Please join Seattle Athletic Club in congratulating Kendra Kainz for her 1st place finishes at the 2015 NPC Washington Ironman Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure, Men’s & Women’s Physique and Bikini Championships! This competition is one of the top competitions in the northwest and is well attended with competitors both regionally and nationally. Kendra competed in Figure and took 1st place in the Masters 35 years and older, 1st place in the overall for Masters and 1st place in the open 5’6 height and above. Her 1st place finishes qualified her to compete at the national level for up to one year. Kendra trained hard for over six months dieting, lifting weights and posing. This is her first Figure Competition and she did an outstanding job! Congratulations, Kendra!
SAC Team, Sports Conditioning, Strength Training
bodybuilding, Championships, Figure, fitness, ironman
Sunday October 11th 2015
GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon, Canada / Snohomish, WA
Sunday October 11th was a victorious day for several Seattle Club members who completed their first full marathon race in Victoria, Canada and half-marathon at the Snohomish River Run. After joining the marathon training program offered by Kendra Kainz, Wellness Director and Running Coach back in June, these members spent the last 12-16 weeks training and preparing both physically and mentally for the challenge ahead. The hard work paid off! Each had a successful race with great individual finishing times!
In Victoria, the SAC Team dominated the team category with a first place finish. The Seattle Athletic Club would like to acknowledge Thomas Blair, Jennifer Gallagher, Yesh Ganta, Shayla Mulvey, and Linda Perkins on their accomplishments. Special congrats to
Jennifer Gallagher on qualifying for the Boston Marathon and placing 10th in her age division!
We also congratulate Ryan Tennent and Karla Kucera-Clark on completing their first half-marathon (13.1 miles) with great finishing times! You’ve accomplished a lot!
Congratulations to all!
Coach Kendra
Inspiration, Motivation, Running, SAC Team
Boston Marathon, GoodLife Fitness, River Run, Snohomish, Victoria Canada
The flu season will quickly be upon us. Here are some helpful tips on how to avoid the flu this season.
- Wash your hands often.
- Work out! This will boost your immune system.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.
- Try to avoid close contact with sick people. Also, keep a healthy household. Wipe down and sanitize commonly touched surfaces.
- Get enough sleep!
- Cover your nose and mouth, preferably with a tissue or your sleeve when you cough or sneeze.
- Reduce stress. Stress can suppress your immune system, so keeping your stress levels low will help lower your chances of getting sick
Health News
cough, flu, immune system, reduce stress, sneeze, washing hands
It’s time for a little reflection. If you look back a few months ago, a year ago, 4 years ago, what about your fitness routine and your fitness level has changed? How many of your major goals have you accomplished? Can you look at a picture from 2 years ago and say, “Wow, I can’t believe how out of shape I was!” with pride knowing how far you’ve come? Can you look back 6 months ago and say, “It’s so awesome my knees have been pain free for 6 whole months!” If you really reflect, I hope that some things have improved for you and that you are on a path of health and happiness. If you are not, if you really are just spinning your wheels there might be a few things holding you back. You can easily change these things with minimal effort. Even if you only change one of these things it could make all the difference!
1. Variety– Are you doing the same machines? Are you working out for the same amount of time? Are you doing the same weight/reps? Are you always doing the same classes? It’s time to mix it up! This is one of the biggest keys to constant improvement as well as keeping your workouts interesting! Go outside your comfort zone and try something a little bit different!
2. Intensity– Not every workout needs to end with you puking in a garbage can. However, not all workouts should end with you skipping down the street without any fatigue or soreness. Everyone has a different idea of how intense a workout should be. In my personal opinion as long as you feel proud of the things you did in the gym (how much weight you lifted, how fast you swam, how high you jumped, etc) then you are on the right track. Just going through the motions will get you nowhere. You must push yourself to some extent nearly every time you do a workout.
