1. You finished your book on the treadmill.
2. Your heart rate never changed a beat.
3. You were able to keep your coat on throughout the entire workout.
4. You do not need to take a shower after your workout.
5. You had time to paint your toenails during your rest period (and they dried).
6. You can still text during your workout.
7. You didn’t have to open your water  bottle.
8. You never took the earpiece to your phone out of your ear.
9. Your body position never changed once throughout the entire workout.

and the #1 sign your workout isn’t hard enough:

Your not doing your workout with Me!

I have talked before about exercise exertion and the amount needed to make your workout hard enough.  Those principles have not changed.  You can use RPE (check out the link).  You can use a heart rate monitor as well.

But sometimes all we need is good common sense.  You need to know what kind of shape you are in before you begin  a new program.   Some of the most popular fitness products on the market right now are not geared for the beginning client and really not even the average client.  I am seeing a lot of unnecessary injuries for this very reason.

Bottom line:  we all want to see results and we all want to think we are working hard, just understand and know what is correct for your level and you will be just fine!  I hope you enjoyed my top 10.

Stay Motivated,

You don’t just wake up one morning and walk into a new office or wake up and find a newborn in your nursery.  Before either of these two things happen a lot of careful planning takes place and you are very prepared when it is time for the big day.

Starting a long term exercise regimen should be no different a lot of planning before hand  should take place.

Here are some quick tips to help get your planning started:

• Establish your endpoint first.  What do you want to accomplish?
• Set goals to match your endpoint.
• Take assessments, if you do not know where you are starting from it will be harder to see the improvements you are making.
• Make a list of all potential roadblocks and have a plan to deal with them before you start.
• Mark your calendar in other words put yourself in your calendar.  Having a set time and day will be helpful.
• All or nothing attitudes are bad.  Understand you will have your bad days and you will need to be able to deal with them.
• Make sure your family and friends are on board with your new lifestyle.
• Get a training log.
• And lastly don’t be afraid to ask for help.

As I stated earlier building  long term exercise routines takes planning, but if you do it right the rewards will by far out weigh the initial time and energy you put into the planning phase.  Good luck with your planning!

Stay Motivated,

As a coach I have always had my athletes do some form of imagery work. For example, I would tell a softball player just before she gets up to bat to close her eyes and watch the pitch come in, see yourself hitting it and watch the ball go to the outfield.

As a player I used the very same techniques.  Often times when I could really relax my mind and see myself hitting the ball, I would have a very similar at bat situation.

There are ample studies out there that try to prove visualization techniques work, the most famous is the Chicago Basketball Study.  Unfortunately, it is hard to say if these studies truly exist and to what degree are they valid. 

In this particular case I do not think validity is the question or a concern.  I know for a fact (from experience) that visualizing what I want  my outcome to look like works.  And the great thing is this technique can be used for anything sports, weight lose goals and even the presentation you have to give this afternoon at work.

So, how does it work, well I am not an expert on the topic but here are a few cues I give my athletes and use myself.

3 Tips to help get you started:

1. You must really buy into it.  If you do not believe you can accomplish what you are visualizing it will not happen.
2. The more relaxed you can make yourself the better.  Close you eyes and block everything else out.
3. Lastly, you need to truly see the accomplishment in your head and have a very clear picture, the more clear the picture the more likely it is to help.

Remember, just because you visualize the event that does not make it automatic you still need to be prepared – study, practice or whatever else needs to be done. 

Visualizing your success will give you the upper hand!

Stay Motivated,

What is the difference?

For starters traditional strength training is used for the purpose of building muscle mass and increasing strength.  Metabolic workouts are used to increase the rate of fat loss and to improve the energy systems of the body.  (If you would like to learn more about the two you can click on the respective link for each).

Which one is superior? 

That is a difficult question to answer.  Both training methods get an A+.  Mostly, I think it is going to depend on your goals (see below).  But, if all things are equal and you are just looking for improved health benefits and you are not a true beginner, I would probably lean more towards metabolic training.  Metabolic training (MT) in my opinion has a slight advantage in terms of injury prevention. With MT compared to traditional resistance training (RT) the loads are much lighter and the overall volume in most cases is lower, the main difference being the increased intensity in (MT).  Because of this difference, the occurence of over-use injuries is generally lower.

