(Imbalances cause injury and pain)
Tuesday, May 9th 2017 at 5:45pm
Do you brush your teeth? Check in with your dentist at least once a year? Get your car’s oil changed regularly? Balance your car’s tires?
Yes, then you should definitely be preventative and proactive about maintaining balance in your body.
In this seminar, you will learn to protect all your joints and spinal discs with balanced strength, flexibility, and mobility in a practical setting. You will have opportunity to demonstrate on yourself in this hands-on learning opportunity!
Fitness Advice
Contact: Lindsey T. H. Jackson
Offer Available From December 1st – January 31st
Cost: 3 Sessions for $245
“I’ve been a health coach for over fifteen years and in that time I’ve heard my share of New Year’s Resolutions. I used to watch helplessly as some people stuck resolutely to their resolutions and others crashed and burn after their first month. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore. I decided to study as much as I could about personality types, psychology, and spirituality in the hopes of unlocking a secret ‘something’ that I could share with my less successful clients. After much study and many travels to the far corners of the world I developed a methodology that has been hugely successful for hundreds of clients. Using it I have helped clients transform New Year’s Resolutions into complete lifestyle changes, and in doing so manifest a level of peace and health in their lives that they previously never believed possible.”
Fitness Advice, Lifestyle
January 2017, Life Coaching Package, New Years Resolution
The Seattle Athletic Club just wrapped up another very successful 12 week weight loss competition for 2016. This year we had 17 participants looking to start healthy habits and begin their weight loss journey. Of those that competed in the competition, 88% lost weight. Of those that lost weight, 60% lost over 5 lbs and the top finishers all lost over 25 lbs.
Speaking of top finishers, here is how the competition finished up:
- 1st place: Mike, lost 15.66% of his body weight.
- 2nd place: Jon Hocut, lost 15.30% of his body weight.
- 3rd place: Pip McKay, lost 12.83% of his body weight.
We are proud of all the hard work and dedication from everyone that participated in our competition. Many of our participants had great things to say about their Lose It experience and how it helped them change their lives.
If you are looking to start a fitness program, please come see any of the fitness staff. Everyone at that Seattle Athletic Club is here to help and assist all members with any fitness endeavor. As you can see, you can be more successful using a structured program and network of people looking to help you out. So, when it comes to your next fitness adventure, talk to the professionals at the Seattle Athletic Club!
Fitness Advice, Fitness Department, Fitness Programs, May News & Events
Lose It!, weight loss
Wednesdays | 6:00 pm (Ongoing),
- Ready for a new and exciting approach to achieving your fitness goals?
- Tired of the same old boring routines?
Functional Fitness is a total body strength and conditioning class designed to challenge you in new and exciting ways.
Plan on using a wide variety of exercise equipment such as battle ropes, kettle bells, jump ropes, TRX, agility ladders, and the sled. The goal of this class is to improve your cardiovascular fitness and leave no muscle unchallenged while making you feel stronger and more confident so that you can tackle any obstacles that life might throw at you.
- Begin building endurance and full body control!
- Enjoy a new and innovative approach to functional circuit training!
- Improve core strength and stability!
- Burn fat and increase lean body mass!
- HAVE FUN!!
Meet at the south end of the SAC basketball court at 6:00 PM every Wednesday night!
- $100/month or $30 Drop-In
For more information, please contact or to sign-up please, contact Personal Fitness Trainer, Will Paton at wpaton@sacdt.com or 206-443-1111 ext 288
Fitness Advice, Fitness Department, Fitness Programs, July News & Events, June News & Events, May News & Events, Strength Training
agility ladders, jump ropes, Kettle bells, sled, TRX
Hello fellow SAC members,
Pain sucks. One morning you woke up with that knee pain, but you could not recall what you did to hurt it. Or did you really hurt it?
For this article, I attached a TED talk link by Dr. Lorimer Moseley, a physiotherapist and an authority in pain science research from Australia. In this video, Dr. Moseley explains how the brain and the pain works. It may not be what you think.
