Guest post from Tracy's trainer Stephanie Joanne:

In my experience people generally overthink the process of getting started with exercises. Step one is to wrap you head around the idea that if you must incorporate weight training into your program especially if you want to shed body fat.

I had the wonderful opportunity of working with Heidi as she reached out and shared with CityLine that she has been religiously visiting the gym for years with no results. She shared that she would love to work with a trainer and get the low down on how to kick her fitness plateau. Personal Trainers are a wonderful as they can guide you through your different phases of training and provide answers to what is (or in this case is not) happening to your body. In my opinion, working out is all about maximizing your time while doing so. I like BIG results in as little time as possible! There is no need to spend hours and hours in the gym, but there is a need to dedicate the right amount of time doing the right things.

Heidi had been doing classes for 3 years with little change to her routine. She was in the gym up to 5 times a week with no significant results. Think of health and fitness as a big pie (funny I use baked goods as examples in my fitness articles...) exercise is just a slice of the pie, nutrition, lifestyle and environment can make even bigger slices. However for the purposes of this article I will focus on exercise.

Important to note however, that Heidi’s previous efforts at the gym were not a waste of time as she may have started to feel based on her lack of results. Even without visual gains, each time she visited the gym she positively contributed to her health. I am well aware however that Heidi, similar to 90% of my clients (Tracy Moore previously included) simply want to lose the fat. You want to lose the belly, see results and watch your hard work unfold in front of you.... I get that. The good news you should be seeing result providing you have the right ingredients in all your slices of your pie.

We have all heard of the Plateau, a point in time where your gains become stagnant and any changes feel nearly impossible. This means your body needs change. Don't do the same thing over and over again and expect to see a different result. The body needs to be shocked! What does this mean? Simple, a change in program. Heidi has been doing the same circuit for years and blasting through it with relative ease and minimal fatigue.

I'm here to the rescue! Last week she came down all the way to Extreme Fitness Dundas to get some help with a new routine.

Here is part of her original e-mail letting us know what her old program entailed..

"On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I start out by doing 15 to 30 mins of Cardio on the treadmill or the elliptical then I do the circuit training.  I us a weight so that at the ninth rep I have to use all the muscle I can.  If I had done 30 mins of cardio once I complete the circuit I go back to the treadmill and do another 15 min and If I started out doing 15 min cardio I go back to the treadmill  and do another 30min for a total of 45min of cardio a day. On Tuesday and Thursday I go in and do only the 45min cardio."

This is 5 days a week with 3 of those days being over 1.5 hours. I hope you're happy to hear me say this is way too much!

Heidi’s new program (for the next 6-8 weeks)

Interval Training is periods of high intensity followed by periods of low intensity. I have included full body interval training with active rest that keeps her moving the entire time. Also I have switched her from counting repetitions (the amount of times she performs each exercises) to timed workouts. The goal is intensity! This new workout 45 minutes only 3 times a week!

Warm up 5 minutes (anything you want...treadmill, bike, dance to your favorite song)

*Everything here is performed for 1 minute no stopping (for a demonstrations of these exercises please visit my the blog on my website under Heidi workout)

Squats
Lunges
Standing Row
Pushups
Upright Row
Shoulder Press
Bicep curl
Triceps extension

Cardio (Jumping jacks, step ups, skipping anything that brings that heart rate up)

Repeat 3-4 times and finish with core work and stretch

This should be intense. My general rule of thumb to gauge your efforts is that you should be more that able to carry a conversations with someone but you REALLY don't want to.

Heidi and I completed this workout in less than 40 minutes and she was wiped. In 4-6 weeks this workout will slowly become easier for her (she doesn't believe this yet but it will) then its time to change it up again!  

Remember not to over think this, just remember not to do the same thing all the time. If it no longer feels difficult and you have been doing the same thing for a while its time to switch it up! Remember to have fun and enjoy your journey of fitness.

Also, stay tuned to see what Tracy’s new workout routine will be starting August 1st! We are switching it up again....she doesn't quite know what she’s in for yet (insert my evil laugh)!

Yours in (natural) health,

Stephanie Joanne
www.stephaniejoanne.com
Twitter: @stefjoanne
www.extremefitness.ca