Darien Johnson is a personal trainer and General Manager at Horsham Fitness, a 24 hour fitness center found in Horsham, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Johnson, shown in the picture, has been helping people not only get in better shape but improve their lives for twenty years as a personal trainer. He has spent six years at this very friendly establishment, working at various other gyms through out his career. On his goals as a personal trainer, Johnson says “Make fitness part of your lifestyle. You will live a happier, longer life.” It seems as he is a very happy man, and was very pleasant and attentive when giving advice on giving a step by step exercise plan. He believes all exercises are important, but as a personal trainer he would stress the importance of working on cardio improvement.
Shown in the various pictures, Johnson works on all the cardio machines at Horsham Fitness that will improve your workout. These machines such as the elliptical and treadmill help improve your lower extremities. Johnson can also be seen on a machine entitled the Cross Trainer. A Cross Trainer can be used to work out both your lower and upper tiers of the body at the same time, as well as each one individually. How to choose your cardio regiment lies in the eye of the beholder. Every person that enters the center has different goals and different muscles they choose to work on. As a trainer, Johnson will sometimes work out men and women differently. For the women, Johnson focuses on working legs, hamstrings, and hips. Simply put “Men do not need to work on child bearing hips.” As for men, their main focus is to ease into a routine, still working on there lower extremities. Between both sexes, however, the number one goal remains to build stamina. Work out regiments and routines revolve solely on the goals of the person who attends the gym, as Johnson preaches to take working out slowly but to also work out properly. Stability and consistency are a huge part of working out.
As said, regiments for cardio work outs are solely chosen by the person working out. Times and speeds are at a discretion. As far as working out in general, Johnson believes in keeping your exercise circuit closely related. Start with the upper body, and move from machine to machine while keeping each body part that is being worked closely related. Start by working out your upper body and finish at the lowest work out you do. Work effort can also be determined by the one who is working out. Johnson believes you can work out in one of two ways. First option is to do 15 reps or spend 30 seconds on a machine, repeat that process three times, and then move on to the next machine continuing the process till your workout is complete. Second, still do 15 reps or spend 30 seconds on a machine one time, and then continue through all your machines. This process would be continued two more times through your circuit. Having a routine is a key part of working out, and Johnson believes you have to give 100% to your work out. Getting distracted by the song choices on your IPOD or checking the score of the game on TV takes away from your work out.
Another piece of advice from Johnson when doing cardio is to weight lift before you begin your cardio workout. Whether you are running on the treadmill, or cycling on a bike, you spend a lot of energy working out your cardio even though you are increasing your stamina. One of the goals of cardio is to lose weight and to lose calories, and Johnson says that you will lose 25% more calories by working on your cardio after weight lifting.
Participating in a cardio work out is a major must for all outdoor sports pertaining to running. Anything from football to tennis to basketball requires a large storage of stamina in ones body. Sports such as golf would not require stamina, as you do not do much running at all. Not only will gaining stamina improve your athletic career, Johnson believes that it will improve your life. Many everyday events will seem that much easier with a higher stamina caused by cardio work outs. Examples such as someone breathing heavy after walking a flight of stairs, or carrying heavy objects up a flight of stairs are pointed out by Johnson. He truly enjoys and thrives on the improvement of his trainees. “I was never able to do this before,” is truly one of his favorite statements from people he has trained.
After speaking with Johnson, I have learned he truly enjoys what he does and knows what he is teaching to his trainees. His step by step cardio workout is a great benefit to any one willing to listen and take his advice. Horsham Fitness is a fun and friendly center to help get into shape and meet some great people such as Darien Johnson.
For more information on Horsham Fitness, please visit:
www.horsham24hourfitness.com
