Do you feel like this???

Is this how you feel after your Holiday feast???


Well, I can only say one thing that will make you feel only slightly better than the way you are currently feeling right now...."Your Not Alone."

So many people are feeling guilty right now because they promised themselves they wouldn't eat too much over the holidays only to prove their self control is weaker than they thought. Don't worry, it happens to the best of us!

Don't you wish you could weigh yourself like this...


but unfortunately your scale is telling you this...

"Go Run"
Don't beat yourself to death! The best thing to do is put together a game plan on how you are going to overcome this obstacle and succeed at your goals.

FORGET MAKING A NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION!!! All you are going to do is stress yourself out about it and set yourself up to fail, once again. You just stressed out about failing at "eating less" for the holidays and now you want to test your will again with new year's resolutions??? Forget it!!!

Just do it! Yeah, like Nike says! Just do it! Get off your tail and just go make it happen. Don't make a resolution and tell all your friends about what you are going to do. Just show determination, bust your tail and make it happen! Get a membership, get a trainer, get the results and show off your hot new bod!

Simple? YES! Don't hype it up. Don't tell the world. Don't promise anyone. Don't set a goal date. Don't do ANYTHING that is going to set you up for failure. Don't allow yourself to stress about it and just GO DO IT!

Happy Training!

Adam Freeman

Fitness Director/Personal Trainer

www.WilmingtonNCPersonalTraining.com

www.AdamFreemanPT.blogspot.com

AdamFreemanPT@yahoo.com

Food Tips for the Holidays

When ever the holidays come around, people are excited to share time with family and friends. People are de-stressed as they get a break from their hard work, some fly in from different states, others may be excited to see family they may only see once a year, some newly formed relationships are introduced and to their hopeful future families, gifts are prepared in beautiful wrappings, and the true meaning of the holidays is revealed.

We all know too well that when you get a lot of people together in one household for any type of event or holiday, there is no doubt that every household will linger the smell of mouth watering, belly growling, taste bud craving, heart sinking, button undoing, nap inducing.... food that just screams excitement. It is the time of year where all bets are off and our fitness goals are no longer in the front of our minds.

If I were to finish my description of all that food where I left off with the (...), it would continue as this: ...nap awakening, belly aching, stress enhancing, guilt increasing, bathroom anticipating, constipation happening, hernia preventing, calorie absorbing, cell building, body fat % increasing, weight gaining, pant size replacing, depression facing, stress heightening, self esteem decreasing, exercise needing individual who could have made a world of difference if they just read this article before they stuck their fork in the pie!

Tip #1: The biggest problem most people have is eating in moderation. Your stomach is only so big, so when you stretch it out every time you stuff it, it grows and grows and grows. The bigger it grows, the more you have to eat to feel full. After eating until you are full each and every time, the consumption of food becomes a lot more and that means more calories are being absorbed in all the wrong places. Eat less/smaller portions throughout the day and it will cause your stomach to reduce in size, making it easier to get full quicker. Not to mention, you are keeping your metabolism going by eating more, smaller portions through out the day.

Tip #2: A great way to eat in moderation for the holidays is to eat half of your normal, pile slabbing serving and save the rest for three hours later. You will be able to enjoy two or even three great holiday meals in one day. Plus, you won't have to worry about feeling stuffed because you didn't force it all in and feel depressed because you didn't get to save room for that favorite food you had been anticipated devouring all year long. You could very well take a run in between all three meals and burn off those unwanted calories, making your holiday season a self esteem enhancing time of the year.

Tip #3: I know! It is so hard to eat in moderation if you have a hundred different types of food on the table. Even if you took one small scoop of everything, you would pack in several thousand calories. The trick is to just not eat the basic servings you know all too well. For instance, if I have the choice of five different foods. Say...Honey Baked Ham, Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Corn, and Pumpkin Bread. How many times a month do you see corn or mashed potatoes in the same dinner meal? If your like my family, you will actually see them mixed together very often. Did you anticipate this holiday feasting season just to eat some corn and mashed potatoes? Probably not, so don't eat it and save your calories for something better like that kick butt, secret recipe making, green bean casserole you only get to have once in a blue moon.

