Dre

March 31, 2014

Why I love Training

Training is about progression

Training is not always about raw strength.

For example, even though my Squat strength has not skyrocketed in my previous years of training, technique has improved, range of motion increased, I recover faster, and the practice of squatting has become a catalyst for other healthy behaviors within the body and in my life.

Training supports clarity and rest

Sometimes I have so many thoughts in my head it’s challenging to write about a specific subject for the blog, but after exercise I feel the gears in my head running smoothly like a calm mechanical serenity of sorts.

Can you imagine what it is like to transform stress into something else? I can’t say that exercise always brings happiness, even though it can help you ask yourself the questions that ultimately lead to a happier state. In what ways will I guide myself into a healthier being? If I could do one thing right now to improve my well-being, even if it was something tiny, would would it be?

(a: write a blog post)

Training is anti-aging

I feel that we have a destiny in this world and beyond that — I have to think that age plays an important role in the stages of our learning. Since proper training is always progressive in some way (remember it doesn’t have to be linear), you should also realize that aging is not linear either.

What does that mean — Aging is not linear?

The reality is that the signs of youth, vigor, strength, beauty, etc. are more due to internal factors rather than external. To explain further, the health of the cells in your body is dynamic and strongly affected by periods of stress, disease, poor sleeping patterns, caffeine, alcohol, substance abuse, lack of nutrients, loss of nutrients, dehydration, exposure to everyday chemicals, exposure to toxins, exposure to radiation, chronic inflammation, auto-immune disorders, and even more.

Training is a beautiful stimulus.

Not only will training release a cascade of beneficial body-recomposition hormones, it will also affect the way you view the world. How we perceive our own realities will determine the decisions we make about eating for well-being (as opposed to weight loss), it will help us take care of ourselves and love ourselves.

Training can manifest the most profound mental and physical transformations you’ve ever experienced

The world is always changing. There are some things that we have no control over — however we should strive to gain self-mastery in the areas that are most important to our lives (that is– which you value the most).

A holistic approach

Self-mastery from training is exhibited through perfect technique and form (because you realize that the actual weight matters less than the muscular activation), self-mastery is by resting when you need rest, eating nutrient dense foods, and self-mastery is surrendering yourself to the perseverance of defeating each limiting belief you carry — one by one.

I believe in you.

Power of the Mind

February 19, 2014March 31, 2014

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Has group exercise been the key to fitness for all of human history?

Those who train together are stronger than the sum of each individual

Think about it — For all of human history, community physical training has always been superior for culture and social progression of a peoples. Think about ancient Greece, or consider the warriors from 300. It’s no secret that our armed forces train physical capacity together. Why not — as a community — join together for fitness.

Yea we train together — so what?

We are fighting our own war

We are all consumers, these messages are not lost on us

Even though there are so many smart people in Seattle, they are also constantly subjected to foods which never existed for 99% of humanity. There are so many to choose from — sugary and sweet or succulent and fatty. Not to mention big brands and even local superstars promoting Skittles to the tribe.

Do these guys train physical fitness together? YA DANG RIGHT! #LOUDER

Fact: The 2nd leading cause of preventable death in America is being overweight

Take it seriously folks

I don’t even care about the beauty of the outside when I am more concerned about the beauty on the inside. And when I say inside, sure I care to be a friend to your personality, though mostly I want to promote healthy organ systems, natural enzyme processes, healthy inflammatory response, joint lubrication, bone density, healthy muscle tone, efficient cardiac rhythm and more…

Exercise is Anti-Aging

For my early years in natural health, I was skeptical about this term ‘anti-aging’ even though now I have a better appreciation for what it really means. We are less important the amount of years we have existed than the actual biological age of our cells.

People may age slower for a variety of reasons. I will list a few:

Genetics
Nutrients (pre-natal)
Nutrients (childhood through adolescence)
Nutrients (every day of your dang life)
Exercise
Less exposure to toxins and chemicals
Less stress or superior capacity to handle stress (healthy coping strategies)
Not smoking, drinking, or doing drugs
Consistently sleeping well
Orangetheory Fitness (had to add cause’ it’s totally true!)

