Work Out | Tony Cress Personal Training

Posts Tagged ‘work out’

99 Problems, but Fitness Ain’t One! HIT ME!

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

A couple of days ago on facebook, I asked a question. That question was this: “Do you work out? If not tell me why.” I got loads of responses on this topic. Now, most people who follow me, work out in some sort of capacity. Some people are looking for motivation to work out, and some people are workout studs and studettes. Yeah, I just made that word up. But I also said following the question, that I am curious to hear the reasons, and I think I can come up with solutions to their problems. Oh yeah, by the way, big thanks to Jay-Z for making that song so I could use it as a title for my blog. I can’t remember if “fitness” was the thing he said wasn’t one of his problems. Might have been something else. Anyway. I am going to suggest a few things to a few of the responses I received on facebook.

One of the first responses was probably one of the most misunderstood and difficult reasons for working out. A guy has been battling cancer, and hasn’t found a trainer who won’t ease him into the workouts. Although it’s a scary thing to come by, it’s going to be tough at first. He’s just got to keep looking for someone who can help him the way he wants to be helped. Working out can be VERY beneficial to people inflicted with cancer. There are countless stories about people beating cancer, by following great exercise programs, and a healthy diet. Obviously it isn’t going to be easy, but if you get with the right support group, exercise SHOULD be a part of your rehab.

Another big one was basically a complaint of no time. To me, i don’t want to offend anyone, but I don’t buy the “no time” excuse. If you have time to have fun, watch tv, go out at night, go to restaurants, concerts, WATCH athletic events, you are telling me you have time right there. You have kids, take them on bike rides if they are old enough. A dog, take your furry kid on a walk or jog. I know a guy who gets home from work around 7 or 8 pm, just in time to spend a few hours with his kids. He always uses it doing something interactive. It’s great for him, AND his children.

What if your little boy or girl is a baby? I think that’s almost easier. Unless you have severe attachment issues, you WILL NOT be holding that kid 24 hours a day. My brother has a baby. That baby has this thing called a cradle. He also has this thing called a swing. And a stroller. Point is. While that baby is in the cradle, what is stopping you from doing 5 pushups every few minutes? Or jumping jacks? Or take it up a notch and do mountain climbers. YOU. You are the only thing stopping you. Your energy put into exercise, will give you energy outside of exercise. You won’t feel exhausted all the time. Trust me!

There were also some “reasons” I would like to call, LAZINESS. A few people flat out admitted that. Well, here is my advice. Find a reason you shouldn’t be lazy. Whether you want to look good for the summer, or your health, or getting a boyfriend or girlfriend. Find a reason to work out. Barring injury, nothing bad can come out of it. As for the person who doesn’t like to get hot and sweaty, she lives in Las Vegas. It’s hot and sweaty here without working out. Might as well get some benefit out of being hot and sweaty.

Tags: diet, Exercise, Fitness, Las Vegas, motivation, work out, workout
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What is Your Fitness Commitment?

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

So you have decided to re-evaluate your fitness plan. It’s time to finally get in shape. You have the funds for a personal trainer, you have gone grocery shopping finally, and you just joined a gym(again). You really want to get rid of that 15 pounds of fat that you gained in the wintertime. Or your birthday. Or when your girlfriend/boyfriend broke up with you. You are READY to go. The fat will be gone in two months. you’ve set a weight loss goal, and you are sticking to it! You have an appointment with your personal trainer for your first workout this Friday. Everyone is excited. You, your trainer, and your mom. Friday comes around, and your friends ask you to go to the new Harry Potter movie, the same time you are supposed to start with your trainer. You don’t want to miss the movie, but you also don’t want to see it by yourself, so you text your trainer, saying you can’t make it. No harm done. Harry Potter is awesome. I can’t blame you. You reschedule for Tuesday, and enjoy the movie. Tuesday comes, and you are psyched about finally getting to start with your trainer. But work is asking you if you can stay another hour or two later. It’s not required, but you decide you should stay. You text your trainer, apologize, and stay late. You finally do get to meet up with your trainer, a week later, and start your fitness. The wind is slightly knocked out of your sail, but you do start exercising. Now you are on your way to your fitness goals. But the next week, two times you stay late at work again, another time you don’t work out because you are too tired from work, and then you have to take a lazy day off of doing nothing. So the very next week, you work out once with your trainer, and have a half ass workout at the gym.

