by Martha Hicks Leta
“Regardless of what your challenges are, just walk through the door,” assures Myers. “And life becomes beautiful all over again.”
After Lisa Myers received her breast cancer diagnosis five years ago and endured the long and difficult course of treatments, she wasn’t sure if she could trust her body again to carry her back to fitness level she dreamed of.
Filed under Cancer Patients, Diet, Exercise, Health, Our Incredible Clients
By Frank Francis Trainer Fitness Together North Andover
I woke up the last two mornings feeling like I’ve been through a war. Thanks to DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness); this morning was worse than yesterday.
Like so many of us, I’m really sore after a very tough workout. It doesn’t happen to this trainer very often to have this level of soreness. But this was no simple run or strength workout in the gym. This is the result of climbing a massive mountain about 20 times. So my calves, hips, hamstrings, and my ass are killing me. In addition to my muscles aching, I have cuts and bruises on my elbows and knees. My ankles are very unstable from twisting them both; I rolled my left one once and my right one twice. My right knee is tender after jumping off of a 12 foot wall that I had to scale with no rope or things to hold on to. My back feels like I did a back flop into an empty pool. The soon-to-be scar on my shoulder is from crawling through mud while under barbed wire. And lastly, I have a massive gash on my left shin from when I fell running through electrical wires that zapped me with about 10,000 volts of electricity. The crazy part is I signed up for this!
This is the incredibly difficult event known as the Tough Mudder; a 10 mile obstacle course consisting of around 25 physically and mentally draining obstacles on Mt. Snow in Vermont.
These adventure obstacle courses (or mud runs) have grown in popularity over the last few years. Nothing against running, biking or triathlons, but these courses attract everyone from athletes to weekend warriors to those of us who just want to relive our youth and play in the mud. It’s a challenge but it is also different. I think that is what the appeal is. Many of the courses are around 5K (3.1 miles). Several of my friends and personal training clients have done the Warrior Dash in recent years. Last year, the bug bit me when I did one called the Spartan Race; which I will be doing again on August 11th in Amesbury, MA. Back in May, I did a unique twist on the obstacle craze called Run For Your Lives; the same idea as Warrior or Spartan, except you are being chased by “zombies”. But Tough Mudder was a different animal. As a personal trainer, it was the most physically demanding activity that I have ever done. My high school football coaches may not want to hear that. But it’s true.
You started by getting a massive pep talk from one of the TM staff members. He told us that the Tough Mudder is not a race, but a challenge. He wasn’t kidding, but on a competitive level I still cared about my time. For us all to put teamwork and camaraderie before our own individual course time. To help my fellow Mudders complete the course. And most of all, overcome all fears.
Then you run up the massive mountain. For one, Mt. Snow is very steep and I was running up that bad boy several times over. After the first climb, I saw many people dropping to a knee trying to catch their wind. It’s going to be a long day for them. After reaching the top, you start your first run back down. At the bottom lies your first obstacle aptly titled “The Arctic Enema”. Picture a 20 foot long dumpster filled with ice cold water and a plywood wall with barbed wire on top of it in the middle. Now this wouldn’t be so bad given the 85-90 degree heat. Dump trucks are unloading hundreds of pounds of ice into it, keeping the water at a brisk 35 degrees. You then must jump in, submerge yourself completely underwater and swim through a hole in a wall, then pulling yourself up. I jumped in and it wasn’t too bad, given that I was the temperature of a super cold Coors Light. When I had to dive underwater and go through the man-size hole in the wall, my arms tensed up where I couldn’t move them as my muscles just seized from the cold. One of my fellow Mudders said it was like
eating an ice cream cone while getting kicked in the nuts. After pulling myself out, I started back up the hill again. And this was only the first mile.
