Strength training or Cardio first?

 

So whenever I am at the gym, I notice some people start with cardio then start their strength training , and I have noticed others start with strength training then head over to cardio once they are finished.  I will be honest, I didn’t know which one made more sense and I tried both ways for experimental reasons to see if I noticed a difference in the gains, and weight loss.  To be honest, I didn’t notice much of a difference other than starting with strength seemed to make me tired by the time I came over to cardio today and the fact is, I used the cardio as a warm-up before starting my strength training but today I didn’t even do a proper warm-up; I just hopped into it with some reps and went from there.  The question of the day is, which one way will give me the most gains and which way is much more beneficial (most people have told me strength training first will help me keep my gains); So I did decided to do my own research and figure out what works best for me and works the best for others and here is what I came up with: 

So if you chose to not read these links above me, let me break them down for you, but also feel free to look at them, because I read each of them and they each had the same ideas and even some good pointers! Basically it doesn’t necessarily matter which one goes FIRST, but it is more beneficial to start your strength training first then do cardio afterwards because you will have the energy you need to be able to do the short burst exercises (anaerobic) but if you do cardio first, you will burn through your stores and when you go to do strength training; you are most likely going to either have a bad session or be fatigued by the time you start it.  

In my opinion, I believe people should switch it up quite a lot. Like maybe 2 days a week do cardio then strength, then another 2 or 3 days do strength and start on cardio, because I think this will be the most beneficial but it all depends on what your goals are and what is most important to you during the workout.  I stand by switching it up, because I think they can offer different things by doing so.. maybe you are trying to lose weight, if you do your cardio beforehand then you will have the energy needed to run your mile, ect and then doing strength you might have some stores left to work on strength but doesn’t have to be heavy lifts necessarily.  If you are someone working on hypertrophy and muscle gains, starting strength training first might be more beneficial to you because you will have energy stores left to do all your lifts then once you do cardio you don’t have to necessarily run a mile. Just depends on your goals, and what you can handle.  I think the most important aspect is showing up ready to sweat and push yourself, if you do that each time  then you are winning no matter what!

Sincerely, Your blogger Shay-lon

 

“Don’t want to cook”

 

So you are probably wondering why this strange title came up and it triggered something in you because you realized this is all about you.  All about the ones who can’t cook, don’t want to cook and/or don’t know how to cook.  I, myself, I love to cook and cook almost every single day, but I realized a couple of days ago and even today that I wasn’t in the mood to cook, not because I am mad, sad or indifferent but because I had no motivation to cook and I wanted to be lazy so I ended up making myself two tuna sandwiches and calling it a night ( I only ate one). You see everyone has their moments where they just want to be easy and call it quits for the night or become too busy to cook and want something quick and/or find themselves struggling to cook; let alone cook a healthier meal.  I am here to offer some great insight that will hopefully help each one of you with wanting to cook and cook more often, because at the end of the day; we should want to cook our own food if we have the means to do so because knowing what is in our foods, how it is cooked and making it a routine will help you keep at it and eventually it will become 2nd nature to you.  Now this doesn’t mean you can’t splurge on some “fast food” or go out to eat with the family, I approve of all that, lol. It just means that money doesn’t grow off trees, eating healthy is easier when you are eating at home and learning a new trait will only help you in the long run.  Now this won’t cover specific recipes, menus, or anything in depth about food ( I will save that for another post) but this will hopefully get you in the mood to start making something more delicious in the kitchen! 

Don’t know how to cook

  • Watch Youtube videos that are rated well and can show you some handy ways to cook
  • look into recipe books, online recipe sites, watch Food network and or find a friend or family member that doesn’t mind showing you the ropes
  • hire a personal cook
  • get involved in cooking classes 
  • experiment in the kitchen with different things you like to eat
  • start with small meals, then work your way up once you become comfortable
  • Possibly eat canned, boxed and or packaged foods first and learn how to cook those, then change things up once you become comfortable with it
  • make some of the fruits and veggies into a drink instead by using a blinder
  • keep trying and keep experimenting with different foods until you find something you like
 

Don’t feel like cooking

  • eat something that doesn’t necessarily need warmed up (sandwiches, fruits, nuts, yogurt, cereal, ect)
  • cook at earlier times in the day when you have the motivation and time
  • If you are going to order out, then make sure to look at the menu before ordering out and deciding out of the options which one would be the healthiest of them
  • find out why you don’t feel like cooking and fix it
  • cook when you are in a good mood and feel good about yourself (trust me this works)
  • make a meal for others, so that it triggers you to want to cook something for you
  • If you have a partner/spouse have them cook for you
  • get enough rest throughout the day to make sure you have the energy to cook
  • make a list of things you want to eat and make it your motivation to cook them
 

