Inspiration

There are plenty of people in this world who wish they were blessed with the ability that we all have, as well as the passion, heart, determination, desire, and focus. Some are blind, some paralyzed, some who have degenerative diseases. Realizing this, what we get to do is and will always be a blessing. Live every moment like it was your last. If you left this earth tomorrow, what would you want people to say about you? "he/she was going to do the Ironman, but the training was too much", or "he/she pushed so hard and worked their behind off to realize their dream, at least they always gave 100% and went down with a fight, kicking a screaming". Who do you want to be? There will always be adversity in life: in our personal lives as well as training. It's how we respond to that adversity that makes us who we are, and helps us realize who we were called to be on this earth. Happy training, get your behind out there and finish, and when you look in the mirror at night you can look at yourself and be proud, knowing that you gave your heart and soul, along with everything else you have to realize your goals and dreams as well as helping others to realize the same thing in themselves, we all feed off of one another! TRAIN HARD AND SMART!

BQuick

Health in its many forms and TOTAL HEALTH....

In order to understand total health, we need to understand all of its components. There are several types of health that make up the overall healthy person as a whole. They include: metal health, emotional health, spiritual health, and physical health. All of these factors affect and can affect the other. Think about the physiological effects on the body from a single thought! Our heart rate can go up, breathing rate can increase and change, or if it's a relaxing thought, our heart rates and blood pressure may drop. It is important to keep all of these things in perspective when analyzing where your total health is at this point. Just step back and say: where am I emotionally right now? mentally? spiritually? physically? What you do or don't do in each one of these will effect the other.

BQuick

Fiji Water and Electrolytes

Fiji water actually has a nice amount of two very important electrolytes: calcium and magnesium. Remember, calcium controls musculature contraction (among many other vital functions of the body), and magnesium controls muscular release (among many other vital functions of the body). Fiji also has several other vitamins and minerals in it. We hear a lot about women needing calcium and magnesium, but men need just as much! So, beside Fiji's great, crisp, clean taste, it provides some essential electrolytes, vitamins and minerals! Enjoy a great Fiji water today!

BQuick

Women's Health Magazine talks abouts the importance of Metabolic Testing

Numbers You Can Trust
For a foxy figure faster, count on these weight-loss formulas
Blake Miller


We don't know who coined the phrase "Numbers don't lie," but we'll bet they never counted a calorie. And if you've ever tried using math to manage the digits on your bathroom scale, you know that most diet equations don't add up. We wondered whether any of the roughly 338,000 Google hits for "weight loss formula" can actually help you look good in that black latex cat suit this Halloween. Here's the lowdown on three basics:

Daily Caloric Requirement (DCR)

Translation The math is pretty simple: Eat 500 fewer calories a day than your body requires and you'll drop a pound a week. But most online calculators (and even the pen-and-paper variety) are only 82 percent accurate (even less so if you're obese, sick, or an ethnic minority), according to the American Dietetic Association. And, says Mary Hartley, a registered nutritionist for about.com, the results can be flawed because the equation isn't tailored to the individual and because many people misjudge their fitness level. Plus, if you lose 10 pounds or more, you'll have to do the math again.

Salvation Let sites like caloriecount.about.com, mayoclinic.com, or mypyramid.gov do the work for you. All factor in activity level and are backed by health pros.

Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)

Translation While DCR calculates calorie input (how much you need to eat), the Resting Metabolic Rate tabulates calorie output (how much you burn doing absolutely nothing). Unfortunately, the ADA says the accuracy of these formulas is 45 to 80 percent (and again, they're less accurate if you're obese).

Salvation Skip the formula and get tested by a pro; you can do this at many gyms (members pay about $50). You'll have to sit and breathe into a scubalike plastic tube while a computer records how much oxygen you inhale and how much carbon dioxide you exhale. After 12 minutes of fun, you get a printout showing you (with 95 percent accuracy) how much you burn at rest and how many cals you can consume and still ditch your saddlebags.

VO2 Max

Translation This test, often used by athletes who train for grueling events, can also be useful for noncompetitors looking to lose weight, because the result helps pinpoint a target heart rate for fat burn. The formula is nearly 100 percent accurate, as long as you don't flub the test, which requires you to run or bike at top speed, typically for 12 to 14 minutes, while wearing a gas-mask-like apparatus that measures your oxygen intake. An ill-fitting mask (it should seal around your mouth) or not reaching your peak speed on the treadmill can skew the results.