3. Rest Days– Have you been working out in the gym every day for the past month? It’s time to take some time off. This does not mean you have to sit on the couch without moving for days. It means, change your idea of what rest is. Go for a walk instead of coming into the gym for the 24th day in a row. Garden, play with your kids, clean out the garage, or take your dog on a hike. To get the most out of your workouts your body needs time to recover and your mind needs time to go on autopilot. Enjoy some time out of the confines of the club!
4. Fun– If there isn’t anything enjoyable about your workouts, you are headed for trouble. There should always be something that you look forward to in your workouts. Maybe it’s just the stretch at the end. Maybe it’s your favorite lift, watching TV while you run, working out with friends, or your favorite song in spinning class. No matter what, there should ALWAYS be something enjoyable about your workout!
5. Multi-directional Movement– We generally move in one direction…forward. It’s very important to train in all planes of motion (frontal, sagittal, transverse); this is especially true if you are an endurance sport athlete. Too much time in one direction means that you aren’t working supporting muscles. You can only gain so much strength if you are only working one group of muscles! Besides, the lateral movements will also add variety!
6. Stretching– I’ll be the first to say it, stretching sucks. But if you want to be the fastest, strongest, and most fit looking you can be, you need to stretch. The more pliable you keep your muscles, the more they can contract, the bigger range of motion you will have, the more muscle fibers you will have to use, and the more capacity your joints will have to maintain good form. While it might be boring and or painful, it’s absolutely necessary for keeping a healthy body.
7. Small Muscle Work– This goes along with stretching. If you don’t improve the little helpers in your body, then they cannot help the bigger muscles perform to their highest potential. Increasing the little muscles around a joint will keep the joint healthy and moving in a full range of motion!
8. Resistance– Increasing resistance will help your muscles grow and help increase cardiac output. We don’t all have goals of back squatting 500lbs but only doing air squats will only improve your muscle tone, joint stability, and caloric burn minimally. So pick up a medicine ball, grab 2.5lb heavier weights than you normally use, and put an extra magnet on your weight stack. Giving your body something to work against will pay off leaps and bounds when it comes to increased strength. You’ll thank me the next time you have to help your brother move that big couch!
So keep working hard, keep having fun, and keep things fresh and interesting. Have goals, achieve them, and then set new ones! Make each workout count and be an inspiration to yourself as well as others!
If you need any help please contact Adriana Brown at abrown@sacdt.com
Fitness Advice, Fitness Department
Dear Journal,my name is Adriana Brown and I am obsessed and in love. My husband feels as though an intervention may be in order. I cannot stop using the fitness app, MyFitnessPal. Thanks to fellow trainer Shay Massey, I am totally obsessed with this app and I constantly recommend it to clients, friends, family, acquaintances, and relative strangers. If you want to lose weight and feel like you still have a choice in what you consume (nothing is off limits) this is the absolute best way to do it. Here are a few things I totally love about this app:
1. It’s super easy to use.
2. You can tailor it 100% to your personal needs and goals
3. It’s cell phone friendly, computer friendly, and tablet friendly
4. If you are 100% honest with it you are 100% guaranteed to achieve your weight loss goals.
5. Nothing is off limits
Do these all sound too good to be true? Well, it is and it isn’t. You still have to put in effort just like attaining any goal.
First off, you need a food scale. Most foods you input into the app are measured in grams or ounces. It’s imperative that you measure/weigh your food as that will give you the most exact count of your macro-nutrients (carbs, protein, fat).
Second, you need to do a little leg work You can do a general search (Pink Lady apple), or you can scan a barcode (mixed veggies), or you can import the URL for any recipe (who the heck knows the nutritional info for homemade chili?). Once it’s in your food database you can easily select it going forward, so there’s no second time searching for your favorite Lara Bar!
Third, going out to dinner is hard. If you can’t be exact, do a search of something close to what you are eating. I doubt MyFitnessPal has Etta’s clam chowder in it, but you could select “Whole Foods Clam Chowder” and then be annoying and ask your server how many ounces the clam chowder is.
