Fun Friday Challenge To Help End Hunger

Would you believe us if we told you we discovered a way to make Fun Friday’s even MORE fun?

I know, hard to believe, but it is true! Great thanks to Maria Gilbert, one of our 8:30 ladies, for planting the seed for this marvelous idea. As we know, we are approaching the holiday season very quickly and we live in state surrounded by poverty and hunger. It is the sad truth that sometimes we turn a blind eye to, but it is the season of giving. I am confident that Get Fit NH has more than enough helping hands to gather A LOT of non-perishable food items to make somebody’s holiday season a little merrier, what do you say? Are you up for the challenge?

Here’s how it works, come up with a challenge to complete before or after a training session on any Fun Friday during December. It could be anything, a dead lift challenge, ski erg, push up, pull up, anything! Declare your challenge on the sign- up sheet that will be located on the counter and then find a sponsor. Your sponsor will donate non-perishable food items based on your success. If you want to be REALLY brave, you can let your sponsor choose your challenge.

After you have completed your challenge, make sure your sponsor knows how you did so they can go shopping! 🙂 We will collect your food items here, and then donate them to our local food banks. I can’t think of a better way to remind us that we can make a difference!

For example:

These are just examples, be creative and challenge yourself. If you need an idea (or a push) your coaches are always there to guide you. Just remember that you are challenging yourself to help someone is going through challenging time.

There are only 3 Fun Friday’s in December so let’s make it happen!

Coach Meagan

P.S. According to our resources, the most needed items are:

• Canned Chicken
• Canned Tuna
• Canned Salmon
• Peanut Butter
• Jelly
• Mac n Cheese
• Canned Soup/Stew/Chili
• Canned/Dried Beans
• Canned Nuts
• Rice and Rice Mixes
• Pasta
• Noodle Mixes

Eat Your Way Right Bonus: Splurge Survival Calendar

It’s no secret that the holidays bring some real challenges when it comes to eating. That is reason #1 why we are doing our “Eating Your Way Right Through The Holidays” challenge!

Well we want to put another tool in your hands to help you take your survival strategy up one more notch. Our colleagues over at Results Fitness in California are having a challenge similar to ours, which they are calling “Holiday Hold ‘Em”. I am guessing they have a few poker players over there. 🙂 They sent me an email with what I thought was a really great strategy involving a calendar and a few minutes of your time.

Like Get Fit NH, Results Fitness emphasizes 90% nutrition compliance, not perfection. What they suggested was pulling out a calendar, calculating how many splurge meals you could have between now and the end of the holiday season, and marking an “x” on all the days and mealtimes you were planning your splurge. A great idea that goes right along with the planning you have already been doing.

We took it one step further and created a calendar for you that covers between today (Monday November 25th) through the end of the year.

Here is what mine looks like:

My strategy was simple and realistic.

I am currently eating 3 meals per day. This allows me 12 splurge meals between now and January 4th, which is the end of the final holiday week.

I knew I would be in the kitchen on Wednesday starting some cooking, and anytime that starts I am probably going to do some sampling, so I planned a splurge there. On Thursday I figured my breakfast will be normal, but the other two meals of the day I better plan on being non-compliant. Add one meal in on Friday for some leftovers, and we are good to go. I used the same strategy for the week of Christmas. That takes up 8 out of the 12 allotted. Figure on a party on New Years Eve and that still leaves me with 3. My strategy then was to use one on each Saturday night of the “non-holiday” weeks, and that gives me 12 total.

This calendar helps me for a couple reasons. I have to have a plan or I will justify sneaking things here or there and not counting them. I like the visual aid. It helps me see that  I can still have some days where compliance does not have to be perfect but I am still on track.

One important caveat: You can still lose fat and stay on track over the holidays, but you HAVE to stick to your plan and you have to keep training. Don’t skip training sessions and think it won’t matter. It is the consistency of the training, keeping that metabolism in high gear, plus eating correctly the rest of the time that leads to success. I believe in you, now you gotta Make It Happen!

Download Your Splurge Survival Calendar Here

7 Semi-Random Truths of Training

Just because it’s Thursday…

Learn to love intensity, not duration.

It is not a badge of honor to spend 2 hours in the gym. Get in, work hard, get out, start the recovery process. 20 minutes of hard work trumps an hour of lollygagging every time. And if you tell me you can work at max capacity for 45 minutes to an hour, come on in and prove it to me. The goal is to elicit the desired training effect in the shortest amount of time. Minimum effective dose. One aspirin is good so 10 must be better, right? No. Take 10 for an extended period of time and it could kill you.

