Do You Want to Get in Shape? Get Ready for the Sitaras Method

Are you serious about improving your overall health and the look and shape of your body? If you're ready to make the commitment, then the Sitaras gym, using the Sitaras Method of body improvement is the place for you.

The Sitaras Method is segmented into several parts: voicing goals, professional assessment, design of custom exercise program, re-assessment of physical condition, and modification of goals. The Sitaras Method is the brainchild of former bodybuilder and pre-med student, John Sitaras, a man who takes a scientific approach to body building, delivering optimal results.

All new members go through a six-to-twelve-session assessment with John. He closely takes note of your flexibility, cardio-respiratory fitness, strength, endurance, and body fat. Additionally, the Sitaras Method portion of assessment involves taking note of the unique musculature of each client. John takes into account the differences between the right and left side of the body, different portions of each muscle, and two major muscle fiber types (those for strength and endurance). Such individual attention facilitates positive outcomes and the attainment of personal goals.

The Sitaras Method is so meticulously developed due to John's background in medicine and rehabilitation. John emphasizes proper form and alignment for optimal safety and effectiveness. Along with a team of highly-qualified trainers, John tracks each member's progress, identifying strengths and weaknesses to facilitate results. The reassessment portion of the Method ensures members are constantly challenged, keeping their bodies guessing and improving.

Does the philosophy of John and his Sitaras Method sound enticing to you? We hope; but, we would like to reiterate the importance of your commitment. Our trainers are highly-qualified yet the work is yours to do alone. Support and encouragement is always available to you but you must believe in yourself and your ability to reach your goals. We ask each member attend the gym at least twice per week – no excuses! Please refer to our contact information if you have additional questions. We look forward to seeing you at the gym!

What You Should Eat After a Work Out

Most people are starving after they have completed a vigorous work out. However, choosing to eat the right foods and the right amount of foods to replenish your body with is important to get the most results from your exercise. Boost the results of your physical activity with proper nutrition and portion size.

What kinds of foods should you eat?

• Contrary to belief after a workout carbohydrates are great for replacing muscle fuel that you may have lost and it prepares you for your next workout sessions. Try going for all natural foods and protein sources such as eggs.

• If you don’t have much time on your hands you may want to prepare a protein shake in advance to drink after your workout. Whey protein shakes are a great choice and you are able to spice your shake up with ingredients of your choice. For great nutrition you may want to add all natural fruit juice, strawberries, or bananas for carbohydrates. You can also add some nuts for extra protein.

• Make sure you are replenishing your body with water. If you sweat a lot or the weather is very hot you are going to lose water and minerals that your body needs. If you weigh your body before your workout and then afterwards the ounces you have lost should be the amount of water that you drink.

• For your caloric intake you want to eat 50% of the calories that you have burned off. For example if you burned off 600 calories at the gym you should eat at least 300 calories.

At Sitaras Fitness you have certified personal trainers by your side that can assist you with your questions in regards to nutrition. Visit our exclusive fitness gym to reach your personal fitness goals.

Stamina and Endurance: What’s the Difference Between the Two?

When you research these two terms often times they are used interchangeably. However, there is a difference between the two and knowing how they differ can help you improve your work out routines.

More about stamina…

• Stamina measures your ability to perform physical work over a period time. For example, someone with a high level of stamina would be able to perform a task such as chopping wood for a long period of time without resting. While endurance may require some muscle strength when you are building up your stamina you are using more muscle strength to perform a task.

• One person may be able to lift 50lbs and the other person may be only able to lift 40lbs. However, if the person that can only lift 40lbs is able to do more bicep curls than the person that is able to lift 50lbs the person lifting 40lbs has a greater level of stamina.

More about endurance…

• Endurance refers to your cardiorespiratory work capacity. It measures how long you are able to jog, swim, or ride your bike. These activities do not require a lot of muscle strength but they do require a good oxygen delivery system.

• A long distance runner may be focused on building up endurance rather than stamina. If he or she were focused on increasing how far they can run they would focus on building up their endurance. However if their concern were increasing speed, they would focus on building up their stamina because more muscle work is required for speed.

Knowing these terms will help you to determine which areas you should focus on. Our exclusive fitness gym has certified personal trainers that will help design a plan specifically for you to achieve your personal fitness goals.

Calorie Tracking Made Easy

Keeping your calorie tracking easy and simple is the best way to ensure that you continue with a routine of recording your process. Reaching your personal fitness goals through calorie tracking does not have to be hard if you use the right methods to simplify it.

