ROD 120911
ROD
Friday, 09Dec11
Kettlebell Couplets
Work / rest ratio 20/10 work for 6 minutes at each couplet with a 1 minute rest in between each set of couplets.
- Battling ropes
- KB cleans 1 round R / 1 round L
1 minute rest
- KB goblet squats
- H2H KB swings
1 minute rest
- KB strict presses (3 rds R / 3 rds L)
- KB high pulls
Go Heavy!!!
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ROD 112311
ROD
Wednesday, 23Nov11
ONLY ONE EVENING CLASS TONIGHT AT 7:30PM
Conditioning Couplets
20 seconds work/20 seconds work/20 seconds rest x 8 rounds
Couplets
- Reclines/Ball Slams
- Kettlebell swings/Mountain climbers
- Kettlebell high pulls/ D-ball thrusters
Do 20 seconds of work at each movement in each couplet, take 20 seconds rest then move to the next couplet.
Complete all three couplets
Take 1 minute rest between. Do 8 rounds.
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I just started exercising…why am I gaining weight?
By Paige Waehner
1. Eating too many calories. It may seem obvious, but eating more calories than you burn causes weight gain. What some people don’t realize is that, after they start exercising, they may start eating more without being aware of it. Most people think they’re eating a healthy, low-calorie diet but, unless you’re keeping a detailed food journal, you just don’t know how many calories you’re really eating. Most people are surprised when they start keeping a journal and adding up the calories–it almost always turns out to be more than they thought. Before you quit exercising, take a week to keep a food journal. Add up your calories to get a sense of exactly what you’re eating…if it’s too much, you can start to make some changes in your diet to reduce your calories. And try to avoid the mindset that says you can eat whatever you want since you’re doing all this great exercise…to lose weight, you still need to monitor your calories.
2. Not eating enough calories. It may seem counterintuitive, but eating too little can actually stall your efforts to lose fat. As Cathy Leman, a registered dietician and creator of NutriFit! says, “…if there is a severe restriction in calories, the body may counteract this reduction by slowing down its metabolism.” Be sure you’re eating enough calories to sustain your body if you’ve increased your activity.
3. Not giving your body time to respond. Just because you start exercising doesn’t always mean your body will respond to that immediately. As Cathy Leman puts it, “…in some instances the body needs to sort of “recalibrate”‘ itself. Increased activity and new eating habits (taking in more or less calories) require the body to make adjustments.” Cathy recommends that you give yourself several weeks or months for your body to respond to what you’re doing.
4. Rule out any medical conditions. While thyroid problems are rare, they can definitely make weight loss difficult. There can also be medications you’re taking that could affect your body’s ability to lose weight. If you feel your food intake is reasonable and you’ve given your body enough time to see results and haven’t seen any (or are seeing unexplainable weight gain) see your doctor to rule any other causes.
5. You’re gaining muscle faster than you’re losing fat. If it seems that you’re getting bigger after you’ve started a weight training routine, it may be because you aren’t losing body fat as fast as you’re building muscle, which is a problem some people experience when they start exercising. Genetics could also be playing a role here…some people put on muscle more easily than others. If that’s the case for you, don’t stop training! Instead, you might simply adjust your program to make sure you’re getting enough cardio exercise to promote weight loss and focus your strength training workouts on muscular endurance by keeping the reps between 12-16.
Whatever the cause of your weight gain, don’t give up on exercise. It’s not only your ticket to weight loss, it’s also important for your health.
ROD 092711
ROD
Tuesday, 27Sept11
Conditioning Couplets
20 seconds work/20 seconds work/20 seconds rest x 8 rounds
Couplets
- Jumping pullups/Burpees
- Kettlebell swings/Mountain climbers
- Kettlebell high pulls/ D-ball thrusters
Do 20 seconds of work at each movement in each couplet, take 20 seconds rest then move to the next couplet.
Complete all three couplets
Take 1 minute rest between. Do 8 rounds.
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What Causes Low Sperm Motility
Sperm motility basically means improving the quality of the sperm cells in the semen. Due to the not so healthy lifestyles we lead in the 21st century, various different kinds of infertility issues plague men. Low sperm count is a fairly common condition, even among young men these days but it is by no means the only facet of men’s infertility. There are various aspects for which we use the blanket term ‘infertility disorders’ and low sperm motility is one of them.
What is Sperm Motility?
It is not enough to just have the required quantity of sperms or spermatozoa in the semen to have a successful pregnancy. In fact, the quality of the sperm matters just as much or may be more than the quantity. If you have plenty of sperm but they are all weak and immobile then they will all be useless when it comes to fertilizing the egg. If there are two things a sperm requires more than anything else then it is energy to undertake the difficult voyage in the female reproductive tract and motility or the ability to ‘swim’ under unfavourable conditions. So that is what we mean when we talk about increasing sperm motility.
Why is Sperm Motility in some men Low?
It has enough and more reasons.
· Firstly our lifestyle which is hectic. Most of the young professionals today feel that they are overworked and don’t even have time to pay attention to their fitness and nutritional needs.
· As we have little time and do little or no exercises at all, it is quite natural that we pile on fat by just sitting in front of the computer screens. To counter that problem, we go on crash diets and skip eating essential nutrients like to increase sperm motility.
· Stress is the root of almost all our problems these days. Your mental and emotional health impacts your overall health and that includes sexual health too.
· Steroids which are hormones given in the form of medicines can slow down the sperms by making them unhealthy. So if you have been prescribed steroid for any ailment in the recent past then you need to be aware of it. Always read the constitution of the medicines that you take because they have far reaching consequences on your body, often without your knowledge.
· Tobacco has been proven to be a leading cause for men’s infertility issues particularly with respect to sperm motility. It has been found out from research that persistent use of tobacco gives birth to abnormally shaped sperms that cannot swim well and don’t stand a chance to mate with the egg.
Use these good health tips for men to understand what sperm motility means for your chances of becoming dad and make those necessary lifestyle changes to enjoy the bliss of father.
ROD 052311
ROD
Monday, 23May11
Monday Mayhem
15 seconds work/15 seconds rest for 8 minutes at each couplet. Alternate between each exercise of each couplet.
Lower body work
- Kettlebell swings
- Goblet squats
Upper body work
- Kettlebell rows (alternating sides between sets)
- Push ups
Core work
- Med ball shin taps
- Med ball russian twists
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Sitting All Day: Worse For You Than You Might Think
Posted By Dr Mercola
Even if you exercise regularly, it might not be enough to counteract the effects of too much sitting.
Many people have sedentary jobs and also engage in sedentary leisure activities after work, with the result that a lot more time is spent sitting than moving. A study calculated how much time a group of men spent sitting during an average day, and found that those who sat during the day were substantially more likely to die of heart disease.
According to NPR:
“Specifically … men who reported more than 23 hours a week of sedentary activity had a 64 percent greater risk of dying from heart disease than those who reported less than 11 hours a week of sedentary activity. And many of these men routinely exercised … [S]cientists are just beginning to learn about the risks of a mostly sedentary day.”
Sources:
As you likely know and understand I am a major proponent of exercise and believe it is absolutely essential if you are going to achieve any level of high-level health and wellness.
Exercise has been a lifelong passion of mine and I have been regularly exercising since 1968, over 43 years and counting now and I don’t ever plan on stopping till I exit this world.
It has been a journey as the first 25 years of my journey I am certain I caused some harm by overly focusing on aerobics and not understanding high-quality nutrition integration with exercise. Fortunately, I have learned much in the last ten years from some really amazing pioneers that has radically improved my health and hopefully many will seek to apply it to their own fitness programs.
What Did the Researchers Find?
The research linking too much sitting with increased risks of disease and premature death is quite eye-opening:
- Men who were sedentary for more than 23 hours a week had a 64 percent greater risk of dying from heart disease than those who were sedentary less than 11 hours a week, according to a 2010 study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
- A study of more than 17,000 Canadians found that the mortality risk from all causes was 1.54 times higher among people who spent most of their day sitting compared to those who sat infrequently.
