Monday's Workout - Full Body PACK with Nellie trained by Erika

I waited to post Monday's Workout until this morning because I thought some of you might have stayed up late for the NCAA Football National Championship Game.  I can't compete for ratings with that, close but I am not quite there yet (although I do have video today). 

Last time I posted my workout, it was a run, and I busted up my ankle and leg pretty nicely.  The minor injuries put me down for 2 days, but yesterday was my triumphant return.  I was a bit nervous to restart but the ankle was definitely not the problem.

So, Nellie was gracious enough to allow me to workout with her last night... too bad Nellie is in ridiculous shape and I had to try (unsuccessfully) to keep up with her the whole time.  It ended up being an awesome workout trained by the wonderful Erika and I honestly think both of us were pretty worn out.  The exercises are difficult, but the thing that got me the most was the pace at which we were moving.  This is what we were working on (and I got rep numbers this time):

Our concentration was on powerful movements for both upper and lower body. We of course did our Warm Up, then ran through 2 circuits. First Circuit focused more on upper body strength and the second Circuit focused on lower body strength and conditioning. Core rounded out the end of the workout portion and always finish with cool down and stretch.


Warm Up - Foam Rolling for Glutes, Quads, IT Band;  Butt Kicks; High Knees; Toy Soldier; Arm Circles


Circuit 1 - 2 Rotations of 1 minute for as many Repetitions as Possible

Ring Pull Ups - 12 for round 1, 11 for round 2;  Bench Dips w/ feet elevated on exercise Ball - 24 for round 1, 20 for round 2 (with my daughter Aliyah on my lap);  Functional Rows w/ Rotation and Extension - 15lbs x 12 reps each side for round 1, 20lbs x 10 reps each side for round 2; Power Push Ups alternating close grip and wide grip - 20 for round 1, 22 for round 2 (half from the knees though)

Circuit 2 - 2 Rotations of 18-25 Repetitions for Exercises 1-3 and 12-15 Repetitions for Box Jumps

Speed Squats x 25 Reps for each round; Reverse Lunge w/ Single Leg Hop x 20 Reps Each Leg for each round; Split Jumps w/ Large Plyo Box x 25 Reps per leg for each round; Box Jumps w/ Large Plyo Box x 15 Reps for each Round



Core - 1 Round of 45 seconds for as many Repetitions as Possible, Step Throughs 12 Each Side

Double Crunch w/ Extension x 15 Reps; Step Throughs x 12 Reps each side; Plank w/ Med Ball Roll x 8 Reps Each side


Claire was kind enough to put up with me and help me film a detailed explanation of the workout, as well as demonstrations of each of the exercises in this workout.  I also went through some progressions of the exercises for those of you who are more, or less, capable.  I am currently attempting to start a youtube channel so we can share those with you and I will repost/update this post as soon as the videos are uploaded.  Check out the videos here http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL73CF9AD5D8F41907

As always if you have any questions or comments just post them and I will let you know whatever you need.

Time to Catch You Up on My Recent Runs...

I'm cheating in 2 ways today.  I fell behind on posting my runs for you guys and this is also the first post I will be putting up all on my own without consulting my personal Blogmaster (Claire's new nickname).

One thing I have not been cheating on is my new workout regimen.  I think I told everyone that I hated running, right?  As you read, you will find out that I actually have a good reason to hate running now... Or at least for hating poorly lit sidewalks.

Wednesday night I had a late night at work and didn't make it back to the house until exactly 10:11PM.  However, the dedicated young man that I am decided I should take Clubber for a nice run anyway.  Clubber deserved it because he had just finished his first day with his new "Thundershirt" and didn't destroy anything in our house.  It's a great product and if you don't know what it is but have a dog you should check it out.  So, not only was it really late (past my bed time to be frank), but I had also decided it would be a great idea to take a brand new route.  Brand new routes are usually a good thing for me but this was the first time I didn't know what the distance was.  After a significant downhill to start the run I should have known I was in for a doozy.  That and the fact that the route was around the neighborhood I live in and drive through everyday of my life.  But I still seemed surprised while dragging myself up each hill in what ended up being a 2.17 mile run (according to mapmyrun.com).  I finished it in a mediocre 20 minutes, but Clubber seemed pleased.

