Exercise

Today’s guest post is by Diane Raymond, an ACE-certified personal trainer. You can check her out at the Blue Sky Gym blog and Fit Girl in the City. I’m thrilled to feature her here at This Mama Cooks!

Pick a Pro!

You’ve probably seen them at your gym – gum-smacking dudes toting clipboards and buff chicks donning a wry, sadistic grin; both focused on a single goal: getting their clients in peak condition. And you’ve probably wondered, “Do they know what they’re doing?” Or “How does all this ‘trainer stuff’ work?” If you have thought about hiring a trainer, but aren’t sure where to begin, or doubt whether the investment is worth its sweat, read on…for not all trainers are pros.

Fitness professionals are trained to help guide you toward your goal, design effective and safe programs that match your abilities and facilitate progress, monitor your progress and offer support and encouragement. The problem is, there are so many fitness trainers today that finding the one that is perfect for you can be challenging. What separates the ‘good’ from the ‘great’? Use this handy guide to select a qualified trainer.

Certification

Having a certification alone does not guarantee quality. These days there are more certifications than trainers (industry experts estimate anywhere between 40 and 400 agencies offer certification.)

Accreditation is important because it helps ensure that professional you’re hiring has the ability to design safe and consistent fitness programs.

NCCA-accredited organizations include: ACSM, ACE, NASM, NSCA, IFPA and The Cooper Institute. For a complete, current list of organizations that pass muster, or have applied for accreditation, visit: www.noca.org/NCCAAccreditation/AccreditedCertificationPrograms.

Trainers are also required to be certified in CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and first aid.

All certifications should be current. Certifying agencies require trainers to maintain their certification by completing a certain number of continuing education courses every two years. If you are uncertain whether a particular trainer’s certification is up-to-date, ask to see a copy of his/her current certification(s).

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Posted on February 10, 2010 in Exercise

Most weight loss and diet bloggers do a lot of weekly update posts. I haven’t since going back to Weight Watchers earlier this year and starting on their Momentum Plan. You know why? Because reading that I’ve lost 1 pound here, or gained a few pounds back there, is boring.

Well, it’s beyond boring to me that is. In fact, it’s downright maddening.

I don’t know what it is this time around with my weight loss journey. I don’t understand that now that I’m sticking to an eating plan that I love and that fits in so well with my lifestyle, it’s harder to lose weight.

I don’t understand why I’m barely losing a pound a week when I’m exercising. I never used to exercise or I exercised on a few times a week. But I’m working out five to six days a week.

And the times I took my exercise routine to the next level? What a scale disaster. The first week when I joined 24Hour Fitness and worked with a person trainer AND the first week I started using EA Sports Active (you can read my review here) – I actually gained weight (3.5 and 2.5 pounds each of those weeks). Crap.

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Posted on June 11, 2009 in Exercise

Since the kids have been home for summer break, I’ve been working out at home. Funny thing, I’m working out more now that I don’t have time to go to the gym. That’s because we have a recumbent exercise bike in the living room and some light hand weights. I still had to order 10-pound Neoprene hand weights from Amazon, but now I have pretty much everything I need.

My summer exercise routine

First, I get up around 5:30 to 6 a.m. (not hard when it’s light so early) do 30 to 45 minutes on the bike at an interval setting, so I can go between low and high tension and speed. (I try not to do the same bike setting every day.) Then I lower the seat back into a bench and do my upper body arm exercises.

I’m finally beginning to see more changes in my body, especially in the arms, thighs and butt. However, my belly was in it’s full muffin top glory. Yech! Luckily, I came across a terrific abdominal exercise – the Russian Twist – in the June 2008 issue of Health magazine. It’s based on the Russian Twist (there are several versions) from Marty Tuley’s Busting Your Butt and Gut: Minimizing Your Maximum Areas.