Don’t have time to cook

  • Make a meal ahead of time during the week that will last a week or so
  • have your partner/spouse cook for you so that you can have a cooked meal for at home (if this is an option for you)
  • find quick and easy meals
  • get your day started earlier so that you can make time
  • Don’t make excuses, find time
  • pick up something from the stores that is instant and or microwavable
  • Ask yourself how do you manage to eat healthy if you don’t have time to cook? Chances are you probably don’t or you think you are eating “healthy” but you aren’t. 
 

None of these things are hard to do, all of them are easily manageable, even on a busy day because no where does the rules state you have to eat everyday at the same time if you can’t.  But if you make excuses to eat out every night instead of cooking, this isn’t good and will only make for a worse night because fast food can make people grumpy and lagging.   Cooking is a beautiful trait that everyone should have, at least the basics because eating out all the time becomes costly, unhealthy, and repetitive and no likes that.  You don’t have to be a chef to be a cook and to cook healthy, all it takes is some of these steps and next thing you know.. you will be in the kitchen all the time wanting to cook meals.  Even if you don’t like cooking, it still is something you should want to do for no other reason then it will be mighty hard to stay on a healthy path when you have temptations of fast food. My motto is “either cook for you, or eat what they serve and don’t complain if it’s not to your liking” this saying explains itself, cook for yourself and chances are high you will likely enjoy it but if you are to choose to eat out all the time don’t complain when it doesn’t stand up to your expectations.  I hope all of you who read this will find it inspired, and or helped you to see cooking in a new light.  Thank you for reading.

 

Share, comment, reblog, like, follow

 

Sincerely, 

Your blogger Shay-lon 

Challenge your comfort zone

comfort zone

I have come to the conclusion that people will not do exercises they think “look hard”, don’t want to change their routine, don’t want to go out of their way to buy the equipment, and have a lack of understanding & like staying complacent.  This is what keeps some people from excelling in life, and in their goals. As a personal trainer in the making, I have already ran into the type of clients that want to stay in their “cube” and only do what they know and feel comfortable with; which in the beginning may be okay but as you decide that you want to grow and build on yourself, you will need to step outside the cube and do things that you wouldn’t normally do! Why? because growth doesn’t happen to those who aren’t willing to climb the ladder and go beyond. 

When I say step outside your comfort zone and challenge yourself, what I mean by this for example is, instead of making the treadmill your safe haven when you enter the gym, instead go do something that you normally would want to do but because you are scared of being judged or because you are scared you won’t know what to do, try it. Sometimes the things that come easy to us, keep us from growing and keep us from excelling and we hit a plateau that does us no good in the long run.   The hard part about challenging ourselves is not knowing how well we will do and taking a risk that might end badly; but it is worth it. 

Tell me why some of you don’t challenge yourself, why you are afraid to step outside your comfort zone & tell me what scares you about doing it, tell me what goals you have and what is keeping you from them? are you afraid to try something new, are you afraid of failure, do you make poor excuses and give up? Some people get so used to the same routine, that change scares them.  I know the feeling because when I started changing my eating habits, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to stick to it, and I would get “bored” or wouldn’t be able to afford it.  When I decided to change my level of physical activity, I was the person who jumped on the treadmill and never wanted to venture out because anything outside of that made me nervous.  I knew I didn’t have huge amounts of muscle and I wasn’t the skinniest girl in there with the nicest, roundest butt and so I was afraid to stand next to someone who did have those qualities because it made me think lowly of myself.  As soon as I built my self confidence and produced goals and worked on them, I gained what I needed to run to the weights and never wanted to leave, I slowly decided to focus on myself at the gym and less on the people around me, I started taking things I learned from my exercise science classes and used them in the real world and I started to see results and trusted myself enough to continue on this path.  It isn’t easy, and the journey can be long and sometimes very uneasy but when you realize and notice how the challenges make you stronger; your thoughts & attitude changes. 

