San Antonio Personal Training

3/2/08

Far too often we get stuck in a rut when we work out!  We do the same workout routines over and over, working to improve results on the same lifts and exercises.  Sometimes we just need to change it up.

This weekend I went up to A&M to visit my fiance and while I was there we did several different activities that tested me in many different ways.  On Friday night we ran in a 5K.  On Saturday I played raquetball with a good buddy of mine, and today Sarah ran me through a 30min version of her boot camp course.  Wow, what a difference even a slight change in exercise can make!  The 5K was a great endurance exercise, which tested my ability to maintain a high heart rate over a relatively long period of time.  Raquetball was unique because it challenged my explosive movements as well as my ability to change directions.  The boot camp was all together exhausting, testing me in many different ways.

If you are serious about being in great shape, learn to do exercises that are outside your comfort zone, and test yourself.  Rollerblades, a bike, a tennis raquet, a football, or simply a friend to help push you, can all be great ways to change up your workout routine and help you get to the next level.  The longer you spend doing one type of workout, the more work you will have to do to push your body to new limits.  A great example is Lance Armstrong.  Obviously, he had worked hard to force his body to be able to ride a bike for hours, without wearing down.  When he switched to running marathons however, he was completely gassed.  Whats impressive is the fact that Armstrong was an elite athlete who had trouble changing from one endurance exercise to another.  Imagine the trouble he would have had, if he had changed to power lifting.  It is good to maintain a balance in your body and constantly challenge yourself in new ways.

Well, go out and have fun.  Find something new to do and push yourself.  If you need help, then MPT is here to help you.

Make it a great day!

Nicholas Wood

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

(210)415-5934

2/22/08

Last night Hector and I went to a networking event at the Old San Francisco Steak House and we had the opportunity to meet with a bunch of great people.  Many of these people expressed interest in our programs and a few got into longer conversations with us in regards to their fitness routine.  One individual in particular mentioned to me that he has all the equipment in his house and has a workout plan designed by a personal trainer, but that he just can't seem to get started.

I told him that all he needed to do was take a single step a day if he really wanted to look and feel better.  Of course, after I told him that he looked at me as though I was a little crazy, but it is the truth.  If you are serious about getting in better shape, all you have to do is take one step a day...okay, so maybe not literally one step a day, but figuratively you can change your life by taking one step a day.  The first step can be commiting to eating a better diet, or getting outside more, or limiting your t.v. and internet time to 1hr per day, or you could hire a fitness coach from MPT!

Taking one tiny step everyday to help you achieve your goals, would make a world of difference in a year.  365 steps would accumulate, and you can accomplish a lot in 365 steps.  In two years you would be 730 steps closer to achieving your goals.  All you have to do is start with one tiny step. 

If you are serious about getting in shape, if you have dreams about looking, feeling or living differently, then start today and take a step.  In one year you will have taken 365 steps and you will be a new person at that stage with more positive events happening around you everyday.

What step are you going to take?

Make it a great day San Antonio!

Nicholas Wood

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

(210)415-5934

2/13/08

Good Wednesday morning ya'll!  I hope everyone is having a great start to their day.  I know that my boot campers first thing this morning did as most walked out tired, but with a smile on their face.

Today I want to talk with ya'll about muscular imbalances.

I am currently working with a client who is active duty military and is working hard to get his upperbody in the shape he wants it while he rehabs his lower body from an injury.  Since we have been working out, we have found several imbalances in his body and we are working to improve them daily. 

 He has created these imbalances simply by doing the exercises which the Army focuses on such as pushups, situps and long distance running.  One of the major imbalances we have found is between his hip flexors and his abdominal muscles.  In the Army, on a daily basis, he would do endless amounts of situps and leg lifts usually followed by a long distance run.  The problem with this being that as he worked out his abs with the situps he also worked his hip flexors by extending his legs too much.  Then after working his hip flexors during the situps, he would go do a long distance run, where again his hip flexors would get a heavy duty workout!  The problem with this is that overtime he got to where his hip flexors were so much stronger than his abs that he would use his hip flexors when he naturally should have been using his abdominals.  To correct this we have found ways to isolate his abs without engaging his hip flexors, which will allow us to get the abs as strong as his hip flexors thus correcting the imbalance.

The military is not the only reason people have muscular imbalances.  Most of the guys at the gym love to spend time working the chest and the biceps, thereby neglecting the back.  Others will work their abs into a six pack, but forget about their lower back, creating the opportunity for a major injury.

Make sure that as you lift weights you hit "opposite" muscle groups.  An easy way to remember this is for every push exercise you need a pull exercise and for every lower body exercise you need an upperbody exercise.

Be careful not to create imbalances in your muscles because where there is an imbalance there is a chance for injury.  If you are not sure how to keep yourself from creating muscular imbalances then stop in and see either myself or Hector for a 30min. or hour session and we can teach you how to avoid muscular imbalances.

Make it a great day San Antonio!

Nicholas Wood

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

(210)415-5934

2/8/08

I want to start this blog off by thanking Mrs. Linda Farr for joining us a few nights ago and teaching all of us a thing or two about nutrition.  The seminar truely was insightful and interesting, correcting some of the misconceptions I had in regards to different peoples dietary needs as well as reinforcing many other ideas I have had in regards to nutrition.

One of the least complicated (science wise) but most important things she said was that we should eat if we are hungry.  It seems simple, but I think many people get to feeling guilty about eating and they end of starving themselves, because they feel as though not eating is going to allow them to lose weight more quickly.  The fact of the matter is, if you don't eat enough then you will induce the starvation reflex causing your body to store fat.  If you eat just enough to have a caloric deficency then you won't be hungry and you will lose body fat because your body won't feel as though you are starving yourself.

I really appreciate all of you who came to the seminar.  I hope all of you found it helpful and hopefully you got all of the quesitons you had answered.  Thanks again to everyone who came and participated and a special thanks to Mrs. Farr.

Make it a great day San Antonio!

Nicholas Wood

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

(210)415-5934