This blog has moved to www.foxfitness.com.
Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category
30
Jun
09
Blog has moved!
A friend of mine, Rebecca Cagle, is a life coach and although she deals with every angle of your life she can also narrow in on obstacles to reaching health and fitness. Exercise is not just about weights and cardio training, but about the obstacles to reaching your goals and setting aside the time to actually squeeze those workouts in. All too often we start on a program and never complete. Here are som suggestions to those common quetions below:
I would like to exercise but my schedule is packed. Would should I do? It sounds like you are overcommitted. Take the time to go over your schedule. Look at you calendar and make a list of activities in which you are involved. Do a cost-benefit analysis on each activity. You may be surprised at which ones you can do without. Remove as many as possible that you can live without and schedule time for exercise. Not only will you find time to exercise, you will also find free time to relax and decompress from the daily stresses of life.
Exercising alone is not fun and I cannot stick with it. Where do I turn for help? For accountability and making it a social experience, get a personal trainer like Becky Fox, owner of Fox Fitness. You can work out with her one to one or in a Boot Camp where several people exercise together Either way you will have the fun of sharing exercise with at least one other person. And you will have more incentive to keep your commitment to yourself to stay fit. It is a more rewarding energetic experience.
If you have a question for Professional Life Coach Rebecca Cagle, BS, PLC email her at beccacagle@juno.com Answers to questions are general in nature and may not apply to your specific circumstances. Rebecca is based in Knoxville, TN and her web sites are: www.empowermentlifecoach.com and www.equestrianlifecoach.net
23
Jun
09
Q & A: Interval Training
Becky,
Would you mind to explain something to me? How exactly do you do interval training? If you do 2 minutes at a level 5, then increase your intensity for 2 min at a level 6 and so on. If you walk, do an elliptical, treadmill etc. what exactly does that mean. I guess what I am trying to ask is when it says increase your intensity, that does not mean increase your resistance, like on a elliptical or treadmill you can increase from 1 being the lowest resistance all the way up to ten being the highest, of course it gets harder as you increase. I read that interval training is the best way to burn fat, I have never been really sure how to do this. I am the one with the knee replacement so I don’t jog anymore except maybe a little on the treadmill, also, do you know if jogging a little only on the treadmill where you get some padding would be hard in the long run on your knee replacement? Thanks for your time.
Gail
Thank you for your question Gail. Interval training is mixing high intensity bursts of exercise with moderate bursts of exercise (recovery periods). It is designed to get your heart rate soaring and thus is something that is generally done for a shorter period of time. So your cardio session may only last 20 minutes. It’s great though because it burns a lot of fat and boosts your metabolism.
Intervals can be completed for any type of exercise or equipment: treadmill, elliptical, bike, etc…What you want to do is mix in intervals of a higher intensity with intervals of a lower intensity. Intervals are short and can be a structured in a variety of ways and all depends on your fitness level.
The best way to look at is on a scale of 1-10. A level 1 is easy, not difficult at all and 10 is really difficult. This is your perception of how hard you are working based on how you feel and your heart rate, not a level on the machine. So first determine what your general intensity level is when you exercise. Let’s say it’s a 5. So level 5 is a comfortable exertion for you and is a level you could maintain for 30-45 minutes. During your high intensity burst of interval training you should be working harder than this, say at level 6 or 7. During your moderate burst you will work at your normal level or slightly lower (4 or 5) depending on how you feel. The idea here is to recover so you can continue to work hard through that next high interval burst.
The amount of time for intervals can vary slightly. Starting out you will want to have a longer recovery period. You may start with 2 minute on and 2-3 minutes off. Or you can shoot for shorter intervals of a minute each or even longer up to 3 minutes. Just play around with it and change it up from time to time to get variety out of your workouts.
Also, to increase the intensity you can either increase your speed or increase the resistance or incline. So this means picking up the speed (treadmill: increase speed, bike/elliptical: pedal faster) or adding an incline or increasing the resistance. Or you can combine the two. Often on an elliptical I will bump up the resistance and make an effort to pedal a little bit faster during that high intensity phase.
