Dean
While I never want to call it too early, now is the time. I want to get and keep my coaching team AND you off the roads this afternoon and this evening, so there will be no training.
But you CAN burn a few calories laughing (scoffing, crying?) at this!
Be Safe Out There!
Coach Dean
Next Scheduled Recovery Week: March 27 - April 2, 2017
If you are new to the concept of recovery weeks, please read on.
If you have been training with us for awhile and you have ignored recovery weeks, read on.
Especially you.
Recovery weeks serve a critical function within the training cycle (more on that below for those of you who want to see the science).
You may have noticed that as we get closer to recovery week the daily and weekly training intensity has increased.
That is purposeful.
Because we are working toward a week of MacroRecovery, we are intentionally working at a higher level.
Then we will take a scheduled, purposeful rest.
Because whether you think so or not, you cannot and should not train really hard, all the time.
In fact one of our training program design principles is what is referred to as MED.
Minimum Effective Dose.
In other words, what is the MINIMUM stimulus we need to get better - stronger, leaner, better conditioned, etc.?
What? The minimum you say? That is NOT my style. Go hard or go home!
That WILL work, at least for a short time. Until your training overwhelms your ability to recover, and you start breaking down.
How can you tell that is happening? That you're not recovering fast enough from your training? Here's a few warning signs:
Altered Heart Rate and Blood Pressure
You are having a hard time getting your heart rate up, or it's beating like a racehorse when you feel like you aren't really doing much.
Poor Sleep Patterns
An increasing pattern of the inability to sleep restfully.
Decreased Performance
Your training loads have stagnated or even decreased.
Mood Swings
One of my big ones (no secret I know - sorry).
Eating Habits Disrupted or Compromised
It's not just a matter of will power. Overreaching and overtraining can cause physical cravings if our bodies are missing crucial nutrients because of too much physiological or psychological stress.
Decreased Immunity
If you are getting sick frequently (eg. more than one cold a year) your immune system is probably compromised.
Increase In Injury
This could be not recovering from the normal microtrauma caused by training, for example you are sore for 2 or 3 days after training, or you are getting strains, sprains, aches and pains that you normally do not.
Lack of Progress (Plateau)
This could be either in body composition (not losing bodyfat/gaining muscle) or not making gains in the gym.
Enter Recovery Weeks
Recovery weeks are designed to give you rest; physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
You see stress is not just a "mental" thing. Do you realize when you train you are stressing yourself out, on purpose? That gets added on top of all the other stress in your life, whether it be work, home, or the jerk who cut you off in traffic. Your central nervous system doesn't care, it just knows when you have too much of it, and it doesn't like it!
And while you can't stop the knucklehead from driving like an idiot, there are things you can do to avoid excess systemic stress, and taking recovery weeks is one of them.
Here's My Top 5 Things To Do On Recovery Week
What about you?
You see you don't have to "not move" for a week. There is nothing wrong with getting outdoors, taking a walk, hitting the rock climbing gym, spending some time on the foam roller and stretching, getting a massage, and/or taking some long showers or baths.
Those things will aid your recovery and help you relax; running 2 or 3 or 5 miles every day (or every other day), or going to spin class, will not.
I train hard, but more importantly I train and recover appropriately.
I am in it for the long game. When I am sick, or excessively tired, or injured I cannot train.
THAT is what sets me back.
Recovery is what drives me forward. On a daily, weekly, and quarterly basis.
You ready to get better with me?
MAKE IT HAPPEN!
Coach Dean
PS. Below is the "Science Stuff" I promised - Enjoy!
Our recovery weeks are what I would call Macro-Recovery. In other words we take a planned week off every training phase in order to let the body rest up from hard training and get ready for the next phase.
But did you know you can do even better than that? We have a number of athletes in the Get Fit NH family who participate in our Bioforce HRV monitoring program, which measures your systemic stress load on a daily basis, which allows us to fine-tune the recovery process on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. You can catch up on that by clicking here
Read on why properly planned and adequate recovery is important for you!
The Recovery Curve
I saw the recovery curve for the first time during my time with Australian physical preparation coach Ian King. His principles laid the foundation for the way we program, train and especially recover here at Get Fit NH. The principles that work with professional athletes apply to us too!
The following illustrates a “good” recovery curve:
The green line represents what we are all looking for – continual, never ending progress over time. We are getting stronger, faster, thinner, better looking (ok at least that’s what I wish for).
Reality Check – ain’t gonna happen. The process of changing your body is not linear, in fact what we are looking at in an optimal training environment is more of a “One step back brings me Two steps forward”.
