Shreveport-Bossier Personal Training

Some healthcare plans are offering mobile fitness centers to help kids get in shape.

I have added a new feature for my clients.  You can now pay for you personal training session online through PayPal.  You don’t have to have a PayPal account - you can just use your debit or credit card through PayPal’s secure online payment system.  I added this simply for your convenience - I am still perfectly fine with traditional payment methods.

Just click go to the “Clients” Page and you will see the link there.

Water aerobics is a great low-impact, high-benefit exercise.  It is can be defined as “rhythmic dance or exercise steps performed in usually chest deep water.”  The Shreveport Times has a recent article about local Shreveport residents using water aerobics to combat their arthritis.

Judy Brewer and Robert Burton shared an early morning laugh as they dried off after their water aerobics session at the Southern Hills Pool.

The low-impact exercise has many health benefits for seniors and many in the group are searching for ways to continue the program year-round. “It’s been a great program,” Brewer said.

She drives from Shreve City to attend the program. “I’m not intimidated. There are all shapes and sizes and colors. It’s fun, and the fellowship is why I come,” she said.

For the past 12 weeks at the crack of dawn each Monday through Friday, an average of 32 seniors jump into the Southern Hills pool.

For late risers, there was also an evening class at 8 p.m. Burton has partaken of water aerobics for three years now.

“It’s great for your joints and arthritis,” he said. (more…)

I will be holding a fitness boot camp in Shreveport, LA, from October 2 - December 18, 2008.  Information is as follows:

Why not head into the holiday season a step ahead of the rest with this intense, fat burning, full body workout?  This indoor/outdoor class will challenge any fitness level and give you the motivational support you need to keep going!

Hurry up and register because the classes will fill up quickly!

When:  October 2 - December 18, 2008; Tuesday and Thursday mornings @ 6 AM

Where:  Calvary Baptist Family Life Center

Cost: $50

CONTACT ME TO REGISTER.

If this isn’t a sign of the world going crazy, then I don’t know what is.  One of the most popular fad diets on the internet right now is the “cookie diet.” Supposedly this diet consist of eating cookies during the day and just eating one meal - dinner - each day.  There are actually several variations on the cookie diet, but they are all based on the same concept.

I always recommend that my personal training clients stay away from these kind of “fad” diets and instead follow a balanced nutrition plan that includes sufficient servings of fruits and vegetables.  Combine that with regular doses of physical activity and you will see results!  Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to discuss this further.

Researchers at the University of Kansas medical center have discovered that physically fit Alzheimer’s patients have larger hippocampuses, a part of the brain, than their counterparts who were not as physically fit.  The hippocampus is the part of the brain that is very important in memory and learning.  This is the first study that showed an actual physical size difference in the brains of those who are physically fit.  This gives us another good reason to exercise and stay fit, whether it is with a personal trainer, working out at your house, or working out at a gym.

Physically fit Alzheimer’s patients had larger hippocampuses, the brain structure key to memory, than those who weren’t as well conditioned, said researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center, in Kansas City, Kansas, who are scheduled to present the results today at the Alzheimer’s Association’s International Conference. Research released earlier this month linked exercise and brain volume in Alzheimer’s disease for the first time.

Before these studies, research focused on healthy people, showing exercise improves thinking by boosting blood flow and growth hormones in the brain. These findings suggest the same could be true for those with Alzheimer’s. In normal aging, the brain’s 100 billion nerve cells die. The disease accelerates the process, attacking the hippocampus first.

“This is the first time we actually have a structural change we haven’t seen before and gives us an avenue for further investigation,” Lisa Ravdin, director of Neuropsychology at New York-Presbyterian, Weill Cornell Medical College in Manhattan who was not involved in the study.

Read the story here.

The Shreveport Times has a new story detailing the convenience of a home gym.  Here are some excerpts:

But Shreveport personal trainer Blake Wiggins, 39, opted to go another route by turning his garage into a home gym.

“With the equipment I have, I can do most anything that can be done in a commercial gym,” he said.

Keene said the reason for an upgraded home gym is simple.

“Psychologically, if the aesthetics of the room are more pleasing, you’re more likely to use it. You have to make sure it’s an inviting space that you wouldn’t mind using rather than a little dungeon in the basement.

“Natural light helps. Fluorescent lighting is bright, and that’s good. It keeps you awake. Mentally, it keeps you alert, which is how you want to be when you’re exercising. TVs, sound systems — all of that makes you want to go in there. It makes you not dread exercising so much.”

…

Hintz said not only does he and his wife work out on a regular basis, but their children work out, too.

“The kids, who are 7 and 5, saw how much we enjoyed it so they’ve gotten involved, too,” Hintz said. “I use it on average about four days a week and both of our kids will get in there and do cardio.”

The Mayo Clinic website has an good article summarizing some important benefits of regular exercise. Here are some of the reasons they listed:

• Exercise improves your mood.
• Exercise combats chronic diseases.
• Exercise helps you maintain a healthy weight.
• Exercise strengthens your heart and lungs.
• Exercise promotes healthy sleep.

Just wanted to post a little reminder of some of the benefits of exercising.  Whether you work out with a personal trainer or you exercise on your own, in Shreveport or anywhere else, it’s just important that you are getting physical activity.

Personal Training in a Box: Today is the U.S. Launch of the Wii Fit, a game and related hardware designed for the Nintendo Wii. Some say that this is personal training on your TV. The Wii Fit will have exercises from four categories: Aerobic Exercise, Muscle Conditioning, Yoga Poses, and Balance Games. Although I don’t think this will totally replace outdoor exercise and time in the gym, it is definitely better than sitting around watching TV. If you or your kids are going to play video games, this would be my suggestion. The makers of the game say that it will help promote a healthy lifestyle and encourage people to stay active. If you are working with a personal trainer, maybe they can work in some of the Wii games into your session…

The Wii fit is projected to sell 3 to 4 million units in the United States and will probably sell out in Shreveport very quickly.

Jerry Stephens, a former boxer for 32 years, is the owner of Road to Glory Stephens Boxing and Fitness Gym in Shreveport, Louisiana.  His gym is holding the “Night of Champions Boxing Tournament” today.  Stephens partnered with the Right Way Foundation, which is helping to put on today’s event and is working with the Right Way Foundation to open a gym in the Shreveport community.  (more…)