May 12
9
Got Knots?
A bit of soreness after a workout is a sign of a job well done. When you workout, you’re actually creating microscopic tears in your muscle fibers, with proper rest and nutrition, your muscles will respond by quickly repairing themselves and becoming stronger.
Unfortunately there’s a different kind of muscle soreness and tightness called myofascial pain syndrome…
Imagine fascia as a thin layer of tissue that encases your entire body between your skin and your muscles, bones, etc. Sometimes this fascia gets stuck to your muscles, when this happens it’s known as an adhesion, or what we more commonly refer to as a knot.
Sometimes these adhesions are just uncomfortable, but they can also cause serious movement issues and joint dysfunction such as is the case with it band syndrome, where facial immobility can cause severe knee pain…
The most common self treatment for myofascial pain is use of a foam roller. We have found foam rollers to be so valuable, that we’ve given all of our members foam rollers to take home! If you haven’t gotten one, don’t despair, we’ve ordered more just in case we missed anyone!
Here’s a quick video we made showing you how to use this incredibly helpful tool…
Apr 12
10
Charity Saturday Boot Camps…
As most of you know Fit Body Boot Camp holds Charity Boot Camps for different causes each year. In 2011 we were able to raise over $1,000 for The Red Cross for Tsunami Relief, over $1,000 for Chop and 290 Pounds in Food donations to Philabundance through our Boot Camps.
This is a very important part of what we do, and also who we are…
I’ve spent the better part of my working life in the Fitness Industry, and after working as both a Manager and Trainer in several organizations, it was clear to me that when it was my turn to steer the ship I wanted to go in a different direction.
I like the term wellness… Yes, I’ll admit it’s a little played out, but I like the idea of approaching things holistically, not only in terms of the programs we offer, and also in our relationships with, our trainers, members and the community as a whole.
We feel extremely thankful that so many of you have chosen to work with us over the course of our first year and these Charity Boot Camps are our way of saying thank you and doing our part to give back.
So for the next 8 weeks starting 4/14, we will be offering a Boot Camp at 8:30 every Saturday Morning at Bailey Park in Havertown for a $10 Donation to the Timothy School in Berwyn.
The Timothy School is a non profit school devoted to teaching kids diagnosed with Autism and we’re very happy to be able to contribute to their mission of “Teaching Children With Autism To Be Children.”
We hope to see you there this Saturday… Just bring a $10 check made out to “Timothy School Development Fund” and be ready for a great work out!
If you have any questions you can email Jackie@havertownbootcamp.com
Congratulations on your decision to seek out a fitness professional’s help getting the body you want! Working with a Personal Trainer or Joining a Boot Camp can be one of the best decisions you ever make. With all the fitness fads, pills, powders and potions out there, having someone to help you navigate through the facts and fiction is crucial. Unfortunately all trainers are not created equal, and choosing the right program can be the difference between failure and SUCCESS.
Here are the 3 most important things you can do to get the most out of working with a personal trainer.
3. Join a program, don’t buy sessions-You may only work with your trainer 2 or 3 times per week, but your program should also dictate what additional metabolic resistance training or cardiovascular training, you should be doing. You hired a trainer for results, not workouts…
2. Focus on Nutrition- If your Trainer can’t provide Nutritional guidelines and isn’t willing to check a food diary for you weekly, run away and don’t look back. How you eat is just as important as how you train. If nutrition isn’t a key element of the program you’re considering, I’d think twice before getting on board.
1. Communication and Community- Don’t do this alone, support systems are crucial to keeping you on track, if things get tough. Your relationships with your trainers are the glue that keep you STUCK to your plan of getting toned and sexy once and for all. You should feel comfortable asking for help if you need it, and know exactly where to get it. All our members know they can reach me at jesse@jessesays.com, to ask a question, send me their food diary or just say “hi”, and they can chat with the whole tribe on our facebook page.
