Health, fitness and weight management is all about balancing the number of calories you take in (eat) with the number of calories your burn (metabolize).  In general, fit people have higher metabolic rates. Just what is metabolism? Your metabolism is the process by which your body converts food into energy and then puts that energy to use. You need energy for rigorous activities like jogging or biking, but you also need those calories to fuel bodily processes such as breathing and keeping your heart beating.

Scientifically speaking, there are four components that make up your total daily metabolic burn rate: 1) your resting metabolic rate (RMR or the number of calories your body burns at rest) 2.) TEF or the thermic effect of metabolizing food 3). The amount of calories you burn when going about your daily activities and 4.) physical activity which includes lifestyle activities as well as the planned exercise you partake in. Each of these areas can be tweaked to boost your total daily calorie burn rate. Here are 6 tips for staying lean and fit by igniting each of these metabolic areas in different ways:

1. Boost your calorie-burning furnace by strength-training. The only scientifically proven method of enhancing the number of calories your body burns at rest (RMR) is to change your body composition meaning adding more muscle mass. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat (one pound of muscle burns approximately 9 times the calories as a pound of fat) so by increasing muscle mass through intensive strength training, you can increase RMR to a small degree. Strength-building exercises also help maintain your bone density and balance, two important factors in healthy aging.
2. Daily cardio adds to your burn. Here is where you have the greatest daily control over your total burn rate. Cardio is the greatest calorie burner in the least amount of time. Combine a daily cardio expenditure of a few hundred calories with your strength training workout calorie burn and you have a one-two punch which will guarantee to fire up your metabolism.
3. Power up your protein intake. Eating a small amount of lean protein at every meal is also an effective metabolism booster. Protein takes more calories to assimilate thereby raising your TEF to a greater degree than carbs or fat.
4. Eat small, frequent meals. And don’t forget to eat small frequent meals throughout the day (another proven metabolism booster) rather than consolidating your entire food intake into just one or two large meals. Eating metabolism-raising foods in small quantities, spread throughout the day, will also provide you with a stable blood sugar level and a constant source of energy needed for metabolism. It is also important that you do not skip breakfast or drastically reduce your calorie intake as it will be interpreted by your body as potential starvation and lead to a slowdown in your metabolism.
5. Get enough Z’s. Sleep deprivation actually has been shown to harm your body’s endocrine function and capacity to metabolize carbohydrates. Translation: when you don’t get a good night’s sleep you decrease your calorie burning potential. Aim for at least 7 solid hours per night to help your metabolism run more smoothly.
6. Practice stress reduction. Stress triggers the release of cortisol, the primary stress hormone. When cortisol bathes your body’s tissue it stimulates fat storage, particularly around the middle (the more dangerous location). Cortisol also slows metabolism.  Practicing healthy stress reduction techniques such as exercise, listening to music, gardening or any other relaxation technique will lower the amount of cortisol and help you maximize your metabolic rate.

Remember, you can take action to enhance your total daily metabolic rate. Targeting your calorie burn from multiple angles using the scientifically proven strategies outlined above, is an effective way to control your metabolism. Follow these 6 tips with the support of Fitness Together and you can and will ignite your inner inferno!  A Fitness Together trainer will develop a strength training routine designed to meet your specific goals. You’ll also receive nutritional counseling through the Nutrition Together program, which will complement your workouts. To find the Fitness Together studio nearest you, please visit www.fitnesstogether.net.

In case you missed one or two of these as we posted them on our Facebook page, we have collected them all here for you!

On The 12th Day Of Fitness Your Trainer Said To Thee…

• 1^st Day of Fitness: “Strength train a minimum of 3x/week this holiday season to maintain fitness levels and keep weight gain at a minimum.”

• 2^nd Day of Fitness: “Eat healthy, eat light, eat often to keep off the holiday belly bulge.”

• 3^rd Day of Fitness: “Get in at least 30 min. of cardio daily to burn extra holiday calories and boost your body’s metabolism.”

• 4^th Day of Fitness: “Walnuts are the perfect holiday snack with superb antioxidant content and high omega-3 superfat, ALA, fiber, vitamins and minerals.”

• 5^th Day of Fitness: “Get fit together with friends and family in a high-energy, results-driven small group PACK training environment.”

• 6^th Day of Fitness: “Add edamame – the ultimate health food – to your holiday menu. Soy is a perfect protein – providing you with all the amino acids your body needs, in the right proportion.

