Mobility, Stability and How Stretching Keeps You Healthy

Many people train at Get Fit NH Bootcamp so they have the ability to walk, run, hike, bike, ski, and swim as they wish. I say go for it. Spend your free time with family and friends moving.

Others want to be able to move again. Life doesn’t always deal us what we want. Accidents, falls, surgeries, weekend warriors; acting 19 when you are really 52 without proper training leave some people at the doctors.

Now what?

At Get Fit NH Bootcamp your coach is there to help you no matter where you fit in the fitness scale, or even if you don’t think you are on it! Our training is designed so everyone can work to their own abilities while working as hard as they can.

A huge part of our training is often overlooked in program design – Mobility and Flexibility. Mobility is achieved through foam rolling and the dynamic warmup. This is designed to get your tissue and joints ready to work.

Flexibility training (defined here as primarily post-training static stretching) is planned into each training session to keep you injury free. It is crucial. When I was in high school sports I didn’t see the need for mobility and flexibility so when I would exercise in my 20’s I would jump right in. Guess what? I had constant knee and shoulder pain. I figured I was training too hard so I quit. Yes, I quit and I all I was doing was aerobic type workouts with videos in my living room.

If only I knew what I know now!

Our muscles do not need to be just strong. They need to have the proper length and the proper tension to do the job they were designed to do. Our body is an amazing machine, but the machine needs maintenance. Each joint has a proper combination of mobility and stability that keeps the whole chain working correctly. Think of the song “ankle bone connected to the knee bone, the knee bone connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone connected to the” …. You get the idea.

During a training session our muscles contract and tend to want to stay shortened. It is vital to help them relax and lengthen back out. We accomplish this with static stretching. During our stretching periods you will benefit most by listening to your body, not the person next to you. Take the time to feel your muscles resist your coaxing. Continue breathing and focusing. As you listen you’ll find your muscles relaxing within a few seconds so you can reach a bit further. Our stretching is designed with progressions just like the resistance training we do. While stretching can be uncomfortable keep in mind it is a skill to be mastered, just like a Kettlebell swing. Perfect practice makes perfect.

Taking the time to stretch will help prevent injuries, alleviate soreness, and leave your body able to function at its best. Another benefit to stretching is your body will be able to work better at your next training session.

Still need living proof? I train harder, lift heavier, and put the VCR tapes away a long time ago. I am past the “big 4-0” by a few and I have no knee problems or shoulder issues like I did at 26.

The difference?

I stretch.

To your best health,

Coach Nancy

First Notice – Recovery Week Change

Hi guys, wanted to give you plenty of notice regarding a schedule change coming up.

The next recovery week is being changed to April 4 – April 10. This is one week later than previously scheduled.

The reason for the change is that there is a training conference that week that we attend annually from the 8th through the 10th, and rather than take a full week off and have a 3 day training schedule the next week, we moved the recovery week back.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Thanks for choosing to train with us!

Dean and Nancy

It’s Your Last Chance To Vote!

There’s only a few days left for your voice to be heard!

Click on the link to go to the Hippo Press Survey form and vote for your favorites in all sorts of categories!

We would appreciate it if you would vote for Get Fit NH in the following categories:

#8) Best Gym – Get Fit NH Bootcamp Concord

#99) Best Fitness Instructor – Nancy Carlson, Get Fit NH Bootcamp Concord

The competition is tough, so your vote counts!

Being Nostalgic…

Wicked Winter Workout, was Wicked Wild FUN! Outside, fresh air… snow in the face, down the shirt, in the pants, what’s not to like about that?!

Going nostalgic here-

Once upon a time… all workouts were outside! There was no building to workout in. We worked out with the black flies, hot sun, and mosquitoes. We slathered our bodies with Skin so Soft, bug dope and sunscreen. Then as the sweat poured off our bodies, the repellents got in our eyes. It burns! But don’t rub because now you have mud in your eye. Then there were the days toughed it out, slapping ourselves silly, running and screaming as a bee chased us. Then you had to be careful not to squish worms under our hands, or on an ant hill, or worse on a pile of… watch out for dog bombs. We left Bootcamp with dirt and grass stains caked in our hands and knees. Grass and twigs stuck in places unmentionable and how the heck did that get there?! There was definitely no going straight to work (or anywhere!) without showering. GOOD TIMES!

If it rained, well… it rained and we were still outside adding a little mud to the mix. And guess what? You got wet, some days, very wet! As it got colder, that just meant you had more laundry to do. I think we should have ‘outside fun Fridays’, just to remember our roots (or trip over the roots…)

So, the winter workout was a BLAST! A great turnout… complete with snow squalls, chilly temperatures, and crusty snow.

