Stayfitanywhere’s Blog

This past Saturday the sun was shining and the Mitsubishi CityChase took over the streets of Vancouver! Myself and Joe had the pleasure of preparing a bootcamp ChasePoint for willing participants to complete along their route to being crowned champion. The teams of 2 were given two options and had to complete one of the tasks as fast as possible before moving on to their next challenge. Check out the challenges below.

Challenge #1: PARTNER PUSHUP CHALLENGE
Complete 150 pushups between you and a partner (each person needs to complete a minimum of 50pushups). Only one partner can perform pushups at a time. Example – Partner A starts doing pushups and Partner B can only start to do pushups when partner A has stopped. Pushups can be done from the toes or knees, but elbows must create 90 degree angles.

Challenge #2: OBSTACLE COURSE
1. Run through 2 ladders that are 50meters apart.
2. Run 50 meters to the Kettlebells, Partner A picks up ONE Kettlebell and carries it 50meters to the cone and back. Partner B holds a plank until Partner A returns and then you switch. Partner B carries the Kettlebell to the cone and back and Partner A takes Partner B’s position.
3. Run 50 meters to the ZIG ZAG agility course and run through touching each cone with your hand.
4. At the end complete 5 Burprees each and you are finished!
We had a great variety of participants through our ChasePoint and they all did a fantastic job. Even though our ChasePoint provided a great physical challenge everyone who came through completed their chosen challenge with a smile on their face, eventually! Big thanks to the organizing committee and Urban Rec and to all the other volunteers that made this incredible event happen.
Which challenge would you chose? Leave your comments below!
Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1
jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com
Monday and Thursday #FitTip at http://blog.stayfitanywhere.com

I have made it no secret that my favourite exercise is a pushup, read my blog post here http://blog.stayfitanywhere.com/?p=812. I would like to build on that post by sharing with you one of my favourite pushup variations: the Lateral Crawl Pushup. The reason I love this pushup so much is because it puts the body in motion and because the motion is more than just the up and down movement of a regular pushup your nervous system needs to coordinate the movements of your limbs in order to successfully complete the exercise (as you can see in the video).
• Start in pushup position with your feet together, perform a pushup.
• At the top of the pushup move your left foot away from your right while bringing your right hand together with your left.
• Bring your right foot together with your left foot while moving your left hand away from your right hand.
• You are now back to the start position and ready to do another pushup and then either keep going left or reverse everything and go right.
• Be sure to keep your body in a strong straight line position (ankles to ears) throughout the movement.
Before practicing this pushup be sure that you can perform a regular pushup from your toes and even if you can’t you can still gain tremendous benefits by practicing the crawl portion of the exercise without actually doing the pushup, this can be a challenging exercise for even the most advanced. As you practice and progress you will notice that the movement becomes more fluid and you are able to move quickly from the bottom portion of the pushup right into the crawl, at this time you can give yourself a pat on the back and keep crawling!
Move to Live, Live to Move!
Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1
jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com
Monday and Thursday #FitTip at www.twitter.com/stayfitanywhere

I would like to start off with pushups because they are my most favourite of my favourite exercises.  Again the reason I love them so much is because they can be done anywhere, they encompass 1 of the 7 primal movement patterns, and there is a ton of ways to make pushups easier, harder, and just generally more fun!  Following are some important principles to consider when performing pushups.

Pushups from your toes

·         Start on your hands and knees, position your hands just wider than shoulder width and be sure to have your hands directly below your shoulders

·         From here step back to your toes creating a straight line with your ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, and ears

·         This is your set position and the straight line position should never be broken throughout the exercise (think core – brace your midsection, hips strong)

·         Lower your body down towards the floor to create 90 degree angles at your elbows

·         At the bottom push your body away from the floor while exhaling

Complete pushups that meet these principles and you will see tremendous gains in total body strength as well as your push primal movement pattern.  If you are unable to do pushups from the toes try this regression: Knee Pushups – Maintain all of the same principles as above, except you are performing pushups from your knees and making a straight line from your knees to your ears.  If you work on this you will build up enough strength to progress to pushups from your toes.  If you are proficient at pushups from your toes and are looking for a challenge try this progression: Pushup Shoulder Touch – Maintain all of the same principles as above, except when you push yourself away from the floor touch your right hand to your left shoulder, and lower back down with two hands and repeat touching your other shoulder.  You will likely need a wider foot position in order to keep your hips and shoulder square to the floor when you touch your shoulder.

