Lynbrook | New Hyde Park | NY

Exercise

Getting a New Start in the New Year

Some people subscribe to the “New Year, New Me!” But, this mindset can happen on any day of the year if you want to make the change; whenever you are ready, all that matters is that you’re doing it to better yourself!

For someone just beginning an exercise program, remember everyone was new at one point. Don’t be embarrassed by being unsure of how to use equipment or not knowing how to do an exercise properly. Try your best to not be over whelmed by the new experience. Here are some tips for starting an exercise program:

  • Ask questions – Ask the staff anything you are unsure of. We are here to help and make you feel comfortable. Ask any of the exercise physiologists and they would be happy to show you how to use the machines or do an exercise properly.
  • Start off small – Keep it as simple as getting to the gym 3 days a week. It is better to be consistent over several days v. coming in one day and over doing it. If only attend one day and over do it, you are asking to get injured.
  • Learn a little at a time – Learn 3 exercises or machines and master them. From there keep adding 2-3 exercises after you master the original ones. Keep adding exercises to your routine and you will soon feel comfortable in the gym; each new exercise you learn will be easier.

These are simple steps to get started in the gym and to feel comfortable doing it. The Exercise Physiologists here at Peak Performance are always here to help and teach you valuable information that you will help improve your health for years to come!

 

By Corynne Periera

Member Spotlight: Kelly’s Fitness Journey

We love to highlight the success of our members! We asked several members what helped them make the decision to join a gym. Keep reading to learn about Kelly’s fitness journey.

Why did you decide to join Peak Performance? What was your “A-ha!” moment?

Throughout my life I have struggled to feel comfortable in my skin. I’ve dealt with confidence and self esteem issues, and have consistently tried to change and better myself to live a happier and healthier life. Through this process, I had been a member of 4 gyms before I found Peak. Each time I would join a gym, I would start off totally motivated and would go every day consistently for a couple weeks, and then slowly but surely I would fade back into old habits and lose my motivation; I’m sure most people who have tried more than once to lose weight know exactly how that feels. Each time I canceled a membership I would be disappointed in myself and discouraged that I would never lose the weight and achieve my goals. When I found Peak Performance, I was scared that the same thing was going to happen, but I could tell this place was different. There weren’t any “juice heads” or people that cause “gymtimidation.” I felt comfortable and welcome, even on my first day.

What made you decide to continue at Peak?

When I first started working with my trainer Louise, I quickly realized how she wasn’t just working through her shift and doing her job, she genuinely cared about my progress and health. She pushed and continues to push me hard and I am constantly breaking through my own personal boundaries and conquering things I never thought I would ever attempt. Having someone invested in your journey makes it that much easier to succeed. After a period of time, I realized that I had been an active member of a gym for longer than I ever had in the past, and that victory alone motivated me to keep going. I’ve now been with Louise and Peak for a little over a year and have lost a considerable amount of weight, but more importantly I have gained my health, self confidence and self esteem. I am in the best place I have ever been and I owe it all to Peak!

-Kelly L.

3 Weightlifting Myths: Busted!

Are you getting started on building your new body for the New Year, but hesitant to add in a proper strength training routine? Here are three strength training myths that may ease your mind about picking up some “heavy” weights this winter:

  • Lifting heavy weights will make me bulky: Wrong! Lifting heavy weight won’t make you bulky, eating a lot of calories will though. Heavy is a relative term and depends on the individual; a proper strength training routine will help you develop lean muscle and burn more calories while doing nothing. That’s right, nothing… the more lean muscle you have on your body the higher your metabolism will be. The only way to do this is to lift those weights you may have thought were too much for you.
  • “I don’t want to get too big- just tone”: This is one of the most common things said when referring to strength training or weight lifting. “Tone” is a misused term and when talking about your muscles they can only do one of two things; get bigger or get smaller. When you are “toned” it just means that your muscle is more visible but other than that it is impossible to sculpt yourself any other way. So in actuality, your muscles got bigger and you appear more “toned” because they are more visible.
  • “Low weight, High reps!”: A commonly misused phrase, this gives people a misconception of what they need to be doing and may not be appropriate for everyone. Often this will lead to a very light weight being used in hopes that you can do 30 of them and it will be sufficient. For example, when doing a set of 15 repetitions, you want to choose a weight that is challenging from the start and is quite hard towards rep number 14 & 15. If you can easily get to 15 reps with your weight it may be too light- the last four to five reps should be challenging, yet do-able!

