Hey Everyone,
It is officially winter here in the Utica Area. I must admit, if there’s one thing that bothers me the most about the winter (besides the sickly cold and lack of natural light), it’s the number of people who hurt themselves shoveling snow. I can’t tell you how many clients of mine have tweaked their backs attempting to clear their driveways.
Today I am going to reveal my top 5 Next Level safe shoveling secrets. For those of you who do not live in the Utica Area like me, you still need to know this information too. Why you may ask? Beacause these same tips can be used for any outdoor manual labor!
1.) Perform a Proper 5-Minute Warm-up Before Shoveling
Just as very few people properly warm-up before intense exercise, so do many people fail to get their bodies ready for the intensity of shoveling snow. Let’s face it, snow, especially when it’s wet, is a real beast to move around. And if your body is tight and cold then you will dramatically increase your chances of injury.
I have created a great shoveling specific five-minute warm-up to get your body ready to rock. There is a special emphasis on opening up the hips and chest to save your back and shoulders, the two most commonly injured areas of broken down shovelers:
Perform each exercise in the following warm-up circuit at a slow, controlled tempo for 50 seconds with a 10 second rest and transition between exercises. Do this warm-up indoors to better increase core temperature and total body blood flow:
Exercise#1- Stationary Squat and Reach
Exercise#2- Jumping Claps (modified jumping jacks with arms moving across chest level, palms facing)
Exercise#3- Alternating Forward Lunge, Overhead Reach, and Twist
Exercise#4- Alternating Lateral Lunge with Opposite Hand to Toe Touch
Exercise#5- Prisoner Squats (hands behind head with finger interlocked)
2.) Split Your Stance When Shoveling
Back pain is probably the biggest complaint for shovelers. In most cases, a sore or tight back stems from restriction at the hips (see the warm-up above to best remedy this). More specifically, using a parallel stance puts your lower back at a greater risk of injury due to the greater likelihood of excessive flexion of the lumbar spine that often leads to back spasms in the short run and herniated discs in the long run. However, the simple switch to shoveling with a split stance, where one leg is forward and the other leg is back, will not only help prevent this hyper flexion while bending over and moving snow, but will also actively stretch and open up those tight hips at the same time. Be sure to keep things in balance by doing an even number of shovel strokes with both legs forward by alternating every 10 reps or so. Turn your shoveling into a workout!
3.) Point Your Toes In Same Direction of Shoveling
This is a continuation of the last tip. Even when you split your stance, you can be susceptible to injury whenever you perform a rotating back extension (e.g. a shovel toss to your rear). So, to further bolster your body, be sure to always shovel snow in the direction that your toes point to minimize excessive spinal rotation that can literally wrench your back.
4.) Shovel EQUALLY to BOTH Sides
This is a further continuation on the last two tips. Another big mistake people make is that they always shovel to their strong sides causing further strength and flexibility imbalances that can put your body at greater risk for injury. So, we now know you want to split your stance and shovel in the direction your toes are pointing, but you should also be sure do an equal amount of shovel tosses to your left AND right. Do 10 shovel tosses to your left with your left leg forward and then do 10 shovel tosses to your right with your right leg forward. Repeat until your driveway or sidewalk is crystal clear.
5.) Buy a Condo
This is my personal favorite, and no, I’m not joking. The great thing about a condominium community is that they do all of the outdoor maintenance for your home, including shoveling.
The aforementioned tips will go a long way in keeping your body as bulletproof as possible during the next blizzard. Seriously, it’s not really cool to get hurt shoveling. It’s a sign of an even bigger problem: being overweight and/or highly de-conditioned. And if you do get hurt shoveling, be sure to lie when some asks why you’re in a wheelchair. Just tell them you got hit by a snow plow truck, it makes for a better story and your co-workers or friends won’t rip on you for the rest of your days, ha!
Yours In Fitness,
Steve
Showing posts with label Utica bootcamp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Utica bootcamp. Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Turn Your New Years Resolutions Into Next Level Results: Part II
Step Two- The What and When: What do you want to accomplish and when do you want to accomplish it by?
