Second opinions

Second opinions matter

Even though I have my own in-home Personal Training business I still continue to work at one of the best “medically” structured gyms in the state. And because of my position there I see dozens of members daily and many share with me their stories of dismay.

I meet people whose Physical Therapy was cut off too soon and they never questioned why. Or others that were told nothing further could be done for them and they would just have to live it. We, as a society, for the most part, have forgotten that we are empowered to take ownership over our health and quality of life.

But sad as it is I meet TOO many that just accepted what they were told. I see this more with the older population who grew up with the belief that doctors were the experts and the final say on care.

Let me share some personal stories of clients that were told nothing else could be done and then they were lucky enough to see me.

1) One client just went through breast cancer surgery and was given the drug Tamoxin. It is given as preventative maintenance for 5 years after breast cancer surgery. Standard protocol. My client was told that the Charlie horses that were keeping her up every night and I mean every night would be something that she had to live with – it was a known side effect. After three sessions with me she sleeps through every night and is still on the medication. I have given back her life when others said deal with it. All she needed was the proper massage to fix her. She was looking at 5 years of this. I fixed her in three hours.
2) My stroke victim client has her right side paralyzed from a stroke 11 years ago. She was told she would never walk, talk, or move again. Guess what after 4 months with me she talks, walks, and is fast becoming a survivor. Our sessions end in tears of joy with every little progress.
3) Or my client that was told nothing could be done about their skin infections that crippled their legs every month or two. After the proper exercise regiment and a simple application of Vaseline to their legs they have been pain and symptom free for 2 months now. He has lived with this condition HIS WHOLE LIFE! Not so anymore.

I consider myself more educated then most Personal Trainers. I have skills in massage, chiropractic and holistic healing but the fact that I hope I have driven home here is you need to get second opinions (one pro and one con). They only believe the con if you fail at your resolve to get better. I have only taken three clients of mine but I have dozens of stories that all ring the same bell. I fixed them when another professional said they couldn’t. If they never met that second opinion (ME) they would still be in the crippled states. So many clients have come to me with years of trying to battle weight gain and after a month or two with me they see 30-50 pounds off their bodies (and it STAYS off). I gave them hope and never ever said there was nothing else I could do for them. I do not believe in failure – period. There is ALWAYS a way folks. Always!

Please take a hard look at any condition that some professional told you to live with and see if just maybe there is hope with asking the same questions again with someone else.
Please NEVER EVER give up hope.

As always - I am available for personal training either in person (if in NJ) or over the web. If you feel you have stalled in your pursuit of fitness and need some expert knowledge to get you on track reach out to me.

Regards,

Eddie Camaroto CPT

Perfect You LLC

Your dog and you - a way to exercise together

How to elicit your pet into your exercise program

If you have a dog you have an eager and ready at a moments notice partner for your exercise goals. Below I will outline a few ways to utilize your dog into your exercise routines. You both will benefit from your partnership.

1) First, just walk your dog. Strive for a 3 – 5 mile trek (daily if your schedule permits). I suggest taking your dog to parks for the walks since it will be a more pleasant experience for both of you.
2) Take your dog to pet friendly beach or other secluded beach and run on the sand and from time to time run through the water as well. Your dog will go bananas for this one.
3) Play catch with your dog put after you throw that Frisbee or ball run after it as well. Challenge yourself to keep up with your dog.
4) If you have a bigger dog play some tug of war with a large towel and get some incredible core and legwork. But please let the dog pull the towel and do not pull towards you otherwise you may hurt your dogs teeth.

As you hydrate yourself during your exercises please make sure to bring plenty of water for your faithful companion as well and maybe even a few small treats. And if you dog starts panting heavily or looks tired let them rest. Dogs cannot sweat and their only method of cooling themselves off is through panting and in humid air this is very hard for them.

Though these are all simple ideas and you probably have heard of some of the before, don’t forget that a lot of things qualify as exercise and go a long way to improve your health as well as your pets.

As always - I am available for personal training either in person (if in NJ) or over the web. If you feel you have stalled in your pursuit of fitness and need some expert knowledge to get you on track reach out to me.

Regards,

Eddie Camaroto CPT
Perfect You LLC

Exercise anywhere

How to utilize your environment to exercise

There are many ways to utilize an environment to exercise in if you are creative. Below I outline a few to get you started.