That WaterRower is just so darn smooth and EFFECTIVE

Of course I could go on and on about anti-aging to improve longevity and quality of life (not to mention relationships). HOWEVER, this is a public article about fitness — specifically group fitness so let me stay on topic friends.

The Anti-Aging effects of Exercise

Exercise will keep you young, they say. Physical fitness improves your quality of life, I’ve heard. Working out is a sensible option for people who would be otherwise sedentary, I’m telling you now.

The TRUTH about anti-aging, and we’ll get to that, is about what is going on inside your body. So what is really going on?

1. Hormones

Growing up, I often heard the word hormones thrown around to make sense of a person’s behavior. Mostly when we think about hormones, we think about the sex hormones — probably because the experiences can be quite powerful and make people think without their brains, so I’ve heard.

Actually, the hormonal state of our bodies relates to cycles, rhythms, vibrations, and of course cellular catalysts. We need different hormones at different times. In the morning, we have a boost of testosterone. Hopefully we can avoid the stress cortisol throughout the day. After an intense workout, we release human growth hormone which heals the inside of the body. After a yummy dinner, we release leptin the hunger-satisfying hormone. Before bed, we release melatonin so that we can get a good night of rest.

This is the coveted anabolic window when your body will MAXIMIZE any nutrient or nutrient combination whatsoever that you feed yourself. Additionally, metabolism is boosted for 24-48+ hours after a weight lifting session due to energy needs for recovery.

How do we go about creating these hormones, and promoting healthy cycles within the body’s interactions?

I’ll have to make a future post that goes into more details about this. The KEY point: HIGH INTENSITY EXERCISE forces the release of a cocktail of anti-aging hormones which benefit you for hours on end.

2. Connecting the self to a sense of positive community

Being lonely sucks. Being lonely is also a choice. Get out there and enjoy a dang good work-out with people who care about you, or at least care enough about themselves that they are willing to do hard work!

Regardless of personality type, making time to be a part of a positive community is one of the best investments you can make. And get this — it will even decrease your stress hormone, cortisol, since the body physiologically responds well to this need being met. I’ll leave you with this from OrangetheoryFitness.com

Get Going and Get Results

It’s all about energy. Not only do you need energy to get the results you want, but the workout will continue energizing your body and mind long after you go home. Highly qualified and motivational Personal Trainers increase the safety and effectiveness of your workout. Only the best Personal Trainers can go Orange. Get all the benefits of group personal training in order to get the best results from your sweat.

Orangetheory Seattle

February 17, 2014February 19, 2014

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Orangetheory Breaks Ground on Capitol Hill, Seattle

The Orangetheory is an Experience in Fitness

I first heard about Orangetheory through someone I admire and respect. We were at the beautiful Columbia Gorge Discovery Center attending a wedding for a mutual family friend when he spilled the beans about this awesome workout that was coming to town.

This is where I first heard about Orangetheory Fitness

He said to me, “Go online and check about this workout, see if it is something that you could get behind 100% and believe in as a trainer.” For those who don’t know, previously I was an instructor for Les Mills GRIT Strength + Plyo and I had to discontinue teaching the class due to what I believe — professionally — that GRIT was highly effective for conditioning but it was far from a balanced program. In other words, you would get the fat loss with that class format, even though you would need to supplement outside the workout the balance the large amounts of pushing exercises (presses, etc) and the very small amount of pulling exercises (rows, etc).

The Orangetheory Fitness concept is trendy — NOT gimmicky

Growing up, my mother was always into new ways to support her physical and mental health. As I learned later on in life, through my own professional experiences, I realized that not only was she experiencing the benefit of natural health, she was also ahead of the trends.

