Date: Fri 05-Feb-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

personal-trainer-schneider

Full Text:

Trainer Says Most Exercise Programs Do Too Much Too Fast

(with photos)

BY KAAREN VALENTA

Say the words "personal trainer" and most people think of a stern taskmaster

who coaches a celebrity like Oprah Winfrey through several hours of exercise

every day. Walt Schneider isn't like that at all.

The award-winning competitive body builder will be the first to tell you that

70 percent of the people in America who start an exercise program quit long

before they have achieved any measurable success. The reason usually is

because they try to do too much, too fast.

"I always say take baby steps," Mr Schneider told an attentive audience

recently in the Monsignor Conroy Room at St Rose School. "Start with 20

minutes of exercise two days a week for two weeks. Set attainable, realistic

goals. If the most exercise you get is walking to your mailbox, the next time

you go out walk to the stop sign and back. Next week, walk a little further or

add an extra day. Small accomplishments -- one step at a time."

Mr Schneider spoke on personal fitness -- how exercise and nutrition together

promote good health -- as part of the Parish Nurse Ministry's health series

organized by Sally O'Neil.

"Exercise is a real commitment to yourself, and from that to your family," Mr

Schneider said. "The worst thing you can do is sit in your office all day,

then sit watching television at night."

"The exercise can be whatever you like to do, he said, such as walking, riding

biking, swimming, roller blading, playing basketball, or using a treadmill,"

he said.

"It's difficult to get started, but once you start exercising it becomes a

habit, you feel invigorated afterwards, and soon it's something you have to

do."

Walt Schneider was a wrestler at Newtown High School in the 1970s. After he

graduated in 1977, he operated an automotive detailing business and took up

weight lifting as a hobby.

"I went to a gym, pumped a little iron. I was 32 when I started. I saw

[competitive body builders] on stage and thought `I can do that,'" he said.

"My wife thought I was nuts. My kids thought I was nuts. But I did pretty well

in competitions, sold my business and we moved back to Newtown.

"My wife, Margaret, and I live on Meadow Street with our daughters, Mali, who

is 11, and Rhea, who is 4. I'm now a full-time personal trainer, working out

of World Gym in Trumbull.

"A gym atmosphere is fantastic but you absolutely also can exercise at home,"

he said. "There are exercise classes on TV, and videos, and lots of magazines

available."

Drawing a large circle on a blackboard, Mr Schneider divided it into three

equal wedges and said they represented exercise, food and adequate rest. All

are equally important, he said.

"Food is not our enemy. Dieting doesn't work," he said. "You have to eat to

burn body fat -- you have to eat to lose weight.

"How many people are always tired or run out of gas at the end of the day?" he

asked. "You have to ask yourself if you are getting enough calories."

The phrase "eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a

pauper" reflects the fact a person needs calories to provide energy to get

through the day, not a large dinner to be eaten before bedtime.

Mr Schneider recommends six small meals a day to keep the body well-fueled.

For breakfast, a cup of raisin bran cereal or regular oatmeal with low-fat

milk, a medium banana, eight ounces of juice and a slice of stone-ground wheat

bread with some all-fruit spread; mid-morning, a cup of yogurt or piece of

fruit.

Lunch might be a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with mustard or low-fat

mayo, lettuce and tomato and, instead of potato chips, 16 reduced-fat wheat

thins, plus a sugarless drink. For that mid-afternoon slump, eat a protein bar

or power bar, such as those sold in health food and grocery stores.

"Eat a sensible dinner -- chicken, fish, turkey -- with a baked potato, salad,

green vegetable," he said. "And if you need a late-night snack, try a handful

of pretzels or some air-popped popcorn."

Be sure to drink six or seven glasses or water every day, he said, because

that is what is needed to keep the body functioning well.

A young active woman needs to consume 2,000 to 2,400 calories a day; a young

man, 2,400 to 2,800. Women will always have more body fat because that is the

way they are made, Mr Schneider said. An average woman, in good shape, will

have 20 to 25 percent body fat; a man, 15 to 18 percent.

Premenopausal women also need iron because low iron levels will cause them to

tire easily, he said. Seek out natural whole-food -- not chemical-based --

vitamins and supplements that are available in health food stores.

Mr Schneider said that once a person has begun an exercise program, 30 minutes

three times a week is enough to gain the benefits of working out. "Four times

is great if you can do it, but five, six, seven -- forget it, you won't be

giving yourself enough rest to gain muscle."

Weight training is easy to do at home, he said. A flat weight bench and three

pairs of dumbbells (3, 5 and 8-pound for beginners) are enough to set up an

adequate home gym, but even that isn't absolutely required.

"Start with two dumbbells in a weight that is comfortable," he said. "Do 10 to

12 repetitions of each exercise, or 12 to 15 at most. When the exercise

becomes effortless, switch to a heavier dumbbell.

"You want to work, not just go through the motions," he said. "If you are

really working on those last three, four or five repetitions, that will burn

more calories and build muscle."

But exercises must be done properly, keeping constant pressure on the muscle,

to be effective and not cause strains or injuries, he added.

"There are very few things in life that you can control, but being in shape is

one of them," he added. "It promotes a feeling of self-worth, gives you energy

for other activities, an improved attitude, and relieves tension.

"My philosophy is getting people to feel good about themselves, not only to

look good, but also to feel good," he said.