Tara was a part of the Get Fit NH family before I started here and I am glad she decided to come back! She is an extremely consistent example at the 6:15 class who always works extremely hard and I can count on to give it her all and want to always improve. I would ramble on, but Tara has a lot of experiences to tell you about that I don't want to take away from. 

"Why did you choose Get Fit NH?

I was always very active as a young girl and teenager - I played every sport I could, all throughout grade school and high school. And then came adulthood and I found myself doing zero, zilch, nothing to keep my body active and fit. I have a “sit-down-in-front-of-the-computer” job and started noticing small aches here and there and stiffness in my hips when would get up from my work station and it really made me feel, well, old. I signed up at the local gym on 4 different occasions and, no lie, went about 3 times. It just was not the scene for me. I had no instruction, no oversight and no motivation, therefore, I didn’t go!

I was lucky enough to have a friend talk me into giving Get Fit NH a try in 2010. A two-week trial period is genius because it was the perfect amount of time to get me hooked! I struggled with finding a program that 1) kept my interest, 2) fit with my busy schedule/offered classes early enough that I could go before work and 3) had instructors that would motivate me and most importantly, push me to be accountable. Get Fit NH offers all of these things and, little did I know at the time, much more!

What changes did you notice in the first few weeks after joining?

What outside of Get Fit NH has become easier since starting?

I have completely changed my eating habits since joining Get Fit NH. I am amazed that most of my diet is whole foods now and how easy it is. I love all of the recipes, videos and helpful hints that are shared by both the coaches and Get Fit Family.

What are your goals?

I really, really, really want to be able to do a pull up some day :o) Other than that, my goals are to stay committed and be accountable, keep increasing my weights and to try to stick with the 90/10 eating habits.

What is your favorite part of Get Fit NH?​

It is not possible to pick just one favorite…

1) I love the MyZone program. It is a fabulous way to track your workouts and how hard (or not hard) you are working. It keeps me very motivated when the coaches yell out, “I should be seeing everyone in the yellow zone!”. Another great feature of the MyZone is to become connected with other people on the MyZone App. I have a couple of connections and we all can see each other’s workout information. We like to see who gets the most MEP’s per month.

3) Get Fit NH Family. I love that I see the same faces every morning at 6:15-it proves that everyone who attends, loves this program and is dedicated. I think it speaks volumes to see the same people, every morning at 6:15 (or whatever time your class is), 4 days per week, year after year. I’m also thankful to everyone who is kind enough to let me know when I’ve ventured off from my group and am at the wrong station :o)

4) The Coaches-I truly admire and respect all of the coaches. You are all so dedicated and good at what you do and it is obvious you are completely invested. You all have such a hectic and strange work schedule - I don’t know how you do it…but you do and I am grateful. Thank you for always correcting me when I am not doing something quite right. Thank you for pushing me to pick up a heavier weight or put the red band back and get the black band, and to ‘get that last rep in’. I may make not-so-nice faces at you when you are telling me to do it but I truly am thankful that you do.

Thank you Get Fit NH for making me a stronger, healthier, happier me!”

-Coach Adam

As my knowledge base has grown when it comes to human physical development over the years, I always realized how important physical activity was. However, only in the last little while, especially while preparing for our Athlete Academy for ages 9-12 this summer, have I realized just how important it is to kids. As I coach more and more kids and visit schools, I see things I honestly cannot remember from when I was younger. Kids don’t seem to know how to “play” and, consequently, they don’t seem to move well.

All those things we did as kids, without even thinking about it, are the things that helped teach us how to move well and be active. How many of you reading this remember there being as many kids as there are that don’t like being active? Kids that hate gym, that take no joy in it whatsoever? I understand that some of us liked it more than others, that some were better at certain sports or games than others. Maybe instead you enjoyed hiking, climbing trees, or riding bikes. Either way, you were active. How many kids do we see today that enjoy none of those things? I would wager a pretty healthy amount.

