|
Please Welcome to the
Neighborhood
Mark Greenfield
Josh Denenberg
JoZie DiMaria
"I have been using neighborhood trainers for a few years now to acquire new clients and grow my business. The responses and clients that I have acquired through the years have been amazing! Neighborhood trainers is such a great platform for personal trainers to advertise their skills and promote their business."- Judy
|
 |
|
Building a Better Back
By Lisa Snow, personal trainer
Maybe it started with a car accident, a sports injury, or simply too much time hunched over your keyboard. But now the back pain is too serious to ignore. The orthopedist has ruled out surgery, so what's next?
Chiropractic can be a good starting point. A common misconception is that the only purpose of chiropractic is to get your bones back into alignment. While adjustments do help with that, the real benefit is that once your spine is properly aligned, energy can flow freely through your nerves to your muscles. This allows the muscles to move with more grace and strength, while reducing pain.
Although many first-time patients fear getting "cracked," adjustments shouldn't hurt. Most people feel a sense of release, similar to what you feel when popping your knuckles. Many patients are also amazed to find they can suddenly breathe more deeply, sometimes as early as a first or second appointment. Once your joints are lined up in their proper positions, there is much less tension in the chest and upper back, allowing the diaphragm to pull in full, healing breaths.
Once you've found a good chiropractor (or other medical professional) to get your pain under control, 1-1 fitness training can be useful. While trainers can't
treat
anything - certainly not back pain - they can help build strength while reducing risk of future injury. Here are key areas where an experienced trainer can help:
Core stability
- while your doctor may recommend avoiding spinal flexion movements like old school crunches and sit-ups, there are plenty of other core exercises available. Depending on your specific injury, you may be able to do things like planks, side planks, bird dogs, or the cat & cow pose from yoga.
Breathing
- learning to breathe deeply can release tension that builds up in the muscles and eventually causes pain. Once you've mastered proper breathing on its own, you can begin to learn to breathe correctly during exercise.
Posture
- anyone can pretend to have good posture in front of a mirror, but can you maintain that tall spine while standing and waiting for the subway, sitting at your desk, or doing squats? A personal trainer can help you make good posture a habit rather than something you only do when someone is looking.
Lisa Snow
ACE & NSCA
Certified Personal Trainer
President
On the Mend Customized Fitness and Massage
|
 
|
Refer Your Favorite Fitness Pro
Let new clients find them here. NeighborhoodTrainers is looking for great trainers and instructors in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, & the Bronx.
|
| Learn Your Body Mass Index (BMI)
Body Mass Index (BMI) is essentially a height to weight ratio. Am I a healthy weight for my height.
Figure out your BMI now.
Underweight = < 18.5 Normal Weight = 18.5-24.9 Overweight = 25-29.9 Obese- 30 or higher
Remember, speak to your doctor before starting a fitness program and then seek out the right personal trainer for correct program design. Enjoy your workout!
|
Find more great articles on the blog
|
 |
| Best of Manhattan 2014 for Personal Trainers |
|
|
Did you know?
Each pound of muscle burns 75-100 calories per day. Not bad.
Lisa, Davide, and Geo
have some great muscle building, calorie burning ideas for you this month. Don't miss them.
Enjoy!
Glenn
P.S. For daily fitness tips and advice,
|
"Thanks to your website, I'm starting to get back into a healthier lifestyle."
|
 |
5
Tricks to Eliminate Bloat Before Hitting The Beach
Summer is officially in session! This means more road trips, longer vacations, and fun in the sun baring swimsuits. Rather than starving yourself to get bikini-ready, here are a few tricks to make sure you approach the beach season the right and healthy way.
 Snacking on the right foods before you bare it all can fight bloat, fend off fat, and keep you feeling full!
1) Rather than snacking on refined grains which convert into glucose, causing you to store fat rather than burning it, fill up on fiber-rich brown rice.
2) Eat foods rich in calcium! Research shows that eating more calcium can help eliminate the infamous bloated look we all despise and know all too well. Three servings a day of calcium-rich, low or non-fat dairy can help you attain the recommended 1,000 milligrams of calcium. Great examples are: 1 cup of fat-free almond milk, 8 ounces of lowfat or fat-free yogurt, or 2 ounces of low-fat cheddar.
 3) Swapping almonds in as a snack instead of opting for other eats, can help you lose inches and unwanted pounds due to almonds' bad-cholesterol-killing HDL, unsaturated fat, and protein count. 1/4 cup of almonds should keep you full and satisfied. Try tossing them into your lunchtime salad or swirl them into that calcium and protein-rich yogurt.
4) Add some color into your life! I'm not just talking about brightly colored bathing suits either! Brightly colored vegetables contain Vitamin C, which prevents collagen breakdown. Collagen is the skin's support structure. When skin loses strength, you can experience bulging. Add an orange to your breakfast, and snack on bell peppers with hummus in the afternoon.