- Sitting time is a predictor of weight gain, according to a study of Australian women, even after accounting for calories consumed and leisure time physical activity, such as exercise time.
- The risk of metabolic syndrome rises in a dose-dependent manner depending on your “screen time” (the amount of time you spend watching TV or using a computer). Physical activity had only a minimal impact on the relationship between screen time and metabolic syndrome.
- People who use a computer for 11 hours or more a week, or watch TV for 21 hours or more a week, are more likely to be obese than those who use a computer or watch TV for 5 hours a week or less.
An editorial in the British Journal of Sports Medicine also highlighted much of the recent evidence linking too much sitting with biomarkers of metabolic health. They reported research showing sitting time correlates with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and other prevalent chronic health problems.
The “Active Couch Potato” Effect
Perhaps most potentially disconcerting about the health risks of sitting is that exercise does not appear to be enough to counteract its negative effects. This makes sense, really, as how could one hour of activity make up for 15 hours of sedentary ones (plus eight hours of sleep)?
Writing in a British Journal of Sports Medicine editorial, researchers state:
“Even if people meet the current recommendation of 30 minutes of physical activity on most days each week, there may be significant adverse metabolic and health effects from prolonged sitting — the activity that dominates most people’s remaining “non-exercise” waking hours.”
In other words, even if you’re fairly physically active, riding your bike to work or hitting the gym four or five days a week — you may still succumb to the effects of too much sitting if the majority of your day is spent behind a desk or on the couch.
Researchers have dubbed this phenomenon the “active couch potato effect.”
As written in the journal Exercise and Sports Science Reviews:
“We further examined relationships of TV time with continuous metabolic risk in men and women who reported at least 150 [minutes per week] of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity — the generally accepted public health guidelines for health-enhancing physical activity.
Among these healthy physically active adults, significant detrimental dose-response associations of TV time were observed with waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, and 2-h plasma glucose in both men and women, as well as fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides, and HDL cholesterol in women only.
This observation — the Active Couch Potato phenomenon — is important.
The particular metabolic consequences of time spent watching TV are adverse, even among those considered to be sufficiently physically active to reduce their chronic disease risk. This finding reinforces the potential importance of the deleterious health consequences of prolonged sitting time, which may be independent of the protective effect of regular moderate-intensity physical activity.”
Can Too Much Sitting Drastically Increase Your Risk of Disease?
That is one of the reasons why I was intrigued with this study, but I am not convinced in the conclusion they reach and suspect more of it is related to the lack of optimal exercise than the actual act of sitting.
It is my belief that we all require some level of high-intensity exercise training, like the High Intensity Interval Training about twice a week or so and if we fail to incorporate this into our exercise program there will be negative health consequences. Since it is likely that far less than 5% of the population engages in this activity it is no surprise that this association was found.
Obviously there was not a group in this study that was compared using this form of exercise as it is not widely practiced or even appreciated among most researchers as different from traditional cardio type exercises.
Sitting is not intrinsically harmful — except when done incorrectly for long periods on a consistent basis. Your body simply wasn’t meant to be sedentary and numerous metabolic and other body processes are negatively impacted by long periods of inactivity.
So I simply do not accept the conclusions of these researchers, as everything I know and understand about exercise and health does not align with their controversial findings.
What Can You do to Reduce Your Sitting Time?
Having expressed my disagreement with this study there are still many changes you can make to minimize the impact of too much sitting. Clearly sitting is not something most of our ancient ancestors did so doing too much of it is likely to lead to problems. Unfortunately, most of us, including me, spend the majority of our day sitting.
One of the things I do to compensate for this is to spend about one hour or more every night lying on the floor doing an Egoscue exercise called the tower, which I reviewed in a recent article. It is a powerful simple structural movement that helps to realign my body posture and helps to radically compensate for the structural DE compensation that occurs as a result of sitting too much.
Simple Egoscue Exercises to Try Out
Following are four examples of Egoscue exercises that you can also use to help compensate for some of the damage caused by excess sitting. For more information about Egoscue, visit Egoscue.com or PatchFitness.com. You can also email painfree@egoscue.com with questions.