I believe this problem comes from a lack of confidence or enjoyment from doing active activities. A kid that hasn’t played and hasn’t developed some semblance of coordination or physical ability will have more trouble in physical settings and be prone to being embarrassed and not want to do it at all.

The flip side comes from the development side. I want you to think about something before you continue - which was more challenging, your 1st squat thrust or burpee? Or your 100th? (Not in a row, but over time). It is the 1st, right? Your body wants to work as easily and efficiently as possible, but it has to learn how first. This is why the first time you do an exercise it may feel impossible, but in repetition it begins to be less challenging. If children don’t move, play and experience different movements, even hiking or bike riding will be pushed away because they require so much more effort than they would for you or I who have experienced it over and over again.

If you live in a town or area that your kids can’t really get out and play, help them out - do fun things outside in the summer. Go hiking, run along the beach, go out back and play catch with different balls. Just help your child get moving in different ways. Whether they realize it or not, you will be helping them out for years to come.

-Coach Adam

I hail from the Great Plains of Nebraska. I was born with crooked legs and had to wear braces to straighten them out for years when I was an infant and toddler. Growing up, I was also the kid that was always too skinny. Some people would say this is a good thing but it was an issue when it came to playing football in high school. That was an era where strength conditioning was becoming common place in the high schools. My experience with weight training started in the high school program in the mid ‘80s and I loved it immediately. I didn’t get much bigger, but I did get much stronger.

After high school, I continued to train with weights and run. I also began my life in coaching as I assisted with the high school wrestling program for grade schoolers. Coaching is very fulfilling, fun, sometimes frustrating, but so satisfying.

When I was 21 I joined the US Navy and was stationed in Adak, Alaska and Yokosuka, Japan. I am also a veteran of Desert Storm as a crew member of the USS Bunker Hill (CG-52). While in Alaska, on a remote island out in the middle of the Aleutian Islands, I was a volunteer assistant wrestling coach for the base high school. This is where I realized I had a knack for coaching as every member of our team qualified for the Alaska State Wrestling Tournament my first year assisting with the program.

After I honorably discharged from the NAVY (just to be clear), I enrolled in two art schools in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Art is also a talent of mine and I continue to create every opportunity I can. But, like a lot of people, while in college this is where my physical activity dropped off considerably and I was not very consistent as I was becoming unfit for the first time in my life. I was also blessed with the birth of my first child, while still going to college, I did not make time for my physical training.

When my family and I decided to move from Minnesota to Kansas, once settled in our new home I knew I had to get back in shape. I immediately got back into a regular training routine after settling in. While in Kansas, I also got back into coaching in grade school soccer. I loved being around the kids and meeting their families, teaching them about the fundamentals, teamwork, sportsmanship and what it means to take that into their personal lives as well.

As the years moved on and I was approaching 40, I was craving to be more competitive. Simply training with weights and running was not fulfilling me as it once I had. I decided to start playing rugby for the Topeka Wizards RFC. It was exactly what I needed. One thing about my personality is that I love practice. It would kill me to miss any time on the pitch. Once my first season was complete, I was elected “Rookie of The Year” at 40 years old! I was elevated to team co-captain and media director for the club the following seasons.

One of the many lessons rugby taught me is that, if you want to do it, do it! You are never too old.

Again, my family and I decided it was time to pack up and try something new, so we made our way from the Midwest and moved to New Hampshire in 2013. We love it here! I am now the soccer coach of Strafford School and a volunteer art instructor at the Hill Library in Strafford. My family has really thrived here.

In 2014 I decided I wanted to take my passion for fitness and helping others develop theirs, I began my personal training certification process. Before I came to GET FIT NH, I started out with one on one personal training, which I enjoyed a great deal. Now that I am on Dean and Nancy’s team, my personal and professional growth has been tremendous. I have learned so much about coaching and the leadership at GET FIT NH has really worked hard to give me the tools and information I need to become the best coach I can be. Meagan and Adam have been nothing but the best in helping me settle in and to develop my coaching skills. The students at the gym have been so awesome and welcoming. It is the students that make it all worth it. It is only going to get better.

