What is the key to fitness success and how can a Personal Trainer help you get there?

Some thoughts on fitness, inspired this month by Melanie Zimmerman, Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor

 As we head into Spring, we’re going to be talking a lot about the “Countdown to Summer”.  Don’t get me wrong – I want you to look hot for summer, but your commitment to fitness has to be for 12 months a year! Nothing will change unless you are willing to change your mindset. A new outlook is not a temporary or seasonal thing. The first key to fitness success is consistency. As the seasons change, it is natural to change what we eat a little bit, and changing up our workouts periodically is a good thing. But our commitment to fitness, which means not only exercise, but also healthy nutrition, has to be consistent. This is a lifelong change we need to make, and our outlook needs to be long-term! Make the commitment to be your best from now on!

Getting into a routine, whether it’s with a set schedule of classes, or a combination of classes and workouts with a trainer is the first step toward your fitness goals. Having appointments booked out with a personal trainer can really help here, because you know, if nothing else, you’ve got your session scheduled, and that appointment will at least get you through the door!

What you do once you’re here at the gym is another quandary that a personal trainer can resolve for you. Everybody is different, and we should not compare ourselves to others when searching for our fitness answers. What is effective for one person isn’t always the answer for someone else, and not everyone has the same goal. That’s when as trainers, we come in to help evaluate body type and habits to help you reach your personal goal. Not everyone is looking to lose weight.  We have clients that are comfortable with their weight, but who are looking to maintain muscular balance for lifestyle purposes, or are looking to strengthen while dealing with an injury. Injury is no reason to be completely sedentary. Anything is possible – a good trainer knows how to work around injury.  – Mel Z.

Why Should You Work with a Trainer?

1. 1) A personal trainer will help you address all the components of fitness – muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, cardiovascular health, and body composition. A well-rounded approach is essential in the long run for your overall health.
2. 2) Another perk of working with a trainer is the accountability. When you know someone is going to ask you what you’ve done the past few days for exercise and how your eating has been, it affects the choices you make all week! Mel has a continuous group chat with her “Get R I P P E D” crew – they help each other make better food choices, talk each other off the ledge, share recipes and occasionally share a little food porn!
3. 3) Our instructors and trainers often take sessions with other trainers as a way to stay motivated and work hard. You will always work harder and better with a trainer than you will on your own. (There is the occasional exception to this rule, but it is true for most of us!) For example, Rosa Montemarano is a fitness professional as a spin instructor here at Healthy Fit. She is knowledgeable about fitness and nutrition, has worked with trainers before, and has participated in various fitness events like the Mudderella. Nevertheless, as she started working out with Mel, she found a new level of strength and commitment within herself. Here are her words about this new stage in her fitness life:

“I’m super excited and wanted to thank you for your support in this journey. I had been struggling for a long time with my weight and body image, which I still work hard on every day. Having the opportunity to work with Mel, even if it has been once a week with a few setbacks over the last few months, she has been able to break me down almost to tears during our sessions and continues to show me my abilities I didn’t even know I had. This week we made a breakthrough when it was time to face the dreaded scale and measuring tape. I was reluctant to bring up my calories because I thought there was NO way possible I could lose weight eating that much. Mel believes in BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)  and that I wasn’t eating enough – my body was holding on to whatever fat was there. Lesson learned: if you don’t feed your body enough, your metabolic rate slows down and you can hit a plateau.  BMR is math and science… and it works! 

I must say Jamie, you were the perfect matchmaker for me, linking me up with an amazing personal trainer and motivator. It’s always something new and challenging. I leave our sessions feeling like I can do a tough mudder(after cooling down and recovering of course)!!! 

I am a big believer in self-care for others and find it difficult to make sure I do that for myself. I have finally found that 40-45 minutes every week with Mel is my own self-care” – Rosa

We all, even fitness professionals, need a little support sometimes – find yours! Whether it’s a new friend in spin class or a personal trainer, the community at Healthy Fit is here to help you. Schedule your exercise for the week and commit! Embrace fitness and good eating as your new “normal” and move toward the best version of yourself that you can be – you deserve nothing less!

Submitted by Jamie LeVine & Kelly Dianni

Photographs by Amy Carelli

*Results may vary by member