Along with the monetary investment there are other reasons to choose to work with a personal trainer. Personal trainers can help you to achieve your fitness goals faster and safer than if you worked on them on your own.

Finding a personal trainer should be like finding a doctor. You want to make sure they are certified, knowledgeable, understand your goals and have a personality that fits with yours. You have to feel comfortable with your trainer and trust them. It make take a few trials until you find the trainer that is right for you. Try not to get discouraged, there is a trainer out there who will be the perfect fit for you.

The first step is to have an assessment with your trainer. They will go over basic exercises to assess your fitness level. They will also discuss with you your health history, any injuries and what your fitness goals are. After the assessment you should sit down with your trainer so they can go over their plan, the exercises and the timeline to reach your goals.

At your first session after the assessment the trainer will teach you some of the exercises that you will be performing throughout your fitness plan. Make sure you listen carefully and watch their instruction. By following exactly what your trainer is telling you, you will avoid injury and will be more efficient in your exercise routine.

A trainer can also make your workouts more fun and interesting by changing your normal routine. We often get comfortable in our routine and it can become mundane but with a trainer their extensive knowledge in fitness allows them to develop more creative workouts which in turn motivate us to keep coming back. Using your trainers experience also creates a more effective workout. You will no longer waste time thinking of what to do when you get to the gym. Your trainer will already have their plan for you established so every minute of your time at the gym is used for physical activity instead of thinking and planning.

Personal trainers will also motivate you while you’re doing the exercises that they’ve prescribed. They can help to push you to keep going, count your reps so you don’t lose track and help you adapt you exercises as you go to reduce the risk of injury.

Now it’s time to take your first time towards better fitness. Speak to a consultant at your local gym and set up an initial assessment with a personal trainer. You have nothing to lose and better fitness to gain.

Women are predisposed to store and retain fat. It’s in the genes. Women have higher levels of estrogen, a hormone that works to keep the fat on a woman’s body so it’s easier for her to get pregnant. That means women have to work harder to lose weight at the same rate as men. Women also have a smaller lung capacity than men, which can make women feel as though they are working harder than men even if the women are working at the same level. This can also make exercise feel harder in the heat or high humidity.

There is a difference in body composition. Every pound of lean body mass you have burns about 14 calories a day, while every pound of fat you have only burns about 2 calories. So, the more muscle you carry (and the less fat) the greater your daily calorie burn. There’s the benefit for men, not only are their bodies bigger, they tend to carry more muscle than women do too.

So what it boils down to is, the number of calories it takes for the average man to maintain his weight is higher than it is for the average woman. And that can be a big advantage to men when it comes to weight loss. A heavy-set guy who maintains his weight on 2500 calories a day can cut out 1000 calories or so from his daily intake, still have a reasonable 1500 calories to spend on his meals and snacks, and drop a couple of pounds a week. While, on the other hand a woman struggling to maintain her weight might be maintaining on only 1600 calories or so. To lose weight safely, she shouldn’t cut her intake to less than 1200 calories a day – cutting only 400 calories.

For either male or female, here are some weight loss tips that will help:

1. Eliminate sugar. If you need to sweeten things up, try using honey.
2. Exercise a ½ hour each day for 5 days out of the week.
3. Eat more vegetables.
4. Stop eating unhealthy snacks and living a sedentary life.
5. Avoid high calorie and high cholesterol foods (no deep fried, creamy, breaded options).

Men and women are different beings, different compositions – it requires different work to get to the healthy weight you want. Eat healthy, have a good workout routine and patience. You’ll reach your goals with hard work and determination. Speak to your Doctor or fitness trainer to get more tips on weight loss and healthy eating.

However, a few hours later, you may start to feel worse as you start to experience a soreness that you feel when you’re walking– and you may even start to question if you want to work out anymore. This pain can last for days, especially if you tried out a new exercise that your body wasn’t used to. The pain leads to muscle tension, and you know if you exercise through the pain, you can cause you body some real damage.

So what happens if you’re always sore, but you don’t want to skimp on the gym? Here, we will give you five tips to help soothe your damaged muscles, repair torn tissue, and improve the relaxation in your muscles and your blood flow. Following these tips will help you speed up your recovery and reduce your muscle soreness, which will help you return to the gym sooner.

1. Eat a Banana

In order to fight dehydration, it is important to get enough potassium in your diet. This will also help you avoid getting muscle cramps during your workout. When you fight post-workout dehydration with potassium, you can avoid any severe muscle cramps that may come after a workout.Most Americans are deficient in potassium, so it’s important to include potassium-rich foods such as bananas in the diet. One medium banana will add 400 mg of potassium to your day’s diet, which is about 11% the daily value of potassium.

2. Take Hot and Cold Showers

To help soothe achy muscles, alternate between hot and cold water in the shower. The contrast in temperature helps fight tension and improve blood flow. Switch from hot to cold every 30 to 40 seconds.Doing these switches about ten times is enough to have an effect. As you get more used to each extreme temperature, increase the intensity to create an external ‘pumping’ of blood by cooling your muscles and then heating them. This will help bring fresh blood into your muscles for a faster recovery.

3. Soak in Salt Water

Taking a hot bath after your workout will make you feel relaxed because the hot temperatures pull the toxins out of your skin. As the water starts to cool down, the toxins are released from your body through your skin. A bath also helps to soothe aches and pains, increase blood flow, and relaxes your mind.Adding Epsom salt to your bath helps alleviate soreness, muscle cramps and pain, inflammation, and aches. Epsom is a magnesium sulfate, which is a natural muscle relaxer. When it is in a salt form, it pulls water and lactic acid away from any injured tissues to help reduce swelling. Fill your bathtub with warm water and add 2 cups of Epsom salt before soaking in it for at least 15 minutes.

4. Drink Tart Cherry Juice

Tart cherry juice is high in antioxidants, and research has shown that it can reduce muscle pain and weakness following a tough strength training routine. Drinking 12 ounces of tart cherry juice can also reduce the pain associated with exercise-induced muscle damage after a weight-lifting session. Experts believe this to be true due to the high levels of polyphenolic compounds that are present in tart cherry juice, such as flavonoids and anthocyanin. Keep this juice at home so you can drink it as soon as you get back from the gym.If you can’t stomach tart cherry juice, watermelon juice is a reasonable alternative. It tastes good and it is great for replenishing your electrolytes after you workout. Studies have shown that drinking about 16 ounces of watermelon juice after a tough workout can reduce muscle soreness because watermelon is rich in l-Citrulline, which is an amino acid that has been known to help with muscle soreness.

5. Use a Foam Roller

Using a foam roller can break up any tension in your muscles and fight muscle soreness. Foam rolling can hurt a bit during the process, but it will alleviate pain and muscle tightness in the long run and help to prevent you from experiencing an injury in the future. You can even work a very specific muscle by switching a foam roller for a hard ball such as a lacrosse ball.When you apply pressure to a knot in your muscle, the elastic fibers disperse back to their true alignment, which will help you get into lengthening positions with better body alignment and restore your proper movement patterns.