Exercise is crucial to stay fit during and after pregnancy

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Finding out you’re going to be a mother is overwhelming, especially with the physical changes going on inside the body, but continuing an exercise routine allows women to benefit greatly throughout their pregnancy, local health professionals say. Most pregnant women can tailor their workouts to meet her physical needs and the health and safety of her baby. Discussing exercise plans with their doctor early on establishes what adjustments are needed to continue a normal exercise routine. For women who don’t regularly go to the gym, their level of exercise will depend on their level of pre-pregnancy fitness. “With patients with normal pregnancy, no pre-term labor, no risk of low implantation and no issue of bleeding (basically a normal pregnancy) we recommend to start exercising as soon as you’re pregnant,” said Dr. Jorge Aranda of Providence Women’s Health Partners.

3 great El Paso outdoor fitness spots to inspire your new year workout resolutions

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When I ask people around the city what is holding them back from working out, the answer often deals with not feeling comfortable in the gym environment or not wanting to pay for pricy gym memberships. I can relate. I don’t have a gym membership either. However, that is not stopping me from trying to maintain a healthy life. I have found much comfort and peace in the beautiful and free outdoor workout areas my hometown of El Paso, Texas, has to offer.

Personal trainer trims down clients and bulks up on education

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EL PASO – Hiding in the back room behind the treadmills, elliptical machines, and 50-pound steel weights, Kimberly Rayner carefully underlines important information in her economics textbook to prepare for an exam. She still manages to look up and smile at the sweaty people in T-shirts and spandex lifting weights, doing sit-ups, and running at the gym trying to get their summer bodies in shape. “Come on, you can do it!” she cheers and “reach for it!” as she watches her trainees’ eyes light up at her words of encouragement. Rayner is both a student at The University of Texas at El Paso and personal trainer at New You Fitness and Yoga Studio located in the west side. Like other students on tight schedules who juggle jobs and college life, Rayner rises every Monday through Saturday at 4 a.m. to head to the gym where she works roughly 30 to 40 hours a week, sometimes pulling 12-hour shifts and attending college classes between training sessions.

Daniel Alvarado, owner and head trainer of PUSH Fitness and Athletic Training, with wrestlers. (Veronica Enriquez/Borderzine.com)

If strong is the new skinny for girls, buff makes it for guys

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EL PASO – Inside the gym, the song “Stronger” by Kanye West plays in the background and the music motivates 16-year-old Alexander Jimenez to try harder to fit the mold of an ideal male body. Jimenez, a high school sophomore, has trained every weekday at several local gyms vigorously since the age of nine for the purpose of staying healthy and looking trim. Day in and day out his efforts have paid off. Today he is the captain of the Franklin High School wrestling team that placed second at the state competition last month. “I’ve been helping him since he was 9 years old,” said Daniel Alvarado, owner and head trainer of PUSH Fitness and Athletic Training, and Jimenez’s coach.

Men are not an strange presence in Zumba classes any longer. (Victoria Perez/Borderzine.com)

Men also can Zumba their way to fitness

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EL PASO – Entering a room packed mostly with women can make some men feel threatened and realizing that they have to join in and exercise to the rhythm of sexy music can be even more intimidating. “I was very very scared the first time because there were like 40 girls and I was the only man there,” said Marco Lopez. That’s how Lopez, 23, described his first Zumba class at the University of Texas at El Paso. Men are usually less attracted to aerobics classes for exercise and a class where all you do to work out is dance can become a big challenge for most men. Zumba has become the newest trend in exercising.