First Notice – Recovery Week Is Coming!

Just a quick reminder that Phase III of the training year is coming to an end soon, which means we will be taking a recovery week from August 29th and be back on Tuesday September 6th. This marks the last full recovery week of this year, and while we will have two shorter breaks, you are gonna want to take advantage of this one!

If you have not already, please mark it on your calendar!

Now if you are a fairly new client recovery weeks may be a new concept to you, so we have put together some resources to further explain “why we do what we do”.

I HATE Recovery Weeks!

Rest, Recover and Regenerate – It’s NOT optional

Recovery Nutrition

As always your coaches are here to answer your questions and guide you through your Get Fit NH Bootcamp withdrawals! 🙂

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean

Brittany’s Story

Brittany and mom Deidre!

It has been our privilege to work with Brittany over the last few months; we even got to go down and watch her knock some heads in the New Hampshire Roller Derby League as “Slick Tracy” 🙂

One of the things I love about Brittany is in spite of some pretty big challenges she continues to train and get better. We train a lot of clients with some form of orthopedic challenge or another, and to see Brittany move it is hard to tell anything is seriously wrong. She could have quit, but chose not to. Instead we modified her training where necessary and worked on what she could do, rather than focus on what she was “currently unable” to do.

You Rock Brittany – we will miss you!

***

Hi Guys!

As both of you know, I found out very recently that I tore my ACL in my left knee.  Not only did I completely tear it, but I tore it 3 months prior to learning about it, and continued my daily activities as if nothing was wrong!  I was diagnosed shortly after I joined Get Fit NH Boot Camp, and was really worried it would impact my ability to participate from that point forward.

I started Physical Therapy with Concord Hospital Rehab Services, and both of the Therapists were extremely impressed with my involvement in boot camp.  In reality, they both encouraged me to keep attending!

It’s one month into PT, and both of my therapists are incredibly impressed with my progress and muscle strength!  They both agree that Boot Camp has undoubtedly helped me in strengthening key muscles, as well as increased my balance!  I’m so sad that when I move north I won’t have boot camp to look forward to (yes, I really did just admit that!) anymore.

I want to thank Dean and Erin for being great coaches, and for helping me adapt exercises, and pushing me so hard.  The road to recovery after surgery will be far easier thanks to the help both of you have given me!  Thank you so much!

– Brittany

First Look: Our Meal Movement Experiment

Caliente Chicken with Normandy Vegetables

It’s no secret that eating supportive healthy foods in the right amount at the right time is essential to weight management, health and performance.

It’s also no secret being consistent with the above can be really, really hard. Most of live a lifestyle that makes preparing “3 squares” a day challenging at the least, and at times practically impossible.

Believe it or not, Nancy and I are no different from you. Two training facilities, 10 training sessions a day, 3 kids at home, a business to run – it can get pretty busy around here. We are not immune to the temptation to go through the drive thru, and no matter how “healthy” the menu, that’s usually just not a good choice.

Nancy is fantastic at getting organized in the kitchen, having good choices on hand, and she cooks a lot of meals. But there are days it just isn’t going to happen. The hardest time for us is dinner on training days. Nancy is coaching a class at 4:00pm, and I am watching the kids until it’s time for me to drive to Concord to coach the 5:30pm. Believe it or not I actually do cook evening meal once in awhile, but usually I am finishing up paperwork and spending some time reading to the kids or playing with them.

So when our friend and fellow coach Jason Yun told us about “The Meal Movement”, we were ready to listen. Especially when he told us that fitness professionals were an integral part of designing the program.

Monterey Jack Chicken Sticks with Caribbean Blend

What is “The Meal Movement”?

What if I told you there was a way to get the “PP” part of PPW (Protein, Produce and Water) in an easy to prepare, great tasting, and relatively inexpensive way?

That you could literally have at your fingertips 100’s of different combinations of great tasting PPW meals that you could prepare and eat in as little as 5 minutes?

I didn’t believe it either, because when it comes down to it, most food from the “big boys” of weight loss (you know who they are JC, WW, NS) are full of artificial ingredients, heavy on the starches, and taste, well – sorta nasty.

But I trust Jason, so when it told us the food was 98% unprocessed and tasted great, we suspended the skepticism and placed an order. It took about 10 minutes, and we got to choose from 15 different types of breakfasts, 22 vegetables,  28 lunch/dinner entrees, and 10 different snacks. For our first order we ordered everything on the entire menu so we could get a good idea of what we liked.

Check Out The Complete Menu Here

Three days later the food arrived via FEDEX, packed inside a styrofoam cooler in dry ice. Out of the cooler and into the freezer it went.

Mesquite Chicken with Summer Squash

Taste Test

No time like the present, so for dinner that night we had our first “Meal Movement” meal. Nancy chose the Caliente Spicy Chicken with Normandy Vegetables, and I had the Monterey Jack Chicken Sticks with the Caribbean Veggies.  In your package you also get a “Sweet Garlic Vegetable Sauce” which I really like.  You can either prepare the meals in a conventional oven or microwave them. Being marginally impatient, I chose to “nukem”. The pictures in this post are all foods we prepared and ate – they taste as good as they look!

In our little dinner party of two, the verdict was unanimous – the Meal Movement food was really good! The vegetables were crisp, the protein was seasoned nicely, it was enough food – what more can you ask for?

First Impression – The Meal Movement is a winner!

Nothing since has changed my mind. Everything we have tried to date has been good if not excellent. Chalk it up to different tastes, I am not a huge fan of the shaved chicken for instance, and I like the mixed vegetable blends better than the individual veggies, but the good news is I don’t have to order anything I don’t want. There is such a wide variety of choices I can’t see many people not finding a bunch of choices they really, really like.