There are many more methods of performing pushups, and if you know of any you would like to share please don’t be shy.

Move to Live, Live to Move,

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

Monday and Thursday #FitTips at www.twitter.com/stayfitanywhere

Almost everyone has an exercise they call their favourite, for some it is running, for others it is aerobics, and for me it is squats, pushups, and pullups.  This should come as no surprise to most, if you have ever trained with me or taken a class with me these are the exercises that we spend a majority of our time doing.  The reason I love them is simple; you can perform these exercises anywhere!  Don’t need to go to a gym to get them done.  You can do pushups in your living room, squats in your office, and pullups at the closest playground.  Each of these exercises require that you move your own body through a range of motion, you don’t need any external load (although having an external load isn’t a bad thing).  These are bodyweight exercises and as I wrote in a prior post there are seven primal movement patterns (http://blog.stayfitanywhere.com/?p=778) and these 3 exercises fall into the primal movement category. 

Primal movements are essential for living and they are performed every single day.  Whether you know it or not you will likely perform all seven of these movements today, but will you perform them well?  Will you perform each of these movements as efficiently as possible?  Will you perform them without causing pain?  Will you perform them with enough of a challenge to elicit a neuromuscular response?  If you answered no to any of these questions you need to find a qualified trainer to teach you how to do these movements properly.  Do you avoid doing any of these movements for fear they will cause you pain?  If you answered yes to this question you need to find a qualified trainer to teach you.  These movement patterns were essential for the survival of our ancestors and they are just as important now if you want to live an independent, functional and pain free life.

My next 3 posts will cover what I am looking for when performing a pushup, a pullup, and a squat as well as progressions and regressions.  Please feel free to share your favourite exercises in the comment box below and maybe they will inspire someone who isn’t moving enough to get moving.

Move to Live, Live to Move!

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

Monday and Thursday #FitTips at www.twitter.com/stayfitanywhere

I came across another article I found interesting.  It’s not soley about fitness or personal training or online personal training but more about technology and how we’re addicted.  With virtually everyone in a developed nation hooked to the hip with a digital device like a blackberry, iphone and the need to facebook, myspace and twitter, can we really live without it?  Don’t get me wrong, I’m an advid techy, looking for the latest and greatest gadget and how it can used to improve our online personal training system and jazz up our future personal training studio. But are we so addicted we feel we can’t live without our devices being on 24hrs a day.  Take a test, try not being a slave to your device or a social networking site.  You’ll find you have a bit more time to focus on your own health and fitness.  Everytime you feel the urge to twitter about your last coffee outing, stop, drop and do 5 pushups.  Imagine if you replaced some of the wasted time on these sites and texting with a few stretches or body weight exercises, you’d be fit as a fiddle…give it a try. You can view the article at www.vancouversun.com.

~joe

I have seen a number of infomercials for fitness gizmos and gadgets that claim to train your core while burning more calories than any other exercise or piece of exercise equipment ever.  HA!  One such infomercial was posted on facebook and it was for a product called the i-JoyRide Exerciser http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPn_V3PP-8Q&feature=player_embedded (watch the video and have a laugh) and the comments that followed by fellow trainers were full of sarcasm and humour.  I mean how could you not poke fun at a mechanical bull like chair that “if you had someone over for dinner you would ask to hop on and go for a ride.”  Finally strength coach Paul Hemsworth made a comment that hit the nail right on the head “We as a society have to pull our collective heads out of our asses. As funny as this is, it is everything that is wrong with our outlook on fitness.”  Most fitness gizmos and gadgets make claims and guarantees that if you follow their simple and easy to use fitness program you will lose weight and tone muscles.  Unfortunately it isn’t that easy, you actually have to put in the work… no machine will do it for you. 

