Wichita Personal Training Blog - GoTimeTraining

How Ready Are You?

Are you ready? This is the most important question you must ask yourself to know where you fall in the behavior change continuum. The behavior change continuum involves 5 different stages: Pre-Contemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action and Maintenance. Although there are 5 separate stages in behavior change, people can cycle back and forth when it comes to their readiness for change. Therefore, most of the time progress is not linear as humans typically revert back to old habits even if it's just temporarily. It is important to know how to identify what stage you are in first. This blog is to help you do just that. For the purpose of this blog, we will use the example of exercising ....
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Behavior Change... What is it?

We have heard it time and time again, especially at the start of a new year. People will say "I want to quit smoking," or "I am going to lose weight this year and get in better shape." Smoking for example is a human behavior. These behaviors can have direct negative or positive influences on human health, thereby impacting happiness and life satisfaction. Smoking negatively influences health. Therefore, people see smoking as a behavior that needs to be changed or it will drastically make their overall life satisfaction much lower than someone who does not smoke. Being overweight is not a behavior, however, there are behaviors that lead to weight gain and cause all sorts of physiological ....
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3 Stress Resistant Personality Characteristics: Part 3 - Optimism

Optimism- (APA) n. hopefulness: the attitude that good things will happen and that people’s wishes or aims will ultimately be fulfilled. Optimists are people who anticipate positive outcomes, whether serendipitously or through perseverance and effort, and who are confident of attaining desired goals. Most individuals lie somewhere on the spectrum between the two polar opposites of pure optimism and pure pessimism, but tend to demonstrate sometimes strong, relatively stable or situational tendencies in one direction or the other. “Optimism is associated with greater psychological adjustment and is negatively related to stress and burnout (Crosno, ....
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3 Stress Resistant Personality Characteristics: Part 2 - Mental Toughness

Mental Toughness- Similar to hardiness, mental toughness is a multidimensional construct composed of resiliency, confidence, commitment, concentration skills, pressure seeking, and effective coping (Connaughton, Hanton, & Jones, 2010; Crust, 2008; Sheard, 2009). Mentally tough people have been found to use problem-focused strategies that require engaging in behaviors aimed at eliminating the problem, when control is possible (Nicholls, Polman, Levy, & Backhouse, 2008). Mentally tough people demonstrate lower levels of negative emotional states (Gucciardi & Jones, 2012). “Mental toughness represents a constellation of positive psychological ....
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3 Stress Resistant Personality Characteristics: Part 1- Hardiness

Hardiness- (APA) n. An ability to adapt easily to unexpected changes combined with a sense of purpose in daily life and of personal control over what occurs in one’s life. Emotionally resilient. “Hardiness enhances performance, leadership, conduct, stamina, mood and both physical and mental health” (APA). “Hardiness can help you get out of your head in a positive way. It can help you to have a more balanced and outward perspective, building your ability to cope, and consequently, feel better about yourself” (Firestone, Psychology Today) “Hardy people have the ability to positively appraise situations” (Kobasa, 1979). ....
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Getting the Most out of Group Training

Many people use group training to exercise on its own or in between their individual/semi-private training sessions. This form of exercise training can be very beneficial for many people and can be used in multiple different ways to help someone meet their goals. We are going to talk about specific tips to help you see progress from workout to workout! There are many pros to group training! Exercising has been shown to help mental health and brain cognitivity, improve your quality of sleep, help regulate blood sugar/glucose levels, and of course, increase muscle/lose fat. When it comes specifically to the style of group training, the exercises change day to day, week to week, ....
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Getting Started

I’m going to share a hard truth. Motivation isn’t enough to get you from where you are, to whatever version of your best self you can imagine. BJ Fogg creates a fun image in his book Tiny Habits where he explains the Motivation Monkey and how this silly fella will help you get all these great ideas, lose 10lbs, run a 5k, eat veggies every day and he might even get you far enough to join a gym, sign up for a race and go grocery shopping. Then, do you know what he does? HE BAILS ON YOU! You’re left with a fancy new scale, a bib number and bundle of broccoli with zero desire to do anything at all. That’s why motivation isn’t enough. ....
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Joining A Gym Jitters

Going into an unfamiliar atmosphere of any kind can be intimidating, confusing, and uncomfortable for everyone. As a personal trainer and someone who has been in the fitness industry for five years now, I have heard from countless people about how scary going into the gym can be. Often, I have people tell me that they don't know what they are doing. They don't feel comfortable with all the people or instantly start comparing themselves to others. These are just a couple of things I have experienced personally as a regular gym-goer and someone who works in the fitness world. The first piece of advice that I can offer to people who have no idea what they are doing when ....
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4 Fitness Myths

1) Pain after a workout means your muscles are growing Many people associate soreness after a workout as a way of muscle growth or vice versa, indicating that if you're not sore after a workout, your muscles will not grow. So if you don't experience the usual soreness after a workout, it doesn't mean your muscle won't grow or you haven't worked them. Instead, it may just mean that your muscles have adapted to the workload you have been doing, so then the reaction your muscle has to the amount of stress/strain you have been putting it through, which exhibits post-training soreness is reduced because the muscle is more robust. If, however, you do experience any intense or sharp ....
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How Your Psychological State Affects Injury

How Your Psychological State Affects Injury Many have experienced or observed someone who has experienced an injury related to performing some physical activity. Injury is inherently a risk despite taking all the necessary precautions, especially in more vigorous physical activities. With the help of scientific research, this brief blog addresses the psychological contributions, reactions, and rehabilitation to injury. Contributions Physical factors are the leading causes of injury while performing an activity (muscle imbalance, overtraining, fatigue), but psychological factors can also play a big part. Sports psychologists Jean Williams and Mark Andersen ....
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