No Quo Fitness

Your time is one of the most valuable resources that you have. Here are 5 tips to keep things efficient in the gym so you can enjoy more time out of it.

So you’re in the market for a personal trainer. Do you know what to look for in a trainer when you hire them? Check out the blog below to find out!

What to look for in a Personal Trainer Thinking of hiring a Personal Trainer? Here are 5 traits to look for when researching who might be the best fit for you.

If you are a shift worker and struggle with nutrition, this one’s for you.

Shift Work Nutrition Tips Shift work is hard. Start prioritizing your health and goals with these nutrition tips for shift workers.

The right external environment is the secret sauce to make lasting change.

In the gym it’s things that make showing up easy. Proximity to the gym. Equipment availability. Gym staff. The demographic of other members.

Outside the gym it’s surrounding yourself with things, food, and people that move the needle towards better daily.

So begin to shape your external environment. Clean out the cupboard. Hire a coach. Get others involved. It’s makes maintaining habits easier, especially when internal factors, like motivation and will power, falter.

Begin to shift the space around you to reflect the change you want, and that change will happen.
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Honest Effort. Honest Results.

Check out our new blog on what consistency looks like even when life gets busy!

Consistency Redefined Consistency is not about being perfect. It is about embracing imperfection and showing back up.

New blog is up on the site! Check it out.

What to Do When Life Happens Stuff happens. Don't let it kill your progress.

Sleep is one of the most underutilized and overlooked tools when it comes to reaching health and fitness goals.

While many of us worry about the quantity of sleep, it is often the quality of our sleep that needs to be addressed.

So instead of stressing about the time you do not get to spend sleeping, dial in on these tips to make the sleep you do get count.

- Stick to a consistent sleep schedule: this will allow the body to fall into a rhythm that fosters an environment for quality sleep

- Give yourself time to unwind before bed: Read a book, deep breath, stretch etc.

- Control the temperature: Lower the room temperature. Take a hot shower before bed. Anything to help lower your core body temp.

- Optimize your sleep environment: Buy black out curtains, block out any noise except ambient white noise, invest in a nice mattress/pillow/sheets, and make the bedroom a screen free zone.

- Avoid stimulants (caffeine) and alcohol late into the evening: A good rule of thumb is to avoid both of these past 3 pm.

Start with one of two of these and you are well on your way to catching some deep, much needed sleep.

Did you know that we offer a discount for healthcare and other shift workers?

We know first hand the rigors of shift work and the difficulty to find time to prioritize your health and fitness with the schedule that it brings.

NQF is hoping to change that.

We work with your schedule and unique situation to help you make the changes you have always wanted to make.

So what are you waiting for? Reach out to us via our website or send a message to get started today!

It is supposed to carry over to the things that matter.

Time spent in the gym should yield results outside of it.

So looking to perform better out on the course and across day to day life?

We have you covered.
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Honest Effort.
Honest Results.

Best nutritional practice or diet?

Well, hate to break it to you, but there is not one “best” or “optimal” diet. Everyone has different needs, preferences, and lifestyles that make nutrition anything but one size fits all.

That said, there are principles that can be applied to any and all eating preferences and goals.

Follow these principle based guidelines next time you are looking to make a change with your nutrition.

Keep a regular eating schedule in the context of your life. It can look like 2 meals a day, it can be 5-6 if you'd like. Point is, keep it consistent.

Aim for 80/20, or a 3/2/1 rule. 80% whole foods and 20% “soul foods” or 3 veggies servings, 2 of fruit, and 1 protein at (most) meals. This will help create the desired change without restricting the foods that you enjoy from time to time.

Keep meal structures similar when you can. Focus on including a protein, carbohydrate, and fat at each meal. This will help you adjust portion size as needed.

Have a general idea of your intake needs and portion meals appropriately. This differs person to person. Things like lifestyle, work, body composition, activity, and goals all play into this.

Stay hydrated. Shoot for 2L+ of water a day

Combine a few or all of these principles with a bit of planning, preparation, and consistency, and you are well on your way towards achieving that goal you are after.

Progress is not linear and consists of many things. It is an up and down wave that is hopefully trending in the right direction. It is more than just a number on a scale moving up or down.

So do we actually measure it in a way that is not just a number on the scale? Well, here are a few ways, other than just tracking weight, to see whether the hard work you are doing both in and out of the gym is trending towards the results you want.

Lifestyle Changes
A great place to start. What are you doing now that a prior version of you had never dreamt of or thought of doing? Going to the gym a few times a week, eating more veggies, drinking more water, prioritizing sleep, etc. are all forms of progress because you are doing more to move the needle towards your goals than you had been doing previously.

Clothing Fit/Progress Pics
A great tangible way to view progress. Take progress pictures every few weeks to see how far you have come. We often are unable to see day to day change, but comparing ourselves to a past version will most likely show some form of change. Try on clothes that you used to wear. Do they fit differently in the way you had hoped? Boom. Progress.

Energy Levels
How do you feel day to day? Do you find yourself with a bit more energy than you once had? While it might not be physical progress in a sense, this metric means that what you are doing is working and your body is responding positively to exercise.

Technique
The first “in the gym” metric that we like to look at. “Are you getting better at lifts?” is the question at hand. If you find yourself moving a bit easier, especially with things like squats, lunges, and deadlifts, then the answer is most likely yes, you are making progress.

Strength
This goes hand in hand with #4. Are you able to do more weight this month than you were able to lift last month? Are day to day tasks (like picking up kids, groceries, etc) becoming easier? If the answer is yes, you are making progress.

Moral of the story here, progress is multifaceted. While weight is one great way to track progress, it is not the only way. So before you find yourself frustrated that the number on the scale has not changed, look for other ways progress has be