I would like to share with you two simple ideas in order to change your outlook on fitness and health.  These ideas are simple but they do however require work and effort.  I often tell my clients to “eat like a caveman” meaning you should eat food that could either be gathered or hunted.  I don’t expect every person to actually go out and hunt and gather food for themselves and their family but when going grocery shopping take a look at the food that goes in your cart.  Could a caveman gather a box of Oreo cookies, a frozen lasagna, or case of Coke?  NO!  What you should be putting in your cart is meat, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, and whole grains.  Ideally you will choose these products in their least processed and preserved form after all that is how a caveman would consume them.  It will take some time to adjust to this but eventually it will get easier and your body will thank you in the long run.

Remember a caveman couldn’t just hop into his car and drive over to the local CaveMart and grab his groceries.  A caveman had to move to get his food, his survival depended on it!  The second idea is “move like a caveman” meaning performing the movements cavemen had to do to hunt and gather their food.  Paul Chek calls these movements “Primal Movement Patterns” and there are seven of them: Squat, Lunge, Bend, Twist, Push, Pull, and Gait.  Every single one of these movements was necessary for a caveman to hunt and gather, they had to walk/run (Gait) to chase their prey, they had to lunge to push their spear into their prey, they had to twist to reach up and pull fruit off of tall branches, and they had to squat and bend to pick up food from the ground.  All of these movements are still necessary in everyday life today but not nearly to the extent they were in the time of the caveman.  This is exactly why we have to find time daily to train/perform these movements.  If you watched the above infomercial you would see that only one of the seven primal movement patterns were performed.  If you don’t know how to perform these movements effectively find a qualified personal trainer to teach you and start putting them to work every day! 

We may not live in caves anymore, or hunt and gather our own food daily but we could all learn a few lessons from those that dwelled in caves,

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

Monday and Thursday #FitTips at www.twitter.com/stayfitanywhere

It is Thanksgiving weekend and I am on vacation in Westbank with my family, and just because I am on vacation doesn’t mean I am going to completely relax.  I woke up this morning with the sun shining and I stepped out onto our patio to have a look at the lake and after seeing how beautiful it was I decided it was a perfect time for an outdoor workout.  I borrowed a toque from my dad and took off on a really short run along the lake… the reason it was short was that I wasn’t really getting anywhere fast because I couldn’t keep my eyes off of all of the incredible homes and the hills across Lake Okanagan.  After running for 25 minutes I came back to the condo to grab my skipping rope and park myself on the end of the dock in order to workout at a good pace while still soaking up the view!  From this amazing spot the following workout took place: Skip for 1minute, do 20 pushups, skip for 1minute do 18 pushups, and this continued until I reached 2pushups and a final minute of skipping.  This workout lasted 18minutes, and included 11minutes of skipping and 110 pushups.  It was a tough workout and by the end I could barely hang out to the rope… if you are pretty good at skipping and pushups this is a great challenge, if you are just perfecting your skipping and pushup skills try these two different workouts before you advance. 

Beginner: 30seconds of skipping with a drop pyramid of 10 to 1 pushups.  This will get you 5:30 minutes of skipping and 55 pushups.

Intermediate: 45seconds of skipping with a drop pyramid of 12 to 1 pushups.  This will get you 9minutes of skipping and 78 pushups.

These are great workouts that can be done in under 20 minutes, so if you are pressed for time over this long weekend or any other day grab a skipping rope find a nice view and get to work!

