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.

At 55, he weighs 165 pounds with 8 percent body fat, eats as much food as he pleases, and rarely gets sick. He also says he’s healthier, fitter, happier and more productive than ever.

So what is Mark’s secret?

In his words, “Modeling your 21st-century life after our primal hunter-gather ancestors will help you greatly reduce or eliminate almost all of the disease risk factors that you may falsely blame on genes you inherited from your parents

Weight loss does not have to involve the suffering, sacrifice, and deprivation we’ve been conditioned to accept but instead is a matter of eating the right foods (plants and animals), avoiding the wrong foods (processed carbs—including grains—and trans and partially hydrogenated fats), and exercising strategically, for far fewer hours than you might assume, to reach your desired fitness goals.”

Here are The Ten Primal Blueprint Laws:

Law #1: Eat Lots of Plants and Animals
The bulk of the caveman diet is animal protein (organic, free-range, or wild sources of meat, fowl, and fish), a plethora of colorful veggies and fruits, and healthy fats (nuts, seeds, their derivative butters, certain oils, and avocados).

Law #2: Avoid Poisonous Things
For the caveman this meant staying away from poisonous plants. For you this means staying away from sugars, sodas, chemically altered fats, processed, packaged, fried and preserved foods. It also means cutting out grains.

Law #3: Move Frequently at a Slow Pace
The caveman spent several hours each day moving around at a low-level aerobic pace. This helped develop strong bones, joints, and connective tissue.

Law #4: Lift Heavy Things
Frequent bursts of intense physical effort were a daily part of the caveman’s life. Biochemical signals would be triggered that prompted improvements and adaptations in muscle tone, size and power.

Law #5: Sprint Once in a While
For the caveman a fast sprint meant the difference between being eaten and staying alive. Little did he know that those sprints were helping to increase his energy levels, improve athletic performance and minimize the effects of aging by promoting the release of testosterone and human growth hormone.

Law #6: Get Adequate Sleep
The rising and setting of the sun dictated the length of the caveman’s day. For us things are a bit trickier. Adequate sleep helps the immune system work optimally, and promotes the release of hormones that enhance brain and endocrine function.

Law #7: Play Without a TV or computer to entertain himself, the caveman would engage in hours of leisurely outdoor play. Relaxed play releases endorphins and provides a balance for mental stress.

Law #8: Get Adequate Sunlight
It’s impossible to obtain adequate vitamin D from diet alone. Getting regular sun exposure allows for proper vitamin D production, critical for healthy cell function.

Law #9: Avoid Stupid Mistakes
Observation and self-preservation were key factors in the survival of a caveman. Today’s world is full of distractions that leave us oblivious and careless. Take, for example, texting while driving.

Law #10: Use Your Brain
The human brain separates us from the animals. Intellectual stimulation is an important part of healthy brain function.

Rave Reviews: Despite its stringent requirements, the caveman diet is converting new followers by the boatload. Most people report losing 10 or more pounds in their first month and that they no longer feel bloated and sleepy after meals.

Should You Jump on the Primal Bandwagon? So, in light of the evidence, should you put down your whole wheat bagel and low fat cream cheese in exchange for a hunk of meat and pile of veggies?

Hold your horses.

Though the caveman diet has been proven to promote weight loss, times have changed. Could you really practice all of the Primal Laws while maintaining your modern life?

Yeah… I didn’t think so.

So, where do you go from here? You want to lose weight, to protect yourself from disease and to look and feel great.

A great solution, that doesn’t require drastic change, is to take 3 bits of advice from the caveman—advice that will promote weight loss, decrease your risk of disease and will get you looking and feeling great.

1. Make Plants and Animals the Focus of Your Diet: This will quickly lead to weight loss and increased energy. Don’t be so hard on yourself that everything you put in your mouth has to be caveman approved – but make it the majority of your diet.

