Lifestyle Challenge FINAL results are in!

Congratulations to our Challengers for finishing out the entire 8 week program!

We had a turn of events in the last week.  Our point leader fell ill and out of the top scores.  Here are the prize earners for the first 2010 Challenge:

1st Place: Ellie

2nd Place: Laurie

3rd Place: Krisanne

“I didn’t accomplish all I wanted but WILL continue (with re-set goals) to try to improve on a few things.  AND…I lost 6 lbs…not all bad.”  —- Ellie

“TWEEEEEEN – TEE !  Two  in a row!” —- Penny

“20 POINTS for me!!!!! Hip, hip!! Goin out on top!!” — Krisanne

“0 points for me…I’ve plummeted from my Rocky Mountain high and my Mogul Mama and Powder Princess status to the couch where I have been laying all week with a serious head cold and the flu. As usual the challenge was fun while it lasted. Congrats to the winner.” — Jan

I encourage everyone to continue the healthy habits you have been working on.  Get ready for the next Lifestyle Challenge starting on April 5th, 2010.  Those 8 weeks will lead us up to Memorial Day so you’ll be in tip top shape for the start of summer.  There will NOT be a summer challenge so get your friends and family on board to get motivated for April.

Lifestyle Challenge Week 7 Results!

You’ve been anxiously awaiting the results . . . well here they are.  We are down to the final week.  Keep up the good work everyone.  It ain’t over yet!

I’m so glad I did this challenge!  I’m signing up for the next one too!  Send me that email when you get it done and I will send it out to my friends! — Laurie

Still is (a rough week), but I just really want to get it together, and the challenge was a great way to rally. — Worth

20..much better…no real issues…I just got “focused”!  I can do this! — Ellie

22…I am giving myself a bonus of two points for surviving 6 days of skiing with my kids on steep and deep terrain, miles of moguls and tree runs, the longest cruisers and cat tracks in world and getting rescued out of a not so flattering leg arrangement with a very pointy branched spruce tree. Although my knees took the brunt of the impact and not my head I am certain that I would not have been able to maintain that splayed chicken position for very long without being in pretty good physical condition. The knees are scraped, bruised and swollen, the new ski pants survived, and, once I have recovered from the over stretching of all my muscles I will attack the last week with renewed enthusiasm. — Jan **Don’t worry challengers, no bonus points were awarded but I LOVE this story Ha!

What is your body fat%? – Find out in Los Angeles

Body Fat Test is a mobile, hydrostatic body fat test clinic that I have used in Southern California.  They partner with various health clubs, hospitals, corporations and wellness centers to bring their truck on site to give convenient access to the hydrostatic weighing tank.  This is the most accurate way of tracking your body composition.  Check out their calendar to find out when they are coming to a facility near you in Los Angeles or other cities around the US.

Here are some FAQ’s from the BodyFatTest.com site.

Isn’t Body Composition Genetic?

While some aspects of your body composition are based on heredity (such as where you tend to store excess fat), for the majority of the population Percent Body Fat is related to lifestyle. After about age 16, changes in body fat are due to changes in fat cell size not number. These cells expand (or shrink) to accommodate excess calorie storage.

How Much Is Too Much?

Just as too little body fat can create some pretty devastating physiological complications, too much body fat can have equally harmful effects. Once men creep up over 25% and women over 32% fat, there is a dramatic correlation with illness and disease. In fact, body composition has been used more and more to make future predictions about health and disease in individuals.

Health Risks Associated With Too Much Body Fat Include The Following:

• increased blood pressure

• increased total cholesterol level

• increased LDL (bad) cholesterol

• increased risk of cardiac problems

• increased risk of Diabetes

• hardening of the arteries

• aggravation of osteoarthritis

• promotes blood clots and varicose veins

• GI disorders

• increased predisposition to some cancers

• decreased reaction time

• reduced balance and coordination

• increased susceptibility to infections

• decreased circulation

How Low Is Too Low?

