Fitness

Can't Afford a Personal Trainer? Here Are 5 Things You Need to do to Get In Shape

Can't Afford a Personal Trainer? Here Are 5 Things You Need to do to Get In Shape

Personal training is great. If you have a good trainer you get all the benefits of education, safety and external accountability all wrapped up into one neat and tidy service to make staying consistent with working out virtually guaranteed.

But, sometimes it’s just not in the cards for you. 

Maybe you can’t afford it or maybe you just don’t know any good personal trainers. Whatever the reasons, if that’s the case for you there are still many things you can do to reach your goals!

Here’s a quick list of 5 things you need to do to get in shape if you can’t afford to hire a personal trainer.

How To Become Your Own Coach

How To Become Your Own Coach

Well, it's the Tuesday after Thanksgiving here in Canada and we're just getting into the cool fall weather here in Cambridge, Ontario.

Rach and I went on a walk this morning through a trail by our house and had a good conversation about where we are at in our own fitness journeys. 

At times, because fitness is our business and because we have such high expectations of ourselves, we don't notice how far we've come. 

This past month has been one full of indulgences and opportunities to get off track, yet as we sit here, after 3 weeks of family vacation, a ridiculously busy two weeks after getting home and a turkey filled thanksgiving weekend, both of us are looking and feeling better than ever!

Prioritization: When Life Gets in the Way… Where to Give In and How to Minimize the Damage

Sometimes, life just gets crazy. Between a dinner with friends on Saturday, helping family with some moving preparations on Sunday, and an Australia day party for Rach’s sister on Monday, we had a busy weekend for social events. On top of that we’re creating programs for our first two coaching clients this week, preparing documents for what could be a very good business opportunity and attempting to continue maintaining performance at our full time jobs.

Then, this weekend we’re helping my parents AND my brother move and Rach is working both days. There just seems to be no relief. That doesn’t even bring mention of fitting in our workouts and keeping our nutrition on track.

Needless to say, something has to give.

I’m sure everyone out there has had similar weeks. The question is, how do we prioritize around this?

Pull Day

Pull Day

HERE IS MY PULL-DAY OVERVIEW: 

Pull-ups (strict and modified with rings), bent-over barbell rows, face-pulls and inverted rows with the rings & dog curls :P (if you watched to the very end of the video).

I usually do 3-5 sets around the 10-12 rep range - I love doing voluminous back sessions!

Are You Doing What it Takes to Stay Motivated?: 5 Mistakes That Are Killing Your Motivation for Fat Loss

We’ve all had some goal that we’ve set repeatedly and just can’t seem to stick to. We start out as motivated as we’ve ever been, but before we know it we’ve fallen back into old habits and just can’t seem to work up the energy to keep going. 

What happened? Where did that seemingly endless motivation go? What can we do to avoid this loss of motivation?

In this post we will share 5 mistakes that we’ve come across in our own life that may be preventing you from reaching your fat loss goals.

Why Your Hunger and Cravings are Getting the Best of You: 5 Tips for Minimizing False Hunger and Constant Cravings

When it comes to obtaining fat loss the most difficult part is usually controlling hunger and cravings in order to create a caloric deficit. Sure, figuring out which of the 10,000 systems out there will actually bring results is tough, but once you have that figured out, sticking to a specific amount of food is often the most difficult task. (For help on figuring out which fat loss systems to trust, read this.)  

We all have a limited reserve of willpower and if we want to be successful we must do our best to reduce the amount of willpower required wherever we can so it’s available when we need it.

No matter which fat loss plan you choose, it will inevitably involve some element of resisting temptations at one time or another. In order to avoid those delicious looking cookies or that extra helping of dessert (when it’s not a planned indulgence) keep the tips mentioned below in mind. 

4 Specific Strategies To Keep Caloric Intake In Check

To follow up on our previous post (The 4 Keys to Achieving and Maintaining Fat Loss) this post will cover 4 specific strategies that can be used to keep caloric intake under control with all of the different challenges life throws at us.

Although fat loss is not JUST about calories (see our previous blog post here), creating a caloric deficit is the first area we target when trying to set up a plan specifically for fat loss. The two main ways this can be achieved are by increasing activity or by decreasing food intake. 

Below are 4 strategies that make it much easier to maintain a caloric deficit or caloric maintenance regardless of what life throws at you and without depending on meticulously counting calories or doing hours of cardio. (Neither of which are sustainable long term.)

The 4 Keys to Achieving and Maintaining Fat Loss

It’s a confusing world out there on the internet and the fitness and nutrition scene really is like the Wild West. There is just so much to sort through. For virtually any opinion out there, someone is saying the opposite. What's really required for fat loss? Is it all about calories? Or is it just about eating the right foods and managing your hormones? Who's right? Is either of them right? Are both of them right?

In this post we will address what we have come to believe are the 4 key factors that lead to fat loss and maintaining that fat loss.