Throughout the course, there were pits of thick mud you had to tread yourself through. Then there was barbed wire that was only about 12 inches above the ground so you had to army crawl under it to get past it. Later there were small bodies of water that you must get over. One had monkey bars as the only way to get across the lake. If you haven’t been on monkey bars since you were a little kid, they are incredibly difficult to do as an adult. Another had a vertical cable that went from one side of the lake to the other and you must wrap your legs around and pull yourself across. Another had a balance beam you must walk across, once again, over ice cold water. Then you had to Walk The Plank as you jump off a 20 foot high platform into water and swim to shore. I’m a good swimmer, but even this was tiring after everything else that was thrown at me. There were also cargo nets to climb. Dark tunnels you had to crawl through. A quarter mile trek up and down the mountain while carrying a massive log. Walls to scale without the aid of a rope. In addition to the cold water, there was fire you had to run through.
The two most difficult obstacles were ironically the two final obstacles. The first was Everest. Picture a large 15 foot high half-pipe like you would see Tony Hawk skateboarding on during the X-Games. You had to run up this thing! It was slick from the mud, water, and God knows what else from your fellow Mudders. Since all Mudders help each other, you made some fast friends as they could help you best the obstacle by helping you if needed. You then return the favor and help someone else up.
The last was called Electroshock Therapy. Now I had already been zapped by some electric wires already today. Once while army crawling through watery mud in an event called the Electric Eel and once again in a pitch black room called Dark Lightning. This last obstacle was simple: run through the hundreds of wires dangling down as you ran through about 12 inches of water and some small foot hills and cross the finish line that was just a few feet after the obstacle. The electric current was cranked up to 10,000 volts. I covered my face with my scraped up arms and ran full speed through it. As I got zapped over and over again, I just kept my feet moving. Finally I reached the end of the obstacle and got a jolt so strong, that it knocked me right on my ass. It must have looked like I ran into a brick wall. I got a huge gash on my left shin, but I picked myself up, ran across the finish line, and let out a massive war scream as I completed the course.
Now as I mentioned, your time wasn’t kept for the race and your goal was to just complete the damn thing. But I went in with a more specific goal regardless. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for time. A former client of mine ran one in May and told me he completed the course in 5 hours. I went in with the goal of going in at 4 1/2 hours. My race group started at 12:20pm, I crossed the finish line at 3:47pm; 3 hours and 27 minutes. I was impressed. More than that, I was exhausted. I pounded an FRS energy drink, a banana, a half-gallon of water, 32 oz. of Gatorade, and a Myoplex protein shake upon completion. I then drove 3 hours home and woofed down an entire pizza and passed out in bed not long after.
Tough Mudder may have been my most difficult obstacle course I have attempted, but it will not be my last. If I can conquer this, I can do anything!!!! I still have Spartan next month and am already thinking about how I am going to challenge myself even more next year!
To read about our other FT participants in the Tough Mudder, Team Boom Factor, and see more pictures from the earlier event, check out this previous post.
___________
Frank Francis is a personal trainer and small group fitness instructor at Fitness Together North Andover located at 73 Main Street North Andover.
FTNorthAndover.com | Facebook | Twitter: @FT_NorthAndover | #978.659.0047
To find a Fitness Together Studio near you, check out FTGetsResults.com
by Frank Francis FT North Andover
I’m going to get this out of the way now so I don’t need to address it later. Male or female, you need to strength train to efficiently lose weight and keep it off.
Sure, you can lose weight by starving yourself and walking for 2 hours a day. But once you step off the treadmill and eat like a normal human being, the pounds you dropped will come back; usually with reinforcements. Cardio doesn’t build muscle. Eating 1000 calories a day doesn’t either. Weight training and proper nutrition adds muscle and burns calories while you are in the act AND when you are done with your workout. How much muscle you have is the ONLY factor you can control when it comes to how fast your metabolism works. You thyroid either works or it doesn’t. Fat-burner pills are over-priced garbage with false claims. 1 lb of lean muscle burns an average of 50 calories a day at rest. Build muscle and you will turn your body into a fat burning furnace. Got it? Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s move on.
When I tell my male clients that we’re going to be lifting heavy that day, I usually get very little fight against the notion. In other words they don’t put up much resistance…
HAHAHAHA GET IT?