Athletes can take this “low body fat in the name of improved performance” idea too far. While the average body fat percent in the United States and Europe is increasing, low body fat percent is clearly a health problem. The female athlete triad of disordered eating, amenorrhea, and osteoporosis is a relatively new phenomenon. Women athletes who strive for better performance and lower body weight, often find themselves caught in a negative spiral that actually leads to decreased performance and health risks. Eating disorders require special attention and professional assistance. There have even been steps taken by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to keep wrestlers from going too far when it comes to ‘making weight’, or reducing their weight to qualify for a lower wrestling weight class.

What Should Your Body Fat % Be?

Well, this is a loaded question, and the answer reflects the controversy surrounding the issue. A better question might be, “What is your ideal weight? Body fat percent varies considerably for men and women, for age and culture for those involved in different sports activities, and even for different geographic location. However, there are some ’standards.’ The minimum percent body fat considered safe and acceptable for good health is 5% for males and 12% for females. The average adult body fat is closer to 15%-18% for men and 22%-25% for women.

Foam rolling? The stick? – An Introduction to SMR

Jeff Alexander is a colleague of mine who I have worked closely with in exploring of SMR techniques and tools.  I consider him the guru on the topic and I learn things from him every time we meet.  I asked him to explain what SMR is and why all those people are rolling around on foam rollers in the gym.

Self-myofascial release, or SMR, is the process of applying pressure to muscular knots with implements such as balls or rollers to bring about a release of tension, essentially the same release one gets from static stretching. It can be likened to self-massage. With the right instruction and caution, it can be an extremely effective skill set to have in your recovery tool box. SMR allows an athlete to effectively deal with some of the knots that develop during the course of their conditioning, without needing to wait until their therapist is available for an appointment. When the athlete does eventu- ally make an appointment with a massage therapist, the therapist can go to work on the really deep knots that quite simply were impossible to get to before because of all the other tension in the muscles.

With SMR, you can address tight muscles that affect movement on a daily basis. If you restore full range of motion to your body on a daily basis, then you can potentially avoid the pitfalls of non-impact injuries caused by poor bio- mechanics. Prior to the development of the rollers and balls we use in SMR, an athlete needed a significant knowl- edge of anatomy and very strong hands to address the deep knots of their body. Now, simply use a roller in the right place in short, 2-3 inch strokes and you can find the knots that need a little added pressure to properly stretch them. Whether you use a roller or ball, the key is applying only enough pressure to trigger the release in the mus- cles. This can be tricky, especially for the deep knots, since you might need to apply a fair bit of pressure to get through the outer layers of tissue.

If the muscle fibers are stretched too fast, they will tighten up to protect the body from injury. At the doctor’s of- fice, you know this reflex as the knee-jerk test. During SMR we sense this reflex as a cramp. So, you need to press just hard enough to trigger the release, but not so hard that you trigger the stretch-reflex.

Can SMR replace the massage therapist or chiropractor? No. You need qualified assistance to diagnose and treat conditions other than a tight muscle. Do you need the dentist to brush and floss your teeth every day? No. There are some things you should be able to do for yourself. SMR is a growing concept of self-care that enables the indi- vidual to not only feel better by relieving some of the tension in their tight muscles, but it also helps to reduce dys- functional compensations by restoring proper range of motion. As an added benefit, it encourages education about anatomy by simply causing people to wonder, ‘what muscle is that, anyway?’

Written by Jeff Alexander, founder of Network Fitness LLC
Self-Myofascial Release Coach CrossFit, ISSA, NASM, FMS, TPT

Read more about SMR at: www.networkfitness.com/blog
To download the SMR Introduction with 18 sample exercises, go to: http://www.networkfitness.com/SMR

Lifestyle Challenge Week 5 Results

We had some fabulous scores to post this week.  It seems the participants got a second wind for the last half of the challenge.  Keep up the good work everyone!