• 7^th Day of Fitness: “Plan ahead this week and schedule your workouts for the rest of the month so you can close out the year looking better, feeling better and performing better.”

• 8^th Day of Fitness: “Extra virgin olive oil is your best bet for a heart-healthy fat this holiday season. Tasty and nutritious, this superfood is packed with monounsaturated fat, antioxidants and vitamin E.”

• 9^th Day of Fitness: “Don’t let holiday stress weigh you down! Get in a combo of strength and conditioning training today to alleviate holiday burnout and elevate your fitness level.”

• 10^th Day of Fitness: “Celebrate the season with a toast to antioxidant-rich red wine and dark chocolate, rather than over-indulging in other high caloric holiday drinks and desserts.

• 11^th Day of Fitness: “Don’t wait until after the holidays to start your fitness routine! Jump start your New Year’s resolutions today with sweat-drenching, muscle-pumping small group PACK training.

• 12^th Day of Fitness: “Decorate your holiday dinner plate with lean white meat skinless turkey, sweet potatoes and cranberries for a high-quality mix of protein, vitamins and minerals.”

If you would like to speak with a personal trainer near you, please give us a call at 888-968-7462. Our private personal training studios are located in Brookfield, Delafield, Third Ward- Milwaukee, and Wauwatosa.

The temptations of the holiday season – baked goods, candy canes, cocktail parties and large social gatherings centered on food – can lead you down the path of weight gain, irritability and inactivity during the cold, dark winter months. To overcome these temptations and stay focused on consistently working out and eating healthy during the holidays, you may need to enlist the help of a workout buddy. A workout buddy can help keep you motivated, dedicated and encouraged as you venture through the journey of living a healthy and fit lifestyle during the holidays and beyond.

Buddy’s Bring Accountability

It’s not just about you when you work out with a buddy. It’s about being there for your partner, showing up every workout session to give your best effort, and setting a good example of being dedicated to you and your partner’s workout success. It’s a lot harder to skip your 6 a.m. workout if you know you have a workout partner waiting for you at the gym to take a class together or someone is relying on you to show up at a local trailhead for an early morning run. It’s also a lot more difficult to “phone in your workout” by just going through the motions and not giving your all when you have a workout buddy beside you who is expending their time and energy to workout with you and give their best. A buddy is an essential resource to help keep you on track, on time and on point during your workouts.

Buddy’s Bring Camaraderie

Working out with a buddy can be a fun adventure that changes with each workout. By working out side-by-side day in and day out, you naturally will begin to build a sense of community, friendship and pride from maintaining a consistent workout schedule together, accomplishing physical and mental goals together, and living by example as to what it means to be fit and healthy. Your workout buddy can quickly become more than just someone to count your push ups or hold your feet during sit ups. Your workout buddy may become a lifelong fitness teammate and friend.

Buddy’s Bring Motivation

Whether you are a competitive person in nature or not, working out with a buddy can improve your health and fitness levels beyond what you could do alone. Buddies can help push you out of your comfort zone by encouraging you to try a new adventure, they can help increase your confidence in how you look and feel about your body by motivating you to perform at levels you never thought possible, and they can celebrate with you after a strenuous workout session that leaves you sweating and feeling good about your accomplishments.

Need a Buddy?

Do you need help finding a workout buddy who is dedicated to looking better, feeling better and performing better during the winter season? Consider joining a small group personal training studio to workout with other like-minded individuals who are seeking real health and fitness results. Fitness Together’s PACK Small Group Training can help you elevate your fitness routine this holiday season in a fun and energetic group setting, with coaching from a Fitness Together certified trainer.

In Fitness Together’s PACK training sessions, like-minded people begin together, work together and finish together in pursuit of a common purpose and to achieve individual goals. Call Fitness Together today (888-968-7462) to pack your winter with a fun, affordable and structured health and fitness routine for you and your buddy.

Living a fit and healthy lifestyle doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a consistent and dedicated effort to not only become physically fit, but to maintain a healthy lifestyle in the long-term. Although exercising consistently and eating a nutritious diet are the cornerstones to achieving a healthy lifestyle, the following four quick tips can help improve your efforts, as well as provide some fun and memorable experiences along the way.

