Motivation

How To Stay Motivated As A Beginner

How To Stay Motivated As A Beginner

Published by on January 15, 2023 | Leave a response

It’s January and that means all those New Year’s resolutions have started. By now, many have also ended. I see it in Louisville, KY, people start a fitness regimen as a beginner and just can’t stay motivated. You can arm yourself with ammunition to help improve your chances of success. It all starts with setting a specific goal that you can measure. It makes the goal more exciting when you know if you’re coming closer and you can redirect if you’re not. Set a goal, make it specific and have a way to measure it.

Sore muscles are part of the program, but injuries shouldn’t be.

It’s normal to want to do more in your first few weeks. You’re pumped and excited about working out. Unfortunately, that very excitement is also something that can destroy your motivation. If you workout too hard or too much initially, forget to warm-up or cool-down or don’t use the proper form, pulling a muscle or worse could be in your future. Take it slow at first and learn the proper form for each exercise. An injury can keep you benched for a long time.

Don’t expect immediate change.

Whether you want to build your endurance, lose weight or just get a stronger, fitter body, it all takes time. Don’t look for overnight miracles. You will start to feel the difference in a week or two and start to see physical changes in about four weeks. You might see a few pounds drop the first week if you’re also on a healthy diet, but it can get discouraging if you’re weighing in several times a day.

Create a schedule and make your workout an appointment.

Most people schedule appointments on their phone or have a planner they use. Add your workout session to your schedule and make it the same time every day. One of the biggest boosts to success is consistency, which includes the time of day you workout. By making your workout as important as any other appointment, you’re saying it’s important and not letting life get in the way.

  • If your day is constantly changing, schedule your workout for the first thing in the morning to make sure you have the time to do it.
  • Get adequate rest between strength building workouts. Your muscles need between 48 and 72 hours to heal, so don’t work the same muscle groups two days in a row.
  • Track your progress and keep notes on how many sets and repetitions you’re doing. Make notes on how you felt. Add your method of measurement once a week, whether it’s how much you weigh, your body measurements or physical condition, like blood pressure reading.
  • Never compare yourself and how you’re doing with other people. Every person is different. Only compete against yourself.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

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Meal Plan And Hit Your Goals!

Meal Plan And Hit Your Goals!

Published by on January 5, 2023 | Leave a response

I hear it all the time. Clients who want to lose weight, boost their health or increase their energy level, come to me and say they’re struggling. I tell them to do meal planning. Within a week or so, they’re back saying it’s just too hard to meal plan but did notice it was easier to stick with a regimen of healthy eating when they did. What can you do to make meal planning easier? You can do several things to make meal planning easier and more successful.

Give meal planning time to work.

Just like anything, when you’re first new to it, it’s hard. After a few weeks, you’ll be amazed at how much easier it gets. Meal planning is so much easier thanks to the programs available. We offer one that only requires you to buy the food and make it, all the planning and even the grocery list is already made. Sure, you have to cook it, but that’s even streamlined. You cook everything at once. That means leftovers are used, your oven and stovetop are doing double duty and you only have to clean the big pots and pans once a week.

Shopping for food is even easier and money saving.

When you shop for your weekly food, make sure you eat before you go. It helps lower your grocery bill by eliminating unnecessary items. Do all your shopping at once. That saves on gas, which is a huge benefit. All the ingredients are on the list for every meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can check your shelves and delete the ingredients you don’t need. Since your program is personalized, it will contain food you enjoy and your body needs.

Get the family involved in making the meals.

You’ll be cooking a whole week’s worth of food at once. Many people double the recipes, particularly ones they find everyone likes. That’s where giving meal planning a chance to work is important. After a month or so, people often have an extra week or two of meals in their freezer, have developed a rhythm for the weekly prep and love meal planning. It makes getting meals ready during the week a breeze. It’s a matter of heating and eating, which is faster than a drive through and wastes less gas.

  • When you use our meal planning app, you can be sure that not only are your meals well-balanced, but they also fit your calorie needs. You’ll pack individual serving sizes to take away the guesswork at a meal.
  • After doing meal planning for a month or two, most people have a week of meals for the family packed in the freezer. You’ll be ready for unexpected guests and even be able to take a week or two off from cooking.
  • Having healthy snacks in the refrigerator or to take to work can be a huge benefit. You won’t be tempted to grab some gas station food when you stop for gas. Your body will thank you.
  • Planning meals ahead gives you a chance to check out the sales and use coupons, saving even more money. Your grocery bill is often lower and you’ll be amazed at how much further your food budget will go.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

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How Often Should You Go To The Gym As A Beginner?

How Often Should You Go To The Gym As A Beginner?

Published by on November 5, 2022 | Leave a response

When someone is a beginner, at Body Sculptors in Louisville, KY, there are a lot of variations on how much time is spent in the gym. Some people come every day to workout, while others come once a week or even less. What is the perfect amount of time to spend? The answer varies based on your goals and even your fitness level. However, if you only come once a week to the gym, you need to be doing some type of exercises on other days to get in at least 150 to 300 minutes a week.

Part of the variation is contributed to the type of exercise you’re doing.

Are you pushing hard and going at peak intensity? Then that 150 to 300 minutes a week is suddenly reduced to 75 to 150 minutes a week. That’s about two to three gym visits, since high intensity workouts are normally shorter. Your body can’t keep up the pace for that long, especially if you’re a beginner. For other people, particularly those out of shape, taking a more moderate pace would require more time at the gym.

Not all types of training have to be done at the gym.

When you’re working with a personal trainer, let the trainer be your guide. He or she will help designate how many days you should come. For others, remember, not every exercise has to be done at the gym. For instance, a beginner might start aerobic training by walking. It’s far more interesting to walk outside, or at least inside an indoor mall, than it is to walk laps around the gym. On days you walk, going to the gym may not be necessary. If you’re doing strength training, you need to rest those muscles for at least 48 hours so the microtears caused by the workout can heal.

Beginners need to start slowly and work toward increasing their workout.

If you’ve been sedentary for years and finally decided that enough was enough, you might need more rest between tough workouts and take it easier in the beginning. Some people start by working out two to three days a week for about 30 to 45 minutes. On the days away, they go for walks, ride bikes or do other gentle exercises like tai chi.

  • You can boost your exercise time by increasing your activity. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park further from the store. On Saturday night, don’t go to a show, go dancing.
  • If you aren’t working with a trainer, at least for the first two weeks take it slow. Focus mostly on form than repetition. Make sure you include warm up and cool down time in your workout session.
  • As you progress, you can increase your workout time or workout intensity. If you push yourself too hard initially, you’re apt to cause an injury that will leave you sidelined for months. Always listen to your body.
  • Make sure your program is varied. Cardio should be done at least three days a week, while strength training should be one to two times for each muscle group. Flexibility training should be done daily.

For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training

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