Thursday, February 03 The Gazette, News Article
JUNE THOMPSON, The Gazette
Published: Thursday, February 03
Sam Maniatis is a trainer's trainer. He's the guy who certifies individuals for CanFit Pro, the national organization that oversees fitness accreditation in Canada. But that's not where his story began. His love of football is what got him started in the fitness business.
"In 1980, I was coaching football for the recreation department of Sun Youth," he told me. "I love football and one thing led to another, and here I am today."
Maniatis said he believes many people do more harm than good when they begin to exercise. "It's true," he said with a laugh. "They throw themselves into exercise using muscles that have been dormant for years and they hurt themselves, and then, guess what? They give up. "People should learn movements first and exercise second."
It astounds him to see the number of people who are moving incorrectly: "They don't use their core, and yet the core is the most important part."
So many of us "are body aware, yet not core aware," he noted. That's why it's so important for him to teach new clients, especially beginners, the proper technique.
Things such as bending, for instance. More often than not, people bend from the knees, which is wrong, Maniatis said. "Bend from the hips. You'll feel the difference."
And pulling. "People always use their arms, when they should be using their shoulder blades." Maniatis is not a big believer in using machines at the gym, either. "I'd much rather see them doing the movements on their own, using free weights if necessary, than letting a machine move them." You disengage your core when you sit, he pointed out. "Work smart, not hard" is his belief.
He strongly encourages people -especially those who are sitting in front of a computer all day -to get up and stretch.
If you have to stay at your desk, incorporate basic movements like this: sit up straight, shoulders back, chest out and push out arms to the side and toward the back while rotating your wrists."Do a few repetitions a couple of times a day," he said. "You'll see an improvement in how you feel." His advice is to make exercise part of your regular day.
"Walk wherever you can, park farther away, take the stairs instead of the escalator -all the little things we can do but don't, it all adds up."
As for eating, Maniatis is a believer in six small meals a day. "Our bodies can only absorb so much; it takes what it needs and stores the rest, so watch your portions."
And the 80/20 rule holds true for him: "If you eat well 80 per cent of the time, it's not the 20 per cent of poor eating that's going to get you into trouble." His biggest pet peeve? People who sit and rest between exercises. "The goal is to keep the heart rate up; there's plenty of time to rest after," he said with a laugh. His guilty pleasure? "Baklava. I love good baklava."
You can hear Sam Maniatis on Fit Mondays on CJAD. People's opinions vary greatly on virtually every subject, and it's no different when it comes to fitness and health: some personal trainers hold the "no pain, no gain" attitude, and others take a different approach. I've been speaking to certified personal trainers to understand their philosophies on health and fitness. These stories are not intended as endorsements - they are just an exercise (no pun intended!) to explain the variety of thoughts and approaches of those trained to help us get into better shape.
