Did you know that:
• 80 percent of Americans say that during the past few years they have become more aware of how mental health and emotions can affect their physical health and vice versa (APA 2005)
• Two-thirds of all office visits to family physicians are due to stress related symptoms (American Academy of Family Physicians)
• 43 percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress (“The Stress Solution: An action plan to manage the stress in your life”, Lyle H. Miller, and Alma Dell Smith, Ph.D.)
• 93 percent of Americans say that perception, thoughts and choices affect physical health (APA 2005)
• 58 percent of American believe that you cannot have good physical health without good mental health (APA 2005)
• High levels of hostility, Smoking, obesity and high cholesterol have been found to cause heart disease ( Health Psychology November 2002)
• Men in high optimism were less than half as likely to develop heart disease then the men who were much more pessimistic (Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study)
• 64 percent of Americans are saying that they are trying to reduce the amount of stress in their lives (APA 2005)
• Employees that work out on a regular basis are less likely to end up in a doctor’s office (APA 2005)
Did you know that there is a link between physical health, mental health and longevity of life?
• Stress is one of the leading causes of so many physical and mental issues. However when you are in better condition your body can handle the stress loads much better and you tend not to have long lasting physical issues. When you are out of shape your body has a hard enough time trying to keep alive and together. Now add on the stresses of life. Whereas if you are in shape the stress load on your body is minimized and you are able to handle the stresses of life much easier. (“The Stress Solution: An action plan to manage the stress in your life”, Lyle H. Miller and Alma Dell Smith, Ph.D.)
• People that are out of shape and obese and have high levels of anxiety (stress) have between two and seven times the risk of heart disease. ( “Emotional Longevity: What really determines How Long we live”, Norman B Anderson and Elizabeth P. Anderson, 2003)
Did you know that there is a link between fitness and productivity?
• In the work place physical conditioning has shown that those people tend to have a higher productivity rate (American Institute of Stress, A.M.A.)
• Those that are in good condition tend not to be absent as much as their colleagues who are out of condition. (A.M.A., A.P.A 2005)
• Medical costs are much greater on those that are out of condition and the cost to companies can be staggering. In some cases up to ten time greater. Many companies have been ruined because of one or two major claims. (A.M.A., A.P.A.2005)
• In 1999, stress related disorders cost the U.S. $42 billion dollars in work related medical costs (National Institute of Mental Health)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
The Challenge of the week
I have always told people that the three most important things that a person can do every morning are push-ups, sit-ups and chair squats. Did you know we do these things everyday and are just not aware of it? How many times do you get up from your chair from work or at home to get something or complete a project? How many times while laying down do you sit up to get out of bed or a chair? These are everyday exercises that if concentrated on can help you elevate your fitness levels.
Last weekend this is what the Weight Loss Challenge people did. “I never thought that sit-ups could hurt so bad. But they were worth it in the end. I need to do these every day.” One person told me after the challenge. “I never thought that I was going to be able to complete the chair squats and just one month ago this would have been impossible. Today I can do them and even though they hurt I welcome the pain.” Another told me.
In reference to the sit-ups, there was no swinging of the hand allowed. The fingers had to stay by the ears and the elbows forward and you had to touch your knees with your elbows. When I said “come up” you had to come all the way to a sitting position and then I would say “down” and you would go all the way down. In the end the winner did 94 total sit-ups.
In the push-up challenge, everyone started flat on the floor with their hands to their sides. You were not allowed to go up and then have your glutes sticking straight up in the air like a tee-pee. Your back and your hips had to stay flat. The women had to decide on what position they wanted to use and they were not allowed to change half way thru the challenge. When I said up, you would come up and lock your arms out and wait for me to say down in which case you would go all the way to the floor. In the end the winner did 50 total push-ups.
Now with the squats you were not allowed to use your hands at all to get you out of the chair. You could only use your legs. You had to sit down perfectly with back straight and then when you get up you could only use your legs. When I said up you would come up and when I said down you would have to go all the way down. Your glutes would have to firmly touch the chair. In the end the winners did 331 chair squats in less than 5 minutes. After all of these challenges were over, walking truly became an option. Good job to all.
