Personal Trainer=very good shape. Well, not this week for me. I have gotten in one workout in the last week. I will admit, I have been doing the Las Vegas thing this week. That includes going out one night, and eating crappy food. Now, I wonder why it is I never really had weeks like this in Chicago, or San Diego. Maybe it’s because I’m old and lazy now. Maybe it’s because I love a decline in fitness. Maybe it’s because I have a PC instead of a Mac. I don’t think it’s any of those, even though my old roommate from Hawaii will probably claim it’s the last reason. What I think it is, is the product of my surroundings. I have gotten caught up in the things that everyone else here in Las Vegas has too. I feel like this town is run by going out, partying and the like. One of the main reasons I don’t do all that is because it messes with my nutrition, diet, exercise, and health. But this last week, I kinda let it go. Maybe I needed something like that. Maybe i was due for a refresher. Whatever the case is. I took last week off. Will i let that affect the following weeks? Nope. I’ll go to the gym again tomorrow, and start with my regular workouts and diet. I guess the point of todays blog is this. If you screw up, it doesn’t have to have anything to do with the rest of your life. Just take it as a break, and go from there. A missed workout, or a night out, or a bad meal can spin into something gross, but it doesn’t have to. Just go about your regular business right afterwards. This has been a public service announcement for the proper treatment of your body. Have a good day.
Archive for November, 2009
Las Vegas Can Make a Personal Trainer Lazy
Monday, November 30th, 2009
Does This Las Vegas Personal Trainer Eat That?
Friday, November 27th, 2009
It’s your friendly personal trainer again. How are you Las Vegas? And other cities? Didn’t mean to leave anyone out. Anyway, I’m in a foul mood because Duke beat UConn in basketball today, but other than that, Happy Holidays. Thanksgiving was fun. Went over to my brothers house, had some turkey, some green bean casserole, and other things. I also watched an amazing documentary this week. Food Inc. If you haven’t seen it, and you want to be blown away, go ahead and watch it. It will definitely make you think about your diet and nutrition, if nothing else. i have only gotten in two work outs this week, so it made me feel extra fat. Anyway. I wanna talk about this movie. Basically, what it tells you is everything your are eating, is filled with random chemicals, cow pieces, corn, and e. coli. Not necessarily like that, but that’s the premise of it. So mainly, you don’t really know what’s in your diet. I eat mostly organic myself, but it kind of persuades you that way. I totally agree with this concept. Because, as far as your fitness and health, do you REALLY know what you are eating? Obviously all the processed foods, no, you really don’t. Yeah, you know that if you have a candy bar there is fat, carbs, and protein in it, but exactly what else is in there? What is sucralose? What exactly is high fructose corn syrup. The movie actually shows you that corn is an ingredient of BATTERIES! Would you eat a battery? Anyway.. my point is this. If you are doing everything right, you are working out with a personal trainer, you do your workouts on your own, you get enough sleep, etc. You think your nutrition is sound. You don’t eat processed foods. You don’t drink alcohol. What about all the chemicals that are in the food you THINK is healthy? What is that doing to you? Maybe it’s the reason you aren’t seeing results. Maybe it’s the reason you can’t get that last five pounds off.. Or maybe, it’s the reason you’ve gained ten pounds and don’t know why? These are all questions you should be asking yourself. Maybe the reason you gained 10 pounds was because of Thanksgiving, or you binge drink, or you are lazy. Those could also be reasons. But if they aren’t, maybe you should question the treatment of your food, and why it’s treated that way. Watch that documentary, and maybe you’ll have your answers.
Las Vegas Doesn’t Rest. This Personal Trainer Says, “You Should.”
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009Las Vegas is the real city that never sleeps. With casino lights shining 24 hours out of the day, even after my 
personal training sessions, I can’t believe I can get to sleep. This raises a question to me that some people don’t really know the answer to, or are maybe too impatient to realize. Do you, or your clients get enough rest between workouts? I happen to know some people who work out 6-7 days a week, and do cardio every day. I am not one of those people. I tend to work out about 3-4 times a week, which i think helps with my strength gains. i don’t work out until i am totally recovered and feel great about my energy levels. Some people think that if they go a day without working out, that they are losing precious time that they need to reach their weight loss goals. The problem with this is, is that most of the time, people’s fitness levels have not returned to 100% by the next day. Even when you aren’t working the same muscle groups, you still need time to recover. Let’s say for example, you do back one day. You do pull ups, and rows and deadlifts etc. you think you should do chest the next day? I believe you shouldn’t. While you are doing all those pulling movements, your pushing muscles are the ones holding everything back in place on the return motion. So your pushing muscles are taxed as well, even though you didn’t realize you were using them. You dig what I’m sayin yet? Basically your muslces grow and get stronger during the recovery, not during the actual work out. This is why sleep, and proper nutrition, and just plain rest is necessary. Personally, I have seen my most gains over the last few years, where i have become patient, and decided even though I love the gym, i can go two days without lifting a weight. I get better , i have more energy, and I think that my muscles look pretty cute too! Anyway, try it out. Cut back on your workout days, and up the intensity of them. Instead of 5 days a week, go 3 or 4, but try and get as much out of them as you did in 5. Give it a month. See how you feel. Til next week. Happy Thanksgiving. And Happy Birthday this coming week Mom.
