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What's for Dinner?

Planning weekly meals can be tough with work, school, kids, workouts etc. So how do you do it? For starters, you’ve heard about the 3 P’s, prior, proper, planning? It all starts with planning your week in advance. What do you have going on this week? Meetings? Boot Camp? Kids’ swim lessons? There is not enough hours in the day to get it all done. In order to create and maintain a healthy lifestyle, you need to plan a head. This should start on the weekend. Sunday is your planning day for the… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on September 1, 2009 at 8:35am — No Comments

Raising Fit Kids

Parents, how healthy are your children? Today’s children may be the first generation to die before their parents due to increased inactivity and poor nutrition (1).



Healthy eating habits and an active lifestyle should begin at birth. Studies show that if overweight begins before eight years of age, obesity is highly likely as an adult and to be more severe (2) . Does your child go to school where he or she spends all day sitting in class and then comes home and spends four to six… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on August 19, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Keep it Simple

Don’t you hate walking into the gym and realizing you have no idea what you’re going to do? “Cardio first?” “No, maybe I’ll pump some iron first.” This type of indecisive behavior can limit your performance and success. You should know exactly what you are going to do and when.



Here is the plan, design two training plans (workout A and B) that include your cardio and resistance training. Make sure you have all the details covered including, type of cardio, time, specific exercises,… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on August 5, 2009 at 1:43pm — No Comments

Fit Tip

We live in a world of instant gratification. However, when it comes to losing weight and getting your body into better shape, it takes time. Pills and injections are for an illness or injury... not weight loss. So, let’s set the record straight by saying, losing 10 to 15 pounds per week is not going to happen. If it did you will be losing crucial lean muscle tissue and water.



Fitness takes patience and perseverance. Most people give up on their goal because they lack one of these or… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on July 30, 2009 at 6:51am — 1 Comment

Women's Running Group!

Have you thought about training for a Half-Marathon but was unsure how to go about training? Well, now you have the opportunity to join a Women's Running Group that will train for the Women's Half-Marathon on November 22 in St. Petersburg. The event benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

You may be telling yourself, "the only running I have been doing is from the couch to the fridge." Don't worry. We welcome all fitness levels. All we ask is you have a positive attitude and are… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on July 24, 2009 at 3:56pm — No Comments

Fit Tip- Start Smart- Running Tips

If you are a newbie into the running world, remember these three tips before you hit the pavement.



1) Fuel

Consume a small meal at least one hour prior to your run. This allows for sufficient time for the digestive system to do its job. The last thing you want is to get half way out and have an upset stomach or become light-headed.



Some simple pre-run meals:

-English muffin with peanut butter (add a sliced banana on top for longer runs)

-Energy bar… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on July 23, 2009 at 7:22am — No Comments

Fit Tip- Train Your Mind

Training your mind is just as important as physically training your body. Some will argue that it is actually more important because without a positive mental outlook the physical training may be short lived. Mental training should part of your routine on a daily basis.





Below are two techniques that will sharpen your mental game:



Self-Talk- The way you talk to yourself will have a direct reflection on your performance. The question is- is it negative or positive?… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on July 17, 2009 at 6:26am — 1 Comment

Fit Tip- Mirror Muscle Training

Are you focusing only on the muscles you can see in the mirror? I bet you don’t look in the mirror and say, “Wow, my upper back is looking good,” or “check out my hamstrings.” Unfortunately, most strength training programs focus on muscle groups like the biceps, abs and chest. If you continue to work the same muscles over and over again, you develop muscle imbalances. Muscle imbalances lead to postural deviations.

I am sure you have seen men (or women) at the gym that look hunched over… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on July 13, 2009 at 7:36am — 1 Comment

Fit Tip- Happy Half-Way to 2010!

It’s that time. Time to evaluate your fitness goals. You have had over 180 days to squeeze in swimming, running, strength training, yoga, pilates, biking, walking, hiking, climbing, or whatever it is you wanted to accomplish and make part of your fitness routine. How’d it go?



