Goosebumps at Get Fit

I have to share with you my goosebumps coach moment on Thursday morning.

You know when someone hits those notes during the National Anthem that give you goosebumps and make your arm hair stand up? Well, imagine those goosebumps, because that’s how a proud coach moment feels!  As many of you remember we finished our last “session A” on our training cards Thursday. For those of you who have been here over the past 4-5 weeks you have had the chance to complete this training day on 4 separate days. Now hold on…I need to go a little off track before I go into the goosebump moment. No skipping ahead- this is important!

Training cards. Let’s talk about these real quick- Why are training cards important? Great question.

– We are all here for results, right? So what better way to track our progress then to write it down? If we did (for example) kettlebell deadlifts one week and then you didn’t see that exercise again for 3 weeks would you remember how much load you used and/or how many repetitions you completed three weeks ago? Allow me to answer that for you- no!
– If we keep the same timing and the same exercise and you record your results over 5 weeks then you will see where you got better. Maybe you did more repetitions or maybe you bumped up your load selection.The important take away here is that your body does not want to change. You must make it change. At Get Fit NH we want you to get results safely, effectively and efficiently. If you deadlift 100 pounds one week and then next time you deadlift 70 pounds because you can’t remember how much you picked up last time, but hey those dumbbells are pretty heavy- do you think your body is going to change? NO! It already knew it was capable of that so it doesn’t have to change. Get comfortable being uncomfortable and make your body change.
– Just like we encourage body composition tests we will stress the importance of these training cards. If your not measuring your success then your hiding from your potential.

Now my goosebumps moments that you have all been waiting for…

On Thursday we finished our 4th “session A” training day and I asked a couple of the training times, “who saw improvement over the last 5 weeks?” and every single student in the room raised their hand. Everyone! Seriously that is incredible. Now let’s take it back to before training cards and imagine if I asked that same question…who could raise their hand with 110% confidence that they made improvements over the past 5 weeks? I know many would assume or raise their hand because they measure in other ways, but for everyone to raise their hand and be able to look at their card and say “I got stronger” is pretty stink’n cool!

And that, ladies and gentleman, is why training cards are here to stay. It’s all about getting better and we want to congratulate you for doing just that over the past 5 weeks!

Keep making it happen,

Coach Meagan

Capture Your Now

Over the weekend I spent a little bit of time packing up my house. As many of you know I sold my home and will be moving to Nashua very soon (not to worry- I am not leaving the Get Fit NH family. You can’t get rid of me that easy!) Anyways as I was packing I came across a binder my mother kept for me while I was in boot camp. She saved every single letter I wrote her all the way from day 1 through day 80. I can’t tell you how thankful I am that she saved these letters. It was funny (now) to relive some of those memories.

Letters/journals are funny like that. They capture the “now”. They capture exactly what you are feeling and how you are feeling and what is making you feel that way. As I read these letters I honestly revisited some of those emotions. At first all of the letters were sad filled with expressions like why did I do this, what was I thinking, I am going to fail, time is dragging, I don’t understand….then the next month the emotions eased up a little. Expressions like I am starting to understand, I really like _____, I need to work on ______, I killed it on _____ and then last month there were hardly any letters, but the ones that I did write were all positive filled with stories about what we did that day and what kind of events were coming up.

So what is the purpose of me sharing this with you?

This can be applied to any goal. My goal was to earn the title Marine.

Was it easy? Heck no!

Was it an emotional roller coaster? Absolutely

Did I learn a lot about myself? Yes

Did I GIVE UP? NO!

If I gave up then, I can assure you I wouldn’t be writing this today and you need to think about your life in the same way. Set a goal today and get excited to share your story. All of those emotions apply. At first it is hard- really hard- but it does get “easier.” By easier I mean you fall in to a routine. You know what works for you. You strive to get better because you know how far you’ve already come. Keep a journal if it helps. Capture the moments and look back on it. You’ll realize on those days that your feeling weak that it is not worth going back.

-Coach Meagan

I Am Stressed Out (but doing something about it)

Yeah, like that’s different from anyone else in this world (the stress part anyway).