So we already figured out the obvious: you want to look better and get that Beach Body! So, now we need to establish what objective goal(s) need to be accomplished in order to realize this dream.
There are three major ways you can track “look better” progress in order of importance from least to most important:
Scale Weight: This is by far the least important goal, but it gives a number that’s worth tracking. Though body fat percentage would be a much better method of tracking progress, it is simply too inaccurate on a small scale and too costly on a large scale. The key is to taking your initial weight before you start and then not weighing more than every 2 weeks. I have found most people to do better with tracking their weight every month. There are simply too many variables for controlling your body weight and the natural fluctuations based on diet (and for women, their menstrual cycle), means the less frequently you do this the better. If the scale is just too de-motivating for you in general, then just skip this one altogether if you must, because the next two markers are far more important.
Dress/Pant Size: This is probably the most simple and effective unused method of tracking whether or not you look better. I think it’s safe to say that if you are dropping dress and/or pant sizes that you will be looking better, right? Your best bet is to also select one dress or one pair of pants that you really want to get into since that is the true end goal in mind. I tell my clients to assess how they are fitting in their preferred dress/pant size tracker on a weekly or bi-weekly basis since our clients that follow our program exactly as outlined typically lose a dress and/or pant size every month (until they get to their ideal dimensions). For those of you would want to argue that every outfitter has different sizes, well that’s a mute point if you use the same pant or dress size to track. There’s nothing more powerful than being to literally being able to feel yourself comfortably get into those skinny jeans.
Digital Pictures: Pictures don’t lie, that’s the bottom line. If you want to look better, what better way is there to assess this than pictures? I cannot begin to tell you how important this is. Taking a before picture is essentially you telling the whole world that you are ready to change and that you are ready to do whatever it takes to make those changes. They key is take pictures wearing exactly what you want to look your best in. Now, don’t be sending me nude pictures of yourself, ha (though you can keep these for yourself to track if you’d like). Maybe it’s taking pictures of you in the dress or pair of pants that you are using to track your dress or pant size. Or maybe it’s a sleeveless shirt and tank top that you want to wear during the summer. And if you want to see your abs, then you best believe that you need to take pictures of your abs to track how much more definition you get. Take a front, side, and rear view picture and be sure to note the exact conditions in which the picture was taken (lighting, distance from camera, time of day/week, etc.) to be as accurate as possible in your assessment. The clients whom I’ve transformed that failed to take before pictures in the past have nothing but regret about it. Your before pictures will become your trophy and they are an absolute must if you really are serious about getting results that count. We tell our clients to take new pictures either bi-weekly or monthly until they reach their goal(s).
Step Three- Planning and Preparing for Roadblocks: What are the big obstacles that will prevent you from having the success you desire? What’s contributed most to past failures?
Now that we know what you want to accomplish, it’s time to plan and prepare for any obstacles that might get in your way of getting the job done based on your own personal schedule.
In general, the number one thing I hear is that people are too busy and tired and don’t have enough time to get their workouts in or make their meals. Well, I don’t care how busy you think you are, there is always hidden time throughout the day and week that can be freed up if your re-prioritize. Again, think back to why you wanted to do this in the first place and then examine what’s most important to you. Make your workouts and your meal times just like work appointments. Either you make the appointment or you don’t. And if you want to keep your job (or get your Beach body) then you better make that appointment.
*Another big obstacle is alcohol. People like to drink and unfortunately alcohol is about as detrimental to burning fat as it gets. Again, what’s more important to you, looking sexy or getting hammered. The choice is yours. Remember, once you achieve your goal(s), alcohol can be added back in with moderation. But know this, lean people just don’t get wasted unless they are genetic freaks. Low to zero alcohol consumption is needed if you want to look your best year round and that’s a fact.
