Consistency is the key to improving your Health and Fitness

What will my first exercise appointment be like? Are most people are a little nervous? Why do they ask where I am going each time I check in? What kind of exercise will I be doing? What kind of exercise should I do first? What are the benefits of cardiovascular exercise? How do I get started on the MedX circuit? Why is strengthening so important? What are the benefits of strengthening exercises? How many appointments should I schedule? Why do you use MedX equipment at Mike Arteaga's Health & Fitness Centers? What about adding exercise classes or other exercise to my weekly exercise routine? What should I wear? Should I expect to be sore? A friend of mine is recovering from an accident. Are there exercises he can do? What can I do to make sure I stick with my exercise plan? What about my specific goals? How do you know if the exercise is helping? What exercise should I be doing to lose weight? A friend of mine has chronic back pain. Are there exercises he can do?

Most people are a little nervous when they get started so we make it very easy for you. Each time you come in our front desk team will greet you and ask for your last name. They will also ask which area of the club you’ll be using. They will enter this information into our computer and then you can head for the locker room to change or just lock your things! Let the front desk team member know if you have an appointment in the fitness center as you check in. When you are ready, check back with the front desk and a team member will walk you in and introduce you to your fitness trainer. Don’t worry! Your fitness trainer will take it from there and show you exactly what to do!
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We watch these usage figures to get a feeling for what areas may need future expansion.
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There are two entirely different kinds of exercise. Your trainer will show you both, cardiovascular exercise and strengthening exercise.
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The fitness trainer will start you with cardiovascular exercise, usually an easy treadmill walk or a short ride on one of the bikes, whichever you prefer! As your endurance increases, and you can do more, you should slowly increase the time over the coming months until you are comfortable doing 15 to 30 minutes! Cardiovascular exercise will improve your endurance, stimulate your heart, lungs and circulatory system, and help you burn calories while you do the exercise.
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· Reduces the chance of premature death.
· Keeps arteries clear, improving heart function!
· Increases endurance, giving you more energy.
· Increases the HDL (good) cholesterol
· Reduces blood pressure and LDL (bad Cholesterol)
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If you have an appointment for the MedX, any front desk Fitness Trainer will start you on your strengthening exercises next. They will adjust each machine for you and record all this information on your exercise card!! Again, don’t worry! Your fitness trainer will do it all for you!

You’ll start with easy weights, and in the coming days, when you can easily lift that weight 8 or more times, you should add at least 2 pounds for next session! When you’re finished, your fitness trainer will show you where your exercise card is kept. Each time you come in, you just pull your training card from the file, and all you’re information is right there, ready to go! For your first few weeks make sure you check in with the trainer as soon as you enter the fitness room.
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Strengthening is very important, because it increases your muscle strength, bone density, joint strength and permanently increases the calories you burn each day.
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· Helps with fat loss. Every pound of muscle burns 50 calories per day even on our days off!
· Increases the number of small blood vessels and their efficiency, which increases blood supply to the muscles and reduces blood pressure.
· Reduces the LDL (bad) cholesterol.
· Strengthens the joints!
· Helps reduce the pain of Arthritis.
· Increases bone density, for prevention and reverses Osteoporosis (bone thinning).
· Helps to prevent hip fractures.
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Most members schedule at least the first 2 to 3 sessions with a fitness trainer when they are getting started, but you can schedule as many as you want until you are perfectly comfortable with your new environment. And don’t forget, the fitness trainers are always on the floor to help you.
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We use MedX strengthening equipment because it’s the most advanced equipment in the world and can easily be adjusted to fit anyone, in any condition. As a result, MedX provides the fastest results and can quickly be adjusted, for a ninety-year-old grandmother who is just getting started, or for the biggest, strongest pro football player!
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We have lots of choices. You might want to try other equipment for your cardiovascular exercise, such as the elliptical machines or maybe try a step class, Pilates class or cycling class. Maybe a water exercise or Yoga class is more to your liking. Just ask one of our team members! They will be happy to help.
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We want everyone to feel comfortable here. We suggest modest, loose fitting clothes, that you feel comfortable in. We ask that string tank tops and revealing or skintight clothes NOT be worn here. Most members prefer a baggy, comfortable T-shirt or sweatshirt with loose fitting shorts or warm-up pants.