This scenario plays out a lot more than you would think. I get a lot of people, who are motivated to finally get in shape, only to have outside sources hold them up. Whether it’s work, or friends, or Harry Potter movies, there is always something that takes priority. Why don’t you make fitness a priority for you. Here’s a few questions to ask yourself. Would you cancel a doctors appointment? Would you cancel work, because you just feel like going to a movie? There are all kinds of reasons people think are justifiable to delay their fitness goals, but to me, none of them are. If you take fitness as a priority and treat it just as any other appointment you have, you’ll find that your goals will come much quicker than if fitness can take a backseat to other things. Treat it as your job, and it won’t let you down. Treat it as something that can be cancelled or substituted whenever, and you will find that goals won’t come as swiftly as they say in the infomercials.

Tags: Fitness, Personal Trainer, work out, workout
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The June Fitness Challenge-What’s Your Workout?

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

Hello United States. Your friendly personal trainer, back with another blog post. This month, I want to join in the fitness quest. Now, I stay relatively lean all year round. This has to do with my workout, nutrition, and way of life mostly. I understand that everyone has certain roadblocks and different circumstances when it comes to reaching fitness goals, but we all have goals. So what is your goal. Let’s take this month, and have a little challenge between ALL of us. Myself included. Now, what I am proposing, doesn’t have to be this “Ooh I’m so fat and I am gonna turn myself into this mean muscle machine in 30 days!” type of thing. What if your goal is to just START working out, or to work out for 3 days a week. Maybe your goal is to lose 5 pounds this month. Whatever it is, LET’S DO IT. There is no better time to plan for it, the time is now. For myself, I want to join in this effort, and be together with everyone. I don’t have a ton of bodyfat to lose, but I am going to make my goal, just as difficult as the next persons. Right now, I am at 6.64% bodyfat. This next month, I will try to get down to 3% bodyfat. I want to be part of this too. So what I would like you all to do, is tell me what your goal is, and what you plan to do to get there. I am going to be writing a daily journal of some of the different things i adjust, to reach my goal. What will you do? Send me an email, stating your goals, maybe a beginning picture, some stats, and your plan. At the end of the month, I want another email, with new pictures, new results and a better you! As always, if you have questions about your own workout, let me know. Now, you can hire a personal trainer, you can do this on your own, or you can do a little of both. We want results people. We are trying to change our lives, so again I say, LET’S DO THIS! My email is tony@tonycress.com We have from now until June 30th. I will choose a few winners, and tell their stories. We’ll also deliver some prizes to the best transformers. But not Transformers 2. That movie was way worse. Anyway, I’m listening.

Tags: Fitness, goal, Nutrition, Personal Trainer, work out, workout
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Personal Training-Working Out Your Mind

Monday, April 19th, 2010

When you work out, do you think about anything in particular? If you get personal training, are you thinking about the exercises you are doing, or is your mind wandering? Do you feel the muscles that are called upon for each exercises, or do you just go through the motions, until the desired number of repetitions are completed. A lot of your gains in fitness have to do with your mind, connecting to your muscles. If you don’t think about your six pack working, how do you know it is? If you don’t feel your hamstrings tighten in a curl, are you really getting the most out of that workout. You have to know the feeling of using muscles. So what i suggest to you is this. Do a yoga class, or start doing more balance exercises. It’s amazing how you might feel when everything you do is on one leg. All of a sudden, muscles throughout your foot, around your knee, and hip, are activated. Muscles you didn’t know could get tired, get tired. In yoga, you have to learn balance as well. Learning how to contract the right muscles, will give you bigger gains in the weight room, and will also keep you away from injuries. So, go meditate already.

