Hello everybody- I would just like to ask everybody “where has the summer gone?”  As they say “time flies when you are having fun” and between all the great things that are happening at The Rush (our summer membership and fitness coaching specials) and having a 12-week old daughter, the last two months have flown by.  Fatherhood is amazing, and of course I have to give all the credit to my incredible wife as she has spent the majority of time with her this summer while I have been back at work.  As for The Rush, we have had an incredible Grand Opening with our two new Asheville clubs and our existing clubs have seen a great influx of new members which just goes to show how the economy is changing for the better and people realizing how important it is to take care of your health!

Today’s Fitness topic is going to be about something that is severely (in my opinion) under-rated: Stretching!  There are many forms of stretching and each form has a very important purpose, but the one that most everybody can benefit from is STATIC stretching.  As the term “static” can be defined by “not moving,” this form of stretching will emphasized by anchoring one end of a muscle and then moving to the first point of tension with the other end and then holding for 20-30 seconds in that lengthened position.  This form of stretching is so important because countless research examples have come back that show muscles that have placed in overly shortened positions for extended periods of time have an adaptive shortening effect which will then not allow them to lengthen and move the appropriate way when needed (which can then cause compensation, which can lead to injury).  When muscles are put into shortened positions, the muscles (and accompanying connective tissue) actually lay down the beginning forms of scar tissue (called an adhesion) which is a very stiff protein that acts as a “knot” within your muscles.  Another effect of shortened muscles is an alteration in your ability to contract the opposite muscle.  Normally, when you contract a muscle (bend your elbow to contract your biceps), this will automatically relax the opposite muscle (in the case of bending your elbow, your triceps will relax) which allows you to move in the intended way.  Well, what research has shown is muscle shortness can then cause a decreased activation (or weakness) in the opposing muscle group which then alters the efficiency of how you move and again can result in an injury.  The key is going to be to lengthen specific muscles to not only create the ideal length for movement but also improve the opposite side’s strength.  This will be accomplished by statically stretching key areas throughout your day and especially before a workout.

Over time, we will discuss all of the above but for now, the three stretches that I would recommend best would be to target your calves (to allow motion at your ankle), hip flexors (because of being in a seated position for so many hours) and lats (as these large back muscles shorten when you arch your back and have rounded shoulders).  In all of the stretches, please move to the first point of feeling tension and just hold without moving for 20-30 seconds.  This will help to re-establish proper length and allow much better motion when you move and workout.

Please have a great rest of your July and if there is anything that I or we can do for you to make your experience better, than just let me know!

Sincerely,

Rob

Hello everybody- We hope that you are all enjoying this great summer weather!  There are so many exciting things happening with The Rush right now from our Grand Opening in Asheville (which has been a HUGE success, thank you to the Asheville community for embracing us as you have) to our incredible Summer specials that include 12 and 24 month memberships that we have never offered before!  We even have a membership that costs less than $20 a month!  These specials should further ensure that EVERYBODY can get started on a fitness program and not let cost be the reason why you haven’t started. 

This month I would like to discuss a very popular form of exercise called plyometrics.  Plyometrics simply refer to the process of your body utilizing the various elastic fascial networks surrounding your muscles to stretch (which creates “potential” energy) and then shorten (converting that potential energy to “kinetic” or useable energy) to create more force, power and speed.  Imagine if you were going to jump as high as you can, you first want to squat down which “stretches” the needed muscles (and connective tissue) and then you burst out of the squat position (now allowing the stored energy in the connective tissue to be used along with your muscles producing force) being able to get as much height as you can.  To create as much power as possible, you would ideally minimize the time you are on the floor, in other words, you want to squat down and jump up as fast as possible to not lose any “stored energy” that is being created in your tissues.  In essence, any plyometric exercise is one that has a “loading” or stretching phase followed by a quick “unloading” or shortening phase (examples: throwing or jumping).

Why do Plyometrics?  Plyometrics can enhance your speed as well as improve muscular endurance, strength and power.  This can also be a great way to enhance your cardiovascular fitness.

Who can benefit from Plyometrics?  Everybody.  The general consensus is that plyometrics are only for athletes, but in reality, everyday life occurs at different speeds and we must train our bodies to respond to these needs.  These types of exercises can enhance the speed that a person moves as well as their ability to land and absorb force.  Everybody from young children to seniors must move at faster speeds (relative to them) and we will only be better at doing so by training our body in that fashion.

How do I start a Plyometric program?  As with any exercise program, there are specific levels that can be considered more beginner, intermediate and advanced and plyometrics is no different.  In the beginner level, the most important factor is learning how to land properly and absorb force.  There has been much research recently about the correlation between knee injuries and improper landing techniques, as well as people not having the ability to decelerate and slow themselves down.  The level system (which was first developed by the National Academy of Sports Medicine)  is a progression from slow to fast. 

·        Beginner level:  Jump and hold your bent landing position for 3-5 seconds.  This will help to develop your ability to slow yourself down and stabilize yourself, which in turn will allow you to move faster later.  The major emphasis is NOT speed but landing behind the ball of the foot and as softly as possible.  It is very important for all of the progressions to land with your feet straight ahead, hip width apart while keeping your knees in the same alignment.  Perform an exercise variation (see above for different exercises) for 3 sets 8-10 repetitions per set, 2 times (spread out through the week) per week. 

·        Intermediate level:  Once you have mastered the ability to hold yourself in the squat position for the desired reps and sets with great alignment, you can now progress to the intermediate level.  You have built a great foundation of stability and deceleration skills from the beginner level, now in the intermediate level we can work on acceleration.  You can perform the exact same exercises in a “repeating” fashion (no hold at the bottom).  All of the same form from the beginner level applies as well as the exercise recommendations. 

·        Advanced level:  Now that you have worked on acceleration through the intermediate level, you can progress that speed and move as fast as you can through the exercises.  Remember to always stay with the best form and “move as fast as you can, not as fast as you can’t.”  There are many times that a person thinks they are faster than they are and they push themselves to move to fast but lose control and that is when an injury can occur or at minimum, a lack of performance. 

Key Points:

·        Land with your feet hip width apart and straight ahead.

·        Keep your knees straight ahead always.

·        Keep your upper body at the same angle as your shin (don’t bend over at the waist excessively).

·        Keep your abdominals pulled in throughout the exercise.

·        Land slightly behind the balls of your feet and as softly as you can (don’t be LOUD WALKER).

Have fun with these exercises and as always, if you have any questions please ask your club’s Fitness Manager or just let me know.  Have a great start to your June and thanks again for being a part of our Rush community.