 

By Tyler Palmquist

Staying Motivated Beyond January

The New Year is often thought of as an opportunity to make ourselves better. Many resolutions are made to create healthier lifestyles and create changes. It is important to keep this mentality going throughout the rest of the year- not just during the first month of the year. Here are a few tips to stay on track with your resolutions!

Workout Buddies. Bring a friend along on your morning walks or sign up for the gym together! Having someone with you will not only help keep you accountable, but make exercising more enjoyable.

Find Something You Like. Make your workouts enjoyable by choosing something you like to do! Maybe the treadmill seems dreary, but biking is more enjoyable. Strength training may seem intimidating, but the machine circuit is the perfect challenge.

Rewards. We all have big goals, but it’s important to set small goals along the way. Treat yourself to something that will keep you on the path to success. Splurge on a new pair of workout shoes or buy a fun water bottle when you reach those goals.

Change Takes Time. Remember that changes are not going to occur overnight. Center your attention towards each day and making healthy choices. Habits take time to form just as they are hard to break. It’s important to focus on the small accomplishments along the way!

 

By Louise Mills-Strasser

Fitting Workouts in Between the Holidays

We all know that the upcoming holidays can be quite a hectic and stressful time—dinner parties, family gatherings, cooking, and shopping.  With everything that’s going on, it’s easy to lose focus on your health and fitness goals- what was once a main priority takes a back seat to the holiday season.  Moreover, if you’ve been working towards shaving off a few pounds, these times can be especially difficult in terms of your nutritional intake.  Therefore, we at Peak Performance Fitness decided to provide you all with some helpful tips on how to squeeze some exercise and physical activity in among the chaos that this holiday season might bring, whether you’ve recently begun an exercise program or are maintaining your progress.

  • Set reminders. Whether you use your phone, tablet, computer, or even a pen and paper, setting reminders to exercise may be beneficial while your mind is preoccupied with other events.
  • Write down you goals and how you plan on achieving them. I’m positive that the majority of you already have your fitness goals in mind, but by writing them down and visibly seeing them every day, the goals/ideas become solidified and you are constantly reminded of what you plan on achieving; whether it’s to build strength, lose weight, or become overall healthier and fitter.
  • Prioritize. If you find yourself failing to make it to the fitness center or perform regular activity on a daily basis, it is most likely because you are putting other things ahead of your goals. What will probably help is to sit down alone, and readjust what’s most important to you—making your health and fitness one of your top priorities (which it should be) will help influence you to maintain a regular workout regimen.
  • Make a schedule. Whatever modality you use to organize your life (calendar, phone, planner, etc.), plan out the next few weeks of exercise.  Set a consistent time of the day in which you know you will be available on a weekly basis and designate it for exercise.  Many people are more likely to do something if it becomes a normal part of a daily routine at a regular time.
  • Home Workouts. If time is limited, speak to your exercise physiologist about developing a home-based workout regimen.  For example, modified push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, shoulder presses, curls, lunges, and squats are examples of exercises you can do using minimal or no equipment without even stepping outside of your house.  If your goals are weight-loss or to build up cardiovascular fitness, walking up and down the stairs, using a jump rope, or walking/jogging/bicycling around the neighborhood for a minimum of 20-30 minutes a day will certainly do the trick!

Although it’s easier said than done, do yourself a favor and do whatever it takes to fit regular exercise into your schedule.  Whether you have to wake up an extra hour early before work, or get a workout in before bed, I guarantee you will be thanking yourself after for continuing your exercise program during the busy holiday season.  Just ask yourself this question: “Would I rather not exercise because I am a little extra busy and yield no results, or would I rather give a little extra effort, make time for exercise, and reach my health and fitness goals?”

 

By Anthony Locast

Tips for a Healthy Halloween!

 

Halloween is fast approaching! This weekend there will be parties followed by buckets of candy. Don’t let this sweet holiday throw you off your goals.

Try these simple tricks to have a Healthy Halloween!

