Dean
Dean
I tend to be an “all or nothing” kind of guy. Either I do something flat out, 100%, no quarter given, or I don’t do it at all.
While that might sound like a positive, often times in my own life I find that if just one little thing knocks me off track – it’s not perfect – I can get aggravated and just throw in the towel.
Even worse, if everything isn’t perfect, if I don’t have all my ducks lined up in a row right from the start, whatever I am working on may never get off the ground!
And that’s one of the reasons that I hired a coach, in my case a business coach. Nancy and I meet regularly with her in order to keep the business headed in the right direction. She helps us see what is working, map out future projects, create action steps for those projects, and then keeps us accountable to those action steps. Nancy and I are also both in separate “Mastermind Groups”, and we are each responsible every Friday to give an accounting of our week and what we accomplished.
So why am I telling you all this?
Because based on my experience with hundreds of clients, there are a lot of you that are a lot like me.
Mulling over in your head all the reason’s why you can’t, which in turn paralyzes you into taking any action at all.
In the arena of diet and nutrition I see this all the time, and my goal is to help you break out of that cycle. We can talk all day long about what your ideal nutrition plan might look like, but then a dangerous thing happens – you start thinking about it, and your mind begins creating all these scenarios and “what if’s” of why it can’t or won’t work.
Here’s what I want you to do to break out of that cycle.
I don’t want you to worry doing everything right – right now.
Choose just one thing you can do every day and build off that.
Then build off that success. It might look like this:
Follow that pattern consistently, and pretty soon you have made a significant change into both your habits and how you look and feel!
For most of us however there is another critical part of the equation. I mean, who’s gonna know if I do those things or not? Makes it kinda easy to slide…not good.
It’s a word that grates on many of us, but in reality we never outgrow the need for it.
Our bootcamp training is built around the concept of accountability to yourself, to your coaches, and to your training partners. When you aren’t here, you are missed and we let you know about it! 🙂
As your coaches, we understand that some of you want more accountability in the area of nutrition and body composition as well. As your coaches we want to help those of you who want more education and accountability.
I asked Coach Erin to come up with some concepts of what such a program would look like, and she did a fantastic job of outlining what we are now refining and will be rolling out to you in the coming weeks. I am confident you will be thrilled with what’s coming down the pike!
But that doesn’t mean you should wait around and do nothing!
Here’s a summary of what I have learned from my coaches that applies to you too…
So let’s hear it. In the comment box below tell me Just One Thing you are going to start doing today.
Make It Happen!
Coach Dean
Wanted to make sure you mark your calendars early for some great seminars and events going on around here in August!
Our next Client Success Seminar will be held Tuesday August 16th from 6:45pm to 7:45 pm at Get Fit NH Bootcamp Concord. We had a great time and a great turnout at July’s seminar, so let’s keep that momentum going! We highly encourage you to bring your “support system” with you to that meeting, whether it’s family, friend or even co-worker. The more they know, the more they can help you!
We are planning a Client Appreciation Cookout on Saturday, August 20th. Our pro party planners are still putting together all the details, but we would love it if you would set aside a couple hours to come relax and unwind with us – Mark It Down!
There is still time to get in on the “Spartan Sprint” at Amesbury Sports Park on Saturday July 27th. For me the series of “Adventure” races that we are doing this summer and fall gives me something to train for (besides the sheer joy of sweating of course 🙂 and keeps me focused on a goal. Get out there and have some fun. You can get all the details by clicking here.
If you have been a client of Get Fit NH Bootcamp for any length of time, you are probably aware that I (Coach Dean) am not a huge fan of running in general, never mind as the primary way to lose weight and “get exercise”.
The former part of that actually puts me in the minority of our coaches, as Coach Nancy and Coach CJ actually enjoy running (they are a bit twisted 🙂 ) and I think Coach Erin has a bit of a love/hate going on with the whole thing.
What I really want to address is the “lose weight and get exercise” part of the whole discussion.
There are a lot of reasons that people tend to gravitate toward running as a form of exercise. It’s convenient, relatively inexpensive, and you can get out there and do it at just about any time of the day or year, even in New England (see the “twisted” part above). Running is the #1 participant sport in the world for good reason.
BUT…
Did you know that studies show that over 60% of runners get injured every year, 87% over a 5 year period, and 99% over 10 years?
Ouch!
If 60% of my clients got injured in a year, there wouldn’t be a business in year two!
But I don’t necessarily blame running, I blame the runner!
Because running is so accessible, too many runners don’t do the work necessary to keep their joints healthy and mobile. That work would include foam rolling and mobility work, proper warmup, a planned schedule, and flexibility work. You need to undo what you just did to your joints and muscles with the repetitive pounding – it’s just the way it is.