“RESISTANCE?” Gotta love trainer humor! Anyway, as I mentioned in my “big arms” blog, guys like to get in touch with their inner meat-head by lifting big weights. Women on the other hand can be against the concept at first.
I often hear of women having a fear that lifting weights will “bulk them up” or give them shoulders like The Incredible Hulk. Ladies, you need to understand a simple concept. As we all age, your body is either going to add fat or add muscle. Which would you prefer? Would you rather have something that looks nasty and burns 5 calories a day or look healthy and fit with something that burns 10x as much?
Oh and just for the record, PLEASE stop saying you want “long and lean muscles”. That drives me absolutely batty! For starters, muscle tissue is lean anyway! Hence the term: LEAN BODY MASS. Keep in mind, by adding muscle, you will look leaner. Muscle also helps to pull your skin tighter, as long as you keep up with good eating and cardio as well to burn the excess fat.
So here’s what happens. Muscle hypertrophy (growth) occurs when lifting a weight that is challenging for 8-12 reps. When you use light weights, that signals your body that you don’t need to recruit more muscle tissue to work. By using heavier weights, you will recruit more muscle fiber to engage thus burning more calories and getting stronger. You will most likely be a bit sore the next day; remember that feeling? Being sore is a good thing! It means your metabolic rate is elevated as your body recovers from the previous workout.
One of the biggest factors of why anyone builds muscle is testosterone. It is easier for men to add muscle due to how much testosterone we produce. However the average woman produces around 10% the amount of testosterone as her male counterpart. Which means that unless a woman is taking extra testosterone (i.e. steroids) and eating 4,000 calories per day, she will not get enormous muscles. Even when performing compound lifts that can naturally elevate your testosterone (like the squat or deadlift), you can lift safely, add muscle, and not worry about turning into She-Hulk
You WILL develop muscle! Focus on that combined with your cardio and proper nutrition and you will get the tone without the bulk!
In my near 13 years as a trainer, I think it’s safe to say that probably 65% of my personal training clientele has been women. As for more than vast majority of them, when their weights go up, their body weight goes down! Most recently I had a woman in her 50s who squatted 135 lbs. Guess what? She looks and feels GREAT!!!! She walked out of our session that day like she was about to conquer the world! She even Tweeted about it! She was so proud of her accomplishment! It is moments like this that remind me why I love being a trainer!
In closing, ladies, hit the heavier weights and hit ‘em hard! The only thing you have to gain is strength, increasing your muscle tone, and having more rapid body fat loss than a woman who does minimal lifting and excessive cardio. Not to mention how much confidence you will have when you walk out of the gym that day!
When lifting heavier weights learn proper technique first! Always seek proper guidance from an expert so you perform movements safely and correctly.
__________
Frank Francis
Personal Trainer & Small Group Fitness Instructor | FT North Andover
With nearly a decade of personal training experience to his credit, Frank brings his passion for health and fitness to North Andover after 4 years at the Concord FT location. Frank’s workouts are always challenging, different and actually fun! By taking traditional “old school” weight-lifting mixed in with the latest in functional core training to give you the best workout of your life. The workouts can consist of bodyweight exercises, plyometrics, and a variety of fitness modalities to achieve maximum results. Frank also has the ability to work with all ages and fitness levels from ages 8 to 88! As a trainer, Frank holds his clients accountable to their goals through consistency with their training sessions, doing the necessary cardio, and proper nutrition by keeping a food journal. He believes that no matter how busy one’s day can be, exercise can (and should) be incorporated. Degrees/Certifications: • Bachelor’s of Science in Exercise Science from Salem State College • National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM): Certified Personal Trainer • Aerobics & Fitness Association of America (AFAA): Certified Personal Trainer • National Exercise Trainers Association (NETA): Certified Personal Trainer
Fitness Together North Andover is located at 73 Main Street North Andover, MA. ph.978.659.0047 Facebook | Twitter: @FT_NorthAndover | Frank’s blog on Patch.com
Filed under Exercise, Fitness, Fitness Tips, Trainer Info, Trainer Tips, Weight Gain, Workout
Are you up for earning a $100 gift card? Then take the Great Jeans Challenge at Fitness Together studios across Eastern New England.
