How to lose weight?  I have people come to me all the time and want to know how to lose weight.  Not only loosing weight but then keeping it off is always at the top of everyone’s mind.  I won’t get into too much detail in this blog post but I will tell you what you need to know to get started and some action steps to take today.

Have a Goal 

Goal setting is one of the best ways to get and stay motivated.  Motivation, without a personal trainer there to help you out, is hard to come by sometimes.  Having a goal to reach has helped a lot of my clients get on track and stay on track.  Goals such as running a 5k, hiking a particular trail, doing 10 push ups in a row, or seeing more definition in your arms or legs are all great goals to shoot for.  You want something attainable that you can accomplish in a relatively short period of time.  For example you don’t want set a goal of running marathon (26.2 miles) when you have never run once in your whole life.  Running a 5k is something more realistic for a beginner.  If you need help finding a goal talk with a personal trainer for some advise.

Be consistent

The only way I’ve moved from a size 14 to a size 8 and stayed there for the last 17 years is from being consistent.  I am always thinking about my next work out series or goal and have been very consistent in those workouts for all these years.  Let me clarify, being consistent does not mean finding a routine and doing that same routine over and over again for the next 17 years.  Your workouts MUST get harder as you get stronger and more amazing (which you will).  Consistently change your workouts every 6-8 weeks.  Challenge your body more and more each time.  Learn new exercises, try new things, lifter heavier weights, run a little faster and a little longer.  Keeping your body guessing is the only way to keep it changing and that’s how you see results.  If you need help being consistent talk with a personal trainer and find out how they can help you.

Eat for Life

Food is an essential part to your success.  In fact it’s 80% of your success.  Rediscover the purpose of food and use it to your advantage for a fit body.  Food is not meant as a reward.  It is not there for you punish yourself with either.  It’s sole purpose is to fuel your muscles with nutrients and keep your metabolism up.  That’s it!  Please understand, just because that’s it’s only purpose doesn’t mean that it can’t be exciting, enjoyable, fun and social like it’s always been.  Healthy, nutrient full, good for you food is tasty and amazing and makes you amazing.  Fake food, as I like to call it, i.e. fast food and baked junk does nothing for you but fill a temporary void, make you feel lousy, and make you fat.  Learn what’s right, make those right choices and get the body and self-esteem that you deserve!!  If you need help with a diet plan talk with a personal trainer that can make some nutritional recommendations for you.

Get a goal, be consistent, and eat for life.  Get started today.  Happy New Year!!

Here’s the workout in written form.  Print it out and be awesome!!!
Printable Version
Happy Thanksgiving!

You now have the best butt workout in history!!!  Make sure you’re warmed up before doing these exercises.  Perform 12-15 reps of each exercises and try to go through the circuit three times.  Use enough weight so that it’s difficult to get 12 reps and heavy enough so that the 15th rep is near impossible.  Integrate this circuit into two of your weekly workouts for the next six weeks and report back to me on how toned, lean, and lifted your buns have become.

Romanian Deadlift:

Tips:  Keep your knees soft, Push your hips back, Keep the natural curve in your low back, Lift with your Hamstrings NOT your back

Bulgarian Split Squat:

Tips:  Position front foot so that knee is directly over it, Maintain a straight back throughout the move, Don’t lean too far forward, Try to get bar to middle of the shin

Forward Lean Lunge:

Tips: Bend over at the waist, Keep the back straight, Lunge down keeping the hips and back exactly the same

One Leg Deadlift:

Tips: Keep the back straight, Bend at the knee not at the spine, Aim to touch and floor with your hands

(An Amazing Workout Is At The Bottom Of The Blog)

Asheville is big on its outdoor activities.  Whether you’re trail running, hiking, or just strolling around our beautiful downtown being in shape will make those experiences more enjoyable.  A number of my clients talk about how they don’t get winded any more when walking up hills (which are abundant around here) or how they want to train for trail running races.  Both of those examples are great ones to highlight the diversity of personal training and how it can be applied to anyone no matter the goal.

If you’ve got weight to lose, muscle to reveal, or want to be better at your sport then get started today with personal training and experience more of what Asheville has to offer.

One of the great things about having a personal trainer is that don’t have to come up with all the workouts all the time.  Try this workout; do the whole workout straight through and then repeat one or two more times.

 Sumo Highpull

Incline Dumbbell Presses

Chin Up

Front Deltoid Raises

Deadlift

Push Press

Tricep Pressdown

Ok, so you got the gym membership; check.  You’ve taken courses on nutrition and bought tons of cooking light cookbooks; check.  You’ve got a library of workout DVDs for those days you just want something different; check.  Then why is it that you’re still not seeing the results you’ve been longing for?  Why can’t you lose weight!!??