Fourth, it’s best to do most of your food log the day before. If you know you are having two eggs and a banana for breakfast tomorrow, you should go ahead and plan out as far as you can for the next day. That makes the whole day of meal planning much easier and increases the likelihood that you will hit your target amount of macro-nutrients, which is the ultimate goal.
The fifth–and most important step if you really want to lose weight–LOG EVERYTHING to the best of your ability. If my kids don’t eat all their broccoli I will eat it and add in even just 1.2 ounces so that I’m being honest with myself and really achieving my counts for the day. The more exact you are with your logging, the quicker you will achieve your goals.
On the upside, if you want to eat a Snickers Bar tomorrow, you totally can. It may mean that for the rest of the day you eat nothing but baked chicken and carrots to achieve your food goals, but the choice is yours to make. This is not a diet. This is a way for you to learn what kinds of foods give you what kinds of nutrition and how much of those foods you should be eating. It’s not even about calorie counting; it’s much more about hitting the macro-nutrient count. It’s almost like a game trying to hit your numbers, changing food amounts, changing food, etc. I just love it and think it’s an amazing way to stay on track. Even if you only use it for a week or two in order to understand how much of your meals should be carbs/proteins/fats, it’s a great learning tool.
I highly recommend you give it a shot. Perhaps you’ll love it so much, I’ll see you at the next MyFitnessPal addiction group!
If you want more information about this or other ways to achieve your goals, please contact Adriana Brown at abrown@sacdt.com
Fitness Advice, Fitness Department
apps, goals, MyFitnessPal, personal, tablet, tablet friendly, weight loss
Hello fellow SAC members,
You may have heard how continuous sitting or undisrupted sitting for long period of time (1+hour) is not good for one’s overall health, don’t forget the effect of sitting can affect our younger generation, too!
This article from the NY Times highlight some points on how sitting can adversely affect the young ones and I think those points apply to us too!
I generally recommend one to change position during sitting every 20 minutes, especially for those with low back pain and sciatica, to spare the shearing force on the lumbar spine disc. Now let’s get those young couch potatoes off their rears and start moving!
Move better to feel better,
Dr. Li
Here’s the article from NY Times:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/09/23/sitting-is-bad-for-children-too/?src=me
Dr. Li has been taking care of the SAC staff and members since 2010. You can find him at the lobby performing injury screen for members every 3rd Tuesday of the month. His practice, Mobility Plus Sports Rehab, is conveniently located about 10 minute walks from the SAC. You can find out more about him and his clinic at mobilityplussportsrehab.com. He can be reached by info@mobilityplussportsrehab.com.
Dr. Li
Sitting, video
In his recent book Blue Zones, New York Times best-selling author Dan Buettner explores the dietary and cultural traditions of peoples around the world that have the largest number of centenarians. The dietary similarities in these groups can be summarized fairly simply. The groups with the highest longevity globally do two things. First, they eat meat as a condiment rather than as a dietary mainstay. Second, they eat beans daily.
Here are a few easy ways to increase the amount beans in your diet:
1) Buy some Red Lentils in the bulk section of your store.
- Red Lentils cook into a lovely creamy soup in just 15 minutes. Add a bit of curry powder and throw in leftover vegetables as it simmers. You need one-part lentils to 4 parts water/stock.
2) Keep canned beans on hand. (Black, garbanzo, pinto, etc)
- Rinse them and add to fairly small, cut up, raw veggies of your choice and add a vinaigrette dressing or oil and vinegar. Add crumbled feta or any dried herbs you like. Voila! You have a salad with protein that will keep in your refrigerator for the whole week!
- Like chips and salsa? Add some rinsed black or pinto beans to your salsa before you dip your chip!
3) Frozen edamame/soy beans
- Add them to a salad or fried rice or just eat them alone. Yummy!
Don’t forget your favorite bean chili, baked beans, and hummus count toward your consumption of beans. All beans, in whatever form you enjoy them, will add protein, soluble fiber and a host of vitamins and minerals, including iron.
