Hi everybody!! While we are all in the voting mood, Definition Fitness small group participants will be able to participate in an election day of of our own….Have strong feelings about burpees? Are lunges taking over your life? Sick and tired of the robo calls about the benefits of kettlebell swings?? Well now’s your chance to let your voices be heard! Vote on the exercises you DO want to see added to your workout this Friday by clicking the title of the blog above, and writing your selections in the comments section. It’s your civic duty, after all, as a small group participant;)
Ever wonder how professional athletes can keep training and improving their PR? How it almost seems as though they’re invincible? Did you know that you can be just like them by changing one particular aspect of your workout routine? Well, guess what! You CAN and all it takes is incorporating cross-training.
So, what is cross-training?
Cross-training is a type of training that involves combining exercises from other disciplines. It’s a way to supplement a person’s training by improving strength, endurance, and flexibility. In addition, it prevents injuries, muscular imbalances, and burnouts. In other words, it’s whole body fitness. It can involve incorporating weight lifting, yoga, spinning, swimming, and the list goes on and on. You don’t have to incorporate everything all at once but the important thing is to break up your routine by adding cross-training to your exercise program.
Still not convinced?
Here are the benefits of cross-training. One of the best benefits from cross-training is injury prevention! Yes, preventing those same nagging injuries from overuse and repetitive movements. Take for example, running. Who doesn’t love running, especially since the Gate River Run is just a couple of months away! The constant impact from the pavement, improper shoes, biomechanical irregularities, muscular imbalances, over-training are just some of the reasons that injuries (is. joint pain, low back tightness) occur or reoccur. By incorporating cross-training, such as swimming, biking, or weight lifting, you can minimize the impact and instead work on building the endurance and strength a different way, which in turn will maximize your running in the end.
Another great reason to cross-train is for rehabilitation purposes. Let’s take running again. Say your low back is tightening up while running. Well, instead of continuing to beat your body down, incorporate biking, elliptical machine and some core training. The key is to not exacerbate your injury nor prolong the recovery process. Letting the body heal and recover will prevent you from sitting on the sidelines.
Other great benefits of cross-training are increased motivation and active recovery. By breaking up the routine and allowing you to explore more areas of the fitness world and other sports, might just give you an added kick to your motivation. Active recovery during your workouts is great in being able to enhance your endurance and strength, which will be positively reflected in your running performance.
So, before you create injuries or make current injuries worse, consider adding some cross-training to your training protocol. You’ll be surprise how much more your overall performance will be!
Who is this guy?
My name is Patrick Murphy, and I am an admitted coffee snob, former chef, and full-time fitness
professional.
My fitness journey started as a little guy (actually the littlest guy) on hockey rinks in Boston, MA.
Growing tired of getting tossed around and spending more time on my butt than on my skates, I
sought refuge in the high school weight room. Even though I had no idea what I was doing, I
quickly noticed that the changes were much more than just physical, with the mental and
emotional effects being profound. This lesson would stay with me throughout my life, and it is
something I try to instill in all my clients.
As I moved into the working world, keeping fitness in the forefront of my life again became
paramount. I worked my way up through the ranks of food service and made it to assistant chef
and even won “Best of Boston” in 1999. The reality was late nights, tons of stress and constant
food were killing me, literally. The gym was my only release, and a welcome one at that.
Moving to Florida in 2003, I knew I needed to leave the restaurant business or else I wouldn’t
make it out alive. I knew I had more to give and more to share with people. So I turned my
passion for fitness into a career.
THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN!
*Do you have a sport or activity that you are really into and would like to improve your
performance in? I can help! As a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist I can create a
custom program designed for the demands of your specific sport or activity.
*Are you struggling with making time for yourself while juggling a busy career and
family/friends/social life? I’ve been there. Trust me. I take pride in simplifying what you actually
need….and I’ll give you a hint, you don’t need to live in the gym to get amazing results.
With 13 years of experience training people of all ages, backgrounds and goals, I am confident
that we can create a solution to your overall health goals, so come visit me and let’s talk about
your options…..and if you were to happen to bring me a delicious local coffee, your first workout
might be a little easier. Maybe.
When most people think of cardio, they think of long, boring jogs, or endless hours on the elliptical. I’ve got good news for you: there’s a method of cardio that takes much less time and is far superior to jogging to help you burn fat. It’s called High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)! High Intensity Interval Training involves alternating between very intense bouts of exercise and low intensity exercise/recovery. For example, sprinting for 30 seconds, then walking for 60 seconds is high intensity interval training. HIIT can be used both anaerobically (in the gym with weights) and/or aerobically with cardio.
