It is no surprise that we are most often our worst critics.  Many of us battle the negative voice in our head that says “we aren’t good enough”.  That inner voice may lead you to believe that you are weak or a failure and will never achieve your goal.  

How do we fight the negative voices?  I believe that you have to acknowledge the negative thoughts and label them for what they are.  Rather than getting stuck in the thought process, acknowledge it and ask yourself if it is truth.  If your inner voice is telling you that you are weak, take a minute to assess the validity of the statement.  Have you made positive changes in you life? Are you more consistent with training or making better nutrition choices?  Those all require strength and therefore discounts the statement “you are weak”.

When attempting to remove negative thoughts, it is important to replace them with something positive.  Otherwise, the negative thoughts will just creep back into the empty space. There may be times in life when it might be more challenging to find the positive so keep it simple.  Celebrate and focus on even the small victories.

You are in control of your thoughts and whether they are negative or positive.  It takes time and practice but you can retrain your brain. We are here for you and always happy to remind you of the positives.  One Get Fit NH Family member reached out through email and shared her struggles and negative thoughts with us. I was so proud of her for acknowledging her struggling and letting us come along side of her.  She vented and vowed not to get stuck in the current thought process. We are in this together!

-Coach Erin

Our 4th annual Show up, Step up and Stick it up Challenge is coming up and this year has a new twist! We run this challenge to keep you honest as we head into a challenging time of year. The fall brings on back to school, sports and that leads us into the holidays and before you know it here comes January and we are motivated to get back on the wagon. 

But imagine how wonderful it would be if you never had to fall off the wagon! Imagine if you had some extra motivation (on top of your coach) to keep you going and keep you honest...

Well imagine no more! This challenge is for you and here is how it works:

Show up: There are 59 total training chances between the September 9th and December 20th to make it into training. To complete the show up portion we are asking that you make it a certain amount in that time being:

• 4 Training Days People: 50 Days
• 3 Training Days People: 40 Days
• 2 Training Days People: 25 Days

Step up: The Fit3D! On the backside of the card there will be a monthly spot to hit up the Fit3D. You want to talk about keeping you honest? Nothing better than the good ole "truth booth" to keep you on pace. The average weight gain between October and December is TEN POUNDS! It is a lot of work to get those pounds off so let's not fall into that category. We will help keep you honest.

Stick it up: This will also be a monthly spot on the backside of your card. This is for the goals board. Each month we put up a goals board. We strive for this to be apart of our culture and this will help you build that habit and keep you working toward the bigger picture. Each month you will need a coach to initial that verifying that you did in face "stick it up"

Share It: This is the NEW TWIST for this year! On the Back side of the card a new box will be added for you to share it that needs to be completed once a month. Here are some ways you could get this box checked off:

• Bring a friend to a fun friday or charity training
• Share a Get Fit NH video on social media
• Check in that you trained on Facebook
• Refer a friend to come train with us.
• Anyway you can share the greatness and fun we have and show proof to a coach

If you fill up your card with the needed amount of attendance checks, 4 (Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec) step ups, stick it ups, and share it ups then your card will go into the magic prize jar. We will pick THREE cards to win mega awesome prizes. 

1st card pulled earns- $300

2nd card pulled earns- $100

3rd card pulled earns- $50

We look forward to kicking this challenge off and finishing this year out strong! Let's make it happen,

The Get Fit NH Team

This is in some ways a follow-up blog to my why Wednesday video.  What does the phrase “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” mean?  It means that doing things to prevent a problem or issue in small parts preventatively is a lot easier than trying to make major changes after an issue has arisen.  As an example think of a credit card, an ounce of prevention would be things like using your credit card sparingly and paying it off monthly, or at least in a timely fashion.  Which is much much easier, and more manageable, than continually charging things you aren’t able to afford at the moment to a credit card and then trying to pay off high amounts of credit card debt.  For anyone that has experienced this you know how unbelievably difficult it can be.  

The same is true of the body, very simply the best way to stay active and moving, is to….you guessed it, stay active and moving, training, ect.  It's a lot easier to maintain an active lifestyle for 10 years, than it is letting yourself become sedentary for ten years and try to rewind the clock.  Realistically you could probably maintain a relative level of fitness and mobility with just being physically active for 15-20 minutes a day in a pinch.  That seems a lot less daunting than being 10 years older and trying to train 6 days a week to make up for lost time.  

With all that being said I fully realize that this is a hard thing to picture, this is maybe our most difficult thing as coaches to convey because people tend to have trouble understanding something they have yet to experience.  Myself included, it’s very hard to consider back pain prevention (most often hip mobility) as a priority, until you hurt your back. Pressing overhead doesn’t seem like a big deal right now, until you have to do months of PT and waiting for your frozen shoulder symptoms to go away.  This is just something you have to trust me/us on. Keep yourself healthy now, to be able to hold up when things get challenging down the road, the reverse is EXPONENTIALLY harder.

