I love that word pooch it’s an American term but I think it’s very apt.  In the United Kingdom would call it a post-pregnancy tummy or belly but whatever we call it the way to lose it is the same.

Once you’ve been cleared by all general practitioner to exercise again particularly if you’ve had to have a caesarean section then apart from being a little bit more careful working out  all the standard rules apply.

The tummy muscles require a little bit more care because in all likelihood due to the pregnancy your abdominal muscles will have been lengthened.  It is therefore important that we pay particular attention to form and the way we perform any abdominal exercises to ensure we don’t make the problem any worse.

With the abdominals lengthened we want to make sure that were exercising them in the shortened position.  One of the easiest ways to ensure you’re exercising your abdominals correctly would be to go to a local Pilates class with a qualified Pilates Instructor.  Pilates instructors are well-trained in showing you how to recruit  your TA (Transverse Abdominis) ensuring it’s flattened and not “Doming” (pushed out) before you start to work out RA (Rectus Abdominis or your six pack muscles).

It’s important to start working out again as soon as possible after your baby is born.  It will become more challenging to get back to your pre pregnancy shape if you leave it several months before you start working out again.

I know it can be difficult with a new born baby to find the time to exercise but believe me it’s well worth the effort. I only wish someone had given me that advice as I left it almost 2 years after the birth of my daughter to do anything about it and it was a real struggle I can tell you.

If you’re looking for a Personal Trainer In The Hull Area please feel free to contact me.

Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer & Pilates Instructor)

How Can I Lose My Post Pregnancy Pooch? is a post from: Personal Trainer Hull

Anything that gets you to move will help your weight loss goals.  As to whether Pilates will help you lose weight the answer is yes and no

The type of Pilates I teach is Modern Pilates. This type of Pilates has been designed to be therapeutic and to benefit anybody at any age. It’s Pilates for mere mortals!

The original Joseph Pilates exercises are far to extreme for normal people to do safely (unless you’re an athlete, gymnast or dancer that is). Modern Pilates will of course strengthen, tone and give you  a great workout but is designed to focus on your inner skeletal muscles (core and  stabilising) and therefore doesn’t have a large cardio component.

For maximum weight loss I’d recommend Pilates for core, pelvic,shoulder and ankle stability along with some strength training and then I’d add additional Cardiovascular and muscle building exercises to help optimise fat loss and therefore more importantly inch loss.

I like to think of Pilates as the foundation of your workouts. Build a firm foundation and any other exercise you do is not only safer but much more effective. You’ll improve your posture and help with any joint related discomfort all at the same time.

If I only had time for one exercise discipline I would pick Pilates. Pilates has so many benefits and is suitable for anyone particulary those with existing skeletal and muscle injuries.

If you’d like to discover more about Pilates in the Hull, Hedon and East Yorkshire area please feel free to call me.

Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer & Pilates Instructor)

Will Pilates Help Me Lose Weight? is a post from: Personal Trainer Hull

These days people rush to do everything they are always dashing around from pillar to post.  Most couples to make ends meet need to work full-time.  When you combine that with looking after a family, house and the multitude of other tasks required to survive it is not surprising we run out of time.

We’re used to being able get what we want quickly and we’re inpatient if we can’t have what we want immediately and are forced to wait.  Unfortunately some things you just can’t buy and losing weight is one of them. No matter how complicated or expensive and exercise gadget may be it isn’t going to lose the weight for you.

It’s taken us many years to put on the excess weight and yet we seem to think that we can lose a in a matter of months.  It’s common sense that if it’s taken us years to slowly gain the weight  it’s going to take more than a couple of months to lose it no matter how hard we try.

The answer to the question how fast should I lose weight is slowly, very slowly in fact the slower you lose the weight the more likely it is that you’ll have made the lifestyle changes required to keep the weight off.  Let’s face it although it’s hard work anybody can crash diet for a couple of months and lose 10-20 lbs the problem is as quickly as it came off it’ll go back on again.

We need a change of attitude, we need to think of weight loss as a journey not 100m sprint.  As long as we believe that fast weight loss is possible we are doomed to fail.

So the first step in successful weight loss is having a realistic expectations about what can and can’t be achieved.  Let’s face it even if you only lost half a pound of fat a week you’d still be two stone lighter at the end of a year.