A closer look at the chart will help explain what I mean.
The red line represents Equilibrium. This is where your body wants to stay, no matter if your goal is losing fat, gaining lean, or both. As you have no doubt found out, forcing your body to change is hard work – really hard work. When you walk into Get Fit NH, our training is designed to elicit that change. But it’s not as simple as “working out” day after day after day. In fact as I am about to illustrate, training without proper recovery is actually hurting you, not making you better.
The blue line represents the “recovery curve”. Starting at the left hand of the chart all the lines intersect. For this illustration that point is where your first training occurred – you “worked out”.
But what’s going on?
Instead of performance going up, that line is actually heading down – this is what is called Depletion. If you think about it makes sense – you have worked hard, you are fatigued, your body is depleted of nutrients – you are spent!
Don’t worry, your body will get over it, if you treat it right! This is what we call Adaptation. Your body wants to be able to handle the increased demand that was placed on it, and starts the process of getting better.
You are in charge of if and how fast that happens. A few of the factors that influence this adaptation include recovery nutrition, stress levels, sleep habits, supportive nutrition, age, and training history.
The recovery curve continues with Supercompensation. Here is how Coach King describes this process:
“It is only when recovery is allowed that we see the super-compensation effect, the unique phenomenon where the bodies physical capacity is elevated in response to training, in anticipation of another exposure to the same stimulus.” – King, I, 1999/2000, Foundations of Physical Preparation
In other words your body has gotten better in response to your training, a new Equilibrium is established and this state is when we will ideally train again. Our programming at Get Fit NH is carefully designed to give this the best chance of occurring, but as I hope you are discovering, you have a lot to do with this with how you treat your recovery!
As you can see, when things are clicking, this process when repeated over and over means you are getting better and better, the blue line is headed up – pretty cool!
The flip side to all this is what happens when the recovery process isn’t working so well.
This chart represents recovery gone “bad”:
When we continue to train in a state of “Depletion”, regardless of the reason, the adaptation to super-compensation effect doesn’t occur, and instead of getting better, we find ourselves in a downward cycle. This can happen when we train the same muscle groups too soon, when we haven’t taken the steps described above to recover optimally (sleep and nutrition for instance) regardless of time between training, when we train too hard coming off an illness, etc. The last thing we want to happen is new equilibrium to be established in a downward pattern – not good.
The long and short of it is your body absolutely needs to recover from hard training. Consistently training in a fatigued state results in injury and illness. Your body is an amazing machine designed to put up with a lot, but it was also designed to need rest.
Which leads us to:
Recovery Weeks!
Face it – you can get beat up anywhere. Our responsibility at Get Fit NH is to help you get better!
That includes recovery weeks. We have found that somewhere between 8 and 12 weeks of training is just about right to take a full week off and let your body recover.
That doesn’t mean that you spend your training time on the couch eating bon-bons, but if you insist on going down to PF and hitting the weights or running 10 miles every morning, your body will suffer in the long run, and perhaps even in the short term.
If you find yourself fighting this concept, ask yourself this – Is your unwillingness to take a week off a well reasoned decision based on what you know to be true, or is it that your attachment to training is so strong emotionally that makes it so hard? You will not lose all you have gained by taking the week off, I assure you! Again to quote Coach King, “…if you don’t (take time off)…most of you are going to lose it anyway!”
So now that we have established you are ready, willing and able to embrace recovery week, what do you do?
Glad you asked!
1.) Physical Rest and Regeneration
– Our bodies must rest and recover to prevent over-training (or under-recovering) issues so that we can come back 100% healthy and energized for the next phase of the program
– Focus on maintaining and/or increasing flexibility and tissue health by stretching and foam rolling daily. 15-30 minutes is fantastic!
– Daily restorative walks are beneficial during this week. 30-60 minutes briskly walking (not jogging/running) will keep your body refreshed and active, without negating the purpose of this week. Don’t overdo it!
2.) Physiological and Psychological Rest and Regeneration
– We must normalize key anabolic hormones, refill muscle glycogen, increase caloric intake, and prevent any diet induced catabolism (losses of lean body mass) so that we can enjoy greater fat loss for the next phase of the program
– We have taken the road less traveled by being flexible eaters with a long-term approach to success and thus we will take a break from our aggressive fat loss nutrition plans. This is not a free for all, so stay away from your “trigger foods” (junk foods and sweets) that open the door to excessive calorie intake.
– Instead plan (key word) and enjoy 2 or 3 controlled free meals to reward yourself for all of your hard work, but do not overdo it!
