Fitness Latte

Top 10 Ways To Get Your Fitness Off The Launch Pad

2011-01-04T10:52:00.000-08:00

It is that time of year again when the previous year becomes an afterthought and our focus shifts on getting our life and our fitness in order for the promising year ahead. I am a fitness trainer so sue me if I cover the New Year’s resolution angle on this. Let's face the cold reality here in that almost everyone includes fitness on their list of New Year resolutions. They say the average American that includes fitness as one of their resolutions quits by January 23rd. Not sure how accurate that depressing stat is but I give people much more credit than that. So let’s focus on the positive here by sharing my top 10 tips to stick to your fitness resolutions for a healthier new year. These are based on my 13 years of being a fitness trainer and a running/marathon coach and regardless of where you are at on the fitness continuum they seem to work well. Although getting healthy is heavily weighted on nutrition, this top ten list will focus on exercise and ways to get momentum going and keep it going. Hope this helps you get off the launch pad again for the New Year. We will cover my top nutrition tips soon. So here we go:

Top 10 Ways To Capture And Keep Your Fitness Mojo

Decipher Why You Quit Or Failed In The Past - Then Change Your Behavior Quickly
Rewind the previous year and think about what got in the way with your fitness plan. There are always reasons why we do or don't do what we plan and it's not all laziness. I like to break down these reasons into barriers, obstacles and excuses. A barrier is a positive or negative event in your life that prevents you from exercising. A positive barrier may be attending your kid’s baseball game and negative ones may include stressful life events like divorce, death in the family or other life hardships. These are rare but really do a number on you so accept them as they are and move on. Obstacles are things that get in the way but with enough proper playing you can create work-arounds. For example you shift your am run to pm because of an early office meeting. Excuses, bad reasons why we do not do the things we should be doing are about 80% of what I hear as a trainer. To sum up accept that you will have a barrier throw up once in a while, plan around the obstacles and do everything you can to neutralize lousy excuses. Not hitting the couch and picking up the remote too soon when you get home from work also helps.
Live By The Fitness Triad - Your Fundamental 3 Pronged Attack
Whether you want to lose weight and get in shape or are already active and want to take it to the next level you must live by the fitness triad: cardio, resistance training and proper nutrition. This three pronged attack of cardiovascular fitness to burn body fat and improve endurance, resistance training to build quality muscle tissue and increase metabolism and proper nutrition to cut back on un-needed calories and fuel your workouts will take you far. You get exponential benefits from all three so work them from 3 fronts at all times. Adding some stretching and flexibility workouts like yoga and pilates to prevent injury and keep your muscles happy is also very important.
Focus On Activity – Dieting Will Get You Only So Far
Getting your nutrition right is important but you can make huge gains by quickly adding and building in a lot of activity into your life. In fact most are guilty for not exercising frequently enough. For weight loss especially you should be active almost every day. On days where you are pressed for time even a 10 minute walk or cardio workout is better than nothing and sends signals to your body to keep your metabolism revved up. I highly encourage my clients to be physical every day. Most need more activity than what they think to reach their goals.
Workout Close To Home Or Work – Location, Location, Location…
It is that time of year when many are gym hopping and trying to pick a new fitness home. Sometimes the toughest part of working out is getting to the gym so you want to make it as close and easy as possible to pull off. Studies have shown that the average person who is farther than a 5 mile radius from their home or work will not stick to gym workouts. If you are not a gym person then find an outdoor option or bootcamp class that is as close to home or work as possible. Location is important when it comes to fitness.
Timing Is Everything - Pick A Time That Works For You
You know your biorhythms well enough to determine whether you are a morning, lunch or evening exerciser. If you are not sure then try different times with your home and work schedule to see what works best for your body and sticking to your plan. If you are not a morning person don’t think you can get up at 5:00 AM consistently to work out. Not gonna happen. Also experiment with varied workout times with your gym to determine the best time to workout and avoid peak hours.
Determine Your Fitness Comfort Zone - Group Training or Solo Workouts?
Whether you join a gym, try a bootcamp class or join a running program you must stick with what interests you the most or you can’t expect to gain any momentum. Some would much rather go solo, throw the Ipod on and hit the gym treadmill and weight training circuit. Others do well in a group exercise class environment at the gym or outdoors. Find a mix of activities that you really enjoy and that get you excited and stick to them.
Recruit Others To Join Your Fitness Mission - The Buddy System Works!
Last time I checked 2/3 of the United States is overweight. Those that are not overweight are also looking for ways to keep the weight off or improve athletic performance. So no matter who you are or how fit you are you can find a training partner who is at the same fitness level as you are. Recruit someone who will take this mission as serious as you and hold you accountable. Someone who is willing to go the extra mile for a wake-up call or whatever it takes to get the workouts done. With accountability and a good workout bud you better your chances 5 fold. So grab a family member, friend or coworker and get started!
Train For A Big Event - Everyone Needs A Carrot Dangled
I love the promise of the new year because you have 12 months worth of future events you can map out to keep you on track and accountable to your goals. Many are getting ready for big life events like a wedding, family reunion or big vacation where they will be showing more skin or doing something more active like hiking that they need to prepare for. Others like to shoot for an athletic event like training for a 5K, 10K, bike race, half marathon and half marathon. As a running coach I can tell you that this works big time and nets quick weight loss and fitness level gains you may have not even thought were possible. So stretch yourself and find a carrot or two to dangle early in the year and throughout.
Get Help! - Sometimes It Takes A Village To Create A Better Body
Not trying to plug my own profession here but if you continually fail at exercise or never feel like you are tapping into your true potential hire a fitness trainer, dietitian or other health professional to help you design a realistic plan that you can fit into your busy life. Sometimes the words "Personal Trainer" are over used because I see way too many cookie cutter programs out there. Interview potential wellness pros to make sure that their style or what they propose to you matches with your goals and your current lifestyle. For more tips on picking a trainer check out my article, "How To Find A Personal Fitness Trainer".
Get Scientific - Metabolic Testing Determines Daily Calories, Heart Rate Zones
There are 2 major metabolic tests you can take to help you get a handle on your nutrition and your fitness. Both are available at most major gyms or fitness facilities nation-wide. In my fitness practice I offer these tests (see link above). A Resting Metabolic Test (RMR or otherwise know as BMR - Basic Metabolic Rate) determines how many daily calories you need to maintain, lose or gain weight. A VO2 Max/Anaerobic Threshold test measures personalized heart rate training zones for maximizing fat burning and building endurance. Use the numbers from the tests to keep your nutrition in check and workout in heart rate zones that starve out the fat and improve athletic performance.