Perhaps it’s time to stop wasting time and energy in the wrong direction or at the very least get some new direction from a personal trainer. 

• Personal trainer help you perform exercises correctly to avoid injury. 
• They will be there to motivate you throughout your week so you don’t lose focus on your goals and hold you accountable for your actions so you don’t go back to being the heaviest you ever were. 
• Also personal trainers study and experiment all the time with exercises and know cutting edge ways to safely tax the muscles to demand change and weight lose.  They’ve got workouts that won’t bore you and that are as effective as they are fun.
• There’s more to getting fit than just exercise.  Let a personal trainer talk and council you about nutrition and make sure you’re feeding your body everything it needs to see optimal results every week!

If you’ve been at the weight loss thing for a while then all you may need it a boost in a different direction.  Call a national certified personal trainer today and see how your weight lose track and be elevated to the next level.

The annual O3 charity event for St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital was a great success.  Collectively we raised over $1,000!!  Thank you to everyone that came out on Saturday and everyone that gave.  We had five tire flippers this year flipping a tractor tire for five minutes to see how many flips they could get and the results are in:  Wendy (me) 119, Darin 107, Keith 103, Elizabeth 90, and Abe 81. 

We’ll have this event again next year so if you want to try your hand at beating me or if you want to raise some money for St Jude’s in an unconvential way give us call.

Our annual Workout For St Jude is this Saturday at 9:30am.  This is a fun event where the participates flip a 250lb trackor tire for 5 minutes to see how many flips they can get.  Participants get people to sponsor them and donate money per flip.  You can donate $.25 or $10 per flip if you like.

I am currently the record holder for the gym at 114 flips in 5 minutes.  I plan to beat my own record this year but time will tell.  I’ve got some pretty steep competition.  Keith, owner of O3, will flip again as well as our newest trainer here at O3, Darin.  It is particularly exciting for my this year because I’ve got two of my clients doing the tire flip for St Jude and it will be their great joy to beat me so I better get plenty of sleep for this one.

Come down to the gym and join us for some tire flipping fun this Saturday at 9:30am and if you haven’t sponsored anyone yet you still have time.  Remember this is a charity event for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and all the money goes to them so donate BIG!!  Be well, flip a tire.

What would you give to know the greatest, most effective, never fail plan in the world?  Wouldn’t you like to know the golden keys to weight loss?  What if you had the missing link to your weight problem? 

Okay, really?  I’ve heard that same line of yada yada on infomercials and ridiculous ads claiming the world and delivering the same old song and dance.  Don’t fall for that garbage any more.  All you have to do is diet and exercise and you’ll succeed.  Oh, all you have to do huh?  My clients laugh at me sometimes because I’ll ask them to do just 15 reps of something and they say, “Oh, just 15 reps huh?”  I know it’s not that easy and hopefully you should too.  It’s all those infomercial gurus that are banking on the hopes that you don’t know that and that you’ll fall for anything out of desperation.

I’m not trying to beef up my profession when I say this, I’m just very passionate about what I do.  A personal trainer can challenge you, teach you, guide you, and mostly, #1,  A,  the holy grail of mostly importantlies…hold you accountable!  What are you willing to do to yourself if you don’t make it in for your workout?  How will you hold yourself accountable for feeling too lazy to make it into the gym or eat too much of the wrong thing too often.  What kind of consequences are you willing to endure from yourself if you don’t follow through with what you’ve set out to accomplish?  A personal trainer can be there to ‘hold your feet to the fire’ sort of speak…or literaly. 

Maybe it’s not accountability that’s the issue.  Sometimes you’re not too sure of what to do or how many of those things to do or what they’re called.  Knowing the names of exercise is not so important but the basics of what muscles to work to receive the most benefit and what exercises will work those muscle is very important information and a properly trained fitness coach can help you with all that.

Food plays a huge role in your overall weight loss success.  You can go into the gym and do the most amazing workout ever know to man and walk down the street to some unnamed fast food place and undo every moment of your most amazing workout know to mankind.  Allow yourself to live on the 80/20 rule where you’re perfect 80% of the time and not so perfect, although not too horrible either, 20% of the time.  A clean diet consists of lean meats (preferably organic), fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and as little processed foods (stuff from a box) as possible.

I say all that to say this, the golden keys to weight loss, the holy grail, the grand secrets that everyone’s dying to know are… knowing some basics about strength training and cardio conditioning, the basics of a clean diet and then, get this, actually doing it. 

Action step number one, call me to set up a consultation.  In the mean time start a food journal, start walking, start doing some push ups and squats.  There, now you know the secrets and you’re well on your way!!

P.S. check out the videos page for great ideas on how get your workouts started today.