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
A team of members from the Seattle Athletic Club downtown location participated in the Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon race on Saturday June 21st. The half marathon race which started and finished at the Seattle Center included 13.1 miles through various neighborhoods while runners where entertained by several musical bands along the course.
The majority of members participated in the Half Marathon Training Program coached by myself (run coach and personal trainer Kendra Kainz) over the past 12 weeks in preparation for the event. The training group consisted of both new and experienced runners, of various goals, some who’ve raced before and 3 individuals participating in their first half marathon!
Race morning brought lots of fun and excitement. Racers met early for pre-race support, advice and team camaraderie before heading to their corrals. Coach Kendra along with volunteers cheered and supported the team along the course. My big thanks to member volunteers; Annie Chae, Kiri Jones and Von Perkins for all the help and assistance on race day!
Race day proved that training does pay off! I am so pleased to announce that our team did extremely well! The camaraderie and dedication of these individuals was a pleasure to coach and work with. I could not be happier for everyone and their individual success.
Congratulations to members; Crystal Ahmadi-Perkins, Jessica Langmaid and Phil Logsden on completing your first half marathon race with amazing times! Congratulations also to; Eyal Blum, Jennifer Gallagher, Yesh Ganta, Linda Perkins,
Tony Shafer and Suzy Thomas on your personal record times! Congratulations Team SAC! Celebrate your success!
For information on half or full run training programs or SAC Run Club, please contact run coach and trainer Kendra Kainz.
Have you had a chance to use the boxing equipment and trainers at the Seattle Athletic Club? The training is interactive and great calorie burner. The format of martial arts is to teach you proper technique, timing, coordination, endurance/stamina drills. The calorie expenditure is awesome, if you weigh 125 and did 1 hour of speed bag/heavy bag burns 340 to 400 and if you weigh 175 and did 1 hour of speed bag/heavy bag burns 613 to 700 calories! These are great numbers for consideration, and if you add jump rope, agility, and medicine ball training the calories count grows by 100s more!
A few things you need to know before you start your training. You will need a pair of boxing gloves to protect your hand from bruising, and cuts. When you use a speed bag make sure the bag is at eye level to keep punches, and strikes at a proper distance, and body positioning.
Beginning Speed Bag training
Let’s get your gloves on and approach the speed bag. You want to stand in front of speed bag with hands up at chin level, elbows at shoulder level (think hands 1 on top of each other) you are only using 50 percent power on this apparatus. You will keep your palms facing down and strike the bag with the pinky of the top hand, and let the bag bounce forward 1 time back 1 time then strike with the other hand. It is a rhythmic sound of 2 hits bag bounces then strike. You will need lots of practice, and patience. The timing learned, and eye hand coordination will help you in any sport
Beginner heavy bag training
You are warmed up with speed bag now let’s try some heavy bag work. Stand in front of the heavy bag with gloves on with 1 foot forward, and keeping hands up at chin level this time palms face each (guard up) and hands clinched tight. Try to punch the bag with the front hand (jab) then your back hand (cross punch) called a set. Do 10 sets then switch and do the other side of body to build muscle balance. You will find the cardio/stamina training is excellent and great therapy for stress. If you feel the technique is to challenging feel free to schedule a session with one of our martial art/boxing coaches to clean up your form.
Spring is here and there’s no better way to get out and enjoy the sunny Seattle weather than to do so while working out! Don’t snub the outdoors for your routine weight lifting program in the gym. You’d be surprised how easy it is to get a full body workout done sans gym equipment. Plus, think about all of the extra Vitamin D you’ll be soaking up while you exercise.
Another benefit of exercising outside is that it’s different. We are all creatures of habit and often shy away from the unknown. What many people don’t realize is your body craves variety. Too much of one thing is never good. Switching up your usual exercises with an entirely new program not only fights boredom, but also prevents your body from reaching a plateau. That being said, here’s a quick circuit to help get you started with something new outdoors. All you need is a playground and a little creativity. Time to kick into gear, no excuses!
Grip onto a sturdy branch or monkey bar with your hands shoulder width apart
Keeping your core engaged, pull both knees up towards your chest contracting your abs. Do not swing legs up or arch your lower back.
Tip: be sure to keep your shoulder blades down and back throughout the whole movement.
Pushup knee tucks (works chest, shoulders, abs)
Start in the pushup position, hands shoulder width apart and abs engaged
Bring your body down, touching your chest to the floor
As you push up, pull one knee in toward your chest and back down
Repeat pushup and pull in opposite knee toward chest
Tip: To modify, perform the pushup off of a bench or from your knees
Bench Plyo step ups (works legs, core)
With one foot on top of the bench and the other on the floor
Propel straight up bringing your opposite knee up towards your chest. Jump as high up as you can.
