In May, I began
a new referral incentive program. It's still going on.
To keep it
simple, here's what I'm offering: If you send me a referral who
purchases 20 sessions or more, I'll send you $100 cash.
The only
stipulations are the referral has to contact me and he or she has to
purchase the 20 sessions up front. The 20 session package is the most
commonly purchased starter package. The 20 session package costs
$450.
This is a
one-time reward per new referral but each new referral nets you an
additional $100.
Can't get much simpler than that.
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How Great Is This
Time of Year!
September 21st
is the official beginning of fall, but it's beginning to feel a
little like it now. As a sports fan, this is without a doubt the best
time of the year what with college football and Major League
baseball.
The Gamecocks
win against Georgia was one of the most thrilling games I've ever
watched. Talk about a game of inches. You can go back and dissect
that game and see so many things that could have changed the outcome.
Carolina got a break on what I think was a bad holding call on
Gurley's negated touchdown run. Carolina was the victim of a bad
unsportsmanlike conduct call which set up Georgia's second field
goal. It should have been against Gurley and the Dogs. The missed
field goals by Morgan. The spot on the fourth down with a minute and a
half left in the game. Man, what a football game!
And then there's
the final couple of weeks of the baseball season leading up to the
playoffs. There's nothing more exciting to me than a pennant race
when my Pittsburgh Pirates are in it, and that's the case again this
year. I feel sorry for people who don't like sports.
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I recently ran across an excellent article on the Fox News/Health
website. I shared it on my Facebook pages, but in case you missed it,
I'll attempt to summarize it here. The article discussed 10 different
types of hunger. By realizing there are different types of hunger and
determining which are real and which are triggered by psychological
forces, it may help you eat smarter and control your weight easier.
Real hunger
is the most important. It is often accompanied by physical signs such
as shakiness from low blood sugar, headaches, or a growling stomach.
Real hunger means it's time to eat something.
Most of us have
experienced TV
hunger. This is the same type of "hunger"
that requires us to pay $5 for a bag of popcorn at a movie. The best
way to combat this is to do something else with your hands. I play
solitaire on my phone between innings of baseball games.
Boredom hunger
is a lot like TV hunger. The best way to avoid this type of hunger:
Stay busy so you don't get bored.
A combination of
"hungry" and "angry" gives us hangry hunger.
This happens when your blood sugar dips causing fuzzy-headed thinking
and irritability. Instead of reaching for something sugary at these
times, try some fruit or a few wholegrain crackers.
Around 3 pm, you may
experience afternoon hunger, or "vending machine" hunger.
You can prepare for this by taking a healthy snack to work.
Stress hunger
affects women more than men, but anyone can be susceptible. When you
are depressed, worried, or under a lot of pressure, the best antidote
is exercise. Go for a walk, lift some weights, or pound a punching
bag instead of reaching for something to eat.
PMS hunger
is strictly a female problem, but it's very real. Fortunately, the
cravings don't last long. Try to wait them out. In the meantime,
occupy yourself with something other than food.
When you don't feel
hungry, but you want something to eat, you're suffering from head hunger.
In other words, it's all in your head. Forget about it, and do
something to occupy your mind or body.
When you walk into the
break room and there's a box of donuts on the table, you may
experience eye
hunger. The solution to this one is simple: Get out
of the break room.
Americans love to
celebrate almost any event with food which leads to celebration hunger.
It's ok to eat something when you're celebrating. Just keep it under
control, and make sure the celebrations are legit. Your dog's
birthday doesn't count.
Losing weight is a national obsession which is not surprising when we
consider that over 65 percent of Americans are overweight. But there
are a lot of weight loss myths out there. Here's a quick quiz to see
if you can separate myth from fact. Answer true or false to each
question. You'll find the answers at the end of this newsletter.
1. If you lose weight slowly rather than quickly,
you're more likely to keep it off.
2. Never set unrealistic weight-loss goals.
3. Physical ed classes help reduce childhood obesity.
4. Daily weigh-ins are helpful to weight loss.
5. Obesity is genetic.
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There's a new product due out in 2015 which
is designed to help keep you motivated to exercise. It's a wristband
called the Pavlok. Besides keeping track of steps, activity, and
sleep, this device also has the ability to give away your money,
shame you on social media, or even deliver a 340 volt shock if you
slip into bad habits.
Although it is now programmed to help
you keep up with your exercise program, its designer Maneesh Sethi
says it will soon have the potential to help with diet control and
smoking cessation as well. The device will retail for $250.
Sethi says, "Sure it might sound
crazy to involve electricity, but sometimes crazy works." He
should know about crazy ideas. He reportedly broke his Facebook
addiction by paying a woman to slap him every time he went on
it.
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What's the biggest mistake I see people making in the gym? Good
question. Glad you asked. I believe it's not varying their workouts.
Too many people get into a routine and never vary it. When you do
this, your muscles get programmed and you don't get the maximum
benefit from your workout.
There are many ways to vary your
workout. If you do a total body workout two or three days a week, you
can vary the exercises for each muscle group. Instead of doing bench
presses everyday to work the chest, do incline presses one day and
decline presses another or use a chest press machine or do pushups or
any of several other options. The same holds true for any other
muscle group you're working.
You can also vary the weights or reps.
Use a heavier weight and do fewer reps or go lighter and do more
reps. Try something different, even something you don't feel
comfortable doing, such as using TRX bands or kettlebells. Hire a
trainer for a few sessions to show you how to use them correctly or
go to the internet and do your own research before attempting them.
