It’s inevitable: as the calendar transitions from the end of one year to the start of the next, we often feel that “New Year, New Me” mentality. For those preparing for that fresh start and have an idea, vision, or plan in mind come January, I applaud you. Whether you’re trying to better yourself as a person, your health, relationships with loved ones, or financially, here are a few tips that will ensure your success in the New Year:

Listen to your heart and listen to yourself. When you have a plan and you know that in the pit of your stomach you HAVE to do it, then that’s your subconscious mind sending you a message. Do it and take action.
Remember you learn to run after you learn to walk. So take those small steps.
Surround yourself with those that think positively and support your vision. Avoid people that will try to distract you. Don’t let someone who is comfortable in their ways stop you from working hard. . They will try to get into your head and prove how, ‘crazy’ you may be for pursuing what you want. Don’t let them.
Live in gratitude for the present moment. You can never predict tomorrow, and you cannot predict how your day will pan out, but you can do your best to control how you react to things. The moments you feel that failure will come, do not let it get to you. It’s normal to have those feelings, but if you fall into it, you will only begin hurt yourself and give up.
Acknowledge the fact that no successful event in your life was ever easy. Think of the time you learned to drive. How many times did you mistaken the gas and break or almost hit the parked cars in your area? None of that meant you were a terrible driver, you were getting use to the new environment and change in yourself. So let the fear go, put the gear back in drive and keep moving forward.
Write down a plan for the New Year and a couple of action steps you can implement to put that plan in motion.

Starting a new wellness plan is often the hardest part, but once you start and commit to continuing, everything will begin to flow naturally. You’re probably saying, ‘easier said than done’ but that’s why I’m here. That’s what Empowered Training is designed to do for you. The Empowered Training program will help you set up a plan and help to keep you on track until you see the visible results of your hard work, or better yet: feel the positive effects of your hard work. Together we can make this your healthiest New Year yet!

7 Ways to Stay Motivated In The Gym

Empowered Training

November 16, 2015 by Jonathan Sorto in Fitness

We love to look great, stay healthy and push ourselves each day. Health and exercise is part of our daily routine and well, it’s OUR lifestyle. Doing it every day and staying committed to the gym can be tough when you find yourself stuck in a regular day to day routine. Coming from experience, I personally know the feeling, and it sucks! It takes away the excitement you once had, and instead of it feeling like a lifestyle routine, it begins to feel like a work routine. After seeing first hand, talking to members and things I find to be pretty effective, I have come up with 7 tips to get you engaged and find the excitement into your gym time….

Gym partner- Finding yourself that SWOLE-mate to lift and push you more than you normally do, can do more than just build a stronger relationship. A gym partner that is as serious as you about the gym, will hold you accountable and push you both mentally and physically to help you achieve results.
Change the environment- Changing the scene can make a huge impact. On nice days, take the exercise routine outdoors. When you have beautiful weather, take advantage. Go for a run and after every few miles, stop and do body exercises for a certain amount of reps or time. Rest after and continue. Most local parks have a fitness trail that you follow and gives you an exercise when you reach a check point.
New routine- If you prefer the weights and machines, try changing the way you train. Example, try switching cardio for strength training first and then finish with cardio. Another switch could be the machine or exercise that you do and the reps, sets and rest time. Play with your routine and see what works with you and gives you a challenge.
Playlist- We all love music, so why not create a playlist that you can pump iron with. Same with the playlist, add and change the songs from time to time.
Keep track of progress- Record every exercise you do. Write down how many sets, reps and rest time. Each week you repeat the same pattern, you’ll see where you are getting stronger and where you need improvement.
15 minute prep – Sometimes all you need is a quick prep. Warming up with a motivational audio. Or driving around and taking the long route to prepare yourself with a playlist or just the peace and quiet you have to yourself.
Rest- If you find yourself doing all of the above and nothing works, try taking one or two weeks off. Maybe your body just needs a rest and often times we ignore the warning signs our mind and body send. Listen to your body and rest, guarantee you’ll feel better when you get back.

"Empowered Training...Change your mind, change your body, change your life!"

