Personal Trainers Discuss the Three Reasons Los Angeles Residents Could Be Failing Their Fitness Goals and How to Overcome Them, PART 1

There is an abundance of ways people can train to become great athletes, whether it’s to lose weight, get fit or maintain fitness. Circuit training and interval training, for example, are regarded as two of the most effective exercise systems by Personal Trainer Los Angeles. However, while there is a number of ways you can improve your body’s athletic performance, there are even more ways you can obstruct it and often these are done without you even realizing it. In this three-part article series, we shall explore three common and critical mistakes that could be keeping you from fulfilling those fitness goals and from seeing the improvement your efforts deserve!

  

 Mistake # 1: You’re Not Doing it Properly 

If you’re not training correctly, you could risk injuring yourself by spraining or tearing a muscle or ligament. This would, for obvious reasons, set you back in your ability to achieve your weight loss and fitness goals. Not training correctly could also mean that you’re not challenging your body in a way that is yielding the kind of results you want to see. As a result, you won’t feel your physical fitness improving, nor will you notice your body adapting and changing. 

 If it’s been a while since you’ve hit up the Circuit Training gym, then ease back into it rather than try and match the intensity of workouts you used to be able to manage. And if you don’t see your body or level of fitness improving, then up the intensity of your workout rather than simply doing it for longer.

 For example, increase your weights by five pounds and see how you handle that. If your muscles cope easily with the increased weight, increase it again by another five pounds after a few days. For cardiovascular workouts, you might try to alternate between walking and running on the treadmill; playing around with inclines and intensities to keep your body challenged and your mind engaged. This kind of interval training is really effective.

  It Won’t Be Easy!

   

 You might sweat and groan more, but that’s exactly what you should be doing in the first place. “You don’t go to the gym to sail through your exercises; you come to sweat, struggle, fight and challenge yourself,” say gym instructors. 

By training inadequately, you are essentially wasting your time and also putting yourself at a greater risk of injury that could see you forevermore struggling to do certain activities. Personal trainers in Los Angeles always urge clients to be consistent in their approach to exercising and to stretch properly before and after a workout. 

 Ask for Assistance 

If you ever need help using a certain station, machine or piece of gym equipment, it is vital that you ask your gym instructor. Los Angeles residents may tend to feel embarrassed to ask for help and assistance, but these experienced fitness instructors are a great resource for you to use on your fitness and weight loss journeys. Ask them how you can best use gym equipment to maximize workout intensity and minimize the risk of injury.  

Stay Tuned for Part 2 

Stay tuned for the second installment of this three-part article series to find out what the other two common and critical mistakes are; mistakes that could be keeping you from achieving those fitness and weight loss goals.

Santa Monica Fitness Instructors Explain the 15 Health Benefits of Regular Exercise, PART 4

Welcome to the final installment of this four-part article series on the many fantastic benefits of regular exercise, such as circuit training or interval training. In our previous three posts, Part 1, 2 and 3, our panel of experienced Santa Monica Fitness instructors covered the following benefits.

Regular circuit training or interval training exercise:

Is Good For Heart Health

Can Help You Lose Weight and Look Great

Can Prevent Creaky, Brittle Bones

Can Lower Your Blood Pressure

Is Great for Busting Stress

Can Actually Help Prevent Colds and Flu

Can Reduce Complications Associated with Diabetes

Promotes a Good Pregnancy

May Combat Cancer

Promotes a Healthier Brain

Stokes The Fire in The Bedroom

Let’s take a look at the final four benefits of regular exercise!

Regular Exercise Helps You Sleep Better

According to research done by the South African Memory Resource Centre, regular exercise – ideally in the morning – can help you fall asleep faster and enjoy a better quality of sleep.

“Exercise also indirectly promotes healthier sleep patterns because it stimulates the release of endorphins, which results in a feeling of wellbeing and relaxation,” explain Santa Monica fitness instructors.

Regular Exercise Can Keep a Stroke At Bay

According to a study that was published in the October 2013 issue of the medical journal Stroke, people who exercised regularly were 27% less likely to suffer from a stroke than those who are inactive. This isn’t hard to believe when you consider that regular exercise lowers blood pressure, fights cholesterol, stabilizes insulin levels, burns unhealthy fat and stimulates blood circulation, all of which help to prevent blood clots.

