Stayfitanywhere’s Blog

I hope everyone had a fantastic Canada Day and are prepared to enjoy a great weekend!  I am heading out of town on a vacation and wanted to share a few things with everyone before I go.

·         This morning I trained Rob Daly  for the first time in 2010.  Rob has been training with me since I first started training clients and has been instrumental during my evolution as a trainer/coach.  To welcome Rob back to training (not that he wasn’t training while he was working in LA) I decided to test him out with one of his favourite workouts http://blog.stayfitanywhere.com/?p=578 and he crushed it!  If anyone is looking for a photographer check out Rob’s website www.robdaly.com to see some of his work.

·         A friend of Mine Cam Beals is leaving for the Calgary Stampede tomorrow and if you know the dates of the Stampede you will wonder why he is leaving so early??  Well he is riding his bike from Vancouver to Calgary to take part in the festivities of the Stampede… Good Luck Cam wish I could have taken part in the journey with you.

·         If you work in the Health Care field take a look at this website for some resources on preventing Healthcare Associated Infections www.haiwatchnews.com.

·         My lacrosse team the Ladner Pioneers is gearing up for the playoffs and as soon I return home we will be starting our first playoff series and I would love to see you in the stands email me or check www.wcsla.ca for dates and times of games.

·         The sun has come out FINALLY here in Vancouver and I have spent most of the morning on my bike zipping around the Seawall from English Bay to Kits beach and I saw tons of cyclists, rollerbladers, runners,  walkers, skateboarders taking advantage of the weather.  I also saw tons of kids playing in the playground, throwing footballs/Frisbees, kicking soccer balls and just generally having fun.  Thank you Vancouver for the reminder of why I love living in this city!

I want to leave you all with one last thing to think about… when you train hard, you need to recover hard!  With that being said I am off to enjoy a vacation but I will be back soon and ready to train and play hard!

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

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

This Sunday the Delta Jr. A Islanders (www.deltaislanders.ca) crushed the Grouse Grind as a team, 21 players and 2 coaches raced their way to the top of the mountain.  The players and coaches did a fantastic job considering less than 12 hours before the start of the climb the team had lost a hard fought game to the New Westminster Salmonbellies 6-4, who currently lead the BC Jr. A Lacrosse League Standings.  The winner of the race was Nate Clare and in a close second place finish was rookie Sean O’Neil.  As Nate and Sean caught their breathe at the top a flurry of players arrived to cheers with most players finishing under 55minutes.   The players weren’t finished when they crossed the finish line they still had a 30min yoga session to be completed.  Annika Hodgson from Duquette Strength showed the players what it takes to push their athletic careers to the next level.

For many it was their first attempt at the Grind and Yoga, and they showed tremendous determination and concentration in accomplishing both tasks.  With this kind of effort on and off the floor the Delta Islanders may just surprise a few teams on their road to the Minto Cup.

Check out pictures of the team on our facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/StayFitAnywhere/50493916136.  If you would like to book a customized active activity for your team or group please don’t hesitate to contact me!

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

Monday and Thursday #FitTip at www.twitter.com/stayfitanwhere

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 came across an article in the Vancouver Sun Health Section yesterday titled “Shoes your butt will love” and sadly the article was promoting the benefits of toning sneakers, more specifically Reebok Easy Tone.  The name of the shoe itself should be a warning light, easy and tone do not belong together, it takes hard work and tension in your body to create tone.  The name of this shoe is just another way marketing perpetrates the myth that it is EASY to get into shape and marketing gurus use the idea that individuals are looking for a quick way to solve their health and fitness issues when this is simply not the case for a majority of the population. 

The article states that the shoes “force you to engage your glutes, thighs and calves while providing a comfortable, shock-absorbing padding for your foot and knee” and “increases engagement of the abdominal muscles.”  These statements were backed up with the following numbers from a Physical Therapist “because the shoes cause that slight instability they can increase muscle activation BY UP TO (bolded by me) 14% in your calves, 29% in your quads and 16 to 28% in your glutes and hamstrings.”  I thought these were pretty impressive statements so I wanted to find out more about these shoes.  I did a quick search to find out if any of these claims were backed by a published peer-reviewed academic journal article and I found nothing.  What I did find was a great article in the New York times that reviewed these vary same shoes http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/health/08well.html and within the article I found some great information that I would like to share.

But the claim that the shoes offer muscle toning is backed by a single study involving just five people, not published in a peer-reviewed academic journal. In that study, done at the University of Delaware , five women walked on a treadmill for 500 steps wearing either the EasyTone or another Reebok walking shoe, and while barefoot. Using sensors that measure muscle activity, the researchers showed that wearing the EasyTone worked gluteal muscles an average of 28 percent more than regular walking shoes. Hamstring and calf muscles worked 11 percent harder.