Foot Circles & Point Flexes
- Lie on your back with one leg extended and the other leg bent and pulled up toward your chest
- Clasp your hands behind the bent knee
- Keep the foot on the floor pointed straight up toward the ceiling
- Circle the lifted foot outward for the indicated number or repetitions, then reverse direction for the same number of reps
- For the point/flexes, bring the toes back toward the shin to flex, then reverse the direction to point the foot forward for the indicated number of reps
- Switch legs and repeat
- Repeat 40 times in each direction
Frog (2 minutes)
- Lie on your back with your arms at your side, palms up, and hands relaxed
- Place the soles of your feet together
- Relax your upper back and hips
Static Extension Position (2 Minutes)
- Start down on the floor on your hands and knees with your major joints aligned (i.e. shoulders directly above elbows and wrists, hips directly above knees)
- Hands should be placed shoulder width apart, palms flat with fingers pointed straight ahead
- Arms must remain straight, elbows locked
- Walk your hands about 6 inches forward and then move your upper body forward so that your shoulders are again above your hands but now your hips are forward of your knees about 6 inches
- Relax your low back allowing it to arch with the movement coming from the tilt of your pelvis
- Collapse your shoulder blades together and drop your head down
- Your shoulders should be directly above your hands
- If your low back begins to hurt, back your hips up toward your knees; this will make the exercise a bit easier
- Hold as directed on your menu
Standing Forward Bend (2 minutes)
- Stand with your feet pointing straight and hip width apart
- Place your palms on your low back/upper buttocks area
- Tilt your hips forward to place an exaggerated arch in your low back
- Pull your elbows and shoulder blades together and hold
- Now bend forward from the hips (NOT from your low back)
- Keep the low back arched as you bend over
- Tighten your thighs and shift the weight into the balls of your feet
- Hold as directed on your menu
5 More Tips to Try …
- Make sure you get up frequently. At least once every hour make sure you get up from your chair to stretch, march in place or take a quick stroll outside. Research shows that a larger number of breaks in sedentary time are associated with better metabolic profiles, including waist circumference and glucose metabolism. So anytime you are sitting, be sure you are breaking up the sitting time with frequent breaks.
- Use an exercise ball for a chair or a standing workstation. Unlike sitting in a chair, sitting on an stability ball engages your core muscles and helps improve balance and flexibility. You’ll also burn a few more calories as you keep the ball level than you would otherwise. Standing rather than sitting can also be a helpful option.
- Stay active throughout the work day. Walk around, pump out a couple minutes of squatting, do some stretching. Break up your sitting and avoid long stretches of unmitigated motionlessness.
- Stand when you can. Whenever possible, do your work standing instead of sitting. For instance, try putting your laptop on a high counter that you can access while standing, walk around your office while you’re on the phone, and communicate with your coworkers in person instead of sending an email.
- Cut back on your TV, video game and computer time at home. Make your leisure time as active as possible, as much as possible. Instead of lounging on the couch in the evening, play a game of hide-and-go-seek with your kids, take a yoga class, spend time cooking in the kitchen, or go for a walk around your neighborhood.
Remember, Exercise is Important
Remember to make your exercise time count by including very high-intensity sessions such as you get at NLP. You probably do this at least twice to three times a week at the least. You’ll also want to include exercises that really challenge your body intensely along with those that promote muscle strength, balance and flexibility.
Then, don’t just collapse on the couch after your workout. Challenge yourself to stay as active as possible even during your non-exercise hours to reach your highest level of health.
ROD 051311
ROD
Friday, 13May11
Good Luck everyone!!!
Couplet Friday
20 seconds work/20 seconds work/20 seconds rest x 8 rounds
- Jumping pullups/Push-ups
- Ball slams/Sit outs
- Dumbbell thrusters/ Tactical lunges
Do 20 seconds of work at each movement in each couplet, take 20 seconds rest then continue.
Complete 8 rounds of each couplet rest 1 minute and move on … until you are fork tender.
