Author: SSAC

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Personal Training

Personal Fitness Training: 5 Tips To Help You Stick To Your Workout Routine

Kettle bell in focus, a man in background doing personal fitness training in the early morning at sunrise.

Staying motivated on your personal journey to fitness has always been one of the hardest aspects of turning your dream body into a reality, but the lockdown restrictions have placed additional obstacles on the road to success. 

Even with gyms soon set to return, it could be several months before true normality returns. That shouldn’t stand in the way of your fitness goals, though, and these simple personal fitness training tips will help you stay on track throughout the months to come.

#1. Set Achievable Personal Fitness Training Goals

Goal-setting is an essential first step on the road to fitness, not least because we all have different aspirations. Whether it’s weight loss or training for a marathon, your workout routines must be aligned to your short, mid, and long-term targets.

In addition to finding suitable objectives, you must try to break things down into manageable steps. The thought of climbing a mountain seems almost impossible, but if you make little bits of progress in each session, you will soon reach the peak. Use a similar model concept by setting targets for individual workouts and the bigger successes will soon follow.

#2. Hire A Personal Trainer

Accountability is more than a buzzword. Unfortunately, most people struggle to take responsibility for their actions in fitness. In turn, it becomes very easy to skip a few workouts, which eventually leads to further problems creeping in until you’re back to square one. 

The motivational support of a personal trainer is just one of many reasons to hire one. They won’t just ensure that you are on the right workout plan, they will actively employ a range of tactics to keep you on it. The value of this extra push has become greater than ever in the post-pandemic world. 

#3. Focus On Fun

Consistency is king if you want to keep progressing towards your long-term goals. Sadly, it is far harder to retain that motivation when workouts feel like a chore. Conversely, when you actively look forward to the sessions, staying consistent becomes easier.

While it may be tempting to follow the workout that you think burns the most calories or builds the most muscle, you must not ignore the fun factor. Even if you lost 10% of the effect in each session, the increased frequency will bring better overall results. Team sports, setting run challenges against friends, and dance classes are all good options. Mix it up.

#4. Know Your Schedule

Nobody sets out on their fitness journey with views of giving up. Unfortunately, life often gets in the way. If you cram too much into your schedule for it to stay sustainable, something will have to give. The harsh reality is that you’ll give up workouts long before your job.

Therefore, it’s important to plan your workouts. Get into the habit of exercising at the same times each week, and it will soon become a habit. Home workouts are great when you are short of time. Likewise, you should align your rest day with the day where you are busiest with work and other life goals.

#5. Celebrate Your Victories

The main focus of getting fitter is to improve your quality of life. So, unless you are an athlete who needs to stay disciplined at all times, you must allow yourself a chance to celebrate your successes. Whether it’s buying a new outfit or treating yourself to a pamper day, those simple rewards can inspire you to keep striving for progress.

Likewise, there’s nothing wrong with letting your hair down for your birthday weekend or another celebration. The key is to build the discipline needed to get back on the proverbial horse ASAP.

Take the first steps to building an effective training plan that you can stick to by checking out our professional PT services today!

Categories
Personal Training

Personal Training: The Benefits of Working Out at Home

Girl carrying out personal training at home do

2021 offers us an opportunity to make a fresh start in our lives in many ways, and fitness is a great example of one of them. Here in the UK, we had all hoped that the new year would also ring in the end of lockdown and the semblance of some sort of everyday normality, but sadly this has not been the case and many of us are going to be stuck at home for at least another month if not longer. 

Staying fit during lockdown seems like the impossible task – and let’s face it – motivation doesn’t come easy. However, you should not be discouraged by being at home over the coming weeks because there are still many ways you can continue to pursue and achieve your personal training and fitness goals from your lounge, spare room or garage. 

Today we want to talk about the benefits of working out at home and why you should consider using professional online personal training services or even some carefully chosen YouTube videos to lose weight and get fit in lockdown. 

You'll Be Happier

The first benefit of working out at home is that you will be happier. Mental health is so important and for many of us since last March, being stuck at home has had a profound effect on our confidence and our mental health. Exercise is known to promote the release of endorphins and serotonin in the body that improves our mood and makes us happier. By doing even 20 minutes of physical activity a day you can see a marked improvement on your mental health. 

