Variables... Change it up!!

Variables.
These are what make up our workouts, and by manipulating these variables, we can see results faster. Whether you are trying to lose weight, gain muscle, or both, these tips will help you. Most people think that the only way to change up there routine and make it more difficult is increasing weight or reps, not true.Variables include, weight, reps, rest periods, exercise order, tempo of reps,stability challenges while performing exercises and combining two exercises or more into one.
Here are some examples:
Don't want to keep increasing the weight? Slow down the reps! four seconds down. one second pause and two seconds up.
Put exercises back to back or in a circuit of 3 to keep heart rate high.
Add stability: use a stability ball instead of a bench on any exercise or use dumbells instead of a bar/ machine. Try standing on a bosu (half ball) while doing curls.
Take a shorter rest in between sets, or if you want to get big, take a longer one!
Put two exercises together like a squat row. Get on a cable machine with a row bar and set it to the bottom, simply squat with your arms straight and then row as you stand up.
You can also do a lunge curl. Hold a dumbell in each hand, lunge down and on the way up, curl the dumbells. When you lunge down again bring the dumbells back down to your sides. Do this ten times and then switch legs. Hope this helps!! Please email me if there is a particular subject you want me to blog about. Jason

Put yourself first.

Are you one of those people who doesn't have time to workout? You have to work and pick up the kids and make dinner and help your friends with whatever endeavor they encounter. You HAVE to run here or there on a particular day or time that happens to fall on the day you are supposed to exercise. Well I am going to be blunt, either you are lazy or you don't feel that YOU and your health are a higher priority than everything else. This is neither healthy or commendable. The martyr like attitude of putting yourself last is self destructive and mentally unhealthy. What happens later in life when all the things and people you put first either aren't there or don't put you high on their list of priorities? For many people, this happening causes them to feel lost and without a purpose.

If you don't want this to be you than start putting yourself first. The best place to start is with exercise. Why? Because 1) it doesn't take much time. Twenty minutes is enough. 2) Exercise is a great tool to help you gain more self worth and confidence. As this happens, you will be better able to decide when and why you have to put yourself first. Your self esteem will be much higher, you will feel better and have more energy and your quality of life will be much higher.

Believe it or not, exercise can change your life! I know it sounds crazy, but it is true. I have seen men and women who had confidence or self esteem issues and who are in unhealthy and even abusive relationships turn their lives around. Where have I seen this? In the gym! Clients I have trained who made the decision to start exercising and put themselves first gained self confidence and self worth. They feel better about themselves and gain the confidence to get out of their unhealthy and abusive relationships. That is life changing!

I used to have a client who hated his job. He was a quiet guy who was a little overweight but had a habit of skipping workouts for his job or other so called reasons like having a thing to go get for his wife who hated him spending money on a trainer. After a year and a half of working out, he got better at keeping his appointments and met all his fitness goals. In this time and shortly after, he left his mentally abusive wife, got a higher paying job he loved and started dating a really cute girl who adored him. That's life changing!

These examples have all stemmed from the decision of putting themselves first for at least 30 minutes a few times a week! So what can you gain from exercising? You decide! With the confidence and self worth you gain, you will be more able to accomplish anything that you want. So ask yourself, is exercising that bad when compared to everything you can gain from it.? I hope this inspires you to take the first step in putting yourself first.. If you have any comments or questions email me at jasonguerrera@yahoo.com

First tip on Nutrition: carb myths busted!!

Ok I know most people think in order to lose weight, carbs must be taken out of their diet. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Carbs are turned into glucose (blood sugar) in the body. Which is the body’s primary source of energy. The logic is if carbs aren’t there, then your body will burn fat, but that isn’t the case at all. When your body can’t use it’s most ready source of energy(carbs) it goes to the next most available source, amino acids. amino acids are the building blocks of protien and protien is what your muscles are made of. SO YOU ARE BURNING MUSCLE WHEN ON A LOW CARB DIET. That’s where the weight loss comes from. Since lean muscle speeds up your metabolism, losing muscle will slow it down. A slower metabolism means easier weight gain and harder weight loss. Time for some basic math, carbs per gram have 4 calories. Protien per gram also is 4 calories. Fat per gram is 9 calories!! Thats where fat comes from... Fat!! If you want to lose fat, you must eat less calories than you burn in a day. This comes from a healthy diet and exercise.
BUT I KNOW SOMEONE WHO LOST WEIGHT BY CUTTING CARBS!?
They lost weight, not fat. When you eat protien, it takes your body seven times the amount of water to metabolise it, so it dehydrates you and you lose water weight along with the muscle I mentioned earlier. OTHER SIDE EFFECTS OF LOW CARB DIETS:
Along with losing muscle and dehydration there are a few other side effects you should know about.
KIDNEY FAILUREis a common side effect of high protien low carb diets.
KIDNEY STONES AND CALCIUM DEPOSITS are also another side effect.
BAD BREATH: comes with putting your body into ketosis, which is the state your body is in on a no carb diet. You can’t get rid of that bad breath either.
CANCER is a much higher risk and your immune system is weaker because you are cutting key nutrients out of your diet. REMEMBER!! IT IS NOT GOOD TO GET RID OF ONE OF THE FOUR FOOD GROUPS!!! If you have any questions, email me.
The National Academy of Sports Medicine says that at least 60 percent of your diet should consist of carbs!

Allow myself to introduce.... myself

Hi, My name is Jason Guerrera and I am a NASM certified personal trainer and the owner of Functional In-home Training or F.I.T. I want to help as many people as I can to get in shape and reach their fitness goals, so I am going to start blogging with tips on exercise and nutrition. I will also post blogs on my current clients' progress as they reach their fitness goals for added motivation for everyone who reads these blogs. Tell your friends to keep an eye on me and ask me any exercise and nutrition questions you may have. I will answer any questions with a blog for everyone to see. I can't wait to help YOU get in shape! See ya later!!