So I hope you put these tips to use and find the program that’s the perfect fit for you, even if it isn’t us…
So if you’ve been reading my emails and my blog long enough you’ve probably realized, that I think the average persons health club work out is a waste of time for fat loss. If you’ve joined a gym, used the machines they showed you, and maybe threw in the in-out leg thing (aka the “YES-NO” machine : ) You may have seen some results in the beginning but as your body adapted to the workout, you most likely began to plateau…
Side note- One of the first clients I ever trained asked me if we were ever going use the “YES-NO” machine and when I looked at her puzzled, she hopped in the abductor-adductor machine, and began opening and closing her legs saying “see, yes-no, yes-no.” I don’t think I’ll ever forget that one…
There are tons of reasons why most programs don’t provide lasting results, such as; not including enough variety, not using Metabolic Resistance Training and Interval Cardio to boost metabolism and not eating the right foods to keep your body in fat burning mode.
Nutrition is just as important as exercise, but dieting alone doesn’t work long term, I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to spend the rest of my life hungry. To get results you probably have to change the way you eat, but you DO NOT have to starve or deprive yourself.
I though I would share my personal workout with you today to give you and idea of what a super effective Metabolic Resistance Training and Interval Cardio session looks like. We do workouts just like this in Boot Camp with Interval Cardio built right into the workout, so our Campers get maximum results!
Never skip your warm up…
Body Weight Warm Up:
30 Seconds Each- 2 Rounds
Windmills
Bird Dogs
Squats
Arm Crosses
Supine Hip Extensions (bridge)
MRT Circuit
Use as heavy a weight as you can handle with good form for the weighted movements. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but those workout classes with 5 pound weights are a waste of time for most people. You’re stronger than you know, if you don’t believe me, I’ll be happy to show you…
A: 3 rounds-no rest between exersices/ 60 seconds between rounds
1.Bulgarian Split Squat- 8 Reps per leg
2.TRX Inverted Row 15 Reps (could be done from a railing, swing set, anything you can pull yourself up to)
3.Plank- 45 seconds
B: 3 Rounds-no rest between exersices/ 60 seconds between rounds
1.Dips- If you have access to a dip station and can do more than 5 regular dips, do them, If not do as many bench dips (shown) as you can with your legs straight out in front of you.
2.Kettle Bell Swings 12 Reps (can be done with dumbbell sandbag, etc)
3. Resistance Band Face Pull- 15 Reps
C:2 rounds-30 seconds between rounds
1.Medicine Ball Side Toss or Cable Wood Choppers- 15 Reps per side
Interval Cardio:
As a personal trainer people are always asking me how to get more results from their workouts. One of the best pieces of advice I can offer is to add interval training. Interval Cardio has been shown to burn WAY more FAT than traditional cardio. Check out number 3 on my list of fitness mistake to learn why- Click Here http://jessesays.com/?p=154
After a short warm up (you’ll already be warm from the workout) do 10 intervals of 30 seconds sprinting, followed by 60 seconds of a brisk walk.
High Intensity Interval Training or H.I.I.T. is fast and effective. If you can do it more than 20 minutes you’re not going hard enough!
So there you have it! A great fat loss workout, that will boost your metabolism and have you feeling great…
Please leave a comment if you have any questions or just to let me know what you think of the workout!
Committed to your success,
Jesse
Posted in Boot Camp by .
Mar 12
8
Attitude Is Everything
When I was young my Dad printed me out this quote by Charles Swindoll…
He was constantly trying to instill this concept into me, but as an adolescent I knew it all, and I resisted… During my teenage years my mind was flooded with negative thoughts and self limiting beliefs, it was a pretty rough time.
Looking back on it, my Mom played a big role in my eventually becoming what I would describe as an optimist, suffering from the occasional pessimistic relapse. She’s one of these people who’s mood is only modestly affected by her circumstances. She lives entirely in the reality she perceives, and in her mind things are always going her way.
