We had a blast Saturday down in Amesbury at the Warrior Dash (we’ll just forget about the parking 🙂
If you missed this one, I highly encourage you to do the next one (or two!)
Next Race:
Spartan Sprint Adventure Race, Amesbury Ma.
Check out the pics – next time will be you!
Is that what you are thinking? Maybe you just started training with us and you are unfamiliar with the concept, or maybe you just believe that your body is different than anybody else’s and you just don’t need it!
I assure you we absolutely love the fact that you want to keep working and getting better – it’s my mission today to reason with you and explain why time off absolutely makes you better!
The Recovery Curve
I saw the recovery curve for the first time during my time with Australian physical preparation coach Ian King. His principles laid the foundation for the way we program, train and especially recover here at Get Fit NH. The principles that work with professional athletes apply to us too!
The following illustrates a “good” recovery curve:
The green line represents what we are all looking for – continual, never ending progress over time. We are getting stronger, faster, thinner, better looking (ok at least that’s what I wish for).
Reality Check – ain’t gonna happen. The process of changing your body is not linear, in fact what we are looking at in an optimal training environment is more of a “One step back brings me Two steps forward”.
A closer look at the chart will help explain what I mean.
The red line represents Equilibrium. This is where your body wants to stay, no matter if your goal is losing fat, gaining lean, or both. As you have no doubt found out, forcing your body to change is hard work – really hard work. When you walk into Get Fit NH, our training is designed to elicit that change. But it’s not as simple as “working out” day after day after day. In fact as I am about to illustrate, training without proper recovery is actually hurting you, not making you better.
The blue line represents the “recovery curve”. Starting at the left hand of the chart all the lines intersect. For this illustration that point is where your first training occurred – you “worked out”.
But what’s going on?
Instead of performance going up, that line is actually heading down – this is what is called Depletion. If you think about it makes sense – you have worked hard, you are fatigued, your body is depleted of nutrients – you are spent!
Don’t worry, your body will get over it, if you treat it right! This is what we call Adaptation. Your body wants to be able to handle the increased demand that was placed on it, and starts the process of getting better.
You are in charge of if and how fast that happens. A few of the factors that influence this adaptation include Recovery Nutrition (read up!), stress levels, sleep habits, supportive nutrition, age, and training history.
The recovery curve continues with Supercompensation. Here is how Coach King describes this process:
“It is only when recovery is allowed that we see the super-compensation effect, the unique phenomenon where the bodies physical capacity is elevated in response to training, in anticipation of another exposure to the same stimulus.” – King, I, 1999/2000, Foundations of Physical Preparation
In other words your body has gotten better in response to your training, a new Equilibrium is established and this state is when we will ideally train again. Our programming at Get Fit NH is carefully designed to give this the best chance of occurring, but as I hope you are discovering, you have a lot to do with this with how you treat your recovery!
As you can see, when things are clicking, this process when repeated over and over means you are getting better and better, the blue line is headed up – pretty cool!
The flip side to all this is what happens when the recovery process isn’t working so well.
This chart represents recovery gone “bad”:
When we continue to train in a state of “Depletion”, regardless of the reason, the adaptation to supercompensation effect doesn’t occur, and instead of getting better, we find ourselves in a downward cycle. This can happen when we train the same muscle groups too soon, when we haven’t taken the steps described above to recover optimally (sleep and nutrition for instance) regardless of time between training, when we train too hard coming off an illness, etc. The last thing we want to happen is new equilibrium to be established in a downward pattern – not good.
The long and short of it is your body absolutely needs to recover from hard training. Consistently training in a fatigued state results in injury and illness. Your body is an amazing machine designed to put up with a lot, but it was also designed to need rest.
Which leads us to:
Recovery Weeks
Face it – you can get beat up anywhere. Our responsibility at Get Fit NH is to help you get better!
That includes recovery weeks. We have found that somewhere between 8 and 12 weeks of training is just about right to take a full week off and let your body recover.
That doesn’t mean that you spend your training time on the couch eating bon-bons, but if you insist on going down to PF and hitting the weights or running 10 miles every morning, your body will suffer in the long run, and perhaps even in the short term.
If you find yourself fighting this concept, ask yourself this – Is your unwillingness to take a week off a well reasoned decision based on what you know to be true, or is it that your attachment to training is so strong emotionally that makes it so hard? You will not lose all you have gained by taking the week off, I assure you! Again to quote Coach King, “…if you don’t (take time off)…most of you are going to lose it anyway!”
So now that we have established you are ready, willing and able to embrace recovery week, what do you do?
Glad you asked!
Three Steps for Successful Recovery
1.) Physical Rest and Regeneration
– Our bodies must rest and recover to prevent over-training (or under-recovering) issues so that we can come back 100% healthy and energized for the next phase of the program
– Focus on maintaining and/or increasing flexibility and tissue health by stretching and foam rolling daily. 15-30 minutes is fantastic!
