A while back I wrote some articles about how to decide on a fitness club. The articles were about joining a gym, gym staff, how far to the gym and how to tour a gym. I have to think that it would have been a good idea to decide what is important in picking a fitness trainer so that article is coming right away as well.

I would love to go into depth into how you can best choose a personal trainer but the busy time of year for getting a personal trainer is around New Years Day so I will put some stuff together for just before then. If you are looking now for a personal trainer though here are a few tips

Choosing a Personal Trainer

First of all make sure that your trainer has some kind of credentials. There are a couple of accreditation’s that personal trainer can get. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: ACE Personal Trainer, NCCA, personal trainer

Going to the gym is supposed to be good for your health, but if you don’t take the proper precautions, it may have the opposite effect. Newsweek has an article about germs and gyms that gives some great tips. Germs can lurk on any surface, from exercise equipment to the spigot on the water fountain, and locker rooms are ideal places for bacteria and fungi to thrive. But you can lower your risk of catching other gymgoers’ germs—and with them the risk of catching a cold, athlete’s foot, or even the potentially deadly staph infection methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (or MRSA). Portland, Ore., sports medicine internist Dr. Carol Otis offers these tips:

Cover any breaks in the skin. Normal, unbroken skin can’t be invaded. But when a skin break—even one as minor as a small scratch or the raw skin characteristic of psoriasis— comes in contact with an infected surface, MRSA and other bacteria can worm their way in. The earliest danger signs: pimplelike red bumps or boils. To protect yourself, put a band-aid on any cuts, abrasions or blisters. And don’t shave immediately before a workout to avoid being in the locker room with cuts and scratches. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: athlete, athlete's foot, blister, blisters, Carol Otis, Clean exercise equipment, cuts, exercise equipment, Newsweek, Oregon, Portland, psoriasis, Sports Medicine, sports medicine internist, staph infection

Well the first full week of the new year is upon us and as I have always seen at this time of year gyms across the country are filling up with new members. As veteran members all know the wait for gym equipment usually peters out by the beginning of February as all the new members stop going to the gym or at least stop coming very often.

I always think of new years as being a very trendy time for gym memberships as the prices drop to get new members and there is a lot of excitement as many people show up for the first time and then get bored, sore and disillusioned and move on to the next exciting thing in their lives. A few people we will see get the bug and do not stop and will become lifelong weightlifters but I always used to wonder what makes the difference between those that stay at the gym and those that leave. Here is my list.

1. No pain, no gain – The problem here is that most people push themselves far to hard and have no time to recover between workouts and after being sore for a month it is impossible to go on. This looks to newbies as a ridiculous lifestyle. To get away from this problem why not just slow down. If you want to look hot for the summer why not take it a little easier. The beach will still be empty next week so don�t kill yourself trying to look like a greek god now.

2. No results – When getting started in a gym you may not get fast results in losing weight. Your workouts are going to lose you fat as well as gain you muscle so you are going to not be losing as fast as you hope. Give it time. As you gain muscle it takes your body more calories to keep that muscle, as well as increasing your metabolism, which in turn will help you lose fat.

3. Tiredness – This relates to number one. You will be tired as your body adjusts and as you gain strength, lose fat and get healthier. After you adjust to the new workouts you will get more energy and not be nearly as tired as you were before you started this healthier lifestyle.

4. No time except for the gym – This is a doozy. When you get started the only thing that matters is going to the gym and then suddenly you have lost touch with the rest of the world and you miss that. Why not just start reducing the time you workout. You do not need to work out two hours a day. 45 minutes to an hour is all you should be spending in the gym as you get started.

5. Boredom – Boredom can definitely creep into your attitude at the gym. This is usually caused, I believe, from not having a plan, goals and a way to make sure that you are going to achieve them. If you just go in and lift weights randomly or do a cardio workout when you can�t think of any muscle groups that you �feel like� doing then you are quickly going to get bored and not know why you are spending time in the gym. Get together with a trainer at the gym that you join and get a plan together for what you are going to do each day in the gym and set some realistic goals and you should be set.

Other than these issues the biggest issue is that the first gym you saw was the one you joined and you just might not enjoy working out there. Try going through my list of how to choose a gym, and my other gym staff articles to make sure that you pick the right place to workout.