“I am re-committed with Week 5 start to Make It Work the way I want it to…not just to “get it in” for the challenge!!” —- Ellie

“I go to the Dentist this week and will hopefully get a happy smile from flossing everyday!” —- Laurie

“The three travel days home last week were tough on my veggie goal. Restaurant meals are not big on veggies.” —- Krisanne

Lifestyle Challenge Week 4 Results

Congratulations to our top three point earners for the first half of the Embody Fitness Lifestyle Challenge!

1st Prize: Jan

2nd Prize: Ellie

3rd Prize: Laurie

Monday started the second half of the Lifestyle Challenge.  Many of our participants have updated their goals to either increase the challenge OR make their goals more attainable.  I’m excited to see what happens in the next four weeks!

“If the weather will cooperate, I will increase my walking. I will definitely increase my sit-ups tomorrow, adding a fourth set of 15 reps.”  —- Ralph

“So, I will increase water intake to 60 oz.(not 48) and try to increase the walking to 40 minutes (not 30.) The sewing, again is my biggest challenge, but I am not giving up!” —- Sharon

“Last week watched the Julia and Jacques winter veggie show and did the cabbage leaves with turkey instead of sausage and it is wonderful!!  I have the turnips, cauliflower and carrots are ready to go for tonight’s dinner.”  —- Amy

“I continue to see positive reinforcement on the scale, so hopefully that will help me get thru the next 4 weeks.” —- Ellie

Exploring Health and Fitness in LA – Part 2

Today marks the end of my second week as a LA resident and I am in full swing of getting my network established in Los Angeles.

Tuesday I really started exploring Studio City and the gyms along Ventura Blvd.  As I enjoyed a healthy breakfast at Good Earth Restaurant on Ventura and Laurel Grove Ave, I spotted a fitness facility right across the street.  I peered through the window to discover a quaint, clean, modern training facility called Hotte Bodies.  I grabbed a brochure off the door and immediately dialed the owner, Javier Jacobo in hopes I might have found a place to start training my clients.  Jacobo offers Pilates training in addition to his overall wellness approach to fitness.  I’m currently working on figuring out an arrangement and hope to be training there soon.

While at Starbucks a little further down on Ventura I caught word that Barry’s Bootcamp is hiring fitness trainers.  I had thought Sherman Oaks was a little too far for me but I made the shorter than expected drive down to check it out.  I had already heard of the popular bootcamp gym which has two locations in the LA area and one in San Diego.  Barry’s plays up the bootcamp theme with dog tags and cammo in the logo and a latrine sign on the restroom door.   The clean facility features 16 treadmills and a variety of floor equipment to be used for their program of 30 minutes cardio and 30 minutes resistance training.  Within 2 hours I had an interview scheduled and am awaiting the next step in the process.

I am feeling great about my progress so far and have experienced instant feedback on my time spent pounding the pavement.

Two unique things have caught my attention in LA so far: the amount of medical marijuana facilities and vegetarian/vegan restaurants.   It seems a large part of the population are subscribing to the various benefits of Mother Earth’s bounty.  More on these as I explore the LA even further.

Lifestyle Challenge Week 3 Results

Mother Nature shook her fist at us in the west and threw off many of our Challengers last week.  Two challengers remain with a perfect score so far.

Perform Better Seminar – Gettin’ Fired Up!

“How do you feel?” 

“Fired Up!”

” I can’t hear you!”

I kinda feel like a fish out of water but I pump out some jumping jacks and scream “FIRED UP!”  Todd Durkin is warming up the group and already starting to break into a sweat.  Durkin is the owner of Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego and is an inspiring fitness figure who has a booming training business.  He was just one of 4 speakers of the day who is now on a rotation to lead us in a cutting edge workout featuring the latest in equipment.

This “Learn-by-Doing Function Training Seminar”  is hosted by Perform Better which is a popular exercise equipment company and is held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.   This was my first time attending one of these workshops and it definitely won’t be my last.

The morning was broken into 4 different lecture segments featuring Michael Boyle, Alwyn Cosgrove, Gray Cook and Todd Durkin.  They covered a variety of topics in functional training pertaining to flexibility, preparing semi-private training programs, dynamic stability training and the business of fitness.

