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25-Minute Best-Body Workout!

Winston Salem Monthly (print and online) shines the spotlight on MGT in this article.

Over 150 women commented on why they needed My Gym Trainer to help them get results in the gym in hopes of receiving a free book for themselves!

Watch “My Gym Trainer” on WXII News 12 -click here

New workout aide ” My Gym Trainer” will help you stick with your new year’s resolution

Have you thought of hiring a personal trainer to help with your fitness goals?  For some of us, the thought of groaning, sweating, grimacing and turning red in the face, up close and personal with a trainer is not appealing.  At least it seemed so to me.  So instead, for a couple years I did all of those contorted facial expressions and sweating on my own at home to workout DVD’s.  My favorite were the Billy Blanks series of Tae Bo, especially the faster-paced original set.  I got great results for two years.  Then something happened.  It seems I reached a plateau though it felt more like hitting a wall a wall. No matter that I was doing the same things, eating the same and working out the same, I was no longer getting results and in fact, things were changing and not for the better.  Sound familiar?

So, I joined a gym.  Going to the gym is one thing.  Knowing what to do there to be the most effective and efficient in the time you have, is another.  Can you relate?  So, I hired a personal trainer.

How to Find a Good Personal Trainer:
As with any profession, not all PT’s are the same, varying in style, approach, knowledge, attitude and professionalism.  So how will you know a good one?

Of course the best way is referrals from fit friends using trainers they’re satisfied with.  In lieu of that, notice the fit people in the gym who are working with trainers; that’s a good sign, right?  Ask them how they like it and how long they’ve worked with their trainer.  Observe the trainer with clients, off-radar.  Do they look the part?  Are they focused on the client during the session or are they looking all around, maybe leaning on the equipment, cracking gum or jokes?  Is there a lot of chatting going on or do they seemed focused and efficient, moving through the workout smoothly and energetically?   You want a PT who is adaptable but has a plan, who is friendly but professional.  The best ones are those who are knowledgable and engaged in keeping up with the cutting edge of their industry and who live fit.  Chatting is fun, but better to chat when you’re not paying them for it, right?  You want to get the most for your time and money and to hire a PT who has your goals in mind and a clear idea of how to help you achieve them.

Tips for interviewing your prospective PT:

* They must look the part

* Ask for client referrals

* Ask their training philosophy to ascertain their knowledge level

* Ask them their ideas of a plan for you

* Avoid those who criticize other trainers or fitness programs

* Objectively knowledgable about the pros and cons of different exercise approaches

* They should encourage you to take before photos and/or measurements and assist you with this to establish a goal.

You will be able to intuit from their responses how comfortable and familiar they are in their profession and whether you resonate to their style and personality.  Avoid those who imply there is only one best way–and of course they know that way–for while certainly there are systems and approaches that work better than others, it really depends on what you’re looking for, what you need and importantly, what you will stick with.  So whatever gets you to your workout and motivated is best for you for now.

My Gym Trainer: as good as a personal trainer?
People sometimes ask us if we’re saying that My Gym Trainer and My Trainer Fitness workouts are as good as a personal trainer.  That’s a great question, and in short, the answer is “no”, BUT, it depends.  IF you don’t have the time or money for a personal trainer, then the next best thing, in our experience is My Gym Trainer and My Trainer Fitness workouts.  Having worked out with the best personal trainers I could find, we then collaborated to bring their expertise to anyone through the MGT workouts.  Having worked out with a great PT and then working out with My Gym Trainer’s, the only difference is there’s no one to bring me the weights, rack them up, cheer me on or challenge me to push harder.  But, with MGT’s I’ve learned to do that for myself and while it’s never easy…it’s always worth it!

Meanwhile, for the BEST Personal Trainers in the Winston-Salem, NC area, we can HIGHLY recommend the Metabolic Effect Physique Training team and studio at 111D Reynolda Village, run by Jade Teta and Jill Coleman, co-author of the My Gym Trainer series.  Working out with Jill (or one of their trainers) is the best, but if you can’t do that, try My Gym Trainer 1, 2 or 3.  I do My Gym Trainer 3 every day, and it’s the same PT protocols and just as effective.

For My Trainer Fitness products visit:  www.MyTrainerFitness.com

from Yes Weekly – Wednesday January 6th, 2010

bidness

Monitoring the economic pulse of the Triad

By Keith T. Barber and Jordan Green

My Gym Trainer books offer workout on the go LeAura Alderson vividly recalls the moment of inspiration that ultimately led to her successful collaboration with local fitness guru Jill Coleman. Alderson said she often clipped articles from health and fitness magazines to help guide her workouts and placed them in her gym bag. Two years ago, when a leaky water bottle destroyed Alderson’s workout guide, she channeled her frustration into an idea that became the foundation of the My Gym Trainer book series. Alderson turned to Coleman, her personal trainer, for advice.