Salvation Search at vo2max testing.net for places that provide the test, which costs about $120. The test will tell you the amount of calories you burn in different heart-rate zones. Once you get your results, invest in a heart rate monitor--either one that straps around your chest (the most effective) or a watch (like the MioMotiva)--to keep tabs on your ticker as you work out within your ideal fat-blasting range.

For more information about Metabolic Testing or to schedule a test please feel free to contact me.

Beautiful Day!

If you are reading this then that means that you were blessed to wake up and take a breath. When you look outside and feel the weather, you'll then realize that you were blessed with a beautiful day to enjoy since you are alive and well! Go out and take a walk, a bike ride, shoot some hoops, kick a soccer ball, run, swim, or anything you'd like to enjoy this amazing day while being active (which will only help you to enjoy the day more because of a flood of endorphins!).

BQuick

Happy Holidays!!!

Happy Holidays!!!! Continue on your path to health and wellness during the holiday season! Stay disciplined to eat right, stay active, and live right! Be an example and role model for others at parties and family get-togethers, and do the right things and don't let others negatively influence you! Don't let yourself slide now, and, if you were planning on starting the 1st of the year, why not get a jump start on everyone and for yourself, your health, longevity, vitality, mortality, and quality of life! Call, message, or email us for help with any questions in the health, wellness, fitness, and performance fields! Happy Holidays!!!

Gym is Closed.....20 minute Holiday no-gym needed workout

Super-set Exercises Grouped Together

*Warm-up 5-10 minutes by jogging, riding a bike, jumping rope, etc--something to get the heart moving and the blood pumping, followed by....

*Squats or Jump-squats x 20
*Toe Touches (standing, keep eyes up back straight) x 20*Push Ups (wide Close or shoulder stance) x 20
*Push Ups (wide Close or shoulder stance) x 20
*Pull ups or Down Dog Push Ups x 20

*Toe Up/Calf Raise
*Bag Bicep Curl x 20 (put clothes or any other objects in duffel bag)

*Bag Overhead Tricep Extension x 20
*Bag Upright Row

Core--all exercises 15-30 reps
*Crunches
*leg lifts
*Russian twist
*Superman's

You're done! For the experienced athlete or fitness aficionado, this may only take you 10-15 minutes. Try not to rest too much between sets and stay continuous for as long as possible to get a cardio workout as well!

BQuick

Holiday Parties

Everyone makes so many excuses this time of year about going to parties, and they can't stick to their diets and nutrition plans because there is "nothing good to eat" at parties. Most of the time this is a false statement. There is always something healthy you can eat. Smoked Salmon, Vegetables, some cheeses, fruit, salad, finger sandwiches on wheat (turkey, chicken salad), etc. Some parties actually have good gourmet food. Either way, there are always healthy choices when at a party or eating out, but the people going to them don't always make the healthiest choices! Eat well, be merry!

Cline Jenkins
This is one of my hardest working clients and we should all look up to him! Cline works so much harder than you always ask him to, doing extra reps, sets, sprints, etc.! He has had a couple setbacks: having surgery on both shoulders, one about 3.5-4 months ago now. None of that has stopped Cline. As soon as he was given the release from the Doc for PT he started back with us, and did his PT as well as he continued to work towards his fitness goals, never letting his injury slow him down! Most people today would have used that injury as a crutch to NOT exercise, whereas he used it as fuel for his fitness fire! Ever since I have known him he has been passionate and driven towards achieving every goal he has and will not stop until he achieves them! He is the definition of drive, commitment, passion, heart, desire, and hard work and we should all learn some positive lessons from him and his positive attitude and outlook not only on life, but also achieving our goals! Cline's shoulder is a lot better because of his hard work, both in strength and Range of Motion (flexibility), and it's because of his commitment, hard work, time and effort! Cline reminds us all that success is always preceded by hard work! He is the definition of this and I know he will continue to work towards his goals each and every day! Take a lesson from Cline and his commitment: don't be lazy! There are a lot of people in the world a lot less fortunate than you are! God has blessed a lot of you with the gift of health, and Cline teaches us that even if you do have an injury, there are still things you can do and there is still work to be done! Continue working hard, and if you are not sure if you should undertake an exercise program, give us a call and consult with professionals about how to go about doing things the right way!