Welcome to Bootcamp People, now crawl between the cones and lunge in the knee high snow. Drop down in the snow and get back up… 20 times! Drag a tire behind you, just an afterthought, being the first to make tracks, not the best plan. Run up ‘The Hill’, but first you have to get down to the bottom… without being steam rolled by your friend (whoops, didn’t quite get out of the way in time). We had tons of laughs, lots of ‘I’ve fallen and I can’t get up’ moments. Ok and maybe just maybe our ‘snowballs’ were a little bigger than our hands, because of course there was a little competition involved.

I went in to Bootcamp today with a big ol’ smile on my face as I revealed my ‘Wicked War Wounds’… the legs are all bruised up, and scraped up. I think I mortified the 9am Ladies. Even Nancy… But someone had to break the trail through the snow. That someone was me and Kathy (I haven’t talked to her but I bet we can compare scars this week). We attacked that Hill… rolling down it, and body surfing head first (is there any question where I’ve acquired any of my bruises). I wear them like a medal of honor, a right to passage. Oh you better believe I’m a die hard Bootcamper and love every minute of it!

I just won’t be entering any ‘best legs’ contests this week. Or maybe I will just to prove ‘tough is beautiful’ ! I don’t think they give prizes to ‘Numb-skull headedness’ but I take FIRST PRIZE!

Blog you later.

gretchen

Theresnowstoppinus at the Wicked Winter Workout!

We had a great time at the 1st annual Wicked Winter Workout!

A very cool (very, very cool 🙂 training session followed by a healthy hot breakfast to thaw out a bit (complete with Nancy’s secret “frosting” recipe).

Thanks for the good times!

The 6pm MACHINES!

So, I’ve had writer’s block this week… until today! All week I would get a random thought in my head but nothing would mesh. No surprise there, it’s rare for my thoughts to mesh and make sense to a normal person.

Thanks goes out to my girl Robin! She totally rocks the 9:00am Ladies Class. She threw out the Spring Training Challenge for the day.

It was Spring Training Fun Friday with a game of baseball. Not your average, sit on the couch watching your baseball team play. Complete with a little happy nappy, a little refreshment and snack baseball game. Oh, and did I mention a little nap baseball game?!

It’s Get Fit NH BOOTCAMP Baseball! = No NAPS!, NO snacks, and NO couch!! It’s 1st base jumping jacks (?); 2nd base Ins/Outs; 3rd base StarJumps in order to score a run for your Team. OR a home-run is 25  squat thrusts. Actually, I’m not certain how many reps of each exercises 1st,2nd, & 3rd were because I’m a Home-Run girl. Just like Babe Ruth, I am pointing out to the stands – batter up baby! The only reason I remember all the exercises at all is because I was ‘lucky’ enough to demonstrate with 5 reps of each one at the start of the game.

Note to self:  DO NOT arrive late for Nancy’s class!! Late arrivals become exercise demonstrators! (By the way… do I get to add the 5 squat thrusts to my total?)

Now for Robin’s Challenge: If we could beat her 350 squat thrusts, she would come back at 7:15pm to make up the difference.

Ooh… a Challenge!! If you haven’t met me, you should know I love a Challenge! Gotta love Robin because she knows this about me. What she may not have figured on is that there are several 6:00pm Challenge Masters. So, Karl, Mike and I (yup, me and the boys) set off to top the 350 squat thrusts.

After the first 100, I wonder how the heck did she get to 350? At 200, we finished the first 10 minute ‘game’. It’s no longer a game and more like ‘hard work’. I’m wondering, can I keep the same pace for the next 10 minutes when my legs are screaming and my heart is in my throat? 300, well great I can’t feel my legs anymore which could be a good thing. I can’t open my mouth for fear all my vital organs will come shooting out of my mouth. Once I hit 350, I matched Robin and I can stop. Then Nancy says 5 more minutes, really? I can’t just stop and rest for 5 minutes… must keep going. Plus the boys are still going, sooo, must keep going!

OK here’s the Truth: I had no idea how many squat thrusts I was doing at any time during the games. The lack of oxygen to the brain makes things a little fuzzy. By the end, I still couldn’t tell you… I could only count to 25 and start again at 1,2,3…

Final tally… 435, unless of course you add the 5 demonstration squat thrusts at the beginning of class (440)! I’m feeling every one of those bad boys let me tell you.

Tomorrow …I’m not looking forward to tomorrow. Lets add to the hurt though with a special Get Fit NH Bootcamp Snow Day! Oh yes, I plan to hobble on over. It’s gonna be a fun Sno-deo at the Carlsons… this “Arctic Cat” will see you there! Why because I am a Bootcamp Warrior Machine…

Blog you later!

gretchen

More Cardio Please!

Because aerobic exercise is how you lose fat, so the more the better, right?

But if (or in this case when) I tell you that aerobic exercise is not effective for fat loss, what would you say?

That I am crazy, a liar, or both?

Well anybody can say anything, so let me offer you some proof from three different controlled studies (Thanks Alwyn Cosgrove).

