Summer Bootcamp!!

Hey folks! Ever have one of those days where you're actually surprised you've stumbled upon the where you were supposed to be a couple times during your day? That was my morning. I felt like I was supposed to be elsewhere all morning. Perhaps it's because I got some tremendous sleep last night. Or maybe because I'm heading away to California for a week on Saturday. Or maybe it's the amazing weather we are having today. Whatever it is I feel a little off today. Not bad at all. I've actually had a little extra hop in my step today. What's my point? I have no idea...on to the post.

Over the past few years large group training and Bootcamp style training has increased a ton in popularity. These sessions are energetic and fun, and if programmed properly can lead to great fitness results, especially weight loss. Also, due to the cheaper cost more people have access to great training. I am happy to announce I have added Bootcamp sessions and Semi-Private sessions to my offering. Please go to my website for more information and to see the schedule. And feel free to pass along this info to anyone who might be interested.

I'm now off to the bookstore to load up on books for the plane ride. Any suggestions?

Yes, I've been Slacking

I know, I haven't offered many witty and informative posts in a while. The reason is I've been diligently working on my web site. Check it out here! You can also find my Facebook and Twitter pages from there. I haven't quite figured out how to use the blog feature on the website so for now I'll continue to post here.

Marathon Day

Hey Folks. Happy Thursday to all! This past Monday was Patriot's Day in the Boston area. This is certainly one of the coolest and most unique days on the Boston calender. The Red Sox play the only morning game on the baseball schedule while the Boston Marathon is run. Oh yeah, and something about the battle of Concord and Lexington and the Revolutionary War. Anyway, elite runners from all over the world flock to Hopkinton and run 26.2 miles into Boston. The race finishes a little more than a mile from Fenway Park (you can see the runners from the Green Monster seats.) I've been trying to get into Boston for many years to check out the race but have never had the chance...until Monday! My girlfriend and I made our way into Boston to check out the runners. We arrived at Kenmore Square at 11:30 which was about 15 minutes before the elite women came through...Perfect timing!! What amazed me was the difference in running form between the absolute best of the best runners and the rest. The top 10 runners were flawless, but outside the top 10 were a bunch of folks who I'm assuming won't be running for too much longer. I wanted to hand out my cards along the route because many will be in PT soon enough. It reminded me of the old running periodization: 1) Run, 2) get injured, 3) Run, 4) repeat. And those were still the elite runners. Then, after a couple hours, came the recreational runners. I'm not going to suggest these people should stop running but YIKES, most of these people were not remotely prepared for the pounding they were putting their bodies though. Here's the thing, as a coach, I watched these people and I saw a big sea of people who I can help. But to do that I might have to put myself through a training program with the goal of running a marathon WITHOUT destroying my body in the process. I'm not yet ready to commit to running the Boston Marathon but I'm seriously considering trying to qualify for the 2011 event. Qualifying will add a little more funness to the experiment. Qualifying time for the 2010 marathon was 3 hours, 15 minutes for my age group (I'm no longer in the youngest age group! I feel old!) That is a little better than 7:30 miles. That doesn't seem so daunting (or maybe it does.) Anyway, anyone want to join me? 2011 Boston Marathon? Anyone?

Oh, and here's a really good blog post about the dangers of recreational running.

And, if you haven't seen this play in college baseball a couple nights ago check this out!!

Nothing New Here

I mentioned last week that on Saturday I was presenting at the MA Association of Clinical Exercise Physiologists Annual Meeting in Boston. We were scheduled to go on at 1:45 (next to last.) I figured it would be a great opportunity to head in nice and early and sit in on the morning lectures and do me some free learning. Truth is, I'm glad I went, but unfortunately there was nothing new presented. This organization seems to work closely with the American College of Sports Medicine. I don't know a whole lot about the ACSM but I came away unimpressed. The first presentation was titled, "Real Exercise for Real People: What is an Exercise Professional to Do?" There were a few interesting points made near the end of this presentation.

