Per my previous post - time to talk about program structure and design.  Everyone who enters a gym has their own unique goals based on their body type, lifestyle and work schedule.  While conducting the initial evaluation, the personal trainer (PT) should be talking to you to understand how you’ve been training, any areas of concern, any injuries, certain things you can’t do, etc…  All of these details will help the PT when designing your program.  It’s much better to know that type of information up front instead of learning about it after the program is designed and you’re getting ready to do the exercise for the first time.

What you should understand is you’re paying a PT to design a program custom made for your specific needs – that’s the point/purpose of hiring a personal trainer and essentially what personal training means.

Probably one of the most sought after goals clients have is to tone up, lose body fat and drop weight – those 3 goals essentially go hand-in-hand.  The various types of training that exist to meet those goals are limitless; a good personal trainer can be pretty creative with exercise in maximizing results.  Since a client will generally have a one hour session 2-3 times per week, it’s incumbent upon the PT to provide the client with the best program that will maximize results in that rather short period of time.  In order to make that possible, the PT should have knowledge with regard to the human body (physiological effects, biomechanics, kinesiology, etc…) and how it works relative to the client’s lifestyle.  You can’t just take cookie-cutter workouts and expect them to work for everyone.

Here’s a general example of what I’m referring to when I talk about custom made program designs; I’ll use 3 of my clients as an example.

• 3 clients, 3 different body types, 3 different lifestyles but the SAME goal; all 3 of their programs are different and use a variety of different types of exercise.  One client does more cardio than the others.  Once client lifts heavier weights and has less rest in between sets.  One client has an injury and can’t do many of the traditional exercises that most people take for granted.  Some of the training that is incorporated into their program designs are interval training, supersets, drop sets and core conditioning, to name a few.  I can’t take one workout and make it work for all three, even though they all have the same goal.  Having just described all of this too, more than likely this will change very quickly as they become more conditioned and their endurance increases.

In the next few posts we can discuss some of the methods of training I mentioned above: supersets, interval training and core conditioning.  Some of you are probably wondering what those are.

Here are a couple of tips:

• If you have a good trainer, he or she will explain the importance of diet & nutrition as they will work in synergy with your training program.  You can work as hard as you possibly can in the gym but when and what you eat will make or break all the hard work.
• Don’t be afraid to ask the personal trainer questions.  Make he or she answer your questions in a manner you understand.  Too many times, I see personal trainers try to talk around the questions and use big words to make you think they know what they’re talking about.  Chances are, if they can’t explain it to you in a way you can understand it then they probably don’t really understand it themselves.

It’s getting to be that time of the year, Spring and Summer, when everyone wants to be in better shape, or a little healthier.  The New Year’s resolution is over and some have fallen off the initial “push” to start the new year off right.  It’s tough to join a gym and have a goal in mind only to realize you’re not sure how to achieve it.  For example: losing body fat, gaining muscle, improving endurance, etc…  Well, there’s a lot to understand when it comes to the human anatomy.  You’ve got to know how it works in order to achieve maximum results.

For those of you who may be discouraged about your results so far, or haven’t taken that first step in joining a gym because you might be a little intimidated – there is hope!  It’s still a new year and there’s plenty of time…the hot weather might pretty much be here already in New Orleans but you can still look and feel better by summer! You can still join a gym and most gyms offer a free initial evaluation with a certified personal trainer (PT) when you sign up for  a membership.  If you weren’t told about that, you may want to ask.

An initial evaluation is a one-on-one session with a PT and usually takes about an hour to complete.  The evaluation will cover a basic overview of your lifestyle, health, diet and a couple of tests to gauge your current strength and endurance.  Generally, the personal trainer will take your blood pressure, your weight, ask you to perform a sit & reach test (for flexibility), and measure your body composition (lean mass & fat).  The strength test may include an exercise to determine muscular strength and sit-ups (or crunches) to measure muscular endurance.

Once that’s all complete, the PT will give you the results of all that information.  What kind of results?  You’ll find out where you are at on a health scale of “Poor, Fair, Average, Good or Excellent”.  You’ll be able to hear the recommendations for training the PT may have in mind for you based on those results.  At that time, the PT may be able to explain a couple of tips about a creating a balanced program that may help in achieving the results you want.  Then it’s time to decide.