Fact: HIIT is the number one fitness trend of 2014

Due to the widespread exposure of HIIT, there is less need for me to explain the benefits, but in a nutshell:

HIIT is a more effective training method for young, older, and athletic (wide population benefit)
HIIT promotes a healthier body composition than steady state cardio (more lean muscle, superior bone density, less body fat)
HIIT is more effective for the time spent. 20-30 minutes is the ideal time for a HIIT session (Orangetheory spends about 26 minutes on treadmill intervals using heart rate monitors to move seamlessly through the heart rate zones)
HIIT maximizes beneficial post-exercise hormonal release and modulation. In other words, high intensity workouts create an environment within the body which has a health-promoting, anti-aging, and recovery effect. Some of these hormones are human growth hormone, IGF-1, adiponectin (fat burning hormone), testosterone (good for men and women), and more.
HIIT fights against Metabolic Syndrome. For people who are unaware, metabolic syndrome is defined as a combination of factors throughout multiple organ systems that relate to one’s risk for cardiovascular disease and preventable death. Metabolic syndrome typically involves an unhealthy inflammatory response to everyday life — you are more at risk for nearly all sickness when you have increased markers of metabolic syndrome. You will retain more stress and body fat if you are sedentary and eat poorly — which relates directly to metabolic syndrome. Exercises is step 1 to counter-acting that.

This is an EXCITING time in the world of fitness because researchers are able to measure the effects of high intensity interval training on many different types of populations, ages, and fitness ranges. The research is becoming overwhelming to support the fact that HIIT solves the problems of the typical person.

You get more results in less time

You heal, strengthen, reinforce, reinvigorate your body through HIIT.

Needless to say, I am behind the workout 100%

For the majority of the healthy population of adults in Seattle, Orangetheory will produce very desirable results both physically and mentally. Your success will lead to positive feelings about the self and your body will reflect the care that you have in yourself. I am so passionate about fitness — when I get off track, exercise and nutrition will always be there to bring me back up.

We started this project last summer, I joined in September of 2013. Before I took the job, I scoured the internet for as much information as possible about Orangetheory and people involved with it. I read every review I could find online, I watched all of the videos, and in October I was blessed to be flown to Phoenix to try out four different workouts with expert OTF Fitness Coaches.

Let me just say that getting in the Orange zone is a challenging ordeal for me personally as I am a highly proficient runner and the beauty of the workout is that no matter what, it is near impossible to plateau. The better shape you get, the more effort you will need to put into it to get to the coveted Orange zone. You will realize that with increased performance comes a significant drop in body fat. The heart rate monitored technology is highly motivating as a runner.

What’s next for Orangetheory Seattle?

Our location in north Capitol Hill at 519 Broadway E is wedged between other company’s which offer fitness facilities and/or services. As I get to know more and more of you in the community (and thank you for welcoming my humble self), I recognize the importance of acknowledging that there is some fair competition out there.

With the fitness industry, there are a couple crucial elements.

1. Relationships

Will you share my inspiration — will you let my inspiration flow through you, giving you energy, power, strength and the endurance to proceed towards your goals? I believe in relationships, being caring and respectful of our people, is the number one way to create win-win opportunities.

2. Fitness center / facility / workout

People want good equipment, a clean facility, expert professionals, a welcoming atmosphere, and the best 1 hour Workout in the Country (that’s Orangetheory of course). In time we will prove ourselves and become established as a highly desirable fitness studio. I believe this because I will contribute myself wholly — to provide a service that supports people holistically, even though we specialize in the best group workout period. In later posts, I will go into common questions about OTF vs. other group workouts.

For now, I’ll leave you with this thought…

There is no more perfect moment than now, because now is truly all that we will ever have. I hope you make the most of it, whether through the healing and transformative action of fitness or by making that sliver of time necessary to consume some sort of cruciferous vegetable. I say this with no shame, YOU are worth it.

Stay tuned and take care all

Orangetheory Seattle

February 12, 2014

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3 Thoughts on High Intensity Interval Training

HIIT is — this year — the number one fitness trend

Exposure to the concept of High Intensity Interval Training has become widespread through journals, magazines, and programs all over the place!

An example of a person who utilizes fast energy

The reason is simple, and we’ll get to that…

1. Body composition

The most valuable measure of overall health and fitness relates to Body Composition. We should consider the internal elements as promoting vitality — in a way that reinforces key structures and anabolic processes for both men and women.

HIIT promotes a lean body type to support key muscular structures.

2. Value of time spent

High intensity requires fast energy.

By developing an efficient use of fast energy, the result is a cascade of beneficial hormone release throughout the system. Hormone regulation allows the body to persist in a desired state– allowing vitality and clarity of thought.