What is different is that you, like me, can do something about.

Stress is a fact of life. In fact you need some stress in order to live and thrive. What you don’t need is the excess stress that causes so many health problems.

Too much stress and you are just inviting overtraining, injuries, and illness. “Come on in Mr. Cold/Virus/Muscle Pull (or worse)”.

And that is where measuring HRV comes in.

HRV, or Heart Rate Variability, is something that most people outside of geeky training circles probably haven’t heard of, but I assure you it won’t be long before you will.

Having used Joel Jamieson’s BioForce HRV myself over the past year, and with some of our coaches and clients over the last few months, I assure you there is good reason for all the noise.

The research on HRV is massive, some of which you can reference at the end of this article. For a cool overview of exactly what HRV is and why it matters, check this article out – http://www.8weeksout.com/2011/12/05/heart-rate-variability-research-review/

Why am I so excited about HRV and what it can do for you our student?

Consider this:

What if there was a quick, easy, and totally non-invasive way to measure your stress and fatigue levels, and your readiness to train, in only 2.5 minutes a day?

What if there was a way to know if you should crank it up as hard as you should go in the gym today, or back off? If that 8 or 10 miles you ran or 30 miles you biked caused excessive fatigue, or if it is all systems go?

What if there was a way to know if you were doing the right things outside of the gym (The Other 165) to make sure you are getting the best results in the gym and all that hard work is actually working for you? If you could see how your stress levels, sleep and/or nutrition are affecting not only your training, but your overall health?

Sounds too good to be true?

Well from a coaches perspective this is amazing stuff. Because while we are constantly striving to write the best training programs for your goals, that’s not the whole picture. Proper recovery from that training is where the magic happens. Only when we can recover properly and apply the training stimulus again at the right time can we make maximum progress. That’s what recovery weeks are all about. Making sure that we don’t push our training to the point where we over-train, which can take many weeks to recover from.

While we can measure many things in the gym – body comp, power, speed and strength for instance – to a large extent measuring recovery has always been a guess. A highly educated guess to be sure, but as a coach who always wants to see my clients get better faster and maximize progress, having a way to know for sure you are ready to train is the holy grail!

But not so fast you say. I am not training for the Olympics for crying out loud. Is this something that really benefits me, the person who just wants to lose a few pounds, not hurt, and be healthy?

So glad you asked!

Because evidence is showing this same short daily assessment is also shown to be a marker of:

• Systemic Inflammation
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Alzheimer ’s disease
• Metabolic Dysfunction
• Diabetes
• And others

It can also show the effect that sleep quality, job and life stress, excess body fat and depression may be having on the development of disease and your overall health.

You don’t have to take my word for it. At the bottom of this post I have referenced a number of studies and journals that have and are examining the evidence.

My experience with HRV

I am what you call an early adopter. When something new comes out in the realm of training and there is evidence it can help me get better, I am there. Such was the case with BioForce HRV. I first picked it up about 18 months ago and tested it out. It was cool for me to utilize, but what I really wanted was to get into the hands of our clients – now that would be cool! If we could see on a daily basis your readiness to train and adjust accordingly – THAT would be the bomb.

Fast forward to April of this year, when the news came out that BioForce had developed the software platform to do exactly that. BioForce was going to certify 100 trainers nationwide, teach them how to properly use the system and interpret the results, and keep on the cutting edge of training research and technology. I promptly applied, was accepted, and finished my certification in May. Since that time we have been testing the system internally, and just a few weeks ago started getting it into the hands of our clients.

