My clients spend most of
their lives not with me, which is probably a good thing! However, it does mean that a lot of fitness
training has to happen when I’m not there.
Sometimes clients ask me what they should be doing the rest of the
time. It’s a good and useful question.
First, cardio. We don’t need, in most cases, a trainer there
when we run or swim or bike or ellipt.
We know what to do and we just need to do it. I recommend incorporating intervals to
improve cardio performance more quickly and to bump up metabolism.
Second, flexibility. Yes, we end our workouts together with
stretching, but that is not nearly enough.
Almost all of us need to stretch more than we do now. We neglect it because it seems like one of
those things we can do later or because it feels too bad (or too good!).
Third, nutrition. I am not a nutritionist, but we all know that
feeding the body what it needs and not what it doesn’t need helps keep us fit
and healthy. If it’s all about the
donuts when we’re not working out, we are probably not going to make a lot of
progress toward fitness goals.
Fourth, rest. Fitness comes not just from work, but from
recovery. This means getting enough
sleep and allowing muscles enough time between weight workouts to rebound.
Finally, more strength
work, maybe. See the previous item. However, if we are only working out together
once a week, an additional workout or two can be useful, particularly if the
goal is increasing muscle and decreasing body fat. This is one reason why I post the weekly
workout on Mondays; it is available for personal use!
Spending an hour or two a
week with me is good for fitness, but it is not a magic fitness pill. We need to make the rest of those hours
count, too.
