Life Time Fitness : Blog List - Personal Training

Climbing to the Top and Challenging Yourself Physically

webmaster@lifetimefitness.com — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:52:20 GMT

Remember Sharon Rosenberg? A few months ago, she shared with us her amazing personal training success story. With the help of her trainer, Zelig Arceta, Sharon went from a size 24 to a size 12. Since her story ran, Sharon has lost an additional 65 pounds! Way to go, Sharon!

When people make commitments to getting fit and healthy, there is no limit to what they can accomplish. Case-in-point, Sharon recently participated in a physical challenge along with her trainer, Zelig, and some other Life Time members. Want to be inspired? In her own words, read what she achieved. And remember, you can do it too!

“Zelig and I and some of his other clients participated in SkyRise Chicago on November 15th, the tallest indoor stair-climb in the world, to benefit Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. It's 103 floors, or 2,109 steps to the top…It was a lot of fun. By the way, I am now down 65 pounds, and still going strong!”

In what ways have you challenged yourself physically? Share your stories in the comments section!

Trainer Tip: Lose Weight and Tone Up, by Kirstin Dragasakis

webmaster@lifetimefitness.com — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:38:06 GMT

Are you looking to lose weight and “tone up”? Don't neglect your weight training!

Sure, you may burn more calories running, but lifting has a more lasting effect on your metabolism. This is due to EPOC, or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. Basically, your body continues to work hard and burn calories after your session with the weights.

Now, I don't mean sitting on a machine and doing 3 sets of 15 chest presses. To get the biggest EPOC benefit from lifting, you want to focus on compound movements (e.g. squats, pullups, etc.).

Lift hard and heavy and see your body reap the benefits!

Kirstin Dragasakis is a Personal Trainer at Life Time Fitness in Chanhassen, MN.

Mythbusters: cellulite cream will reduce my “cottage cheese” legs, by Kevin Ahmann

webmaster@lifetimefitness.com — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:09:37 GMT

Myth: cellulite cream will reduce my “cottage cheese” legs

Answer: Cellulite is the excess fat that is stored in various parts of the body. It appears that in individuals with cellulite there is an irregularity in connective tissue under the skin.

When there are excessive fat deposits in those areas, the build-up works its way through the gaps in the connective tissue giving the appearance of dimpling or cottage cheese.

There is no strong evidence proving that cellulite cream is effective in the battle against obesity. Therefore, your best bet would be a realistic, well-rounded fitness/nutrition regimen coupled with certain types of myofascial massage.

Kevin Ahmann is the Regional Category Lead for Life TIme Fitness Personal Training, MN Region.

Trainer Tip: Burn Fat Without Cardio, By Corey Grenz

webmaster@lifetimefitness.com — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:10:24 GMT

Now that summer is over Life Time Fitness clubs all over are starting to fill up again. Many of the members are coming to the gym to try to burn off the fat they gained during the weekends at the lakes, and/or capping the summer off with the State Fair, and other such calorie-laden outings.

Many will try to burn the fat by doing more cardio. While this can be effective, one of the most efficient fat-burning programs I have used with clients requires no cardio machines, and only resistance training equipment. The program is called German Body Comp, and was popularized by Canadian strength coaching legend Charles Poliquin. How this program works is that you combine an upper body exercise with a lower body exercise and perform them back to back during the workout.

Here is a three-week example of how it works with one pair of exercises (Keep in mind you would do 3-5 pairs of exercises/workout):

Week 1: Barbell Squat/Cable Low Row. 2 Sets X 10-12 reps with 60 seconds rest between each exercise

Week 2: Barbell Squat/Cable Low Row. 3 Sets X 10-12 reps with 45 seconds rest between each exercise

Week 3: Barbell Squat/Cable Low Row. 4 Sets X 10-12 reps with 30 seconds rest between each exercise

Week 4: Repeat Week 1, but switch the exercises (i.e. Barbell Front Squat/Chin-Ups)

Although the above looks easy, it is extremely difficult. My clients often rev their heart rates into Zones 4-5 while doing these workouts. Give it a try!

Corey Grenz ia Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor at Life Time Fitness in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

Supercharge Your Workout, by Kirstin Dragasakis

webmaster@lifetimefitness.com — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:39:37 GMT

Looking for ways to rev up your workout routine? Try these tips from Life Time Fitness Personal Trainer, Kirstin Dragasakis.

Write down your goals for your workouts: monthly, weekly, daily. Focusing on what your body can DO, rather than how it looks or the number on the scale, can be more empowering. Maybe your goal is to be able to do military pushups? Maybe you want to be able to do one pull-up? Run your first 5k? There are tons of goals that relate to performance rather than appearance.

Always doing the same workout? Boring! Both your mind and body will become uninterested! Try something new! Take a new class! Work out with a buddy and have THEM pick the exercises, or you pick one, then they pick one, etc. Look for exercise routines in Experience Life magazine. Set up a session with a trainer. You need to keep progressing your routine, or you will stop seeing progress in your physique!

