Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

I love to workout. OBVIOUSLY. Other wise I probably would not be writing this entire blog doing research on becoming a personal trainer. However, during the winter I know the stress of "thanksgiving five" or the "Christmas coma." It happens to the best of us. The holiday's creep up and all we want to do is be with our families and eat good food and do it all over again. As great as that is, some of us let the cold weather get to us, and our motivation to workout and eat healthy quickly lessens. I know this from first hand because the colder it gets outside, the more I want to stay indoors and watch movies and cuddle. But in reality, all the Christmas cookies, and apple pies, and turkey begins to add up and before I know it, I am sitting in my room wondering why I feel so tired. So, I looked up some new tactics that may help from letting that holiday feast get you behind in your workout regimen. 

1. Eat smaller meals throughout the day to help keep yourself full so you don't binge eat during your holiday feats. Eating small meals throughout the day is known to increase your metabolism. Also, drink lots of water throughout the day to help keep your body fuller.

2. Plan a workout before your big holiday meals. Doing a hard cardiac or muscle training workout before a feast is actually smart considering your body needs to replenish the carbs after a workout and foods like mash potatoes and ham have the protein and starch your body needs to rebuild.

3. Eat slow. Most people are overwhelmed by the amount of food served at holiday parties and not to mention most people don't eat all day to be able to save room for their feast's. But research has found that those who eat slower way less because they give their body time to digest the food which can help you feel fuller faster. Plus, this way you can enjoy your food longer!

I would go on with more ways to help but then this blog post would be going on for PAGES. So I will leave the link and your are interested you can go and check out the rest. Over all this article had good points and helpful ways to help keep your body healthy this holiday season. 
 
http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/10_Strategies_to_Prevent_the_Holiday_Bulge.htm?page=2

Recognizing Significance

It is common sense on why physical fitness is essential to our everyday lives. Not only does physical fitness help keep our bodies healthy and fit, but physical fitness also has a lot of other benefits. . With me becoming a personal trainer, it is so important to know all the good effects fitness has on yourself and your clients. I found an article online that shows the importance in different aspects of your life and body. Here are a few:
 

Cardiovascular Endurance: Cardiovascular endurance is nothing but the measurement of your heart's strength. It also implies the ability of the body to deliver oxygen and nutrients to tissues and to remove wastes. Physical fitness helps you achieve cardiovascular endurance and helps to increase the oxygen flow to all the body muscles.

Muscular Strength: A balanced and regular fitness regimen helps to increase the ability of muscles to exert force and sustain contraction. In short, to put it simply - a regular workout will make your muscles stronger and thus, increase your overall strength.

Flexibility: A regular workout session will ensure that you move your joints and muscles to their fullest extent and hence, it will increase the flexibility of these joints and your overall body. Flexibility in body movements is achieved only through physical fitness.

Body Composition: One of the indicators of physical fitness is a balanced and healthy body composition. Minimum of fat and maximum of lean mass is a sign of a healthy and fit body. The lean mass includes muscles, bones, vital tissues and organs.

Healthy Mind: A healthy mind dwells in a healthy body. Any exercise included in your fitness regimen, will lead to the production of endorphins in the body. Endorphins are chemicals that make you feel happy and hence a healthy, physically fit body is always accompanied by a healthy mind.

Drive-away Illness: Yes, it is true. Moderated and balanced workout in a fitness regimen helps to boost the immune system of the body. Fully functional and strong body immunity means that your body develops the strength to ward off diseases and infections

 

Overall, becoming a personal trainer would not only help people feel better about their bodies and physical apperance, but I would be helping them in so many more ways then I ever thought. Eating healthy, exercising, and having a good attitude is the simple way to living a long, great life.

Manohar, Uttara. Importance of physical fitness. "Buzzle."2011. Web. 31 Oct. 2012.

