Month: October 2016

Seattle Urban Squash’s first ever Sox Hop Disco Dance

Dear Members,

You and your friends are cordially invited to a night of Disco Dancing at Seattle Urban Squash’s first ever Sox Hop Disco on November 5th at

8:00 PM. Join us on the basketball courts at Seattle Athletic Club Downtown!

Some of you may have already seen young kids practicing on Squash Courts or huddled together studying intently as you rush past them towards your next gym class. Seattle Urban Squash (SUS), a 501(C)3 Public Charity working in association with our Seattle Athletic Clubs, is providing a comprehensive after school education, athletics, and community service program for kids from low-income families, creating pathways for higher education and a lifetime of opportunities. Kids face numerous challenges at school, but hardships faced by their families at home make it increasingly hard for them, potentially limiting their access to opportunities many of us take for granted. SUS staffers and volunteers work diligently year in and year out with a select group of kids starting from elementary school to help them focus on their studies, hone their game of Squash, and get involved in servicing their communities. In the process, our scholar athletes acquire crucial lifelong skills – commitment, diligence, resilience, integrity, and teamwork. In just the past 3 years since our inception, our students have significantly and consistently increased their reading and math abilities. We have averaged over 98% attendance across

250 hours of practice, community service projects, and field trips annually! As we kick-off our 4th academic year of this innovative and highly successful program, we invite you to join SUS at their informational and fundraising dance party to be held at Seattle Athletic Club Downtown Basketball Court on Saturday, November 5th, 2016 at 8 pm till late. The ticket prices are $30 and include a light buffet dinner, a drink ticket and a formal DJ to get you grooving to good old Sox Hop Disco party tunes (no hard sole or heeled shoes please!).

You will find the registration forms at our reception desks; please reach out to SUS staff directly for more information or sign-up online at

www.seattlesquash.org/events/2016/11/5/sus-soxhopdisco-party. Spread the word, bring your friends, and enjoy the evening for a good cause!

We look forward to seeing you groove with us!If you wish to learn more or volunteer in the Urban Squash program, please check out our website at

http://seattlesquash.org or email us at info@seattlesquash.org.

Pilates Exercise Of Month: Roll – Over

 Purpose: To stretch the lower back and hamstrings; develop spinal articulation and improve control of the abdominal muscles.

Note: if you have a bad neck or lower back, leave this exercise out.

  1. Lie on the mat with arms long by your sides; palms down. Lift both legs to a 60-degree angle from the mat.
  2. Inhale, lift the legs to a 90-degree angle. Initiate from the abdominals; bring your legs over your head peeling your spine off the mat. Keep reaching the arms long, shoulders pinned down. Don’t press onto your neck.
  3.  Exhale, open your legs just past shoulder width and flex your feet. Keep the back of your neck long to avoid any tensing. The arms continue to press into the mat. Your body weight should rest squarely in between your shoulder blades.
  4.  Begin rolling back toward the mat, feel your spine stretching longer and longer as you articulate down until the tailbone touches the mat.
  5.  When the tailbone reaches the mat, take the legs to just below 90 degrees and squeeze your legs together again. Repeat the sequence.
  6.  Complete 3 repetitions with legs together when lifting and 3 times with legs apart.

Head to Toe Checklist:

  • Keep your upper body glued to the mat- avoid rolling onto the neck
  • Don’t use momentum to roll over; use abdominals
  • Palms press into mat, arms long throughout.
  • Shoulders are stable on the roll down.

Visualization: Imagine your arms are lead bars pinning you to the mat.

SDT_NovBlogPilatesRoll-Over

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meet The New SAC Life-Coach!

Have you ever wondered about life coaching? Famous athletes and performers have coaches. CEOs of major companies like Microsoft and Google have coaches. But what on earth is a life coach and how will they help you master your health and lifestyle goals?

Join our Life Coach, Lindsey T. H. Jackson, every Monday in November at 5:30 pm to learn how life coaching will help you breakthrough to success.

What every successful athlete and CEO knows is that the mastery of self is the most important aspect of personal success and prosperity. To move forward, we must first learn all the limitations, real or imagined, that have been holding us back. A Life Coach works with you to help bring these often sub-conscious patterns or thoughts to the forefront of your mind and create an effective plan for moving forward.

Different than a psychotherapist or health trainer, Life Coaches draw from various disciplines and tools, such as personality typing practices, career coaching, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), health coaching, spiritual development, mind-body integrative work and more. They use these tools to shape a plan that will add deeper meaning and fulfillment in your day-to-day living.

If you have been trying to create change in your life – lose weight, excel at your career, improve relationships, change bad habits – and keep producing the same results or hitting the same roadblocks, then life coaching is right for you.