Training with intensity requires the ability to do so.

In other words, if you have a movement dysfunction, or an injury, that is the “big rock” that needs to be addressed first. Trying to push through or ignore these things leads to bigger problems. Do the work necessary to clean these issues up and you will be able to up your intensity in the future. If you injure yourself further, then you are really not going to get anywhere.

You earn the right to up your intensity.

In other words, you earn your exercise. Master the sequence of exercise progressions. You must to learn to crawl, then walk, then run. In the same way you must master the basics, lay a good foundation, and then when appropriate progress the exercise. Doing 1 footed hang cleans while balancing on a dumbbell with your finger up your nose might look cool, but why?

Everything is training.

The moment you step on the floor you are training. Soft tissue quality improvement, activation, movement prep, reactive and power development, strength training, metabolic conditioning, flexibility and recovery. It is ALL training. The variables change. Length of the set, rest periods, total work duration – these may change. Your goal should be to work as hard as you can, all the time.

You have control of how intense the training is.

See above. Sometimes you just have to look inside. You can dog it if you want to, but that really has nothing to do with the effectiveness of the plan, does it?

Your level of fatigue has nothing to do with how effective the training is.

Tired does not mean better. Better means better. Should there be fatigue after training? Yes. Should you be crawling out the door every day? No. If you want to get trashed every time you walk through the door you are in the wrong place. We are physical preparation coaches, not executioners. You are in this for the long haul, your whole life. Our job is to help you get better, day after day, year after year.

Working at high intensity all the time usually has more negative consequences than positive.

Most of us have a hard enough time getting enough sleep, keeping up with the family, dealing with stress, working, etc. Remember Minimum Effective Dose? We want to do enough to get the positive effects out of our training program without adding one too many bricks on the pile. Who wants to be sore and tired ALL the time? If you are, it’s time to take a look at some other stuff going on. (Good nutrition anyone?)

’nuff said! 🙂

And The Results Are IN

Get Fit NH has been using the FMS (Functional Movement Screen) and Smart Group Training with our clients for a little over 9 months, and it has had a huge impact in our training outcomes. The purpose of this system is to see how each client moves to find the areas that have a potential for injury. While no one can predict the future, we know certain movements done incorrectly over a long period of time can and usually will cause injury.

The same holds true of your car. Your auto mechanic might warn you that your tires are wearing. He’d probably say something like, “If you do not rotate your tires this can lead to permanent tire damage” (think all those pieces of tire you often see scattered on the highway) so we have the tires rotated. Your dentist will also let you know, “If you don’t brush  and floss your teeth daily, this could lead to tooth decay.” So we take time daily to brush and floss (you do that, right?)

Get Fit NH’s coaches want you to be safe, so together we do all we can to keep you safe while still training hard. That is where the FMS helps. After your screening your coach will give you a band to wear if necessary. Wear your band as you train so that you and your coaches know if you have movement patterns that currently need to be worked on so you can get, yes you know it – better.

Recently in Epsom we re-screened everyone. It was exciting to hear the hoots and hollers as bands were tossed into the “GOT BETTER” jar. They had listened to the warning, taken the time to do what it takes in training and outside of training, and seen incredible improvement. It was thrilling as a coach to see not just one band but sometimes two slip off a wrist and get tossed into the jar.

To channel a little Jerry McGuire “Help us help you.”

Because when you move better you can train better which help you get the results you want – faster.

And that’s what we all want!

Keep Getting Better!

Walk in Get Fit NH with a purpose to train hard, but to train smart. Wear your band. This helps you, it helps your coach.

Walk out of Get Fit NH knowing you did all you could to train hard – Smarter!

Get Fit NH Pullup and Pushup Projects Are Here!

There are two exercise movements that it seems just about everyone wants to get better at.

In fact when writing year end goals these two showed up more often than any other subject. In fact they are on my goal sheet as well.

Pushups and Pullups.

There is something about these two that drives us. They are basic tests of strength and endurance – “How many pullups can you do?”

To that end we have put a training program together for each of these two. They are designed to be integrated into your 4-day training split on the opposite end of the day that you train. In other words if you are training in the morning do them at night and vice-versa. You can also do them before or after your training while you are in the gym, just understand that is gonna be harder.

Under no circumstance should they be done on non-training days.

Why?

Ummm, it has to do with the “non-training” part. 🙂 Seriously though it gives your body a better chance for full recovery, and that is what it takes to get better, so don’t break the rules. My program, my rules!