Lifestyle Improvement Tip #1: Turn Up the Tunes

The popularity of MP3 players on the workout scene has brought about various research findings that support the benefits of exercising to your favorite playlists. Motivation, increased workout tempos and positive mental influences may all be associated with turning up the tunes during an exercise session. New research published earlier this year, though, has found that music may also be beneficial after a hard workout to enhance your body’s recovery. The study published earlier this year in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning suggests that listening to motivational music during workout recovery times following intense exercise can lead to increased activity, faster lactate clearance and enhanced body recovery.1

Lifestyle Improvement Tip #2: Race to the Finish

As the weather gets cooler and everyone settles in for winter preparation, the fall season is one of the most popular times of the year for running races, triathlons and fitness competitions. A fall family 5K or fitness event can be a fun and memorable experience to enhance and energize your workout routine. By following a training plan for your fall event and completing the activity either on your own or as part of a family/group of friends, you can gain a sense of accomplishment and pride that will drive you to continue improving you and your family’s healthy lifestyles.

Furthermore, writing down specific health and fitness goals associated with a race or fitness event can help keep you focused and on track to realizing monumental accomplishments. Clear and concise goals help eliminate the clutter that can build up in your busy life and mind, while giving you a concrete reason (finish a race, beat a personal best time/record, etc.) to stay motivated, eat well and work out on a consistent basis.

Lifestyle Improvement Tip #3: Get Some More Z’s

With work deadlines, family commitments and busy back-to-school schedules, sleep can easily become overlooked. Getting an adequate amount of sleep per night, though, does more than just rest your body and mind – at least eight hours of sleep per night helps to prevent weight gain, diabetes and heart disease. While everyone may wish they could sleep in more often, realistically, that may not be an option. If you struggle to get enough sleep each night, you can start setting up more healthy sleep habits by going to bed 15 minutes earlier for a week, followed by 15 minutes earlier the next week and so on, until you reach your desired bedtime that will leave you with eight hours of valuable sleep.

In addition to getting enough sleep each night, it also is important to get quality sleep. Recent research has shown that individuals who exercised regularly (logged at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week) reported 65 percent better sleep quality. The individuals in the study who exercised regularly fell asleep faster, reported less daytime sleepiness and more daily productivity than those who weren’t as active.2 By focusing this fall on getting enough quality sleep each night, you can take steps toward positively improving your overall lifestyle.

Lifestyle Improvement Tip #4: Replace Multi-Tasking with Single-Tasking

Digital distractions are everywhere with smart phones, laptops, tablets and televisions filling up our days. While these tools can help you juggle the many hats you wear on a daily basis (parent, co-worker, friend, volunteer), it is important to unplug from these digital drainers on a regular basis and force yourself to focus on one thing at a time. For instance, leave your digital gadgets in your car or at home when you go into the studio for your daily workout so you can focus all of your mental and physical efforts on improving your healthy and fit lifestyle. This may help keep you from getting distracted during your workout so you won’t be tempted to peek at your work e-mails or social media status updates in-between squat sets.

Healthy lifestyles take consistent, dedicated time and energy to establish and maintain. Using the four tips above is a good place to start implementing small changes in your life each day that can lead to huge improvements to your overall lifestyle. The experts at Fitness Together can further help you improve your lifestyle by taking your workout to a new level in a fun and energetic setting. Give our studio a call today (888-YOUR-GOAL) to learn how our exceptional trainers will push you, motivate you and support you to elevate your fitness routine and exceed your personal expectations.

In Good Health!

Pete Piranio
Owner/Fitness Consultant
Fitness Together

www.fitnesstogether.net
________________________

1Journal of Strength & Conditioning, 2012

2Mental Health and Physical Activity, 2011

If you’re a runner or have friends/family members who are runners, there is a pretty good chance that you’ve heard people ask, “What kind of diet do I need to follow to be like a runner?” Just as the specifics of everyone’s diets are different due to a handful of variables, each runner’s diet is as unique as his/her pre-race rituals. Even so, many members of the running community tend to have some similar characteristics – runners are planners, runners are consistent, runners keep track of their daily activities – that can carry over to creating healthy eating habits to benefit runners and non-runners alike.

Plan What You Eat

It’s a lot easier to maintain a healthy diet that includes all of the essential vitamins, minerals and nutrition your body needs when you plan out and prepare your meals for the day/week ahead of time. On a weekly basis, create a master menu and shopping list that include whole grain carbohydrates, lean proteins, healthy fats, fruits and vegetables. Go to the grocery store at the beginning of the week and purchase all of the ingredients you will need to complete your weekly menus. Try to stay away from processed foods as much as possible. When you return from the grocery store, you now will have all of the ingredients you need in-house to prepare healthy meals all week long and eliminate excuses for not being able to cook/eat healthy.