Personal Trainers that Love Las Vegas
Saturday, November 21st, 2009So, I have been a personal trainer in Las Vegas for about 5 years now, 12 in total. And it never ceases to amaze me, in this quest for fitness, that some trainers, aren’t really helping their clients, they are helping themselves. I see that this is even more evident in Las Vegas. Now, there are TONS of good trainers out here, and tons of people taking their clients to the next level, designing amazing work outs, great nutrition plans, and sculpting six packs. But there are also quite a few personal trainers out here, that are basically wasting people’s time, charging a high rate because they know people have money out here, and they can get away with it. Case in point. I was at Las Vegas Athletic Club the other day, and I was watching a female trainer, do a superset with her client. The superset happened to be leg extensions and Barbell Deadlifts. Now, I don’t have a problem with either of these exercises. I wouldn’t ever have my clients do leg extensions, but that’s another story for a different day. But anyway, as soon as said client was done with her leg extensions, she moved into what i believe to be, the most ungodly, nightmarish attempt at a deadlift i have possibly ever seen. Her back was similar to the St. Louis Arc, and also, very similar to Igor in the Frankenstein movies. Her back was rounded so much, I thought maybe she was going into a tumbling routine. And what was her trainer doing? Oh, just staring off into space, couldn’t give a care in the world. I almost stopped her myself, in fear of her rearranging some vertebrae, but i held back. Not my place. Anyway. I watched this work out go on, and saw a few more disgusting shows of form, then i just left. Heartbroken. My point is, some trainers checked out a LONG time ago. They just want their money for the session, and you can do whatever the hell you want. Not a good thing in my book. The question I ask, is why do these people pay those trainers? Take home lesson for all you kiddies. Ask for a session for free, or ask to watch them train someone else. Just figure out what you are getting into before you make a committment to someone who works for Globo Gym.
P90 X. Would You Personal Train This Way?
Sunday, November 15th, 2009One of my personal training clients told me about this workout the other day. They said they do this program from time to time, when they aren’t workin on their fitness with me. I’m not in Las Vegas this weekend, but in a cold town called Manistee, Michigan. Doing the show here, is a challenge for me, because the exercise equipment, and nutrition here leave something to be desired. But, this program, could help that. It’s called P90X. All you need is a tv and dvd player, a couple of weights, and some amazing dedication.
I decided to watch one of the dvd’s, to see what this program is all about. Now, I don’t know the whole program, so i can’t form a valid opinion about the whole workout system yet, so what I’m writing about will be based on one dvd, which is the Ab Ripper DVD. I watched this video, which is about 15 minutes. Basically it takes you through around 15-20 different ab exercises in 15 minutes. The only thing i got out of this is that by the end of 15 minutes, your abs are burning like a mofo. Now, you are gonna say, that’s a great workout then right? To me, no, it’s not. I bet you if i gave you one ab exercise, and told you to do it for 15 minutes, your abs would still burn like a forest fire. The thing about it is to me, you don’t need to do abs for 15 minutes straight if you are incorporating them in every other aspect of your workouts. If you are engaging your core, as they like to say, using functional movements, I don’t think 15 minutes of ab work is necessary. I don’t know if all these other routines for P90X are similar, but if they are, anyone who does this is severely overworking their whole body. Focus on movements, not bodyparts. Anyway. it’s selling a ton of workout programs, so people are buying into the system. Maybe I should make my own dvd. Call it T84Z. We’ll do it in six less days:)
The Benefits of Partner Personal Training
Friday, November 13th, 2009Just got done with rehearsal at Delgado Dance Studio in Las Vegas. Time to write another workout post. Ok. So at Delgado, I was watching lots of partner dancing in between us practicing the new opening routine for American Storm. So I thought to myself, how can i incorporate that into personal training? Well, i already have, it’s basically just partner fitness training. This is where 2 people share a personal training session. And today, let’s talk about some of the benefits of this.
Ok. One of the first benefits of partner training, is that you have another person to enjoy the pleasure/pain with you that goes along with the workout. If there is someone there who is working with you, you will not only feel more comfortable, but you’ll also work harder. Now a little competition has entered play. Let the games begin.
Number 2. The cost of training goes down significantly. If there are 2 people in the session, usually you are paying about 25% less than you would pay with a normal session. Due to the economic times of today, this may be the best option for you if you are looking for a personal trainer on a budget.
A third benefit of partner training, is accountability. A lot of the people i run into, make excuses for everything. They are too busy at their job, they hurt their leg, their dog is pooping all over the place. Now, how many of those excuses are you going to make, if you are training with someone, who is counting on you to be there? Generally the price of the session is fixed, so if you skip out, you leave the other partner hanging, with the whole bill. That’s not gonna sit pretty with anyone.
So, to advance in your fitness, sometimes you need a little boost. Partner training may be just what you need to bring your exercise goals to fruition. Or, at least it will give you someone who will empathize with you when i make you throw up from mountain climbers.
Personal Training. New Workouts on Tonycress.com
Sunday, November 8th, 2009Just ate at Spicy Tuna in Las Vegas. You guys should really check it out. I went with my old roommate from college, who happens to live here too. I found out he lived here from his ex-girlfriend before I moved here, so I found him at his work, and eventually i ended up personal training with him, taking him through his workouts. Now he is a little ball of muscle! Haha. Anyway. Just giving you guys an update on what is going to be happening at the website. I have a great designer doing some amazing things right now. Eventually, I am going to turn the site very interactive. What’s to come in the following weeks you ask? Well, A few things I’ll be doing is adding an exercise library, where you can have access to over 150 different exercises to tickle your workout. I will also be doing more pre packaged workouts. Some that will be available in the coming weeks are for basketball, butts, and an ultimate abs workout. I will also be doing online video conferencing, where i will have a live streaming video forum talking about your fitness routines, as well as what I am doing with some of my different clients. I just wanted to give you guys a little update, and let you know, things that are happening. Fitness Camp starts tomorrow, so I need to get to an early sleep. have a great night everyone.
Should the Gym be Where you Work out? or, Work it out?
Friday, November 6th, 2009I am going to be really short with this post, so I’m sorry. I just got done with my workout, and this has always been something i wonder about in the gym, especially here in Las Vegas. Maybe you go to a fitness center like the one I do from time to time. But here is the thing that gets me. I see all these girls on the cardio machines of course, running or biking or doing their thing on the elliptical. That’s not even the funny part. Some of them have a face full of makeup. With all their cleavage hangin out. Now, don’t get me wrong. I appreciate it sometimes, but being a personal trainer, i always wonder, what are they in the gym for. Then i see guys, all decked out in their head to toe Puma suits, with their hair all done up, and SHADES on! I don’t really see these guys working out all that much, but they do know everyone in the gym. Now, I know what these guys are here for. They want to see people. They don’t necessarily come to get buff. They come to see people, and socialize and pick up the chicks who have faces full of makeup. My question is this. Is that wrong? I wanna say yeah, but I mean, people go to clubs to do that, they aren’t just there to hear the dj, why is the gym any different? well, I’m not gonna pick up on anyone in the gym, but if they want to do it, more power to them Obviously some of these girls are there to get picked up on, or at least they have that persona. seeing as how they go no faster than 3.0 on the treadmill. Anyway.. It’s a little comical to me, but hey, life is different for everyone. Alright. I gotta go train. Have fun, and if you are one of those guys/girl, Go GET EM!
This Personal Trainers Take on Cardio
Sunday, November 1st, 2009Ok. So, it was Halloween last night in Las Vegas, so this post is a little later than usual. I was a railroad engineer. Trust me, awesome costume. Anyway, what I’m going to talk about today is the exercise of cardio. Now, I know I’m a personal trainer and all, but I HATE cardio. I’ll work out all day long, but to get me on a treadmill, you’d have to put some dumbells on it. Not to say that I don’t think cardio has it’s place for some people, but not for me. I do some forms of cardio, play basketball once a week, dance in our show a couple times a week, but that’s about it. I’m not a fan of getting on an elliptical for an hour, but i will say you can get a great workout in 20 minutes on something like that, but that’s for another time and place. Right now, I’m talking about long, steady state cardio. What exactly is it doing for you? People think you only burn fat after 20 minutes of continuous cardio. That’s ridiculous. Take any track sprinter. Look at their body. Most of them, i would say, have less than 10% bodyfat. But i will bet you none of them really ever get on the treadmill and walk for an hour. I think some people are just trapped in the mindset of to lose weight or fat or whatever, you have to do cardio. I disagree. You can do an intense, crazy bodyweight workout, in half an hour, and get twice the benefits of cardio for an hour. And these people who do cardio, why is it, that they don’t push themselves? I hardly ever see people at the gym, breathing hard on those machines. Dripping sweat? Nope. Losing fat? Nope. I guess the point of this post is that most people i see, are stuck in their little world, not getting out of their comfort zone, and doing the same old, boring routine, that has got them doing that routine in the first place. They aren’t going anywhere, so why not use a machine that has you running in the same spot for an hour. Go get a personal trainer, and tell them you want some new twists to your workout.
