Why Hire A Personal Trainer? Part 2

Ever heard people say, “They live in a virtual reality.”? Well, it’s true. Our world handles the majority of our daily tasks online. Online banking, online shopping, online bill pay, the list goes on. So why not online training? I’ve racked my brain to think of all the misconceptions, doubts, and concerns you might have when it comes to hiring an online personal trainer and dismissed them below.

Won’t important conversations get lost in translation?
No, and here’s why. Just because we don’t communicate in person doesn’t mean I’m not supporting you 100%. In fact, I’ve found that communicating online actually allows my clients to explore issues deeper than they would if we were conversing face to face. A bad breakup or a lost job that sent you into an emotional spiral isn’t easy to discuss in a crowded gym. And no, you’re not going to air your dirty laundry to a “private” Facebook group, everything is completely 1:1. I pay attention to anything and everything because I care and because I realize that your personal life DOES affect your ability to exercise eat healthy.

What about accountability?
So picture this. You hire a personal trainer from a big box gym. They take you through a 30 minute workout 2 times a week. Then what? You’re left on your own for the other 5 days of the week. Can you email your trainer at 1:00 in the morning? Can you talk to them every single day? Send them progress pictures? Be honest when you slip up? Probably not. Along with thorough weekly check ins, you can message me any time.

How am I supposed to get motivation?
I let my clients know ahead of time that my programs are for the highly motivated. You have to become your own cheerleader and use your own motivation to drive you forward, knowing that I stand beside you through the entire journey. We’ll dive into your why, set long term and short term goals, and keep you moving in the right direction even when motivation starts to ween. You’ll take more ownership over the whole process and invest in yourself long term!

What if I don’t know what a particular exercise is?
All of my training programs come with complete video tutorials for every exercise in your workout. You can also research it! Google Images, YouTube videos, and BodyBuilding.com are excellent resources to teach yourself how to perform new exercises. You’ll also better understand an exercise that you have taught and practiced yourself!

What about my form?
Valid point. When your trainer is watching you, they may correct your form, but are YOU correcting your form? Or is your trainer? When you take the time to research the exercises you’re doing, you’ll truly learn what it should look like, where you should feel it, and how to adjust. You can learn a lot about your body and how it should move by doing it yourself!

Why not just do workout DVDs? That’s like a personal trainer at home right?
Yes, the person exercising in the DVD is a personal trainer. No, they are not YOUR personal trainer. Workout DVDs are cookie cutter workouts designed for the masses. Eventually you with outgrow those DVDs and experience diminishing returns. An online trainer can adjust your plan as you make progress and keep challenging you to reach new goals.

How do I know my online trainer is legit and not a scam?
Ask! These days it seems like everyone is an online personal trainer. Check their credentials. If they are certified, they will be proud to share where they got their schooling from. I earned my certification through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NSAM).

How do I know if an online trainer is right for me?
The trainer you decide to hire should specialize in whatever your goal is. If your trainer says they train anyone or anything, back away slowly. For example, I don’t train men who want to build muscle. I don’t train college athletes trying to improve their speed and agility. I don’t train children. Instead, I’ve specialized in training women who want to lose weight and/or gain strength. This allows me to dial into specific training methods to better help my warriors.

How much does it cost?
That depends on who you hire. Trainers in gyms aren’t working for themselves. They are working for the gym. The gym isn’t interested in your goals, they are interested in your money. I am the founder of my business and I have my sights set on your success. I started Little Warrior Fitness to help women break through their own boundaries, not to make money. Some trainers charge hundreds of dollars, some trainers charge pennies. You get what you pay for, so find a quality trainer that’ll meet you somewhere in the middle. My online training programs are just $150 a month!

Shouldn’t I just eat clean to lose weight?
Think about how many diets you have seen that advocate for this… Paleo, Whole30, Weight Watchers, Veganism, the list goes on. I use an individualized approach to all my clients nutrition. You won’t be stuck on some unattainable meal plan, and you won’t be starving yourself skinny. My goal for all my clients is to teach them about nutrition so they can create their own sustainable diet that they can maintain forever.

Can’t I just calculate my own macros using My Fitness Pal?
My Fitness Pal will calculate Macros for you, BUT they are not accurately measured for you. As an online personal trainer, I account for your age, sex, height, weight, activity level, and goals. That being said, two females with the same weight WILL have different macros. I use a different approach for each person I work with.

I’m all for growing, evolving, and embracing change. Online personal training is an exciting, convenient, and maintainable process that can make a big impact on your health and fitness!

Still not convinced? Have another question that I didn’t address? Let’s chat! Email me at littlewarriorfitness@gmail.com!

