Transformation Training and Fitness

Catching some Z’s

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:12:53 +0000

If you watched this week’s Fit Tip (click here if you haven’t seen it) you know I discussed the importance of rest and sleep. Here are few quick facts for you to think about the next time you decide to skip out on a good night’s sleep.

Sleep may be a way of recharging the brain. The brain has a chance to shut down and repair neurons and to exercise important neuronal connections that might otherwise deteriorate due to lack of activity.

Sleep gives the brain an opportunity to reorganize data to help find a solution to problem, process newly learned information and organize and archive memories.

Sleep lowers a person’s metabolic rate and energy consumption.

The cardiovascular system also gets a break during sleep. Researchers have found that people with normal or high blood pressure experience a 20 to 30% reduction in blood pressure and 10 to 20% reduction in heart rate.

During sleep, the body has a chance to replace chemicals and repair muscles, other tissues and aging or dead cells.

In children and young adults, growth hormones are released during deep sleep.

When a person falls asleep and wakes up is largely determined by his or her circadian rhythm, a day-night cycle of about 24 hours. Circadian rhythms greatly influence the timing, amount and quality of sleep.

Put Out to Posture

admin — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 03:21:39 +0000

Sorry for the title. I couldn’t resist the play on words.

Here’s a quick video that accompanies this week’s fit tip. Are you having trouble with your posture? Watch this video and spend a couple minutes a day working on these exercises/stretches and you’ll see an improvement. Let me know if you have any questions!

Timed-based Circuit Training

admin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:42:07 +0000

This week in the Fit Tip of the Week, we discussed our love of circuit training. Out of all the different ways to exercise, we have found that circuit training, specifically time-based training, will get you the best results in the shortest amount of time.

We use this style of training with our athletes, our “seasoned” citizens, our kids and our general population. There is no better way to combine strength, cardio, core, endurance and explosiveness training all in to one 30 minute workout.

That being said, there is a proper way to put circuits together to get the best benefit from circuit training.

Check out the video below as I describe a great dumbbell circuit that you can do at home or at the gym.

The video you just watched is part of a new monthly program we are offering called TTF on-the-go. Now you can take our workouts with you! Read more about the program by clicking here!

Core d’oeuvres

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:43:35 +0000

Here is the video that accompanies this week’s Fit Tip of the Week. If you haven’t seen it, you can visit TTF-TV.com to check out.

Perform each exercise in this circuit for 15 seconds. Rest 5 seconds and move to the next exercise. Each circuit will take 1 minute and 40 seconds. Peform 3-6 rounds depending on your level of fitness and time constraints.

Exercise 1 – Plank variation, Exercise 2 – Superman variation, Exercise 3 – Cross Mountain Climber, Exercise 4 – Left side plank variation, Exerise 5 – Right side plank variation.

Enjoy!

Our Favorite Pre-Workout Snacks

admin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 21:09:27 +0000

This week on TTF-TV, we were asked what would be the best thing to eat about an hour before a workout. If you haven’t seen this week’s episode, you can watch it here.

As promised here are some of our favorite pre-workout snacks. Remember, the key is to find something that provides you with enough energy to give you a good workout but not too much food that it will make you feel sluggish.

Keep in mind that foods high in simple sugars like candy bars and sodas are not a good idea. These types of foods spell trouble about half-way through your workout.

One more thing, before to drink plenty of “high quality H20″ (Read in your best Adam Sandler “Waterboy” voice). 20 oz. of water an hour before working out will help you maximize your efforts.

Our Favorites

1. Oatmeal with Fruit – If you workout in the morning a great meal is to combine some cooked oatmeal with fruit. I like raisins on my oatmeal, however bananas, blueberries and other types of berries will do the trick.

2. Trail Mix – An assortment of nuts with raisins or dried fruit is a nice mix of protein, carbs and fats. Watch your serving size but it’s a great combination.

3. Energy bars – There are some good protein bars out there but watch the ingredients. Many of these bars are filled with junk ingredients that aren’t good for you. Megan enjoys the Clif bars because they try to stay more organic and natural. You can check out the clif bars by clicking here.

4. An apple and a handful of almonds – Any type of nut will work but almonds are our favorites.

5. Prograde Workout - There are lots of pre/post workout drinks on the market. Although we aren’t huge into the supplement world and prefer people eat real food and not manufactured products, sometimes it’s easier to grab a quick shake than make oatmeal. We’ve found that Prograde offers a nice mixture of organic ingredients and are easily made. You can check out the Prograde line of products here.

