We continue to boast about the successes of the athletes participating in our training programs, and this week is no exception. We are happy to announce Brad Fortney, Carthage College, has been named to the All Conference Team as a linebacker. Brad completed his last season for Carthage and exits on a high note. He hopes to go on to the next level. Brad is a tireless worker and never stops trying to improve himself. His desire and efforts have made him what he is today. The future looks bright for him and we wish him the best in anyting he does. Congratulations Brad and keep up the good work.

    This week we continue to pursue the components of a successful exercise program. We will be discussing the benefits of lifting weights. There is very little down side to lifting weight and a lot of up side. Some of the msconceptions regarding weightlifting are that people will become too muscle bound and it will limit their movement. People fear hurting themselves from lifting weights. Most of these misconceptions are unfounded. Very few people become so muscle bound they can’t move and even fewer injure themselves. Injuries mainly occur from improper lifting techniques. Lifting weight is something that can’t be avoided in our normal daily lives. We lift groceries, carry infants, and walk up and down stairs. All of these activities require moving a load through space.

    What are the benefits of lifting weight? Increases strength, maintains muscle mass, increases metabolism, and even prevents injury. Having good strength helps us move properly and perform our normal daily activities well. Lifting weight places a demand on our metabolic system and increases the number of calories we burn in order to recover from the activity. If we move better, the risk of falling or injuring ourselves during normal activity is decreased. There is a lot of up side to weight lifting. In order to become muscle bound, like a bodybuilder, requires a lot of work , time, and sacrifice. Very few people are that committed to following  the strict diet and exercise routine required to achieve that type of physique. One other very positive benefit of lifting weights is decreasing the progression of osteoporosis. Lifting in a weightbearing position (standing) can help strengthen bone and/or slow down the progression of osteoporosis.

     What are the types of weightlifting? Lifting free weights i.e. dumbbells, using machines in a gym, and using bodyweight are all ways to to lift. What are the benefits of each of the above ways to lift weight? Lifting free weights simulate more of how we move in space. It requires balance and stability. The components of balance and stability do increase our risk for injury. Using machines decreases the chance for injury and the movements are very isolated. Machines do not simulate the normal functional movements we experince in our normal daily routines. Use of bodyweight is a safe form of exercise and it can be done anywhere. One of the limitations is many of us cannot lift our own bodyweight. It would be safe to assume there is some benefit to being able to lift your own bodyweight.

    When given the information you just received, choosing a weightlifting program requires some thought to what your gaoals are and the type of equipment you have available. Next week we will go more in depth on weghtlifting routines and techniques. Have a good week and keep making us at Kinetic Connections proud. More importantly, make yourself proud.

    We continue to get closer to the official Holiday Season. Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. We have another athlete we would like to recognize, Kelsey Saucerman. Kelsey has worked with us on and off for the last seven years. Kelsey plays softball for Wilmot High School and the Lightning in Salem, Wisconsin. Last Wednesday she signed with St. Cloud, in Minnesota, on an athletic and academic scholarship. Congratulations to Kelsey for her hard work on the field and in school. We look forward to hearing about Kelsey’s achievements when she goes off to college. We are very thankful for the athltes we have been fortunate to work with.

    We mentioned we are getting closer to Thanksgiving and the holiday season. We stated before we were going to cover the key elements to a successful workout program. So far we have covered sleep and diet. Our next topic is the different types of exercise and their benefits. Hopefully, we will give you the  best information to choose the right forms of exercise to make your program successful. For thh next week, think about what you do for exercise and how it benefits you. Next week we will start with the benefits of lifting weights.

Back in a week

    We were unhappy we could not be present yesterday for the speed and agility session and adult training class at Grass Lake School. But, we are happy to say our time was well spent at a symposium on FMS (Functional Movement Screen) and SFMA {Selective Functional Movement Assessment}. We learned some new information and added to our tools to improve our athletes and our training clients. It is always nice to learn something new. We always like to recognize people we train for their achievements and this week we are proud to announce, Laura, in our adult classes, just lost her 50th pound this week. Laura has been working hard on changing her eating habits and keeping with her exercise program. The results have been amazing.

