Many of us looking to take our workouts to the next level have explored the idea of hiring a personal trainer at some point. For some, the appeal is the absolute knowledge base of a trained professional, for others it is the increased accountability of holding an appointment, and still others want the one-on-one interaction and customized workouts to meet their own personal goals. Regardless of the reason, however, there are two main factors that keep many of us from hiring – time and money. We need a solution that can cater to our budgets and daily schedules.
A new internet trend is doing just that. The “online personal trainer” is coming to the rescue of an increasing number of budget-conscious, over-scheduled Americans, presenting the latest solution to help us master our fitness goals. While some may argue that the online plans can never exactly duplicate the experience of having a trainer at your side during your workout, the designers of these programs have gone to great lengths to match and, in some cases, improve the overall benefits that you receive.
As you would when hiring a personal trainer face-to-face, you need to ask questions and research the various plans and services to find the program that works best for you.
Meeting Your Personal Needs
As our personalities differ so do our personal training needs.
There are a variety of solutions currently being offered online from auto-generated weekly workouts to personalized workouts created by trainers who interact with their clients on a regular basis via email or live instant messaging.
If it is just the basic information that you need, subscribing to a service that simply provides you with a weekly workout may be the right fit for you. Most of the service providers have some means of assessment to provide you with a starting workout based on your fitness level, so it is important to answer these questions honestly in order to receive the workout that most closely fits your needs. You are sent exercise plans on a regular basis and expected to follow them on your own. These programs are designed to meet the needs of those people who are motivated to work out and simply need a plan to keep them on target from week to week.
For those who truly want to keep the “personal” in personal trainer, some service providers offer the additional option of having direct interaction with a trainer via email or instant messaging. How much interaction you receive often depends on the level of service plan that you choose, however, almost all provide a cheaper option to the traditional approach to personal training.
More Bang for Your Buck
If you’ve ever asked a personal trainer for their rates and gone into immediate sticker shock, you’re not alone. The current, average rate for a certified personal trainer is $60-$90 per hour. Multiply that by two to three hours per week you’re quickly looking at hundreds of dollars per month. In short, that kind of expense just isn’t an option for many of us.
Online personal training services, like many internet service offerings, are discounted because businesses are able to service a much larger customer base with less overhead. The automated programs are obviously the cheapest option because they require no actual human interaction.
If you want the customization and one-on-one guidance of a personal trainer so that you have someone on your side as you work toward your goals, many sites have an extended service that gives you access to a live person. Again, service levels and costs vary depending on the provider. For example, some sites allow you to email your personal trainer, providing a means for asking questions. A new site, LiveLeanToday.com, is taking the interaction one step farther to provide its personal training clients with daily access to their trainer via Instant Messaging. Clients will have the ability to open a chat window with their trainer in which they can carry on a real time conversation.
“Our mission is to provide our clients with the support they need to become fit for life,” says Chuck Carter, president of LiveLeanToday.com. “In effect, we’re providing them with even more access than they would have if they hired a personal trainer at a gym for a small fraction of the price. They have daily access to their trainers for asking questions, getting a little extra support on the bad days or encouragement on the good ones.”
Making Fitness Fit Your Day
As the American lifestyle continues to get more hectic, online trainers are helping people fit fitness into their lives. Traditionally, hiring a trainer has meant coordinating your schedule with theirs. The problem is that more often than not, the hours that you are available – generally before work or after – are the same hours as those of every other client a trainer has.
The online personal trainer solves this issue by making your training programs available for download at any time. Since your workout is not dependent on someone else’s schedule, you are free to fit your workout in whenever you have the time. Additionally, since contact with your trainer takes place electronically, the trainers can work with several clients at the same time making them more accessible than the in-gym trainers that only work via appointment.
Surrounded by Support
For those of us who have used a personal trainer before, we know that there are several more hours in the week than the two or three that we are actually able to spend with our trainers. It is easy to remain motivated in the presence of our trainers, but what happens when we leave the gym and try to fit our goals into our daily lives? This is one area where one online training site in particular truly excels.
A newcomer to the online community, LiveLeanToday.com, offers areas that allow you to talk to other people who are working towards fitness goals similar to yours. The message boards provide a forum for sharing tips and encouragement while you progress. It’s a fantastic medium for swapping recipes and gaining a little extra motivation on those days that you just don’t feel like working out, and it is the perfect place to share your successes with people progressing toward the same goals as you are.
According to Bryan Ashbaugh, CEO of LiveLeanToday.com, the community aspect is just as important to the overall success of many clients as a good eating plan and working out.
“In my 8 years of helping people reach their fitness goals, I’ve found that the plan is often only as good as that person’s system of support, which is truly outside of the reach of a personal trainer,” says Ashbaugh.
