Category / Fitness Tips

by tessbrennan

Local Fitness Search – Ft. Myers – Retro Fitness

I’ve begun looking for fitness alternatives for my clients.  I focus on health from a holistic approach, everything we think, do, slather on, and eat.  While my favorite fitness activities are long distance, endurance walks and roller skating, I understand that these aren’t the same things that inspire everyone to move more.

Due to this factor, I’ve started searching out some options to offer to my clients as a means for that fitness alternative.

Retro Fitness, Ft. Myers

When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was NO SMELL! The place was bright, looked fresh and clean and did NOT smell of your typical “sweaty” clientele. I liked the decor and felt my husband and his “automotive love” would feel very comfortable in this setting. (If he ever thought to enter a gym. 🙂 )

The locker room was clean and spacious, and the overall look of the place was very nice.

I spoke with Tyler Dowland, Managing Partner of the Fort Myers location and was very inspired by what he had to say. I was pleased to hear they too feel that health is a holistic issue, everything adds up and synergies to better health or quickly declining health, depending on our personal choices.

When asked what makes Retro Fitness different, Tyler was very quick to point out their specialties.

  •  They strive to be the cleanest gym you will ever visit. The team works to be sure everything is kept in tip top condition and clean.
  • Customer service. The team at Retro Fitness work to get to know their clients on an individual basis. This assists clients in attaining the fitness goals they set.  It is important to Tyler and his team that they know WHO their clients are, not just that they become a member.

Some of the classes and equipment that are offered at this location are:

  • Zumba
  • Tabata (HIIT –  High Intensity Interval Training)
  • A Cardio Movie Theater
  • Free Weights
  • Bikes and Ellipticals
  •  Circuits
  • Trainers
  • Virtual Group Classes

I was very impressed with the friendliness of this fitness facility. I have been to several others for this series of articles and have been told I could not talk with anyone. Its nice to know that the staff at Retro Fitness treats all with respect whether you are a member or not.

Retro Fitness 2

I’ve personally, never been a gym type person, however, after the reception I received today, I would consider giving Retro Fitness a try.

If you live in the local Ft. Myers area and would like to try out Retro Fitness, contact me, I have a limited amount of VIP trial passes.

Stay healthy! Make good choices! Keep moving!

by tessbrennan

Short on Time, Use This Workout – Busy Professionals Series

When burning the candle at both ends, we frequently find that the time it takes to “workout” gets pushed aside, plus if we could work out in a shorter amount of time, it would leave more time to spend with our children, significant other, or other special friends.

Here’s an alternative to offer you a SOLID workout in about 5 minutes.

5-minute RESISTANCE to FEEL the BURN. This SuperWoman workout is for men or women. (Pick 3-5 exercises out of the 6 shown on the video and hold for 60-90 seconds each, for a total of 5 minutes of resistance exercises).

Pete Cerqua’s methods reduce injuries because you hold positions and don’t do reps.

Or, perhaps, if you are looking for something a bit more relaxing, here is a 5 minute Yoga option:

For more information on ways to stay healthy when your profession keeps you busy, contact me!

by tessbrennan

Jawbone – Tips to help us all Lose & Maintain our Weight

Jawbone recently released data they have accumulated from what their users are reporting and this gives us some really good insight into what works and what doesn’t!

Here are a few of the key points Jawbone found from the data:

  • Those who lost weight logged 75% more meals per week than those who didn’t lose weight. There has been debate about whether eating more well-balanced, small meals actually helps your metabolism. Some experts say yes and others say no, but Jawbone’s data supports the former.

  • UP users who lost weight logged 60% more workouts per week.

  • Jawbone wearers who lost weight also had 11% more teammates than those who didn’t.

    Those who lost weight got 8% more sleep, too.

  • UP users who lost weight also logged foods that had 25% more fiber, 13% less fat, 13% fewer calories, and 12% less sugar per meal.

  • They also ate breakfast 30% more often and drank 33% more water than those who didn’t lose weight.

via Weight-Loss Habits, According To Jawbone – Business Insider.

These are tips I frequently use in coaching, it is nice to see them confirmed, once again!

by tessbrennan

Quick Tip – Rollerskating

There are many activities we do with our children, that with a bit of effort can increase the effectiveness, calories burned, and muscle strength.

Today, I went rollerskating with my daughter, a favorite activity of ours.  My goal is to get my heart rate elevated for a prolonged period of time, sweat a bit, burn some of those calories and even build some muscle.

If you hold your arms out to the side, up in the air, for a second, its easy, same thing when you squat down. BUT, if you keep your arms there for an extended period of time, you will begin to feel the burn as gravity does its work and the muscles begin to work as you are holding them there.  Same thing, with the squat.  So what I do is keep my feet moving and work my thighs by squatting down into the moves and using my thigh muscles to push my feet out and pull them back in, all while maintaining that squat.

Keep moving until you feel the burn, then hold it a bit longer to make it worth it.  I use the burst mentality to make the most of my time.

3-5 minutes of warm up.
3 minutes of stretching muscles.
20 second bursts of movement in the squatted stance with 10 second intervals of relaxed gliding between. (3 minutes 30 seconds total at a time)
3 minutes of cool down.

Today, we were only at the rink for a couple of hours. (1 hour of it that I could skate) So, I did several reps of the above workout.