2. Cut Out Processed Food: The simplest way to promote weight loss and to encourage good health is to eliminate processed foods from your diet. When you replace processed foods with fresh produce your results will be immediate. Not only will you feel healthier, you will have more energy than you’ll know what to do with! * Want to eat a Caveman approved dinner? Check out my recipe below*

3. Exercise: Since you will need an outlet for all that extra energy, acquire a new hobby—one that gets you moving. Have you ever met a lazy caveman? Of course not. (And this is not just because you were born a few centuries too late!) Cavemen were forced to be active in order to survive. Hunt dinner. Build a fire. Move a fallen tree. Create shelter. You get the idea If you want a lean, muscular body then exercise must become a part of your daily life.

This is where I come in. Let’s meet one-on-one to design an exercise program that will fit your unique goals.

Call or email today to get started.

This is a common place to end up, usually after a few months on the same exercise routine. In the beginning your body responds to your routine with lost pounds and gained muscle tone, then one day all results screech to a stop.

Why does this happen? And, more importantly, how can you prevent it?

Your muscles adapt quickly to any repetitive routine. Remember that the definition of ‘insanity’ is to do the same thing over and over while expecting different results. This holds true for your workouts.

When your results stop, it’s time to do something new.

• The problem: Your muscles have adapted to your routine.
• The Solution: It’s time to apply the concept of muscle confusion.

Muscle confusion is a way to keep your body guessing by changing your routine.

I have good news – the following 4 strategies are guaranteed to crank your workouts up to the next level and to deliver better results.

Strategy #1: Use a Drop Set

Drop sets are often used to fight off exercise plateaus. This technique is great for increasing muscle strength, endurance and for adding to the cardiovascular benefit of your workout – which results in more fat burn.

This is how to do a drop set: When you perform an exercise to exhaustion, don’t stop there. Drop the weight by 80% and do another set.

You could take it a step further by dropping the weight twice, making it a double drop. Or drop the weight three times for a descending drop set. Use this technique only once or twice per workout, on the final set of the exercise.

Strategy #2: Focus on Negatives

Each time that you do a weight lifting repetition you are using three types of strength.

1. Positive strength: lifting the weight.
2. Static strength: holding weight in a contracted position.
3. Negative strength: lowering the weight.

Most people completely miss the benefit of the negative in each repetition by allowing the weight to drop quickly with little control. It is understood that the negative portion of each repetition is just as important as the positive portion, possibly more important.

Focus on the negative portion of each repetition by lowering the weight very slowly. Concentrate on the negative contraction, and make each repetition count.

If you are advanced, then use a training partner to assist you in moving heavier-than-normal weight into a contracted position, then lower it very slowly.

Another way to utilize negative repetitions on a machine is to lift the weight using two limbs but then lower it with just one. For example, use both legs to lift the weight on a leg extension machine, but then lower it back down slowly using only one leg.

Strategy #3: Use Active Rest

Every minute of your workout is an opportunity to increase intensity and to burn more fat. Don’t waste precious minutes with long rest periods.

While it is important to catch your breath if you feel winded, most of the time you would benefit more from an active rest. Do one of the following activities for 30 seconds between exercises and turn your regular workout into High Intensity Interval Training.

• High Knees with Alternating Punches: Alternately bring each knee high to your chest in a quick jumping movement while alternating forward punches at shoulder level.
• Burpees: Start in a sanding position and bend at the waist. Once your hands hit the floor, push your entire body back, extending your legs until they’re straight and you’re in the push-up position. Go down for a push-up, and when you push yourself up, jump slightly to bring your feet back near your hands. Finally, jump in the air with your arms fully extended over your head.
• Side-to-Side Jumps on Bench: Stand on one side of an exercise bench. Place the foot closest up onto the bench, jump up and switch feet, then land on the opposite side of the bench.
• Mountain Climbers: Place your hands wider than shoulder-width apart on the ground in a push-up position. Bring one knee to your chest and then back to the starting position, alternate each leg quickly.
• Side-to-Side Ab Twists: With feet close together, jump and twist your legs left to right – holding your abs tight. Keep a bend in your knees and swing your upper arms with each twist.
• Jump Lunges with Pop Squat: Start in a lunge position, lunge down then quickly jump up, switching your leg position in midair, land in an opposite leg lunge. Once you’ve done both legs, jump straight into a squat.
• Medicine Ball Squat Jumps: With feet wider than shoulder-width apart hold a medicine ball at chest level. Squat down until your knees are at a 90 degree angle. Explosively jump up, raising the medicine ball straight over your head.

