4 surefire ways NOT to lose weight at your health club.

Please feel free to publish this article in your Newsletter or
on your Website (with Resource Box Included).

Everyone has their own individual reason for joining a health
club, lose a few pounds, tone up, lower your blood pressure,
strengthen a bad back or shoulder, perform better in sports, or
just keep in shape by playing some basketball or racquetball. By
joining the gym you have shown a time, and a financial
commitment to achieving your goals, congratulations!

However, joining the gym is only the first step.

Did you know that only about 2% of health club members actually
use the gym?

Some gym member leave because they injure themselves and cannot
work out, many others leave because of lack of results. The
reasons are endless.

However, I have been a doctor for over eight years now, and I
have seen new gym members come in with good intentions only to
make the same common mistakes others made that set them up for
failure, or an injury.

I am sure you must be wondering why I care about your goals for
joining the gym.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that as many as
250,000 lives are lost annually due to lack of physical activity
or a sedentary lifestyles. That is 200,000 more than the number
of lives lost as a result of car accidents, which are 50,000.

Most of the problems myself and other doctors are treating such
as high blood, arthritis, chronic pain or stiffness, overweight,
low energy, stress and tension are often the result of years of
neglect. Most of these chronic problems could have been
prevented with proper guidance. The good think is that many of
these chronic problems can still be helped, again with proper
guidance.

Hopefully, by sharing what I have seen over the years will help
your achieve your health and fitness goals. So, here are the
most common mistakes I have seen over the years which results in
injury, or failing to reach their goals whether it is weight
loss, muscle toning, rehabilitating an injury, getting of all
those pain medications or whatever the reason was for initially
joining a health club was.

Mistake #1:Not seeing a QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL before beginning
an exercise program

This sounds like common sense right? Every piece of exercise
equipment has a similar statement on it right? There is a reason
for that, exercise can be harmful or even deadly, and I do not
care if you think you are good shape. How many times have you
known of someone suddenly passing away from a heart attack and
you say to yourself, he looked so healthy.

So schedule an appointment with your primary doctor and have
your blood pressure check, get your resting pulse rate, get your
body fat tested, have your heart and lungs listened to, have
your muscles, joints, and any injuries evaluated before you
begin your exercise program. If you do not want to schedule an
appointment with your doctor, you can have these test done here
for free, no additional charge, this exam is included with your
membership.

Why, we want you to enjoy the gym and achieve your goals, but
first we want you to be safe. It also does not look that good
when you see gym members rolled out to the ambulance parked in
front of the gym entrance. It happens. Call your doctor up or if
you are in the Phoenix area stop by and see us.

Mistake #2:Not getting any Initial Baseline Numbers

Again, this goes back to mistake number 1. How can you monitor
your progress if you do not know where your were when you stated.

If you are a little over weight or trying to lower you blood
pressure, don’t you think you should know what your blood
pressure is before you begin your program. How are you going to
monitor your weight loss if you do not know what percent of your
body is fat, before you begin your program.

A brief note here, you know I mentioned percent of body fat and
not weight. How much you weigh does not matter much, but your
percent of fat does.

Lets say we have two overweight new gym members both weighing
200lbs. One joins the gym and is going to try use the scale to
monitor his progress; the other stopped by our office and
received their evaluation, which was included with their
membership. At this evaluation we found that the second new
member weighed 200lbs. And had a body fat percentage of 40%.
This means that 40% of his body is made of fat 80lbs. The other
120lbs is what his muscle, bones, organs, etc. weigh,
(everything but fat).

The member who received our evaluation used to work out, and was
at one time in good shape, but over the years put on a few extra
pounds and has not work out is some time. This member tried
various was to lose the weight but was unsuccessful, this is the
reason for finally join the gym. Since this member was really
serious about losing weight they asked us if we could help. So,
we set them us on a program.

Now it is a 6 weeks into the program and the new member who knew
what their body fat was before starting on our program comes in
for his follow up visits to monitor his progress and the first
thing he says is, “doc I’m feeling better but the scale in the
locker says I only lost 3lbs., I am frustrated.”

However, at this follow up visit, we did see that he/she has
lost 3lbs and know weighs 197lbs, but the percent of body fat
dropped fro 40% to 36%. This works out to be 70lbs of fat he/she
has now instead of the 80lbs before. This guy/gal actually
lost10 lbs of FAT! The stuff we are trying to lose. Make sense?

What do you think happened to the member who was using the
scale? Lets say somehow they achieved the same results as the
member we just talked about, lost 3lbs according to the scale
after 6 weeks. This person may be thinking, “three times a week
for 6 weeks and a lousy 3 pounds!!” Are they going to keep using
their membership? I know the gym is still charging their credit
card.

Do you understand what I am taking about?

The same is true for what ever your goals are for joining the
gym is, weight loss, muscle toning, rehabilitating an injury,
getting off or reducing all of those medications you may be on,
lowering your blood pressure, reducing your stress, increasing
your endurance, what ever your reason was. You should know where
you are at when you begin. See your doctor and get this done. If
you want us to do it, we are here for you.

Otherwise how are you going to know if what your doing is
working or not working, you need to keep doing what your doing
or change your routine? This leads me in the third and last
mistake

Mistake #3Not on the right program

High carbs / low fat, low carbs / don’t worry about the fats,
low reps / high reps, this exercise will help your back / that
exercise will hurt your back, and so on, and so on. Sound
familiar?

This exercise and nutrition stuff can be real confusing. I see
people everyday trying to lose weight, or strengthen an injury,
and from the exercises I see them doing they are not going to
get there. I usually do see them for long though they seem to
disappear after a month or two.

Now that you know what your baseline numbers are (body fat is,
blood pressure, etc), the next step is to get on an individual
program that is right for you and your specific goals.

The best person to start with would be the doctor who first
evaluated you before you started your program. If you have
arthritis, a bad back, high blood pressure, or are overweight
you should know exactly what you show and should not do.

Working out at the gym can do wonders for your health. If done
correctly, exercise can lower blood pressure, reduce coronary
artery disease, strengthen, improve your mood, help you deal
with stress, increase your muscle tone, reduce chronic aches and
pains, strengthen an injury, lose weight, if done correctly you
can achieve the goals you have for joining the gym.

However, the gym can also make your little problem a real big
one. I have seen, and treated, many people who have injured
themselves working out. I have also seen many people trying to
tone up or lose weight who are just simply following a program
that will not work or may be harmful. These people stop coming
to the gym, do not meet their goals, and keep paying their
monthly membership dues.

Also, a little note, just because you see someone that looks
like they are in shape does mean they are doing the exercises
correctly.

So, make sure the person who is setting you up on your program
is trained to customize an individualize program for your
specific goals. Then, with this information you can begin your
program without confusion. If you are interested in working with
a personal trainer, this information can also be pasted on to
them so they are aware what you should and should not be doing.

Mistake #4Not having someone, other than yourself, monitor your
progress

How are you going to know how you are doing if you do not have
regular progress evaluations? You should have someone rechecking
your baseline numbers on a regular basis, blood pressure,
percent body fat, etc. This person can also give you support and
help you with any problems that might come up. Maybe a specific
exercise causes you some pain, or you get a clicking noise in
you shoulder when you do some exercises, that is not normal. You
should have someone to help you with that. Finally, have someone
monitor your progress means you will be more likely to follow
through with your program and meet you goal. Which, I assume is
what you want to do.

If you avoid the 4 mistakes above you will be able you achieve
you goals or your reason form joining this health club.

1. Prev:Lose Weight With Soy!
2. Next:Valuable And Effective Weight Loss Tips