1) Enjoy the food and festivities.
This seems a given but we often berate ourselves while we could be celebrating! The more we enjoy life and create the experiences we want, the more energy we’ll have to focus on nourishing ourselves. In terms of food, pick those indulgences you really love and fore go the things that bring the calories without much enjoyment. If you have to drink or eat your way out of an event you really don’t want to go to – re-assess if it’s really worth it.
2) Hydrate well and watch the booze.
The more we drink the more our inhibitions go down. And if we lose our mindfulness and inhibitions we’ll likely not remember all the good tips you’re about to read. Give yourself a 1-2 drink maximum and hydrate in between to prevent dehydration.
3) Workout a bit more.
Exercise is the number one way to maintain your weight. As you mindfully enjoy special occasion foods push yourself the next workout to go an extra 15-30 minutes. Look for opportunities to walk more and take the stairs when you can. It all adds up to burning off those extra calories.
4) Keep up on fruits and veggies.
With plenty of fiber – you’ll have less room for other things. It’s always better to focus on what you want more of than simply avoiding things you “shouldn’t” eat. Shoot to fill half your plate(s) with fruit and vegetables.
5) Sleep at least 7 hours the night before.
If we get enough sleep we won’t be as tempted to indulge in the simple carbohydrates –sweets and bready things that are so abundant. If you’re too tired you’ll crave these things. Make your sleep a priority and you’ll be more equipped to healthful food choices.
For more information, please contact our Nutritionist, Kathryn Reed, MS, at kreed@sacdt.com.
Diet & Nutrition
Festivities, food, hydrate, Sleep, workout
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!
- Hanging knee tucks (works abs, lower back, lats, shoulders, forearms)
- 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.
Cardio Training, Fitness Advice, Fitness Programs, Lifestyle, Outdoor Activities, Strength Training, Workouts
Bench dip, Bench Plyo step ups, Bulgarian Split Squats, Hannging knee tucks, Pushup Knee tucks, Seattle, workout
Yo-yo dieting does not work and neither does yo-yo exercise. A lot of people start out the New Year with good intentions but quickly fall out of a new exercise routine shortly after the year starts. Most fitness gains are cumulative. For example: the more you lift weights, the more weight you can lift; the more often you walk or run, the farther you’ll be able to go and the stronger your heart and lungs will become.
So if you typically go gangbusters every New Years with a new fitness regimen, only to stall out within weeks, here are some tips for sticking with it:
1. Pick something you really enjoy. Hate running? Don’t do it! There are lots of fat-burning aerobic activities to choose from. Try the rowing machine for low impact but great calorie expenditure or a spin class with inspirational music.
2. Make it a date. Treat your power walk/ kickboxing class/ weight circuit session as an appointment. Write it in your calendar or plug it into your smartphone, and you’ll be more likely to follow through. If you need more reinforcement, schedule a few months’ worth of these dates, so that you’ll have to make your other plans around your exercise. Forming a new habit will take at least 3 to 6 weeks so plan your exercise as far out as possible.
3. Buddy up. Commit to a routine with a friend or two. Whether you’ll be embarking on a regular bike ride, splitting the cost of a personal trainer, or planning to meet up for a yoga class, it’ll be harder for you to make up excuses to get out of your workouts if your friends are counting on you to be there. The Seattle Athletic Club has a variety of fun and inexpensive fitness classes that you and your friends can join together and keep you all on track. Finding a fun class like Will Patons’ Circuit Training class or Amber Grugers’ Insanity class will allow you and your friends to have fun in a group setting with lots of other energetic people.
4. Keep it fresh. Make it a goal to try a new activity every six weeks or so to keep from getting bored. Think of the different areas of fitness you would like to improve and when it is time to try another activity make the switch to something your body needs. If you feel you’re strong but not as flexible as you would like to be then a Pilates or Yoga class once or twice a week may improve your overall fitness level. Come into the Seattle Athletic Club to see what new and exciting classes fit your New Years goals. Trying a new class just might be that extra piece of motivation to keep you going this New Year!
Diet & Nutrition, Fitness Advice, Fitness Programs, Health News, Lifestyle, Strength Training, Weight Loss, Workouts
balance, dieting, frequent workout, kickboxing, Routine, workout, yo-yo exercise
By Tom Sheriff, Personal Fitness Trainer Seattle Athletic Club Downtown
More and more frequently I am asked by coaches, friends and fellow gym-rats to review their strength training program. I am always happy to do so because I feel that most programs lack a simple evaluation, monthly or yearly, to ensure effective and efficient progress is being made. The following is an explanation of how to perform a simple audit of your training program.
