Feel Out of Place & Intimidated by Others at the Gym

This is bigger than you would think and deters many people before they even get started. Does this sound familiar? You have decided to get fit. Your plan is to join the gym, workout four times a week, and everything will work itself out. However, when you get to the gym for the first time everything changes.

1. You feel like all eyes are on you and they all know this is your first day. (It’s the newbie.)
2. You're really not sure what to do.
3. You compare yourself to others in the gym.
4. You feel like everyone is judging you.
5. You get that uncomfortable feeling you don’t belong.

Trust me, you are not alone. Truth be known, we have all been there to some degree. What and
how you approach what you do at the gym needs to be part of your master plan with designated
benchmarks towards accomplishing your ultimate fitness goal. This is exactly what we discussed in my last post.  So, if you plan your visits accordingly, it will change the dynamic of your gym visits dramatically. Here are a few things to consider when you plan your gym visits:

1. Write down what you want to do. (list of exercises, a class, cardio, etc.)
2. Bring a friend or workout buddy.
3. Avoid peak hours so you don’t have to wait for equipment.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
5. Keep in mind everyone is there for the same reason, to workout, not watch you.

A sixth consideration would be to invest in a personal trainer until you feel comfortable designing and completing your own workout sessions. Personal trainers provide a great support system, the latest workouts, and that needed buffer between you and the initial intimidation.

Now, if you still feel that the gym atmosphere is just not for you.  Don't let that affect your progress towards better health and fitness. The gym is just one of many available resources that will help you stay on track and reach your ultimate potential. Let's take a look:

Set Up Your Own Gym At Home: You really don’t need a lot of space or money, and it can be just as effective as the gym.  If you are not sure what to get or how to use workout bands, stability balls, etc., click HERE for my post on setting up a home gym and remote training.

Go Outside: Ride a bike, walk, run, hike, jump rope, swim, and climb. During the colder months, any of these can be accomplished inside.

Community Sponsored League and Team Sports: softball, soccer, basketball, volleyball

Alternate Exercise Memberships: martial arts, kick boxing, pilates, yoga

I'm sure there are many more options so find what's right for you.  It's like anything else in life. If you feel out of place, you just need to find the right fit and establish a plan to eliminate those road blocks. As you can see, your options are just about limitless. Just find your balance, keep it simple, and get results.

Until next time, enjoy your journey to better health and fitness.

No Plan Or Accountability

So why do you need a plan? OK, let me throw out a few reasons to see if I ring any bells.  How about procrastination, time management, consistency, or accountability? Now that we are on the same page,  let's take a look at what a plan should be:

"A plan is typically a diagram or list of steps with timing and resources used to achieve an objective."

Simply put, your plan should be the road map to your ultimate fitness goal. Now that you have decided what you want to do, how are you going to do it? Let's take a look at what you need to consider when developing your fitness goal plan.

The biggest challenge will be time management. You need to decide how much time you are going to invest, where will it fit comfortably in your current lifestyle, and commit to those time frames. Next, you need to consider how you are going to use that time to ensure you take full advantage of that investment. Then prioritize and create the right balance between exercise (weight training, cardio, group classes, etc.) rest, and diet guidelines that coincide with the benchmarks you established within your ultimate goal. Keep in mind that things will change along the way. That's just life. So, you will need to keep track of your progress and depend on your designated benchmarks to make any needed adjustments to stay on track. Once completed, you will have created the consistency and accountability needed to accomplish your goals and drive your continued success.

There are plenty of resources available to help you design and track your plan. You can write it down, use a calendar, spread sheet, or apps designed for your smart phones or tablets.  Just make sure that it's something you are comfortable with and will use on a daily basis. In addition, I have included links to some of my previous posts that should help guide you through designing, tracking, and prioritizing the needs of your plan.