Anyone who tells you that you can safely lose weight quickly and then keep the weight off is selling you a dream not reality.

Don’t be fooled by these false promises talk to a Qualified Personal Trainer In Hull today.

Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer & Pilates Instructor)

How Fast Should I Lose Weight? is a post from: Personal Trainer Hull

No you don’t!

Well maybe you do but if you’re relying on fast weight loss to help you reach your target weight I’m afraid I have some bad news for you

Don’t get me wrong if you diet and are very strict with your calorie intake I’m sure you could lose weight quickly but I’m also sure you’ll put it all back on plus a few pounds within a couple of months.

You probably already know the reasons why and you don’t need to take my word for it the evidence all points to diets being a complete waste of time for long term fat loss.

I won’t go into the reasons here I’ll save that for another article what I want to discuss here is the real reason quick usually means failure.

To be successful losing weight you have to have the right mindset and intent. You have to be able to make long term changes in your diet and lifestyle. Any changes you make need to be sustainable not just for today or this month but forever. Which leads us to a problem. The mind abhors a vacuum and any large change to diet and eating habits tends to generate a large amount of resistance to that change. The mind will attempt to redress this large inbalance by causing us to want the things we can no longer have and cravings develop.

No matter how much will power you have eventually you’ll lose the battle and your old eating habits will return. Not rocket science is it?

The answer is to make small changes, tiny changes that hardly register as deprivation at all. A little less here and a little less there all add up to a large change. The downside is it takes much longer to establish these changes and therefore fat loss is much slower.

So be the tortoise not the hare we all know who wins in the end don’t we?

Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer & Pilates Instructor)

I Need To Lose Weight Fast? is a post from: Personal Trainer Hull

Another commonly asked question is when should I weigh myself. Personally I don’t like my clients to weigh themselves frequently. I believe it focuses the mind on how much you weigh and not how you feel.

I know people like to use how much they weigh as a measure of how successfully they’re losing excess fat but life isn’t as  simple as that.  Muscle weighs more by volume than fat so the same sized piece of fat will weigh less than the equivalent sized piece of muscle tissue.

Considering our goal is to build muscle whilst working out this can skew the results we see when we weigh ourselves. The overall percentage of body fat we’re carrying (BMI) can go down but our weight could stay the same. In other words we’ve lost fat and built more muscle but may show disappointing results when we weigh ourselves.

How much we weigh should only be used as an indicator to fat loss. Much better is how do our clothes feel – are they just that little bit looser? Do we feel better in ourselves and have more energy?

So jump on the scales if you must but do it once a week, at the same time (I prefer first thing in the morning) and naked! Then make a note and forget about it. If you are following the program given to you by your Personal Trainer then rest assured you will get the results your looking for.

Be patient remember Rome wasn’t built in a day, you didn’t put the weight on in four weeks so why would you expect to lose it in four weeks

Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer & Pilates Instructor)

When Should I Weigh Myself? is a post from: Personal Trainer Hull

No I can’t!

The only person who can motivate you to do anything is you. Once you’ve decided that getting into shape and losing some weight is what you really, really, really  want to do than I can nurture that sliver of motivation and help keep and increase  your motivation.

But until you make the decision to take some kind of action I can’t help you. You need to find a reason to exercise that is strong enough to overcome the inertia of doing nothing.

The reason you choose will be unique to you. It maybe a special event and you want to get into that little black dress without bulging out everywhere. Maybe it’s your wedding day fast approaching and your wedding dress is a bit snug since you bought it or maybe you’re just fed up with looking in the mirror and not liking what you see.

As long as the reason is strong enough to get you started a Personal Trainer will use that intent and build upon it by giving you results that are measurable. Once you see that the effort you put in is worthwhile (you get results) motivation is then not so much of an issue any-more. You’ll have become self motivated and most people then find the self discipline required to be able to continue without constant prodding!

The hardest part of any journey no matter how long (including weight loss) is the first step. After the first step the second step becomes slightly easier and before you know it your on your way to that new you (or the old you that you some how lost).

So no more procrastination make the decision today that you’ll do what it takes to get that body you’ve always desired.