Last weekend this is what the Weight Loss Challenge people did. “I never thought that sit-ups could hurt so bad. But they were worth it in the end. I need to do these every day.” One person told me after the challenge. “I never thought that I was going to be able to complete the chair squats and just one month ago this would have been impossible. Today I can do them and even though they hurt I welcome the pain.” Another told me.
In reference to the sit-ups, there was no swinging of the hand allowed. The fingers had to stay by the ears and the elbows forward and you had to touch your knees with your elbows. When I said “come up” you had to come all the way to a sitting position and then I would say “down” and you would go all the way down. In the end the winner did 94 total sit-ups.
In the push-up challenge, everyone started flat on the floor with their hands to their sides. You were not allowed to go up and then have your glutes sticking straight up in the air like a tee-pee. Your back and your hips had to stay flat. The women had to decide on what position they wanted to use and they were not allowed to change half way thru the challenge. When I said up, you would come up and lock your arms out and wait for me to say down in which case you would go all the way to the floor. In the end the winner did 50 total push-ups.
Now with the squats you were not allowed to use your hands at all to get you out of the chair. You could only use your legs. You had to sit down perfectly with back straight and then when you get up you could only use your legs. When I said up you would come up and when I said down you would have to go all the way down. Your glutes would have to firmly touch the chair. In the end the winners did 331 chair squats in less than 5 minutes. After all of these challenges were over, walking truly became an option. Good job to all.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
The glue that holds everything together
When it comes to changing a lifestyle, what do you think holds everything in place? Let’s go thru a check list of things you may have already been doing.
1) Cardiovascular work. Now this is important to get you sweating and losing those unwanted inches. It is also best and most efficient way to lose weight. It can be hard on the knees but in the end it is the best way to lose weight. Most people find this very hard to do but necessary because they know that the results will come much faster and much more often if they go out and run and walk. This is something that you have to do in your program for your program to have any effect at all.
2) Weight Training. Now that we have the lungs and heart are going, we now need to get the muscles all tuned up and burning those excess calories. As we lose the weight we need to tighten up our muscles so that we can get them running efficiently and hopefully cause less flab. There is no such thing as turning muscle into fat or fat into muscle, it is impossible to do but by you not working on your muscles they may stay weak and you could hurt yourself doing anything that could require any type of stress load.
3) Diet. What you eat is very important. What you drink is especially important. You could do the first few things and then mess everything up in this category and ruin the whole program. If you eat 3000 calories but burn 2500 calories you have an additional 500 calories just hanging out and they will be stored. Now do that every day and you can see how the numbers add up. Whereas this is one of the most important pieces, it is not the glue that holds every thing together.
So what do you think it is?
It is the mental aspects associated with your new life. For a long time you have thought in a certain way. You have acted and reacted in situations in a certain way. Now you are asking your whole being to change and pretty much at a moment’s notice. For the first month is real easy, but then going into the second month and beyond your old life begins to creep back in and now the fight begins. What do you do when your old friends start putting pressure on you to get back with them and go drinking or to take a smoke break and you don’t want to do that stuff anymore? Well this is when decisions get harder and know there will be some stress with your changes. You will lose some friends and you may feel very weak at some points. But this is the time to buckle down and stay focused because these next few months will make or break your new life changes.
In the Weight Loss Challenge, I constantly stress understanding the “why” and the “How” of it all. How did I get this way? Why am I this way? How long will it take to change? What got me this way and am I willing to change what needs to be changed to correct it? These questions and many more are constantly asked and reviewed by the challengers.
Ask yourself those questions and be realistic about the answer. Sometimes, no most of the time change may be good but it is harder than it looks. Ask the person who stopped smoking for years and then picks up the habit again or the alcoholic drinkers who picks up their habit again. The scariest thing one can experience is making these life changes and then feeling that no one is supporting them. I am finding out that this is a major problem with my challengers, the fear of the unknown. What will really happen if I do this and make these changes? Who will accept me? If I am not accepted my by old friends can I get new ones? Am I doing the right thing? Will I be accepted for my new me?
The mental aspect is the glue that holds all this together and once you work thru your fears, there will be no stopping you from changing your life for the better. Now go and do it.
