"BACK TO FORM" FITNESS » Personal Training

Be Strong…….

Keith Scott — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:39:21 +0000

If you could only work on ONE factor in your fitness regiment, what would it be? This is a very tough question for some and easy for other to answer. I have heard many people, among them trainers, immediately say “flexibility,” others quickly say “cardio vascular,” and yet others will say, “Toning up, fat loss.” My answer is simple….STRENGTH.

I am a firm believer, without a doubt in my mind that the most important thing anyone and everyone can and should work on primarily is strength. You can never go wrong with being stronger. This is not to say that strength training is the only thing you should train. There are way too many trainers out there that work on strength only and never deal with any other fitness factors. (more…)

10 Ways to injure yourself at the gym!

Keith Scott — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:36:44 +0000

Much like my former article outlining the best ways to become a fat, physical mess, this article outlines some of the best ways to become injured while you train. Although to some the sarcastic tone of such writings is a turn off, I have found it to be a very good educational approach and one that gets the point across pretty well. (by the way, this is a sacastic article, however, I see things like this happen everyday…in other words, I didn’t make any of this up!)

So if you really want to injure yourself while training or working out, make sure you do some or all of what is listed below. Chances are, you are doing some of these things anyway. (By the way, if you want to stay healthy, please avoid all of the list below). (more…)

Why going to the gym is more entertaining than TV any day! (and scary)

Keith Scott — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:58:07 +0000

I love the gym for many reasons, but sometimes I just like to observe the absolute nonsense that goes on with people working out and more so, with their “trainers.” The gym is better than TV if you pay attention, but it is scary to see what is going on out there sometimes.

Overheard at the gym

“I don’t trust my trainer” - Huh? You don’t necessarily have to like your trainer, but if you can’t trust your trainer and you are uncomfortable with him/her…you have problems.

“I know my diet sucks, but I still don’t understand why I can’t lose my fat.” - I know some people are dense, but this statement helps me understand how Bush was elected twice…people just don’t think. (more…)

Beat me down, until I cannot move! (please)

Keith Scott — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:20:14 +0000

The fitness world is a very interesting one. Much like the normal “American” mentality, that more is always better, many people in the fitness world believe that the more pain that they feel during a training session or workout, the better it must be. I talk to people all of the time that brag about how their trainer “kicked their butt” so badly, that they could barely walk. I have heard people talk about how their trainer made them vomit by the end of their session. These same people actually use this as a barometer in deciding whether their trainer is good or bad. Others think that if they are not sore or hurting badly the next day then their training session must not have been good. (more…)

Training in Hell

Keith Scott — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:20:53 +0000

Its going to be 99 degrees today in New Jersey, with a heat index of 106. That is pretty hot. I spent 13 years in Arizona, so I am used to heat. It doesn’t really bother me at all.

I have a full load of clients today as well. I know that by 12:00 Noon it will be close to 90 and I will start to hear the complaints that it is too hot, too humid, and too uncomfortable to train. I will get excuses that range from, “the heat is getting to me, so my workout is not going to be very good” to “I am just way to tired from the heat and humidity to train today.” I am ready for them. (more…)

Summertime, Summertime

Keith Scott — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:01:00 +0000

“school is out and it’s a sort of a buzz
a back then I didn’t really know what it was
but now I see what have of this
the way that people respond to summer madness
the weather is hot and girls are dressing less
and checking out the fellas to tell ‘em who’s best”

Spring is in the air, and that means one thing to me…summer is not too far behind. Personally, summer has always been my favorite time of the year. Like many people, I love the beach and ocean. I love to be outside when it’s warm. I love to swim, wear shorts, sleep with the windows open, etc… OK, before this starts sounding like a cheesy biography (I just re-read what I wrote…it already does,) I do have a point. Summer is the time when most people like being outside doing summer things. Wearing fewer clothes than normal and having opportunities to bear their bodies to the public. I asked this question a month or so ago and I ask it again…are you ready? (more…)

Pushing your Physical Limits

Keith Scott — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:56:16 +0000

How hard should you push when training? How much can the human body take before it gives out? Are you pushing too hard? Not pushing hard enough?

I am old school when it comes to training. Not all of the education in the world means a whole lot when dealing with the human spirit. As a fitness coach I can monitor heart rate, and breaths per minute and measure someone’s estimated anaerobic threshold, and all of the other “physiological markers” and it really doesn’t tell me much in the grand scheme of things. The majority of people out there will quit mentally way before their body gets to a point of any real danger. I have taken people to their own personal limits, only to discover that there are entire new boundaries that can be and need to be pushed through with a little more work and a lot more mental training. In fact, I have not trained many people that have come close to the real physical breaking point. Some people have suffered muscle cramps, asthma attacks, dizziness, etc…but in the end, all of these people were fine physically and in almost every case, it was other factors that caused these scenarios and not the actual training that was taking place. This is not to say that these people were not trying, or consciously gave up. Rather, these people have yet to learn how to push through the barriers that have caused them to stop. It’s a tricky problem for most. Each time you push through a new barrier, you become more resistant to “quitting” the next time out, while training at that same level. (more…)

Kelly Ripa

Keith Scott — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:35:34 +0000

I graduated high school with Kelly Ripa. I guess that is my claim to fame. Well, not really. However, Kelly and I were in three classes together throughout our senior year. I was even her dance partner during P.E. class for a semester.

