Tag Archives: Fitness

I stumbled upon this 1970s advertisement on Retronaut.com. Clearly we’ve been deluding ourselves for a very long time about how to live a healthier life and nothing takes the place of a sensible diet or exercise.  However, few ideas look as strange as “wonder sauna hot pants”.

The video is entitled “Best Calf Workout Ever!” but I disagree.  Having a 90-lbs woman ride you like a Shetland pony at a public gym is odd.

I’ve been quiet about my fitness regimen, and it is mostly due to the fact that I’ve been slacking.

Thank goodness I have a trainer, because there have been many weeks over the past two months where my only gym-time has been spent working out with him.

My short-term fitness goal is to drop the few extra pounds that have recently settled around my waist before they take up permanent residence.  My plan is to get a few more cardio sessions in each week.  We’ll see how that goes – wish me luck.

Are you struggling to motivate yourself to get to the gym?  Misery enjoys company.  Let me know how you are doing and we can work to motivate each other so we look picture perfect in time for the holidays.

I occasionally blog about my attempts to get into better shape and struggles with remaining motivated.  Starting last week my trainer and I changed my work out routine.

In lieu of meeting twice a week for a one hour we will now meet three times a week.  Once a week we will have a one hour session focusing on my back and chest, and twice a week we shall meet for thirty minutes;  one session will focus on arms and one session will focus on shoulders.

I like the idea of splitting one of my one hour sessions.  In theory, this will make sure that these muscle groups will get more attention.  As time permits,  I’m hoping to incorporate cardio either before or after the shorter work outs.  I’ll let you know how it works out.  What are you doing? Any tips or suggestions are always welcome.

Kris Kranzky, my personal trainer at The Boston Sports Club in the South End,  each week shares some fitness tips to help motivate and encourage people like me struggling to get into better shape.

This week’s tip revolves around the importance of cardiovascular exercise.  According to Kris,  this is essential if you want to reach your maximum potential. Some of the ways that cardio training helps includes: weight managment, increasing bone mineral density and increasing your metabolism.

If you combine cardio and weight training in a single session, Kris suggests starting with cardio. This will make you less likely to shorten or cut out your cardio exercises and it helps warm the body to prepare you for your weight training.  To keep your cardio sessions interesting set goals for yourself; this can include time, speed or the types of running exercises.  One of Kris’ favorites is interval training.  Jog for one minute followed by a one minute sprint that is approximately 50-60% faster (e.g. on a treadmill one minute at 6.0 followed by one minute at 10.0).  Repeat this ten times for a total of 20 minutes.

Late last month my trainer asked me what sort of fitness goals I wanted to attain.  Aside from stating vague goals like building muscle mass and eating more healthy, I committed to do my best to try and get in 3 cardio routines a week and to get two solid lifting work outs with him each week.

Last week I was in Provincetown away from both my gym and trainer.  I was not able to get to the gym, but I did get in 3 30-minute runs which proved to be quite difficult due to the hot, hot weather. However, in light of the lack of time at the gym and my glutinous streak I’m now working to make up for lost time at the gym.   Here is tangible evidence of my 3-runs from last week.

Have you set any fitness goals lately?

Kris Kranzky, my personal trainer at The Boston Sports Club in the South End, shared his typical weekly workout regimen in last week’s fitness tips posting.

Kris has recently modified that routine to get into shape for two hockey tournaments next month by adding different workouts that focus more on power and explosive movements.

If you are looking to add variety into your routine, consider including sports specific exercises including olympic lifts, cleans, snatches, deadlifts, squats, plyometrics and quick feet drills.  Ask trainers at your local gym for suggestions or advice.  You can also use YouTube to watch demonstrations and to give you ideas on how to include new routines into your work out regimen.

For the past month I’ve been posting fitness tips from my trainer Kris Kranzky from the Boston Sports Club in the South End.

This week he shares his workout routine. Kris works out for five days and rests for two; his routine typically includes: Monday/ Chest; Tuesday/ Back; Wednesday/ Legs; Thursday/ Shoulders; Friday/ Arms.

Before each workout Kris starts with a 20-minute cardio, using a high intensity interval training setting on a bike or treadmill; followed by 40 minutes of weight training.  His goal is to complete approximately 120 reps per muscle group meaning if he does four sets of four exercises he would do 8-10 reps per set to 8 x 4 x 4 = 128 reps.

Since the end of May I’ve been posting fitness tips from my trainer Kris Kranzky from the Boston Sports Club in the South End. These posts serve serve as a reminder for me to take time to work out and maximize my fitness routine and diet.  I hope you find these tips interesting too.

Following up on last week’s tip, A Sensible Diet is Key, Kris encourages us all to be more aware of what we are consuming. If you do not know a licensed nutrition, you can check out this nifty daily caloric expenditure website to determine how many calories you should consume each day.  According to this tool, I burn approximately 2,800 calories a day so if I want to lose weight I need to consume slightly less than this and if I want to build muscle mass I need to consume slightly more.

Kris is quick to caution that those calories should not be saved for foods with little nutritional value and he suggests natural foods like fruits, vegetables and lean proteins.

Work has been busier than usual and my time at the gym has suffered (that’s a nice way of saying I’ve not been going). While huffing and puffing my way through my first workout in more than a week my trainer asked me, “Have you given any thought to what sort of fitness goals you’d like to set for yourself?”  UGH… really? I was just trying to not embarrass myself by gasping and groaning too loudly.

However after my work out it got me to thinking about setting some goals in terms of activities (e.g. setting a minimum number of workouts per week) as well as fitness goals that can be monitored and <gulp> measured. Are you trying to set some personal fitness goals? Misery does enjoy company – do tell.

For the past few weeks I’ve been posting fitness tips from my trainer Kris Kranzky from the Boston Sports Club in the South End.  In previous week’s tips have included: scheduling time to work out, finding the right balance, and mixing up your work out routine.  This week’s tip deals more with decisions made outside of the gym.

A sensible diet is key: It is important to consume a variety of carbs, fats and proteins in your diet. Try to eat a range of fresh fruits, vegetables and lean proteins.  Natural sources of fat from foods like avocados, olives, nuts and types of fish in moderation is okay too.  As a rule of thumb, your total fat consumption should be 15-30% of total daily calorie intake.

Last week’s tip.