This week Coach Adam talks about why we should strength train and how it helps in many different areas.

Facing your fear with the floor

The floor is your friend! You must become confident and friendly with the floor, for if you don’t the floor will win if and when you fall.

This is a tough topic to write about. Especially from the perspective of a 30 year old woman with no hip or knee challenges. Please don’t write off this blog, because my biggest hope and dream for you is to not be afraid of the floor and I know together we can get there.

So here’s a scenario…you had a knee replacement,  or a hip replacement or maybe you are 100 pounds overweight. The floor IS a scary place! Will you be able to get up if you get down? What if you can’t get up? Maybe it will cause you discomfort to be on the floor. Our encouragement to you is that you DO get on the floor at least once during the training hour. It is so important that you build the confidence to get down. You can use a bench or even a coach to help you off the floor. I understand this may make you uncomfortable or embarrassed, but what happens if you fall in a setting that is not controlled? And what if you are alone and your phone is not within arms reach? What are you going to do? My husband, who is a fire fighter, responds to these types of calls and it is call a lift assist. I have no doubt that everyone who is currently walking through the door is capable of getting down and getting up with some help…no doubt. This year I have heard of more falls than ever before. The beautiful thing is each story I have heard they were able to get up with minimal scrape, is that you?

The purpose of this blog is not to shame anyone, really. It is to encourage you and give you a different perspective. Falls happen. The floor can hurt you if you never get down there. Let us help you build that confidence in a controlled setting

Make it happen

Coach Meagan

Did you know how important proper breathing is?

Did you also know it could be linked to back pain?

Check out Coach Adams Why Wednesday talking about breathing.

As you know, we recently added yoga to our schedule at Get Fit NH. Each Sunday (starting back March 10th) we are lucky to have Nicole Detellis in the house from 9-10AM. I had never done yoga until the session we had here on Sunday. Believe it or not, I have always found it a little intimidating. This class was definitely geared toward beginners and was super easy to follow along. She did a wonderful job explaining what we were doing and coaching the breathing along the way. She also recognized that many of us are coming from a fitness enthusiast background and we are fast driven types of people…she did a great job reigning this in. Here are three thought I took away from my first experience

1. Anyone can do this. Kids, adults, seniors….everyone. Men, women, big, small….everyone. Yoga is a great practice to get in tune with your body and recognize what moves and what does not move. There are many different forms  of yoga, Nicole’s approach was gentle to start, but will have the ability to progress and regress as needed

2. Breathing. It is important. We coach it here all the time. One of the things I loved about Nicole was her lingo matched beautifully with ours. She did an excellent job describing exactly where you are breathing into in each position and where we should be feeling the stretch and how we could make it more aggressive and less aggressive. The breathing she described was easy to transfer into everyday life and the training floor and it makes a difference!

3. Yoga is a great addition to a strength training program. We feel tightness, we feel sore muscles, we are constantly go, go, go. Yoga is great way to listen to your body and quiet your mind. That was the hardest part for me…quieting the mind! We are busy people. When we are constantly go, go, go we are in that fight or flight mode and never really letting ourselves come down from that is not healthy physically or mentally.

Coach Meagan

The body and mind are very much connected in health and fitness. According to the Mayo Clinic, “exercise helps prevent and improve a number of health problems including high blood pressure, diabetes and arthritis. Research on depression, anxiety and exercise shows that the psychological and physical benefits of exercise can also help improve mood and reduce anxiety.”

The demands of “modern life” can overwhelm even the best of intentions. Depression and anxiety are at the highest recorded levels. We know how the mind can cause us to develop negative behaviors and attitudes. We can often times become stuck and find ourselves repeating the same unhelpful behaviors. This reduces our ability to use what we already know and put in the effort to see new solutions or to change. We know that exercise produces the body’s natural “feel good” hormones. There may be days that you mentally and physically don’t want to come to the gym but how great do you feel after you accomplished the training? Often our mind is the biggest hurdle. Exercise can make problems seem more manageable. Focusing on exercise can give us a break from current concerns. Exercising and interacting with others are known to improve mood. The Get Fit NH Family is here to help each other. So whether you are just having a bad day, a very rough time in life or are seeking help for depression and anxiety, exercise is now recognized as one of the best things you can do for both your physical and mental health – it does your mind and body good! Even small improvements in exercise levels or healthy eating create a positive upward spiral that signal reward. Exercise will eventually become rewarding, even if that seems impossible at the beginning.