Many years ago, when I was at a training conference I first learned of the word “Sawubona”. It is an African Zulu greeting that means “I see you”. In Western culture, we often say “Hi, how are you?” but so often people never wait for the others response. In contrast, Sawubona means “I see you and you are important to me and I value you”.

Recently during a training, I asked a Get Fit NH Family member “how are you doing?” Her
response was “I am here”. I told her “that is a step in the right direction!” I knew from
previous conversations she has been under a lot of stress for various reasons. I did not take it lightly that she made it to training. I know it was an achievement. For some of you, training is just part of your day, no questions asked and that is fantastic! For others, it is a struggle just to walk through the doors. I want you all to know that we never take it for granted when you make it to training! We love “seeing” you! You are so much more than just a body working out. While we may not greet you with “Sawubona”, we see you and you are all incredibly important to us. Your value is beyond measure! When you are a part of the Get Fit NH Family it means you are seen and valued! Thank you for not only training with us but also sharing your lives with us.

-Coach Erin

Happy Monday and first day back from recovery week! 

I hope everyone is feeling energized and ready to get back into some great training! I thought it would be helpful to write this blog about important things to remember coming back from recovery week and how you might feel starting off:

1. Start Slow! If you remembered we deloaded our training the two weeks before recovery week and then had recovery week. The purpose of that we to let our body recover and rest after spending a lot of time training with heavy weights. There is a good chance that you may not be able be able to lift the same weight as you could before recovery week but that's ok because you will build that strength back and then some!
2. Embrace The Training! You are all rock stars when it comes to training! You all always crush any challenge we throw at you which makes programming so much fun for us! A thing to remember in the first couple of weeks is that we are focused on getting the body moving again so that at the end of the training phase you are performing the best you can!
3. Wellness Is Peaks And Valleys! People will ask us why we would deload if it makes us weaker for a short amount of time. The answer is because your body needs it! Not even professional athletes train 7 days a week 365 days a year, they take time to deload and rest too! As awesome as it would be our bodies can't handle the stress of lifting heavy all the time. It needs rest and recovery so it can grow more especially as we get stronger and need more energy to keep getting stronger!

We are super excited about this training phase and to see all the progress everyone makes! Welcome back and remember to keep making it happen!

-Coach Brian

How important is sleep to you?  Many people struggle with sleep or sometimes even neglect it.  I think we all know it is important, but do we know the effects of not getting enough?  According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), “Sleep deficiency can lead to physical and mental health problem, injuries, loss of productivity, and even a greater risk of death.”

I was listening to a Ted Talk given by brain scientist Matt Walker. He presented a study in which one group of participants stayed up all night and another got a full 8 hours of sleep.  In the morning both groups were asked to learn a list of new facts.  Their brain activity was analyzed by an MRI. The results showed that the sleep deprived group had a 40 percent deficit in the brain’s ability to make new memories.  That has huge implications on learning.

The NHLBI states that “ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke. Sleep deficiency can also increase the risk of obesity.”  The hormones that regulate the feeling of being hungry (ghrelin) or full (leptin) are affected by sleep.   When there is a sleep deficiency the ghrelin goes up and the leptin goes down which results in an increased hunger sensation.  If your goal is to lose weight, then you want to make sure you are getting enough sleep.

Goals for better sleep:

-Try to get 7-9 hours of sleep a night

-Consistent sleep schedule.  Try getting up and going to bed at the same time every day

-Turn off electronic devices 30 minutes before bed

-Establish a relaxing bedtime routine

Make It Happen! 

-Coach Erin

A new session of kettlebell classes are starting July 10th on Wednesdays at Get Fit NH. The session will run for 8 weeks working on building kettlebell skills, strength, and mobility.

Why Train With Kettlebells:

People have been using kettlebells to burn fat, build lean muscle, and improve mobility since early 1700's! Using kettlebells has been a proven method of improving your health for so long, I would even argue it is one of the best methods of burning fat while building muscle. Another wonderful reason to train with kettlebells is they do not take up much space and for most trainings you only need yourself and one bell! 

What Will We Be Doing In Class:

This class is designed to build up the fundamental movements of kettlebells and create a strong foundation you can take anywhere to train with kettlebells! We use a mixture of Kettlebells, TRX, and body weight to bring complete trainings for anyone! We like to take our time and really focus on quality of a movement to maximize the results we get! This class is perfect for anyone of any fitness level, if you are trying to take your first step into fitness or you're a fitness vet trying to add some new material into training this class is for you! 

Is This Only Open To Get Fit NH Members:

NO! This class is open to Get Fit NH members and anyone who is not currently a member! So if you think this is something for you sign right up! 

*To keep classes running smoothly each class is capped at 10 people*

Class Times And Cost:

Class Times: The class will be held on wednesdays at 4 different times:

• 5:30 AM
• 6:30 AM
• 4:30 PM
• 5:30 PM

Cost:

• For The Entire 8 week session the cost it $119

If You have any questions please reach out to me at :

Brian@getfitnh.com

If you are interested in signing up and having some summer kettlebell fun click below!