– Daily restorative walks are beneficial during this week. 30-60 minutes briskly walking (not jogging/running) will keep your body refreshed and active, without negating the purpose of this week. Don’t overdo it!
2.) Physiological and Psychological Rest and Regeneration
– We must normalize key anabolic hormones, refill muscle glycogen, increase caloric intake, and prevent any diet induced catabolism (losses of lean body mass) so that we can enjoy greater fat loss for the next phase of the program
– We have taken the road less traveled by being flexible eaters with a long-term approach to success and thus we will take a break from our aggressive fat loss nutrition plans. This is not a free for all, so stay away from your “trigger foods” (junk foods and sweets) that open the door to excessive calorie intake.
– Instead plan (key word) and enjoy 2 or 3 controlled free meals to reward yourself for all of your hard work, but do not overdo it!
– Caveat: If your nutrition habits have been less than optimal, more than likely none of this applies to you. Instead now is the time to plan and prepare to make the changes necessary to see the results you want. Spend some time in our “Practical Nutrition” archives and get started!
3.) Celebrate the Fruits of Your Labor
– Take some time to reflect on how far you have come since you joined Get Fit NH Bootcamp in terms of improving your overall health, body composition, and performance
– Enjoy your results!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
We would just like to take the time to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your hard work and dedication to improving your health and fitness… keep Making It Happen!
You will never know how much this means to us and how much this is appreciated. It has been a total team effort from the start and though we provided you with all of the necessary programs to get the results that you were seeking, YOU DID ALL OF THE WORK! We cannot wait to get even better results during the next phase of the program!
It went a bit under the radar, but I wanted to make sure you all knew that some of the Get Fit NH Bootcamp family were recently honored by the American Heart Association!
The “Lifestyle Change Award” recognizes individuals who’ve made positive lifestyle changes to live longer, healthier lives (consistent with HF’s mission)—such as starting a regular exercise program, making healthier food/beverage choices, eating less junk food, and/or becoming tobacco free.
Finalists this year included our own Jeff Huckins, Karl and Jill Edelmann, and even Coach Dean!
If you don’t know their inspirational stories I would encourage you to take the time and find out what they have accomplished, and be confident you can do it too!
To your better health!
Coach Nancy
Just wanted to update you all on some news that we at Get Fit NH Bootcamp are very excited about!
You may have seen a press release in the last couple days that talks about Nancy and I signing on as franchisees with Fitness Revolution, and a number of you have asked us what it’s all about.
First and foremost I assure you that Nancy and I (or CJ and Erin) are not going anywhere. All the things that make Get Fit NH Bootcamp what it is will remain intact – a fun, supportive atmosphere, top notch coaching, an integrative training system designed to keep your body healthy and get results, and especially the best thing of all – our fantastic clients.
In fact the primary reason we agreed to sign on as franchisees is for the opportunity to join with some of the best minds in the fitness industry, in order to keep getting even better results for you our clients. We also have been brought on as regional coaches for the franchise, allowing us to share all that Get Fit NH Bootcamp goodness with the rest of the country!
We are grateful for the opportunity to serve our clients as Get Fit NH Bootcamp, and as a member of Fitness Revolution that will continue. Another reason we decided to sign on as franchisees is because within our industry “bootcamp” is becoming a very generic term that means a lot of different things – and a lot of them aren’t necessarily optimal.
When we first started Get Fit NH Bootcamp there were very few fitness programs in the country calling themselves a “bootcamp” and from the very start we differentiated ourselves. More than just “getting down and give me twenty”, our integrative training approach addresses more than just cardio with a few pushups thrown in.
Flexibility, mobility, joint health and postural awareness are critical parts of the fitness equation that are rarely addressed. Injury prevention is huge, as we seek to keep our clients active – “if you are injured you can’t train” – is a familiar refrain.
The way we actually train our clients is what we call “group personal training” – Not an instructor up in front of the class, but coaches down on the floor, instructing, correcting, encouraging and yes, pushing a little when necessary to make sure our training is safe and effective.
We feel that identifying ourselves solely as “bootcamp” does a disservice to who and what we actually are. As we have seen dozens of bootcamps spring up, we wanted to be proactive and begin that process of differentiating ourselves. Because Fitness Revolution has this “coach based” training philosophy, and because we know the caliber and character of those involved, to us it was a win-win.
So there you go.
Get Fit NH Bootcamp – a proud member of the Fitness Revolution nation!
Keep Making It Happen,
Coach Dean
Well if you have been around Get Fit NH very long, you already know the answer to that question…
A resounding NO!
While the training is hard and the sweat (“glistening” according to some of the ladies out there) flows freely, we also have a great time – no reason at all you can’t do both!
The added bonus is because we train so hard IN the gym, we can have a lot more fun being active OUTSIDE of the gym.