Short on time? If you want cardio: do intervals! Go all out for 30 seconds, recover for 60 and repeat. Do this 10-15 times. For strength training: pick 5 compound movements (i.e. multi-joint – a squat rather than a leg extension) and do them all in a row. Repeat 2-3X.

Ready to get serious with your strength training routine? Keep track of ALL your workouts (I like the format of the Eat Clean Workout Journal, but there are other journals out there, or just use a notebook). Write down exercises, weights, sets, and reps. Star your new "personal records"! Make notes when it gets too easy – that means you need to increase the weight next time!

Good luck!

Kirstin Dragasakis is a Personal Trainer at Life Time Fitness in Chanhassen, MN.

Marissa's Boot Camp Wrap-Up Week 4

webmaster@lifetimefitness.com — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:33:37 GMT

The wonderful part about participating in a midday boot camp class is that it breaks up the workday and boosts my energy so I’m more productive throughout the rest of the day. The bad part, however, is that I can’t always get away at lunchtime to make the class.

This week I was only able to make it to ONE session! But the beauty of boot camp is that it has taught me so many new and interesting exercises that I was able to implement into my own workout regime (since I couldn’t make it during lunchtime, I woke up early each day this week to hit the gym).

I found myself doing intervals on the treadmill and stairmill, working with resistance bands, mixing in weight training with cardio, etc. Though I missed exercising with the group, I actually enjoyed my dynamic boot camp-like workouts!

So, in lieu of my standard weekly run-down of the various exercises we did in boot camp, I thought I’d have Jayme tell you in her own words what she loves most about teaching the T.E.A.M. class!

“Group training is my favorite way to train. I love being able to help numerous people at one time. I also find that the change in workouts helps the metabolic system, because your body never knows what is going to come next.

I try and make sure that I come up with a wide variety of workouts so the body doesn’t do the same type of workout for at least two weeks. After two weeks, I may revisit some of the same exercises to see if there has been any change from the first time the participant tried the workout, until now. For instance, maybe the individual did more push ups, or was able to increase his or her weight.

The T.E.A.M. aspect is great for everyone involved. Whether you are a little slower, very strong, or just not feeling great that day and want to give up, participants motivate each other to continue to work hard and stick with the challenging workouts until the end. Plus, working out as a T.E.A.M. is FUN!”

Read about weeks 1, 2 and 3 of my boot camp adventures!

Fun Fall Outdoor Exercises

webmaster@lifetimefitness.com — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:30:12 GMT

Just because summer is over doesn't mean you have to move your workouts indoors. You can still find fun and interesting outdoor fitness activities to do before the temps really begin to dip. Life Time Fitness Personal Trainers, Justin Salzl and Britt Ringstrom, offer some suggestions for fun fall outdoor exercises:

Justin says:

Fall is the time of year when many of us think we have to get our last outside exercise in. But that's not true! It's actually a great time of year for running outdoors, because the weather is cooler so you don't need to wait until after dusk to go for a jog.

I really enjoy running the local lake trails after the hot summer is over. The leaves are changing and the air is a little brisk. It's a wonderful time to be outside.

Another great outdoor experience during fall is to take an outdoor fitness class. Whether it's kettlebells or a cardio dance, it's the last hurrah before winter gets here.

Finally, my favorite fall exercise is to jump into a local football game. Two hand touch, flag, or even tackle football is a great form of cardio. Be careful during tackle football, though, as some people get a little overzealous!

Britt says:

Get creative with outdoor workouts before the snow falls. Body weight exercises (push-ups, squats, etc.) are always great outdoor exercise options.

Runs through apple orchards, hiking through trails, and biking are all great physical activities that you can continue to do even when the cooler weather hits.

What are you waiting for? Fall is here, so get outside and exercise!

Trainer Tip: Know Your Numbers or are you Guessing? by Todd Grivna

webmaster@lifetimefitness.com — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:04:22 GMT

Are you trying to lose weight, but can't seem to drop the pounds? We know that to lose weight, you need to burn more than you eat. The problem is that most people don’t know how much they should exercise and/or eat in order to attain those goals.

The good news is that we have the ability and technology to take the guessing out of the equation! By measuring your Resting Metabolism and also your Exercise Metabolism, you will not only FEEL like you got a good workout, you’ll KNOW you got a good workout!

Want to learn more? Talk to a Personal Trainer or Metabolic Specialist at your club about having your CaloriePoint and CardioPoint tests done.

