TRINITY TRANSFORMATIONS

As promised today I am giving you some good AB, CORE, and OBLIQUE EXERCISES...JUST A FEW TO GET YOU STARTED FOR THE NEW YEAR...IF YOU WANT MORE, GO TO MY WEB PAGE @ www.trinitytransformations.webs.com later this year and I will have a whole list of new and corresponding exercises posted every month! But for now, lets get started with those BELLY FAT WORKING EXERCISES:

1. Stomach Exercise No. 1 - The Side Bend or Oblique Crunch as I like to call it

This simple exercise is one of the most effective stomach exercises to get rid of those love handles. First stand straight and place your feet slightly apart (about shoulder width). Bend your knees a little. Now slowly lower your whole upper body to the right, and then back to the center and then to the left. Remember to only lean side by side, and not forwards or backwards. To make this even more efective, use a dumbbell in each hand as you drop down to each side.

2. Stomach Exercise No. 2 - The Torso Twist with Knee Lift

Right after your side bends you can begin with this exercise and use the same weights you used for the side bends. Again, standing upright with feet shoulder width apart, holding the db in both hands, lift your knee up from either side (say the right to start) while twisting your upper body slowly to the opposite (left) side and then repeat to the other side while holding the db in your hands and twisting to the opposite side. So your knee goes up to the one side and your hands to the other. Remember to twist your torso and not use your hips. Your oblique muscles should do most of the twisting from side to side, instead of your hip muscles. Your upper body should always be straight.

3. Stomach Exercise No. 3 - The Side Crunch

These last three stomach exercises start with you on the floor. Lie down on the floor with a towel or a mat. Lie down on your side, say on your right. Put your right arm over your waist, so it is resting on your left side. With your left hand, touch your ear. Your elbows will now be pointing straight upwards. Now lift your shoulders off the floor and at the same time, lift your left leg to about twelve inches. Remember to contract your oblique muscles while doing this. Hold this position for as long as you can. Gently lie back down. Try doing this exercise for an entire set. After that, switch to your left side and do the same.

4. Stomach Exercise No. 4 - The Seated Knee Drop or Pendulum Drop

First, get into a sitting position. Rest on your hipbones instead of your butt. To keep yourself stable you can put your hands on the floor behind you. Bend your knees so that your feet are flat against the floor, and place your ankles together. Now bring your knees down to the right. Your feet will move to their sides but they should remain on the floor. Lower your knees until they are about six inches from the floor. Hold for one second, return to center position, and repeat on the left side. Make sure you use your stomach muscles to raise and lower your knees instead of the momentum. Remember to move slowly and under control.

5. Stomach Exercise No. 5 - Russian Twists - To perform the Russian Twist, first, you should sit on the floor with knees bent like in a "sit-up" position. The feet should be kept together and slightly above the ground or put under a stable surface. You can hold onto a 3lb or 5lb db for extra support and to increase the difficulty. Next, the arms should be moved from one side to another in a twisting motion, with each swing to a side counting as one repetition. The slower one moves their arms from side to side, the harder the exercise becomes and the abdomen is thus worked better. When moving your arms during the exercise, it is crucial to not stop in between repetitions or else you will lose the effect of working the abdomen.

Now in my workout routines, I give my clients these and some more exercises and I do them in 1 minute sets with 20 second breaks in between for totals from any where from 5 to 10 minutes per set depending upon their skill level and in reps of 3...How you do them is up to you and how you feel you can handle them. Dont overdue it on your first set. You definitely will feel it! Good luck!

I feel the need to discuss taking care of an injury because the subject has come up recently. Sooner or later most active people will suffer an injury and although most will be minor, all injuries require attention. If you ignore a problem or try to push through the pain (as I do), it can lead to more serious conditions and complications.

If you suffer an injury while working out that is to soft tissue (muscles and joints), follow the steps to RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) which will help reduce the initial inflammation:

R-Rest: As soon as you feel the pain, you need to stop working out and rest the injured area to avoid any movements that cause further pain

I-Ice: Apply ice to the area immediately to reduce swelling and keep ice on the area for 10 to 20 minutes. Repeat every few hours but be sure to allow the area to return to normal temperature between icings. You can use frozen veggies or crushed ice or icepaks with a thin cloth over it.

