Fitness Results — FRESH! Fitness - A division of FRESH! Wellness Group

Teen’s Need Exercise Too

So get ‘em off the couch, pull the cell phone out of their hands, and send them to the field and the gym.

Remember the good old days, when the only video game available was a pinball machine down at the local soda shop? Well, those days are long gone. Today’s teens have access to more video games and other technology that keeps them away from the great outdoors and off the basketball court. Instead of moving their growing bodies, they spend countless hours pushing buttons, texting friends and playing video games.

But if exercise isn’t a regular part of your teen’s life, big trouble could be right down the road. Why should your teen get into the exercise routine, and how can you make it happen? [Read more...]

The 12 Days of Christmas –Washboard Abs Edition

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Red and green decorations are out, nostalgic tunes fill the airways and the kids are hard at work on their letters for Santa.

I know what’s on your list this year and it isn’t found at your local department store.

You’re wishing for washboard abs—so I’ve put together “The Twelve Days of Christmas –Washboard Abs Edition” just for you.

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Your Guide to Eating Out Right

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A woman sits at a restaurant studying the menu with furrowed brow. She has begun an exercise routine and knows that her frequent meals out could slow her weight loss results if she wasn’t careful.

When the waiter comes she is still deep in thought over what to order. “What can I get for you?” he asks with a smile. She looks up and frowns, no closer to arriving at a decision. On a whim she blurts out, “I’m trying to eat healthy but I have no idea what to order. What do you think I should eat?”

The young waiter looks startled but quickly rattles off his idea of a healthy meal. “The eggplant and roasted pepper pasta is filled with vegetables. You could get that with a salad.”

The woman smiles. Yes, vegetables do sound healthy. So she orders the veggie pasta with a side salad and a diet soda, then sits back to enjoy a few slices of bread.
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Weight Gain Season Begins

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It’s here—whether you’re ready or not. Just look at the seasonal shelves in your favorite store. Retailers like to call it ‘holiday season’ but let’s be more accurate.

Weight Gain season begins now and runs straight through New Year’s.

The next two months will bring ample opportunity for you to expand your waistline. Of course the choice is yours.
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Resistance Training Principle #15: Be aware of the Reversibility Principle

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This unfortunate rule states that “if you don’t use it, you lose it”. Fitness is transient. The training benefits gained from an exercise program will be lost if the program is discontinued. Exercise must be a regular component of your lifestyle to reap the benefits. It is however, important to take rest days.Schedule in 1-2 days during the week when you are not focused on getting into your training zone, sweating and having a hard workout. If you do find yourself having a tough time sticking to your workout program because of a busy schedule at work or other priorities, put yourself on a maintenance program.A maintenance weight training program allows you to maintain your strength for up to 12 weeks if you just get in one hard resistance workout every week.

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Resistance Training Principle #14: How Stretching May Increase Your Risk of Injury!

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We’ve all stretched before, but did you know that how, when, and for how long you stretch can dramatically alter the results you see? After 20 years in the fitness industry, and teaching thousands of trainers, I’ve found that most clients are not stretching effectively, and that the is being compounded by many trainers who continue to promote outdated methods of stretching.First, I would like to differentiate between stretching (in the traditional sense) and mobility, Range of Motion training, and dynamic movement. While the goals are often similar, the methods used to accomplish these goals and the resulting performance is usually quite different.

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What You Can Learn From Cavemen

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How would you like to be naturally lean, muscular and energetic? To effortlessly maintain a low body fat, rippling muscles and picturesque health?

Mark Sisson, an athlete, coach, and student on a lifelong quest for exceptional health, happiness, and peak performance (his words), penned the book, “The Primal Blueprint” to show you how to do just that.
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Peeling back the dirty curtain of “Medical” Weight Loss Centres!

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A former client just told me that he joined a certain “Medical” weight loss centre here in Calgary (I won’t mention the name, but they promote “doctor supervised weight loss” and have multiple locations). He was excited that he had lost 40 pounds in the last 60 days and was “feeling great”.

While I was happy that he was excited about these changes, my heart sank because I knew that challenging times would likely lay ahead for him. Because he had not followed the guidance we gave him during his coaching, I know that the return to “normal” would be a struggle.
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Resistance Training Principle #13: Avoiding Big Bulky Muscles!

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When most people think of the stereotypical body builder, they think of this really big guy with huge muscles who is just so tight and stiff that he actually has a problem moving. Have you ever watched a bodybuilder play a sport? It’s quite comical! Many people find it difficult to imagine a graceful and flexible body builder. Like the elusive Sasquatch, they are rare, but do exist!On a more serious note, the tightness image of weight lifting comes from this “bodybuilding” style of training that promotes small isolated exercises, a lack of athletic development or movement training, combined with a poor attention to joint mobility.

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Resistance Training Principle #12: Warm Up and Quit Being A Statue!

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We’ve all seen it before…the person who gets to the gym, heads right to the weight room and just starts lifting? Well, this situation creates many challenges and risks, including decreased performance, higher potential for injury and poor development of key movement skills.Your body does not respond very well going from complete inactivity to an intense level of output. Your musculo-skeletal (muscles, bones, joints, ligaments, cartilage and tendons), cardio-respiratory (heart and lungs) and your metabolic energy pathways (where you get your energy to workout) need a gradual stimulation in order to function optimally. You should always start your resistance (and higher intensity cardio) training workouts by performing some simple movement and balance activities in addition to general activities such as, walking on a treadmill, or climbing on the stepper for a few minutes.

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