Personal Training No. 3: Dirty Thirty

For those of you that love to know what my personal fitness training is…here you go. Brandon, my trainer is here to help you guys get into summer shape. I have asked him to explain and give you guys some of the same routines we go through together. Enjoy.

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Time. Most of us don’t have enough of it. When time gets crunched, our workouts are often the things that get squeezed out. But keeping on top of your fitness game doesn’t have to be a huge time commitment. If you think that you need to spend an hour of cardio and another hour hitting weights to get a complete workout in, then you’re missing out. In fact I’ve trained quite a few clients with 30 minute sessions and seen awesome improvements in their fitness and body composition. Consistency is the most important aspect in your fitness routine. Don’t wait for the perfect time or when you’re feeling really motivated. Those times are rare…in everyone’s lives. If you’re struggling to make it to the gym on a regular basis, commit to 30 minutes, three times a week for now. Put it in your calendar and set reminders. Tell your friends. Whatever you need to do to stay on track. It’ll get easier to keep your workout schedule the longer you do it. Before long it’ll be automatic and you won’t know how you got along without your regular sweat sessions. Here’s a 30 minute workout to get you started. I’ve even included some modifications to increase or decrease the challenge for some exercises dependent on your current fitness level. And the best part; NO gym and NO equipment required. Just your body and some space is all you need. Seriously, no more excuses now. Also, once you’ve gone through this program, go check out Fitness Blender for hundreds of other workouts you can do. Many of which you can do at home with little or no equipment. They have really great stuff, awesome website layout, and it’s updated constantly.

PROTIP: People often ask me “when’s the best time to work out?” My answer is always, whenever you can. There is no ideal time of day, but from my experience doing it first thing in the morning is the best way to keep on track. If that’s what you’re struggling with. Biggest reason is waiting until later in the day will always result in something popping up that will keep you from working out. Whether it’s a late meeting, impromptu happy hour, or any one of a thousand possible scenarios. No matter how determined you are to get your session done late in the day, sometimes (all the time) life throws you curveballs that you have to react to. There’s also research showing our will power becomes weaker throughout the day. So by 6pm, getting the drive to workout takes way more mental effort, than if you just get it out of the way early.

“But Brandon, I HATE mornings.” I hear ya, no one has ever accused me of being a morning person either. So if you find getting up earlier and doing a 30 minute workout is just impossible, then make it easier. Tell yourself you’ll do 10 minutes of it. Or even just 15 squats. Whatever you feel you can manage. But, and here’s the key, do it EVERY morning. Is 15 squats going to change your life and transform you into a fitness freak? Probably not, but if you do it every day you’re building habits, and good habits, like working out, WILL change your life eventually. You can always add to your routine later, once being consistent becomes more automatic.

-Brandon Cole