    Last week we said we would review some of the benefits of sleep. Sleep is important in maintaining both physical and mental health. A good night’s sleep increases ones energy level and mental focus. Lack of sleep can cause poor memory, mood swings, and, in extreme sleep deprivation, one can experience hallucinations. Sleep is a key factor in helping the body physically regenerate. This may be one of the reasons teenagers need more sleep. It has been shown in studies certaian hormones affecting tissue growth and muscle regeneration are elevated during sleep. Lack of sleep has been shown to affect the immune system. There has been some research leading towrd lack of sleep decreasing the ability to lose weight. Unfortunately, in todays fast paced society, sleep is difficult to come by. It is something that must be addressed if  you are going to take on a workout program that places high physical demands on you. Many professional athletes have naps scheduled into their days, especially after workouts. That is how important sleep is consideredto be in the high performance world. Just something to think about.

Have a good week!

    It is hard to beleive Christmas is less than 60 days away. It is unofficially the holiday season. Why unofficially? Most people beleive the holiday season starts with Thanksgiving weekend. That may be true, but if you measure the holidays by eating, they actually start with Halloween. Everybody forgets about all the little no-count pieces of candy they eat during and after Halloween. It is time to think about your plans for curbing your eating habits for the holidays. Don’t forget Halloween candy counts. We have already discussed diet and nutrition a little. Try setting up a plan now for the holidays and stick to it. Our next topic regarding a fitness plan is going to be sleep. We will cover exercise last, as it is a large topic to examine.

    Sleep is a very important, but often neglected necessity in life. Sleep is important in rejuvinating our bodies and our minds. Sleep deprivation creates many physical and mental symptoms. The diagnosis of sleep apnea is occurring more and more. Fortunately, it is treatable. Insomnia , interrupted sleep, and just plain old lack of sleep have all become more commonplace in society. The results of these problems with sleep have taken their toll on us physically and in our personal performances. What are the physical and mental problems that arise from sleep disoerders? How much sleep is enough? What can we do to improve our sleep? We will answer rhese questions next week.

    Next Saturday, 11/5/11, we will not be holding our speed agilty session at Grass Lake School. Our staff will not be available. We will resume on Sunday morning, 11/6/11, at 7:30 a.m. Contact us if you have any questions. Have a good week.

    Life can be weird in how things work. Two of us are physical therapists, and the majority of the time we see rehabilitation patients. I happen to be one of those physical therapists. On occasion, not all of the time, we receive a patient who is preparing for an event, i.e. a mrathon or in this case, an Iron Man. My story is about a patient who came to our office with a diagnosis of hip pain. Not much of a diagnosis, because it only describes her symptoms, not the cause. Anyway, her pain appeared very specifically while running. After much history taking and assessment, we determined she had hip pain brought on by poor running mechanics. The poor running mechanics were not because she was a poor runner, rather, an isolated weaknes that became more apparent as she fatigued. We set up a program for her to follow and worked on her symptoms in therapy. She felt better and disappeared early in the summer. I wrote down only the name she went by, Maggie, not her real name, and not her last name. I figured I would remember her real name in the fall when the Iron Man took place in the fall. Well, true to form, I couldn’t remember her name for the life of me. Just last week, I started trying to figure a way out to see if she finished. I just figured I would look up results for participants from Antioch, that didn’t work. The results were by country. Anyway, just as I gave up, guess who walked in our office and left a picture of herself at the finish in Madison? Maggie. On the back it read, “I am an Iron Man.” These are the little things as a trainer and physical therapist that make it all worth while. These are the things that motivate me to keep doing things that may seem a little bit impossible. That was Maggie’s first Iron Man. She is married, works, and has two little children. She is no different than you or I.

    We have been reviewing the key components to a successful exercise program. The last two weeks we covered diet/nutrition. The information covered was very basic. There is a ton of information in all forms out there. Use the resources if you want to know more, or, you can always contact us with questions. We are going to start to cover exercise. This is a very broad term. Think about exercise and we will start on this topic next week.

Have a good week