I know we are not all perfect with our nutrition through the holidays and honestly, you don't have to be. If you make small adjustments, still enjoy the same food and not feel so negative afterward or have to make up for so much damage, then you are starting your new year off on the right foot.

Everyone here at O2 Fitness would like wish you all a Happy Holidays and be safe as you travel.

Warm Wishes!!!

Adam Freeman
Fitness Director & Personal Trainer
O2Fitness - Wilmington
www.WilmingtonNCPersonalTraining.com

www.AdamFreemanPT.blogspot.com
AdamFreemanPT@Yahoo.com

Getting Ready for the New Year

New Years Resolutions! Many people have them. Many people fail them!

It is evident in the gym on January 1st that people want to start the new year off on the right foot. People become motivated and they set goals according to their underlying motivation. People are motivated to lose weight in order to fit in old outfits they used to fit in so easily. It is heartbreaking when you see the amount depression going on when one person places a significant amount of stress on their bodies. Stress alone is keep that weight on their bodies.

When the new year hits, the gym is full and busy from sun up to sun down. People are sporting their new fitness clothes, new shoes while rocking out to their new I-pods they just got for Christmas. You can feel the motivation and excitement going on that it just wreaks failure in every trainer's mind. Failure? Did I just say failure? YES!

Unfortunately, 75% of those motivated individuals will lose their motivation and return to the comfortable lifestyle they once lived just a few weeks prior. Why??? All those motivated souls who would spell out a heartbreaking story about how their doctor said their health is deteriorating and if they don't start working out, their life expectancy is diminishing by the day.

What if everyone were able to follow through with their goals, follow through with their New Year's resolution and reach the results they so desperately set out to achieve?

You can do this! You can make it happen! You can achieve greatness! But how??? You say you set goals, but did you set them appropriately? Probably not! Most people these days fail at reaching their goals because they left out a few basic, but major steps in setting goals according to their plan. Look, you already have your motivation and you already have your goals in mind, so why is it so hard to reach them? Well, I guess I wouldn't be a nice guy if I built it up and didn't tell you, so I guess I will not only tell you but share the steps it takes to reach your goals 100% of the time.

Write your 12 week (90 day) most important goal down in "affirmation" form on an index card so you can have it handy wherever you go. Write an achievement, not something you want to avoid. (How lean you want to become, not how much fat you want to get rid of)

[ex. By December 3rd, 2010: I am so happy and thankful now that I am wearing a size 5, my stomach is flat and feels hard. My pants fit perfectly on my waistline. I can see my abs and other people are noticing it too. People are commenting on my appearance and it makes me feel so good. I feel like an achiever.]

When you read this goal card, you notice that you can practically paint an image of this client. That is the whole purpose of writing your goal down and keeping it with you at all times. You need to train your subconscious mind in order for your goals to be met 100%. The subconscious mind accepts commands most easily when they are given in the present tense, personal, positive format and when they are read and visualized repeatedly, with faith, emotion, gratitude and an already having received attitude. The best time to read your card is when you are in a state of relaxation or just about to shut off the lights at bedtime.

Think about this. Name the first Cola/Soft drink that comes to mind? See, without hesitation you said Coke or Pepsi because the company has done their job. They have embedded so much advertisement in your brain that out of all the soft drinks in the world, those were to first two you thought of. In advertising lingo it is called "Share of Mind" which both Coke and Pepsi were awarded top of the class. Think about it if you were to put your goals in front of your brain all day every day. What do you think would happen?

After while, you are going to get to the point to where you put your hand in your pocket and think of your goals and that image you have in your brain without even pulling the card out to read it. You will be so focused on your goal and while taking action, you will reach those goals much faster than you expected. If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.

Happy Training!

