System Support: How Health Clinics Need to Think About Training

 

Health clinics serve a cross-section of the local population and staff members of baby clinics, dental or even vision clinics need to be effectively trained for dealing with the public. While many clinic employees interact productively with their clients, added training will benefit both the clinic, and its patients. Take the time to offer more to your employees, and give them a leg up in their job.

 

Obtain a Consultant’s Evaluation

To better understand the type of training that can enhance a clinic’s work, it can be very helpful to have a professional consulting firm make a site visit and provide a comprehensive report with recommendations for training improvements. For example, Progressive Dental Marketing could provide useful feedback to a dental clinic to help with branding and dental office staff training.

 

Collect Patient Feedback

Patient comments help to reveal strengths and weaknesses within the clinic’s operations. Collection can be done in several ways. One is for clinic staff to informally ask questions while registering and examining patients and then record the feedback, anonymously if possible, for consideration. For example, if seven of fifteen patients seen in a day mention the examination rooms are chilly, that is something that can be checked and probably addressed with the aid of a space heater or air system update.

Another way to get patients’ opinions is through a survey that can be handed to the patient during checkout, or mailed a few days after a visit to the clinic. Ten questions or less would be optimal to avoid taxing the patient’s schedule and attention. Close-ended questions such as yes or no, or multiple choice, are easiest to answer. A blank area for comments is helpful, too. Providing a stamped, self-addressed envelope for returning the survey will facilitate patients’ compliance. Offering an incentive, if possible, often leads to more returned surveys. The incentive can be a discount on products or services at the next visit, for example. Feedback about issues like staff members’ friendliness, ability to answer questions, or explain procedures, and waiting time can all be useful for future training sessions.

 

Check out Other Clinics

This can be done online, or on-site with other clinics’ permission. Observing similar health clinics often leads to good ideas or innovations that can improve procedures or enhance a patient’s experience. Evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses against their and find ways to improve patients and employees experiences.

 

Browse Training Resources

Articles, books, and videos at medical supply shops may offer tips as simple as smiling frequently to relax patients, or decorating the clinic in certain psychologically-tested colors to heighten everyone’s mood. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and choose a path that will lead to a better experiences and a more effective clinic.

 

Training is critical for any health clinic’s success. Exploration and innovation can make big improvements in patient success and satisfaction. Don’t get stuck in a rut and find new ways to offer improvements to your own place.

 

Categories: clinic, feedback, Patients, Support, system, training

Learn From the Best Personal Trainers without The Price Tag

Getting a fitness instructor can help take your gym efforts to the next level, but that’s not always a viable option, financially speaking. So how do you take care of your wellbeing without the price tag? Take their advice! We’ve spoken to some of the nation’s finest personal trainers who gave us their insightful tips and strategies for building strength, losing fat, enhancing endurance and maintaining healthy eating habits.

 

1. Nutritional Basics: According to wellness writer James Demedeiros, ‘Ask almost any personal trainer and they’ll tell you that regardless of your training goals, healthy eating is the backbone. Food is what fuels your body to reach your goals and without proper nutrition through quality foods, you’re likely to stall. As a result, if possible, eat organic foods and, above all else, maintain a balanced diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, complex carbohydrates, complete proteins, and fats including such things as fish oils and flaxseeds.’

 

2. Prepare Ahead: Micah LaCerte, a personal trainer and fitness competition world champion, explains that it’s best to prepare for your ‘upcoming day by prepping all your food in advance’ as this will ensure you do ‘not eat bad foods or skip meals.’

 

3. Eat More: ‘Half the people I deal with aren’t losing weight because they don’t eat enough,’ warns personal trainer Mike Duffy. He advises them ‘to eat five times a day, about every three hours to stimulate their metabolism.’ As your activity levels decrease throughout the day, Duffy recommends that you ‘eat less as the day goes on.’

 

4. Portion Control: Jay Cardiello, a personal trainer to countless celebrities and professional athletes, instructs, ‘Make sure chicken breasts, (and) meats, are no larger than your palm’ and ‘spaghettis, (and) pastas, are no larger than your fists.’ He also recommends using ‘smaller bowls, plates, and cups’ because studies show people ‘serve themselves 20 to 40% more food when they’re using larger plates.’

 

5. Eat with Purpose: ‘Everything you eat should serve some sort of nutritional purpose in your body, fuel your workouts, and (be) geared towards optimising your body,’ says Dan Trink who possesses 11 training certificates in spite of once being overweight.

 

6. Muscle-Building Basics: ‘First, increase your caloric and complete protein intake,’ Demedeiros details. ‘Then, when you enter the gym, focus on your form. Perform compound movements and train with weights on average around four times a week. Never underestimate the importance of rest. Remember, muscle tissue grows outside of the gym when you’re giving your body time to relax and recover following your workouts.’

 

7. Range of Motion: Personal trainer Lee Boyce, an ex-athlete with a background in Kinesiology and Health Sciences, suggests, ‘Aim for the largest ROM you can achieve in your exercises.  Your muscles will do more work per rep, and it will result in your breaking down more tissue by the end of the workout.’

 

8. Up and Down: Duffy tells clients to ‘use a weight that will have them failing on the set between the 30 and 40 second mark because research has shown that it’s the time under tension that causes muscle to grow if you are trying to build more muscle. [If] you’re failing at 20 seconds, you know that weight was too heavy.’

 

9. Prepare Yourself: Demedeiros warns, ‘When it comes to training for endurance, you’ll need to be hydrated and be sure you’re eating properly because, by its very nature, this form of training is very demanding on your body. You should be doing a good mix of cardio and weight training. And, to increase your aerobic capacity, you should incorporate intense interval training. You’ll likely be sweating buckets and burning calories galore, so be prepared.’