1) Stairs – walk them, run them, do incline or decline pushups off of them, split lunges, do calf raises off of them, put your feet on them as you lie down and do crunches, jump on the first step and then off again for some muscle and cardio work, do mountain climbing off of them to name just a few.
2) Strong small diameter branches – do pull-ups off of them, hang from them and raise your knees to your chest for a great abdominal workout.
3) Chairs – do some dips off of them, chair squats for the legs, do some incline or decline pushups off of them, and if you’re strong enough do some hammer type curls with them.

Never feel exercise is limited to weights and machines. If you look around a little you will see that exercise opportunities welcome you from all directions.

As always - I am available for personal training either in person (if in NJ) or over the web. If you feel you have stalled in your pursuit of fitness and need some expert knowledge to get you on track reach out to me.

Regards,

Eddie Camaroto CPT
Perfect You LLC

How to make simple exercise equipment

Ways to create exercise equipment from everyday items

With the ever-growing economy meltdown and societies growing waistline exercise is becoming hard from all fronts.

Today I wanted to show some creative ways to create gym equipment from everyday items. Saves your budget and gets you exercising. No excuses.

Chest/arms/triceps/shoulders/core – basic pushups (no equipment needed).

Core – simple ab crunches (no equipment needed). Or hold a jug close to the chest and do some crunches.

Fill two empty milk containers (plastic gallon size) with sand and you will have each milk jug weighing 12.5 pounds each. Of course you can adjust the weight of the jugs by filling them up to your level of fitness.
1) Do some shoulder presses with the jugs for shoulder work.
2) Do some bench presses with them for a chest, arm, and shoulder workout.
3) Raise them in front of you (shoulder height) for shoulder raises or to your sides for lateral raises for a challenging shoulder workout.
4) Hold one jug in each hand and do squats or calf raises for legwork.
5) Hold one jug on one side of your body and do side bends for terrific Oblique work.
6) Hold one jug in one hand and do one-arm rows for Lat and back work.
7) Hold a jug in each hand and do some hammer curls for your bicep.
8) Hold a jug in each hand and do simulated punches for total shoulder work (make sure your shoulders can handle this and that you do not have any conditions that might be harmed by the motion).
9) Hold a jug in each hand and do shrugs for traps work.
10) Tie a small bit of rope around a jug and take a wood dowel (about 1 foot long), drill a hole thru it and tie the rope to it and you have a great device to increase your forearm and wrist strength. Hold the roller in front of you and move your wrists to roll it up to your shoulders then back and then repeat. The burn you will feel will be incredible. I have one of these at home that I made as well.

Wow, look at that you CAN get a total body workout by just using common household items. Of course there are many more I could of stated but I hope you get the picture.

Now there is no more reason to not exercise (at least from a monetary standpoint).

By the way if you fill the jugs with water instead of sand they will weigh roughly 8.5 pounds instead of 12.5 pounds.

As always - I am available for personal training either in person (if in NJ) or over the web. If you feel you have stalled in your pursuit of fitness and need some expert knowledge to get you on track reach out to me.

Regards,

Eddie Camaroto CPT
Perfect You LLC

Fitness theme for the month of August

Creative ways to exercise
Week 1: Ways to create exercise equipment from everyday items.
Week 2: How to utilize your environment to exercise.
Week 3: How to elicit your pet into your exercise program.
Week 4: How to elicit your kids into your exercise program.

Regards,

Eddie Camaroto CPT
Perfect You LLC

Multiple movement exercises

Maximizing your workouts with multiple move exercises

When I have clients that renew with me for months at a time I am able to start challenging them with exercises that involve multiple muscle groups. When I first start training a client I need to build their balance, stability, core strength, increase strength, and certainly increase their endurance.

But after I have met those goals I want to start challenging them with “real world” moments. And that involves doing exercises that involve multiple muscle groups.

For example when you do a squat to pick up a box and then press it over your head to put on a shelf you are doing a multiple muscle movement. And if I want to give my clients training that make their life better I choose multiple movements.

I will list a few below. But before you try this – seriously – please ask a gym trainer to demonstrate them to you. Because if you do them wrong YOU WILL HURT YOURSELF.