It drives me crazy (ok crazier) when someone tells me that are unable to make training (which is understandable at times) but it’s ok because “I’ll just go for a run”. I can guarantee 9 times out of 10 that means lace up the sneakers, bolt out the door, put in the miles, take off the sneakers, and go on with life. No warmup, no mobility, no cooldown.
That’s just not cool, and it leads to knee pain, hamstring pulls, achilles tendon problems, and plantar fasciitis, just to name a few.
Also consider running is very quadricep dominant. Most of the runners and triathletes we see have weak hamstrings and little to no glute function. This imbalance is also a huge factor in knee and hip challenges.
So the moral of that story is – There is more to running than just the running part, if you want to do it successfully for any length of time.
Part two of the discussion has to do with running for weight loss. I am going to start up front by saying that in my personal journey from 270 pounds plus to where I am now, running had nothing to do with it. I don’t remember running at all during that initial loss of 80 pounds. One reason was because of the discussion above. Let’s just say when I was in the service they had no objections at all to running in combat boots, and my hip is paying the price to this day.
One of the reasons I am not a big fan of running for overweight/obese populations is the ground reaction forces (impact) that are generated. A study in the Columbia University journal Clinical Biomechanics analyzed the ground forces of walking, slow jogging and running. On average the GRF increased in a linear fashion from 1.2 times body weight when walking at 2.7 mph up to 2.5 times bodyweight when running at 5.6 mph.
That means when I was 280 pounds the impact on my joints with every step would have been 700 pounds. For arguments sake let’s say I had a stride length of 4 feet. That means I would have to take 1320 strides over that mile, resulting in a total GRF of 462 TONS per mile. Now to be fair our bodies are amazing machines designed to take impact, but enough is enough!
The other interesting thing this study showed is that a longer, smoother stride resulted in far less impact forces. We have all seen the difference between the way a good runner looks while running, and the guy on the side of the road who looks like he is about to keel over. He looks uncomfortable because he is in the middle of beating the snot out of himself. Do you really think after his run he is going to do a proper cool-down? He is going to be prone on the couch!
The Discovery
After all that it might surprise you to find out that I have actually been running a bit as of late. It all started when we decided to do the Warrior Dash. I got back on the road with Andrew, my 8 year old and did some running on our road. (By the way if you need an ego check, go running with your 8 year old)
The results? My hip ached like crazy, but I kept after it. Nothing too crazy, just a mile or two every few days to try to build some wind for running and get my stride in groove. And yes, every day it hurt, regardless of the mobility, med ball, foam rolling work.
But then an amazing thing happened.
After the Warrior Dash, I felt great. No hip pain the day of the race, and more importantly no pain in the days following. The difference was that the race was held on a cross-county style course. Through the woods, fields, very little gravel. The difference from running on pavement was enormous. Less impact for sure, but the varying terrain requires that pace and stride length change frequently, which I also think contributes.
Since that time I have begun mapping some courses through the woods, and so far so good. I actually walk about 1/3 mile to the start of the trail as part of my warmup, and then go.
Wrapping It Up
If you just have to run, here’s some points for all levels of runners to consider:
As your coaches, we want to prevent injuries in our training facilities as well as give you the tools for injury prevention when you are on your own. It’s no fun to see someone not be able to do what they enjoy – so do what it takes to Make It Happen!
Coach Dean
Just want to congratulate all of you who participated in the Rock ‘N Race back in May. We had many clients run on many different teams, and I am especially honored that all of you are being honored as well.
Because of the generous support of all the members of the “Get Fit NH & Beat Cancer” team, who raised a total of $3967.00 for the Payson Center, we have the opportunity to inscribe a tree marker in the Tribute Courtyard at the Payson Center for Cancer Care.
This permanent tree marker will be inscribed as follows:
In Honor of All Fighting to Win Get Fit NH BootcampOnce again thank you for your generosity to this important cause and for being part of our lives.
Dean and Nancy
The Payson Center for Cancer Care makes a meaningful difference in the lives of people with cancer and their loved ones by providing complimentary care, financial and nutritional counseling, and social work through the HOPE Resource Center.
Hey guys, our next Client Success Workshop is scheduled for next week! All clients are welcome to come find out how to get the best possible results at Get Fit NH, but we especially encourage those who are new with us or have never attended to come on out.
We’ll talk training, nutrition, accountability, goals and more. We always have a great time, so come on out!
Date: July 20, 2011
Time: 6:00pm to 7:00pm
Place: Get Fit NH Bootcamp Epsom
I received an email from my friend and fellow fitness pro BJ Gaddour (Sven) where he mentioned he was asked to comment on in article on MSN Fitbie called “Is this workout completely insane?”, referring to the latest infocommercial craze “Insanity”.
