We all need a rest day!

Michael Roberto: Over-training is a phenomenon where your exercise performance decreases or levels out and you cease to make progress. On top of that, over-training comes with nasty side effects like feeling sluggish all day, changes in your sleep, chronic joint and limb pain and lack of motivation. There are ways to prevent over-training. One thing to do is to take a recovery day--- a day where you let your body repair new muscle from a hard workout and allow your body to heal. Another way to prevent over-training is to change your routine at least every 6-8 weeks.... A Fitness Together Aspire8 program can help to make sure this is happening. One of the easiest ways is to simply get more sleep. It's recommended that one should get 7-8 hours of sleep per night. These are just a few ways to keep yourself from getting into a workout slump.

Brooke Kratche: Every time you work out, your muscles are tearing apart. They need time to rebuild themselves so that they may become stronger. Rest is extremely important. That is why designed programs from your Fitness Together personal trainer focus on different muscles each session. Working the same muscles repeatedly can result in over-training that muscle. Chemically, you will not feel great. You might feel a little depressed or simply exhausted too often. Physically, you are far more likely to experience an injury. There are so many great benefits to exercise, but it must be paired with adequate rest, hydration and nutrition or the positives can quickly become dangerous negatives.

Justin Traft: So many clients ask about what can they do to avoid negative effects of over-training. One would be to always make sure you are giving your body rest-- particularly certain muscle groups so that you're not over-training one group more than another. Two, always make sure you change it up to keep your body guessing... this way certain muscle groups are not your main focus point in your program all the time. Three, make sure you set aside days where you let your body rest. For example, instead of weight training, maybe you can go for a walk in the park or around your neighborhood with your family instead. Four, keep reassessing and resetting goals... this will keep you motivated and help you to avoid over-training.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

World Health Day - April 7th "Beat Diabetes"

World Health Day - April 7th

In the Netherlands, people use their bikes as transportation for about 1/3 of their errands and outings. In Malaysia, women often sit in a deep-squat pose to do housework. In France, many citizens shun going to a gym in favor of using everyday activities and chores to strengthen muscles, and utilizing the outdoors for their cardio. In America, we tend to favor fitness instruction and fad diets. Differences between countries and cultures abound across the globe, even in the arena of fitness and health. Given the vast variances, the World Health Organization has their work cut out for them in their yearly task of dedicating one global health concern to be its focus for World Health Day. Since its induction in 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) has named April 7^th as World Health Day; a specified day to call attention to a world-wide health issue of immediate concern. In 2001 the theme was mental health. In 2008 it was protecting health from climate change. This year’s theme is a pretty steep call to action: “Beat Diabetes.” If you’re questioning the appropriateness of this topic as a global focus, consider that, as stated on the WHO website, “In 2012, diabetes was the direct cause of 1.5 million deaths. More than 80% of diabetes deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. In 2014 the global prevalence of diabetes was estimated to be 9% among adults aged 18+ years.” Nearly one in ten of us around the world? What makes these statistics even more disheartening is that type 2 diabetes is often preventable by simple lifestyle habits.

If you’ve ever needed yet another reason to keep at those appointments with your trainer, add this world-sized reason to the checklist. Exercise helps to slash your diabetes risk in a few ways:

When you exercise, your insulin sensitivity is increased, making your cells more receptive to use up insulin and process the glucose in your body.
Strength training, which builds muscle and burns fat, is helpful for people with type 1 diabetes, and can also help prevent the onset of type 2.
Consider that some of the major risk factors of developing type 2 are being overweight, having high blood pressure, and being inactive. When you adhere to a regular exercise routine, you’re swiftly kicking those blood sugar bullies to the curb. Also, if you have a family history of diabetes, you’ll want to maintain your exercise routine all the more, as having a family member with diabetes increases your risk.

It’s estimated that 350 million people world-wide have diabetes, and this number is expected to double in the next twenty years. That’s a party that you do NOT want to be invited to. The good news? With regular physical activity, not smoking, and eating a smart and healthy diet (your Fitness Together personal trainer can give you some diabetes-repellant diet tips), your chances are greatly reduced. As the WHO works to “Beat Diabetes” globally, you can do your part to avoid it in the lives of you and your loved ones.

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Fatigue Busted! Get Moving to Beat this Beast

“I am way too tired to exercise.” Those words are SO familiar. In the moment, when you decide to pull on pajamas instead of your workout clothes and reach for the hot chocolate instead of your water bottle, the idea seems like the right thing to do – the very perfect solution for your fatigue. However, as illogical as it may sound, it’s likely that a heartrate-raising, muscle-pumping workout may be just the boost your energy level needs.

One reason that a high-energy workout is an effective fatigue-zapper is that this type of exercise stimulates big-time growth in our mitochondria (think: our body’s energy factories). More exercise literally produces more energy. Conversely, a decline in exercise will lead to mitochondria actually dying off, leading to a lower overall energy level. Vigorous exercise also raises our metabolism for hours after our workout is finished, which means that our bodies stay revved up and working, long after we’ve stretched and showered.

Also, let’s face it. Completing a difficult work-out, cheered along by the tough-love encouragements of the Fitness Together® personal trainers, feels AMAZING. Aside from feeling incredibly strong, the confidence gained from seeing the impressive things your body is capable of will definitely put an extra spring in your step. This feel-good moment isn’t all in your head – or is it? Nope, here is the science: exercise is a known booster of serotonin, which is a chemical in your brain that is often dubbed the “feel good” neurotransmitter. Healthy, high levels of serotonin can bring about feelings of happiness, well-being, and can promote a good night’s sleep. Serotonin also helps regulate your appetite, sleep and memory. In fact, a deficiency of this highly important internal chemical can lead to increased feelings of depression and fear. A healthy bout of sweat-producing get-off-that-couch movement can keep your serotonin levels, and many other functions of your brain, right where they need to be.

The beauty of getting this incredible energy-boosting workout at Fitness Together is that after you’ve done your part to keep your body and brain healthy, you’ll still have time to knock out the rest of your to-do list. The boost of energy you’ve just gotten from your sweat spree will make those other chores and errands seem much less burdensome. And, because your serotonin levels just got pumped through the roof, you’ll smile all the while.