1) Cardiovascular work. Now this is important to get you sweating and losing those unwanted inches. It is also best and most efficient way to lose weight. It can be hard on the knees but in the end it is the best way to lose weight. Most people find this very hard to do but necessary because they know that the results will come much faster and much more often if they go out and run and walk. This is something that you have to do in your program for your program to have any effect at all.
2) Weight Training. Now that we have the lungs and heart are going, we now need to get the muscles all tuned up and burning those excess calories. As we lose the weight we need to tighten up our muscles so that we can get them running efficiently and hopefully cause less flab. There is no such thing as turning muscle into fat or fat into muscle, it is impossible to do but by you not working on your muscles they may stay weak and you could hurt yourself doing anything that could require any type of stress load.
3) Diet. What you eat is very important. What you drink is especially important. You could do the first few things and then mess everything up in this category and ruin the whole program. If you eat 3000 calories but burn 2500 calories you have an additional 500 calories just hanging out and they will be stored. Now do that every day and you can see how the numbers add up. Whereas this is one of the most important pieces, it is not the glue that holds every thing together.
So what do you think it is?
It is the mental aspects associated with your new life. For a long time you have thought in a certain way. You have acted and reacted in situations in a certain way. Now you are asking your whole being to change and pretty much at a moment’s notice. For the first month is real easy, but then going into the second month and beyond your old life begins to creep back in and now the fight begins. What do you do when your old friends start putting pressure on you to get back with them and go drinking or to take a smoke break and you don’t want to do that stuff anymore? Well this is when decisions get harder and know there will be some stress with your changes. You will lose some friends and you may feel very weak at some points. But this is the time to buckle down and stay focused because these next few months will make or break your new life changes.
In the Weight Loss Challenge, I constantly stress understanding the “why” and the “How” of it all. How did I get this way? Why am I this way? How long will it take to change? What got me this way and am I willing to change what needs to be changed to correct it? These questions and many more are constantly asked and reviewed by the challengers.
Ask yourself those questions and be realistic about the answer. Sometimes, no most of the time change may be good but it is harder than it looks. Ask the person who stopped smoking for years and then picks up the habit again or the alcoholic drinkers who picks up their habit again. The scariest thing one can experience is making these life changes and then feeling that no one is supporting them. I am finding out that this is a major problem with my challengers, the fear of the unknown. What will really happen if I do this and make these changes? Who will accept me? If I am not accepted my by old friends can I get new ones? Am I doing the right thing? Will I be accepted for my new me?
The mental aspect is the glue that holds all this together and once you work thru your fears, there will be no stopping you from changing your life for the better. Now go and do it.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Indoor Relay and Thw Weigh In
After the snow fall last week it pushed a lot of things back, but not the weight loss challenge. Still it went off without a hitch. This challenge has them riding 2 miles on a spin bike and then doing a half mile run. Now the winners would be the ones who could do the course in the fastest time. There were two winners in the bike race, one individual and the second team and in the shuttle run only the team would win (with each team member running a half mile).
Now at first this may have seem boring, especially after last week’s totally pumped up Jodi’s Challenge, but in the end all felt as though they accomplished something they had never done before. Here are you winners;
Riding the 2 miles in 6 minutes 44 seconds and coming in third place was Mary. Riding that same two miles in 6 minutes 19 seconds Ken and riding the winner of the two mile challenge was John at 5 minutes and 56 seconds.
In the shuttle run, each team member had to run half a mile and then the total combined time was taken. In third place with a combined time of 12 minutes and 22 seconds, Kathy and Sara. In second place with a combined time of 11 minutes 30 seconds, Jackie and Sharon and winning the shuttle run with a combined time of 11 minutes 20 seconds Roy and John. Congrats to all who competed.
THE WEIGH IN
There is a change in the leader board this week. Some names have moved up and some have moved down. Some are now in the black while some have just not moved much. Here are the results for the top ten people.