If you have other ideas for incorporating more beans in your diet or need help in creating a healthier meal plan for you or your family please email Kathryn at kathrynr@soundhealthconnects.com.
Diet & Nutrition
Beans, Longevity
Carrie came to us with a long history in the Massage field. She graduated from Seattle Massage School in 1996 and has been licensed since 1997. Her interests in massage include sports massage, injury treatment, manual lymphatic drainage, and energetic work.
Prior to her career in massage, Carrie studied anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry at the University of Hawaii. Carrie has a lifelong fascination with science and the natural world and spent 20 years as a medical research technologist at the University of Washington School of Public Health. She loves helping people through touch and attention to detail.
Outside of her work in massage, she is an avid skier, hiker and lover of the natural world. She hails from many places, West Virginia and Minnesota to name a few. She has lived here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest since 1987. She is very happy to be part of our team here at the Seattle Athletic Club and looks forward to being of service wherever it’s needed!
Massage, SAC Team
energetic work, injury treatment, LMP, Manual lymphatic drainage, sports massage
Sure we all look forward to the holidays, especially the Thanksgiving meal with friends and family. But what you don’t know, is that Americans are estimated to consume anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 calories at the average Thanksgiving meal and that’s not including second helpings!
Want to know what the biggest calories bomb on your plate is? Pecan pie! A slice has an average of 503 calories (compared to 316 calories for pumpkin pie and 411 calories for apple pie). Where does this seemingly innocent pie get all of its calories? Sugar, mostly, and copious amounts of pecans, which harbor lots of fat. The runner up for calorie-packed dishes is: sweet potato casserole at 460 calories a serving, and in third place: wine. Wine adds up fast at 382 calories for three average-size glass. Yikes!
To give a better sense of how much exercise you’d have to do to burn those calories, think ultra-marathon. An average 150 lbs person would have to run an average of 29 miles to burn off 2800 calories. If you weigh more, you can run a little less. So you have to wonder, is it worth it to over eat or overindulge in unhealthy options?
One way to burn some pre-meal calories is cooking the Thanksgiving dinner yourself. If you’re thinking, how much of a workout can that be? More than you might think! If you make the whole dinner yourself (that’s everything from turkey to gravy, sides and dessert, with about 4½ hours in the kitchen chopping, stuffing and rubbing), you’ll burn about 700 calories!
Ultimately, your best bet is to prepare a traditional Thanksgiving dinner that’s lower in fat and calories but still thrills the crowd! All it takes is a few ingredient substitutions and some clever fat-busting techniques. Here are some low-cal suggestions for your staple Thanksgiving food items:
The Turkey
- If you’re hosting a small gathering, buy a turkey breast rather than the whole bird, as breast meat is lower in calories than dark meat.
- If you do buy a whole turkey, avoid “self-basting” turkeys, as they often contain added fat.
- Stay away from the deep fryer this year, roast or smoke instead
- Rather than rubbing the skin with butter or oil, spray it with an oil spray and season it with salt and pepper.
- Roast turkey on a rack so that the fat will drain off.
Good Gravy
- Gravy is another big calorie culprits on the table. Use vegetable oil rather than turkey drippings when making the gravy–it’s still fat, but oil is lower in saturated fat and is cholesterol-free.
- If you use turkey drippings to add flavor, use a gravy separator. Pour the gravy into a separator and allow it to sit for a few minutes. Some of the fat in the gravy will rise to the top of the glass where you can skim it off easily.
- Better yet, make low-fat broth-based gravy or vegetarian gravy instead.
Carbo-loaded Mashed Potatoes
- Instead of using butter and cream to mash potatoes, save the cooking water when you boil of the potatoes. The starchy water will give the potatoes a creamier texture than plain water would.
- You can also add turkey or chicken broth, evaporated skim milk, or fat-free sour cream.