Sincerely,

Rob

Hello everybody- I apologize for not posting sooner, but last Friday my wife gave birth to our daughter, Skylar Alexis Rettmann!  Since I get the privilege of maintaining this blog, I figured I can take a couple of sentences to tell you all how happy my family and I are about our new addition.  Everybody is correct about the lack of sleep and not knowing exactly what each cry is about but it is all well worth it!

NOW, on to some cool Rush stuff:

To our Asheville communities: GET READY, we are grand opening our new locations in June and I KNOW that you all will be blown away with our two newest clubs.  We have already had such a great welcome in Asheville with many people telling us our temporary facilities were nicer than other clubs, but our permanent clubs will raise the bar another 10 notches!  We are well prepared to service all of our clients and members and help to get you ready for the summer!  If anybody has any questions at all about our Asheville clubs, please either let myself know or the following Rush Leaders heading up our Grand Opening:

• Billy Bridges (bbridges@therush247.com):  Billy is our Regional Manager for Asheville and has tons of experience running 5 different clubs for The Rush in Knoxville, Chattanooga and North Carolina.  Billy has incredible communication skills and is always ready to help any member with anything they ever need from the right membership to any special request.  Billy has been heading up our Asheville expansion from the beginning and I know that he personally can’t wait to show all our members these two beautiful clubs that they have been waiting for!

• Sara Morris (smorris@therush247.com): Sara is our District Operations Manager and is directly responsible for both club’s front desk staff, kids kare, juice bar and the overall operations of the clubs.  Sara has built this department since the beginning and has done a great job with preparing our staff to carry out the excellent customer service that The Rush demands for our members.  Sara can always be found in the clubs doing anything that is needed from lending a hand at the front desk to helping kids kare to helping maintain the club’s cleanliness.

• Elisabeth Fouts (efouts@therush247.com):  Elisabeth is our District Fitness Manager and oversees our entire fitness department from hiring, training and developing all of our Fitness Coaches.  Elisabeth has been a very successful Fitness Manager and Fitness Coach for the Rush for the last four years and has our current crop of Fitness Coaches ready to get you into the shape you want!  Elisabeth is a wealth of knowledge about health and fitness and can tackle any goal that is out there.

Next posting, I will review one of the most important muscle groups in your body that not only can help to prevent lower back pain but also knee pain.  The hint of this muscle group is that you sit on it!  I will provide you a series of exercises and a routine to for this important area that not only does so many important things for proper function, but many have this area as a cosmetic goal as well. 

Have a great Mid-May and as always let me know if you need anything and I will do my best to make sure it gets done!

Sincerely,

Rob

Good afternoon everybody- We hope you are having a great April!  It is starting to look like we are finishing up with the winter, so I know that I for one am very excited about this nice weather!  In today’s entry I would like to discuss a very popular fitness tool called the BOSU (stands for: BOth Sides Up) Ball.  This is a great implement to change up your routine and challenge you in ways that you may never have thought of!   The premise behind the BOSU ball is that you can perform exercises on it with either the “flat” side or the “round” side face down.  In today’s society more and more people are getting aches and pains or even injured when performing daily tasks that require moving in different directions and different speeds.  Our bodies are incredible adapting machines that must be continuously challenged to keep making positive changes.    To help increase our own balance and coordination, we must challenge ourselves with exercises to increase our own awareness of ourselves in space.  This is why you see so many “balance” type tools in our clubs, our goal is to provide our members with everything they need to not only look and feel good, but also FUNCTION properly.  The BOSU ball is one of those tools that not only can help increase your core strength, but enhance your coordination and balance, help to burn calories and last but not least, it is FUN to use as well!  Below is a sample 9 exercise total body workout that you only need a pair of dumbbells and Bosu to use.   Please select a weight that will allow you to perform every exercise for 12-15 repetitions and maintain proper form.  Perform the exercises in order from 1-9 with as little rest as possible and then repeat the circuit 2-3 times depending upon your fitness level.   If you have any questions, please ask any Fitness Coach and we are happy to help you out!   Also, I have received many emails with questions about various things and I want you to know that if for some reason I don’t respond directly back to you, I am always forwarding them to the right people to get you answers.  Please keep sending any questions or anything else that you may need so we can insure our members the best workout experience possible.  Have a great rest of your April and let me know what we can do for you!

Sincerely,

Rob

Good afternoon everybody- It is 3:45 pm right now, the sun is out and I can’t get over how much I have missed the nice weather and am ready for the cold winter to be over with!  With the nice weather comes many things: barbecues, outdoor sports, walking dogs and especially dress attire, which means it is time to put the long sleeves and long pants away for a good 6 months!  This also means that we have to shed the “winter layer” and start getting back into shape!  We have spoken about this in previous entries, but I believe it is always worth reviewing, the formula for weight loss.  Everything that we eat and drink breaks down to measureable units of energy that we call calories and we use these calories for daily living (body functioning and fuel to move).  If “E” represents “energy” than we can be in one of the following three scenarios:

E consumed < E expended = Lose Weight

E consumed > E expended = Gain Weight

E consumed = E expended = No Change

So, if you would like to lose weight you must be in an energy deficit.  This means you must either burn more than you consume, consume less than you burn or what we at The Rush always recommend; a combination of both and burn more than usual (work out at The Rush) and take in a little less than usual (make good food choices).  This way you don’t have to change your entire lifestyle too dramatically at one time.  To make this as easy as possible for you, we have released our R3 program that we have been piloting since January.  The program so far has been a huge success, with people reporting 5-20 pounds lost already!  This program will enable you to log your food and drink and see where you stand every moment of the day towards reaching your fitness goals.  The program is super easy to use and we offer coaching both live and by the phone to help you get the best results possible.  This program is extremely affordable ($.30 a day), effective and completes the “24 Hour a day Results Window.”  If you have any questions, please let us know.

Now on to introducing our third market; the Triad and Burlington region.  In 2007, The Rush decided to branch out of Tennessee and expand to North Carolina.  We originally started with four locations: Wendover, Brassfield, Randleman and Highpoint.  The following year we expanded to include Burlington, Winston Salem and the Sportsplex.  On our Fitness side of the company we originally had Ashley Pope overseeing the entire region when we first arrived.  Ashley was recently promoted again from being our District Fitness Manager in North Carolina to being our Vice President of Fitness for the entire company!  We had big shoes to fill in Ashley’s place, so the company felt the right person for the task was/is Tara Enoch.  Tara is a Certified Athletic Trainer and has previously worked at both the University of Louisiana and the University of Tennessee.  Tara has completed her Master’s of Science degree with a concentration in Pedagogy.  Tara started with The Rush in 2005 as a part time fitness coach.  After making the decision to dedicate herself full time to The Rush, she quickly become one of our most popular coaches due to her incredible program design, attention to detail and how hard she would push her clients.  When we expanded to North Carolina, Tara received her first promotion to become a Fitness Manager and was placed in our Brassfield location.  Tara developed an incredible team of fitness coaches and their team went on to break many company records for a span of over 15 months.  After making Brassfield such a success, we also moved Tara to both our Randleman and Downtown Winston Salem clubs as a Fitness Manager to bring her successful leadership formula.  After Ashley was promoted to VP, Tara was the obvious choice to replace her and has done an incredible job always coaching her own managers and staff.  Tara has also showed her ability to duplicate herself in having three of her fitness coaches when she was their direct manager go on to becoming Fitness Managers as well.  Tara has proven to be one of The Rush’s most passionate, competitive and educated leaders.  Tara will not accept anything less than 100% service and her perfectionist attitude shows in our North Carolina clubs every day.  Tara’s team of fitness leaders is as follows:

               Highpoint Location, Casey Warmath:  Casey started with The Rush in May 2007 with Tara at our Brassfield location.  Casey is originally from Greensboro and is currently attending the University of North Carolina, Greensboro to complete her degree in Exercise Sport Science.  Casey has always been into athletics, highlighting wake boarding, soccer and training for fitness competitions as her favorites.  Casey originally came to The Rush for the chance to train people and learn more about exercise and quickly excelled, becoming one of Tara’s strongest and most popular Fitness Coaches in Brassfield.  After becoming one of the company’s top fitness coaches, Casey’s promotion to Fitness Manager of our Highpoint location came last year and she has attacked her new role with the same intensity as her fitness coaching.  Casey lists the following about her favorite parts of being a Rush Fitness Manager: “Educating fitness coaches to become better fitness coaches as well as helping clients to get the results they want.”  Casey is doing a fantastic job and we at The Rush are very proud of how she has grown into a leader and manager.

               Wendover Location, Jacob McClary:  Jacob started with The Rush in May 2007.  Jacob originally started on our membership side, but then decided he wanted to focus on the fitness coaching side and joined Tara and Casey at the Brassfield location.  Jacob is originally from Benton, Tennessee and graduated from MTSU with his Physical Education degree and emphasis in Exercise Science.  Jacob enjoys playing the mandolin and upright bass as his hobbies when he is not at The Rush.  After dedicating himself to the fitness side, Jacob has done phenomenal and  has quickly climbed the leadership ladder and was recently promoted to becoming a Rush Fitness Manager.  Jacob is currently the Fitness Manager at our Wendover location and doing a great job.  Jacob lists the following as what he enjoys most about being a Fitness Manager: “It’s an opportunity to help people change their lifestyle for the better and hopefully increase their life span as well as quality of life.  As far as Fitness Coaching goes, I enjoy having the opportunity to set a positive example and to teach them how to set and achieve professional goals for themselves.”  We are very excited that Jacob has found a position with our company that allows him to excel and progress as he has done and we look forward to Jacob’s next step!

               Randleman Location, Courtney Noel:  Courtney started with The Rush in May 2007.  Courtney originally started working at the front desk in a part time role while finishing school, then switched to the Fitness side to complete an internship for her Master’s program.  Courtney has attained her Master’s degree from Highpoint University in Sport Studies/Exercise Science where she also played four years of Division I  soccer.  Courtney is originally from Richmond, Virginia and still has family there today.  After Courtney graduated from college and dedicated herself to becoming a Fitness Coach, she quickly became one of the most sought after coaches in Highpoint.   With her athletic and academic backgrounds along with her great attitude, Courtney quickly became one of our top coaches.  Last year Courtney received her promotion to Fitness Manager where she first started in our Winston Salem location.  Just recently, Courtney was transferred to one of our larger locations where she can have an even bigger impact with our Randleman community.  Courtney enjoys spending time with her family and friends, being outdoors and traveling when she is not helping her staff and members at the club.  Courtney lists the following as what she enjoys most about her job: “The best part of my job is that I get to wake up every morning knowing that each and every day I have the opportunity to help someone achieve their goals and change their life.  The greatest reward comes in time when you see that person achieve the final transformation they had been longing for.  Seeing them change their life and become so much happier is the reason I started this career and the reason I will continue for the rest of my career.”  As with all of our leaders, we are very excited to see how Courtney continues to develop and affect our communities the way she already has at Randleman and Winston Salem.

               Burlington Location, Tim Lewis:  Tim started at The Rush in April 2007.  Tim is originally from Rich Square, North Carolina and has completed his degree in Sport & Exercise Science from Greensboro College.  Tim originally started at our Randleman location as a Fitness Coach back when we first opened our temporary workout facility.  Tim has always shown what it takes to motivate people to push themselves as hard as they can go which must come from his extensive football coaching background.  After becoming a standout Fitness Coach at Randleman, his natural leadership ability had shown through and we had to promote him!  Tim was promoted to Fitness Manager at our Burlington location and has been doing a great job, leading by example with one of our newest clubs.  Tim lists spending time with his family, riding his motorcycles, playing and watching sports and working out as his hobbies when he is not changing lives at The Rush.  Tim has expressed that “it is all about the member experience, it is what he has done all his life” and “I love being a leader and role-model and being involved with a multitude of people” as what he enjoys most about being a Fitness Manager with The Rush.  Tim has excelled very quickly in his career with The Rush and we can’t wait to see what happens with his next step.

               Winston Salem, Kaila Gretchen:  Kaila joined The Rush in November of 2007.  Kaila grew up in New Castle, Delaware and completed her degree in Dietetics from the University of Delaware.  Kaila originally started with The Rush at our Wendover club as a Fitness Coach.  From the moment Kaila started with us, everybody could see the passion and energy that she had with her clients and them getting the results they were looking for.  Kaila could always be found researching a new exercise, type of food or supplement that can enhance her client’s progress.  Kaila’s eagerness to learn and go “above and beyond” finally paid off when she was promoted recently to her new role of Fitness Manager.  Kaila enjoys traveling, outdoor activities, volleyball, basketball, reading and spending time with family and friends when she is not coaching others at The Rush.  Kaila lists the following as what she enjoys most about being a Fitness Manager: “I love the fact that I can guide trainers to reach their potentials on a professional level. In our positions, we can change peoples’ lives, and not just on a superficial level, but emotionally, mentally and physically. I think it’s powerful. People always ask why I chose this field, and it’s because we can help people who want to be helped… they aren’t being pulled in unwillingly on a stretcher, but walked in wanting to change something about themselves. Now, I have the opportunity to guide other fit coaches to another level in training their clients to healthier, happier and more productive lives.”  Kaila shares the exact same enthusiasm as the rest of this great North Carolina team and just as the others, we cannot wait to see how she continues to develop and the effect it will have on her team and their members.