2 Workouts

admin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 21:32:42 +0000

Here are the videos that go along with this week’s Fit Tip of the Week. In this week’s episode we discuss short workouts that can be done while traveling, outside and without much time or equipement. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can click here to check it out.

Watch the following videos for some fast paced, effective workouts on the go.

Post your questions in the comments section or on our facebook page. (You are a member of our facebook page right?)

If you don’t have a Superband and you need one – click here ->Superbands

Dare to be Different

admin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 21:19:08 +0000

The other day as I was talking to one of my high school athletes, he said he was sore after our workout because it is different than anything he had done before. I didn’t think too much about that at the time because unfortunately many coaches continue to follow out of date training techniques that don’t help our kids become better athletes, they just help them waste time.

However, that got me thinking about the importance of being different. Too often it is easy to fall into the mainstream thinking and to just go along with the crowd. If you haven’t taken a look around in awhile we live in a very depressed, negative, out-of-shape, over-medicated, complancency-driven, confused world.

With that in mind…I challenge you to be different!

1. When all those around you are hopeless; provide hope. 2. When there is no joy; bring joy. 3. When others are confused; provide wisdom. 4. When it’s ok to be average; strive to do your best. 5. When you feel like being lazy; work harder. 6. When you feel like quitting; keep going. 7. When you want to panic; relax. 8. When the obvious answer is to hate; it’s probably best to love.

I could go on and on but you get the idea. Be different, Be you!

Kids "R" Us

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:54:00 +0000

Remember being a kid in the summer? It seemed like those days would last forever! I remember being outside running and playing, jumping, climbing and having a great time.(These were the days before playstation and Xbox)

Little did I know but 30 years later, I’d find out that the best way to stay in shape, or get back into shape is to be like a kid again. The body is meant to run, climb, jump, crawl, push and move. These types of moves can build strength, endurance, power and burn fat like crazy.

The other night we were at my parent’s house in the backyard and my son reminded me what it’s like to be a kid again. Check him out in a spontaneous bear crawl.

Stretch, Lies and Videotape

admin — Fri, 07 May 2010 09:56:00 +0000

For years trainers and coaches have been telling athletes and clients to get a good stretch in before the workout. So we’ve sat and stretched our hamstrings and quads. We did the butterfly and the runner’s stretch. You all know the drill.

Several years ago, some research came out that showed this type of static stretching was not only uselss before a workout, it actually reduced performance and increased the risk of injury. That’s right…..REDUCED performance, INCREASED the risk of injury.

If you are still stretching before your workouts, Stop it! Save the stretching for after the workout during your cool down.

We’ve been using different dynamic warm-ups for years. These pre-workout routines have been shown to INCREASE performance and DECREASE the risk of injury. What’s a dynamic warm-up? It’s a movement specific warm-up designed to get your body moving. Check out the video below to see some of our athletes getting ready to go!

Who’s Watching You?

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:35:00 +0000

Some of you may know that I am a bit of a music junkie. I love music. It’s a good thing because working in a gym most of my life has allowed me to hear a lot of different tunes through the years.

There’s a classic song from the 1980s by Rockwell called, “Some body’s Watching Me” Anybody that knows anything about music knows that this song was a hit because Michael Jackson was singing the hook, “I always feel like, some body’s watching me”, and not so much because of Rockwell’s ability.

Anyway, I was reminded of this song today as I was playing with my son. He has began the stage in life where he is mimicking everything I do. We were using sidewalk chalk and as I took my foot to brush away some dirt, he did the same thing. It’s kind of funny to watch him copy me (except when he asks for his phone because he needs to do work and send somebody a message at 10pm at night, I have to be better about that)

However, Lucas is constantly watching me and I have to ask myself the question, What am I teaching him? What am I teaching him about life? About my attitude? About my priorities? About this world? From a fitness perspective it begs the question, “What am I teaching him about the importance of health? About exercise? About nutrition? Rest? Balanced living? Determination? Dedication? Laziness? The list could go on and on. You see it’s not what I say to my kids that they’ll remember, it’s what they see me do.

So let me ask you two questions. 1. Who is watching you? 2. What are you teaching them? It may not be your children watching you but it may be your co-workers, your neighbors, your wife. Regardless of who it is important to continually ask yourself if you are conveying the kinds of messages that you want others to know about you.

For example, it would be hard for me to tell my son, or my clients, that rest and proper nutrition are extremely important to living a productive life and at the same time drink soda and junk food all the time just to make myself feel better from the 4 hours of sleep that I get nightly. It doesn’t add up and actions always speak louder than words.

This week take a look at your life and see which your speaking louder with, your actions or your words?

If it helps, go ahead and download the Rockwell song on itunes….I’m sure he could use the money.