Vacation is Over: Back to Basics, Part 2

Vacations are wrapping up, you will soon be sending kids back to school. Time to spend time on yourself! Many of our clients return after Labor Day, so get yourself on our schedule!
Conditioning is one of the 3 Key Areas we train, also including Strength, and Core.

Conditioning uses most of your large muscle groups, keeps you moving while using resistance or weight to speed up the effect.

Weight loss and overall muscle toning are expedited with conditioning.

Here are 3 examples of exercises that use large muscle groups:
Body Squats--we start with your own body weight, and then graduate to using a body bar, dumbbells, then heavier bars with weights.

Lunges--(pictured) we start with stationary lunges and then move ahead to walking lunges, and then walking with hand weights.

Lateral Slides--progressively more difficult bands and tubes are used to increase the muscle resistance.

When you are moving with weight, form is key. Our personal trainers demonstrate, watch, give feedback, and then record your progress after each exercise.

Vacation is Over: Back to Basics, Part 1

Vacation is winding down for many, school has started for some...

How did you spend your summer? With vacations and beach weekends, it's easy to let your workout routine slide a bit...or a lot. BodyByGeoff will help you get back to basics with our next series of Health & Fitness Tips on strength training.
You may have done some walking, biking or jogging on your vacation, but did you do anything to maintain or build strength?

Strength training is necessary for women & men as it helps to build connective tissue, ease arthritis pain and increase bone density.

Center on Disease Control studies show that strength training is also beneficial for balance, lowering blood sugar and getting a better night's sleep.

If you are trying to lose weight, remember, strength training is an important part of the overall equation.

Three to four hours after a strength-training workout, you're still burning calories.

When you lose weight, up to a quarter of the loss can come from muscle, which slows your metabolism. Strength training helps you rebuild any muscle you lost by dieting -- or keep you from losing it in the first place.

Vacation Exercise

Hopefully, this health & fitness tip finds you on vacation with friends or family, in your favorite place--the beach, the lake, the mountains or the city you always wanted to visit. While you relax, don't forget to keep your body in shape. Here are few things you can do with little or no equipment until you come back to see us.

STRETCH
You will probably be sleeping in a different bed. This is actually the number one short-term reason for backaches. Place your hands behind your hips, make a big chest, breathe in & then out. Get on the floor on your hands & knees and arch your back up & then down, like a cat.

WALK or JOG
Discover new places by walking or jogging briskly for 20-30 minutes each day. Beach sand is fine to walk on, but not the best place to run because of the uneven surface.

SIMPLE BODY WEIGHT EXERCISES Upper Body
* Planks--get in a push-up position, but rest on your elbows and forearms--count to 10, repeat 3 times.
* Pushups--toe or knee, do 5-10, repeat 3 times. Keep your back level.
* Tricep Dips (pictured)--find a sturdy sitting chair. Position your hands on it facing out, dip to about 1 foot off the floor. Do 8-10 repetitions, 3 times.

Lower Body
* Bodysquat--legs further apart than your shoulders, butt out, head up, squat down as if you are sitting on a chair. Repeat 10 times, 3 sets. If you have a cable band, place the band under your feet and hold the handles, repeat the same motion as above for increased resistance.

Core and Abs
* Using a chair or a bed, place your feet & legs up. Support your neck by lacing your hands behind your neck. Come straight up 12 times, repeat 3 times. Be careful of your neck and lower back. If these are ok, try reaching to your opposite ankles, 12 times, repeat 3 times.
* Advanced ab--side plank ab twist--lie on your side, support yourself with your hand and bring your body up to a star. Reach down with your upper hand and back up. Repeat 10 times, try the opposite side. Do 3 sets on each side.

These are just a few things you can do while on vacation. Your BodyByGeoff Personal Trainer can give you exercises that compliment your ongoing training. BodyByGeoff also has a 6-video series of exercises. All are very easy to follow. If you would like one, $10 for training clients, $19 for non-training clients. (plus shipping). Downloads available soon. Have a great vacation!

Coordinating Health & Fitness Services

Do you Feel you Run all over Town trying to stay healthy, fit, trim and pain free? Do you worry that what a provider tells you may be in conflict or be based on incomplete information?

Our concept has always been to offer complete health & fitness services under one roof, with professionals communicating & coordinating together in your best interest.

Personal Training
an individually-based service that provides you exercise programs that are the safest, most effective and motivating for your goals, lifestyle and overall health. Age-appropriate programs including Active 65 for Seniors, Performance Club for Youth and Take Control for Women.

