You have probably heard thousands of different tips on how to quickly lose weight, recover from illnesses and get in good physical shape. Dozens of trainers promote the latest methods and technologies of a healthy lifestyle, and some of them directly contradict each other. How not to get lost in this sea of information?
The journalists of the site Livestrong.com interviewed the most authoritative experts in the field of fitness and made up the top most useful tips.
1. Replace Calm Cardio With Interval Training
The road to a slender and strong body is a little like a long monotonous walk. The best effect is given by bursts of high intensity, interspersed with slow, calm loads for recovery. In 15 or 20 minutes of interval training, you can burn as many calories as in an hour of regular training. And, unlike regular classes, they give an effect even after the end of the lesson.
2. Pay attention to the internal muscles in every session
Many focus on only selected muscle groups, losing sight of everything else. However, the human body consists not only of cubes on the stomach, no matter how beautiful they look. A huge number of internal muscles are hidden from our view, but they are necessary to protect the internal organs and the spine from injury, maintain the body in an upright position, and so on. Therefore, pay attention not only to specialized ones that act on isolated muscle groups, but also to complex exercises that put a load on the whole body. It is especially good to use for this.
3. Replace machines with free weights
The simulators are designed in such a way that you have to move a given weight along a certain trajectory. However, if you are too short or too tall, if your arms or legs are not as long as the average person, then such exercises will not organically fit your physiology, which can lead to lack of progress or even injury.
Replacing the machines with dumbbell or barbell exercises may be more suitable for your body and will help to work even those muscle groups that are inactive on the machines. And sometimes it can even help you out.
4. Don't slouch!
5. Increase your range of motion
To add more load to each repetition and increase the effectiveness of the workout as a whole will help to lengthen the trajectory of movements performed with each repetition of the exercise. Squat a little deeper, when doing push-ups, stop literally a centimeter from the floor, pull yourself up not to the chin, but to the chest. Get more out of every move and your body will thank you.
6. Do each exercise as quickly as possible.
Slow exercise is best used only as an additional load. In the main part of the session, you should strive to complete each exercise as quickly as possible, whether it be pull-ups, push-ups, or weight training. Even if you can’t do it really fast at first, the effort will still teach the muscle fibers to contract faster, which will make your body more athletic.
7. Use more complex exercises
There are a large number of special exercises aimed at developing individual muscles. However, if you are not a bodybuilder capable of spending long hours in the gym, then it is preferable to use exercises that load several muscle groups at the same time.
For example, squats will help to work out not only the legs, but also the back, the barbell row in the slope will load the biceps and back, and the bench press will develop the triceps and chest.
8. Change your grip
In many exercises, it is enough to slightly change the grip so that it opens from a completely different side. For example, with pull-ups, push-ups, and many exercises, you can place your arms wider or narrower. Such a slight change allows you to work out previously unused muscle fibers, and in addition to diversify your workout.
9. Try to load only one side
Since our body always strives for balance, the use of asymmetric loads will force those muscles of the body to work that cannot be reached in the usual way. Try exercising with only one dumbbell or using machines using only one side of your body. A little unusual advice, but sometimes it works.
10. Do push-ups
Push-ups are one of the greatest exercises. Their correct execution can be described in just one phrase: keep a hard straight line from the top of your head to the very heels in each phase of the exercise. With this in mind, you should not round your back, sag at the waist, or stick out your pelvis. The main value of this exercise is that it uses the muscles of almost the entire body. Different ones will help you load and work out a variety of muscle groups well.
Based on materials
Do you want to make your figure slim, but don't have the time and energy to devote several hours a day to classes? This is not necessary, as fitness instructor Tamily Webb proves to us.
I want such a body - sets of exercises for every day
All you need for an ideal relief is 15 minutes a day, but with full dedication. “I want such a body” is a dynamic workout that includes a load on different muscle groups, each of which is given a quarter of an hour to work out.
And be sure to go to the section and jump in too. I regularly update and add information to these sections.
I want this press. Complex 1
Exercises from the series “I want such a press” are just a godsend! They are quite simple and for most women quite feasible. The effect of their implementation will be noticeable after a few weeks of classes.
I want this press. Complex 2
The study of the press continues in the second part of the course. The load becomes more complex and intense, when training, dumbbells are used for fitness.