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

Monday and Thursday #FitTips at www.twitter.com/stayfitanywhere

On Friday afternoon, I got a random invite from a friend to join her at a power yoga class.  I thought this would be something that I would be able to easily manage and would be a nice change from my current training regimen (speed, agility, quickness, and explosive plyometric training for basketball).  We started the class performing about 100 downward dogs linked with a cobra stretch (kind of like a dive-bomber push-up- not sure of the correct yoga terminology).  This was quite manageable for me because we at Stayfitanywhere are MASTERS of the push-up and do them ALL THE TIME!

After the downward dog/dive-bomber push-up series, we moved to a single leg balance combo. And I must say, I was put in my place.  We transitioned through a series of poses all on one leg at a time.  The process was probably 3 minutes ish? (It felt like an hour!).  And my legs were dying.  For the last month, my body has been accustomed to fast movement training.  In this class, the movements were very slow and it challenged the hell out of me!  

This just goes to show you that no matter how fit you think you are, there are always other ways to challenge your body.  It is also the reason why you need to change your exercise routine regularly (every 6 weeks or so). The body adapts and becomes accustomed to a training style or regimen. But once you introduce a new or unfamiliar activity, the body gets stressed & challenged in an entirely new way and breaks you from the comfort zone of your familiar activities. 

But I must say I am a very big fan of yoga.  It is an ancient practice that requires no equipment.  Practicing yoga is truly embodying the same principles of Stayfitanywhere:

1) All that is needed of you for you to stay fit and healthy is you and your willingness to put the effort in.  

2) Gravity is always working, so no equipment is really necessary.

3)  It doesn’t matter where and it doesn’t matter when;  You can stay fit anytime and you can Stayfitanywhere

Thank you and congratulations to all of you who attended our free Canada Day Evolution Bootcamp class, your effort and enthusiasm truly made it a success!  It was a great turnout for the workout and the weather couldn’t have been any better.  Below are my 3 highlights of the workout:

1.       Ring around the Rosie – A simple kids game with a little twist that causes adults to laugh, work hard, and have as much fun as they did while they were kids!

2.       Pushup Surprise – Simply I love pushups… and I love any game that involves pushups!

3.       Water Bottle Get-ups – Another very simple but incredibly effective exercise, try it out with a glass of water or a glass of wine if you are daring enough!

Please leave a comment in the box below letting Andrew and I know what your highlight of the workout was, there was lots of laughing and team work throughout so I know you all enjoyed yourself so let the rest of the SFA community know what they missed out on!

Happy Canada Day,

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

www.twitter.com/stayfitanywhere

Wednesday, June 3rd marked our first class of Cycle-Circuit.  For those who don’t know, Cycle-Circuit is a Stayfitanywhere Bicycle & workout program tailored specifically for June (Bike month in Vancouver).  I had 2 participants on that first class and we all had a great ride and a great workout!

We started the class off at the Rowing Club,  and went on to our first stop:  Hallelujah Point (near the Harry Jerome statue).  There, we did a series of exercises on the benches:  push-ups, burpees, dips, planks & side-planks.  From there, we rode our bikes to the water park where we performed a series of partner exercises and drills.  My 2 participants had a lot of fun with this one!  Next, we rode along to 3rd Beach and stopped off by a paved road with a nice incline.  We performed 6 sets of fire feet to uphill sprints/skipping for height/duck walks.  This really got the heart rate up!  Our final stop was 2nd Beach at the basketball court.  There, we did a few line drills and followed up with some abdominal work- by request of course ;) 

Overall, we all had a great time and a great workout.  The weather was amazing and really made the ride that much more excellent.  Remember: This weekly class takes place every Wednesday at noon, and will carry on for the month of June.  If all goes well, we’ll keep running it for the remainder of the summer!  This unique class will also be our ‘Active Activity’ for June. Come out on Sunday, June 14th at 9 am with your friends and experience this awesome class for free!  I guarantee you will enjoy it and feel great afterwards!  To register:  events@stayfitanywhere.com

-Andrew