lifting weights

Why Your Workouts Aren’t Working

When you think of the reasons why you should exercise or do your workouts, what do you think of?  Improving your health?  Increasing your fitness abilities, such as your strength, endurance, or flexibility?  Changing your body composition?  Changing how your body looks and feels?  Increasing your energy levels?  As a personal trainer in Schaumburg, I can tell you that all of these are wonderful reasons to exercise.

Now, when you actually go and exercise, what do you think of?  While you are doing your workouts — the running, the lifting weights, the group fitness class, the biking, the whole exercise thing — what are you thinking of?  Are you thinking about how your body is feeling?  Are you thinking about what your body is doing?

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By Charlie Cates, ago

The Gold Standard Of Exercise

When my personal training clients start working with me on exercise related tasks, they quickly realize that I am always preaching about moving slowly, moving with control, using as much support as possible, and lifting with significant weight. There almost always becomes a time when a client will ask, “Will we always train like this?”.  This is such a legitimate question for two main reasons.  1) I don’t know of any other fitness professionals (except my colleagues from my path of study) or gyms that endorse this, and 2) people always want to know that they are doing the best thing for their body to help with their goals.

Here is my answer: We will always have a significant portion of your training be like this (slow, controlled, lots of support, and significant weight).  Why?  This is the Gold Standard of exercise, in my opinion.  Let me tell you why. (more…)

By Julie Cates, ago

The #1 Thing To Think About When Resistance Training

Welcome back to 2-Minute Tuesdays!  This is the second edition of our weekly show.  Today we are going to be talking about the number one thing you need to be thinking about when you are resistance training.  And that is …. squeezing the muscles you are working.  So, if you are doing a biceps curl, you aren’t thinking about moving the dumbbells up and down.  You are actually thinking about squeezing the muscles you are working, which are your biceps.  As personal trainers in Schaumburg, this is a HUGE focus for us when we are working with our training clients. (more…)

By Team MAS, ago