The “Fat Burning Zone” shown on most cardio equipment is usually only 60%-65% of max heart rate, this is really a myth and is NOT optimal for burning fat. Yes, you burn more fat relative to glycogen when going for a walk, but what we care about is total fat burn. At higher intensities, you are burning far more fat, even though the fat/glycogen ratio is lower. In addition, interval training allows you to exercise at very high intensities for a much longer period of time than steady state, so you burn more fat.
There are a number of great benefits to High Intensity Interval Training besides serious fat burn that include:
• Increased Aerobic Capacity – The amount of oxygen your body can use (oxygen uptake) is increased, so your overall aerobic capacity can increase faster than with low intensity endurance exercise.
• Increased Lactate Threshold – Your ability to handle increased lactic acid buildup in your muscles increases.
• Improved Insulin Sensitivity – Over time, your muscles more readily hold onto glucose, instead of the glucose going to your fat stores.
• Anabolic Effect – Some studies show that interval training combined with consuming slightly more calories than you burn creates an anabolic effect, which helps you put on muscle. The opposite occurs with steady state cardio, which for long durations is catabolic.
As an added bonus, there’s also an afterburn effect known as EPOC (excess-post exercise oxygen consumption). You increase your metabolism and burn more calories for up to 24 hours after interval training, whereas going for a jog burns almost NO calories after.
INTENSITY30!
So it’s time to burn calories faster and more efficiently, improve endurance, and build strength with Definition Fitness Personal Trainer Scott Winters and the heart-pumping INTENSITY30 workout program!
Utilizing the principles of high intensity interval training (H.I.I.T.), INTENSITY30 is a fast paced 30-minute, one-on-one workout session which incorporates 30-second drill combinations that include weighted squats, full-body resistance combinations, BOSU-based drills, heavy plyometrics, among other techniques, with 30-second recovery periods between each drill.
“HIIT is considered to be much more effective than normal cardio because the intensity is higher and you are able to increase both your aerobic and anaerobic endurance while burning more calories and shedding the fat.”
To be cleared for this special program, your max, resting, and target heart rate will be assessed prior to beginning the program; your heart rate will then be monitored throughout the 30-minute workout with your target heart rate always in check. A heart rate monitor is strongly recommended (for the most accurate workout), but not required.
IT’S A HEART-PUMPING TIME THAT WILL PUSH YOU TO YOUR LIMITS!
Introducing our “Workout in the Park” series… tune in to our YouTube channel where we will be showing 1 new video every 2 weeks so you can exercise while your kids play in any park or travel out of town on vacation. No excuses this summer!
AdvoCare Spark Energy Drink is a unique multi-nutrient system that was developed as a nutritional source of energy and enhanced mental focus.* It’s a sugar-free drink mix that has more than 20 vitamins, minerals and nutrients that work synergistically to provide a healthy, balanced and effective source of energy that won’t overburden or overstimulate your body like other energy drinks on the market.* This amazing product serves as an all-in-one solution that gives you a quick boost of energy that lasts for hours.*
For mental focus and clarity*: The neuroactive amino acids in AdvoCare Spark Energy Drink help increase your mental focus and alertness by supporting your brain’s ability to receive and send messages to and from the nervous system.* For example, L-tyrosine an amino acid found in dietary proteins, is believed to improve mental energy and focus by serving as a precursor for specific neurotransmitters. Furthermore, the choline and GABA found in AdvoCare Spark Energy Drink are essential for nerve function, muscle control, memory and many other functions.* Together, the nutrients found in AdvoCare Spark Energy Drink provide the energy, mental focus and well-rounded nutrition that makes it the most effective energy drink on the market.*
KEY BENEFITS:
l Enhances mental energy and focus*
l Provides support for long-lasting energy*
l Helps fight occasional drowsiness*
l 21 vitamins, minerals and nutrients
l Sugar-free and only 45 calories
l Helps reduce free radicals*
Visit advocare.com and enter Definition Fitness as a local distributor to learn more or buy Spark. Or stop by the gym to purchase your Spark!
It’s true! That water that is fun to drink out of the coconut on vacation comes in a bottle now- and in different, delicious flavors.
Don’t be fooled, this coconut water isn’t just any old water. Before or after a workout this drink is top notch. Coconut water is naturally refreshing, with fewer calories and sodium than regular sport drinks. Biggest advantage of drinking coconut water is the added potassium; one bottle has 600 mg, which is about the same as eating 3 bananas!
Flavors include natural, chocolate, pineapple, mango, pomberry, lima citron, and passion fruit.
Here at Definition we carry the natural and chocolate- after your workout try that instead of your normal water!
Who is this guy?