11Feb

When, Why & How Your Fitness Should Evolve

February 11, 2020 Jessica Bottesch

Here at Empower Personalized Fitness, we help people and communities lead stronger, healthier, and happier lives through personalized fitness plans.

Fitness is a journey and therefore it must evolve. People, and most everything else in life, are always changing; your workouts should too. Let’s explore when, why, and how your fitness plan should change. See what Jess and Ronda have to say HERE.

When

You’re not getting the results you want.

So many people are trying really hard to change something about their bodies or their health, and they might get to a point where they plateau or things are just not really working. One of the first things that you need to ask yourself if that’s the case for you, is that are you working out frequently enough? We like to have our clients strive for five workouts every week.

You’ve been doing the same things over and over.

Our bodies really adjust to things that we do on a regular basis, so it might be time to switch things up because variety is the spice of life. The same is true with your exercise plan.

Why

You’ve had an injury or health condition come up.

If you’re an active person, it’s likely that you will experience some sort of injury or setback from time to time. Even if you’re not, it’s just part of life that we may pull a hamstring or you might be at a point where you need a joint replacement, like a knee replacement or a hip replacement, or maybe you just simply turned your ankle walking. Whatever the case may be, this is a time when you definitely need to think about altering your workout plan.

If you have pain, then that is definitely an indication to stop, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t be active at all. You might be able to find exercises that you can work around that particular body part and still be effective and still be moving. When you have some sort of injury, you need to know what sort of exercises are safe and those that are contraindicated, and that’s something that a personal trainer can definitely help you navigate.

You’re aging.

This is something that many of us are now experiencing personally. Many things change with age, right? Our hormones are changing, we become stiffer and less mobile, and it’s important to really take all of that into consideration when you’re thinking about how you work out.

As you age, do not stop strength training. Oftentimes as we get older, we may tend to lean more towards walking and swimming and biking. All of those activities are fine, especially if you enjoy them, but strength training is essential. Part of the aging process is losing muscle mass and bone density. Strength training is a key component in helping you keep your muscular strength and your bone health.

Start to build mobility exercises into your workout because we become stiffer. Oftentimes life has taken over, we have more stationary jobs, and it’s really important that we spend some time moving our bodies through full ranges of motion. Mobility is more than just simply flexibility. It’s the body’s ability to move through these full ranges of motion fluidly and under control. It actually means the combination of flexibility and strength and control.

How

You aren’t exercising at the right intensity.

Oftentimes we find that it’s hard to challenge ourselves, and so sometimes working out with a workout partner and/or hiring a personal trainer can help really push you a little bit, because the intensity is one of the factors that can really help you push through plateaus and also get things back on track for you.

You need some moderate or restorative practices.

Much of this ties into what’s happening with our hormones and just the stressors of life. Exercise is, in fact, perceived by the body as a stressor. If we have a really high-stress job, and stress at home and stress all around us when we go to exercise intensely all the time, our body gets overloaded. All this causes cortisol, which is a stress hormone, to spike. That can wreak havoc on our bodies, especially if you’re trying to lose weight or just feel good and feel healthy.

Once you understand that your training practices need to evolve, it’s important to have some workouts that aren’t always so high in intensity. Here is an example of a moderate-intensity workout for a changing body into your 40s and beyond.

30Jan

Is Your Fitness Plan Working?

January 30, 2020 Jessica Bottesch

Got Workout Plans?

Is your workout plan progressing you towards your health and fitness goals? Is it enjoyable? Empower Personalized Fitness is a boutique fitness studio in Durham, North Carolina. We help people and communities lead stronger, healthier, happier lives through personalized health and wellness programs. We are here to tell you if your workout is not enjoyable, if it’s not fun, if it’s not one of the most important and/or favorite parts of your day, then you’re missing out.

Here at Empower, we believe that your workout should have four important components. See Jess And Ronda discuss this in this VIDEO.

It should be personalized.
Safety is paramount.
It must be effective and efficient.
Most important of all, it must be fun.

By the Numbers

Why would you want a personalized workout program? We are all different. We have different shapes, sizes, goals, and widely different needs when it comes to workouts. Your exercise plan should be as individual as you are.