  1. Eat before trick-or-treating! Be sure to have a healthy meal or snack to hold you over. Don’t get caught munching on candy in between houses.
  2. Go trick-or-treating with your children or grandchildren. This is the perfect opportunity to get your physical activity in! Set a goal for yourself while walking door to door.
  3. Get moving. Get some exercise by making this Halloween a fun family physical activity event. Set a goal of how many houses or streets you’ll visit, or compete among each other to do as many as you can. Bring a bottle of water and wear comfortable shoes for walking!
  4. Be the house that hands out something different! Opt for the snack-sized packages of pretzels, popcorn, dried fruit, or trail mix.
  5. For our party animals, steer clear of sugary punch drinks and treats at parties. Look to make better choices, avoid mindless eating, and exercise portion control at your Halloween get-together.
  6. Wait to buy your candy until Halloween or the day before. This way you avoid temptation to pick at it beforehand. Another trick- don’t buy your favorite candy!
  7. Donate your leftover candy! Did you know Peak is holding a candy drive? We are accepting donations and sending them to our troops deployed overseas.

Member Spotlight: Cathy

Since joining Peak 5 months ago, I have seen many improvements in my healthy – I have more energy, my blood pressure is down, I sleep better, and I am down quite a few pounds. When I joined Peak, it was never about “the number” or how many pounds I “lost,” it was about changing my eating habits and my lifestyle.

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Tyler has always made me feel welcome and worthwhile from day one. He has never judged me or made me feel like I wouldn’t succeed. He has been my steadfast supporter, my cheerleader, and my voice of reason when I needed it. I have truly enjoyed working with him and look forward to much more success under his guidance.

-Cathieann Rowland

Strength Training for “Weight Loss”

Most people look to the scale in order to assess their fitness or see results from exercise. However, body weight is NOT an accurate measure of physical fitness. The number on the scale does not necessarily relate to your exercise performance. “Weight loss” is in quotations because it is possible for you to achieve your appearance and performance goals without significantly changing the numbers on the scale.

With that being said, body composition measurements, lean body mass (muscle) and body fat percentage, are better
indicators of one’s progress. Decreasing the percentage of body fat should be the main focus, as opposed to overall weight loss; and strength training has been proven to be more effective for altering body composition than ‘cardio’ (aerobic exercise).

Here’s why…

  • Muscle tissue plays a major role in our metabolism; the more muscle tissue we have, the more calories (and fat!) we can burn.
  • Strength training, when done correctly, increases our lean body mass (amount of muscle tissue) while simultaneously decreasing our body fat percentage.
  • Along with the benefits during a workout, strength training also has the ability to keep your metabolism elevated after a workout. Therefore allowing you to continue to burn fat while you aren’t exercising.
  • Comparatively, during aerobic exercise (long distance running/walking, cycling, etc.) we burn through our fat stores and muscle tissue, as well as losing water weight from sweat. So although we are “losing weight” from cardio, we are also sacrificing muscle tissue.
    • Also, aerobic exercise does not show the same post-exercise effects on metabolism as strength training.
  • Strength training increases the activity and effectiveness of hormones that control our metabolism and body composition.

Strength Training

  • Train the whole body about 3x a week, with rest days in between
  • Beginner lifters should select weights that they can lift for 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps. More experienced lifters can try heavier weights for 3 sets of 6-8 reps
  • Only rest for about 1 minute or less between sets; try to alternate sets of lower-body and upper-body exercises in order to keep the intensity of the workout high while allowing parts of our body to recover.
  • Periodically increase the weights and variety of your exercises so that your muscles are constantly being challenged.


Points to Remember

  • Because we are increasing our muscle tissue, strength training may initially result in weight gain. However, though the number on the scale is increasing, our body fat percentage will decrease and physical fitness will improve.
  • Cardio is still important for improving ones fitness, cardiovascular and respiratory health and should be
    included in weekly exercise schedules. It is just not as effective for altering body composition as strength training.
  • Diet must be monitored– Keep in mind that nutrition goes hand-in-hand with weight loss and changes in body composition. In regards to strength training, it is important to consume a sufficient amount of protein daily in order to build and recover muscle tissue.
  • Rest days- We must give our muscles time to recover from exercise to prevent prolonged muscle soreness, decrease the chance of injury, and ensure the effectiveness of our next workout.

 

By David McCalla