As I take this road to fulfilling my dreams to be in the fitness industry, I still have to maintain this type of confidence where no exercise is too scary and no exercise is too hard and looking in the mirror isn’t about whether you look good but how you look doing the workout.  I have to take a few steps back and analyze the type of workout I am doing before I start so that I am doing it safely and efficiently, it isn’t to “show off” mad skills and gain recognition, it is to hopefully open my eyes to new things and variety and keep me wanting to train harder and longer and build me as a person. When you stumble across new equipment that intimidates you, don’t turn your back on it; instead you should want to find out how it works and explore its possibilities. When it comes to fitness, nothing is impossible because in the long run, nothing has a limit, you can always go above and beyond & the only person who holds a standard for you to meet should be you! Hold yourself accountable for how hard you work, strive and keep yourself grounded but don’t not take risk because you are afraid of falling, take the risk because the end result could hold your future!  

Share, follow, comment, like and reblog. Thank you for reading!

Sincerely, 

Your blogger Shay-lon

Client & the TRX update

Updated information on my TRX experience with the client

 
 

I am back to update everyone on the experience I had with the TRX a couple of days ago.  Also this has me wanting to talk about other things dealing with the personal training industry now that this situation occurred. Let me first start my by saying, my client was confused as to why were going to do a TRX exercise, because in her head she thought “I don’t have one, so why would I want to use this”, well I explained to her about why I chose this particular exercise and how it can replicate some of the exercises she does without it. We did chest press and the squat on the TRX, I of course demonstrated both of these exercises, and gave her options when it came to what stance to use for the chest press (since she doesn’t have upper body strength, we did the staggered to begin with and if she felt it was too easy, I had her do the wide leg stance); she ended up choosing the wide leg stance.  

 

This particular client is an older lady,  and she complained a lot about how unstable she felt while doing the chest press, I had to talk to her about the benefits and give her some motivation to continue through (for the day at least), the squats she didn’t mind as much with the TRX, because they were easy for her. At the end of the workout, she ended up liking the TRX chest press after getting used it to a bit more.  Due to her not owning a TRX at her house, she does not want to continue using it in any further exercises (except for warmups) so I agreed to establish a new form of exercises using weights for the upcoming week.  She also is having me come up with exercises for her to do when she works out at home, so I am in the process of doing this at some point as well, in fact she only owns 2lb weights, so this will be something I am going to talk to her about because the 2 pounds isn’t going to progress her much at all. Basically we did a circuit that day and it went fairly well, but I have learned something from this whole thing. 1) she doesn’t like trying new things if she has never done it before & 2) if they can find an excuses, they will use it.

 

This brings me to my point, I think this has opened my eyes to the types of people we have who want to be in shape and fit but don’t necessarily like what they have to do to get there, especially if it is out of their comfort zone.  She does cardio 45 minutes 5 times a week and while she is tiny in size, she has hardly any muscle and doesn’t want to work her upper body because it agitates her neck, but since she plays golf and want to have upper body strength, I decided we need to make an effort and work on these weaknesses if you ever want to become stronger. I thought the TRX would be helpful because of her neck agitation but obviously that idea is out now, so I am going to use weights and we will work on exercises that won’t put too much strain on her neck. I think the problem is people want to be able to do big things but hate having to start someplace small, and this is definitely the issue at hand.  Not to mention, she does not like to sweat.  I am looking forward to helping her complete her goals, and while we have a good relationship, I think this experience has given me ideas on how to handle her excuses and what to do to push her past her comfort zones. I want to be the best personal trainer I can be for anyone, and I am not perfect by any means, but I promise you and everyone else, I will succeed no matter the excuses you throw at me because I always have a plan B, C, D, ect.. when all those run out .. I will think up something so fast you won’t expect it. What she doesn’t know is .. I have resistance bands awaiting her, lol and hopefully she won’t throw away the idea because she can actually take some home with her.. (that cuts out I don’t own any) and I am excited to see what she will say or how she will react 🙂

 

All in all, I just wanted to share this experience with people, and see what everyone has to say about this situation. Like I have stated, I love working with my clients and learning and this situation has helped me a lot. I want to make the best choices for them and this goes to prove not everyone will like my ideas but excuses will not stop me from helping you, I can jump excuses like I can jump hurdles. please feel free to share, comment, and like, reblog and follow me. Thank you for reading. 

 

Sincerely, 

Your blogger Shay-lon

TRX

TRX, what is this amazing idea that someone came up with that has everyone so eager to try it at least once? This contraption is an equipment used for those of us who either prefer using our own body weight or want to do something more advanced without the use of weights.  I was first introduced to the TRX last semester of college in my exercise science class and at first I thought “okay, this looks like it belongs in the circus and I most likely am not going to be able to do any of these workouts using it” because I have gotten to the point where I was becoming more comfortable with free weights and have had experience with using the machines; this equipment intimidated me!