Eat Throughout the Day

Consistency is key to fueling your body like a runner and ensuring optimal performance before, during and after your workout. You should strive to eat three meals and two small snacks per day in order to support a consistent metabolism in your body that can keep you from crashing and becoming over-hungry. Once you let yourself get too hungry, you run the risk of quickly consuming more calories than you realize to combat your strong hunger pains.

Track Your Progress

No one enjoys counting their calories – not even runners. Even so, you need to be honest and realistic about how many calories you consume on a daily basis to determine whether you are fueling your body appropriately. Counting calories can be as easy as tracking your meals in a paper-based journal or inputting your calorie numbers online in an accountability journal. Just make sure to be consistent and take into account every calorie you consume – even the ones you may be drinking in your morning coffee or evening cocktail.

Take It Slow and Steady

In addition to tracking the number of calories you consume, it also is important to be conscious about how fast you are consuming your meals. Recent research has found correlations between how fast you eat and your Body Mass Index (BMI) rating. Faster eaters reported higher BMI levels during the study than those who took their time to completely chew their food. Slower eaters reported lower BMI levels, which may be associated with being more aware of each bite of food they put into their mouths, and focusing on the actual act of eating rather than becoming absorbed by mealtime distractions such as the television, a good book or the computer.1

Whether you are a runner or not, everyone can benefit from following the four easy healthy eating habits described above. By planning what you eat ahead of time, eating smaller, more frequent meals/snacks throughout the day, keeping track of your daily calorie count, and eating your food slower you are well on your way to creating healthy eating habits to fuel your body for optimal performance. If you would like more information on how combining smart nutrition with regular workouts can help you meet your fitness goals, call our Fitness Together studio today to learn about our Nutrition Together program.

CONTACT FITNESS TOGETHER:

888-YOUR-GOAL

-or-

www.fitnesstogether.net

With kids going back to school and summer vacations coming to an end, it is the perfect time for you to take back control of your life by getting back into a regular exercise routine and getting back on track to living a healthy and fit lifestyle. To help you get back into the fitness groove this fall, we offer the following three tips for re-activating and enhancing your exercise routine.

Go Back to Basics

If you’ve taken a break from your regular exercise routine during the summer months, you may be eager to jump back into where you left off before your exercise hiatus. When getting back into your exercise routine, though, it is important to start with the basics to get your mind and body acclimated to a regular, consistent exercise regimen. If you jump back in too fast and take on more than your body can handle too soon, you run the risk of sidelining injuries, early burnout and fatigue – all conditions that can keep you out of the fitness studio well past the summer months.

Get Moving

According to the World Health Organization, physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for all global deaths, with 31 percent of the world’s population not physically fit.¹ As a society, we need to make a concentrated effort to get our bodies moving to not only increase our mortality rates, but to put ourselves in a more positive position to live a physically fit and healthy lifestyle. To get started on increasing your body’s movement, you can make some simple changes every day that can make a big difference to your life. For instance, take a 30-minute walk each evening with your family, ride your bike to run errands instead of driving, replace workplace breaks in the kitchen with walking breaks around the block, turn off the television and play an active game with your family instead of laying on the couch, or sign up for a recreational sports league for increased weekly movement and friendly competition.

Make It a Habit

When exercise becomes a part of your daily schedule, it quickly becomes less of a chore and more of a habit. You can make exercise a habit by doing your workouts at the same time each day, creating a routine you can follow and adapt on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, and including a support group environment (trainer, friends, family) that provides accountability and encouragement. When exercise becomes a habit, you help to eliminate the mental tendency to skip a workout and create a more positive mind set that is focused and dedicated to exercising regularly.

Changing your current lifestyle – even when it’s for the good – can sometimes feel overwhelming and intimidating. By breaking up your overall objectives into more manageable smaller changes like the ones listed above, you can create a foundation that will lead you to successfully meeting your lifestyle goals. The expert trainers at Fitness Together can help guide you through your journey of re-activating and enhancing your fitness routine this fall by creating a personalized health and fitness plan that addresses your specific goals and needs. Give our studio a call today to jump start your exercise routine and begin feeling better, looking better and performing better than you ever thought possible.

