Wednesday Workout: Guest Post- 5 Things Your Trainer Want You to Know

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Today's guest post comes from my favorite thing out of Europe (never been a Nutella or Beatles fan) and good great friend, Petar. When he's not in class at Catholic University Law School you can find him teaching group class/personal training at Washington Sports Club or djaying around DC- and ladies, he's siiiiinglllleee! Check out his hype mixes (great for working out!) on Soundcloud and his webiste here. Annnd check out one of my favorite pix of us (plus Harrison) at Zinzi Ball last year:


Anyway, I asked him to write up a post on 5 Things Your Trainer Wants You to Know, and here are his tips with awesome illustrations:







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1. Don't Be a Cardio Queen: There is a common misconception among novice gym-goers that the best way to get in shape/lose weight is to chain yourself to the cardio equipment.  It is easy to get trapped into that way of thinking, when an led display on the equipment indicates that amount of calories "burned."  However, spending hours on the treadmill/elliptical/bike is not the most effective way of getting lean.  Any exercise is better than no exercise, but if you are dedicating yourself to a workout routine, you at least want to make sure that it is an effective one.  The problem with aerobic (cardio) training is that your body becomes more efficient the more you do it.  Therefore, the more you do cardio, the better your body is at it, and the less fat you burn.  This article does a great job of explaining this.




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2. Embrace the Iron: Ok, so Cardio is not the most efficient way of getting shape.  Then what is?  Strength training.  Resistance-based exercised breaks the muscles down.  As the body rebuilds, the muscles become stronger, and the metabolism increases.  This means that the body burns more fat and continues to burn fat throughout the duration of the day (not just during the exercise itself as is the case with cardio).  Think about it.  Gymnasts look like this, and marathon runners look like this.
(Sidenote from Lindsay: if you're working out at home EatHardWorkHard has a great post on free online dumbell routines)






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3. Listen to Your Body: It's easy to get carried away.  Maybe you have gone to the gym for several days straight and want to see how long you can maintain that without skipping a day.  Maybe your workout buddy lifted a very heavy weight and you don't want to fall behind.  Maybe you are tired, but have not been in the gym in two days and your guilt is preventing you from skipping your workout.  All three scenarios are dangerous- they have the potential of preventing you from listening to your body.  The longterm consequences of injury far outweigh the risk of momentary satisfaction of pushing your body past its limit.







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4. Drink Plenty of Water:Our body is mostly made up of water.  It only makes sense that the best thing to consume is water.  The body is funny: when it receives little of something, it tends to hoard it.  Whereas, if something else is in abundance, it does not hold on to it.  In the case of water, if you consume little water, you will retain a lot of water weight.  On the other hand, if you are drinking enough water, you will not carry as much water weight.  Water weight = bloated.  Less water weight = more cut and defined.





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5. Try New Things: At the end of the day, the best thing you can do is exercise.  Any type of exercise beats sitting on the sofa.  Trying new things will keep things interesting and it will make it less likely that you get bored.  Further, your body gets used to doing the same thing over and over.  New exercises/activities will keep challenging the body and produce continued results.



Linking up today at WOW , Whimsy Wednesday, Weigh-In Wednesday

29 comments :

  1. I am so bad about only doing cardio! I will keep these in mind. I need to get my weights on!

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    1. Meee toooo. I started doing barre and yoga workouts but am really dragging my feet on this whole weights thing...

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  2. Cute graphics selected to go along with these tips! Trying new things is critical because if you get bored you won't be putting forth the proper effort in whatever workout you're doing.

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    1. So true! I just realized that's what's been happening to me lately!

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  3. I used to be a cardio only person too but I have since found a love for weights. That last gif is too cute!

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    1. I need to get up on my weights game! And I know- Petar did a great job with the gifs!

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  4. I couldn't agree more. I love endurance - I'm a runner and triathlete. However, my body really started changing once I let go of the long cardio sessions and went for intensity. I think doing an hour of anything at an easy pace doesn't do much; kicking our own butts and sweating buckets after 20 minutes is better IMHO. I still go for my long runs, but I do more weight and sprint work now.

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  5. Love this! Great advice and an enjoyable read as well - perfect combo :)

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  6. I am guilty of the cardio only thing. I will occasionally attend pilates or a bar method class. I just ordered some workout DVDs that use resistance bands--I'm hoping to build a little more muscle and not just be a "Cardio Queen." Haha

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    1. ughh me too! I started doing some barre via youtube and I kind of enjoy it so hopefully I can move into weights or something!

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  7. Thanks for the song playlists, I'll have to check those out! Your friends tips make a lot of sense :)

    http://whatadventuresawait.blogspot.com/

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  8. yes yes yes to weight lifting. i'm a bro at heart and can lift all the live long day! i do cardio even though i loathe it but i know i have to train my heart so i just do some short HIIT cardio programs, kill myself in the shortest amount of time just to get it over with.

    -kathy
    Vodka and Soda

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    1. haha why can't cardio just feel easy but still help our hearts right?

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  9. Excellent advice. I think my trainer would actually give the same advice. I used to be a cardio queen and while it is great for your heart, it isn't the only way to burn the fat. If you want to slim down ladies you must pick up the iron. Embrace it. :-)

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  10. Great tips :) I love your videos too lol

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  11. All awesome tips especially about embracing the iron! Amazing how my body just kicks into high gear when I start lifting!

    Maria @ The Good Life

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  13. Great pictures you have shared here and interesting videos. I was looking information on yoga workouts and I got this link. Well, can you help me in doing yoga workout? I really need to do workout as my weight is increasing daily. I will wait for positive reply from you.

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