I was probably the only one in the classroom at the time who had no idea as to what it was and what it was used for, all I knew was it was something that had to do with exercise and that sounded pretty good to me at the time.  When my professor explained this TRX and had us do the exercises (beginner-advanced); some of them I did pretty well doing and others.. it was fairly embarrassing and my form was always off. I have to admit, out of everyone in the class during the time, I was the only one having difficulties warming up to this TRX.  I felt as though for some reason, I didn’t understand it and it frustrated me because I wanted to be “good” at it but I just couldn’t for whatever get things down. 

At the end of the lesson that day, I had decided that this was probably going to be the only time I ever use it or want to use it because I had decided I am not good at it and I would much rather save myself the frustrations and anger. Well newsflash, this semester I am going to be using it again for my client and I haven’t yet prepared myself for what is to come on Tuesday but I have decided that I am determined to get certain exercises correct and to work on my form because I know the TRX is a good idea for this particular client and I want them to get the most out of their workout.  Of course, if my client decides that this isn’t something they are interested in or have issues with it then I will make the necessary changes as we go along. I know for sure that Tuesday morning I am going to show up to class fairly early and practice on the TRX any movements/exercises I will be having my client do because I am going to need to demonstrate these same exercises in order for them to understand the form and technique and I will have to be confident while doing it so that it seems that I know what I am doing without question.  

So with this all being said and done, I will keep everyone posted about this particular situation sometime in the next week hopefully.  I mainly wanted to talk about the good things that revolve around the TRX and how the gentlemen who created it, probably made one of life’s best inventions; and even though I struggle with this, it doesn’t mean I don’t think it is beneficial and I want others whom haven’t yet tried this, to do so because I want people to be open minded to other things and workouts using a variety of equipment; especially if you are in the fitness industry as a personal trainer or instructor of some sorts.  Down below I have listed some of the benefits of using the TRX and keep in mind the TRX equipment works the same but can look different depending on the size.  

 
 

TRX (total body resistance exercise)

 
  •  Incorporates nearly every muscle of the human body (core activation is one of the most important aspects)
  • The workouts can range from simple to more advanced; and you can complete a total body workout using one piece of equipment in 20 minutes
  • The straps are mobile, you can take them everywhere with you and attach them anywhere.
  • TRX is safe if done correctly
  • It is for anyone, you can be a yoga instructor, personal trainer, runner, cyclist, swimmer, ect. The TRX isn’t for any one specific person, it can be used no matter the type of activities you partake in. 
  • Beginner friendly
  • Cardio-strength training connection. You can do both using the TRX, it isn’t just limited to one or the other (raises heartbeat and helps build muscle)
  • beats boredom, you can a various amount of exercises you can do at all times and you have a choice in the matter as to how hard or easy you want to make them

Now, does this mean it doesn’t have any cons? No. As a matter of fact, many scientist are proving this TRX to be less effective then using weights.  It depends on how you look at it and how hard you work your muscles and what you expect to get out of it.  Would I recommend to someone to ditch the weights and start up TRX, no, I would recommend that one should do both for no other reason than because it will allow for you to change up your routine and try something different every once in awhile. Not many gyms offer the TRX but if you know a place that offers classes or has one at their location, I highly recommend that you try it at least once; you may or may not like it.  I, personally still enjoy free weights and want to continue working out using free weights and machines, and I already know I am hardly close to good at using the TRX but I could get better if I practiced and possibly took classes; just I don’t have that readily available at my disposal.  I do like how versatile the TRX is and how many lower functioning clients enjoy it more so because they aren’t confident in lifting weights yet and I enjoy the fact it is something you can take on the go with you.  The downside for me is having to adjust the straps for certain exercises ( I have a hard time remembering), the feeling that the exercise isn’t doing much for me because I don’t feel a “burn” and the fact that I don’t own one to practice with and of course the fact I have a hard time taking direction for the TRX.  

 

I want to know everyone else’s opinion of the TRX, do you use it? do you like it? or no, would you recommend it? what exercises do you like to do? why do you use it or why don’t you like it? Share with me all of your opinions and comments.  Like I said, I am horrible at the TRX for the most part and can only do about 3 or 4 exercises correctly with no issues but I like the reasons behind using one but because of my lack of confidence when I use it, I wouldn’t make it my “go to” when I am at the gym or something I would normally train someone on unless I was able to demonstrate the exercises correctly and confidently. 

Comment, share, reblog, like and follow me!

 

Sincerely,

Your blogger Shay-lon