NIFS Healthy Living Blog

My Slim It team 2014 is called ‘The Blasters’ because we are blasting away the fat! So far my team has an average weight loss of 4 pounds per person and we still have some time left to blast some more. I’m very proud of my team for their hard work and attendance.

Throughout the program my team has learned one of my favorite exercises: the “pushup.”. It is a calisthenics exercise that can be performed anywhere and without any extra equipment needed.

Pushup exercises your whole upper body, including major muscles of the chest, arms, shoulders and your midsection as a whole. It’s a great way to increase your upper body strength and tightening your arms and waist.
For best results make sure to tightening your midsection to create a straight line from your head over your shoulder to your knees (or for advanced ones to the toes). Your whole body is lowered as one unit and also pushed back up as one.

The other thing I like about pushups is the big variety of this exercise. Here are just a few to name some:

• Wide hands pushups
• Narrow hands pushups (diamond or triceps pushups)
• Staggered pushups
• Stability ball pushups
• Wall pushups
• Pushups integrated into a burpee

In the beginning of Slim It, most of my participants performed their pushups with a shorter leverage by performing the exercise on their knees. Now most of them can do this exercise in a plank position. Great progression!

Now drop it and give me 20! 

Regardless of fitness level or goals, almost every member at NIFS could benefit from Group Training or enrolling in a NIFS program. I highly recommend taking the leap! If you are interested in trying a small group or HIT training session contact Tony Maloney today to get started!

This blog was written by Claudia VanArsdall, NIFS Heath Fitness Instructor. Learn more about the NIFS bloggers.

If you are a physically active individual, and I hope you are, at some point you will probably have to deal with an injury. Sprains, strains, pulls and “itis” of any kind at some point is a cost of doing business in fitness and performance. But does it mean that you have to put all progress on hold during the healing process? I believe that injury is not synonymous with inability. Let me explain.

Consult a Doctor for Exercise Injuries with Pain

First and foremost, I am not advocating disregarding any recommendations from your physician. If you feel pain in any movement, which can be discovered in a quick and easy Functional Movement Screen; or maybe you have suffered some kind of acute trauma; you should absolutely consult a doctor about that pain and follow the directions of that health professional. After you have taken those important steps, it’s time to evaluate what you are still capable of performing and put a plan in action that can keep you on track to health and physical fitness. In my personal experience and working with individuals for over a decade, there are ways to continue to progress while you are injured.

Depending on the type of injury (the body part, classification, and severity), you can focus on other aspects of your fitness that will not affect the rehabilitation of the injury.

Injury Scenarios and How to Keep Working Out

Here is a list of common injury scenarios and some tips to continue to get work done. Again, these are all dependent on the type and severity of the injury, and physician recommendations should be followed at all times.

The bottom line is simply that progress does not need to stop due to an injury and that you can focus your attention on parts of the body that are not affected by the injury. Keep it simple: if your arm is injured, focus on the lower body, and perform mainly primal exercises such as squats, lunges, and hinges. I remind you to follow the recommendations of your physician, and at the same time, seek out the advice of your fitness professional here at NIFS to help guide you through an injury.

Tony Maloney is the Fitness Center Manager and leads Group Training Sunday through Thursday. Follow Tony on Facebook. Learn more about the NIFS bloggers.

Name: Daniel Feinstein

Share your story or a bit about yourself in a few sentences:

Losing weight and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be extremely challenging. For me, the exercise piece of the puzzle comes relatively easily; however, I’ve struggled making well-balanced food choices. I am easily tempted by a sporting event or a night on the town, which tends to lead to poor choices.

NIFS programs that you participated in: Summer Showdown, Maintain Not Gain, Slim It to Win It

Why did you join this program?

To win three free months of NIFS membership! All joking aside, I joined for several reasons: to bring a sense of accountability for my fitness results (both to myself and to my team), to learn more about living and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, to meet new friends, and to experience training sessions specifically designed to target fat loss.