Getting Hands On

Considering my goal is to be a personal trainer, I felt the need to actually try and be physically active. LOL But in all seriousness, I have done workouts before, but I wanted a workout that was really going to test my physical ability. So, I found this hot yoga class offered at the dance studio that I teach at; Spartan Dance Center. Hot yoga consists of strength training, flexibility and core control. However, you are performing all of these moves in a room about 90 degrees or warmer. This helps to release the muscles and allow toxins to escape from the body. While taking this class, not only was my flexibility and strength tested, but it actually taught me to breath and focus on my body. I felt like this was a huge success because not only did this help and push my body to limits I didn't know I could do, but it helped me to relax and clear my head. I would recommend anyone to take this class. It helps relieve stress, tighten your core, improve flexibility and not to mention you will sweat like crazy. These are all very important concepts to grasp while actually preparing yourself to do a scheduled workout. Having focus, strength and flexibility can give you endless workout possibilities. So try and drop in a hot yoga class near you, you would be surprised what it will do for you.

Funny but True

I cannot stress the importance of finding a gym that is right for you. Some people would like to argue and say that there is no need for a gym when you can workout at home or outside but in reality, having a community of people that are accomplishing the same thing as you are is more than just motivational. Belonging to a gym can help not only push you towards your goal, but make your over all workout experience more enjoyable. I just thought this commercial was the PERFECT blend of humor and straight facts.

Contemplating Controversy

It was difficult to find a controversy against fitness, because in reality, being fit is crucial for a healthy lifestyle. However, I did find an article on the controversy of people who think that it is impossible to gain a ton of weight and loose it all right away. Sort of like being fit and then loosing yourself a bit and gaining it all back. Most people think that once you re-put the weight on, there is no healthy way of getting back to your normal body. However, I found an article that showed a man who was a personal trainer and he wanted to prove to his clients how easy it would be to get your body back to health. So, he gained 75 pounds in 6 months and began to blog and write a book about the struggles of being fat, and how to re-gain the fit body everyone dreams of. During this process he realized that as he gained more weight, he became more tired, and lazy and even his wife complained that he wasn't helping out as much through the relationship. He even mentioned that his relationship was taking a great tole while he gained this weight. Over all, he explained how although people think it is near impossible to ever get that "perfect" body back, with hard work and dedication it was possible. He proved that whether you just had a baby, went through a tough time, or just put on some weight, it is never impossible to get fit once again. 


Check out more on the article @
Jio, Sarah. Healthy Controversy:This Fitness Trainer Gained 75 Pounds to Show the World How to Lose It. Glamour Health and Diet, 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2012.

Caffeine Crash

The world without coffee would be a very dull and sleepy world. Or at least I feel like it would. I love my coffee. In fact, I feel kind of weird when I don't have my morning cup of coffee. However, I have always wondered, how much caffeine is too bad? Upon researching, I found a website that showed me exactly what I was looking for. A healthy amount of caffeine is between 200 and 300mg or about two to four cups of coffee per day. Anything more than this can cause;
 

• Insomnia
• Nervousness
• Restlessness
• Irritability
• Stomach upset
• Fast heartbeat
• Muscle tremors

Another thing to take in consideration is the person's body weight and how much water they drink a day. We all love our coffee, but remember, everything in moderation.


Mayo Clinic Staff. Nutrition and Healthy Eating. Mayo Clinic.com, 10 Aug. 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2012.

Honesty Hour

Some people have asked me why I want to be a personal trainer, and answering this question is so easy. It hit me about a year ago that I wanted to be in the fitness industry. I have been a dancer my entire life and dancing has been my passion since I was a little girl. I realized that when I danced, it was like nothing else in the world mattered. Dance was there for me when everything else in my life seemed difficult and impossible. I would love a career in dancing, however that is definitely a risky thing to pursue. However, I do plan on trying to audition for a few companies after I graduate. But either way I knew that I wanted a career where I would be moving or exercising; releasing stress and being in my element. I realized one day that I wanted a job that I was going to be happy doing. Whenever I was stressed during school, or stressed with life at home, I used to go run or go to the gym to blow steam off. Then it hit me. I wanted a job that would make a difference in someones life and I refused to sit at a desk all day. Someone mentioned to me one day that I workout so much that I should be a trainer and ever since that day I realized maybe it was my calling all this time. I want to help people feel good about themselves and feel beautiful in the body that they are in. Not to mention, I care about my body so much and taking care of it. I am interested in nutrition and the well being of our bodies. I decided that this would be a perfect job for me. Not only would I be helping people change their lives, but I would be doing something that I LOVE and something that makes me happy.

