Method Fitness: The best "new" stretches and how to use them, even when you skip the gym.

Many people who sign up for fitness boot camps for women in NYC are shocked with the types of exercises that they encounter in the first few sessions. This is because most people think of very basic military-style exercises and stretches when they think about weight loss boot camps.

Push-ups and jumping jacks are the typical exercises that people think of doing when they sign up for fitness boot camps for women, but what they are actually hit with is usually something very different. Yes, those exercises are thrown into some weight loss boot camps, but the core workout presented in our boot camps is anything but traditional or old school.

Reinventing the Wheel

Personal trainers love exercises like jumping jacks and push-ups today just as much as they did in the past because they are highly effective. The difference in today’s fitness boot camps for women is that trainers are taking those old school exercises and putting a modern twist on them. They are making them even more effective by incorporating different groups of muscles throughout the body.

For instance, consider the squat. We all know what squats are and if you have ever attended weight loss boot camps you know that they are extremely effective at shaping your thighs and toning your rear end. They also happen to be the base movement or stance for a wide variety of newer exercises commonly used in weight loss boot camps.

For instance, kickboxing segments of a boot camp will have you bending down in a squat while punching in different directions. You may also perform different types of squats with different leg positions and even incorporating weights or workout bands.

Combined Movements

Another newer form of exercise that is often used in fitness boot camps for women involves combining two or three separate movements into one. For instance, a personal trainer may have you squat down then come up into a dumbbell press over the head, sinking right back down into the squat. Or, you could find yourself squatting down and then leaping straight up in the air, coming straight back down into a squat.

Combined movements are especially effective when you add lower body movements with strength training movements for the upper body. Just lifting weights for the upper body doesn’t keep your heart rate very high, but if you are lunging, squatting, crunching, and doing other movements along with the arm exercises you can get more cardio and fat burning benefit while strengthening and toning.

Trainer Innovations

The great thing about weight loss boot camps is they are usually led by some of the most talented, experienced personal trainers. These trainers come up with their own innovative moves and combinations of moves that aren’t found anywhere else. Sometimes they have a moment of inspiration and come up with a new challenge on the spot. Other times they have been planning the torture days or weeks in advance.

The only thing that is for certain with fitness boot camps for women is that you will not be doing the old school movements that you expect. You may start out with some jumping jacks but you can guarantee there will be something more challenging, more modern, incorporated at some point.

This surprise is what adds challenge and difficulty to the workout and that is what makes weight loss boot camps so successful and life-transforming!

For more fitness tips, please visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/methodfitnessny and press the “LIKE” button at the top of the page to become a member of the Method Fitness community!

Get in shape for summer in the city.. with Method Fitness!

Personal trainers do much more than just deliver intense, effective workouts to lift your butt and shape your thighs. They also recommend foods that will help intensify the results from those workouts. The best trainers at the world’s finest private personal training gyms in NYC often recommend foods that are readily available in the market during the summer because they are nutritious and delicious.

Following are the top five personal trainer-recommended summer super foods that you should be eating up while they are in season:

#1: Watermelon

Watermelon is so packed with watery goodness that it should be consumed year round even if you have to pay big bucks to find it where you live in the middle of winter. Not only is it a watery fruit that will keep your body well hydrated, it is packed some of the most powerful antioxidants.

Antioxidants have been proven to clear the body of disease-causing free radicals and are critical when it comes to fighting off signs of aging such as wrinkles and fine lines.

Plus, watermelon is extremely low calorie and naturally fat free. No wonder it is recommended by all the top private personal in NYC

#2: Berries

Berries of every variety are probably your personal trainer’s best friends! Toss some fresh blueberries on your oatmeal in the morning or slice up some strawberries for a cool evening treat on the front porch.

Berries that are dark in color, such as blueberries, are packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that will energize your body prior to a workout or help it rejuvenate afterwards. You can throw berries on practically anything (even veggie salads) to get a quick energy lift. Over time they will protect your body from disease and sickness and help you fight off the signs of aging as well.