Something you have enjoyed:

I really enjoy group training. It fosters an environment where teammates encourage and push each other, oftentimes outside of typical comfort zones.

Something you have learned or something that surprised you:

Not specifically something I’ve learned during Slim It to Win It, but this program helped remind me how important a well-balanced diet is to achieving certain fitness goals (especially fat loss). As I grow older and my metabolism slows, the more I realize how difficult (or nearly impossible) it is to offset poor diet choices by working harder in the gym. 

Favorite exercise from one of the workouts?

I do not have a favorite exercise; however, I really enjoy the fact that each workout is unique and incorporates several themes into one 60-minute session. So far, a typical workout has included dynamic warm-up, core, strength, metabolic, and cool-down.

What accomplishments have you achieved during your training program for Slim It to Win It (or do you hope to achieve)?

I hope to lose a little fat, meet friends, and develop healthy habits.*

What struggles have you encountered? Tips you have learned along the way?

I typically struggle with maintaining a “clean” diet. Using MyFitnessPal to log meals has helped tremendously. In general, making smart meal choices can be difficult when eating off of a menu. Because of this, I have found that planning and preparing my meals (and snacks) really helps.

How do you stay motivated?

I really enjoy working out, but the following tips help me stay motivated:

• Schedule: I view working out as part of my daily schedule; of course, rest days are planned. In any given week I have a schedule with an idea of the type of workout planned each day. I enjoy working out first thing in the morning. My workday can be hectic and exhausting; working out in the morning leaves one less thing to worry about.

• Variety: Variety also plays a big role in staying motivated. I rarely do the same exact workout twice and like to include challenges as part of my workout.

• Goal setting: When setting goals, I rarely make goals related to my physical appearance (maybe I should!). My goals are more fitness related, such as row 2000m in less than XX minutes, do XX pull-ups, et cetera. I find myself continually adjusting my goals as skills and fitness improve.
  
  *Weight loss claims and/or individual results vary and are not guaranteed.

This blog was written by Crystal Belen, NIFS Heath Fitness Instructor. Learn more about the NIFS bloggers.

The Slim It to Win It workout highlighted today focused on a circuit-based, team-style approach. We broke our team into five groups. Each team started on a different exercise and completed 200 repetitions of that particular exercise. The catch was that only one team member could perform the exercise at a time. Once the 200 repetitions goal was met, the team moved on to the next exercise.

The Exercises in Our Circuit-Based Workout

The following exercises made up the circuit:

1. Battle Rope Tom-Toms
2. Medicine Ball Thrusters
3. Halo Pushups
4. TRX Rows
5. Slosh Pipe/jogging laps

This workout is perfect for a Slim It To Win It group for a number of reasons.

Everyone Gets a High-Intensity Workout

One of the biggest challenges of large group training is catering to different fitness levels while maximizing everyone’s results. It is always a priority to keep the intensity high for both seasoned NIFS veterans and newcomers to the program. Splitting the repetition load among teammates allows for different fitness levels to perform a different amount of reps, so all team members can keep their workout intensity at a high level.

A Workout with Just the Right Amount of Rest

Another reason I like this workout is the work-to-rest ratio. Performing the particular circuit exercise to exhaustion allows your partner to get rest time while you work, so you are recovered adequately when your turn is back up. You want to stay moving as much as you can during training, but rest is a very important aspect. The design of this workout allows for rest, but not too much.

A Workout That Emphasizes Camaraderie and Motivation

Finally, this workout has an emphasis on team camaraderie and motivation. While one team member rests, the other can ensure proper technique is being used and provide extra motivation to work together to complete the task.

Training with a group is a proven strategy for sticking with a workout routine and is more economical than one-on-one training. If you are interested in trying a small group or large group training session contact Tony Maloney today to get started!

This blog was written by Ben Norris, NIFS Heath Fitness Instructor. Learn more about the NIFS bloggers.