C-Compression: Use a band or elastic to wrap the area. Do not leave the wrap on overnight and make sure you do not wrap it too tight. They make special bandages/wraps specifically made for certain areas of your body and sell them at pharmacies.

E-Elevation: Be sure to elevate the injured area above heart level to reduce swelling. You can use a pillow or a stool or chair to do this.

If the swelling disappears after 36 - 48 hrs, switch to applying heat, warm compresses, a hot water bottle, heating pad. You would not do this initially because it would draw blood to the area and worsen the swelling. Begin moving the area slowly but if you feel pain or if the injured area begins to swell again, cut back. Try stretching and gently move the area until you regain normal range of motion.

Gradually begin exercising the injured area. Once you have full range of motion in your joints, normal strength and balance, little or no pain, and no trace of a limp or stiffness, you can begin to return to your usual exercise program but at low intensity. Dont push too rapidly or you will risk reinjuring yourself.

What, you say???

Thats just a g reat way to say GET OFF MY BACK!!!

Well if you want a sexy back, today is BACK & BI'S DAY..and today I want to discuss working the Latissimus Dorsi...the LATS, the largest muscles in your back.

They are the primary muscle people talk about when they say, "I...'m doing back. The lats help perform different motions when your arms and shoulders are in different positions. A common motion is shoulder abduction which is moving the upper arm down to the side toward the body like the motion of a pull up.

The Best Back Exercises for the Upper Back can be Grouped into 2 Main Categories, Rows and Pulldowns. However, Pulldowns target the lats more than rows do and are the better lat exercise. Pull ups are the best back exercise to develop your lats and strengthen your biceps. The only negative part of pull ups is they require you to have a low body weight or just be incredibly strong. The key with pull ups is to never give up. With the proper training and exercise program you will eventually be able to do them.

Weight training exercises for the back exercise a significant portion of your body's total muscle mass. If you include back exercises in your full body workout regimen, your metabolism will be elevated and a higher metabolism along with other factors such as healthy diet will allow you to get in tremendous shape and have a low body fat percentage.

So let's get to it!!

MOTIVATION!!!!!!

Staying MOTIVATED to lose weight and exercise is tough, and the hardest part is usually getting started in the first place.

As a Personal Trainer/Nutritional Specialist, I work with clients/people who are looking to make meaningful changes in their physical appearance and lives, changes that will lead to more balance and fulfillment and hopefully bring about better health and well-being.

Most people do not know where to begin but they know that a change is needed. I believe that we all have within us the answers to our challenges. I also believe that there is no reason to take on these challenges alone. If an athlete wants to excel in their chosen field, they hire a coach. Why shouldn’t anyone who wants to fulfill his or her physical dreams do the same? As your Personal Trainer/Nutritional Specialist, I will help you discover your own answers and together we will turn those answers into actions.

Many factors determine the reasons people become overweight and out of shape such as stress, lack of exercise, age, overeating, medical issues, etc. However, there are only two ways to get back into shape and healthy without going through surgical procedures – Regular Exercise Routine and Healthy Diet Plan. These two strategies must be done together and consistently in order to see significant changes and maintain them. So what motivates people to change their lives?

Of course preparing for either one of these life-change strategies alone signifies major issues for most people who are not used to or who are not willing participants in the whole life-change ordeal. Either way, willing or not, this is where the Personal Trainer/Nutritional Specialist will come in and help you through the motivation process and make it less of a difficult situation and more of something that you enjoy and look forward to.

A Personal Trainer can help you exercise at your office or home or their home, by giving you personal fitness training sessions customized according to your body requirements and time schedule. You don’t need to go to the gym to remain fit. A Personal Trainer can make all the difference in your health and make you lead a fit and active life.

What Is Motivation?

