Category Archives: Fitness Tips

Workout with Martha Price – Miss Hartford County

Miss Martha Price’s Workout Program

by Shawn O’Brien

This year I am working with Martha Price, Miss Hartford County, as she prepares to compete for Miss Connecticut this summer.  Miss Price has been coming to Excel Fitness every few weeks for a workout since she won Miss Hartford County.  As her trainer I helped her set some goals for her diet and exercise program.  I also helped her set some physical goals she wanted to see by Miss Connecticut this summer.  For more information on Excel Fitness visit us at www.excelfitnessct.com.

During our workout times we talk about nutritional changes, workout improvements, motivation and of course we get in some joking around.  She has been doing great.  She is getting stronger, leaner and realizes now with a few adjustments she can see greater success.  Here are a few exercises we threw into her workout a few weeks ago.  Enjoy.

Shawn O’Brien

Concussions – More Common Than You Think

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.

“Transcending Health”

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

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

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

Easy Ways to Burn those Pesky Fat Pounds

Here are a few tips from the professionals on how to make burning fat and calories a little easier and tastier.

1) CALORIE BURN:

  • Simple formula – 6-3-3 Do this over a week’s time. 6 small meals a day, 3- 40min weight training workouts and 3- 30 minute workouts.  In as little as 2 months, you will see changes you really like.
  • Multi-Set – Do a series of back to back exercises instead of one at a time.  Keeps the heart rate higher for longer resulting in more calories burned.
  • Park Walking – Ask a friend to get lunch and then go for a walk after you are done.  Good company and good productivity later.
  • Push-up and sit-ups Do three sets of each to fatigue every other day when you get home from work.  You will not only get better at them, you will get stronger and look better.  Translation the more you do the more calories you burn!!!

2) EASY BURN:

  • Offer to carry more in your bag if you hike with a group.
  • Add a few levels to your incline on the treadmill.
  • Walk around and actually talk to some of your co-workers you would normally email.
  • Take nice walk to local dinner/lunch spot instead of driving.

3) SNACKS UNDER 200 CALORIES:

Yoplait Thick and Creamy

  • 3.5 Fat, 32 Carbs, 7 Prot and 190 Calories

Smucker’s Natural Creamy Peanut Butter with an Apple

  • 8 Fat, 20 Carbs, 3.5 Proteain and 165 Calories

Designer Protein Shake (1 Scoop) and a Lundberg Rice Cake

  • 2 Fat, 16 Carbs, 19 Protein and 170 Calories.
Shawn O’Brien
Excel Fitness, Co-Owner
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Upper body exercises

Try these simple exercises with good form and the right weight for your strength.

#1 Skull Crusher (Lying tricep extension)

Lying down, hold the bar above your head at a 90 degree angle from your body with hands shoulder-width apart. Bend at the elbows allowing the bar to lower towards your forehead. Straighten your elbows and repeat. Do 10-15 repetitions of 2-3 sets.

#2 Incline chest fly

Sitting on an inclined bench, hold two dumbbells (one in each hand). Start with the dumbbells above your head and open to the side so your arms are level with your shoulders. Be sure to keep elbows slightly bent. Do 10-15 repetitions of 2-3 sets.

 

 

Exercise has medicine-like effects on mood?

By: Shawn M. O’Brien, M.S.

Our delicate human bodies were meant to move (i.e.- run, lift, protect, hunt, gather, etc), but there are various other reasons why one should consider to “exercise” or participate and be consistently active in exercise programs like; running, weight training, yoga, dancing or organized sports.

Reasons to exercise can be as simple as increasing one’s self confidence/self worth or the reasons can be as important as decreasing incidence of cardiovascular disease, manage diabetes and/or increased quality of life.  Exercise, of numerous varieties, result in “significant reductions in a depressed mood, fatigue and cortisol levels, as indicated in a study of rowers on a workout protocol compared to those in a control group” (Perna, 1998).  Cortisol is a stress response hormone, which causes specific hormones to flood your body which causes your mood changes.  Without this bio-feedback system we couldn’t live, but when cortisol levels rise to dangerous levels, development of physical and mental disease and conditions can be brought on by chronic stress (Leland, 2010).

Varieties of exercise can be used to improve one’s emotional state, which will decrease cortisol levels and increase endorphins (hormones produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus produced during exercise to give a feeling of well being).  Not only do rowing, running, yoga and weight training produce significant levels of endorphins, they also aid in the reduction of cortisol, decrease appetite, decrease depression and increase levels of happiness. For example, a group with the regular habit of doing yoga with a method of meditation, breathing and self-guided imagery showed lower scores of negative mood scale and higher scores of positive mood scale, lower levels of s-cortisol compared to the group without this regular habit (Watanabe, E, 2002).

Want to have a better workout? Consider a program consisting of yoga, stretching, cardiovascular training, weight training, recreational events and meditation can have long-term benefits for not only your mental health, but your physical health.  A variety of these activities performed 4-7 days a week with variations of intensity will be best.  Please see your doctor for clearance and visit a reputable personal trainer for further exercise programming. 

Look Good. Feel Good. Play Good.

Leland, Kevin, “The Effects of Stress, Cortisol, Serotonin and Exercise,” STRESS, 2010.

Perna, FM, “Cognitive-behavioral intervention effects on mood and cortisol and during exercise training.” Annual Behavior Medical Journal. 1998 Spring:20(2):92:8.

Watanabe, E, “Altered Responses of Saliva Cortisol and Mood Status by Long-period Special Yoga

Exercise Mixed with Meditation and Guided Imagery.” Journal of International Society of Life

Information Science. 20, pg 2, 2002.

Knowing the facts: Muscle is good for you!

In my 15 years of training experience, I’ve come in contact with a number of women who swear off weights out of fear they will create bulky muscle mass.

Time to change our minds!

The key that women should keep in mind with an exercise routine is to start off slow so as not to exhaust yourself right out of the gate. Doing more reps at a lower rate will help you build lean, long muscles. And muscle is critical for osteoporosis prevention later in life.

Something additional to keep in mind is to have your body fat percentage measured before you workout every so often (we can help you out with this at Excel Fitness). Many women don’t see the pounds shed right off when adding weight lifting to their routine, but in fact gain muscle mass which in turn incinerates calories.

Shawn O’Brien
@shawnexcelfit