About The Author
Michael owns “Merlino Fitness” and has been a fitness trainer and running coach for 13 years. He trains fitness clients and runners at his private studio, the Houston Tellepsen Downtown YMCA, Memorial Park, Rice University, Lamar High School and the running trails of Buffalo Bayou. He is the founder and head coach of “In Flight Running”, a Houston area run coaching, marathon and half marathon training program. Michael spends all of his time coaching and training others on getting in shape, maintaining fitness and improving athletic performance. He is also a fitness and wellness consultant, speaker and writer. For more information on his programs and services visit www.merlinofitness.com or www.inflightrunning.com. (01.04.10)

Welcome & Happy New Year To KSBJ Listeners!

2009-01-05T15:52:00.000-08:00

Welcome to those of you who listened to my fitness tips on the KSBJ evening show with Jen Driskill. Bookmark this page as I will be posting a more detailed article with the tips I shared on the air on Monday January 5th. I will also be sharing tips on how to build momentum in the new year, what to do when you start getting a little lazy and how to get started on a running program. Check back in on Tuesday January 6th for more info here. Thanks for stopping by and I also invite you to check out my free fitness and nutrition tips at my other fitness websites, http://www.merlinofitness.com/ and http://www.inflightrunning.com/. Happy New Year!

With Fitness & Life...Time Can Be On Your Side

2006-05-22T05:09:00.000-07:00

Been thinking a lot about time lately. Maybe because it seems like I have less of it every week to do things that I really want to do and accomplish goals much quicker. Maybe because I want to free more up to spend with wife and my 21 month old son Max. Maybe because lack of time is the biggest reason I get from fitness clients and the runners I coach on why they are not reaching their fitness goals. Goals I know they are capable of triumphing over.

Like the many friends, family, fitness clients and runners around me I seem to hear the lack of time excuse way to much and I seem to use it way too much myself. God gives each of us 24 X 7 or 168 hours a week and what we do with it and how we manage it everyday has a lot to do with the quality we can squeeze out of life and where we end up years down the road.

So I am challenging myself and I would challenge you to minimize the "lack of time excuse" especially when it comes to exercise. Kind of a lame excuse nowadays anyway. After all, who doesn't lack time?. We are all on an even playing field in this area. Cell phones, palm pilots, The Internet and all of this new technology available at our finger tips and we still can't seem to free up more time. Generally I see many people over committing to their exercise plan and instead of trying to just keep getting on base many are eager to try to knock the ball out of the park every time.

This week outlaw the "I don't have time" excuse when it comes to exercise and other things in your life that are important to you but you don't spend enough time doing. Spend this week mapping out your fitness like you do your job and your clients and the rest of your life. Put it down on paper and execute it. Don't over commit yourself to time robbing events or things that you don't get much out of and make sure you fit your exercise in. I have found that you come out way ahead on this deal because your brain and body seems to work much better when you do and you feel much better about yourself after you knock down each workout. When your week is over reflect on what worked and what you need to fine-tune and then reset for the next week. A few weeks of that and you will be surprised where it can take you.

Time can be on your side if you let it.

"If You Build It...Will Will Come"?

2005-05-27T16:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks for visiting my new blog. Two of my favorite loves in life, beyond my wife Christina (Hi Honey!) and my new son Max, are fitness and a strong Starbuck's latte. Some recent research has proven that caffeine in moderate doses may improve brain health and reduce your risk of Alzheimer's. I just love studies that allow me to justify spending 5 bucks for my daily Latte. Unfortunately, Starbuck's does not allow trade deals or I would be trading fitness training for Lattes resulting in very fit Bistros at the Houston, West Gray/Shepard drive location.

When caffeinated I can actually collect my thoughts and write pretty descent so my caffeine addiction is also a bonus to you my reader. As long as I have enough cash to keep my Starbuck's card loaded this blog may actually work. Not to mention, I am not at the mercy of an editor who miss quotes me or makes my material look worse than it is.

I am hoping this will be a place where I can share fresh, realistic and practical advice to visitors to help get in shape and stay in shape from a fitness trainer's perspective. I have tried adding message boards to my website, feedback forms and other ways to answer web site visitor questions but they were all too tough to manage. So I am hoping this Blog will allow me to easily share information and write about fitness topics that interest you the most.

Please join this Blog and stay tuned. If you have any fitness, running or nutrition comments or questions please post them to this blog so I have some material to respond to.