                Brassfield Location, Nicole Faul:  Nicole stared at the Rush in November 2007.  Nicole first started as a member at our Highpoint location, and then as fate would have it, we immediately recruited her to become a Fitness Coach.  Nicole grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and has completed her degrees in Athletic Training and Exercise Science from High Point University.  Nicole quickly became a standout fitness coach with her educational and athletic background.  Nicole was first promoted to Assistant Fitness Manager in our Winston Salem location and then just recently promoted to Fitness Manager and given the “keys” to our busiest location in North Carolina, Brassfield!  Nicole has taken the challenge and just like any other she has previously had, knocked it out of the park!  Nicole has brought her positive and energetic personality to this community and their fitness team is firing on all cylinders.  Nicole’s hobbies outside of The Rush include: working out, reading and playing with her boxer, Chico.  Nicole lists the following as what enjoys most about her Fitness Manager role: “I like knowing that what I do changes people lives! Not always with weight loss, but with improving lives!”  As our newest Fitness Manager, we know that Nicole will continue to follow in the footsteps of the rest of her team and complete this awesome group of exciting, passionate, educated fitness professionals!

Next entry, I will introduce our Asheville team.  Until then, thank you again for being a part of our community and if you ever have any questions or anything else I can help you with, just let me know and I will do my best to either answer the question or get it into the best hands for an answer.  Have a great start to your April!

Sincerely,

Rob

Hello everybody- We hope you are having a great start to your March!  In just a few days we get to turn the clocks back and that means warmer weather and more outside activities to get in shape for!  In this entry, I am going to introduce our Fitness Leaders in our second market; Chattanooga as well as introduce a new exercise for you to all try.  On a different note, we at the Rush would like to thank you all for keep continuing to use your memberships and work out on your own, workout with a fitness coach and take our group X classes.  We all realize that these economic times are not the best and every dollar must be accounted for.  Many people have made lists that they check off what they can save money on and on some, it has been their health club.  Well, we obviously disagree (we are biased J).  Since these times are stressful for everybody, there is really nothing more important than your health and stress relief is at an all time high.  This is why we price our clubs at being a little more than a dollar per day, so no matter what type of financial shape you are in, everybody should be able to afford to workout.  If there is anything we can do to make your experience better, please don’t hesitate to let us know (you can email me at rob@therush247.com) and I will do my best to get it taken care of.

Chattanooga Region- This is the Rush’s second market that we expanded to in 2006.  We originally opened our Lee Highway and Hixson clubs first and then followed that with our Cleveland location and last our Downtown location.  Lindsay Manning is our District Fitness Manager for Chattanooga and oversees our Fitness departments in that region.  Lindsay is originally from Chattanooga and coincidently  graduated from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga with her degree in exercise science.  Lindsay has been with our company since 2006, originally based in our Hixson location as a stand out Fitness Coach and then Assistant Fitness Manager.  In 2007, Lindsay was then promoted to Fitness Manager and tasked with building her own team at our Downtown Chattanooga location.  After building that team of Fitness Coaches, Lindsay moved on to our Cleveland location to bring the same energy and passion for fitness that she displays every day.  Recently Lindsay received her next promotion as District Fitness Manager where she now assists our entire region with training and developing our fitness coaches and fitness managers.  We are very lucky to have a person like Lindsay who’s true passion is health and fitness and seeing people get results.  Lindsay is full of energy and drive and you are sure to see her at any of our four clubs in Chattanooga probably assisting somebody with something!  Lindsay’s team includes:

·        Hixson Location- Heath Jenkins: Heath has been with the Rush since 2001 starting as a Fitness Coach fresh out of graduating from Maryville College with his degree in Physical Education.  Heath is originally from Athens, Tennessee.  Heath had truly set the bar when he was a fitness coach at our Walker Springs location with clients purchasing fitness coaching packages to train with him for up to two years at a time!  Heath had won numerous company contests for his clients resigning with him to continue their coaching program and finally decided to take the next step up in 2006 by becoming a Fitness Manager at our Oak Ridge location.  Heath later moved to Chattanooga and headed up the fitness department at our Lee Highway location and just recently moved to our Hixson location.  Heath enjoys most “helping and educating people to reach their fitness goals” as well in his free time; working out and enjoying the outdoors.  We are very thankful to have Heath “Truck” Jenkins representing us wherever he goes.  Heath is full of integrity and drive to make people better whether that is a member reaching their fitness goals or a team member learning a new exercise.

·        Lee Highway Location- Abel Gonzalez: Abel has been with the Rush since 2006 starting as a Fitness Coach at our Walker Springs location.  Abel graduated from Tennessee Wesleyan College with his BS in Exercise Science and Sports Fitness.  Abel is originally from El Paso, Texas.  After coaching at Walker Springs, Abel moved to our Cleveland location and became a key component to the success of that team.  Abel and that team were so successful, they won the company’s largest contest of the year which provided them an all expenses paid vacation to Cancun!  Abel was then promoted and became our Fitness Manager at the Hixson location and just recently re-located to our Lee Highway location.  Abel has said that what he loves most about working at the Rush is: “being able to work with members and staff to better their fitness aspirations.”  Abel lists playing golf and spending time with his family as some of his favorite hobbies.  Abel has provided 100% effort and commitment to be the best whether it was as a Fitness Coach and now as a Fitness Manager and we are very excited to see what is in Abel’s future with The Rush.

·        Downtown Chattanooga Location- Emanuel Moon: Emmanuel has been with the Rush since January of 2007.  Emanuel is originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Emanuel has been with the Downtown Location since it opened and quickly became one of the company’s “all-star” Fitness Coaches.  Last year Emanuel was promoted to his own home club as Fitness Manager and has carried on the great tradition of fitness coaching that his mentor, Lindsay Manning started.  Emanuel states that “playing sports and spending time with his three daughters and son” are what he enjoys to do when he is not at The Rush.  Emanuel has an incredible and addictive personality that people just gravitate to.  He will always be the one in the club that everybody is either laughing around, enjoying themselves and overall having a great time.  As with all of our Fitness Managers, we are very thankful to have somebody like the “E-Man” representing The Rush and can’t wait to see him move to the next level.

Thanks again everybody for logging in and checking out our blog.  Have a great start to your March and in our next entry we will introduce our Fitness Leaders in our Triad clubs.  As always, have a great day, get your workouts in and please let me know if we can do anything for you.

Sincerely,

Hello everybody- We at The Rush hope you all had a great start to the new year (and enjoying this crazy snow in Tennessee).  This year we have many new exciting things planned for The Rush as well as this blog to keep you update on all things pertaining to health and fitness.  This entry, I would like to accomplish two things:

1)      Introduce you all to our “Head Coaches (Fitness Managers)” from each region (today’s will focus on Knoxville) as these people are directly responsible for the hands-on training of all of our Fitness Coaches and they go above and beyond every day (with others that I will introduce you to in other entries) to make sure you have the cleanest, fully functional health clubs possible to enjoy daily.  These people are your “Go-To” people when it comes to asking about exercise and equipment use when you are at our clubs.  They are there to answer your questions, so never be shy about tracking them down.

