My name is David Seto. I’ve been in the fitness industry as a Personal Trainer for almost 10 years. Looking through my experience, I see the industry growing. The demand for these services such as boot camps, small group training and personal training has boomed because as the evolution of stress grows in today’s working world, the need to balance with exercise and wellness are paramount. Thus, I would like to share with you some key components that I have gained from my work that helps you strive on getting a healthy lifestyle. These are to be healthily sustainable yet applicable to life. Topics covered in this blog will be split into 3 categories. Motivation for training, Strategic implementation of Goals and Basic understanding of Fat Loss and its implementation in Fitness Training. Overall, these topics covered will be to engage people who would want to seek fat loss and gain the motivation in training as part of the process in a better and healthier lifestyle. At the end of this article I would also share with you a very effective method that I have used personally on my clients to help them burn fats, lose weight and gain a toner body.
Motivation has always been a factor in which startles the individual at every beginning of any process. The harder the challenge, the less confident they are, hence breaks the morale and intentional purpose of why they are doing it. Or could it be the other way, the harder the challenge, the more value and purpose are created through the hardships giving them self-actualization to go even further. Well, it falters between the two depending on a few aspects: Consistency, Commitment and Drive. Take habits for instance, we all delve into certain habits that make us consistent at it because its comforting and there is satisfaction. When those are in place, over the long term the chances of committing are much higher because there’s value to the consistent efforts placed in the habits you have already started with. Then this value comes with the drive. Drive comes from passion and love without even knowing that you will become that much successful in the process because you put your mind and heart in this. This reaches to the ultimate level to motivation why people do what they love and stick to it then influence others positively through the skills acquired. Overall, it starts with habitual things, small things which are impactful allowing individuals to invest more in the process. Then motivation will come naturally to which applies to many other things in life such as work, relationships, personal development, exercise, the list goes on.
When it comes to goals, there’s a focus in place. Goals are extremely important because it allows you to set targets and meet them to your expectations for growth and milestones. When you have a goal in place, you would want to know realistically how you can get there. By narrowing the pathway to what your goals are, consider the SMART goals as part of a business model to help you achieve attainably, clearly as well as strategically in regards to the subject matter. Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Bound – SMART. I believe most of you who studied business or marketing understands the rationale behind this so I will not go into too much detail on this. The point is that by narrowing in details such as the above (highlighted in bold), it allows you to see the big picture where you would see yourself in this. An example, if one would want to lose weight would not be a good reason because it’s too generalized. Perhaps if we rephrase and specify to:
Specific: I will decrease my bodyfat percentage to 10% by working on a variety of exercises using cardiovascular equipment and bodyweight exercises.
Measurable: I will record tests and results from beginning to end of my training regime.
Attainable: I will reach my goal of 10% by doing cardiovascular exercises 3 times a week and bodyweight exercises every other day.
Realistic: I will make amends to the reps and sets as my bodyfat drops.
Time Bound: I will achieve this goal by 31st December 2019.
Overall, by combining some of the motivational and goal oriented techniques mentioned, the tendency of success rate is greater and the chance of staying on course will be longer allowing you to reap the benefits from the outcomes.
The last topic will be on a basic understanding of fat loss and ways to implement this in fitness training. By far, Fat loss and weight management are one of the more common reasons why people look for personal trainers and group classes at the gym to get them in shape, look good and become healthier overall. Importantly, how do we lose weight, specifically fat? Of course the main variable is your lifestyle. But in fitness training that skyrocketed at most gyms now is Metabolic Conditioning or HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).
HIIT was first used for MMA fighters and Cross fitters to keep the body burning calories through short periods of rest. These intervals allow them to push their bodies to building the strength and endurance needed for the sport. These kinds of exercises range from Weight Training, Bodyweight Functional Training, and even Agility Training. Recently more gyms and fitness centers are utilizing this method efficiently to clients through regressed exercises and longer rest periods first. Until their bodies are slowly conditioned through the rigors of exercise sessions allows them to progress into more advanced exercises with shorter rest periods. This in turn maximizes the calorie burn while muscles being used get its tone and shape from this training method. With the cardiovascular aspects of shorter rests, HIIT proves to be a “2 birds killed with 1 stone” analogy because of it’s multi-purpose functions of all relations to fitness training such as power, strength, endurance and speed. In implementation, an example of a simple HIIT/Metabolic Conditioning program would be the following:
Here’s my gift to you
11 Exercises. Complete each exercise for 45 seconds.
Rest for 10 seconds in between each exercise
Complete 3 rounds to finish the workout.
- Squats
- Planks
- Jumping Jacks
- Push Ups
- Sit Ups
- Burpees
- Wall Sit
- Side Plank
- Tricep Dips
- Mountain Climbers
- Leg Raises
The example above is a very simple method of what HIIT/Metabolic Conditioning represents. The bout of Work to Rest Ratio are usually 2: 1. 1min Work, 30sec Rest. But that could vary depending on the fitness level of the individual as well as how challenging you want to make out of training. To conclude, these topics flow smoothly from getting the motivation through small habits that turns into a healthy investment. Then the goals with SMART goals is another example that will help identify and narrow down your focus on what, where, when, why and how to get there be it in fitness and beyond. Finally, a basic understanding of how HIIT/Metabolic Conditioning will aid in Fat Loss and Muscle Tone then to implement them with exercises that goes back to back with minimal rest for maximum results in shorter periods of time compared to a traditional weight training program that may take longer for those who would only have small amounts of time to spare.
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