Categories: body, Healthy Eating, muscle mass, nbsp, nutrition, personal, Personal Trainer, personal trainers, price tag, trainer, training

First-Time Triathletes: Training Advice You Need To Know

Triathletes are becoming more and more popular as a sport, but if you’ve never attempted one before they can be a little daunting. There are a number of reasons why people get involved with triathlons, from enjoying the variety, wanting a new challenge or wanting to develop skills in a number of sports that they already have a basic level of skill in already. There’s plenty of time left to train for a triathlon, but where should you begin? There are a number of different things you can do to make your triathlon go that little bit more smoothly. Here are some tips to help you train more effectively, improve your confidence and help you get the most out of your training.

 

Go short before going long

One of the most famous triathlons in the world is the Ironman World Championships, which is an award-winning competition which consists of a 140.6 mile event in total – 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of cycling and 26.2 miles of running. This is more than any first-timer should attempt though. If you’re new to triathlons, you should begin with a shorter sprint-distance event (400 to 500 yards of swimming, 11 to 15 miles of cycling and just over 3 miles of running).

 

Stay close to home

For the first race, you need to take it easy so pick an event that’s close to home. This will reduce race-day stress and the hassle of being exhausted from travelling. You can also do some of your training workouts on the course, helping to increase your confidence when it comes to the big day. Anything that helps to improve your state of mind for race day is advisable, particularly when you’re new to this kind of race.

 

Just a swimsuit and goggles for the swim

If you don’t own a wetsuit or are inexperienced in open water swimming, you should select an event where you will not need a wetsuit such as one which takes place in a pool. If your event does require a wetsuit, you may be able to rent one from some retail stores. A good pair of goggles and a swimsuit made for lap swimming, not just for sunbathing, will help you with the swim portion of your event.

 

Your bike is fine

The bike you’re currently riding is just fine for training, whether it’s a road bike, a mountain bike or a hybrid. The majority of people complete their first triathlon on a borrowed bike – just make sure that the bike is a correct fit for you and that it’s in good working order. Make sure the tires are in good order and the cables aren’t frayed. Most races have a support motor vehicle (also known as sag support) following the race to pick up riders unable to complete the bike leg for one reason or another, but it is best that you know how to change a flat tire for training and race day, just in case.

 

You need running shoes

Unlike your bike, your shoes do need to be appropriate for the race – you need running shoes specifically. It’s advised that you go to a specialist sport store and have an expert help you pick out a good pair of running shoes so that you can get the right fit for your feet and gait when you walk. A proper fit is important for your race so that you’re not wearing anything too tight or loose when you’re running, so make sure that you spend some time choosing the right pair of running shoes for you.

Categories: bike, event, fitness, nbsp, Running, running shoes, Shoes, training, triathlon

Strength Training Exercises For Leaner Muscles

Strength training is associated with bulging biceps and bodybuilders, but that’s not always the case. Strength training is as important for runners and other athletes as it is for people who want to bulk up. This type of exercise is important to keep your muscles strong, not just to gain weight. The common fear, particularly among women, is that strength training is always going to add bulk but this is a myth. You will build lean muscles and burn some fat, so the result in the long run is that you will be stronger and also leaner. And who wouldn’t want that? In fact, women are more likely to tone up from strength training than they are likely to bulk up. You need to work your whole body – that’s the trick. Here are some exercises you may want to add to your routine.

Bicep Curl

Begin by leaning against a solid wall with your feet out in front of you, approximately 12 inches and should-width apart. Hold the dumbbells to your side, with your palms facing forward. Slowly lower your body from the hips until you’re at a 90 degree angle at the knees. Hold this position and holding your elbows into the body, slowly curl the dumbbells upwards at the same time. Make sure you keep your shoulders still and just bend your elbows, squeezing at the top and then returning to the starting position. Aim to do two sets with 10 to 12 repetitions each. This exercise works the biceps, quads and glutes.

Crunches

Your starting position is lying on the floor on a mat on your back, with your knees bent and your hands behind your head. Your feet should be flat on the ground – keep a space between your chin and your chest, looking diagonally towards the ceiling. Exhale and raise your chest until your shoulder blades lift off the floor, then inhale and slowly lower yourself back to the floor. You need to use your abs and hips to lift yourself, not your hands and arms. The strength in this exercise will tone up your abs. Your core is important as you derive so much of your balance from this area of the body, and a strong core means you’ll be better equipped to perform other exercises more effectively. This is the perfect starter exercise for building a stronger core.

Forward Lunges

Begin by standing with your feet about six inches apart from each other and your toes pointing forwards. Inhale and step forward with one leg, lowering your body to a 90 degree angle at both knees. Don’t step out too far – there should be a 2 to a 2.5 foot gap between your feet at this stage. Keep your weight on your heels and don’t allow your knees to cross the plane of your toes. Push up and back into the starting position to complete one rep, then repeat all reps on one leg before switching to the other for one set. Be sure to keep your back upright and note that the further you step, the more you work the glutes and hamstrings. The closer you step, the more you work the quadriceps on the top of your thighs. If you’re struggling with balance, you can place your hand on a chair or wall to steady yourself.This exercise works your quads and your glutes, so it’s ideal if you want to strength the muscles in your lower half of the body.