2)      I would also like to introduce at least two “exercises of the month” for you to enjoy and add to your workout routine.

·        Chapman Highway: Faron McNeal.  Faron has been with the company since 2004.  Faron attained his degree in Exercise Science from the University of Tennessee.  Faron has spent time as a Fitness Coach in both our Alcoa and Farragut locations.  Faron has always been known as a Fitness Coach that specialized in working with clients with special needs and his passion for understanding how the body works made this a perfect compliment.  Faron was promoted to “Head Coach” a little over a year ago and has led both the Oak Ridge and Alcoa locations, and just recently was asked to take the reigns at our new Chapman Highway location.  Faron brings the highest level of passion, integrity and motivation to our clubs every day and we are very thankful to have him leading our newest Knoxville location.

As I stated earlier, these people are in the club for YOU.  Their number one priority is customer service and they are willing to do whatever is needed for you to have the best member experience every time you come to the club.  Next entry, I will introduce you to another region.  Have a great start to your February and please feel free to contact me for anything you may need.

Sincerely,

Rob

Hello everybody and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We at The Rush hope that you all had a safe and festive holiday break and are ready for 09!!  The perfect topic to kick off our new year is our BRAND NEW RESULTS Based program called R³ (Rush.Real.Results)!  We at The Rush have done our best to provide the most exciting, fun, and new exercise facilities in the world for all of our members, but this is only half of the equation when discussing people wanting to change their body (losing weight, toning up, building as examples).  As we have discussed previously, for a person to lose weight (our largest percentage of member’s goals) they must EXPEND more energy then they CONSUME.  At The Rush, we have so many different ways to expend energy (resistance training machines, free weights, cardiovascular equipment, Group eXercise classes, swimming, basketball, etc.) and now we finally have a tool for all of our members to monitor, track and educate on what they CONSUME! 

Think about your typical day: work, working out, family time, possibly school, leisure time and sleep.  Each day is made up of 24 hours (somebody tell me how we can extend that to fit everything in) and our body is in a constant flux of consuming, utilizing and storing energy (calories).  If you have a great day that includes a 1 hour workout, well that still leaves 23 more hours in your day that you are responsible for when it comes to changing your body.  This program will allow everybody total control over all the factors that have to do with you getting results 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!  Once you enroll in our R³ program (costs less than $10 per month) you will receive a confirmation email within 1 business day that will include your username and password to access the best shape of your life!  Get ready to experience the following after clicking “START:”

·        Your first step is completing a series of questionnaires (takes less than 10 minutes) about your general statistics (everything is confidential on your program), goals, current activity levels and any health precautions.

·        Your program will be generated which will include specifics on how many calories per day you expend, how many calories you need to consume to reach your goal and exactly how much you will lose (or gain if that is your goal) per day by sticking to your program!  After you receive your recommended calorie intake, you can then go into the program and utilize any of the thousands of pre-made menus (with many variations that includes: vegetarian, lactose-intolerant, on the go, athletic and many more) with all the freedom to “exchange” any food item or meal to build your own.  The R³ program utilizes “Calorie King” as our food database, so there are hundreds of thousands of choices, as well as the ability to make your own food item.  Each meal (or by the end of the day) you log your food, and the program balances out what you consumed versus what your activity levels are.  The whole purpose of this component: For you to have the foods that you enjoy at the amounts that will make you feel energetic, and keep you in a caloric deficit each day to shed the weight and see the definition that you want!

·        Next up is the exercise component!  Enter your workout goals (how many days per week, what your fitness goals are, etc.) and R³ will generate a resistance training and cardiovascular program for you!  You can specify if you want a different program every day, every week or every month!  When your program is generated, you have the ability to see all of the exercises on your computer being performed by moving animations and then print that program (to take to The Rush or use at home if you can’t make it to The Rush) to always have your own virtual fitness coach!  Of course one of the biggest things that makes The Rush different from anybody else is our live Fitness Coaches!  If you have the ability to work with a Coach (for the live motivation, program design and accountability as well as insuring that you complete every minute of your workout as safe and effect as possible) and R³ at the same time, this is the best of both worlds!  All of the programs that R³ generates includes all of the equipment and tools that we have available at The Rush, so no guess work!

·        Continuing Education is up next!  Your R³ membership will allow you access to countless articles and webinars on all of the latest information that deals with general health, losing weight, lean body mass gain, supplementation and many other topics!  This database is being updated daily and will offer you tons of knowledge and information for as long as you are a member!

·        Nutritional supplementation is left to complete the circle!  For you to lose weight you must be in a caloric deficit (less food than before) and being in that deficit now lowers the amount of nutrients that you are receiving.  You are now exercising, which increases the need for nutrients.  The only way to get the nutrients without the calories (so you remain in the caloric deficit) is to include supplementation in your daily caloric intake. R³ recommends specific supplements to match YOUR goals and nutritional needs with a brand called dotFIT.  All of the dotFIT supplementation is made in a pharmaceutically licensed laboratory (to ensure its ingredients and development processes) and have developed some of the newest cutting edge formulas to help people reach their goals!  We offer a simple “auto-ship” process that means you will have your order come right to your door and by using this process you will receive a 20% discount and free shipping!

In all, this program in the only program of its kind that delivers all of the components necessary to reach your goals (calorie intake, exercise programming, supplementation and continuing education) and all the components “speak to each other.”  In other words, your calorie intake and goal will determine your supplementation and exercise recommendations.  We now feel with this program available to all members (and none members, if you do not want to join The Rush, you just have to come in to get started) we have every tool necessary for you to be the YOU that you have always wanted.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me, or ask any our staff the next time you are at The Rush.  Have a great start to your new year and as always, thank you for stopping by.

Sincerely,

Rob

Hello everybody- I hope you are all having a great November.  One more week and the real holiday season begins!  Today’s entry is going to be about how to get the MOST out of the cardio you have been doing, which is so important right now with all the potential holiday pitfalls ahead.  Remember to lose weight and define muscles, it is vital to burn more calories than you consume as we have discussed in many blog entries previously.  Cardio is one way to burn calories and strengthen our heart, lungs and muscles at the same time.  There are many different types of cardio to do at the Rush:

·        Incline Treadmills

·        Recumbent Bicycles

·        Upright Bicycles

·        Step Mills

·        Jacob’s Ladders

·        Quad Mills

·        Elliptical Machines

·        Upper Body Cycling

·        Rowing Machines

·        Group Cycling Classes

·        Water Classes

·        Group Exercise Classes

Now the Rush has all of these (and more) variations for a few reasons:

·        To avoid becoming bored (we want to make sure that you never get bored and are always excited to try something new!)