Burn It Off!!!!

This is the time of year that people say, "oh...I feel horrible because I at or drank too much during the holidays, but, I swear I'm going to start training the 1st of the year!" Tons of people say this, but more than 80% of people who have new year's resolutions never even make it into their tennis shoes to start, or start and drop out quickly. Instead of waiting, get started now, and here are a few tips to keep you on track:

1.) Do something that you actually like doing, instead of doing something you dread or hate. If you used to play soccer and enjoy it, enroll in a soccer league. If you like to play hacky sack (footbag), then start by doing that. Exercising does not require that you be miserable while doing it. Believe it or not, doing something you love by going out and playing basketball or ping pong etc., is still exercise because you are moving! Movement is the key to a great quality of life! If you do not move, it will tear down your body on a cellular lever!

2.) Keep a journal for your diet and you exercise. Putting everything down in written form will help you to actually see what you are eating and what you are doing. This will allow you to see if you need to pick it up physically, and also what you are eating when and how much water you take in per day.

3.) Write down at least 3 goals and place them on your bathroom mirror so you at least see them when you wake up and before you go to bed everyday. How do we know what we are striving for without goals? Also, don't write down broad goals, ie, I want to lose weight. Be more specific, ie, I would like to lose 6 pounds in 3 weeks. Be realistic with your Goals so you are not let down!
Please let me know if you have any questions or if you would like to train or for us to set up a customized, individually specific program for you!
Happy Holidays!
BQuick

More Benefits of Red Wine

Yet another great fact(s) about red wine from John Faciane:

"Everyone has enzymes that repair DNA as it gets damaged due to oxidative stress and other factors, but as we get older these enzymes slow down and stop working. When the enzymes stop functioning properly, we get cancer, age, and/or die. Compounds in red wine have been found to keep these enzymes working perfectly for much, much longer than they otherwise would, which results in increased lifespan! The researchers actually said that this compound has been proven to increase lifespan in animal test subjects. Yet another reason for you to enjoy a glass of red wine!"

The antioxidant capacity of 5-7oz of wine per day is what helps to protect and preserve DNA in the same way that fruits and vegetables work to protect our DNA and anti-oxidize free radicals (realize it says 5-7oz per day, not 50-70oz, that means one glass!). As you start to drink 9oz and over, the antioxidant capacity drops significantly and it can actually become a detriment to your body and mind. My next blog will be about antioxidants and how they work to combat free radicals because we hear the term antioxidant all of the time, but very rarely is it ever explained so you can understand it. If you are over 21, drink a glass of red wine per day!

Fruits and Veggies for Cancer Prevention and Childhood Cancer Prevention

As I have always stated, fruits and vegetables should be staples in your daily diet regime.  They are great to include in meals, or compound them with other food sources for a meal (ex: fruit mixed in with yogurt and granola for breakfast, banana in your whole grain cereal, a banana with almond, peanut, sunflower or cashew butter, raisins and wheat germ, or an apple prepared the same way, etc.).  Fruits and veggies are always great snacks as well and are easy to pick up and go with when leaving your house in the morning, or if you're like me, flying out of the door!  Bottom line:  eating fruits and vegetables will allow you to get tons of antioxidants into your body to help ward off cancer, and as the research has shown in some cases, will also allow some childhood cancer cells to be alleviated and destroyed.  The text in quotation comes from a former athlete I've trained named John Fasciane.  John is a great man, and is in his Junior year at LSU right now in Kinesiology and Nutrition.  He is going to be a great coach, mentor, and nutritionist!  John also sent over the information on white, green and black tea, and its effectiveness in buffering the mercury from fish out of your body when eating fish and drinking tea together.  Hopefully you will see John's name more and more on our blogs, and one day, on staff with us!

 

"Researchers have found a new reason for why people who eat the most fruits and veggies are less likely to get cancer.  They found that a fragment released by pectin, in all fruits and vegetables, binds to a specific protein that plays a significant role in all the stages of cancer progression.  The pectin suppresses the protein's ability to progress the cancer.