– Caveat: If your nutrition habits have been less than optimal, more than likely none of this applies to you. Instead now is the time to plan and prepare to make the changes necessary to see the results you want. Spend some time with a coach and your Jumpstart Nutrition Guide if you need help.
3.) Celebrate the Fruits of Your Labor
– Take some time to reflect on how far you have come since you joined Get Fit NH in terms of improving your overall health, body composition, and performance
– Enjoy your results!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
We would just like to take the time to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your hard work and dedication to improving your health and fitness… keep Making It Happen!
I enjoy writing, but some posts are a lot harder to write than others.
That is certainly the case this year as we start forming our team for the 2017 Rock N' Race, which is always one of the biggest community events in Concord as well as one of our biggest fundraising efforts.
For those of you not familiar, the Rock 'N Race is a 5k run/walk that raises funds for the Concord Hospital Payson Center for Cancer Care. This is the 15th year this event has been held, and Get Fit NH has been sponsoring a team and raising funds for the last 7 or 8 years - just about as long as we have been around.
It is no secret that cancer touches all our lives in one way or another. We all have friends, family, and co-workers whose lives have been changed forever by this disease, and the Get Fit NH family is no exception. Right now Coach Nancy's sister Sharon is fighting cancer for the second time. Others have loved ones they have lost or are in midst of the battle. Our thoughts and prayers are with them, and you who support them.
This year however, is especially tough for one of our own, Jim Knee, as he mourns the loss of his dear wife Catherine Dowd. Catherine lost her battle with cancer on December 30 of last year. This is not the first time I have seen one of our Get Fit men lose his wife to this disease, and while I cannot imagine what they have and are going through, I don't have to sit by and do nothing either. I hope you will join me by taking action and getting involved in the Rock N' Race this year, as a sponsor, runner, or walker.
Doesn't have to be on our team. It's not about us, or who has the biggest team, or the awards we can win. It's about men like Jim Knee, and Tom Barker, and Dan Gauthier, who need to know that those they have lost are not forgotten, and that somebody cares enough to do something about it, no matter how small. It is an added bonus that the Rock N' Race just happens to be a ton of fun - Music, Food and Contests. It's a family event and you don't have to be a great runner (or a runner at all) to come down and have a good time.
Are you in?
Let's Make It Happen!
15th Annual Merrimack County Savings Bank Rock N' Race
May 18, 2017
6:00pm
Downtown Concord
As a postscript I want to thank Jim for his graciousness. He is a quiet guy, and his hurt is still deep. How could it not be? It would be easier to just stay quiet and not bring up the pain. But he set that aside so others could be helped. Cancer is not "just" a disease. Cancer has a name, a face, and a story. Here is just a small part of Catherine's.
Catherine C. Dowd, 64, died Friday, Dec. 30, 2016, in Concord VNA Hospice, Concord, after a long illness.
She is survived by her husband of 16 years, James E. Knee; two sons, Conor P. McNally of Essex, Vt., and Hugh F. McNally of Bethlehem; her mother, Vivian (Tambolleo) Dowd, of Sterling, Mass.; three brothers, Thomas F. Dowd Jr., of Holden, Mass., Peter M. Dowd of Sterling, Mass. and James J. Dowd of Grifton, N.C.; a sister, Therese Vattes, of Bolton, Mass.; two step-sons, Michael Knee and Matthew Knee, both of Concord; aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins; and her beloved animals, dog, Obo, and horses, Pumpkin and King.
Catherine was born in Worcester, Mass., and raised in Clinton, Mass., daughter of the late Thomas F. Dowd. She was a graduate of Sacred Heart High School, Worcester, Mass. and Atlantic Union College, South Lancaster, Mass., where she earned her degree in Nursing.
As a Registered Nurse, Catherine started her career at St. Vincent Hospital, Worcester, Mass., prior to relocating to New Hampshire, where she began a 29 year career at Littleton Hospital, before working at Concord Hospital for more than 12 years before her retirement.
She was a former member of St. John the Guardian of Our Lady Parish, Clinton, Mass. An avid skier and mountain hiker, Catherine was a talented equestrian, who, along with Jim, kept horses on their former farm in Franconia. It was there that she cared for her most-loved mare, Heiress.
Thank-you Jim. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with you.
March Madness was such a success last year, we just knew we had to roll it out again this year for everyone at Get Fit NH. Whether you’re a veteran of our challenges or brand new, you’ll want to get involved, because who doesn’t like a little madness?
The Concord and Epsom gyms do things differently, which we will highlight below.