Tonight, I got an earlier start to my run as I attacked it before leaving from work.  That also meant no Clubber on my run, but don't worry he got a nice walk when I got home.  Though earlier than what I have been doing, it was still around 6pm and dark in beautiful Cary, NC.  Not being stopped by the fact that I couldn't see anything, I chose to run across the street from my studio at the Lochmere Lake.  The sidewalk/track around it is 1.1 miles and I figured it was flat and would be easier.  I don't know if easier was correct but my time was a little bit faster as I finished 2.2 miles in 19 minutes.  This doesn't make sense but I'm a little embarrassed that I am proud of that time.

The most interesting part of my run tonight was not the time or the distance or even the lake.  It was, in fact, when I was trying to dodge some fellow runners (amazingly someone going slower than me).  While dodging them I was apparently also dodging the sidewalk, and as soon as my foot hit the grass my ankle turned and down I went.  Busted up the ankle pretty good but also got these sweet battle scars...

 

Kinda gross but not bad in general... Our First Aid Kit is lacking so the hand sanitizer and paper towel got the call from the bullpen.  Only worry is that the ankle won't be healed for my PACK session tomorrow.

Oh Yeah, I burned 233 Calories during the run today with an average heart rate of 143 and max of 220 (sprint at the end).

Wednesday's Workout - Full Body PACK Session w/ Erika

After a somewhat relaxed workout day yesterday, I really turned it on today, and I'm not done yet.  Still to come tonight will be another run with my run buddy that you hopefully met yesterday or this morning.

I got started a little later today than I thought I would, but lucked into a session working with some great clients (thanks Sheila R. and Cindy F.).  Erika was our trainer today and she put a beating on us.  The ladies were running smooth throughout but I forgot to pace myself.  Again, I worked to hard to remember to count repetitions for you guys, but I did remember to wear my heart rate monitor for a more accurate number of calories burned.  It went a little haywire during the workout and read out 0 bpm for my heart rate, but I still managed to record 698 calories burned with the PACK Session and a little bit of boxing afterward. 

Anyway, that's enough chit chatting.... here is what we worked on during our PACK Session:

Our concentration today was to focus on multi-joint combination movements.  We of course did our Warm Up, then ran through 2 circuits.  First Circuit focused slightly more on strength and the second Circuit slightly more focused on conditioning.  Core rounded out the end of the workout portion and always finish with cool down and stretch.

Warm Up - Foam Rolling for Glutes, Quads, IT Band;  Jumping Jacks for 30 seconds; High Knee Jog; Butt Kick Jog

Circuit 1 - 2 Rotations of 1 minute for as many Repetitions as Possible

Hip Raise and Chest Flye using 20lb DBs;  Burpee w/ Push Up and Shoulder Press using 15lb DBs;  Straight Leg Deadlift w/ Biceps Curl using 30lb DBs

Circuit 2 - 2 Rotations of 2 minute for as many Repetitions as Possible

Kettle Bell Swing using 35lb Kettle Bell;  Push Up w/ Rotation to Star Position;  Slam, Squat, and Toss using 10lb Slam Ball

Claire Snuck in for some pictures for Circuit 2... Here they are:

Core - 1 Round of 1 minute for as many Repetitions as Possible

Sit Up to Stand Up w/ BOSU Ball;  Plank w/ Alternating Medicine Ball Roll;  Single Arm DB Sit Up using 20lb DB

Claire poked her head in for some Core Pictures as well:

Well, that is it until Clubber and I run tonight.  The next PACK Session for Friday is "Trainer's Choice", so I might have to take tomorrow off in preparation for Claire or Erika destroying me.  Either way I will post something entertaining for you guys.

As always if you have any questions or comments just post them and I will let you know whatever you need.

Today's Workout -- First Run in Quite a While

So today was more of a recovery day than anything but I went for a run.  Of course, being the genius I am, I decided to take off for my run at 8:04pm this evening.  That normally wouldn't be such a problem except that even North Carolina is cold tonight.  It's a robust 29 degrees in beautiful Sanford, NC and I definitely felt like I was running in 29 degree weather.

My strong hatred of running and the still available excuse of having knee surgery has kept me from running as much as I should be running.  After just passing the 1 year mark since my surgery, I no longer have any excuses to fall back on, and I need to catch up to my buddy Justin in New Jersey who is running under 6 minutes a mile for 5 miles!!  I'm used to running long distances at much slower paces but I'm too competitive to be so much slower than him. 

Therefore, tonight my dog Clubber and I ran just 2 miles but cut down from my usual 10-12 minute pace to a blistering 9 minute mile pace.  I know, I know, I still have a lot of work to do, but I am determined to at least cut it down to about 7 minutes.