Helpful posts from the archives:
Gauging Success
Tracking Daily Progress with Fooducate
Staying on Track while Traveling
Fitting in a Workout on Your Busiest Days
Nutrition Tips

Until next time, always enjoy your journey to better fitness and health,

Find Your Balance - Keep It Simple - Get Results

Addressing the most common road blocks to your fitness goals

We are almost 3 months into 2018.  So how are you progressing towards your New Year's fitness resolution? If you are a little skeptical at this point, you are not alone.  This is when the excitement and enthusiasm starts to dwindle.  You may be starting to feel overwhelmed, lost, and you just aren't sure if its all worth the effort.  You are not alone.  This is where about 50% of all fitness goals end and it's always for the same reasons.

There are a lot of things that can get in the way of your progress and through this series I will address the 6 most common reasons the failure rate is so high.

1. Unrealistic expectations
2. No plan or accountability
3. Time availability
4. Commute or accessibility to the gym
5. Feeling out of place and lack of guidance at the gym
6. Lack of motivation/No support system

Today we'll be dealing with "Unrealistic Expectations".  It's all about results versus expectations.  This is where we tend to bite off more than we can chew and, as a direct result, we set ourselves up for failure.  What you need to do is break your ultimate goal down into more realistic or achievable benchmarks.  These benchmarks design a path towards your ultimate goal and should be time dated to monitor your progress.

For example, if you are trying to lose 20 pounds in the next 6 months establish checkpoints every 30 days. It might look like this:

Goal: Lose 20lbs by June

Total Pounds	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June
Lost	3.5	7	10.5	14	17.5	21

At these checkpoints, reward yourself if you hit the mark.  What kind of reward?  It should be unique to your needs, and should also serve as a visible reminder of your progress.  If you didn't hit the mark, evaluate why and make the necessary changes to get back on track. This provides you with tangible results in digestible bites and keeps your fuel tank full.

Bottom line, staying fit is always a challenge.  Whether it's diet, exercise, motivation, time, or accountability, your success will always be dependent on the path you create and the timely adjustments you make.

The next checkpoint in this series will be "Developing the Right Plan and Accountability".  Until then, enjoy your journey to better health and fitness.

Everyone starts off with good intensions. However, researchers have indicated that the first two weeks everything is usually going along beautifully but, by February, people are backsliding and by the following December.  Most people are back where they started.  In fact, recent studies have indicated that 45-50% of the population make resolutions every year but, only 8% achieve their goals.

There are literally tons of research and studies as to why the failure rate is so high. I think it's best illustrated by Timothy Pychyl, professor of psychology at Carleton University in Canada. He says that resolutions are a form of "Cultural Procrastination", an effort to reinvent oneself. People make resolutions as a way of motivating themselves but aren't ready to change their habits, particularly
bad habits. This procrastination, along with setting unrealistic goals, accounts for the high failure rate.

No one said it was going to be easy but if you keep it simple, realistic, and hold yourself accountable your resolution will become a reality. Let's take a look:

1. Set realistic, specific, and time bound goals that are broken down in digestible pieces. 

Don't let yourself get overwhelmed. Take small steps.  For example: I want to loose 35 pounds in 12 months as follows:

• 10lbs by March 31st
• 20lbs by June 30th
• 25lbs by August 30th
• 30lbs by October 31st
• 35lbs by December 31st

Make sure you are able to reconcile at each benchmark and either celebrate your success or make the needed adjustments to stay on track.

2. Hold yourself accountable:

• Log and track your workout progress.  This is the only way you will be able to determine what's working and what's not working.
• Log and track your daily food intake.  I have always recommended Fooducate.  It not only tracks your intake, but provides you with the needed information to adjust and stay on track. Remember, you are 80% of what you eat.
• Have an accountability buddy.  This should be someone who is close to you that you have to report to; this could be a Personal Trainer, a family member, a close friend, or even someone who is taking the same fitness journey as yourself.