Get Fit NH Epsom
We know how much you love to push that sled so we’ll be breaking up into training time teams and go after it on the green. It’s a great feeling to push a 135 pound sled for the first time or for the fifty first times. Last year we about wore out the turf, and Coach Nancy loves to see those laps rack up. The prize for all this hard work? Your very own dinner party from the Carlson’s kitchen
Get Fit NH Concord
We are going to break into teams of 4, so look for the sign up sheet on the desk. The deadline to form a team will be March 8th, so you only have about 10 days to get it together We will go head to head bracket style, most MEPS wins the round and moves on.
We’ve put a few new rules in place for this year’s challenge. Since we never want to put anyone in harm’s way and overtraining can lead to injuries and other complications, we’ve added a MEPS cap of 1200 per person for each week. If there is a tie for MEPS at the end of the week we will use tiebreakers (most Meps in the yellow zone, then red as a second tiebreaker if needed) in order to decide who will advance to the next round. Also new this year, only MEPS earned between Monday and Friday will count towards the challenge. Last year the carry-over of not getting the results from the week before until Wednesday or Thursday because of weekend MEPS detracted from the competition. So in order to get your MEPS in you will have to make sure you are in at some point by Friday night before we close.
Want to participate but don’t have a belt?
We got you covered!
For this challenge we are selling the new MZ3 MyZone belts for LESS than what we pay! That’s right- $60! If you have one of the older belts, those are great and work fabulous, however the upgraded belts (MZ3) record activity in real time. So let’s say you are out skiing – if you have you belt on then your MEPS will update immediately rather than recording on your bean until the next time you return to the gym. Also you will be able to see your effort stream (meaning your tile) in real time rather than going back to see how you did.
And the Prize. A sweet custom Get Fit NH tee designed by the winning team!
This contest will run the 13th of March through the 14th of April (last two weeks of March and first two weeks of April) with recovery week smack dab in the middle. MEPS earned during recovery week will not count for the challenge, as the purpose of recovery week is to, well, recover.
Let’s get ready to have some fun and kill it for March Madness Round 2!
-Coach Adam
March Madness Challenge
Start Date: Monday March 13, 2017
End Date: Friday April 14, 2017
Cost: Just a little Blood, Sweat and Tears 
Registration deadline: Wednesday March 8, 2017
I think it's about time we got the Get Fit NH family back together, so howsabout a dinner date? A nice relaxing early evening with friends, family, and food.
WINNING!
On Saturday March 18th we are going to be hosting "Dinner and a Movie" at 5:00pm at Get Fit NH Concord. Our cinematic feature film (pretty fancy, eh?) is going to be "That Sugar Film", which Nancy and I found not only eye-opening, but pretty darn entertaining too.
Here's a brief synopsis:
“One man's journey to discover the bitter truth about sugar. Damon Gameau embarks on a unique experiment to document the effects of a high sugar diet on a healthy body, consuming only foods that are commonly perceived as 'healthy'. Through this entertaining and informative journey, Damon highlights some of the issues that plague the sugar industry, and where sugar lurks on supermarket shelves.”
So here's how it's going down.
We will have dinner, watch the movie, and have a few minutes of feedback, comments, and Q&A afterwards.
We (Get Fit NH) are going to provide the main dish, which will be absolutely amazing because I am cooking it. (A healthy dose of humility is good for the soul).
What we want you to do is bring in your favorite "sugar free" side dish to share. This is optional, but if you don't we may all go hungry. Just kidding. I think.
Anyhoo, please sign up and let us know you are coming. RSVP is March 10th, and then we are cutting you off like a Boston driver in rush hour. BOOM!
Hope to see you there - Coach Dean
Dinner and A Movie
Saturday March 18th, 2017
Get Fit NH Concord
Dinner at 5:00pm
Film starts at around 6:00pm, or whenever we are done eating. 🙂
Please RSVP Below
Mary Davidson is laying down the gauntlet on the next Ski Erg Challenge, so listen up!
"Starting March 15 Concept 2 is starting their "2017 World Erg Challenge" and I need you to help.
The past couple of challenges only myself, Mary Ellen from the 8:30 class, and Adam from the 6:15 class have participated.
Now I have to admit, Adam has done more than his far share and Mary Ellen and I do what we can. We would like to invite you to join us!
It is only on for the month, March 15 to April 15, and it is always more fun with friends, not to mention the weather is getting warmer and not a bad bad thing to burn a few more calories. I am just sayin.
Our Coach Adam can help you sign up if you have a problem.
Our team is Get Fit NH, and you can find out the challenge details by clicking here
See you on the back wall! - Mary
We want both Epsom and Concord to participate, so let's get on it! Little ole' Get Fit NH has won our division in the past, but we can't do it without your help.