Strategy #4: Modify the Exercise There are certain exercises that are considered ‘staples’ in the gym.

The squat. The lunge. The chest press. The shoulder press. The bicep curl. You get the idea…

While you shouldn’t throw these exercises out the window, find creative ways to modify the familiar motion in order to challenge your muscles. Try these exercise modifications:

• Squat on a Bosu ball or balance board.
• Place a weighted bar across your shoulders and do walking lunges.
• Use an exercise ball for chest presses instead of the bench.
• Do a full squat between each repetition of shoulder presses.
• Do a shoulder press between each repetition of bicep curls.

If you’d like a sure-fire way to break through your fitness plateau and to melt away unwanted fat, then contact me for a fitness consultation.

Call or email today – I look forward to hearing from you.

The body does not respond very well going from inactivity to very intense activity.  The cardiovascular, musculo-skeletal, neurological and metabolic energy pathways need to be gradually stimulated in order to perform at an optimal level.  In other words…you need to WARM-UP properly to get the most out of your workout!

Muscles that are warm have a much better ability to extract and utilize oxygen to produce energy.  As muscles warm up, the enzyme activity level is increased.  This means that fats and sugars are broken down more rapidly, and more energy and less lactic acid (the burning sensation) will be produced.  This will enhance your performance and increase your ability to burn fat!

That sounds great, but the problem is…most people are warming up the wrong way and actually decreasing their results.  Worse still, warming up in the traditional way will actually INCREASE your risk of INJURY!

Most people warm-up like a “statue”.  They may do a few minutes of light treadmill or bike, but then stand stationary and stretch their muscles.  Stretching is a good thing…AFTER the workout.  But static stretching prior to exercise will “shut off” some of the muscle’s protective mechanisms and cause these mechanisms to fail when they are actually needed.

The correct way to stretch is by using DYNAMIC movement that starts slow and with small ranges of motion.  We then progress to increasingly larger and more intense motions until we are at the level of our desired performance during the workout.  Some great examples are…

• Inchworms
• Spidermans
• Scorpions
• Eagles
• Walking lunges
• Sumo walks
• Golfer Twists
• …and many more!

If you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, that’s OK.  Check out our YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/freshfitnesscanada) for some examples.  This will help, but the best option is to come for a coaching session with us where we will teach you the correct technique and principles of warm-up and cool-down.

Your body also does not respond very well going from intense activity to complete rest.  Your heart, lungs, muscles, joints, and energy systems require a gradual cool-down to avoid blood pooling in the lower extremities, dizziness, and to assist in the recovery process.

Proper cool-down involves gradually decreasing your exercise intensity, performing some light movement activities (such as those performed in the warm-up), and finishing up with some easy to moderate intensity static stretching (with a particular focus on the areas which were most utilized during the exercise session).

Warming up and cooling down is a healthy way to exercise anyways but in addition, it is a way to prolong your caloric burn for each workout, help you properly prepare for the next workout, and minimize your risk of injury or burnout.

This is one of the “missing links” in most people’s fitness programs.  When time is tight, warm-up and cool-down are the first things to go.  This is why so many people get injured, burnt out, and frustrated with their lack of results!

Call us to come in for a coaching session. We will take the time to show you in detail what to do and how to do it properly!  Even if you’ve worked with a trainer in the past, or think you know what you are doing, I GUARANTEE you will find great value in the session.  In fact, I will refund your money if you don’t feel it was more than worth it!

If running (or cycling, swimming, walking, etc.) is the only cardio activity you do, your running muscles will continue to get stronger and stronger, but the muscles that are neglected will get weaker.  The end result of this is a muscle imbalance and ultimately injury…which defeats the purpose of exercising in the first place!

Now, the pessimists out there are probably saying, “Great!  That’s means I shouldn’t even bother exercising!”  If that was the first thing that popped into your mind.  Stop.  Give yourself a swift smack…and then call me.  We have a LOT of work to do!