At this point, some people feel comfortable enough to move on by themselves; they may have just needed to get some extra motivation by seeing where they stood from a health perspective.  If you’re thinking about going solo, always remember, if you have any questions about an exercise or how to use a machine, don’t hesitate to ask a PT – they should have no problem helping you.   Others may be ready to take the step in having a PT train them.  If you select to work with a personal trainer – he or she will use your evaluation to establish a structured program to guide you towards your goals.  We’ll get into program structure and design in the next post.

I walk into the weight room everyday looking for women lifting weights, and repetitively I see only MEN in there. Our culture has traditionally viewed strength and muscles as masculine traits. Myths and misconceptions have been taught to young girls and women to discourage their participation in weight training. Some of these beliefs include such notions as “weight training will make me bulky” or my favorite “I don’t want to bulk up.” Ann wrote a wonderful blog post to dispell the myth and provide us ten reasons to include weight training into our workout routine: Go Ahead Ladies, Add on Some Weight: Weight Training That Is

As a NATURAL female physique competitor and personal trainer I want to also encourage you to pick up some weights – so here is so information on how to get started with weight training!! (that’s me in the picture on the left)

The initiation of any weight-training program, weight machines are usually the way to go for women if you are a member of a gym. They can help decrease injury, increase proper lifting mechanics, and control the speed of the weights. Then you can progress from there to free weights when you feel comfortable.

If your goal is to improve muscle tone…

The best way to improve muscle tone is to challenge yourself during resistance training sessions.  Choose weights that can only be lifted for 8-12 repetitions, 2-3 sets (with a rest period of 30 to 90 seconds between sets).  The goal is to fatigue, or “wear out”, the muscle.  If you can perform more than 12 repetitions, chances are the weight is too light.  Performing more than 12-15 repetitions at a less than challenging weight may not sufficiently fatigue the muscle and thus will reduce the appearance of “tone” or definition.

The amount of time you have to dedicate to a resistance training program will determine the number of days per week and style of program you choose to perform.  For example, if you know that you can dedicate 2 days per week, 30-60 minutes per session to a resistance training program, then you may choose to perform exercises for the entire body on both days.

If you have 3-5 days per week with a range of 15-60 minutes to spare, you could try a split routine.  A split routine can be any combination of muscle groups performed by itself or in pairs or groups.  For example, a 3-day split might consist of back and biceps on Monday; chest and triceps on Wednesday; and legs and core (abdominals and lower back) on Friday.  Remember that rest is just as important as training.  Muscles need at least 48 hours of rest before being worked, or fatigued, again.  A lack of rest will prohibit muscle growth and definition.

Full Body*:  With the exception of the warm-up, perform each exercise in succession with 5-10 seconds rest between each exercise (just enough time to move from one exercise to the next).  Perform 2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions.  Rest for 1-2 minutes between each set.

Warm-up 10-15 minutes walking or jogging

Leg Press (Legs)

Bench Press (Chest)

Lat Pull-down (Back)

Leg Curl (Legs)

Chest Fly (Chest)

Seated Row (Back)

Lateral Raise (Shoulders)

Arm Curl (Arms- biceps)

Triceps Extension (Arms- triceps)

Abdominal Curl using stability ball (Abdominals)

Low Back Extension (Lower Back)

Stretch all muscles worked to the point of mild discomfort for 1-4 sets,  holding the stretch for 10-30 seconds each.

*You can use machines, free weights, or a combination of both for all or a portion of the above workout.

Believe that strength training is not complicated, believe that strength training is empowering and energizing, try all attempts to get over the barriers, and don’t believe the myths and misconceptions. Women of New Orleans, GET STRONG! Or as Drew Brees would say it “FINSH STRONG”.

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Emily Eoff received her M.S., in Health and Exercise Science from Louisiana Tech University, as well as, her B.S. in Kinesiology and Health Promotion. She also holds her personal training and group fitness instructor certificates from some of the leading certification programs in the country. As a motivator, role model, and leader, Emily brings nine years of experience in the health and fitness industry to her XLR8 Fitness business.

Osteoporosis, or porous bone, is a disease characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue, leading to bone fragility and an increased susceptibility to fractures, which most commonly occurs in  hip, spine and wrist but may also effect any other bone in the body as well. According to  a  leading osteoporosis organizations, one in four men and one in two women over age 50 will develop a osteoporosis-related fracture in her/his remaining lifetime. Hip fractures are the most common among people with osteoporosis are annually documented in over 300,000 cases.

