Holiday Survival Guide 2009

Hey Blog-villers,
Well, its that time a year again when we notice a couple of trends here around the gym.
1. We notice a lot more inconsistency with clients making it to their personal training sessions or visits to the gym. This is to be expected due to the fact that many people will be traveling around the holidays to be with friends and families, and
2. People have a tendency to over-indulge during the holiday season and put on a couple of extra and unwanted pounds.

So, I offer you these simple tips to keep you on track with your health and fitness goals during this time of year.

1. Keep a food log: Many nutritionist recommend this, and research backs them up, that when you simply record what you eat on a daily basis you will lose weight faster. This is especially important during the holidays when we will be tempted by snacks and sweets common during the holidays.
2. Get out and walk: During the holidays people tend to travel more, which means people will get out of their routine of going to the gym to get their exercise. Walking is a great way to stay active when you are away from home and not able to go to the gym. Walking is low impact, burns calories, and and helps trigger many of our normal and important bodily function, such as digestion that will help us metabolize those holiday snacks and meals. Get a pedometer, they can be very inexpensive, and aim for at least 10,000 steps per day.
3. Holiday Parties!: We all have them this time of year, they are often unavoidable(office parties, thanksgiving parties, Christmas parties, etc..) You would never guess that I work in a health and fitness facility if you saw our break room this time of year. It is kind of embarrassing actually. We have many members that bring us cookies, cakes, snacks, and random goodies...... It is a thoughtful gesture of their appreciation for what we do and we appreciate it very much, however, I know how easy it is to "snack" more than normal this time of year. If you are hosting the party, provide the smaller "dessert" size plates for your guest to use. Bottom line is that with smaller plates you can't fit as much food on them! And if you are attending a party be sure to seek out the small plates and make a point to just fill this one plate up and be done.
4. Fill the Tank: Start your day of thanks with a fiber-filled breakfast. Fiber will take up more space in your stomach and keep you feeling full longer. Don't skip any meals because you know you are going to have a big Thanksgiving Day meal, eat normal throughout the day so you wont want a big meal!
5. Don't deprive yourself...moderation is the key: Treat yourself to the things you enjoy. Don't try to completely avoid all the treats you like, this often times can lead to over-eating when you do decide to enjoy them. Just "sample" the sweets and snacks. This takes a little will power, but if you just sample little portions of the "goodies" you will feel much better about yourself, while still satisfying your cravings. At the table, fill most of your plate with lean cuts of meat and vegetables. When you've filled up on the healthy stuff then simply taste the heavier dishes, rather than eating a large serving.
6. Wait!: Wait at least 20 minutes before you get a second helping. This is very important since it takes at least this long for your body to register how full it actually is. You may realize after 20 minutes that you don't want seconds after all.

I hope these tips help you stay healthy and happy during this holiday season. Have an incredible and safe Thanksgiving!

Kaizen,
Scott

MTS of The Week 11/2/2009

Hey Everyone,
Today we have another entry of the MTS of The Week.
This workout is kinda cross fit style made to challenge strength-endurance. This is a great circuit training work out method that lets you challenge yourself from one set to the next.

*each exercise is done for 1 min in duration with no rest in between exercises. Score 1 point for every repetition completed during that minute for A1-A4, for A5 count how many calories burned in the minute. Add your points together, and that will be your score to beat for the next round.

A1 Medicine Ball toss against a wall 20 lbs
A2 Kettle Bell sumo deadlift to high pull 50 lbs
A3 Box jumps (at least knee level box)
A4 Dumb bell Push press ~25-30 lbs
A4 Concept 2 rower

Enjoy!
Scott

JC'S "Life's Sets and Reps"

I just got back from a great personal training business and marketing seminar. There were many great speakers, but I just wanted to highlight a slide from one of the speakers for todays blog.

Juan Carlos Santana is very well know in the fitness industry for his "functional fitness" mentality. But what I liked about his presentation this weekend was that it was different than his normal presentation. This presentation dealt with handling "Life". Many people come to us to help make them physically better, but there are usually so many unresolved components of peoples daily life that make helping the "physical" very difficult if not impossible.