Team Page is here (you will need to create an account if you don't already have one - it's free!)
Guys I truly despise closing, I really do, but this storm is forcing my hand. Rather than making you wait and have go get up early to figure out if we are closed for the morning or not, I have decided to make the call now.
Right now we fully intend to be open in the afternoon. The snow is forecast to taper off and/or stop by early afternoon, which should give us enough time to clean up and get ready for afternoon training
As always, please use your judgment. We want you first and foremost to be safe, and hopefully this will be the end of the need to cancel training for the rest of the season.
Things you can do instead:
1) Get a little extra sleep, and then spend some time on a foam roller, doing your correctives, and flexibility training. You have enough knowledge to make this time productive.
2) Do any additional nutrition planning and prep work for the week.
3) Jump on one of the training videos below. There are options for bodyweight only as well as band training.
4) Don't stress out! 🙂
Training Options Here!
Option 1
Active Warmup #1 (5 minutes)
Basic Training 1 or Basic Training 2 (20 minutes each)
2010 Core Finisher (4m)
Option 2
Active Warmup #1 (5m)
2010 Core Warmup (4m)
4020 Band (10m)
2040 Metcon (10m)
Option 3
Active Warmup #1 (5 minutes)
2010 Core Warmup (4m)
Basic Training 1 or Basic Training 2 (20 minutes each)
2040 Metcon (10m)
Beat The Band Training from Dean Carlson on Vimeo.
Coach Nancy and I have made the decision to cancel training this afternoon due to the weather conditions as well as current road conditions.
We are aware that the snowfall is supposed to slow down early evening, but with the cleanup and safety of our team and clients at stake, I hope y'all understand.
We won't leave you hanging though - if you want to train, you can Make It Happen!
P.S. Scroll to the bottom for a surprise! 🙂
Option 1
Active Warmup #1 (5 minutes)
Basic Training 1 or Basic Training 2 (20 minutes each)
2010 Core Finisher (4m)
Option 2
Active Warmup #1 (5m)
2010 Core Warmup (4m)
4020 Band (10m)
2040 Metcon (10m)
Option 3
Active Warmup #1 (5 minutes)
2010 Core Warmup (4m)
Basic Training 1 or Basic Training 2 (20 minutes each)
2040 Metcon (10m)
Beat The Band Training from Dean Carlson on Vimeo.
I cannot BELIEVE it is voting season again already. I know you might have a little voter fatigue, but this voting is fun - you get to select your favorites from all over NH to be recognized as "Best of..." in a ton of different categories.
In case you didn't know, Get Fit NH has won a "Best of..." award Seven (Count 'em...7) years in a row, and that is all because of YOU!
Thank-You Again!
Would you be so kind as to help us win that honor once again? It's cheesy easy to do. There are over 100 categories to vote in, but you only have to select 15 for your votes to count. In the comment section below nominate some other worthy candidates and we will help them win too!
Please vote for Get Fit NH in the following 2 categories.:
Question #8 Best Gym: Get Fit NH Concord
Question #18 Best Fitness Class: Smart Group Training Get Fit NH Concord
Question #95 Best Fitness Instructor: Coach Nancy Carlson Get Fit NH Concord and Epsom
The Hippo Press "Best of..." helps us get the word out to many others who are looking for a place to start their health and fitness journey too, so we sure would appreciate your vote.
Thank-you!
Coach Dean
Good morning crew. I have made the decision to close our facilities for this morning, Tuesday January 24, 2017. As of right now we ARE planning to be open this afternoon and evening, stay tuned!
Between the 1/4 inch of ice on the windshields to the freezing rain that is coming down now and the roads like skating rinks, I do not want you or the team here to risk going out.
Snow is one thing - as you know we have not closed during snow yet this year. But what is going on out there this morning is entirely another animal.
So if you early folks want to crawl back in bed for an hour or so, the extra recovery won't hurt.
HOWEVER, if you are already up and at it, and you just gotta get that body moving (and who doesn't), here are some training videos from the archives to tide you over!
And please, if and when you go out - drive safely!
Option 1
Active Warmup #1 (5 minutes)
Basic Training 1 or Basic Training 2 (20 minutes each)
2010 Core Finisher (4m)
Option 2
Active Warmup #1 (5m)
2010 Core Warmup (4m)
4020 Band (10m)
2040 Metcon (10m)
Option 3
Active Warmup #1 (5 minutes)
2010 Core Warmup (4m)
Basic Training 1 or Basic Training 2 (20 minutes each)
2040 Metcon (10m)