I bet you are now wondering what the symptoms of Osteoporosis are. One of the trickiest things about Osteoporosis is that most people don’t realize that they have it until it’s too late. The most common scenario is when all of a sudden you bump your hip or fall, finding yourself having to go to the ER because now you have a hip fracture or collapsed vertebrae. That is why Osteoporosis commonly known as “The Silent Killer”. Bone loss occurs without any warning or symptoms most of the time. Although, sometimes you can visually see it in people who start to develop a hump like posture in there upper back which is often called Kyphosis.

Do you think you’re at risk?

Some studies have shown that people who are at a higher risk then others tend to live an inactive lifestyle, smoke, have a low calcium intake and drink excessive amounts of alcohol. Women also who have been through menopause may be at higher risk then others because of estrogen deficiencies, especially if menopause is early or surgically induced. Men who have low testosterone levels can be equally at risk as women. If you feel you are at risk there is a test can measure bone density on various sites of the body. This test is often referred as the Bone Density Test and is covered by medicare.

Don’t Believe the Myths

Over the years a lot of Myths have developed through the public eye on Osteoporosis. There is a common misconception that only old women get osteoporosis. Studies have shown that it can happen at any age in men or women if they have any sort of condition that requires them to take medications that can cause bone loss. Oddly enough these medications that cause bone loss are most commonly used in treating chronic asthma and arthritis. Also, many people think that Osteoporosis isn’t a deadly or serious condition. Just in hip fractures alone 20% of the 300,000 cases reported will die within a year after surgery. Surprisingly, some of the deaths occurred from blood complications that developed after the corrective surgery

What can you do to Prevent Osteoporosis?

The best way you can prevent and treat osteoporosis without the use overrated expensive medications is to strengthen your bones through weight baring exercise. Now keep in mind by “exercise” I’m referring exclusively to a low force, high intensity strength training protocol. This protocol is known for producing an increased bone density as high as 1% a week and is safe for young adults to senior citizens.

Unfortunately, when most people think of exercise, they think of excessive impact exercises such as running, jogging, and ballistic weight lifting. These high force exercises can actually cause injury in joints and make conditions worse.  On the other hand, with a low force, high intensity strength training you eliminate these high impact situation by using a slow cadence to move the weight which allows you to use a lighter safer weight to prevent injury.

Weight barring exercises is also great because, it helps create a stimulus in our body to build muscle. Developing higher quality muscles through strength training actually help’s protect our bones and support our skeletal structures and assists with increased movement throughout our body.  When we develop stronger muscles around the bones, we are in fact creating a barrier of protection to help protect our bones from forces, such as a slip or fall. The muscle will actually absorb the impact to help prevent any harmful forces from creating a fracture in the bone. Another wonderful effect from exercising using High Intensity Strength protocol is that it only takes 20-30 minutes one to two times a week to achieve results.

For those of you that are thinking that you can’t afford a gym membership or a personal trainer to exercise. You are wrong, the average hip fracture can easily cost up to $40,000. So, would you rather spend a few hundred per year on gym membership or on personal training to develop a healthy lifestyle and prevent disease? Or would you rather risk ending up spending over $30,000 in medical cost a year ,because you choose to live a lifestyle that no longer lead you to be able to care for yourself without the expense of constant assistance to do things yourself?

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Jonas Deffes, New Orleans Exercise Specialist

Provides the therapeutic benefits of health and exercise at companies and events throughout New Orleans along with his very popular New Orleans Boot Camp for women. I am very serious about building long-term relationships, achieving positive results and upholding my commitment to excellence.

Whether I’m training someone as a Personal Trainer or as a Pilates Instructor, the bulk of my work focuses on my client’s core.  As the fulcrum to the body’s levers – arms and legs – the core should be strong to protect and move the spine and to give power to the lever’s movements.  Plus, a well-tended core grows a great six-pack garden.

The core, powerhouse, center, whatever you call it personally, makes up the body from the lower ribcage down past the pelvic floor through to where the hamstrings and glutes intersect.  Included in the core are the four layers of abdominals that most people focus on during core training in an effort to lose the low abdominal area pooch and the “muffin top” that caps it off on the sides.

The 4 Abdominal Layers

Rectus aka The Six-Pack: The most superficial abdominals creates the six-pack is atually called the Rectus.  While it is responsible for aesthetically pleasing onlookers, it’s primary job is to flex the spine.

External Obliques: The External Obliques run diagonally down, imagine running your hands down your side like you were putting your hands in your pockets.  The obliques are about a hands-width in size.