Roy is now our new leader with 9.62% or 18.8 pounds lost
John lost the top spot now at 8.28% or 23.8 pounds lost
Matt dropped to third still at 7.88% or 29.6 pounds lost
Dan is now in forth position at 6.55% or 12.8 pounds lost
Sara is in fifth place with at 5.63% or 11 pounds lost
Melissa is in sixth place at 5.32% or 10.4 pounds lost
Kathy, after a very slow start, has moved herself up to seventh position at 4.40% or 8.6 pounds lost
Kati is in eighth position at 4.30% or 8.4 pounds lost
Jil is now in ninth position at 4.05% or 9.6 pounds lost
Linda brings up the top ten at 3.61% or 7.4 pounds lost
Now everyone, all 22 people are now in the red and have lost some weight. As I told them and will continue to tell them, after the first month this becomes real hard. The first month is always the easiest. Now life gets in the way and you need figure out what you need to do to continue on that life style changing road. Now this is where the rubber meets the road. Stay focused!
Now at first this may have seem boring, especially after last week’s totally pumped up Jodi’s Challenge, but in the end all felt as though they accomplished something they had never done before. Here are you winners;
Riding the 2 miles in 6 minutes 44 seconds and coming in third place was Mary. Riding that same two miles in 6 minutes 19 seconds Ken and riding the winner of the two mile challenge was John at 5 minutes and 56 seconds.
In the shuttle run, each team member had to run half a mile and then the total combined time was taken. In third place with a combined time of 12 minutes and 22 seconds, Kathy and Sara. In second place with a combined time of 11 minutes 30 seconds, Jackie and Sharon and winning the shuttle run with a combined time of 11 minutes 20 seconds Roy and John. Congrats to all who competed.
THE WEIGH IN
There is a change in the leader board this week. Some names have moved up and some have moved down. Some are now in the black while some have just not moved much. Here are the results for the top ten people.
Roy is now our new leader with 9.62% or 18.8 pounds lost
John lost the top spot now at 8.28% or 23.8 pounds lost
Matt dropped to third still at 7.88% or 29.6 pounds lost
Dan is now in forth position at 6.55% or 12.8 pounds lost
Sara is in fifth place with at 5.63% or 11 pounds lost
Melissa is in sixth place at 5.32% or 10.4 pounds lost
Kathy, after a very slow start, has moved herself up to seventh position at 4.40% or 8.6 pounds lost
Kati is in eighth position at 4.30% or 8.4 pounds lost
Jil is now in ninth position at 4.05% or 9.6 pounds lost
Linda brings up the top ten at 3.61% or 7.4 pounds lost
Now everyone, all 22 people are now in the red and have lost some weight. As I told them and will continue to tell them, after the first month this becomes real hard. The first month is always the easiest. Now life gets in the way and you need figure out what you need to do to continue on that life style changing road. Now this is where the rubber meets the road. Stay focused!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Short Workouts
I was talking to a guy one day at the beach and he asked me how many hours a day I worked out. I told him that I may get in 45 minutes a day and he looked at me like I had three eyes. He looked perplexed and questioned what I must be taking to look the way I do. He told me he works out 3 hours a day and still he has excess stuff he could get rid of.
“I am still 30 pounds overweight and can’t seem to lose it. How is it that you can just workout for 45 minutes a day and look so good?” he asks me showing a bit of frustration and unbelief.
A few weeks later he comes into my place and signs up and asks me to help him one on one. Well, as you can imagine I did help him and he could not believe the results he was getting with only a 30 minute workout. He lost that excess weight in two months and became a true believer in the fact that you don’t have to be in a gym for 2 hours to get everything done.
Now at this point some of you may think that I am crazy and don’t know what I am talking about. Well here is my argument to why I believe that short intense workouts may be much better for most people. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each.
Long workouts: I have been in too many gyms and noticed that in most cases there is more socializing than there is working out. With long workouts you do get a caloric burn but it is much more methodical in nature. You don’t ever get your heart rate up to its maximum and keep it there for a long period of time. In most cases you may break a little sweat but not one where it takes you a long time to recover from. While you work out you are burning calories but because you never maximize your heart rate, once you stop, for the most part so does that caloric burn. Your heart rate goes back to normal quickly and your breathing pattern slow down, assuming it was up to begin with. In most cases the next day you really don’t feel the work out you did the previous day and the area of your body you worked out is not sore at all.
Short workouts: These workouts last not more than 45 minutes and are real intense. There are no breaks and usually multiple things are done at once. These people usually get up a sweat and then maintain it for the whole workout. Their heart rate is maximized and maintained at that level throughout the whole workout. Socializing with other people is done after the work out is over. Their body is usually sore the next day and usually last two days. The D.O.M.S. (delayed onset muscle soreness) effect happens to these and they look forward to it.
Here is an example of short term versus long term. I have an abdominal exercise that I do with people that only take 2 minutes. I call it the 2 minutes abs. With this exercise your laying on the ground on your back and your legs are posted up on a bench with someone holding your ankles to give you some support so that you can do the sit ups. Your hands are cupping your ears with your arms bent and elbows straight up in the air. Now when the timer starts you are to bring your body up and have your elbows touch your knees for two minutes. Trust me in 1 minutes you will feel those abs working and by the end of the two minutes you are toast. The maximum amount of sit ups you will probably do in 2 minutes is maybe 50. The best of the best can only do 90 to 100. A few days later you are still feeling that burn.
Now compare that to a 30 minute abdominal workout. Most of the time you will be doing crunches and then when you are done you feel it for a while but then shortly after you are done that feeling of accomplishment or that tightness goes away. The caloric burn ends shortly after the exercise is complete. Please note that with a short intense workout you could be burning those calories even a few days later (if anyone has question about that please leave a response and I will give you more info on why I say this).
For those that need to lose weight or really trim out or those that are looking to elevate their fitness levels, there is nothing better than doing 45 minutes workouts 5 times a week rather than doing 2 hour work outs 3 times a week. Think of the time you save from being in the gym and all that extra time you will have to go on with the rest of your life. Remember this is only my opinion.
“I am still 30 pounds overweight and can’t seem to lose it. How is it that you can just workout for 45 minutes a day and look so good?” he asks me showing a bit of frustration and unbelief.
A few weeks later he comes into my place and signs up and asks me to help him one on one. Well, as you can imagine I did help him and he could not believe the results he was getting with only a 30 minute workout. He lost that excess weight in two months and became a true believer in the fact that you don’t have to be in a gym for 2 hours to get everything done.
Now at this point some of you may think that I am crazy and don’t know what I am talking about. Well here is my argument to why I believe that short intense workouts may be much better for most people. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each.
Long workouts: I have been in too many gyms and noticed that in most cases there is more socializing than there is working out. With long workouts you do get a caloric burn but it is much more methodical in nature. You don’t ever get your heart rate up to its maximum and keep it there for a long period of time. In most cases you may break a little sweat but not one where it takes you a long time to recover from. While you work out you are burning calories but because you never maximize your heart rate, once you stop, for the most part so does that caloric burn. Your heart rate goes back to normal quickly and your breathing pattern slow down, assuming it was up to begin with. In most cases the next day you really don’t feel the work out you did the previous day and the area of your body you worked out is not sore at all.
Short workouts: These workouts last not more than 45 minutes and are real intense. There are no breaks and usually multiple things are done at once. These people usually get up a sweat and then maintain it for the whole workout. Their heart rate is maximized and maintained at that level throughout the whole workout. Socializing with other people is done after the work out is over. Their body is usually sore the next day and usually last two days. The D.O.M.S. (delayed onset muscle soreness) effect happens to these and they look forward to it.
Here is an example of short term versus long term. I have an abdominal exercise that I do with people that only take 2 minutes. I call it the 2 minutes abs. With this exercise your laying on the ground on your back and your legs are posted up on a bench with someone holding your ankles to give you some support so that you can do the sit ups. Your hands are cupping your ears with your arms bent and elbows straight up in the air. Now when the timer starts you are to bring your body up and have your elbows touch your knees for two minutes. Trust me in 1 minutes you will feel those abs working and by the end of the two minutes you are toast. The maximum amount of sit ups you will probably do in 2 minutes is maybe 50. The best of the best can only do 90 to 100. A few days later you are still feeling that burn.
Now compare that to a 30 minute abdominal workout. Most of the time you will be doing crunches and then when you are done you feel it for a while but then shortly after you are done that feeling of accomplishment or that tightness goes away. The caloric burn ends shortly after the exercise is complete. Please note that with a short intense workout you could be burning those calories even a few days later (if anyone has question about that please leave a response and I will give you more info on why I say this).