"At Live, we wanted to provide a forum for our clients where there would be nothing but positive encouragement from peers experiencing the same challenges and working toward similar goals.By providing our clients with a support system, that they might not otherwise have, as part of our plan, they’ll always have a source of encouragement to help them stay on track.”
Showing posts with label weight fat loss nutrition online personal training instruction diet athletic goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weight fat loss nutrition online personal training instruction diet athletic goals. Show all posts
Friday, January 26, 2007
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Lose 30 Pounds by Spring
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Exercise of the Week, Ball Push Up
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Weight Loss Contest Supplementstogo
At Supplemenstogo we want to find the best weight loss story. For the next three months the customer that makes the biggest transformation will receive 3 months supply of their favorite weight loss supplement. We will also pick a 2nd and 3rd place finisher which will receive a one month supply of their weight loss supplement of choice. So no matter who you are we are not just looking for the person who loses the most weight. We want the person who makes the biggest difference in his/her new healthier and thinner life. It is time to take that New Years plan and win some free supplements.
To qualify we need to receive
1. a before and after picture
2. an article on where you are starting from
3. an article on your progress half way through
4. an article on the final changes that you have achieved
5. that you use a weight loss product purchased from Supplementstogo
Send all questions and material to bryan@supplementstogo.com
Every complete entry will receive a special discount on a one time only order from Supplementstogo.
To support you in your New Years goals, all customers for 2007 receive 5% off every order by using coupon code vip5off.
Weight Loss Product Recommendations
Back in stock, Metabothin and Ripped Fuel: We just got a special shipment of two of the best ephedra products. We only got one shipment so supply is limited. Only at A-Z-Nutrition.com
For those that want to look good and lose weight, the first weight loss supplement to achieve both is NV by NxCare. NV works to increase your metabolism so you burn more fat while its unique ingredients also achieve better skin, hair, and nails. Look your best and feel your best with NV.
The best ephedra alternative is Redline by VPX. Redline’s superior formulation works in just five minutes. That is right you will feel your metabolism burning more energy in just five minutes. Redline is the choice of top fitness models to take off those last unwanted pounds.
To qualify we need to receive
1. a before and after picture
2. an article on where you are starting from
3. an article on your progress half way through
4. an article on the final changes that you have achieved
5. that you use a weight loss product purchased from Supplementstogo
Send all questions and material to bryan@supplementstogo.com
Every complete entry will receive a special discount on a one time only order from Supplementstogo.
To support you in your New Years goals, all customers for 2007 receive 5% off every order by using coupon code vip5off.
Weight Loss Product Recommendations
Back in stock, Metabothin and Ripped Fuel: We just got a special shipment of two of the best ephedra products. We only got one shipment so supply is limited. Only at A-Z-Nutrition.com
For those that want to look good and lose weight, the first weight loss supplement to achieve both is NV by NxCare. NV works to increase your metabolism so you burn more fat while its unique ingredients also achieve better skin, hair, and nails. Look your best and feel your best with NV.
The best ephedra alternative is Redline by VPX. Redline’s superior formulation works in just five minutes. That is right you will feel your metabolism burning more energy in just five minutes. Redline is the choice of top fitness models to take off those last unwanted pounds.
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Three Big Rules for Eating and Reaching Your Fitness Goals
Whether your fitness goal is weight loss, athletic performance, more energy, better health, or just simply toning up, it is vital that you pay attention to your nutrition and food intake to reach this goal. In my experience as a personal trainer, working with thousands of clients over a period of 16 years, I observed that the role that food intake plays in a person reaching his or her fitness goal is paramount. In fact, it makes up for more than 75% of the influence of whether or not a person is successful. The challenge for me was that people who would be working very hard in the gym expected to see results and couldn’t understand why they weren’t getting them, even after all that work. I would always say to my clients and anyone in the gym that would listen, “You can work out ‘till the cows come home, but if you’re not eating well, your body won’t change, at least not cosmetically, period.” Frequently, that statement would be met with some confusion and the response that they had been eating well, and things just weren’t working anyway. Well, upon further review of the actual diet and food intake the clients actually had, it usually wasn’t difficult to see what could be improved with them so they could start seeing the results (typically weight loss) that they desired.
What I found was that people who want to lose weight believe that the only way that is going to happen is if they eat less food, which in many cases is actually counter to what the person actually needs. They have been eating a certain way for awhile and they are dissatisfied with their appearance, so they take the food intake they have been eating and they reduce the calories while they come to the gym and work with a personal trainer. They get sore and maybe see some change in the beginning of their program, but it isn’t long before they are at a plateau and frustrated, because this plateau certainly isn’t the result of a lack of effort.
