Go hungry. Don’t give your body any fuel to work with and be sure to avoid protein. After all, protein will definitely make you big and bulky, and that is not a ridiculous myth that refuses to die. Celery and gum: that’s what champions eat. Ask anyone.

Skip your warm up. You have better things to do than warm your body up before high intensity exercise. Yeah, you’ll be more likely to get injured, but you’re saving five minutes, so it’s probably worth it.

Avoid sweating at all costs. You don’t want to mess up your hair or be sweaty when you leave the gym, so don’t do anything that might compromise your make up. Priorities, people!

Don’t ask questions. Don’t take advantage of the staff’s experience or willingness to help you. If you don’t know how a machine works, just try to look like a know-it-all. After all, you’ll figure it out on your own eventually, even if it takes a sprained wrist/groin/face.

Talk on your phone while you’re working out. You’re multitasking and you don’t want to deprive everyone else in the gym from hearing all about your plans for tonight.

Leave your water bottle at home. Staying hydrated is for jerks. If you need water, you can make thirty trips to the drinking fountain and spend more time going back and forth than actually working out. Besides, what’s water ever done for anyone? Everyone knows the only way to achieve the rock hard you’re looking for is by downing Red Bull and caffeine pills.

And now for your reward. You did a good solid 30 minutes of walking back and forth from the drinking fountain to a treadmill, so you’re done for the week! Congrats! Now to head to McDonald’s for dinner, no need to stretch or cool down.

*We genuinely hope you don’t follow any of the tips above. If you want to make the most of your time at the gym, lose weight, tone up, and learn about making healthy choices, please talk with our staff and our personal trainers. We’d love to sit down with you and explain some healthy habits that will make all the difference. You can get your free consultation here.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
• 1 15oz can black beans, drained, rinsed
• 1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
• 1/2 cup thick salsa
• 4 whole wheat tortillas (8 inch)
• 2/3 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar
• 1/2 cup chopped tomato
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 4 lime wedges, if desired

Directions

In microwavable bowl, microwave beans, corn and salsa for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking time, until thoroughly heated.

Top tortillas with bean mixture, cheese, tomato and cilantro. Squeeze juice from lime wedges over filling. Roll up tortillas tightly. This quick recipe takes just ten minutes and makes four servings.

“I want to look lose 15lbs before my reunion, but I don’t like to sweat when I work out.”

“I want to tone up, but I just want to do cardio. I don’t really do weights.”

“I want to change my diet, but I won’t eat vegetables except potatoes.”

Change may require you to take a few large leaps outside of your comfort zone, which might be a little painful at first. Anything worth achieving is worth the hard work required to get to the finish line.

When starting out on a weight lifting program I suggest doing higher reps with less weight and building up fewer reps with heavier weights, but still want to keep a good volume of work on heavier days.  Also, in each workout I would pick 6-8 exercises that I’m going to do that day.  Whether you want to do back and bicep one day, then chest and triceps another and legs on the next day is totally up to you.  You can also do a full body workout each day for variation.

For beginners we like to do one exercise for each part so we know they are getting all the work they need to.  As they progress and their body is able to take on a larger progressive load we focus in on specific body parts on specific days.  So, in the beginning I suggest the 12-15 rep range, doing 2-3 sets per exercise.  Continue doing this within your workouts for 3 or 4 weeks.

Your body will adapt to the same stimulus relatively quickly so it is imperative to change the variables within your workouts.  We change variables by changing the reps, weight, type of exercise, and tempo within the exercise.  The variables are virtually endless.  After you get through those first 3-4 weeks, I suggest lowering the rep range to 8-10 reps.  The weight you do needs to increase relative to the reps.  If you get to 10 reps and you can still do another 10, that is entirely too light!  You’re in the gym to get some work done and stress your body!  Those last couple reps need to be a bit of a struggle to finish.

On the same token, if your repetition range is 8-10 and you can only perform 5 reps with good form and technique, then that is obviously too heavy and you need to lighten the weight up.  It will take some time to find the correct weight for the corresponding amount of reps.  You learn by trial and error.  Also, since our rep range came down we need to up the sets to 3-4 to keep a good amount of volume.  Continue on this set and rep schedule for another 3-4 weeks and go back to the 12-15 reps trying to do more weight than you did previously at that range.

You can go even heavier to the 4-6 rep range.  Here we are getting into some pretty heavy weights and will need to up the sets to 5 or 6 to again, keep the amount of volume up.

Another important variable in our workouts that we need to take into consideration is rest time.  This all depends on your goals.  Circuit type workouts designed to keep your heart rate up and keep moving will only take maybe 10-30 seconds between exercises, with a minute or two break between circuit sets.  In other strength training programs there are rest times of up to 5 minutes.  These are for complete power, generally seen in power lifting.  For the general population I suggest performing a set of one exercise and going directly to another exercise hitting a different body part.  This way while your working body part A, body part B is at rest and you can then go right back to body part A and so on.  This helps you to stay productive and gets you in and out of the gym so you can get on with the rest of your day!

By James Lemke, CPT, CSCS

Are you someone who …

• Someone looking for assistance with every day anxiety and stress?
• Someone looking to thrive despite the rigors of daily life?
• Anyone who would like to restore balance and overall wellness in their life?

 Why Oasis?

• Helps your body adapt to physical and other sources of stress
• Contains a combination of super fruits known for their antioxidants, polyphenols and anti-inflammatory properties
• Provides immune and cognitive support*
• Contains B vitamins for energy and immune support
• In a convenient stick pack

Looking to strengthen your core, chest, and triceps? Tryon Gym Personal Trainer Sena Pedersen recommends the push-up plank. It’s one of her favorite moves when she trains her clients at Tryon Gym’s Harrisburg location. Sena utilizes the push-up plank because it “builds upper body while strengthening your core, which is a trouble zone for many people.”

• Lay flat on the floor with your hands next to shoulders, fingers forward, and elbows pointing straight back.
• Push up into a plank position while keeping elbows tight. Make sure hips are not sagging or lifting; keep them in line with your body. Shift your body weight, if necessary, so your shoulders are stacked above your wrists, not in front of or behind your wrists.
• Hold this pose and breathe normally for 30 seconds.
• Slowly lower body back to starting positing on floor and rest for 1 minute, complete 3 reps.