Sloane's TRX Challenges - Week 2/8

In this week's Challenge, participants had to complete 5 exercises, 20 reps each.   The person who could do all 100 reps in the fastest time was the winner.

The exercises for this week's challenge included:

1. Atomic Push Ups
2. Low row
3. Kneeling Rollout
4. Superman
5. Triceps Press

                            Jordan Shank completed the Challenge in a time of 3:18

Coming off her win last week, Janessa tried to top everyone this week again.  Unfortunately, she couldn't quite match the speed of a few others, including the winner Shawn Lippy.  Shawn completed all 5 exercises in a speedy time of 2:17.  Keep in mind that I monitored most of the competitors to make sure they were performing each exercise correctly with good form.  The objective was to perform the exercises fast, however,  proper form was emphasized to ensure safety.

Better Sleeping - Week 3

Here are this week's tips for better sleeping...

Week #3 ideas:

#1.  Avoid Tobacco - Nicotine, found in tobacco products can interfere with sleep

#2.  Eat Regularly Throughout the Day - This maintains blood sugar levels and you'll be ready to sleep at night

#3.  Don't Oversleep - Don't abuse the snooze button, this can actually make you MORE tired

#4.  Get a Check-Up - If you have trouble sleeping, you might be suffering from a sleep disorder?

#5.  Limit Caffeine - Avoid caffeine at least 4 hrs prior to bed, and aim for less than 1-2 cups a day

Weekend Workout #8

As I get ready to depart for (hopefully) sunny AZ for a week of vacation, I leave you with this workout.  The  only piece of equipment that you need is a Kettlebell.

Instead of the normal format of moving from one exercise to the next, I would like you to do them in a ladder format, where you start with exercise #1, rest 15-30 sec. then do exercise #1 and #2, then rest 15-30sec., then do exercise #1, # 2, and #3.  Keep repeating until all 8 exercises are completed.  For each exercise you can either do them for 30 sec. or 15 reps.
So this means that you will be doing Burpees 8 times, but Bicycle Crunches only twice.

1.  Burpees

2.  Slow Mtn Climbers

3.  1-Hand KB Swings L

4.  1-Hand KB Swings R

5.  Pushups

6.  2-Hand KB Swings

7.  Bicycle Crunches

8.  2-Hand KB Swings

How to calculate daily caloric needs

As part of my free Fitness Assessments that I offer members at Anytime Fitness, I measure each persons body fat% so that I can determine their lean and fat mass amounts.  To me, these numbers are much more important than the number on the scale.  But finding out how much lean mass and fat mass you have is only part of the equation, literally.

Finding out how many calories each of us needs to consume on a daily basis (aka: resting metabolic rate) is one of the most important aspects of nutrition to consider.  Whether you are a professional athlete looking to stay strong and lean, or someone who wakes up, goes to work, comes home and goes to bed, the amount of daily calories (known as fuel) you need to consume can be determined in a simple equation.

Supplying the body with adequate amounts of fuel will provide stable energy levels, improve muscle recovery and repair, as well as encourage better food choices for a healthy, well-rounded diet.

 
Various studies have shown that NOT meeting your daily caloric needs can cause endurance performance to suffer, decrease the ability to build muscle, increase fatigue, and reduce the immune system effectiveness.

Below I have provided the equation to help you calculate how many calories YOU need each day based on your activity level.

Equation
Weight (lbs.) / by 2.2 = weight in kg
[Body fat %*/ by 100] x weight (kg) = body fat (kg)
Weight (kg) - body fat (kg) = lean body mass
500 + [22 x lean body mass] = Resting Metabolic Rate

*Body fat% can be determined by some scales and also by a Personal Trainer with skinfold calipers or bioelectrical impedence.

Activity Levels (Estimated Activity)
Light activity - 1.3 - 1.5
Moderate activity - 1.6 -2.0
High activity - 2.0 - 3.0

Resting Metabolic Rate x Estimated Activity Level = Calories Required Per Day

Sloane's TRX Challenges - Week 1/8

For the next 8 weeks I am offering to Anytime Fitness Members a TRX Challenge.  I am posting these challenges on my Blog with a video so that you too can participate.  Each week the exercises will change, and the format of the workout will change.  The goal of this challenge is to offer the Members something new to their current workout program, bring out some competitiveness between the Members, and get more Members comfortable/familiar using the TRX.

To kick the Challenge off, I started with some basic movements:

Chest Press
Squat Jumps
Back Extensions
Side Lunge L
Side Lunge R.

The format for this week was to complete as many reps possible of each exercise within 30 sec.  The highest total # of reps completed determined the winner.  Members could do the challenge as many times as they wanted during the week.  Rest intervals were up to the participants, but 15-30 sec. was recommended.

Shawn Lippy (white shirt) completed a total of 117 reps

10 Members competed in this weeks' challenge and the winner was one of my clients, Janessa Lott.  She showed everyone how strong and fit she is by cranking out 150 total reps.