Lastly, many people deal with boredom eating or emotional eating. Boredom eating means just that, eating to fill up dead time when you have nothing better to do. The best way to deal with this is, you guessed it, to do something! Find an active hobby to keep your mind off of eating when boredom strikes and you can beat this trend. Emotional eating describes the use of food to cope with stress or to reward for accomplishment. Food is not unlike drugs or alcohol in this regard, it can be very addictive. There is no quick fix for emotional eating other than avoiding trigger situations (bars, parties, etc.) and trigger foods (starches, sugars, fast food, etc.) in the short term to break bad habits.
At the end of the day, whether your roadblocks are very individual or if they fall in line with the general roadblocks our clients encounter on a regular basis, the key is to be honest about them and to plan and prepare for them. And that’s where social support and accountability come into play. The clients who have had the most success with us have undergone their transformation with the support of other friends or family members. This is so critical, especially since most of the poor food and drinking choices that sabotage one’s progress occur on the weekend, when most people hang out with their friend and family. If they are committed with you and your goal to get fit and look better, you can put yourself in a much better position to realize the success your desire and deserve. The last thing anybody needs is sabotage or peer pressure from those closest to you, so get them on board and get them on board early.
Yours In Fitness,
Steve Krebs
So we already figured out the obvious: you want to look better and get that Beach Body! So, now we need to establish what objective goal(s) need to be accomplished in order to realize this dream.
There are three major ways you can track “look better” progress in order of importance from least to most important:
Scale Weight: This is by far the least important goal, but it gives a number that’s worth tracking. Though body fat percentage would be a much better method of tracking progress, it is simply too inaccurate on a small scale and too costly on a large scale. The key is to taking your initial weight before you start and then not weighing more than every 2 weeks. I have found most people to do better with tracking their weight every month. There are simply too many variables for controlling your body weight and the natural fluctuations based on diet (and for women, their menstrual cycle), means the less frequently you do this the better. If the scale is just too de-motivating for you in general, then just skip this one altogether if you must, because the next two markers are far more important.
Dress/Pant Size: This is probably the most simple and effective unused method of tracking whether or not you look better. I think it’s safe to say that if you are dropping dress and/or pant sizes that you will be looking better, right? Your best bet is to also select one dress or one pair of pants that you really want to get into since that is the true end goal in mind. I tell my clients to assess how they are fitting in their preferred dress/pant size tracker on a weekly or bi-weekly basis since our clients that follow our program exactly as outlined typically lose a dress and/or pant size every month (until they get to their ideal dimensions). For those of you would want to argue that every outfitter has different sizes, well that’s a mute point if you use the same pant or dress size to track. There’s nothing more powerful than being to literally being able to feel yourself comfortably get into those skinny jeans.
Digital Pictures: Pictures don’t lie, that’s the bottom line. If you want to look better, what better way is there to assess this than pictures? I cannot begin to tell you how important this is. Taking a before picture is essentially you telling the whole world that you are ready to change and that you are ready to do whatever it takes to make those changes. They key is take pictures wearing exactly what you want to look your best in. Now, don’t be sending me nude pictures of yourself, ha (though you can keep these for yourself to track if you’d like). Maybe it’s taking pictures of you in the dress or pair of pants that you are using to track your dress or pant size. Or maybe it’s a sleeveless shirt and tank top that you want to wear during the summer. And if you want to see your abs, then you best believe that you need to take pictures of your abs to track how much more definition you get. Take a front, side, and rear view picture and be sure to note the exact conditions in which the picture was taken (lighting, distance from camera, time of day/week, etc.) to be as accurate as possible in your assessment. The clients whom I’ve transformed that failed to take before pictures in the past have nothing but regret about it. Your before pictures will become your trophy and they are an absolute must if you really are serious about getting results that count. We tell our clients to take new pictures either bi-weekly or monthly until they reach their goal(s).
Step Three- Planning and Preparing for Roadblocks: What are the big obstacles that will prevent you from having the success you desire? What’s contributed most to past failures?
Now that we know what you want to accomplish, it’s time to plan and prepare for any obstacles that might get in your way of getting the job done based on your own personal schedule.