Categories: body, degree angle, exercise, exercise works, lean muscles, starting position, step, strength, Strength Training, training

Don’t Miss These Important Weight Training Variables

Weight training is critical to your success as an athlete, and by becoming stronger and increasing your muscular endurance, you’ll be able to perform more efficiently. It also lowers your risk of injury, along with a number of other benefits to your workout regime. The strength of your tendons and ligaments will be increased, your bone density gets higher so you’ll be less susceptible to fractures and breakages, and your maximal heart rate will be improved, which increases your metabolism. All in all, any workout regime you do should include some weight training. There are various variables to consider though when designing a weight training programme, which include a needs analysis, exercise selection and training frequency, among others. Here are some to consider when you begin weight training.

Needs Analysis

This refers to a two-stage process which considers the activity or sport you’re doing and the history of your training record. The unique characteristics of the sport you’re training for needs to be considered in your planning, so that you can make your training as specific as possible. Specific muscular patterns, cardiovascular endurance levels and your flexibility requirements are all things to think about. Likewise, your current level of fitness, training experience and medical history should all be taken into account. If you’re training with a personal trainer, these are things that you can discuss with them when setting up your programme.

Exercise Selection

This deals with choosing the exercises which reflect your needs, whilst considering the training history you have. There are two different types of weight resisted exercises; core exercises and assistance exercises. Core exercises use larger muscles which are primary movers at one or more joints, and these stabilise your proximal segments of the body. Assistance exercises use smaller muscles, such as the biceps or calf muscles, which are considered less important in athletic performance. Exercise should be as sport specific as possible, so that it can be transferred to the athletes performance. For example, forward and lateral lunges would be a sports specific exercise for tennis or baseball players – be sure to set the right exercises to your needs.

Training Frequency

Training frequency looks at the number of training sessions in a given period of time, where the goals and experience of the athlete should be taken into consideration. Traditionally, three workouts each week are recommended for many athletes, as the intervening days are used to recover and rest. If you have less experience with weight training, you should begin with fewer sessions and build up slowly.If you’re new to exercise in any capacity, you should speak to your GP to ensure you’re safe to embark on physical activity and then you should take things slowly so as not to put too much strain on your body and risk injury.

 

Rest Intervals

This refers to the amount of time between your exercises, and generally rest intervals are based on your experience and goals of the training itself. Typically, an athlete with a limited amount of weight training exercise will need more time for muscle recovery between sets. The other thing to consider is the goal of training. When you’re training for power or strength gains, you should set your rest interval between two to five minutes. But if muscle endurance is the goal, the rest interval should be 30 to 90 seconds. Be sure to know your goals before embarking on your regime so that you can make the correct choices for your needs.

Categories: Advice, core exercises, exercise selection, exercises core, fitness, rest interval, rest intervals, training, training frequency, Weight Training, workout regime

Three Truths Your Personal Trainer Wants To Tell You

Personal trainers aren’t superhuman – they have niggles and annoyances the same as everyone else. While you’re aiming to reach your goals, you may be surprised to hear that there are some things you do that get under their skin at times. So what’s really irking them during those painful sessions? To get the most out of your time in the gym each week, it’s important that you’re both reading from the same page. Here are the top three annoyances you should speak to your trainer about in order to get the most out of your fitness programme.

Withholding Health Information

Are you taking medications? Did your recent hospital visit reveal anything worrying? Have you recently injured yourself? These are all things you need to let your personal trainer know about, even if your GP has cleared you to exercise. There’s a number of reasons for this, but namely you could be putting yourself at increased risk of further injury by withholding this information. For example, medications can affect your heart rate, and prior injuries can weaken certain joints or muscles which could change your usual fitness regime. Even if your PT hasn’t prompted you to give the info, it’s important that you be honest and fess up. In doing so, you’ll be able to get the most from your session without putting yourself under any strain and potentially forcing you from training at all for some time.

Complaining

Personal trainers, more than anyone else, hate complainers. If their eyes, complaining doesn’t make much sense, given that you’re paying them to do their job and get you fit. To complain all the while make bad use of the time you have with them, and could hinder you reaching your goals. In fact, using your time complaining could stop them using that time to give you important health, fitness or dietary advice. If you’re serious about reaching your goals, you should go to each session with a determined mind set and really make the most of your time with your trainer. If you’re struggling to get motivated, speak to your trainer who might be able to offer some advice, tip or vary your regime in order to work towards more manageable goals so that you feel more up to heading to the gym each week.

Making Excuses

Many people have trouble finding the time to fit exercise into their routine. It’s notoriously difficult to get motivated if you’re used to sitting around each night in front of the TV. But once you make the effort and commit to working out with a trainer, try to refrain from making excuses for missing your training session or for overeating in between. Being honest is the best way to let your trainer help you – for example, if you’ve overeaten for a reason, tell them and perhaps they can offer you advice on how to cut back or make healthier choices. The only person you affect in doing this is yourself because you’re making it that much harder to reach your goals. If your trainer doesn’t know the real reasons behind your choices, how can they help you? All the lying only stops you reaching your goals – and you wouldn’t want that, would you?So if you do slip and miss a session, don’t both creating some elaborate excuse for not being there – tell the truth and commit to being there more often.

Categories: exercise, fitness, Goals, personal, Personal Trainer, personal trainers, session, time, time complaining, trainer, training

Getting Started: 11 Running Tips for Beginners

Fitness can be a minefield, especially when you’re starting out. Before you lace up your first pair of running shoes, you’d think that there’d be nothing more to running wellness than throwing on your trainers and running, but that isn’t the case. There are hundreds of tips and tricks out there to get the most out of your performance, as well as guarding your wellbeing against injuries. However, before you go crazy trying to find them, you need look no further than below this paragraph! Here are the best tips we could find for running beginners:

 

1. Take up the challenge: According to runner and writer Dr. George Sheehan, ‘Everyone is an athlete. But some of us are training, and some of us are not.’ If you decide to take up running, actually get out there and run! Motivating yourself to do the first few runs is hard, but once you catch the bug it will get much easier to make yourself run.

