My gift to you (FYI, it is big)

This month marks a couple major milestones in my life; my wife and I celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary and our oldest daughter turns 5.

In addition, it just so happens that we are making some changes in the gym at the same time and wanted to pass along the news.

We are adding a new class called MOVE in August and changing the schedule of class’s.

First, let me tell you about MOVE:

There is an athlete in all of us… Our goal with this class is to tap into that “inner athlete”.

You will train exactly how we train our top-level athletes and tactical forces.

This is the first time we have ever offered this opportunity in a class format. The main goal of any great program is to keep people safe and get results at the same time. Your workout should help you perform better without the risk of injury. Our lives are way too busy and important.

Assess. Everyone will get a movement screen and assessment.

Correct. Everyone will do specific mobility exercises based on their individual needs.

Develop. Everyone will work on power development
(Power is the first and fastest thing to decrease as we age).

Strength. Everyone will get stronger.

Energy. Everyone will train their energy system on both ends of the spectrum
(Cardio base level to intervals).

Next, the schedule:
We are adding new class times and class’s in general. We will have a class every morning at 6am. We are also having a class 3 days a week at 830am and 4 days a week at 930am. Our class times in the evening will stay the same at 630pm Monday-Thursday, the only change will be replacing Monday and Wednesday class’s with MOVE. Lastly, our Saturday offerings stay the same. So… Only additions, no subtractions to the schedule.

Finally, my gift to you:
Through the end of this month, I am offering a MASSIVE opportunity for you based on our anniversary and daughter’s birthday.
If you have NEVER been in a program and experienced the training here I am opening a select number of spots for $5.
That’s right, it will be $5 for the month of August when you commit to either a 3 or 12 month agreement.
We will find the right program for you whether it be all group sessions or individualized programming.
For those of you that have been in a program here before, I still want to give you the opportunity to come back. Your month of August will be $10 when you commit to either a 3 or 12 month agreement.
So you can experience the programs here for either $5 or $10.
If you want to take advantage of this opportunity please email info@bewellfitness.com and we can set it up for you. But you better act NOW because I am only allowing a small number of these out before the end of the month.

Essential Carbs and Breathing. (what is important and what is not)

Just got done with a great weekend of learning. Had a number of ah-ha moments and some duh moments as well. I like to think of the duh moments like a episode of Seinfeld. Making the obvious funny and clear. This post is made up of two duh moments.

Let me first say that I am not a one diet guy. No Paleo or Atkins or south beach. Nothing wrong with any of them but they alone have their own flaws to them. One of the flaws that is the same for the three above revolves around carbohydrates, either an elimination or reduction of them. Before we do either of them, which again is ok for a time period, we need to look at science, we need to ask why. There is a reason we have “essential” proteins and fats. They are called essential because our bodies can not produce them in abundance we need outside sources to help. There is no such thing as a essential carbohydrate. Our body stores and regenerates energy in our bodies. When you eat carbs, it is critical we give your body the right kinds as they are not essential. You can go without them for periods of time or have them reduced like the above diets suggest, but if you choose to still have some in your diet have good ones. Good carbs would be considered to be fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc. Nothing processed or outside sugar added. Minimize your sugar intake. So the take away is there are no essential carbs. You can reduce your carb intake as your body can handle it but make sure the carbs you give it are good quality.

How many days can you go without food? (about 40)

How many days can you go without water? (about 3-4)

How long can you go without air? (unless you are a pearl diver it is 1-2 minutes)

Breathing is important. We need oxygen and we take it for granted. As we age we become awful and very inefficient at breathing. We start to breathe vertically with our lunges and not to full capacity with our diaphragm. When we breathe through our lungs only and neglect the diaphragm we loose major volumes of oxygen and stability. Oxygen is self explanatory as if we are not getting enough then our levels will obviously drop. Stability is another issue. Our diaphragm is the deepest and most powerful of all the CORE muscles. It has the ability to stabilize our entire mid-section in one exhale. Don’t believe me? Take one hand and place it on your belly. Sit on the edge of a chair so your back is off the chair. Take a breath in through your nose for 3-4 seconds, then slowly breathe it out until you can not breathe out anymore. As you exhale you will start to feel your stomach get tighter and tighter. Now try this. Take that same inhale breathe and then exhale out as fast as you can. This should be a even more immediate flex of the core muscles. What’s the point? Well whether you are doing something over a period of time, i.e. a longer exhale or a shorter more powerful explosion, i.e. a quick exhale, breathing properly makes a massive difference. The physiology of your diaphragm is like a bike pump. As you take air in it pulls up as you exhale out it drives down to push the air out as needed either fast or slow. If you want to get stronger, have better mobility, posture, sleep, etc. then learn how to breathe properly.