Diet and Nutrition
custom-order supplements, cost effective plans like Diet-toGo, Free ongoing nutrition analysis with personal training, and Dietitians to provide in-depth nutrition guidance. Coordination with your training goals.

Massage Therapy
pre- and post-event muscle massage. Complement to chiropracticf or spinal adjustments. Complement to physical therapy. And, just relaxing...

Physical Therapy
to regain movement, strength and range post surgery or injury. Re-learn normal movement.

Acupuncture
an alternative to medication to treating ongoing pain such as arthritis. Can complement massage therapy and chiropractic.

Chiropractic
an alternative to pain relievers for spinal & neck pain caused by trauma or injury. Complements personal training, acupuncture, and physical therapy. Back pain is the number one ongoing reported pain.

Training & Tracking

How often should you train? How important is it to track your training, fitness and nutrition results? These are two of the most common questions we are asked by clients.

How often should I train?

* Your training frequency should depend on your goals, but normally 2-3 times per week for 1 hour will obtain the best results for strength, toning and weight loss.

* If you are trying to lose weight, you will want to add in 15-20 minutes of cardio 5-6 times per week.

* Athletic training for marathons, triathlons, etc. require more frequent, specific training up to the event.

* Seniors and those with health limitations are probably best with 30-minute sessions.

* If you are trying to lose weight, you first want to know how many calories you need to maintain. Then log your food and adjust your diet based on exercise and weight-loss goals.

At BodyByGeoff we measure where you are starting from a health, fitness, nutrition and body image perspective. Our Personal Trainers record each training session so you can see your progress.

Our exclusive Personal Fitness Diary allows you to track your diet and nutrition, your training sessions and your cardio workouts.

We schedule regular weekly and 30-day re-assessments of your progress.

Can Water Weigh You Down?

Water is essential for hydration, skin, joints, can help reduce body fat and curb your appetite, but it might also weigh you down. How? Read your Health & Fitness Tip to find out!

Take a Test:
1) Weigh yourself at the beginning of the day, before drinking water or weigh yourself before strenuous exercise.
2) Weigh yourself about mid-day, after drinking about 8 oz of water hourly or after the exercise.
3) Weight gain may show you are over-hydrating. Weight loss may show you are under-hydrating. This assumes you keep your food intake normal, that you don't introduce new meds, etc. A loss of about 1 pound = 16 oz. of water.

When you are jogging and sweating in the hot sun, weigh yourself before & after exercise. 1 pint of sweat = 1 pound lost. Aim to replace only the fluids you have lost.

Drinking too much water will make you dizzy and disoriented. Self-monitor by how much you sweat and urinate. If it is extremely hot and you are exerting yourself, tie a cold, wet bandanna around your neck or head.

Health & Fitness Tip: Youth Fitness

School is almost out and BodyByGeoff is getting ready for its 3rd Summer Season of Performance Club for Middle & High School Students.

Unfortunately, most students don't get enough regular exercise. Here are some sobering statistics from the CDC:

• Nearly one half of young people aged 12-21 are not vigorously active on a regular basis.

• Physical activity declines dramatically with age during adolescence.

• Female adolescents are much less physically active than male adolescents.

• Only 19% of all high school students are physically active for 20 minutes or more in physical education classes every day during the school week.

But it's never too late to get started and make up for lost ground.

Whether your student is an athlete wanting to condition for a fall sport, lose weight or just get in shape; Performance Club is the simple, safe, fun answer.

• 2-3 Students per Trainer

• For ages 12 to 18.

• More close supervision, more results, more performance. Call to set up your student's assessment.

Rates:

• 10 sessions for $250

• 20 sessions for $400

Fitness for Youth and Young Adults

Good Foundations are Important--getting an early start cannot be overemphasized. Establishing proper diet, fitness and overall healthy living habits early will help them to become a way of life. Get your kids away from the video games, get them out and active! The benefits are immeasurable.

Most kids from 12 up can start to understand abstract ideas like muscular fitness, bone density, body composition and motor fitness. Continuing this through high school and even college will help maintain these foundations through adult life.

...And, parents, don't worry, there is substantial evidence that kids can lift weights after 11 years old if it is done with supervision to ensure proper form and that the technique is age-appropriate.

Let's not forget the importance of self-esteem, mental discipline and socialization that exercise and even casual sports provide.

BodyByGeoff understands the importance of youth & young adult fitness. We have a different, more individual concept that stresses either one-on-one personal training or small group training called Performance Club.