I want those hands. Complex 1
The arms are a rather problematic area for many women, especially those with a T body type. Triceps work should be thought out so as not to pump muscles, but to tighten them. The “I want such hands” complex will perfectly cope with this task.
I want those hands. Complex 2
This video contains the most effective exercises that Tamily has identified based on personal experience and the latest research from physiologists. Flabby arm muscles can spoil the impression of the most beautiful figure. And vice versa, taut, graceful hands are able to focus on themselves, hide minor flaws in other areas.
I want those legs. Complex 1
Slender legs are the dream of owners of a luxurious pear-shaped figure. The “I want such legs” complex will help to emphasize natural forms and give them the desired relief.
I want those legs. Complex 2
At the initial level of classes, you can slightly reduce the pace and reduce the number of repetitions. It's not scary, the effect will still be. As you gain experience, you will be able to complete the “I Want Legs Like This” workout to the fullest.
I want such a body. Complex 1
A slender, strong, enduring body is not a dream, but an achievable reality. The video "I want such a body" includes the most effective exercises to help achieve this effect in the shortest possible time.
I want such a body. Complex 2
Keep in mind that the “I want such a body” complex has a fairly fast pace. If you can't keep up with Tamily, don't despair and don't quit. Just reduce the number of repetitions in the initial period. Practice with dynamic, pleasant music to create the right mood. After completing the complex, be sure to praise yourself and please yourself with something. This positive incentive will help you return to training again and again. Good luck!
Have a look also here:
To lose weight effectively, you need to know the secrets, which is probably why my favorite application is fat secret: it has answers to the questions “why am I not losing weight.” However, the essence of all tricks is the essence of distracting the attention of the audience by the magician. It sometimes seems to me that articles on the Internet are written by some very beautiful people who want to divert readers' attention from the essence of losing weight so that everyone remains overweight and only the writers of fitness articles remain beautiful against the backdrop of an ugly crowd. Losing weight revolves between three themes: "nutrition", "training" and "motivation"
HOW TO EXERCISE FOR WEIGHT LOSS
Women's magazine writes:
“Classes should be regular. The optimal number of classes is 3-4 per week. Thanks to this, the body gets used to a certain intensity of the load, but has the opportunity to rest and recover normally after training.
3-4 times a week is the optimal number of classes in the sports section for children in the first and second years of study. Children have two advantages over adults: they have less hassle and growing organisms.
In addition, the sports section requires dedication and training for the sake of competition. Fitness for weight loss is not a sport at all for the sake of competition, these are very different phenomena.
“In order for fitness classes for weight loss to bring an effect, they must be quite intense and long, at least an hour”
Very few beginners who lose weight can withstand an hour of training. It is difficult for a thirty-year-old person with no training experience to endure an hour of training at a wellness intensity, which can be 30% less than sports.
“During exercise, the pulse should be quickened, but not exceed a certain value, about 140-150 beats per minute”
When it comes to running, swimming or dancing, then yes. In strength exercises, sitting or lying down, such a pulse is difficult to achieve. Although this happens to some women, their heart does not beat, but trembles. Often, for some losing weight, a pulse of 120 beats is a lot. you need to look not only at the pulse, but also at the external signs of fatigue: skin color, impaired coordination of movements, sweating.
“If you are doing strength training, then the classes should be regular, and the exercises should be similar”
Probably it was about the appropriate exercises. For example, a woman wants to pump up her buttocks, and her front thighs are growing - it makes her sad.
“Don’t change the type of load abruptly”
Agree. You need to get used to or adapt. Adaptation is the goal of all training. Although crossfit and other functional areas of fitness are now in fashion, in which running changes dramatically to pull-ups. These are "good" killer workouts for special forces, but it is very harmful for the recovery of losing weight after thirty years of a sedentary lifestyle.
"Aerobic activities can be alternated"
It's possible, but hard. The more exercises you alternate, the more difficult it is to adapt to them and the principle of regularity is violated. it is better to run every day than to go to the pool once a week and then ride a bike.
Women who have attended dance aerobics classes know that the pleasure of training comes when all the movements are learned, familiar and familiar.
“It is very important to sleep well and rest after a workout. This will help muscle recovery."
