Sunday, January 25, 2009

Fitness Challenge





Well this one was just as I thought it would be, HARD. Do you remember when you were in High School and you had to do the Presidential Fitness test? Do you remember really pushing yourself to not be the first one to stop or not be the slowest runner or the shortest jumper and if you were you felt bad and your self esteem went out the window and you asking yourself what was the real purpose?

Well now imagine 30 years later and walking into the old (new) gym and doing those tests again, but now with a purpose. Imagine 15 other people in your same position standing right next to you getting ready to do the same thing. Well this week the Challengers did two tests. These were to test their endurance and strength. They were, “The Beep Test” and the “Weight walk”.

With the beep test you are standing on a basketball court and when the beep sound happens you run to the other side (60feet). As this test goes on the beeps get closer and closer to the point that by the time you get to 100 passes (laps) you are pretty much sprinting. The “Weight Walk” is just that you are walking with weights in your hands until you can no longer hold the weights. The men had 65 pounds in each hand and the ladies had 30 pounds in each hand.





As expected the challengers had a hard time with the beep test no one lasted 8 minutes however this was used as a bench mark for the next time we do it in June. The same with the weight walk however they did really well with that. The men’s winner (Vic) walked 1150 feet with 65 pounds in each hand and the women’s winner (Mary) walked 1205 feet with 30 pounds in her hands. Congrats to all.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

The Step Challenge



Yes, I have done this challenge for the last three years but my reason is simple, it is the first time these challengers have done something so grueling in a long time or even at all. The way this challenge works is simple, the challenger has to stay in time with the beat and the leader up front. If they lose beat or on the wrong foot they have 3 seconds to correct themselves, if they cannot correct themselves after 3 seconds they are out.
This year however was my longest time. Everyone stayed in until about 35 minutes. They did not want to give up and one did give it her all. In the end though Mary Schiefelbein, from the red team, was the winner, stepping for an amazing 48 minutes at 184 beats per minute. Congrats to all!


In the weigh-in this week I had a first, everyone lost weight. Yes, in the past there were always 1 or 2 people that would gain weight at the weigh-in but not Saturday everyone came in with a loss. In the end John Schreck lost the most at 10.8 pounds. Below are the totals and how the leader board looks now.



Initial 1/3/09 present 1/17/09 loss %
• Richard Andrus 395.0 lbs 367.6 lbs 27.4lbs 6.94%
• Josh Branham 326.0 304.6 21.4 6.56
• John Schrek 356.8 334.8 22.0 6.17
• Mary Schiefelbein 209.6 196.8 12.8 6.11
• Vic Glassey 326.4 309.8 16.6 5.09
• Pete Wenzel 265.2 252.8 12.4 4.68
• Mark Meinhardt 285.2 272.2 13.0 4.56
• Dorcey Lowerre 189.0 181.2 7.8 4.13
• Debbie Lorenz 312.2 302.4 9.8 3.14
• James Foust 328.4 318.2 10.2 3.11
• Krista O’Brian 287.0 278.8 8.2 2.86
• Marsha Hoffman 175.4 170.8 4.6 2.62
• Tracie Brasch 245.4 240.0 5.4 2.20
• Josh Foust 380.8 372.6 8.2 2.15
• Joe Tajnai 420.4 413.0 7.4 1.76
• Jennifer Logan 315.0 311.2 3.8 1.21

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Egg Relay 2009



Well the first challenge is over and once again it was a nail bitter. Each team had eight people that needed to compete in this challenge. Each challenger had to run or walk a quarter mile. At the end of their quarter mile they then would pass the next quarter mile to their next teammate. Now here is the twist. Each time they went they had a plastic spoon and an egg (in this case a golf ball) that they had to balance on this spoon. If the ball fell of the spoon, you would then have to wait for 3 seconds before moving forward again. Here is another twist. In the beginning of this run, they had to walk up 35 stairs and then at the end walk up and down an additional 10 stairs.
At first it looked like the red team would win this challenge. They had built up a very substantial lead but in the very end it was the blue team (Marsha Hoffman) who anchored the blue team to victory. The blue team won a $10 gift certificate to go to sports authority.
They also had their second weigh-in. This one was the first however for prizes. Here is the order, from first to last, that they are now in.










Initial 1/3/09 present 1/10/09 loss %
• Richard Andrus 395.0 lbs 372.2 lbs 22.8lbs 5.77%
• Vic Glassey 326.4 310.2 16.2 4.96
• Pete Wenzel 265.2 252.8 12.4 4.68
• Mary Schiefelbein 209.6 200.6 9.0 4.29
• Josh Branham 326.0 313.8 12.2 3.74
• Mark Meinhardt 285.2 276.0 9.2 3.23
• John Schreck 356.8 345.6 11.2 3.14
• Debbie Lorenz 312.2 305.0 7.2 2.31
• James Foust 328.4 312.2 7.2 2.19
• Krista O’Brian 287.0 282.6 4.4 1.53
• Darcey Lowerre 189.0 186.4 2.6 1.38
• Josh Foust 380.8 376.8 4.0 1.05
• Marsha Hoffman 175.4 173.6 1.8 1.03
• Joe Tajnai 420.4 416.2 4.2 1.00
• Jennifer Logan 315.0 315.4 +0.4 +.13
• Tracie Brasch 245.4 Initial weigh in

In the team challenge the red team in the beginning total weight was 2291.6 and after the first week it went down to 2220.0 and the blue team started at 2526.2 and now is at 2473.8. The red team is winning that challenge by losing 71 pounds or 3.12% compared to the blue team which has lost 52.4 pounds or 2.07%.

Stay tuned for next weeks challenge.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

WLC 2009




Well, January is here and it is time for the third annual Weight Loss Challenge. We started this process two months ago of selecting the challengers and I think we have a great bunch of people that really want to change their lives. I also picked up two excellent trainers and what they are bringing to the table in knowledge is incredible.

Here are your 2009 challengers:
Mary Schrefelbein, Oconomowoc, 209.6lbs Richard Andrus, Oconomowoc, 395.0
Marsha Hoffman, Dousman, 175.4lbs Vic Glassey, Oconomowoc, 326.4lbs
Tracie Brasch, Dousman, 275.0lbs Josh Branham, Oconomowoc, 326.0
Jennifer Logan, Milwaukee, 315.00lbs Joe Tajnai, Pewaukee, 420lbs
Deborah Lorenz, Oconomowoc, 312.2 lbs Mark Meinhardt, Jackson, 285.2lbs
Krista O’Brian, Nashotah, 287.0lbs Pete Wenzel, Milwaukee, 265.2lbs
Darcey Lowerre, Waukesha, 187.4lbs Josh Foust, Ixonia, 380.8lbs
James Foust, Ixonia, 328.4lbs John Schreck, Greenfield, 356.8lbs
Total initial weight 4570.8 pounds

Here are your trainers:
Heidi Hilgendorf, age 25, Certified Personal trainer,BSE Health and human performance. Minor in Health promotion
Sally Cianciolo, age 33, Certified Personal trainer and group specialist

As you can see this is my heaviest class and we have a lot of men. Our heaviest person is Joe Tyania and he weighed in at 420 pounds. Our heaviest teenager (at 14) is Josh Foust and he weighed in at 380 pounds. Our heaviest female is Jennifer and she weighed in at 319 pounds. Well the challenge is on and they are ready. Stay tuned for the next 26 weeks.