FITNESS ARTICLES


	Shape Shifting Secrets: Why a Personal Trainer Can Help
	Health is Built on Triads

Shape Shifting Secrets: Why a Personal Trainer Can Help

by Frank Moran, Personal Trainer

What is the secret of "getting in shape," or "physical fitness," or "getting stronger," or "looking better, feeling better"? These are the questions most commonly asked and one never gets the same answers. The reason for this is there are many different answers specific to each individual. First, consider the human body. We have a general blueprint which shows that all bodies work pretty much the same way although not at the same level. The reason for this is, although we may know what to do, it's not quite the same as what we are truly prepared to do. For example, if you're asked to eat in a specific way you may agree knowing that you would not do it. The same applies to exercise. So the first important factor is to know the things you will do and the things you won't because these are the first hurdles on the way to answering the above questions. Therefore, the secret is in the individual. The individual is the variable. Exercise and nutrition are the constants.

Although the blueprint is the same, visually we are different. Some people are fat, others thin or muscular. Men naturally have less fat than women and consequently burn fat more efficiently. As a result, if we all exercise in the same way and eat in the same way we achieve different outcomes. So we all have a different secret and sometimes it requires the expertise of a personal trainer to unlock it.

An example of this individuality is the Pima Indians of Arizona. About fifty percent have diabetes and are obese. Diet and sedentary lifestyle are cited as the main reasons. This is partly true as the Pima Indians were once runners, which in modern day translates to athletes. They hunted, fished and farmed. However, as they were integrated into American society, the American diet, and American work force the incidence of diabetes and obesity appeared. Which brings us to their secret; known as the Thrifty Gene. This gene allowed them to store fat during times of plenty so they would survive times of famine. However, once they had a constant supply of food the gene began to work against them storing fat more efficiently than the body could use it.

It therefore seems to me that if we could reverse the parts of the equation that led to obesity and diabetes; i.e., sedentary lifestyle and modern diet as opposed to primitive diet (which I'll discuss in another article), then this condition could be reversed. There are many examples in literature. Shakespeare, for example, says of Cassius in his play, Julius Caesar, "Let me have men about me that are fat, sleek headed men that sleep o'nights. Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; he thinks too much. Such men are dangerous." I suggest, therefore, that even Shakespeare understood that the physical body should be a burning force as opposed to a simmering immovable object. Analogies like "a hungry fighter" or a "fat cat" showed two distinct personalities and each one relates to motivation. The "hungry fighter" is hungry to climb out of obscurity and has a burning desire to win. The "fat cat" is lazy and incapable of the same zeal. These are analogies for a state of mind. So which are you? What's your secret?

Frank Moran is a personal trainer in Orange County, California. To learn more about Frank's personalized fitness programs and how you can start unlocking the secret to getting in shape, contact Frank today.

Frank Moran, Personal Trainer
Personal training and fitness programs for clients in Orange County, California including
Huntington Beach, Irvine, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, and as far south as Coto de Caza