In general, the number one thing I hear is that people are too busy and tired and don’t have enough time to get their workouts in or make their meals. Well, I don’t care how busy you think you are, there is always hidden time throughout the day and week that can be freed up if your re-prioritize. Again, think back to why you wanted to do this in the first place and then examine what’s most important to you. Make your workouts and your meal times just like work appointments. Either you make the appointment or you don’t. And if you want to keep your job (or get your Beach body) then you better make that appointment.
*Another big obstacle is alcohol. People like to drink and unfortunately alcohol is about as detrimental to burning fat as it gets. Again, what’s more important to you, looking sexy or getting hammered. The choice is yours. Remember, once you achieve your goal(s), alcohol can be added back in with moderation. But know this, lean people just don’t get wasted unless they are genetic freaks. Low to zero alcohol consumption is needed if you want to look your best year round and that’s a fact.
Lastly, many people deal with boredom eating or emotional eating. Boredom eating means just that, eating to fill up dead time when you have nothing better to do. The best way to deal with this is, you guessed it, to do something! Find an active hobby to keep your mind off of eating when boredom strikes and you can beat this trend. Emotional eating describes the use of food to cope with stress or to reward for accomplishment. Food is not unlike drugs or alcohol in this regard, it can be very addictive. There is no quick fix for emotional eating other than avoiding trigger situations (bars, parties, etc.) and trigger foods (starches, sugars, fast food, etc.) in the short term to break bad habits.
At the end of the day, whether your roadblocks are very individual or if they fall in line with the general roadblocks our clients encounter on a regular basis, the key is to be honest about them and to plan and prepare for them. And that’s where social support and accountability come into play. The clients who have had the most success with us have undergone their transformation with the support of other friends or family members. This is so critical, especially since most of the poor food and drinking choices that sabotage one’s progress occur on the weekend, when most people hang out with their friend and family. If they are committed with you and your goal to get fit and look better, you can put yourself in a much better position to realize the success your desire and deserve. The last thing anybody needs is sabotage or peer pressure from those closest to you, so get them on board and get them on board early.
Yours In Fitness,
Steve Krebs
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Next Level New Years Resolutions success: Part I
Step One- The Why: Why do you want to do this?
Ok, It's time to get serious. In almost every initial consultation I do, when I ask why they have contacted me today, here is the typical answer that I first hear:
“Well, I just want to get healthy and lose weight I guess.”
Nope, I don’t buy it. Sure, I know they want to lose weight and be healthy, I mean who doesn’t, but really WHY do they want to do this? I mean, what is it that’s going to get them up at 5 am to get their morning workouts in, or take a couple of hours on Sunday to plan and prepare their meals for the upcoming week? It sure isn’t “being healthy” because for some reason this just isn’t a very powerful motivator for most people (though it should be).
Let’s face it: everybody, including YOU, wants to look better naked. Stop giggling, you know it’s true and that’s okay because the desire to improve your appearance is the most powerful motivator there is. This shouldn’t be such a big surprise since the main life mission of humans, or any species for that matter, is to procreate. This is instinctual. And obviously, looking better makes this more of a reality. ;-)
So, after a little digging, I find out the real reason why they want to do this; I find their past or pain and then establish their current and future ambitions. Some people want to be able to go the beach and take their shirt off, or wear a new bikini and not feel self-conscious. Others want to get back into their "skinny jeans" that they haven’t been able to get one leg into for the last five years. Then there are those who want to look and feel more attractive to ignite some passion back into their relationships and/or put for their best image at work.
And of course, my personal favorite is preparing for big events that have built in deadlines. Wanting to get as lean and tight as possible to rock that dream bathing suit in Chile, or get off the plane in Florida when visiting family you haven’t seen in two years to blow them away with your new body, or being a classic beauty in your wedding dress on the big day, it all works!
This is the stuff that gets people excited and ready to commit to making some real changes. How do I know? Well, I just shared with you verbatim the exact “WHY’S” of some of my own clients.