Adam Freeman
Fitness Director/Personal Trainer

O2 Fitness Clubs - Wilmington, NC

www.WilmingtonNCPersonalTraining.com

www.AdamFreemanPT.blogspot.com

AdamFreemanPT@yahoo.com

December - O2 Fitness Personal Trainer of the Month

Every month, I am going to choose a personal trainer at O2 Fitness who I feel portrays and defines the exact image of what a successful personal trainer truly means. When I say successful, I don't mean the trainer who sells the most personal training or the trainer who has the most clients in their schedule books. The success I'm talking about has to do with character, professionalism and how they carry themselves overall.

At O2 Fitness, all of our personal trainers are educated and have extensive education to prove why their experience has been nothing but successful. Many lucky clients have had life altering changes with our trainers leading behind the wheel. So much weight has been lost in the walls of this club, you could practically call this a professionally glorified chop house. As sick as that may sound, it is beyond satisfying to hear so many success stories that I could create a blog of its own and easily have a post for every single day of the year.

Besides picking the hundreds of clients who deserve more than just recognition for their hard work, we will chose a personal trainer who is in charge of leading those clients to a new and healthy lifestyle. Picking a specific trainer is hard enough because I am so blessed to have every single one of them on my team. The personal trainers are one of the main reasons why people think of O2 Fitness when they think of personal training in Wilmington, NC.



Without a doubt, the personal trainer of the month at O2 Fitness is Jamie Baxendell. Jamie is originally from upstate Pennsylvania, but moved to Wilmington just over three years ago where she jumped right in to personal training at O2 Fitness.

Jamie is certified through two of the most prestigious certifications available:

National Academy of Spots Medicine (NASM)

The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA-CPT)

Jamie earned her degree through a physical fitness specialist program where day in and day out she studied and learned how to be the best trainer for her clients. Jamie specializes in functional training with clients of all ages from childhood to elderly adults. She also enjoys working with clients who are pre and postnatal.

Jamie’s philosophy is to enrich people’s lives through health and fitness. She accomplishes this by customizing an individualizing programs that fit her client's needs and wants to get them the most out of their workouts, each and every time they train.

Susie Smith is one of Jamie's clients here at O2 Fitness who has experienced the amazing professionalism that Jamie carries in the club. Susie has lost nearly 50 pounds under Jamie's supervision and is currently stronger than she has ever been in her life.

Another client of Jamie's who has seen incredible results is George Popa John. George was at a high risk with cholesterol and his blood pressure. We are pleased to say that George has lowered his cholesterol and his blood pressure is down to a very healthy level now.

Way to go both Susie and George for you hard work and dedication. We are excited about your progressive journey through the O2 Fitness Personal Training program. You are family to us and we look forward to seeing more results come as your new goals are set to be met.

Jamie, keep up the hard work and know that you are a highly respected trainer for a reason. We are blessed to have you a part of our team and we see continued success in your future. I am proud to share your name with members who ask about personal training because you deliver the results every single time. Great job!

If you are interested in signing up for a Free fitness assessment with Jamie to see how she can completely change your life through reaching your fitness goals, contact me below ASAP and catch Jamie before the new years rush fills up her appointment book.

Wishing you all a wonderful day and Happy Training!

Adam Freeman
Fitness Director & Personal Trainer
AdamFreemanPT@Yahoo.com
www.WilmingtonNCPersonalTraining.com

www.AdamFreemanPT.blogspot.com

"Quick Fix" - Step 2: Keeping The Fat Off!!!

Continuing from yesterdays post, it is just as important to exercise to keep off the body fat as it is to take it off quickly. As we all now know, doing low intensity cardio for as much as an hour a day will greatly reduce your body fat percentage, but what kind of exercises do you do to keep it off?

The answer is resistance training, weight lifting, free weights, machines, etc... It's not what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, it's anything that has weight to be lifted makes us stronger.

Many people, mostly women, have the misconception that lifting weights will make them look like a body builder. Honestly, if lifting heavy weights could make anyone a body builder, every man in this world would be walking with their arms bowed out and their biceps bulging! I wish it were that easy! The truth is, it won't make anyone a body builder if your exercises and nutrition are geared properly according to your fitness goals.

