In order to build on my last piece about coordination, the next step is putting those into action. Reflexes and reaction can be greatly influenced at this age. You may see it in your kids now as this is normally when we start to see growth spurts and physical changes to some degree. You may see your child was one of the fastest, then he grew 4 inches and all of the sudden they are slower and look like they can’t control their body.

When that growth occurs, the body has to learn to adapt to the new changes - that’s where coordination, reflexes and reaction come into play. It's about teaching the body to move in space. I have seen it myself in doing things with kids within the last year or two. Think back to when you were in school playing tag, or capture the flag (or steal the bacon, whichever name you used). Now with that knowledge, go get a group of kids together and try to play the same game. You see kids running into each other, major collisions, one child runs with the flag, sees two other children and has plenty of time (in your mind) to react and change directions but they don’t and end up running straight into them.

Why? Why does it look so chaotic? So unbalanced? Why does your child, who used to be the fastest in their class, seem slower and more uncoordinated? Without the proper movements, these traits don’t develop. That’s why the next step in our 9-12 year old program is working on reflexes and reaction.

It isn’t so much to teach a child how to be the fastest or to cut to avoid a defender, although that may be a positive side effect. It is teaching the brain how to communicate more effective with the legs that are now longer and the muscle, which is now larger and more developed.

-Coach Adam

The inline lunge, which is performed on the Functional Movement board can seem like a balancing act to many. In this movement pattern, balance is not the only thing that we are looking for! During this exercise, your coach is able to gather valuable information in regards to your current:

1. Stability of the trunk during alternating patterns and without the use of the arms as a counter balance
2. Hip, ankle, knee, and foot mobility/stability for both sides
3. The functional symmetry between L and R sides

When there is a loss of balance, inability to complete the full movement pattern, or pain while performing, it will be important to be cautious while moving through lunges.

What does this mean when it comes to exercise?

If a blue wristband is something that you are currently sporting, our main focus will be to obtain full range of motion during this movement prior to adding an external load.

Examples of exercises not performed with a blue band:

• Loaded lunges

How can I work to get out of my band? I want to do some of those exercises!!

1. 1/2 Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch

Purpose: Improve length of hip flexors and teach your body about hip extension rather than lumbar extension

How to perform it:

• Set yourself up in a half-kneeling position, with the R leg forward and L leg down on the floor. Ensure that both knees are at 90 degrees.
• Place your hands on your R knee and keep arms extended straight to keep your chest tall.
• Press your R knee away from your body, while tensing the L glute.
• Push forward until you feel a mild stretch in your L hip flexor.
• Hold for 1 minute.

Repeat: 1 minute on each side

2. 1/2 Kneeling Ankle Mobes

Purpose: Improve ankle mobility - dorsiflexion

How to perform it:

• Set yourself up in a half-kneeling position with your L foot forward. Set the dowel rod up outside of the pinky on the L foot.
• While holding onto the dowel rod, drive your L knee to the outside of the dowel rod, away from your midline.
• Pause for a few seconds, reset to starting position, then drive knee forward again. Keep repeating these steps.
• *Focus on keeping the L heel on the floor the entire time.

Repeat: 1 minute on each side

Let's conquer this band together,
Coach Cari

I love how Sam has included in her spotlight how she took responsibility for her actions. She knew she had to make time, she knew she had to change what she was doing and what she was eating. Get Fit NH is part of who Sam is. She makes us part of her scheduled day. By making herself a priority, she is changing herself and helping those around her change too. Get Fit NH wants to make the world a happier place. It automagically happens when we get healthier. Take it from Sam- it’s working.

What specific results can you share?

"Results" can be measured in different ways! I can say I've lost 17 lbs since February (which I have) but the more meaningful results are changing the bad habits that were ultimately holding me back from doing the things I wanted to do. I see no issue in drinking water all day or not eating bread (ok, the bread thing is pretty difficult). What I love the most is how easy it is to get friends and family on board with healthy habits! Some people will help you get moving and some will commit to clean eating. I've utilized my entire network in some way.

What would you say to somebody on the fence about joining?

Results lie in your hands. Get Fit can help you achieve your fitness goals, whatever they may be, but it starts with you. If you need help with healthy eating, they can do that. If you need modifications due to prior injuries, they will work with you. If you want to find a network of goal minded individuals, they've got that. You will feel sore! But you may even like it! (It means it's working!)

Anything else to add?