Spicy Chicken with Sicilian Blend

How To Use “The Meal Movement”

There are two primary ways I suggest the Meal Movement food can be integrated into your nutrition program.

The first I’ll call “The Total Package”. This is for the person who is really struggling getting a handle on what to eat, how much to eat, and when to eat it. My recommendation is to order 28 days of food – Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks – and just eat!

A couple things will happen. You will begin to see the effects of eating PPW, without having to think about food preparation. Your body will feel better because you are actually eating real food, every meal, every day. You will begin to understand portion control – once your plate is empty, you are done!

The second strategy is the one Nancy and I have been using.  I’ll call it the “Life is Crazy Package”, and it consists of always having some Meal Movement food in our freezer. I am writing this note on a Tuesday, and it’s now 3:45pm. Nancy is headed out to the gym, the kids need attention, and I have about an hour before I head off. Before I go, I am going to head to the freezer, grab a protein and a bag of veggies, heat them up and get to eating. It just works!

Next Steps

Click Here to take a look at the Meal Movement website.   Explore and discover for yourself all the different combinations and choices you have with The Meal Movement.

Ask us questions. We will be glad to sit down and put together a menu with you, then help you place the order or place it for you.

In the near future we will do a “Meal Movement” workshop where you can get your questions answered and you can try the food out for yourself.

Look at this as another tool in your toolbox. Learning to eat a supportive “diet” is challenging, but actually applying that knowledge can be even harder. We believe that integrating the Meal Movement into your busy lifestyle is just one more way to make your life easier and get you closer to your goals.

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean

Get Fit NH Bootcamp Success Stories – Judy Swain

We got some fantastic before and afters of Get Fit NH Bootcamp Superstar Judy Swain.  She shared some pics of the dress she wore to here sisters wedding before she started with us, and now the dress is swimming on her! We got a couple pics of Judy in her training gear as well…Wow, great job Judy!!!

Judy in her own words

Judy's dress then and now

“Remember S3? (Sizzlin’ Summer Slimdown that started at the beginning of the year) One of the “What do I want to accomplish in my fitness program” on my Goals Assessment sheet was to do stretch/mild exercise on the non-bootcamp days and during recovery weeks.

Even though we were in Delaware for the recovery week, I managed to use the tennis ball for self massage, the wall to stretch my shoulders and the somewhat inferior stretchy theraband (so glad I now have my own purple band) to do band walks in the our hotel room.

But the best part was in the S3 “Why do I want to accomplish these goals?” where I put down I wanted to be able to enjoy our grandchildren. I can and do! Our little grandson is a bouncy machine at just over 22 pounds. He loves to use his little legs while you hold his hands to bounce over and over and over ferociously.

Judy is looking and feeling great!

Even at 22 pounds, that’s 2 more pounds than I usually lift at bootcamp, and hanging out in that squat position my non-dominant forearm felt it only slightly.

My 2 other S3 “What do I want to accomplish in my fitness program” goals were to have nutrition ingrained (natural to plan/prep/deal appropriately with surprises) and to think and act like a thin person. I think I’m getting closer to those as well.

The bootcamp benefits just keep coming! Since I joined the bootcamp family I’ve lost close to 60 pounds. Thanks so much!”

Judy from 6:15

Slamball T-Shirt Contest Winner

That's Robin In The Middle! 🙂

We received a bunch of great entries for our “Bounty is Off the Slamball” contest, but alas we could choose only one winner!

The top secret design has been handed off to Craig at Shirtmasters (no pressure to get it done now – huh guys?) so he can put his highly skilled eye to work on a proof.

So thank-you to all who entered, but a special congratulations to 9:00am Epsom superstar Robin Weddleton for submitting the winning design!

Robin will have the distinction of getting her hands on the first shirt produced, as well as copy of the best nutrition info on the planet – Precision Nutrition!

Thanks Robin!

Just One Thing

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.

Just.One.Thing

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.

• Not eating breakfast? Eat breakfast every day for a week. I don’t even care what, just eat something.
• Vegetables never pass your lips? Add them to just one meal every day for a week.
• Skipping Meals? Make sure you get in three every day for just one week.

Then build off that success. It might look like this:

• Add a protein to your breakfast (eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese) every day for a week.
• Eat vegetable at two meals, every day for a week.
• Leave the starchy foods off the last of your three meals of the day, every day for a week.

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.

Accountability

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…

• Don’t wait for perfection to get started
• Don’t expect everything to go perfectly once you have started
• Don’t try to do everything at once
• Be Accountable

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

Mark Your Calendars!

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.

Client Success Workshop Next Wednesday

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

Designed With You In Mind

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:

• Progress stops
• You get hurt
• Progress stops because you get hurt

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

Bounty is off the Slamball, but you can still win!

Alright guys, I am crying uncle, because of your Get Fit NH Bootcamp awesomeness!

As most of you know we put  a bounty on the slamballs – you break one, you get $50! Well an unexpected turn of events occurred – our training methods are so effective 🙂 that you are breaking a ton of them. The picture to the right of you shows the carnage over the last few months, and you have broken 3 in the past two weeks!

Now I don’t expect you to stop the max effort, but it’s getting a little expensive to replace the med balls and pay the bounty, so this is what we are going to do…

Have a contest!

We are going to give a custom “Slam Ball Buster” T-Shirt to everyone who breaks one, and we want your help coming up with the design.

So come up with your best “Slamball” worthy design and slogan, and the totally impartial judges will deem the best and get them printed up!

The winner of the design contest will of course get their own shirt plus a copy of Precision Nutrition V3 ($97 Value!)

So let’s see what you got, and…

Make It Happen!