 

 

 

 

 

RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY!

 

 

The 12 Days of Fitness

Starts December 1st

Let’s be honest, the holidays are tough to stay on track. Parties, good food, late nights, and busy schedules make for an uphill climb over the month of December. We are here to help keep you focused and maybe a little motivated during this challenging time of year. Take part in our 12 Days of Fitness! From December 1st – December 31st we challenge you to get to the gym for your workout at least 12 times. Everyone that visits the club 12 times within this period will be entered into a drawing to win a free month of dues, personal training, and massage. The drawing will take place on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017.

 

Not sure what to do while you are here? Keep an eye out for fitness tips, mini workouts and healthy recipes from our fitness staff and nutritionist!

For more information please contact Fitness Director, Jacob Luckey, at jluckey@sacdt.com.

Raquethlon Tournament

Saturday, November 19th

Who is the best all-rounder with a racquet?

TABLE TENNIS – BADMINTON – RACQUETBALL – SQUASH

 Drinks, Snacks, and Music

  • Enter as an individual or as a team.
  • Each match consists of one game of each discipline, so table tennis, badminton, racquetball, and squash. All points are added together to determine the winner.
  • Team entries will consist of 2-4 players sharing the various disciplines.
  • Racquetball matches will be played on the squash courts.

Costs:

  • Individual Entry = $20
  • Team Entry = $30

Deadline to sign-up is November 10th

For more information or to register for the Tournament please contact our squash pro, Annelize Naude at anaude@sacdt.com.

Fall Into Pilates

 Tuesdays/Thursdays | 5:10 pm

In the Pilates Studio with Lindsey Jackson A perfect class for developing core strength. Twice weekly we’ll use the specialized Pilates apparatus called the Universal Reformer, which utilizes spring-resistance to gain core strength, develop muscle control, and increase flexibility while working your gluteals, abdominals, and back muscles.

  • Space is limited to 4 participants.
  • 6 Sessions for $180

For more information or to Reserve your spot , please contact instructor Lindsey Jackson at ljackson@sacdt.com or call 206.443.1111 x242.

Virtual Rides through Wexer Virtual Coming Soon to the Cycle Studio!

Launch date is early January 2017 | Complimentary

Wexer Virtual offers a phenomenal audio-visual experience in group exercise and cycling studios. The Wexer Virtual system offers a wide variety of classes reflecting the hottest titles and trends. Use the kiosk (flat screen TV outside the Cycle Studio) to choose your “on demand” class ride according to level and class length to tailor-fit your needs or join a scheduled virtual class and have fun with your workout! Please see the Cycle Schedule for days and times available for on demand as well as scheduled virtual rides. More details coming soon.

For more information, please contact our Group Fitness Director, Anna Miller  at  amiller@sacdt.com or 206-443-1111 ext 259.

Tom’s Strength Tips

Tip #1: Do face-pulls before pressing movements.

  • Warming up with face-pulls before any type of pressing (bench, overhead, dumbbell etc.) gets your entire shoulder girdle warm and activated. This will make pressing feel more stable and the extra pulling will keep your shoulders healthy and injury free.
  • Use light to moderate weight and focus on the range of motion and hard contraction of the upper back muscles.
  • 3-5 sets, 10-20 reps.

Tip #2: Do hamstring curls before squatting movements.

  • Before any squatting movement (back squat, front squat, lunge, etc.) do a few sets of hamstring curls. Getting a good pump in your hamstrings will help stabilize the knee which makes squatting feel much smoother and controlled.
  • Use TRX hamstring curls, Swiss Ball hamstring curls, or a mix of both.
  • 3-5 sets, 8-15 reps.

If you have any questions on these movements or want more strength tips please contact Tom Sheriff at tsheriff@sacdt.com.

Eat This Not That: Beware the Thanksgiving Feast

By: Jacob Luckey & Kendra Kainz

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 overeat 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 the 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 off 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 for -go the potatoes and puree 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.

For more information, please contact

 

Tips on how to avoid the flu this year!

 

The flu season will quickly be upon us. Here are some helpful tips on how to keep the chances of you contracting the seasonal flu low:

  1. Wash your hands often.
  2. Workout! This will boost your immune system.
  3. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.
  4. Try to avoid close contact with sick people. Also, keep a healthy household. Wipe down and sanitize commonly touched surfaces.
  5. Get enough sleep!
  6. Cover your nose and mouth preferably with a tissue or your sleeve when you a cough or sneeze.
  7. Reduce stress. Stress can suppress your immune system, so keeping your stress levels low will help lower your chances of getting sick

For more information please contact Fitness Director, Jacob Luckey, at jluckey@sacdt.com.