The first question you need to answer is “Am I following a program, or am I wondering around doing whatever I feel like doing?” If you are just doing whatever you feel like, simply proceed as usual but for the next two weeks record what you are doing each day. At the end of the two weeks you can apply my auditing techniques to your workouts and go from there.
Once you have your program laid out, the first and most important step to auditing a program is to look for “gaps.” Make sure you are doing the fundamental human movements:
• Push (Bench press, military, dips etc.)
• Pull (Pull-ups, rows etc.)
• Squat (Back squat, front squat, overhead etc.)
• Hinge (Dead lifts, good-mornings, RDL’s, etc.)
If any of the mentioned movements are missing, there are gaps in your program.
Next I look for the push to pull ratio. To do this simply count the number of reps you do for each movement in a week then find the ratio of pushes to pulls.
Example:
Push: 300 reps/week
Pull: 100 reps/week
In this example the push to pull ratio of 3:1 is way off (but very common). A ratio of 1:1 would be better and ideally you would have a 1:2 ratio of pushes to pulls. The correct ratio ensures balance and promotes good posture.
I also look for balance top to bottom because people tend to slack in the leg department. If you bench press 315 pounds but shudder at the thought of a body weight squat you need to check your priorities.
Thirdly I look at how these movements are being accomplished. The main lifts of all my athletes and clients are considered core and structural lifts. This means they recruit one or more large muscle areas, involve two or more primary joints, and emphasize loading the spine directly or indirectly. If you perform all your exercises sitting or laying on a machine you are not getting the real-world application that exercises should give you.
A back squat will do a whole lot more for you than a leg press or leg extension because it more closely replicates movements you perform throughout the day.
Lastly I look for the purpose and progression of each exercise. If you cannot think of the real reason you are doing an exercise, there is good chance there isn’t one. Program progression is a topic that warrants a separate discussion but you need to make sure there is some rhyme and reason to how your program is moving forward.
I hope you take the time to really evaluate your workouts because you deserve to make progress. Just remember to look for the gaps! If you would like your training program audited please contact Tom Sheriff.
Cardio Training, Fitness Advice, Lifestyle, Sports Conditioning, Strength Training, Uncategorized, Weight Loss
athletes, body weight, Body Weight Workout, frequent workout, Hinge, main lifts, program, Pull, Push, Squat, workout
Have you ever wondered why knocking out 20 push-ups in front of your trainer is easier than when you do it alone? Could you swear sometimes that on the weekends when you workout at home you take twice as many rests as you normally do and the workout drags on and on? Is it possible that your squats can be done with 20 lbs extra with your girlfriend in the same room? If you are thinking there is something crazy going on don’t freak out just yet.
It’s true, a second pair of eyes will nearly always make you workout harder than you would by yourself. It’s true if you are in the weight room with 10 other people, if you are working out with a trainer, or if you are running a long run surrounded by a marathon of other people you will inevitably work harder and perhaps that work may even seem easier than when doing it by yourself. It’s human nature to do better, work harder, push more if there are other people around (watching you or not). This is why workout partners and trainers help so much with improving workouts. I’m not saying that if you and your co-worker get on an Elliptical next to each other and talk gossip for 30 minutes that you’ll be working out harder than you would on your own. There are certain ways that a partner can lessen your workout. But if you are keeping your eyes on the prize and working hard already, well then, a workout partner may be just the push you need to work that much harder.
Most people that exercise, whether we admit it or not, have a competitive streak. Some people have that on going challenge inside them and push themselves to do better than they think they can. Those are the lucky few, the few that have enough drive to work hard against themselves as opposed to the person on the bike next to them. But for the most of us a little competition or ever working out with someone who constantly lifts more, runs faster, jumps higher, goes longer can help inspire you to try and catch up. Even if you never are the best one you may find yourself stepping up your game as to not get left behind.
In addition to working out hard with a partner, having a pair of coaching eyes on you will also make a huge difference in the accomplishments you can make in the gym. Trainers do a lot of things for a lot of people. We coach, we encourage, we keep you safe, we design smart effective programming for each individual, we keep you accountable, we challenge, we push, and most of all, we watch. Having a scrutinizing pair of eyes on you will for sure drive you to do your best. The next time your boss comes around your office try surfing the internet instead of working super hard on your work. Let me know how that goes. It’s human nature to work harder with someone else’s eyes on you. So if you don’t have a workout partner, if you do not have the luxury of hiring a trainer, workout at a semi busy time (esp. helpful if you workout when all the hot ladies do) and see if you aren’t doing one extra rep, adding 5 more pounds, or running just a little bit faster. Just by having more than one or two people in the same room as you can ignite a little bug inside of you that says, “I don’t want to look like a weenie, I can do this!” People may not actually be watching you but just in case they are you’ll be ready!
