why hire a personal trainer?
Q-Hey Joe, my name is Jackie, I’m 38, I have two kids and I’m about 45 pounds over weight. I read fitness magazines and I take Zumba at the local Y. I dont think I need to hire a personal trainer. Convince me otherwise
A-Hello Jackie, first let me congratulate you on your fitness endeavors. Why should you hire a personal trainer? Hmmm a great question, I’ll do my best to answer it with as much honesty and detail as I can provide.
1-Motivation. First and foremost, you’ll need motivation to work out 2-3 times a week with weights and 4-5 days a week of cardio. Having a good personal trainer who will be there to motivate and push you when your not feeling up to it or having a bad day can be that one crucial factor you’ll need to achieve your goals.
2-accountability- Knowing You paid for a fitness professional will help hold you accountable in following through with your commitment to health and fitness. Many of us dont like to waste money!! hiring a trainer will help keep you from canceling your appointed sessions and thus keep you on the straight and narrow with your goals. Not to mention a good trainer wont look the other way when you skip cardio or smile and say “no problem” when you spill the beans that you ate pizza and drank beer all weekend!!
3-Your working with a professional- If you hire a trainer with experience, your working with someone that knows what they are doing. Someone with 10 years or more experience is going to know how to guide you from point A to point B with accuracy and precision. Most good trainers will also give you a personalized meal plan that will without a doubt make all the difference in your fitness goals. If you ask any well respected trainer they will tell you that nutrition is a very large part of any good fitness regimen!!
4-safety- Going hand and hand with number 3, having a trainer on site can make the difference of good form with back breaking sloppy form!! you said your reading fitness magazines as your primary source of info with regards to your regimen? That simply is not safe if you dont have a large amount of experience working out with good form. A good trainer will not only provide you with a spot, but also correct bad habits while exercising. Using improper form can lead to symmetry imbalances in your physique, terrible back problems, ankle, knee and elbow problems as well as possible accidents which can lead to serious injury or even death!!
5-resistance training helps tone you up as well as rev your metabolism up- You spoke about Zumba as your form of exercise? doing cardio alone to tone up and to look fit won’t do it. You will lose weight alright, but probably an equal amount of muscle with fat. Cardio is a VERY important part of weight loss, however without resistance training to go along with it, you may simply become a smaller version of what you look like now!!! weight training will help you tone up, create contour and shape to your muscles and the more muscle tone you add, the faster your metabolism will become. So as a woman you need to get it out of your head that weight training will make you look “manly” or that you will get “too big”! not to get off track, but women simply do NOT produce the same hormones as men and their ability to gain muscle and to “get big” just isnt there!! plus any good trainer will know exactly how to train you with weights to get the look you so desire.
So there you have it Jackie, 5 good reasons why you should hire a personal trainer. I hope that changes your mind and you work with a professional that helps you achieve all of your fitness goals
Q-Hi Joe, I’m new to bodybuilding and I wanted to know how important the Squat is for my results? – Bruce Hawkins
A-Hey Bruce, first let me welcome you to the world of bodybuilding!! your about to embark on a life altering journey to higher self esteem, self confidence and a level of discipline many will never understand. Now to enter your question. Squats is probably the MOST important exercise you could ever do. Anyone who says differently is simply afraid of the exercise. Squats cause your entire body to be challenged, working so many various stabilizer muscles as well as the core, lower back, quads, glutes, hamstrings, etc There is also a residual effect with squats, meaning your upper body will grow as well as your lower!! some theorize that squats elevate testosterone and gh levels and that creates total body growth. Also let me point out that the only squats I’m talking about is DEEP squats, So half and quarter squats need not apply. I know for many people parallel is good and safe, but I prefer to go lower. I feel you get better overall development that way. For some who have dominate hamstrings and glutes, parallel squats may suit you better as they seem to focus on the quads more. Many people say squats are bad for your knees!! that is the furthest thing from the truth!! actually half squats may be bad for the knees but full deep squats do not do ANY damage to the knees whatsoever, in fact it will work so much tissue around the knee that the knees may become stronger from squats!!
Q-Hi Joe what was your take on the top 5 at the Olympia this year? – James “motown” heights
A-Hey James, I thought this years Olympia was exciting and here is what I thought
5th-Branch Warren- I thought Branch was off this year, both in fullness and dryness. I thought he looked better at his win at the Arnold earlier in the year. Branch packs a ton of insane muscle on his frame, and to the side looks like a house!! but he looked watery from behind and wasn’t as grainy as usual. I actually had him in 6th behind Wolf but the judges thought different. For some reason I thought the difference in his quads was more obvious at the O vs the Arnold. (Branch Tore his left quad a year ago).
4th-Dexter Jackson- Probably the best Dexter has ever looked at The O IMO. I remember doing a breakdown of the O a few years ago and I said if Dexter ever sucks down real light he will look insane. And he did just that! his face was sucked in and he looked grainy as hell!!! I think Dexter at this point can always count on top 5-6, but if he wants to do real damage he should move to the Masters O in December where he can dominate!! he has no weak points and his physique flows from head to toe. He looked fantastic I cant say anything negative.
3-Shawn “Flexatron” Rhoden- I’ll call it now, in 3-5 years this kid will be Mr Olympia!! just absolutely insane conditioning with broad shoulders, a tiny waist and huge legs!! the guy could have been second after how Kai came in Saturday! he has the markings of a Mr Olympia and being hes 37, he still has time. He has the right structure!! I think if he can bring his back up more he will look perfect!!
2nd-Kai Green- There was two Kai Greens at this Mr O. The Kai that showed up Friday should have beaten heath, and the Kai that showed up Saturday could have dropped to third. I know they re judge the top 6 on Saturday and it counts as 50% of the score! On Friday Kai looked crazy!! full and thick with round muscle bellies and it looks like its the lightest kai has been onstage in ages!! his mid section looked tight and his legs embarrassed Heath’s I thought with those sick zipper like striations across the quads !! his back is fantastic and his biceps are peaked like Ronnie Coleman’s! now on Saturday Kai was flat as a pancake!!! his chest and delts deflated badly and his muscles just didn’t pop like usual. I dunno what happened from Friday to Saturday but I have to imagine its tough to look unbelievable two nights in a row! the changes that take place hour to hour can drive a bodybuilder insane! I believe if Kai can manage to duplicate his Friday physique again on both nights he could de throne Heath!
1st- Phil Heath-Two time Mr Olympia!! with gigantic arms, a small waist and wide quads, heath did the opposite of what Kai did! Heath showed up Saturday looking a little watery and from what I hear the score between him and Kai was very close, however he came back on Saturday a lot drier and full as can be!!Heath’s arms are huge! so big I think he should stop training them if he hasn’t already! his one weak chest now looks like two basketballs! They Don’t call heath “The gift’ for nothing! the guy has unreal genetics. Very very full round muscle bellies, like a combination of Flex Wheeler and Kevin Leverone. the only knock I can make on his build is that his shoulders aren’t very wide. he is improving that by bringing the caps on his delts out more, but its more a structural issue then anything else. But heath makes up for the width with crazy fullness, roundness and great conditioning!! Many are saying he will dominate the way Coleman has, but with guys like Rhoden and Green coming in the way they do, that remains to be seen!