Participating studios include:
Amesbury/Newburyport MA | Arlington MA | Belmont MA
Burlington MA | Cambridge MA | Cohasset MA
Dedham MA | Hingham MA | Lexington MA
Newtonville/Auburndale MA | North Andover MA
Norwell MA | Providence RI | Weston/Waltham MA
Westborough MA
(The visual below is from the Challenge being run at the Fitness Together studios in Cohasset, Dedham, Norwell and Westborough. Please check with your local FT Studio to see if they are still running the challenge and their specifics of the program — start/end dates, special deals, etc. A full list of Eastern New England Fitness Together Studios can be found at FTGetsResults.)
Not only will our FT trainers guide your exercise to get you down 2 sizes, they have a pulled together a whole nutritional program. In fact, check out the recipes FT will have you dining and snacking on during the eight weeks.
The fine print, or rather, the Rules of the Challenge:
Filed under aerobic, Discounts, Great Jeans Challenge, Pack Training, Special Deals, Studio Specials, Weight Loss
by Martha Hicks Leta
Ladies, here’s a little experiment you can try the next time you’re in mixed company. Say the word “Menopause” just once and see how long it takes for every guy within earshot to jump out a window. Yes, even in these times where everything TMI goes you can still cause a decent stampede by muttering the ‘M’ word under your breath. Here, try this: click your heels together, twirl around and say it three times: “Menopause! Menopause! Menopause!” Are they gone? Good. Let’s talk.
For men and women alike the signs of aging (much like taxes and colonoscopies) are something we’d rather avoid. But for women, menopause can be more enduring and unpleasant and leave a girl feeling pretty isolated and embarrassed. How so? Let’s just say, if Steven King ever invents an amusement park ride he could call it, “Menopause,” though it wouldn’t be terribly amusing. Among the 34 symptoms women have to look forward to as we age are hot flashes, night sweats, incontinence, weight gain, loss of muscle tone, confusion, hair loss (everywhere but your face, where you’ll actually get more), mood swings, sudden bouts of bloat, changes in body odor and something we’ll just refer to euphemistically as “dryness.” Horrifying, right? It certainly explains the crying jags that can go with all that.
Until about ten years ago the consensus among the medical community was that hormone replacement therapy or HRT, usually in the form of progesterone, was the best way to treat symptoms. But that consensus shifted when clinical trials showed that the treatment posed more risks than benefits and doctors began shying away from its use, particularly for the long term. This left a growing population of women without much support in finding solutions.
Sullivan signed onto the program and followed her trainer’s advice for a complete lifestyle overhaul, incorporating regular cardio, weight training and a new diet plan. Before long she was feeling and looking like a new woman. “By changing my diet I was able to balance my sugar levels, get a handle on mood swings and reduce cravings. By losing weight, my sleeping improved and my stress level lessened. By removing wine from my diet I was able to reduce the hot flashes significantly. I lost 25 pounds and the training put me back to where I was at 30.”
Sullivan was so thrilled with the positive impact FT was having on her life, she decided she wanted to own her own studio. Within a year she was able to acquire Fitness Together in North Andover and she hasn’t looked back since.
While Sullivan says her extensive marketing and business skills have helped her success enormously, it is her life-changing experience as a former FT client that she values most, particularly when it comes to dealing with women who are feeling overwhelmed by the challenges of aging.
“I’ve had women come to me because they find regular gyms to be too intimidating, but they’ve gotten to a point where they’re embarrassed by the changes in their bodies and need to do something. As some women start sharing their particular menopause challenges and I start sharing mine, they just open up and feel comfortable telling me everything that’s happening. I also share my journey and where I am now and the work it takes. They don’t find this type of support in a typical gym environment.”