I have always emphasized proper, realistic goal setting and accountability as the key to better health and fitness. Below I've linked past posts for you to browse that offer more details into achieving your resolutions.  For those that are close, I provide hands on training that would be tailored to your goals for 2018.  If you spend most of your week traveling or live outside the Atlanta area, I encourage you to checkout my remote training program.  Just click here and complete the questionnaire and we can get started.

Helpful posts from the archives:
Gauging Success
Tracking Daily Progress with Fooducate
Staying on Track while Traveling
Fitting in a Workout on Your Busiest Days
Nutrition Tips
Remote Training Program

I wish everyone the best as you reach out and accept new health and fitness challenges in 2018.

Until next time, enjoy your workouts.

It's not only the most wonderful time of the year, but the busiest.  Finding time for all of your family and friends, shopping, parties, and travel plans is a juggling act in itself. Much less finding the time and effort to keep your fitness goals on target. Unfortuntely, for many, that is easier said then done.
So how do you stay focused and maintain the integrity of all your progress?  Here is what you need to keep in mind:

1. Find Your Balance 

• Time management will be your biggest hurdle. Even the best of intentions are challenged this time of year. Things just pop up out of no where. So, each day you will need to evaluate, prioritize, and adjust to accomplish your objectives for that day.
• Squeezing in those workouts is usually the biggest challenge. Remember its all about quality not quantity. So, keep those workouts at 20-30 minutes with highly efficient verticle workouts that include combo type exercises. You can refer to my post on creating effecient workouts by clicking HERE. As far as cardio, there are more accessible resources in walking, running, jumping rope, bike riding, etc.
• There is certainly no shortage of food, holiday "spirits", and over indulgence. Know your limits and hold yourself accountable. 

2. Keep It Simple

• When it comes to cardio, you can do 10, 20, or 30 minutes at a time which makes it a much easier fit into those busy schedules.
• If you haven't already, check out the Fooducate App to track your food choices with ease. Click HERE to review my post on Fooducate.

If you have made a lot of progress to date, you don't want to lose that momentum.  So stay focused, be consistent, and hold yourself accountable.

Until next time, enjoy your workouts

We have all been there and done that.  We know it's time to get in better shape or start eating better and it makes the perfect New Year's resolution. Unfortuntely, and for many New Year's fitness goals are easier said than done. In fact, fitness resolutions are the most popular with an estimated failure rate of 42.4%.  Fitness is not a race or a quick fix, but rather a life style that should direct your goals, activities and motivation on a consistent basis towards healthier living.

 Let's take a look at why the failure rate is so high:

1. Unrealistic expectations
2. No plan or accountability - "No plan is successful without regular checkups"
3. Feel out of place and intimitaed by others at the gym
4. Commute or excessability to the gym
5. Lack of guidance and don't know what to do at the gym
6. Time Availability
7. Expenses
8. Lack of motivation - No support system

My new Remote Coaching and Nutritional Guidance program is designed to minimize these roadblocks and let you focus on established goals and accomplishing a more fit and healthier lifestyle. Here's how it works:

You will be provided with a training app that will initiate our communication.  This app is unique to you and is password protected.  This app includes:

• Assessment categories BMI, Body Measurements, Weight, Height, etc., which provides us with a starting point to establish realistic goals and check points that will be updated quarterly
• The ability to insert pre and post photographs for visual tracking and progress updates
• Weekly plans that will provide the pre-designed workout sessions and activities 
• Generates a complete diary of all of your workouts that also allow you to add informative photos and comments
• A private messaging system within the app (text) to ensure we keep the channels of communication open to help you with and questions or needs

To take a quick tour of this app click here

Key Points:

1. All of your workout sessions will be designed based on the quipment that you have available to you.  This may be equipment available through a gym membership, equipment you plan on purchasing, or just stuff you may have around the house.  I always suggest starting slow with stuff you can use at home. As you can see from the photo below, you can create a complete gym/workout atmosphere for $60.00 and get results. Importantly, it's convenient and maximizes your time investment.  For you travelers or road warriors, the resistance bands and jump rope will be your best tools.
2. There is an instructional video with every designed exercise included in your daily plans.
3. Each Sunday your weekly plan will be posted in you app for your review and any needed preparation.
4. We will develop checkpoints at 90 day intervals and will make any necessary adjustments to ensure you stay on track with established goals.
5. In addition to your training program, as a certified Nutritional Specialist, I can provide the needed support and direction that will coincide with your goals.
6. Each weekly plan includes 2 lifting/resistance/toning sessions and two cardio workouts designed around your schedule and time requirements.  Your financial investment is $30.00 per weekly plan through either PayPal or Venmo.

Here's what one of my clients has to say about this new program:

"The workouts have been easy to follow, yet challenge me as well. I always feel sore the next day which makes me happy because I know my body is being challenged and the workouts are building muscle. I recommend working with Rand. He is very encouraging and quick to respond to any questions I have had...I also love the flexibility-I have two young children and am able to complete the workouts on my schedule." -- Testimonial from Remote Training client Katy Hirschel (For the full testimonial, as well as others, click here.)

There is no doubt, the Remote Coaching and Nutritional Coaching program will get you off to the right start, and continue to support your efforts towards a healthier lifestyle.

• Perfect for any schedule whether you are a stay at home mom, commuter, or road warrior
• Provides the needed information to establish a realistic goal
• Establishes accountability with designed checkpoints/benchmarks that allows us to make any neccessary changes or adjustments to stay on track.
• Maximizes your available resources and time avaialble
• Provides targeted guidance for all designed workouts and nutritional needs
• Provides a support system that will continue to peak your motivation

If you are ready to get started on your remote training journey or would like more information, just click here and complete the remote client survey. Also, if you have any friends or family members that you feel would benefit from this program, please feel free to share this post.

Until next time. Enjoy your workouts.

Cardiovascular (cardio) exercise is one of the key ingredients to any successful fitness program. A well balanced cardio program strengthens the heart muscle. It improves the heart's ability to pump blood to your lungs and throughout your body, builds endurance, helps lose excess fat that hides muscle definition, and improves coordination and range of motion. You would think that these health benefits alone would be sufficient motivation. However, many are derailed by those ever present excuses: it takes too much time, the weather, "I'll do it tomorrow", and the list goes on. Excuses are just that, and when you take a closer look it's all about results versus expectations.  This is usually a direct result of biting off more than we can chew or we hit a plateau with our current cardio efforts, get discouraged, and quit. Case in point, how many treadmills do you think you would see at ten garage sales? My guess is at least seven.

So, how do we fix it and get back on track?

1. Set realistic Goals: These goals should be time dated with established benchmarks or checkpoints to monitor your progress. For example, if you are trying to lose 20 pounds in the next 6 months establish checkpoints every 30 days. It might look like this:

Goal: Lose 20lbs by June

Total Pounds	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June
Lost	3.5	7	10.5	14	17.5	21

At these checkpoints, reward yourself if you hit the mark.  If you didn't hit the mark, evaluate why and make the necessary changes to get back on track. This provides you with tangible results in digestable bites and keeps your fuel tank full.

2. Establish a Game Plan: Avoid those plateus created by redundancy. Evaluate your resources and mix it up.  There is the gym, parks, schools for running, jump rope, rowing, hiking, swimming, and cycling.  There are no real established time tables for cardio exercises. So, invest the time that best suits your needs, schedule, and established goals. As food for thought, my schedule includes 20 minute cardio sessions every other day either jumping rope, rowing, or spinning.  This fits well and compliments my weight training schdeule. For a little more insight on the positive impact of rowing, check out my post all about rowing HERE.

As you can see, there are plenty of avenues to help you find the cardio exercises that best fit your needs.  Just remember to set realistic expectations, establish an applicable plan, enjoy the challenge, and you will get better results.

Until next time, enjoy your workouts.