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines motivation as “that which gives purpose and direction to behavior.” When referring to exercise and the “motivation” behind it, we’re looking for something to drive us to exercise, something to get us up and moving. So where does that ’something’ come from? For some people, like athletes, it may come from the desire to compete and to win. For others, it may come from a desire to be healthy or live longer for their family, and for others, losing weight is often the goal.

But is that enough to motivate us? Judging from the world’s obesity problems, that would be a “no”.

Too many people sit around and wait for “motivation” to bite them in the ass and send them off to the gym or out the door to work out. Others know that by making that initial call to the Personal Trainer and setting the ball in motion, at least things get started. Getting started IS the hard part…once you start a program and the process has begun, you gradually fill your motivational stores as you start to understand what makes you tick and what gets you moving.

Working with a Personal Trainer helps by creating the specialized fitness programs that you need to get you where you want to be, and ensuring that you exercise under their specialized guidance. They make you achieve greater physical strength, make your body more flexible, and improve your body posture too.

The more you practice, the better you’ll get. You’ll realize your actions are what generates that feeling you’ve been searching for – your motivation!!

Motivation is the most important aspect of your workout and, as such, is usually the hardest thing to come by. Every day is different which means that every day will present new obstacles to fitting your workout in. The key is to make exercise a priority so that, no matter what comes up, you won’t let your routine slide to the bottom of the list. Good keys for motivation are to change the routine up every day..so that it is not boring..Also making it fun! Incorporate different types of exercise, circuit, weight training, cardio, swimming, etc…Use tools such as weights, stability balls, music, the outdoors…to keep the workout interesting.

Once you get started, and find that motivation, the hard part is done..Then when the weight comes off or the toning starts and the health benefits start to show, you have even more motivation to keep goin. Even better yet is if you start to enjoy the exercise and enjoy what it is doing for you.

A Personal Trainer performs the role of an educator, coach, and motivator. They work with you on your goals and your personal needs and they will get you to the top of the steps instead of keeping you at the bottom looking up!

So get started today…give me a call and we will work on a program that works for you and keeps you motivated.

My name is Dorine Campo. I am 43 years old and I am both a Certified Personal Trainer and a Nutritional Specialist. There are many reasons for this, mostly which include the fact that I generally enjoy working out myself and have a desire to encourage others to do the same.

I personally had some weight to lose and I wanted to get in shape to be a better person both mentally and physically. I also wanted to help my friends and other women become healthier and to feel happier with themselves. I know this can be accomplished through exercise.

Being in my 40’s and having many friends in the same age group, I constantly hear from women how they are unhappy with their bodies which is reflected in their overall attitudes. In addition, being overweight can affect our health. However, being women, we do not allow for time to take care of ourselves and to focus on our wants and needs because we tend to be the caretakers for so many others. This in turn makes us depressed and less empowered.

My turning point came when I was when I was laid off in December of last year. I started to feel worried and thought I may fall into a serious depression. However, rather than feeling sorry for myself and become one of those sit at home, watch TV and eat until I was 400 lb women, I put my workout equipment to use. I created a plan, and with a lot of mental motivation on a daily basis, I stuck with it. Currently, I work out doing weight-training 5 days a week and I practice Krav Maga (self-defense) 3 days a week. I have been doing this routine for the past 3 months. So far I have lost 13 lbs, and a total of 10” overall. I have 7 lbs to go to get to my goal weight. I feel great, and have no doubts that I will reach my goal. The motivation to get up and work out is there every day when I look in the mirror and I am actually starting to like what I see. My success in achieving my workout goals proves that I can be successful in all aspects of my life. It’s a feeling that I want to share with all the women I know and all those who truly need it.

I am now training 3 female friends of mine who came to me with some of the same issues that a lot of women (including myself) seem to have. We all tend to want to lose some amount of weight, get in shape and look better and feel better about ourselves. However because of our busy lifestyles whether it be our 40+ hour a week jobs, children, married lives, etc. we tend to lose track of our own wants and needs and tend to the care of others and lose ourselves in the process. I have found that my experience has inspired a lot of women through seeing my progress on Facebook and this in turn, inspires me.

I want to encourage every woman to take better care of themselves and to gain control of their bodies and minds and give themselves the same attention and care that they give to others.