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The simple truth is that strength training, including abdominal, chest, arm and leg exercises, paired with an ample amount of cardiovascular training is a vital part of any fitness regimen. However, it is important that you don’t forget the significance of back training to be a pertinent part of your training session. People, women especially, have a tendency to ignore any exercise that has to do with the muscles of the back despite the fact that these muscles are the foundation to strengthening other smaller and larger muscles groups in the body. In fact, there are no movements in exercise or everyday life that do not require at least some contribution from the muscles of your back

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The Truth About Your Back. The muscles of the back are essential to movement of your spine, but they also move your neck, shoulders, hips, head, arms and pelvis. The three groups of back muscles (lower, upper, and deep spinal) all come together to move and stabilize the vertebrae, tilt the pelvis back and forth, and assist in all pulling movements. Because the back is made up of nerves, bones, ligaments and tendons, it is susceptible to unwanted pain. Back injuries, including strains and sprains, are one the more common types of pain in grown-ups and are the number one disability for people under the age of 45. Cardio paired with exercises with regard to the back, performed on a regular basis, should reduce and in many cases prevent these injuries. How’s that for motivation to “back” in to these posterior moves?

BENEFITS OF BUSTING BACK MOVES Aside from looking great as you walk away, incorporating back exercises into your workout can improve your health in a number of ways. They help to improve posture, enhance activities of daily living, promote muscular balance within the body, reduce the risk of injury and enrich overall physical performance,

As with any strength training exercise, back workouts can boost metabolism and assist in overall weight loss by burning fat faster and increasing the amount of lean muscle mass in the body. So, if you are ready to get your best back by enhancing physical capacity and lead an overall active lifestyle, just do it; put your back into it.

Here is a sample set you might want to try.

To help figure out how heavy your weights should be, your muscles should fatigue (get tired) before 12 repetitions. Take into account that when using heavier resistance and performing fewer repetitions, the rest period between sets will be longer. Try not to work the back muscles on consecutive days.

As always, don’t hesitate to contact a trainer her at the Gym of Buckhead or reach out to us on Facebook. We are here to help you succeed.

Each person that walks into our gym has their own reasons for doing so. They may be new to exercise- looking for a place to start, they might be training for an athletic event, or they might want to simply relieve built up stress from a long day of work.

One of the most common mistakes that people make when beginning a fitness routine is neglecting certain vital parts of fitness. Their goal might be to burn fat so they spend all of their time on the cardio machines. They might want to bulk up & gain muscle so they lift weights until they are green in the face. There are even those who don’t exercise at all and count calories faithfully.

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It’s important to know that while each of these methods will absolutely help you reach your goal, working them independently will only result in short term results. Yes, eating 500 calories a day will make you lose weight but you won’t keep it off. Sure, lifting weights for 5 hours a day will build muscle but you risk injury and overtraining them. Running 5 miles a day will absolutely burn calories to shed fat but without muscles mass you decrease your metabolism; making your body work harder to keep the fat off.

The point is that there are 4 components of exercise that everyone should keep in mind no matter what their end goal may be.

1. Cardio Endurance /Aerobic Training – Exercise that requires oxygen (swimming, running, walking, jumping etc…)

2. Resistance Training / Anaerobic Training – Exercise that doesn’t require oxygen (lifting free weights, using weight lifting machine, using your own body weight as resistance)

3. A Balanced Diet- Eating a clean diet that full of essential nutrients that our body needs. Reducing refined and processed foods.

4. Rest & Recovery: Giving our body & muscles enough time to heal between workouts and/or sessions. (example: Being sure not to work the same muscle group on consecutive days or scheduling in a complete day off from exercise)

Make sure your fitness regimen consists of all of these things and remember we always have someone available to answer any question you might have.

One of the first things we think of when health or fitness is a topic of discussion is how much we weigh.  As Americans, we are often obsessed with our weight.  I see both men and women who come to the gym and weigh themselves every time they are here.  Our body weight does fluctuate, especially if you’re a female, so our weight may vary a little on a daily basis, even depending on what time of day it is, what you’ve had to eat or drink, if you’ve already exercised or how much sleep you got the night before.  So, your weight depends on a lot of factors that are not consistent from day to day.

As a fitness professional, let me help you to think outside of the box a little bit and consider something else that affects your fitness level and your health more than just your weight:  body composition.  Did you watch Dancing with the Stars several seasons ago when model Paulina Porizkova was voted off the show in the first week because she couldn’t even support her own frame to dance?  She is a top model and looks absolutely fantastic, but didn’t have enough muscle to dance.  This is exactly my point!  Some of us who don’t look like a model may actually be in better condition health and fitness-wise then others who look like they belong in a magazine.  Ultimately, you should take a multi-pronged approach toward your long-term health:  nutrition, cardiovascular exercise and weight training.  I find that most people are lacking in the weight training area; maybe because they don’t know where to start, they are weight training but not getting the results they want or (usually women) think they will look like a body builder if they lift weights.  The truth is that building lean muscle mass not only keeps your metabolism humming because it is metabolically active, but you will feel confident and strong as you go about your daily activities.

I’m happy to give you a free consultation to help you assess your program and give you some pointers or help you develop a plan to move you toward the healthy and fit self that you want to be!

Pam Leinmiller Gym of Buckhead Certified Trainer

“Hearty” Facts for Women

By Pam Leinmiller Gym of Buckhead Certified Trainer

February is American Heart Month and heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide in both men and women. The most alarming thing about this is that diet and exercise can both positively affect an individual’s risk, even if their genetics are working against them. (More on this in a future post.) Women are not well-represented in studies, often present with different symptoms than men and hence are often misdiagnosed when they are having a heart attack. They also may have symptoms before the actual heart attack and could circumvent an actual attack if aware of them.
The women’s major symptoms prior to their heart attack included:
• Unusual fatigue – 70%
• Sleep disturbance – 48%
• Shortness of breath – 42%
• Indigestion – 39%
• Anxiety – 35%
Major symptoms during the heart attack include:
• Shortness of breath – 58%
• Weakness – 55%
• Unusual fatigue – 43%
• Cold sweat – 39%
• Dizziness – 39%
Check out the full American Heart Association article Prevention Guidelines Help Predict Women’s Cardiovascular Risk
Pam is an AFAA Certified Biggest Loser Pro registered at www.BiggestLoserPro.com, a Certified Personal Fitness Trainer at the Gym of Buckhead, and a Certified Boot Camp Instructor. You can contact her at Pam@ThinkMoveLive.com or 888-868-0879

We are excited to start our new blog on the Gym of Buckhead web site.  Please check back soon as we start updating the blog on a regular basis.  Comment are always welcomed to be left after each post.