As part of my treatment, I always try to install some forms of education on the latest researches on injuries rehabilitation, performance enhancement and pain. I hope you find this video informative and don’t hesitate to email me if you have any questions after watching this.
Move better to feel better,
Dr. Michael Li, DACRB
Here is the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/gwd-wLdIHjs
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 walk from the SAC. You can find out more about him and his clinic. He can be reached at info@mobilityplussportsrehab.com.
Dr. Li, Fitness Advice, Health News, Strength Training
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
PURPOSE: The 2nd exercise of the Side Kick series: this exercise works the hips, buttocks, outer thigh, and stretches your inner thigh muscles.
Set-up : Lie on your side and align your body against the back edge of the mat. Prop your head up on one hand and place the palm of the other hand on the mat in front of you. Position your legs in a 45-degree angle in front of your body. Feet are slightly turned out in a Pilates V.
1. Inhale, lift your top leg straight up to the ceiling and point your toe. Lift your leg only as high as you can manage with it remaining straight.
- Exhale, resist gravity, flex your foot, and bring it back down to starting position. Think of reaching and stretching your leg out of your hip.
3. Repeat 5-8 times on each side. Bring your legs back together to prepare for the next exercise in the series, Small Circles.
Modifications:
If you experience discomfort in your shoulder, wrist or neck, lay your head down on your arm. You can also use a rolled up towel under your neck for added support.
Head to Toe Checklist:
Remain long and lifted in the upper body as you kick your leg up and lengthen it down. Don’t roll your leg inward. Keep a slight turnout in the hip and thigh throughout the exercise. Stabilize your body with the powerhouse. Nothing moves but the kicking leg.Shoulder and hips remain stacked. Think of controlled movements.
Visualization: By the end of the exercise, the kicking leg should feel longer.
Exercise of the Month, Fitness Advice, Pilates, Pilates Ex of Month, Workouts
Pilates, Pilates Exercise of the Month, Pilates V
I recently went through a very extensive ankle surgery to take out some bone chips, grind down some bone spurs and fix some ligaments. After 11 years of using a progressively worsening foot I opted for the surgery and the 8 week recovery because without it I would be in constant pain and not able to function during my normal day. Through this process I realized that like me, many people may not recognize what a chronic injury is and are just living with it.
My injury occurred while playing college football; after my first ankle sprain came many, to the point where I had a permanent ½ golf ball sized swollen bump on my ankle. After college I was still active and worked out and that ankle progressively worsened until I was limping and couldn’t walk. So with the advice of my boss I went to an ankle specialist to see what was going on. After my doc assessed my ankle and looked at the x-rays, which showed a few bone spurs and bone chips, we decided to try a cortisone shot. Fast forward 3 years later, 2 cortisone shots later and I am still limping and in pain daily. I go into my ankle doctor to find that the bone spurs and chips in my ankle had doubled or tripled in size; leaving my ankle no room to function. So the next step was surgery to fix the ankle.
When I went in for surgery they gave me a pre-surgery Qualify of Life questionnaire and to my astonishment I failed it. Every single question they asked I marked to the far end of dissatisfaction and pain…yet even with all the doctor visits and cortisone shots, in my head my ankle wasn’t that bad. I made excuse after excuse to why it was ok to live with this chronic injury and not address it when in reality it was affecting every aspect of my life.
Cardio Training, Fitness Advice, Health News
ankle, bone spurs, chips, injury, ligaments, sprain
FACT: 71% of Americans surveyed were not sure of or do not recall their LDL (bad cholesterol) levels.
Because high levels of bad cholesterol can contribute to cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke,knowing your levels and talking to a doctor are important to help manage cholesterol and assess the risk of potential cardiac events.
What is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a fat-like material in your blood. Your body makes its own cholesterol. When you eat foods that have lots of fat or cholesterol, you can have too much cholesterol in your blood.