For those that need to lose weight or really trim out or those that are looking to elevate their fitness levels, there is nothing better than doing 45 minutes workouts 5 times a week rather than doing 2 hour work outs 3 times a week. Think of the time you save from being in the gym and all that extra time you will have to go on with the rest of your life. Remember this is only my opinion.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
The Weigh-in for Weight Loss Challenge 2011
These guys are doing real well. This week I was a little concerned about a letdown but that did not happen. They seem to be and stay focused. This week the average weight loss was 2 pounds and the leading people for the week were Matt (6.6 pounds) and Kathy (3.4pounds) at 1.87%. After a full month here is where everyone is to;
Name Lost weight Percentage
John 25.4lbs 8.83%
Matt 29.6lbs 7.88%
Roy 17.0lbs 5.63%
Kathy 8.2lbs 4.39%
Jil 9.6lbs 4.05%
Jackie 8.2lbs 3.98%
Kate 7.0lbs 3.58%
Melissa 8.4lbs 3.50%
Ken 9.2lbs 3.37%
Susan 5.8lbs 3.31%
Julie 7.0lbs 3.24%
Dan 8.0lbs 3.16%
Sara 7.8lbs 2.56%
Jessica 7.2lbs 7.2%
Linda 4.0lbs 1.95%
Sharon 3.2lbs 1.95%
Mike 6.2lbs 1.84%
Maureen 2.8lbs 1.56%
Kati 2.8lbs 1.54%
Dawn 1.2lbs .68%
Cori +.2
Mary +.6
This will be a very testing month. The second month in any one person’s life style changing is always the hardest month. Why? Well this is when life and all its demands get harder. There will be more demanded from you on your job and at home. Your kids will need to go to their sporting games and you will have to get them there. Everything is going to seem as though it is a good excuse not to continue down the road of better health and fitness for you. Now you have to prioritize and schedule time for yourself and keep it. Trust me guys it does get easier, but this month will make or break many people. Where will you be at the end of the second month? Will you still be doing it and creating new fitness levels for yourself or will you use excuses on why you haven’t achieved anything and are going back to the same person you were in December? It is your choice.
Jodi's Challenge for 2011 Weight Loss Challenge
Last year Jodi comes into my office and tells me that she doesn’t feel challenged any more , then she walks out. I personally took offense to that and immediately put a workout together that, in the end, would make her throw the white flag in and surrender. (Of course keeping her goals in mind.). That next week I had her do that particular workout and after words she told me, well really the next day, that she almost threw up and spent the rest of the day sitting at her desk not moving. We talked about it and decided to try it out on last year’s weight loss challengers and it went over really big, so we decided to do it again in this year’s weight loss challenge and this, I believe raised every ones game and showed them where they really are.
In this challenge, you have two minutes at each station to do certain disciplines. They are Olympic Bench, Leg Extensions, Bent over rows, Squats, Military Press, Sit ups, Curls, Pec Deck, Tri pull down, and Lat pull down. In these disciplines you must lift until you can’t lift any more within that two minutes. How one wins is by most repetitions. Here are the winners in each one of those disciplines and the weights they lifted.
Olympic Bench: Mary 45 pounds lifted 71 times, John 95 pounds lifted 67 times
Leg extensions: Kathy 40 pounds lifted 65 times, John 60 pounds lifted 112 times
Bent Over Rows: Jil 45 pounds lifted 89 times, John 95 pounds lifted 50 times
Squats: Matt 185 pounds lifted 69 times, Mary 90 pounds lifted 77 times
Military Press: John 65 pounds lifted 47 times, Dawn 45 pounds lifted 32 times
Sit ups: Matt 71 sit ups and Kathy 57 sit ups
Curls: Mary 10 pounds lifted 58 time and John 20 pounds lifted 47 times
Pec Deck: John 80 pounds lifted 88 time, Jil 40 pounds lifted 68 times
Tri Pull down: Jil 45 pounds lifted 74 times, John lifted 70 pounds 57 times
Lat Pull Down: Jil 50 pounds lifted 81 times, John 90 pounds lifted 52 times
Now in the individual challenge, taking all the lifts and adding them all up, Jil had the most lifts of all the women in all the disciplines with 616 total lifts and John had the most for the men at 631 total lifts. IN the team challenge Mary and Sharon won with 1036 total combined lifts.
In the end they all had a great time and gave it their all. Stay tune for next week. It may be even more challenging.
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