Today's Workout: Tour de France, Stage 18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqCzDxAqqAQ&feature=related

Today, I made a last-minute decision to take someone else's cycle class rather than run. It was a good choice, because the cycle instructor had a video class in store for us. He projected the above video clip on a screen, which shows Stage 18 of 2011's Tour de France. We only did the last 40 minutes of the video clip since it was a 45-minute class, but that involved 34 minutes (11 kilometers) straight of hill-climbing. We were instructed to follow along with Cadel Evans, the guy in the red jersey who the video features a lot of. Anytime he stood up out of the saddle we did too, and so on.

This cycle instructor does these video classes every now and then-- they're great ways to mix up the class routine and it gives you some interesting scenery to ride along to. If you have a spin bike at home or teach spinning classes, give it a try! Pick your favorite rider and try to work as hard as they are!

Are you ready for the beach...today?

The thought occurred to me today that my Florida vacation is only about 6 weeks away! (Not quite sure how I wasn't already counting down, considering that by April, I NEED a vacation.) A few years ago, now would be the time that I would start scrupulously watching my food intake, upping the intensity of my workouts, and having only one thing on my mind: BEACH BODY. But, isn't that the benefit of continuously being in good shape and maintaining a high level of fitness?

I hit on this in one of my blogs around vacation time last year, but it's a feeling so good that I can't describe to know that on the spur of the moment, I could be beach-ready. Sure, I may want to do some last-minute ab-toning and dessert-eliminating, but it's nice to know that at the drop of a hat, I can feel 90% confident on the beach. Does any female (over the age of 10) out there ever feel 100% confident in that setting?

Folks, it shouldn't be something that we work for only during the summer or before that long-awaited vacation. It should be year-round, even in the dead of winter fitness, aka a way of life. It IS possible.

We Keep You Honest

There are many reasons someone might choose to work with a personal trainer. Heck, if it was free, I would too just for the variety and the convenience of having someone else plan my workouts. One of my clients said the most fascinating thing the other day. It was nothing profound. He had been telling a story while simultaneously struggling through the last few reps, and I reminded him that he had 4 reps left. He said, "Ughh. You keep me honest." Is that not often the sole job of a trainer? Sure, I work with many clients who are brand new to strength training and need major help with form or even knowing what to do with a dumbbell. There are others who are working towards specific goals who need a breakdown of what specifically they should be doing to maximize results. Most of my clients by now know generally what exercises work which muscle groups, so if they had to put together their own strength workouts, they could.

So why do our clients sign up for session after session? Because we keep them honest. If they don't complete the last two reps when the going gets really tough, someone knows. If they don't use a weight that challenges themselves as much as it should, I ask them directly if they could have done 5 more reps, and therefore we bump the weight up. If they feel like skipping out on that third (what I call bonus) set, I'm there to remind them we have time left in our session for a third go-round. Even if I'm feeling particularly nice and don't insist that my client finish out that set that he or she quit early on, it's the fact that I know. When we strength train on our own, nobody knows if we cheat out of those last few reps. Nobody knows if we lower the weight just because it was uncomfortable or starting to get hard. I catch myself doing the same thing during my own workouts, and I AM the trainer.

We could go into the whole psychology of the power of someone telling you what to do, but for any of you other personal trainers, let it suffice to say that often your skills and knowledge of exercise physiology is not why your client is there.