The moral of the story is if you can get a workout partner (that wants to workout, not sit around and talk about the weather) you should! If you can workout with a trainer, I can guarantee you will work harder than you do alone. Or if nothing else maybe you wake up a half an hour earlier and workout when you know the gym isn’t a desert. If you are looking to improve your productivity and do better simple changes can be your answer. Try a group X class instead of working out alone. Come to the gym with your husband instead of staying home and going for a run. Motivation is a huge key in doing your best and working hard, find your motivation and get at it!
Fitness Advice, Fitness Programs, Lifestyle
Athletic, club, gym, health club, Seattle Athletic Club, workout
The sunshine is here! Most individuals prefer exercising outdoors once that sunshine comes out and it is a great idea, especially during the summer. There are a few things you should keep in mind when doing so. Below are some tips for you when you decide to head outside for a run on an 80 degree summer day. I have also included some examples for you to refer too.
Clothing: Wearing lighter colors will help reflect the heat from your clothing and skin. Looser and lighter clothing will help with the evaporation of sweat and make your workout more comfortable. (Example: NIKE Dri-Fit)
Stay hydrated: Drink water before, during, and after exercise to keep your body hydrated when out in the heat. If you do not have enough fluid in your system, it could result in fatigue, nausea, and even heat exhaustion. (Example: ZICO coconut water
Sunscreen: Check the weather before leaving and if it is sunny or even overcast outside, wear sunscreen so you do not risk getting burnt. (Example: NEUTROGENA spf30 sunscreen)
Time of day: The hottest part of the day is normally between 11am and 4pm, so if you have a chance to workout before 11 or after 4 if it is going to be outdoors, I recommend doing so. (Example: At 9am after eating 2 scrambled eggs and peanut butter toast)
Acclimation: If your body is not used to exercising in warmer climates, it takes about 10-14 days for your body to get used to it. Your workouts should be short and slow paced at first so that you get used to the climate before adding intensity. (Example: Monday-15 minutes @ low intensity; Tuesday- 25 minutes @ low/medium intensity; Wednesday -35 minutes @ medium intensity; and so on)
Performance: Don’t be surprised if you do not get your best times or maximum amount of reps when working out in the heat. Your heart has to work harder to pump blood to your working muscles and therefore you might not perform as well as if you were indoors or in cooler weather. (Example: Indoors- 15 box jumps in 10 seconds; outdoors/heat- 15 box jumps in 16 seconds)
Listen to your body: You know your body best, so listen to it. If you start to feel dizzy, confused or light headed during your outdoor workout, I would recommend stopping. (Example: I am running and start to feel a headache coming on, therefore I am going to head to the shade and drink some water before starting again)
Stay close to the water: Some of the best summer activities are on the water where you can be cooled very easily if in the heat. (Examples: Paddle boarding, Kayaking, Swimming, Rowing, Pool volleyball, etc.)
If you have any further questions about exercising in the heat or exercise in general, please contact Amber Gruger at Agruger@sacdt.com.
Fitness Advice, Outdoor Activities
Athletic, exercise, fitness, instruction, outdoor activities, outdoor exercise, Seattle Athletic Club, workout
Back in January I wrote a goal card to deadlift twice my bodyweight by June 1. I’m very excited to report that I reached my goal by lifting 348 lbs for 1 rep. Over the last several months, I have put in a lot of time working on deadlifts so I thought I would pass along some tips on how to increase your maximum strength in deadlift or any other exercise.
Get in the Groove
Make sure your deadlift pattern is PERFECT under no load and under sub maximal load. Poor deadlift patterns put your vertebral health in jeopardy and hamper performance through inefficiency. The specifics of the deadlift pattern are beyond the scope of this post but check out this video (by one of my former professors) for some general tips. Take the time to develop the movement competency required to deadlift well and then invest in learning the pattern. Make sure to maintain the pattern by including sub-maximal lifts in your training.