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10 Reasons Not to Skimp on Sleep
Too busy to go to bed? Having trouble getting quality sleep once you do? Your health may be at risk
You may literally have to add it to your to-do list, but scheduling a good night’s sleep could be one of the smartest health priorities you set. It’s not just daytime drowsiness you risk when shortchanging yourself on your seven to eight hours. Possible health consequences of getting too little or poor sleep can involve the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, and nervous systems. In addition to letting life get in the way of good sleep, between 50 and 70 million Americans suffer from a chronic sleep disorder—insomnia or sleep apnea, say—that affects daily functioning and impinges on health. Consider the research:
1) Less may mean more. For people who sleep under seven hours a night, the fewer zzzz’s they get, the more obese they tend to be, according to a 2006 Institute of Medicine report. This may relate to the discovery that insufficient sleep appears to tip hunger hormones out of whack. Leptin, which suppresses appetite, is lowered; ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, gets a boost.
2) You’re more apt to make bad food choices. A study published this week in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that people with obstructive sleep apnea or other severely disordered breathing while asleep ate a diet higher in cholesterol, protein, total fat, and total saturated fat. Women were especially affected.
3) Diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance, its precursor, may become more likely. A 2005 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that people getting five or fewer hours of sleep each night were 2.5 times more likely to be diabetic, while those with six hours or fewer were 1.7 times more likely.
4) The ticker is put at risk. A 2003 study found that heart attacks were 45 percent more likely in women who slept for five or fewer hours per night than in those who got more.
5) Blood pressure may increase. Obstructive sleep apnea, for example, has been associated with chronically elevated daytime blood pressure, and the more severe the disorder, the more significant the hypertension, suggests the 2006 IOM report. Obesity plays a role in both disorders, so losing weight can ease associated health risks.
6) Auto accidents rise. As stated in a 2007 report in the New England Journal of Medicine, nearly 20 percent of serious car crash injuries involve a sleepy driver—and that’s independent of alcohol use.
7) Balance is off. Older folks who have trouble getting to sleep, who wake up at night, or are drowsy during the day could be 2 to 4.5 times more likely to sustain a fall, found a 2007 study in the Journal of Gerontology.
You may be more prone to depression. Adults who chronically operate on fumes report more mental distress, depression, and alcohol use. Adolescents suffer, too: One survey of high school students found similarly high rates of these issues. Middle schoolers, too, report more symptoms of depression and lower self-esteem.
9) Kids may suffer more behavior problems. Research from an April issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that children who are plagued by insomnia, short duration of sleeping, or disordered breathing with obesity, for example, are more likely to have behavioral issues like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
10) Death’s doorstep may be nearer. Those who get five hours or less per night have approximately 15 percent greater risk of dying—regardless of the cause—according to three large population-based studies published in the journals Sleep and the Archives of General Psychiatry.
ROD 032911
ROD
Tuesday, 29Mar11
- 5 Burpees
- 10 Kettlebell High snatches
- 15 Mountain climbers
- 20 Kettlebell swings
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Jaime is an eleven year old softball athlete that has been training with us since the latter part of October. Yesterday, we recieved 2 sets of lifting chains. As I was putting them away Jaime asked if she could try lifting these chains. I was reluctant to let her try, but she finally convinced me. Here she is performing 1 of 4 Thrusters, with 3/4 inch, 5 foot long chains that weigh 30lbs apiece and one of them hanging on her neck, thats 90 lbs. of chain. I was amazed at how strong Jaime got, training with us. Go Jaime, you are the best.
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Moore junior Maxine Jasko leaves a lasting impression
Charlie De Biase Jr., March 28, 2011 12:36 p.m.
These young athletes that the Advance are referring to were trained at Nxt Level Performance. We are proud to say that these girls have noticed quite a difference in their performance on the field. It goes to show that strength & conditioning goes a long way. We are very proud of their athletic achievements. Read on…
St. Joseph Hill’s Amanda DiPaolo collides with Moore shortstop Taylor Baggs on a stolen base attempt during the third inning. – (Staten Island Advance/Hilton Flores)
Maxine Jasko couldn’t have left a better first impression if she scripted it herself.
