Frequently asked questions for personal training:

It depends. No matter your goal, you should always properly warm up prior to exercise for injury prevention. This includes an aerobic activity, preferably full body, that lasts at least 6 minutes in duration. If your main goal is to lose weight and burn fat, prioritize your energy around cardiovascular training and do this first. Important to note, you most likely won’t have energy for resistance training. You can prioritize aerobic days over resistance training. If your main goal is to build muscle, perform your aerobic warm up, I prefer 1000m rowing on concept 2, perform your weight lifting, and do slow and steady cardio for at least 20 minutes at the end. You won’t burn many calories, but the majority of the calories you are burning will most likely be fat. Resistance training burns carbs, slow and steady cardio is best to burn fat calories.

No, most likely lifting won’t make you bulky. It takes a lot of focus, proper nutrition, training regimen, and sleep cycles to build muscle mass. There are specific sets and reps, along with specific movements like squats and deadlifts, that can build muscle mass and stimulate human growth hormone. Most women who are scared will learn that consistent weight lifting will only shape your body, firm it, tone it, and increase your overall lean body mass and lower fat mass. Some women can feel even more feminine with their new shapely curves from weight lifting and resistance training.

The least amount of exercise prescribed to maintain homeostatic health conditions are : walking at least 3x a week for 15 minutes, and at least 2x a week resistance training for 30 minutes, full body work out. That is not specific to goals, only recommendations for proper health. Most people who want to lose weight and tone up should walk at least 20-30 minutes each day for weight loss. In terms of weight lifting, at least three weight lifting workouts lasting 45-60 minutes in duration. These workouts can be three full body work outs, or one upper, one lower, and one full body. Each major muscle group should be training with resistance at least twice a week. Active stretches should be performed prior to exercise, and static stretching at the end.

It depends, what are your goals? The typical metabolic equation for metabolism is your body weight multiplied by 10, plus or minus 200 calories. For example, if l weigh 150lbs my metabolism is most likely between 1300-1700 calories burned in one day. I would not assign calories until I tracked for three days and calculated an average caloric intake from the three days. I would manipulate my calories from there either up or done, but not drastic moves in either direction. If you are under-eating in calories, and you can figure this out from an online BMR calculator, then you will add 100 calories each week until you reach proper caloric intake for your exercise regimen and over all activities of daily living. If you are over eating and want to lose weight, a healthy caloric deficit is 300-500 calories. It’s important to note to keep up protein intake and not to slash too many calories that your work outs are low energized and you have difficulty achieving results. Personally, I believe most people should match what their body is burning total in one day for energy optimization and if you are worried about doing this, eat high quality foods(vegetables, fruits, lean meats, avocados, nuts, etc. ) to minimize any potential weight gain. My weight ranges from 115-117lbs and I have always eaten about 1900 to 2000 calories a day, and sometimes more on intense exercise days.

Stretching can be painful, however, it is a mild to moderate pain that should not exceed a 6 on a 10 scale. The pain is temporary and only lasts several seconds to minutes. Cupping can sting as soon as the cups go on, but this too subsides within seconds or minutes. Clients can be sore from suction, the tighter the muscle is the more the suction. The temporary discomfort is worth the results. It takes new, temporary pain to alleviate old and chronic pain. The more the client is stretched and has recovery sessions, the less pain of each modality.

It depends. Most personal training clients can see visible changes in their physical appearances by 4-6 weeks. People can lose several pounds in one week, and gain 1-2 lbs of muscle a week with the right training and proper nutrition. The first results most people experience is overall feeling better and getting stronger. Strength goes up pretty quickly due to practice and neurological connections being made. Starting an exercise program can increase blood flow and circulation and the delivery of oxygen to all cells and tissues. It can improve mood and sleep. In terms of recovery, people can see drastic results within one session. People tend to feel looser, more relaxed, able to walk better, and overall improve in the original issue they came in for.

The average span for personal training for most individuals is 3 months. It’s not to say clients don’t train for longer, years even, but given costs of training, most people commit to 3 months. I have trained many people for years at a time and still am, the longest client I have ever had was over 10 years of training and recovery.

Technically, you should not take any supplements unless you are deficient in something. If you know you are not consuming enough fruits and vegetables to reach micronutrient goals, then take a multivitamin. If you have high cholesterol, omega 3s are recommended. If you are not reaching your protein goals, you can supplement with protein powder like whey or casein. I will note, I no longer consume protein powder. I used it for years and years and now the thought of it is not appetizing to me. I prefer to eat natural sources of protein. Creatine is just about the only supplement that has been scientifically proven to be effective. Creatine's purpose is to provide energy, specifically with workouts. However, I believe it makes people bloated looking and the pros don’t outweigh the cons. Any time I have worked with men who have stopped taking creatine, they instantly drop weight and it is very noticeable.