·        To prevent hitting a plateau (after you challenge your body with a workout, it is built to overcome the challenge ((by getting in better shape)), which means you have to constantly challenge your body to different levels if you want keep seeing results)

·        To provide plenty of variations for all people that may have restrictions or limitations (we have something for EVERYBODY, so NO EXCUSES!)

When working, how many of you would rather get paid your OVER-TIME rate instead of your minimum wage rate??  The obvious answer is OVER-TIME, so let’s discuss how to make that happen when doing your cardio.  When working out, you have two different times to reap the benefits of calorie expenditure:

1.      By doing the workout itself

2.      Your recovery after your workout

Have you ever seen the people that have been on the treadmill for the last five years and not making any more changes to their body?  Those people are probably only experiencing #1 above and not #2.  If you can work out at a higher intensity (after you have built enough of a base, not on your first day), you can increase the calories that you utilize AFTER your workout (as it takes calories to bring your body back to a steady state).  Think of the difference between walking and running around the block.  After walking around the block, it probably doesn’t take very long for you to feel like yourself again and you probably barely worked up a sweat.  If you run (and run as hard as you can, not as hard as you can’t), when you finish you will probably be out of breath for a bit and you will probably notice that you have worked up a sweat that won’t go away even if you have showered and changed into dry clothes.  Scientifically, they refer to the calories that you burn after working out as EPOC (Excess Post-Oxygen Consumption from exercise) which I think of as your “after-burn.”  Research shows that you will have a longer after-burn by doing exercise at a higher intensity.  This can even double the calories that you spent doing the workout itself!

There is a large misconception in the industry that deals with staying in your aerobic zone (approximately 50-60% of max heart rate) to burn the most fat.  The confusion comes from this “zone” being called the “fat burning zone” which in actuality is an intensity that you burn the highest amount of fat for the calories that you are expending.  The only problem is; by working at a lower intensity you are not burning as many TOTAL calories.  Believe it or not, when you are sleeping at night, you are in your largest fat burning zone, but is fat flying off of your body while you are sleeping?? Of course not, because you are burning so few calories… The key is to burn as many calories as you can, which means work out as hard as you can (and use a variety of modes to keep the body from adapting) to maximize your results!  Remember, when you are in a caloric deficit, you WILL lose weight!

If you have any questions about which cardio is for you and how intense you should be doing it, PLEASE don’t hesitate to let any of our Fitness Coaches know and we would be happy to answer all your questions.  Thanks again for reading and if you have any questions or topics you would like me to write about, just drop me an email at: rob@therush247.com.

Have a great rest of your November and Happy Thanksgiving,

Hello everybody-

Guess what time of the year it is??  Holiday season!! What happens at holiday season besides seeing family and watching football?? Lots and lots of social events that usually center around food!!  Now being a big fan of food myself, I fully understand how hard it is to stay regimented especially with all the opportunities to truly blow it.  The average person gains between 3-7 pounds in the next two months, so in tonight’s entry, let’s discuss some ways to combat the holiday weight gain.  First of all, to lose weight, our bodies must be in an energy deficit, which means we either have to take in less calories than we expend, burn more calories than we consume or do a combination of both (the one we most recommend as it is easier than the other two).  The following are some helpful hints to remember this holiday season:

·        Make sure to keep coming to The Rush at least three times per week and participate in cardiorespiratory exercise and strength training to keep your energy expenditure as high as possible.  One of our most popular exercise programs comes from our Group eXercise department.  If you haven’t already tried a class, we have many different ones to choose from including; Group Strength, Boot Camps, Yoga, Pilates, Group Cycling and Water (and many more).  All of these classes come with your membership and all you have to do is show up and be ready to have some fun.  We have had members before worry about not having the best coordination or be able to move to music, and trust me (from experience) if this is you, we have many classes that you can just jump into and not worry about a thing.  Browse our website and you can download a class schedule from your choice club (Burn More Calories).

·        When you come to The Rush, work or anywhere else including the grocery store, park as far away in the parking lot as you can.  It is all about energy and you need to use it.  We do often times laugh at the folks that go to a health club and drive around the parking lot 20 times until a spot in the front opens up… (Burn More Calories).

·        While at work, many people may have environments where they communicate with another co-worker in the same building by either phone, text or email.  If something doesn’t need to be documented (email), get up off of the chair and walk to your co-worker to share the information that you needed to.  Every bit helps, and many of you would probably agree that once you sit down in the morning, except for lunch and maybe a bathroom break, you probably stay glued to your seat for the whole day.  Get up and use more energy! (Burn More Calories).

·        Many times in our daily activities we are faced with a choice: take the elevator/escalator OR climb the stairs.   What do we see?  There will be a line for the elevator/escalator and maybe one person climbing the stairs.  Take the stairs and probably even beat the people on the escalator to the next level! (Burn More Calories).

·        After eating a meal, especially a holiday meal with family, most people “retire” to the living room and end up taking a nap.  They now have the “double-whammy,” they over-ate and now are not going to burn any calories.  Make a pact with a friend/family member that after eating you will walk around the block and burn some of that food off as well as combat the sleepiness. (Burn More Calories).

·        With the holidays so near, many people are going to the grocery store with their holiday dinners on their mind and a great rule of thumb is: never go grocery shopping hungry!  Everything will look good to eat and if you have it in the house, you will eat it (all of it…in one sitting).  Set yourself up for success by only bringing home what you need and can carefully plan out.  If you don’t the “pantry and refrigerator demons” will be calling and you will find yourself eating just for the sake of eating and not even being hungry. (Consume Less Calories).

·        When sitting down for a meal, drink at least two glasses of water first.  This can help to curb your appetite and help you to control yourself with the turkey and mashed potatoes… (Consume Less Calories).

·        “Finish what is on your plate!”  This is what I was taught when I was younger, so we are naturally programmed to eat everything that is in front  of us.  So this holiday, make a deal with the family and friends that you will all put “normal” servings on your plate (normal for a human, not a bear) and save seconds for the next day… (Consume Less Calories).

Those are at least a start to help you out this holiday season.  As always, thank you for visiting our website and feel free to send any questions or comments to me at rob@therush247.com.  Keep working out, have fun and have a safe holiday.

Sincerely,

Hello everybody!  In our last entry, we discussed how posture can affect your workouts and by following the five checkpoints this will help to keep you in the best alignment when exercising.  In today’s entry we will discuss a very popular method of flexibility referred to as foam rolling.  If you have ever seen our members or our Fitness Coaches rolling on these one foot “floaties” that look like they belong in a swimming pool, they are doing this for good reason: to help release muscular knots that prevent ideal movement that will cause compensation and decrease your workout results!