Here’s what a couple of Get Fit NH’s BioForce HRV users have to say:

“My HRV score continues to both fascinate and help me work smarter toward my goal of running a full marathon. Over the last few weeks I have become more aware of how much nutrition, sleep, and training load play in recovery and how my body feels and adapts.   I have watched my HRV score improve with cleaner eating and more sleep.  This in turn has given me more energy to attend Get Fit 4 days a week and keep up with my marathon training.  HRV has enabled my coaches and I to make more informed decisions about my training to keep me healthy and injury free.  My long runs have become a little easier, I am pushing myself more in class, and my clothes fit a lot better.” – Becky

“Bioforce HRV has helped me gain an understanding of how factors like sleep, stress and nutrition impact my readiness to train.  By providing a daily indicator that reflects all of these, I am better able to decide when it is best to train and when it is better to back off.  Having this knowledge has also challenged me to focus things like sleeping and reducing stress to ensure I am ready to train.  For the past month, it has helped me avoid injury and improve my fitness while training for a marathon and continuing at Get Fit NH.” – Jayne

So where do you fit in?

HRV is the real deal guys. I predict that within a short time HRV is going to play a huge role in the predicting and management of disease. My goal is to have every student of Get Fit NH using HRV to manage their stress and help us to make better training decisions together.

If you are ready to get going please contact me personally and we can talk about how HRV fits into your training plan and how to get started.

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean

HRV Research & Studies

You may need the vagus nerve to understand pathophysiology and to treat diseases
http://www.clinsci.org/cs/122/0323/1220323.pdf

Color Run 2014

On Saturday October 11th Get Fit NH is headed over to New Hampshire Motor Speedway to get colorful! The Color Run is coming to Loudon and we have a team ready for you to join, Our start time will be 10 AM.

We always have a great time when NHMS sponsors these events, and seeing as we are now the “Official Gym of New Hampshire Motor Speedway” we want to make our presence known!

. This is a great 5K for the entire family. You can walk it, run it, skip it…..whatever! Big kids and little kids – oh and adults too- can enjoy this event. Go in looking plain and come out with pzazz!

Here is the link to join our team. Please make sure you let us know you joined and we’ll give you the top secret meeting location 😉 Our team name is Get Fit NH!

-Coach Meagan

Do You Want To Get Better?

Is probably not as dumb a question as it sounds.

Because while everyone SAYS they want to get better, not all that many people DO with any consistency what it takes to get there.

Which brings me to the picture to your right. No, that is not the Dutch flag (upside down colors – I know) – that is my wrist after attending the Smart Group Training seminar this weekend. You got it, the old ball coach had the honor of being screened by the best of the best, and this is what I ended up with.

You know what? That’s perfect!

Because I want to get better, and I know that when I work on the correctives I received I will GET BETTER.

And I wasn’t alone. There were about 35 coaches that attended this seminar, and all but 4 of them ended up with MULTIPLE bands. These guys were really picky, which is a good thing.

But let me back up a bit for those of you unfamiliar with what these crazy bands are all about.

At Get Fit NH we are huge believers that the foundation of training is good quality movement. When you move well, you can train hard and get superior results. You try to train hard on top of movement dysfunction and you get one thing – HURT!

If you are coach reading this – STOP hurting people!

If you are reading this and you go to a coach hurting people, STOP doing that!

But back to the bands. We screen every client for movement quality and injury potential using the Functional Movement Screen (FMS). If your movement quality isn’t quite up to par in a certain pattern, we want to FIX it before we load it. This is crucial to getting you the best results in the least amount of time. So if we screen you and we identify an issue, we use the SGT  bracelet system so we as your coaches and you as the student know exactly how you should train. Getting a bracelet doesn’t make you a bad person, we still love you! 🙂 In fact we love you so much we are going to show you how to fix the problem so you don’t get hurt.

So I don’t look at my getting an extra band or two as a bad thing. These guys did me a huge favor by confirming some underlying movement challenges I have been experiencing and helping me get better. How can I not appreciate that?

These bands are crucial to my health and well being, and I am going to own that.

But don’t think I am not going to do the work necessary to get out of them.

What about you?

Does where you train care enough about your long term health to do the extra work necessary to train you appropriately, or do they just smash you hard regardless? It’s a question worth asking.

For those of you really smart people who already train with Get Fit NH 🙂 wanna make a bet who gets out of their bands first?

Let’s Make It Happen Together!

Coach Dean

Shine Shine Shine! – Student Spotlight

Last week in our Student Spotlight, we began our two week feature of inspirational women who have continued to train at Get Fit NH throughout their pregnancies. This week’s Student Spotlight is shining on Jill E. and Kim L. Both women have continued working hard and being healthy through their pregnancies and have written about their experiences.

Jill tells us about her top five reasons for continuing to train with her Get Fit Family throughout her pregnancy:

1. If it’s good for me, it must be good for the baby – This one is a no brainer. Obviously anything that is helping mommy stay fit and happy and strong will be good for the baby.

2. I will not let 4 ½ years of training go down the toilet – This is my second pregnancy and I have trained through both so far. Part of my reason for joining the Get Fit Family was to lose weight and get in shape to have kids. I will not let all of that hard work go to waste! Nor do I want to lose my Get Fit Family!

3. Support, support, support – Super Mom/Trainer Nancy understands when you break out in tears for no reason, and doesn’t hold it against you (Sorry Nancy!). She listens to everything and helps me remember that I am changing and can’t do everything I could do before! Coming to this realization was a lot harder with my first pregnancy. What do you mean I can’t hold a plank for 20 seconds anymore without wanting to pass out? I used to be able to hold one for well over a minute. Well, your body is increasing blood cells and blood flow and doing even more amazing things without you even knowing it, so deal. What do you mean I want to throw up in a pushup hold, or mountain climbers, or renegade rows? Hello heartburn! Let’s do those off the bench so your head is elevated. What do you mean my hips are moving (to prep for birth) and my SI joints are completely out of whack and everything hurts? Well, it’s time to avoid all those exercises that create discomfort for the SI joint, focus on stretching and strengthening your core. That last one has been especially frustrating with my current pregnancy, but Nancy has been wonderful at making sure I am not in any discomfort or pain during training and modifying exercises (and making sure I am not going to burst into tears again).

4. Cool technology – This pregnancy I am hooked up to a heart monitor during training. This may be the most interesting part because I am really able to control my intensity and workouts all while keeping my heart rate in check. Who knew band hammer curls could get your heart racing so fast! I like that I am able to control when I need to increase my intensity (quit being a baby, or ‘suck it up’ as Dean says) and when I need to take a breather.

5. Astonishing people – Some people are shocked when I tell them I train 3-4 nights a week while pregnant – my parents’ and grandparents’ generation especially. But I love being able to explain that training isn’t just for me. The lowering and raising of the heart rate when training resembles labor. I am not the only one who has to go through it, this baby has to prepare too! I had a C-section with the first pregnancy (my daughter was breech), so there was no labor involved, but there was a heck of a recovery afterward! Without having the core and the arm strength I’d built up previously, I am guessing that recovery would have sucked a whole lot more! It’s too early to tell with Baby Boy Edelmann what type of delivery I will have, but they are telling me he is going to be big and tall. Have you met my husband…eek! So the way I see it, the more prepared I am while he is still in the womb, the better!

 Jill and Karl, along with the rest of us, are waiting to meet their newest family member!

 ***

Our next mom Kim explains how training with Get Fit NH has helped her through her pregnancy and in preparing for giving birth:

It gets increasingly hard to find the motivation to get to class but the payoff gets so much greater! I could be having the worst day – tired, grumpy, and not feeling well – but after class all of those feelings and emotions would be gone. Physically, I have had an incredibly easy pregnancy and I do not attribute that to luck. I attribute it to the fact that I have never really stopped moving. I refused to give up and chose instead to be tough. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but so far it has worked! (Although I can’t lie, I’ve had days where I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry, but we can blame that on hormones).

I am really curious to see how my recovery from childbirth will be and even more curious to see how I handle childbirth itself with our mottos from class running through my head – “Get comfortable being uncomfortable!”, “You can do anything for 15, 20, 30, 40 seconds!”, and “Last set is the best set!”.

Little Maggie was born in August. Congratulations, Kim!

Training when it is just yourself is difficult – we should all get a high five each day for making it happen. But when you are training while experiencing morning sickness or feeling uncomfortable at nine months pregnant, you deserve a second high five! Katie introduced us to Little Jonathon this past January and later this year Amanda is expecting her second child. Congratulations to Carolyn, Jill, Kim, Katie, and Amanda and everyone else in the Get Fit Family for working so hard!