What does that fact have to do with fitness, and more so this blog? Nothing directly, but there is a point (or 3) to be made in this post. (more…)

Emotional Training

Keith Scott — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:38:49 +0000

Emotions fuel everything you do. At least that is my belief. Learning to use your emotions in a constructive way can fuel your own fire and help you do things you never thought possible before. In my own life, recognizing that I am angry or sad, or even excited about something can help me covert that particular emotion into needed energy and produce an action that breaks down walls, sets new records or achieves more than I ever thought possible. This was the case for one client that I had a few months ago. (more…)

My Smartest Client is my Dog!

Keith Scott — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:48:39 +0000

When I was a kid playing sports, I would, like most kids, have endless excuses to why I didn’t perform well, or why I lost on a particular day. Kids want to impress their parents, coaches and friends all of the time, so the natural defense mechanism is to make up excuses. “My arm hurt,” “I feel sick,” “I am tired,” “it was the other guy’s fault,” “it was my coaches fault,” etc… Interestingly enough, these are pretty much the same type of excuses I hear from fitness members, clients and other people I deal with that are trying to ‘get fit.’ Excuses come out constantly and they are much like the ones I used (and most other kids) as a child. (more…)

What’s your inspiration?

Keith Scott — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 00:57:13 +0000

I found mine when I was 10 years old, I think. Every time I hear the music, I drift into a memory of me, in my basement, doing 100s of sit-ups, push-ups and shoulder raises. I would follow those up with 20 minutes of jump roping and then off to hit my speed bag. I trained with fury and I was destined to become as great as I could. No, I was not training for boxing, and although I was a wrestler, I did this in the summer when wrestling was over. So, why would the theme music of the movie Rocky inspire me to train as hard as I could, in my basement every night, when other kids were playing games, or watching TV? To this day, I am not sure why. I do know this however, that movie inspired me and caused me to take action. (more…)

Commitment

Keith Scott — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:31:47 +0000

Are you committed?

I was pulling out of the gym where I train the other day and I see a very large, obese man walking to his car. He is carrying a bag with a salad in it from the Salad Works store, which is on the far distant side of the plaza. This man parked his car in the very last spot of the entire parking lot about as far away from the salad works as you can possibly get. The interesting part is that the parking lot was not full whatsoever, it was pretty empty. There were spots everywhere, including many in front of the Salad Works, which looked about a ¼ mile away. It seemed that this man, who was visibly overweight, CHOSE to park at the other end of the plaza, walk to the salad place, buy a healthy lunch and walk back. Maybe I read the situation wrong, but it appeared to me that his commitment was outstanding in his quest to lose weight. If he did this each day, or each time he parked somewhere, he would increase his general exercise by a ton, burn more and ultimately lose more weight. Now some would say that he should have been in that gym, on the treadmill, or lifting weights…that is real commitment. I do not agree. He was an extremely large man, who was obese. Just that walking was a full workout for him. He didn’t NEED to do it, but he chose to. I thought his commitment was obvious and pretty cool. (more…)

Getting Started (on the fitness journey…)

Keith Scott — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 02:02:03 +0000

One of the biggest problems that people have with fitness is getting started. For some it has been months and others years since they did anything remotely fitness related. Diets have become routines, filled with convenience only, and no nutrition or conscious thought into what a person eats comes into play anymore. Exercise is almost non-existent unless people count taking the trash out, the 5 minutes of sexual activity that occurs with their spouse and chasing kids around. (more…)

Healthy Hips - Part III

Keith Scott — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:56:37 +0000

In this installment, I am going to list very simple, basic exercises that anyone can do to help keep the hips healthy. This article will briefly cover strength training for and around the hip complex. Plug these exercises into your routine to help keep strong, healthy hips. These exercises are meant to be simple and things that you can do at home, even if you do not have a lot of equipment.

Remember, this is a basic list. There are plenty of other exercises that you can do too. Start with these and move up from there. (more…)

Super Bowl Lessons

Keith Scott — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:00:28 +0000

5 things learned from the Super Bowl

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Accepting that your age = problems

Keith Scott — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:02:52 +0000

There is a really bad attitude out there that has people just accepting that with age, comes pain, dysfunction and lack of real progress. I hear it all of the time…things like “At my age, I am just lucky if I maintain some of my strength.” Or “I am not looking to improve much at my age, I just want to keep my strength up so I can live out the rest of my life more comfortably!” Those are real quotes from people I have worked with. Age does not mean that you cannot progress. I work with Eight year old kids all the way up to eighty-six year old trainees. Some of my greatest success stories have been with my “older” clients. (more…)

Everyday is New Year’s Day

Keith Scott — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 01:27:24 +0000

New Years has come and gone already. We are just about a month out and I would bet that most people have either strayed away from their resolutions, haven’t started them yet, or totally forgot that they made them. New Year’s has become a joke in the fitness world, because year in and year out people make empty promises that are rarely kept. (more…)