My Brother and I joke that it’s her world and everyone else is just living in it, and she’s not all that concerned about what the residents of her world think. Make no mistake, she’s an incredibly caring person, total bleeding heart type… But if you don’t like her, or how she lives her life, she could care less.
The key thing that both of them tried to instill in me was that I could do anything I wanted… I had all the tools I needed to be successful in whatever I decided to do with my life, both in my career and personal life. I just needed to believe it and get out of my own way.
Years later I find myself having the same type of conversations with the people I work with. See some trainers want to work with athletes, body builders or fitness competitors, but that’s never been my thing. In fact I turn down dozens of athletes each year….
See what I really enjoy, what gets me out of bed while the rest of the world’s sleeping, is helping ordinary people realize that they can do extraordinary things! The first battle I face with my clients is convincing them that they CAN do things, that they don’t believe they can do, right from day one. The look on our campers faces when they swing a heavy kettle bell for the first time or do a box jump, is the greatest reward I can every get, but the true reward is the confidence they feel when it hits them, that they can do anything they want. As soon as that realization hits, and the limiting beliefs start to crumble and people start getting out of their own way.
Just remember that Leslie, Jackie, Me and all your fellow campers and training partners all believe in you 100%… You’re all Bad Asses when you walk in these doors : )
Posted in Boot Camp by .
Feb 12
29
Never Give Up!
Hey there,
Those of you who know me probably know that health wise I’ve had some bad luck lately… I burned my hand really bad and I’m still having some issues with my grip, and I developed tennis elbow from using only on hand for weeks. To make matters worse I’ve been dealing with a lot of shoulder pain and I just got back MRI results showing I have a torn rotator cuff. To top it off, probably from years off falling off motorcycles, my back is a mess and some days getting out of bed can be a major struggle.
The burn happened Christmas Eve and I spent most of January feeling sorry for myself.
I like to lift heavy weights, swing heavy kettle bells and just work out like a mad man in general. When I was first faced with the idea of only doing exersices with light weight for my legs, some body weight movements and cardio, It seemed like the end of the world. I’m not someone that results come easy for, I’ve worked for years for every once of muscle on my body and the prospect of watching much of that disappear while I’m spending my workouts running on a treadmill and doing some warm up exersices made me question if it was even worth it…
I took this pic a month or two before my burn, because I finally really felt happy with the way I looked and my strength, something I hadn’t really felt before. After years of trying to reach this point it just didn’t seem fair to have the perfect storm of a freak accident and an over use injury to take it all away. I didn’t even put my face in this picture because I really didn’t plan on showing anyone. I don’t really wear a lot of tight shirts, or tank tops, I don’t need the world to know exactly what I look like under my clothes. I just want to look and perform my best and know that I’m practicing what I preach…
Practicing what I preach… I starting really thinking about that last week. We all have little reasons we hold as to why WE can’t achieve our goal or why WE can lose weight or get healthy. For every reason my clients give me why they can’t do something I’ll give them 10 reasons why they CAN, as long as they make the decision to see it through to the end, and never give up! Just as I started thinking about what I would tell a client in a similar position who was starting to let negative thoughts guide their actions, I saw this picture…
Every time I look at the incredible transformation this young man has made it shuts my inner whiner up instantly. It really puts things in perspective. It’s hard to look at him and consider him handicapped. What I see is an incredible athlete who didn’t let anything stop him from accomplishing what he wants in life. It’s absolutely inspiring.
Maybe I’ll need surgery, but eventually I’ll recover and be able to train the way I want, the question I’m now asking myself is do I want to make my real comeback from a place where I’m chubby and unhealthy, or do I work the treadmill, do the exercises my doctors say are safe and work as hard as I can to live by the principles I teach every day?
Most of my posts are just for you guys, but this ones cathartic… I need to put it out there that I’m not going to let my inner quitter, throw in the towel because of a little set back. While I work with my doctors to fix my issues, I’m going to keep up my cardio, keep eating healthy and keep working the few exercises that are still working for me.