 

2. Get the heart benefits: Aerobics pionner Dr. Kenneth Cooper notes, ‘Running eight to 15 miles per week significantly increases your aerobic capacity, and positively affects many of the coronary risk factors.’

 

3. Work on your minutes, not your miles: ‘The biggest mistake that new runners make is that they tend to think in mile increments – one mile, two miles, three miles,’ says Budd Coates, four-time U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier/coach. ‘Beginning runners need to think in minutes, not miles.’

 

4. Wear good running shoes: ‘Spend at least $60,’ instructs John Hanc, author of The Essential Runner. ‘A good pair of running shoes should last you 400 to 500 miles and is one of the most critical purchases you will make.’ Ted Corbitt, ultrarunner and 1952 Olympic marathoner, adds, ‘Buy all shoes, both street and running, slightly longer and wider than your bigger foot. Also, avoid pointed shoes. You’ll save yourself needless foot pain.’

 

5. Let your body dictate your diet: Joan Samuelson, 1984 Olympic marathon champion, enthuses, ‘If you feel like eating, eat. Let your body tell you what it wants.’

 

6. Keep it loose: Exercise physiologist Dave Martin, PhD, advises, ‘When running, let your jaw hang loose, don’t bunch up your shoulders close to your ears, and occasionally shake out your hands and arms to stay relaxed.’

 

7. Every little helps: ‘So-called ‘junk miles’ – those slow miles done on easy days or during warm-ups – do count,’ asserts runner and coach Hal Higdon. ‘They burn calories as effectively as fast miles; it just takes longer. Regardless of pace, each mile you run burns about 100 calories.’

 

8. Learn from your mistakes: Sir Roger Bannister, the first man to break four minutes for the mile in 1954, recalls, ‘You find out by trial and error what the optimum level of training is. If I found I was training too hard, I would drop back for a day or so. I didn’t run for five days before the sub-four.’

 

9. Don’t follow ALL the rules: ‘In training, don’t be afraid to be an oddball, eccentric, or extremist,’ Benji Durden, 1980 US Olympic marathoner, comments. ‘Only by daring to go against tradition can new ways of training be learned. The trick is recognising quickly when a new approach is counterproductive.’

 

10. Grab fast, low-fat fuel: ‘Energy bars are good portable food for runners,’ says sports nutritionist Liz Applegate, PhD. ‘Look for bars with four grams of fat or fewer per 230 calories. Fat slows down digestion.’

 

11. Get a goal and go for it: Bob Greene, personal trainer of Oprah Winfrey, explains, ‘I believe in using races as motivators. It’s hard to keep on an exercise programme if you don’t have a significant goal in sight.’

Categories: beginners, miles, nbsp, olympic marathon, olympic marathoner, Running, running shoes, Shoes, training

Triathlon Training: How To Do It And Achieve Success

Triathlons can appear a little strange if you’re not aware of how they work – the masses of neoprene wetsuits, oddly proportioned bikes and energy gel packets create a very bizarre setting for what is essentially a three-part race. If you’re new to it, stepping into that world can be intimidating, but it doesn’t need to be. The very basics are three different sports which are merged together to create an intense race. Regardless of your fitness level, anyone can perform a triathlon – it just takes a little training to prepare you for the three sports ahead of you. Once you know the basic do’s and don’ts, you’re ready to head to the track. There are many benefits to mixing up these exercises – running and cycling target your lower body, whereas swimming tones up the muscles in your core and shoulders, so you achieve a balanced workout. What’s more is that because you’re switching between three different activities, you won’t be as much at risk of repetitive motion injuries. Swimming is a great low-impact activity which offers brilliant results, and running is better in a triathlon form than a marathon because it can be tough on your joints to be running continuously for such long periods of time.

The race is the ultimate goal of your training, but you’ll find that your cardiovascular fitness improves as a result of the training which is a welcome benefit. You’ll probably even decide that your training is beneficial once the race is over and done with! Cardiovascular health is so important to your general health, helping to lower the risk of heart disease, strokes and other health conditions, so your training workouts could be adapted once the race is finished to keep you fit and healthy. So how do you prepare for such an intense couple of hours? Well, firstly, you need to educate yourself about what races in your local area are available for you to enter, and the distances you’ll be covering. Typically, there are three different types of triathlon which are as follows:

• Olympic distance: 1 mile swim, 40k bike ride and a 10k run

 

• Sprint distance: 5 mile swim, 20k bike ride and a 5k run

 

• Novice or beginner distance: 25 mile swim, 20k bike ride and a 5k run

 

There won’t always be a beginner’s distance to go with, but the majority of races offer this option. So, once you’ve picked out your distance, the next step is to begin your training. You need to begin with your weakest area, as this will require more training before the race begins – it’s likely that you already cycle, run and swim, but there is almost always an area that you’re not as good at. You shouldn’t ignore your strength though – all areas that you’ll be covering will need your attention. You should aim to find a training schedule (you can usually find these fairly easily online, with a range of plans available to work from) and make sure you set aside time for training. Think about the weather, pool times and how you’ll workout alongside your work and social life. Thirdly, get a coach if you can – this is especially the case if you’re not a strong swimmer. Don’t try to become a master of all three sports in a short space of time, as you’ll just end up being frustrated and it won’t be necessary. You also don’t need to buy expensive equipment straight away – there’ll be time to invest in that later.

