Running Videos

Coach Jay Strength Running Videos

Back Routine

Lunge Warm Up

Pedestal Routine

Medicine Ball Routine

Staying Hydrated and Fresh with Smart Water and Travel Stick

There's no doubt about it, we are water! According to the Global Healing Center Approximately 85% of your brain, 80% of your blood and 70% of your muscle is water. That is alot of water to keep us smart, healthy, and strong!

One of my good friends and buisness entrupenuer Terri Michealson just introduced me to Smart Water. As an athlete I know how important hydration is to performance. In the morning I start off with a 8 oz glass of water before I go out for a run. I wil often bring water with me, because thirst is not always a good indicator of whether or not your body needs water. Also, to get the maximum benefits from all the hard work and sweat loss that comes from training, you need to replenish with water and a proper diet. Lastly, to keep your body healthy you should aim for at least 2 liters of water a day.

Find out more at drinkperfectwater.com

Terri is also the developer of travel stick, an eco friendly travel lotion! Amazing! She is such a wonderful person please check out what she has to offer at:

http://www.travelstick.com/index.php

Resistance Training for Older Adults

Isn’t it great that in our society today so many people are living longer? According to the U.S. Census bureau, the average lifespan today is 78. Within 50 years they predict that lifespan could increase to 100! An important part of living longer is maintaining a healthy lifestyle is through resistance training. Not only is resistance training important for older adults there are also many advantages.

First, many scientists believe that strength training counters the aging process. This is due to the fact that strength training is the only way to stop the muscles from atrophy or wasting away because of non-use. The best way to strengthen bone is to stimulate the muscle that pulls on them, participate in weight bearing activities, and eat a healthy diet.

Second, strength training keeps the muscles strong and helps keep physical independence.It can increase functional capacity and improves leg gait, power, and balance. A person’s posture can also be improved through strength training. Arthritic pain is relieved through the lubrication and nourishing of the joints by strengthening the muscles around the joint. Strong, more resilient muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage protect joints from injury.

Thirdly, resistance training will create a leaner body or increase muscle mass which allows the body to burn more calories. In order to do this work must be done at an optimal intensity for strength gains to be seen. When this happens older bodies can be kept physiologically younger than chronological age.

In conclusion, it is important to continue or start resistance training as an older adult.Strength training reduces atrophy, keeps the muscles strong, and creates a leaner body mass. It is important that as we age we continue to work, challenge our bodies, play, and live a long and healthy life.

Here's a photo of my grandfather and I. He is 82 years old, still strength trains and exercises daily! Besides lifting dumbbells,some of his weight training routines include numerous ammounts of splitting wood, gardening, capentry, and plumbing. He likes to walk daily, work in his vegetable gardens, and drink tea. He lives in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, and Babies!

Did you know that diabetes affects 90-95% of the American population? With this growing percentage it is important as a personal trainer to understand how to help! Regular fitness is an important aspect of managing and preventing diabetes.

For an example, let’s look at a male who is 40 years old, has Type 2 diabetes, and is 20 pounds over-weight. He should aim for a 20-60 minutes of exercise on 3-7 days a week. Exercises can include walking, gardening, doing yard work, swimming, or cleaning the house. It is important that these exercises increase heart rate to 40-70% of maximum heart rate.

Resistance training should also be factored in. Training sessions can be 2 days per week at a lower level intensity, 40-60% of 1RM. Repetitions should be 15-20 with 1-2 sets per exercise. Resistance exercises should target 8-12 muscle groups.

A sample program I designed looks like this:

Monday: Walk, bike, or swim

Tuesday: Strength Train

Wednesday: Walk, bike, or swim, stretch

Thursday: Work in the garden, rake leaves, do some housecleaning, or walk around the supermarket or mall

Friday: Strength Train

Saturday: Walk, bike, or swim

Sunday: Rest day: Stretch and light walk

Know if you are at risk, and what you can do to prevent it!

www.diabetes.org

High Blood Pressure also affects many Americans young and old, I wanted to look more into the older population and creating stable exercise guidelines.

There are various safety concerns when designing an exercise program (i.e. cardio respiratory, strength/endurance, and flexibility) for a senior adult who has high blood pressure and is on medication. Many adults with high blood pressure will be advised to take medication to aid in diet.

As a personal trainer it is important to consider your client individually. As a trainer it is imperative to provide an individualized program to fit the client’s needs. The program must be safe and effective. It must also respect the limits established by the clients referring physicians or associated health care providers. A personal trainer should be a positive factor in encouraging an active lifestyle and sensible nutrition choices.

When engaging in exercise, be aware if your client experiences chest discomfort, lightheadedness, and dizziness. Design workouts to avoid thresholds which bring on these symptoms because they might not occur in the client for hours or days after your workout with them.

It is also important to avoid exercising after a meal. The client should be advised to wait 90 minutes after a light meal and 2-3 hours after a large meal before beginning exercise.