“After a fitness workout for weight loss, it’s good to take a shower or bath to relax tired muscles”
It is especially useful to take a shower after a morning workout before going to work. I always do that. This is beneficial for both physical and social health. But if you relax tired muscles after a morning workout, then you will sleep at work, and this is bad for financial health.
Muscles after training are good for athletes to relax. Health training does not require this.
HOW TO EAT WHEN WEIGHT LOSS
“Traditionally, fatty, sweet, alcohol, fried, and large portions are excluded from the diet”
Not necessary. For weight loss, calorie intake is important. Within the framework of the correct calorie content, you can break any rules. However, it will really be weight loss, not building. Read more about this in the article "Slim or Slim"
“Food is fractional, in small portions, balanced”
Fractional meals in small portions saturate well, but form the habit of nibbling, which then develops into the habit of overeating. And eating once a day in the evenings and eating every two hours equally lead to overeating. Fractional nutrition does not guarantee weight loss, but it greatly complicates life with constant food intake. Eating every two hours? And when to live?
A balanced diet is the right thing to do. I like the proportion 25-25-50. But sometimes I break it and within the given calorie content - this is acceptable.
“You can’t eat two hours before training”
Food has volume and digestion time. Sugar is absorbed into the blood in 5 minutes, smoked sausage is digested for 6 hours.
My body burns about 100 kilocalories per hour. If I eat an apple on an empty stomach an hour before a workout, then by the beginning of the workout I will be empty like a drum.
The time of eating before training depends on the fullness of the body, the calorie content of food, its mass and absorption.
"Carbohydrates provide the body with the necessary energy supply"
Stored carbohydrates provide energy in the body. Carbohydrates are absorbed into the bloodstream and stored in the form of glycogen for muscle work. To accumulate glycogen in the muscles, you need to at least sleep. You will have carbohydrates in your muscles today for training if you ate them yesterday in the right amount. Trying to eat carbohydrates before a workout leads to heaviness in the abdomen, not stored energy in the muscles.
“During training and after it, you must drink clean water. It will not only help to avoid dehydration, but also reduce the intoxication of the body.
Marathon runners drink a little water in the heat for every ten kilometers they run with a heart rate of 180 beats. If a person trains in an air-conditioned room with a pulse of 120-140 beats and does not sweat, and the training lasts less than an hour, then there is no need to drink water at all - this is a meaningless ritual that increases the pulse and the load on the heart.
Usually people lose 300 grams per workout, and drink half a liter. Is this a workout or a water load? In addition, the consumption of water relaxes the nervous system and makes it difficult to exercise. Tourists know that it’s better not to drink while resting, otherwise you won’t get up.
“After training, before the next meal, you need to wait at least 1-2 hours”
During exercise, body temperature rises to 38 degrees. The body cools down in 20 minutes. When the body has cooled down, the digestive system is ready to receive food. You can eat 20 minutes after your workout.
Why do you need to burn fat longer after a workout. It doesn't make sense. If you follow the calorie content, then the fats will be burned so; if you do not comply, then they will return again.
“To control what you eat, you should start a food diary and write down everything in it, down to the slightest snack. In a few days you will realize that you eat a lot of food just like that, not out of hunger, but out of boredom or for company.
MOTIVATION FOR SLIMMING
“It is useful to praise and pamper yourself after each result achieved: for example, a month of training or losing 2 kilograms. It can be some kind of purchase, going to the movies and other pleasant trifles.
When I analyze my food diary and see that I haven’t eaten 5,000 kilocalories and realize that I have burned 500 grams of fat, then I don’t need another motivation to wait for the next weekly report and see my “minus five hundred” again.
“Study with a friend or friend. So there will be less temptation to miss a workout.
Oh no! Practice shows that a girlfriend or friend will rather leave the race in a ditch and drag me there too. The collective justification for laziness and gluttony is the worst and most common occurrence.
“Initially go to group classes. In them you will focus on the more experienced and strive to reach their level.
Group programs are required to select the load on the weak link. You will train with the load of the weakest member of the group, as in the "race of heroes" - the entire platoon runs at the speed of the weakest fighter. and God forbid an old woman or a fat woman come to a group lesson - she will slow everyone down.
Secrets of a fitness trainer- these are, by and large, conclusions drawn on the basis of cones stuffed from their own experience. Some of them create difficulties, others help on the way to financial well-being and building a career. Both of them would seem obvious, but nevertheless, if you are just taking your first steps in the profession of a fitness trainer, most likely you are not aware of them. So, get ready, now we will eliminate this gap.