GET FIT NH is a fantastic training facility and it is exciting to be part of a system that MAKES IT HAPPEN!

Anyone else wake up after a day of picking weeds and planting flowers and feel like they just got hit by a truck?

Yard work can be a KILLER on your back. We see it every spring and summer when the weather starts to get nice we start to hear about how planting those pretty flowers did a number on your back.

I think we can all agree that when we are working in the garden, we are in a terrible position. Bending at the waist, sitting in awkward positions to try and find relief…we push through it, because we want to look at pretty flowers.

Good news! You can still look at pretty flowers and save your back from the unnecessary pressure. Here are three things you can do while gardening to protect your back.

1) A super deep squat. Hanging out at the bottom of your squat while picking weeds is a great way to keep your back safe. Remember all of the Get Fit NH coaching cues! Chest and shoulders up, knees out, weight on the heels! This is how I picked weeds for a while yesterday and my back feels just fine today.

2) Tall kneeling or half kneeling position. You guys practice this all the time in training. When you are planting flowers in the ground, try it from one those positions to protect your back from painful positions.

3) Sumo stance. We do sumo deadlifts in training who said we can’t do sumo gardening? For those of you with knee issues try going wide with your stance and hinging at the hips or even sitting in a chair with a wide stance and hinging.

The constant bending at the waist is going to put a lot of unnecessary stress on your back. If you are sick of being in pain for days after working in the garden, then let’s pay attention to how we are doing it!

Flowers are pretty, but with a pained back you won’t be able to go outside and look at them and smell them!

-Coach Meagan

For those of you who have or are athletes in the 13-18 year old range, this event is for you! The combine will be comprised of 5 events that kids all over the country are also doing in order to test their power, quickness, and speed.

The best part is this event is completely FREE!!! I want to get as many kids as possible in here to pack the building and test their skills. 

If you have any questions about the event or any other part of the Athlete Academy program, please contact me (Coach Adam) or just come down on July 22nd and participate. See you all then!

-Coach Adam
adam@getfitnh.com

Athlete Academy Summer Combine for Ages 13-18

Date: Saturday, July 22nd

Time: 12:00pm

Location: Get Fit NH Concord

When I first began running Athlete Academy a little over a year ago now, I wanted to highlight a student who had been in the Academy and liked it. However, now that Sam is a year removed from his start, I have seen how much he has grown and how hard he has worked. I wanted to get an update from Sam after seeing him accomplish more and more.

What changes have you noticed since starting Athlete Academy?

Ever since starting athlete academy last summer, it would seem fitting that I have become more overall athletic. I have noticed clear improvements in multiple physics traits such as speed, strength and agility. I've begun focusing more on how to do physical activities correctly and with proper form to increase efficiently.

​What outside of Athlete Academy has become easier since joining?

Since starting academy, my strength and speed have both improved significantly which is just generally useful for most physical sports and activities and just being active.

What have you accomplished since joining?

Since joining academy I have passed landmarks and records that I never would've thought possible. I've been lifting amounts of weight that over a year ago I would've thought would be way out of my realm of possibility and have seen improvements in speed. I was able to make it on my track 4x100 team that got 4th at states.

What is your favorite part of Athlete Academy?

What makes athlete academy so great for me and what motivates me to get out of my bed on Saturday mornings is just how it makes lifting weights and working out fun. Working out with a group of people can be great for motivation and pushing you. When you are close with those people and they're your friends and you just enjoy being with them, it makes working out seem less like a struggle and pain, and more of just an activity that we can all share and do together and allows us to push each other and strive for much greater heights than if we were alone.

How has Athlete Academy affected your performance?​

Since joining academy, I have noticed I have become both stronger and faster, but one of the biggest things is that I haven't gotten injured. In academy, we work on getting stronger, but also keeping our bodies healthy. Last track season, before I was in academy, I had a hip injury that resulted in me missing a good portion of the track season and missing out on being on a relay team. Well, this season I didn't get injured at all and was able to perform to my peak ability.