 

Strawberries, blueberries, and grapes contain some compounds that not only prevent cancer but also compounds that have been observed killing cells of childhood cancer!  The phytochemicals in the fruits caused the mitochondria of the cancer cells to stop producing energy, and without energy the cancer cells died. One of the pytochemicals mentioned was reservatrol so wine might help too if this is the case for all cancers."

 

Since kids cannot obviously drink wine, there are some reservatrol supplements out there now that you can buy over the counter.  In addition to purchasing a reservatrol supplement, make sure to incorporate at least 1-3 servings of both fruits and veggies every day!

Training Tips:

Here are a few tips if you are implementing an exercise program into your life or if you have already been at it for a while:

 

1.)  Ease into things:  If you have not trained in a while, make sure to ease your way into it, especially the older you get (because as we age our growth hormone levels lower, which impairs our ability to recover as fast).  A great example is my father.  He will lay off of exercise and running for a year or two, then go out to the track thinking he is in world class condition like Usain Bolt!  He will go out and try to run 2 400's, 2 300's, 2 200's, and 2 100's on the first day.  This is why he came back the last time with a torn hamstring which was black and blue from his knee to his glute up the back of his leg.  Ease into it for better results later in your program.  Build a great, solid base and you will thank yourself later.

 

2.)  Make sure that your program is well balanced with all of these things:  Diet, Cardiovascular Training, Strength Training, Flexibility Training, and Education.

 

3.)  Diet:  this is the most important aspect of your regime.  you get out of your body what you put into it.  I know people who cycle 150 miles per week, weight train, run and swim several miles per week and are still obese.  They wonder why, and the first thing I always ask people is, "what is your diet like?".  Then they smirk, roll their eyes and before they say anything I know they eat whatever they want whenever they want it.  This will simply not work.  Diet alone can change someone's body composition tremendously even without exercise.  Don't take that the wrong way, i firmly believe in exercise but am trying to explain how important diet is!  Eat right--lean and clean always!  No excuses, such as, "I am always eating out".  There are always alternatives and things you can eat that are great for you while at restaurants:  fish, vegetables, lean meats, etc.  Eat well always and reap the benefits, both in body and mind.  Nourish your, body, your brain, and all functions of the body by ingesting the RIGHT things!  Yesterday, i saw a young girl I know who has hypothyroidism, standing by a cotton candy station at an all sports fair.  She ate some until it was gone, then put more on her stick and slammed it.  Her mom said nothing to her!  OOOOOOhhhhhhh, that heats me up, but, i threw in my two cents and told her how bad it was for her.  The cotton candy man didn't think that was a good comment to throw out amongst all the other kids too, so I had to explain myself to him.

 

4.)  Cardiovascular Training:  the heart is the most important and underlying muscle in the body that supplies the rest of the body's musculature, organs, etc., with blood, fuel, and much, much more.  We need a healthy blend of working both energy systems and its corresponding musculature.  This can be achieved by incorporating 1-2 days per week of continuous, aerobic training, holding a nice consistent pace on cardio of your choice (60-80% of heart rate max).  Second, we need a good 1-2 days of tempo work, where you hold that nice consistent pace, but increase your intensity every so often to increase your heart rate, then return to the consistent pace, then repeat.  The last 1-2 days should be spent at a higher heart rate for a certain duration of time (80-90% of heart rate max), or you can sprint several times until you achieve and reach your heart rate max.  Doing all of these things will ensure you are burning a healthy blend of protein, fats, and carbohydrates for fuel.

 

5.)  Strength Training:  will help to increase your metabolism not only during training, but throughout the day as well.  Strength training helps us to get stronger and sculpt our bodies.  It also has several other benefits:  injury prevention, bone density, strengthening the tendons, joints, ligaments and overall musculature of the body, etc.  Core work/Core Training is also included in this and is also one of the most important aspects of your strength training.  Every movement in your body is initiated from your spine and its surrounding musculature (CORE), which is why it's so very important to train the CORE in its entirety.

 

6.)  Flexibility Training:  for health, vitality, and longevity.  This will help you to recover from the others demands that you place upon your body.  It will limit the chance for injury, and, the longer your muscles are, the more force they can generate.  I call this the rubber band principle:  the more you stretch out a rubber band, the more force it will generate, which is the same as your musculature.  There is also a core element to the flexibility training when doing yoga and pilates.  Dynamic Flexibility (flexibility in motion) can be done before exercise or moving, or simply as another form of flexibility work for variation.