Secrets of a fitness trainer
Self-taught trainer. Often they are either scolded or admired. Most often they scold for mediocrity and disregard, but admire those who help people and raise the interest of the broad masses in a healthy lifestyle. A self-taught trainer commands respect only if he is an enthusiast in his field, if he grows as a specialist, studies all the time and passes this knowledge on to people. Such people often start their own blog, maintain a YouTube channel and communicate through pages on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with their fans and subscribers. For the self-taught, the first secret of being a fitness trainer is to be completely dedicated and love the craft of coaching.
The coach must develop. A serious coach is an enthusiast in his field. Learning as a process has a beginning but no end. If you want to become an expert in your craft, you should definitely attend various industry conventions, seminars and conferences. At the same time, in order to become an expert, you do not have to take courses, pass exams and receive diplomas. That is, we return to the previous point about self-taught trainers who expand their knowledge base entirely on their own. The one who is too little engaged in his education, in a competitive environment, is the first to be eliminated from the game. This is the second secret of the work of a fitness trainer.
The coach must train. This common truth is dictated to him by the industry itself, with which he decided to connect his professional activities. A person who broadcasts the concept of a healthy lifestyle must be an example for his wards to follow. It is absolutely not necessary to weigh 100 kg and be pumped up, but at a minimum, you should have a toned figure. This is just as important as setting the right example in training, nutrition, recovery, motivation, and overall lifestyle. The third secret of the work of a fitness trainer lies in working on your own body. The process of its improvement, as well as with mental development, must be continuous.
Qualities of a professional fitness trainer- this is charisma, positive, energy, persuasion, the ability to competently build speech to win over people. Anyone can master these skills, so if you don’t master them initially, it doesn’t threaten your career at all. Here it is important to work on yourself, communicate, get acquainted and expand the range of interests. A friendly, open, smiling and educated person is always a good conversationalist. He is a priori more likely to attract clients to him for personal training. The fourth secret of the work of a fitness trainer lies in the need to develop communication skills - communication, influence, persuasion, etc.
What they won't tell you in coaching courses
Seasonality. The fitness industry has its ups and downs. From September to November club attendance is always growing. In December, preparations for the New Year start, which leads to a decline. From January to May, there is a slight but steady increase in the flow of customers. Summer, from June to August, is a period of stagnation. In the low season, a novice trainer without clients may not earn anything, since in December, people invest in gifts, and not in fitness. In the summer, they invest in vacations, but again, not in fitness. Advice: form a customer base that will smooth out seasonal fluctuations.
Competition. Partially, we have already touched on this topic above. For a coach, clients are money. As a rule, a trainer is not so much a friend to a trainer as a competitor, and in the pursuit of clients, it sometimes happens that one trainer tries to lure a client who works with another. Such things need to be stopped as soon as you come to work in the club. If you are afraid to make a remark to another coach, you will continue to be taken away by clients, if you have the courage to go out to talk, there is a high probability that this will not happen again. Advice: show strength of character and do not be afraid to put people in their place.
Disease. If you want to make good money, you will need to conduct personal training every day, and not one or two, but up to ten. Working with each client for about an hour, you will come to work at 10 am and leave at 20 pm. And so every day. Needless to say, you will not have the opportunity to get sick, leave or take a day off. Otherwise, you will simply lose customers. Either they will go to another coach who was in the gym when you suddenly decided to get sick, or they will go to another club. Advice: watch your health, sleep, nutrition and take vitamins.
Personal life. In order to make good money, you will have to spend a lot of personal training. There are a lot of personals, it's 8-10 a day, 6 days a week. With this mode, most likely you will spend your only day off at home, just resting from a hard and busy week. It is quite natural that with such a busy schedule, you will not have time to go to cafes, clubs and cinemas to find a soul mate there. And if you have it, time will still be missed. Tip #1: increase free time by increasing the cost of personal computers and reducing their number. Tip #2: look for the other half among the clients of the club.