Important Note:  When you request a copy of the pushup program you will also receive the pullup program. I highly recommend you don’t do the pushup program alone. While it is possible, it is not recommended you take on that much pushing with no pulling to balance out your joints. While you can do some horizontal pulling (rows) to accomplish this, you know you want to get better at pullups too, so why not take on both?

I know pullups are hard, and doing both of these programs will be challenging, but keeping your body in balance and your joints healthy is way more important in the long run than how many pushups you can do.

As stressed in the directions, be patient and follow the program precisely. Focus on quality of movement. No one is impressed by ugly pushups!

Read through the entire program and all the worksheets before starting. Doing so will answer 99.9% of your questions. Your coaches will be glad to help you with the rest.

Work hard, have fun, and Make It Happen!
Coach Dean

Get Fit NH Trains You Like The Pros

Now I know there probably aren’t a ton of Seattle Seahawk fans in these here parts, but there is no denying they are on a pretty good run lately.

Did you know that your training at Get Fit NH is laid on the same foundation as professional sports teams all over the country and world?

Take a couple minutes and watch the video below, and discover why teams like the Seahawks use the FMS to build some of the best athletes in the world.

Hint: It’s All About Getting Better!

Are You A “Can’t” or a “Don’t”?

Words are powerful.

They have the ability to build up and tear down. They can inspire or discourage. Leave us inspired or tired.

And this includes the words we tell ourselves.

I recently read about this experiment from the Journal of Consumer Research.

They took a group of 30 women and asked them to think on a long term health goal, and then they split them up into groups of 10.

Each group got a different phrase to remember every time they came across an obstacle to their health – alcohol, donuts, etc. The phrases they were to remember and recite were:

• Group 1: “Just Say No”
• Group 2: “I can’t miss my workout today”
• Group 3: “I don’t miss workouts”

At the end of every day each women was asked via email how they did that day. When they caved they would have to report it, and they knew it. This was repeated for 10 days.

Remember, every time they came across temptation they repeated the phrase from the group they were assigned to. The results?

• Group 1 had three people who made it through all 10 days.
• Group 2 had one person who made it through all 10 days.
• Group 3 had eight people who made it through all 10 days.

That’s a huge difference between the “can’t” group and the “don’t” group. Eight times better. That’s a big deal.

So what’s up with that anyway?

Why is “don’t” so much more powerful than “can’t”?

Heidi Grand Halvorson of Columbia’s Motivation Science center explains:

“I don’t” is experienced as a choice, so it feels empowering. It’s an affirmation of your determination and willpower. “I can’t” isn’t a choice. It’s a restriction, it’s being imposed upon you. So thinking “I can’t” undermines your sense of power and personal agency.”

In other words when you use “don’t” you are calling the shots, while using “can’t” makes you feel helpless, whether you are or not.

This is not mumbo jumbo or voodoo. This is key.

Are you in charge of your choices or not? Say you are out with friends at a party, and you are confronted with all sorts of goodies.

Is it:

“I can’t have any of that stuff” at which your friends pressure you to eat it anyway, and you go along to fit in?

or

“I don’t eat more than one piece of dessert when I am out” at which your friend are floored by your self-discipline and will power? 🙂

Which makes you feel better?

Which is more empowering?

Who do you want to be?

“Don’t” be a “Can’t”

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean

Let Go Of The Tree

I remember it like it was yesterday.

Walking back home from my friend’s house, down Goboro Rd, when a couple of the “cool kids” rode by on their bikes. They were headed down to the river to swim, and asked if I wanted to come along.

Well being one of the “not so cool” kids, I figured maybe some of that 11 year old coolness would rub off on me if I went, so down the hill we headed.

Little did I know that perched over the swimming hole was an enormous tree, with branches hanging over the river. What seemed like 50 feet up was a branch, and these guys would climb up the tree, onto the branch, and then jump in the river.

Now to this day I am not a fan of heights. And that climb was not on my “to-do” list, I assure you. Now this might not be a story you want to tell your kids, but after not a small amount of taunting, I very slowly approached the tree and begin climbing.

It really wasn’t that high, 20 feet tops, but I still remember the pit in my stomach when I got up to that branch and tepidly shimmied out over the water.

The other thing you need to know is that there was a rock beneath the surface of the water that you needed to clear. As an aside a couple years later they cut down this same tree because some other knuckle headed kid messed himself up pretty bad on it.

So here I am, with a death grip on the tree, the cool kids (and some of my real friends – we still see each other to this day) treading water and egging me on to jump.

It wasn’t like I was the first one to do it. These guys had each successfully climbed and jumped 2 or 3 times before my first trip up. They had shown me it could be done, and they were having a blast.