Categories: 20k bike, bike ride, distance, exercise, mile swim, swim, swim 20k, time, training, triathlon, triathlons

New to Weight Lifting? What You Should Know

It can be really daunting lifting weights for the first time. As soon as you leave the safety of the elliptical machine and open that door to the weight room, you may feel that there is an area of fitness that is just not for you. It is really worth taking that plunge, however, as not only is muscle training great for your general wellness and wellbeing, it can help to burn loads of calories and tone you up in a way that the treadmill just isn’t able.

 

There’s also the small point that once you feel confident in the weights room, you will really feel like a badass!

 

The key with lifting weights for the first time is to start small. Before you start piling the weights onto the barbell, make sure that you learn the correct form first of all. Start by using very light or even no weight on the bar and make sure you fully understand how to do the workouts properly. There is no point in lifting weights that are too heavy for you, as you will be doing so with very bad form, and can easily injure yourself.

 

It will take a bit of trial and error to find the weights that are right for you, so start by looking at something of around 5 – 15 pounds and seeing if you can do 10 reps with this on the bar. If you find that you can do 10 reps but your muscles are just about exhausted at the end, this indicates that this is the correct weight for you to use.

 

It’s also really worth talking to an expert when you first start your weight training. Find out if your gym offers any kind of free introductory sessions with their personal trainers, as it may simply be a one-off session that you need to get started. The advice and guidance of an expert is invaluable.

Categories: feel, lifting, Lifting Weights, nbsp, training, weight, Weights

Cardio and Strength Training: A Winning Combination

Strength training as part of your weight loss and fitness routine is a great way to help you get the body that you’ve always wanted. Using strength training can lead to weight loss, an increase in muscle mass and raised metabolism – as well as having a very beneficial effect on your general wellness and wellbeing. Alongside a healthy diet, strength training and cardio training can help your body to reach its peak condition.

 

Unless you have been diagnosed with sickness and injury or another limiting issue, strength training is definitely suitable for you. People – women in particular – can be concerned about weight training, fearing that it will make them develop large, bulky muscles and an unfeminine body shape but actually the opposite is true. If you are doing correct combining of the cardio and strength, you will simply replace fat with muscle, which is smaller than fat and actually takes up less space.

 

Strength training is the bit that builds lean muscle, and then the muscle helps you to burn fat, even when your body is at rest. No matter how strong your muscles are, however, if they are hidden under layers of fat they will not show and so this is where the cardio training comes in. If you do lots of exercise that boosts your heart rate, it will help to burn off the fat and let you see the muscle underneath.

 

If you are looking to lose weight rather than bulk up, you should follow a very specific strength training program. You will find that a personal fitness instructor or even an assistant at the gym can help you devise a programme with the correct number of sets, repetitions and weight to help you achieve your goals.

Categories: body, Cardio, Cardio Training, Muscle, strength, Strength Training, training, weight, Weight Loss

Leaner And More Toned In Just Five Days - Here’s How

It may seem sometimes like there’s a certain mystery to getting big and lean, but there isn’t. It simply relies on following a set of four rules and you’ll achieve it. You need to be able to simultaneously strip the fat from your body whilst building muscle. If you do it wrong, you’ll wind up tired, sore and unsuccessful. But do it right, and you’ll see the kind of results you’ve been striving for for years. There’s no magic powder or pill that’s going to help you achieve that physique you’ve been desiring for so long, much as marketing companies would love to tell you that there is. Hard work and a set meal plan is the way to go, with a healthy dose of working out in the gym for good measure. You’ll be training ten times in five days with this plan, but you will see results. This method of training twice a day over the course of a working week may seem like overtraining, but that’s what’s required in order to bulk up in such a short space of time. The guidelines you’ll need to follow with this training programme are as such: train one or two body parts twice in the same day; train with low reps and heavy weights in the morning; train to get a pump in the evening, and save at least four hours in between your morning and evening workouts.

Researchers have found that muscle grows from three mechanisms; mechanical tension, metabolic stress and muscle damage. Your morning workouts will account for the mechanical tension to the muscles, then heavy weights on top of this will prime the nervous system for the evening workouts. The evening workouts will deal with the metabolic stress to your muscles, and training twice in the same day will lead to higher levels of muscle damage – those are your three elements. That being said, you still need to let your body recover so you need to sleep for eight hours each day to give your body time to rest. On top of that, you really need to think about what you’re eating. It goes without saying that you’ll need to drink plenty of water to fuel your training sessions, but you also need to ensure that what you’re eating does the same job.

 

Nutrition goes hand in hand with your workouts if you want to reach your goal of a leaner body, so these are some of the rules you need to consider. Don’t eat junk food until after your evening workout – yes, you can still eat it, but keep it to a minimum and save it until you’ve trained. You should also aim to eat protein with every meal if you can. Take 15g of fish oil supplements every day, so keep your organs working effectively and to minimise joint damage. And, as with any healthy diet, you need to eat vegetables with every meal. You should feel full after every meal – don’t stop eating until you do, as you need to replace the energy you’ve burned at the gym. You also need to eat at least three meals every day – a balanced diet requires a certain amount of calories and this is particularly the case if you’re training this hard. These are simple guidelines, so they’re easy to follow, but they’re also appealing. Junk food, regular meals and a healthy dose of protein keeps your appetite at bay and fuels your body for lots of training.

Categories: body, evening, evening workouts, exercise, healthy dose, heavy weights, junk food, lean muscles, mechanical tension, metabolic stress, training

The Important Cardio Rules That Everyone Should Follow

To keep your fitness levels up, you need to do a regular cardio workout. Not only will this be great for your wellness and wellbeing, it will help to keep your body in good shape, which in itself is a boost to your self-confidence and mental health. Cardio is not something that everyone automatically gets right, however, and you may actually find that your cardio workout is doing you more harm than good. You might find that you are getting more injuries than you would like, for example, or your weight loss may have plateaued.