When you workout or experience some type of trauma to your tissues (sitting at a desk for hours upon hours, moving the same way over and over, stubbing your toe as examples) your body goes through a process where it tries to protect the affected area.  Without boring you with all the crazy science, just imagine that your muscles will spasm within the injured area and then your body will try to “tie down” the injured area by releasing very stiff proteins in a very random fashion that would resemble a “knot” (also referred to as an adhesion which then turns into scar tissue) to immobilize the area.  I have often compared this process to when somebody breaks their arm and then the doctor puts the arm into a cast to keep it from moving while it heals.  Now after the healing period, the doctor takes off the cast, but in the case of our muscles and tissues, we need to “remove the cast” by gently rolling on these foam rollers to help “untie” the knots. 

All you need to do to foam roll an area is simply roll very slowly over the muscle group that you are targeting (about one inch per second).  When you roll this slow over an area, it will help to break up the knot that has formed.  Now just as important, when you find a tender area (think of grading tenderness on a comfort scale from 1-10; 1 being very comfortable, 10 being very UNcomfortable) you want to hold pressure on that area for 20-30 seconds without moving and breathe normally.  Again, without going through the crazy science, by applying pressure to the tender area (it's actually in spasm) for the 20-30 second duration, this will relax the spasm and help to restore the muscle's length (very similar to trigger point massage).  If you spend 5-8 minutes before your workout begins doing this to your calves, thighs and back muscles, you will feel like you have a brand new body for your workout!

Hello everybody- we at The Rush hope you had a great September and are gearing up for a little colder weather here in October…

In our last entry we discussed the importance of core training and activating your deep abdominal muscles by pulling your belly button inward when lifting things.  Another HUGE factor in preventing lower back pain (and enhancing your workouts) is having ideal posture throughout the day.  Our bodies are incredible adaptable machines that are built to overcome daily challenges and environments.  If you think about our workouts, when we work out doing cardiovascular exercise, our cardiorespiratory system (heart, lungs and circulatory system) becomes more efficient (gets in better shape) because of the challenge we placed on it by doing the activity.  When we do strength training, our muscles have to adapt and become stronger (or bigger, or faster, or better endurance based upon how we work out) due to the challenge of the weights that we are stressing the body with.  These are many of the reasons that we work out for the great health benefits!  Now on the flip side, our body also adapts to things that we don’t necessarily want: for today’s topic: seated or repetitive posture.

Have you ever noticed on either yourself or anybody else who sits at a desk throughout a day either at a computer or answering the telephone that they seem to become ONE with their chair and desk?  By “ONE” I am referring to when they stand up, their body still looks as though they are sitting down?  If you are spending hours a day in the seated position, then most likely, you will have adaptive shortening occurring in many of the key areas of your body.  Specifically: your ankles (calves) from the type of shoe that you may be wearing (any type of heel), hips (hip flexors) from the seated position, shoulders (chest and back muscles that round your shoulders and turn them inward as if you were typing on a keyboard) and the back of the neck (cervical extensors, resulting from a forward head position).   

Now picture in your body there are many “tug-of-wars” (muscles that are pulling on either sides of a joint) that are occurring at all these specific areas, and ideally for your muscles to be in their “best” position there wouldn’t be one side dominating over the other, they would both be equal length.  Research has also found that muscles that are placed in overly shortened positions for prolonged periods of time result in an increased amount of tone, making those muscles “hyperactive” in general.  This results in a decrease in tone on the opposite muscle(s) which makes them “underactive.”  Now, with certain muscles having altered lengths which directly affect their strength, this will force the body into further improper movement patterns (such as letting your knees come together when squatting down)  and put an increased amount of distress on the joints of your body (which then affect your tendons and ligaments; the ACL for example in the knee).  I often use an analogy of the “faulty shopping cart” at the grocery store to compare to your body.  If you get “that” cart that has the wheel that will not roll straight ahead, then you are always exerting more energy trying to keep the cart from crashing into the displays within the aisles instead of just rolling straight through.  Your body acts the same way, if you have an imbalance in an area of the body, there are other parts of the body that have to compensate for that specific area.  For your body to move as efficiently as possible and reduce the chances of more wear and tear on your joints, then we want all “wheels rolling the same direction.” The following are some very simple and basic alignment guidelines that we maintain while exercising (and moving):

5 Checkpoints

1)      Feet: Hip width apart, always straight ahead

2)      Knees: Always straight ahead, in line with the feet

3)      Hips: Neutral (arch your back as far as you can, then tuck your hips under as far as you can and find the middle point), pull the belly button in and tense the glute area

4)      Shoulders: Down (don’t shrug upwards) and Back (don’t round your shoulders)

5)      Head: Neutral (pull your chin inwards as if trying to show people a “double-chin”) and keep your face in the same direction as your chest (don’t look down or up)

There is much more technical information about why these checkpoints are the way they are (please email me if you would like to more in-depth info) but we have found by maintaining these points while exercising, our clients have reduced their chances of injury and enhanced their workouts!  There are some people that may never follow these and see great results and never injure themselves, but we look at that as taking a risk and if we know that something is better for you, than we always want to stay on the cutting edge of workout information and get the best results!

Have a great start to your October, get in the club at least 3 times per week and don’t let the cold weather and extra layers become an excuse to let that body that you have spent hours getting ready for the summer go!  Please let me know if there is anything you need or if you have any questions that you would like answered about fitness and take care!

Thank you from The Rush family,

Rob Rettmann

Hello everybody-

Today’s entry is going to be on a topic that has seemingly affected most everybody in one way or another: Lower Back Pain!  The incidences of lower back pain in our country have increased dramatically over the last 15 years, to the point that most everybody is now dealing with some level of discomfort.  The question has to be: WHY?  Well, there are many schools of thought, but one of the theories that seem to hold the most water is that of a lack of CORE stability.  The term “CORE” has become very popular in the health and fitness industry recently, and one of the main reasons is because of this new found emphasis on combating lower back pain.

