Check out this article – Kbells and benefits for Back Pain!

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/turning-to-kettlebells-to-ease-back-pain/?emc=eta1

TRAINWITHMIKE’s mission is to create life changes through innovative fitness, nutrition and wellness. TRAINWITHMIKE fulfills that mission through the dedication and hard work of its trainers, nutritionists, therapists, and management team.

TWM is always searching out new ways to advance personal training, and create a comfortable, consistent, quality, professional experience for our clients.

TWM is looking for a part-time (with full time possibilities) Personal Trainer/Kettlebell/TRX trainer. We need someone who is mobile, as part of the position will consist of home training in the NDG, Montreal West area.  Part of the position will be to train clients out of Club LaCite (Plateau).

Job Duties
-Performs monthly assessments and evaluations of clients
-Makes specific and progressive program design for clients based on their goals and evaluation.
-Hosts small, personalized group classes in TRX and/or Kettlebell
-Keeps the highest amount of professionalism at all times -Must retain and motivate current and new clientele.

Job Requirements
-One or more certification(s) from organization recognized by TWM
-4 year degree in Exercise Science preferred
-Certified Kettlebell instructor (a huge plus)
-Certified TRX instructor (a huge plus)
-CPR certified
-Personal Training and/or small group classes in TRX or Kettlebell experience (min 1 year)
-Strong communication skills in both English and French
-Highly self motivated
- Available in the late afternoons and evenings and/or Mornings with some weekends (optional)
-Highly customer service oriented -passionate about fitness

Come get a great massage treatment and free access to the rooftop pool at Club Lacite!  Just what you need on these hot summer days.  Reserve now at 514-817-0967 or email us at trainwithmike@videotron.ca

After a long and cold winter, and summer approaching, everyone wants to lose their winter weight and shake up their exercise program to get results! Solution: KB TRAINING! You’ve heard me talk about them, we’ve given away a whole bunch of free passes to our classes, you’ve heard from Pete and Chantal about how awesome and fun a workout they give you……this ain’t no hype, KB’s are the REAL TRAINING DEAL!

As I discussed last week, “Training with Heavy Weights to get results”, the bottom line is that you need to train with intensity to burn fat or to achieve any goal. KB training encompasses all of the elements required to be intense. Check it out:

1)      Every KB exercise is full body, meaning more energy expenditure, an increase in your metabolism…more calories burned!

2)      We promote the use of heavier loads due to the momentum based training style. You need a heavy enough weight to apply momentum. Heavier weights = more intensity!

3)      All of your energy systems are being taxed; strength, aerobic, power, and muscle endurance.

4)      KB training is most often performed in a circuit style, non-stop, exercise after exercise fashion. It’s so efficient and intense that a 20 minute workout can burn up to 400+ calories……that’s about as intense as it gets!

5)      Bonus: you are also improving joint strength, mobility and overall flexibility through its unique integrated approach.

Try this out!

Beginners:

10 sets of 10 reps of KB 2 handed swings

Intermediate:

10 sets of 20 reps of KB 2 handed swings

Announcement

TWM has joined forces with KBell Training Academy out of Toronto, Canada’s #1 KB certification for trainers. From now on we will be hosting all of their certifications here in   Montreal. Upcoming certification weekend, Saturday April 30^th and Sunday May 1^st, Level 1 & Level II Kettlebell Trainer Specialist. The course is specifically designed to help coaches, trainers, gym owners and serious fitness enthusiasts, integrate the KBell into fitness and performance programs.

To get more info or register:

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Kettlebell-Certification-Weekend-in-Montreal.html?soid=1102701453465&aid=s94yqX56Bzo

Are you using enough weight when performing your exercises? According to my professional experience and a research study at the University of Michigan, both men and women tend to select weights that are not sufficient enough to create muscle growth. Bottom line, intensity is the key in getting results out of your exercise. Applying heavier loads in your lifts is an extremely effective way of increasing exercise intensity.

Why Lift Heavier?