PS. All this month, you and up to 3 friends can come in for a free PACK Small Group Personal Training Session. If you are not already a client you and your friends will also get a complimentary F.I.T. Consultation and Assessment. Click here: http://www.fitnesstogether.net/packgroup/ or call 888-YOUR-GOAL (888-968-7462).

¹World Health Organization (WHO)

Experts throughout the fitness community have long encouraged everyone to exercise more in order to live a healthy and fit lifestyle. Recently, the medical community has further supported the importance of encouraging adults to be more physically active, especially for individuals who have or are at high risk for life-threatening diseases such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.¹

In honor and recognition of October being National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it’s important to revisit the importance of being active and eating healthy in order to reduce the risk of diseases such as cancer, increase fitness levels, and promote healthy living and longevity.

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), more than 572,000 Americans die of cancer each year, with 1/3 of the deaths linked to poor diet, physical inactivity and being overweight.² The most important things you can do to help reduce cancer risk for you and your family include:

• Establishing and maintaining a healthy weight.
• Incorporating regular, consistent physical activity into your lifestyle.
• Making healthy food choices with a focus on plant-based foods.

The latest recommendations from the ACS in regard to healthy physical activity levels for adults include 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activities each week. Moderate activity would be equivalent to prolonged brisk walking, biking and hiking, while vigorous activiites include sweat drenching, muscle pumping workouts like Fitness Together’s PACK Small Group Personal Training sessions.

In addition to adding regular workout sessions into your daily schedule that motivate, encourage and support living a healthy lifestyle, you also can begin incorporating more active habits into your normal daily routine. Starting today, try incorporating as many of the following approaches (suggested by ACS) as possible to support an active and healthy lifestyle.

• Use the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Walk or bike to your destination.
• Be active at lunch with your co-workers, family, or friends.
• Take a 20-minute activity break at work to stretch, or take a quick walk.
• Walk to visit co-workers instead of sending an e-mail message.
• Go dancing with your spouse or friends.
• Plan active vacations, rather than driving trips.
• Wear a pedometer every day to increase your number of daily steps.
• Join a sports or recreation team.
• Use a stationary bicycle or treadmill while watching TV.
• Plan your activity routine to slowly increase the days per week and minutes per session. ²

Breast cancer is a deadly disease that continues to take the lives of too many mothers, sisters, wives, grandmothers, aunts and best friends in our community every year. Our local Fitness Together studio is dedicated to helping you incorporate healthy habits into your daily routine to support an active and fit lifestyle that can help to reduce the risk of this life-threatening disease.

Olympic fever is in full force this summer as the best of the best compete for gold at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. This defining event is when athletes from across the world represent their countries by competing in more than 30 different sporting events and leaving it all on the line to accomplish greatness.

Take the opportunity this Olympic season to elevate your fitness routine and realize record results. To enhance your workouts this summer, train like an Olympic athlete by including the following three elements into your fitness routine.

Dedication: Be The Best At What You Do

You may not have been born with Olympic genes and natural physique, but you do hold the ability to be the best at whatever you put your heart, mind and soul into. You can demonstrate your dedication to living a healthy and fit lifestyle by scheduling daily workouts and giving your best efforts during your designated workout time. To increase your fitness dedication efforts, enlist the help of a workout buddy to ensure accountability or use electronic tools such as alarms and mobile workout trackers to maintain a healthy fitness schedule dedicated to helping you look better, feel better and perform better than you ever thought possible.

Determination: Work Hard Toward Your Goals

Olympic athletes don’t just set goals – they stick with their goals even when they may be tough to maintain at times. Living a fit and healthy lifestyle takes work and some workouts will inevitably be better than others. The key to determination is sticking with your fitness routine, working through the tough workouts, enjoying the good workouts, always keeping your end goals in sight, and celebrating your successes along the way. By writing down your goals and visualizing successful results, you can establish a determined Olympic athlete mind-set that can help you accomplish extraordinary results.

Desire: Have Fun, Love What You Do

Desire drives results. The best athletes love what they do and hold a burning desire to continue bettering their efforts and realizing real results. You will never reach your full potential in any sport, competition or fitness program if you don’t love what you’re doing. To ultimately succeed in establishing a healthy and fit lifestyle, it is important to uncover what motivates you, inspires you and drives you to succeed. Whether it’s joining a small group fitness environment, training for an endurance event or expanding your strength training with a personal trainer, find what you love and have fun celebrating your successes.