***

Three Month Study

Conclusion: The addition of 45 minutes of aerobic exercise at 78% Max Heart Rate (which is moving) 5 days a week for 12 weeks had NO EFFECT over dieting alone

Int J Sport Nutr. 1998 Sep;8(3):213-22.
Influence of diet and/or exercise on body composition and cardiorespiratory fitness in obese women.
Utter AC, Nieman DC, Shannonhouse EM, Butterworth DE, Nieman CN

Six Month Study

Two groups:

• Diet Only
• Diet plus aerobic exercise (50 minutes, 5 days per week)

Conclusion: No additional effect of aerobic exercise on body composition

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Jan 2
Effect of calorie restriction with or without exercise on body composition and fat distribution.
Redman et al

Twelve Month Study of Aerobic Exercise

Six hours of aerobic training per week for one year (60 mins per day, six days per week)

Average weight loss after one year was 3.5lbs or 0.3lbs per month

3.08lbs for women and 3.96lbs for men

Obesity 2007 June – 15:1496-1512.
Exercise Effect on Weight and Body Fat in Men and Women.
McTiernan et al

***

These studies clearly show that aerobic exercise (cardio) has little to no effect on body composition. In the best case scenario these subjects busted their butt for 6 hours a week and lost a grand total of 1/3 of a pound a month – OUCH!

The first thing to note is that in the first two studies nutritional changes were made, and that is the number one key to fat loss. You must make changes to your nutrition to positively affect your body composition. But from a fat loss standpoint the subjects might as well sat on the couch as spend up to 6 hours a week doing purely aerobic exercise.

Bummer, dude!

Here’s another one for you…

True or False? – All things being equal nutritionally (calories/macronutrients), then the more calories you burn during training, the more fat will be lost.

Stay tuned, we’ll get to that one next time.

Until then…

Keep Making It Happen!

Coach Dean

Coming March 2011!

What Do You Expect Out Of Your Training?

Nancy and I were at a health fair recently sharing the Get Fit NH goodness with the world (ok, not the whole world :), and a comment kept coming up from people as we talked to them:

It went something like this:

“I’m good, I go to the gym”

to which we follow up with...

“Great, what do you do there?”

and usually we hear about their adventures on an elliptical, or treadmill or something similar.

Our next question is “That’s cool, is there someone in the room that helps you with your training and gives you a plan?”

To which the response is “No, I just usually run for an hour, or do one of the programs on the machine”. In fact, today out of all the people we talked to only one (??) did any form of resistance training.

And that’s where the magic happens – when we explain to them that at Get Fit NH, not only is there a coach (or two or three) in the room, but they are actively coaching each client on safe form, good technique, and progressing or modifying as necessary.

Most of them think that’s the coolest thing ever.

You see there is a huge difference between hiring a room full of machines and hiring a professional coach. For some people the room full of machines is all they want, and that’s great. If that works for you I am all for it.

There is also a huge difference between Get Fit NH and other “class” options out there. We are group personal training. We are not up in front of the room leading the “class”. We are actively coaching, down on the floor when necessary, correcting and refining each movement to make sure our clients get the most out of their training.

After all that’s ultimately why our clients train – to get better – not just tired.

We have high expectations; of our clients for sure, but especially for ourselves. At the end of this post there is a copy of a sheet we hand all our clients outlining our mutual responsibilities. You will find that our expectations for ourselves outnumber our clients significantly. That’s not by accident.

Come experience Get Fit NH Bootcamp for yourself. Take advantage of our Two Week Free Tryout and find out why people all over Southern NH have chosen to train with us.

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean

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What You Can Expect Of Get Fit NH Coaches

We believe that you want to be here and be an active participant in living a healthy lifestyle. It is our responsibility to provide you the fitness coaching you need to reach your health and fitness goals.

We will be enthusiastic and encouraging.

We will provide a safe environment in which to train.

We will always be assessing and coaching while you train in order that you can gain maximum benefit and be confident in what you are doing. We will ask you to stop what you are doing if we deem the execution of movement to be unsafe.

We will challenge you to work hard and to stretch yourself.

We will keep you accountable to your training days.

We will refer you to others in the health and wellness field when we believe that would be beneficial to your health and assist you in reaching your goals.

We will live what we teach, and take good care of ourselves so we can do our best for you.

We will continue to learn and grow through self-study, seminars, and workshops and by working with coaches and mentors.

We will live up to the highest ethical standards of our profession and treat all of our members professionally and courteously at all times.

What We Expect Of Our Clients

Do your best at all times and accept your current abilities.

Come every day with a positive attitude.

Avoid negative self-talk and minimizing your achievements.

Please do not use the word “Can’t”. Just because you are currently unable to do something doesn’t mean you won’t ever be able to do it.

Be present and ready to train at your scheduled class time.

Call, text or write when you are unable to come to a scheduled class.

Be prepared to laugh, learn, work hard, sweat, and succeed.

We Are Grateful

For all our amazing clients who so enthusiastically share Get Fit NH Bootcamp with their friends, family, neighbors and co-workers.

Thank-you for giving the gift of better health!