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

Exercise and the Importance of Resting

Rest - It's Part of the Exercise Program Too  

Getting rest after a workout helps optimize performance, both physically and mentally.  

You know this and may feel this at times, either as an avid athlete or fitness enthusiast.  Are you one of the many athletes who overtrain, feeling guilty if you take a day off?  Overtraining is a physical, behavioral, and emotional condition that occurs when the volume and intensity of an individual's exercise exceeds their recovery capacity.  If you don't take enough rest or provide it with proper nutrition, you could weaken your body.  

Without sufficient time to repair and replenish between intensive exercise, the body will continue to breakdown. Symptoms of overtraining often occur from a lack of recovery time. Signs of overtraining to watch out for are a feeling of depression, decreased immunity, decreased appetite, increasing joint pain, and when maintaining sports performance becomes largely difficult.

Building proper rest into your training program helps your body adapt to the stress of exercise.  Following aerobic exercise, rest to stabilize your metabolic rate.  Your metabolic rate can remain elevated from 1 hour to 12 hours after you exercise, depending on the intensity and duration.  During the recovery, replenish energy stores by eating within 30 to 45 minutes after you exercise.  For this specific time, the best ratio is a 2:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio. Repairing damaged tissues, and rehydrating muscle cells will greatly increase. It won't take long before you notice you also have time to balance your home, fitness and work goals.  Nutrition is crucial in supporting proper rest and supporting your fitness goals.

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

3 Tips to Prevent Achilles Tendonitis

Although runners experience tendonitis more commonly than those of us who use other equipment to get our cardio workouts in, you might have felt pain in your Achilles tendon.  Achilles tendonitis is one of the most common running injuries.  

Here are a few tips to help protect you from injury:

Replace your running shoes before they lose the ability to protect your tendon.  Many runners suffering from tendonitis are 'heel strikers'.  The sole located at the back outside margin of the shoe wears compressing the mid-sole.  The result to the body, is overstretching of the tendon during this 'heel strike'.  Look for this wear and tear before it is too late.

Maintain proper form.  Foot strike is a small part of your running form.  The role your upper body plays in balance and posture is more important.  Avoid stress on your tendon by keeping an upright posture looking forward; however, don't lean forward- you don't want your head in front of your feet.

Get the right running shoes.  Get shoes that can absorb the shock and force of heel strikes.  A shoe with a low profile around the heel provides more support and shock absorption to the heel and Achilles tendon.

Here are a few stretches to help protect you from injury:

In Health, 

Zeke Samples - IFA, - IDEA

Surrealbody@gmail.com

Dr. Mercola and Tony Swain Discuss the Power Plate

Natural health physician and Mercola.com founder, Dr. Joseph Mercola and Tony Swain of Power Plate North America, discuss Power Plate benefits and Acceleration Training

You may or may not remember the Space Race back in the 1960s…But, nearly thirty years later, we discovered that, in their pursuit to win, the Soviets experimented with techniques to help their Cosmonauts stay in space longer.

One of the problems back then with space travel was muscle atrophy – or severe muscle wasting – of astronauts' bodies. This, along with bone loss, typically occurred when astronauts spent extended time in zero-gravity space.  In one aspect, the Soviets won. What they secretly discovered enabled their Cosmonauts to endure an average of 400 days in space at one time while U.S. astronauts lasted only 130 days.

The Soviets had discovered the secret of vibrational training – or the ability to make gravity work for them.  The Soviet's secret spread quickly throughout Europe about how vibrational or Acceleration training could enhance muscle health.  The technology underwent refinements and improvements, and was soon incorporated into overseas Olympic athlete training as well as with professional sports teams.

What this new vibrational training did was increase the force by increasing the acceleration or the force of gravity.  A simple example of how you can benefit from increased G forces is by using a mini trampoline.  A mini trampoline or rebounder subjects your body to gravitational pulls ranging from zero at the top of each bounce to 2 to 3 times the force of gravity at the bottom, depending on how high you jump.  And, unlike jogging on hard surfaces which stresses your ankles and knees, rebounding helps protect against this stress.

- If you struggle with weights – as many people do – I'll bet that you're going to love what accelerated training can do.

- If you don't have the time it takes to get a decent, regular workout at your gym, you're also going to be pleased.

Accelerated training allows you to reap all the benefits of strength training with ease and in just a fraction of the time. Just like the cosmonauts.

How can it possibly do this?

With Acceleration training, your body's muscles contract between 25 and 50 times a second as you make gentle body movements. It's this constant muscle tensioning that increases muscle strength.

And it only takes three 15 minute sessions per week to get you started building lean muscle with accelerated training.  That's only 45 minutes a week!

In Health, 

Zeke Samples - IFA, - IDEA

Contributing author for www.FitAphrodite.com

surrealbody@gmail.com

The Pro5 Power Plate® : Now at Surreal Body Solutions !!

Introducing the Pro5 Power Plate® 

Our newest addition to the studio and one of the only Charlotte, NC locations that offer this level of pristine equipment in a professional personal training atmosphere.  

Power Plate® technology provides one of the most efficient and dynamic total-body workouts using the principals of Acceleration Training™ to stimulate the body's natural response to vibration.  These vibrations transmit waves of energy throughout the body, activating muscle contractions between 20-50 times per second, enhancing the overall performance in sessions as short as 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week.  This works up to 98% of muscle fibers, compared to less than 20% when performing exercise with traditional weight training equipment.  The result is a high-intensity exercise that increases strength, improves muscle tone and balance and helps reduce body fat.

Power Plate® Can Offer 

• 11% increase in weight loss versus 7% in exercise and nutrition alone
• 1.5% net increase in bone density
• 7.8% overall improvement in explosive strength endurance 
• 15% increase in flexibility

Sting Testimonial

 

Hilary Swank Testimonial

A Few Celebrity Testimonials:

                                                     

 

  

Clint Eastwood Testimonial

Courteney Cox Testimonial

More Video Testimonials: HERE

Contact me for a personalized consultation to discuss how I can meet your fitness goals and learn more about the ability of the Power Plate® to increase bone density, core balance, strength, energy, athletic performance, and much more. 

In Health, 

Zeke Samples - IFA, - IDEA Certified

Owner of SurrealBodySolutions

Contributing Author for www.FitAphrodite.com

surrealbody@gmail.com