“I asked Jill: ‘What about creating a workout book that has removable cards that people can take with them to the gym?” Alderson said. “Something that’s comprehensive, that’s integrated, that teaches people how to use the gym, to maximize their time at the gym, so they can look like a professional rather than just wandering around asking, ‘How does this machine work?’” Coleman, a Wake Forest University graduate with a master’s degree in nutrition, said she jumped at the opportunity to share her knowledge of healthy exercise habits with a wide audience.

“The biggest thing for me with this book personally has been the ability to reach so many more people than I could one on one,” Coleman said.

The idea of creating a personal pocket trainer on durable, laminated cards that would resist water, sweat and other foreign objects was far easier to conceive than to achieve, Alderson said. Alderson and Coleman’s initial attempts at desktop publishing proved difficult, so they turned to local artists and printing companies to give the My Gym Trainer series a sleek, professional look and feel.

Coleman said she had no idea the process would take two years and just how difficult it would be to compress a lot of information on a laminated palm card. But the results were well worth the effort. My Gym Trainer is a threepart series with beginner, intermediate and advanced editions. The books offer a unique workout every single day of the week featuring a blend of free weights and cardiovascular exercises. The first My Gym Trainer rolled off the presses in November. Based on the cover art, the targeted demographic is women who want to get in shape or stay in shape. But Alderson and Coleman have big plans to broaden their audience. Future titles in the series include, My At-Home Trainer, My Guy Trainer, My Mature Adult Trainer, My Kid Trainer and My Successful Life Trainer.

“It’s going to grow from the foundation of physical fitness, which is what our lives are,” Alderson said.

The My Gym Trainer series can be found at area Borders stores and gyms. Alderson and Coleman hope to strike a deal soon with internet giant Amazon. com to reach a global audience. For more information, visit www.mytrainerfitness.com. — KTB

~ by Desiree Walker

Ever wonder why most gymnasts have 6-packs? … because they hang around bars! Well, I’m talking 6-pack abs of course, and as corny as it may sound, you can always find some truth in humor.

I was a gymnast for 12 years. My teammates and myself included – grew up with nice, lean defined, abdominal muscles, and in the world of high level gymnastics this is more the norm than the exception. It was not because we were all genetic freaks, or did thousands of crunches. In fact, we did NO standard crunches at all! But what we did do, strengthened our core and worked our bodies in such a way I believe contributed greatly to that to sculpted, quilted abdominal look.

Well, the great news is that you do not have to start gymnastics classes to get visible abs. But I do think every fitness athlete or enthusiast can learn something from their training and put to use a variety of these principles. So how does gymnastics core training differ from the standard crunch? The 3 major components that differ are:

1) full extension of abdominal muscle
2) isometric contractions
3) working the muscle in various planes of movement

Full Extension – Muscles stretched with resistance through their entire intended range of motion (ROM), receive the most overload. I can remember way back to my gymnastics training days, where my coach would start and end every practice with 3 to 4 sets of hanging leg raises or leg lifts as we gymnasts called them. For these leg raises, we would hang from the high bar, with our body fully extended and lift our legs to meet our hands. Our coach was a stickler for form and – none of the reps would be counted if we used momentum and did not begin from a “dead” hang – with full extension. As young gymnasts, we knew it was harder to start from the “dead hang” fully extended position, but we certainly didn’t know “why” – but we did it anyway. You can incorporate the same movement into your own workouts – either grabbing onto a chin up bar or abdominal chair (Captain’s Chair), lifting legs (straight or bent). These devices can be found in just about every gym. The key is starting from that “dead” hang position – getting a full stretch in the abdominal muscles.

Isometric Contractions – of the abdominal muscle.  Isometric contractions are where tension is created in the muscle with no visible change (movement) in the joint angle. The muscle(s) is contracting without moving through a ROM. For this principle, the goal of course is not to achieve a full extension of the abdominal muscle but to hold and contract it in one position. So much of gymnastics is isometric in and of itself (balancing in a handstands, upside down or right side up positions with leg up/ leg down – you name it – we were probably required to do it)- so many of the drills we did to learn new skills isometric of isometric nature.Planes of Motion is the third component vital to core training. In gymnastics, we flipped and twisted in all different directions. Even on the uneven bars, we had requirements in our routine for elements that contained a direction change. I remember really disliking this, because once you got going in one direction – you had to switch and go the other way – and have enough momentum, technique, and CORE strength to do so. Hanging windmills was one way we trained for this. It was an advanced version of the hanging leg raise, but instead of just going in one plane of motion- lifting your legs up to the bar and back down again, you lifted your legs in a circle in one direction, then switched directions the other way. It targets the oblique muscles, part of the abdominal core, responsible for rotation.

These powerfully effective “core training principles” will definitely produce results, however remember that nothing can magically transform your belly to a sculpted 6-pack – unless you are also lean enough for the abs to show, but that is another topic unto itself.  But hopefully it will give you some insight and ideas on building a better you. It was the American architect, Lois Sullivan who coined the phrase, “form follows function.” I am a wholehearted believer that quote is applicable to physique and athletic endeavors as well.  Just take a look at competitive gymnasts. We can learn a lot from them! 

