gfnhoffice, Author at Get Fit NH Concord Gym Personal Training

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My First Spotlight!

It has been about three months being here at Get Fit NH. The work ethic I see daily from everyone that walks in the door has been amazing! No matter what the time, day, or location I am at everyone is always working hard! It is truly inspiring for me and has helped light a fire back in me!

With all the hard work I see I would like to take a moment to shine a spotlight on Melanie Kenney! Melanie has been super consistent making her training, is always in a good mood, and is always up to any challenge a coach throws her way! I was able to talk to her about her experience with Get Fit NH so far to see how she is feeling! This is what she had to say:

What brought you to Get Fit NH?

My good friend who trains at GetFit recommended it to me. Her and I used to work out together at another gym when I lived in town a few years ago. After I moved up north, I fell out of the routine of going to the gym. When my friend heard I was moving back to the area, she was quick to recommend this gym!

What changes have you noticed since starting?

I have noticed a big change in my stress level. Being a teacher is a tough job because it doesn’t just end when you walk out the doors. You are constantly thinking about lesson planning, meetings, how the day just went, how tomorrow will go, the kiddos and their home lives, everything!! Being able to take an hour of my day to just focus on myself and the training helps reduce and manage my stress levels. It’s been such a positive part of my routine throughout the week!

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What have some of your favorite thing been?

I love the individual attention that the coaches offer. Now that I’ve been training there for a couple months and the coaches have gotten to know me, I love how you all push me! Whether that be by switching out my weights/bands or by modifying the exercises. This is something that was not available to me at the gyms I used to go to.

What are you most proud of?

I’m most proud of how dedicated I’ve been to the training. I try so hard to make sure that I make all (or mostly all) of the classes. It’s part of my schedule and I make sure that it’s a priority.

What would you tell people who do not go to Get Fit NH?

I would recommend GetFit to anyone who was like me and needed the accountability factor. When I was paying for a basic gym membership, it was so easy for my to rationalize not going or putting off a workout. Having a specific class time and coaches who are just as invested in your training as you are helps tremendously! I look forward to seeing the coaches and the other people who train at GetFit!

Way to go Melanie! Consistency and hard work every day is such a strong building block to success! This is a spotlight well deserved!

-Coach Brian

Get Back Ups – They Can Save Your Life!

Not too long ago we did a new warm up in the gym. It was a series of getting up and down off of the floor. I think it is really important to remind you and dive deeper into the “why” behind those drills. It is a drill that we just cannot take for granted. This is a life skill that we CANNOT lose as we mature. Many of you know someone who took a digger and watched their life change dramatically.

You want to know a scary statistic? 28,000 deaths occur each year due to falls or fall related injury. 28,000! That is a huge number. You know what I bet is an even bigger number? How many people do you think ended up in a nursing home because of a fall related injury? I know of several. Training ourselves how to fall and how to get back up might be the most important skill of them all.

These drills may feel silly while you are doing them, but to tell you the truth, they can save your life. Maybe you are wondering what the point of having our left hand on our left knee was or our right hand on our right knee…let me explain that better…aside from a few laughs there is a genuine purpose there.

Picture this…You have a stroke, you are alone, the whole left side of your body is limp, but you still need to call for help. Can you pick yourself up off of the floor and get the help that you need? Maybe that is a morbid image, but it is a possible scenario.

Do not take for granted your ability to get up and down off of the floor and don’t let that skill get away from you. We have to practice it. If nothing else then maybe it will motivate you to be able to get up and down off of the floor to play with your grand-kids!

I don’t believe in too old, because I see people training in here, lifting heavy weights and totally beasting it in their 80’s. You’re not too old and neither are they! Keep training hard, because these are the skills that will help you age with grace and keep your independence!

Make it Happen,

Coach Meagan

New Just For You!

So we have good news and bad new…

The bad news.... We will no longer be ordering the Best Bar Ever. Unfortunately, Best Bar Ever was bought out by new owners who are changing how Best Bars are being made. We take a lot of pride trying to bring everyone the best supplements and bars we can find! The new Best Bars have basically been turned into sugar bars like the “Protein” bars you find at a gas station.

The good news! We have been doing some research and we have brought RXBars into both the Concord and Epsom locations! We are very excited to have these bars in for you to try and hopefully love! We love RXBars because when you pick it up the ingredients are listed right on the front of the package so you know what you are putting into your body! Plus, these bars are dairy and gluten free which is a great choice for anyone with allergies and gives you a difference from the dales bars.

We have ordered every flavor we could get out hands on! So the RXBars waiting for you to come try!

We are selling them 1 for $3 and 2 for $5!

We hope you like these bars just as much as we do!

-Coach Brian

FitRanx Badges! Read All About It!!

Many of you have heard in some form or another about the new FitRanx program we have started rolling out here at Get Fit NH. For those of you that have not, ask one of your coaches to talk with you about it. I bet you didn’t know that there is a whole other fun piece to the FitRanx puzzle!