Circuit Training Promotes Better Mental Health

Our minds and bodies are intimately intertwined, so it stands to reason that the regular exercise afforded by circuit training or interval training classes not only improves your physical health, but also your mental health. According to sports psychologist D.R. Brown in his article, “Exercise, Fitness and Mental Health” (1990), exercise:

Offers a distraction from the daily frustrations and stresses,

Encourages us to interact with other people socially,

Raises our core body temperature, which has been shown to combat muscle tension,

Stimulates the production of internal opiates, such as endorphins, which contribute to a greater feeling of happiness and wellbeing.

Has an effect on the key hormones that control our anxiety levels and moods, such as serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.

Can make us feel more in control of our bodies, our lives and ourselves. So, Santa Monica fitness clubs offer people the opportunity to improve their bodies and their overall wellbeing.

Circuit Training is Great for Joint Health

Here are a few more, slightly obvious benefits of regular circuit training and interval training at one of Santa Monica’s fitness centers:

Increased muscle strength and bone strength,

Greater muscle mass (which is what makes your beach body look so enviable),

Improved joint function and strength.

This latter point is especially important for Santa Monica residents who suffer from arthritis or any other kind of condition that causes pain and inflammation of the joints. By coming in to your local Circuit Training gym regularly, you can improve the strength of your joints as well as their mobility, staving off some of the more debilitating symptoms of this terrible disease.

Personal Trainers in Los Angeles Answer Your FAQs about Circuit Training, PART 3

Welcome to the third installment of this four-part article series on circuit training as a favorite form of exercise of Personal Trainer Los Angeles. In Part 2, it was explained to us just how circuit training and interval training work to blast up to 500% more calories than any other form of gym exercise. It was also explained that the circuit training classes provided by most Los Angeles gyms are only an hour long. Let’s pick up where we left off and continue with those FAQs!

Classes of only one hour must be very convenient for busy Los Angeles residents. Who do you most commonly find as your clients?

Answer: “There is absolutely no stereotype in the kind of clients we serve. Circuit training and interval training are popular amongst people of all ages and levels of fitness. Even though we run group classes, each member receives individualized attention from the instructor. The settings of each machine are customized to push the individual and test the outer bounds of their strength, so that you never find yourself unchallenged or waiting for someone else to catch up.

“Yes, circuit training classes are only one hour long, so we do find ourselves training a lot of busy Los Angeles executives and the like, but we also have a number of students, full-time mothers, retirees and even well-known celebrities coming in. Circuit training welcomes one and all, regardless of your age, your level of fitness, your fitness goals and/or any injuries and disabilities you may have.”

Really? So can circuit training be suitable for people with, for example, old sports injuries?

 

Answer: “Absolutely, remember, circuit training and interval training are entirely customizable. You can turn down the speed or resistance of a machine that might concentrate on areas whose muscles, tendons or bones have been damaged in the past. And the nature of the gym equipment used tends to promote activity that is low impact on the joints and encourages smooth fluid motions,” explain personal trainers in Los Angeles.

“If you’re concerned about an injury, all you need to do is chat with the group instructor prior to a circuit training class. He or she will make sure that you’re able to actively participate in every single station in the circuit without struggling. Our personal trainers aren’t only gym enthusiasts; they have comprehensive training and a solid understanding of physiology behind them!”

Do you recommend that people with old injuries or disabilities chat with their doctors before coming in for circuit training?

“In most cases, people with old injuries are already well aware of their limitations and what it is they should and shouldn’t do,” explain Personal Training Los Angeles. “Where we encourage new members to speak to a medical physician is when they are greatly overweight, haven’t exercised in a very long time and/or have medical conditions that might affect the heart or respiratory system. Obviously, our primary concern is the safety and well-being of every single client, so we encourage professional medical attention where necessary.”

 

Stay Tuned for Part 4

To read the answers to some final frequently asked questions about Circuit Training and how it works to provide Los Angeles residents with an incredible work out, stay tuned for the final installment of this four-part article series.