Ask not whether you are ready for the beach: Ask if the beach is ready for you!
Ann Gilbert
Director of Fitness
Shapes Total Fitness for Women
Anyone who has struggled with their weight knows that this season can bring a switch from the January thought pattern of losing just a few pounds, to the compulsive push to get ready for the beach. Many move from the innocent dieter, they were in January, to a woman with the distorted self image, as spring arrives. The quest to be beach ready leaves many stressed and adhering to a calorie restricting diet plan or dysfunction workout plan.
Anyone who has struggled with their weight can judge their day by what they have eaten or minutes they have worked out, rather than by whom they have inspired or influenced. Many look in the mirror and wonder if they will ever feel satisfied, rather than seeing the smile that many need in their lives. Why not take the “me” out of the season and reach out to assist another in finding the freedom to enjoy the spring with a more balanced mindset.
This year make it about your Buddy. Train with, learn with, experience with a buddy and experts teach us you will reach your fitness goal in less time. With a buddy to workout with, you will see fewer injuries and better adherence to the programs that will keep you in the gym, rather than in front of the mirror. Review the list below and see how easy it can be to get started with a buddy this spring. One month from now you can ask if the beach is ready for you!
Be Beach Ready with a Buddy!
Know the Industry Standards: Data concludes that when working out with a buddy you can increase the speed of results by as much as 60%.
Bring a Guest, Friend or Family Member: Invite a guest, friend or family member to attend your favorite Group Fitness class with you. They will feel a sense of belonging, see the value of working out together and feel less competitive with you then when on the workout floor.
Plan to Mix it Up: Each day, take turns choosing the class to attend. Schedule a resistance training program followed by a mind/body program to assure your week’s workouts stay balanced.
When the Workouts Seem Comfortable, Step It Up: When the body and the mind start to take a break , get into the face of a personal trainer right away and take your workouts to a new level. The trainer has the skill set to increase intensity, duration and frequency while assessing you and your buddy’s body types, muscle imbalances and strengths. The skilled professional can design a workout that will allow for both to see gains.
Learn How to Keep it all Safe: Ask the personal trainer to educate you on how to spot your buddy and how to recognize any concerns with alignment and form. Try not to perform all exercises simultaneously, but rather, take turns allowing you to correct technique, tempo and alignment. You will keep workout competition to a minimum when taking the time to spot your buddy.
Always Assess Together: The buddies who assess together stay together. Being empathic to each other’s strengths and weaknesses will increase longevity of the team and keep you focused on the goal.
Form a Team: Once seen together on the workout floor, there will be many who will want to join in. Why not take the buddy thing to a new level by forming a group. Train together for a race, a charity event or in the club’s Boot Camp type small group training programming.
Breaking up is Hard to Do: If you and your buddy must break the workout relationship, ask your personal trainer to assist you in finding someone in the club who has a similar goal, body type and schedule. Most trainers have a data base of clients who’s results could be enhanced when working out with a buddy. Most will find buddy personal training to be an affordable alternative to One on One.
PPP: Plan, prepare and pamper when outside the gym and keep the buddy relationship growing.
Share Recipes:
Each week sit down together and make a menu plan. Although you will not share meals daily, you can keep each other in line, can include each other’s favorite choices, and even prepare one meal together weekly. Work out your menus based on meal plans that bridge the gap between nutrition and workouts and that are supported by Lifestyle coaches and Dietitians.
Make a Weekly Promise:
Why not make a game of it by making buddy promise each week. Most love to take the “mini” promise, vowing to eat only mini portions, take mini muffins, drink from dessert size wine glasses and dig out the smaller 9” plates from Grandma’s closet.
Plan to Visit the Salon Together:
Toes, nails, waxing, and relaxation can all be planned in one visit together to the salon. Watch and keep your buddy safe by making sure no one double dips the waxing stick or shaves calluses, as both are sighted as potential trouble when at the salon.
Laugh Out Loud: Laughing at and with your buddy assures you will be less stressful. Stress only means that more cortisol, a stress hormone that encourages the storage of fat, is secreted into your system.
Take to the beach this year with the confidence knowing that you have adhered to all aspects of a pre-beach season workout by choosing to workout with a buddy. Ask not if you are ready for the beach; know that the beach may not be ready for you!