Stop me if this sounds familiar: “I am terrible at this new workout program. I don’t feel that I am doing it right, and I think I am just going to quit and go back to the familiar.” If you have thought this to yourself, you are not alone. Many people who have started a program have felt this way and have wanted to give up, but I won’t let them give up. I recently found myself on the other side of this process. As a fitness professional it is not easy to accept that you need help moving, and that you can’t do a certain movement or exercise.

Getting Help from a Movement Specialist

I visited a movement specialist to remedy an ongoing shoulder ailment and a newly acquired knee issue. I had to seek an expert because what I was doing just was not getting it done. I was tired of being in pain and not being able to move the way I have grown accustomed to. So I needed some help. I was assessed, and given a program that I was confident would get me back to getting after it in the gym.

I worked with a fitness coach to go over my newfound program and learn how to reset, realign, and fix my body back into shape. But it was not as simple as I thought it would be going in. I felt very confident about my physical abilities, but boy was I mistaken. I KNOW what it feels like to struggle with movement issues and following a program I am not familiar with and feel terrible at. I did not fare very well this day, the first day of a new workout program, and was very frustrated.

Wanting to Go Back to the Old Way

The next week I flew solo with the program to practice and work on the movements, only to build on my frustration and feelings of wanting to go back to the old way of doing things. But it was the old way of doing things that got me in the jam I am in today. Needless to say, I was quite humbled by my inability to pull off what was being asked of me. Now, I am a pretty big believer that a slice of humble pie from time to time is a good thing; it keeps you on your toes and makes you better than you were the day before. But my humility quickly turned to feelings of

• Denial: There is no way I can’t do this; they must be telling me wrong.
• Inadequacy: If I can’t do these movements, what else am I failing?
• Embarrassment: I don't want to be seen by others as struggling.
• Frustration (who am I kidding; I was ticked off): Am I ever going to get better?

Have you ever felt this way when starting a new workout program, job, or lifestyle change? Well, you are not alone! Those are hard emotions to overcome, and they are REAL! I think often during this process that if this is how I (someone who loves to move) feel, these types of feelings can be very high in someone who is just starting out or is at a low fitness level. I truly feel for this individual, and would love to pass on a message to them:

Don’t give up, because the goal is at your reach. But you have to do just that: REACH.

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone, and Get Support

Step out of your comfort zone to propel your progress and get closer to where you ultimately want to be. Seek out others who are experiencing some of the same things and join them in the gym or in a group training session and work together through the hard times. Failing is a staple of life. It’s how you react to it that will determine your path. Will you lie down and accept defeat, or get up and spit in its face? It’s your choice.

I am happy to report that I have continued with the program and have had great gains and am nearly pain free. I am just getting started, though; there's a long road ahead. But it is a road I no longer dread traveling, and humble pie can be a tasty reminder that struggle equals success!

Schedule a Free Fitness Assessment and step out of your exercising comfort zone.

Tony Maloney Personal Trainer. Find out more about the NIFS Bloggers.

Charter member Rick Hurst talks about his favorite activities at NIFS and what has kept him coming back for 25 years. Click here to watch his video.

When utilizing a deload week, it can
sometimes be difficult to understand when to take advantage of it and how to modify your training so that you can come back fully recovered. Your training age, strength levels, and injury history will determine how often you need to take one. The higher your training age, the stronger you are and the more weight that you can lift. If you tend to be injured a lot, a deload week is more important if you want to be successful. 

The three weeks hard, one week deload idea is something that I have added to my programs and have gotten great results from, as well. I use a four-week block system. Depending on where they are at (think off-season or in-season) will dictate if they deload at the fourth week or the eighth week.

Here I outline some general guidelines so that you can take your training and performance to the next level.

Reduce Training Volume

My first recommendation is to drop the total training volume to 60 to 70 percent of what was originally planned. To make things easy, if you had 10 total sets planned, you would only do six to seven total sets for the training session.