You can check out the article and his complete comments here http://fitbie.msn.com/get-fitter/workout-completely-insane
In the email he went on to highlight some concerns beyond the protocol itself, which included lack of progressions, modifications and the high volume of plyometric work. I know BJ well enough to know these are legitimate concerns, not just the ranting of another jealous trainer.
His email got me to thinking about a subject near and dear to my heart, which is quality program design. One of the best tools we can put in your hands is the knowledge why you are doing what you do when you train with us, so please read on.
There is much more to effective and safe program design than meets the eye.
I remember the first time I sat with the coaches at King Sports International and started going over the concepts of effective program design – it was truly mind boggling to me.
The way our bodies are designed to move is truly incredible. Single joint, multi-joint, unilateral, bilateral, vertical, horizontal, push, pull – and that’s just the upper body!
Since that time I have had the opportunity to write hundreds of training programs taking thousands of hours, and spent more thousands of hours on the training floor with clients. I’ve gotten a bit better at it over the years, but the learning and refining never stops.
So you may be asking yourself “What’s the big deal?”
Well let me preface by saying that just about any program will get you some level of results, at least when you are newbie.
But then reality sets in and one or more things happen:
And while there can be more reasons than program design why these things can happen, it is a common culprit.
Thought I would show you an example of movement types and parameters we use when considering our program design, just to give you an idea of what it involves. Keep in mind that exercise selection is just one of many parameters that are considered when designing strength training.
Others include number of sets, length of set, rest between sets, rest to work ratio, etc. We also consider the ratios between pulling exercises, which tend to be neglected resulting in injury, and pushing exercises. Same thing goes for hamstrings versus quads (back and front of legs).
I haven’t given examples for every exercise, but you’ll get the idea.
Upper Body Movement Patterns
Vertical Push
Unilateral
Single Joint
Multi Joint
Bilateral
Single Joint (lateral raises)
Multi Joint (push press)
Vertical Pull
Unilateral
Single Joint
Multi Joint
Bilateral
Single Joint (pullovers)
Multi Joint (chinups)
Horizontal Push
Unilateral
Single Joint
Multi Joint
Bilateral
Single Joint (t-raises)
Multi Joint (pushups)
Horizontal Pull
Unilateral
Single Joint
Multi Joint
Bilateral
Single Joint (t-raises)
Multi Joint (partner band rows)
Lower Body Movement Patterns
Quad Dominant
Unilateral
Single Joint
Multi Joint (1-leg trx squat)
Bilateral
Single Joint
Multi Joint (goblet squat)
Hip Dominant
Unilateral
Single Joint (1-leg stiff leg deadlift)
Multi Joint
Bilateral
Single Joint
Multi Joint (KB swing)
Trunk (Core)
Stabilization (plank variations)
Flexion
Extension
Rotation (sprinkler heads)
Within each one of these patterns are myriad progressions, regressions and modifications. Each training week is programmed within the current training cycle to keep your progress moving forward and your body feeling good. Flexibility training, soft tissue work, and even our training schedule is designed with a purpose in mind.
The beauty of great program design coupled with great coaching is that your program is individualized in a group setting, and it’s a lot more fun and effective to have someone to sweat with!
The bottom line is the real Insanity is choosing to train somewhere else! 🙂
Thanks for choosing to train with us, and keep…
Making It Happen,
Coach Dean
The picture on the left is me as “Fat Dad” – not a pretty sight. I may look happy, but deep down I was miserable. I didn’t like the way I looked or felt, I had no energy, didn’t feel like playing with the kids when I got home from work, just blah. Worse than that, I spent years “trying” to lose the weight. Skipping from magic pill, to crazy diet, one quick fix to another. I finally figured there is no easy way out. Hard work, determination and accountability is the only way. That’s why I created “Get Fit NH Bootcamp”, so you don’t have to waste time trying to figure it all out.
Dean Carlson, co-founder of “Get Fit NH Bootcamp”
“Oh my!! Who is that woman??? ” That was my th ought when I came across this less than flattering picture of myself (note the spiffy cub scout uniform!) The saddest part…I thought I looked ok! I mean..Really?! At that time I was topping out at about 190 pounds with no muscle tone to speak of. My diet consisted mostly of fatty take out and comfort foods. I was a train wreck!! This past summer I finally threw away my size 16 “fat pants”…I am wearing a 10 now. Am I done? Not by a long shot…My health is great..I don’t get sick nearly as much as I used to; my thyroid meds have been decreased twice; I am flexible and I feel great. I am happy to say that I am Making It Happen!!!
Tammy Berrio
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