1) Do a lunge, rise up into a two-arm curl, and press dumbbells above your head. Repeat.
2) Do a pushup then squat thrust into the air and break out to a few jumping jacks. Repeat.
3) Do a pull-up, drop down to a squat and then do a pushup before squat thrusting up to the pull-up bar. Repeat.
4) Utilize a Reebok step and side lunge then jump over step and do side lunge on other side.
5) Dumbbell clean and jerk. Repeat.
6) Do reverse ab lifts off a bench then do a Bench press. Repeat.

I stress that you MUST be at a high level of conditioning to try these and not get hurt over the long term. Please do not attempt them unless you are absolutely sure you can do them and do them perfectly.

As always - I am available for personal training either in person (if in NJ) or over the web. If you feel you have stalled in your pursuit of fitness and need some expert knowledge to get you on track reach out to me.

Regards,

Eddie Camaroto CPT
Perfect You LLC

Working out while Pregnant

Working out while pregnant

For most woman that are into fitness there is going to come a time when you will be pregnant and want to continue your fitness. You CAN still workout but the WAY you workout and the intensity of your workouts will change drastically.

I put this article in with the series of working out with another rather then special population type workouts because the theme this month was working out with another. And – well – a baby is another.

Here are the guidelines for pregnant woman to workout based on the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2002.

1) Any exercise goals must be discussed with your physician. Everyone woman is different and only your doctor knows you best.
2) If you have not been doing a vigorous workout before your became pregnant now IS NOT the time to start one. Keep up with your normal exercise regiment.
3) Gradually reduce the intensity, duration, and frequency of exercise during the second and third trimesters.
4) Avoid exercise when the temperature or humidity is high.
5) Try to run or walk on flat, even surfaces
6) Always wear supportive shoes while exercising.
7) During the second and third trimesters try other forms of aerobic exercises like swimming, bicycling, or even running in water.
8) Do not do any exercises that require lying down after the first trimester. Modify existing exercises to do standing up if possible. Utilize machines if possible.
9) Extend your warm-up and cool-down periods.
10) Never let your body temperature exceed 100 degrees.
11) Reduce your intensity and monitor it by never letting yourself get to a state of a pounding heart, breathlessness, or dizziness.
12) Eat a small snack before exercise to help avoid hypoglycemia.
13) Drink plenty of water before, during, and after exercise. Roughly one ounce (one filled mouthful) every 15 minutes.
14) Avoid overstretching or going beyond normal range of motion.
15) If you experience any unusual physical changes such as vaginal bleeding, severe fatigue, joint pain, or irregular heart beats see your doctor immediately!

There are many other restrictions that one needs to follow as well such as watching that your heart rate does not exceed a certain limit. Please reach out to your doctor for a full script to follow.

Training a pregnant woman is a very rewarding experience that I have been lucky to do quite a bit of times. As a Personal Trainer you are making two healthy at the same time.

As always - I am available for personal training either in person (if in NJ) or over the web. If you feel you have stalled in your pursuit of fitness and need some expert knowledge to get you on track reach out to me.

Regards,

Eddie Camaroto CPT

Perfect You LLC

Working out with your significant other

At lot of times the best way to start exercising is by enlisting the help of your significant other. Maybe you both are sick of feeling un-fit or you just made fitness your New Years resolution. Whatever the reason the fact is you both want to train together and that can prove to push you both farther and see better results.

I have addressed in a previous posting how to do some exercises together so this time I will address a few simple cardio routines for partners.

1) Jumping rope together has always been a proven way to push each other. There are so many routines you both can do – I urge you to seek some out.
2) Group classes together. There are so many out there – even dance type ones. Take a relaxing Yoga class together and be relaxed and at peace the rest of the day.
3) One you probably never thought of but it provides a huge cardio benefit. Go play some Frisbee together.
4) Do some interval jogging/walking together. Five minutes waking to every one-minute jogging is a good formula.
5) Use some resistance bands and wrap one around your waist, face away from your partner and do hop away as they pull on the band. Not only is this cardio for both of you but you will also get a whole body workout. Try to go three minutes each.

A short article this week but none the less important for spicing up your partner workouts in a cardio sense.

As always - I am available for personal training either in person (if in NJ) or over the web. If you feel you have stalled in your pursuit of fitness and need some expert knowledge to get you on track reach out to me.

Regards,

Eddie Camaroto CPT
Perfect You LLC

Workouts with a partner

There are many times a client will come to me and request that they train with another at the same time. For one it is much cheaper for each to train this way plus it gives the added benefit of having each other push each other. I personally love training two for ones as we call it in the biz.

