Top 5 Health and Fitness Tips

I was recently selected as Active.com’s “Personal Training for the Month” for April. As such, Active asked me to contribute to the first of a two-part article highlighting my training philosophy and favorite workouts. The the first part is a list of my “Top 5 Health and Fitness Tips”comprised of keys which I feel are most critical when it comes to personal health and fitness. Of the mountains of information I could share, I distilled it down to these five keys:

1) PRIORITIZE YOUR FITNESS: Living in the Greater Washington DC area, the pace of life is intense and work is NEVER 9 to 5 for most clients. A big complaint I face is “I just don’t have the time to workout.” Prioritize your workouts like you would a business meeting. Schedule your workouts a few days in advance and plan other priorities around them.  You wouldn’t take a personal call during a business meeting, so don’t allow other distractions or priorities crowd out your fitness.

2) ENDURANCE ATHLETES NEED TO STRENGTH TRAIN: The very nature of endurance athletics demands repetition. Repetitive movements can lead to muscle imbalances and injury. By correcting those imbalances with the proper strength training regimen, not only do athletes reduce the risk for injury, but can also improve their performance. What endurance athletes DOESN’T want to go faster while staying healthy?!

3) A TRIM WAISTLINE STARTS IN THE KITCHEN, NOT THE GYM: The top question I get is “How do I trim down my stomach area?” Most clients are discouraged to find out the answer isn’t doing more crunches. It starts with diet. 80% of the work is done in the kitchen, 20% is done in the gym. Not the other way around. You can do sit-ups every day and may never see results. Knowing what to eat and when to eat is key to achieving and maintaining a healthy waistline.

4) SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING: Many clients get discouraged when their workout plans are spoiled by weather or time constraints, and give up on the workout entirely. If you early-morning gym session is aborted due to a sick child, try a quick body-weight circuit in your office on your lunch break. If your lunch-hour swim session is cancelled due to an emergency work meeting, swing by the gym on the way home for a quick bout with the elliptical or treadmill. If rain ruins your evening run, try doing running drills and a lunge circuit in the basement. Something is ALWAYS better than nothing.

5) SET REALISTIC GOALS: Set yourself up for success, not failure by setting realistic goals.  If you are not a runner, setting the goal to run a marathon in next three months probably won’t end in success. However, starting with the goal of a completing a 5k and then building up to a marathon within the year is more realistic. Start by setting smaller, time-bound goals where the probability of achievement is higher. Success breeds success. When we reach our incremental goals, we are more likely we are to continue setting and working toward the monumental ones.
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Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to health and fitness. But if you can master these five tips, you’ll be well on your way to becoming fitter, faster, and healthier. Good luck and keep moving!