That comes in the form of Fitranx Badges! These badges can be earned for doing a variety of different things inside and outside of the gym. I wont lie I’m actually pretty excited about them, it will give myself as well as all of you some other goals to shoot for. Maybe you haven’t done a Fitranx level yet, maybe you aren’t currently able to, maybe you just want to have some other stuff to shoot for outside of just the levels themselves. Well then this is for you!

Each badge has a certain milestone attached to it that you need to reach in order to get that badge. After you have earned that badge, your coach will present it to you and you will be able to display it proudly on your very own Fitranx nameplate!

Here's the first six releases:

Into Thin Air: Earned by climbing 100 flights of stairs in a month (1 flight= at least 12 steps)

300 lb club: Earned by having a combine Bench Press, Squat, and Deadlift of at least 300 lbs

Checkpoint: 100% Compliance on a monthly goal (must be tracked)

Triple Shot: Finishing levels 1, 2, and 3 back to back on the same day.

Water Buffalo: Consume half your bodyweight in ounces of water daily for a month.

500 lb club: Earned by having a combined bench press, squat, and deadlift of at least 500 lbs

Let's Make It Happen!

- Coach Adam

Generalized Statistics, BOOOOO!!!!!

When I say generalized statistics, Im talking about someone telling you that “50% of people will get ____________ in their lifetime”, everyone should eat 2000 calories a day, for everyone exercise is more important than diet. We are the most diverse species of animal on the planet; there is no other animal that has such huge differences from one member of the species to another. Yet we constantly hear generalizations based on groups of people. “A group of 1000 people over the age of 35 were surveyed and 50% have experienced a heart attack”. A study is put together and then those numbers are publicized or taken as gospel by people, medical profession or not, and what happens? Everyone over the age of 35 thinks they have a 50/50 shot of getting a heart attack.

Why do I bring this up? For this reason, it is important to remember that anything with science is almost never applicable perfectly from one person to another. 50% of the people in said study had a heart attack, does that mean that if you are over 35 you are automatically 50/50? Of course not, group statistics show 50% but if you pull an individual out of that group their risk will either be higher or lower than 50%.
I hate generalized statistics because they don’t tell the whole story. They lead people on the wrong path or make them feel awful about themselves or their situation when that number MAY NOT APPLY TO THEM PERSONALLY AT ALL!!!! So the next time that someone tells you that your chances of success are 50%, your chances of doing this or that are only 50%, that you only need 2000 calories a day because that’s what is recommended for all people, remember that all of us are different. Things that work for some will not work for others. Don’t let group generalizations cause you to feel you have failed or have no control over your life. The fact remains that the only person who can decide that is you.
-Coach Adam

Figuring Out Food Labels

See where it says “Start Here”?

Don’t miss that, because if you are anything like me that is NOT the first thing you look at. My tendency is to look at how many grams of carbs and sugar, then I might take a look at the fat content.

Which is fine, unless I NEVER check the “Start Here” section. Because that is where the label tells me two key facts:

1) Serving Size. This is important because the number of grams of protein, carbohydrate and fat in the label below are PER SERVING.

2) Servings Per Container: This is what sneaks up and bites you sometimes. If you just look at the calories, you might think that number is the calories in the whole container. For instance you pick up that pint of decadent ice cream and look at the calories. “Only 300” you think to yourself, “That’s not so bad.” Until after you down the whole thing only to realize later there are FOUR serving per container and you just ate enough fat and sugar for a whole week.

Some foods are less obvious than others. We know if we pick up a carton of oatmeal or boxed cereal there are multiple servings per container. But things like the aforementioned pint of ice cream, or bottle of soda or sports drink usually contain multiple servings.

So always make sure you “Start Here”.

To Your Best Health,

Coach Nancy

Don Harty is Shining

Don celebrating completing the 48 New Hampshire 4000 footers on Mt. Isolation with his kids as well as Stella. A long 13-1/2 mile hike that ended with 2 hours of night hiking by flashlight. This is his second time completing the 48 peaks, the first being 45 years ago in 1972.

Did you catch that? Don has done the 48 4,000 footers twice. There is no doubt that once Don puts his mind to something, there isn’t much that will hold him back.

He has a sense of humor that tends to sneak up on you. I emailed him the day he climbed Mt. Isolation. This is what he wrote me back: “Thanks for the note and your concerns. I am OK, just schedule challenged. Yesterday I spent 14 hours climbing my last 4000 footer which made me miss class (I was going to wear my Tu Tu on the hike but my backpack got in the way)”.

As his coach, I didn’t need to learn about his climbing 48 different peaks twice in his life so far to know that though. He has tackled getting to his goals in the last year. When he first came to Get Fit NH he wanted to a.) lose some weight and b.) increase his ability to be active at a higher level.