One of the first things that comes up though is how can I get two different people to train the same even though they possibly are at different fitness levels.

Well, it is pretty easy actually. I formulate a fitness program that allows each of them to “need” the other for most exercises. Let me explain.

Lets take a real world situation of a program I just designed for a couple at Bayshore.

SPECS:
1) They well both around the same age.
2) It was a man and his wife.
3) They both were super-charged in starting their program.
4) The both agreed to workout together.

Here is an example of some of the exercises I had them do together.
1) Partner pushups where each partner claps the opposite hands of their partner when they come up from the pushup.
2) Medicine ball ab lifts. One partner does an AB crunch while throwing the medicine ball to their partner. Then the partner throws it back to them when they are about to descend.
3) Flexibility ball knockouts. One partner holds a flexibility ball while the other try’s to knock it out of their hands. It sounds silly but if you have never tried this it is so intense.
4) Hand presses while your partner provides resistance.

Though there were a few others I hope you get my point. Many exercises can become partner required if you think them out. And the benefit of working with another could really blast your workouts and take them to another level.

I have only touched upon the workout philosophy of partners. Other times I will create programs for partners that require super-setting and pyramiding type workouts. The possibilities are really endless.

If you can get another person to workout with you and you incorporate the “need” for each other. Not only will you see amazing results you will also start to rely on each other for that needed push to make you stick with it.

As always - I am available for personal training either in person (if in NJ) or over the web. If you feel you have stalled in your pursuit of fitness and need some expert knowledge to get you on track reach out to me.

Regards,

Eddie Camaroto CPT
Perfect You LLC

TV workout

Workouts while watching TV

On my final article for this month’s theme I wanted to talk about how to squeeze in some precious exercising while watching TV.

The average commercial break for most TV shows that run one hour is 12 minutes (about 4 minutes each 15 minute mark). That gives plenty of opportunity for some circuit training during those breaks.

So here is a simplified workout to get you further in your fitness needs.

I have broken up the workout into three parts to capitalize on the three 4 minute breaks.

First commercial (there is no break between exercises): LOWER BODY WORK
1) 25 squats.
2) 20 lunges.
3) 50 calf raises on one foot.
4) 20 leg planks off of the couch.

Second commercial (there is no break between exercises): CORE AND BACK WORK
1) 20 Bird/dogs.
2) 25 bicycles on the ground while moving your elbow to opposite leg.
3) Inner/Outer Oblique rise while on your side.
4) Cobra off floor.

Third commercial (there is no break between exercises): UPPER BODY WORK
1) 25 pushups.
2) 20 dips off of a chair.
3) 25 side planks with twist.
4) 20 punches into a cushion.

During just one 1-hour TV show you can get a total body workout minus the cardio. Hard to give excuses when you can do this and still appear lazy or relaxed.

I realize that some of you may have no idea what some of these exercises mean or how to do them. If you would like clarification just reach out to me and I will describe more in detail.

As always - I am available for personal training either in person (if in NJ) or over the web. If you feel you have stalled in your pursuit of fitness and need some expert knowledge to get you on track reach out to me.

Regards,

Eddie Camaroto CPT

Perfect You LLC

Workouts for the seasons

This week I thought I would show you the creative side of workouts. I have devised a few fun things to do for each season. Though you may never have realized that these things produce fitness they do indeed. Hope you enjoy.

Winter:
1) Go build a snowman. Rolling a big ball of snow till it collects more and more snow is an incredible lower AND upper body workout. Plus you will burn an estimated 280 calories.
2) Do some snow shoveling for an hour and you will burn an estimated 400 calories.
3) Make some snow angels for an hour and you will burn an estimated 218 calories.
4) Best yet have a snowball fight and you will burn a whopping estimated 318 calories per hour plus let out some stress.

Spring:
1) Do some light yard work or gardening and you will burn an estimated 250 calories per hour.
2) Go for a nice bike ride at a moderate pace and you will burn an estimated 238 calories per hour.
3) If you are a golfer go play a round of golf and carry your own clubs to spark an estimated 265 calories per hour.
4) Pick your favorite trail or mountain path and go hiking for an estimated and whopping 380 calories per hour.

Summer:
1) Go for a refreshing swim and you will burn an estimated 413 calories per hour.
2) Go for an intense jog and you will burn an estimated 472 calories per hour.
3) Head down to the basketball courts and dribble your way to an estimated 472 calories per hour.
4) Take your usual aerobic routine outside and let the sun shine on you. Doing so will burn an estimated 413 calories.