Once you become dedicated to changing your lifestyle, getting active, eating healthy and feeling better, you will start to realize and appreciate all of the little victories in life that can quickly add up to ultimately reaching your fitness goals and aspirations. By incorporating the three Olympic athlete characteristics discussed above into your fitness routine, you will be on the road to accomplishing greatness this summer.

Our local Fitness Together studio is dedicated to helping you train to your full potential.

Call 888-YOUR-GOAL, click here or come into our local Fitness Together studio this month for more information about digging deep and fueling your competitive drive during the 2012 Summer Olympics.

 Go For the Nutritional Gold

We can all take inspiration from the remarkable athletes competing in this year’s summer Olympic games (in London from July 27, 2012 to August 12, 2012). These athletes not only train their bodies and their minds to perfection, they also know that their nutrition plays a key role in the recipe for an Olympic champion. Training and competing in the Olympics involves an immense amount of hard work, dedication and perseverance. Eating a healthy diet sufficient in nutrients and with enough calories to fuel competition and training is an important component of all athlete’s training plans and just may be the deciding factor in that tenth of a second that distinguishes gold from silver. Take this opportunity to tap into the Olympic energy swirling around the world this summer and see if you can incorporate some or all of the 6 nutrition tips below and you will eating like an Olympian!

1.  Eat breakfast and wake up a winner. Mom was right, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Athletes know that they must fuel their workouts with nutritious foods or they will not be able to train and compete to the best of their ability. Ideally it is best to “break the fast” with a whole grain (oatmeal wins the gold for heart health), mixed with a calcium and protein-rich liquid (such as fat-free milk or soy milk) and topped with vitamin and antioxidant-rich fresh fruit (such as blueberries).

2.  Eat at home more often. Athletes must ensure that what they put in their mouths is top quality food that has the highest nutrient to calorie ratio. This means that athletes minimize the amount of “empty” calories they consume by limiting refined sugars, flours, and “bad” fats.  When we eat out, we are served gargantuan portion sizes packed with too much sodium, saturated fat, trans fat, sugar and refined carbs. Cooking at home more often will allow you to control what goes in your mouth. Start with fresh, unprocessed food and flavor your meals with more healthful alternatives.
3.  Eat small frequent meals for endurance. Another principle many professional athletes embrace is to eat small, frequent meals. Olympic athletes begin early by fueling-up with a quality breakfast and then continue to fuel throughout the day with healthy meals consisting of low-fat dairy, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and “good” fats. Eating lots of healthful mini-meals keeps energy levels up and powers the body over a 12 hour time span. Although the main nutrient in an athlete’s diet is healthy carbohydrates (such as fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains such as quinoa, steel cut oats, potatoes, brown rice, and 100% whole wheat pasta and breads), athletes also know to include quality protein sources such as lean beef, poultry, eggs, beans and fish as well as a smaller amount of “good” fats such as olive oil, nuts, seeds and fatty fish.

4.  Rehydrate but limit liquid calories.   Athletes drink plenty of water to keep hydrated through the day, and so should you. Sports drinks have been marketed as the elite athletes “secret weapon” for peak performance, however in reality this is not the case. Hard core athletes know that sports drinks were designed to be consumed during training or during the event – not to drink all day long. Water is still the best for rehydration (for most of us) unless we are competing in long distance endurance events.

5.  Eat those carbs. Athletes look at what they put into their bodies as essential fuel to perform. Carbohydrate is the muscle’s primary form of energy so the athlete’s plate will most often consist of foods that are packed with carbohydrates (as well as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals) to maximize performance.

6.  Eat healthy fats and limit fried foods. Fried foods are not only high in calories, but often contain “bad” fats. Athletes typically limit their intake of fried foods and instead compliment their meals and snacks with more healthful plant based sources of fats such as nuts, avocados, olive oil, canola oil, and fatty fish.

Follow these six tips with the support of Fitness Together and you’ll surely be staying fit and striving for nutritional gold. A Fitness Together trainer will develop a program designed to meet your specific goals. You’ll also receive nutritional counseling through the Nutrition Together program, which will complement your workouts. To find the Fitness Together studio nearest you, visit fitnesstogether.net.

Let Fitness Together help you eat like an Olympian!

Summer is the season for heading outdoors for family fun, food and even fitness! But before you lace up your sneakers for a summer sports league, 5K race or even a friendly neighborhood volleyball game, it is always important to think safety first. Take into consideration the following five quick tips before heading outdoors this summer so that you, your family and friends can all have enjoyable, injury-free summertime fitness experiences.