Let’s look deeper at how back pain can occur:  Our spinal cord (which is vitally important to relay information from our environment to our brain and back from our brain to our muscles to move) is encased in individual bones called vertebrae.  In between the vertebrae are small discs that act as shock absorbers.  We have natural curves to our spine that allow normal function for everyday life.  When we are aligned properly, the pressure through our spine (every step you take, your spine must deal with your body weight multiplied by 2-5 times, moving at different speeds because of gravity and ground reaction forces) will keep our discs in the proper place and not force excessive pressure on the front or back potions which can force the nucleus (the center) to protrude, resulting in a herniated disc which can impinge upon the various nerves that stem from the spinal cord and result and in pain and discomfort.  Most people’s daily activities require them to maintain positions for long periods (sitting at a computer, standing behind a counter) and the body will adapt to those positions.  In the case of the seated posture, there are specific muscles that tend to become overly shortened and other muscles that become overly lengthened which can result less than ideal position for the spine.  As the body gets used to this poor, seated “computer typing” posture, the small muscles that connect the vertebra and function as stabilizer muscles tend to become overly weak and not function as they should.  Now when you try to go outside and throw the football around, do yard work, play with the kids or pick up the bag of groceries out of the trunk, the muscles that you rely upon to stabilize your spine aren’t functioning the way they should and your spine with the included discs take all the pressure and an injury can occur.

What is the solution?  CORE Training!  What we need to do to avoid this discomfort and pain is focus on the small stabilizing muscles that support our spine and create the solid foundation for the rest of our body to move from.  How do we do this?  The first step, is to practice a movement referred to as the drawing in maneuver.  Simply pull your belly button and lower abdominals inward towards your spine before you move your arms or legs.  Think of pulling your belly from your pant line.  When you pull your stomach inwards, you utilize a large group of stabilizing muscles that interconnect throughout your spine and pelvis which will  signal your brain that you now have your “seat belt” on and you will have better overall movement and severely decrease your chance of injury or further injury.  We are innately born with this action and pre-programmed to do this right before we move our arms and legs but as the old saying goes “if you don’t use it, you lose it” and these muscles have become weakened from improper use (leaning on the desk or table all day while typing for example).   We just need to re-train our body to perform this movement and this will be one of the most important keys to having a safe, strong back.

There are many ways to challenge the core, if you ever need any assistance or a new exercise, don’t hesitate to ask any of our Fitness Coaches for help or guidance.  In further entries we will discuss other factors of lower back pain such as flexibility, but for now, remember to pull that belly button in!

Thanks for being a part of our Rush Family,

Rob Rettmann

• STAY POSITIVE!  Put your focus and attention on the great things in your life, not the things that aren’t going right.  You must change your way of thinking from negative thoughts to positive ones!  So for example, when you look in the mirror, focus on the parts of your body you like instead of the ones you don’t!
• Direct energy toward the things you have control over, not the things you don’t.  Focus on eliminating stress from your day, one small step at a time.  Remember, exercise is the number one stress reducer!
• Tell yourself how blessed you are, and give thanks for the opportunity you have been given to exercise your amazing body!
• Remind yourself how much more energy you will have to focus on the spouse and the kids if you keep working out!  Exercise increases your stamina and endurance so you can play longer and have enough steam to go from sunrise to sunset!
• Think of how great you feel when you set small goals for yourself each week and accomplish them with hard work and dedication.  Wake up every morning, give thanks, and set forth on your day’s journey to accomplish personal goals.
• Picture your strong mind, body, and soul, and think how much easier everyday tasks are when you are healthy and feel amazing about yourself.   Exercise releases endorphins, which make you feel happy and confident!
• Accept the fact there will always be days you don’t feel like working out, you cheat on your good nutrition plan, and you have a bad attitude.  Don’t jump off the wagon and throw everything out the window the second this happens!  Understand that it’s part of life, so enjoy your cheat meal or your day off, and get right back on track the next day!  Sometimes it makes you work out twice as hard!
• Make sure you have realistic goals in place for yourself so you aren’t tempted to get frustrated and quit.  Consult with a fitness professional to find out what reasonable goals for your body type are so you can stay motivated!

Today’s topic is a very common goal that many of our members and personal training clients share: WEIGHT LOSS.  Nowadays, everybody out there has an opinion, whether it is the latest talk show, magazine, or their best friend on the “secret” to weight loss.  Well everybody, here is the real secret: it’s all about total CALORIES! 

A calorie is a unit of energy that is measureable, which means we use calories for daily activities, working out, and basic body functions.  We consume calories in what we eat and drink.  An analogy for this situation is comparing weight loss to a bank account.  In real life, we want to save money for a “rainy day.”  If our budgets are done correctly, after paying our bills and expenses, we would have enough for savings to keep building our accounts.  In the weight loss game, we tend to “save” whatever we don’t spend in the sense of calories. In other words, many people have really increased their savings account (weight gain) by not spending (energy expenditure) what they need to on a daily basis.  Here is a simple formula to show how a little “savings” each day can accumulate to an extra unwanted 10 pounds per year:  If you were to consume an extra 100 calories per day above what you are expending, and then multiply that times 365 days per year (100 x 365), this would equate to an extra 36,500 calories per year.  We can then divide this number by 3500 per pound of fat and we total just over 10 pounds per year!  One of the points of this story is that it doesn’t take much each day to put you in a position where you have gained weight and not feeling good.  The GREAT part of this story is that it doesn’t take much to REVERSE this process (100 calories reduced instead of increased) to start seeing the weight come off!  All you have to do is be more aware of what you are eating and drinking each day and add exercise to your lifestyle! 

To break this down, start keeping a daily food journal and write down everything you eat and drink for the next ten days.  Put down EVERYTHING, no matter how unhealthy you may think it is.  Next, take an average of what your caloric intake has been over that time period to determine how much of a caloric deficit you should be in.  For example, if you find that you are taking in 3000 calories per day, now take out 200-400 per day to bring your daily amount down to 2600-2800 per day.  If you continue to burn the same amount of calories as what you did before, you will now be in a 200-400 calorie deficit where your body will need to utilize your “stored” calories to fulfill these needs.  The keys are to eat small portions every couple of hours to maintain your energy and hunger levels with good food.  This is important to prevent you from becoming hungry, which can cause a bad food choice (one stop at a fast food restaurant and making the wrong choices can set you back 1000-3000 calories) and making sure you always have energy to do your daily tasks.

The other side of the equation on how you can double your caloric deficit is to exercise!  You will burn various amounts of calories performing exercise at different intensities, lengths of time, and different types.  To start, try 3 times a week, alternating days.  This will spread out your calorie expenditure throughout the week and the great thing about exercising, is that it will have you burning a higher amount of calories, even on the days that you are not working out!  Include some type of cardiovascular activity (20-30 minutes) and resistance training for your whole body, 3 times a week for an hour total and you will be on your way to your new body!  If you need help with any of this, please don’t hesitate to ask for your club’s Fitness Manager and we will be happy to get you started on the right track!

There are many ideas and concepts that we would like to share with you through this blog, but just as importantly we would love to answer any fitness questions you may have as well.  Please feel free to email me at: rob@therush247.com and I will post various questions with our answers every blog opportunity.

Thanks for your time and being a part of The Rush Family,