It is really simple, men typically have less body fat or can reduce their body fat because they have more muscle on their body. They have more muscle because they are the ones you typically see in the free weight area lifting the heavy weights. Yes, most men have bigger frames than women do, but everyone has a body fat and body mass ratio compared to their own height and weight. So, what do you think would happen if you had more muscle mass on your body? If you already have muscle, what benefits would you have if you had more?

The more muscle you have on your body, the higher your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is. Your basal metabolic rate is how many calories your body burns in a given day. Since we all know that muscle weighs more than fat, the body has to work harder to use and carry that muscle which in return will burn more calories throughout the day. Just think if you add enough muscle for your body to burn an extra 300 calories a day. That is practically one extra session of cardio and you didn't have to lift a finger.

Hmmm....well in that case, if you actually do cardio when your body burns an extra 300 calories already, you are doubling up the amount of calories your body burns each day. Does that mean you can eat more calories if you burn more calories. Of course it does! Who currently wants to eat more than what their nutrition plan is giving you? I am sure a lot of you would answer, yes, and I don't blame you one bit.

Now that you know how to do it, you need to know what to do. You have a couple options. You could read countless books, study all the mumbo jumbo and design the best program for your body type to achieve the goals you want in the quickest amount of time. You could hire a certified trainer at your local gym and let them put the years of study and experience to work for you. If you don't have time to go to a gym and your a on-the-go type person, you could purchase online personal training from a reputable trainer.

So, what are you going to do? Are you going to continue trying all the quick fixes that everybody and their brother is trying to sell you or are you going to come to the realization that it is going to take genuine, good ole' effort to get the results you want? I promise it is not as tough as you think it is. Just as the world conned you in to thinking there is a healthy quick fix out there to lose weight, they tricked you in to thinking you have to go in the gym for hours upon hours to get the results you only dreamed of.

You know what? Just like trusting a certified dentist to fix your teeth or a doctor to heal your sickness, you need to go to a qualified trainer to teach you the right way to reach your fitness goals. The information is there for you, all you have to do is ask for advice.

And...This is the best advice that I can possibly give you about all this. If you do more than what you are doing right now in your life, your body will react by adapting to your changes. Once you know exactly what to do, you are unstoppable.

Wishing you all a wonderful week and Happy Training!

Adam Freeman
Fitness Director & Personal Trainer
O2 Fitness Clubs
AdamFreemanPT@yahoo.com

"Quick Fix"

I was emailing one of my Online Personal Training clients about these two words that should not go in the same sentence as the word, fitness. No matter what new and improved product, what the fake television doctor advertisement says, how many minutes you can get those sweet abs in or how less you have to work to achieve the body of your dreams….It’s NOT happening!

If you look at the rest of the world, the only thing that is getting results faster are computers and unless we become some cyborg mutation, don’t plan on this world ever getting the same “quick” results with our bodies. Now don’t get me wrong, you can get quick fixes through surgery or starving your poor body dry, but we are personal trainers and when you ask us what the secret is, we are going to tell you the same thing we tell our clients…hard work!

Well now, let me take that statement back because a lot of people who want to lose body fat may be working too hard! What???? Did I just say that? YUP!

Seriously, I have seen thousands of people who are either under-training or over-training when it comes to losing body fat. There is a happy medium and all you have to do is calculate a few numbers will enable you to know exactly what to do to get the fastest “Healthiest” results your body can possibly fathom.

This is no over night fix, but if you want to know what the healthiest “Quick Fix” there is on this planet, then trust me when I say it is easier than boiling water. Actually, I better not say that because I learned how to boil water back when Aimee and I started dating nearly 6 years ago. Ouch!

Here is goes! There are two steps you must remember:

Step 1 “Quick Fix”) Burn Body Fat Quick! It is really simple and you have to trust me on this one. A lot of the members that I come in contact with fail to understand that you don’t have to crawl out of the gym in a pile of sweat soaked clothes to get the best work out and burn the most body fat. Actually, it is the exact opposite.