Now that I’ve put myself on notice that I won’t be taking the easy route of self pity and defeatism. I’m done feeling sorry for myself. I hope some of you who have put off getting to where you want to be because you feel like you’re too out of shape, or just too fat to work out, drop the excuses and just decide to see it through. If you need some advice reach out to me, I’ll help. I don’t care if you ever join one of my programs or work with me or Jackie, I’m still here to help. Just ask…
Feb 12
16
Are your hormones making you fat?
Ever feel like your body wants you to be fat? For most people that have a very hard time burning fat, even while exercising and trying to eat healthy, the answer is in their hormones…
There are two major hormones that effect your metabolism and fat storage, Leptin and Insulin. They’re related and I’ll explain that later, but I’m going to focus on Leptin first.
Ever start a diet and see great results, only to quickly plateau after a couple weeks, get frustrated and give up, I know I have in the past and I began to think my body hated me! The truth is, our bodies love us so much they become over protective. For most of human evolution, we’ve been much more likely to starve to death than get fat, so when we begin to lose weight our bodies lower Leptin levels and crash the party!
See Leptin is also called the starvation hormone, the word Leptin is derived from the Greek word Leptos meaning thin. See when Leptin levels are high, so is your metabolism, when you lower you calorie intake Leptin levels fall and your metabolism tanks!
So how do we deal with this over zealous protection of our trouble spots? You’re going to love this part…
Pizza!
It sounds too good to be true, but the best way to increase your Leptin levels is to have a cheat day once a week aka, strategic over feeding, if you want to get all scientific about it. It takes about a week for Leptin levels to fall 50%, but it only takes one day over eating carb filled fatty foods to bring them back up to normal.
So there you have it, the key to weight loss success is eating pizza!
Ok, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but provided you have a handle on insulin, the key hormone in Fat storage, during the other 6 days of the week, adding a cheat day can be just what it takes to avoid the dreaded plateau.
The next and probably the most important piece of the hormonal puzzle is Insulin.
Insulin is a storage hormone, when you eat carbohydrates insulin is released to remove and store sugar from your bloodstream. That in itself isn’t a bad thing but add fat into the mix and you have a recipe for disaster. We need an insulin spike one a week because when insulin goes up, so does Leptin, which we already know we need to keep our Metabolism running, any more than that and you’ll start packing on the pounds.
The Worst Case Scenario…
Ok, so maybe a zombie apocalypse is the worst case scenario in life, but combining Carbs and Fat is the worst case scenario when it comes to gaining fat. While a food like pizza is perfect for raising Leptin levels on your cheat day, it also contains the perfect storm of carbs and fat. When fat and carbs, especially simple carbs and sugar, are consumed together the result is FAT gain!
So how do we avoid this deadly combination? Focus on eating carbs and protein in the morning and protein and fat later in the day. It’s almost impossible to totally avoid and nutrient in a meal, but you should limit the unwanted nutrient to less than 10 grams…
This is obviously just skimming the surface but we’ll be including details on how to take advantage of these principle in our new 28 day beta program. We’ll show you how to maximize your metabolism, through diet and metabolic resistance training to get the results of a lifetime. Including details of food pairings that take and advantage of “Nutrient Combining”, avoiding that worst case scenario of fat and carbs. If you’d like to learn more send me an email at jesse@jessesays.com
Hey There,
Every year January like clockwork, we see tons of new members make their way into the gym. They come in ready to tackle their weight and fitness goals with steadfast resolve and unwavering determination… And after about the 3rd week in January they’re back on the couch!
There are lots of reasons why this happens but I think most of the time these new fitness hopefuls just get frustrated at a lack of results and give up. It’s a shame because getting the body you want isn’t rocket science, but it does take a bit of “stick-to-it-ivness” and the right information.
