Fitness
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Dawn Strozier, The Fitness Queen of Keeping You Lean, is one of the country’s leading lifestyle coaches and fitness experts. With her supreme ability to motivate and ability to achieve desired results, Dawn is becoming one of the most sought after trainers in the world. Born in Cleveland, Ohio as the youngest of three, The Fitness Queen was raised in a very health conscious and athletic family. As a natural athlete, Strozier combines her training as a dancer and competitive gymnast with an undying will to achieve to obtain new levels of fitness achievement for all clients.
Her expertise as a trainer and nutrition consultant has attracted a client roster that includes professional athletes, Hollywood executives and “A” list actors. Comedian Steve Harvey describes her as “motivating and truly life changing.”
With Dawn’s simple philosophy, "You'll win, if you don't quit," Strozier stresses the fact that fitness is a lifestyle and lasting results are a product of that healthy lifestyle. Dawn believes once you’re empowered with the proper understanding of what it means to be healthy, proper nutrients, and practical movement, you can make better life choices.
With Dawn's over all “Fitness Success System” you will learn to eat better, incorporate movement into your everyday routine, and ultimately create a strong healthy body fit for the purposes God intended.
Dawn has been featured in magazines such as Ebony, Black Health, Precious Times, Rolling-out, LA Parenting, Kansas City Call, BQE, the Sentinel Florida Star, Georgia Star, Share/Toronto Canada, the Tennessee Tribune and Empowering Everyday Woman. She has also co-authored two books Unleash The Leader Within You and Unleashing The Vision Within You. She is the creator of the fitness entertainment group The Fitness Kidz, who perform choreographed exercise and workout routines with Ms. Strozier for the purposes of encouraging and inspiring youth to exercise and eat healthy.
Sonya’s Spotlight Web Mag recently sent Dawn some questions about fitness.
FITNESS TIPS FROM DAWN
Sonya’s Spotlight:
What is the best way to achieve maximum fitness results with a busy lifestyle?
Dawn:
In order to achieve maximum results with a busy lifestyle you have to focus on your diet. Eighty percent of your fitness success is with you put in your mouth. Regardless of how busy you are you can always make healthy diet choices. Whether you’re cooking at home or eating on the run, making healthy choices is the key.
Sonya’s Spotlight:
Does exercise help one lose weight or is it best to just eat less (count calories)?
Dawn:
Exercise is essential to your long-term weight loss success. The more lean muscle mass you have in your body the more efficiently your metabolism works.
Sonya’s Spotlight:
How can one figure out the best weight he or she should be?
Dawn:
Generally losing weight is considered to be a personal decision. However, it is important for your health to lose any extra pounds. Try looking at the recommended weight for someone your age, height and gender.
Sonya’s Spotlight:
You often hear about weight plateaus. What's the best way to achieve weight loss for those last 5-10 lbs that one just can't seem to lose?
Dawn:
The last 5-10 pounds are always the hardest to loss when working towards your goal. Super-charging your workout with interval training will challenge your body to keep burning - never giving it a chance to plateau.
Interval training is a combination of exercises or activity done at a high level of intensity for a period of time, followed by low intensity exercise for a period of time and repeated. The high intensity section is measured by either time or distance, time being as short as 20 seconds during aerobic intervals or distance being as long as 30 seconds when sprinting. An example of Sprinting Intervals would be running at full pace for a stretch of 30 seconds then walking briskly back to the starting point.
Dawn Strozier
Fitness Queen of Keeping You Lean
Fitness Queen of Keeping You Lean
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Sonya’s Spotlight:
50 Cent (the rapper/actor) recently lost a lot of weight for a movie role by being on a liquid fast. Do you suggest fasts for quick weight loss? What are the pros and cons?
Dawn:
I don’t suggest fasting for quick weight loss. I believe fasting has its benefits when done for a short period of time to cleanse the body, but when fasting for weight purposes you end up losing lean muscle mass, which in essential for keeping your metabolism burning, as opposed to fat. And it is easy to get confused when you see the scale move because muscle weighs more than fat.
Sonya’s Spotlight:
If you start to feel sore while working out, should you continue to work out? What's the best way to alleviate the soreness?
Dawn:
Soreness will occur when working out and it is okay to continue with your training. The best way to alleviate the soreness is to stretch frequently after your workout.
Sonya’s Spotlight:
What is the most common mistake people make when starting a workout or diet program?
Dawn:
The biggest mistake most people make in starting a workout or diet program is they try to do too much, too fast. It is difficult to keep a commitment to exercise or a new diet program if you are not looking at it realistically.
Start off slow setting goals that you know are obtainable and allow your body and mind a chance to adjust to the new things you are challenging yourself to do. Accomplish those things first, then challenge yourself to do more.
Sonya’s Spotlight:
Many people (as they age) notice a little more fat around the belly area. What is the best way to get a flat stomach?
Dawn:
Regardless of your age a great mid-section comes from a diet low in fat and carbohydrates and a daily regimen of cardiovascular exercise.
Sonya’s Spotlight:
Are there any particular foods that help speed metabolism?
Dawn:
Eating six small meals more frequently throughout the day will create a metabolic environment that will keep your metabolism moving. Choosing low-glycemic foods such as brown rice, yams, and oatmeal, (that digest slowly releasing energy over a period of time, not affecting your blood sugars) will also keep your metabolism at an all time high.
Most importantly making sure your body is getting a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates, and good fats in every meal is essential for reaching your goal.
Sonya’s Spotlight:
What are the benefits of hiring a trainer?
Dawn:
A personal trainer will monitor your progress and fine-tune your program as you go, helping you work your way off plateaus. A personal trainer can provide motivation, help you brainstorm ways to overcome your biggest obstacles to exercise and teach you the correct way to use equipment, appropriate form and technique for cardiovascular work and free-weight training.
A personal trainer can also help you uncover new insights about yourself or find potential you didn’t realize you had.