Land back in starting position
Tip: Make sure you push your weight through the heel of the foot on top of the bench and keep your knee behind your toes. To modify, perform the exercise without the jump.
Bench dips (works chest, triceps)
Start with hands shoulder width apart and body right next to the edge of the bench.
Descend down, keeping elbows straight back until arms are bent ~90 degrees
From there, squeeze elbows together as you push your body straight up to starting position, keeping your spine close to the edge of the bench
Tip: Avoid letting your elbows flare out to the sides
Monkey Bar Jump pull-ups (works legs, back, biceps)
From the ground, jump straight up gripping tightly on the bar and pulling your body up as high as you can.
Tip: Momentum from the jump will assist in pulling your body up. The harder you jump, the easier it will to pull yourself up! 🙂
Bulgarian Split Squats (works glutes, legs)
Facing away from the bench, keep one foot on top of the bench
Sit back on your standing leg, pushing your weight into the heel and keeping your knees behind your toes.
Lunge back as low as you can, aiming to get the thigh of your standing leg parallel with the floor.
Tip: Avoid bending forward too much; focus on keeping your chest and chin up.
All swimming pools have pretty much the same rules. One rule in particular will be at any swimming pool you go to, that is “Please shower before you enter the pool”. This rule is there for a very specific reason. And no it’s not to annoy you. Pool chemistry can be a tricky thing. If you get in without showering your perfume, sweat, make-up and what the day has proceeded to leave on you can throw off the chemicals of the pool. You might think I haven’t been anywhere I haven’t done anything to cause the pool chemistry to go off balance. If everyone has that thought then the pool will never be clean.
In order to help keep the pool chemistry in balance is that everyone showers prior to getting in. So, keeping that in mind on your next visit to the pool please remember to shower before you get in.
Mobility is the ability of a joint to move in a functionally adequate range of motion. It is the foundation of movement ability because it allows your body to be comfortable in stable positions. Mobility is the opposite of the stiffness, tightness and restriction that many of us experience everyday. I have noticed several lower body “hot spots” in SAC members lately. Ankles, knees, hips and even upper backs (thoracic spine) are commonly tight which leads to difficulty in squats, jumping and sports. Many people assume that these malevolent joints are caused by muscles being too short but mobility is actually much more complicated. Mobility is in part determined by nervous system control of all the tissues surrounding a joint which means that increasing mobility at a joint really depends on changing the neuromuscular system. The bad news: this means that passive stretching will probably not make a long lasting improvement. The good news: using smarter mobility exercises can help you overcome immobility in as soon as 2-4 weeks of consistent practice. Genuine Movement is a program that teaches great movement ability in a semi-guided format. Here are some Genuine Movement mobility drills to get you moving naturally and spontaneously. Please contact Hunter Spencer at Hspencer@sacdt.com with questions or for more information about Genuine Movement.
½ Kneeling Stretch
Targets: Ankle, knee hip
Lean forward until you feel a moderate stretch in the thigh or calf
Return to starting position. Repeat.
Oscillate continuously for 10 reps
2 x 10
Rib Pulls
Lying on your side with top knee pressing into the support
Keep knee above hip level
Rotate shoulders away from bent knee
Hold 3-5 seconds and return to starting position
2 x 6
Squat Progression
Targets: Ankles, knees, hips, upper back
Use small silver box
Start with arms overhead
Bend down and touch box with straight legs
Continue pressing into the box as you drop your hips down into a deep squat
Lift one arm and look at your hand, hold 10 seconds
Switch sides and repeat
Lift both arms overhead and return to starting position
3 x 6
Please contact Personal Fitness Trainer Hunter Spencer with your questions.
From the time we are babies we are taught to share. With this simple teaching the hope is as adults we continue to use this practice. This goes with so many different things in life.
You think “I need to get my laps in, I will go swimming today”. You head to the club. In the locker room you put on your swim suit and cap with goggles in hand you head to the pool after you have showered. You’re all ready to jump in and swim as you walk onto the pool deck you think to yourself “what’s this? All the lanes have someone in them!” There is a swim lesson in one lane, someone jogging in another lane and the other lanes have one person swimming. What do you do? Do you wait for a lane to open up? Do you get mad and leave?