Remember if you don’t do the drills you won’t get the skills

Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer In East Yorkshire)

Can You Motivate Me To Exercise? is a post from: Personal Trainer Hull

I’m not looking forward to writing this article!  Like a lot of people I enjoy a glass of wine and my tipple at the moment is sparkling red  At the end of a busy day there is nothing better than opening a bottle and sharing a glass of wine with my husband.

But unfortunately even though it’s been proved that a small amount of alcohol can actually be beneficial it really is a small amount.  I believe the odd glass of wine or beer during the week does have some health benefits but how many of us can stick to just one?.  Normally once we’ve had one glass the second or maybe even third isn’t very far away!

Unfortunately for weight loss (fat loss) drinking alcohol is a complete disaster.  There are many complicated reasons why this is so but to keep it simple when we drink alcohol it’s absorbed into the bloodstream very quickly and is then transported to the liver. The liver then converts the alcohol into a fuel that the body can use for energy.  Now the body has a particular liking for this type of  fuel and will use it in preference to any other fuel source.

This makes it more likely that any carbohydrates you’ve ingested get laid down as fat.  The bottom line is alcohol has almost no nutritional value at all and apart from making us feel good has no real place in a healthy lifestyle.

As a double whammy drinking alcohol also increases appetite.  We all know after a good drink the craving for carbohydrates is strong within hours!

Bottom line is if we want to maximise our fat loss we need to carefully regulate the amount of alcohol we consume.  In an ideal world we cut it out completely but for most people cutting down to 10 units of alcohol or less in a week is a good compromise.

A good Personal Trainer Even In Hull can help you with all aspects of health and fitness including your current eating and drinking habits!

Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer & Pilates Instructor)

Alcohol And Weight Loss – The Saboteur is a post from: Personal Trainer Hull

People make me laugh.  They’re always looking for an easy way to lose weight and for easy read they don’t want to do have to do anything.  So a fat burner to them seems like the perfect way to lose weight without actually having to do any work.  Pop a pill wake up in the morning a couple of pounds lighter.  If only life were so simple.

To answer the question I would have to say a definite NO.  These so-called fat burners main ingredient is usually caffine and God knows what else.  They are designed allegedly to speed up your metabolism with a faster metabolic rate theory is you’ll burn more calories and therefore more fat.

Some people swear by them and point to the rapid weight loss they have had using these pills.  Unfortunately if you were to speak to them a few months down the line you’d probably find that in nearly all cases they’ve put the weight back on and probably added a few pounds as well.

For long-term  fat loss what’s required is discipline.  Discipline to work out two or three times a week and discipline to make changes if your eating habits.

What’s required is lifestyle changes that can be maintained easily for a long period of time ideally for the rest of your life.  That requires small changes.  The mind finds it difficult to accept large changes in lifestyle or habits.  What we need to do is introduce very small changes that are hardly noticeable.  For example if we eat six Mars bars in a week instead of cutting them out completely only eat five in the week.  That’s a very small change and  doesn’t require a huge amount of discipline and can therefore be carried on indefinitely.

Then make another small change may be have 1 1/2 spoon is sugar in your tea or coffee instead of two.  You get the idea?  Over time these small changes make a big difference in your total calorie consumption.  And therefore with some exercise can make a big difference in the amount of fat you carry.

The problem is this requires a long-term approach thinking in years instead of months and can for people used to instant gratification  be a real challenge.

Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer)

Should I Use A Fat Burner To Help Me Lose Weight? is a post from: Personal Trainer Hull

The most common excuse I get from my clients that are not exercising on a regular basis is “I just haven’t got the time to work out at home never mind finding the time to go to the gym”.

I question the validity of that statement, yes I know life is busy these days and between finding time for work, family commitments and trying to fit in some leisure time it can be challenging to squeeze in just a little bit more.

But I think if you took the time to actually keep a diary and honestly fill it in with all your daily activities I think you’d be surprised at how much spare time you can actually find.  For example how many hours a day of television you watch?  Typically people can watch as much as four hours of television every day.  Even if you’re one of the rare people who doesn’t watch that much television I’ll bet it adds up to its least 15 hours a week.

Now I’m not suggesting you spend the whole 15 hours working out!  You’d be worn out in a couple of weeks but if you could spare 30 minutes three times a week which equates to just  1 1/2 hours you could begin to make a real difference to your fitness levels.