1. I've never been a proponent of a "cool-down." I never really saw a point in spending 5-10 minutes cooling down. As it turns out there is very little evidence to suggest a cool down has any benefits. So that is reassuring.
   
2. The FITT principle is something all us fitness professionals learn. It's just an acronym for the variables in a program. They are: Frequency, Intensity, Type, Time. Way before my time the FITT principle was the FITTE principle with the E standing for Enjoy. I like that. I'm not sure why that has been dropped.

The second presentation was about building and maintaining bone density especially in women. She talked about all the science behind osteopenia and osteoperosis. She went into osteoblasts and fibroblasts and all sorts of other dorky stuff. The important thing is the minimal essential strain (MES.) MES "refers to the threshold stimulus that initiates new bone formation." (taken from the NSCA Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning textbook.) The MES is generally thought to be 1/10 of the force required to fracture a bone. So if my femur (thigh bone) requires 1,000 pounds of force to result in a fracture then simply applying 100 pounds of force will result in new bone formation (greater bone density.) The key is to utilize exercises that load portions of the skeleton and that involve multiple joints. You cannot get this benefit from using machines. A tremendous exercise to add to your program is the Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat. This exercise puts some good strain on your femur, pelvis, and spine. Other than that Jump Squats are a great exercise as well to get the benefits of building new bone.


The next presentation was from the nutrition consultant for the Biggest Loser. His talk was all over the place. He sorta trashed the show while mentioning it's benefits to the public. At the end he showed a bunch of before and after slides and kept saying that the people have since put the weight back on. So I still think that show is garbage.

Anyway, I like day Red Sox games.

Random Randomness

Hey folks. I hope everyone has enjoyed the early summer in the Northeast. Here are some interesting tidbits picked up this week:

1. Woohoo! The New York Times is on the right track! "For people who lift weights to tone up and slim down, experts say, a regimen that includes a combination of challenging weights and fewer repetitions can help significantly."
2. Here is an good article sent to me by my girlfriend about unhealthy beverages, especially coffee. Coffee is perfectly healthy as it "contains only 5 calories, and the metabolism-boosting benefits of caffeine actually make coffee a good weight-loss supplement." But when you go to Starbucks or Dairy Queen and grab a coffee with all the junk added you can quickly end up drinking up to 1,200 calories!!
   
3. And for more highly scientific research about the many benefits of coffee check here.
4. If you are ready to take the next step with your eating habits and really improve your food quality check here for some great info on the difference between grass fed and conventionally raised animals.
5. I really liked this post from last week. It's about the 10 signs you have a bad trainer. So much money can be spent on fitness coaches and most people have no idea if their trainer is really any good. I would add one big one to this list. Ask your trainer what he/she has read recently or about any recent seminar attended. It is absolutely critical in this industry to remain current. I try to attend at least 4 seminars per year and am constantly reading books and online sources to stay current. I wouldn't be half the coach I am without this.
6. Speaking of, tomorrow I have the pleasure of presenting at the Massachusetts Association of Clinical Exercise Physiologists (MACEP) Annual Meeting. The name of the symposium (that's right, it's a symposium!) is "Bridging the Gap: Clinical Exercise & Fitness!" Included on the bill is a PhD, two MD's, and two other folks with letters that I have no idea what they mean. Tim Crowley and I are the only coaches in the bunch. One of the MD's is the "Weight Loss and Nutrition adviser" for The Biggest Loser. Read here for my take on that dreadful program and why I'm thinking that might be an interesting presentation. Our presentation is about the importance of Assessments, especially the Functional Movement Screen. We are going to explain how we use it to get and keep people healthy, fit, and injury free. We will also touch upon the advantages of this type of assessment vs the old forms of assessments like the sit and reach, curl up test, step test, push up test, etc. Anyway, this should be a fun day and at least it should supply me with some good blog fodder for next week. Until then, have a great weekend!
   