Reduce Training Intensity

My second recommendation is to drop the intensity to 60 to 70 percent. So here you would calculate your one-rep max (RM) and work up to only 60 to 70 percent of that 1RM. Let’s say that your bench press is 200 pounds. Then the highest weight that you would lift for the day would be anywhere from 120 to 140lbs. You can reduce both volume and intensity if you are really feeling under-recovered. In this example, if you had 4 x 5 at 80 percent of 200, you would do the following: 

70% of 4 sets = 2.8
(so you would round up and do 3 sets instead of 4 sets)
Instead of doing 80% of 200, which is 160, you would complete 70% of 200, which is 140.
The athlete now would do 3 x 5 at 140 instead of 4 x 5 at 160.

Take Some Days Off or Reduce Training Frequency

The other option is to take a couple of days off or reduce the training frequency. So if you normally train five times per week, maybe come in for three days that week while dropping your volume and intensity to 60 to 70 percent. On the days off, you could incorporate some active recovery, which includes some cardiac output training (keep heart rate between 120 and 150) to help stimulate recovery, or even a mobility circuit. Again, if you are feeling very under-recovered, it might be best to take the day off completely.

Recovery

The biggest benefit from taking a deload week is to give your body a chance to fully recover so that you can stay healthy and come back refreshed and eager to train even harder. The recovery process is just as important as the training process. If you can’t recover properly, that is going to set you up for injuries. 

If you take only one thing from this post, let this be your warning: Don’t wait for something bad to happen that forces you to take time off. Incorporate a deload week as part of your training program so that you can stay healthy longer. Hopefully this post gave you good insight about how to deload properly, stay healthy for a long time, and improve overall performance.

This blog was written by by Josh Jones, MS, CSCS, USAW. Learn more about the NIFS bloggers.

“No Pain, No Gain.” This motto has been forever linked to wellness and fitness. We know that without a little struggle, there will be no progress, but is it really necessary to “bring the pain?”

We do know that when we workout, we create muscle soreness. This is, in part, due to overload of the muscle during exercise or even creating very small tears in the muscle fiber. There is good news though! Your body will repair these muscle tears and become even stronger, allowing you to better handle the workloads of your future workouts.

A concern does arise, however, if significant and repeated tissue tearing is happening frequently; a severe injury or tissue damage could take place. (See this article for more on the hazards of overtraining.) To prevent this from happening, you can start one of several pre-workout rituals, including foam rolling and dynamic stretching. A post-workout stretching is also equally important followed by good nutrition and adequate rest.

Creating a plan of action with a fitness specialist or personal trainer will help you develop a workout that is appropriate for your goals! Yes there may still be some pain at times but it's the gain you'll remember.

Evolve and rejoice,

Thomas

This blog was written by Thomas Livengood, Health Fitness Specialist at NIFS. To find out more about the NIFS bloggers click here.

Foam rolling is the layman’s term for self-myofascial release. What you are doing is giving your muscles and fascia (the connective tissue that runs head to toe in the body) a good massage. If you have had a deep-tissue massage, however, you know it can be painful. This is the only time in the gym that I recommend no pain, no gain. Now, that may seem masochistic, but a little discomfort on the roller can make a world of difference in how you feel as you move after a session.

How Foam Rolling Works

The rollers come in different densities, with softer being gentler. But if you want to break down tight muscles and fascia, you need to need to suck it up and take the pain. Let me explain it this way: When your muscles get stressed, they will tighten up in spots to hold on so they don’t strain or tear. Those spots limit mobility, thus decreasing your ability to move with your max range of motion. When the muscles have been stressed too much, the force will go up or down the chain into the joints (knees, hips, shoulders, etc.). Many times pain is not a result of the joint being damaged; it is from the muscles not being able to do their job.

When you roll on the roller, all those tight spots are the muscles with a little ball, so to speak, of tight fibers. When you roll over those spots, they will release. Over time, with commitment to your rolling, you will feel those spots be less tender and pain will decrease. With a muscle at full strength, you can do more with it in terms of flexibility and strength.