Also, make sure to always warm-up for about 5 minutes at a slow pace to get your blood flowing and the body ready for exercise. Here is an example I found online at http://exercise.about.com/cs/cardioworkouts/l/blbeginterval.htm
Warm up 5 Minutes: RPE 3-4: Warm Up at an easy pace Rest Set
3 Minutes: RPE 5: Increase speed from warm up and increase incline 1%. Keep a moderate pace. Work Set
1 Minute: RPE 6 – Increase incline 1-3% to raise the intensity level. You should be working harder! Rest Set
3 Minutes: RPE 5 – Decrease speed and incline to lower your heart rate back to a comfortable level Work Set
1 Minute: RPE 6 – Increase speed 3-5 increments and increase incline 1-2% to raise intensity. Rest Set
3 Minutes: RPE 5 – Decrease speed and incline to lower your heart rate back to a comfortable level Cool down
5 Minutes: RPE 3-5 – Decrease speed/incline to lower your heart rate back to a comfortable level and cool down.
So Gail, this should give you an idea how to start your interval training. Best of luck with your program!
Make sure to check out the article on Knoxville boot camps from Thursday’s business section! Click here to read.
Body Transformation Challenge
Beginning January 1 through January 10, 2009
Take this twelve-week fitness challenge to transform your body. * Simply bring in a full body photo of yourself holding a sign of the current date. This photo should reveal enough information about your current state of physical fitness. Next, fill out the form to enter the challenge (Can be obtained from the Health Shoppe or downloaded at www.foxfitnessonline.com).
After twelve weeks, take another full body photo of yourself holding a sign with the current date. Bring in your photo to the Health Shoppe between April 5th and April 15th, and our group of four unbiased judges will award the individuals with the most progress. Winners will be announced by April 20th.
* No steroids or pro-hormones allowed. Participants must use current photos according to the dates posted above.
Contact Info: Eddie Reymond at the Health Shoppe 865-693-4909 or Becky Fox of Fox Fitness at 865-243-5361
Prizes include…
First Place Female:
- $250 Health Shoppe Gift Certificate
- Pair of shoes from New Balance Knoxville
- Personal Training session with Becky Fox of Fox Fitness
- One-hour massage with Bryan Carter, LMT of Carter Sport Therapy
- One-month membership with Mark Aycock Fitness Pros
- Four passes to Fox Fitness Boot Camp with Becky Fox
- One FREE entry and NPC card, PLUS 4 tickets to the Knox Classic Bodybuilding & Figure Competition
- One FREE full session ($75 value) to Tap-N-Burn and T-A-D-A! Studios
- One-hour Integrated Movement Screening/Biomechanical Analysis with Mick Larrabee of Optimal Performance
Second Place Female:
- $125 Health Shoppe Gift Certificate
- Pair of shoes from New Balance Knoxville
- Personal Training session with Becky Fox of Fox Fitness
- One-hour massage with Bryan Carter, LMT of Sport Therapy
- Two passes to Fox Fitness Boot Camp with Becky Fox
First Place Male:
- $250 Health Shoppe Gift Certificate
- Pair of shoes from New Balance Knoxville
- Personal training session with Kimberly Roberts
- One-hour massage with Bryan Carter, LMT of Carter Sport Therapy
- One-month membership with Mark Aycock Fitness Pros
- Four passes to Next Level Boot Camp with Devin Driscoll
- One FREE entry and NPC card, PLUS 4 tickets to the Knox Classic Bodybuilding & Figure Competition
- One FREE full session ($75 value) to Tap-N-Burn and T-A-D-A! Studios
- One-hour Integrated Movement Screening/Biomechanical Analysis with Mick Larrabee of Optimal Performance
Second Place Male:
- $125 Health Shoppe Gift Certificate
- Pair of shoes from New Balance Knoxville
- Personal training session with Kimberly Roberts
- One-hour massage with Bryan Carter, LMT of Sport Therapy
- Two passes to Next Level Boot Camp with Devin Driscoll
*Complimentary gift bag to all who complete the challenge process*
07
Dec
08
FitKnoxville Blog
I am now officially a fitness expert and writer for the Knoxville News Sentinel along with Christian Zavisca. Make sure to check it out here:
