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Concussions – More Common Than You Think

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Concussions – More Common Than You Think

by – Shawn O’Brien, M.S.


Do you watch sporting events, particularly contact sports, such as football or hockey?  You may have noticed more content during these broadcasts in regards to concussion research and its prevention.

The topic of this article isn’t meant to bore you about scientific data, it is meant to reinforce the premise – Concussions are more common than one would think.  I work with a young female athlete  and this past summer her family and I noticed something different about her.  Even though she had a few joint injuries from sports participation, her balance and overall strength was significantly lower than the previous summer.  After her family and I conferred, it was deemed appropriate to bring this issue to a medical professional (neurologist).  She is now on her way back to recovery and should be back to competitive sports soon.

This situation brought me back to my days at Southern Connecticut State University as an exercise science graduate student taking “Sports Medicine.”   This class covered such topics as steroid use, over-training, cervical spine injuries, hormone treatment, exercise environment, periodization of muscle development, CONCUSSIONS and other similar topics, all of which I use today to create exercise programs for individuals.

By Definition: The causes of a concussion are the immediate transient alterations of neurological function caused by mechanical acceleration and deceleration forces (Manual of Sports Medicine, 1998).  To translate in layperson terms: your brain has been bruised.

Concussions also cause secondary issues: additional susceptibility to future concussions, association with high morbidity (disease) and even mortality (death) and 10-15% who have a concussion have a cervical spinal injuries.

There are different classifications of concussions, which are, Bell Ringers, Stage One, Two and Three, all of these classifications depend the time of amnesia, loss or no loss of consciousness and lack of coordination. Regardless of the severity or classification a very conservative approach should be taken to preserve the mental status of the patient in the guidelines of care and treatment.

The bottom line your brain can be injured as well and all precautions should be taken to evaluate all athletes at any level.  Seek the appropriate care from a medical professional after any injury.

Exercising With Your Pets

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Exercising With Your Pets

by – Deb Cappa-Kotulski, Excel Fitness Certified Personal Trainer

www.excelfitnessct.com


You probably already know how extremely important it is for your physical and mental well-being to incorporate exercise into your daily routine.  If you are a pet owner you may not know that it is also very beneficial for your pet to exercise on a regular basis too.

As someone who is passionate about exercise and animals I noticed my cat, Sumatra, is starting to put on a few pounds.  I decided to do a little research on creative ways I could exercise with her. T here are several articles on the internet that encompass this subject, but the article I enjoyed reading the most was “Exercising Your Pet.”

This article is very thorough and covers ways of exercising with a variety of animals and also covers the importance of taking safety precautions and consulting with your veterinarian when needed. You can use the exercise suggestions from this article as a guide and or come up with your own creative ways to exercise with your furry friend.

Even if you have never been an avid exerciser you will find that exercising with your pet will help you be more enthusiastic about exercising.

Here is a great and humorous video with Pet Exercises!!!! (click link) Workout your abs with a laugh from this video!!

Our Biggest Loser [Season 2]

Excel Fitness News, Local Happenings

Last year, Excel Fitness ran its first Biggest Loser type program.   We gave away a 40 inch flat screen tv to the Byron Kidd our Grand Prize winner.   Byron had the greatest percent change in body fat reduction (16lbs of fat in 3 months).   The contestants who finished Season 1  lost an average of 12 pounds and the most weight lost was almost 50 pounds during the 3 months February, March and April.  What at great event!!!!

We are starting Season 2 of Excel Fitness’s “Our Biggest Loser” contests.  New rules. New prizes. More Training. Female and Male Grand Prize Winners. MORE Exercise Testing.

Visit us at www.excelfitnessct.com.

Will you make this your healthiest year ever?

@shawnexcelfit

Newington High School Varsity Baseball Team at Excel Fitness

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Training Newington High School Varsity Baseball Team at Excel Fitness

By: Matt Knight

B.S. Exercise Science

Excel Fitness Personal Trainer

Over the past 2 months I have been working with the Newington High School Varsity Baseball Team running their off-season conditioning program.  I have developed this off-season program specific to each player based on their position and goals.  As a pitcher at the college level, I was able use my past experiences to convey the relationship between the specific mechanics of baseball and the sport specific exercises I had them perform.  Each player’s workout focused on muscular strength, cardiovascular training, and core training specific to baseball.

In addition to following the workout program on their own, the players came into Excel Fitness on Wednesday evenings and worked out as a team.  I gave them individual supervision and motivation to maximize the evening’s program.  Each workout session we focused on exercises involving the rotator cuff, abdominal, and polymeric exercises.  Plyometric exercises are fast explosive movements used to target the nervous system.  Generally by performing plyometric exercises over time you will increase the speed and force of the muscular contraction.  By targeting your fast twitch muscle fibers, which are responsible for quick movements, you can improve quick explosive movements such as a baseball swing and a baseball pitch.