Here are my list of the top 3 reasons people don’t stick to it and get the results they want and some advice on how to get back on track:
3. Treadmill time wasting…
Everyday I see the same people plodding along on the treadmill looking board out of their minds, it never seems to change… Unfortunately their bodies never seem to change either, that’s because your body becomes very efficient at slow steady cardio. When you’re body becomes efficient at something it doesn’t need to use as much energy, so you’re less likely yo burn fat.
Solution:
Think of your body as a car and fat as fuel. You want your body to be as inefficient as possible during your workout. Think of it this way, when will I use more fuel, cruising around at a steady pace or flooring it and then hitting the breaks, over and over again? Obviously from starting and stopping and that’s exactly how you should spend time on the treadmill.
A good rule of thumb is to use a 2:1 ratio of Walking to Sprinting for 20-25 minutes to maximize fat burn. So run for 30 seconds and walk for 60 seconds. Not only will you burn more fat during your workout, this type of training has been proven to raise your metabolism!
Which looks like the healthier body to you? Running sprints will give you better results, faster than running long distances…
2. The Machine Malaise…
It’s happened to everyone, you decide to use some machines and you end up spending half the time sitting there, staring into space board out of your mind.
Solution:
Keep moving! Most people look at someone in really great shape and the first thing that comes to mind is that they probably workout 3 hours a day! Or that they must train with Jesse : ) The latter may very well be true but the former is almost never the case. The trick is to workout hard and for 30-45 minutes tops! Don’t think duration, think intensity. And get off your butt, standing full body dumbbell exersices beat machines every time…
1. You Are What You Eat!
This is the big one! The reality is most people have no idea what they should be eating, let alone how much and when… To make matters worse many people use food as a reward.Have a good workout? You deserve a big meal! Big day at work? Celebrate with dinner, drinks and dessert! The list goes on and on…
Solution:
Stop rewarding yourself with food, you’re not a dog! But you don’t need to starve yourself, in fact every great eating plan includes a cheat day so you can enjoy the foods you love, even if they aren’t waistline friendly. Just put together a plan and stick to it. If you’re trying to lose fat you should cut down on simple and starchy carbs, carbs are your body’s primary source of fuel, but we want to use fat as fuel so try to eat more greens and less grains…
Putting together an eating plan that doesn’t feel like a diet can be tough, nobody likes to diet, but we all like to eat : ) Shoot me an email at jesse@jessesays.com and I’ll send you a basic meal plan to help you get back on track!
Posted in Boot Camp by .
You DON’T have to totally deprive yourself during the holidays but you DO have to have some willpower to say no!
DON’T try to convince yourself that you’re going to eat less after the holiday event therefore it’s ok to eat what you want during the event. You will not have as much motivation to diet once the event has passed.
DO eat less for the 3-5 days leading up to the event. When the event takes place, you’ll look and feel better than you originally expected and you will feel less guilty when you enjoy yourself at the celebration.
DO dress sexy. Wear something tight, do your hair up, put on your highest heels etc. This way you will feel less likely to indulge in a huge dinner.
DON’T drink wine or beer. Go for hard alcohol if you must have something. Why? Because you can nurse a hard drink all night, but with wine and beer there’
s a higher chance you will want another.
DO position yourself as far away from the appetizer table as possible.
DON’T sit in front of the TV. What’s on TV this thanksgiving? An awesome football game. What’s in front of the TV? Most likely a table with snacks. If you really want to watch the game then do it standing up or bring some healthy snacks for every body!
DO bring your own dish to the occasion. Nobody has to know that it’s healthy or low calorie but at least you’ll know how many calories it has and you will have something to snack on.
DO send people home with food if you are hosting a party.
DO sit at the table as far from the unhealthy food options as possible. If you have to keep standing up, putting your drink down and reaching across Aunt Margaret to grab a piece of bread you’re not going to have as many pieces as if it was right in front of you.
Stick to these guidelines and I promise you will keep the weight off while everyone around you gains another 4-8 pounds!
Jesse
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