Sullivan takes the extensive knowledge she’s acquired from reading and attending lectures and shares it with her clients. She recommends women have their FSH levels tested as well as getting a bone density benchmark to determine the proper amount of dietary calcium needed. “Last but not least, I recommend whenever possible that women manage their systems through nutrition and not hormone replacement therapy because of the link to cancers in women.”
As Sullivan’s research will tell you, various studies on the effects of menopause show strong indications that exercise is the best way to manage symptoms.
Says Michael D. Brown, PhD, a co-author and associate professor of kinesiology at Temple University’s College of Health Professions. “Given the controversy with HRT, postmenopausal women can now use aerobic exercise and weight training to lower chemical stress levels, thus reducing risk factors for chronic disease.”
Ideally, women should get in shape and stay in shape before menopause hits to lessen the dreaded list of symptoms. But if you’re already there, it’s not too late to get with the program.
For more information on exercise and menopause go to Mayoclinic.com
To schedule a consultation with Maureen Sullivan at Fitness Together in North Andover call 978-659-0047 or go to Fitness Together North Andover
To find a Fitness Together near you go to FTGetsResults
Filed under Aging, Diet, Fitness, Fitness Tips, Health, In Good Health, Menopause, Trainer Tips
On Wednesday, June 22, 2011 – Fitness Together-North Andover and the American Diabetes Association raised awareness on the importance of health and wellness to the employees at Parlex Inc. in Methuen, Ma.
One of the biggest fitness challenges working people face is in simply making the time to fit in the workouts. We tell ourselves our jobs just take up too much time to leave room for exercise, so we let it go year after year as the pounds pile on and our health diminishes. On top of that, job stress often leads to hypertension, overeating, depression and diabetes. So when you stop and think about it, doesn’t it makes more sense to invest time and money in maintaining or improving wellness before it turns into chronic illness? Here are a few figures if you need convincing:
In the United States Diabetes treatment results in direct medical costs of $116 billion. The individual diagnosed with diabetes can expect to have medical expenses 2.3 times higher than for the average individual without diabetes. The indirect costs, factoring in disability, work lost and premature mortality are $58 billion.[iv] In economic terms, the burden associated with disability, loss of life and related complication affects not just the person with the illness, but employers, fellow workers and family members.
The good news is that type 2 diabetes, stress and hypertension can be controlled and managed through diet, exercise, and losing excess weight.
This is the message brought to workers at Parlex Inc. in Methuen by Maureen Sullivan, owner of Fitness Together in North Andover, and her manager, Adam Genetti, along with Sara Dacey of the American Diabetes Association. Over the course of three lunch shifts Adam spoke with around 40 employees about the positive impact improved fitness can have on quality of life, whether it’s at home or at work. They also shared information about the Fitness Together Type 2 diabetes program and strategies for preventing or managing the disease as well as other illnesses impacted by obesity and inactivity.
Parlex Human Resources Administrator, Carolyn Fritchy says, “Even if the presentation impacted at least one employee, that’s potentially saving one life.” Fritchy also says she’s hoping to get at least 3 test participants to show that “that exercise and changing your dietary habits can certainly impact your health and save the company money.”
As more companies in the United States begin connecting the dots between wellness and productivity, improvements in presentee-ism and the bottom line will yield positive results on the population and the economy.
If your company is interested in having the ADA and Fitness Together representatives speak to your employees on the importance of wellness, please contact Martha Leta at 508-846-6173 or email marthaletaFT@aol.com
If your company would like more information on the Fitness Together Type 2 diabetes wellness program, please contact Steve Lichtman directly at 781-572-1002 or email at stevelichtman@fitnesstogether.com If your company is in the Merrimack Valley area, you can contact Maureen Sullivan or Adam Genetti directly at 978-659-0047 or email at maureensullivan@fitnesstogether.com. In Rhode Island contact Matt Gagliano at 401-529-8244 or email at matthewgagliano@fitnesstogether.com
Fitness Together Raises More Than $50,000 for Battle Against Diabetes
Company also provides trainers to help people with diabetes.
By Bryan McGonigle for North Andover Patch April 7, 2011
Fitness Together has raised more than $50,000 for the American Diabetes Association of Eastern New England.