You’ll Have More Energy

Energy is hard to come by during lockdown – and a lot of us only have to walk from our bedroom to our spare room to go to work in the morning. To promote productive days and more energy you should wake up half an hour early and do a workout in your living room. Start the day off with a flood of adrenalin and you’ll feel more awake and alert for the day ahead.

You’ll Lose Weight

When considering the online training services Swansea Strength and Conditioning offer as well as the countless YouTube workouts there are out there; your main goal might be weight loss. We all want to lose weight and be happier in our body, and by joining a reputable online personal training service  you will be able to work out and lose weight after gorging at Christmas. Start this year right and focus on making your body a place you are happy to be. 

You'll Become Stronger

If you are looking to improve your fitness and strength then working out at home is a great idea. From bodyweight exercises such as push ups and planks to dumbbell workouts using food tins or wine bottles – you can do a lot from home to improve your strength and get those muscles strong and not to mention toned 

There are countless benefits to working out at home during lockdown, and to find out more about us and the services we can offer you, you should get in touch with us here. Stay safe and be happy and healthy for the year ahead.

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Strength and Conditioning

5 Benefits of Strength and Conditioning Training for Athletes

Weight lifter setting up to do a power clean in the gym in Swansea

One of the most integral pieces of an athlete’s training puzzle is strength & conditioning training. It’s easy to assume that it’s the same for all fitness experts and trainers to ensure that their athletes are going through strength & conditioning training, but there is still an array of athletic and sports coaches out there who get a lot of argument from their athletes as to whether it’s effective at all.

These concerns and arguments often come from the fact that athletes are often told by misguided coaches, gender-bias coaches and even misinformed parents that strength & conditioning training is not necessary, but those opinions are incorrect. Strength & conditioning training is essential for all aspiring athletes and sports players.

Benefits of Strength & Conditioning Training

The benefits of strength and conditioning training are many, and we’ve put together a list of these for you below:

Reducing Injury

Athletes are susceptible to a lot of injury when they are playing sport or taking part in competition. Putting a lot of pressure on the body isn’t always easy, and the constant working on the muscles and bones can take a heavy toll. However, with the right strength-training programme implemented as part of their training, athletes will find that they can better cope with the rigours and stresses of competitive sport and competition.

Improved Flexibility

There’s a common misconception that if you do a lot strength and weight training, your muscles and their range of motion begin to shorten. While this can potentially happen, if the athlete trains correctly doing the right exercises and follwing the correct training techniques and methods, their flexibility will not decrease but actually improve.

Healthy Body Composition

Working with qualified and professional S&C coaches and following the correct strength and conditioning training programme will produce desired results such as muscle gain and body fat loss. By replacing excess body fat with lean, hard, tight muscle, this will dramtically help to achieve a much  healthier body composition. It is worth noting however that nutrition and diet also play an integral role in achieving this.

Improved Resting Metabolism

Athletes are always active, and muscles themselves are active tissues. Every new pound of muscle works to burn up to 40 calories a day even when resting. The athletic metabolic rate can be raised by around 7% or every 3lb of new muscle, and this enables the body to be more efficient. Even when resting, athletes will be working overtime to maintain their new weight goals.

Added Power

For sports players, power is necessary to improve muscle force and movement, and the combination of strength & conditioning for athletes will help to improve the force behind the movement. Larger muscle fibres result in a higher muscle force production, leading to a more powerful and efficient athlete.

 

Without the right level of strength and conditioning training all athletes and sports players, will not be able to enhance their craft and are unlikley to reach their full potential. As highlighted above this type of training comes with numerous benefits and therefore should be an integral part of all athletes and sports players training programmes. However going it alone  with this type of training could not only increase your risk of injury but also seriously hinder your progress and your chances of sporting and athletic success.

As our name suggests,  our team of personal trainers are highly specialised in the field of strength and conditioning training, who are all fully equipped with the industry qualifications, know-how and experience i. Our team work with sports players and athletes of all ages and all levels right across the Swansea area including Gorseinon, Mumbles, Pontardulais, Morriston etc. For more information gives us a call on  07814 731224, email us on info@swansea-strengthandconditioning.co.uk