-Coach Erin

Can you perform an exercise more effectively by thinking about it?  

Brett Contreras PhD, CSCS, states research has shown that “advanced lifters can steer neural drive to and away from various muscles without significantly altering form”.  

A study was performed utilizing electromyography (EMG) to assess muscle activation on various upper and lower body exercises. When each exercise was performed the load, speed and form remained constant. The difference was which muscles were concentrated on being activated. The study showed a strong evidence of the mind-muscle connection.

Contreras states “when purposely trying not to focus on the glutes during the back extension, glute EMG activation reached just 6% of MVIC (maximum voluntary isometric contraction).  However, when trying to use the glutes, glute EMG activation rose to 38% of MVIC”.

How does this affect your training?  I want to challenge you to start “thinking” about your training.  A Get Fit NH Family member sent me a quote that I absolutely love:

“Whatever the exercise, however hard we’re working, if we’re not doing it mindfully, we’re really not doing it justice.”

My goal is for you to be able to make a connection between the exercises we do and the muscles we are supposed to be using.  Often times I see people perform rows using mostly their biceps and shrugging their shoulders. It is important to use your back muscles when performing rows because it can take pressure off the elbows and prevent the shoulders from rolling forward.  For many this does not happen naturally, so you have to use the mind-muscle connection. You have to actually think about activating and squeezing your back muscles during the row. Making the mind to muscle connection will greatly impact your training!

-Coach Erin  

One Step At A Time

Does the thought of achieving your goal ever overwhelm you?  Maybe even to the point you give up?  I have felt the same but I know giving up will never achieve the positive results I desire.  In July 2018, I won a free entrance into the Newport, RI Half Marathon.  In 2017 I was not able to walk for longer than 20 minutes due to fibromyalgia pain.  The idea of walking 13.1 miles seemed totally overwhelming.  Some people told me that I should not attempt it.  On October 7th, I completed 13.1 miles in 3 hours and 47 minutes.  I know I didn’t break any time records but I completed what I set out to do.  The start of the race goes up a pretty long and steep hill (or so it felt!).  When I was going up this hill I was not thinking about the rest of the 13 miles.  I had to focus on this point of the road.  When the pain started to set in and my heart was  pumping, I stayed focused on the task at hand, getting up that hill.  I even started to repeat a mantra under my breath, “I can do this”.  I made it up the hill and on to the next challenge.  Throughout the race, I focused on the road I was on.  I tried not to think about how many miles I had left.  Finishing the half marathon was a huge accomplishment for me. 

Completing a half marathon taught me a few many things.  

1. Goals are achieved when you are willing to take it one step at time.  I may have wanted to be done with the race by mile 8 but I had to continue moving forward to reach the finish line.  Don’t stop when your “race” gets tough!  You can achieve your goal! 
2. Don’t let slow progression deter you from reaching your goal.  I could not let the fact that people were faster than me stop me from completing the race.  Everyone progresses at a different rate.  Don’t get frustrated and give up just because you aren’t achieving your goal as quickly as you would like or in comparison with others.
3. Don’t doubt your ability.  Sure I was nervous about the half marathon but I did everything I could to stay positive and tell myself I would achieve my goal.  Your mind is one of your most powerful assets.  It can either hold you back or drive you forward.  As hard as it may be and despite the challenges, make a choice to stay positive.

I want to encourage you to take your goals one step at a time and with some determination and a positive mindset you will achieve what you set out to do!

-Coach Erin

This week in Why Wednesday Coach Adam talks about the importance of warming up. The warm up is important regardless of if you just woke up, its the middle of the day, or if you just finished a workout and are about to do another one!

I always know spring is near when we get the reminder about the Rock N Race. This is my
FAVORITE 5K of the year! If you have never participated in this event then you just have to
experience it. This is a road race (walk or run) that shuts down Main Street in Concord. There
are bands along the course rocking out and usually well over 5,000 people in attendance. This
event is family friendly, so if you have kids or grandkids or strollers then you can still join! The
Rock N Race is on Thursday, May 16, 2019 at 6pm.

Join our team, Get Fit NH & Beat Cancer. You can do that by heading over the their website

https://giveto.concordhospital.org/rock-n-race/fundraiser?tab=1. 

Just type in our team name and join the team. Proceeds go to the Payson Center. We always have a rock’n team. Once you sign up the rest of the work is done for you. We pick up the t-shirts and separate them the day before so you can pick up your shirt and bib right from the gym, easy breezy.

Let’s make a difference together,

Coach Meagan