Personal Training with Cody

Everyone thinks a trainer is completely obsessed with working out and looks forward to it everyday. Truth is, I HATE working out. It sucks! the struggle I find myself having is being in the gym after a long day of training clients and then finding the time to workout myself. A simple trick that works for me to help keep me motivated is I have some clients that would sometimes rather work out with a partner, so i develop a workout that we can do together so that I don't have a choice but to workout.

Another way I find motivation is based on how my body is feeling. It pays to be in tune with your body and when it needs attention in certain areas. I have certain muscles that like to tighten up from time to time so when I start to feel like my body is fighting against me, I focus on certain areas more than others to get my body feeling like it should. Perfect example would be going to my weekly yoga class just to force myself to get some solid stretching in. Sometimes the trainer needs a little motivation just like the rest of you. I just can't let them beat me of course.

What motivates you?

A potential client asked me the other day what the hardest part of my job was, and i was taken back by this because I have never been put on the spot about that question before. After thinking long and hard I settled on the difficulty to try and get someone who has a very bad relationship with food to change their mindset. It is easy to say "I'll just eat healthy," but that is easier said than done. I have found that there is no set answer to this question and different techniques work for different people.

Another difficult aspect to my job would have to be with the psychology end of things. In being a personal trainer, people tend to open up to you and you build a certain trust with clients that turns into a long term friendship. Sometimes people open up about difficult subjects to talk about and I find myself looking for words of encouragement to help people get through the struggles of life. I tackled this situation in 2 ways. The most important in my mind is to just simply listen to people and not try to solve their problems for them. The second thing I did was become life coach certified, this simply gave me a better understanding of how to communicate with people more effectively and also helped me to stay focused on the the workout I was putting people through rather than just rambling away and getting side tracked.

To all the trainers out there, what are your struggles? Leave me a comment or message me directly if you feel like sharing.

Life happens. Stress and anxiety can build up and have a lot of negative influences on our bodies as well as our minds. Stress can prevent you from reaching your goals and put you into a dark place especially in the winter season. Exercise is a great way to help manage stress on an amazing level and here is why:

Exercising releases endorphins which is your “happy hormones” which in turn can help eliminate stress hormones (cortisol) so that your brain and body feel better to tackle the stresses of life. Even a simple 10 minute brisk walk can lead to the release of endorphins. So if you have a pretty stressful job and an extra 10 minutes to spare after lunch, a quick boost of endorphins could help you manage the rest of the day and supply your body with the energy it needs.

Going out to eat is tough when trying to eat good. Most restaurants tend to have huge portions causing you to over eat. Here are a few tricks that you can do when going out to eat to cut back on calories.

• A good way to not over eat when at a restaurant is to split a meal with someone, this will cut the portion size in half and also save some money in the process if you split the bill with someone else
• As soon as you sit down at the table drink 2 full glasses of water right away to fill up your stomach with fluid so there is less room for that big portion of food

• Jumping jacks (1 min)
• High knees (1 min)
• Windmills (1 min)
• Walking planks (1 min)

Each exercise is performed back to back with no breaks. Break for 1 min after each set and repeat 4 times.

The Daily Ab Routine

• 20 Windmills
• 20 Heel taps
• 20 Bicycle kicks

Repeat 3 times through with no breaks.

Food prep is an easy, effective way to eating healthy and staying or getting in shape. There are so many different ways to food prep. Prepared food can be made and thrown right into tupperware for an easy meal that you can grab as you head out the door. Here are some of my favorite combinations of prepared food that I make on Sunday nights right before the work week starts.

• Flank steak­ - Seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic. I use my cast iron skillet and get it really hot and then seer each side of it for 1 minute. Then baked at 375 degrees for 10­-12 minutes based on how thick the meat is.
• Jasmine Rice­ - Cooked as per directions
• Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower

• Baked chicken breast
• Red potatoes­ - I usually steam these as well just because they are easier to reheat
• Steamed green beans -­ I use salt, pepper, and garlic in both the green beans and potatoes. You will start to notice that I put garlic on just about everything.

• Teriyaki turkey breast tenderloins -­ Seasoned with 2 tbsp of teriyaki sauce, garlic (of course), salt, pepper, and I usually add a little bit of ginger. I use my cast iron skillet and cook these right on the stove
• Red potatoes­ fried in a cast iron skillet with a salt free seasoning (from costco) and garlic with some olive oil
• Steamed vegetable medley­ - I use mixed bags of frozen veggies with coconut oil, salt, and pepper

So many people think that in order to lose that stubborn fat you have to starve yourself combined with TONS of working out. Doing this actually has more negative side effects than positive. If you exercise a lot and are not giving your body the fuel it needs (food), then your body’s stress horomone called cortisol will rise causing a variety of issues when it comes to losing weight or building muscle. Fatigue in the muscles, sleeplessness, joint and muscle pain, and the ability for the body to heal itself are just some of the issues caused by not giving the body enough food.

Ways to remember to eat:

• Planning your meals or making a “menu” for the week in advance is a great way to stay on track with eating if you find yourself skipping meals.
• Another great way to to make sure you are giving the body what it needs is to food prep your meals. At the start of the week you have an easy grab and go meal right as you head out the door. Check out my “Food Prep” blog for ideas on what you can do to help yourself stay on track
• Just about every phone now a days has the ability to set an alarm. Use this feature and set alarms for yourself to remind yourself that it is time to eat a meal.