Internal Obliques: The Internal Obliques run upwards, making an upside down V up towards your ribs.  Both the internal and external obliques are repsonsible for sidebending and rotation of the spine. When you do the Twist or reach down while standing to scratch the sides of your legs, you can thank your obliques for their help.

The most famous of all, the Transverses, is the deepest layer and protects the spine.  It acts like a corset when strong and active to protect the lumbar spine (low back).  It’s also the bane of your existence if you’re trying to “get rid of my pooch”.  Strengthen this muscle up and you’ll feel flat abs.  Sit ups won’t hit this guy – they only target the Rectus.  That’s why you can do 5,000 crunches and still have a pooch.

Hit these four layers and you are on your way to Core Training.  Don’t forget the back and the glutes!  They should be invited to every Core Training party!  Next time we’ll talk about targeting each layer of the Core.

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Kerrie Ann Frey is the founder and owner of Fit Mom USA, a former stroller exercise-based program that has evolved in to an online presence with fitness, wellness, and nutrition information for all men and women. Her passion for fitness began with credentials including A.C.E. PT and LWMC and grew to include her true love – Pilates. She is West Coast Pilates certified and trains clients in several studios in the New Orleans area.

There are some amazing fitness instructors in the Greater New Orleans area and I have said – “if you are looking for it; it’s probably available in New Orleans”…well, today I have quite the treat for everyone!

We interviewed one of the most fascinating fitness instructors in the city: Lorelei Ashe MacDonald. It’s not just her background as a retired trapeze artist after a career  as both a dancer and an aerialist that makes her unique…or that she performed with the Bay Area troupes Circus Finelli and Velocity Circus, and went on to teach at the San Francisco Circus Center, home to a professional aerial program and a clown conservatory. It’s a combination of all that and what she has brought to New Orleans – a one of kind way to get into shape: Gravity Defying Fitness

Interview with Lorelei Ashe MacDonald of Gravity Defying Fitness

Q: Where do I even begin? Can you tell us a little bit more about your background? How did you end up becoming a trapeze artist? I think as kids going to the circus – it’s something most of us only dreamt of becoming because our parents quickly shattered any hopes of that happening.

Lorelei:

I started as a dancer. I took my first creative movement class at about 4 years old and I haven’t stopped moving since.  I never took to gymnastics, but embraced dance and was performing professionally by the time I was 13 in New York City.  An injury side lined that career but I continued to explore movement possibilities. I did a bit of aerobic competition choreography, some modern dance choreography, and a bit of aerial dance.  Finally, I found circus – and I never looked back! I loved the height, and the combination of strength and grace that the static trapeze requires. And while I worked with rings and corde lisse and lyra, static trapeze was always closest to my heart. I have to admit that I had to let my mom know I was down safe at the end of each show, even into my 40s! Thank goodness for texting. And I think I gave my husband a few grey hairs as well.

Q: What inspired you to create the Gravity Defying Fitness program?

Lorelei:

Of course, I knew I couldn’t perform forever and when I started to think about a post-performance career I knew I wanted to share the excitement of trapeze.  But, I also wanted to make the trapeze accessible. My dilemma was that I don’t believe in teaching technique if you aren’t strong enough to execute it safely.  I realized that even the basic exercises are fun, and are the perfect way to get started!  After retiring at 42 I moved to NY to open a facility for Radu Physical Culture (of Cindy Crawford Workout fame) at the Plaza hotel.  Sadly, financing and construction issues scuttled that project, so I branched out on my own.   Aside from my background as a dancer and an aerialist, I was trained by Radu to teach his methods, am a certified NASM personal trainer, and have been trained to teach kettlebells by KettleBell Concepts. In fact, besides teaching GDF aerial conditioning classes at Next Evolution Gym here, I teach group kettlebell classes at Romney Pilates!

Q: Please tell us a little more. What can someone expect, look forward to…from taking the Gravity Defying Fitness Program?

Lorelei:

I tailor the sessions to each client’s fitness goals and experience, so the first session really varies based on what you are already doing. Everyone gets on the trapeze or the rope the first day, regardless of their fitness level. You learn how to hold your body to be able to move explosively in the air, you learn how to climb the rope, and in short order my clients are hanging upside down.  We do specific exercises that create the long straight leg lines required to look good in the air as well. I constantly hear from people that the workout is “so much harder than it looks” but also that it is crazy fun. My goal is that you should be a bit sore after each workout, but not so sore that you don’t want to do it again right away! That said, I suggest aerial training to be just a part of your program – two or three times a week.