How you can keep calorie tracking easy

• Decide whether your goal is to lose weight or improve your nutrition. If your goal is weight loss you may want to focus on tracking calories alone. When you keep track of how many proteins or dairy products you eating in addition to counting calories it may complicate your recording process.

• There may be times when you are not able to get the exact number of calories for a food that you may have eaten. When this happens there are many online tools and apps available on your cell phone that you can use to get an estimate of what you have eaten.

• You want to make sure that you are keeping track of everything that you eat. If you don’t have anything available to record down what you have eaten keep a mental note of it and as soon as you are able to write it down do it. Then add this entry to your food journal.

• To make your recording process easier you may want to find a system for abbreviating the foods that you have eaten. The less hassle that is in your recording process the more likely you are to continue recording your calories.

• List your favorite foods that you love to eat and take note of how many calories they are. This gives you something that you can easily refer to and quickly place into your journal to record.

At Sitaras Fitness, we offer you certified personal trainers that can make suggestions for ways to improve your eating habits and make modifications to your current food plan. We understand how to effectively encourage healthy eating to help you reach your personal fitness goals.

Avoid Hitting a Fitness Plateau

Even the best of us experience some form of fitness plateau. However, if you find yourself stuck in one, you don’t have stay there. Through analyzing certain areas of improvement and taking steps to correct them you can continue to keep climbing to the peak of your personal fitness goals.

How to avoid the dreaded plateau…

• Keep a detailed, well written log of your physical activity and most importantly your eating habits in a journal. This will allow you to look back and reflect on areas that you need to change.

• While keeping your body physical and active is important keeping your body well rested is just as important. Don’t overwork your muscles and strain them out, give them time to rest, and time to become rejuvenated.

• Through a thorough analysis of journal logs you may discover that you may need to either increase or decrease your calorie intake. Keep in mind that as your metabolism and physical activity increase so should your caloric intake. You may also discover that maybe you’re taking too many visits to your local fast food restaurants, and in this case you may need to reduce your calories.

• Whether or not you see a need to increase or decrease your calorie intake, make sure you’re carefully considering your food choices to determine if they are healthy ones. For example you may be getting a great intake of fruit, but too much sugar from that fruit, so you may need to implement more variety.

• Keep variety in your activities or cross-train to avoid plateaus. Set aside days for low intensity work outs, medium intensity, and high intensity.

Always keep a record of your routine to refer to in order to identify problem areas. Fitness trainers can pinpoint areas that you may not notice, and develop a routine to help you overcome or avoid a plateau altogether. They are professionals that can help you achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle so it’s not a bad idea to have them as your guide.

Reach the Peak of Your Personal Fitness

Fad diets, spot reduction programs, and generally anything we feel that will give us results fast without having to change our lifestyles seem generally more appealing. Reaching the peak of your personal fitness requires change and a commitment to a healthy lifestyle. There are simply no successful get rich quick schemes in life and especially no long lasting ones when it comes to our health.

How do you reach the peak

• Start with the right mentality and focus on changing your lifestyle. While the physical aspect of personal fitness may be challenging, the mental portion is the most challenging. You must first want to actually change your eating habits and increase your physical activity.

• Put your motivation and desire to achieve personal fitness into a plan of action. Design your works out routines so they are going with your individual pace and gradually adjust their intensity. Keep a journal of your diet and physical activity so you are more able to see areas for improvement.

• After assessing the appropriate workout routine for your specific needs decide on the best time to implement your routine. Decide on a time that will enable you to get a sufficient amount of exercise, while at the same time not putting too much stress on your body, and your own personal time management.

• When you have made the move and decided that you want to change your life you may need some encouragement especially if your personal fitness goals are challenging. Personal trainers can give you the encouragement that you may need, while also developing an effective fitness routine specialized for you.

Focus on changing your mindset, put your goals into action, and continue your commitment to healthy living. Achieving personal fitness is not a fad or a phase to get you where you want only for you to go back to your old ways. It is a lifestyle, for those who are committed to staying healthy and looking great.

Fitness Tips for Women

As a woman you want to look great in your favorite pair of skinny jeans, your form fitting outfits, and have the best beach body that you can have. However, it is important for you to understand that we cannot control or target areas that our bodies will lose weight from. First there are some aspects of fitness that you need to understand to achieve optimal results.

