Fitness Plan Tips from Gina Lombardi

Now with the holidays behind us, no more excuses, it is time to stop procrastinating and start exercising. Here to help speed up the process and our metabolisms is Gina Lombardi; she is a trainer to the stars and author of Deadline Fitness.

Audra Lowe: Now with the holidays behind us, no more excuses, it's time to stop procrastinating and start exercising. So here to help speed up the process, inner metabolisms is Gina Lombardi. She is the trainer to the stars and she is also the author of Deadline Fitness. Good to have you here Gina. Gina Lombardi: It's great to see you Audra. Audra Lowe: Me too. You are not just a trainer to the stars, you have got some serious credentials behind you, right? Gina Lombardi: Yes I am certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Audra Lowe: It sounds goods. Not my area but I know that serious credentials come with that, that title too, so -- Gina Lombardi: That's a good thing. Audra Lowe: Alright, when you are talking about starting to work out, lot of people are like, you know, I am just not feeling it. Will you say we should start off slow? Gina Lombardi: Start off slow, don't do too much too fast, you do not want to get injured. The knee and the shoulder are two of the most common injuries for people that are starting an exercise program because they do too much, too fast. So just -- Audra Lowe: so just stretch -- Gina Lombardi: Yeah. Stretching at the end though, stretching is not a warm up, please remember, stretching is not a warmup, you want to do that at the end after your body is already warmed. Audra Lowe: Okay, got you, interesting. Now also in your book, I notice that you said do not start working out on an empty stomach and lot of people do that though. Gina Lombardi: They do. They thing they are going to loose weight faster if you do that and the truth is you are going to run out of energy in the middle of the workout. So you want to choose a food that has a good combination of carbs and proteins. This is in an example right here, one of these Kashi bars. You can actually get a good ratio with this bars. It's got about 2:1 carbohydrate to protein. That going to get you through your workout in no time. Also, like a really good super antioxidant Trail Mix. This is just nuts, seeds and some dried fruit. It is dense in calories and it's dense in protein and carbs and it's really healthy. Audra Lowe: And this I didn't know, pre-workout drink? Gina Lombardi: You know what, milk has come all the way back around. Milk is now considered the best post-workout drink, as far as leaning down, getting your body hydrated and also good nutrition. So you are going to stimulate muscle growths and replenish Glycogen back into the muscles. Audra Lowe: So just to clarify, I think I said, pre-workout, so you said post-workout -- Gina Lombardi: Post-workout for the milk. Audra Lowe: Okay, got you. Now hydration is key as well, you have got a couple of different options down there for different people. Gina Lombardi: That's right and you know, water is always, you know the best thing but if you really want to hydrate fast and stay hydrated, you want to pick a drink that has electrolytes in it; sodium and potassium. This product has that. Now vitamin water are okay but they are not going to hydrate you any better than regular water. Audra Lowe: Interesting, alright. And what about working out everyday - how often should we work out during the week specially when you are getting back into the groove of things? Gina Lombardi: Right, everybody has an opinion and one place you can really get some free information other than my book, is NSCA-lift.org you can get this free performance training journal that has some excellent tips and again, it's great -- Audra Lowe: You can download this. Gina Lombardi: You can download that right off the internet but you want to workout three times a week in the beginning. You want to start out slow and leaving a day in between for rest and recovery, very important -- Audra Lowe: Because the muscles, alright, need the chance to -- Gina Lombardi: They need time to rest and rest -- Audra Lowe: Recover -- Gina Lombardi: Yes absolutely. Audra Lowe: Okay. You probably see this a lot though too specially at the beginning of the year, a lot of people are trying to lose too much weight too fast. Do you see a lot of people would have unrealistic expectations and then - what is the danger in losing too much weight too fast? Gina Lombardi: Absolutely, you know, listen, the body can't do so much so fast and working with celebrities, they want everything now. And that's why in the book in the beginning of each deadline chapter, I have a little box that tells you realistically and safely, how much you can lose in that amount of time; three months, two months, one month, one week. So for instance, three months, you can expect to lose 12 to 30 pounds. You can expect to lose 1 to 6% body fat, and about 1 to 4 inches around you waist. That is realistic in a three month time. Audra Lowe: Okay. So a good guidelines there. And then I start just looking in the mirror, saying, a little bit more, a little bit less, not so good. Gina Lombardi: Right, exactly. You got to be realistic. Audra Lowe: Alright. Well thank you so much to you. We are good to have you here. Gina Lombardi: Thank you Audra. Audra Lowe: And there is plenty of other ways to lose weight in Gina's book. It's fantastic. I really liking to like it, it's called Deadline Fitness and it's available now.