A second reason MT may be superior is because of the energy system development.  With (RT) there is a slight improvment in aerobic and anaerobic development but not to the same degree.

Which one should I use?

Even if metabolic training is superior (again only my opinion) which one you use still depends on your goals.  Not sure what I am talking about?  Let me  break it down for you.  If your goal is to run a marathon, yoga would not be your primary training method. The majority of your training would consist of running followed up by a few yoga sessions.  However, if improved flexibility is your goal, than yoga would be your primary training focus.

If strength and hypertrophy gains are your biggest two goals, than resistance training methods are superior by leaps and bounds.  Each training model has very specific pros and cons.  (Click the links above to discover more information on each).

Can I use both?

What if my goals are to gain muscle mass and lose the excess fat can I use both training methods?  What a great question.  Often times many of my clients want just that – increase their current muscle and lose fat.  The answer is yes you can use both methods at the same time even in the same training session. 

A session may look something like this:

Complete the above exercises as supersets with 60 seconds rest in between sets and 1-2 minutes in between supersets.  Generally speaking the strength portion of the workout will be done first.  The nervous system is still fresh allowing for a safer workout.

Part two of the workout:

This part of the workout will consist of a 10 to 20 minute metabolic workout.  Just remember your options here are endless.  Here is one version you can use.  Set the timer for 10 minutes, do each exercise for 6 reps and repeat for as many rounds as possbile in the alloted time.

 Good luck with your workouts, hope this information helps!

Stay Motivated,

In my line of work excuses are one of my hazards.  For me they are irritating to deal with, but for my client, I guess some of them could become life threatening if left alone.

The new year brings an influx of new people wanting information.  People who suddenly wake up and decide they need to do something about their weight or lack of exercise (or in most cases both).  How do I lose weight?  How do I start a program?  What is the best form of exercise? 

As I begin to talk to people the same trends arise.  The beginning of the chat is very inspiring, the client informs me of what they are doing wrong, what needs to occur to fix it and lastly, you can tell they are overjoyed about taking this first step.

As I begin to lay out the actually game plan the transition starts – excuse mode goes into action.

When we begin to talk about the things that need to be done differently and the new things that need to be put in place I am hit by a long list of reasons about why or how that is not going to be possible.

I liken the whole situation to my 12 year old son and his school work.  If he comes home without his notebook or homework, I am going to hear a list (never less than 10) of reasons why it was left at school.  Why can’t he ever just say “sorry Mom I forgot it”?

Excuse - (as defined by Dictionary.com)

• to regard or judge with forgiveness or indulgence; pardon or forgive; overlook (a fault, error, etc.): Excuse his bad manners.
• to offer an apology for; seek to remove the blame of: He excused his absence by saying that he was ill.
• to serve as an apology or justification for; justify: Ignorance of the law excuses no one.
• to release from an obligation or duty: to be excused from jury duty.
• to seek or obtain exemption or release for (oneself): to excuse oneself from a meeting.

Excuses in all forms and in all subjects are crippling.  They never allow you to truly see how you are doing. 

And more importantly, if you are in excuse mode you will never be able to reach your full potential.

 Stay Motivated,

If something like this sounds fun and exciting Hero Rush would be a great race for you.  The race not only supports the firefighters who were lost on 9/11 it also supports the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

If you are interested click on the above link for more information.  Also you can use this code for a 10% discount: CompFit10

Stay Motivated,

Karen

I personally take time at the beginning of each new year to reflect on the past.  I look at the things that went well, the things that need improving and the things that should stay the same.

For this year I have some new workouts and exercises I will be sharing with you, but to make this blog even better I am asking you to give me some topics.  What do you want to know?  Send me an email or just add a comment on to this post.  I have already had a few people start adding topics, so feel free to join in.

I decided instead of writing a post about setting goals I would share what I think are some of the best posts of 2011.  If you are new to the blog you will have the best of last year all in one place and if you are a frequent visitor it will be a nice review.

As always I want to thank the people who read my blog, if it weren’t for you my writing would be meaningless.

