Personal trainer can help you get through the holidays
Looking for a way to minimize stress levels? As they say, exercise does a body good - and the mind.
The guys from Push Fitness in Schaumburg, Mark Trapp and Joshua Steckler, see people relieving stress every day as they work out.
"Activity in general helps relieve stress," Steckler said. "The body is made to move."
As you are exercising, your body releases endorphins that have a positive effect on you and make you feel better. You are also sweating out a bunch of toxins. Exercise is a good kind of addiction; the more your body gets it, the better you feel all around.
"Exercise is a way to alleviate daily stress," Trapp said. "Your mind is out of focus with stress and exercise allows you to clear your mind and helps you to feel motivated and more confident to manage the daily stress."
According to Trapp, just one hour of exercise can prove to be a big turnaround from the defeated feeling you may have felt when you first walked in. "Exercise releases the most dopamine, which is the 'happy' chemical in your body," he says. "In that stressful kind of situation, if you focus on vitalizing exercise or meditation you come out in a healthier state of mind."
As we all know, if we are in a healthier state of mind, we will in turn make healthier decisions whether it be with our job, what we eat and how we handle relationships.
Most of us love the holidays, but all that food, gift-buying and financial stress can turn the jolliest of us into a Grinch - a burned out Grinch with little energy left over for exercise.
"At that point you have to use eccentric motivation," Trapp says. "When all odds are against you, it is you as an individual that has to look within yourself to find what is best."
With all those holiday bills looming, is a personal trainer a good investment? It all depends on how much you value your health and whether you need the extra motivation.
"Hiring a personal trainer for yourself can make it easier to get through the day," Steckler says. "We can help with the education, accountability and motivation all at once."
The personal trainers at Push Fitness are also preventive health care professionals, which means they'll make sure your inside looks as good as your outside. "We write down your workouts and provide you with a journal, educate you when you're here and not here, and write down everything you eat," Trapp says. "Our clients still go to the gym on their own but go to a trainer as well for a more intense and different style of work out."
The trainers become a role model and help you gain knowledge so when you go out on your own, you are doing everything correctly. "Personal training doesn't have to break the bank," Trapp says. "You don't have to go every single day."
So yes, times are a bit tough. But a personal trainer can help keep you on track and guide you through the holiday stress and the winter blahs. After all 'tis the season to be merry and bright.
Personal trainers
Expect to spend $50 and up for an hour of one-on-one attention. Most major health clubs offer personal trainers. To find one in the suburbs, check out: