Posts

The Need to Hire

/in /by

I wrote an article similar to this a few years ago, but I was recently inspired or rather, frustrated, to write something similar again. I was recently at the gym for a few hours to do some work, (yes, I was actually there), and during those few hours in the gym upstairs, it was like déjà vu. Seems like some things never change, no matter how hard you try. As I was working away, I couldn’t help overhearing and observing three young adults working out on the weights. They were training their chest muscles that day. Wow, what a waste of time and effort. The effort and enthusiasm was certainly there, but the know-how in regards to form, and duration of training was non-existent. Too bad, because if they only knew what I knew, they would not only be spending less time at the gym, but they would get much more out of that reduced time. So, on to the article:
When do we hire professionals most of the time? Think about it. You want a new kitchen, so in order to get the result that you want, you hire kitchen renovators. You want your bathroom renovated, same thing; you hire someone who is good at it and have them do it so you can enjoy the end result as quickly and efficiently as possible. You want new windows installed in your house, so because that’s such an important job, you hire window installers to do the job to get the result you want, guaranteed. Once you make those investments, the money is certainly gone, but you get to enjoy the results for many, many years…..if you hire the right people. So now, let’s think about what should be the most important thing in a person’s life, their health. Most of those who are concerned about their deteriorating health as they age, join a health club like ours, and most of those people do not hire anyone to set them up on a proper programme, teach them how to do the exercises properly, teach them how and what to eat, etc. in order to get the result that they want. Same as the kitchen, bathroom or windows, it’s not cheap, but once the money is spent, and you have the proper job done for you, you will benefit from that hire for many years to come. We spend literally thousands and thousands of dollars on material improvements in our lives, but most of us never consider spending any considerable amount of money on our own health. What’s wrong with this picture? Everything. Just buying a membership is like just buying the windows, uninstalled, or buying a beautiful kitchen and not hiring an installer. You get it, right? I found it very disappointing that after we decided to incorporate personal training in our business, I realized that we should have been doing that right from the start, thirty two years ago, and for that, I’m sorry and embarrassed at the same time. So do yourself a favour. If you are as concerned about getting the results you want out of your time at the gym as you should be, stop wasting your time and hire our personal trainer. Once you are set on the right path, you will reap the benefits for many years to come, we guarantee it. Schedule your Free Consultation today!

Gino

kate ostryhon-lumsden

/in /by

Kate has been self employed for 32 years and has always had a hectic schedule with a busy real estate business going from appointment to appointment. This caused her to put what she knew was important, her own health, on the back burner and feeling increasingly less fit.

Although Kate has a busy work life she has always been concerned about her health staying active walking, doing yoga, golfing and curling. She has also joined G&M twice in the past, once participating in step aerobic classes and the other time attending with a friend, but when her friend moved out of the area she stopped going. Again, work took priority and her health and fitness fell behind.

More recently, Kate’s daughter who works with her and Kate’s niece started with personal training at G&M Fitness.

“I finally realized that if they could work going to the gym into their life, so could and so should I!”

“My goal was to lose weight but also increase my strength.”

Kate says it was time to stop talking and thinking about getting to her ideal weight and start doing something consistently to get there. Kate has had this goal for probably 20 years she says but always felt like she was too busy to fit regular workouts into her schedule. She also felt like she didn’t really know what to do at the gym, how to use the equipment properly or what kind of routine to follow.

“Turning 60 gave me the wisdom to finally put my health and fitness as my #1 priority!”

Kate was getting frustrated with nuisance injuries and tired of being overweight. It was time for a change.

Since beginning the personal training program Kate now knows she can fit workouts into her schedule and treats it with the same importance as any other appointment.

“I love the feeling of accomplishment and time out from a hectic schedule. Many times I am rushing in for my training session but then know the next hour is just focused on one thing. I always leave feeling more calm and ready to continue my day. I now feel comfortable in the gym and know what to do.”