There are many different types of upper and lower body plyometric exercises…

Here is a plyometric lunge jump…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXKx19fDQQk&fs=1&hl=en_US]

Here is a plyometric push up on the bosu…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmoBnxjFwFA&fs=1&hl=en_US]

“Transcending Health”

Excel Fitness News, Fitness Tips, , , ,

Transcending Health will be a new reoccurring addition to the Excel Fitness Blog.  Transcending  is defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “to rise above or go beyond the limits of” and “to rise above or extend notably beyond ordinary limits.”

The purpose of this new segment is to demonstrate how Health and Fitness transcends beyond the act of exercising properly and eating well.

Hope you enjoy this segment and the many to come.

@shawnexcelfit

DENTAL HEALTH

(too easy, the term has health in it already)

by Jerry Stien, DDS

The mouth is the opening to the human body. Can you imagine a person with missing teeth, decay, discoloration, and swollen red gums ?

We all know how important it is to stay in good shape through daily exercise and a healthy diet. It is also essential to keep the teeth and mouth clean and free of disease.

Missing teeth can cause shifting of the remaining teeth, thus causing pain in the hinge joint of the lower jaw bone, which can quickly intensify with constant opening and closing. Decay can cause bacteria to enter the nerve tissue of the tooth, resulting in extreme pain and swelling, thus necessitating either root canal therapy or extraction of the involved tooth or teeth.

Built up of food or plaque around the tooth has been found to be more harmful than previously believed. Without routine dental appointments and daily care, this plaque can build up and destroy the bone holding the tooth in its socket. If it progresses to an extreme, it can cause bad breath,and loss of teeth. More importantly, the bacteria present in this area between the tooth bone and gums can get into the blood stream causing systemic disease, heart problems and, in some cases, even death.

In the long run, by taking care of your mouth, teeth, and gums along with regular physical exercise and a healthy diet, the average individual can count on a longer life, less stress, and a more positive personal image.

Kate Returns to Excel Fitness for a Refresher

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As some of you may have read Kate Ottavio’s Testimonial back on July 13th, 2010 after working with Excel Fitness‘s Shawn O’Brien, we have a follow-up segment for you.

Working with Ms. Ottavio during her preparation for Miss Connecticut Pageant back in the summer was a total success.  She had dropped 7% body fat in 6 weeks by following Mr. O’Brien’s guidelines.  Cardio when she could.  Followed the nutrition plan as best she could.  We talked about strength training changes to her program each week.

“I competed in the Miss CT Pageant and won the preliminary and overall swimsuit award and placed first runner-up in my first year with the Miss America Organization – and I feel fantastic.” Ms. Ottavio

Well months later: Kate has a new job, new apartment, new gym.  Life Changes Quickly.  We met up this weekend for a refresher on workouts, nutrition and program design.

Here is one of the exercises we worked into her current program.  As challenging as it is, it is very effective at increasing upper body strength, core conditioning, flexibility, hand strength and increasing cardiovascular conditioning.

Romanian T- Push-Ups

Do this exercise slowly with limited number of repetitions to start and slowly increase the number of repetitions first then add multiple sets.

@shawnexcelfit

Excel Fitness Goes Pink!!!

Excel Fitness News, Local Happenings, ,

October 17th, 2010 was the American Cancer Society’s- Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.   Excel Fitness started it fund raising campaign for this event about a month ago.  Last year we raised over $6000 and Shawn O’Brien raised over $3000.  This year we committed to raise $8000 and Shawn committed to raise $4000.  Team Excel Fitness has raised $7500 and is #3 as a Team and Shawn has raised $4500 and is #2 as a participant.

Our pledge to you was to paint ourselves PINK for the race.  Mission Accomplished!!!!!  Thank you everyone for your donations.  See the photos below.

@shawnexcelfit

HBJ’s 40 under 40 Award; what it means to me

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Hartford Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Recipient

It’s an honor for me to be selected as a Hartford Business Journal’s 40 under 40 Recipient.  My goal to leave Bally Total Fitness after 10 years of service as the Fitness Director was to open a facility where the customer, staff and the community come first, and if these fundamental points were followed consistently the business would thrive.

Now, in a slumped economy where many businesses are both slashing prices and cutting services, or in many cases closing their doors permanently, Excel Fitness has managed to grow.  I believe our members, who have been tremendously supportive, are a large part of our success.  They have encouraged us to become involved in the community, helped us organize and contributed to our School Supply Drive, Food Pantry Drive and Breast Cancer Walk to name a few.

I also believe who we associate with is a big part of our success.  When I arrived at the winners’ photo shoot I was excited to see that I already associate with and am friends with four other recipients.  I am also proud to say that I am personally training two of them.  It solidifies in my mind if you want to be successful you need to surround yourself with other ambitious successful people.

I have to also give thanks to Karen Robbins, a client for over a year now, and my sister who at the time worked for us at Excel Fitness, for nominating me.  As a HBJ 40 under 40 Recipient, I now feel an even greater responsibility to lead by example in community involvement and in performing sound business principles and ethics.  I will encourage others to work tirelessly putting the community and the customer first to make Greater Hartford a better place to do business, work, and most of all live.

 

Karen Robbins, Excel Fitness Client

Keep Your Workout Fresh

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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