After finding the above statement I stopped my search for credible research.  Further along in the NY Time article I found the following…

The shoes are designed only for walking, and because of the instability design, wearers are discouraged from running, jumping and engaging in other athletic activities while wearing them. So the real effect may come from simple awareness that they are wearing a muscle-activating shoe, causing them to walk more briskly and with purpose.

NOTE:  I visited the Reebok website to find out more information about the shoe and I found a collection of exercises that involves all of the discouraged uses of the shoes.  Again look out for marketing, the road to health and fitness is not found through a quick fix.

So there is the answer, by simply wearing these shoes a person is more likely to walk more briskly and with purpose.  Any movement done with conscientious and deliberate thought including washing dishes, chopping vegetables, swinging Kettlebells, lifting weights, and walking briskly will cause an increase in muscle activation of the muscles required to perform the movement.  By simply thinking of a movement your nervous system activates your brain to run the motor program necessary for creating the movement, thus preparing your muscles to move.  So if you want to get better muscles activation when exercising and moving you don’t need any gimmick all you need is your thoughts!

Contact me at jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com to learn more about conscious movement and personal training.

Move to Live, Live to Move,

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

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

To whom it may concern,  

Stayfitanywhere has changed my life in all aspects.  From the old routines of working out where you would target train one body part per workout exhausting your muscles by training hours a day and dreading ever stepping foot in a gym again, to a whole new way of thinking.  The days of working out like a body builder were left back in the 90’s, and now it’s all about the athletic body we all dream of.  Whether you want to stay fit for personal success, look good at the beach, outperform all your colleagues, or be the best athlete to step on the floor, SFA will help you achieve those goals in a fraction of the time.  You don’t have to train 7 days a week, twice a day, kill yourself every session, and worry about counting your calories anymore.  The team at SFA customizes each workout to fit your life style, your goals, and most importantly your abilities leaving you motivated always wanting to come back for more.  

I used to be the guy at the gym you’d see every week for about 3-4 weeks consecutive working out with the same old routine.  Be in there for hours per session exhausting myself to a point where I could barely drive home.  I would feel good; however, I would fatigue and fall off the wagon within a couple of weeks.  After recovering I would come back for the same routine, which ultimately was a cycle of failure.  I would read endless material on the internet to find the next best thing and try to put it to use before I got bored.  I tried all the pills, cut carbs, and even thought about cheating!!  Josh at SFA couldn’t make it any more clear of what to do and how to do it without taking those pills and starving yourself to get the results we dream of.  Now I am the guy you see and wonder how he is so fit in such a short time frame.  Including the warm up, I never spend more than an hour at the gym and sweat like a pig which leaves me energized throughout the day and adds time to complete more daily tasks. Isn’t that what we all want, more time in a day to get done what needs to be done and able to hit the gym?  Results, results, results!!!  It’s one thing if you notice, it’s another when you have random people at the gym asking what and how you do what you do!!!   

When you eat healthy, go to the gym and do what you can, you will see results no matter what.  However if you can maximize the time you have to work out, and eat healthy as much as you can, your results will be 10 times better.  If you’re a rookie with a couple hours to spare a week or a pro and all you do is workout, SFA will definitely revamp your life style and will maximize your results within the given time frame.  My workouts are sports specific, and the main concept I took away was “to be fast you have to train fast.”  My customized workouts took me from an average player to being a contender at winning the scoring title.  Being able to reach levels I never thought were possible, leaves me wanting more and more and gives me hope that I will reach the top level to compete against the best. 

I have been using SFA’s Online Personal Training system as my personal exercise guide for close to a year and I couldn’t be happier with my results.  You can access this tool from any computer and even from your blackberry or iPhone.  It’s a very simple tool that is very user friendly and is easy to navigate through.  They even have videos to show you how to correctly do each exercise.  During my last trip across the UK and South Asia, I was able to log into my account from any computer with internet access and load my personal workouts.  No matter where in the world you are, you will never have an excuse for not working out.  When people talk about working out, your first instinct is to think about the gym.  SFA has the ability to deliver workouts to you in any environment, using your body weight and resistance bands or any other piece of equipment.  This tool helps you record all your activities, whether it’s a customized workout from the SFA team, doing the grouse grind, going for a run, or taking a day off.  An excellent tool when looking back and tracking your results.  Every time you finish your workout, log in to your account and record your activities which allows you to look back and see how your week, month, quarter and even year went. 

I highly recommend SFA’s services to anyone and everyone.  My family, friends, colleagues, and teammates love their services and actually get sick of me talking about how SFA changed my life, till they try it.  They all come back and agree that it will change your way of thinking when working out. It’s made custom for everyone, leaves you wanting more, and most importantly, results are instant.  I couldn’t have gained the results I have gained without the help of these professionals.  They made me realize healthy living is not a hobby, it’s a life style, thank you SFA! 