How Do I Train My Clients?

When you train with me we will use all forms of training as a progressive system to  progress you to reach your goals. Three reasons I cycle you through different forms of training are:

1. Physiologic Benefits
   • Improves cardio respiratory efficiency
   • Enhances hormone and cholesterol
   • Increases metabolism
   • Increases bone density
2. Physical Benefits
   • Decreases body fat
   • Increases muscle
   • Increases strength in muscles, tendons, and ligaments
3. Performance Benefits
   • Strength
   • Power
   • Endurance
   • Flexibility
   • Speed
   • Agility
   • Balance

Each form has a purpose that gives you a systematic approach for reaching your goals.

Phases of Training

I use three different levels of training which are stabilization, strength, and power. Within each level there are smaller divisions of training phases.

Level 1 Stabilization Level:

The main focus of this form of training is to increase muscular endurance and stability while developing optimal neuromuscular efficiency (AKA Coordination). The difficulty is increased by challenging your balance and stabilization systems, rather than just increasing the load you’re using.

• Goals for clients at this level are toImprove muscular endurance
  • Enhance joint stability
  • Increase flexibility
  • Enhance control of posture
  • Improve balance, stabilization, and muscle coordination

• Training Strategies for clients at this level areTraining in an unstable, yet controllable environment
  • Low loads (weight) and high repetitions

Level 2 Strength Level:

The main focus of this form of training is to increase muscle size (hypertrophy) and lifting heavy (maximal strength). The goal is to enhance stabilization endurance while increasing prime mover strength. Within Phase 2 you will use supersets, where you will perform two sets of similar exercises back-to-back without any rest time in between them. The reason for this is because we want to work the prime movers in the first exercise to elicit prime mover strength, then immediately follow that exercise by challenging the stabilization muscles. Clients who are working in Phase 3 will focus primarily on muscle growth, such as bodybuilders. Clients who are working in Phase 4 will focus on Maximal Strength Training by lifting heavy.

• Goals for clients at Level 2, Phase 2 areImprove stabilization and increase muscle strength
  • Enhance joint stabilization
  • Increase lean body mass
• Training Strategies for clients at Level 2, Phase 2 areModerate weights and repetitions (8-12)
  • Supersets (one strength exercise followed by one stabilization exercise)

• Goals for clients at Level 2, Phase 3 areAchieve optimal levels if muscular hypertrophy
• Training Strategies for clients at Level 2, Phase 2 areHigh volume, moderate to high loads, moderate to low repetitions (6-12)

• Goals for clients at Level 2, Phase 4 areIncrease motor unit recruitment
  • Increase frequency of motor unit recruitment
  • Improve peak force
• Training Strategies for clients at Level 2, Phase 4 areHigh loads, low reps (1-5), and longer rest periods

Level 3 Power Level:

This level of training focuses on the development of speed and power. The goal of this level is to perform a traditional strength exercise with a heavy load and superset it with a power exercise with a lighter load as fast as possible. This trains the muscles to exert maximal amounts of force in a minimal amount of time (rate of force production).

• Goals for clients at Level 3, Phase 5 areEnhance neuromuscular efficiency
  • Enhance prime mover strength
  • Increase rate of force production
• Training Strategies for clients at Level 3, Phase 5 areSupersets (one strength exercise followed by one power exercise)
  • Perform all power exercises as fast as can be controlled

Let’s recap!

3 Levels: stabilization, strength, and power.

Level 1 is comprised of Phase 1: Stabilization Endurance Training.

Level 2 is comprised of Phase 2: Strength Endurance, Phase 3: Hypertrophy Training, and Phase 4: Maximum Strength Training.

Level 3 is comprised of Phase 5: Power Training.

This type of training program provides an easy to follow, systematic approach that minimizes injury and maximizes results. It ensures that you will be properly and safely progressed to reach your goals!

Is Your Routine Helping You or Hurting You? Benefits & Barriers of Exercise

Do you want to better your mood? Reduce stress? Improve sleep? Reduce depression and anxiety? Then exercise! We’ve all heard the hype about the health benefits of exercising regularly, but let’s take a closer look at what those benefits actually look like.

Benefits

Promoting Positivity

No, you don’t need to channel your inner yogi for this one. Many people report feeling good after a workout. Feeling good can mean different things for different people. Feeling good can give you satisfaction, make you feel energized, give you a positive outlook, enhance your alertness, improve your focus and concentration, and even promote relaxation.