In my opinion Michael Boyle was the most interesting and entertaining of all the speakers.  He is a very respected strength and conditioning coach from Boston.  He referred to a couple of quotes in his presentation that stood out to me.  The first is from Frank Gelett Burgess who wrote, “If in the last few years you haven’t discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse, you may be dead.”   This pertains to everything in life but I find even more so in the health and fitness industry.  One decade we’re not supposed to eat fat, the next decade no carbs and on and on.

When I think back to my experiences with my clients over the past 8 years I realize that I learn new methods and techniques all the time.   Boyle commented that the key to this field is to continue to learn, experiment and implement.  I couldn’t agree more.

After a lunch break we started into the “Hands–On Drills and Exercise” portion of the seminar.  Of course I get into Todd Durkin’s Group right away so for the first 15 minutes I am focused on not bringing my lunch back up.  We are throwing medicine balls, doing ladder drills, pulling each other with bands around our waist, waving giant ropes around using the TRX straps and jerking kettlebells every which way.  It’s madness and a blast all at the same time.

I walked away from the seminar with Michael Boyle’s new book Advances in Functional Training, two exercise DVD’s and a TRX suspension trainer to start utilizing with my clients.  The knowledge and ideas I gained from the day’s lessons have inspired me to continue digging deeper into understanding my client’s needs and ways to making their bodies move in a safe and efficient way.

Exploring Health and Fitness in L.A. — Part 1

Embody Fitness has moved to Los Angeles!  There is so much to explore and learn in this city and I want to share my experiences with you here.  LA is the fitness capital but someone also pointed out is also the fast food capital.  Hmmm . . . I want to sift through the fat and find the products, classes, teachers, fitness professionals, gyms and ideas that make this city healthy and vibrant.

My first adventure was earlier this week when I went to 24 Hour Fitness in Hollywood on West Sunset Blvd.  With not much on my plate so far here I wanted to get a little cardio in while scoping out the social climate.   As I pedaled away on my elliptical I kept my eyes out for the people coming and going.

If I was to generalize I would say I saw mostly two types of people: beautiful people (of course I assume actors, dancers and models) and yes, the Hollyweirds I had heard about ( director/writer types = so much creativity they lose touch with social norms.)  Case in point was the older man in front of me on the bike who took off his heavy overcoat to expose a blue, sweaty, collared button up and kakis complete with graphic sneakers that in no way went with the outfit.  Gotta love individuality!

After my workout I left the gym and was referred to Bodyfactory down on the 2nd level for a protein shake.  I met Jesse Holland who is a very polished and friendly District Manager of the 5 location chain.  They had a fabulous menu which Holland clearly explained featured their special protein blend which has a laundry list of health benefits.  Mid-sentence as he rattled these off I said, “SOLD!”  I went with the PB&J.

I was a little surprised that Holland was quick to recommend the low calorie smoothie options for me.  I guess that would be a safe bet considering my new location and my physical presence BUT he was wrong on that one.  I intended this to be a replacement for my breakfast and therefore needed more than the 200-300 calorie options he was suggesting.  In my mind I was quick to want to ridicule him for not asking more questions about my nutritional needs and then chastise the LA image of women needing to consume as little as possible through out the day, but in hindsight I am letting him off the hook.  It’s just a smoothie afterall.

I encourage anyone who is interested to check out their retail locations or website where they have a variety of products for sale.  Holland explained that if you become a member (which is free in the new West Hollywood location) or $20 a year you can get a pretty decent discount on the products.

As I left the parking garage of the complex I became aware of one ugly reality in my new location.  I happily handed the parking attendant my validated ticket and was ready to watch the bar raise up.  She surprised me by saying, “$2 please.”  Ummmm but I validated the ticket?  She explained, “Yes.  It’s $8 without a validation and $2 with”  Oh wow.  I drove away realizing that my inexpensive $35 a month membership would be increased by $16 a month if I only went 2 times per week.  Ouch.  That’s life in the big city I suppose.