So, JC presented a slide he labeled "Life's Sets and Reps". And I wanted to share it with you here today. Hope you enjoy it. I feel many of us spend to much time in some of these categories and greatly neglect some of the others

Enjoy and Keep moving
Scott

"Life's Sets and Reps"
Pure Spiritual time (1-3 hours per week) These activities do not take up physical energy. They allow you to feel calm, happy, and transcendence. Music, meditation, art, reading, etc.
Physical spiritual time (3-7 hours per week) These activities involve a rhythmic movement that provides a positive hormonal and psychological environment that allows one to be involved in positive imagery and self talk. This is exercise, problem solving, a pat on the back, and exercising the "will" of life.
Social Time (1-7 hours per week) Dedicate time to special people in your life (outside immediate family). Communicate with special friends that provide you with a secure social circle and an upbeat social environment.
Family Time (1-7 hours per week) Spend quality time with immediate family members (i.e. no TV, no cell phones, no distraction) If there are no family members around, substitute that time with close friends- thus the big range in time for both categories.
Work (40-50 hours per week) This is a must for most. However, the more courage one has to make work something they love to do, the closer they will be to true happiness. YOU CAN'T BE HAPPY MOST OF THE TIME IF YOU ARE MISERABLE AT WORK MOST OF THE TIME.
Good Sleep (49- 56 hours per week) Enough can't be said about this activity- most Americans are sleep deprived- even if they spend many hours in bed. Good Sleep (7-8 hours per night)!


Please comment on your thoughts

Don't just warm up.....Get Moving!!

Dynamic Warm-Up

Gone are the days of walking on a treadmill and static stretching before exercise or some sort of sport or activity. Research shows us that although static stretching is still great for increasing range of motion, it is also great at shutting down our nervous system. That is not so great when we are getting ready to exercise or engage in some form of athletic event! We need are bodies to be alert, we need our blood to be flowing strongly to the muscle, the muscles need to be loosened up, wide awake, and ready to produce at the top of their game!

What our bodies need is a good dynamic, movement based warm-up prior to activity. The Dynamic Warm-up is a warm-up routine that improves flexibility, cardiovascular
readiness, and the level of neural excitation. A dynamic warm-up can be very specific to an activity, such as movements that will simulate the activities of playing tennis, or more general to help you prepare for a good calorie burning full body workout. What's great about a dynamic warm-up is that a properly performed dynamic warm-up will give you the benefits of increasing your heart rate and circulation like you might do on a treadmill, at the same time you will be increasing your range of motion to help prevent injury just like you would do with flexibility training! As a matter of fact, according to research by Fredrick and Szymanski when performed before, during, and after an exercise routine or sports performance the dynamic warm-up has been shown to decrease post-activity soreness as well as increase power production by 20% in addition to improved flexibility. The routine can be used as a way to increase recovery after and in between workouts.

I am in the process of making a video of these movements. In the mean time click the link below for my picture presentation:

Dynamic Warm up Pictures.... http://www.mtsfitness.com/uploads/Dynamic_warmup-members_compress.pdf

Enjoy! and get ready to sweat!

Keep Moving,
Scott

Tebow--- Return to Play?

Hey Everyone,
I am still working on the video for the "Dynamic Warm-up", but I had to take a break from it in light of all the questions people have asked me regarding "When will Tim Tebow play again"?

To preface my answer, I am not employed by University Athletic Association, or the UF Football team. However I am a Certified Athletic Trainer, and because of that many people have asked the above question to me. So, I figured I would summarize the Return to Play Guidelines as stated in the NATA's position statement on Management of Sports Related Concussions.

The First thing usually done when managing a concussion is to place a "grade" on the severity of the concussion. One of the scales used for this is called the Cantu Evidence Based Grading System. The Cantu grading system is explained below:

Grade 1 (mild) No Loss of consciousness, Posttraumatic amnesia for less than 30 min, Postconcussion signs and symptoms for less than 24 hours
Grade 2 (moderate) Loss of consciousness for less than 1 min or Posttraumatic amnesia for greater than 30 min ,less than 24 h or
Postconcussion signs and symptoms greater than 24 hours ,and less than 7 days
Grade 3 (severe) Loss of consciousness for greater than 1 min or Posttraumatic amnesia for greater than 24 hours or Postconcussion signs and symptoms for greater than 7 days

When to Return to play?
An athlete may return to play only after all post-concussive symptoms have resolved both at rest and with exercise.

*Grade 1 Concussion
May return to play after 15 minutes if no headache or other post-concussive symptoms are present.

*Multiple Grade 1 Concussions
Return to play after 1 week without symptoms.

*Grade 2 Concussion
Return to play after 1 week without symptoms.

*Multiple Grade 2 Concussions
Return to play after 2 weeks without symptoms.

*Grade 3 Concussion(brief)
Return to play after 1 week without symptoms.

*Grade 3 Concussion (prolonged)
Return to play after 2 weeks without symptoms. May need to consider terminating season if symptoms persist.

*Multiple Grade 3 Concussions
Hold out at least one month. Base on decision of evaluating physician.

