Tag Archives: fitness

Metabolism; Use it or Lose it!

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Metabolism; Use it or lose it!

Jeff Roux B.S. Exercise Science 5/4/2011

You’ve probably heard it before, “as soon as I turned 30 my metabolism slowed down and I can’t seem to lose weight.”  You may have also heard, “it’s easier for men to lose weight.”  Oh really, why?

Here is my myth-busters enlightenment on these subjects.  Firstly, slower metabolism due to decreased muscle mass and increased body fat in males and females is most likely attributed to inactivity rather than to any aging effect.  Secondly, lean mass the primary determiner of metabolism or resting metabolic rate (RMR) is scientifically not different between males and females, only the amounts of mass differ.  An adult male and female with like lean mass and body fat contents could have the same RMR’s providing that they have similar exercise and nutritional habits.

Fact; we do tend to lose about 1% of our strength per year after the age of 30 and at age 50 about 1.5% and 2% after age 70.  The loss of strength is due to the loss of lean mass and neural muscular facilitation (coordination and synchronization of muscle fibers and contractions) hence the decrease in metabolism.  Again, however; the loss of strength can be attributed to INACTIVITY not aging.  There is considerable evidence that shows an intense (>80% 1RM, repetition max) resistance training program increases both muscle mass and strength in 60-96 year old individuals.  These training programs resulted in increases of up to 30% muscle fiber area and up to and over 100% in 1RM Strength.  Increasing your lean mass through resistance exercise training at any age will directly increase your metabolism.

Male or Female you can no longer use your age or sex as an excuse, only your lack of motivation and resistance to resistant training.  To learn more about safely incorporating weight training into your life contact the professionals at Team Excel Fitness.

E. Howley, B. Franks, 2007 Health and Fitness Instructors Handbook, Human Kinetics, IL. pg 282,283

Time-bound vs. Goal-bound

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Time-bound vs. Goal-bound

by: Shawn O’Brien, M.S.

In the current days of the ever expanding technology BOOM, everything is instant.

Instant Oatmeal, Instant Messaging, Instant Coffee, Instant Food and you can fill in a few more.

There are numerous versions of quotations floating around which go something like this – “IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT” or “THEY DON’T MAKE THINGS LIKE THEY USED TO” or “ANYTHING WORTH DOING IS WORTH DOING WELL.” I guess even though these sayings are still used, not many people apply the principles of hard work and dedication to the art of long term planning.  Whether you are trying to lose 20 pounds, buy a house, help the community or grow your business you have to set some appropriate goals.

Setting these goals should mean you have something important in mind to accomplish and these same accomplishments should have a realistic time frame to complete them.  Not only a realistic time frame, but having smaller or short-term goals as stepping stones to a long-term goal or project will increase your likelihood of completing this and all goals.  Inversely, having long-term maintenance objectives in place at the completion of the short-term goals you have worked so hard to achieve, will increase your success of maintaining said objective.

In summary, the term “INSTANT” may only be able to applied to your coffee or oatmeal, but if you really want to achieve something great take more than a minute to think about where your GOAL IS BOUND AND HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE TO GET THERE.   You will be surprised how gratifying it is to get there.

“Transcending Health”

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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.

Client Testimonial – Larry Fischer

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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

Easy Ways to Burn those Pesky Fat Pounds

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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

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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.

 

 

Client testimonial – Kate Ottavio

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After seeing my post last week about the need for women to embrace weight training, client and friend, Kate Ottavio, asked if she could post a testimonial here on our blog. Of course we said yes!
——-
I grew up a dancer and horseback rider – constantly active and always on the muscular side. I always ate what I wanted in any proportion healthy or unhealthy, but stayed at what I thought was a comfortable 145 pounds at 5’7” tall.

I was introduced to Shawn O’Brien, co-owner of Excel Fitness through my business manager. I am the reigning Miss Rocky Hill 2010 and at the time, was prepping for the big Miss Connecticut pageant. Sticking to a regular routine of weight training and a little cardio on my own, I was about 23% body fat.

Then Shawn started working with me. I had regular hour-long session each week with him covering a variety of exercises and muscle groups. Unlike trainers I had before, Shawn didn’t make me feel tired and utterly worn out after a workout. I felt refreshed and energized. Not only that, but I craved healthier foods and my appetite decreased (and trust me when I say I like to eat!).

Seven percent body fat later, 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.

Thanks to Excel Fitness and Shawn for everything – I am so appreciative of your help!

Photo credit: Mike Orazzi

Kate Ottavio, Miss Rocky Hill 2010

Knowing the facts: Muscle is good for you!

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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

Growing and Learning

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At Excel Fitness, you know that we set ourselves apart from any other gym. We’re taking this a step further and expanding the way we reach you with a brand new blog.

Visit us here to find out the latest news, updates, awards, recognitions, fitness tips, happenings and more – all things Excel Fitness!

You’ll read insights from owners Shawn O’Brien and Jeff Roux along with their highly knowledgeable staff.

Please feel free to leave comments and questions for us here, or you can always reach us at 860.523.8167.