“A lot of people can raise money, support a good cause, and call it a day,” Maureen Sullivan, owner of Fitness Together in North Andover, said. “But that’s not what Fitness Together had in mind when we signed up to support the ADA chapter.”
Fitness Together is a network of 43 Fitness Together franchised studios throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. The franchises banded together and sponsored the ADA’s “STEP OUT: Walk to Fight Diabetes” campaign to raise the funds and surpass their goal of $50,000.
“We also wanted to invite people living with type 2 diabetes into our studio to offer personal, tailored and safe exercise and nutrition guidance that could improve their lives for the better.”
So the group has enlisted 35 people with type-2 diabetes across eastern New England for their type 2 diabetes observational studies. Fitness Together is tracking the impact of a fitness and nutrition program on their clients’ type-2 diabetes over six months.
The company announced that the program has been so successful that the enrollment period to add more study participants has been extended to the end of the year.
“We have seen dramatic transformations both physically and emotionally,” Maureen said. “This isn’t just about losing weight. It’s about battling an illness in a smart, responsible and healthy manner.”
For more information about the Fitness Together’s type-2 diabetes study, contact Adam Genetti at Fitness Together North Andover, 73 Main St., at 978-659-0047. You can also visit their Web site or email maureensullivan@fitnesstogether.com.
Our Fitness Together Type 2 Diabetes Program is available in all our Northern New England studios. For more information, please go [ here ] or to FTGetsResults.com
Filed under Diabetes, Fitness, Health, Step Out For A Cure, Type 2 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes Study
Get Healthy, Lose Weight and Lower Your A1C
Fitness Together has openings for 20 people with type 2 diabetes to participate in our 26 week type 2 diabetes fitness study. Upon acceptance, we will subsidize 50% on our complete 6 month program (you will save up to $2,500).
Your program includes:
Call Your Local New England FT Studio Today – Enrollment Period Ends 12/31/10
FT Locations with openings for Type 2 diabetes candidates:
Andover
Lisa Swanson 978-623-8181
166 N. Main St.,Ste 3A Andover MA
Arlingon
Ross Hadfield 781-316-8500
37 Broadway Arlington MA
Beverly
Heather Liaboe 978-922-3636
950 Cummings Ctr., Ste 98X Beverly MA
Boston – Back Bay
Michael Morris 617.247.3900
36 Newbury St. Boston MA
Boston – South End
Bob Zadrozny 617-262-0021
321 Columbus Ave., Ste 2F Boston MA
Brookline
Radovan Serbula 617-232-2297
1404 Beacon St. Brookline MA
Canton
Mark Donnellan 781-828-2232
575 Washington St. Canton MA
Lexington
Kerri Powers 781-862-1175
433 Marrett Rd. Lexington MA
Melrose
Scott Batchelar 781-665-8282
445 Franklin St. Melrose MA
Middleton
Melanie Braswell 978.646.9188
149 S. Main St. Middleton MA
Newburyport
Sean Stellmach 978-961-0335
80 State St. Newburyport MA
Newton Centre
Mike Ruggiero 617-641-9588
796 Beacon St. Newton Centre MA
North Andover
Maureen Sullivan 978-659-0047
73 Main St. N.Andover MA
N. Attleboro
Jerry Espinosa 508.699.2999
429 S. Washington St. N. Attleboro MA
Reading
Tom Lavoie 781-944-3232
137 Main St. (RTE 28) Reading MA
Wayland
Josh Rosenfeld 508.653.3848
44 Main St. Wayland MA
Westwood
Eric Urbanowicz 781-251-3399
930 High St. Westwood MA
Winchester
Geoff Muller and John Howland 781-721-9996
605R Main St. Winchester MA
Providence
Aaron Atwood 401-369-7660
145 Elmgrove Ave. Providence RI
To view videos on our Type 2 Diabetes Study and Program, go here.
For more information on the study and program go here.
Filed under Diabetes, Discounts, Type 2 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes Study
FT Gets Results 