Tags: Exercise, Fitness, muscles, Personal Training, six pack, work out
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Las Vegas Personal Training- Pool Ready Bodies pt. 1

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Las Vegas has a bunch of meatheads in it. Simply put. Personal training, I don’t run into this often, but when I go to the gym, I definitely do. 75% of guys in the gym are there to do one thing. That thing is building muscle. Peoples workouts are based on what’s the best for building size in their pecs, or what will make their six pack show, or how to get bigger arms. And i am not in the minority. I want to have bigger muscles, and I want to look better at the pool. That’s what it’s all about right? Las Vegas is gearing up for pool season, and guess who’s busy trying to pack muscle on to a few smaller frames? ME. That’s who. And to the people who are personal training with me, rest assured, you’ll be happy with the results you get. The people who aren’t, I do have some advice for you. Although you do want to gain muscle, and look good for the pool, don’t count on your bicep curls to get you there. Incorporate exercises that involve your whole body. What’s the point of spending two hours in the gym, and isolating every muscle you can. Let’s work out calves for an hour. What sense does that make? I’m gonna do 15 different types of bicep curls. Really? Why? Why would you do that? What if you did a pushup with a squat thrust? How many more muscles are involved in just that? This is way more efficient than your bodypart split. And since you are activating more than one muscle at a time, you’ll get multiple the benefit.

Now, this isn’t the only aspect you need to gain muscle. If you are not getting enough energy in to fuel that muscle growth, your muscles won’t grow. EAT. Eat food. Lots of it. If you are working hard, you have to get extra calories. I still know people who only eat once a day. No matter what your goal is, THAT isn’t gonna help you. Obviously you need some protein to fuel muscle growth, but without carbs and fat, that protein will be useless. So get a good balance, work out using multiple muscle groups, and get some good sleep. Those will help you look great for the pool.

Tags: Las Vegas, muscle, Personal Training, pool, six pack, work out
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Las Vegas Personal Training-Fast Fitness Food

Friday, February 12th, 2010

In my personal training experience in Las Vegas, what I commonly run into is people who don’t know what to eat. They especially don’t know what to eat when they are in a hurry. Nutrition is more important than you would ever imagine when you are focusing on accomplishing fitness goals. More often than not, that is what separates people from having a decent body, to people to have the body they want. So I’m going to give you a few quick meals you can have for after your workouts, or when you are just on the go.
1. Almonds. Actually, any nuts for that matter, except chin. Nuts are pretty perfect because they have great fats, and some protein to help build muscle. You don’t have to refrigerate them, and you can carry them around in your pocket.
2. Kefir. I get the smoothies at places like Whole Foods or Trader Joes. Great source of protein, and tastes pretty great. This does have to be refrigerated though.
3. Peanut Butter Jelly Time! Yup. You heard me. This is PERFECT for after a workout. Has carbs, protein, and fat. Great recovery food. But try to eat it only after your fitness:).
4. Cottage Cheese. Some people hate it. I love it. High protein, low calories. Just means muscle.
There ya go. There’s four quick foods to eat when you are on the go. Stay healthy, and join fitness camp. Its fun.

Tags: Fitness, Las Vegas, Personal Training, work out
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Working Out Injured. Yes? No?

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

Being a personal trainer in Las Vegas, I run through a ton of situations. People who work out for fitness, people who work out to look good for the pool, people who work out to fix faulty movement patterns. The list goes on and on. But what happens when those same people are nursing an injury? Should they keep working out to acheive those goals? If you have a broken leg, and your goal is to ride in the Tour de France, you might want to rethink some things. Depending on what your goals are, you should cater to them, and modify your workouts that way. For example, I am having some issues with my shoulder. I have had them for a few years, but up until recently, they have been an afterthought i always worked out how I wanted to, but over the years, have stopped doing bench press, and shoulder pressing, because i feel a lot of shoulder impingement when i do them. So i have substituted other exercises where I don’t feel the pain in my shoulder. Right now though, it has really been bothering me, and I know that no resistance exercise is going to help heal it. So I’m laying off of it for a month. Now, what I am saying is, you need to feel for yourself, along with a professional opinion, what would be right for you. Should you continue to work out with minor injuries, or should you take a rest and see if that helps heal them. Always ask this question before you just jump to an answer.

