Starting Steps To Fitness From The Montclair YMCA

The following cloumn was written by Kyle Newman, a personal trainer at the YMCA of Montclair, at 25 Park St.

Being overweight and out of shape is going on all over America. Regardless if your male or female, young or old, eventually you’re going to be asking yourself this question. "I want to get in shape, but where do I start'?

What I would tell you is to start at the beginning. That means food first.

There is an old saying, "You can't out train a poor diet." This is very true. I see this all the time at health clubs where people workout diligently five to sevent days a week, take several classes a day or stay on a treadmill for 60 minutes and don't have any success at fat loss. As hard or scary as it may be to deal with, you have to address the foods you are eating. 

I believe in meeting people where they are in their current eating habits. This means changing one thing at a time until it becomes a habit. If I find that a client grazes all day, I would recommend incorporating lean sources of protein into a couple of those meals.

If the client is a "three meal a day-er," then changing one of those meals (maybe just breakfast) into a protein/fruit filled delicious meal would get the body changing slowly and she or she would feel the difference just from eating a more nutritious breakfast.

Exercise would be the next step and should begin gradually. I see a lot of people get all revved up Jan 2, train hard and crazy, exhaust themselves, and are done by Feb 1.

Exercise should be something that you enjoy doing, or at least don't mind trying. A few days a week is all you need once your foods are in order and your eating habits become a more natural way of life. Who knows, once those endorphins start kicking in, you might get hooked and even try Zumba!

The key, as is in anything you want to succeed at, is to be consistent. Better foods + exercise = feeling healthy!

YMCA Workout Schedule

Click here for the group exercise schedule at the YMCA of Montclair, located at 25 Park St. The YMCA is open Mondays through Friday between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. 

The pool schedules can be found by clicking here. 

The Geyer Family YMCA, located at 159 Glenridge Ave., is open Mondays through Thursdays between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Fridays between 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., Saturdays between 8 a.m. and 8:30 p.m., and Sundays between 11:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.