So, The answer to the Million Dollar Question:
Q.When Will Tim Tebow be able to Play again?
A. It depends!! It is very possible that if his symptoms have subsided he will be ready for LSU! Having a bye week makes it very probable. Knowing what we all know about Timmy is that he is a tough SOB! I would be very surprised to NOT see him play in two weeks.....That decision will ultimately come from the team physician with close monitoring from the team Athletic Trainer.

Hope this helps...... cross your fingers and keep Tim's health and the entire teams health in your prayers!!

Keep Moving,
Scott

Stayed Tuned..... Great Quote!

Hey Everyone,
I have just finished writing a great article describing the benefits of a dynamic warm-up prior to activity. Now I just need to finish putting together the demo video that goes along with the article. For the majority of you the article would probably sound like I am speaking Latin without video demonstration. So, I will get this posted hopefully by sometime early next week. In the mean time I leave you with 2 great quote:

"Keep steadily before you the fact that all true success depends at last upon yourself."
Theodore T. Hunger

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out."
Robert Collier

Keep Moving,
Scott

Are you deprived?

Hey Everyone,
Today we have a guest blogger, this is an article out of a newsletter from Gainesville Health and Fitness. I thought this would compliment my last blog about "planning" nicely.......although I still believe in hard work:)
So, I hope you enjoy it!

Keep Moving,
Scott


The Freedom of (self imposed) chains

Most of us are under the misconception that fit people work hard and spend most of their lives deprived in order to achieve their amazing bodies.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

I'll let you in on a little secret...It's not hard to get and stay fit. It's not about hard work and deprivation.

It's all about boundaries.

Let me explain...

When you were a child your parents set boundaries around you. They were the authority on what was or wasn't acceptable behavior. You had to complete your chores before dinner. You had to finish your homework before going out to play. You had to eat all your vegetables before dessert.

If you failed to comply with these boundaries then you knew that there would be consequences.

As an adult you, and only you, are the authority on what is or isn't acceptable behavior. You are in the position to set boundaries around yourself. These boundaries serve as a framework of order around you - a rock of support in an otherwise chaotic world.

With self-imposed boundaries you can assure your success in anything...specifically with weight loss.

Your fitness boundaries have to be self-imposed, no one is going to do it for you. Don't look at this as a bad thing! Self-imposed boundaries are self-empowering.

Let's face it, you've been living life without fitness boundaries.
You eat whatever you want, whenever you want it.
You use any excuse to avoid exercise.
You indulge whenever it feels good.
Your Fitness Boundaries

It's time to introduce boundaries back into your life. These boundaries are the key to unleashing your ideal fit and healthy body.

1. Fitness Boundary One: What you eat

If you were to be perfectly honest with me, you could list off the foods that are unhealthy and fattening. So why are you still eating them? You know that refined, fried, processed and sugary foods are not good for you.

Place boundaries around what you will allow yourself to eat. Acceptable food items include whole foods, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean meats.

2. Fitness Boundary Two: How you exercise

I know that you're not an Olympic athlete, but that doesn't mean that you can simply pass on exercise. By now you are well aware of the host of benefits that exercise provides. With regular exercise you'll look great, feel amazing and have more energy than ever.

Place boundaries around how often you must exercise. Choose exercise that is challenging and fun - don't be afraid to try new activities that improve your strength and endurance.

3. Fitness Boundary Three: When you indulge

Let's face it, we live in a world where indulging has become the norm, rather than the exception. When you live life without fitness boundaries, everyday is an opportunity to indulge. These indulgences all add up quickly, causing your clothes to become tight and your energy levels to drop.

Place boundaries around when you can indulge. You'll find that by limiting your indulgences you'll end up enjoying them even more.

Putting It In Action

Sit down and take a long, hard look at your lifestyle. Are you eating as healthy as you could be? Are you exercising 3-5 times each week? Are you indulging too often? Answer the following questions:


What 3 food items can I eliminate from my daily diet? (These should be nutritionally void items like high-calories beverages, fast food, packaged snacks, high-fat food, candy or desserts.)
When can I schedule exercise into my week? (Pick 3-5 days, and select a specific timeframe. Example: I'm going to exercise on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays from 5am-6am.)
When will I allow myself to indulge? (Don't go overboard here, especially if you need to lose weight. Enjoy a treat a couple times each month, and do so guilt-free knowing that you've maintained healthy food boundaries the rest of the time.
Remember that self-imposed boundaries are self-empowering.

Fitness boundaries put your fitness results on autopilot. If you know what constitutes an acceptable meal, then choosing what to eat just got a whole lot easier. If you're committed to exercising 3 times a week, soon it becomes second nature.