This week’s Inspiring Woman is Tera Busker.  After battling her own weight issues as a teenager, Tera has made fitness and teaching others about being in shape her life.  Tera has turned her home into her training studio and training business.  Here Tera helps women realize that making time for yourself and your fitness goals is an important part of getting a flat stomach and living a happy and healthy life.

Let Tera inspire you to reach your fitness goals…

Womens Ab Workout: Tell us more about yourself. Who are you? How long have you been training and what are your goals and aspirations in the fitness industry?

Tera Busker: My name is Tera Busker and I live in Roberts, Wisconsin with my husband of 7 years, Luke, and my 2 Bassets, Maggie and Lucy. When I’m not training my incredible clients or myself, I’m living the life of a rural Wisconsin girl and loving every minute of it. I love to spend my free time in the outdoors hunting, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, hiking and running on the local trails. In the last 5 years I have found my passion for running. I try to run in as many local 5 or 10K races as I can every year. It’s a great way to give back to the community and spread the word on fitness.

I became an ACE (American Council on Exercise) Certified Personal trainer in 2000. After working in a large gym for a few years, I decided I wanted and needed a change. I noticed that the setting that I was in wasn’t ideal. There were too many distractions (waiting for equipment, gossipy trainers, loud music) and the excuses to miss workouts became more frequent for my clients (no baby sitter, bad weather, too busy). I became very frustrated with what was happening! I wanted to give my clients the privacy and the one-on-one attention that they deserved as well as eliminate the excuses to miss appointments.

I wanted the best for my clients and I knew that they wouldn’t be able to get it in a gym. In 2002 I developed Fitness To Go, an in home and private studio personal training service. I am able to bring my services to my clients as well as offer them a quiet and private place to workout.  No more excuses or distractions. Just me and my clients, working collectively together to reach their goals in a way that is challenging, yet, convenient and fun. I am truly blessed to be able to work with my amazing clients and see the progress that they are making each and every day! Each one of my clients is an inspiration to me & they are why I keep doing what I do.

Something that I would love to see in the fitness industry is more wellness/health/fitness education geared toward kids and for kids. Kids today are being brought up in a world of TVs, computers, prepackaged foods and gadgets that make everything easy and effortless. Because of this, many kids aren’t getting the nutrients and physical activity that their growing bodies require and we are seeing an increase in obesity and “adult” diseases such as hypertension in children.

Schools are eliminating phys. ed, gym and health classes in order to cram in more “academic classes”. Children need to learn about history, math and science, but they also need to be taught the importance of physical activity and living a healthy lifestyle. Our society is slowly on their way to creating well educated adults that are stuck sitting in a doctor’s office with serious health problems because they don’t get the nutrition and activity that they need. (WAW – SO TRUE and SO SAD!)

WAW: What was your motivation to start working out and get into fitness?

TB: I was over weight as a teenager and when I decided to lose weight I went down the wrong path. I was exercising way too much, eating way too little and relying on diet pills for energy. I started losing weight and seeing major changes, but I wasn’t getting the results I was looking for. I was exhausted all the time, had no muscle tone and I was always sick. I soon realized that wasn’t getting the results I wanted because I was uneducated on the “correct” way to lose weight and be healthy. I was doing everything wrong. I was breaking down my body instead of making it stronger and healthier.

During my struggle to be fit, I learned (sometimes the hard way) what to do and what not to do. As soon as I cut back my exercising to an average amount, began lifting weights, started eating right and threw out the diet pills I reached my goal and felt great. I decided I wanted to teach people the right way to lose weight and be healthy so they wouldn’t make the same mistakes I did.

Now I am motivated by teaching people that there isn’t a shortcut or an “easy way out” when it comes to your health. Pills, gimmicks, and restricted diets will only lead you farther away from your goal. Dedication, hard work, consistency and focus are what it takes to reach your goal.

WAW: Travelling from client to client and helping them get into great shape must make it difficult to get to the gym and make time for your own workouts.  How do you make sure that you stay on track to your fitness goals?  How would you describe your training – body part splits? Full body training? Bodyweight workouts? Why?

TB: Because I have a private studio in my house, I have no excuse not to workout! (WAW – AWESOME and slightly Jealous!!!) I know that if I don’t take care of myself, there is no way that I can take care of my clients. I treat each one of my personal workouts like an appointment with a client. I write it down in my planner, have a plan of action and no matter what I can’t cancel it. That is my time to be totally selfish and do something for myself. Right now I am in training for a 10 mile race in Minneapolis, MN (Women Run The Cities), so I am running between 30-35 miles per week. In addition to that I am strength training 3-4 times a week.