Take time this week to revisit your goals. You still have time to lose that twenty extra pounds or run that half-marathon. Unfortunately, you may now be realizing that simply writing down goals doesn’t… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on July 1, 2009 at 3:48pm — No Comments

Fit Tip- Add Balance to your Workouts

Adding balance exercises to your fitness program are just as important as your core strengthening exercises. Balance training strengthens the smaller muscles groups that assist prime movers (large muscle groups that perform most of the work for most movements). It also strengthens key muscular sub-systems. These sub-systems are specific muscle groups working synergistically to maintain balance in all planes of motion (forward, lateral and rotational). Picture yourself walking up a flight of… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on June 29, 2009 at 3:53pm — 1 Comment

Fit Tip- Be Selfish

Are you happy with your health? Do you like the way you look? Chances are you skip meals and workouts because you are taking care of something or someone else. The average American workweek has increased to close to or over 50 hours per week, and I know you and I both probably work more than this some weeks. You would think with all the technology and access to information so quickly that our work life would be much easier. However, this quick access to emails and work projects has actually… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on June 22, 2009 at 12:56pm — No Comments

Fit Tip- Can you spot reduce?

So, you want to lose that extra belly fat. Crunches will take care of it, right? Wrong! Remember, you can't spot reduce. All right, I guess there are some surgeons out there making a nice living doing just that, however, if you are looking for a long term fix without surgery, you will need to focus on 3 things.



1. DIET, DIET, DIET!



This doesn't mean go on a low-carb, high-fat, liquid, bark, rice cake, or noodle diet. Focus on changing your diet for good. You can't… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on June 17, 2009 at 2:50pm — 2 Comments

Fit Tip- Get out of your comfort zone.

Exercising is tough, and it can be intimidating. You’ve heard it before- if it were easy, everyone would be in phenomenal shape. But it’s not, so we work hard to improve our heart health, tighten our abs and walk with a little more confidence.



In order to accomplish this, sometimes you have to do things you are not very good at. Usually we steer clear of these exercises or activities. For example, most people hate lunges. Why? I don’t know… maybe it’s the constant burn of the quads.… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on June 16, 2009 at 7:29pm — No Comments

Fit Tip- A Do it Yourself Exercise!

Ball Hamstring curls





This is a great lower body exercise with an emphasis on the hamstrings. The core musculature is also activated while maintaining a stabile spine.



For first timers, it may be difficult to balance the ball (keeping it straight while pulling under with the heels). You know you are progressing when it becomes easier to move the ball on a straight line. This means your hamstrings, abdominals, lower back and calves are getting… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on June 15, 2009 at 11:03am — No Comments

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Added by Nick Clark on June 12, 2009 at 9:30am — 1 Comment

Fit Tip- Heart Rate Training

In order for your cardio to be more effective, you should incorporate your training heart rate. This can be tracked through wearing a heart rate monitor or a piece of cardio equipment (most have sensors). Monitor it throughout the cardio session.





Training Heart Rate formula:





Find your maximum heart rate:



220 – Age = Maximum Heart Rate (MHR)





Find your training heart rate, which will be 65% to 85% of your MHR:





.65 x… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on June 11, 2009 at 9:12pm — No Comments

Fit Tip

I gained 20 pounds- So what, right?



A list of what an extra 20lbs of fat comes with.



✓70,000 extra fat calories stored





✓It would take you roughly 70-80 hours of running to burn that many calories, that’s the equivalent of doing 20 marathons.





✓Your clothes don’t fit.





✓Increased intra-abdominal fat, which places stress on your organs.





✓Chance for increased blood pressure.





✓Chance for… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on June 8, 2009 at 10:40am — No Comments

Fit Tip

Get Inspired.



Running low on motivation lately to hit the weights or pavement? A great way to get inspired is to be a spectator at a local running or multi-sport event. You are bound to see elite endurance athletes that will make you never eat another burger in your lifetime. Or, someone just like yourself except was motivated and had the desire to train for the event. Believe me, watching these events are uplifting. Fitness is contagious and you too can catch the… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on June 3, 2009 at 4:59pm — No Comments

Fit Tip

Stay Tuned.



Listening to music can keep your motivation and intensity up during your workouts.



It will keep cardiovascular exercise exciting and upbeat...unless you are listening to country music of course, and in this case you may become depressed and have decreased intensity. So keep the music upbeat!



Also, music will keep you from staring at the TV with no real focus on the treadmill or bike. Sometimes watching TV alone will slow your intensity… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on June 1, 2009 at 1:41pm — No Comments

Fit Tip

Mark Your Calendar



Print out the current month or create a check sheet. Each day you exercise, put a little smiley face or star next to the day. Continue this for the rest of the month.

At months end, you will have a pretty good idea of your fitness/activity level. Add up the days you exercised.



If you were active less than 12 days out of the month- kick yourself in the butt and try harder next month.

If you exercised 12 to 16 days- Job well done. You made… Continue

Added by Nick Clark on May 29, 2009 at 3:21pm — No Comments

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