Lack of mood. Forget about it. At the workplace, you should be present only in high spirits. Did you oversleep? Nobody cares. Did you forget your bag with things, your foot was stepped on in transport, your wife filed for divorce, or you did not have time to pay a mortgage deposit? It doesn't matter to anyone but you. Clients are people just like you, and their lives are full of negativity. They also come to the fitness club to relax. If you complement their negative with your own, the client is likely to leave you. Advice: keep your problems to yourself.
Sales plan. In most, if not all clubs, with rare exceptions, the coach has a plan for the number of personal training sessions per month. The plan implies a lower threshold for their number. What does it mean? What if the plan for a month for a coach is 80 personal trainings, and he spends 50 or 60, he is reprimanded. It could be a warning next month. For the third time, if the coach does not fulfill the plan, he can be fired. No hard feelings, nothing personal, just business. Advice: take the plan not as an enemy, but as an incentive to be active and not sit out your pants at work.
The difference between personals and individuals. In some clubs such a distinction exists. Personal training implies that you will spend the prescribed hour and a half with only one client. Individual training (individual) costs less (sometimes twice) than personal training and, as a rule, a trainer can work with several people at the same time. From 2 or more. There is also the concept of pair training (duet), when two people can work out at the same time at the same cost. Advice: understand the services and prices of your club, otherwise you will earn crumbs.
What a coach should not do. They don’t actually teach this, but the trainer absolutely should not delve into the smartphone while working with the client, run to the smoking room at every opportunity, take strong drinks at work, use swear words, be rude and rude to clients. Selling personal computers into your pocket means exposing yourself to dismissal. In no case should you quietly sell various nutritional supplements, pharmacological preparations, including anabolic steroids. Advice: be human, save face and follow the job description.
Without experience, they will not be accepted into a prestigious club. In the previous article, we have already touched on this topic, and here it is only worth repeating that people from the training bench are not taken to an elite level club. Simply due to lack of experience. In addition, clients in such clubs are very capricious and demanding of all club staff and coaches in particular. If your level of knowledge does not suit them, they can easily complain to the administration that the club is hiring insufficiently qualified employees. Advice: gain experience in budget clubs, and then move on to prestigious ones.
Your body is not the indicator, the indicator is your tongue and mind. A common truth that is not taught in training courses for trainers. The one who trains best and earns the most is the one who has the best tongue. There were cases when people, even after graduating from prestigious coaching schools, were not hired. Why? Because they do not teach skills of communication, persuasion and communication. Even if you are a successful athlete in the past or present, this does not mean at all that you will be a good methodologist. Advice: develop not only the body, but also the mind.
First month. This is the time during which you must literally live in a club in order to become familiar with customers and increase your level of trust. As soon as you get a job, you will desperately need clients to whom you can sell personals. Sales come only through recognition. If you constantly turn around before your eyes, smile, communicate, help, suggest, and generally show yourself as an open and friendly person, people will be drawn to you. Advice: show the client how important he is to you, and you will become the most irreplaceable person for him.
Work on mistakes. Any problems that you encounter in your work require analysis, not superficial conclusions. If you do not have clients, analyze the situation - why this is happening, as soon as you find the reason - look for ways to fix the problem. Build a cause-and-effect relationship: no clients (why?) - little knowledge (how to fix it?) - take a training course (solution). No clients? Look for the reason. There are clients, but they do not come to you? Look for the reason. Clients come to you, but do not buy personal computers? Look for the reason. Advice: always analyze the results of your work.
Learn. Always ask yourself questions and always question your knowledge and skills. This is your own incentive for personal growth. Setting up a continuous learning process is quite easy, you need to create a closed repeating cycle. The conditions are simple, it is enough to learn that you do not know enough, this will encourage you to learn. Having learned and reached a new level of knowledge, keep in mind that this knowledge is not enough and start a new round of the learning spiral. The learning process, as I have said more than once, is a continuous process. Advice: make learning a habit.
About the tricks of the fitness trainer
Now that we have covered almost all the secrets of a fitness trainer, let's turn to the most burning topic - how to get a client. The manipulations described below are not a secret, since everyone already knows about them, but this approach can easily be called a trick. Since clients are a source of income for a coach, the struggle for them goes on at all levels, both among beginners and among more experienced employees. In order to understand what competition is, it is necessary to describe the process of obtaining a client by a coach. This topic is so relevant and occurs so often, especially in network clubs, that it deserves a separate paragraph.