Why should a workout program be safe? This seems like a no brainer, but many people have walked through our doors because they got an injury, work out related or otherwise. At Empower we ensure a safe environment and a personal trainer that can really watch your every move. They will make sure that you’re working through full ranges of motion with the best form possible.

Why should a workout program be effective and efficient? Time. We’re all busy; people have so many things on their plates it’s easy to let exercise slip or not prioritize it at all. When it’s effective and efficient, you know that you’re getting the most out of your very valuable minutes.

Why would a workout program be fun? When something is enjoyable, you’re much more likely to do it again and again. As soon as something becomes a chore, it is much easier to fall lower on your list of things to do. Who likes doing chores? You want to make sure that you’re enjoying exercising. That’s something that we definitely emphasize here at Empower.

So how do you make it fun? First, choose an activity that you enjoy. This is imperative (remember, NO ONE like chores). Enjoyment brings fulfillment.

Second, find a workout partner, a personal trainer, and a fitness community, or better yet-

All three.

Why Will it Work?

These three things – a workout partner, a personal trainer, and a fitness community – will help you to find a way to exercise more often. A training partner can help hold you accountable, and help keep you motivated. If you’re sharing the cost of a personal trainer, a partner suddenly makes that become a lot more affordable.

A personal trainer is going to be an expert that can devise a unique program for you. It’s important to find a great trainer to craft that customized plan.

A fitness community can be really supportive and can create a place that you enjoy going to. Suddenly, working out becomes one of the best parts of your day.

22Jan

How to Choose a Personal Trainer

January 22, 2020 Ronda Williams

15 Years and Counting

Empower Personalized Fitness opened our doors in Durham back in 2005. It’s super exciting that our community is now in our 15 years!

14Jan

Make Exercising Personalized

January 14, 2020 Jessica Bottesch

Happy New Year from Empower Personalized Fitness!

It’s that time of year where we start to get flooded with questions from people with concerns about their fitness plans. “My (lack of) fitness plan just isn’t working anymore!” Or, “What’s the best workout for me?”

In our nearly thirty years in the fitness industry, the have learned a few things with total certainty: You are a unique person. Your fitness, and likewise your nutrition, are personal to you as an individual.

Common Problems

As we begin this new decade we want to share three common problems we hear from our clients. The first is “My friend/neighbor started this new program over here and their results are great! I’m doing the same thing but nothing is happening for me.”

Maybe you are familiar with this. It could be your husband, spouse or partner does a few pushups and all of a sudden are super buff and trim. Maybe they start a new diet and the pounds just fall off. Personalization is the key. We all have different bodies. We all have different sets of genetics. The goal is to find a plan that helps you feel fit, strong, and healthy.

The second issue is they have tried to do it on their own. They got a gym membership, or did a running program, or downloaded an app. They’ve been trying to keep at it daily, but eventually, start to lose motivation. They get bored with their workouts. They had found a few they liked, and then did them over and over. Not only do their minds get bored, their bodies do as well. The SAID principle (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands) is the physiological explanation for this. Read more about it HERE.

Essentially, your body is going get used to anything you do on a really regular basis. It’s great to have variety in your workouts. Not only so your mind stays challenged and interested in what you are doing but your body does as well.

The third challenge is simply being overwhelmed by the number of messages out there. Particularly this time of year, “New Year, new you!” messages are everywhere. Advertising bombards us with the idea that this specific program, or that specific diet will get us what we want. Marketers will try whatever they can to get you to ‘bite’, but to really the have staying power to make long term positive body changes requires a plan that is personalized to you.

Watch THIS VIDEO to hear us discuss how unique to you fitness can make your goal attainable.

Three-Part Solution

Personalization – A specific, customized fitness plan for you as an individual. What is your current fitness level? What’s your health story? Have you had fitness challenges in the past? What do you enjoy? What are your fitness and health goals? Consideration of all of these questions and others help shape a unique program.
Work with a Fitness Professional – Find yourself an expert personal trainer who can really help you create that plan, then keep you motivated as you progress and continue to improve. Take a look at THIS VIDEO to hear us speak more on this.
Commitment – This part is sometimes the hardest because physiological change takes time. It’s not going to happen in two weeks. You need to allow your ming and body to adjust to the change in routine for all of 2020, not just the first month.