Tip 1: Beat the Heat

When you move your workouts outside, the local weather forecast quickly becomes your No. 1 planning tool, especially when summer temperatures climb the barometer. Generally, the hottest part of the day is between 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. so it is wise to plan your outdoor workouts either in the morning or evening hours when the sun and heat aren’t as intense. What you wear also can be more important when you workout outside versus indoors, as loose fitting and moisture wicking clothing material can help increase ventilation and keep your body cooler in warm weather.

Tip 2: Drink to Compete

Your body needs adequate amounts of water to maximize fitness performance throughout the year, but when the temperature rises in the summer, hydrating appropriately is vital to your body’s overall performance, endurance levels and survival. Don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink water – stay hydrated by drinking water consistently all day long.

Studies show that you must replace a total of 2.4 liters of water each day in your body, both through the water you drink and the food you eat. About 60 percent of the human body is made up of water and approximately 83 percent of the bloodstream is water. The body’s bloodstream is essential to metabolizing the carbohydrates and proteins you eat to fuel your muscles, transporting waste material out of your body and controlling your body temperature.¹

Tip 3: Be Prepared for the Unexpected

No one likes to plan for the worst, but when you exercise outside, there are some essential safety tools you need in your possession that can make the difference between a simple mishap and a full-blown emergency. For starters, a cell phone is important to bring along in case you become injured, run into an emergency situation during your workout or simply lock your keys in the car. Bringing your cell phone along, though, doesn’t mean you can’t disconnect from technology during your workout – silence your phone and stow it away in a pocket or bag so you aren’t tempted to check your e-mail while doing a plank or set of box jumps. You don’t have to see it, but it’s there if you need it.

Whether it’s cloudy or sunny during your workout, you need to apply sunscreen to any exposed skin each time you step outside to get your fitness on. While sun rays provide essential Vitamin D nutrients your body needs, over exposure also can lead to sun spots and cancer. Enjoy the sun, but protect yourself appropriately.

Finally, a simple first aid kit should always be in your possession, whether it’s in your workout bag or in your car. You never know when you might scrape your knee running bleachers, cut your foot on a piece of glass left on the sidewalk or endure an unexpected bee sting. You may run into varying obstacles when exercising outdoors, so it’s important to be prepared for the unexpected.

Tip 4: Grab Your Friends and Family

While exercising alone can fulfill the need for solitude, unplugging from society and getting in touch with your inner soul, it is safer if you run in a pack when taking your workout outdoors. Working out in a group isn’t only good for creating camaraderie, motivation and accountability, but the buddy system also ensures that someone is watching your back during your workout. Your workout buddy can be a valuable asset to your fitness regimen by providing assistance in the instance of unexpected events during a workout such as rolling your ankle on a desolate trail run, sudden heat exhaustion, dehydration or close encounters with wildlife.

Tip 5: Enjoy the Scenery

It can be beneficial to both your mental and physical health to take your workouts outside this summer. After staring at gym walls during your winter/fall workouts, hiking in the mountains, running on the beach or doing a group workout at a local park can refresh your mental dedication and motivation to a fit lifestyle. When you take your workouts outside, you can quickly become engulfed in enjoying the ever-changing outdoor surroundings, rather than worrying about the length or intensity of your workout session.

It’s important, though, to start out slow at first and build up your outdoor workout intensity, as you can easily push yourself too far and too fast physically when exercising outdoors without realizing it. Have fun and be adventurous with your workouts this summer, but stay safe and injury-free.

The summer months are the perfect time to get out, get fit and enjoy an active lifestyle. If you need help with jump starting a healthy lifestyle or elevating your fitness level this summer, the personal training experts at Fitness Together are dedicated to helping you meet and exceed your fitness goals safely. Give our studio a call today to look better, feel better and perform better during your summer outdoor fitness activities.

PS. Did you hear about the 8-Week Beat Your Best Challenge? Our last challenge helped 41 of your Milwaukee neighbors lose 2 pants sizes in less than 8 weeks! We want you to be the next challenge success story! Don’t miss this chance to begin!

PPS. Call 888-YOUR-GOAL or go to www.fitnesstogether.net/yourbest before July 24th to learn more about how you can join the Beat Your Best Challenge.

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¹ US Geological Survey; http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/propertyyou.html