Tags: energy, gain muscle, gain strength, gym equipment, gym memberships, gyms, healthier lifestyle, increasing your metabolism, losing weight, new year, new years day, pain, tiredness, weightlifters, workouts

Fitness training is becoming more popular every year. Many health clubs ar now offering circuit training as the only way to work out in their gym. One such place is Curves, a weight loss program that includes a gym as well as a eating plan. Circuit training is good as it allows you to do weights for strength training and also you get a chance to get a good cardio workout as well because you are doing your weight sets at such a fast pace. Two for one and a quick workout too.

The boxing bell rings and Alan Katz starts pounding away at a punching bag. After 30 seconds the bell rings again and it’s off to arm curls at the next station. In 20 minutes, he’s completed a series of cardio and strength training stations that experts say is in an excellent way to stay in shape.

The Blitz in Tampa, Fla., where Katz exercises three times a week, is among the growing number of gyms promising an express circuit workout, which involves a laid-out course of about a dozen exercise stations. The concept – around for decades but popularized in the market by Curves for Women several years ago – is finding favor with the mass of Americans who say they just don’t have the time to exercise.

“What’s beautiful about it – you’re catching everything in 20 minutes. I come out of there and I know I’ve done everything. It’s a no-brainer,” said Katz, a 47-year-old suburban Tampa resident. As a working father of two teenage girls, time is a scarce commodity.

Despite the national obsession with fitness, about 85 percent of Americans do not belong to a gym, according to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association. The most frequently cited reason for not joining a gym? A lack of time and intimidation, said Brooke Correia, the industry group’s spokeswoman.

“The majority of these people are open game for the industry,” Correia said.

It’s no surprise that circuit workouts – cheap, low-key and easy to understand – are popping up in strip malls coast to coast. About a third of the country’s estimated 30,000 health clubs are now express workout facilities, according to IHRSA. While Curves found an audience among middle-aged and older women, the spinoffs are branching out to other groups.

Cuts Fitness for Men, which opened in 2003, now has 90 locations across the country. With a tan-and-blue color scheme and “Cheers”-like camaraderie, founder John Gennaro said members are typically between 30 and 60 and often watch a baseball game together after their workouts.

The Blitz, a boxing-themed circuit gym, has 75 locations nationwide. This fall, president Scott Smith is planning a foray into the 18 to 35 market with a coed, military-themed version called “Commandos.”

Even major chains like 24 Hour Fitness and Gold’s Gym have rolled out circuit workouts.

One circuit gym in southern California invites the entire family to work out. At Family Fitness Express in LaCanada, Calif., members are encouraged to bring along the kids, or even grandma and grandpa.

“It’s a great first step into fitness. And it’s a whole lot better than sitting at home and watching TV,” said Richard Cotton, spokesman for the American Council on Exercise.

The appeal of a circuit workout is easy to understand. The cost is typically between $20 to $40 for a monthly membership. For those who have never stepped foot in a gym before, the routine takes the guess work out of exercise.

Tags: Alan Katz, American Council on Exercise, baseball, Brooke Correia, California, Florida, founder, Gold's Gym, International Health, John Gennaro, president, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, Richard Cotton, Scott Smith, spokesman, spokeswoman, Tampa, USD

Health Club tours are always well scripted events that are conducted by a salesman for only one or two people. When you are gong to go to tour the health club that you are interested in remember that touring one is not enough. Decide which one you really like best just by location and reputation and then tour a couple of others.

Why would you tour other gyms?

Well every gym you tour will have a salesperson pushing the points that are strongest at that particular gym; the size, the amount of equipment, the trainers. After you have gone on a few tours than you will be saving what you think is the best for last. At this point you are going to know a lot more about what would be important to you and you will be in a better place to not be sold by the pitch and instead be a bit more detached to what is important for your own needs in a health club.

So now on with the tours!

The look of the Health Club

Firstly do your fitness club tours at a time that you would normally work out, this will give you an idea of what the conditions are going to be when you workout yourself. When you start your health club tour the salesperson will start by telling you how great the gym is and how helpful and friendly the staff and other members are. Look around the gym and see what the equipment usage is like, is there any obvious waiting for equipment? Are you going to be intimidated by huge bodybuilders making too much noise? On the other hand does it deem to country club like for your tastes without a motivational feel?

Even though you may have worn workout clothes for your health club tour try to make sure that you do not use the equipment, the act of working out may distract you from your objectivity. While you are seeing the equipment take a look at the lighting, is the workout area bright enough. How much space is there between pieces of equipment? Are you going to be crowded in or is there to much room that makes the place look too empty?