But I wasn’t quite ready to let go of the tree.

Do you have trees in your life that you are holding onto just a little too tightly?

Is there something that is scaring you, keeping you from getting where you want to be?

You know I let those guys talk me into what I mighta shoulda not have done.

But I usually see the opposite.

We let people talk us out of doing things that are going to move us forward.

People who bring donuts and brownies into work, and then get upset if we don’t have one or two.

“Friends” that think we are too radical for making good choices with our nutrition, or spending time training.

“Here, have another glass of wine”, when one is quite enough, thank-you.

What I have found is people like that are not ready or don’t want to make positive changes in their own life, so they are going to try to drag you down too.

Why do we let people do that? Why do we care that they care we are eating the veggies at the party? Why do we let other people define who we are? If I want to eat carrots what do they care? Why should what they say affect my behavior?

Really? Why do we do that?

So let go of the tree.

Let go of the self-doubt and negative talk.

Let go of the need to please other people so much that you hurt yourself in the process.

You know what?

It’s ok to be the “freak” that makes good choices and takes care of yourself.

And while people still like to poke at you for not eating the donuts, they are also the first ones that will ask you stuff about diet and nutrition.

Because deep down they want what you have.

So my challenge to you is to get your freak on. Dare to be different. Dare to stick to your guns.

Did I let go of the tree?

You bet I did. And when I hit the water I climbed out and did it again.

It’s about time you let go of the things that are holding you back too.

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean

How Much Better Will You Be In 16 Weeks?

It’s hard to believe that September is here already.

The kids are headed back to school, the weather is about to turn cooler, and the apples are about ready to pick. I love this time of year!

September also has me excited because it causes me to think about what I want to accomplish between now and the end of the year. There are 16 training weeks left this year. That is a lot of time to make a lot of progress!

Pretend it is the last week in December and you are reflecting back on the last 16 weeks of your life.

What would cause you to think “I am really happy with the progress I have made in my life the last few months”?

At the time when most people are thinking about resolutions, won’t it be great when you are thinking about the next step, not just taking the first one?

I mean I get the whole resolution thing. Start of a new year, new beginnings, all that.

But why wait?

What do you have to gain by waiting for a specific time of year to get focused and moving on your goals?

Here’s a challenge for you:

On an index card, write down 3 specific things you want to accomplish by December 31st 2013, and put it in a place you are going to see it – every day. Refrigerator perhaps?

Here are my three:

1) 20 Uninterrupted pullups
2) 2x Bodyweight deadlift
3) 10% or less body fat

Those three will be a challenge for me, but they are also realistic and achievable, if I put the work in.

So what about you?

Are you willing to throw down the gauntlet on yourself and take the challenge?

On December 31st at the dawn of the new year, will you look back with satisfaction?

I will guarantee you two things.

1) Nobody is going to do it for you.
2) We will be here to guide and support you every step of the way.

So get out that index card and pen, write your goals out and post them.

In fact I’ll challenge you even further. We started a Facebook group here: End of Year “Big 3” Challenge or if you don’t have FB you can post your 3 below.

Put it out there for all the world to see, then let’s Make It Happen together!

Coach Dean

What Are You Going To Be Doing Next Week?

We are on a recovery week from regular training next week, but that doesn’t mean we have to let ourselves be lay(or is it lie?)-on-the-couch-do-nothing slobs.

In fact my suggestion is that you take the time you would normally be training and focus it on other productive activities that will help you reach your goals faster.

For you early morning exercisers, that might mean sleeping in another hour, and then taking the time to prepare and eat a nice breakfast.

For those who train later, taking the time to plan out your menu and shopping for the next week would be a fantastic way to spend an hour, especially if you struggle with doing this on a regular basis.

Get out and take a walk, hike a mountain, take a bike ride, or get on the water. Give your body a break. You will not lose muscle, gain fat (unless you eat like a horse) and get weaker in a week.

Just stay out of the gym already!

I take training weeks off, Nancy takes training weeks off. We feel better, get recharged and are ready to hit it hard when we get back. Seriously why are we even having this discussion again! 🙂

As a reminder this years Labor Day Sweat-A-Thon is a fundraiser for our friend Dustin Williams in his effort to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis foundation. So come on out and let’s sweat for CF!

Recovery Week: August 26th-September 1st

Labor Day Sweat-A-Thon for CF

Date: Labor Day, September 2, 2013
Time: 9:00am to 10:30am
Place: Get Fit NH Concord
Suggested Donation: $10.00