Be Real about your Success

It would be great if you could train for a week and see magical results, but that's not how Getting in Shape and improving your health works. Just like Getting out of shape does not happen in one day, you will not see results immediately when you start any type of fitness training program. Be Realistic, Be prepared and Set Short, Medium and Long Term Goals. When you make your fitness goals realistic and attainable you will ensure a greater success for sticking with your fitness program for life.

Sincerely,

Greg Finch
FORM Fitness
formandfit.com

 

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Consistency, Can't Do "Healthy" Without It

Throughout the years I have watched as clients have made tremendous strides in improving their quality of life.  Each one of these clients has taken different paths, struggled in various aspects, and each has unique strengths and weaknesses.  Even with all the differences one theme runs through all their success:

CONSISTENCY !  Without fail, through periods of stress and calm alike, they never waver from their focus in their programs. They take steps both large and small everyday.

Am I working on the right exercise program? Was that enough cardio this week? Did I do too much upper body strength training? Not enough legs? All these questions, and literally hundreds more, are important and need your attention.  But if you don't have consistency, the answers to the previous questions won't matter much.

Even with a strong discipline and determination, consistency takes real focus. For most of us this means support from outside ourselves.  Search for that support in friends, family, or professionals.  Wherever you can find it.  We all need to view our life's fitness plan as a foundation for our health and reinforce this idea everyday through action.  Make your physical movement a major player in your stress relief and a healthy escape from your daily grind. 

If you will allow me a re-imagining of what Confucius said long ago - A journey of a thousand miles continues each day with the first step.   

Where will your first step take you tomorrow?

Sincerely,

Greg Finch
FORM Fitness
formandfit.com

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Weight Loss - Weighing the Evidence on Exercise

A growing body of science suggests that exercise does play an important role in weight loss, something that professional trainers see proof of everyday. The science is starting to show that the role that exercise does play is different than most believe.  Here are a some key points from an article discussing this topic in the New York Times:

1. The newest science suggests that exercise alone will not make you thin, but it may determine whether you stay thin.

2. The mathematics of weight loss is in fact, quite simple, involving only subtraction. Take in fewer calories than you burn. (Something I talk about often. Simple concept. Difficult to achieve)

3. The mechanisms that control appetite and energy balance in the human body are elegantly calibrated. The body aims for homeostasis, It likes to remain at whatever weight it’s used to. (Changing where the body views its homeostasis weight is where the battle can be won or lost)

4. Small changes in energy balance can produce rapid changes in certain hormones associated with appetite, particularly acylated ghrelin, which is known to increase the desire for food, as well as insulin and leptin, hormones that affect how the body burns fuel.

5. Female bodies, inspired almost certainly by a biological need to maintain energy stores for reproduction fight hard to hold on to every ounce of fat. (Overcoming natures drive on a physiological level takes much more than desire.  It takes a focused, fully supported approach to changing the physical, behavioral, and emotional approach to ones life. Overwhelming? At times, yes. Achievable?  Yes, for most of us it takes a tremendous amount of support from ourselves, our families, friends, and professionals.)

6. In a recent study at an energy-metabolism lab a group was guided to sit throughout the session.  If they had to use the bathroom they were told to roll themselves in a wheelchair.  Meanwhile, in a second session, the same volunteers stood all day, not doing anything in particular, just standing. The difference in energy expenditure was remarkable, representing hundreds of calories with no increase in their blood levels of ghrelin or other appetite hormones. (Conclusion? get out of your chair and move around. Do it everyday and as much of the day as possible. A few hundred calories difference? Sounds good to me.)

Here's the link to the full article

Sincerely,

Greg Finch
FORM Fitness
formandfit.com

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New Outdoor Elliptical Trainer - The Elliptigo

Check out this unique outdoor elliptical trainer.  Dean Karnazes, an ultra-marathoner and spokesperson for the Elliptigo, will be stopping by Art's Cyclery in SLO on Wed. 3/27 at 6:00pm.  Find out all the details HERE

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"Get Up Stand Up"

A recent article from the British Journal of Sports Medicine has claimed that  "Sitting down for too long can cause a range of health problems, even among those who exercise regularly."  Doctors from the Karolinska Institute and the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm said that the only way to minimize the effects was to cut the amount of time that we spend inactive.  “In the future, the focus in clinical practice and guidelines should not only be to promote and prescribe exercise, but also to encourage people to maintain their intermittent levels of daily activities [that involve movement].”  I continually stress this to my clients.  Exercise is your training ground.  Your life, all day every day, is where you implement that training.  They are not separate but influence and evolve within each other.

One effective way to reach the goal of "less sit, more action" is the concept of the stand up desk.  That may seem a bit unorthodox to some but there's no arguing its ability to reduce ones sitting time, especially for those in an office setting.  A personal training client of mine has adopted this approach and has had great success with it, you can read about it here.

Bottom line, consistently look for ways to move.  If you are sitting right now reading this get up, go outside if possible, and move those legs. 

Greg Finch

FORM Fitness

formandfit.com

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