Check out the layout of the entire fitness center, are there enough water fountains? Are you going to run into people while you are getting weights for the bench press? When you get to the changing room check out the showers, stalls and lockers and make sure everything is clean. You may be uncomfortable with the idea of showering with other people but over time you will likely find it useful to be able to have a workout, shower, and then continue on with your day.

Workout Equipment

When you tour the health clubs there are three kinds of equipment to look at.

Cardio Equipment – steppers, stationary bikes, treadmills, rowing machines. How are the usage of these machines, these are always very popular and if your are at the gym at busy time your will not want to wait between uses of the machines

Weight Machines – contraptions that you put weights on including nautilus and others. How well are these maintained? The worst thing for using these is if they are jerky when you are moving through your range of motion and you will not want to be using them which means they would be wasted equipment to you.

Weights, benches, racks – There are various ways to do your exercises but you have to sit or lean on something. Are there lineups for this equipment? How close and how many weight plates are around? Again you would not want to wait to use this equipment as the time between sets is an important factor as to whether you have a good workout or not.

Miscellaneous equipment- abs equipment, lower back. This equipment is usually shoved off to one side in the health club. You will want to be able to get to it as almost every workout you will want to either work on getting a six pack set of abs or strengthening your lower back. Is this equipment well covered or is it torn? Is there enough at a busy time or do you have to wait for this? It may not be too bad to wait for these pieces of equipment occasionally so it may not be a deal breaker for you.

One thing to really take a look at in your tour of the health club is the equipment and the apparent servicing of this equipment. Gym equipment is very tough looking and it may look to you like the equipment is very sturdy and does not need any work to keep it going. This is very wrong! Any reputable gym will have someone working for them part time to maintain the equipment, keeping everything greased, recovering the benches and seats and generally making sure that all of the health club equipment is in tip top shape.

Cardio equipment must be maintained as well. The cardio equipment in a gym has to take much more abuse than nay weight equipment ever has to. Parts are worn and have to be replaced so that everything feels smooth when using stationary bikes, treadmills, stair machines and rowing machines.

Amenities

Lastly you will want to check out all of those really cool amenities�.or maybe not.

Suntan Beds – Are you going to get a great deal on the suntanning? Do you even care if you ever use a suntan bed? If not why even factor that into whether you want to join?

Squash or racquetball – if there is some kind of courts look at whether you have anyone to play with, if your are outgoing you may find plenty of people to play with but if not it may be just a waste of space to you�and your membership fees pay for that upkeep.

Proshop and snack bar – these are among the most expensive places for clothes, drinks and equipment on the planet. Always an excuse for a break from the workout but they will always lighten your wallet.

Personal trainer on staff – This could be a great one, if there is a personal trainer then you may want to pay the 40 or so dollars an hour to improve your workouts but it can add up over time. See if there is some kind of plan for 10 sessions or something. And if you set up training then remember to take lots of notes in the car in the parking lot afterwards.

Pricing the Health Club

After you have been through more than a couple gyms and fitness centers you are going to know the tour pretty well and the hard close at the end that tries to have you sign up before you leave the door. Do not sign up right away as you can always leverage how the other gyms are when you are ready to sign up in the end. Every area of the country is a bit different as far as memberships go for health clubs but almost always there is a monthly payment, some kind of signup fee and a two or three year contract. When you are ready to decide look at all of the factors that are important and discount any amenities that you will be paying for but not using. The decision is usually a tough one between a couple of places but in the end I am sure you will be happy with your decision and on your way to an exciting new lifestyle.

Tags: bodybuilders, cardio equipment, fitness center, fitness club, gym equipment, gym salesperson, health club, health club equipment, Miscellaneous equipment, nay weight equipment, personal trainer, rowing, salesman, squash, Tour Health Club, workout area, workout clothes

OK now we can talk about one of the main determining factors on whether you will go to the gym now or then or all of the time. You may think motivation will always carry you through but in actual fact if you are only a block away from the gym you will probably have a better chance of making it to the gym on a regular basis.

The closest health club to your house may not be the best one for you but the important thing is to look at your schedule and decide when and where you are going to work out. In the past I have worked out before work, at lunch and in the evening. Decide when in your schedule you would like to fit in your exercise and from there decide if you are going to work out before work? Are you going to go to the health club at lunch? Are you going to go to the gym after work or after dinner? One other time that you may think about a workout is on the weekend. If you are going to be working out during the week closer to your workplace then maybe going to the gym on the weekend is just not that important to you. On the other hand if you have a busy schedule during the week then going to the health club on the weekends may be one of your best options and in that case you will want the gym to be close to home.