 

To make sure that your cardio session is working for you, mix things up a bit. Pick up the pace and add a few interval training circuits into your workout. This will help you to burn more calories and will undoubtedly increase your endurance, too. High intensity interval workouts will help you to increase the calorie burn and ensure that your time in the gym is not wasted.

 

Don’t just stick to cardio either, as you will find that your body quickly becomes used to the same type of exercise. If you add some strength training (even just ten minutes) can make a huge difference to how your metabolism works.

 

Start slowly, too, to avoid injuries. A full on sprint without warming up can cause burnout and injury, so make sure that you do a proper warmup before starting any exercise. Five minutes of slow jogging, walking uphill or slower reps on an elliptical machine or bike will get your muscles primed and ready for a good workout.

 

Don’t do too much, either – there is such a thing as having too much of a good thing. Over training can lead to injury and fatigue. Be aware of how your body is feeling and cut back on the training if you are feeling overtired.

Categories: body, Cardio, cardio workout, fitness, nbsp, nbsp don, rules, training, Workout

Why Professional and Amateur Athletes Love Plyometrics

While zumba and bokwa have become as commonplace as jogging and cycling, there’s one fitness trend that’s still exciting wellness experts and fanatics across the country, and can work wonders for your wellbeing; plyometrics. Also known as jump training, this training technique can increase your muscular power and explosiveness. Don’t believe me? Ask the Olympians! Plyometrics was originally developed for Olympic athletes, and now it has become a popular workout routine for people of all ages, including children and teens.

 

Plyometrics are dynamic resistance exercises that rapidly stretch your muscle (which is known as the eccentric phase) and then rapidly shortens it (or the concentric phase). For example, you undergo hopping and jumping exercises in order to subject your quadriceps to a stretch-shortening cycle that can strengthen these muscles, and then go on to an increase vertical jump so that you reduce the force of impact on your joints. The great thing about plyometric exercises is that they use similar motions to those seen in sports such as skiing, tennis, football, basketball, volleyball, and boxing. These means that professional and amateur adult athletes use plyometric training to up their performance in the game.

 

However, plyometric training is for everyone. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, even children and adolescents can benefit from a properly designed and supervised plyometric routine. What are these benefits, you ask? Back in the 1970s, plyometric training was first popularised by state sports trainers in the former East Germany, who based the training technique on scientific evidence showing the power of stretch-shortening cycles on the muscle. These cycles prompt your muscles’ stretch of “myotactic” reflex, and this, in turn, enhances the power of your muscular contraction.

 

Still, while plyometric training is vastly beneficial to your muscles and athletic performance, that is not to say that the training technique is without its risks. Some of the risks associated with plyometric training include an increased risk of injury, especially if you take up plyometrics without the adequate strength you need to begin with. This means that, before you even consider starting a plyometric training programme, you need to consult a sports medicine doctor or therapist. These medical health professionals can assess your strength and fitness level to determine whether or not you’re ready for plyometric training.

 

You’re also probably not a good candidate for plyometric training if you have joint or bone problems, but even if you’re a seasoned athlete at the pinnacle of your physical wellness, you still need to bear in mind that any training routine that uses explosive movement to build strength is, in itself, associated with an increased risk of injury. In fact, the reported injuries associated with plyometrics programmes of depth jumping have, within the sports science community, stirred considerable debate over the technique’s safety. Some wellness experts have even gone so far as to compare plyometrics to the now-discredited technique of high-impact aerobics, which increases your risk of injury to your lower-body joints such as your knees and ankles.

 

That said, plyometric training is usually safe and effective as long as you begin and continue in the proper way. As we’ve already covered, you need to make sure you’ve received adequate screening from a sports medicine doctor or therapist and, once you get the all-clear, you then need to select a qualified coach or trainer who can slowly-but-surely introduce you to more difficult exercises. Your instructor will need to match the exercises to your age and fitness level and teach you the proper landing techniques before gradually advancing you to the more difficult stages.

Categories: Explosive Movements, fitness level, increased risk, medicine doctor, muscle strength, plyometric training, Plyometrics, sports medicine, stretch shortening, training

Female-Focused Strength Training Tips for a Perfect Body

If you’re tired of putting in loads of effort in the cardio section of the gym and not seeing any results, you may need to change your tactics. According to the National Centre for Health Statistics, just 21 per cent of women use strength training exercises two or more times a week. But what most people don’t realise is that when you skip this vital part of your exercise regime, you lose out on some great exercises which burn fat and help you to maintain a healthy weight. Those two sessions a week can help to reduce your overall body fat by around three percentage points in just 10 weeks, even if you don’t adjust your diet by a single calorie. That could translate to as much as three inches of your waist and hips, with your new found muscle helping to boost your metabolism in the long-term. Although cardio burns more calories than strength training in just thirty minutes, pumping the iron in the gym could help to burn more overall. In fact, in studies, researchers found that women who completed an hour-long strength training workout burned an average of 100 more calories in a day than those who hadn’t lifted a single weight. Look at the figures – with three sessions a week, that is a total of 15,600 calories a year or four and a half pounds of fat – all without having to up your gym sessions at all.