I encourage you to take advantage of this beautiful weather and get out in the great outdoors this summer – hike a mountain, go mountain biking, take a trip to the beach, or maybe you want to come join us for an adventure like the one we had last Saturday – now THAT was fun!
Check it out, and Make It Happen!
Coach Dean
Some more footage of our Wicked Warrior Workout edited by Jen Schwab of Schwab Communications
Thanks Jen!
Video of the Ultimate Slip.N.Slide after Warrior Dash Training – If you missed it, well, I guess you just plain missed out!
Sorta makes the ones we used as kids seem a little lame…
Can’t wait to do it again!
We had an absolute BLAST this morning at our Warrior Dash Training!
The highlight of my day was seeing the incredible teamwork as everyone got over “The Wall”, followed by the Slip.N.Slide down the hill!
You Guys Absolutely ROCK!
Have you seen the new USDA “Food Plate” that has replaced the “Food Pyramid” that has been around for what seems like forever? (Hint – look over to your right 🙂
Earlier this month (June 2nd) the government finally showed us what it’s version of healthy eating looks like, and at first glance the new look makes sense.
Take a look at the plate. It shows clearly that fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet, and it shows that protein should be eaten at every meal. Another thing I appreciate is that it shows that starches don’t need to (and usually shouldn’t) dominate your plate.
All in all, not too bad.
An improvement?
In my estimation – Yes.
However if I were to stop there this would be one of two things:
Because while there are some things to recommend with these new guidelines, if you take a closer look at things there are some further things I would (and do) modify in my nutrition plan.
Here’s a question:
What if you are lactose intolerant or sensitive to grains (gluten intolerant for instance)? Does this mean you are not getting a “balanced” diet because you are not getting dairy and/or some grains in your diet?
Nonsense!
We could rehash all the reasons why here, but the bottom line is that you don’t NEED either of those things in your diet to be perfectly healthy. That doesn’t mean I am saying never eat them, what I am saying is that often times a lot of very unhealthy things happen when you get too much dairy or grains in your diet. I don’t want to sound like a “tin-hat” conspiracy theorists, but it is safe to say that the dairy, grain, or for that matter meat industry has no little input into these recommendations – take it for what it’s worth.
My personal experience and experience with scores of clients tells me that limiting dairy and grains has a much more positive effect on body composition and just plain feeling better than the alternative.
As Dr. Jonny Bowden points out, the devil is in the details of the guidelines, with a lot of information that is just plain outdated in light of new research into low-fat diets and the like.
And while fruit is super healthy, for weight management clients in particular the ratio of fruits to vegetables is probably too high (Eat Your Veggies!)
The bottom line is that if more people take the advice and eat what’s on “MyPlate” that is certainly a step in the right direction.
More vegetables and protein, less grains?
Work for me!
Make It Happen,
Coach Dean
Dean Carlson is a Certified Professional Fitness Trainer with the National Exercise and Sports Trainers Association, a Level 2 Youth Conditioning Specialist with the International Youth Conditioning Association and is a Level 1 Certified Precision Nutrition Coach.
“Lord Almighty, I feel my temperature rising”…(must be Marvelous Monday at Bootcamp)
Monday night, 6pm Bootcamp had the whole Big Family in attendance. That would be Big Daddy (40KB), Big Mama (36KB), and Big Boy (32KB) rockin’ and rollin’ on the gym floor. If they weren’t doing the KettleBell Swing they were Deadlifted. Our Motto: GO BIG or GO HOME! Since no one left, we went BIG!
“Higher and Higher, Its burning through to my soul”…(and my core right down to my gluteus maximus)
Our Mantra: “You can do anything for 40 seconds” (or 2 minutes, or whatever is required for time). This is the class if you need motivation, they’ve got it in spades! When you are pushed to your limit… they’ll push you a little more.
Add in: the HOTTEST Trainer this side of Memphis who whispers the Challenge, “the other classes did 21 partner band rows”. With a twinkle in her eye and a slight grin, “I’m just saying…” – oh it’s ON! Green Band!
“Girl girl girl, you gonna set me on fire… it’s hard to breathe, and my chest is a heavin…”
When we are all done with our Tabata Tuesday workout someone says (& it doesn’t matter what day it is, someone always says…) “Lets go do some Hills”. Today I replied all proud of myself, ‘I already did Hills’ (yeh me!). I was then informed that I had done “PRE-Hills”, it was time for “POST-Hills” (really?!)… and out the door we went. Lynn is doing 10 hills now (U go Girl!), making our Fran proud (we miss you Fran!).
I gotta say 6pm is definitely not made up of slackers…
“My hands are shaking, and my knees are weak. I can’t seem to stand on my own two feet.”
“Who do you THANK when you have such luck, I’m in LOVE… I’m ALL SHOOK UP” (side note: I ran out of lyrics and had to switch songs, gotta love THE KING… who knew he was singing about Bootcamp?? Sven needs an Elvis soundbite- can I put in a request?)
Blog you later.
gretchen
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