Have I said "thank you" yet?! 🙂

Keep the great work and attitude going, Sam!
Coach Nancy

Imagine you're in gym class playing dodgeball and someone on the other team isn't looking. Now is your chance, wide-open target 10 feet away. You go to throw the ball, release; the ball goes 5 feet before hitting the ground and slowly rolls to their feet. What happened? Why is it that nowadays we see less and less ability of kids to be able to do something like throw a ball? It stems from a lack of coordination. Yes, all kids struggle with coordination to some degree, but why do we see it in such a sweeping percentage? Lack of play and lack of movement are normally to blame.

Many of us as kids grew up playing outdoors, climbing trees, jumping fences, walking on logs (or in my case stone walls with loose rocks). We don't think about how much those simple skills translate into our coordination as we get older. Climbing trees and fences teaches your body how to coordinate a foot and a hand at the same time in some cases. It all revolves around learning how to move more than one body part at the same time. Things that kids seldom experience anymore until they are old enough to join organized sports, that is assuming that they want to do so.

This is an important skill that has been lost often due to the modern practices. That is why such a big emphasis will be put on such movements in this summer's Athlete Academy for ages 9-12, to help teach them the movements necessary to increase their coordination.

-Coach Adam

I have recently been reminded that we need to do a better job educating on recovery. There are a number of factors that play into recovery and they are often over looked. We are stuck in this mindset where more is better and that is so far from the truth! More is NOT better. Better is better. When you came to us you not only hired a personal coach, but a training program that is purposeful and effective. Here are three areas that play into your recovery…

1. Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday. Did you notice those are not training days? 🙂  That is purposeful! It is not because we take those days off to eat bon bons and sun tan! It was interesting a couple of weeks ago we had the Rock N Race, so my afternoon friends had training Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I can’t even tell you how many of you came up to me and asked why you are so sore or so tired that week. The answer? Because your body needs to recover. We are not machines and we are not designed to run ourselves into the ground day in and day out. It is not sustainable. Professional athletes don’t do it and you don’t need to either.

2. Eat supportively. If you’re training hard, you must eat to support that. If you are constantly sore, you are not recovering. We are happy to help you figure out what you can do nutritionally to help beat some of that soreness. You should not be sore every single day if you have been training consistently. You need to be fueled to train hard and if you wanna be a fat burner you can’t be fueling with sugar! Lucky for you, if this stuff confuses you we have THE BEST nutrition coaches on hand.

3. Sleep. Sometimes I get emails from you guys that say, “I slept right through my alarm this morning. I am SO mad I missed training!” When I get these emails it tells me that you NEEDED that rest. That you needed a little extra recovery so you could build up and come back stronger. There is a lot more than just dreaming going on when you are sleeping. Your body is still working and making magic happen so when you wake up you are refreshed.

Oh and a little hidden secret to strength training (notice I said STRENGTH training- not cardio- STRENGTH!), even when you are NOT in the gym - yes, when you are sitting there on the couch watching The Voice - you are STILL burning. It takes energy (burns calories) to rebuild muscle. When you are here challenge your strength and work hard. When you are not here (the other 165 hours a week) RECOVER! This is how I train (27 years old) and this is how our clients in their 70s and 80s train. It works, but you gotta follow the plan.

Be consistent. Recover. Be strong.
Coach Meagan

If you have a red band, you are not alone. This is a common band among athletes at Get Fit and a tough one to overcome! The trunk stability push up corresponds with this band and can be any extremely difficult exercise to perform. During this exercise we are looking to see if the core can stabilize while performing a series of events.

What is this test assessing?

• This test is looking to see if you are able to perform a movement with the upper body all while having no movement visible through the hips and spine. We are looking to see if you are able to stabilize the spine while performing an upper body push movement. How well you can recruit your core/central pillar stabilizers while doing a symmetrical upper body push helps us coaches determine if we need to be cautious with certain exercises.
• Ideally, checking to see if you can lift yourself as one unit, rather than leaving your hips behind 🙂
• This test also analyzes spinal extension and checks to see if there is pain associated with it.

What does this mean when it comes to exercise?

If you are one of many to receive a red band, we want to be cautious when performing challenging core stabilization exercises, as too much stress can be put on the lower back, therefore leading to back pain over time. Ouch!!!

