Archive for March, 2012

The Importance of Commitment

Posted: March 16, 2012 by christyatprime in challenge, dedication, fitness, health, inspiration, lifestyle, Uncategorized, wellness, womens' fitness
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“There’s a difference between interest and commitment.  When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permit.  When you’re commited to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”

When is the last time you truly commited to yourself?  We spend so much of our time commiting to family, work, friends, really anything but ourselves.  It is often easier to give energy to others rather than to ourselves.  We feel like if we take time to do something for ourselves, we are being selfish.  Why is that?

It seems easy to commit to a two year contract at our local health club, but how many of us commit to going at least 12 times per month?  We generously spend our hard earned money on supplements, gym memberships, new workout clothes, new shoes, and iPods, but never make it to the gym.  How will we ever achieve our goals?  It is important to set goals whether they are daily or more long term goals like your first 5K or losing 10 pounds before your tenth wedding anniversary.

My plea is that over the next 8 weeks, you commit to YOU!  Make yourself a priority!  Focus on proper nutrition, not diets.  Be consistent with your workouts.  Drink water throughout the day.  Tell yourself that you are important and that you deserve results!  Be happy!  Love yourself.  Commit, no excuses.

A Client’s Take on Fitness by our very own Barbara Root

Posted: March 14, 2012 by christyatprime in dedication, fat loss, fitness, health, inspiration, lifestyle, muscle, personal training, weight loss, wellness, womens' fitness
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A Client’s Take on Fitness

Written March 1, 2012

I’ve always considered myself a fairly fit person, even if my favorite form of exercise was a “brisk read” as Phyllis Diller once said. When I could drag myself away from a good book, however, I walked every day, did aerobics, yoga, and qigong and ice skating—at least sporadically, and took the occasional dance class. This approach seemed to work pretty well until I hit my early fifties, when my formerly flat stomach went squishy and I started getting recurring rotator cuff and deltoid injuries to my right shoulder, on top of arthritis and spinal stenosis. I gritted my teeth and asked my daughter Kathy, who’s a personal trainer, to teach me to lift weights. I might be getting older, but I was determined not to be decrepit.

Thus began my adventures in high-intensity intervals, balance, and strength training—and my obsession with Jillian Michaels! Kathy trained me for about 4 months before she liberated me—or was that, fired me? Evidently, even great trainers who love their work don’t want to train their moms when they get home! After getting over my shock, I realized that it was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me. Kathy had laid the groundwork and taught me things I never thought I could do, but no one else was going to take charge (I thought)—I was going to have to be responsible for my own fitness.

Enter Jillian, who’s not quite the screaming meanie in her videos as she was on Biggest Loser. Well, Jillian was great… and Tamilee, and Jackie… until the knee injury. Nothing dramatic, just bone on bone arthritis. Sidelined by my doctor, who said, “No more squats and lunges, ever!” but also said “strengthen your quads” without telling me how, I quickly sought referrals for personal trainers from Kathy. I’ve been blessed over the past year to work with three amazing trainers, including two from Prime Fitness. It’s taken about 6 months, but the swelling in my knee has finally gone down and I now have two perfectly matched knees! In the process, I’ve lost body fat and gained a lot of strength—AND I do squats and lunges. I can’t say enough about how important knowledgeable trainers are in teaching you proper form and in finding creative ways to work around injuries and in making you work harder than you might on your own.

Barbara Root

Fit vs. Skinny Part Deux

Posted: March 9, 2012 by christyatprime in dedication, fat loss, fitness, health, inspiration, lifestyle, muscle, personal training, Uncategorized, wellness, womens' fitness
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After my post on fit vs skinny last week I decided it was time to get personal and talk a little about my own journey over the last 3 months.  It has always intrigued me when I talk to our clients about fat loss versus weight loss, being fit versus being skinny, positive versus negative self talk, and the notion that trainers are working towards their own personal goals and even we as fitness professionals aren’t always 100% self confident in the way we look or feel.

On December 8th I had my body composition taken.  It was a whopping 22.79% and I weighed in at 143 pounds.  That being said that’s 32.6 pounds of FAT and 110.4 pounds of lean body mass(LBM).  I set up my action plan as to how I could LOSE fat!  I didn’t care so much about the number on the scale, but I was definitely not happy with my body fat percentage.  Okay, okay, truth be told….I really did care about the number on the scale, because I knew that if I could just hit 138 pounds I would look great!  I decided that I would increase the number of days I was strength training.  I incorporated TRX Suspension Training, TRX Rip Training, kettlebells, bands, med balls, and a bunch of fun “toys”.  My cardio consisted of high intensity, short duration bouts of running a couple times per week.  Within four weeks I had lost 2% body fat, 3 pounds of fat and had gained 2 pound of LBM!  The weight on the scale didn’t budge.  Determined to continue on a path of fat loss, I really took a look at my nutrition and realized that I was eating as much as my boyfriend, Eric, at each meal….I realized that I really like to eat!  Without changing a lot of my food selection, I cut back on my portion size and increased the amount of protein I was consuming daily.  I began tracking my food consumption using the Daily Burn Tracker and found that there were days I actually wasn’t eating enough!  Could that be?  I needed more food (fuel) per day to increase my fat loss!   So YES I had to start eating more, to lose fat!  The other major factor, in my opinion, is cutting down on the alcohol consumption.  I allowed myself 1-2 alcoholic drinks per week if I chose.  Instead of my usual, delicious pint(s) of Blue Moon beer with a whopping 171 calories per 12 oz, I settled for a small glass of pinot noir at 120 calories.  I found that not only was I not consuming empty calories, but I felt much better!  I was sleeping soundly and my energy levels increased.

I did my final weigh in and body composition check on March 6th….12 weeks after first starting.  I am happy to report that I am now 16.96% body fat and am 139 pounds; with 23.57 pounds of fat and 115.42 pounds of LBM.  In 12 short weeks I have lost 9 pounds of fat, gained 5 pounds of LBM and the scale only changed by ~4 pounds.

I know how frustrating it can be when we put so much emphasis on the scale.  It makes you wonder why you drag yourself to the gym five days per week, why you sacrifice your weekend mornings for the long runs, and why you ever thought about giving up alcohol.  But trust me, it’s NOT about the number on the scale.  That’s not the important number….instead focus on body composition….fat loss, not weight loss.  Once you set your sights on this, you will find success!  And I now have the mindset that FIT is so much more important than skinny.

The importance of Team!

Posted: March 5, 2012 by christyatprime in Uncategorized
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Since opening PRIME, a lot of people have asked us what large group training is.  They want to know if it is group exercise.  When we talk about training in a large group, what WE mean is 5-10 athletes working out together, supporting one another, cheering each other on, motivating one another, under the supervision and direction of a certified fitness professional.  Attention is paid to proper exercise execution, exercises are regressed or progressed as needed, and each class builds upon the last.  YES, workouts should be progressive and they should have a goal!  When we created the idea of PRIME and knew the vision we had set forth, we only dreamed of what has transpired.  Large group training is more than a few people working out in the same room.  Each “class” has become a TEAM.  Vince Lombardi says it well, “Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” 

Over the course of the last 4 months, clients have hit their personal goals and TEAM’s have hit their overall goals.  The care and support for one another, the encouragement, the desire to succeed has been off the charts.  We at PRIME are truly excited about and thankful to those in our PRIME family.

So the next time someone asks, large group training is not group exercise!  It is results driven, support, focused training, that yields to a team-like atmosphere of motivation and fun!