Evaluating Sources

As much as I want to be a personal trainer, there is always going to be the negative sides of a job. After reading an article about the disadvantages of becoming a personal trainer, I realized that some of the points that are brought up are pretty general, but at the the same time I would beg to argue differently. One of the disadvantages brought up was that personal trainers never work a set schedule, but from what I have learned personal trainers schedules depend on their clients. If I have regular patients who set a strict schedule with me I will definitely have a set schedule. Now it may not be a 9-5 schedule, but it will vary depending on my clients. Another point brought up was that the salary is never consistent which is true. However the fitness industry is a very "rep what you sew" kind of industry. However hard I work to maintain clients and help them achieve their goals is directly going to affect how much I am paid. It is really my responsibility to keep updated with the latest fitness plans and workouts and make sure my certifications are renewed. If I can do this, it will be unlikely for me to loose clients and therefore I will most likely have a steady income. Although personal training has its ups and downs, so does any other job. The way I see it is I know I will have difficulties but this is a job I know I will enjoy, and to me thats really all that matters. 

"The Disadvantages of Being A Personal Trainer." Livestrong.com. Demand Media, Inc. 2012. Web. 7 Oct. 2012.

There is no perfect size

So many people, specifically girls today, think that to be healthy and skinny that you have to be a size 0, which is ridiculous. I found this picture because Marylin Monroe was not a size zero or anything close to it and yet she was breath taking and an icon to women around the world. So many people today think that being healthy requires you to be stick skinny and want it to be cleared up. Being healthy just means that you are comfortable with the body you have and you are taking care of it. YOU should feel good. That's all that should really matter. Marylin was beautiful and to this day is still talked about for her majestic beauty and again, she was not stick thin. So I hope that ladies and gentleman can see that you don't have to have washboard abs and eight packs to be "in shape" or healthy. If you eat right and exercise and YOU feel good with your body, then there is really nothing more beautiful than that.

Defining Ethics

After searching for the code of ethics for my field I came upon some very beneficial information. The code of ethics for my field is pretty much common sense related issues. The article I read listed many things that are in the conduct for a personal trainer. Here are a few:

1. Be professional- maintain a professional attitude and relationship with your client. It is okay to be friends with your client but you should never treat a client with disrespect or rude behavior. In the end it will only be effecting you.
2. Client Interest- always make sure to put your client's interest your first priority. They are paying you money and you want them to see the best results possible, so keep that in mind.
3. Education- make sure to keep updated in the most recent forms and practices of fitness. Not everything works for some people, so knowing and researching about new fitness techniques could not only benefit your clients, but it could also benefit you in the future. Also make sure to update your training certifications and or first aid certifications. The more well rounded and knowledgeable you are, the more companies will want to hire you.
4.Respect Peers- this is a given with any job. Respect anyone and everyone. Everyone has a different story, so don't judge what you don't know.
 ** So, after reading through this I realized that most of all of these were based upon common sense. I learned to be mature at a young age. I also learned to respect my elders and peers around me from my parents. Most of these conducts relate to my morals. 
**After reading these, I realized that I am so prepared for my career ahead of me. I am taking a first aid class right now which will help prepare me when I need to get certified. I am taking a writing class that will help when creating my resumes for dance and work and not to mention I am taking a research/lecture class that will force me to look outside of the box and actually use my brain.  

"Codes Of Ethics In Exercise And Fitness." Livestrong.com. Demand Media, Inc.2012.Web.2 Oct.2012.