Looking to achieve that perfectly flat tummy…

• When you implement abdominal exercises alone you are strengthening your abdominal muscles however they are hidden by fat on your stomach area. Achieving a flat stomach requires a combination of cardio exercise such as running or jogging, healthy eating, and strength training through abdominal exercises.

Striving to slim down those hips….

• Spot reduction does not work, no matter what program tells you so. Concentrating on doing squats and leg presses alone may actually make your hips appear even bigger. These exercises are great for muscle tone, but if you have not lost the weight in this area first it may bulge. Direct your focus on healthy eating habits and cardio or high intensity interval training.

Want your butt to look great in those jeans?

• If you are looking to tone and reshape your bottom, there are a variety of exercises to choose from. Lunges, step-ups, and quadruped hip extensions are great for keeping this area firm and developing a nice tone. However, if you are unhappy with the size of this area you want to also incorporate cardio into your routine to help you burn fat.

When looking for improvement in areas of your body unfortunately we cannot control where we would like to lose weight from. For results you must lose weight all over your body. Our bodies lose weight from all areas, not just a specific one. For extra guidance you can enlist the help of a professional female personal trainer that understands what you are going through and can develop an effective routine to help you meet your goals.

See Long Lasting Proven Results!

Many of us start working out until we sweat and then we go on these extreme diets depriving ourselves of way too much food only to eventually backslide. This cycle continues over and over again, with little results or results that do not last for long. Instead of implementing fad diets that are probably not the healthiest choice, it is a better option to enlist the help of a professional guide, and hire a personal trainer.

• When we use extreme dieting as a method to get in shape or for weight loss the results are short lived. Through these diets we are not training ourselves to have a healthy lifestyle. They are only temporary fixes for the moment and they may even lead to even more weight gain in the future.
  
  
• Personal trainers help you to have the mentality to lead a healthy lifestyle and not just a quick fix. They provide you with the motivation to continue your workout routine and confidence with results.
  
  
• When you hire a personal trainer, you are being guided by a professional that will help to determine the most effective way for you to achieve your goals. They assess your medical history, fitness level, age, and weight to help develop a routine that you will see results from.
  
  
• With the help of an experienced professional you will see results from proven scientific methods for weight loss and your commitment to your fitness goals.
  

Avoid putting your body through the roller coaster of weight loss ups and downs. If you are looking for long lasting results you should be committed to living a healthy lifestyle. Personal trainers are helpful guides for efficient and effective weight loss methods that will enable you to have long lasting results.

Healthy Lifestyle & Exercise Tips for Women

For women the biggest obstacles we face at the gym reside in the lower half of our bodies. Ask any woman what part of her body she would like to lose fat and make leaner she will say her butt, thighs, or back of her legs. At Sitaras Fitness our exclusive personal trainers help our clients achieve their fitness goals through custom workouts for their level. Below we have provided exclusive tips for women who want to achieve those goals with the help for their expert personal trainer.

Tips from the Exclusive Personal Trainers at Sitaras Fitness:

- A healthy diet should always be a part of your getting in shape routine. However, dieting does not have to be torture. Take the time to educate yourself on a variety of healthy and great tasting foods. By expanding your knowledge on healthy dieting you will have the ability to create your own delicious and hearty meals. Instead of the alternative that may involve starving yourself or consuming diet products that taste more like cardboard than food.

- To get the lean and firm lower half you desire you must have a balance of cardio and weightlifting in your exercise routine. Some women think that weightlifting will make them muscular, but it will actually help firm up your body. Great exercises to do with weights include squats, lunges, and step-ups.

- Finding a cardio exercise you love is vital. The more you enjoy your exercise routine the better chance you will stick with it. Popular cardio workouts that are also great butt blasters include using the treadmill and the elliptical. Cardio routines should be done 3-4 times a week for no longer than 45 minutes. Consult your Sitaras Fitness exclusive personal trainer for a custom workout routine that mixes both weightlifting and cardio workouts that will fit your level of fitness.

Keep in mind there is always room for improvement so if you stop noticing results from your routine ask your exclusive personal trainer to change it up a bit. Do not be afraid to get out of your comfort zone and try new routines.

Mix It Up at Sitaras Fitness

The key to overall health is participating in a regular exercise routine. Everyone has different tastes as far as their favorite exercise routines and where on their body they want to see improvement. However, only focusing on one method of exercise and on one area of your body will not help you to reach your body's fitness potential. It is important to mix methods and work every muscle to see improvement and achieve the goals you set for yourself.

