Resolution vs. Makeover: Where do You Stand in January 2014?

4 "Reso - Makeovers" 

A month...4 weeks into the New Year and most resolutions to exercise, lose weight, get out of debt, and others are at a crucial edge. Has your concentration allowed your goals to fall by the wayside? Be conscious of the goals you set and teach yourself 'achievement motivation'. If you are one of the many trying to repeat your resolutions from last year, it could be time for a makeover.Start by phrasing your resolutions in ways that make them specific, measurable, and positive. 

Here are examples for rephrasing common resolutions: 

Last Year: "I'm going to 'Get in Shape' ".

This Year: I am going to the gym three times a week, and will workout at least 45 minutes with a goal of 60 to 90 minutes.

Last Year: "I will try this 'diet' and see if this will help me to lose weight."

This Year: I know what it feels like to weigh 130 pounds; I used to weigh that not too long ago. I will do what it takes to make it back to my 130 pounds and I will wear my size 8 jeans by June 1!

Last Year: "I need to be healthier with my food and actions."

This Year: I just know incorporating a minimum of five fruits and vegetables a day into my diet, walking 30 minutes a day three to five times a week, and limiting my fast food to once a week, I will make leaps and bounds of progress over last year.

Last Year: "I need to have more fun."

This Year: I am going to schedule fun activities and incorporate them into my personal and family life. I will pick something I know I will maintain and if I need accountability, I will search for the right help and I will get that too!



Stick with Your Resolve for a Healthier You

Are you one of the many that indulged during the holidays and then made the New Year resolution to get fit? Beginning January 1st you were going to eat healthier and work out. This is a noble goal but take heart that eating healthier and getting a leaner, stronger body takes time. And if you've overeaten portions one too many times, or if you haven't been physically active in a while, getting in shape will be a challenge at first.Stick with your program and you will be healthier and feel better. About 1/3rd of New Year's resolvers make weight-loss the primary goal. About 15 percent of those 1/3rd aim to begin an exercise program structured to meet that goal. Exercise does not have to be an all-consuming and excruciating endeavor, just ideally done just outside your comfort zone; think of it as a stimulus. Your body needs a challenge and that challenge - that stimulus - to be able to improve.

Consider a fitness program consisting of exercises that work out the whole body. A cardio workout improves the health and function of the heart, lungs, and blood vessels. Weight-bearing exercises enhance the health and function of the bones, muscles, joints, and connective tissues.

Zeke Samples, IFA, CSN, CPR, IDEA

Surreal Body Solutions, LLC

803.322.7649

www.SurrealBodySolutions.com 

& contributing health and exercise author

Personal Training | Nutrition | Supplements | Motivation

The Distinct Phases of an Exercise Movement

Did you know there are three phases of an exercise movement?  All three are not just important in helping you exercise, but understanding how to use each one in your workouts is vital to experience the best results and reap the physical benefits. 

Using either one phase alone (isometric) most of the time during your workouts, or using a blend of all three of them gives you variety and changes up the tempo.  Do you ever feel like you experience a few consistent weeks where you just aren't sore like you were in the past?  It could be because the tempo of the workouts needs to change and the use of the exercise phases need to be incorporated.

If you are using the same tempo on the concentric portion of the movement that you are using on the eccentric portion of the movement, then a variety of count could be altered.  There are many varieties of tempo and repetition range.  A constant one second count (concentric) and one second count (eccentric) could be altered with a one second count (concentric) and three second count (eccentric).  

The Three Phases:
- Concentric (Contracting)
- Eccentric (Extracting)
- Isometric (No Movement)

    Resting/Isometric (1)      Concentric/Isometric (2)     Complete Repetition (3)

Using the bicep in the following example, I will describe the three parts to visually help you understand the correct path of each phase:

Concentric :
- Bringing the wrists from by your side to a horizontal plane, or bent at 90º, contracts the bicep muscle (Concentric).  Continuing to raise the wrists to your shoulders will complete a repetition, this leading you to a full concentric movement.  Concentric training is expressed through the use of performing repetitions.

Eccentric (The Movement of Negatives):
- When lowering the wrists back down to your side, you are performing a eccentric movement.  The muscle is returning back to its starting point.  

Isometric (Flexing - Not Moving):
- The isometric movement in a bicep curl is best represented by holding the arm at a 90º angle.  Because the bicep has contracted as the arm bent to obtain this angle of 90º there is a greater resistance and a better result of fatigue than there is when the arm is at your side (and flexing). 

Try using a variety of these phases or exercise tempos in your next workout.  At Surreal Body Solutions, we are always incorporating a variety of these tempos.  To make it unique and special to our client's specific needs, we choose which tempos to use for the different exercises within not only one muscle group, but also the hundreds of muscles in the body.  The body can respond to different tempos, different timing, and different exercise methodologies.  Hopefully with this overview, you can now see the importance of the phases and have begun to imagine how they could apply to your own workouts.  

Zeke Samples, IFA, CSN, CPR, IDEA

Surreal Body Solutions, LLC

803.322.7649

www.SurrealBodySolutions.com 

& contributing health and exercise author

Personal Training | Nutrition | Supplements | Motivation

The Post-Holiday Re-Dedication: No "Resolutions". No Excuses.

Happy New Year 2014 !!

No Resolutions: Instead, re-dedicate yourself to taking care of yourself.  

Taking care of what matters most: YOU. 

Now is a great new time to break away from the holiday meals, the family has gone home and the time is now for you to revisit the old ways of accountability for your exercise program, or start a new one with proper guidance and leadership.

The reason most people fail at losing weight in the new year is because...

1. Your goals are probably unrealistic

2. You're unprepared.

3. Your goals are unclear.

4. You lack support.

At Surreal Body Solutions, we meet with you to define your exercise road map, explore the possible road bumps that you may incur, and together we walk ensuring encouragement is given each and every step until you meet your goals and achievements. 

Shape Magazine's Jan 2014 issue states 80% of people make New Year's Resolutions and 67% of those resolutions are weight-loss oriented. 

All you have to do is talk to your friends, family and neighbors and give them our contact information. Let us know from whom we should be expecting a call. We will let them try us out for FREE to show them value in what we have to offer them.

Surreal Body Solutions wants to make sure you know of our referral rewards and how you can earn them:
Any individual that you send to us that signs up for any of our packages, you will receive 25% of their package towards your account. Example: If you send a friend and your friend signs up for a 12 times/monthly package with us, then it translates into you receiving 3 FREE sessions as our way of saying Thank You!

Zeke Samples, IFA, CSN, CPR, IDEA

Surreal Body Solutions, LLC

803.322.7649

www.SurrealBodySolutions.com 

& contributing health and exercise author

Personal Training | Nutrition | Supplements | Motivation