NexGen Fitness

NexGen Fitness - April 2014 Newsletter

Well it looks like the rainy season has officially begun, and with it comes the feelings of gloom and what my wife refers to as “Lackawanna.” But don’t let a little stormy weather deter you from your goals! Remember the best and most underutilized anti-depressant is exercise. So when the skies are dark switch on your internal light and get moving! Summer skies will be here before we know it and that means what we do in April and May will determine how that bathing suit looks. How do you want to look?

Welcome New Clients

Alma Angotti
Brandy Biswas
Lisa Bogie
Alice Brandt
Julie Carlson
Chris Chaney
Melanie Childers
Kellie Daryanani
Jeannie Garza
Lance Larry
Samantha Meadors
Jody McCullough
Jane Nadolny
Pam & Josh ReedIvy Reynolds
John & Suzanne Ross
Martha Schram
Tammie & Jackson Slay
Happy Anniversary! The following client(s) will reach their 1-year anniversary with NexGen Fitness this month! Keep up the hard work!

Nimisha Desai
Karen Jordan
Lanna Mayben
Tom McCall
Leslie Moriyama
Anisah Shahidzadeh
Larry Stewart

The Burpee

This month, we wanted to pay homage to one of the best exercises in a trainer’s arsenal for getting a client’s heart rate up, taxing their entire body, and making sure they will never think the workout was easy. Anyone who has ever done a burpee (also sometimes called a squat thrust) knows that the motion looks simple enough yet it is deceptively difficult when done in multiples. So where did it come from?While most probably think that the burpee’s name is some made up word, it is actually named for it’s creator Royal H. Burpee. I know you think that’s probably made up too, but in fact he was an American physiologist who created the exercise as part of his PhD thesis showing a simple way to assess a person’s overall fitness. It became popular when the Armed Forces began utilizing the test as a way to weed out recruits during WWII, but now it is widely used by most fitness professionals. To give you an idea of what was considered acceptable during this time, eight burpees completed in 20 seconds was considered poor, 13 or more in 20 seconds was considered excellent. How many can you do in that time? Just for fun we thought we’d mention that the world record for burpees in 1 minute is 42, 1 hour is 1,480, and the most in a three-day span is 9,480.So let’s talk about why your trainer loves them and why you should too. Here are 5 good reasons:

1. They burn a ton of calories.2. They help make you stronger.3. They build endurance.4. No need for equipment.
5. They can help with flexibility.

Looking at the list above it’s easy to see why adding burpees is a positive in regards to your fitness, even though it elicits the same negative response every time you hear it. Just remember that this is one exercise that has multiple benefits to your overall level of health. So I guess what we’re trying to say is: DON’T FEAR THE BURPEE-EMBRACE IT!!

Supplement of the Month - CLA

If you’ve ever perused the weight loss section of health foods store you might have noticed, along with the millions of fat burners, another product called CLA. So what is it and how does it work? CLA is Conjugated Linoleic Acid and it is touted as being able to help with a number of things such as enhanced metabolism, muscle growth, immune system function and even help lower cholesterol. In regards to it being in the weight loss section CLA supplementation was also shown to improve body-fat percentage by reducing fat, especially in the abdomen, while increasing muscle growth. CLA is able to do this because it increases insulin sensitivity allowing fatty acids and glucose to pass through muscle cell membranes and away from the fat tissue. This means that your muscle is increasing all the while your fat is shrinking, which is definitely the goal! Now it should be mentioned that studies have been both positive and negative in regards to CLA’s ability to do this, however it is agreed that CLA is safe and in fact is present in many meat and dairy products, but are more abundant in grass-fed sources. You can also get CLA in supplement form, either pill or liquid, with doses ranging from 800 to 1500mg per serving depending on the manufacturer. Most agree that 3.4 grams or 3400 milligrams is adequate to see the best results and more will not necessarily benefit you.

Client of the Month - Lance Gray

In April we are excited to highlight a client that has truly embraced fitness as part of his life. You can catch him here most mornings doing cardio on top of giving all out efforts in each workout. This month’s Client-of-the-Month goes to Lance Gray! Lance sought us out to help him get improve in every category of his fitness, from flexibility to added muscle and less fat. Well his hard work and dedication to eating right has certainly paid off and his results show it!In his short time with us Lance has been able to lose 15 lbs while losing 6.2% body-fat. This resulted in him being able to gain 2.4 lbs of muscle while losing 17.4 lbs of fat! Lance saw his resting heart rate improve, his flexibility increase, and a loss of 8.7 inches overall. Add in the increases in push-up and bench press and it’s easy to see why he is deserving of the recognition.Congratulations Lance on your achievements thus far. You are becoming a staple in the mornings up here, and we know as you continue to push you will be rewarded. We look forward to working with you to reach every goal you have, and even the ones you haven’t thought of yet!