I Wish I Never Gave Up

Over recovery week, I spent some time at the Veteran’s Hospital in Boston. I would like to say it is always a humbling experience, but sometimes I let other emotions cloud what an incredible experience it is to get to go to a Veteran’s Hospital.

I promise there is a purpose I am sharing this with you, but I will get to that later…

As I am sure you can imagine, when I walk into a Veteran’s Hospital I am the youngest patient in there, usually by at least 20 years. I get all kinds of weird looks and most people (doctors and patients) ask me if I am there because my husband or dad served. My answer is always a smile and lifting up my sleeves to show off the ink that I try and keep covered while coaching.

This past week while I was there, I sat on a bench outside of the hospital waiting for the Veteran’s Hotel to open across the street. While I was soaking in the last moments of summer, I was approached by an older veteran. He sat by me and said, “Semper fi!” (Note: Semper fi is a Latin term meaning “always faithful”. It is the Marine Corps motto and it is a term Marines use when they see other Marines).

Anyways, the veteran says “semper fi” and takes a seat. The next part of the conversation went something like this:

Older veteran (reaches out to shake my hand): “Corporal Clark. Korean War 1951.”

Meagan (shakes hand): “Sergeant Sbat. Operation Enduring Freedom, Helmand Province, Afghanistan 2012.”

After introducing ourselves, we started talking about what our jobs entailed while we served. Then, we got into what I do now (which, by the way, I refer to as a life changing coach) and talked about the surgery I was about to have and how it would affect my way of life over the next few months. A few minutes later, his ride pulled up so he lifted himself from the bench using his walker and said:

“You may not be able to tell, but I used to be strong as an ox. I wish I never gave up. I can’t even remember why I stopped, but it wasn’t worth it. I’ve lost my independence because I let myself get weak. Don’t ever give up, Marine. Semper Fi.”

Need I say more? Do yourself a favor and find your “why”! Maybe your why is that you don’t want to have to rely on your children, spouse, or friends to get you to where you need to go because you are too unhealthy and weak to get there yourself.  If you have a big enough why, you will find a how.

-Coach Meagan

Recovery Rules

Wait a second, is that Recovery Rules as in… “Yo Garth, recovery ruuuuuuulllllleeeeeessss dude!”

or as in

“Robert’s Rules of Recovery?” (If you are under 30 you may not get either reference, sorry…)

Actually it’s a little bit of both.

Recovery really does Rule, one way or the other, as in “If you don’t voluntarily take recovery time off your body will MAKE you take time off when it gets sick, tired and run down.”

But there are also Rules for Recovery, as in “What are some things  I can do to make sure my body is ready for the training cycle ahead?”

With apologies to Tyler Darden, here is the first rule of recovery.

No whining about taking recovery.

Here is the second rule of recovery.

No whining about taking recovery.

A properly managed training cycle insures you get adequate training stress and adequate recovery in order to make progress, which is why we write our training cycles the way we do.

August 25th through 29th is our next recovery week.

This is part of your training program, and is a necessary deload to keep you healthy and moving forward. Those who follow the training plan, including this part of it, are the ones who make the most progress. Those who ignore it are much more likely to get injured and not be at their best. I have seen it over and over again. Deload is a necessary part of the training cycle.  Take some time, read these articles, and remind yourself why. You’re welcome! 🙂

Recovery, Deload, and Getting Better

Rest, Recover and Regenerate, It’s Not Optional

“I HATE Recovery Weeks!”

Minimum Effective Dose

Recovery Is Where The Magic Happens

Last but not least you will want to note our schedule change for Monday September 1st, which is Labor Day. We are going to be having an “all family” training session at Get Fit NH Concord from 8:00am to 9:30am. This will be our only training time of the day, so come on in, get an incredible training session in, and then enjoy the day with your family and friends – you earned it!

That’s it for now guys.

You want it, you gotta Make It Happen!