I'm going to try and go for the run in the morning tomorrow but sometimes the bed is just sooo nice.  Either way tomorrow is workout and run day so I have lots of posting to do... see you then.

Oh yeah, this is my run buddy....

How Many Calories Should You be Eating???

Today is going to be a lighter day for my workouts so I figured it would be a perfect time to throw in some nutritional guidance. 
Many of you are most likely changing your diet in some way for the New Year.  Hopefully, you won't be taking the fad diet route.  Fad diets can work for some, however most people I run into continue to attempt them and continue to yo-yo back and forth between heavy and lighter but unhealthy.  The issue with most of these unsuccessful diets is that they are unsustainable long term. Anytime you dramatically change your lifestyle to fit a certain diet, your chances of success dramatically decrease.

Here at Fitness Together, we try to guide you in adjusting YOUR diet to fit YOUR lifestyle.  What a novel idea. 

What I will cover today is one of the most important concepts in losing weight, gaining weight, or just eating right: "calories in, calories out."  Counting calories used to be a huge pain in the _______ (place your preferred noun here).  However, with the boom of both technology and the desire for Americans to finally get back in shape, there is an unlimited amount of resources that make it as easy as checking your Facebook account.

This leads us to the most important question... Now that I am counting the calories I eat, how many calories should I be consuming?  It is a very basic idea, but it happens to be based off of some slightly complicated science and math.  Below, I have layed out a helpful formula to figure it out.  Like everything else, it is not exact for everyone, and if you have any medical conditions that could be affected by a change in your diet, you should contact your doctor before making any of those changes. I have included my numbers so that you can see a practical example.  Just place your numbers in the highlighted areas.

Step 1 - Determine Your RMR

221 (Current Body Weight) x 10 = 2210 (RMR)


Step 2 - Estimate How Many Calories You Expend During Formal, Scheduled, or Planned Exercise on Average in a Day

*Follow these general guidelines for Physical Activity Calorie Expenditure, and be honest with yourself on how hard you are actually working!!!
Low or Easy intensity = 6-10 Calories per minute
Moderate intesity = 11-15 Calories per minute
High or Difficult intensity = 16-20 Calories per minute

Step 2a - Estimate How Many Calories You Expend During Each Regular Activity


13 (Calories Per Minute) x 45 (minutes exercising) = 585 calories expended per PACK training Session

15 (Calories Per Minute) x 15 (minutes exercising) = 225 calories expended per 2 mile run

8 (Calories Per Minute) x 120 (minutes exercising) = 960 calories expended per Basketball Excursion


Step 2b - Estimate How Many Calories You Expend During Formal, Scheduled, or Planned Exercise total for a week

3 (# of PACK Training Sessions Per Week) x 585 (calories expended per PACK Session) = 1755 (Calories expended during PACK sessions per week)

5 (# of 2 Mile Runs Per Week) x 225 (calories expended per 2 Mile Run) = 1125 (Calories expended during 2 mile runs per week)

2 (# of Basketball excursions per week) x 960 (calories expended per Basketball Excursion) = 1920 (Calories expended during Basketball Excursions)

1755 (PACK Calories) + 1125 (2 Mile Run Calories) + 1920 (Basketball Calories) =
4800 Calories Expended during Formal, Scheduled, or Planned Exercise per Week


Step 2c - Estimate How Many Calories You Expend During Formal, Scheduled, or Planned Exercise on Average in a Day

4800 (total calories expended per week) / 7 (days in a week) =
Approximately 686 Calories Expended per Day during Formal, Scheduled or Planned Exercise


Step 3 - Determine how many Calories You use for Daily Activity Seperate from Scheduled or Formal Exercise

*Use these general guidelines for activity
Sedentary - 20% of RMR
Active - 40% of RMR
Very Active - 60% of RMR

.40 (percentage for Active) x 2210 (RMR) = 884 Daily Activity Calories


Step 4 - Add answers from Step 1, 2, and 3 to find Daily Total Calorie Requirement for an Average Day

2210 (RMR) + 686 (Formal Exercise Calories) + 884 (Daily Activity Calories) =

3780 Average Daily Calorie Requirement


Step 5 - Determine How Many Calories You Need per Day to Lose the Desire Amount of Weight

*Most studies have determine 1 - 1.5lbs per week is a healthy amount of weight loss

*1lb of Fat = 3500 Calories, 1.5lb of Fat = 5250 Calories

5250 (calories per 1.5lb of Fat) / 7 (days per week) =
750 Calorie Deficit per Day to Lose 1.5lbs per Week

3780 Daily Calorie Requirement - 750 (Calorie Deficit needed to lose 1.5lbs) =

3030 Daily Calorie Requirement for a loss of 1.5lbs per week

First Workout of the New Year!!!