Andy Saran

andysaran@gmail.com

More and more I find myself watching individuals move and noticing how they are using their body.  I have come to the conclusion that although every person has pretty much an identical physical make-up, each person uses their body very very differently, and no 2 individuals are the same. There are 600 muscles in the human body and it is very interesting to watch how some people are very dominant with certain muscles and much less so in others.  So what does this mean?

When certain movements are performed, there can be certain muscles that act as primary movers as well as synergistic movers (groups of muscles that work together to cause the same movement).  For example, in a push-up, the primary muscle would be the chest, while the main synergists would be the shoulders and triceps.  A very common imbalance with a push-up with many individuals is that while performing the push-up, they are using their body in certain way where the chest is not the primary mover.  Rather, the shoulders and musculature of the arm become the primary movers and the chest and musculature of the upper back become the  synergistic muscles.  And what does this mean?  Imbalanced and inefficient movement!  The chest has the potential to be a big, powerful muscle- just look at the breast muscle of a bird.  Yet, when most people perform push-ups, they are not firing the chest muscles to the potential that they could be.  The other possible danger with imbalanced musculature is joint wear.  Anytime there are imbalanced forces acting around a joint, the joint will wear down prematurely and can lead to arthritis.

So what’s the answer?  Corrective exercise!  This type of training focuses on first addressing imbalances (through an assessment) and identifying the necessary exercises/stretches to correct them.  The next phase is to screen a series of movements (again through an assessment) and retrain the body so that the primary and synergistic muscles are working in an optimally sequential fashion.

Here are other imbalances that I commonly see:

-Over dominance of the quadriceps vs hamstrings.  Most people are very quadricep dominant and have a poor understanding of how to engage the hamstrings while engaging in lower body movements such as squats and lunges.

-Over dominance of upper back musculature vs mid back musculature.  The fact that most people have desk jobs these days puts our bodies into a poor postural position.  The result is that our upper backs are very tight, our shoulders are rounded forward (internally rotated) and our mid-back (mid/lower traps are weak).

The benefits of rebalancing your body through corrective exercise are many:  improved posture, improved biomechanics, reduced injury risk, reduced pain, reduced muscle tightness/pain, improved joint health, and increased bodily energy.  If you are interested in re-balancing your body through corrective exercise, or want to know more, don’t hesitate to contact me.  Having a Stayfitanywhere trainer perform an assessment for you can help easily determine what your imbalances are and steps can then be taken to address them.

Happy (Corrective) Training! 

Andrew Burchell

Advanced Health & Fitness Specialist

aburchell@stayfitanywhere.com

Do you want to make a lifestyle change?  Most of you reading this will say YES.  Are you ready to make a lifestyle change?  Read more to find out.

I first saw the stages of change model in a psychology class I took in University and saw it again in a workshop I took at a Can Fit Pro conference.  The stages of change model is a tool used to assess a person’s readiness to make a change in a particular behaviour.  This model is most often used with drug addicts or alcoholics, but can be used for any behaviour that needs to be changed.

Your lifestyle is a set of behaviours that defines who you are, so in order for a lifestyle change to take place behaviours must change.  If you would like to see a change in your body there are two areas that most people need a behavioural change: Physical Inactivity and Nutrition.  When I look at client’s nutrition habits these are behaviours that most often need to be changed: not eating breakfast, skipping meals, drinking too many calories, and eating highly processed foods.  In terms of physical inactivity the behaviours that usually need to be changed are: too many screens (TV, computer, video games, etc), and work schedule (time management).  All of these things eventually tie together but you can’t change everything at once, it is too overwhelming, it is best to start with one and once you have accomplished one the rest will follow (but only if you choose). 

Is one of the behaviours above the reason you aren’t achieving your ideal body?  Take a look at the condensed model below to see where you fit in.

Stage One: Precontemplation

You have no interest in changing your behaviour because you don’t see your behaviour as being a problem. 

Stage Two: Contemplation

You are aware of the behaviour that needs to change, you are weighing the pros and cons of change. 

Stage Three: Preparation

You have decided to make a change and are researching what it takes to make a permanent change.

Stage Four: Action

You are consciously making decisions to change your behaviour and have strategies in place to help you succeed.

Stage Five: Maintenance

You have made the change and have developed coping techniques to avoid relapsing to your old behaviour.

Stage Six: Termination

You are no longer tempted by your old behaviour.

Relapse

The return from action or maintenance to an earlier stage.

If you took the time to read this you are past the precontemplation stage and are on your way to making a permanent lifestyle change.  Contact me with any questions you may have or if you would like my help in achieving the body you have always wanted!