So, the first thing you have to figure out is your personal WHY. To make this even simpler for you, just answer this question: what are YOUR GOALS? For appearance? For Fitness? Do you want that flat stomach? Beach Body? Bulging Biceps? Set your goal, handwrite it, and post somewhere you can see it everyday!
Yours In Fitness,
Steve Krebs
www.nextlevelbeachbodybootcamp.com
Ok, It's time to get serious. In almost every initial consultation I do, when I ask why they have contacted me today, here is the typical answer that I first hear:
“Well, I just want to get healthy and lose weight I guess.”
Nope, I don’t buy it. Sure, I know they want to lose weight and be healthy, I mean who doesn’t, but really WHY do they want to do this? I mean, what is it that’s going to get them up at 5 am to get their morning workouts in, or take a couple of hours on Sunday to plan and prepare their meals for the upcoming week? It sure isn’t “being healthy” because for some reason this just isn’t a very powerful motivator for most people (though it should be).
Let’s face it: everybody, including YOU, wants to look better naked. Stop giggling, you know it’s true and that’s okay because the desire to improve your appearance is the most powerful motivator there is. This shouldn’t be such a big surprise since the main life mission of humans, or any species for that matter, is to procreate. This is instinctual. And obviously, looking better makes this more of a reality. ;-)
So, after a little digging, I find out the real reason why they want to do this; I find their past or pain and then establish their current and future ambitions. Some people want to be able to go the beach and take their shirt off, or wear a new bikini and not feel self-conscious. Others want to get back into their "skinny jeans" that they haven’t been able to get one leg into for the last five years. Then there are those who want to look and feel more attractive to ignite some passion back into their relationships and/or put for their best image at work.
And of course, my personal favorite is preparing for big events that have built in deadlines. Wanting to get as lean and tight as possible to rock that dream bathing suit in Chile, or get off the plane in Florida when visiting family you haven’t seen in two years to blow them away with your new body, or being a classic beauty in your wedding dress on the big day, it all works!
This is the stuff that gets people excited and ready to commit to making some real changes. How do I know? Well, I just shared with you verbatim the exact “WHY’S” of some of my own clients.
So, the first thing you have to figure out is your personal WHY. To make this even simpler for you, just answer this question: what are YOUR GOALS? For appearance? For Fitness? Do you want that flat stomach? Beach Body? Bulging Biceps? Set your goal, handwrite it, and post somewhere you can see it everyday!
Yours In Fitness,
Steve Krebs
www.nextlevelbeachbodybootcamp.com
Monday, November 17, 2008
7 NEXT LEVEL Exercises to INCINERATE FAT and ADD LEAN MUSCLE
As a former fat kid and a current fat loss expert who has helped hundreds of people lose thousands of pounds of fat, I know a thing or two about exercise selection. I am constantly asked what are the best exercises for fat loss and muscle gain.
I’ll keep this as basic as I can for you. The best exercises for fat loss are also the best exercises for muscle gain. These exercises all have one thing in common: they provide a UNIQUE challenge to your body AND recruit as many muscles in your body as possible.
Both the scientific research and the real world case studies have shown that total body workouts are superior for maximal fat loss and muscle gain. But let’s take this one step further…
Let’s dramatically accelerate results by preferentially selecting TOTAL BODY EXERCISES within each TOTAL BODY WORKOUT! For example, squats are well known for being one of the best muscle-builders with a serious a fat incinerating effect. However, the squat goes from good to amazing for changing your body for the better when you make it a combination movement by adding a row or press to each squat rep. It’s obvious that you can reap more benefits this way since you have now involved your upper body into the king of lower body exercises.
It’s as simple as the NEXT LEVEL BEACH BODY Equation below:
Performing Total Body Exercises Within Each Total Body Workout
More Muscles Involved =
More Calories Burnt + Greater Muscle-Building Stimulus =
Greater Fat Lost + Greater Muscle Gain
I must be honest in that I have a true love-hate relationship with the following movements I am about to share with you. Love because of the unparalleled fat-incinerating, muscle-building results they provide to help maximize my Beach Body. Hate because they kill me every single workout by leaving me in tears while in a pool of my own sweat. In other words, these are not for the weak of mind, body, or soul!
