When Is The Right Time To Begin Training? Part 1
First, it is always a great time to begin training and working towards your goals, or simply, strengthening your body for life.
That being said, there are always variables:
Age
Sport(s) Goal(s)
Health Issues
Needless to say TIME is not a variable.
No matter who you are, so long as you have two legs that work efficiently, a brain that can reason, and eyes that can view the world you will always have 2 or 5 minutes available to sprint, perform jumping jacks, walk up and down stairs for fitness and health, curl a laundry basket full of clothes, and use your broomstick to perform front squats, single leg deadlifts, stretch and shoulder mobility exercises.
THERE IS ALWAYS TIME, AND ALWAYS RESOURCES SURROUNDING YOU.
Now, for age, we begin lifting items as soon as we can grasp and not let go. As we grow we carry stones, logs, drag stuff, and jump off of anything we can climb.
We even bounce off the earth when we fail at these things. We seem to survive.
To that, I say a child can begin training at any age, so long as they have good form, are never near their one rep max (or even 3 rep max) before the age of 12.
Of course, a adult should be supervising this. But the idea that a child is too young to take on more, when they clearly can, seems a little far-fetch.
Do I train young athletes with weights at Belley Fitness 12 and under?
No. But that is because I find the maturity level of children within my studio not quite up to par with potential danger if they make a mistake and hurt themselves with some weight plate, a dumbbell falling on their foot, etc.
Belley Fitness can resemble a playground at times, and to have focus, not just jump, play and possibly break stuff by accident (or on purpose as teenagers have in the studio) can be challenging.
And trying to monitor and help 2 or more kids at once potentially making a mistake can lead to missed observation of the athlete lifting the weight, or even worse, 2 kids really hurting one another.
It’s not like they’re running wild on a field or basketball court.
There’s actually really heavy weights that can literally lop off a finger or easily break a bone being used in the studio. so safety first with this age bracket.
Will my own children one day be training with weights before the age of 12?
Absolutely. So long as it interests them I will lovingly be there to guide them towards a much easier physical life through the gift and ability to perform fitness and prepare nutritious foods.
Not too mention the confidence and feeling of empowerment that comes with physical and mental strength.
Part 2 will cover sport and goal setting.
Robert Belley
Belley Fitness : Pembroke, Massachusetts
The Simplest Way To Begin Losing Body Fat
The simplest way to begin to losing body fat is to simply eat less of the terrible food choices you make.
I know it sounds “too simple”, but it’s 100% true.
Simply maintain eating the healthy options you have daily, but cut in half the greasy or sugary options.
If you’re currently eating a large sub sandwich every day for lunch, cut back to a small. Or eat half the large sub now, the other half tomorrow.
If it’s late-night ice cream binge-eating, eat half the damn pint, eat the other half the next night.
Often people fall helpless for the CHANGE IT ALL mentality.
And guess what that yields?
Usually it leads many people right back to their terrible food habits. With self-inflicted chocolate chip muffin negligence insurance. Not to mention over-compensating belly tucking. But that’s a post for a different therapy visit.
To begin, despite the advice of the genetically gifted fitness model you may be following on Instagram, you do not have to go cold-turkey. And yes she really does make 6-figures for posting 2 minute videos in her bikini most of the day from her bathroom… and if you already have a lean physique, a camera, know how to do a squat, are familiar with smiling, and have wi-fi then welcome to the new Silicon Valley.
However, if you do not meet the previous sentence criteria, you can simply eat half of whatever it is you usually eat that hurts your health and waistline.
Soon, eating half of the junk choices will yield better decisions as you begin to see progress.
And witnessing progress is where a plethora of motivation kicks in, in my opinion, for us normal folks.
Seeing your body change weekly or monthly is absolutely encouraging, and helps to visualize what you may achieve next as you transform!
Of course if you’re a selfie-obsessed individual you probably see the changes by the post. But of course you’re destined for stardom anyway so you probably don’t suffer from any body fat issues. Don’t forget to link your bank account to Facebook and other platforms for the advertising moo-lah 😉
And sometimes this cartoon helps too for ideas!
Keep on trucking and I hope your 2017 is off to a amazing start!
Rob
PS: for the partners and friends of anyone who is breathing…
Robert Belley
The award winning personal training studio Belley Fitness is located in Pembroke, Massachusetts.
Happy New Year Pembroke The Work Will Not Do Itself
If there is ever one message I must convey to you, in all things life,
THE WORK WILL NOT DO ITSELF.
The goal is the variable, and the constant is the phrase above.
Unless you put the duration of time in, the mental effort of visualizing in, the physical effort of work in you will not experience the benefit, or progression, of achieving your goal.
Even if your goal is lying on the couch for 5 days straight, you must perform the 3 actions above.
Good luck with all you set out to accomplish in 2017!
I have my “BIG” goals lined up, and my accessory goals undertow.
The waves will appear huge, and the less impressive (noticeable) will serve as a constant reinforcement.
So plan your year out in advance to capitalize off the motivation as you push forward and achieve.
The award winning personal training studio Belley Fitness is located in Pembroke, Massachusetts.
Robert Belley