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

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

A friend of mine Cam Beals posted the following comment on my facebook page the other day: “Hey buddy, heard your StayFitAnywhere ad on the PeakFM today, nice work. If you have any customers that want to work on their stabilizers, legs and traps by using a wheel barrow I can set that up.” If you didn’t get a chance to hear our ad on the radio I have made a video with the ad in the background and you can see it below.

Now back to the wheel barrow, Cam is the owner of University Landscapers (http://www.universitylandscapers.com/) and he is an incredibly hard worker and he expects the same effort he puts in from his employees (much like we expect all of our clients to put in hard work). Cam and his team spend hours shoveling, digging, wheel barrowing, constructing and labouring while they perform installations like rock work and water features. Cam may have been just slightly off with his terminology and anatomy in regards to wheel barrow work (training) but he is certainly right that working with a wheel barrow is an incredible way to train your body.
Below is the breakdown of wheel barrow work in primal movement pattern terms.
1. Loading the wheel barrow (shovel into material) – For the most part shoveling is performed in a split stance position and to get a real good load on your shovel you need to bend down deep (Lunge) while you thrust your shovel (push) into the material.
2. Loading the wheel barrow (shovel to wheel barrow) – The shovel must be brought from the material (pull) and thrown or placed into the wheel barrow (rotation).
3. Lifting the wheel barrow – Bend down to grasp the handles and stand tall (Deadlift).
4. Moving the wheel barrow – While holding the handles you need to walk the wheel barrow to the dump site (gait).
5. Emptying the wheel barrow – Get underneath the handles and use your legs to tip the wheel barrow up on to its end allowing the material to come out (squat and another push)
6. Work (Training) variables – Deadlines (speed), Size of the job (volume and reps), and Terrain and weather (stability)
There are many ways to achieve physical fitness and working with a wheel barrow is definitely one of them, and wheel barrowing allows you to stayfitanywhere. If you would like to set up a workout with Cam and his crew please feel free to contact me, he is looking for a few extra pairs of hands.
Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1
jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com
Monday and Thursday #FitTip at www.twitter.com/stayfitanywhere

The StayFitAnywhere Online Personal Training system was created to give our clients an added service to help them achieve the results they are looking for.  Andrew, Joe, and myself have trained many clients through personal training, group training and bootcamps and have had great results.  But we wanted to give our clients more.  We asked ourselves what were the barriers clients faced when trying to achieve their health and fitness goals?  Time, travel (business/personal), motivation, knowledge, and money.  So we set out to create a system that would  give our clients every opportunity to overcome these barriers.  The StayFitAnywhere Online Personal Training System was developed and continues to develop!  Here are some of the extraordinary features of Stayfitanywhere OPT that address the common barriers clients face  in achieving their fitness goals:

Time –  The Online calendar allows clients to organize and manage their time, while allowing clients to see how often they are accomplishing workouts.

Travel – As long as you have access to the internet you can have access to individualized workouts that can be done anywhere and with whatever equipment/facility you have access to. 

Motivation – An Online Personal Trainer that stays in constant contact through email and individual comments for each exercise to keep you accountable to yourself and your Online Personal Trainer. 

Knowledge – No more wondering what you need to do to accomplish your goals, your Online Personal Trainer will provide you with the answers. 

Money – Each workout costs only $7.99!  Just a little more than a specialty coffee from Starbucks.

No longer will we hear the excuses “I forgot my homework” or “I couldn’t remember that exercise” or “I lost the workout that you typed up for me.”  StayFitAnywhere’s Online Personal Training system gives our clients access to their own personalized workouts, a library of exercise photos and videos, a food journal, and tons of health and fitness resources.  If you have any questions regarding StayFitAnywhere Online Personal Training please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Josh Neumann, BHK, PTS, TSCC-1

jneumann@stayfitanywhere.com

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

Well it’s been over a week since the Olympics have ended. What a fantastic two weeks it was for me. I attended multiple hockey games, mainly the Canada games. If you’ve never been to an international hockey game with your home country playing, there is nothing else like it. The atmosphere, the energy and anticipation from the time they step on the ice for the warm ups till the final buzzer goes. It’s an experience that is indescribable.
Just imagine all the years these athletes have trained, all the sacrifices, all the excuses they could’ve come up with to not reach their goals, but they were determined and motivated and in the end were on the biggest stage.
Along the way, I’m sure they had plenty of personal trainers and advice and suggestions on what they should be doing. Somewhere along the line it just clicked, hard work pays off!
So every time when you think the extra rep or the extra metre or the extra 10 seconds is just too much or it’s beyond what you’re comfortable with, just remember what these athletes go through and look where they ended up.
Everyone can step up and achieve higher results, dig deep. If you can’t push yourself to go the extra step, we at stayfitanywhere surely can!
What’s your next goal? Set it and get it!

~joe - jcheng@stayfitanywhere.com