Seriously though, a runner should compliment their program with swimming, cycling, weight training, and numerous other activities to alleviate the boredom, stress on the body, and potential for injury.  The runners we see each day are riddled with completely preventable injuries.  Many of them have been dealing with these issues for years because they’ve never properly taken care of their bodies.

Getting fit, healthy, and staying that way is MUCH more than just the exercise sessions you do each week.  Ultimate long-term success and performance come from doing the little things in between training sessions (such as stretching, hydration, trigger point, sleep and general recovery).  The other side of this equation is to mix up your activities to relieve stress on the muscles, joints, and body systems.

Ideally, this involves all the major components of fitness such as:

• Strength
• Endurance
• Agility
• Balance
• Coordination
• Speed
• Power
• Flexibility/Mobility

However, even if you are just doing cardio (again, give yourself a smack and contact the team at FRESH!), be sure to involve a few different cardio activities.  Your body will thank you!

For people who predominantly perform linear sports like running and cycling, it is important to incorporate lateral movements into your program.  This will properly prepare your body and stabilizer muscles to withstand the demands of linear repetitive cardiovascular activities such as running/cycling.  PLUS, it minimize the risk of injury should any of these lateral movements need to be performed in your daily life (YES, they do happen often)!

Did you know?  EVERY new client at FRESH! receives a comprehensive FUNctional Movement Analysis which identifies potential “red flags” in common movement patterns.  Our expert Personal Trainers help you learn how to quickly and simply eliminate those movement errors to improve performance and safety during exercise.

As mentioned in a previous article, the only true way to get individualized and accurate HR zones is by doing an Exercise Metabolism or VO2max test.  It is the BEST investment you will make in your cardio training and literally shave years off your fitness and performance improvements.

Alas, some people will still want to do things the hard way and continue guessing in their workouts.  So, I’ve provided some guidelines to follow for those of you who are slower learners!

Here are the basic ways of measuring heart rate and the formulas involved in ESTIMATING your heart rate zones.  Remember, the resulting numbers from these formulas and calculations will be rough estimates and can vary SUBSTANTIALLY between people.  The other thing to remember is that most of these tools are based off MAXIMUM heart rate.  This is NOT the most important number as it has very little to do with overall performance.  Plus, it is less susceptible to change through training and doesn’t tell us how efficient you are at each heart rate (how much fat you are burning vs. carbohydrates).  The only way to do this is a VO2 max assessment.

• Standard Formula
  • 220 – Age x % exercise intensity
    • Eg:  Age 40 wanting to train at 70% of maximum
    • Resulting HR = 126 bpm
• Karvonen Method- Takes Resting Heart Rate into Consideration
  • Here is an example of the Karvonen formula for a 23 year old person with a resting heart rate of 65 beats per minute (*to get your resting heart rate, take your pulse for one full minute when you first wake up in the morning or after you’ve resting for a while). This formula also includes an updated calculation of maximum heart rate (as mentioned, this has been shown to be inaccurate):
    • 206.9 – (0.67 x 23 (age)) = 191
    • 191 – 65 (resting heart rate) = 126
    • 126 * 65% (low end of heart rate zone) OR 85% (high end) = 82 OR 107
    • 82 + 65 (resting heart rate) = 147
    • 107 + 65 (rhr) = 172
    • The target heart rate zone for this person would be 147 to 172

• Record highestHR ever seen during training & use formulas
  • • Better than using standard formulas to find max, but still doesn’t tell you other details such as fuel efficiency, threshold, etc.

• Conconi Test, 20m shuttle run, etc.
  • Progressive tests that can be used to attain max heart rate and estimate VO2
  • These tests do not accurately identify AT or fuel profiles
• Indirect Calorimetry (Exercise Metabolism Testing – AKA “VO2max”)
  
  • Get YOUR EXACT heart rate zones, gas & fuel profiles through entire spectrum of effort.  This is the best way of establishing a baseline and will help you structure your training sessions.
  • See all of the data in visual format.
  • Click here for more information

A rough guideline for Training Zones:

• Easy Zone:  60-75% MHR (Maximum Heart Rate)
• Moderate Zone:  75-85% MHR
• Hard Zone: 85-100% MHR

