Personal Training Can Be Fun With Your Best Friend

The best Personal Trainer has four legs! Your dog is a great Personal Trainer. Here's why: He's always desperate to go for a walk with you, rain hail or shine. He will always push you to go further and harder. He will accept you for who you are and never judge you. He will never take "no I couldn't be bothered" as a good enough to skip a session. He may even add in sprint work when he brings you the ball.

Burn 1500 Calories per Week:

Most people that have dogs have a built in personal trainer just waiting for them everyday. If you don't take your pet for walks or trips to the park, you should start the routine as part of a fitness and weight loss program. 78% of Americans are not meeting the basic activity levels and it is causing an overweight epidemic. According to Harvard studies, Americans should burn 1500 calories a week in intensive activity, but many don't do enough basic activity to meet this goal.

Burn 246 Calories per Day:

An hour of walking burns 246 calories, so you can easily achieve exceed this goal with a morning or evening walk every day with your dog. Even if you only walk for an hour, 6 days a week, you will come close to meeting the basic activity goals.

Not only will it help keep your dog fit and happy, but it will help you meet the minimum goals for a healthier and fitter lifestyle. Some pet owners incorporate games like playing Frisbee or catch for added calorie burning and training opportunities for the pet.

Set A Routine:
Because a daily workout using basic activities is easily achievable if you set a routine and stick with it, you can effortlessly burn calories and raise your metabolism at the same time. The metabolism adjusts to the lifestyle you have and most overweight and obese people do very little physical movement or exercise, causing their metabolism to burn calories much slower.

This is especially true if you have a desk job. Most people are tired by the time they get home from work and many don't have time to exercise in the morning. If you are eating a fast food meal of burger, fries and shake, you already have more calories to burn off than eating healthy, lower calorie foods.

Raise Your Metabolism Rate:

The ironic thing is that taking an hour a day, even if it is after work to go for walks with your pet will burn more calories and give you more energy. The reason for this is that the metabolism will burn more calories at a higher activity level because your metabolic rate has to keep up with the increased energy demands. Even when you are resting, you will burn more calories with a higher rate of movement. Your fat burning hormones will raise your energy levels and getting more oxygen to the brain and through the bloodstream with increased activity, lifts your mood.

Don't Disappoint Your Pet:

Finding activities to do with your pet is an easy way to start an exercise routine that seems effortless. Once you have established a daily walk, you will find that the pet will start looking forward to it and urge you to go, even when you don't think you feel like it. Having a pet that looks forward to this part of the daily routine will keep you motivated, and it gives you a built in companion and personal trainer that will motivate you to keep going until they are worn out.