Body Toning

Toning up the muscles is normally achieved by following a weight lifting program that involves light to medium weights and higher repetitions. A typical program would consisting of weight lifting exercise with a weight that can be lifted by person 12 to 15 times consecutively, ususally one to three sets, depending on the person fitness level and total numbers of exercises. Two to three full weight lifting sessions of six different exercise is a good way to start. (Hey women out there! Don't get scared that you will build muscles; we don't have those hormones in us!)

Following a healthy diet - slightly below a person’s caloric maintenance level- will help to achieve a "TONED" look. (This means burning more calories than you consume in a given week.) In addition, performing multiple bouts of cardio exercise in your “heart rate zone” will help burn more calories and tone the muscles. At least three sessions per week is a good initial goal to strive for when attempting to tone up. Many of my clients just want to tone up to get that 'fit' look.

While working with my clients, I focus on core and back training. I have acquired specialist skills from CHEK Institute, USA for this purpose. Core and back training not only helps in toning, but also with muscle building and corrective exercises.

Muscle Building

Muscles building or "bulking up" is accomplished by lifting heavier weight for fewer reps per set. Overload must be achieved to bulk up. This means working the muscles more than they are accustomed to and increasing the work load (weights, sets or reps) as you get stronger. If increasing muscle mass is your only goal, than I recommend using weights that you can lift one to six times before fatigue sets in. Depending on your fitness level, I prescribe the number of reps and sets of exercises. If you have been lifting weights for some time, I usually recommend "split routine" where you get to train certain muscle groups each day.

I recommend a strict dietary plan for those who train for muscle building. When you are building muscles, you need a higher amount of calories than your normal maintenance level to increase your muscle mass. In addition, you need sufficient intake of proteins (the building blocks of muscles) to help your body.

It is not easy to build your muscles (including your six pack!) but I can deliver that if you promise to give you best. Over the years, I have trained hard and gained the knowledge and experience to get you there.

Weight Management

The majority of people nowadays carry some excess weight as a direct result of their sedentary lifestyle. The body requires energy to meet the needs of daily activity. Energy is obtained by using the body's food intake with the optimum balance Any any excess food ( and therefore body fuel ) is stored for future use in the form of body fat. In order to reduce the fat stored in the body it is necessary to increase the amount of daily activity ( metabolism ) and persuade the body to use this stored energy. A proven method for doing this is a careful combination of resistance work and aerobic activity.

Posture and Nutrition

Posture
Do you know, the word posture in Portuguese means etiquette? I believe, etiquette must be mastered before training. You might have good muscles but if you stoop while you stand, it does not look good. In fact, exercising with incorrect postures can have serious consequences.

A lot of "self-trained" fit people suffer from poor posture and hence, muscles imbalance. In my trainings, I give a lot of attention to correcting your postures. Not only it helps improve your exercise routines, but also helps you carry yourself better in public.

Nutrition
In today’s life style, the role of nutrition in maintaining a perfect lifestyle is very important. Nutrition is an integeral part of your life; you can not separate food from your life. At the same time, you should not live to eat, but eat to live!

There are scores of books, magazines, websites on this topic. I don't want to add to the pile. I firmly believe that one size DOES NOT fit all when it comes to nutrition. You are unique, and so should be your nutritional intake to suit your body style, your life style, your likes and dislikes!

Nutrition does not always mean eating organic, or vegan, or supplements. It is a sum total of what you eat throughout the day. Do you remember three square meals a day? It starts there, but goes much further than that. Most of my clients are surprised when I analyse their food diary! I'm sure you would too.

You have an option for a nutrition advise, where I analyse your diet, your work hours, your lifestyle to suggest changes in your nutritional intake. The underlying idea is to understand your body-type, your lifestyle and make subtle changes in your food habits to give you that extra boost of fitness, concentration and freshness when you need it the most!

I include nutrition advise in all my exercise packages.

Corrective Exercise

Good posture is the foundation for all movement and a carefully planned exercise programme will help you to develop a stable support for the skeletal and muscular systems. An inbalance of either of these systems can lead to a variety of conditions such as back ache, poor gait or poor stability. Because bad posture will usually have developed over many years, it will take time to correct but many conditions can be alleviated by a programme of careful stretching, skeletal and muscular re-alignment, relaxation and dietary change.

Lifestyle

I practice "Holistic lifestyle coaching". Simply put, it takes you (of course!), your environment (work and home) and your likes and dislikes into account to plan for your goals and objectives. It would not be wise to train you for mountaineering when all you want is to participate in a sprint race.

My lifestyle coaching is based on three key points:

• You are what you eat
• You are what you think
• You can begin changing your lifestyle ANYTIME

A lot of my clients come to me for lifestyle change as they realise that their poor eating habits, stress, addiction or even t heir environment is not helping them deliver their best.

Lifestyle coaching begins from knowing you as a person, understanding your environment and stress agents and working with you systematically to remove them. Believe me, it is not easy to change decades of lifestyle or habits in a day! But if you are committed, I work with you to introduce a new pattern in your life, coupled with healthy (not necessarily expensive!) food, dietary supplements and a regimen of exercise, depending upon your existing commitments and diary.

Most of my clients (and their friends and family) can feel the results in 6 weeks from the commencement of "life styling" change. And, I'm sure you will too!

So what's holding you up?