Tags: Exercise, Fitness, Personal Trainer, work out
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Las Vegas Month Long Workout

Friday, January 29th, 2010

Hey Las Vegas! And everyone else. Just wanted to update you on what I am going to be doing for my exercise program for the next month. I am trying to gain strength and size right now. I want to see if I can gain ten pounds of muscle. For this month, I don’t get to use any weight. No dumbells, no machines. The only exercises I can do, I can’t load myself with anything other than myself, or partner resistance. I am falling in love with this strap system called the TRX. No, it’s not a sex swing you pervs, anyway, you can see tons of videos on it on youtube. But just thought I’d update you, and let you know what I’ve been doing. Hope you are all well. I’ll let you know how this goes.

Tags: Exercise, Fitness, Las Vegas, Personal Trainer, work out, workout
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Don’t Have a Las Vegas Gym Membership? Who Cares?

Monday, January 25th, 2010

There are tons of gyms in Las Vegas. Some offer personal training. Some have pools. Some have basketball courts. Most offer cardio machines and exercise equipment. Some are just for fighting. The list goes on and on. But what if you don’t have the money for a gym membership? Or you don’t want to be hit on by every dude in the place. Or you haven’t paid your monthly dues in 3 years and you owe Las Vegas Athletic Club $484 and they won’t let you work out there until it’s paid off. Whatever. You don’t need a gym membership to get all jacked up, or just get more muscle tone. The other day, I worked out. Shocker I know. But I took this thing, called a TRX, and did my whole workout on it. It basically is a rope with two handles, but the company makes it look pretty. Anyway, i haven’t had a workout like that in a while. Felt like it taxed my whole body. I was doing all these creative exercises with just my bodyweight, and it was killin me. The actual system costs about 150 bucks, but you’d never actually have to go to the gym ever again with this thing. My point is, you don’t have to have all these crazy machines the gym has to get in shape. Most people use it as an excuse to not work out. My gym doesn’t have this so I don’t go, or whatever. Come on dude. Get with it. If you have a floor, and a door, you can workout. That’s really all you need. I’ve been in a pissy mood lately because so many people come up with so many excuses to not work out, but then, they complain about being out of shape. You can really work out anywhere, any time. You don’t need a gym. So, meet me at the park for fitness camp in a week. You’ll see what I’m talking about:)

Tags: Exercise, Fitness, Las Vegas, Personal Trainer, work out, workout
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Las Vegas Getting Back On The Fitness Track

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

Living here in Las Vegas, there is plenty to do. I can go see a show, I can go to the mountains, I can gamble, I can be entertained by the college athletics, I can go bowling, I can go to concerts, events, parties and lots more. But the thing I like to do, is work out. Or go to the gym. I haven’t done it in a few weeks though. I have been studying to become a corrective exercise specialist, so its been taking up a lot of my time, but now that that’s over (i killed it), i can move on, and get back to my fitness. I’m not saying I didn’t work out for a few weeks, I did a lot of my at home workouts, and i paid attention to my nutrition. But now, I will have a little bit more time on my hands, and I would love to work on my goals. I am trying to gain a few pounds of muscle here and there, and every minute in the gym counts. It was killing me to not go, but i knew studying, for the moment, was more important. So what i am trying to say, is that although working out and going to the gym is one of my main priorities, sometimes things come up that are bigger priorities. This was the case lately. Now, I’m back in action, ready to take on the weights, learn to salsa, and get fit again:) Ha. Pool season is coming up, and right now, I wouldn’t take off my shirt. Night y’all.

Tags: Exercise, Fitness, Las Vegas, work out
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