Plan for Success
Set a reasonable goal based on your current level and experience. Then expect to spend at least 10-12 weeks working on it. Invest the first couple of weeks in learning the movement and sub maximal workouts. Spend around four weeks in a hypertrophy phase in which you try to grow muscle with sets of around 6-8 reps. Take a week to re-focus on technique and movement ability before starting the next four week sequence, this one focused on maximum strength by employing very heavy sets of around 3 reps and using long (120+ sec) rest intervals.
Try Complexes
A complex is a heavy lift immediately followed by an explosive, exhausting exercise. The explosive exercise is followed by 90-120 seconds of. I reaped great benefit from complexing medium-heavy deadlifts with kettlebell swings. The combination of heavy weight, lactic acid inducing explosive exercises and rest effectively stimulates testosterone and human growth hormone to help increase muscle mass.
Go Heavy-Medium-Light
Try to lift heavy one day per week. This is the day to try a strength workout like 6 sets of 3 or a hypertrophy workout with 4 sets of 6 at 95-100% of your effort. Lift at a medium intensity one day per week. This should still be a challenging workout but the top priority is to maintain perfect technique throughout. Lift light one day per week. Use just enough load that you are aware of it but it doesn’t come close to distorting your technique. Use this day to rest and prepare for your next heavy day and also experiment with any changes to your technique on these days.
Heavy lifting can be very rewarding and a lot of fun. Enjoy these tips and I hope they help you reach new heights! Please contact me if you need help with your deadlift technique: I can’t overstress the value of investing in your movement ability and technique before even thinking about lifting at a maximum intensity. Reach me at Hspencer@sacdt.com.
Fitness Advice, Strength Training, Workouts
athletic training, Core Strength, exercise, fitness, gym, Personal Trainer, Seattle Athletic Club, workout
There are many things that can get in the way of us reaching our health and fitness goals- lack of time, injury, illness and even traveling for work can all hold us back. Sometimes we can control these things; sometimes we can’t…that’s life. Try to make improvements in these five areas and you will see a change in your fitness.
1. Get Enough Sleep
If you want to work out hard and get the best results, your body needs rest, and lots of it. On a basic level, if you’re feeling tired you’re more likely to skip the gym. If you’ve had a good seven or eight hours of sleep, your body will run more smoothly, your mental state will improve and you’ll be able to workout harder and more frequently.
2. Clean up Your Diet
What you put in your body directly affects how you feel and how you operate. If you put cheap gas in a car it’s not going to run as well, as cleanly or for as long as it would if you chose a higher grade. It’s just the same with your body. Avoid the junk and chose high-quality, fresh, unprocessed foods. Of course enjoy your life and indulge in the things you enjoy from time to time, but make smart decisions and be honest with yourself about your choices.
3. Make Time for Exercise
Like anything in life, if you don’t make time for it then it’s very unlikely to happen. Develop a realistic plan and meet with a personal trainer to keep you accountable. Put workouts in your calendar the same way you’d schedule a haircut or a trip to the dentist. If it’s in your calendar, you’re less likely to skip and more likely to get into a consistent regimen.
4. Increase the Intensity
Doing something is definitely better than doing nothing, but if you’re looking for improved results then you’re going to have to up the intensity of your cardio. If you do the same old workout over and over, your body will very quickly become conditioned to it and your results will stall. You should be tired, you should be sweaty, you should be out of breath. Try to add in a few exercises that push you to your upper limits such as running hills, stairs, or incline treadmill.
5. Hit the Weights
I firmly believe that strength training is an important part of any fitness regimen. If you want to lose fat or change your body, one of the most important things you can do is lift weights. Diet and cardio are equally important, but when it comes to changing how your body looks, weight training wins hands down. Here are a few benefits from lifting weights:
• Help raise your metabolism. Muscle burns more calories than fat, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn all day long.
• Strengthen bones, especially important for women
• Make you stronger and increase muscular endurance
• Help you avoid injuries
• Increase your confidence and self-esteem
• Improve coordination and balance
These tips can help keep you from reaching an unwanted fitness plateau. Improvements in one or all of these areas will keep your fitness goals moving forward so that you get the most out of life. Talk with a Personal Trainer at the Seattle Athletic Club to get started with your personalized fitness plan.
Fitness Advice, Lifestyle
exercise, fitness, health club, Healthy choices, Seattle Athletic Club, wellness, workout
Summer sun; summer fun. Whether you are going on vacation or enjoying the multitude of options available in our backyard, here are a few exercises that can go outdoors with you.