Todd Grivna is the Personal Training Department Head at Life Time Fitness in St. Louis Park

Marissa's Boot Camp Wrap-Up Week 3

webmaster@lifetimefitness.com — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:27:03 GMT

For those that missed my first and second boot camp recaps, here is week 1, and here is week 2. I can’t believe I just completed week 3 of this class, and we have yet to do the same workout twice! None of our sessions have even remotely resembled one another. It’s incredible, seeing as how before this class, the only thing I could think to do in the gym was run, or go round and round on the elliptical machine for a half an hour. Jayme’s creative routines are such a welcome change of pace for me. We did a lot of squats and lunges this week, and my entire lower body is sore…in a really good way! Here’s what we did:

Monday, September 14, 2009

This was one of my favorite boot camp days because it involved interval sprints on the treadmill, which I love doing. Intervals get my heart rate going like you wouldn’t believe, but as soon as it gets too intense, I can bring it back down to a more manageable pace. We sprinted at our maximum level (I went up to 9.0!) for 30 seconds, and then brought it back down to an easy walking pace for a minute. We did this for about 25 minutes, then headed over to the stretching area for 100 sit-ups, pushups, lunges, and squats!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Today we combined elliptical workouts with various drills in the fitness room. When we were on the elliptical machine we raised our resistance to about 8, and exercised for a quarter of a mile. When we reached the desired distance, we headed into the fitness room for lateral squats across the floor while doing tricep push-backs, walking push-ups across the room, lunges across the floor with shoulder presses, and bicep curls and leg exercises with resistance bands. Between each drill, we got back on the elliptical for a quarter of a mile. TOUGH! But fun, and the time in boot camp flew by fast!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

I couldn’t make it to boot camp today due to some important deadlines at work. I was so sad to miss it, and I felt guilty because I was letting both Jayme and myself down. Also, I noticed that my body really craved the lunchtime gym break – I actually found myself taking some laps around the office just to expend my extra energy.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

After a little warm-up on the treadmill, we headed over to the free weight area and did some weights, ab workouts and resistance training. I love doing weight/resistance/strength training with Jayme, because these are the areas in which I’m weak, and she teaches me new exercises that I can begin to implement into my own weekly workouts.

We did squats with weights (I used 10 lbs), arm exercises using the cable cross, abs on a small ball which Jayme instructed us to put near our lower backs, and shoulder presses with lighter weights while standing on one leg on dyna-discs. Jayme explained that doing the exercises on the wobbly dyna-disc would help strengthen our core and ankles.

This week in boot camp, I continued to realize the value of switching up my workouts every day. I had been in the habit of doing the same thing every day – and getting really bored with the routine. I was in a true fitness rut. But now, I am learning so many new workouts that I can continue to do long after boot camp is over (tear, tear…I will be so sad to say goodbye at the end of the month!).

I am also really into using my heart rate monitor to make sure I am working out within the appropriate heart rate zones, as well as determining how many calories I’m burning during exercise. I love that I don’t have to guess anymore—the numbers are right there in front of me on my watch, and I know exactly what I need to do to get stronger and fitter!

Stay tuned for week 4!

Revitalize Your Workouts

webmaster@lifetimefitness.com — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:58:48 GMT

I tend to get bored easily with my workout routines. I find I’m always watching people in the gym to see what kind of exercises they’re doing (so if you see some crazy girl on the fitness floor staring you down while you’re doing lunges…it’s most likely me), and I am constantly asking the Personal Trainers what their favorite workouts are.

From time to time everyone gets stuck in a repetitive and uninspiring fitness rut. Sick of spending so much time on the treadmill, I recently joined a boot camp class at Life Time in Chanhassen, and I’ve also been researching new cardio and strength training regimens to implement into my workouts. I came across a really informative article from Women’s Health during my investigation, and I wanted to share what I learned with you. By working out with Personal Trainers, keeping up with challenging classes like boot camp, and infusing the following four cardio routines into our workouts, we'll finally kiss our fitness slumps goodbye!

“The Triathlon Trainer
A triple play that gets fast results

Do it: Pedal a bike at a moderate pace—an effort level of 5 or 6 (you're working hard but can still carry on a conversation)—for 10 minutes. Next, run either outside or on a treadmill for 10 minutes, again at an effort level of 5 or 6. Last, head to the pool or a rowing machine and put in 10 minutes at the same effort level.

The Full-Body Toner
Combines strength moves and cardio for maximum fat-blasting
Do it: Jump rope for 30 seconds and rest for 30 seconds; do 5 sets. Then perform 2 sets of this 5-minute body-weight circuit: squats, pushups, step-ups, dips, and crunches. Do as many reps of each exercise as you can in 1 minute, moving to the next without rest. Finish with a 10-minute jog at a medium pace.

The Power Booster
This interval workout builds speed, power, and lower-body tone.
Do it: Pick three cardio machines with adjustable resistance and do the following on each: Warm up for 2 minutes at a medium pace. For the first interval, raise to max effort by upping the resistance and/or incline, keeping the pace steady; go for 30 seconds, then recover at warm-up pace for 2 minutes. Do 2 intervals per machine. Finish on one machine before moving to the next.

The Calorie Scorcher
Challenges your cardiovascular system and strengthens your body
Do it: Choose any three cardio machines. On the first one, go for 10 minutes at an effort level of 5 or 6. Move immediately to the next machine and go hard, at an effort level of 9 or 10—you should just barely be able to huff out words—for another 10 minutes. Finally, switch to the last machine and do 10 minutes at a 5 or 6 effort.”

Source: Women’s Health