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
Calorie Counting Honestly
One of the benefits of my profession is that I meet many individuals who wish to change their life.
Assumingly for the better.
Unless they decide to use their new found superpowers to take down small children for lunch money.
Or stop old ladies from crossing the road with their incredible sled drive strength.
None the less, one of the fascinating observations I’ve made over time concerns people’s nutrition, or diet, log.
I personally measure everything I eat. Not all the time, but definitely 75% of the year.
Most importantly I journal when I have a goal. Tracking leaves me with very little confusion on whether or not my approach worked, and it helps me to look back at prior results to confirm I can repeat past success again.
To track my meal planning I use a digital scale. In fact, we own two in our house, and both have been verified by a 500 gram weight to be accurate.
So that’s fun, you know, facts.
With that, if I weigh a slice of naan bread, and it states 100 grams, well, I will eat that 100 gram serving and record it accordingly.
Contrarily, I know individuals who do not weigh their serving portions, but, rather eye the amount.
Needless to say this isn’t a very accurate method.
And needless to say, during these “eyeballing” logs people also tend to fluctuate on the wrong side of improving their body composition.
They write down in their log book they weighed such and such serving, and write their calories and macros.
When I ask about these servings though they communicate they didn’t actually weigh the serving. They judged it on observation to be correct.
If there is one thing I recommend above all things “Be Honest With Yourself”.
Always be honest with yourself.
The fastest and easiest way to succeed at anything in life is to be honest with yourself in the journey of your goal. Be it financial, relationships, career, health.
For example, If I’m off by about 200 calories a day, possibly 300, over the course of 3-5 times per week I can expect a little bump up in body fat.
Is it life or death, or goal-murdering?
No. Not that dramatic.
But it may mess up my next weigh-in for sport. Or I may wonder where a hard fought for striation or muscle belly went.
And if it’s incorrectly logged in my workouts as poundages being lifted, well, I’m sure you can see where I may become disillusioned sooner than later on my actual abilities and results overall.
So always help yourself by being honest with yourself first.
Your life will become increasingly easier.
Good luck, and remember, if you’re interested in changing your current fitness and look, I’m here in Pembroke to help.
Belley Fitness
Pembroke, Massachusetts
Servicing clients from Pembroke, Marshfield, Duxbury, Kingston, Scituate, Hanover.
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Belley Fitness Pembroke Massachusetts
DAY 2!
Happy Kwanzaa y’all!
If you’ve never done a (wo)man maker you’re in for a treat.
Spawn is leading the Kwanzaa charge today in our 13 Days of Christmas Hanukkah Kwanzaa Suffering Challenge.
Spawn is a bad-ass.
Spawn is also evil.
Spawn also loves to hurt.
Hence he is the perfect pairing for today’s challenge.
Here’s a quick video of a man maker from Gym Jones resident superhero trainer Mark Twight:
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Today marks the 4th of the 13 Days of Belley Fitness Christmas Hanukkah Kwanzaa 2016 Suffering challenge!!
I’ve become quite proficient at spelling Hanukkah and I think it’ll stick for life.
The workout challenge for Saturday is to perform 150 “Truth” Push-Ups and Chin-Ups.
By “Truth” I’m referring to full range of motion…
plus the spin on Wonder Woman’s Lasso Of Truth.
For the push-ups, simply perform hand release push-ups. They’re actually much easier than the constant supporting/tension variation.
Lay yourself onto the floor and push-up from the there to fullest extension.
For the chin-ups, either modify into a inverted row, or use some form of assistance if necessary (chair, box, bands, partner assist, jumping, etc.) to complete the full range of motion repetitions.
I’d recommend honoring Wonder Woman on her 75th birthday, and perform 75 reps of each the push-up and chin-up.
Or you can break it into as many reps as possible of each, alternating, until you reach the total of 150 reps.
The challenge is in your court!
Good luck!!!
Belley Fitness Pembroke Massachusetts
Belley Fitness
Pembroke, Massachusetts
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Holy crap!
Day 5 of the Challenge is here.
Not too many left.
Today we’re keeping with animal movements, swapping out the Spiderman Crawls for Panther Crawls.
Panther crawls are like a Spiderman crawl / Beast Reach hybrid.
You’ll see in the video below.
7 sets for 7 meters is the goal; roughly 23 feet of travel per set.
Good luck!!
Belley Fitness Pembroke
Belley Fitness, Pembroke, Massachusetts
Belley Fitness 13 Days of Christmas Hanukkah Kwanzaa Suffering 2016
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Today’s movement for the Belley Fitness 13 Days of Christmas Hanukkah Kwanzaa Suffering Challenge of 2016 is the Spiderman Crawl.
I love this exercise and have probably done thousands of reps in my lifetime.
Luckily for you all that is required today is 12 sets of 26 reps (13 per side).
It may still sound like a lot but this movement may very well loosen up some tight hips and cranky shoulders.
There’s a instructional exercise video below the image!
Belley Fitness Pembroke Massachusetts
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We’re all f^@%ed now!
Today’s challenge is brought you by a crazy man in a purple suit…
no, Prince is dead already.
It’s the Joker, and he doesn’t G.A.F.
So much so, that he’s looking to place you face down on the ground, balancing on your belly, waving your arms and legs frantically like a angel fallen to it’s death.
Inverted Snow Angels!
One of my personal favorites for making people ‘feel the burn’.
Good luck with all 666 Inverted Snow Angels.
Hands and feet must never touch the ground during your rep count.
Believe me, this movement sucks.
Good luck with the Joker!
The 2016 Belley Fitness 13 Days of Christmas Hanukkah Kwanzaa Suffering Challenge
Day 7
Belley Fitness located in Pembroke, Massachusetts. Servicing residents of Pembroke, Marshfield, Kingston, Hanover, Duxbury, Scituate, and anyone with a means of transportation from anywhere 🙂
Day 8 of the Belley Fitness 13 Days of Christmas Hanukkah Kwanzaa Suffering 2016!!
Day 8 of the Belley Fitness 13 Days of Christmas Hanukkah Kwanzaa Suffering 2016 is here!
Today’s challenge is pretty easy.
All you need is yourself and a little space.
The rep count is 500.
The amount of sets is based upon your current fitness level.
All you need to do is begin with Push-Ups, as many as you can bust out (you may want perform up to 2 minus your max), then, stand up and perform as many Squats as you possibly can in a row.
Someone may likely finish this in one set.
Some may take up to 50 sets.
In example,
Let’s say I complete 50 push-ups, then I complete 50 squats (50:50), then 30 push-ups, then 50 squats, 20 push-ups, 50 squats I am half way there (250 reps).
Finishing off with
15:35 x 5 sets.
15 Push-Ups:35 Squats multiplied by 5 sets = 250 final reps.
Not too bad!
So find you own rep count that works for you and give it a shot in your house in Pembroke, Marshfield, Duxbury, Kingston, wherever you are.
Good luck!
Belley Fitness Pembroke