Excuse #4 My back hurts ( insert photo )
Living an inactive lifestyle can cause tremendous back pain. The right exercises to your back, shoulders, and neck can drastically improve these issues. Avoid exercises that directly cause pain but don’t let that stop you from working around the injury and finding ways to strengthen other supporting muscle groups.
Excuse #5 I’m Thin Already ( insert photo )
Even if your weight is in a healthy range, you may have an excess percentage of body fat and a low percentage of muscle mass....that’s what they call SKINNY FAT. Weight is just one indicator of good/poor health. Exercise has benefits that you can’t get simply by keeping your weight down. Instead, think about the areas of your body that you can strengthen or improve flexibility.
Thank you Chris for that insight into The Top 5 excuses! I know there are plenty more and many people will be nodding their heads and laughing as they read this because they will be thinking “ ops! I’ve use that one before!”
Now let’s answer some questions from our readers!
Should I stretch before or after my workout?
It’s never a good idea to stretch cold muscles. I’m a big advocate of warming up your muscles properly with some sort of dynamic movement like riding the bike on leg day or really light weight movements at high repetitions for whatever body part you are about to train. Once you’ve warmed up, I then recommend that you stretch in between each set. After my workout, I like to take 5 minutes and do a nice full body stretch to work out any muscle or joint stiffness and help reset the central Nervous system.
Should I eat protein or cards after a workout?
The timing of your foods and supplementation can make all the difference with your results. After your workout it’s a good idea to get some sort of easily digestible protein source (whey protein powder or vegan protein powder) along with
BCAA’s (Branch Chain Amino Acids) for muscle repair and recovery and a fast acting carbohydrate source like a small amount of fruit juice to increase insulin to help deliver the nutrients to your muscle cells. Complex carbohydrates like sweet potato or brown rice are better when consumed after a strength-training workout because it expedites recovery and also allows for greater training volume.
How often can I do abs?
It’s okay to train Abs every day but not necessary. Abs can be trained more frequently than other muscle groups and can often benefit from frequent training but at the same time, I tend to see better results by allowing plenty of time for rest and recovery. I like to choose 3-4 exercises doing 3 sets each and train 2 days on 1 day off or every other day.
As always, thank you for those answers Chris. As always, very powerful! To finish off, Chris has an special announcement that I am very excited to share with everyone. It’s time to let the cat out of the bag, Chris, what can you tell us about the new book your are writing?
I’m happy to announce that I’m currently working on completing my first book that shares a method of sensory work that I believe will dramatically help people shift their lives into a healthier happier state of mind on a daily basis. We have a lot of daily habits that dull our senses and an encourage us to lead a very basic existence that is less than what most people would consider to be acceptable.
This book is designed to wake those senses back up so you can start living the life you deserve. It’s a quick solution that anyone can perform while easily being integrated into your every day life without much interruption.
Well there you have it! Stay tuned for more news about Chris’ new book. For anyone wanting to connect with Chris, please visit his website: www.pmblife.com
And follow his new Social Media channels
Facebook fb.com/PMBLife
Instagram instagram.com/ChrisDiVecchio
Twitter twitter.com/PremierMindBody
I believe we all have our individual battles to fight when it comes to excuses, whether it’s in the fitness industry or life in general. If you are happy where you are, then fantastic! But if you are not, stop making excuses and take action today!
Remember, yesterday is gone, what you did up until 10 seconds ago is done, is finished. What matters is what you do next. So create new goals, make a plan and keep moving forward.
Live, laugh, be bold, take risks & be super mega awesome
Love Always
Elise Quevedo, aka The Digital Ghost Queen
Twitter.com/EliseQuevedo
Instagram.com/EliseQuevedo
Fb.com/EliseQuevedoFanPage
linkedin.com/in/elisequevedo
There is something we are all familiar with when it comes to not achieving goals in life, and that is the excuses we come up with when we miss targets, postpone them or simply feel bad because we did not accomplish it.
The Webster dictionary defines “excuse” as an explanation that frees one from fault or blame.
Personal trainers hear excuses all the time so I asked Premier Mind & Body trainer Chris DiVecchio what his Top 5 workout excuses were and his views on them.
Excuse # 1 Not Enough time
I’ve heard this excuse a million times! The first thing that needs to change is your mindset. Most people work full time and some have families to take care of in addition to that. Truth is, you only need 30-45 minutes if you’re short on time to get a good workout in. If you want something bad enough you’ll make time for it.
Excuse #2 I’ll start next week
Do you have a case of the SOM’s (start on Monday)? Scheduling your workouts and meals is key to actually making them happen. Life happens, don’t let one missed workout or cheat meal throw off your whole week and discourage you from picking up where you left off.