Kate has had great success. Over the last 4 weeks she is down another 4.5lbs and overall has dropped over 9% body fat since beginning!

“I do have a lot of people noticing that I have toned and lost weight. That is encouraging to me to stay the course!”

Kate is most proud of being able to stay the course and being consistent.
She also shot her best round of golf ever recently, a 94, and attributes that to her training program as well.

“I truly enjoy working out and have committed to continue with the 1 on 1 training program.”

Going forward Kate plans to add a third workout on her own each week outside of her 2 weekly personal training sessions and knows that it will help accelerate her goal.

“I have found a slow but steady weight loss so I know that I need to stay focused.”

Kate believes that had she not started her personal training program she would still be at the same point she was for the last 20 years… clothes not fitting well, feeling frustrated with her weight and having more nuisance injuries.

“Just get started. You are not too busy, you are not too old, just make the commitment to yourself and do it… not for weeks but as part of your life routine!”

Congratulations Kate on all of your success so far and creating time for yourself in your busy schedule! Your story is a huge inspiration. Keep up the great work!

STRENGTH TRAINING AND WEIGHT LOSS

/in /by

Do you want to dramatically increase your chances of weight loss success? Of course you do! Who wouldn’t? And while you are at it become stronger to do activities of daily living with more ease then ever? Yep! The answer to this is strength training.

We talk to a lot of people who are either struggling to lose weight or have hit a plateau in their weight loss but are afraid to incorporate strength training into their routine out of fear that it will make them gain weight. This is especially true with women.

Let me give you the run down on why we believe strength training is a MUST if weight loss is your goal. (We actually believe that strength training is a must no matter what your goal is but let’s focus on the goal of weight loss.)

Strength Training Increases Your Metabolism

Your metabolism is the amount of energy you burn throughout the day doing every day things. Getting ready for work, walking up and down stairs, getting up from the couch etc. Basically, it’s the amount of energy you use up outside of planned exercise. Muscle is metabolic tissue, meaning that it requires energy to work. When your muscle contracts, energy is spent. The more muscle you have and the more efficiently it works, the more energy you use up throughout the day. This in turn allows for better weight loss results. And the best way that I am aware of to increase muscle and its efficiency is through regular strength training.

Without Strength Training You May Actually Be Losing Muscle and Decreasing Your Metabolism

This is a big point. If you take the route of just dieting or dieting and doing cardio to get to your weight loss goals you could actually end up in a scenario where you could be doing more harm then good for your body long term. For every pound of weight loss, up to 25% of that could come from muscle loss. If you kept this up it would have the opposite effect on your metabolism then we want. Decreasing your muscle mass would also end up decreasing your metabolism, which then slows down your weight loss results. And what is the best way to combat this 25% muscle loss? Regular strength training of course! Strength training keeps the muscle stimulated and significantly decreases the chances of it getting broken down in the weight loss process. We want our weight loss from fat loss not muscle tissue!

Use Compound Exercises

Strength training itself burns quite a bit of energy, especially when you do it right and focus on using compound movements in your workouts. Compound exercises involve multiple joints. Think squats or push-ups versus a bicep curl or calf raise. These types of exercise recruit several different muscles which in turn burns more energy compared to any single joint exercise. Again, over time, this increase in energy expenditure adds up to better weight loss results.

How Often Should I Strength Train?

The minimum would be two times per week, ideally 3 times per week would be most beneficial. There are many different ways to structure your strength training program but however you do it just make sure that you are setting yourself up for success. If you only realistically have time for 2 sessions a week then plan for that. Don’t use a program that is set up for 5 days a week and then get frustrated with yourself because you were not able to complete all of the workouts. Consistency is the key and you want to set yourself up to stay consistent for the long haul.

Final Thoughts

One last big point is that for strength training to be effective, regardless of your end goal, it must be done with effort. You want to use enough resistance to cause what is called temporary muscle failure, meaning you couldn’t do another repetition while keeping proper form. And please make sure that you are performing the exercises correctly. Proper form is crucial to getting the most out of the exercise and to ensure that you do not get hurt.