Without further adieu, here is the official top 7 list of my favorite exercises in the world for NEXT LEVEL fat loss and lean muscle gain:
Exercise#1- SL Squat Thrust
Exercise#2- The Swing- Kettlebell
Exercise#3- Lunge-Curl-Press
Exercise#4- The Chop- Med Ball
Exercise#5- Kettlebell Snatch
Exercise#6- DB Thruster
Exercise#7- Squat 2 Rotational Press
Here’s a great Next Level highlight reel of the above exercises so that you can add them to your own training routines for better results:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKDrzdLq7F0
Well I hope you take my expert advice and jack up your training with these 7 deadly total body combination exercises. I guarantee you better results in less time by regularly employing these movements into your workouts. Of course it’s now up to you to take your workouts, and your body, to the Next Level.
I’ll be sharing some more great exercises for those specific trouble spot areas (e.g. legs, butt, abs, chest, arms, etc.) that are holding your Beach Body back in the days to come!
Yours In Fitness,
Steve Krebs
Next Level Beach Body Boot Camp
http://www.nextlevelbeachbodybootcamp.com/
P.S.- Check out the Next Level Turkey Giveaway Press Release @:
http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200811/1226940267.html
I’ll keep this as basic as I can for you. The best exercises for fat loss are also the best exercises for muscle gain. These exercises all have one thing in common: they provide a UNIQUE challenge to your body AND recruit as many muscles in your body as possible.
Both the scientific research and the real world case studies have shown that total body workouts are superior for maximal fat loss and muscle gain. But let’s take this one step further…
Let’s dramatically accelerate results by preferentially selecting TOTAL BODY EXERCISES within each TOTAL BODY WORKOUT! For example, squats are well known for being one of the best muscle-builders with a serious a fat incinerating effect. However, the squat goes from good to amazing for changing your body for the better when you make it a combination movement by adding a row or press to each squat rep. It’s obvious that you can reap more benefits this way since you have now involved your upper body into the king of lower body exercises.
It’s as simple as the NEXT LEVEL BEACH BODY Equation below:
Performing Total Body Exercises Within Each Total Body Workout
More Muscles Involved =
More Calories Burnt + Greater Muscle-Building Stimulus =
Greater Fat Lost + Greater Muscle Gain
I must be honest in that I have a true love-hate relationship with the following movements I am about to share with you. Love because of the unparalleled fat-incinerating, muscle-building results they provide to help maximize my Beach Body. Hate because they kill me every single workout by leaving me in tears while in a pool of my own sweat. In other words, these are not for the weak of mind, body, or soul!
Without further adieu, here is the official top 7 list of my favorite exercises in the world for NEXT LEVEL fat loss and lean muscle gain:
Exercise#1- SL Squat Thrust
Exercise#2- The Swing- Kettlebell
Exercise#3- Lunge-Curl-Press
Exercise#4- The Chop- Med Ball
Exercise#5- Kettlebell Snatch
Exercise#6- DB Thruster
Exercise#7- Squat 2 Rotational Press
Here’s a great Next Level highlight reel of the above exercises so that you can add them to your own training routines for better results:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKDrzdLq7F0
Well I hope you take my expert advice and jack up your training with these 7 deadly total body combination exercises. I guarantee you better results in less time by regularly employing these movements into your workouts. Of course it’s now up to you to take your workouts, and your body, to the Next Level.
I’ll be sharing some more great exercises for those specific trouble spot areas (e.g. legs, butt, abs, chest, arms, etc.) that are holding your Beach Body back in the days to come!
Yours In Fitness,
Steve Krebs
Next Level Beach Body Boot Camp
http://www.nextlevelbeachbodybootcamp.com/
P.S.- Check out the Next Level Turkey Giveaway Press Release @:
http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200811/1226940267.html
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