big things in store for MOVEment

Alright, so I’ve got this idea for a program that I’m toying with running through my company here in Murfreesboro… Only women are allowed (sorry guys). Three months in duration. Lots of great, out-of-the-box training will be involved – no cardio bunnies in this class (sorry, I’m not a big fan of your “everyday,” boring training methods). Results guaranteed. I’m probably going to cap the sessions at 10 women at a time, possibly less depending on how it goes. It will be considerably cheaper than private training sessions, and more than likely twice as hard, which equals lots more bang for your buck (who doesn’t want that these days?). This will be a tough program, I’m not going to lie to you. No whiners are allowed – only women who are determined to reach their goals and have power over their food, not the other way around, will be allowed to participate. The women in this program will be strong, lean, and self-confident as a result.

I’m working all the logistics out right now while I’m finishing up my pregnancy (7 weeks to go!), and I will probably have to wait about 6 weeks after Roman is born to get the ball rolling. I would like to figure out a way to include Precision Nutrition in the package as well. Nutrition is over half the battle, so why not teach the best?

Anyway, it should be a big hit.

And if you’re a women reading this (or a man that knows of a woman that would be interested) and you think you would be up for the challenge, please give me a shout. You can find all my contact information on the contact page of this blog.

the best shaker and boot camp “gurus”

What’s the best shaker for protein shakes you ask?

I’ve been on a quest for the best shaker for a while. I’ve tried lots of different bottles, but none of them ever met my expectations. I read somewhere about the Blender Bottle, so I did some research and could only find good reviews.

I bought two a few weeks ago, and they haven’t let me down. It’s definitely the best shaker that I’ve owned. It doesn’t leak, and because of the wire whisk on the inside there are very few “proteiny” lumps in my shakes now. It says on the website that you can use it to mix up pancake batter and the like (probably would be good for eggs as well…), but I haven’t had a chance to try that yet. I’m sure it over-performs on this feat like it has on all the others.

Anyway, I highly recommend this product – well worth the money, well made, and lives up to its claims. Check out the link above if you want to know more.

About the boot camp gurus…

“Boot camp” style classes are all the rage right now, but I’m not really jumping on the bandwagon. I’m not exactly a big fan of some overly muscled guy in army fatigues screaming at and overtraining overweight women. Sure, I guess all that yelling and screaming might work for some, but not all.

The big issue that I have with these types of classes is that most of these women aren’t properly assessed prior to beginning the program. Their fitness levels aren’t equally matched with the type of training they are about to partake in. Their body alignment isn’t tested and their joints (and possibly heart and lungs) aren’t properly prepared. – An overweight or obese person doesn’t need to be doing plyometrics… Just think of all the weight already on their joints, and some of these teachers are instructing their clients to jump! – This, in turn, leads to many of these women getting hurt and discouraged during the course of the program.

My advice is this – if you are looking for a “boot camp” style class, choose wisely. Pick an instructor that is compassionate, properly assesses and prepares participants, and has been in the industry for a while. There is terrible regulation in the fitness industry, and you can be easily duped by someone that sounds like they know what they are talking about when they really have no clue…

boring cardio

I don’t know about you, but I hate cardio. That is, the kind of cardio that I was doing before I grew a brain. I’m talking about the long, slow, boring cardio that most people do in the gym. It’s amazing to me just how many people still think that walking on the treadmill for an hour at a time is helping them reach their goals. Granted, I realize there are certain demographics that this type of cardiovascular work is appropriate for, it is NOT the answer for everyone. If you are healthy and able and your goal is to be in the best shape you can be in, you should be doing interval training.

What is interval training? It’s simply alternating short bursts of high(er) intensity work with low(er) intensity work. A very simple example on the treadmill would be:

• 2 minute warm-up
• 30 second high intensity interval (brisk walking for the deconditioned individual)
• 90 second low intensity interval (slow walking) where you catch your breath and let your heart rate slow somewhat
• Perform 6 repetitions (12 minutes of total work)
• 2-3 minute cool-down

If 6 repetitions are too much, simply perform them until you can’t do any more. As you become more conditioned, you can switch up the variables (speed, incline, increase time of the intervals, etc.). There are lots of different ways to do intervals as well, you just have to think outside of the box.

Intervals are much better for fat-burning than simple long, slow distance cardio. There’s also an “afterburn effect,” meaning that you will burn fat even after you’ve completed the session. In addition, you get done with your cardio tons faster than you would have if you stayed on a machine for hours at a time. The key to intervals, though, is to really push it on the high intensity part (when you’re ready). You also don’t want to do intervals every time you do cardio – still add in some steady state cardio. Switch things up and you’ll see great gains in body composition and your overall conditioning.