For footwear, old worn out shoes are the most common cause of foot and leg problems. If you had to dig your sneakers out of the back of the closet, it’s a good idea to consider a new pair!

 

Also don’t forget to bring a lock with you and lock your things in any open locker while you are here. Lockers are only for day use so please empty the locker when you leave each day.
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If you start easy, as we encourage you to, you may have a very slight amount of muscle soreness after your first few sessions. However, if you have joint pain or anything more than slight muscle soreness, please let your fitness trainer know about it next time you are in.
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Whether a person is recovering from a minor or serious injury, exercise promotes healing and often shortens the recovery period. Assuming their doctor has “okayed” even mild activity, it’s best to exercise around the injury, maintaining as much activity as possible without aggravating the injury. We regularly work with injured or disabled people. Once they have completed their initial rehabilitation, we can design a program to work around almost any disability.
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· Schedule your exercise sessions in your datebook or day planner each week, just as you would any important appointment!
· Shoot for a schedule that you can see yourself doing for the rest of your life.
· Aiming for 2 or 3 times a week, rather than 6 times a week, is more likely to create a life-long habit of exercise.
· When you miss a few weeks or even a few months, don’t panic, it happens to all of us. Just get restarted.
· If you feel tired, cut your usual time or weights in half for that day. Don’t make it torture!
· Bring headphones in order to use the Cardio Theater. An interesting TV show, the news or some great music makes time go faster!
· And most important, listen to your positive inner voices that say things like, “I know I need this to feel good and stay healthy”!
· Avoid the negative inner voices that try to get us to stop exercising. Negative self talk, like, “I hate exercise”! or “I’m to old for this”!
It may cause you to give up on your program.
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Our programs apply to anyone who wants to maintain their health and improve their level of fitness. We are here to help you understand how our programs will assist you in achieving your goals. Your fitness trainer will ask what your goals are before getting started and explain how the circuit program helps you reach your goals.
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This is an important point. You should judge the success of your program by your exercise performance. Did you start walking 5 minutes on the treadmill and now you're doing 15 to 20 minutes? Can you lift more weight? As your performance improves, your health risks and your chances of premature death go down dramatically.
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Let me start with an often overlooked point: Exercise improves your health and reduces your risk of premature death whether you lose weight or not!

Despite what you may read, you CAN be overweight and still be healthy and fit if you exercise regularly. When body weight is a concern, remember that your goal is to lose FAT, not muscle! Muscle helps keep the fat off because each pound of muscle burns 50 calories per day which makes it very important to hang on to our muscle. Each pound of fat burns only 3 calories per day.

Our Fat Loss brochure will provide more specific guidance but here are some guidelines to get you started:
· To lose fat, you have to burn more calories than you take in. There are no miracle diets or miracle pills.
· Be VERY careful not to increase your food intake when getting started.
· Eat 3 meals a day. Skipping meals slows fat loss.
· Drink lots of water.

· The scale is the worst measure of fat loss or fitness.
· AND, regular exercise, particularly strengthening exercises on the MedX machines is critical for fat loss.
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If you or someone you know suffers from chronic back or neck pain, we have a special program called the MedX Healthy Back and Neck. The MedX back program was featured on the CBS nightly news by Dr. Mike Rosen for its remarkable effectiveness in reducing or eliminating back pain. For more information on the Healthy Back and Neck Program, please ask at the front desk.

We have brochures available at the front desk and by clicking here with information about fat loss, strengthening exercises, arthritis, back pain, knee problems, osteoporosis and shoulder pain. Hopefully this short introduction will help you in getting started with your exercise program. Please ask any of our team members, whenever you have a question or a problem. We’re glad to help!

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