So, in a classic situation, a person who enters the club goes to the reception, where smiling administrators sell season tickets, personal training and additional services of the club. A person buys a subscription to the hall and becomes a client of the club. In the case when the client himself takes the initiative to buy personal trainers, or when the administrator sells this service to him, that is, there is a need for the services of a trainer, the situation may develop as follows.
Ideally, the administrator invites the client to choose one of several trainers or go to the gym and “see everyone”. It is also possible that the administrator directs the client to the trainer who is currently free, provided that the rest are busy at that moment. But there is another side of the coin, which is called “fitting”. In this case, the coach negotiates with the administrator so that the clients who have bought personal computers are sent to him. This is in fact a corruption scheme, when instead of giving all coaches the same conditions for earning money, the administrator "adjusts" most of the clients to one coach. Such a pair of trainer-administrators is in collusion, and "cooperates" either due to friendship, or on the basis of financial mutual settlements, or on the basis of, let's say, a closer connection. In any case, it is quite difficult to trace and disclose such a scheme, especially since the management is not interested in this.
Why? There are two reasons for this. The first and main thing is that the management needs money to go to the club, so that, for example, 1000 personal training sessions are held per month. And the director doesn’t care whether these five thousand coaches will conduct 200 trainings, or four will conduct 100 and one 600 each. Therefore, the management usually does not interfere in such schemes, if they take place. Money goes to the cashier, so everything is in order. The second reason follows from the first - if the same five coaches work in the club, four of which are not well versed in their craft, are closed, do not make good contact with clients, almost do not sell personal trainers and, as a result, do not bring money to the club, it is quite natural that the administrator will direct clients to the trainer who has the highest sales efficiency of personal computers. In such a situation, management may even encourage such an initiative from the administrator or their joint coalition with the trainer.
In such a situation, the most important thing is not to be in the category of those who do not know how to communicate and sell, otherwise they simply will not give you customers. Left without clients, you will have nothing to do in the club and often, the coach, not delving into the essence of the situation that has arisen, relies on his inexperience and goes to advanced training courses, where he will be given even more knowledge in anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and so on, but how and earlier, they will not learn how to communicate and sell. After the courses, he will return to work, will be surprised to find that, just as before, he cannot sell anything and will make the erroneous conclusion that the courses provided little information and that the courses were bad. In fact, the courses were simply not the same. Having found himself in this position and languishing from hopelessness and lack of clients, such a coach either quits and changes the club, or leaves the industry altogether, having become disillusioned with the profession. Often, precisely because of their own erroneous conclusions.
The secret of the work of a fitness trainer in this situation is this. In order to anticipate such a course of events, First, keep working on yourself., learn and improve secondly, always having a look at your colleagues when you come to work in the club, see who goes to the smoking room with whom, who goes to lunch with whom, who drinks coffee with whom and jokes all the time and creates the appearance of friendship. If you notice such a trend, keep in mind that this appearance of friendship is most likely based on mutual kickbacks. How to act in such a situation? See how the club will treat you. If you have tested the effect of this scheme on yourself, despite the fact that the level of your knowledge is quite high, you will most likely not be allowed to earn money in this club. And since we have already found out that it is difficult to reveal the scheme, and it is pointless to prove anything to the management, there is only one way out - the club needs to be changed. But in no case should you be disappointed in the profession.
conclusions
So, let's try to summarize such an extensive topic as the profession of a personal trainer. And we will repeat the main points that every potential coach should know.
People often come not for results, but just to talk. It happens that even a non-muscular and not embossed trainer can conduct a lot of personal training and at the same time make decent money. What is the secret - you already know. Ability to win over, persuade and communicate. Communicate, communicate and communicate again. You can be a three-time national, European or world champion, but if you are reserved and not sociable, your value as a coach is reduced to zero. You remember that management sees you as a person who knows how to sell. You don’t know how to sell, sorry - you are a bad coach, without regard to your sporting achievements.
Also remember the fact that success is achieved only by people with an active lifestyle, who are constantly developing and learning something new. Be that person. Develop comprehensively, read books, watch movies, listen to music, go to exhibitions, participate in conferences, travel if possible, communicate with people, show attention to them and you will become the most indispensable person for your clients, a successful coach and a personality with a capital letter. This is the success for a person planning his coaching career in the fitness industry.
