Free Sample Bootcamp Class w/ Angela - October 15th in Hudson

Come Try Bootcamp! Let Angela Doherty take you through a high intensity, calorie burning, muscle conditioning work out. If your looking for a program to help lose weight, jump start your work out program or just need help getting motivated -- Bootcamp might be for you. There is only a couple spots left in the 12 week program -- try it on Friday to see if Bootcamp is right for you.

Friday - October 15th at 6AM in Hudson. Please reserve your spot today - CLICK HERE! Hurry, space is limited.

Keep the weight off for good...

With the New Year, comes new goals. Now is the time to lose some weight and get in shape. Unfortunately, for many of us - myself included - it is a revolving cirlce. How many times have you gone on a diet, only to gain back the weight, plus a little dividend? For many people, dieting is a vicious cycle full of ups and downs, and plenty of discouragement. If you want to keep your weight off permanently, you are going to need to implement a few techniques. For most of us, staying at a healthy weight requires a lot of dedication and hard work, but it will pay off in a longer life span, less sickness and simply feeling better. Let's look at a few of the ways that you can keep your weight off permanently.

1. Change your lifestyle -If you want to keep your weight off successfully, more times than not this means changing your entire lifestyle. It's not easy, but it is worth it. You don't have to become entirely preoccupied with your weight, that's not healthy. But you will need to keep focused on eating right, getting enough exercise and avoiding trigger foods that you know will put you back on that wrong path again. It's fine to cheat now and again, but you can't let it become a regular event. Allow yourself a nice dinner out every few weeks, but don't fall back into your old habits.

2. Replace bad foods with better foods -
There are some foods that you may never be able to enjoy in large quantities again. There are also other foods that simply may be too dangerous for you to eat ever again. These are known as trigger foods, like we mentioned above. These are the foods that start you on that downward spiral that can be nearly impossible to overcome. If you simply cannot eat one piece of chocolate cake, it's better to avoid eating it at all than risk falling back into your old habits.

Replace that cake with something that still satisfies your sweet tooth and chocolate craving but doesn't trigger that old behavior. This works for any food, not just cake, that you simply cannot control your reaction to. It's not easy and it's more than a little sad. But, you can look at this way. Which would you rather have - a few bites of cake or a longer life that you can enjoy? A little extreme yes, but sometimes you need to get tough with yourself.

3. Treat every day as a brand new challenge -If you've fallen off the wagon, don't let that cycle continue. Every day is a brand new day where you're going to have that chance to succeed at your healthy lifestyle. We all fall down every now again, but not all of us can get back up. Stop that cycle of falling and staying down, and start realizing that you are on a lifelong path towards getting healthy. It's ok to take a break for a few days, but don't let those days stretch into week, months and years. Get back in that saddle!

Looking for more tips - or help to jump start your weight loss? Join the BE A LOSER 6 week challenge starting January 18th at all Boost Fitness locations. Teams forming now.

Beat the Winter Blues with Exercise

Anybody who has ever exercised on a regular basis will tell you that they get a high from a good sweat session. It has long been believed that the body releases feel good hormones after exercise that are responsible for that great feeling. Recent research has proved this theory directly relating your workout with a feel good sensation.

Endorphins, the bodies all natural feel good painkillers are released post workout and are responsible for that after exercise bliss. Scans of athletes brains revealed that immediately after exercise regions of the brain associated with mood are flooded with endorphins. The greater the flood of endorphins the better the high. If you tend to suffer from the winter blues then try out exercise as an all natural ‘medication’ from your usual depression. The only side effects will be a better body.

Top 10 Fitness Trends from 2009

“The non-profit American Council on Exercise (ACE) has announced the top ten fitness trends from 2009, based on its annual survey of personal trainers, group fitness experts, advanced health and fitness specialists and lifestyle and weight management consultants. The survey revealed that boot camp-style workouts, which were named the most popular workout in 2008, were also the most popular fitness trend in 2009. The following represents ACE's listing of the top trends for 2009: 1. Boot Camp-Style Workouts: 2. Budget-Friendly Workouts: 3. Specialty Classes: 4. Getting Back to Basics 5. Circuit Training 6. Kettlebells 7. Boomer Fitness 8. Technology-Based Fitness 9. Event or Sport-Specific Exercises 10. Mixing It Up.”