1)      Whether your goal is to burn fat, get stronger, look like a fitness model, build a six pack, or simply increase your fitness level, YOU NEED TO BUILD LEAN MUSCLE TISSUE. The only way to do this is to use heavy enough weights and to continue to progressively increase your weights for all of your exercises.

2)      The more muscle that you have, the faster your metabolism will be and the more fat you will burn! One pound of muscle burns 10-20 calories per day compared to a pound of fat that only burns 5 calories per day. That means that the individual with more muscle is constantly burning more calories at rest!

3)      Lifting heavier will also help to increase bone density and connective tissue strength. We know how important this is to protect us from injury and the effects of aging.

4)      BTW ladies, NO you won’t get bulky by lifting heavier weights! You don’t have enough testosterone to get bulky. Women need to build muscle to help them burn fat and to increase their bone density even more than men do.

How to Lift Heavier

1)      No matter what repetition zone you are working in (5, 10, 15 or 20..etc), you know that you are lifting enough weight if your last 2-3 reps are very challenging and you cannot perform another repetition without breaking form. That’s right! You need to push yourself and feel a little uncomfortable to get results!

2)      This being said, never sacrifice technique for heavier weights. That means that your posture and form during an exercise needs to be maintained right until the last rep. You won’t build quality muscle by cheating and putting stress in the wrong places, this simply leads to injury, which leads to no results!

3)      Continue to progressively increase your weights as the challenge of the last few reps diminishes.

Don’t just Do it, Do it Right!

I have said it hundreds of times and will say it again; the secret to fat loss, the perfect bod and maximum vitality is nutrition! Guess what? Power snacking at least twice a day is an essential component to healthy nutrition and achieving your goals! Guess what again? Even those who decide to start eating better don’t snack properly or at all.

Why do we need to Snack?

1)      If we go more than 3 hours without eating our blood sugar levels begin to drop. Simply put, when our blood sugars drop, our body goes into a fat storing mode and our metabolism is slowed down. In this state you cannot lose body fat!

2)      When we go more than 3 hours without eating, we have a tendency to eat larger portions at meal time, which spikes our blood sugar levels. This also has a slowing effect on the metabolism and will promote fat storage.

So the answer is, POWER SNACKING STABILIZES BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS AND KEEPS THE METABOLISM ELEVATED WHICH IS THE KEY TO BURN BODY FAT!

What should a Power Snack consist of?

Power snacks need to consist of 2 elements:

1)      Lean protein (e.g. low fat cottage cheese)

2)      Fibre (e.g. vegetables, fruits and whole grains)

This combination promotes a slow digestion, stabilizes blood sugar levels and speeds up the metabolism. Eating a snack that is more sugar heavy such as a candy bar, a muffin or even grapes will not be adequate to stabilize blood sugar levels.

Examples of Power Snacks

1)      Low fat cottage cheese and fruit

2)      Small tuna or chicken wrap with sliced tomato and lettuce

3)      Handful of plain almonds and an apple

4)      Small mixed bean salad

5)      Protein shake: water, whey protein powder, fruit

Don’t just Do it, Do it Right!

It has been proven that warming up before your exercise routine is essentially to avoid injury and to maximize your performance during your workout. The questions are, what should we be doing to warm-up, for how long and how intense does it need to be?

The goal of a warm-up is to heat up the muscle tissue, wake up the nervous system, and increase oxygen uptake for the workout. Research has shown that if this is achieved the following will occur:

A)    Less accumulation of lactic acid. (the burn you feel in your muscle when it is getting tired)

B)    More oxygen available for the body to use.

C)    The ability to maximize your power

D)    You can train harder for a longer period.

The Warm-Up

Traditionally individuals would jump on the stationary bike for 5-10 minutes while they read the paper or talk to their friend and then do a few static stretches (holding a stretch position for a given period of time). Well, 1) the low/moderate intensity cardio warm-up alone is not good enough, and 2) you should NEVER perform static stretches before you exercise. Here is the way it should be done:

1)      Perform a 10 minute cardio warm-up at around 75% of your heart rate maximum (HRM).