Fall:
1) Go for a walk in your community and admire the beauty of nature and the colored leaves. All while burning an estimated 240 calories per hour.
2) Rake up some of those leaves for an hour and you will burn an estimated 218 calories per hour.
3) If you clean out your own gutters from all those leaves for an hour you will burn an estimated 250 calories.
4) And if you are trying to get in the last few lawn mows of the year take heart that you will burn an estimated 202 calories per hour.

All of the items above do indeed burn calories but they also get work your body in different ways that is great for fitness.

I am sure you can think of much more items that should be on this list. I have provided just a sampling. Be creative in your exercise approach and you will never get bored and you will always be at the top of your game.

Note: Most of the calories were calculated using the following profile:
135 pound female age 35 and five foot five. They were provided for example only. Your profile may be more or less then my example.

P.S. for the romantics out there squeeze in a minute kiss here and there and you will burn an estimated 26 calories. J

As always - I am available for personal training either in person (if in NJ) or over the web. If you feel you have stalled in your pursuit of fitness and need some expert knowledge to get you on track reach out to me.

Regards,

Eddie Camaroto CPT
Perfect You LLC

Simple exercises to do on the job

Hello, what if you are a workaholic and are finding it hard to get to the gym and by the time you do get home at night you are exhausted.

Maybe the following advice will help you. Try some of the following exercise and cardio movements at work. They are all simple, easy, and beneficial to do. And all except the walking ones can be done during a simple 15-minute break during your busy day.

1) Do some old-fashioned push-ups. They are a good core and upper body workout.
2) Do some squats for a great lower body workout.
3) Do some one leg calf raises for some calf work.
4) Do some rotating side planks for arm and core work.
5) Do some isometric holds for various parts of the body. CAUTION – IF YOU HAVE ANY BLOOD PRESSURE ISSUES DO NOT DO ISOMETRICS HOLDS. ISOMETRICS CAN RAISE THE BLOOD PRESSURE TO DANGEROUS LEVELS IN CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS – ESPECIALLY THE ELDERELY!
6) For some quick cardio find some stairs and walk them up and down for a few minutes.
7) For a greater cardio experience go for a walk around your office/campus or take a walk outside during your lunch break.
8) If your job has a gym on site or there is a gym close by – utilize it.

So even though we all think there is no time for fitness I hope I have shown you that doing these simple tips during your day can go a far way in making you feel better, be more fit, and hopefully relieve some of your stress. I had jobs where I worked 15 hours a day and still found simple 15 minute blocks of time to get healthier – you should be able to.

As always - I am available for personal training either in person (if in NJ) or over the web. If you feel you have stalled in your pursuit of fitness and need some expert knowledge to get you on track reach out to me.

Regards,

Eddie Camaroto CPT
Perfect You LLC

Walking as a part of your fitness goals

Today, I would like to talk about walking to increase your weight loss goals.

Benefits of walking:
1) Low impact on the joints.
2) Can be done anywhere.
3) Requires little or no equipment.
4) Grab a partner and walking becomes a socializing experience.

The general rule of thumb for walking is that walking is roughly equal to 1/2 the amount you would jog. Example: 1/2 hour of walking is equal to 1 hour of jogging.

The goal of everyone is to get 10,000 steps per day. Let me take apart why this number is so magical.
1) For every 2,000 steps you take you burn roughly 100 calories. Well 2,000 steps divided into 10,000 steps leaves you with 5 and if you take 5 and times it by 100 (calories) you get a loss of 500 calories a day!
2) You need to burn off an additional 3,500 calories to lose one pound.
3) And by taking off additional 500 calories a day for seven days - YOU LOSE one pound.

So just by making 10,000 steps a day you are going to lose a pound a week. Keep up with your fitness and proper eating and you will go far to lose the weight and increase your cardiovascular system.

To track your steps per day pick up a Pedometer. They are sold in any fitness chain (Dicks, Modells, Sports Authority, etc.) Pedometers are cheap and expensive. I got mine for $3.95 and it works perfectly.

As always - I am available for personal training either in person (if in NJ) or over the web. If you feel you have stalled in your pursuit of fitness and need some expert knowledge to get you on track reach out to me.

Regards,

Eddie Camaroto CPT