Great job, Sam, keep working hard!
-Coach Adam

I felt the need to write this blog after a conversation that I had with a couple parents recently. As a kid that was overweight much of my childhood life and into my adolescent and college years, I know how it feels to have those “scared straight” doctors’ appointments. I’m here to tell you that its not what the frightened kid needs to hear to help them out. I am not here to put down doctors or medical professionals, I am just here to say that as a young kid all that talk did was bury me further in the hole.

As adults, we understand that something needs to change. We understand that we have the power to make a change and that the only thing stopping us is us. We understand what effects being obese have on an aging body. We understand that having Type 2 Diabetes is going to make life very challenging. Also, as educated individuals many of you have come to learn that through a healthy lifestyle Type 2 Diabetes can be mitigated if not negated almost entirely.

A child coming in to a doctor’s office hearing that they are obese, at serious risk for diabetes, or if they continue along a current trend will end up at weight “x” is debilitating. Most kids at that age cannot separate that, and they feel it is a judgment on them as a person and are more likely to be depressed and run into even more trouble down the road. Or in certain cases (mine in particular) they might get even bigger because they don’t understand that there is a way out.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not understating the seriousness here - childhood obesity is an epidemic in this country as is Type 2 Diabetes. Both of which are extremely serious and steps need to be taken to correct it. The problem I see is the scared straight tactic I see being used on kids, and was used on me. To this day, I am slightly phobic of the doctor’s office because of it. So the message is this, your kid is not a bad kid because he/she is overweight. Yes, they may be in danger, but a 7 to 16 year old child is not going change out of fear, they are going to change out of understanding, patience, and guidance. Trust me, this is coming from a kid who lived it.

-Coach Adam

Have you ever seen 3 emus and a penguin all stacked on top of each other? That is the distance of inches lost if you combine each participant’s loss in their waist measurement at Get Fit NH’s Sizzlin’ Summer Slimdown Challenge.

Have you measured a Beluga whale? If you could (or when you did) you’d find it was the same distance if we added up each S3 peep’s hip measurement that was lost when combined.

How cool is that?

I haven’t even mentioned that as a group we lost one thousand three hundred and sixty two pounds. That’s 5,448 sticks of butter!

Take a sneak peek into the Top 10 Winning Team’s minds. It will inspire you to achieve more than you believe you can.

What one thing did you do well over the six weeks of Sizzlin' Summer Slimdown?

AnnMarie from Team Vacation Money wrote: “Meal planning was key. Sticking to the meal plan, and avoiding the candy and ice cream at work.”

Andria from Team Chafing the Dream filled us in on her daily wins: “ I drank a lots of water. I was able to stay on track when I unexpectedly had to stay with my Mom as she recovered from surgery. Stuck to eating real foods. When I eat healthy I find I am satisfied and have no cravings!”

Lauren from Team Rose and Ginger said one day: “I said no to cake! Lol- it wasn't easy! But...it was worth it and rewarding. And I was also surprised with how it wasn't even on my radar after I had an apple.”

Millie said that she: “Found great ways to serve veggies, including fiddlehead ferns and daikon radishes.”

When we asked the top 20 people what we could do to help them one week, here are some of the things that were mentioned.

"I feel things are going well so far and can't think of anything right now. I just need to stay focus and on track.” -Wayne

"Honestly, a cheat meal. I haven't had one since April 6th. Probably Mexican food, lol”
-Katie

"Just by being here for us. I love that coach Adam pushes me to challenge and push myself! Give me more!!” -Evelyn

"Having lots of protein and veggies cooked at all times. Bulk is key to sanity!! Trays of meatloaf and sausage from previous Get Fit recipes are my savior as well as frozen bags of cauliflower in bulk to mash in” -Kim

"I realize that I don't need to eat as much as I was eating before. I went 6 weeks without it.” -Lori

"Eating! Keeping things super simple” -Melissa

Your favorite go-to meal during S3?

"Ground turkey sausage/baked egg/green beans w/mushrooms/riced cauliflower and of course hot sauce!!" -Scott

Where would they hide a giraffe?