 

7.)  Education:  educate yourself on all of the previous things so that you too can make informed decisions at they relate to your health, wellness, and fitness goals.  Education is empowerment.

 

8.)  Variation:  vary what you do within each of these components.  From changing what you eat, to changing strength training routines, this will help ensure that you do not hit plateaus (sticking points in your progress), and will also help to cut down on boredom since you will always be changing it up and doing something new and exciting.

 

9.)  It's not a bad idea to hire someone to help you with this:  hire someone to give you a little help with all of these components.  Let a health and fitness professional guide you in you journey, lending a helpful ear and a helpful hand in what you are doing, making sure you are doing things safe and the right way.  We can provide internet coaching, 1 on 1 training, group training, program design and implementation (where we design a program specifically for you and implement this program with you, making sure you understand each and every aspect of it.  Even if you hire someone for 1 hour per week or month, it will help you in all of your health and fitness endeavors. 

 

Give me a call, shoot me a message here, or email me for help with any and all of the above.

 

Brandt Quick

504 451 5391
bquick@bquickfitness.com

Great Breakfast Tips

Breakfast is definitely the most important meal of the day, along with your snacks throughout the day and other meals. The reason breakfast is so important is this: when we wake up in the morning (depending on how much sleep we had, and the last time we ate before going to bed) our glycogen stores deplete after 8 hours (this may happen a little later or sooner for others, depending on your individual metabolism). This means that all of the carbohydrates that we have stored in our liver and our musculature is depleted. Our brain needs sugar (carbohydrates) to function and keep the rest of our autonomic (parasympathetic) nervous system functioning properly and efficiently. Once our glycogen stores are depleted, our body will first go to muscle tissue to break down for sugar for the brain. We work very hard to build this tissue and maintain it, so why would you want your body to eat it away? This is why it is essential to eat as close to opening you eyes in the morning as possible. This will ensure that your brain and body have fuel to function. Make sure that you eat well-balanced, and this will ensure that your brain and body are functioning optimally!
Secondly, what do you think will happen within your body if you omit breakfast from your life and if you are one of those people who do not eat until mid-morning or lunch? As soon as you do eat, your body will store a lot of it as fat. Why? Because you tricked your body into not knowing when the next time it is that you are going to feed it because you have gone so long without eating, therefore, your body must store some of this fuel as fat, to be used as a reserve of energy if you do not eat for another long, extended period of time. EAT BREAKFAST! If you do not eat breakfast now, however start to, you may even end up seeing yourself lose a few pounds! Remember, eat often throughout the day, the volume of how much you eat depends on your goals: getting leaner, losing weight, or gaining weight.

The following article is something I've found, and has a few good tips in it for you:

Make Time for Breakfast
Start the day with a healthy meal

(HealthDay News) -- Your mother probably urged you to eat a healthy breakfast, noting it was the day's most important meal.

She was right, says the Nemours Foundation, which offers these suggestions on how to refuel your kids to begin their day:

* Keep your kitchen full of healthy, quick and easy breakfast choices.
* If morning time is at a premium, try to prepare for breakfast the night before. Set out dishes, prepare and cut up food, etc.
* Wake your family 10 minutes earlier than usual to allow time for breakfast.
* Encourage your child to help decide what to have for breakfast. The child can even help prepare it.
* Have on-the-go breakfast options ready for mornings when you're running late, including fresh fruit, yogurt, trail mix, and individual boxes of cereal.
* Pack a nutritious snack for your child if he or she isn't hungry first thing in the morning.


-- Diana Kohnle

Former Cross-Country Champ, 68, Nabs Mugger

One more reason to stay in shape...