#3: Kiwi Fruit

Kiwi has a very unusual taste and makes a delicious, energizing snack that can be taken with you absolutely anywhere. It is jam packed with vitamin C which will help your body fight off infection and illness. It also contains a lot of those powerful antioxidants which will keep your body free from disease-causing free radicals.

Trainers at the best private personal training gyms in NYC embrace kiwi fruit year round for it’s nutritious, energizing properties.

#4: Tomatoes

Did you plant your own veggie garden this year? If not, head on out to the farmer’s market and stock up on tomatoes because they are one of the most healthful foods to be consumed year round, but especially in summer when they are in season. Pick them off the vine and eat them like apples…yes, they are that good for you!

Besides a wide variety of vitamins that your body constantly needs, you get something called lycopene from tomatoes. Lycopene is such a powerful substance it is being touted as a way to prevent cancer and a variety of other very serious diseases.

#5: 100% wheat free corn tortillas

Personal trainers recommend whole grains year round, but high fiber whole grain wheat free corn tortillas are perfect for summer because you can create delicious wraps filled with fresh veggies for quick lunches, snacks and dinners. They will give you long term energy to get through your sessions at our private personal training gym in NYC!

Looking for more food tips for summer? Talk to Method Fitness personal trainers in NYC today and see what else they can recommend! Also, please check out the new Method Fitness Facebook Fan Page for great fitness/health tips and tricks!

Every day people come into our fitness boot camps for women full of excitement to start losing weight, getting healthier, and seeing real changes in the shape of their bodies. They are all pumped and have serious fitness plans all set. They are ready for action! So, why is it that after a few sessions many of these women start to drop off, never to be seen again? Why is it that we get a surge of participants for our weight loss boot camps around the turn of a new year when New Year’s resolutions are hot, but half of those new-recruits or less remain come March or April?

It’s because people have an uncanny knack of sabotaging their own fitness plans. Sometimes the sabotage starts from the moment they set the plans in motion. As they walk into our fitness boot camps for women full of hope and motivation, they are unknowingly working against themselves. Let’s consider exactly how they sabotage themselves so you can avoid their mistakes at all costs.

#1 Sabotage Sin: Their goals are unrealistic.

If you set goals that you cannot possibly reach you are setting yourself up for failure before you even take action to give it a try. All too often we get new members in our fitness boot camps for women who are just setting their goals too high. They are trying to push themselves to the extremes to see fast results, but in the end they burn out before any real progress can be made. If you want to be successful with your fitness plan, make sure that your goals are realistic. It’s great to give yourself something to reach for and really challenge yourself with, but make sure it is possible to achieve your plan without killing yourself in the process or making sacrifices you aren’t really ready to make.

#2 Sabotage Sin: They get trapped in all-or-nothing thinking.

This is something else that becomes apparent with some people in our weight loss boot camps. They think they have to do the entire workout at top intensity, completing the most intense versions of every movement, or it isn’t worth attending. In their mind they have to go all out and kill themselves or completely stay home. There is no middle ground. There are going to be days when you just don’t want to attend a fitness boot camp for women. Some days you will be dragging your feet as if they are made of lead, and that is okay. What’s important is that you get to your weight loss boot camp regardless. It’s the discipline and commitment of being there at all that counts on those rough days. If you stay home because you can’t give it your all, it will only be harder to drag yourself there the next day. Remember, fitness is not an all-or-nothing plan. It’s a plan that requires just getting the job done whether your heart is in it or not.

#3 Sabotage Sin: They follow a great workout up with horrible foods.

Attending fitness boot camps for women is an awesome thing for your body, but if you are eating a greasy McMuffin on your way to the workout or filling up at the buffet later in the day, you are holding your body back. You are undoing much of the progress that was made toward a healthier body. You are making it more difficult for your body to move through the next boot camp.