I know you may have seen in the past that you need to be exercising for at least an hour three to four times a week and that might have frightened you.  You baulk of the idea of having to find four hours plus a week extra to exercise effectively.

Now in a perfect world that would be ideal but as we know it isn’t a perfect world so compromises sometimes have to be made.  It’s better to do some exercise rather than none at all and the problem is as long as we use the excuse I can’t find that sort of time then you’re doomed to doing nothing at all.

Who knows once you start to get the benefits that regular exercising can bring you may want to find a little bit more time to accelerate your fitness and fat loss goals.

That’s where a Personal Trainer can help. By helping you to make your workouts more efficient you can do more in a shorter period of time.

I haven’t Got Time To Exercise is a post from: Personal Trainer Hull

The 10 biggest workout mistakes:

Impossible goals. You are not going to lose 30lbs of fat in four weeks.  It doesn’t matter that you have a wedding to go to and want to look good in a new outfit you’ve bought.  10 years of weight gain is not going to be addressed in 10 weeks.

Exercising incorrectly.  If you exercise in poor form not only are you not going to get the results you want but you also increase the likelihood of injury.  Make sure you fully understand how to do the exercise safely and effectively.

Forgetting to stretch.  Stretching should always be done immediately after exercising while your muscles are still warm to avoid injury.

Missing the warm-up.  Never go straight into a workout without warming up first.  Muscles required time to warm up so start your workout slowly and then increase the intensity over time.

Forgetting to cool down.  It’s important to lower your heart rate slowly after a workout therefore a proper cool-down is essential.

Working out too hard.  It’s better to work at a moderate intensity over a longer period of time than exercising flat-out for a couple of minutes.

Not working hard enough.  When you exercise your heart should beat faster and you should get a little bit sweaty.

Sports drinks.  Unless you’re an athlete using an energy drink is probably overkill.  Plain tap water drunk regularly will suffice.

Spot reduction.  Exercising one particular body part in the hope of reducing the amount of fat stored there isn’t possible.  Fat is lost over the entire body at a mostly uniform rate.

Boring workouts.  Make sure you very and change your workouts.  Not only will this make them more interesting but you are less likely to reach a fitness plateau.

For help in reaching your fitness goals please click the following link:

Personal Training In Hull And East Yorkshire

Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer & Pilates Instructor)

Ten Mistakes You Should Avoid In Your Workouts is a post from: Personal Trainer Hull

How much a personal training session is going to cost depends on a few different factors.  The most important of which is where you live prices vary a lot according to location.  For example if you are looking for a Personal Trainer In Hull you’re in luck!

Hull seems to be stuck in some kind of price timewarp!  Prices here haven’t increased in a long time they seem to be stuck in the £30 to £50 per session price range depending on where you look.

The experience and depth of training a personal trainer has also has a large bearing on how much you’ll pay.  Obviously the more skills and experience a personal trainer has the more money you can expect to pay for his expertise.

Rather than focusing on how much a personal trainer costs the real question is how much will it cost you if you don’t employ one?  If you have a fitness goal (or fat loss goal) in mind the question becomes how much quicker, more effective and how much safer is it to employ a personal trainer?

A personal trainer will ensure that you get the very best from each and every workout you do.  Your workouts will be tailored to your particular fitness level keeping in mind the goals you’ve expressed.  You’ll know how to do the exercises in the correct form, how many to do, what weights to use and how often you should do them.

A personal trainer will motivate you to actually want to work out and when you start to get improvements he’ll be able to change your workout to ensure you don’t reach a fitness plateau.

A personal trainer may have spent years and tens of thousands of pounds educating himself in the best and most effective training methods available today.  So for a measly £30 to £50 you get thousands of pounds worth of experience you didn’t have to pay for yourself.

So if you’re only thinking about getting a personal trainer.  Stop thinking about it and just do it.  It’ll be the best gift you’ve ever given yourself.

If you think £50 is a lot of money to spend on a personal training session be thankful you don’t live down south where you can pay well over £100 per session!

How Much Does A Personal Trainer In Hull Cost? is a post from: Personal Trainer Hull

A good Personal Trainer can help you get the very best from your fitness regime. He / She can keep you motivated and ensure that any time you invest in your workout is time well spent.