• 0 – Represents a resting level with no elevation in your breathing

1. Represents a more active rest, like working at your desk with no elevation in your breathing
2. Represents an active resting level like getting dressed or walking around in your house with no elevation in your breathing
3. Represents a low level of activity like gardening or the warm-up stages in a workout.  You may be aware of your breathing but it is slow and natural.
4. Represents a low level of activity like a stroll or an easy bike ride with a slight elevation in breathing.  You are still well within your comfort zone.  This would be your predominant training zone if you fall within the General Health Training zone.
5. Represents a moderate level of activity like walking briskly.  Your breathing is elevated higher than in level 4 but you are still well within your comfort zone.  This would be your predominate training zone if you fall within the Weight Management Training zone or if you were scheduled for a long, easy workout.
6. Represents a moderate level of activity like walking briskly to a very late appointment.  Your breathing is faster and deeper but you are still at a level that is within your comfort zone.  You feel that you can comfortably hold a conversation.  This will still be your Weight Management Training zone or your moderate intensity workout zone.
7. Represents a vigorous level of activity like jogging.  Your breathing is more rapid and deep and you feel like you can hold a conversation but would probably prefer not to.  This intensity is beginning to feel more challenging and outside of your comfort zone.  This would be your predominate training zone if you fall within the Aerobic Conditioning/Weight Management zone or are performing a moderate intensity workout.
8. Represents a vigorous level of activity like faster running.  You can hold a conversation but it would be short.  You think you can continue for the remainder of your session, but you are not 100% confident that you can make it.  You feel that you are outside of your comfort zone and being heavily challenged.  This will still be your Aerobic Conditioning/Weight Management Training zone.
9. Represents a very, very vigorous level of activity like sprinting intervals in a run.  Your breathing is very labored and you could not hold a conversation.  You would definitely feel fatigued and outside of your comfort zone.  This would be your predominate training zone if you fall within the Advanced Conditioning zone or were performing a short, hard workout.
10. Represents an all-out effort with severe exhaustion.  It is not recommended that you train at this level.

People who would rather spend the day planted on their couch than anywhere else.

People who choose take-out over home cooked, every night of the week.

People who would rather have a root canal than go do a workout.

Sure, I know that we all have our occasional lazy day on the couch, but lately it seems that more and more people are turning laziness into a career.

What about you? Check if the following describe you:

• You are habitually inactive.
• You’d rather be a passive observer than an active participant.
• You’re a master excuse-maker.
• You find shortcuts in order to avoid the long haul.

If that’s you, don’t get down on yourself. There are many legitimate causes of laziness. Here are just a few…

Sleep Deprivation:

When you’re short on sleep it’s easy to become unmotivated, which quickly turns into laziness. Get a minimum of eight hours of sleep each night in order to maintain enough energy to get you through the day. Some experts even say that ten hours of sleep each night is what you need to function at your best.

Caffeine Abuse:

Starting your day with a jolt of java may help with your initial alertness, but the dip in energy that takes place a few hours later could be the reason that you become lazy later in the day. Avoid the rush and crash of caffeine and instead rely on your steady supply of natural energy.

Bad Habit:

At some point being lazy simply becomes a habit. If every night after work you head straight to the couch, it soon becomes automatic and not a conscious decision. Breaking the habit of laziness is actually quite easy. Simply take yourself off of autopilot and make the conscious decision to do something productive instead – like heading to the gym rather than the couch.

Inactivity:

If your job keeps you in a chair for hours at a time, and you don’t exercise when off the clock, then your body is just accustomed to inactivity. It’s time to wake up your under-used muscles and to reacquaint yourself with the joy of motion. A simple way to get back into the swing of things is to go on a 30 to 60 minute walk either before work or after you return home. Once you’ve broken yourself in with consistent walks, contact me to get started on a fitness program that will quickly get your body back into great shape.
Laziness begins when you ignore that little nagging voice in your head. You know, the one that reminds you when you should take action on something rather than sit by and let the opportunity slip away.