24Dec

No Time for Exercise? That’s Why You Need a Personal Trainer

December 24, 2019 chuckbecomecox

Time. There are 168 hours in a week but we still can’t ever find enough of it. Between work and sleep, we lose a significant chunk of it right away. Add in family, food, and life in general, and its easy to see why working out ends up in the Way Too Busy to Do column of your daily responsibilities list. What most people don’t realize though, is there is an easy solution to this.

Hire yourself a personal trainer.

Don’t roll your eyes. I know we just went over how life was too crowded to fit in things like fitness, but a trainer will turn your “busy problem” into a fitter, happier you.

Efficient

Let’s say you are able to set aside a 30-minute slice of your day. That’s a one-half hour of 168. It can be before work, after, during your lunch break, or while the kids are at soccer practice. Working with a personal trainer is the most efficient use of your time. For 30 minutes you will be with someone whose sole focus is helping you reach your fitness goal.

You don’t have to think about what to do

Being an adult is filled with stressors. Why add to them by trying to figure out how to stay fit on your own? A personal trainer will do all the thinking for you. You will never have to do so much as to count a repetition or waste any of your precious minutes standing around wondering which machine to get on next.

Safe and Effective

Form is important. A personal trainer will monitor your exercises making sure you do them correctly to avoid injury. Trainers also have a broad understanding of physiological and metabolic systems and will apply that understanding to your routine. You will see the results.

Unique to you

A good personal trainer will program workouts designed specifically to meet your needs and help you reach your goals. Getting in shape (and staying there) isn’t a “one size fits all” process. Your workouts shouldn’t be either.

Motivation

When you feel like slacking off, there is someone who won’t let you.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends most adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardiorespiratory exercise per week. That’s 2.5 hours every 7 days. One-half hour a day. That’s all you need, and it doesn’t even have to be every day. Less than three hours a week with a personal trainer and sensible nutritional habits will get you well on your way toward the you that you want to be. Its something to think about the next time you want to say “I don’t have the time”

30Oct

Strength & Flexibility: The Best of Both Worlds

October 30, 2019 chuckbecomecox

Everybody loves muscles. They look good, feel nice, and help you move heavy things. Unfortunately, as we age muscle is harder to maintain. This may lead to more vigorous strength training, which isn’t exactly a bad thing, but can sometimes cause us to under train in other, equally important areas.

When you use muscles, whether it’s during a workout, standing up from a chair, playing golf, or just walking to the refrigerator, they contract. The fibers in each muscle slide to an overlapping position to create the strength needed to perform whatever task you are demanding of them. Every single time you move a muscle, it literally gets shorter. This is why after muscular exertion you feel tighter. You are.

Strength training alone makes for short, tight muscles. Tight muscles decrease mobility and the range of motion in your joints. This is the path to injury. It’s also the reason why flexibility training is essential. When you stretch, those tight muscles slide into a more elongated position. This position doesn’t have as much power, but it has much more mobility. This is why you feel open after a good stretch. You are eliminating the muscle compression.

As we get older our tendons, ligaments, and muscles aren’t quite as elastic as they used to be; more effort is needed to maintain flexibility. Chronic muscle tension ensues, and with it stiffness and poor range of motion. This will not only prohibit you from maximizing strength gains, but is the reason why injuries increase with age.

Flexibility training alone on a consistent basis causes connective tissues to stretch, which in turn makes them lengthen, and become less taut. When the muscle’s connective tissue is weak, it is more likely to become damaged due to over stretching, or sudden, powerful muscular contractions. Your long and loose muscles lack the strength to support your body. Increased flexibility without a corresponding increase in strength can result in joint instability, and you guessed it: injury.