In less than a year he has done just that. In his first six months he lost the weight he had desired. HIs goal for the summer was to maintain his weight while he had a bit more of a relaxed mindset and traveled. He did just that.

Don has also accomplished gaining more energy to do more - hello, 48 peaks!

I want to take this time to say congratulations to Don. Being a member of the 48 Footer club takes dedication, time, energy, and grit.

The 5am crew asked Don if they could go hiking with him on his next hike. He said; “Sure, I’m going Saturday.”

Keep Making It Happen!

Honored to be his coach,
Nancy

Coach Meagan’s Weekly Review Challenge

Every Friday the Get Fit NH team does what is called a weekly review. This is a tool Coach Dean introduced a number of months ago to help us (coaches) to pat ourselves on the back for what we did well this week and set our week up for the following week. This tool was implemented to help us “turn work off” on the weekends.

This tool has proven to help my productivity tremendously and I believe everyone could benefit from this tool. If not for work, then just for self-reflection. Here is my challenge to you…

Each Friday, write down:

3-5 things you did REALLY well this week/something you are proud of (i.e.: training, meal prep, meal plan, made a good choice at a company outing, could even be meeting a work deadline, etc.)
What threw you off track and how you could have dealt with that better/what you can do instead next
ONE thing you want to work on and totally rock next week

This simple exercise is a great way to get your head clear going into the weekend and getting your week set up for success.

Who is up for the challenge?
Coach Meagan

Building a Base for Athletic Success: Mobility

Next up in the Building a Base series is mobility. Mobility, like flexibility and strength, is a major part of building the elite athlete as well as developing the active child. Mobility is, to put it simply, the ability of the joints to move in a full range of motion. Some major contributors to lack of mobility in kids as well as adults is most often lack of movement. Sitting for hours on end creates lack of mobility in the hip joint. Constant forward posture leads to lack of shoulder mobility. The other cause of lack of mobility can be inflammation from injured tissue.

Why is this important to athletes? Lack of mobility leads to a lack of power development, quickness, and also increases the risk of injury. Since the joint cannot go through a full range of motion it cannot take full advantage of the stretch and contraction of muscle tissue which will limit the amount of power that can actually be created.

The next big dip in performance comes from lack of quickness or agility. Let’s use the hips for example. The hips are the most important part when it comes to most any sport. If you are not able to open up the hips when changing direction, it will take much longer to do so. An extra second to change directions can mean the difference between first and last place.

The last major problem that we see from lack of mobility is injury. The joint is meant to move a certain range, the muscles that move the limb about the joint are a reflection of that. If the mobility of the joint is decreased, not only are we putting more pressure on the surrounding muscle tissue, but we will also have to make up the movement somewhere. Let’s stay with the same example of the hips - if hip mobility is decreased, then often the small lower back muscles have to pick up the slack. These much smaller muscles are not meant to take those big loads and this will often lead to injury.

-Coach Adam

Shining the Light on Dedication

Today the spotlight shines on one of the Symmes, and this time the honor belongs to Riley. Riley has been an extremely dedicated and hard working student who always pushes himself during class and barely misses a class. Enough from me, read below to see what Riley has to say about his journey.

"Why did you choose Get Fit NH?
I joined Get Fit after a bit of peer pressure what from what seemed like the entire rest of my family who was already participating. I've never considered myself a big "working out" person even though I love to be outside and be active. I discovered that it was becoming harder for me to enjoy those activities as much as I once did, and that was enough to get me over the ledge and join.

Riley receiving his "I Survived" shirt on the right!

What changes did you notice in the first few weeks?
I didn't notice too much physically right off the bat, just that I seemed to have more energy in general during the day. Sometime during the first month I was there, I went for a small hike and noticed that instead of getting winded fairly quickly I was just able to cruise along with very little issues.

What outside of Get Fit NH has become easier since starting?
General fitness and recovery has changed drastically since starting Get Fit. I can easily go out and do an activity such as skiing 2 or 3 days in a row and feel pretty positive that I won't get too sore or be too tired to go out the next day.

What are your goals?
When I started at Get Fit one of my main goals was to get in shape for ski season, before the season actually started. I has purchased a season pass and I wanted to take full advantage of every day on the mountain-not stop every couple hours to take rest. I didn't quite get to where I wanted to be before the season, but it didn't take nearly as long as it had in the past for me to get into the shape where I could ski a full day or two start to finish.

My goal from here is to continue to build on that progress and have an even more fun season than the last...as long as we get some snow. I also just want to continue to be a little healthier than the previous month, although I am under no illusions that its now football season.

What is your favorite part of Get Fit NH?
My favorite part about Get Fit is the accessibility. It is not far from my home or work and I know exactly how long I am going to be there each day. The multiple class times make it easy to fit into the week, regardless of what else I have going on. It really gives me very few excuses to not make it to a class everyday, and I'm not sure I would have been able to consistently keep up otherwise.

Great job, Riley! Keep up the hard work!
-Coach Adam

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