Many people enjoy the benefits of personal training, but most do not. Some find it hard to see the advantages of personal training, when they can improve their fitness on their own. There are a number of ways, however, that a personal trainer can provide invaluable assistance. Here are the top five.

Motivation

Motivation is one of the largest struggles encountered when trying to improve your fitness on your own and it is the primary advantage of personal training. This is also why many people exercise with a personal trainer. When someone expects you to be there that makes workouts more enjoyable, there is much less reason to stop. A personal trainer will provide a powerful motivational force in your routine, giving you incentive and responsibility when it comes time to exercise.

Efficiency

Anything you do that you don’t need to, or that there is a better way to do, is a loss of efficiency. Also, focusing on areas you don’t need to work on instead of areas that need work is a waste of effort. Personal training can both reduce wasted time, while increasing the gain in fitness.

Knowledge

Do you know exactly how each workout helps you? Or what areas you need to work on the most? Even if you don’t want personal training long-term, just spending a few months with a personal trainer can vastly improve your knowledge of exercise, giving you a very long-term gain for a short-term investment.

Customized Program

Personal training will also provide you with a fitness program designed just for you, as a trainer can evaluate your fitness level and tell you exactly what aspects need improved, and what you can do to improve. Also, if you want to do something specific, such as play a certain sport, a personal trainer who specializes in that field will be able to provide you with a workout tailored to your specific needs.

When exercising your abdominal muscles, are you exercising the deep ones? If you’ve surfed the Internet, watched TV, or read a magazine or newspaper during the past week, then you’ve probably seen an advertisement for some sort of abdominal gadget. But oftentimes, even these gizmos don’t work the deep abdominal muscles. Fortunately, core exercises and the invaluable guidance of a personal trainer in New York city can provide your body with several benefits:

1. Better breathing

Not only is breathing important, but proper breathing is equally important. Your transversus abdominis muscle (TVA) is linked to the diaphragm. So after strengthening your core muscles, you greatly boost your ability to inhale and exhale completely. And the more oxygen your body intakes, the better all of your body’s systems will function during a workout.

2. Recreational activities will be more enjoyable

Whether you enjoy skiing, surfing, cycling, or running, core exercises will improve any sport that requires flexibility and aerobic routines. That’s because these exercises improve your balance, flexibility, coordination, and breathing. The bottom line is that your endurance and sports skills will improve.

3. Less frequent lower-back pain

Lower-back pain is a relatively common occurrence in everyone’s life. This usually happens after placing too much weight on the lower back, or applying it too quickly. But by strengthening your core muscles, your lower back will become better suited to bear heavy weights. When you have stronger core muscles, your spine will move more freely, thus reducing the frequency of lower-back difficulties. With the help of a certified personal trainer in NYC you can add the right exercises to your workout regimen to help prevent such problems.

4. More strength

In the old days, you’d wear a weight belt in the gym, in order to do exercises such as deadlights, shoulder presses, or squats. The function of the weight belts was to support your core muscles as you did an array of exercises.

However, that was before we knew about core exercises. Through a personal training program in New York City with a personal trainer that is knowledgeable in these areas, you can add the right core exercises to your exercise program, to strengthen the original “weight belt”: core muscles. Your core muscles, such as the TVA can replace those ancient weight belts, supporting your body the natural way.

5. Your flexibility will increase

You may be thinking, “What do deep abdominal muscles have to do with flexibility?” Core exercises stabilize your lower back, which in turn can improve your body’s flexibility. That’s because your ligaments and muscles can move in their full range of motion. This improved flexibility will reduce pressure and tension in the muscles of the lower back. A personal trainer can help to choose the best core exercises to improve flexibility.

So there you have it! Core exercises should be an integral part of your exercise routine, because they give your deep abdominal muscles a workout. Personal training with a personal trainer in New York City can help to determine which exercises and how many sets would be right for your particular workout. By strengthening your stomach, you also strengthen your workout!

To learn more about our private personal trainer services in NYC and our special introductory offer and free gym membership click here.

Are you counting your calories? We often hear about calories regarding diets and various foods on the market. However, the counting of calories should just be the beginning. When you start a program of dieting and exercising, it’s important to track the calories properly.

Calorie Basics

Firstly, you know that dieters want to reduce their calorie intake, but what exactly is a calorie? Calories are units that you use to gauge how much energy value a food has. You can obtain calories from four sources: alcohol, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. However, you should be aware that alcohol and fats have a much higher density of calories, than carbohydrates and proteins do.

So, the Question of the Day is: how many calories do you need daily? In most cases, you need about 2,000 calories per day, though this figure can vary. However, to determine more accurately the quantity of calories you need daily, consider three factors: your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), the amount of energy that you use during physical activity and exercising, and the thermic effect of food. However, you can use some basic exercise weight loss formulas to make the calculations easier:

* If you are sedentary: (weight * 14) = estimated calories per day

* If you are moderately active: (weight * 17) = estimated calories per day

* If you are very active: (weight * 20) = estimated calories per day

While “sedentary” speaks for itself, “moderately active” includes 3-4 weekly aerobic sessions, and “very active” involves 5-7 aerobic sessions weekly.

Quality and Not Just Quantity

However, when following a fitness program, it’s just as important to focus on the quality of calories that you intake, rather than just the quantity of calories. While soft drinks and junk food are high in calories they’re mostly “empty calories,” meaning that the calories contain no nutritional value. Such calories will make you feel full, but you’ll be running on empty soon.

So how should you meet your daily calorie intake? If you’re following a fitness program, it’s important that your nutritional plan includes a diet that is moderate in protein; and includes many vegetables, a low-to-moderate amount of fat, and a low amount of starchy carbohydrates. This distribution of calories will help you to burn fat while developing muscles. With the help of a personal trainer in nyc you’ll also look and feel fantastic!

Burning Fat AND Pounds

Speaking of fat, a direct correlation exists between calories and fat. When getting into shape, it’s important to focus on burning and fat and building muscle, rather than simply losing weight. A gain or loss of 3,500 calories will respectively result in a gain or loss of roughly one pound of fat. To get into shape, you’ll need to minimize your fat intake while maximizing your fat burning. For instance, devouring a bacon double-cheeseburger after performing cardiovascular exercise would be quite counterproductive.

So there you have it. When following a fitness program, calories (and other stuff) count!