If you have read this and you get it, great, now go out and get busy. If you are confused or still unsure of how to incorporate strength training into your routine or how to perform exercises properly, don’t hesitate to ask for help. That’s what we are here for! Schedule a free consultation with us to see how we can help you reach your health and fitness goals!

The Secret to Success in Your Health and Fitness Journey

/in /by

Lately I have been having a lot of discussions with members about what it really takes to see success in achieving better health and fitness. Most think it has to do with the program they are on. Although a good program is highly beneficial to getting the most out of your workouts, it’s still not at the top of the list. You could have the best program in the world but if you don’t actually do it, it’s just a useless list of exercises.

What is really going to get you results, especially over the long term is CONSISTENCY.

First, you need to figure out what a realistic amount of time each week you can dedicate to your exercise program. The important part of this is what is “realistic”. You don’t want to set yourself up for failure here. You don’t have to be at the gym 5 days a week to see results. We recommend 3 days a week for most people but you can see results with 2 days a week or even 1 if you are consistent every week with it. Here’s proof.

I have trained a gentleman for over 5 years now who dedicates 1 hour a week to the gym. Outside of that 1 hour a week here he does no other planned exercise, although he does stay active with other activities, his only day of resistance training at the gym is this one hour. Over 5 years he has tripled the number of pushups he could do, lost body fat, decreased his resting heart rate and got rid of his shoulder pain that had been limiting his movements for years. And his secret is one hour a week, every week, no matter what. In five years, he may have only missed a handful of workouts. It’s his consistency that has gotten him the results. And not to mention, he is in his mid 60’s. This is a time when most people are losing strength and instead he is making slow but steady increases in his strength. Sure, if he had done 2 or 3 workouts a week maybe he could have accomplished more over these 5 years, but he was realistic with his time, put it into his weekly schedule, same time, same day, every week that worked for him and now 5 years later he is stronger, more mobile and pain free.

So, the secret is in the consistency you can build into your weekly routine. Don’t get hung up on how many days that is. Just focus on what is realistic for you. Put that time into your schedule and treat it like any other appointment you would not miss. After all, what could be more important then your long-term health and abilities?

Our health and fitness are a lifelong journey, it never ends. Once you achieve your goal you still have to maintain it so figure out what a realistic cadence is for you and then do it! When you have this part figured out we can then start to focus on what the best program options are for you and your goals.

8 Biggest Strength Training Mistakes

/in /by

I wanna help!

A while ago, I presented a free seminar for our members titled “The Eight Biggest Mistakes in Strength Training, Body Building and Power Lifting”.

I put this presentation together simply because pretty much every time I walk through the gym, I see training mistakes being made. Whether it be the lack of focus, overtraining, bad form, whatever, it kills me to see it and I want to do something about it. So I put together and presented the free seminar.

Unfortunately, the ones I see making most of the mistakes are the ones that didn’t show up! Typically, it’s the younger crowd making these mistakes. What’s more unfortunate is that the younger crowd has the enthusiasm and the discipline, but lack the expertise and experience. So, in hopes that some of them actually read our newsletters, here is the list of the eight most common mistakes that are made.

There simply isn’t enough room here to elaborate on them, so in the case that you would like a more detailed explanation of one or more of these mistakes and how to remedy them, reach out to us. Actually, I would love to offer this seminar again in the future if there is enough interest. I will count down the eight starting with the least important to what I believe is the most important and the most common mistake. Here they are:


 No. 8: Lack of Focus (turn off the phone, put the magazine away and stop socializing)

No. 7: Partners (can be good, can be bad)

No. 6: Poor Programme Design (order of exercises is very important)

No. 5: Redundant Exercises (stop wasting time and energy, learn how to choose exercises)

No. 4: Useless Exercises (stop doing exercises that won’t help get you to your goal)

No. 3: Improper Form (learn proper form or pay the consequences…..lack of gains)

No. 2: Overtraining (gains are actually made when resting)

No. 1: Not Doing the Negative Contraction (if you don’t know what a negative contraction is, and what it will do for you, I would highly suggest you find out!)
So there you have it in a nutshell. Avoid these mistakes and you are on your way to more, better and quicker results than you ever thought possible.

