Travel kits are here! If you are going on vacation or a business trip just sign out one of our travel kits! It includes a red band, a jump rope and a fun training video with Coach Brian and Coach Meagan! Never feel deprived of Get Fit NH love again!
Have we told you lately how AWESOME you are?
So many of you have put in so much work in your fitness journey and we are so proud of you and want to help keep that ball rolling!
How can we do that?
Our first step was a revamped goals and accomplishment board set up right by the racks! This is a pretty awesome board and hopefully a great tool you can use!
Coach Meagan takes some time below to explain the entire board to you.
We appreciate you taking the time to fill out our survey! If you have not had the opportunity to share your feedback please do so HERE
While we have no intentions of making drastic changes we do have plans for an immediate response to the most common areas of concerns reported. Watch the video to find out more!
Next Scheduled Recovery Week: Sept 3 - Sept 7, 2018
Is summer really almost over? We are wrapping up our 8 week summer session. We take a break the week of Labor Day as it gives us that mental break to prep for life to pick back up and allow us to get our head on straight and be physically prepared as we head into the longest training phase of the year! Our next recovery week is not until the end of December!
You may have noticed that as we get closer to recovery week the daily and weekly training intensity has increased.
That is purposeful.
Because we are working toward a week of MacroRecovery, we are intentionally working at a higher level.
Then we will take a scheduled, purposeful rest.
Because whether you think so or not, you cannot and should not train really hard, all the time.
In fact one of our training program design principles is what is referred to as MED.
Minimum Effective Dose.
In other words, what is the MINIMUM stimulus we need to get better - stronger, leaner, better conditioned, etc.?
What? The minimum you say? That is NOT my style. Go hard or go home!
That WILL work, at least for a short time. Until your training overwhelms your ability to recover, and you start breaking down.
How can you tell that is happening? That you're not recovering fast enough from your training? Here's a few warning signs:
Altered Heart Rate and Blood Pressure
You are having a hard time getting your heart rate up, or it's beating like a racehorse when you feel like you aren't really doing much.
Poor Sleep Patterns
An increasing pattern of the inability to sleep restfully.
Decreased Performance
Your training loads have stagnated or even decreased.
Mood Swings
Mr. Crank-Pants, anyone?
Eating Habits Disrupted or Compromised
It's not just a matter of will power. Overreaching and overtraining can cause physical cravings if our bodies are missing crucial nutrients because of too much physiological or psychological stress.
Decreased Immunity
If you are getting sick frequently (eg. more than one cold a year) your immune system is probably compromised.
Increase In Injury
This could be not recovering from the normal microtrauma caused by training, for example you are sore for 2 or 3 days after training, or you are getting strains, sprains, aches and pains that you normally do not.
Lack of Progress (Plateau)
This could be either in body composition (not losing bodyfat/gaining muscle) or not making gains in the gym.
Enter Recovery Weeks
Recovery weeks are designed to give you rest; physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
You see stress is not just a "mental" thing. Do you realize when you train you are stressing yourself out, on purpose? That gets added on top of all the other stress in your life, whether it be work, home, or the jerk who cut you off in traffic. Your central nervous system doesn't care, it just knows when you have too much of it, and it doesn't like it!
And while you can't stop the knucklehead from driving like an idiot, there are things you can do to avoid excess systemic stress, and taking recovery weeks is one of them.
Here's My Top 5 Things To Do On Recovery Week
What about you?
You see you don't have to "not move" for a week. There is nothing wrong with getting outdoors, taking a walk, hitting the rock climbing gym, spending some time on the foam roller and stretching, getting a massage, and/or taking some long showers or baths.
Those things will aid your recovery and help you relax; running 2 or 3 or 5 miles every day (or every other day), or going to spin class, will not.
I train hard, but more importantly I train and recover appropriately.
I am in it for the long game. When I am sick, or excessively tired, or injured I cannot train.
THAT is what sets me back.
Recovery is what drives me forward. On a daily, weekly, and quarterly basis.
You ready to get better with me?
MAKE IT HAPPEN!
The Get Fit NH Team
PS. Below is the "Science Stuff" I promised - Enjoy!
Our recovery weeks are what I would call Macro-Recovery. In other words we take a planned week off every training phase in order to let the body rest up from hard training and get ready for the next phase.
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, 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 super-compensation 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!
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 with a coach and your Jumpstart Nutrition Guide if you need help.
3.) Celebrate the Fruits of Your Labor
– Take some time to reflect on how far you have come since you joined Get Fit NH 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!
The Get Fit NH Team
Do you have some awesome friends that you think would love Get Fit NH?
Well we would love to have them here and we would love even more to reward you for bringing them in!
