Category Archives: Uncategorized

Keep Your Workout Fresh

When we are developing training programs for clients we try to not only maximize their potential, we also try to maximize their time.  If you have been doing some core exercises in your workout for a long time, mix up the workout by super-setting the exercise.  Super-Setting is moving from one exercise to the other with limited or no rest.  Have a group of two or three exercises you are confident in and try this.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_I8WmlrYfw]

You will save time and still burn the same calories.  Here is a few videos you can watch to see how to do a super-setted leg workout.  Try to do a few sets of each before you increase the weight.  Contact us if you have more questions.

@Shawnexcelfit

Client Testimonial – Larry Fischer

I have worked with an old friend’s father, Larry Fischer, for about six years.  When Larry came to me he  needed some serious help with his levels of health, fitness and strength.  I did help him and here is his story:

My name is Larry Fischer. I am a 63 year old retiree living in West Hartford, CT.  I’ve had the disorder, Reiter’s Disease since the early 1990’s. This disease is also known as Reactive Arthritis, an autoimmune condition that develops in response to an infection in another part of the body. Over the years, I’ve been on many different arthritic medications. Unfortunately, none of these medications gave me long lasting relief from pain and stiffness in all of my joints.

I was very athletic and played many sports thru my 20’s, 30’s and early 40’s. Unfortunately, I had to give up playing the sports that I loved when the Reiter’s Disease attacked my body around 1991. This was difficult for me both mentally and physically.

In January of 2004, I started to train with Shawn O’Brien. Due to the pain in my joints, I had not exercised in close to fifteen years. At this time, I absolutely had zero strength and flexibility. In fact, during my arthritic flare-ups, I often had a difficult time getting up from the couch. My muscles were so weak from inactivity that, even without any weights at all, I could not raise my arms to a completely horizontal position. Linked to this was the fact that I suffered from an irreparable torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder which prohibited me from being able to simply straighten my right arm. Also, there was so much arthritis in my right knee that I could not straighten the leg and had a difficult time walking.

When I first met with Shawn, he asked me what I wanted to accomplish. I listed my goals as follows :

  1. Decrease in pain and stiffness.
  2. Better strength in all of my muscles.
  3. Some measure of flexibility and agility.
  4. A stronger core, especially in the abdominal muscles.
  5. Better cardio.

My real dream was to get back on the basketball and tennis courts but I didn’t think that was possible so I didn’t list that as a goal. Shawn, on the other hand, approached the training in a very positive and supportive manner. He felt that playing basketball and tennis again was something I could accomplish with his training and my hard work.

Shawn turned out to be a miracle worker. Knowing that I had limitations due to the arthritis, he brought me along slowly. With his excellent training methods, my strength  and flexibility increased dramatically in both my upper and lower body. Here are some examples. As for the upper body, he provided me with a diverse number of shoulder exercises that strengthened the muscles around the damaged right rotator cuff and allowed me to have a much greater range of motion. He helped me to strengthen my right knee and gave me a number of stretching exercises that lengthened the knee. Before long, I was not only walking better but I actually began running for the first time in fifteen years. I trained with Shawn for approximately one year. With his tremendous support, I was able to realize all my goals and return to the basketball and tennis courts.

Shawn has a number of abilities and characteristics that make him a wonderful trainer. He’s a terrific all around athlete and knows the type of flexibility, agility, speed and weight resistance exercises necessary to improve one’s performance in many sports. He has a wealth of knowledge not only in physical training but also in nutrition and in the mental approach to making better lifestyle changes. He has a very friendly, outgoing personality and makes his training workouts fun and challenging at the same time. Shawn has a great deal of compassion. He is someone you feel you can easily talk to about your fitness progress, your lifestyle and any problems you might have in your daily life.

Shawn and Jeff Roux own Excel Fitness. They genuinely love people. Their training package includes good nutrition and an improved lifestyle. Bottom line, they want you to be healthy. Excel Fitness has a membership that includes senior citizens, middle age folks and people in their 20’s and 30’s. Shawn and Jeff keep the workout rooms, locker rooms and kitchen area spotless. They both have a great sense of humor. The club is so friendly and everyone gets along so well. It’s no surprise that Excel Fitness has won the award of “best fitness club” in Greater Hartford the past few years.

If you want to improve your fitness and your overall health, you ought to stop by.

@shawnexcelfit

Carbohydrate Consumption during Intense Exercise

August 20, 2010 excelfitnesct.com

By: Jeff Roux

Carbohydrate Consumption during Intense Exercise

Have you ever tried to gain the edge over the competition by carbohydrate loading the night before an exercise event?  Just about everyone knows to carb-load the day before, but what about during the event?

Most people believe anything with carbs, sugar is the best thing during exercise, however; there is a difference between what forms of glucose you ingest, how efficiently they are absorbed and the effect on performance.  Fructose, glucose in the form of fruit actually delivers only about .2g of glucose to active muscles each minute whereas glucose, sucrose, and maltodextrins can deliver up to 1.0g.  Also too high of a carbohydrate concentration of more than 6-8% can diminish water intake on a cellular level and hinder temperature regulation.  Dehydration and heat exhaustion obviously severely decrease ones performance.