But how can you tell if a Personal Trainer is skilled enough to help you reach your fitness goals? How can you tell whether they can meet your specific needs?

These are some of the questions you should ask your Personal Trainer before starting to work with them.

• Do they have industry recognised qualifications in the disciplines they’re going to teach you? They should hold qualifications at least equal to an NVQ Level III and you should check with there industry body like REPS to ensure they actually have the qualifications they say they have.
• Do they have insurance in the unlikely event you need to make a claim?
• Do they perform health screening before giving you an exercise program?
• Do they discuss your fitness goals?
• Will they provide you with references?
• Are they easy to contact via phone and Email?
• Do you like them. You’ll never get the best from a Personal Trainer no matter how experienced or well qualified if you don’t like them very much.

Finding a Personal Trainer that meets your requirements can be challenging. Don’t pick the first one you see in the Yellow Pages or the Internet. Ring more than one until you find one you like and make a connection with. If you don’t like them or their manner on the phone you probably won’t like them in person.

Take your time don’t be rushed and trust your instincts.

Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer)

Personal Training Hull – Before Picking A Personal Trainer is a post from: Personal Trainer Hull

My Qualifications

Carol Bartram Aged 47
Keyingham
Hull

Diploma In Personal Training (CYQ Level 3)            December 2003
This qualification includes:-
Gym Instructor (special populations)
Circuit Training
Nutrition
Fitness Trainer

Swedish Massage     (CYQ Level 3)                                   October 2003
Sports Massage Therapy (CYQ Level 3)                        December 2003
Exercise To Music (CYQ Level 2)                                     October 2004
Certificate In Teaching Mat Pilates (CYQ Level 3)    March 2005
Pilates Personal Trainer (CYQ Level 3)                         March 2006
Advanced Matwork Pilates                                                 October 2007
Hot Stones Massage Practitioner                                     July 2008
Pilates For The Older Adult                                                July 2009
Pilates Hip And Knee                                                             April 2010

You can verify my qualifications by visiting the Register Of Exercise Professionals (REPS) website and searching for Carol Bartram  (at the moment you’ll find it under the “Why REPs Instructors?” menu, and then “Find A REPs Registered Instructor” link.)

You’re very welcome to go have a look at our qualifications. In fact, I often logon myself to admire them

My Personal Training Qualifications is a post from: Personal Trainer Hull

Hello there! My name is Carol Bartram, and if you’re looking for a Personal Trainer Hull you’ve come to the right place.  I live and work locally, training and teaching people just like you how to lose weight, tone up and exchange your current lifestyle for a much healthier one that will have you fighting fit and bursting with energy.

I am a fully qualified Personal Trainer with a nationally recognized Level 3 qualification from Premier Training International, one of the leading course providers in the UK.

I am also qualified to teach one-to-one Pilates, with a Level 3 Modern Pilates qualification from Professional Fitness & Education Ltd that enables me to analyse your body type and posture, identify any weaknesses and provide you with a personalised training plan that will strengthen, tone, shape and motivate you until you feel like you have a brand new body!

I joined the fitness industry late, at the ripe age of 40, having worked for the NHS in Administration for the previous 20 years.  When I started my Premier course I was overweight, out of shape and suffering from back pain caused by many years of falling off horses.  I lost nearly a stone in weight just doing the course, was the oldest student there by several years and found the intensive studying and practical work the hardest thing I had ever done in my life!

Then a year later I started my Pilates Instructor courses and realised that the studies involved in Personal Trainer were a doddle compared with Pilates! But what I learnt enabled me to strengthen my core and improve my posture so much that I haven’t had back pain since.

I have to say that gaining these qualifications has definitely changed my life for the better and I only wish I’d done them years ago. Now I know how to exercise, how to eat healthily and how to keep my core and back strong, and I feel better than I have done in years.

I can teach you how to do the same so that you’ll feel much better too.  To me, Personal Training is not about cracking a whip and telling you to do more press- ups (although I can do that if you want!), but about re-educating you towards a lifestyle that involves working with your body towards a much better quality of life that will make you look good and feel great.

If you would like to contact me I would be happy to have an informal chat with you about your current lifestyle and fitness goals.  No obligation

Personal Trainer Hull & East Yorkshire is a post from: Personal Trainer Hull