exercise

Mental Moment-how is your new year

Written by on January 19, 2013

sleep, eat, exercise

We are 19 days into 2013. How’s it going? Did you resolve to eat better and start an exercise program? What changes have you made in your life to reach those goals? Huge goals Eating better and starting an exercise program are 2 huge goals. If you think about these two things in this broad of a sense you probably will never ‘get there’. Why? Looking at these goals in this way is too overwhelming. What does it mean to eat right? How do you start an exercise program. These goals need to be broken down into smaller, realistic, achievable … Continued

Mental Moment-gym class

Written by on July 21, 2012

Spark

Over the years I’ve done quite a bit of work nationally with NASM, with clients and now Shape Up (SF) around healthy eating and exercise. Why? I want help change the direction of our obesity epidemic and I feel like these avenues are the way I can help effect change. NASM-I work with NASM to help train personal trainers on behavior modification and about how to work with clients around exercise in a different, more effective way so that clients feel good about and stick to an exercise program. Clients-I am fortunate to be able to work with many clients … Continued

Mental Moment-energy

Written by on April 26, 2012

energy

Energy is not necessarily something that we think about very often. However if we are in a situation (competition or exercise) and need an increase of energy or less energy it is important to be aware of that and come up with a game plan for increasing or decreasing energy. For example, one of my clients kept losing her first game in matches that were 1 of 3. When there are only 3 games in a match and continuing to lose the 1st game not only lowered her advantage but it lowered her self confidence. We realized that she didn’t … Continued

The impact of age and education on physical activity

Written by on April 20, 2012

CDC risk factor

How do age and education affect physical activity? Think about how you’ve been influenced by these things and how that’s affected your physical activity. When you think about our own personal experiences it helps you to be empathetic towards others; who may be similar or different. It also allows you to come from a real, lived perspective and allows you to connect with your client. This does not mean that you should use or share all of our personal experiences with your clients because not all of it is appropriate. Part of your initial session with a client ought to … Continued

Try something new-overcome the fear

Written by on April 14, 2012

fear

You’ve done the marathon, triathlon, swimming thing and are thinking that this year you might want to try something a little different. Mm…mountain biking seems like something you could be interested in but it seems intimidating and hard which makes it scary to venture into. How do you get over the fear of trying/starting something new? What gets in the way If it sounds like fun why wouldn’t it be something you would want to try? Why wouldn’t you just go for it? Let’s continue to use mountain biking as our example. Some of your reasons for not getting involved … Continued

Mental Moment-being prepared

Written by on April 10, 2012

success

A routine is not necessarily something that begins right before practice, competition or a workout. It’s something that you want to get in the habit of thinking about the day or night before. A good routine includes motivational techniques, increasing or decreasing anxiety, use of positive self talk, mantra’s and incorporating imagery. It is a good idea to practice motivational techniques, increasing or decreasing anxiety, use of positive self talk, and using imagery in your everyday life not just for practice or an event (practice, competition or a workout). It is important to get used to thinking about your goals, breathing … Continued

Take the mental approach to personal training

Written by on March 26, 2012

personal-trainer

How many times have you worked collaboratively with a client to put a training plan together and they come back the following week (numerous weeks) and say they haven’t done anything? This is not uncommon. Why? The problem is usually not with the physical training plan but with the lack of and conversation around a mental training plan. Research has shown that a mental training plan is more important than a physical training plan. The Problem Many of the people who come to you for training advice probably look and sound like they are ready to exercise when in actuality … Continued

Good communication is key to exercise adherence

Written by on February 22, 2012

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Have you ever been in a conversation with a client thinking you knew exactly where it was going? Instead of listening did you launch into giving a bunch of information only to find out that was not at all where the client wanted to go with the conversation and that all the information you just gave was inappropriate to the situation? Effective communication is often the difference between success and failure of the relationship between a personal trainer and a client. Effective communication requires an attitude of honoring each client’s perspective and a genuine interest in getting to know people. Effective … Continued

If there are so many benefits, what gets in the way of exercise

Written by on January 11, 2012

Health benefits-gym

On Monday I talked about the psychological benefits of exercise. As a personal trainer it’s important that you understand these because besides losing weight and getting stronger these are elements that can be more tangible for clients. Today I am going to talk about what gets in the way of people being able to exercise. You probably hear a lot of reasons why people don’t exercise: tired, busy, I got stuck in a meeting, my daughter was sick or my car broke down. The reasons to not exercise can be perceived or real. For example, if the client says that … Continued

It’s important for personal trainers to understand the psychological benefits of exercise

Written by on January 9, 2012

Personal trainer

Supporting people who are new to exercise is not as much about the exercise as it is the relationship, the support and how you communicate with your client. Part of that relationship, support and communication is being able to have a conversation around the benefits of exercise. Most people new to exercise are unable to connect to any benefits and the reasons to not exercise really do outweigh any benefits they do know. For example, if a client enjoys lying on the couch, eating cheese puffs and exercise is painful which do you think your client is going to choose; … Continued