It’s important to recognize that strength and flexibility have to be balanced within a your body to maintain posture, efficiency and health. Too much flexibility without strength and you put your body and joints at risk from instability and strain. Too much strength without flexibility and your body will become like a compact, rigid block inhibiting healthy movement and causing unnecessary wear and tear in the joints.

Balance your body by stretching muscles after performing strength exercises, and performing strength exercises for every muscle you stretch. This will help prevent injury, promote mobility, and preserve your range of motion. Strength and flexibility go hand in hand. Our bodies need to be strong and flexible to best serve us. You need not sacrifice one for the other. Cultivate both and create a more stable, mobile, resilient you.

04Sep

5 Exercises to Help Elevate Your Tennis Game

September 4, 2019 chuckbecomecox

Professionals may make it look easy running back and forth across the court, often for several hours at a time, but playing the sport of tennis requires a high degree of both strength and coordination. To perform at their best, a tennis player needs the right mix of endurance, speed and agility, as well as explosive strength and power.

To develop this, one cannot rely on playing tennis alone. Strength training is key. For club players, developing their level of overall of fitness can make all the difference in tennis performance. In a sport that relies on short, sharp sprints, and changing direction quickly and often, a player’s legs, core, shoulders, elbows and wrists must be strong, and limber.

With that in mind, here are five exercises to help elevate your tennis game.

Plyometric Lunge
Plyometric exercises help develop explosive strength and power, which is essential on the tennis court. This exercise involves taking the traditional lunge to a higher level of intensity. It will not only increase a your power, but will likewise develop muscular endurance through the hips and thighs.

Begin with feet shoulder width apart, then step forward with your right foot. Lower your body until your right thigh is parallel to the ground and rear knee is nearly touching it. This is the lunge position. As you reach it, surge upward as high as you can alternating your legs before landing softly in with your left thigh parallel to the ground and rear knee nearly touching it. Repeat for the desired amount of repetitions.

Torso Rotation
To hit a tennis ball as fast and hard as possible, the ability to rotate the upper body is paramount. The more power in your upper body the faster and harder an opponents shots can be returned.

Face the cable machine or exercise band anchor and grab the handle with both hands. Assume a tennis stance, legs shoulder width apart and bent at the knees. With your elbows slightly bent, swing the cable as if it were your racquet and you were performing a double handed forehand. Slowly return to the starting position and repeat.

Lateral Shuffles
This is a fantastic tennis-specific exercise designed to strengthen the hips and legs and enhance your balance, footwork and the ability to change direction quickly. While moving laterally, the hips, legs, calves, and shin muscles all work at an increased intensity. When performed in a half squat position the glutes are forced to work at a high level as well.

Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees bent, chest upright, and elbows bent at a 90-degree angle. Take a wide step to the left, then quickly bring your right foot to meet your left and repeat. Perform this exercise over a span of 10 to 15 feet each direction as quickly as you are able.

External Shoulder Rotation
Training your rotator cuff isn’t like training your biceps. Rather than maximal strength, the rotator cuff muscles need endurance, as they need to work every time you move your arm. Strengthening them is also a good way to prevent injury. The focus with this exercise should be high repetitions with a very low resistance. Elastic exercise bands are ideal for this.

Anchor the band at elbow height. Grasp the handle with the arm furthest from it. Keep your elbow tight against your side with the forearm against your stomach. Externally rotating the shoulder, pull the cable away from your body. Return to starting position and repeat.

Back Extensions
Lower back pain can be common among tennis players, making back extensions an important part of an off court fitness regimen. This exercise helps to strengthen your lower back, an essential element of a solid core. Performing it will increase your overall ability to coordinate the twisting, rotating and bending movements common during play. Injury prevention is also a benefit.

Lay flat on your stomach, arms at your sides palms up. In a smooth motion, lift your upper body up a few inches off the floor, using your lower back muscles, and then gradually lower it back to the floor. You shouldn’t try to crunch or jerk your lower back, but rather perform a slow, controlled movement up and then down. Repeat for the desired amount of repetitions.

For more information or training advice on how to improve your fitness for the game of tennis or the game of life please contact us at Empower Personalized Fitness.