Nutrition Planning for the New Year Part 3 I enjoyed writing all of the posts in this series, I shared number 3 so you can easily back track to the other two if you would like.

10 Things Your Workout Should Have a complete workout needs to be well thought out, this is a good place to start.

Movement Prep or Traditional Warm Up?  I love this post!  I still see so many people and so many coaches just using a few laps as a warm up.  The other options out there are so much better!

7 Tips for a Better Squat this is another series I wrote, it will not be as easy to follow because there are not follow links in each post, but still worth the read.

Tight Hips two great exercises everybody should be doing.

Brand New Training this is just funny and will make you laugh.

Building a House take a look at this one before you finish off your new fitness goals.

There you have it what I think are the best 7 posts of 2011.

Enjoy and Good Luck with all of your 2012 Goals!

Stay Motivated,

Karen

On another note I hate buying useless gifts, I want to buy something the person really wants or can find really useful.  If you or somebody you love is trying to find a healthier place, I have got just the list of gifts for you.

My Top 5 Holiday Gift Ideas:

PB Elite Soft Molded Foam Rollers

TRX Suspension Training Pro Pack

Resistance Bands

Dumbbell Set  (Adjustable sets are great)

Honeybell Oranges (only available a few weeks out of the year)

For your convenience I have given you links to some of the  ideas.  The oranges you will need to decide on the best site to order from.  I do know they go quick and they really are very good and the adjustable dumbbells come in many different forms and brands you need to decide what you like. 

Happy Holidays!

Stay Motivated,

Karen

This holiday season you, along with Completely Fit, can help fight hunger in Mount Airy.

• 925 million people across the world are hungry.                                                    
• One child dies every 5 seconds from hunger related causes.
• 1 in 10 households in the US are affected.
• Numbers affected are on the rise.

Free exercise classes will be held every Monday at 9:30 for the months of November and December.  A monetary donation of $10.00 or 5 cans of food will be required for each class.  All proceeds will benefit Mt. Airy Net and will be used to help families in need right here in our local area.

What’s in it for me, you might ask?  Not only do you get to help a family in need, you will be helping yourself.  Over 60% of adults are not active on a regular basis. 

Here’s your chance to help two great causes; hunger and your health.

Classes are set up to accommodate all fitness levels.  There are only 6 spots open for each class so you must pre-register for each one.

For more information or to sign up:

            Karen Skidmore 

           240-446-2118 

           Karen@completely-fit.com

Exercise for Free and help stomp out hunger in our area this holiday season.

Remember to call or email to sign up, sorry no drop-ins this time.  Past clients are welcome as well as current clients.  (Current clients must bring a friend along).

Why is that?  Simple, they produce results.  Nothing burns fat faster than a good old fashioned high intensity workout.  As I stated in my previous post Metabolic Training, What is that? you are burning a ton of calories during the workout, but more importantly continue to burn at a much higher rate even after the workout is over.  It is what we call the afterburn effect. (epoc)

With the invention of the iPhone and apps we are able to utilize technology and create even better metabolic workouts by downloading an interval timer app.  By using an interval timer you are able to just work hard and not have to worry about counting reps or starting and stopping a timer.  And the really great thing about them is they usually coordinate right with your music.

Your interval times  would be set up based on your level of conditioning.  With that being said you always want them to be short enough to allow for maximum effort throughout.  Rest times should be kept relatively short, do not allow for complete recovery.

A beginner may have his/her intervals set at 15 on 15 or even 20 off.  Rest just long enough to give a good max effort in your next exercise.  As conditioning improves lower the rest time and even raise the work time a little.

Here is a great metabolic workout to add to your next routine if you are looking to drop some fat:

• Lunge Jumps
• Medicine Ball Slams
• Speed Squats
• Mountain Climbers
• Kettlebell Swings

You can manipulate the parameters anyway you like.  The interval times, amount of rounds and the load can all be varied based on your current fitness level.  Your can also manipulate the rest time at the end of each round.

One final point to remember, form is everything.  If you do not know how to do the exercise replace it with something you do know.  If your form begins to diminish either change up the variables or change the exercise out.

Give the workout a try and let me know how you liked it.

Stay Motivated,

Karen