The Basic Foam Roller Exercise

So how is this done? Ideally the body should be warm (although you will break a sweat hitting your sore spots, I can tell you from personal experience).

1. Grab a roller to lie on. You do want to try and hit the entire body. Surprisingly, you will find other spots you did not realize were sore.
2. Move your body over the roller, avoiding bones and joints (those don’t respond to rolling).
3. Make 5 to 10 passes over a muscle (or fascia) and then move to another part of the body.

You can do this after a workout as well to enhance recovery. You may notice you are less sore than when you started—aahh, the body’s way of working things out!

This is great for the day-after muscle soreness you get from a great (or new) workout.

This blog was written by Kris Simpson, BS, ACSM-PT, HFS, and a NIFS Certified Personal Trainer. To find out more about Kris and our other NIFS bloggers click here.

Shoulder Care: The Rotator Cuff

In this post I want to go over the basic anatomy of the rotator cuff, the functions of its parts, and some exercises that can help strengthen your shoulder stabilizers to keep your shoulders healthy. The shoulder tends to be a problem with not only athletes but in the general population as well. The shoulder is one of the most mobile joints we have, so when we are working up the kinetic chain we want to work on its overall stability so that we can protect it from injury.

Anatomy of the Shoulder

First and foremost, the rotator cuff is a group of tendons and muscles in the shoulder connecting the upper arm (humerus) to the shoulder blade (scapula). The rotator cuff’s main purpose is to hold the head of the humerus in the glenoid (shoulder) cavity. Below are the rotator cuff muscles and their main functions.

The muscles in the rotator cuff include the following:    

• Supraspinatus: Abducts the shoulder in the first 30 degrees.
• Infraspinatus: External rotation.
• Teres minor: External rotation.
• Subscapularis: Internal rotation.

 You can remember these using the acronym SITS.

Exercises for Shoulder Stability

Now that you have a basic understanding of the shoulder’s anatomy and functions, let’s go over exercises that help improve strength and overall stability of the shoulder.

Supraspinatus (Abduction)

• Empty Cans
• Incline Bench-Ys (Thumbs Up)

Infraspinatus and Teres Minor (External Rotation/ER)

• Wall Slides―Active ER
• Incline Bench-Ls (Row to ER)

Subscapularis (Internal Rotation/IR)

• Band IR

Grip Strength and Stability

Performing exercises that challenge your grip strength is another great way to improve the stability in the shoulder. These exercises target the entire shoulder instead of focusing on one muscle. Examples here include KB bottoms up variations such as half kneeling single-arm bottoms-up press or bottoms up walk.

Programming

As a strength coach, I deal with overhead and throwing athletes on a daily basis, so keeping the shoulders healthy is a big part of my job. My goal is always to keep the shoulders healthy and strong instead of waiting until they are completely out of competition due to injury. Shoulder care exercises are not just for throwing athletes. These exercises can benefit all athletes and should be integrated into your weekly training program.

The biggest concern that I deal with on a daily basis is fighting overuse injuries. Overuse injuries account for most of the shoulder injuries, and so I have to find a balance to keep their shoulders healthy. My pitchers are required to do some sort of shoulder care each day that they are in. This past year my pitchers were doing mostly supraspinatus strengthening and everyone else did more external and internal rotation exercises.

Depending on what is in your workout for the day, you can complete these either before or after the strength portion of your workout. If you have pressing, pulling, or any overhead exercises, they should be done first to activate the shoulder musculature to reduce the chance for injury. If it is more of a lower-body workout, you can finish your workout with some shoulder care exercises.

Hopefully you now have a good understanding of the importance of shoulder care, the benefits of strengthening your rotator cuff, and how to implement these exercises so that your shoulders can feel better than ever.

This blog was written by trainer Josh Jones, MS, CSCS, USAW, NIFS Center for Athletic Performance. Read more about the NIFS bloggers here.