11Jun

5 Secrets of the Pros

June 11, 2019 Chris Lathrop

Thinking back over the years, how many lessons have you had that made a long-term impact on your golf game? If I had to guess, I would say that the lessons early on in your golf career dramatically helped you improve, but since then you have probably only found a couple gems that you carry with you long term. As a Golf Fitness professional, I have heard from so many clients that they spend most of their time rehashing the same old swing issues over and over.

That’s when I decided I had to look a layer deeper than the typical swing drills or mechanical fixes that you find from online golf videos and TV instructors. If these changes were all that was needed, then why do so many golfers struggle with the same problems for years? Now let’s stop for a second and acknowledge that golf is a game of struggle. It’s really really hard! But if you practice for years and never improve your score maybe something besides your swing is the problem. Through my own study of sports science and my own practice with the game of golf I found that redirecting the focus away from the swing and toward other aspect of the mind and body, I could improve my own consistency without more hours on the driving range. The same is true for anyone else, because after all, we may have different swings but we all breathe, we all hopefully see, and we all have thoughts running through our minds. Armed with this knowledge, I created this unique golf-specific training program called 5 Secrets of the Pros. It’s not designed to change your swing or give you a new gimmick, but instead provide you with the tools to optimize the game you already have. Using the latest science, this program will show you how professionals across sports optimize their performance with training that goes beyond their sport.

So what is this new training and how does it work? Below is an explanation of each lesson to show you how each one will resolve a common error in your game. If you implement the skills learned in this program, I guarantee you’ll find some of those gems that improve your game for the long term.

Quiet Eyes Training-

If you play golf long enough you’ve experienced what happens when you take your eyes off of the ball. This may seem like too simple of a mistake to train away but research has shown that regardless of the sport, amateurs take their eyes off the target way more than professionals do. This problem is only exacerbated as the pressure of the situation mounts which might explain why you start making more mistakes when you really want to perform well. In this lesson I’ll show you how to prevent taking your eyes off the ball so you can benefit from all those practice sessions and play your best.

Breath Training-

Have you ever thought about where you don’t want to hit the ball only to immediately hit it there? We all have thoughts going through our mind on the golf course but it’s how we manage them that impacts the way we play the game. Trying to tune them out is rarely an effective strategy. Instead try, redirecting your focus to eliminate these silly errors. In this lesson I’ll show you how to use your breath to direct your focus from those things you don’t want to do so you can accomplish the ones you do.

Pulse Training-

Ever wonder why those pros can hit the ball so far? Yes, we know part of it is how talented and strong they are but part of it is getting out of their own way so the club can do the work. If you’ve ever found yourself trying to hit the ball farther but only to end up hitting it shorter then this lesson is for you. In this section of the program you’ll learn the importance of using muscles to drive your swing power and how to avoid tight muscles getting in your way.

Balance Training-

Whether you’re on the tee box or you have an awkward lie out of a bunker maintaining your balance is key to making good contact with the ball. If you’ve ever struggled to follow through with your swing or you can never seem to make good contact on an awkward lie help is on the way. The drills here will help you avoid those fall away shots and allow you to make solid contact on those awkward lies.

Rhythm Training-

No matter how many lessons you have working on the mechanics of your swing if you don’t have good rhythm you’ll never be able to consistently make the contact you want. If you’ve ever found yourself getting quick on the downswing or shortening your backswing because you were so eager to get back to the ball then you’ll find solutions here. In this lesson you’ll learn mental and physical drills that will help you move with the grace of the best in the world and avoid hacking at the ball.

Collectively the skills you will learn through this program stand to make a big impact on your consistency and will have you wondering why you didn’t think to make these simple changes sooner.

Sign-Up for 5 Secrets of the Pros Click HERE

11Mar

How to Achieve Work/Life Balance

March 11, 2019 Amanda Fontaine

The first blog in this series was an overview of work/life balance and what it means . Now we will dive deeper in on How to Achieve Work/Life Balance.

1 – Make time to connect with others. #Relationships

There is a Ted Talk 75 year study on happiness and those people who were happier were those who actively worked to replace workmates with new playmates. What are you doing to develop new relationships or grow deeper in the ones you have?

