Austin personal trainers

”I Don’t Like Running, Hopping, Skipping, Trashing About, Or Picking Up Heavy Weights.” - that’s what my barber told me. He said,” I just don’t understand it”. He has little free time and hates to exercise, but he does strength train once a week. He said, “It is the perfect workout for me; once or twice a week works”.

Instead of seeing how much strength training your body can withstand see what is the least of exercise that will produce the most results. You work up to it slowly. Eventually it will be a demanding workout, but you need not do it that often and it will not take long. Add to that, activities you enjoy – swimming, walking the dog, biking. You'll feel better, look better, and perform better without hours at the health club. With such a plan you will find you will more likely stick to it.

The list of benefits from strength training is very long and people of any age can benefit. A recent example:

FC, a petite 86 year old, has been strengthening with Ultimate Fitness for the last four years. While attempting to re-position a hanging basket in her yard she fell, breaking the top part of her ulna. The doctor commented that her muscles were the only thing holding her arm together as the bone had broken in two. She proudly flexed her bicep on the uninjured arm astonishing the doctor. Astonished, he yelled for the staff to come into the exam room. Upon a follow-up visit the doctor told FC she was healing like a teenager. Her conditioning, as a result of strength training, heightened her ability to heal. We are delighted that FC is now resuming her sessions at Ultimate Fitness, 10 weeks after her fall.

From this Science daily article Brief, Intense Exercise Can Benefit The Heart, Study Shows:

"More and more, professional organizations are recommending interval training during rehabilitation from diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, peripheral artery disease and cardiovascular disease. Our research certainly provides evidence that this type of exercise training is as effective as traditional moderate intensity training," says MacDonald. "We wouldn't be surprised to see more rehabilitation programs adopt this method of training since it is often better tolerated in diseased populations".

Is strength training safe for cardiovascular health and is it healthy? You might be surprised by the results of one study. From this study, Strength Training Early After Myocardial Infarction, comes this quote:

“For the three treatment groups, 30 of 42 subjects had one or more cardiovascular complication (arrhythmias, angina, ischemia, hypertension, hypotension) during the aerobic exercises as compared to only 1 subject with complications during the resistive exercises.”

 An interesting result that speaks for itself - 30 complications for aerobic rehab versus one for resistance exercise rehab.

Another quote from the study:

This blog is primarily concerned with health, fitness, diet, personal training, and human performance. Not unrelated to health is the environment where you live and the opportunities presented.  From this Kiplinger Personal Finance article Best Cities 2010: Austin, Texas:

Austin - our number-one Best City for the Next Decade is a hotbed for small business -- and music.   A video touting Austin is here.

and this:

“ A year ago at this time I was experiencing frequent bouts of aches and pains in my neck, shoulders, and back. I figured it was just part of growing older. Since I started strength training last January, these problems have gone away. Amazing!”

This was the experience of Bill Milliken who trains with Timothy, one of our Austin Personal trainers. Carole had a similar experience: “I woke up every day with back pain. Going up and down stairs was painful for me knees. I am now pain-free”.

Several years ago I was working out a doctor who described to me the phenomenon of creep. As we get older our physical abilities diminish. Each year we have a little less strength, stamina, flexibility, and ability to withstand trauma and infection.

Slowly the parameters of our world of physical abilities creep in on us. I researched the phenomena of creep and found nothing that was similar to what the doctor described. I think the phenomenon was one the doctor himself coined. Nonetheless, it is very real. We lose a few seconds off our personal records, a few ounce of muscle, and a little range of motion each year. This process will occur more quickly if we are not active. When we exercise we are placing demands on the body that send a message to the body that the muscle, flexibility and stamina are needed for survival. As an act self-protection the body will do what it can do accommodate those demands.

Our bodies undergo many changes that can be reversed with proper strength training. Wearing glasses, dying one’s hair, or applying creams for age marks have their place, but nothing compares to the long list of benefits from high intensity interval training for strength:

1. Base Metabolic Rate (metabolism) decreases. Those who are stronger can have the metabolism they had when they were twenty years younger. More muscle requires more calories.

Exercise increases the production of free radicals, and free radicals have been associated with a number of diseases and with aging.  To combat those free radicals people have taken to popping Vitamins C and D, antioxidants, to decrease the number of free radicals. New research indicates that that might not be a good idea.

 In one study with two groups of exercising rats, one group was injected with antioxidants, and the other group was not. The group of rats injected with antioxidants showed almost no free-radical activity, while the non-injected group had a high level of free radicals.

There were other differences as well.  From this NYT article, Phys Ed: Free the Free Radicals more findings from the study:

An estimated 63 percent of American households have a pet, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. I assume
that a significant part of the no-owners would own a pet if their circumstances and finances were different.

Subjectively we know that being around pets has a calming effect for most of us. There is objective evidence as well. From this USA Weekend article, Why pets are good for us:

“People feel better after watching a Lassie flick because their levels of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress, take a free fall”.

There, some science to back up what many of us experience. A few years back after hurricane Katrina I went through a period of significant financial and personal difficulty. My house was unlivable. For five months I slept on the floor of my business in New Orleans. It was comforting to have my dog laying there beside me.