Before beginning a training session several environmental and physical factors should be taken into account. Water based exercises should be done at a temperature of 80-90 degrees f. Workouts should not be done in polluted areas. If a viral infection is suspected workouts should be avoided.

It is important when starting a training session to have a proper warm-up. As the workout progresses intensity levels should be graduated. Cardio-respiratory exercises are a great choice because they provide a gradual increase in workload. You can also adjust cardio training, in addition to regular/planned exercise, encourage an increase in everyday activities such as stair climbing, light housework, and gardening. A good frequency of workouts is 3-7 days per week and 15-60 minutes of exercise. All workouts should end with a proper cool down, at the client’s comfort ability level. Flexibility should be static with 20-30 second holds and done 2-7 days per week.

These are fundamental aspects to consider when working with an older adult with high blood pressure. They provide a foundation with which to build a safe and effective exercise program. The most important aspect of all though is getting to know the person you are working with. Have a positive role in there life, provide them with familiar and enjoyable exercises, and repeat successes.

And last but not least the start of it all, babies! (Well this is mostly health and wellness for the moms).

A sample program I designed for a healthy client in her 4^th month of pregnancy who has never exercised before:

Monday: 30-60 minutes of walking, 20 minutes of stretching (this can be done 10 minutes in morning, and 10 minutes before bed)

Stretches Week 1:

1. Cat/Cow Stretch

2. Butterfly against a wall

3. Standing side stretch

4. Fish pose

5. Warrior 2 or open lunge

6. Pigeon

7. Standing Quadriceps Stretch

8. Calf Stretch

9. Standing Hip Flexor stretch

10. Arm-Across Shoulder

11. Arm pull back

12. Overhead Triceps and Shoulder Stretch

Tuesday: Strength Training: Low weight, high repetitions 12-20, 8-12 muscle groups. Do not hold your breath, or perform Valsalva maneuver and avoid any supine positions.

Exercises Week 1:

1. Shoulder lateral raise

2. Standing Bicep Curl

3. Dumbbell Shrugs

4. Seated Row

5. Dumbbell bench press

6. Lying down triceps overhead extension

7. Plie Squat standing over chair or ball

8. Wall Squat

9. Standing unilateral heal raise

10. Standing Calf raises

11. Standing Leg extension to the side, focusing on hip abductors and adductors. Standing on one foot using a wall for support; extend the opposite leg to the side and then bring back to meet standing foot.

12. Pelvic Lift

Wednesday: 30-60 min: Walk, stationary bike, or swim; followed by 5 minutes of your choice light stretches.

Thursday: Strength Train (follow week 1 exercises). Stretch (follow week 1 stretches).

Friday: 30-60 min: Walk, stationary bike, or swim; followed by 5 min of your choice light stretches.

Saturday: Strength Train (follow week 1 exercises). Stretch (follow week 1 stretches).

Sunday: Rest

This was a longer post but I had alot that I wanted to share and develop, I hope you enjoy!

Simple, Smart, Nutrition

When you exercise your body needs appropriate nutrition for before, during, and after workouts to best fuel the body and help it to recover.

The foundation of the diet should be low-fat. It should also consist of 65% carbohydrates, 20-25% fat, and 15 % protein. To determine the daily caloric requirement take the current body weight x 10. The resulting number will be the resting metabolic rate. For example, 155 X 10 = 1,550 = RMR. Next, determine how many calories you need for physical activity energy expenditure. Low-level equals 3-5 calories per minute; moderate equals 6-10 calories per minute, and high equals 11-15 calories, super instance equal 16-20 calories per minute of exercise. Then take the number of calories per minute and multiply that by how long you were exercising. The result will be the amount of calories you use to exercise.

If we take the previous formula and say this person exercised for 30 minutes X 6 calories per minute, we get 180 calories. Let’s also add on a moderate run of 30 minutes at a 10 minute mile pace, that is 10 calories per minute or 300 calories expended. The total formal activity expenditure for the day was 480 calories.

You can also determine the amount of calories you use for daily activity that is separate from scheduled exercise. Sedentary: add 20-30% of calculated RMR. Moderate: add 40-50%. Active: add 60-80 percent. If we take our previous example saying that the person is active; we calculate: .6 X 1,550 RMR = 930 daily activity calories.

Now if we add 1,550 RMR + 480 formal exercise calories + 930 daily activity calories = bedaubing we get 2,960 requirement for the day! Pretty simple, and easy to do! (1).

Before working out chose a low fat, high carbohydrate diet on a daily basis. Why? This will maintain glycogen stores (carbohydrate stores) in the muscle and liver. Avoid foods in high fat and protein before a competition or working out. A banana is a great food to have if your working out for less than or greater than an hour. It is easy to grab and go, and easy to digest. It is a moderate glycemic food which will sustain sugar levels over a longer period of time. It provides 11 percent of daily fiber. It also contains b-vitamins, vitamin C, potassium, and magnesium. It is also a good source of probiotics, which help with nutrient absorbing. Potassium is also another nutrient helps reduce muscle cramping, fatigue, weak muscles, headaches, and high blood pressure.