- For extra flavor, stir in roasted garlic and herbs.
- Perhaps you forgo the potatoes and pureed cooked cauliflower, parsnips, or turnips instead!
Dressing, not Stuffing
- Bake the dressing in a casserole dish rather than in the turkey, where it absorbs fat from the turkey as it bakes.
- Avoid recipes using sausage or bacon; wild rice and grains are more nutritious than bread stuffing.
- Buy French baguettes (they’re made without fat or sugar) for stuffing; serve instead of high-calorie dinner rolls.
- It’s hard to slim down a stuffing recipe, so take a small serving if it’s your Thanksgiving favorite.
Slimmed-down Sides
- Scrap the traditional candied sweet potato casseroles in favor of a low-fat, naturally-sweetened dish.
- Lighten your string bean casserole by skipping tradition. Instead, sauté with onions in olive oil until they caramelize; top with slivered almonds.
- For dips, blend equal amounts of reduced-fat sour cream and low-fat yogurt with fresh herbs like dill and chives; for a chunkier texture, add a package of chopped spinach and/or a cup of diced artichoke hearts.
- Reduce salt in your Thanksgiving recipes, or use herbs to enhance natural flavors.
- Flavor food with spices (not sugars) like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.
- To bring out their natural sweetness without the added sugar, roast -don’t boil-sweet potatoes.
- Try a cranberry relish or cut down on the amount of sugar in your cranberry sauce by adding fruit juices or apple sauce.
Hurrah for the Dessert
- Most of the fat in a pie comes from the crust. Try a reduced-fat graham cracker crust or a crust-free pumpkin pie recipe.
- Use French-style tarts to cut the amount of piecrust in half; crisps made with fruit and a crumb topping have even less dough. (If it’s really the filling you love, skip the crust altogether.)
- Try a trifle. Alternate layers of fresh fruit chunks with fat-free ladyfingers and sugar-free vanilla or banana pudding; diet pudding also makes a great substitute for mascarpone in tiramisu and as a sauce for poached pears or baked apples.
- Let them eat torte. Try a recipe that calls for ground nuts and egg white layers — it’s more nutritious than recipes with a butter and flour base.
Refreshments
- Cut the calories of white wine by serving spritzers; equal amounts of wine and sparkling water.
Health News, Inspiration
dessert, Gravy, Potatoes, stuffing, Thanksgiving, Turkey
Jennifer is one of those people that is an example how perseverance and determination can surmount any obstacle. As an athlete, runner with the SAC Run Club and regular participant in many of the club’s group exercise classes, Jennifer set a new goal for herself. She wanted to complete her first FULL marathon (26.2 miles) in October.
Before she had opportunity to begin her new journey, she unfortunately experienced a physical setback; incurring a lower leg stress fracture which confined her to a boot for many weeks. This only made her more determined to succeed. She followed all protocols to facilitate her healing and continued to find ways to keep exercising within her limitations. She worked with our instructors to help rehabilitate her back to her level of strength and endurance while maintaining a focus and positive outlook that is testament to Jennifer’s personality. She continued to work hard towards her goal, transitioning back to running. She took one day at a time, with fierce perseverance, grace and a competitive spirit that got her back to training.
And she came back with a vengeance! Once her training began, she became a stronger competitor, leader as well as a source of inspiration and encouragement for her teammates. She was consistent, precise, diligent and committed; qualities that enhanced her success. On October 11th 2015, Jennifer competed in the Goodlife Fitness Victoria, B. C. Marathon, her FIRST full marathon and did so with a phenomenal time! She not only qualified for the Boston Marathon, but placed 10th in her age division! We think she surpassed her goal!!
Congratulations Jennifer! Your perseverance is truly inspirational.
Fitness Programs, Health News, Inspiration, Inspirational Member of The Month, Lifestyle, Motivation, RECAP, Running, SAC Team, Strength Training
Boston Marathon, injury, Inspirational Member of the Month, Marathon, recovery, Team