When there is too much cholesterol, it builds up in the walls of your arteries. If too much cholesterol builds up, the arteries become narrowed and blood flow to the heart is slowed down or blocked.
The blood carries oxygen to the heart, and if enough blood and oxygen cannot reach your heart, you may suffer chest pain. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off by a blockage, the result is a heart attack.
The Good and Bad of Cholesterol
HDL (high-density lipoprotein) is “GOOD” cholesterol
- HDL helps keep cholesterol from building up in the arteries
- Protects against heart disease
LDL (low-density lipoprotein) is “BAD” cholesterol
- LDL causes the build up or blockages in arteries, increasing your risk of heart disease and stroke
- Can cause heart disease
Triglycerides
- Triglycerides are another type of fat, and they’re used to store excess energy from your diet.
- High levels of triglycerides in the blood are associated with atherosclerosis
Many people with heart disease or diabetes also have high triglyceride levels.
| When should you be checked? |
- If you are 20 years and older
|
- If you have a family history of heart disease
|
- If you are a man over age 35
|
- If you are a woman over age 45
|
Desirable Cholesterol Levels
|
|
Total cholesterol
|
< 200 mg/dL
|
|
LDL (“bad” cholesterol)
|
< 100 mg/dL
|
|
HDL (“good” cholesterol)
|
≥ 60 mg/dL
|
|
Triglycerides
|
< 150 mg/dL
|
Prevention and Treatment of High Cholesterol
In addition to making sure to eat a heart healthy diet and avoid tobacco smoke, one of the best ways to prevent and treat High Cholesterol levels is through a well planned and consistent exercise program.
Exercise for Healthy Cholesterol Numbers
To truly lose weight and lower cholesterol, cardiovascular exercise is going to take a key role in staying healthy. It gets your heart rate up and burns the most calories. Exercise helps change one’s cholesterol by lowering the triglycerides and increasing the good HDLs. Exercise does not have much impact on LDL unless combined with dietary changes and weight loss. To get the most benefit out of exercise, be sure to:
- Check with your doctor to ensure safety before starting an exercise program. Do not engage in any activity that causes chest pain, excessive shortness of breath, dizziness, or lightheadedness. Stop immediately if you experience any of these symptoms.
- Start out slowly. If you’re overweight and out of shape, this is especially important when you begin your exercise program. You want to strengthen your heart, not overextend it.
- Gradually increase the intensity and length of your workouts. To start a walking program, for instance, try going for a medium-paced walk for 20 minutes about four days a week. Each week start walking a little longer and a little faster, and add an extra day. Eventually, you want to be walking for about an hour on almost every day of the week. Challenge yourself by doing some light jogging on your walk, or walk up some big hills.
- Keep it interesting. For exercise to be an effective treatment for high cholesterol, you have to stick with your program. If you’re the kind of person who gets bored easily, alternate between sports, outdoor activities, gym work, and classes.
- Don’t overdo it. Remember that improving health and fitness with an exercise program should be a gradual change. It takes time for your body to be fit enough to keep up with strenuous exercise, and you’re likely to be sore, burned out, and frustrated if you push yourself too fast. So while it’s great to be enthusiastic about losing weight, be smart and slow about it. Don’t run five miles your first time out; build up to that pace. This approach will pay off with greater dividends in the long run.
Cholesterol Resources:
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Cholesterol/AboutCholesterol/Good-vs-Bad-Cholesterol_UCM_305561_Article.jsp
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Diabetes/PreventionTreatmentofDiabetes/Know-Your-Health-Numbers_UCM_313882_Article.jsp
http://www.everydayhealth.com/high-cholesterol/fitness-and-cholesterol.aspx
http://www.nwhealth.org/pubs/N-561.pdf
Fitness Advice, Health News
Bad Cholesterol, Good Cholesterol, HDL, LDL, prevention, treatment, Triglycerides