Check out our video below to see how bringing in some friends between August 15th and December 31st can earn you some extra cash, GetFitNH gear, and some brand new shoes!
If you have ever been to a 6:45 pm class you know it has its own unique personality. Even though it is the last class of the day energy and effort never lacks!
I decided to talk with two different personalities that really help define what its like in the 6:45 class and asked them about their experience during class and being apart of the Get Fit NH family.
A big thank you to both of these ladies for talking with me and for bringing such great energy, effort, and uniqueness to 6:45!
Keep Making It Happen!
-Coach Brian
Consistency Over Motivation.
You ever get that awesome feeling of motivation that just lights a fire under you and has you feeling like you can take over the world? Maybe you listened to one of Dean’s speeches, watched a motivational video, saw a friend accomplish something great, and that rush of adrenaline and motivation rushes over you and makes you ready to set out on your new goal.
It’s great right?
Let me ask you this though, how long does that feeling usually last? I know for me my motivation usually ends after the first workout or day of clean eating and I am back in the real world…… now what?
This is where consistency comes in! Motivation may help you start the journey but consistency will get you to the end. Making what you want to happen apart of everyday life. Going to the gym every day is just routine, you don’t even think twice about meal prepping, you practice the skills you need to make it happen day in and day out even if you don’t want to. That consistency is what makes big things happen.
So my advice is don’t be afraid to ride the wave of motivation but be ready for the crash by being so consistent in what you do you keep on going.
-Coach Brian
I am back again and this time I was able to talk with a very hard working member that has really dedicated herself to her training and fitness journey! Katie is a rockstar at the 5:30 class and works to her full potential everytime!
I was able to talk with her about her journey to Get Fit Nh, what she likes, her amazing progress, and other super fun things!
Keep making it happen Katie!
-Coach Brian
This is plastered on the gym in both gyms. This is a pretty important quote. Here is my challenge to you…
You came to Get Fit NH with a problem that you wanted to be solved. That might mean that you were unhappy with your body composition or the way you feel. It could be because you were feeling less mobile or weak. It could be because you wanted to run your first marathon or maybe compete in a triathlon. Whatever the “problem” is I want to congratulate you for taking personal responsibility and seeking a solution!
This is a two sided coin though…
Fast forward 30 days down the road. Have you seen movement toward the solution? If the answer is no then ask yourself what you have done to be a problem solver?
Have you made it to each training opportunity?
Did you set a goal and initial the goals board at the beginning of the month and follow that goal?
Have you been to any nutrition seminars or participated in any nutrition challenges?
Are you working through each set and never stopping at “3”
Are you telling yourself you “eat healthy” but still wondering why you are overweight?
Have you asked for help?
Your coaches are here to help you take you from where you ARE to where you are trying to go. We are here to keep you accountable and coach you along the way. No one is in this alone. YOU need to take personal responsibility and follow through with what you say you are going to do and ask for help when you need it!
Make it Happen
Coach Meagan
In August we are going to have a friendly competition between yourselves and between the training hours. What will you win, you ask? Bragging rights, pride and of course strong muscles! Here is how it works!
For the month of August we will have a challenge of the day for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Those who accept the challenge will be given an index card so you can personally record your repetitions. Your training hour will also have a designated "block" on the white board where you will tally your reps each day for your class. This is a great tactic to scare the other training times with your big numbers!
Monday: Sled push day! For the month of August we will leave out the sled so you can push it (on Mondays) to get points for yourself and for your class. 1 tally is down and back on the green turf. This can be done before or after training. Please just make sure you are cognizant of your surroundings. We don't want to clip any ankles with the sled- youch!
Tuesday: Sled pull day! Again, the sled will be out and 1 tally is the length the green turf down and back. You will mark your points on your index card and also on the white board for your training hour.
Thursday: Ski erg day! 1000 meters will earn you 1 tally for yourself on your index card and 1 tally for your training hour on the white board! You can come in early or stay late to get your Ski Erg meters in!
Friday is for farmers! Farmer walk with 2 kettlebells or 2 dumbbells the length of the green turf down and back will earn you 1 tally for yourself and 1 tally for your training hour! This can be done before or after training on Fun Fridays!
The challenge of the day must be done on the designated day to earn points for yourself and for your team. If you will not be at training then they cannot be made up. All the more reason to shoot for perfect attendance in August!
Who will end up with the most tallies on their index card and which training hour will have bragging rights and the strongest muscles of all? We will have to see! Stay tuned for those cards in training!!!
Kicking off: Monday August 6th at 5 AM!
Wrapping it up: Friday August 31st, 2017 at 7:45PM