Good luck,
Gino

Success Requires Action

/in /by

“If more information was the answer, then we’d all be billionaires with perfect abs.” – Derek Sivers

I love this quote. In the fitness industry information is everywhere. But how can there be so much information yet we struggle so much with maintaining our health? A lot of it is contradicting information and it all just becomes confusing. But is more information really what you need? Most likely it is not. What you need is to take action! Knowledge without action is worthless. It’s easy to get caught up in the information gathering stage, trying to figure out what the perfect workout is going to be and the perfect diet to go along with it. Meanwhile all this time that goes by could have been spent actually getting moving, and maybe instead of trying to change your diet completely you just start making smarter choices that you already know are better for you.

Success in fitness and health comes from consistent action. Yes, having a great workout program helps, but if you don’t actually do it you will get nowhere. I think sometimes we hold out for that one magic solution that will give us all the results we want with the least amount of effort and unfortunately that just doesn’t exist and it never will.

Keep it simple by applying these few ideas into your life and start reaping the rewards of your efforts!

1. Exercise by lifting heavy (for your abilities) weights 2 or 3 days per week.

2. Try to get your heart rate up daily by being active. That could be walking, biking, gardening or anything that is keeping you moving. 

3. Eat small meals often throughout the day. Always include a protein source and try to eat lots of vegetables. 

4. Limit sugary and processed foods. 

5. Drink mostly water.

That’s it. If you can apply these simple principles regularly into your lifestyle, you will feel, look and perform better then ever! Guaranteed!

No need to complicate things.

How Long Does It Take to See Results from Exercise?

/in /by

Everybody wants to know; how long do I need to exercise before I see results? Depending on what results you are after the period of time it takes will vary. We will look at a few of the more common benefits and when you can expect to start to see some results. There is a catch though! We will address that at the end, so read on.

Resting Heart Rate
Within just a couple weeks with regular aerobic training you can see improvements in your resting heart rate. The heart is a muscle and improves and gets stronger with exercise. As you get fitter, not only will your resting heart rate decrease but your heart rate will recovery quicker after an exercise bout as well.

Blood Pressure
Again, within just a few weeks you can start to see improvements in blood pressure if you have high or borderline high blood pressure.

Endurance
Expect it to take 4-6 weeks of regular aerobic exercise before you see noticeable improvements in your endurance although the changes begin within the first couple weeks, it just takes a bit before they translate into noticeable improvements.

Strength
You will begin to notice strength gains within the first 2 to 3 weeks. These gains are mostly from neuromuscular adaptations where your muscle learns to move more efficiently. In a 3 to 6 month period you can see anywhere form a 25-100% gain in strength.

Muscle Size
This one takes a lot of work and needs a long-term perspective and the amount varies from very little change to up to about a 60% increase. There are a lot of variables that come in to play for this one such as age, gender, genetics, type of resistance training program and nutrition.

Weight Loss
With no change in diet, depending on how much energy you are expending throughout the week you could see results within a week or never see any weight loss results. Remember, you can’t out work a bad diet. The best weight loss results come from combining diet and exercise. If you do that the results are immediate.

Mental Health
Results in your first workout! Every workout will produce positive mental health benefits.

Now here is the catch.

Most of these results begin within the first few weeks of beginning an exercise routine BUT they only matter if you maintain the consistency with your exercise program. You have to keep it up to keep the results up.

Find a way to make exercise a regular part of your weekly routine and you will reap all of the benefits listed above for the rest of your life!