Most of us aim to lose fat and firm muscle. A whole body workout will do just that if you use a balanced workout method of cardio and weight lifting. Cardio helps decrease body fat and enhances cardiovascular health while weight lifting is important to building strong and defined muscle. Training your whole body by mixing cardio and weight lifting is the best way to get your body in top shape.

The best cardio exercises include jogging, bicycling, jumping rope, and step aerobics. If you only workout using cardio methods you will be burning fat, but will also be contributing to the diminish of important body muscle. Cardio breaks down active tissue while weight lifting helps to increase and build that tissue. To get the most of your workout and help strengthen your entire body, ask your exclusive personal trainer at Sitaras Fitness to create a custom workout for you mixing cardio and weight lifting routines.

Workout and Diet Myths

There are many misconceptions out there about how you can achieve optimum fitness. Here at Sitaras Fitness we want to clear up these myths and let you in on the secret truths of strengthening your body and getting the most from your workout.

Myth: No Pain No Gain

- Many People believe that if their muscles do not hurt after a workout or are sore the next day than they did not work out hard enough. Muscles become sore after a workout due to tears in the muscle fibers. If you regularly change up your workout routine than you may experience slight muscle soreness frequently. However, if you are sore for days after a workout than chances are you are not giving your body long enough to recover and are possibly over doing it.

Myth: If I cannot work out frequently for a long period of time I might as well not even workout at all.

- Any Exercise is better than no exercise. Participating in a physical activity daily has been proven to reduce stress and improve you overall health. Whether you are able to make it to the gym 3-4 times a week or are taking a 15 minute walk every day, as long as you are doing something active than your body is benefitting. However, if you are looking for regular workout routine, it is recommended to do at least 30-45 minutes of cardio 3-4 times a week, and train with weights 2-3 times a week.

Myth: Protein based diets will help build more muscle.

- Too much of anything is bad for the body. Consuming a high protein diet can cause an imbalance in your nutrition resulting in unwanted kidney strain and the risk of dehydration. The truth is building muscle mass depends on two factors. One is using enough weight to challenge your muscles and the other is high calorie intake. Muscles rely on calories, so it is important your body gets a balance of carbs, proteins, and fat.

For more information on other workout myths consult your exclusive personal trainer at Sitaras Fitness. They can educate you on how to prevent soreness, balance a workout routine, and give you advice on the healthiest diets.

Exclusive Personal Trainers who keep your Body Guessing

We go to the gym and work with exclusive personal trainers to get in shape, stay in shape, and strengthen our bodies. So, it is no surprise that there are constant flows of fitness trends that arise every so often. In recent years, one of the most popularized fitness concepts has been muscle confusion.

Muscle confusion is the concept of adding variety to your weekly workout routines. It is meant to keep your muscles guessing and prevent your body from the “Plateau Effect”. This effect happens when your body has reached its maximum potential through your current and repetitive workout routine. Muscle confusion, switches up your routine and constantly keeps your body pushing. It helps build and strengthen your body’s muscles in a slow and steady manner that leads to fantastic results.

It makes sense that after working through the same routine week after week would get boring and eventually un-motivating. However, by asking your exclusive personal trainer to develop a new workout for you each week, will not only help keep your body guessing, but it will also keep you more interested and driven.

Consult one of Sitaras’ exclusive personal trainers about what the best exercise plan is for you and get motivated!

Strengthen Your Core with a Personal Trainer

Your body’s core is made up of a group of muscles located in the mid-section of your body from your hips to shoulders, front and back. The core is where all of your body movements originate. If you have a weak core your body will be more prone to injury. All physical activity depends on a stable core, and the personal trainers at Sitaras’ Fitness can help you get your core muscles strong and tight.

Your personal trainer will work with to help you strengthen you muscles in your pelvis, lower back, hips, and abdomen. By strengthening your core you will increase your body’s stability, posture, balance, and movement control.

Properly strengthening your core requires regular workouts with your exclusive personal trainer from Sitaras’ Fitness. Traditional core exercises consist of bridges, crunches and sit-ups, and planks. Your personal trainer may have you work with a fitness ball as well. Working with a fitness ball will help tighten the muscles around your mid-section and help you increase your muscle control abilities. Working with a personal trainer to strengthen your core will let you better assess where you stand physically, and your trainer will work with you to develop a workout routine specifically designed for your fitness level.