There is a simple answer to those questions and leaving is not it. This is where the life long lesson of sharing comes into play. Watch the swimmers see who fits in with your level or speed of swimming. You can wait for them to stop and see you standing on the deck to ask them if they will share with you. You may think I don’t want to disturb someone’s pace; you can climb in making sure not to get in the way. Stand off to the side when they stop ask if they would like to swim circles or split the lane in half.
If you are the person swimming and see someone looking for a place to swim you can offer to share your lane with them. It is also possible to ask the jogger and lesson if they wouldn’t mind sharing a lane so you can swim laps.
Lap lanes can hold many people in them. If you leave :05 – :10 seconds between you and the person in front of you there will be plenty of room for a lot of people. If you were on swim team growing up you always shared lanes with possibly 10 or more people. It’s nice to have the pool or lane to yourself. Sometimes we get so used to it that the first thought is “What? My lane has someone in it.”
All in all there is plenty of room for everyone. All we need to do is SHARE.
As fitness professionals, we are often approached with the question of what is the best, most efficient way of analyzing body fat. There are only a few methods that are applicable in a gym setting: circumference measurement, electrical impedance, and skinfold analysis. Both circumference and electrical impedance have a larger percentage of error, so the blog will compare the accuracies of the Durnin-Womersley four-site skinfold and the Jackson-Pollock seven-site skinfold. While other methods for skinfold measurement exist, these are the two most commonly used.
For our research, we will use six individuals of varying gender, body size, age, and shape to compare the different methods. According to our anthropometric findings, the variation between the four and seven-site, is greatest in females and the largest differential occurs with age. The four-site has a larger fluctuation with older females and this is supposed to account for lower body density resulting in more visceral fat accumulation. Fifty to Seventy five percent of fat is subcutaneous, thus the difference in estimate between methods can only be proportional to the remaining body weight.
According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, select skinfold equations can have a marked overestimation of body fatness. The Jackson-Pollock seven-site skinfold test is known to be more accurate because of the formulation, variation, and quantity of sites being used having a relatively low margin of error in comparison to hydrostatic weight of only 3.3% inaccuracy. A lot of individuals have differing shapes in the lower body region, and none are included in the Durnin-Womersley skinfold test, making it more reliant on estimation.
Regardless, periodic skinfold measurements will give a reflection of change despite the estimate of body fat percent. In other words, doing regular skinfold measurements will still show changes that are occurring.
If you would like to check body fat measurements or have further questions, please contact either Amber Gruger or Amber Walz.
Tank tops, swim suits, strappy sundresses – warmer weather is just around the corner and that can send even the fittest women into a frenzy! Not only do you want to get your body in top, toned shape, but you also want to be ready for anything the season might toss your way.
Here’s a Pilates move that will give you shapelier arms, sexier shoulders, stronger back, and of course, strengthen your core. Perform this exercise at least 2-3 times a week and include it your regular total-body Pilates program and/or current fitness regime.
In no time, you’ll be able to “bare” it all; looking strong and sculpted in any sleeveless style the warm weather demands!
Pilates Push Up
Stand tall with your heels against the back edge of the mat; toes turn out to the Pilates V.
Keeping hips over heels; inhale; pull your navel into your spine and roll your torso down toward the mat. Place hands on the mat slightly more than shoulder width apart. (Knees can be slightly bent.)
Exhale and walk your hands out onto the mat until your palms are beneath your shoulders and your heels over your toes. Your body will be in a Plank (or Push-Up) position – a straight line from head to ankles.
Perform 3 Push-Ups with the elbows into the sides of the body. To come out of the Push-Up, fold up in half, bringing your chest toward your legs; pressing your palms and heels into the mat. Pull your navel in and give yourself a gentle stretch.
Inhale, walk your hands back toward your feet; trying to keep your legs straight.
Exhale, roll your body back up to a standing position and repeat 2 more sets.
For an advanced challenge, perform the entire Push-Up sequence while balancing on one leg. The same steps apply for the Single Leg Push-Up; remember to keep your leg lifted throughout the entire exercise; repeat the exercise on the other leg.
All swimming pools have pretty much the same rules. One rule in particular will be at any swimming pool you go to, that is “Please shower before you enter the pool”. This rule is there for a very specific reason. And no it’s not to annoy you. Pool chemistry can be a tricky thing. If you get in without showering your perfume, sweat, make-up and what the day has proceeded to leave on you can throw off the chemicals of the pool. You might think I haven’t been anywhere I haven’t done anything to cause the pool chemistry to go off balance. If everyone has that thought then the pool will never be clean. 
From the time we are babies we are taught to share. With this simple teaching the hope is as adults we continue to use this practice. This goes with so many different things in life.