When you are on the elliptical, treadmill or bike, reading your magazine or watching your little television, are you paying attention to where your heart rate is? Probably not, because every time I look at people in the cardio area, they are doing everything but looking at their heart rate. Why is the heart rate so important? For one, it will share some very important news as to whether you are building endurance or burning fat.

The most important ingredient to incinerating body fat the quickest over a given time is oxygen. If your heart rate is beating at a slow rate, your body isn’t burning calories fast enough. If your heart rate is beating at a fast rate, your body may be burning calories, but not the calories you were hoping for if your goal is weight loss.

Think with me for a second. When you are doing your cardio session, there is that point in time when your body starts to warm up and your sweat conductors start to release a glistening sweat over your body to keep it cool. At this point, you start to feel your heart rate in your chest a little and maybe your breathing starts to pick up as you feel your muscles are longing for more oxygen. This is called the threshold between aerobic (with Oxygen) and anaerobic (without Oxygen).

When you cross over in to the anaerobic side, your body lacks the delivering of oxygen to your muscles which will cause your muscles to burn until fatigue sets in. The more and more you train in this level, the more endurance your body builds up. There is nothing wrong with training in this zone, but if the main goal is to reduce body fat, your body is working against you.

Training in the aerobic fat burning zone allows oxygen to burn off a higher percentage of fat calories over a period of time without losing any muscle (and I will share the importance of keeping all the muscle you can next post). You may not sweat like crazy or walk out of the gym feeling like you just had the best workout of your life, but you know that you are reaching your goals when you see the results on the scale.

What rate should me heart be beating at to get the best results? Here is the calculation:

220 - 30 (Age) = 190
190 – 60 (Resting Heart Rate*) = 130
130 x 65% = 84.5
84.5 + 60 (RHR) = 144.5

*To determine your RHR (Resting Heart Rate), take your pulse for one full minute when you first wake up in the morning.


Again, remember it is not how hard your heart is beating, but how hard your heart is beating with access to oxygen that gets the faster fat burning results. Stay tuned for the next post, Step 2, which explains how to easily keep the body fat off over a longer period of time.


Not local to Wilmington, NC and Interested in Online Personal Training with me? Go to: Online Personal Training

Also, follow our every move on Facebook and Twitter!

Happy Training,

Adam Freeman
O2 Fitness Clubs
Fitness Director & Personal Trainer
AdamFreemanPT@yahoo.com

Welcome!

Hello Everyone and welcome to the O2 Fitness Training blog! A lot of you may be coming from another blog of mine or are brand spanking new. Well, no matter where you are coming from, you are in for a real treat!

We are bringing you a healthier lifestyle by allowing every single one of you in to the minds, hearts and secrets of Wilmington's #1 personal trainers. If you ever wanted to take your fitness to the next level or even just start a fitness program, we will be giving you insight to the best tools around.

Our trainers have hit the pavement hard to earn their degrees, certifications and gained the experience with hundreds of clients over the years. I have been training for nearly ten years now and when I decided to join the O2 Fitness Training squad, I knew I was in the right place when I found out how awesome the trainers were. Not only will the clients be gaining a great deal of fitness information, but so would I.

Needless to say, I am pleased to bring you the O2 Fitness Personal Training blog! We are also easily found on Facebook and Twitter (Look over on the right toolbar). There you can follow our every move as we will be updating great fitness tips and some fun and exciting news that takes place over at O2 Fitness. Ya never know, we may even throw out some FREE stuff...like FREE sessions with one of our awesome trainer or FREE Online Personal Training if your not local to Wilmington, NC. Woo hoo! Free Stuff for Anyone! Ya never know, so keep your eyes out!

In the mean time, go follow us on Facebook/Twitter and check out the new O2 Personal Training website:

O2 Fitness Personal Training

I look forward to sharing some awesome tips, recipes, success stories and some FREE stuff for all of you!

Best wishes and Happy Training!

Adam Freeman
Fitness Director & Personal Trainer
O2 Fitness Clubs - Wilmington, NC
Email: AdamFreemanPT@yahoo.com
Website: www.WilmingtonNCPersonalTraining.com

Blog: www.AdamFreemanPT.blogspot.com