The Moore Catholic junior made a memorable varsity debut, finishing 3 for 3 with two homers and six RBI to lead the Mavericks to an 8-7 CHSAA victory over visiting St. Joseph Hill yesterday.
“Maxine did a great job,” said Moore coach Kristine Knuth, who batted Jasko third. “She’s an impact player that makes things happen.
“Along with (clean-up hitter) Taylor Baggs, I think we’ve got a pretty good 3-4 combo.”
The upstart Hilltoppers, who finished with 10 hits, grabbed a 4-1 lead after 2½ innings thanks in part to RBI hits by Victoria Procopio, Nicole Gundacker and Briana Stapleton, who had two hits apiece.
“I was impressed with our hitting today,” said Hill coach Joe Wuensch. “If we had made a couple of more plays defensively (the rest of the way), things could have been interesting.”
But after the Mavs cut their deficit in half via Baggs’ third-inning RBI single, Krissa Sagona (second of two doubles) and Alexa Aliberti (single) opened the fifth by putting runners on second and third.
That brought up Jasko, who gave the Mavs the lead for good by depositing a Procopio pitch over the left-field fence to make it 5-4.
“I was just trying to put the ball in play,” said Jasko, who also had a first-inning sacrifice fly and a third-inning double. “I worked hard all winter to get ready for the season.
“The pitch was right down the middle and to come through like that is a great feeling. It couldn’t have been any better.”
Not to an inning later anyway.
After Nicole DeMartino added insurance with a run-scoring double in the fifth, Jasko made it 8-4 an inning later when she belted a two-out, two-run homer to center.
“It’s not suprising she’s hitting the ball that hard or that she homered,” said Knuth. “What does shock me is she homered twice in one game.
“She made great contact today.”
Gianna DeCeasar allowed just one run on four hits in four innings of relief to notch the victory. She allowed just one walk with four strikeouts.
An error paved the way to a Hilltopper rally in the seventh, but DeCeasar limited the damage to help preserve the victory.
ROD 121810
ROD
Saturday, 18Dec10
Roped-Up Tabata
20 seconds work/10 seconds rest for 6 rounds at each couplet! Take one minute rest between couplets.
- Kettlebell swings/Power Rope
- Kettlebell thrusters/Jumping pull ups
- Burpees/Slam Ball
- Mountain climbers/Kettlebell high pulls
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Each person is born with a calling. It is your task to discover what that calling is and find a way to make that calling a reality ~ Lucy MacDonald
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ROD 081710
ROD
Tuesday, 17Aug10
10 minute couplets
- Single Arm Kettlebell swings L/R
- Dbl Kettlebell presses
Couplet 2
- Jumping pullups
- Burpees
Couplet 3
- Kettlebell high pull (Long Cycle swing )
- Dumbbell thrusters
Rest 1 minute between rounds
ROD 042810
ROD
Wednesday, 28Apr10
Kettlebell and Bodyweight workout
Do 6 rounds of 20 seconds work/20 seconds rest at each couplet
Take a 1:00 rest between each 6 round couplet
Couplet 1:
- Kettlebell clean and press (right)
- Kettlebell clean and press (left)
Couplet 2:
- Stability ball hamstring curl
- Stability ball knees to chest
Couplet 3:
- Squats
- Jumping pull ups
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Sailboats, Tensegrity models & Human Body
ROD 042010
ROD
Tuesday, 20Apr10
Tabata Tuesday
Do the following couplets 25 seconds work/25 seconds work/25 seconds rest x 8 rds.
- Rapid medball slams / Box jumps
- Mt.Climbers / KB swings
- Reclines / Push-ups
Do 25 seconds of work at each movement in each couplet, take 25 seconds rest then move to the next couplet.
Complete all three couplets
Take 1 minute rest between. Do 8 rounds.
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“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
~Dale Carnegie~
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Candice Ruiz prepares for the South Central Regionals – video [wmv] [mov]
“Parallette Shoot-through” with Jeff Tucker – video [wmv] [mov]
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