SAY IT OUT LOUD
- At October 20, 2011
- By Michelle Struckholz
- In News, Uncategorized
- 0
This is the 2nd blog entry from our guest blogger Marcia Smith. Read on for some tips on staying motivated at the gym…..
The other day on ESPN, there was a clip of one of the Broncos’ coaches, yelling at one of the really big players, right in the face. Doesn’t this coach know that lecturing and yelling are lousy ways to change behavior and increase motivation? I would say particularly so when the guy is twice your size. I guess there just wasn’t time for a motivational dialog in the middle of a pre-season game. It’s a documented scientific fact that attitudes and behavior are more likely to be affected during dialog than listening to a lecture.
I had a chance to experience this first hand just the other day at the gym. I mentioned to Rob that I wasn’t making that much progress on my current goals. He asked a simple question, are you being consistent? I went home and pondered that. Before this conversation, I would have said I have been pretty consistent. But when I look at my workouts from the perspective of an athletic trainer, well, um, lets just say there’s room for improvement.
Bringing aspects of your training into the conversation during training sessions is a great way to increase motivation, and some topics are particularly helpful. Simply talking about the benefits of exercise can be very effective. There’s some pretty elaborate theory behind this, talking about benefits of exercise addresses something called cognitive dissonance, but it ultimately goes back to the idea that saying things out loud is a powerful motivator. So try this next time you go to the gym: tell Rob or Michelle what are the most important benefits of exercise for you. Then just notice if you leave the gym more motivated than when you came in. Let us know!
See you at the gym.
Marcia Smith, Ph.D.
Health psychologist and Momentum Fitness client
Cross-Training
- At September 13, 2011
- By Michelle Struckholz
- In All, Articles, News, Uncategorized
- 0
We’ve all been told that cross- training is a good idea to avoid overtraining, to reduce the chance of overuse injuries, and to improve our performance in a specific sport. Whether or not these benefits are completely viable is up for debate. It seems that it depends on what your sport is and what exactly you are doing for cross- training. Weight training is one activity which tends to improve overall performance in other sports. Click on the link below to read more about cross- training in the New York Time’s article titled “Perks of Cross Training May End Before Finish Line.”
JUST DO IT!
Thank you Marcia, for taking to time to guest blog about wellness psychology. Marcia will be writing a series of blogs for Momentum Fitness. We hope you enjoy her thoughts and advice about how to reach your fitness goals…..
JUST DO IT!
People like to say that psychology is just common sense, but in fact the field draws from a great deal of sophisticated science. There is an enormous body of research into how people form beliefs and attitudes, and how to promote the behaviors that lead to health and wellness. Rhode Island is in fact a hotbed for this sort of research. In this column, I hope to describe some exercises that can be helpful to clients at the gym in order to reach their fitness goals.
As a health psychologist, I observe many aspects of personal training that serve to promote fitness goals but the most important is the relationship with the trainer, or coach. The simple fact that there is another person involved makes it more likely that clients will stick with regular exercise, make more effort during exercises, and continue to make progress. Last year I broke my foot and I never thought I’d walk evenly again, but now I can. I’ve also seen that there’s a tremendous amount of technical skill involved in designing fitness programs. I’ve gone through a graded series of exercises to strengthen the foot along with the rest of the body, but it is the support of the gym that has made it possible.
Just Show Up
Read More»CVS 5K in Providence 9/18/11
Hello Momentum Fitness Clients and Fans!
We are seeking both Walkers and Runners who are interested in
participating in the CVS 5K in Providence on Sunday, 9/18/11.
This should be a fun time! We hope to see you there! Below is the link to register for the race.
Online registration closes at noon on September 11th.
Thanks,
-Rob and Michelle
Massage and Low Back Pain
- At July 06, 2011
- By Michelle Struckholz
- In Articles, News
- 0
Here’s an interesting article talking about how massage can be quite beneficial to the treatment of low back pain.
Click on the link below to read the full article.