Reducing Stress

Stress can manifest itself in many ways either physically or emotionally. Either way, exercise has been shown to reduce stress and provide immediate and long term results. Ask yourself “What time of day would be the most beneficial time for me to exercise and reduce stress?” For some people, exercising in the morning might prepare them for the day ahead. Some people find exercising during their lunch break helps disperse the stress throughout the day. Others find that exercising at the end of the day decreases their stressors and leaves them feeling refreshed by the end of the day. Exercise should reduce your stress, not increase it due to scheduling. Case in point, find what works best for you!

Improve Sleep

Exercise has the ability to help people fall asleep faster, sleep deeper, and feel more refreshed in the morning. By getting better sleep you’ll experience a higher resistance to stress-related illnesses, have higher immune function, and feel energized and refreshed in the morning.

Reduce Depression and Anxiety

Worry, self-doubt, and fear, these are the feelings of anxiety. Whether you experience trait anxiety (a personality trait) or state anxiety (a temporary feeling), exercise has been shown to decrease these feelings. Hopelessness can accompany the feelings of anxiety and lead to depression. “Research has shown that regular exercise has the greatest impact on depression and is comparable in effectiveness to psychotherapy and medication for mild to moderate depression” according to the National Academy of Sport Medicine.

Barriers

So now that you know how your lifestyle can help you, let’s examine how your lifestyle can hurt you. Do you have a busy schedule? Do you want shredded abs by next week? Do you sometimes have low self-confidence? Is working out inconvenient? All of these are potential barriers when starting out on your fitness journey and can be avoided.

Time

Time is the most widely used excuse for not exercising. If you have time to watch TV, scroll through Facebook, or browse Pinterest, then you have time to exercise! Take a step back and ask yourself “How much time am I really spending on these activities?” and “Where can I cut back to make more room for working out?”

Unrealistic Goals

You can’t make up for days, weeks, or years of not exercising by jumping into an intense exercise program to “undo” the damage. You will end up starting way too fast, and create way too many unrealistic goals, leading to lower motivation and a decreased self-esteem. Hiring a personal trainer can help you create SMART goals, and set up a plan to reach your goals in a realistic and healthy way.

Social Physique Anxiety

You’d be surprised to learn how many gym goers overemphasize the difference between their body type and the body type of the people working out around them. So, if you’re feeling more out of shape than the person next to you, chances are they’re thinking the same thing. Try finding a gym partner so you have someone there to support you. If you don’t have a gym partner, try to meet people with similar body types who you’re able to relate to.

Convenience

Sometimes a gym may be out of reach for people due to their physical location or their financial situation. Examine all options available and then decide what your priorities are. Would you rather exercise at home? Invest in an at home workout routine designed by a personal trainer. Would you rather spend money at the bar or put that towards your health by hiring a personal trainer? For this barrier, ask yourself “Are these barriers real, or am I making excuses?”

Block your barriers so you can bring on the befits!

What Phase of Life Are You In? The 5 Phases of Change

Change goes against what is familiar, stable, and routine. For most people, change is uncomfortable, scary, and unpredictable. This is why, unless there is a really good reason to change the behavior, most people do not change. When there is a good reason (AKA a problem) the change process can begin.

Phase 1: Precontemplation

People in this phase do not exercise, and do not intend to start. People in phase one may have negative thoughts about exercise and believe many myths about exercise. If you are in this phase ask yourself “How do I feel about exercise?” and “Why do I feel this way?”

Phase 2: Contemplation

People in this phase do not exercise, but they are considering it. Misconceptions about fitness may still be present. People in this phase of training should ask themselves “What are the pros of exercise?” and “What are the cons of exercise?”. People in this phase should also ask themselves “What motivates me to become more?”

Phase 3: Preparation

People in this phase exercise occasionally, but are planning to begin a regular exercise routine. They believe in the benefits of exercise. If you are in phase 3 ask yourself “Are my goals and expectations realistic?” and consider building a social support network to help keep you motivated on your new journey.

Phase 4: Action

People in this phase are active, and have started keeping a regular exercise routine. If you are in this phase ask yourself “Do I have a plan to overcome any barriers or disruptions?” some examples of this are a fat loss plateau or a muscle gain plateau, even time can become a barrier. Figure out what you need to do to be successful! Hiring a personal trainer can help redesign your exercise program in this phase.

Phase 5: Maintenance

People in this phase are active and have been active for quite some time. Some may be tempted to return to old habits. If you are in this phase ask yourself “Do I have a check-in plan to monitor my progress?” and “Am I changing up my workout plan?”. If you are struggling in this phase, consider hiring a personal trainer to strengthen your motivation, provide social support, and design a program to fit your personal preferences.

So figure out your starting point and get ready to get after it!