*Superman pushup (full or modified) – This pushup incorporates an opposite arm and leg raise at the top position to train in a transverse plane (posterior oblique fascial line) for increased core strength and stabilization. The modification for this is a kneeling pushup or finding an inclined surface, like a bench or a wall.
*Wall jump dips- With your hands on an inclined surface jump as high as you can getting your legs in a tuck position like you are trying to jump up on the wall.
*Surfers- Start by lying on the ground and jump into a surfing diagonal squat position, jump back into a plank, lower yourself to the ground, and repeat on the other side.
*Multi-directional lunges- Lunges forward, reverse, lateral, or in a curtsy target stabilizers and train proprioception in different planes of motion.
*Single-leg squat touch down- Perform a single-leg squat with a hinge motion forward and touch down diagonally with the opposite hand. For an added level of difficulty, add a pepper jump (a single-leg jump) in the top position of the squat for dynamic stabilization.
It’s important you know how to do these movements correctly for full benefit and prevention of injury. There are additional outdoor workouts in our archive that can give you more exercises to try. Contact any our fitness staff for details and instruction. Be safe this summer and have fun out there!
Cardio Training, Fitness Programs, Outdoor Activities, Workouts
athletic training, conditioning, exercise, outdoor exercise, Seattle Athletic Club, Strength, Training, workout
Osteoporosis and osteopenia are common issues that affect the life expectancy and quality of life in nearly 40 million Americans. These conditions, which both indicate a decrease in bone mineral density, which we can consider as bone strength, occur in men and women of all ages but are most predominate in post-menopausal women. People affected with osteoporosis or osteopenia have reduced strength and resiliency in their bones leading to an increased likelihood of fractures. Fractures are linked to significantly increased all-cause mortality in older women as well as impaired mobility and quality of life so it is imperative that bone health be maintained.
One of the best ways to accomplish this is through exercise. With every muscle action and every contact with the ground, bones have some force exerted against them and they respond by becoming stronger. Increasing the amount of activity and exercise is therefore a viable way to increase bone strength. But what type of exercise will work best? A review of randomized, controlled trials evaluated various types of exercise to see which would have the greatest impact. The results varied based upon the body part. We will discuss the impact on two common sites of osteoporosis: the spine and neck of the femur. In the spine, bone mineral density responded positively to two types of exercise: Weight-bearing low force activity such as walking or Tai Chi and non-weight-bearing-high-force exercises. In the neck of the femur, a positive effect was observed in response to non-weight-bearing high force exercises. Non-weight-bearing high force exercises include exercise machines (such as the leg extension, leg press, hip abductor, hip adductor and hamstring curl) performed with almost as much weight as possible.
Look at that list of non-weight-bearing high force exercises again. If you have read my other posts or talked with me before, it is obvious that I am not a fan of those machines. In fact, some of them are on my list of top things to avoid at the gym. The motor patterns reinforced by these machines seem unproductive to me and they develop strength in very limited, non-functional actions. Worst of all, these machines allow you to develop more strength than your body can handle, which can lead to terrible movement habits and possibly injury.
In my mind, well coached and well-performed squats, deadlifts, hip hinges and farmers walks would be way more helpful for developing bone density. But, the evidence is right there, pointing at me, saying that these much-maligned-machines may have some usefulness after all. Perhaps the machines were only helpful for the subjects tested because they didn’t have good coaching. Perhaps the researchers simply found it easier to compare exercise machines. Perhaps I am a good enough coach that I can overcome these obstacles and increase my clients bone density without using the machines. So, I find myself in a quandary: Follow the evidence and use the machines or trust my own education, intuition and instinct. The question is best answered with humility. I honestly don’t know if better results can be obtained without using the machines. It seems likely to me but at the end of the day, there is not evidence to directly support it. So, I would like to take a moment to apologize to all machine advocates out there and also endorse the use of these machines for increasing bone mineral density in the spine and neck of femur.
If you have osteoporosis, osteopenia or are at risk, this discussion was likely very useful for you. But if you don’t, it still offers a valuable lesson. No expert can know everything. Even strictly within the field of exercise, there are countless complicated decisions that cannot be answered through logical reasoning and intuition. When it comes to your health and fitness, you deserve to know that you are making the best decision. Always ask your trainers, instructors and health care providers why they are doing what they are doing. Ask about the evidence they have supporting them. There are a lot of things that don’t have clear evidence-based answers but it never hurts to ask. It will make you a better client and make us better trainers.
Fitness Programs, Health News, Lifestyle
club, exercise, health, Seattle Athletic Club, tips, wellness, workout