 5) STAY HYDRATED! Drinking plenty of water not only ensures the body rids of excess bloat, but protects you from dehydration from sweating and spending so much time in the heat and under the sun. Two liters of water a day is the bare minimum you should be drinking
Happy Summer guys!
See you on the beach!
Geo Chang, C.P.T.
Contact Geo!
Geo's FITNESS TIP OF THE MONTH
It's no secret that in the summer we go out more, we socialize often, and we drink alcohol way more than we should be. When leaving the bar with the friends don't go for that pizza slice or fast food; do not drunk eat!
Your body prioritizes the digestion of alcohol over food, Anything you eat will sit in your stomach and end up as adipose tissue (fat), as your processes the breakdown of the alcohol first. Instead, be sure to consume at least 1 liter of water prior to bedtime. This ensures that you are diluting the alcohol, hydrating yourself, and prevents you from waking up with a nasty hang over. Upon waking up, consume another liter of water along with a nice, healthy breakfast. Let's make body fat gain and hangovers a thing of the past!!
|
 |
The Importance of TUT in Body Building and Muscle Development
The importance of TUT (time under tension) in Body Building and muscle development.
I get a lot of questions when I come across clients who are looking to build muscle mass, shape themselves or, more often than not, "tone up".
 The truth I have found during all these years as a personal trainer and a fitness model is that not one rule is true when it comes to weight lifting in terms of number of reps, sets, programs etc. You'll be surprised, though, to notice how important the sole concept of your muscles being kept under the right amount of tension is.
Ideally every exercise should place a certain stress, intensity and "burn" on the targeted muscle and often we forget to properly address the effort towards that particular muscle when we execute the movement. Men know how much our own ego steps in the way when we are doing, for example, bench press exercises or bicep curls. But as an experienced lifter I ask you to put your egos aside for once, do not lift an insane amount of weight and really focus on how much active contraction ("pump") you are getting in the targeted muscle. This is usually achievable at a lower load than you were used to lift before. In a short time you will notice increased density in your muscles, which will help the sculpting and your overall proportions.
I constantly stress the importance of time under tension to my clients as an effective way to go past plateaus and train in complete safety.
|
Exploring NYC's Personal Training Gyms:
New York Underground Fitness
 On a bright summer day, I rode my bike over to visit with Eric Slayton, the owner of
New York Underground Fitness on West 57th Street. I have known Eric since 2010 when I started NeighborhoodTrainers. New York Underground Fitness has been a mainstay in the New York fitness community since 2002, when Eric achieved his goal of owning his own gym a reality.
 Eric started as a personal trainer at NYSC in 1994. I was astounded and impressed that he still has some of his original clients from those days. But it is principles like that, that he carried over to creating New York Underground Fitness and molded it into his vision.
 He tells me it has been appropriately coined
"the Cheers of Gyms" by both members and trainers, paying tribute to the well-known TV bar in the show of the same name. This moniker was reinforced by Claude; a trainer I had spoken earlier in my visit who had been training clients there for 11 years. "I'm here more than I am at home." Another trainer I chatted with, Tommy, has been there for 6 years, as well.
 Whereas most personal training gyms are located in less conspicuous buildings, New York Underground Fitness is located in a hotel. Eric does an amazingly effective high wire act of balancing the offerings,
having created a gym for hotel guests, members, and independent personal trainers. The gym floor is sizable at about 2000 square feet, with additional space locker rooms and lobby space.
"
Be as intelligently and fully equipped as I can, but maintain spatial integrity," Eric says as he explains his thought process behind creating the New York Underground Fitness experience. He had to be "very particular about each piece of equipment." While he has the standards of hotel gyms with treadmills and elliptical machines.
He also has rarely seen equipment that surprises even the most experienced trainer such as the Step Up platform (which he in the New York Rangers training room), a plate loaded Reverse Hyper Extension Platform, Upper Body Ergometer and a Plate Loaded Tibia Raise. The facility also sports plenty of free weights, machines, platforms, balls, etc. In short, the gym can accommodate trainers whose client are into either bodybuilding or more functional training.
 The facility is also equipped with men's and women's locker rooms with ample locker space, towels and toiletries. Some clothes and motivation are all a client needs.
Independent personal trainers will find New York Underground Fitness very accommodating. There is an area to sit and prepare in between sessions. Plus, though many opt to get one, clients are not required to have a membership to train there. Eric is Happy to provide all of the details. On the flip side, Eric is also open to hearing trainer suggestions.
 One of the most unique features is
the walls of New York Underground Fitness. If you are short on motivation, look to the closest wall. There is no shortage of mantras to help you refocus. Originally, Eric used them as reminders for himself, but the idea struck a chord with his community and is now woven into the New York Underground Fitness experience.
For many, New York Underground Fitness may seem off in a lesser traveled area of Manhattan, but
once you visit and meet Eric, you'll understand why so many trainers and clients call it their home away from home.
Leave a comment
By Chris Granville
|
| Want more?
"I thought neighborhoodtrainers was a fantastic resource - I'm so glad I stumbled across it in my googling! - and I've already shared the site with several friends."- Marie |
|