During a workout of over 30 min it is ideal to have a balance of fluids and carbohydrates. Fluid intake must match sweat loss. Carbohydrates maintain stamina by providing energy and sustaining blood sugar levels. Every hour of endurance requires 100-300 calories of carbohydrate or .5 grams of carbohydrate per body weight.

Twelve four ounce gulps of a sport drink equals 25 calories per four ounce that alone would give you 300 calories. I recommend NUUN tablets which dissolve in water. There is no sugar just electrolytes and ginger which calms the stomach.

If you are looking for a snack during exercise some good foods to eat are: bananas, raisins (easy to carry on long runs, not as gooey as carbohydrate gels, or fruit snacks, and less expensive), potatoes (endurance bike riders often eat potatoes on long rides, it is best to bake them before though!).

What to eat after a workout depends on whether or not a you are a recreational exerciser or one on a more demanding training level.

The recreational exerciser working out 3-5 times per week at a moderate intensity, and optimal performance is not a goal, glycogen stores can be replaced with a regular diet that is high in carbohydrates (60-65%). If you work out two times a day, or compete 2-3 times a week attention to recovery diet is critical.

If you are working out hard and often fluid replacement is critical after exercise. Foods high in water such as watermelons, sports drinks, and water, are the best for fluid replacement. Try to get at 8 ounces of water into your body first and foremost.

After a workout the first carbohydrate feeding should be 15 minutes after cessation of exercise. If you wait longer, glycogen will not be replenished as quickly.

You should consume 300 calories within 2 hrs of finishing, which should begin 15 minutes of stopping exercise. Follow with 300 additional carbohydrates every two hours for 6-8 hours.

It is a good idea to mix protein with recovery foods.

Protein stimulates insulin, which helps herd blood glucose into the muscles to enhance glycogen replacement.

Good sources of protein are lean meat, quinoa (if you haven’t tried this grain you definitely should it is the protein powerhouse of grains, a great and simple way to eat it is boil carrots, celery, potatoes, and quinoa in some water, and viola protein stew, yummy, yummy!) low fat milk, soy milk.

Always be careful more protein is not always better. It is important to maintain protein needs for muscle growth and cellular repair and production by keeping protein intake at 15% of daily caloric intake.

The priorities after exercise are carbohydrates and fluids.

A simple meal to try which provides these nutrient qualities is a Tofu and Vegetable Stir-Fry over rice with a salad.

I like asparagus so I usually put it together like this:

1 cup chopped asparagus, put a little bit of olive oil over them, (teaspoon).

4 oz. firm tofu, steam the tofu.

½ cup of brown rice. Easy way to cook rice, just like pasta, let some water come halfway to a boil, add the rice and the asparagus, (tip add enough water just to cover the rice, to much is okay you will have to drain it afterwards), once the rice has boiled add the tofu and cover for 20 minutes or until the rice is soft.

2 cups of spinach lettuce

1 cup cucumber

Adequate nutrition is important to any goal in fitness and in life! Have fun with your food, fuel your body to work and play hard, and be smart about your nutrition!

1. Energy expediture calculation source: Brooks, Douglas, 2004, The complete book of personal training. ISBN 0-7360-6694-2

Motivation! Kara Goucher

Kara Goucher Wins the 5,000 in 15:20, that's a 4:56 pace!

Hunger and Food Insecurity in Our Schools

It is time to fix the problem of hunger and food insecurity in our schools. Children in food-insecure households are more likely to experience health problems, exhibit antisocial behavior, score lower, learn less, and have more absences and suspensions.

School breakfast programs are one solution to the problem. However, some students do not arrive to school on time or are embarrassed that they eat at school. A variation to this program is to provide a free meal to all students. This would provide children the healthy start they need.

It isn’t fair to expect students to perform well when they are hungry. The solution to this problem exists and could be corrected if state legislators were not reluctant. One way is to change the public view of government-subsidized child nutrition programs. Rather than seeing a picture of a child on paper, see them as an investment in the nation’s future.

Please look at my good friend Sarah Armstrong’s program:

We will be holding a charity road race Mother’s Day 2010 at Northbridge Middle School to raise money for her program and for breakfast for students programs in Worcester County.

Brighter Tomorrow for Africa

http://brighterafrica.org/

Also look at what the good people at the Heifer Project are working towards, and a great place to volunteer at, good people.

Heifer Project

http://www.heifer.org/#

And Community Harvest Project in Grafton, a great farm growing Organic Food for the Worcester County Food Bank, I volunteered here also planting, in the rain! So fun, so muddy!

http://www.community-harvest.org/

http://www.foodbank.org/ways_to_help/volunteer.html