"Three teen aged thieves in Britain got more than they bargained for. The boys snatched a purse from Janet Lane while she sat on a park bench. But what first looked like an easy theft quickly became a high-speed pursuit. Lane took off after them, eventually catching one of the boys by the collar. The thieves didn't count on their 68-year-old victim being a high school cross-country champion who had never given up running." Morning Edition, October 15, 2008, npr.org

Step It Up

Make sure you have a strong mind, heart, have a lot of passion, drive and determination for whatever it is your goals are or what you are going after. I see so many people or kids/athletes who say they have a goal or want something, but are not willing to put in the time, hard work, and effort that needs to precede those goals to make them happen. If we were perfect and everything was given to us, there would be nothing to work for. We would already be perfect at everything we do and would not need to go to school, get jobs and exercise because we would all be lean, mean working machines!
It seems as though only a handful of today's youth population have been raised the correct way to understand that nothing is achieved without hard work preceding it, unless of course, your parents and/or those around you GIVE you everything. These people are what we call SOFT! Take responsibility for your goals, and your hard work and effort getting to and exceeding them with all of your passion, heart, drive determination and desire, so that we can change this lazy, SOFT epidemic that is infiltrating our country and it's youth! BE A LEADER IN EVERYTHING YOU DO BY LEADING BY EXAMPLE!

Movement is the Key to Life: Good and Bad Stress (eustress and distress)

Movement is the key to life. From an evolutionary perspective, our bodies are meant and programmed to move. Our bodies are like machines and we are animals by nature. We have 4 necessities: food, sleep, going to the restroom, and moving around to do all this.

Back in prehistoric times, man had to migrate from place to place, catch or hunt for his food, and fight or flee their predators. This "fight or flight" response is programmed into our bodies from the beginning. We can either fight or flee our predator, what happens? Our bodies release adrenaline (epinephrine and nor-epinephrine) from the adrenal glands which sit atop the kidneys. When this happens there is an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, strength, speed, agility, and focus. People have been known to perform incredible feats of strength under stress where their or someone else's life is in danger. This flight or flight adrenal response is brought on by stress. Our daily stress is no longer like that of our ancestors. Our stress now comes in the form of being yelled at by our boss, teacher or coach, or having things to do for work backed up, or having family problems. There are two different kinds of stress: eustress (good stress: exercise, laughter, carefree things—hobbies, meditation.) Distress (bad stress: boss or someone yelling at us, etc.). To deal with distress on a daily basis, it is important to include eustress in your life, especially in the form of movement, to help us deal with those distresses. Here's why: When we exercise or get our heart rate up by placing a good stress on our bodies, it causes the body to release adrenaline to support what you're doing. We can determine our physical fitness levels by a lot of different methods, but one of the best is seeing how fast your heart rate can come down after it has gone up to a certain % of your max heart rate (the formula for max heart rate is 220-age+-7). The faster the heart rate drops the better conditional that person and their heart is. This is the reason that placing eustress on the body helps our body to be more capable of handling distress because almost the same physiological response happens in the body. THE BODY IS MEANT TO MOVE! MOVEMENT IS THE KEY TO LIFE, LONGEVITY AND VITALITY!

Taking Things for Granted

Many a time in our lives, we take things for granted without even realizing it. There are people in this world with degenerative diseases, limb problems, blindness, internal disorders, hearing issues, etc., etc. For those people, life is a little more difficult for the ADL's (activities of daily living, ie. walking, seeing, hearing, getting around, carrying out basic life functions such as eating, breathing, etc.) than most. Most of us who are in "good health" simply take things for granted that we have it so good, and most would dispute that, saying that they have many problems, mental, physical, emotional and spiritual. I say look at the positive things in your life. Look at all that God has blessed you with. Food and shelter, a great family, the ability to carry out ADL's with no problems or issues. There is a blind boy at Covington Hgih School who walks the track periodically as I am training the baseball and football teams. I tell the kids on that team that he should be an inspiration for them every time they are feeling sorry for themselves. He is out there trying his best to get himself better and keep himself in shape and to improve his quality of life as much as the good Lord will allow him too, although he may never regain his sight. When you are feeling sorry for yourself, think of this boy. Think of Adam Bender, the little boy who plays baseball on one leg (look on my website for a short video on him), or think of the boy who is handicapped and his dad carries him throughout each and every triathlon that he does, because it brings his handicapped son great joy and peace. Thank God everyday for waking you up for your first breath and for those things that you are blessed with day in and day out, and if you ever feel sorry for yourself think of those less fortunate or who are in worse situations than you, keep your head up, and keep moving forward in a positive direction, most importantly, love life and enjoy the people and experiences with which you share. with one another! Be an inspiration to someone else!