You Don't Need Cardio To Get Results

September 14, 2015 by Jonathan Sorto in Fitness

If you think you need cardio to get results, then you must be out of your mind! Just kidding, you need Cardio, Cardio, and more Cardio! We love it, we hate it, but we need it. Just like doing laundry. When it comes to getting the results you truly desire, asides from the strength training and nutrition, cardio is a must. You don’t like the idea of running on a ‘dread’mill or ‘kill’ipticle for 30 minutes, let alone an hour. But you feel guilty for having those drinks and that burger last night so you have to burn it off. So what is the best way to burn it off and exactly how much, how long, and how intense should the cardio session be? Well that’s what we will dig into today.

Before we dig into a new method of cardio, I want you to understand that cardio comes in many ways. “Cardio” meaning “cardio vascular endurance” is the body’s ability to continue exertion while getting energy from the aerobic system used to supply the body with energy. Wait, What!? Basically, cardio means having the endurance to keep working at an intensity level that is both manageable and still challenging to your body. Some examples are long distance running, swimming, or biking. If your body has a poor cardio vascular endurance, you will fatigue quicker. Sometimes feeling a shortness of breath. But the good news is, you can fix it. Just like you train muscles to get bigger and stronger, or leaner and defined, you can also increase your cardio endurance level. Now … how can you make cardio fun…

We established that many of us, including myself, are not a big fan of doing cardio on a treadmill or bike for a long time. So what can we do? Well there is one type of “cardio” called High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Some fitness professionals know it as HIIT or metabolic training. What this type of training consists of is various exercises and different time frames that hit every body part in 45-60 minutes; we really don’t need to be in the gym for more than that. Although it’s my way of cardio, I don’t establish it as only cardio, as you would with long distance running. Why? Because with HIIT, you are doing more than cardio. You are, no pun intended, hitting every muscle group by doing exercises with various movements, heavy to moderate weight and progressions in a certain time frame; this does not only work cardio, but muscular endurance and strength as well. Here is an example of a High Intensity Interval Session, or Fat Burning Session as I call them.

The time frame is a 40:20. 40 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest. You will complete 5 exercises, each individual exercise will be done in 40 seconds, with 20 seconds of rest going into the next exercise. Once you finish the last exercise, you will take 50 seconds of rest and repeat the cycle. Beginners can repeat the cycle 5 times. Advanced can repeat the cycle 7-8 times.

Exercises

1. Jumping Jacks

2. Body Weight Push Ups

3. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

4. Alternating Dumbbell Curl

5. Body Weight Speed Squat

50 seconds rest, repeat

As you can see, I added a few exercises that require weight. You activate every muscle group and all it takes is 45 minutes, 35-40 for beginners. The next question is how much, how long, and how intense?

Let us break down the following question of how much, how long, and how intense, one at a time. If you are a beginner, you might consider doing this at least 2-3 times a week. Intermediate or advanced could go 5 times a week. It’s safe to say we establish that 45-60 minutes is all you really need. As for how intense, that depends on you. Normally I encourage my online clients and personal clients to go at 100%. This doesn’t mean that my 100% will be the same as yours. We are all different. Go at what feels like YOUR 100%. If I were to ask you at the end of the session how you felt on a scale of 1-10. 1-Eh, ok, could have been better; 10-Out of breath or destroyed as my clients say. If you say 8, 9 or 10, then you know you gave it your 100%. Anything less than that is fine as well, if it happens from time to time. You probably had a rough day or night, and hey it happens.

Everything that I just explained, showed you a new way to spice up your cardio. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not hating on the treadmill. Some people love it, just like they love the bike, swimming or whatever it is that gives them their satisfaction of cardio. But if you are like me and do cardio to drop a few pounds or maintain weight, while losing fat, maintaining muscle, and want to avoid the repetitive routine, then this is the right workout for you. Best part, you can always change the time frame and exercises so it’s never boring. It’s worked for many of my clients, friends, family, and myself.

“On a personal note, I want to thank everyone who has supported me on my journey in fitness. All my family, friends, co-workers, and mentors. My passion for fitness and educating the public will always continue to grow. I look forward to growing as a Professional Fitness Trainer through training and learning the lives of my clients. Thank you all for the support. This blog is for you!”