How to do the Russian Twist

Mark’s version is slightly different:

1. Sit on the floor with your legs slightly bent and feet flat on the ground.
2. Lift your feet about 2 feet off the ground. Then lean back and extend your arms so your palms are above your knees. (This way you’re using your core muscles to maintain your balance.)
3. Without moving your legs (that’s the toughest part) twist your torso and arms to the left about 2 feet.
4. Return to center and repeat twisting to your right. Come back to the center to complete 1 rep.
5. Do 3 sets of 10-12 reps, resting for 30 seconds between sets. You should start to see results in 3 weeks.

This exercise is a killer. It’s very challenging and at first all I could do is 4 or 5 in a row. Then I realized I was holding my breath! So now I try to remember to breathe as I’m doing my reps. After a week, I worked up to doing a full 10 in the first set and about 8 in the second set before I had to take a break. If I can’t do the full 10 in a row, I take a mini break and go back and do 12 total.

What I like about Marty’s Russian Twist (besides the challenge) is that you don’t need any special equipment, just like the rest of the exercises in Busting Your Butt and Gut. (Great if you travel or don’t have exercise equipment at home.) Plus, it’s quick and can be done almost anywhere. Believe it or not, I did it at the playground while watching my daughter play on the swings.

So get down on the floor with me and do the Russian Twist for better abs in three weeks!

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Posted on June 22, 2008 in Exercise

We have a guest blogger today! Liz Harper is a personal trainer living and working on the Gold Coast of Australia. Liz specializes in clients over 35 and people with diabetes and heart disease. Her blog is Liz Harper Fitness where she shares health and fitness tips with her readers.

Since I’ve been using exercise balls in my workout routine, I asked Liz for more information on this type of workout.

Sculpt a body you can be proud of by using a Swiss ball

By Liz Harper of Liz Harper Fitness

Yes it’s true. You really can have a beautifully sculpted body with the help of just one simple piece of fitness equipment.

History of the Swiss Ball

The Swiss ball (also known as a fit ball, gym ball, body ball or exercise ball) was first developed in the 1960s by an Italian plastics manufacturer who came up with a way of making large colorful balls that could be filled with air.

A doctor in Switzerland was the first to use the balls with adults who had orthopedic problems. Therefore, because the balls were first seen used in Switzerland, they became known as “Swiss balls.” The balls were later introduced to the United Sates in the late 80s and since then they’ve been widely employed in fitness programs throughout the world.

Are exercise balls dangerous?

For a number of years the Swiss ball seemed to be everywhere. But in recent years there seems to be a shying away from the balls due to a number of reports of injuries sustained when balls have burst. In one case I heard about, the person involved ended up with fractured eye sockets due to dumbbells hitting the eyes when the Swiss ball burst. The person was lying on it in a reverse bridge position and performing a dumbbell chest press. 

In an attempt to promote safe practices, some gym instructors and personal trainers have been discouraged from using them. Personally, I think this is probably a bit of an overreaction, because if used appropriately, Swiss balls can be a terrific tool for increasing muscle strength, flexibility and balance as well as improving core stability. They also add lots of variety to a training program and can be a welcome change from some of our more routine strength exercises.

Why use an exercise ball?

The unstable base that the ball provides means that you are working more than one muscle group at a time. Since your brain and muscles are having to concentrate on balance as well as the exercise being performed, you are working coordination and proprioception at the same time.

Proprioception is a technical term for your brain being “aware” of what your body is doing without actually having to see it with your eyes. This is done via signals being sent from your muscles to your brain and back again. If you train your proprioception, your balance and coordination improves.

Learn more about exercise balls

There are a lot of books out there with heaps of different exercises for the Swiss ball. Here is one I recommend you read if you’re thinking about introducing the Swiss ball into your fitness program.

• Swiss Ball: For Strength, Tone and Posture

REMEMBER: Before attempting any exercises on the Swiss ball it is wise to consult with a fitness professional first to make sure you a using the correct techniques in your exercises.

Thanks Liz for that great post! And don’t forget to stop by Liz Harper Fitness and sign up for her RSS feed.

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Posted on March 12, 2008 in Exercise