You should also come in expecting to challenge your fears!

Q: What are the main benefits of aerial fitness compared to other fitness programs?

Lorelei:

I strongly believe that you should never restrict yourself to a single type of training. I myself swim, take bootcamp, bosu, dance, and yoga, as well as train in the air. The thing about aerial conditioning is that it is amazingly effective for your core – and while everyone focuses on the upper body strength it requires (and it certainly develops upper body strength) it works your whole body. It is functional training at its best.  We work strength, but also endurance, flexibility, balance and agility. Even better, it requires focus and you’re learning something new, so the time goes fast and you don’t even realize that you are training hard!  Looking good with sleek strong muscles – well that’s pretty great too.

However the biggest benefit is the feeling of accomplishment. I had a client in NY heading off to a meeting with a really well known and intimidating figure in her field. But, as she left she said that if she could learn how to climb the rope, the meeting would be a snap. Building self esteem and confidence is even better than good looking abs!

Q: This is an excellent program for us to have in New Orleans. What brought you to New Orleans?

Lorelei:

This is a subject really dear to me! I have been visiting New Orleans for the last 10 years.  My husband and I moved to NY two years ago from San Francisco, as I mentioned. My business was going gangbusters but I never adjusted to life in NYC (even though I am from there originally). My life in NY really lacked balance – too much work, too little play, and don’t get me started about winter.  While in NYC we started coming to New Orleans every few months and every time we would get on the plane to go back, my heart would sink. I have been talking about New Orleans as a place to live for years, and on a trip back last spring, I turned to my husband and said “let’s go!”  I couldn’t be happier, and I feel like I have come home. And what an amazing time to have moved here!

Q: We are working hard to promote health and fitness in New Orleans – what are your general thoughts on the health and fitness community here in New Orleans?

Lorelei:

I think we have a great fitness community here – there are some amazing classes and trainers. And, while everyone thinks of New Orleans as a hard partying town, and of course it is, it is also a hard training town. People here are very much committed to their fitness programs.  Of course, having just moved here, I love just about everything with the fervor of a recent covert (except the bugs).

Get a Be Fit NOLA t-shirt for writing a review!!  We’re not asking you to run, bike or swim…we’re simply asking you to share your opinion(s) and enlighten us and we’ll give you a t-shirt for it.

The post I wrote the other day “Be Careful When Talking About The Health of My City” in defense to what someone else had to say about our city is a prime reason why you should take the time write a review – people outside of New Orleans just don’t see it.  They don’t get all that our city has to offer for health and fitness.

Writing a review of your gym, yoga or pliates studio, boot camp, favorite park, running or cycling trail, personal trainer, health store, or best healthy meal in a local restaurant is your opportunity to unveil New Orleans’ hidden treasures.  We sweeten the pot by adding a t-shirt…not just any t-shirt.

Aaron is a little picky about the fit of his shirts – so to please him and ensure you love our shirts we ordered men and women’s Gildan Soft Style t-shirts from Purple Monkey. We’ll run this giveaway until we’ve received 50 reviews and given away 50 shirts.

Read this post as a refresher of what we’re looking for in a review. We ask that you make your reviews at least 100 words long. (We will post constructive criticism type reviews but nothing flat out rude, mean or inaccurate)

Don’t be shy either…tell your friends about it.  Let’s really open up about New Orleans’ Health and Fitness!!

Did you know that one of the features we offer on www.befitnola.com is the ability to have your reviews posted on our website? We’re not quite like Yelp, Google, or other review sites but if you write a review and send it in to us (okay, we’re nothing like them because we are doing this (for right now) the old fashion way by email) – we will review your review and post it in our Your Reviews area of the site.

Write a review of your gym, yoga studio, pilates class, Boot Camp session, personal trainer…favorite healthy restaurant – if it’s health or fitness related and part of the Greater New Orleans area (to include the West Bank and Jefferson Parish) we will post it.  We will post both positive and “not-so” positive reviews but will not post anything that is mean and flat out derogatory.

Writing a review is great way to showcase your favorite spots to exercise and favorite instructors. Be sure to send us your full name, location and if you want us to add it – your website.  No anonymous reviews will be posted.

The page is currently a blank slate – so what are you waiting for!?!?