• Is today the day that you will kick laziness to the curb?
• Is today the day that you will take action toward achieving your goals?
• Is today the day that you will listen to that little voice of reason?

Call or email today to schedule your first workout.  It’s FREE!

Whether you can’t wait to bare it all on the beach, or if you’re still working toward a weight loss goal, exercise is the key to looking and feeling great in summer months.

But why else should you exercise? Here are the top 7 reasons to exercise this summer:

Reason #1: To Melt Fat Away

The most coveted side effect of exercise is, of course, fat burn. The combination of a challenging exercise routine and a balanced meal plan is the best known way to lose fat. Here’s what losing fat feels like:

• Your pants become loose
• People around you begin to say that you look great
• A glance at yourself in the mirror makes you smile
• Your energy levels soar
• You feel amazing

Reason #2: To Alleviate Pain

Regular exercise is a great way to alleviate chronic muscle and joint pain. Persistent back pain can be lessened by strengthening your core, and you’ll protect yourself against injury. It amazes people when the chronic pain that they’ve lived with for years begins to fade after starting a regular exercise program.

Reason #3: To Increase Lean Tissue

More muscle is good for many reasons. You see, muscle requires many more calories each day than fatty tissue. In fact, one pound of muscle burns 30-50 calories each day at rest – compared to a measly 9 calories per pound of fat.

When you exercise your body composition will change to contain more lean tissue, thus resulting in extra calories burned while you sleep. What could be better than that?

Reason #4: To Stay Young

Tim D. Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College in London, led a study on the effects of exercise on aging. The results were astounding. They found that exercise appears to slow the shriveling of the protective tips on bundles of genes inside cells (called telomeres), which means a slowing of the aging process.

“These data suggest that the act of exercising may actually protect the body against the aging process,” said Spector.

Here’s the study in a nutshell:

• Telomeres cap the ends of chromosomes and every time a cell divides, the telomeres get shorter.
• Once a telomere gets too short, that cell can no longer divide.
• Aging occurs as more and more cells reach the end of their telomeres and die. This results in weakened muscles, skin wrinkles, loss of eyesight and hearing, organ failure and slowed metal functioning.
• The study analyzed the telomeres from the white bloods cells of twins over a 10-year period. Telomere length was used as a marker for the rate of biological aging.
• It was found that the length of telomeres was directly related to that twin’s activity level. “There was a gradient,” Spector said. “As the amount of exercise increased, the telomere length increased.”
• People who did 100 minutes of weekly exercise had telomeres that looked like those from someone about 5-6 years younger than those who did 16 minutes of exercise each week.
• People who did 3 hours of vigorous exercise each week had telomeres that looked like those from someone about 9 years younger.

Reason #5: To Prevent or Control Type 2 Diabetes

Regular exercise helps to stabilize blood sugar levels. This is something that people with type 2 diabetes, or at risk for type 2 diabete, gain substantial benefits from.

Exercise improves the body’s use of insulin, and the related weight loss improves insulin sensitivity. Of course patients with type 2 diabetes need to get guidelines from their doctor before starting an exercise program.

Reason #6: To Lower Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Levels

Exercise has shown to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels for these two reasons:

Weak Heart Muscles pump little blood with lots of effort. By exercising you strengthen your heart muscles and train them to pump more blood with less effort. The stronger your heart is the less pressure will be exerted on your arteries.
Exercise Increases HDL levels in some people – this means a decrease in your risk for heart disease. Other heart disease risk factors such as weight, diabetes and high blood pressure all show improvement with regular exercise.

Reason #7: To Feel Great

The first thing that clients tell me after starting an exercise program is how much better they feel.

Most didn’t even realize how bad they felt. It is easy to get used to feeling sluggish, achy and unmotivated.

Exercise boosts your energy levels and makes you feel amazing.

The quickest, easiest way to guarantee that you’ll meet your fitness and weight loss goals is to work one-on-one with a qualified fitness professional. You’ll be held accountable with your workouts and you’ll be instructed properly and shown techniques and strategies that will expedite your results.

Call or email today to get started on a program that will take the guesswork out of fitness and to set your results on fire.

What are you waiting for? Lace up your shoes and get moving!