Inspiration Monday: An Interview With My Fitness Guru

by Jenny

Meet Katy. She's an instructor at the gym that I go to as well as a personal trainer. To say that Katy's expertise has changed my life (and my body) is an understatement. Her knowledge of fitness, coupled with her gentle, fun spirit has been the winning combination in helping me to acheive my fitness goals. As she says in the classes that she teaches, "I'm here to push you harder than you'd ever push yourself" and, man-alive, does she! I feel as though she's a wealth of knowledge and I wanted to share a bit of her with all of you. I also feel compelled to add that Katy is the mother of 2 small children, if (like me) that's been your excuse de jour for putting off getting into shape.

A few weeks ago, I put out feelers in my community as well as on Style Lush's Facebook page, asking for any fitness or nutrition questions that you'd like for me to ask Katy. Here's my interview with Katy:

What's the biggest mistake you see people making at the gym?

The biggest mistake I see at the gym would be those 80’s MC Hammer pants with a muscle tank (easy to be a kidder when you look like Katy, eh?)! Honestly, the biggest mistake I see people making at the gym would be executing an exercise with incorrect form. Form is important for these two reasons 1.) to prevent injuries 2.) to ensure that the right muscle groups are working together correctly to maximize results.

What single act or move at the gym will give you the most “bang for your buck”?

There are so many great exercises to choose from. When you are talking about getting your biggest calorie burn for your time, then you want to do exercises that combine cardio and strength training, using upper body and lower body muscle groups at the same time--wheeew, right? It sounds overwhelming, but it’s very doable at the gym or at home with a set of hand weights. A few of these exercises include:

1.) Walking lunges coupled with bicep curls or overhead presses

2.) Squats with overhead shoulder press.

3.) Side lunge to lateral leg and arm raise.

Any suggestions for alternative foods to “scratch an itch”--i.e. something sweet; something salty that won’t sabotage your diet?

Well, if you want me to say that eating a piece of chocolate cake for your “something sweet” (often) would be fine, well, you’re wrong. However; I do believe in cheat days and delicious indulgences because let’s face it, life is too short. For something sweet try 85% dark chocolate, (it is an acquired taste that you will learn to love) or fruit such as watermelon or pineapple. For your something salty try popcorn, assorted nuts or even a few green olives. Give yourself some time--I am a firm believer that you can train your taste buds to love healthy indulgences not junk.

If you could purge one (or more) items from our kitchens--that you feel are sabotaging our diet or nutrition--what would it be?

I would come to your house and purge ALL, or most, of the processed boxed crap that is in your pantry. If it comes in a box and has 4 or more ingredients, (some of which you cannot pronounce) then get rid of it. I know, moms--that would include all the snacks our kiddos love. The RITZ crackers, Goldfish and Nilla Wafers, just to name a few. And how many times have you mindlessly tossed a few handfuls of those products into your mouth while giving them to your kids? So once I vowed to stop eating that overly processed boxed crap, I thought to myself, why am I giving this to my kids?

Have you found any of the popular fad diets to be successful or is eating healthy and working out the best way to go? (Speaking more of major weight loss but also for just dropping a few pounds).

Eating healthy and exercising is the BEST way to go. Bottom line, more calories out and fewer calories in equals weight loss--more importantly, it equals long-term weight loss and not yo-yo dieting. Through one’s weight loss journey, hopefully healthy eating and exercising becomes their new “healthy lifestyle” normal.

The push-up works your upper body, as well as your core.

I aspire to have Katy's triceps.

{Photo credits: me and my shaking, post-Katy-workout arms and shotty photography skills}

Comments

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What a great article! It's refreshing to read an interview with a "real" trainer; I love me some Jillian Michaels, but it's nice to meet a trainer without a team of cooks and nannies and dogwalkers. Too bad she still subscribes to the same torture techniques--walking lunges and squats with overhead presses are BRUTAL. :)

Posted by: Heather | October 15, 2012 at 03:19 PM