1. 2)      Follow this with approx. 5 minutes of high intensity cardio interval training.       20 seconds at 100% HRM (e.g. sprints), followed by 30 seconds at 70% HRM (e.g. jogging). Repeat this 5-6 times.

3)      Perform dynamic stretches and mobility exercises of all muscle groups/joints that you will be using in your workout. A dynamic stretch involves motion and a mobility exercise is any movement that helps to increase range of motion at a joint. Perform approx. 5 stretches/mobility exercises for approx. 20 reps each. This should take you no more than 2 minutes.

A)    Sample dynamic stretch: alternately kicking your heels towards your butt.

B)    Sample mobility exercise: lateral lunges.

It is known as the king of the pressing exercises, the measure of manly strength, the favourite exercise of every gym rat and any guy for that matter who lifts weights. But are you actually doing it properly? Who taught you? Your buddy with the blown out shoulder, or that big guy in the gym with the 50 inch chest? Is it even the best chest exercise? Once again, I give you the facts…..for the BB Bench Press:

1)      How deep should you go?

Misconception: Always touch the bar to the chest.

Fact: The truth is that the size of your rib cage will determine how low you can bring the bar without stressing your shoulder joint. Guys with massive rib cages, big chests, like power lifters will be able to touch the bar to their chest. However, for the rest of us, the rule of thumb is that your elbows should not go lower then shoulder level: 90 degrees. That means that the bar should hover approximately 2-4 inches over the chest. Bringing the bar lower simply puts shearing force on the cartilage and connective tissue of the shoulder and stops working the muscles of the chest all together. Bringing the bar all the way down is one of the leading causes of most gym related shoulder injuries.

2)       Feet up or down on the bench?

Misconception: Putting your feet up protects the lower back.

Fact: The only thing that putting your feet up does is makes you lose strength. Having your feet down grounds you and allows you to generate more force through your entire body, including your legs and your core. Even with our core activated, our lower back will be slightly elevated from the bench due to its natural curve. This is fine, but don’t try to over arch your back to gain reps, this could be harmful to the lower spine.

3)      Should I wrap my thumbs all the way around the bar?

Misconception: You shouldn’t wrap your thumbs around the bar.

Fact: You absolutely should wrap your thumbs all the way around the bar, it is much safer and a stronger position to press from.

4)      Is the BB Chest Press the best exercise for chest development?

Misconception: It’s the king of chest exercises.

Fact: BB chest press is a good exercise for building strength, but it is not the king. It gained its popularity due to it being a strength test in the athletic world.

Dumbbell presses are much better for building mass and strength, due to the recruitment of stabilizers and more muscle fibres in the Pecs.

Recently there was a Canadian research study done on sedentary behaviour. The study was done over a 12 year period and surveyed over 7,000 men and just under 10,000 women from the ages of 18-90. Basically it shows that too much sitting is hazardous to our health! Check it out!

-    Adults/children spend 75% of their waking day seated.

-    This amount of sedentary behaviour dramatically increases our risk of mortality due to disease and premature death.

-     Even if you exercise the recommended 1 hour/day you are still at a higher risk of premature death due to the level of sedentary behaviour.

-     Leading causes of mortality due to sitting too much are: cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory diseases, nervous systems disorders, injuries and accidents.

-          The reason for this increase risk of disease and mortality is that the body’s capacity to use the fat in our blood for fuel decreases. This leads to a dramatic increase in our triglycerides, our blood fat levels. It also lowers our good cholesterol, HDL, which elevates our risk to cardiovascular disease.

So what’s the solution?

I know that you can’t exactly trade in your desk job, but here is what you can do:

-          Walk to work if you can.

-          Take the stairs.

-          Use an exercise ball as your chair.

-          Get up from your desk every 15 minutes.

-          Walk around when you are on the phone.

-          Breaks and lunch, get up, stand and walk around as much as you can.

-          When you get home don’t sit on the couch!