Researchers have found that there are long-term benefits to lifting as well, with muscle accounting for around a third of the average woman’s weight. This has a strong effect on ones metabolism, which means your body can burn extra calories. Muscle eats up calories even when you’re not working out, so if you replace ten pounds of fat with ten pounds of lean muscle, you could be burning 25 to 50 calories a day without having to do anything. You shouldn’t rely on the scales to see if your routine is effective though. Muscle is denser than fat, so your weight is not necessarily the best form of tracking device. So how is it done? You need to begin with three weight-training sessions each week. The best calorie burner, you should aim for total body workouts that work your arms, abs, back and legs. Squats, for example, call on muscles in both sides of your legs, rather than leg extensions which target just one area. If you’re unsure how to begin, speaking with a trainer may be helpful as they can create a programme for you that targets specific areas and includes multi-faceted exercises that work twice as hard.

 

For each exercise you do, you should aim to perform three sets of 10 or 12 reps with a weight that challenges your muscles. You should also fuel your workout effectively, by ensuring that you have enough energy to get you through the workout. Too many dieters make a fatal error in cutting back on protein in order to lose weight. But it’s counterproductive as they lose muscle along with the fat that they may have melted away with the workout. Experts recommend that you should eat one gram of protein for every pound of body weight you have that doesn’t come from fat. For example, a 140-pound woman who has 25 per cent body fat should eat 105g of protein. The best sources of high quality protein is chicken or other lean meats, as well as eggs and soy products.

Categories: body, calories, Fat, fitness, Long term, Muscle, strength, Strength Training, training, weight

What Everyone Ought to Know Before Starting Weight Training

When you are new to the world of weight training and fitness, it can seem very confusing. You know that you want to benefit your wellness and wellbeing by lifting some weights, but you are not sure how to push your body, and how far you should push it.

 

There are dangers to be aware of, though, and pushing your body to the limit is not always a good idea. As a newbie, you could well fall victim to your own over-zealousness. Fortunately, there are a few simple things that you can do to make sure that you look after your body as you are gradually easing yourself into the world of weight training.

 

First and foremost, never start cold. You must always take time to warm up and stretch your muscles and to get your blood flowing before a session. This may seem like a chore but it gets your body warm, activates your fat-burning mechanisms and makes your limbs nice and supple, avoiding potential injuries.

 

You should always look for intensity in your workout, too (without hurting yourself of course). If you’re going to lift weights, then train until you find muscle failure, and gradually push those limits. This way you will tone up and build muscle in the shortest period of time. Visit the gym regularly for shorter periods of time, rather than long workout only once or twice a week.

 

Don’t snack during your workout either – it will make you feel sluggish and lazy. It’s best to avoid eating before a workout too, unless it’s a marathon of course, but do have a light snack of around 200 – 300 calories after your intense workouts to replace any calories that you may have used up. This will also teach your body to replace muscle energy but not to store any extra fat.

Categories: body, fitness, Muscle, nbsp, push, training, weight, Weight Training, Workout

Brain Training: Could it be a Way to Keep Your Brain Young?

Your brain is not a muscle, but when it comes to exercise, you should certainly think about it as if it was one. People focus on the wellness and wellbeing of their bodies all the time, but rarely stop to consider the fitness of their brains. Few people actually realise that brain fitness is something that you can work on and continually improve. You can (and should!) exercise your brain every day, and the results can be hugely rewarding and empowering.

 

In order to get into the right mindset, so to speak, it is useful to think about your brain in the same way that you would think about a muscle. If you are working on a physical muscle, you can’t simply do the same exercises over and over again, because they soon cease to challenge your body. You have to keep varying the exercises and making it more of a challenge for your body. In the same way, you can’t simply repeat the same brain exercises over and over again otherwise your brain will become used to tackling them and they will not force the brain to form new neural pathways. You need to master the easy exercises and then push your brain on to the next level.

 

Your brain has an innate neuroplasticity, which means it has an ability to grow and change in order to respond to new challenges. This is where brain training comes into play. Studies on neuroplasticity show that the brain continues to grow and change during adulthood and that it needs guidance and challenge in order to ensure that new neural pathways are formed and the brain continues to thrive.

 

Studies have been carried out recently at Stanford University, which showed that just 12 weeks of brain training could lead to improved processing speed, increased mental flexibility and improved ability to perform working memory tasks.

Categories: Brain, brain continues, Brain Training, challenge, exercises, health, neural pathways, order, training

How to Improve Your Intelligence With Brain Training

You may not fully believe in it, but new research seems to prove that the wellness and wellbeing of your brain is directly linked to how much exercise you give it. Brain training, as it is often called, is also not only good for your cognitive function, but for your mental and emotional health, as it helps to retain or recover failing brain function.

 

Many people find as they get to middle age that their mental clarity and memory start to fail. They often start to forget simple things, such as where they put their purse just a minute ago, the name of an old friend that they bump into on the street or the name of a specific book, film or song that they used to love. As the brainpower fades, many refer to these as ‘senior moments’.

 

Although people joke about these ‘senior moments’, the distress caused by this loss of brain power can be very upsetting and can have a negative effect on your social, professional and personal wellbeing.

 

Whilst this loss of brainpower happens to most of us, scientists are now saying that it is not inevitable, and that there is actually a lot that can be done to help fight against it. The brain is, after all, a muscle just like any other in the human body, and when it is exercised, or given mental workouts, the cognitive function can significantly improve. Thinking is a process whereby neural connections are made in the brain, and when these connections are made on a regular basis, through brain training, the pathways become clearer and more fluid.

 

Brain training programmes have been developed all over the world, now, providing older adults with the opportunity to use their mental skills on a daily basis. These vary from computer programmes to set tasks, but all have the same aim of forcing the user to engage their brain on a regular basis.