Boot Camp-Style Workouts: Boot camp workouts remain extremely popular because they provide a total-body workout that's varied, fun and challenging. Up to 600 calories can be burned during a boot camp session, which is obviously going to facilitate weight loss.

Specialty Classes: While yoga and Pilates will remain strong, dance-based classes were all the rage this year. Zumba, a fitness program inspired by Latin dance, combines South American rhythms with cardiovascular exercise. Bollywood, ballroom, Afro-Cuban and other exotic dance styles grew in popularity thanks to shows such as Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance.

Getting Back to Basics: Despite the fact that many exercises and equipment are becoming more advanced and trendy, trainers continued to focus on basic movements and techniques with their clients.

Circuit Training: Studies have shown that interval training combining strength training and cardiovascular activity at different intensities provides a more time-efficient workout than participating in traditional aerobic and weight training sessions

Event or Sport-Specific Exercises: Despite the emergence of new and trendy workouts, sports or recreational activities remained a popular way to stay in shape.

Mixing It Up: Traditional programming has changed from what's called linear progression to undulating, as research shows similar if not better results. For example, mixing low-intensity cardio with intervals on different days, and mixing high-volume, low- intensity weight training with low-volume, high-intensity training on alternate days.

On ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Health Can Take Back Seat

LOS ANGELES — When more than 40 former contestants from “The Biggest Loser” gather Wednesday for a reunion television special, the winner of the program’s first season, Ryan C. Benson, who lost 122 of his 330-pound starting weight, will be absent. Mr. Benson is now back above 300 pounds but he thinks he has been shunned by the show because he publicly admitted that he dropped some of the weight by fasting and dehydrating himself to the point that he was urinating blood.

Now in its eighth season, “The Biggest Loser” is one of NBC’s most-watched prime-time programs besides football, drawing an estimated 10 million viewers each week, according to Nielsen. It has clearly tapped into the American obsession with losing weight, as more than 200,000 people a year submit audition videotapes or attend open casting calls for the program.

It also has spawned a licensed merchandise business that will generate an estimated $100 million this year.

The series also highlights the difference between the pursuit of engaging television and the sometimes frenzied efforts of contestants to win, perhaps at the risk of their own health. Doctors, nutritionists and physiologists not affiliated with “The Biggest Loser” express doubt about the program’s regimen of severe caloric restriction and up to six hours a day of strenuous exercise, which cause contestants to sometimes lose more than 15 pounds a week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/business/media/25loser.html?_r=1&ref=health

Step away from the treadmill...

Have you ever seen the gym member who is constantly walking on the treadmill and getting nowhere? (Literally and figuratively)

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with good old fashioned walking but if you want results another approach might be in order. This is why I recommend interval training. Because of my short attention span, I discovered this type of training for myself years ago.

Interval Training is a system that alternates spurts of high intensity movement with lower intensity movement. Because of the different intensities, your body never adapts to it enabling you to get better results in less time.

There are many different approaches to this system of training One way to use it is for your cardio workout. Try alternating running or walking at different speeds in three or four minute intervals for 30 minutes. Because of the combination of aerobic and anaerobic training, you will be able to increase your cardio output. Another way to use it is for strength training. Try doing a set of squats followed by one minute of jumping jacks or pushups combined with mountain climbers. The options are endless. This type of workout uses all your muscles compared to the nautilus circuit which consists of mostly isolation exercises.

If you are new to fitness or if you have been working out for years, this system will yield results.
Most importantly, this type of workout is something you can stick with because it does not take much time and can be done anywhere.

Have fun and get creative ---here is a sample workout to try-

1. Run or walk fast (depends on your fitness level) 3 minutes
2. Squat with or without weights –one minute
3. Lunge in place alternating legs-one minute
4. Repeat 1-3
5. Pushups (as many as you can do)
6. Jumping jacks –one minute
7. Crunches /cross crunches 20-30 reps
8. Run or walk fast 3 minutes
9. Repeat 5 – 8

Cool down and stretch --- then enjoy the rest of your day!!!

Mix it up for the best results!

"If you do what you've always done, you get what you've always gotten"

This month Mix it up! Do something different than what you've always done for a workout. If you always walk the same pace for 2 miles- change it up and try adding some higher intensity intervals or try the elliptical or a Group Kick class. Our bodies get good at what we do and if you want to see changes you need to shake things up a bit and give your body a new challenge!