Examples of exercises not performed with a red band:

• Pushup from the ground (MAGIC BAND PUSHUPS can be completed though!)
• Burpees
• TRX pushups, TRX Atomic Crunch, TRX Knee In, TRX Mountain Climbers (anything with feet suspended)

Well, how can I work to get out of this band? I want to do some of those exercises!!

We are looking to safely help strengthen your central pillar to allow yourself to complete more challenging exercises when appropriate. No sulking allowed, rather let’s try and focus on doing these two personalized exercises daily!

1. Lower Body Rolling

Purpose: Improve core strength and timing while moving through rotary stability patterns

How to perform:

• Lay on your back in the supine position with arms overhead
• Raise your R leg and start crossing it over the body
• Begin to roll your body over towards your left using nothing but the lower body
• Continue to rill until in the prone position on your stomach

Repeat: Roll back and alternate sides for 1 minute

2. Slow Pledge Pushup

Purpose: To improve torso stability

How to perform it:

• Start in a pushup position with hands directly under shoulders and feet wide for stability
• While pushing the floor away and keeping the hips as still as possible, slowly raise the R hand to the L shoulder, tap, and slowly bring back to the starting position
• Alternate to the other side

Repeat: 10 total repetitions; 1 tap to each shoulder is one rep

​Cheers to some rolling and pledging today,
Coach Cari

ATTENTION SIZZLIN' SUMMER SLIMDOWN WINNERS!!!

Is that you? Could be!

We have officially started the planning process and we are getting so excited! The reveal party is where (you guessed it) we will be revealing the teams who had the most points over the 6 weeks. I can tell you simply by judging the halfway scans that the competition is FIERCE!  

We will be handing out over $5000 in cash prizes- wowza! Remember it is the top 3 teams who walk away with the green and you MUST BE PRESENT to get the moola. We'll provide the S3 compliant grub, you just bring yourself (and your family if you want!)

So, the details!

Saturday, June 24th at 10 AM we will get started with food and socializing then we will get right into results, top 10 teams and WINNERS (and cash of course!) We promise not to keep you too long on a Saturday, but we do want to celebrate a job well done by all. Please join us for the celebration!!!

Check out last year's winning team!!!

The one and only Kristine Girard! The day we gained Kristine was a bright day at Get Fit NH. This woman brings me so many smiles and so much joy. She works her butt off, she loves a good challenge and to top it all off she is s-a-s-s-y and I love it! Since Kristine has joined the family she has seen some serious results. She did fantastic in the 2016 Sizzlin' Summer Slimdown contest and dropped about 20 pounds and has kept it off! 

Recently she has had to take a time out to have surgery and she sent me such a special note. I had to ask her if I could share it, because her note struck a topic that we don't hear about. Everyone talks about the fat loss, the inches lost, the strength gained...no body really talks about how training has a dramatic impact on your insides, your blood flow, your recovery, etc. So here is what she sent me less than a week after her surgery!

"Hello Meagan,

I wanted to let you know my surgeon attributed the success to my high risk surgery to the good shape I'm in. I have Get Fit NH to thank for that.

In specific, there was a very low level of bleeding during the recovery. This enabled my surgeon to see the operating area better. Robotics was used. It was crucial she had a clear view! She attributed that to my good vascular condition from working out.

Who knew?! 🙂

As we get older the possibility of having to have surgery increases, this we all know. The best message Get Fit can send is working out will up the success rate of any upcoming surgeries! But.. you coaches already knew that!! 🙂

Just wanted to say THANKS! Joining Get Fit was the best choice I made a couple (coming up on 2 yrs) of years ago!!"

Thank you for the note, Kristine! I am so glad you chose to join the family (almost) 2 years ago. We are lucky to have you. Happy recovery! Can't wait to have you back!

Coach Meagan

"I
Already
Knew
That"

We know a lot of things, don’t we? We know that:

• Exercise is good
• Broccoli is healthy
• Sugar is a bad choice
• Water is a necessity
• 7-9 hours of sleep is important

We all KNOW that, don’t we? Of course we do, but we are not all DOING IT, so it is worth repeating and worth listening to. We can all afford to be better. We all have certain areas that are harder than others. It doesn’t matter if you KNOW THAT. It matters if you are doing it. Actions elicit a change, not brain power. Don’t write off encouragement and accountability just because you know better. Everyone needs a coach. A coach is someone who gets a person to do something they DON’T WANT TO DO!

Listen up and let us coach you. You’d be surprised what you can learn and how different coaches resonate with you and help you change.

Make it happen,
Coach Meagan