Here’s a good video of an “outside the box” cardio routine…

Art of Strength – Ropes Gone Wild

Great stuff. Now get out there and burn some adipose (that’s the technical term for fat…)!

loading up

I think know I’m addicted to fitness. I don’t buy clothes or shoes like a normal female… I buy kinesiology books, kettlebells, and fitness DVDs (I guess there are worse addictions). I promise I could fill a whole room in our house with books and fitness equipment.

Since I’m training clients in-home these days I’m working on getting my equipment “stash” up to par, little by little. The newest additions are a Bulldog Kettlebell from Art of Strength, a TRX suspension trainer, and a set of Power Blocks. The kettlebell is freaking sweet because it’s loadable with shot or sand (I’ll use shot because I’m hardcore [jk] and want the heavier bell). The TRX is amazing because it’s so portable. You can easily pack it in your suitcase on trips and get an extreme workout away from home. The Power Blocks are great because they take up so little space. I just ordered The Science and Practice of Strength Training and a Kinesiology book tonight, plus some books on natural childbirth (in 12-13 weeks I’ll be full-term and I haven’t really done anything to prepare for natural childbirth…). I’ve got to get on that.

The next addition will be a pull-up bar. I think I will probably get the ud6 from this site. After that I need to get a better stability ball, a foam roller that is more dense, and some assisted pull-up bands. After that, I will have all the basics to get a really great workout (for myself and clients). I will still go to the gym as well to get in heavy barbell lifting and power movements, but it’s nice to know that I have all the equipment at home if I can’t make it to the gym one day.

Eventually I would like to add some sandbags, ropes, and maybe a strongman log (my husband can make that for me… add that one to the honey-do list…). It would be cool to have a tractor tire to flip and a Prowler, but our neighbors really might think I’m crazy if I start pushing the Prowler up and down our street (just picture that one folks).

Anyway, I have a whole list of books, information products, and DVDs that I want to get. We would have to have a money tree for me to get everything at once, so I have to buy a little at a time. I’m an information junkie, and a huge nerd.

Comment and let me know what equipment you have in your “stash” or if you can think of anything that I don’t have but need.

follow no one

This is the motto for Art of Strength/Punch Kettlebell Gyms. I absolutely love it. I’ve been watching videos and just browsing the site for the past 30 minutes, and just being on the site pumps me up and makes me want to grab my PowerBlocks and go at it right now. We need something like this in the ‘Boro. There’s nothing like it, and it’s really frustrating to a trainer like me. I like being on the cutting edge and always strive to be. Now I’ve got to find a way around gyms in this area not letting outside trainers in and not having the right equipment… Problem solving.

I just had to rant for a bit. I love their concepts: the loadable kettlebells (those may not be a new concept but they’re pretty darn cool), the ropes gone wild, the strong man logs, etc. You don’t see those sorts of the things in the mainstream gyms these days. All they have is boring cardio machines, selectorized machines, and free weights. In my opinion, the best out of those three are the free weights. I hate cardio, and machines are boring to me. Give me free weights any day.

Look at what everyone else is doing in our mainstream gyms today and do the opposite. If someone is doing cardio on a machine, do bodyweight or free weight cardio circuits. If someone is doing a small muscle isolation exercise (lateral raises, bicep curls), do a large muscle movement (squats, lunges, push-ups).

Follow no one.

the proof is in the pudding

I just read this post by Tony Gentilcore and I HAVE to link you to it: read here. While I’m not a big fan of guys making reference to women’s breasts (being the object of guys ogling pisses me off), the rest of the post is right on. Goes right along with my post a while back. Women, listen up, you’re not going to lose any weight or get the body you want by lifting those stupid pink dumbbells – ever. I don’t even think those should be allowed in the gym (any real gym anyway). Watch the videos on Tony’s post and take notes: this is how you should be training if you want to see results (unless you have joint problems that keep you from doing some of the movements). And do me a favor, if you go to a personal trainer and want them to help you get fit, don’t sit in the consultation and tell them that you don’t want to ” get big” or “bulk up.” It ain’t going to happen unless you’re some freak of nature that has ungodly amounts of testosterone coursing through your veins. Lift heavy. Make those scrawny guys in the free weight area that only know how to do bench press and bicep curls embarrassed to be seen lifting next to you. Then you know when they’re staring at you, they aren’t staring at your boobs or butt, they’re in awe that a female actually knows her way around the weight room.