So what should you do?  For prolonged high-intensity aerobic exercise in cool weather consume about 70g of sugar in 6oz of water 20 to 30 minutes after the start of exercise followed by 24g of carbohydrate in 8oz of water every 15 minutes.

W. McArdle, F. Katch, V. Katch, 1994 Essentials of Exercise Physiology, Lea & Febiger Malvern, PA. pg 192

If you have any questions about your conditioning program contact me at jroux@excelfitnessct.com

Looking for the RIGHT Personal Trainer??

Top 5 Ways to Find the Right Trainer

5.  Research the trainer’s education or certifications, logistics with the training packages (restrictions, cost, discounts, etc.).
4.  Make sure to read testimonials to the trainer from the client with the largest amount of weight loss – 50lbs, 80lbs 100+lbs.
3.  Ask their clients, “How is your trainer with his/her clients?”  FOLLOW UP WITH  “Would you have him or her train your mother?”
2.  Visit gyms or locations where the prospective trainers work, be an investigator.  Do you see yourself fitting in there?
1.  Ask friends, endocrinologists or local physical therapists for a referral.

ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS. You are the customer!!

Shawn O’Brien
Excel Fitness, Co-Owner
M.S. Exercise Science
www.excelfitnessct.com
(860) 523-8167
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Making Strides Against Breast Cancer – Excel Fitness Participate, again

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

Today was the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Kickoff Breakfast for the 5k walk on Sunday, October 17th in Bushnell Park in Hartford, CT.  Last year Excel Fitness put a team together last minute and raised over $6000 and was 5th as a company in fundraising beating larger company’s like Verizon Wireless.  Shawn O’Brien raised over $3000 and became a pacesetter with Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.

This year we have been challenged by another gym to see who can raise the most money and the competition will go to a great cause.  We have accepted the challenge to participate in the walk this year and have another team EXCEL FITNESS.

Shawn O’Brien and Todd Sullivan

Training for a Marathon? “How can I run faster?”

Training for a Marathon?  “How can I run faster?”

by: Shawn O’Brien

Many novice runners ask the question, “How can I run faster?”  The answer is, RUN FASTER!!!!

Most marathon and half marathon training schedules have 4 types of days: Pace Run, Tempo Run, Long Run and Cross-Training.  These days are meant for you to run different speeds and train different muscular movements each day.  These days don’t mean run the given mile distance the same speed for each day, for example the pace per mile on a Pace Day should be slower than the minute per mile time as the Tempo Run, and the Tempo Speed will be faster then the Long Run times per mile.  You will avoid injury and over-training if you can integrate the different speeds and strength programs to your training schedule

All of the days should have different speeds and most importantly you should incorporate speed conditioning into your workout, as well as strength training (Full body or Upper and Lower split routines work well).   For more information click on the key words in this article.

The below photos are a speed workout I would have a client go through, who is training for an endurance event, off-season sports conditioning or anyone looking to mix up their workout.  At Excel Fitness, this is an example of sprints and speed conditioning in a parking lot and using an agility ladder in-doors to work on form and coordination.

If you have any questions about your conditioning program I am open to questions.  sobrien@excelfitnessct.com

@ShawnExcelFit

Healthy Eating Cost vs. Quality

Healthy Eating Presentation to Circles of Meriden Weekly Meeting

Shawn O’Brien, Co-Owner of Excel Fitness in West Hartford, CT, was invited to speak on August, 5th 2010 and donate a healthy meal to a local community group, Circles of Meriden.  This discussion was geared to healthy eating options with the expected high cost associated with “good food,” good food choices for a healthy lifestyle, portion control of food and benefits of exercise.

A meal for the group was donated and prepared by Shawn to show how you can eat healthfully and keeping the cost of the meal low.  The shopping, preparation and clean up time was done in less than two hours.

 

Mr. O’Brien purchased:

  • Instant Brown Rice for under $4
  • Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast 3lbs for $1.99/lb for $6
  • Large bag of mixed vegetables for under $2.
  • The total cost of this meal was $12 and made 15 servings.
  • Each serving was approximately 1/2 cup of rice, 3 oz. of grilled chicken and 1/3 cup of veggies = under 300 calories.
  • This meal is high in complex carbohydrates, rich in vitamins from the frozen vegetables and sufficient amount of lean protein from the boneless/skinless chicken breast.

Feed your family on a budget with choosing healthy options and portion sizes.   If you have better foods in your cart at the store you will feel better and have greater energy levels.

@ShawnExcelFit

Diet Myths

Tip #1 of the week –

Eating late at night will cause you to gain weight (http://bit.ly/aVJm3p)
Eating late at night, or at any particular time of day, will not cause you to put on more weight than what is normal for what you ate and the activity you did. Weight gain occurs when you consume more calories than you expend, whether that occurs in the middle of the day, the morning or at night. However, in reality, people who eat a lot of food late at night tend to consume more calorie-dense foods and thus eat more calories—which can cause weight gain.

(American Council on Exercise, www.ace.org)