Desiree Walker is an IFBB pro fitness competitor and general dentist
practicing in Lumberton, NC. She shares her love for health and
wellness with her husband Ash and 2 crazy cats.
References: Abel, Scott. The Abel Approach. 2007

This is important. We know this, but do we do it? Stretches improves flexibility of muscle and joints. Without stretching we are all more vulnerable to injury. Think of a young pliable sapling versus an old, inflexible branch. Stretching helps to keep vital fluids flowing through the body and joints that help flush toxins from these areas and maintain elasticity and flexibility so that our body can flex and sway rather than snap and break.

Before, During or After Workouts?
Not all fitness experts agree on whether it’s best to stretch before, during and/or after a workout, but they all agree on this: stretching is important. They also all agree that it’s imperative to warm up before engaging in any significant physical activity. We favor pre-workout warm-ups, stretching during exercise as needed–you’ll know if you feel the need–and extended post workout stretching when the muscles are really warm and the increased blood flow ramps up the cellular traffic and nutritive delivery.

Benefits of stretching:

• Increased energy levels

• Increased flexibility

• Improved balance

• Increased circulation of the blood to body parts

• Greater sense of well-being

• Reduced muscle tension

• Injury prevention (with combined warm up)

• Enhanced muscular coordination

My Trainer Fitness workouts can be tough so be nice to your body after working it hard, and before heading for the gym door, stop for a few stretches. We didn’t have room to include stretches on the cards, but you’ll know what to do: just basic stretching all over with an emphasis on where you need it most. Just 5-15 minutes of stretching after each workout can save you days and even months in injury recovering.

How long should I hold a stretch?
You shouldn’t. That is to say that experts recommend against holding a stretch, called static stretching, BEFORE warming up and working out. The term for holding a stretch is “Static Stretch” which slowly elongates the muscles when held for 15-30 seconds at full extension. Try stretching once per muscle group for 30 seconds.

[Excerpted from My Gym Trainer 1]

TYPES of STRETCHES: There are three kinds of stretches:

Dynamic, Static and Isometric.
Dynamic Stretching involves gentle stretches while in motion; nobouncing or forcing. This is the only type of stretch that should beperformed before your workout.

Isometric Stretches involve the pressing or pulling against a solidand immovable object and is considered one of the most effective forms of stretching. For example, pulling or pushing against a wall, doorway or bar; using the ground to push against while in a lunge position to stretch the calves. The idea is to use leverage to “pull” or “push” yourself into a more intense stretch than could naturally be achieved with bodyweight alone.

Static Stretches are characterized by stretching slightly past the point of comfort without injury and then holding it. These should not be particularly painful but will definitely elicit a stretch. Hold 10-30 seconds for each stretch.

Yoga is a great way to stretch and relax and incorporates all three of these stretching techniques. A good yoga class at least once a week can be a great addition to any exercise regimen and should leave your body feeling very relaxed and well-balanced, while aiding the recovery of muscles your have worked during the week.

Flexibility training elicits a feeling of rejuvenation and more importantly–aids in the nourishment of muscles and soft tissues by increasing blood-flow and nutrients to these areas of optimum strength function and body composition.

So……… remember to s…t…r…e…t…c…h…! You’ll be glad you did.

1. Be consistent:
We live at the speed of instant gratification where we want what we want, and we want it NOW. For many of us it’s an all-or-nothing mentality, when it comes to working out. But remember, we didn’t get out of shape overnight and so we can’t get back into shape overnight, but it will happen if we’re consistent. Keep your commitment to yourself. Ink in your workout time on your calendar and schedule exercise consistently throughout the week.

2. Be intense!
HIIT it hard! Studies show that intensity beats duration for short and long-term results every time, so engage in HIIT or High Intensity Interval Trainer. We love HIIT because it definitely gets results while saving time. Some of you have shared that you really enjoy getting into the zone with your favorite cardio for a while as your mind clears and brain relaxes. If this is you, super! Being a “cardio queen” is vastly better than being a couch potato J. In which case if you dedicate just 50% of your workouts to high intensity and heavier sessions, you will see definite improvement. Just remember, safety first and if you’re not sure about something, ask a the staff at your gym; they’re there to help. How do you know if you’re intense enough? You should be finishing your sets almost to failure and feel that burn.

3. Eat Healthy:
Yes, sigh, diet does matter and there’s no magic pill or supplement. Even the most dedicated fitness buffs won’t look the way they want to look if they don’t also moderate the quality and quantity of food intake. Approximately 80% of fat loss results will come from your diet. You can train until you are blue (or red!) in the face but if you are consuming more than you are burning or choosing empty calories then the proof’s in the er… pudding.

4. Be Patient:
Patience is key. You will get the results you want if you stay consistent, eat healthy and give it all you’ve got when working out. Give yourself a chance: at least 4 weeks of consistent effort for measurable results. Ultimately fitness is a way of life. Make it yours. You will not regret it.

My Trainer Fitness books and 6-packs are organized for a different workout every day, making it easy to be focused and effective in your workouts. Get in, get out, get results with your personal trainer to go. But whatever exercise you choose, get moving. It’s your life. Own it.