Currently, I am doing a lot of functional and plyometric moves to help me with my speed & keep me from putting on too much muscle. In a typical week my split would be: Monday – Chest & Tris, Wednesday – Back & Bis, Friday – Shoulders & whatever body part I feel needs more work, Saturday – Legs.  I will throw core work in a few times a week. Every 6-8 weeks I change up my strength training program so my body is always guessing. Over the years, I have learned that my body reacts best to heavy lifting (6-8 reps).  After this fall, I plan to get back into lifting heavy & possibly doing a fitness competition.

WAW: Being on the road all the time can make it harder to stick to your diet – probably one of the most important aspects of getting a flat stomach – and the hardest part for busy women to stay true too. What does your diet look like? How do you stick to your diet with your busy schedule and travelling lifestyle? Do you have any advice for other busy women out there who are trying to stick to their flat stomach diet?

TB: My diet is a huge challenge. I have Celiac Disease and I’m unable to eat anything containing gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye).  Eating gluten free is very healthy. I have eliminated almost all processed foods and my diet now consists of fresh fruits and veggies, lean meats, low fat dairy products, and grains such as quinoa and brown rice.  Finding out that I was allergic to gluten was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I have to eat SUPER healthy or I am sick for days.

Because I am always on the go, I pre-package all of my food, so I won’t be tempted to eat wrong things. Every Sunday I cook up all my meat for the week and put my fruit, veggies and yogurt in single serving containers. That way I can grab my food for the day, throw it in my cooler & I’m out the door. Super easy. I tell all of my clients to do the same thing. People like things to be quick and easy – that’s why they reach for the bag of chips. If you have a healthy option right there waiting for you, then you will be less likely to eat junk.

The best advice I can give to someone who is looking to stick to a flat stomach diet is to drink your water and stay hydrated. Many times you will think you’re hungry when you are actually thirsty. Also, keep the sodium intake low. Too much sodium in your diet will make you retain water & look bloated.

WAW: You have your own in home training business “Fitness To Go” – what was your motivation for training clients at home? What do you see as the biggest problem most women make when trying to achieve their fitness goals? What’s your advice to women to overcome these problems?

TB: I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve heard “I’d love to hire you, but I don’t have time to go to the gym” or “I don’t like going to the gym. I feel so intimidated there.” I wanted to find a way that people could workout in way that was convenient, comfortable and eliminated the excuses not to workout. That is how I came up with Fitness To Go.  I can train my clients in the privacy of their home without the distractions of a gym. They can workout on their own equipment and not something that a million people have touched. If they don’t have equipment, I bring it to them. If they want to workout in privacy, but want to get out of the house, they can come to my private studio. I will even train them in their office. I try to eliminate every excuse out there.

The biggest problem that I see with my female clients is that they feel guilty for taking time out of their day for themselves. Women, especially moms, need to learn that taking time to focus on your health & fitness is a way for you to invest in your future. If you are healthy, you’ll live a better quality of life.  You’ll have more energy for your family and you’ll feel better about yourself.

WAW: What are your five moves that any busy woman can do at home that will help them on their journey to a flat stomach?

TB:
Planks
My favorite exercise for the core is any type of plank. The plank (whether it be straight arm, bent arm, reverse or on your side) engages all of the muscles in the core. Holding a plank for 30-60 seconds will set your abs on fire. Best thing about planks – they can be done anywhere & without equipment.
Bicycle Crunches
These focus on the entire core area. Make sure the back does not arch upwards during this exercise.

Crunches on a Stability Ball
Make sure you choose a ball that is correct for you height. If the ball is too small or too big, you won’t get the good contraction in the abs that you are looking for. The best way to find the right sized ball for you is to sit on top of the ball. When sitting on the ball, you’re hips should be slightly higher than you knees.

Supermans
If you work the front of your body, you have to strengthen the muscles in the back as well. Good posture will always make you look slimmer.
Cardio
In order to shed that layer of fat on top of your amazing 6 pack, you have to burn calories. The best way to do that is to get your heart rate up with cardio. The top exercises to do at home to get your heart rate up are: jumping jacks, mountain climbers, jumping rope, walking, running, roller blading, biking.

WAW: Where can we find more information out about you?

TB: You can visit my website www.fitness-to-go.net or join me on Twitter www.twitter.com/FitnessToGo or Facebook www.facebook.com/fitnesstogo