Coach Dean

Lift Like A Man?

I am currently reading a book called, “The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess” This book was written by some of the finest coaches in the industry, Lou Schuler, Cassandra Forsythe, and Alwyn Cosgrove. As I was reading the other night I found a quote that I want to share and build on.

“Your body’s goal is to reach stasis so it can stop making adaptations to the stresses you impose on it. Your goal is to keep imposing new stresses so your body keeps making adaptations”

Now despite the name of the book, this quote applies to anyone looking to get results. We talk about weight selection often. A lot of times you’ll hear your coaches remind you to pick up something heavy! Let me explain to you why we stress this so much.

I will start telling you some of the things we take into consideration when writing a training plan for you to get effective results:

• Safety
• Efficient and Effective exercise selection
• Purposeful exercise selection
• Purposeful timing sequences
• Mastery
• Exercise progressions for all fitness levels

If you have been training with us for some time then you probably know that we have specific strength days and specific metabolic day. Allow me to start with explaining what is happening in your body on those days. Stay with me here, this stuff is pretty cool!

Strength Days:

I won’t get all science geek on you, but I do want you to know why we do what do when we design your program, and also why we are so adamant you keep seeking to progress.

Strength days are designed impose a load great enough to your current muscles fibers to break them down and then build them back up better than they were. Your body is smart, and it WANTS to handle the loads you place upon it, whether that be a 40 pound dumbbell or 4 bags of groceries in each hand. Wouldn’t you rather have your husband ask YOU to open the pickle jar because he can’t? J

Let me give you an example of how I approach load selection (How much I am going to lift that day) with a specific exercise that we did last week.

Dumbbell Bench Press – If these are programmed into my upper body day then I am going to start by selecting 5 pounds more than what I KNOW I can lift. You see, if in my mind I already know I can press those 35 pounds dumbbells then my body definitely knows I can already do that. If I want to see a change in my body and my performance (which I do) then I need to try something more. My muscles already know I can do that. My body has adapted to that stress already. I need to create a new stress. I need to tear into those muscle fibers and allow them the opportunity to tear, recover/rebuild and grow. So how does that muscle get stronger?

Recovery

I know you’ve heard us explain the importance of recovery – it’s in this stage of the process you actually get better, if you do it right.

Here’s what I mean. Let’s say on Monday I just did my dumbbell bench press. I am not going to do the same exercise on Tuesday and Wednesday. It takes most people a couple days to properly recover from the demand of a heavy strength day. In your training program we are conscience about tearing into the same muscle fibers two days in a row.

The recovery and repair process from strength training (and High Intensity Intervals) takes a lot of energy. After you kill it on the training floor you will continue to burn calories as your body tries to recover and rebuild those muscle fibers. Which means you’re still burning on Tuesday from your training session on Monday!

BUT- if you select a weight that your body already KNOWS it can perform then you’re not doing yourself any favors.

Quick side not for the Ladies – Believe me picking up heavy load WILL NOT make you bulky. That is a whole other blog in itself – but just know you do not have the testosterone in your body to create such results. Leaner, faster, stronger, healthier means kill it on your strength days – pick up something heavy!

Stay tuned for Part II – Making the Most of Metabolic Madness!

Until then keep making it happen!

Coach Meagan

KB Swing Seminar for the Payson Center

Want to learn to swing the “cannonball with handles” the so you can use it in training?

Here is your chance!

While the swing is fairly simple, doing it RIGHT (like anything) is key to safe and effective training.

The best part (besides getting to spend time with me of course) is that this seminar is no charge.

All I am asking is that you make a donation of any amount to the Payson Center for Cancer Care in support of the Rock N’ Race. Could be a penny (although that would be kinda cheesy), but that’s up to you. I’d personally pay $50 to come, so ya know! 🙂

First come, first serve – Only taking 15 of y’all this time around.

See you there!

Dean

KB Swing Mastery Seminar
Place: Get Fit NH Epsom
Date: Saturday, May 17, 2014
Time: 9:00 – 10:15am
Investment: A little somethin’ somethin’ for the Payson Center