2 – Say NO

It’s okay to say no where and when you need to. “No” doesn’t have to mean a no forever, but sometimes a no for right now is enough. Saying no to some things is crucial to achieving work/life balance and it’s a powerful thing.

3 – Rest

Take 1 day a week and do not do any work. Just try it and maybe you’ll see that you feel rejuvenated and get more work done on other days of the week. You can use this as a renewal day, read a book and/or catch up with friends. Try not to just binge watch TV. Some TV is alright but it’s just a distraction and won’t benefit you as much as the other things. Strive for at least 7-8 hours of sleep. In the year 1879 the average American slept 11 hrs/night. Lack of sleep contributes to all sorts of health issues.

4 – Make time for FUN

I can’t ever stress this enough. Make sure you are always making time for things you enjoy.

Stay tuned for the next part of the series: Maintaining/Improving Work Life Balance.

18Dec

Food As Medicine: Immune System

December 18, 2018 Telese Coleman

It’s that time of the year again! It’s the season for playing in the winter snow, cozying up with some hot chocolate, a blanket and binging on Netflix…and the time for seasonal sniffles, coughs, colds and flu. This time of the year we are more vulnerable to viruses and allergies. No one enjoys being sick and contagious. So to decrease our chances of getting colds and coughs, we MUST strengthen our Immune Systems!

What is the Immune System anyway? It’s the body’s defense system against infection. It’s our built in armor that protects against and destroys viruses and illness. Think of your Immune System as a parent or that protective older brother. Because they love you, they will protect you at all costs and not let anyone or anything hurt you. Like our Immune System, they can also be “overprotective”. So although majority of the time we are being protected from the bad, that protection can also destroy some of the good that is meant to help. This can lead to Auto-immune Disease. For example, in the case of a donated organ or blood, the Immune System recognizes that as unfamiliar and therefore can turn on it’s own cells. Overall though, the stronger our Immune System, the healthier we are.

Just as a soldier in war without proper artillery and body armor would be highly vulnerable to attack, a weakened Immune System leaves our bodies open to attack from viruses, parasites and more. So how can we build the strongest armor? Well there are several ways you can strengthen or weaken your Immune System. Some of those include avoiding tobacco and alcohol, getting enough sleep, reducing stress, taking cold showers (which is strangely one of my favorites!). I have a love for “healing” foods however, and this is the “Food As Medicine” series so I am going to focus on how our diets can build or destroy our armor.

The specific tasks of the Immune System include:
1. Neutralizing pathogens, viruses, parasites and removing them from our bodies.
2. Recognizes “self-cells” (of you) and “non-self” cells (not of you) and destroys the unfamiliar cells to protect.

Let’s begin with what weakens the Immune System and therefore should be avoided (just as a reminder, EVERYTHING we put into our body is important). It will come as no surprise that red meat, fried foods, excess sugars and processed foods all contribute in various ways to weakening our Immune Systems. Just drinking a couple of sugary drinks can curb the Immune System cells that attack bacteria for at least a few hours post consumption! For various reasons and optimal health, these foods should be limited or avoided.

A lot of those, often called, “junk foods” cause our Immune System to activate the inflammation response to protect our cells. As the intake of junk food continues, the immune cells will “overreact” and inflammation starts to run rampant throughout the body. For a myriad of reasons…no-one wants chronic inflammation!

So now that we know what to avoid, let’s dive into the must have Immune Boosting Foods! It’s important to point out that, it’s really about the nutrients, vitamins and minerals that boost our bodies armor. Therefore I will list below the important nutrient and foods that contain them.

All of the above foods definitely do more than just strengthen the Immune System. They benefit our body in so many ways. As noted earlier, there are other things we should do to boost and maintain a strong Immune System. Let “food be your pharmacy” and include as many of these nutrient dense foods as you can to naturally heal and prevent illness!

Bonus: Many teas have Immune Boosting Properties as well. My current daily fix is Eucalyptus tea! Will a little cinnamon and honey, its AWESOME!

“Let food be thy medicine & medicine be thy food”
~Hippocrates