Categories: basis, Brain, Brain Training, Cognitive Function, mental, nbsp, regular basis, senior moments, training

Jog, Swim, Cross, Circuit: Your New Fat-Burning Mantra

When you talk about losing weight, what you’re really saying is that you want to lose fat. After all, who cares what a number on a scale says if it’s all lean, toned muscle? Plus, a good muscle to fat ratio is good for your wellbeing, especially if you achieve this physique through safe and effective exercise. The best exercises for burning fat follow the premise of burning the most calories in the shortest period of time. However, burning too many calories can interfere with your workout wellness, making you feel lethargic and totally unenthusiastic about exercise. If this happens, you can say bye bye to buff and trim and hello to bulge, so which exercises can give you great results, whilst leaving a little in the tank for next time?

 

1. Jogging or Walking: The great thing about walking or jogging there’s no excuse for not doing it. Whether you live in a big city or in the middle of nowhere surrounded by vast open fields, whether you’re a fitness freak or a couch potato, and whether you can afford a pricey gym membership or you haven’t got two tenners to rub together, anyone can go for a walk or jog. You can go walking or jogging anywhere at any time, and the beauty of it is that you can continually build upon your progress, increasing the level of intensity or distance you go as your fitness levels improve. All you need to do is introduce a moderately sloped hill to your route, walk with heavier weights, or simply go a bit faster, and as soon as a route gets boring you can change it up and explore new areas. This variety explains why walking and jogging are some of the best fat-burning exercises, as long as you keep pushing yourself to the next level every week.

 

2. Circuit Training: Of all the fat-burning exercises, circuit training is the most hard-hitting. Minute by minute, circuit training burns more calories than any other cardio vascular exercise, which makes it perfect for shedding that unwanted blubber. The problem with this, as opposed to walking or jogging, is that it can be a lot for a beginner to take on, so it may be useful to research the best methods of circuit training before you get started, or, even better, consult a trainer who can help you come up with an individualised, fat-burning routine. If you’re serious about burning off that body fat, you should be aiming to include one or two circuit training sessions in your every weekly workout routine but, again, if you’re just starting out you may have to build up to this point.

 

3. Cross Training: Although this involves going to the gym or forking out for your own cross trainer, this exercise is still worth pursuing if you seriously want to shed those pounds. The pushing and pulling of the handles and foot rests gives you a total upper and lower body workout, which helps to strengthen your muscles, improve your heart health and, as you may have guessed, provide a good means of burning calories to target body fat.

 

4. Swimming: Like cross training, swimming works all the areas of your body but, unlike cross training, it’s a lot more cost effective (especially if you live by the sea). This low-impact cardio exercise is great because you hardly realise you’re exercising, as a dip in the pool or sea refreshes you body and mind, and makes you forget you’re sweating off unwanted fat. Plus, it takes far less time to recover from swimming than any of the above activities (with maybe the exception of walking) which means you won’t be aching come the morning, and will be ready to hit the pool again in no time.

Categories: burning, burning exercises, circuit, Circuit Training, cross training, Fat Burning Exercises, Swimming, time, training, Walking

Which Fitness Programmes Are Best For Weight Loss?

Losing weight and boosting your fitness are two things that most people aspire to do, but few people actually achieve. Before we start heading into winter, when those winter woollies add a few imaginary pounds to your figure, it might be a perfect time to finally get into shape, and fortunately there are some simple activities that can boost your wellness and wellbeing and help improve your fitness.

 

You may have heard of Zumba – the healthy dance craze that has been sweeping the nation. This is one craze that is not just a fad – those who do Zumba actually see results really quickly. The Zumba plan makes you shed pounds through movement and a range of motion, and it engages all your core muscles and gets your pelvic muscles pumping. The fun aspect of the dance class means that you do more activity than you would otherwise, and you don’t notice just how much exercise you are taking (until the next day when you are likely to ache a bit!)

 

TRX strength training is also a great programme, as it uses strength training to help you shed pounds. Using suspension straps, you go through a range of weight training exercises and motions. You burn a lot of calories with this programme – far more than you would through any kind of traditional weightlifting programme.

 

Circuit training is also great for helping you shed pounds and tone up. This means that you don’t just do cardio or strength training, you incorporate them into one workout (with a little bit of abs work too for good measure). This allows for the best calorie burn and helps you to build lean muscles, and is the best way to get fat off quickly and build a healthy and strong body.

Categories: fitness, pounds, Programme, shed, shed pounds, Strength Training, training, weight, Zumba

Improve Your Wellness Using Weight Training Techniques

Improving your physique is about more than just weight loss and fitness – it is about toning up your body and changing the shape of it. Until you feel that your body is taking shape in the way that you want it to, you will not experience the feelings of wellness and wellbeing that should come alongside making important lifestyle changes.

 

If you have seen friends or relatives using the weight training machines or free weights at the gym you will be able to see for yourself that it does work, but you may still have no idea really where to start or feel that you don’t have enough time.

 

First of all, you don’t need to do a lot of weight training to see results; most people find that a short session a couple of times a week is easy to fit into their schedule and is enough for them to see results. Just two or three 30 minute weight sessions can make a marked difference to your physique.

 

Weight training also offers important health benefits and is recommended by the government as part of a healthy lifestyle. In order to get it right, however, you must make sure that you know what you are doing, as incorrect weight lifting can lead to injuries such as fractures or sprains.

 

If you’ve never worked out before, the best place to start is with a session or two of personal training. You can then learn the correct techniques to carry on on your own, even if you don’t want to continue working with a trainer. Using the proper size of weight can also be important – don’t use anything that is too light or you will not see a difference, and a weight that is too heavy will not allow you to do the exercise properly whilst maintaining good form. The correct weight will enable you to do 12 – 15 reps but you will be very tired by the last rep.

Categories: body, exercise, nbsp, session, training, weight, Weight Training