Here is where a basic knowledge of the way that food intake actually influences weight loss is a tremendous help. It takes some of the mystery out of the equation and allows a person to make some intelligent choices that will help them reach their fitness goals. There are three big concepts that I find have really helped people get a grasp of the basics.
The first is to EAT ENOUGH! As I said before, the tendency is for people to really restrict their food intake in an effort to lose weight. If a person comes into beginning a fitness program having truly been an overeater, then a reduction in calories is appropriate. However, the culprit with most people who are overweight or overfat is not that they eat too much, it’s that their metabolism is shot from a lack of exercise and bad eating habits. So, ironically, one of the things that has to happen with a person who wants to lose weight is that they frequently have to increase their overall intake of food somewhat to keep up with the demands of the new exercise and keep from starving, allowing the metabolism to rise naturally.
The second is to EAT OFTEN. Rule #1 doesn’t do any good if all the calories you might be taking in come at dinner after starving yourself all day. This is the biggest single reason people have trouble with their physiques, this lack of regular eating. Regular eating throughout the day never lets the body get too hungry or too full, and the body responds by raising the metabolism and burning more fat. The ideal number of meals and snacks combined throughout the day is from 4-6, spaced evenly starting with breakfast as soon as you get up in the morning.
The last rule is to EAT BALANCED! I once had a client who said that she was eating 5 times a day like I had suggested, yet upon further examination I found that she was eating a handful of Cheerios for three of those meals. The result was that she wasn’t eating enough food overall to fuel her body, and she was missing some key necessities in her diet, like adequate amounts of protein, that kept her from reaching her fitness goals. Eating balanced means getting adequate amounts of protein, carbohydrates, fats, fruits and vegetables spaced evenly throughout the day with each meal, if possible. This controls appetite and keeps the body feeling well fueled throughout the day, contributing to fat loss.
Chuck Carter has a B.S. in Exercise Science and was a personal trainer for 16 years. He is the President of LiveLeanToday.com, a website that specializes in online personal training and nutrition instruction. To learn more about the topic of this article and web based personal training, visit http://www.liveleantoday.com, or email ccarter@LiveLeanToday.com.
Article Source: BlueArticles.com
What I found was that people who want to lose weight believe that the only way that is going to happen is if they eat less food, which in many cases is actually counter to what the person actually needs. They have been eating a certain way for awhile and they are dissatisfied with their appearance, so they take the food intake they have been eating and they reduce the calories while they come to the gym and work with a personal trainer. They get sore and maybe see some change in the beginning of their program, but it isn’t long before they are at a plateau and frustrated, because this plateau certainly isn’t the result of a lack of effort.
Here is where a basic knowledge of the way that food intake actually influences weight loss is a tremendous help. It takes some of the mystery out of the equation and allows a person to make some intelligent choices that will help them reach their fitness goals. There are three big concepts that I find have really helped people get a grasp of the basics.
The first is to EAT ENOUGH! As I said before, the tendency is for people to really restrict their food intake in an effort to lose weight. If a person comes into beginning a fitness program having truly been an overeater, then a reduction in calories is appropriate. However, the culprit with most people who are overweight or overfat is not that they eat too much, it’s that their metabolism is shot from a lack of exercise and bad eating habits. So, ironically, one of the things that has to happen with a person who wants to lose weight is that they frequently have to increase their overall intake of food somewhat to keep up with the demands of the new exercise and keep from starving, allowing the metabolism to rise naturally.
The second is to EAT OFTEN. Rule #1 doesn’t do any good if all the calories you might be taking in come at dinner after starving yourself all day. This is the biggest single reason people have trouble with their physiques, this lack of regular eating. Regular eating throughout the day never lets the body get too hungry or too full, and the body responds by raising the metabolism and burning more fat. The ideal number of meals and snacks combined throughout the day is from 4-6, spaced evenly starting with breakfast as soon as you get up in the morning.
The last rule is to EAT BALANCED! I once had a client who said that she was eating 5 times a day like I had suggested, yet upon further examination I found that she was eating a handful of Cheerios for three of those meals. The result was that she wasn’t eating enough food overall to fuel her body, and she was missing some key necessities in her diet, like adequate amounts of protein, that kept her from reaching her fitness goals. Eating balanced means getting adequate amounts of protein, carbohydrates, fats, fruits and vegetables spaced evenly throughout the day with each meal, if possible. This controls appetite and keeps the body feeling well fueled throughout the day, contributing to fat loss.
Chuck Carter has a B.S. in Exercise Science and was a personal trainer for 16 years. He is the President of LiveLeanToday.com, a website that specializes in online personal training and nutrition instruction. To learn more about the topic of this article and web based personal training, visit http://www.liveleantoday.com, or email ccarter@LiveLeanToday.com.
Article Source: BlueArticles.com
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