Things I've Learned this Week

Ok, I need to redeem myself for yesterday's post. I hope that one goes down as my worst attempt at writing...ever. Seriously, if anyone is able to come away with a point to that one let me know. So I thought I would share some good stuff I have learned thus far this week.

1. I had a chance to watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution earlier this week. I think this is a very important show. I wrote about it briefly here before it originally aired. Jamie Oliver is a British chef would travelled to Huntington, West Virginia to open a small kitchen and help the town to eat better. Huntington is considered the absolute unhealthiest city in the country (on the planet?) People are dying decades too early because of their horrible eating habits. Now, I know it's a television show and it's edited for entertainment but it is really frustrating watching people in the town pushing back against some of the changes that are being suggested. Anyway, do yourself a favor and check out the show here.
2. I thought about that push back during a conversation I had this morning at my gym. I was there today simply to get my own workout in. I was in the middle of my warm-up when I noticed the guy next to me was doing some horrible leg rotation type exercise while lying on his back. All he's doing is mobilizing his low back, which will lead to injury. But, I try not to give random people advice unless I'm approached so I didn't mention anything, besides I was there for my own training. Then he asked me about the gym's yoga schedule. I have no idea what the schedule is. He then mentioned his low back problems. He's suffered from a bad low back for 20 years. So at that point I ethically had to talk to him about the exercise he was just performing. I explained the dangers of training for lumbar rotation and there are only 12 degrees of rotation available in the lumbar spine and nobody with a healthy back, nevermind an unhealthy back should be doing the exercise he was doing. His response was, "Well, that's what the physical therapist told me to do 20 years ago." 20 years ago! And he still has back pain!! I told his his physical therapist was just plain wrong and I can show him a better alternative. Instead of gratitude he started arguing with me. I was trying to help and he was pushing back. This reminds me of the saying, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink." I have to remind myself of that every so often.
3. But then I learned my new favorite core exercise...so all is right with the world. Check it out here. I used a 10 lb plate on one side of a 45 lb barbell and struggled to perform 4 reps on each side. This a great and tough exercise. And, more importantly, it trains the core the way it was meant to be trained.
4. I love barefoot training (as you likely know by now.) But I've been reluctant to run barefoot on a treadmill. Well, I sucked it up and gave it a shot on Monday. The goal was 5 reps of 15 seconds on, 15 seconds off at 9 MPH and a 12% incline. I tell ya, I'm sold. It really worked well. I was concerned about the running surface but it felt great on my feet and I had the extra bounce in my step yesterday due to the additional muscle activity in my feet.
   

Hi all! I hope everyone in the Northeast has been able to stay mostly dry these past couple days. The forecast looks perfect for the weekend! Here are some notes and additional thoughts from the third presentation from last weekend. This was Gray Cook's hour. He is probably my favorite speaker/presenter. I've seen him a couple times and always get a ton of good and useful info from him.

• Movement is behavoral. We must relearn how to move properly. When we move properly our muscles will sculpt themselves.
• The #1 predictor of future injury is prior injury. We are doing something wrong from a rehab standpoint and not giving athletes the best chance to remain injury free.
• "Just because someone is flexible doesn't mean they move well." This goes back to the first point. Stretching is important. People should pick 2 or 3 good stretches and make them part of their daily routine. However, stick to just a few minutes then move on to the mobility work.
• This could be a very cool new toy. It looks like a really good balance/stability test in all planes of movement.
• I like really like this point..."Will strengthening glute med help the squat or will fixing the squat movement force glute med to work properly?" Coaches so often try to break down a movement pattern and figure out which muscles don't work. It's much better to just apply corrective strategy to fix the movement pattern.
  
• "The best way to strengthen your core is to clean up your weakest movement pattern so that your core can work properly."
  
• He talked at length about single leg deadlifts. I wrote down a couple important notes about this exercise. 1. It must be heavy! 2. You must go all the way down to the floor.
  
• He also showed us a very cool assymmetry test to perform with a kettlebell during his hands on session. I will record a video soon.