SolveYourProblem Article Series: Exercise & Fitness
What Are The Most Effective Ways
To Exercise & Get Into Shape?

8 Workout Secrets of Top Trainers

Don’t you wish sometimes that you had your own personal trainer to guide you through your workout and give you hints about getting more out of your exercise? You may not be able to afford a trainer of your own but by incorporating these trainer hints and tips into your day, you’ll be on your way to making your workout even more effective!

Buddy up – One of the best benefits of having a personal trainer is having someone to hold you accountable for your exercise. A trainer is paid to do this for you but the easy (and free!) solution is within your own circle of friends. Ask a reliable friend to be your workout partner and just the knowledge that she’s depending on you to work out with her will increase your odds of staying on track with your exercise. A unique way of ensuring success is to allow each partner a certain number of “cuts” per month – at a price. Failing to show up for a session with your trainer still costs you money and so should skipping your workout with your friend. Pony up $10 for each cut and let it accumulate for six months or longer. At the end of a predetermined time frame, count the money and use it to treat you and your workout partner to a luxurious splurge.

Shorter workouts can be as effective as longer ones – Sure, everyone would like to be able to work out for forty-five minutes of uninterrupted time, but let’s be serious! With todays busy schedules and demanding jobs, finding time to exercise can be a struggle, but the good news is that you don’t need a huge block of time to see results. Studies have shown that workouts as short as ten to fifteen minutes can strengthen the body and improve your health. Fit several brief workouts in your day and you not only increase your metabolism throughout the day but you also reach the ideal activity level of 45 minutes to one hour. Don’t let yourself be discouraged by a lack of time; do the best with what you’ve got.

Add variety to see results – Undoubtedly the fastest way to see changes in your body is to keep surprising it! Changing up your routine every few days prevents your body from becoming conditioned to the same exercise day after day and requires it to call on different muscles for different activities. This means more muscles are worked over the course of just a few days, so you see the effects on your body in much less time than usual. An excellent method of adding variety is to incorporate weight lifting into your cardio routine. This requires the body to respond to challenges to balance, strength, and more, and speeds up your results.

Intensify for more strength – Most trainers recommend increasing the intensity of your workout to see improvement in your strength and aerobic capability. Too often people become comfortable with their level of exertion and aren’t working as hard. Boosting the intensity keeps the body challenged and working harder. Taking deep, wide steps during aerobics and squeezing the buttock and thigh muscles challenge the body to a higher level of exertion and produce some amazing changes in just a few workouts. Weight-lifters should try adding 3-5 pounds to their current weight and see the difference in toning and strength after a few sessions.

Know your excuses and head them off – Personal trainers often deal with clients who make all kinds of excuses to get out of a session or to avoid a certain exercise, and must keep the client on track without offending. When you are your own personal trainer, though, it can be difficult to discipline yourself to your exercise schedule unless you give yourself an advantage. Sit down and write down all the excuses you would use to avoid exercising. Once you’ve done that, go back and counter all your excuses. If you wrote down lack of time as an excuse, oppose it with suggestions for short, frequent workouts rather than one long session. If you can anticipate your own excuses and know how to respond to them, you’ve won half the battle against apathy.

Make it fun! – Perhaps the most common complaint about exercise is that it becomes boring too quickly. Personal trainers help you get through boredom by changing your routine or offering you new choices for activities. Help yourself break out of the boredom rut by choosing activities that appeal to you. Instead of spending thirty minutes inside on the treadmill, go for a hike on a local nature path. Rather than doing your aerobics video for the millionth time, go outside with your kids and jump on the trampoline for a while. The goal is to choose an activity that you enjoy and that requires physical activity, so break out your tennis racquets and bicycles!

Schedule & commit – Signing up for a personal trainer is a commitment of your time, money and energy, and perhaps because of that commitment people with personal trainers tend to stick with the program. Apply that same sense of obligation to your personal at-home exercise program and you’ll increase your chances of having a consistent workout plan. Schedule your workouts just like any other appointment and write it in on your calendar or Palm. Knowing that you have set aside time for exercise can help you follow through and stick to a successful program.

Reward yourself – Set checkpoints throughout your exercise program to assess your progress. Whether your goal is to lose weight, build muscle, or simply improve your health, take the time to check up on your improvement and then reward yourself for all the hard work!

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by SolveYourProblem.com : 2005