THE COMPLETE
FITNESS RESOURCES

This is one of the most common questions we get asked from friends, family and clients. While the easy (and still true) answer is “it depends”, we're going to give you more meat than that because that answer won’t do you much good.

Instead, we'll break it down for you based on your current level of activity and goals:

Currently Inactive If you haven’t had a consistent routine going within the last couple months, let alone years, then you just need to get the ball rolling. Many people will say that you should just start with something, but I want to be real with you; if you really want to make a change then you should start with 2 days per week of structured exercise.....

There is certainly no shortage of myths in the fitness industry. You’ve undoubtedly heard all kinds of crazy things from friends, co-workers, family members, and probably even the tabloids at the grocery store. Heck, you probably don’t even know what to believe anymore.

Fear not!

One of our main goals at Complete Fitness and Performance is to crush the misinformation that runs rampant in the industry and here are 4 myths that we think you need to know the truth about....

If you read the headline of this article and were intrigued or skeptical, then good. The debate between whether cardio or weights is best for fat loss has continued on for decades and the goal of this article is simply to create some logical arguments that the latter is better than the former.

However, before we get started, it is important to point out a couple key things:

1) Cardio is not worthless. You have a heart (despite what your friends or significant other may tell you) and it is the most important muscle in the body. That means you need to exercise it! However, there are many ways to increase your heart rate...

It’s easy to see progress in your first few months of a new workout program. If you haven’t exercised for an extended period of time any exercise will induce positive change. However, plateau’s and staleness start to creep in around month two or three and it becomes tougher to keep progress at the same level. Doing the same workout every week is comfortable for many, but frustration starts to mount when there is no change in a routine. No matter where you are in a workout program, it’s important to make some sort of improvement from week to week. At CFP we make sure every member is doing something to improve from their previous workout. While we change exercise selection every 4-6 weeks, smaller variabl...

Today’s society is fast paced and always on the go, including our daily schedules. Whether its deadlines to meet for your job, chores around the house, or shuttling kids from place to place, finding time for yourself can be difficult. As schedules fill up throughout the day, making time for a workout gets put on the backburner. Once an exercise routine is lost other healthy habits start to diminish, including proper diet and quality sleep. All of these habits effect one another making it important to schedule workouts within your day. Each workout does not need to be an hour long, 20-30 minutes is much more beneficial than skipping exercise all together...

As I trainer I often get asked “What measurement is more important for my overall health, body fat percentage or body mass index (BMI)?” While both measurements have value and serve a purpose, I believe as a society we pay too much attention to BMI and not enough attention on Body Fat Percentage. After the majority of my clients visit their family doctor, they inform me how much BMI was discussed while body fat percentage never entered the conversation. To some extent I understand this because BMI is much easier and quicker to measure, however, the focus needs to start shifting towards body fat percentage as a better indicator of overall health...

As a trainer one of the most common issues I hear is waking up with a tight lower back. After sleeping throughout the night with not much movement, its’ common for many people to experience some level of low back tightness. The severity is dependent on many factors, including the quality of your mattress, stress, exercise habits, bodyweight, food choices and age. Some people are able to loosen up their back by just going through normal morning routines, but for many the tightness persists if no attention is given towards fixing the problem.

A misconception about low back tightness is limiting any movement in that area of the body when first waking up. Rather...

Weight loss is a popular goal for many members at CFP, but the path to reaching that goal has its ups and downs. If you’ve been focusing on losing weight for an extended period of time, you know there are weeks where the weight falls off and other weeks when the scale doesn’t budge. Typically, those stagnant weeks will transition back into weight loss if you maintain consistent exercise and a healthy diet. As you become more experienced in your journey to reaching your goal weight, there may be hurdles that halt your progress for multiple weeks (or months). For many this causes frustration to build and can make it even harder to get past a road block. Here are my Top 4 Tips for breaking past that weight loss...

Summer is right around the corner and beach body's are on the mind of many. adopt these 4 easy tricks for losing that stubborn fat.

Spring is here (hopefully the weather catches up soon) and that means summer vacations are right around the corner! Typically I start to hear the fat loss chatter pick up around this time of the year. As we all know the healthiest way to go about losing fat is working hard and having a little bit of patience. I’m sure you have all heard by now that there is no quick fix, but that doesn’t mean you can’t accelerate the process. While there are many factors that affect fat loss, some are more...

Research shows interval workouts are efficient and effective for losing weight. get outside and rev up fat loss with these 2 workouts.

At CFP we try to focus on total-body strength training workouts, but incorporate cardiovascular training within the workout to make it higher-intensity. Depending on goals most people should be active 5-6 days per week. Because the majority of clients only train 1-3 times per week at CFP, its encouraged to participate in some sort of cardiovascular exercise outside of the gym. With hectic schedules throughout the week it can be difficult to find an hour or so to complete these cardio...

Finishing a workout with 5-10min of high intensity exercise can speed up fat loss for the rest of the day.

If you have worked out at CFP, chances are good you have completed a “Workout Finisher.” What is a workout finisher? This 1-10 minute time period at the end of a workout can be a single exercise or a group of exercises performed at HIGH INTENSITY. In essence, a finisher will leave your energy tank at zero, breathing heavy and dripping sweat. This burst of energy at the end of your workout can be cardiovascular focused, strength focused, or a combination of the two. While each person may have slightly different fitness goals, most people have a desire for fat loss. These finishers are great for...

New Year's Resolutions typically include changes in exercise habits. However, these habits typically last about a month or two and the old habits come back. Here are some easy tricks to keeping those resolutions front and center.

Each New Year’s is a list full of resolutions that will focus on improving quality of life. For most those changes include adding in more activity each week, and/or trying a new style of exercise (i.e. yoga, strength training, etc.). Those first few weeks in January are successful with sticking to a workout routine. Whether it’s getting to the gym or exercising at home, the idea of doing this consistently doesn’t seem that daunting. Once February comes around however routines start to...