"In the 54 acres behind my house! Lol! And I would visit her all day long! Her name will be Princess!"

"Why hide it, I’d show it off!"

And when they play Rock/Paper/Scissors, none of them will pick paper!

Seriously, all S3 peeps worked hard to change themselves. It was through consistently eating just real food over and over that led them to great change. The Grateful Plate can be accessed 24/7/365 to help you achieve your own success without having to wait for next year’s Sizzlin' Summer Slimdown Challenge.

The deep squat is a functional movement and requires many different patterns to be working efficiently in order to maintain position. During this particular test we are analyzing the functionality of many of the components we tested previously, but now we are asking you to utilize them all together. The deep squat took place with your heels elevated on the board or on the floor and with a dowel rod pressed overhead.

What is this band for?

During this movement assessment we are looking to see if there is adequate hip, ankle, and thoracic spine mobility, and also proper core stability to complete the pattern. Leaning forward, inability to get the hips below parallel, and pain are the 3 major things we are looking for that will raise a red flag and therefore add in that purple wristband!

What does this mean when it comes to exercise?

If there is pain associated with this movement (often times felt in the knees), a large lean forward, or not quite enough mobility to get the hips to the desired depth, we want to improve all of these areas before adding an external load or stressing our extremities past what they can currently tolerate. Working through range of motion exercises will be beneficial at the current moment.

Examples of exercises not performed with a purple band:

• Loaded squats (kettlebells, dumbbells, resistance bands)
• Jumping

How can I work to get out of my band? I want to do some of those exercises!!

As stated previously, making sure we have proper mobility of the ankles and hips and stability of the trunk will be important for performing the deep squat. Therefore, you will want to incorporate the exercises listed below into your daily routine!

1. Adductor Mobes

How to perform:

• Start by kneeling down on your left knee and placing your right leg extended straight out to the side.
• Make sure to keep your right foot flat on the floor and your toes pointing forward.
• Place your hands on the ground in front of you, with your hands just underneath your shoulders.
• Rock your body forward and then sit back as far as you can.

Repeat: 5x on each side

1. 1/2 Kneeling Ankle Mobes

Purpose: Improve ankle mobility- dorsiflexion

How to perform:

• Set yourself up in a half-kneeling position with your L foot forward. Set the dowel rod up outside of the pinky on the L foot.
• While holding onto the dowel rod, drive your L knee to the outside of the dowel rod, away from your midline.
• Pause for a few seconds, reset to starting position, then drive knee forward again. Keep repeating these steps.
• *Focus on keeping the heel L heel on the floor the entire time.

Repeat: 1 minute on each side

Let's conquer this band!

Today I want to share with you my Pro Coach experience. Pro Coach is our nutrition coaching portal which is coached by the one and only Coach Nancy. Today I want to share with you how Pro Coach has completely changed my way of eating and helped me achieve some consistent results.

Focusing on one habit at a time. This has been HUGE! You don’t have to do any of the thinking with the habits. Pro Coach sets you a new habit to focus on every 3 weeks. This has been a game changer for me. I have never been more tuned in when I am eating than I am now. Habits like eating until your 80% full/leaving food on your plate. Slowing down when I eat. These are small habits that have changed the way I eat.

Another HUGE benefit to Pro Coach is how engaging it is. You write your own “Owner’s Manual.” You discover where your weaknesses are and help yourself overcome those obstacles. The best part is that your coach (Nancy) is reading your responses and helping you dig even deeper and take another step toward success. The feedback alone from my coach has been so valuable and life changing. It is okay to have a bad day and it is a place to check in and measure your progress.

This is a lifelong version of the Sizzling Summer Slimdown (S3.) It puts nutrition in front of you every single day. It provides a short lesson about where your focused habit is and has you check yes or no daily on your habit. On top of all of that, bi-weekly you share your results and it measures your progress over time. I have been doing Pro Coach since April and as of two weeks ago these were my results (be transparent, right?).

This program is worth it. I am talking to you not only as coach, but also as a human being who struggles with nutrition and needs accountability to stay on track.

-Coach Meagan