December has started and there are only 21 days til Christmas. Keep us in mind when thinking outside the box for Christmas gifts. We would love to be part of your fitness plans or for somebody you know in 2012. Give the gift of health, hire a trainer, be part of an exercise group, or send your athlete to speed and agility. We’re available for all of the above. Contact us, we can discuss how we could fit into your fitness plans for next year for you or somebody you know.

    We continue our discussion on resistence training and this week we tackle the use of  bodyweight and other resistive devices. It always amazes me that young people want to go right to the weights and see how much they can lift. Surprisingly, most can’t perform a proper push-up or situp. Our most convenient piece of resistive equipment  is our body and most Americans can’t even lift that well. A workout using bodyweight can be very challenging and create quite a physique. Some of the more trendy workouts are going old school and using bodyweight as their form of resistence, the main variable is how they challenge the person working out. A good example is the P90X workout. People who follow the discs as prescribed have seen tremendous results. Some of the basic moves using bodyweight are the push-up, the situp, the leg raise, the squat, and the lunge. These exercises can be done anywhere and they can be modified to accommodate any ability. You can change the angle of a push-up from a wall push-up, to a table push-up, to a chair push-up, to a floor push-up. Squats and lunges are an important part of our functional lives. If done properly, they are not hard on the knees. Sit-ups can vary from small curl-ups, to roll-ups to crunches, to full sit-ups. The sraight leg raise can be done on a single extremity in all planes, front, side. back, across, depending on your body position. It’s not hard. Mastering control of your bodyparts and good movement patterns is a good way to start. It helps your normal activities of daily living.

    There are some ways to challenge use of your body that use resistence bands, Swiss balls, Pilates reformers, tilt boards, gliders, etc., etc. We will review the use of these resistence devices more in depth next week.

Have a good week!

    Another Thanksgiving under our belts. We hope you all had a chance to run in a Turkey Trot or play in a Turkey Day football game with family and friends. It is time to try to get a jump on your New Year’s Resolution and lifestyle changes. We are going to continue with our discussion on weightlifting routines.

    As we discussed last week, resistence can be in the form of free weights, weight machines, or body weight. The first thing to think about is what are your goals for weightlifting? Would you like to become stronger? Would you like to be more toned? Or, would you like to develop a more chiseled, musclebound body? Answers to these questions dictate the intensity (% maximal repetition) you lift, the number of repetitions per set, and the number of sets per exercise performed. Most routines would benefit from mixing up all of the above variables to avoid adaptatation to the routine. Adaptation basically means the body accommodates to the stress placed on it and no longer improves its ability to progress. Adaptation is the reason people who do the same routine day in and day out can’t lift more, run further, or do more over time. Often, people who perform the same routine and don’t change the variables, see a decline in their performance over time.

    When lifting weights, the intensity is often defined by the one rep. maximum. The one rep. maximum is simply the amount of weight you can lift in a lifting exercise i.e. bench press, one time only and no more. Lifting routines are usually based on percentages of the one rep. maximum and the number of repetitions. Phases of weightlifting programs are set in 4-6 week phases. The variables of the phases are changed every 4-6 weeks to prevent adaptation and encourage improvement. The three phases most commonly referred to in weightlifting are the hypertrophy phase, the strength phase, and the power phase.

    The hypertrophy phase is loosely outlined as the phase of weightlifting that recruits muscle fiber. The sets range from 3-5 set of 10-12 reps./set at 60-80% one rep. maximum. When starting out, people usually notice rapid improvement in the amounts of weight they can lift. After the early phases of the hypertrophy phase it’s, “Game on!” Improvements slow down and coninue to be harder to achieve. It takes a strong mind set to continue on and push yourself.

    The next phase is the strength phase ,which again, is loosely outlined as the phase where you gain real strength. It is harder with sets remaining the same at 3-5 sets, but repetitions and resistence change. Repetitions decrease to 6-8 and percent one rep. maximum increases to 80-90% one rep. maximum. The muscle fibers recruited in the hypertrophy phase become stronger during this phase.

    The power phase is the phase where you push yourself to extremes.  Lifting techniques become more explosive and muscle becomes more explosive. During this phase repetitions are dropped to 1-3 reps. for 3 sets at 90-95% one rep. maximum. This is a very stressful phase and very uncomfortable. Getting through a workout in the power phase is quite empowering.

    The last variable to discuss during these phases of weightlifting is the rest period. During the hypertrophy phase the rest period is short at 30-60 seconds. The rest period during the strength phase is moderate at 60-90 seconds. And, during the power phase, recovery is full at 2-3 minutes between sets.

    The above principles can be applied to either a free weght or fixed weight program. Honesty and effort are required in setting the one rep. maximum. The rest is easy, just plug in the formula.

    Next week we address bodyweight strengthening and use of other resistive devices.

    For those participating in our weekend workouts at Grass Lake School, we will not be holding a session on Sunday, December 4th. We will hold our Saturday session. Any questions, call 847-395-6100.

    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!