Before the workout, here are some pertinent stats:

Weight - 221.6, Body Fat % - 19.3%, Waist - 36.75in, Hips - 42.5in, Chest - 40.5in

Today marked the first day of my journey toward a new body.  Our PACK workouts at Fitness Together Cary Lochmere are currently in the Dynamic Strength Phase.  That being said I felt quite dynamic today with the workout that Erika put together and Claire completed with me today.  The goal for dynamic strength is to complete powerful multijoint movements with balance and fluidity.  It also really kicked my butt, and got my heart rate to go through the roof.  I was struggling as usual and Claire was nice enough to pretend she was struggling right along with me.  My 2 year old daughter Aliyah was there with us and she said I did a "good job daddy," so maybe I didn't do that bad.  Here are the specifics (Contact me if you have any questions about verbiage or form):

Warm Up - Foam Rolling for Glutes, Quads, IT Band and Calves;  A Series of Walking Stretches and Arm Circles

Upper Body Component - 2 Rotations of 1 minute for as many Repetitions as Possible

Power Push Ups (alternating hands close and wide);  Gymnastic Ring Pull Ups;  Bench Dips w/ Feet Elevated on Exercise Ball;  Functional Rows w/ Rotation and Extension

Lower Body Component - 25 Repetitions for Exercise 1-3 and 15 Reps for Box Jumps

Speed Squats;  Reverse Lunge with Single Leg Hop;  Split Jumps on 18" Plyo Box;  Box Jumps on 18" Plyo Box

Core - 1 Round of 1 minute for as many Repetitions as Possible

Double Crunch with Full Extension;  Step Through from Push Up Position;  Plank w/ Feet on Medicine Ball;  Back Extensions on Exercise Ball

I will remember to wear my heart rate monitor starting tomorrow to give an accurate account of calories burned.  And, if I can concentrate through the pain, I'll try to let you know the actual number of repetitions.

I did however get some pictures for you to enjoy... or laugh at... or both.



Post your own workouts below in the comments section... I want to see what you got.  However easy or hard you think it is post it, be accountable, be proud, and just be active!

Happy New Year... and Welcome to Our Blog

Well it's a New Year and for many of us (including myself) that means it is time for some resolutions.  Of course, the most popular of all resolutions is to get into the best physical shape possible, or at least to exercise more and eat more healthy than last year.

Most people have numerous resolutions heading into the New Year and I am no different.  If you are anything like me the rest of your resolutions read something close to this...

Reduce Stress, Have more Energy, Be more Productive, and most importantly Have more Success

Luckily, for both you and I, most of those resolutions can be helped along by the first two we mentioned... Diet and Exercise.

You could have already guessed by the name of the blog or by knowing me, that Diet and Exercise will indeed be the subject of our blog.  We will occasionally cover all different types of information from time to time, but we will stick to our bread and butter for the most part.  Especially since diet and exercise can make such a huge difference in so many aspects of our lives. 

Diet and exercise can greatly effect the amount of stress in your life in many ways.  When combined they can allow your body to function better and increase your energy levels.  By increasing your energy levels and reducing stress, you can easily become more productive both at work and at home.  The more productive you are, obviously, the more likely you are to have more opportunities to have success in the New Year in all of your endeavors.

To help motivate you and myself, I will be posting to this blog everyday for the foreseeable future.  Instead of just posting motivating words or helpful hints, I will be going out on a limb and will be posting my own journey toward my own resolutions.  Everyday I plan on posting my workouts along with the occasional helpful hint and weekly keep you posted on the important stats (i.e. weight, body fat %, etc.).

To show my confidence in my trainers and my business I will be doing only the PACK Small Group Training workouts in Fitness Together Cary Lochmere for my personal workouts, along with some running, and keeping an active lifestyle.  I will also be working with Erika (the manager of FT Cary Lochmere) on Nutrition Together which is the exclusive nutrition program for Fitness Together.

My blog won't be all we post on this page so look out for some awesome information, helpful insights, and pretty much anything else we think might interest you!  We will also be posting some great content to our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/pages/Fitness-Together-Cary-Lochmere/342097606390, and to our great website at http://www.fitnesstogether.com/carylochmere.

 I can't wait to get started and can't wait to bring you along for the ride on our best year ever!!!