2010, P7, Week 4 Recap

Man, I’m so excited.  Jay Z’s “Forever Young” song is playing on Pandora; you rocked the day 2 challenges; my butt / quads are sore from barbell bench lunges; I got 5 handstand push ups (on my way 20) and tonight Vanessa and I are celebrating our 1 year anniversary.

This week’s agenda:

• Week 4 Recap
• Cardio Minutes
• Measurements
• Phase 7 Schedule
• Week 5 Theme
• Road Race
• Equipment
• Women, Weights, Bulk
• Survey Schedule
• Phase 8

Week 4 Recap

Can you believe 11 classes came and went?  Summer was fun, maybe too much fun, but it left you yearning to exercise and get back in shape.  Now, 4 weeks later, you’ve just completed your 2^nd challenge day.  We’ve spent a lot of time learning awkward and challenging body weight exercises (e.g.  Crouching push up, supine triceps bridge, wall walk, towel push, etc…) as well as a lot time working on landings from jumping exercises.  We transformed step ups from a strength exercise into a cardio exercise and you learned what happens when you do a triple compound set (think abs finisher).

In any event, this is the beginning.  It’s too much fun and too rewarding to stop.  Your genetic potential is an exciting unknown to pursue that gives and keeps on giving.  Welcome to the active lifestyle and to the Change Your Body Boot Camp experience.

Cardio Minutes:

Week 5 / Recovery Week Goals:

Rookies / Returning Boot Campers:  males = 175, females = 250

• Reminder:  as cardio minutes become easier to obtain, it’s time to increase the intensity of some of the minutes.  See your conditioning plan (cybbc-interval training program) for more information.
• Not hitting your minutes, but your cardio workouts are getting EASIER.  Also increase the intensity of your workouts and see the conditioning plan.

Measurements

RSVP Now to receive your appointment for Measurements this Sunday, September 19 at the Mackenzie Center.

Phase 7 Schedule

Key:

M = Measurements

RW = Recovery Week

M&O = Measurements & Orientation

Week 5 Theme

Road Race

Some cybbc members have signed up for a Halloween Road Race.  If you’re interested in joining them and doing a pre-treat burn & earn road race, click here.

Are you training for a different race?  Share via email or Facebook the dates, times, locations, cost and email links with me and I’ll share them in the recap and see if we can find some buddies for you to train with and high five at the end of the race.

Equipment

1.      I’ve created a bundle with Perform Better for Change Your Body Boot Camp members.  If you need or would like to upgrade check it out.  The prices are sweet!

2.      Perform better is having huge sales right now on rollers (up to 40% off), super bands (up to 30% off), exercise mats and more.  If your roller is getting lumpy, you want to use a superband or you’re tired of using a yoga mat, now’s your chance to save.

3.      Adjustable dumbbells.  If you love strength training and can see yourself doing it forever, consider Power Blocks or Bowflex Select Tech.  They’re not cheap, but they take up minimal space and are well constructed.  Jack Goldsmith, Jon Otting and I all use adjustable dumbbells as do 2 of my female private clients.  Some pairs can come in 24, 45, 50, 90 or 150 lbs sets.  My set breaks down to 2.5 lbs and goes up to 90 lbs each.  I bring 30 lbs to class and leave 60 at home.  I can also upgrade to the 150 lb set if I choose.  They’ll let you customize your weights for different exercises, help you to get harder, leaner and stronger and provide increased variety without taking up more space.  They’re durable and a great investment.  I got mine at Gym Source on Needham Street (ask for Norm.)

Women, Weights and Bulk

Ellen Kelley sent me an article from sparkpeople.com that started with a question:

“Is it true that lifting weights causes women to bulk up?”

You can read the article written here, but I’ll summarize it for you.  “No”, was the answer provided by the author, Nicole Nichols, because women don’t have enough testosterone to gain the bulk that men can, which is true.  She also writes that instead women lose inches because muscle takes up less space than fat, become more tone and firm all the while reducing their risk for osteoporosis, increasing their metabolism and increasing their strength.  All true.

Now this article isn’t entirely true as everyone seems to know at least one woman who bulked up while lifting weights.  Women CAN bulk up, just like skinny guys can bulk up.

Want to get bulky?  Lift heavy weights to failure (1-5 rep max [RM]), take long rest periods (3-5min), don’t do cardio, drink calories, sleep too little and eat lots of refined carbohydrates and high glycemic carbohydrates.  There are other things you can do to gain weight / build muscle, but this isn’t what boot camp is about so I’ll stop there.

Survey Questions

Each day next week I’m going to send out a survey asking you a different question.  They’ll be short and simple.  Here are the questions:

• Change Your Body Challenge:  Are you interested in a fall body transformation contest?
• P7 Retrospective Survey:  On a 1-5 Scale How …
• Challenge Days:  Yeah, Nay or Indifferent
• Testing:  To Test or Not, or Less Frequently
• 2011 Schedule:  1) 3 wks on, 1 wk off, 2) repeat 2010 or 3) something else

Phase 8

P8 begins on Monday, 9/27.  The deadline to register is midnight, Thursday, 9/23.  The fall season is on and we’ll be training to fight holiday season weight gain, sickness and stress.

Want to ensure your success?  Refer a friend and build up your support circle.  You know what it’s like to high five a sweaty teammate you never met before after a results-yielding workout.  It’s pretty cool and barrier breaking.  Now imagine high fiving your spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, brother, sister, neighbor, best friend or co-worker.  You’ll have a stronger bond and new stories to experience, share and remember.

Your coach,

Mike Alves

Newton Boot Camp
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