I have found in the past that the price that a gym charges is based on how far it is from the downtown core. Here in Calgary I was once able to join a gym in a non residential area for $19 per month and another downtown for $55 per month..apparently a good deal though. You are going to find that if you want to have a buddy or spouse join a health club with you then it will have to be close for both of you and convenient for both of you as partnerships in the gym are really hard to keep.

Tags: calgary, exercise, gym, health club, motivation, residential area, USD, workout

Let’s go through the staff that you will meet on your first visit to a health club.

The first person that you are going to meet at a health club is a receptionist that will introduce you to a salesman. The job of the receptionist is to give any new visitors a introduction to the salesperson and to set the tone of the conversation that you are about to have with the salesperson you are about to meet.

Health Clubs have staff that are usually cross trained and because of the type of work that there is in a health club it is probably OK to have trainers do membership sales as well. Remember that if the salespeople are doubling up as trainers you want to make sure that the trainers are really trainers and not just salespeople that took a weekend course in how to train people.

Besides sales staff every health club has some kind of training staff. Quite often with a smaller gym you will find the staff that does the selling is also the same staff that does the training. Other staff at the Health club may include a receptionist, juice bar staff, pro shop staff and equipment maintenance people.

When evaluating the staff at the health club, make sure that you are looking for credentials for the trainers. There are two types of certifications. Health Club trainer certifications are an important way to be able to judge whether the trainers have the skills to educate and show you how to eat and exercise. The following are the two most popular certifications.

NCCA certification - NCCA is a 3rd party governing body whose function it is to impose certification standards and identify quality programs to candidates and the public that are in strict compliance and produce valid, competent, and worthy personal fitness trainer graduates

ACE Certification - The ACE Personal Trainer Certification is designed for trainers providing any form of one-on-one instruction. Once you successfully pass the ACE Personal Trainer certification exam you will have demonstrated your knowledge of basic exercise science, nutrition, fitness assessment, exercise programming, and instructional and spotting techniques.

You should be asking about certifications and listening carefully to the answers that you get about these certifications. When I was younger certification was the first question that I was asked in applying for jobs at gyms so this should be important to you as well.

Lastly the staff that you will not see and should know about is the person that is doing maintenance on the equipment in the gym. I will cover this again but just be aware that if any equipment stops working in a health club or fitness center I have found that it will be fixed either in one day or in six months, the gym has to decide how important it is for equipment to be fixed.

Tags: ACE Personal Trainer, health club, NCCA, receptionist, salesman

Health Clubs, How do you decide which one to join?

One of the great mysteries of a fitness plan is how to decide which health club, gym or fitness center is the right one for you. Most people go around and ask people they know which on to join and over the year I have belonged to a half dozen of so health clubs or gyms.

The Decision to join a gym

Congratulations on your decision to join a health club. This is one decision that once you follow through with, and keep up your level of commitment will forever change your life and how you relate to people, food and exercise. There is initially on joining a gym or health club an excitement in the future and a real clarity of purpose. I have never felt the excitement of being in a gym by doing any kind of other exercise.

Health clubs are a business and since you are going to be doing business with a Health Club you should be armed with information and the ability to make a decision based on what is important to you and not what is pitched to your by the health club salesman. I want to be very clear here, the onus is on you to decide what you want and need in a health club and the nice lady or mans job is simply to have you join their club.

What I will do within this series is educate you on what is important to think about and after that you can make the decision yourself, armed with the knowledge that you need to take that health club sales pitch head on and rebut it.

The process of finding a gym

In these next few articles I will help you to create a checklist of what is important when you go out looking for fitness center to join. We will uncover staff and what to look for, membership hours, fitness equipment, health club amenities, classes worth taking or not and of course the price that you should pay and how to decide what is fair.

If you already belong to a gym, fine, this may allow you to reevaluate whether you are at the right place and if you do not belong to a gym you will probably be joining one soon and I hope all the information you will find will help you make an informed decision on what kind of health club is for you.

Tags: club amenities, exercise health, fitness center, Fitness Equipment, fitness plan, food, health club, health club salesman, Health Clubs, joining a gym, sales pitch