The important thing is to challenge the muscles in a different way.
You can switch up your workout every time you go to the gym or do the
same routine for a month or so and then change it up.
As for cardio, it's better not to do
the same thing every day. I'm not a good example to follow. I like to
run and that's what I do, five days a week. One day a week I walk,
and one day I don't do anything. But really it's better to mix it up.
Run one day, walk another, swim some, ride a bike, ride the elliptical
machine, or run up a few flights of stairs between sets of jumping
jacks. Try to get at least 30 minutes a day of cardio, five or six
days a week. You can even break that up into 10 minute segments - 10
on the treadmill running or walking, 10 on the elliptical, and 10 on
a rowing machine, or any other combination. Mix it up. Keep it fun
and challenging, but like the Nike commercial says, "Just do
it."
For the past several years, biceps exercises have ranked among the
Top 10 most searched exercises on Google. Guys have always wanted big
guns and now it seems women have gone nuts over toned arms.
As a result of this phenomenon, the
American Council on Exercise (ACE) decided to conduct a study to
determine which of eight common biceps exercises is the most
effective. The eight selected exercises were the preacher curl, the
barbell curl, the EZ curl bar using both wide and narrow grips,
chin-ups, concentration curls, cable curls, and incline curls. If you
don't know these exercises by their names, you can check them out
online.
The study involved 16 male and female
volunteers aged 18 to 24, and it was designed to determine the
percent of muscle activation of the biceps brachii. The results were
as follows: concentration curls were the most effective with 94%
muscle activation followed by cable curls (80%), chin-ups (79%),
barbell curls and wide grip EZ curls (78% each), narrow grip EZ curls
and incline curls (70% each), and finally preacher curls ( 68%).
Concentration curls came out on top
because they isolate the biceps more than the other exercises which
incorporate other muscles. That doesn't mean the other exercises are
bad. They may even be more useful for functional fitness since more
muscles are involved.
We hear a lot about Type 2 Diabetes these days. It is reaching
epidemic proportions in the United States, but what exactly is it?
Basically, it's a condition where the body is producing more glucose
(sugar) than it can absorb in the cells. Insulin acts as a key to
unlock cells so they can absorb the glucose, but with Type 2
diabetes, the cells resist the insulin and glucose builds up in the
bloodstream. A reading of 126 or higher on a fasting blood sugar test
indicates Type 2 Diabetes.
Type 2 Diabetes is caused by obesity.
Treatment involves lifestyle intervention, primarily diet and
exercise. The preferred diet for someone with Type 2 diabetes is the
Mediterranean Diet which consists of moderate consumption of fish,
poultry, vegetables, cereal, fruit, legumes, whole grains, olive oil,
and wine, and relatively low amounts of red meat.
Exercise recommendations include both
strength training and cardio. Type 2 diabetics should workout with
weights two or three times a week on non-consecutive days, performing
about 8 to 10 exercises that stress the muscles of the upper and
lower body and core. For optimal benefits, three sets of 8 to 15 reps
are suggested for each exercise.
Cardio recommendations are at least
150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic exercise such as jogging,
walking, bicycling, or any number of other cardio options. Cardio
workouts should be performed at moderate intensity or higher.
Here are the answers to the "myth or fact" weight loss
quiz:
1. False.
I know it goes against everything you've heard, but actual research
in clinical trials indicates that rapid weight loss, especially in
the early going, produces greater loss and longer maintenance.
2. False
again. It may be counter-intuitive, but once again
actual research busts this myth. You're better off, setting high
goals, because even if you don't achieve them, you'll lose more
weight than people who set "realistic" goals.
3. False.
When students in regular PE classes are compared to those not in
them, there is no difference in their BMI's (body mass indexes).
4. True.
The more you weigh yourself, the lower your body weight is likely
to be. This has been proven in study after study.
5. False.
No "fat gene" has ever been isolated. However, research
indicates that heavier people are more likely to marry heavy
people, and their children are more likely to be overweight. But
the reasons are environmental rather than genetic.
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Please
Support The Loyal Advertisers That Make This Newsletter Possible
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Rep
& Run
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www.reprun.com
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Discount
Tire of Irmo
7948
Broad River Road
Irmo,
SC 29063
Phone: 749-1633
When
you need automotive service, go to Discount Tire of Irmo. They sell
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name
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From brakes to alignments and all kinds of mechanical repair,
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can depend on them to do the work right and get your car back to you
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dependability, and quality, call Larry Warner at Discount Tire of
Irmo.
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Harbison Recreation Center
106 Hillpine Road
Columbia, SC 29212
Phone: 781-2281
The Harbison Rec
Center offers more facilities for less money than anywhere else in
town These are just some of the features: a new weight room with
all new machines, free weights, treadmills, ellipticals, and
stationary bikes; a 25 meter junior Olympic size indoor heated
swimming pool; sauna; whirlpool; racquet ball and tennis courts; a
basketball gym; and miles of traffic-free trails for walking or
jogging. There are classes for seniors as well as summer camp and
after school programs for kids. Also newly remodeled locker rooms and
an all-purpose room for large gatherings. All for only $315 a year
for singles or $600 a year for families Check out their website: http://www.harbisonhoa.com/rec.
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Wolf's Fitness Center
5432 August Road
Lexington, SC 29072
Phone: 356-6400
Wolf's is a total
fitness facility offering some great amenities. There's a huge weight room
featuring free weights and machines. There is a cardio area with
treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes, stair steppers, and the
cardio theater. Other
amenities include an indoor walking/running track, sauna, child care
facilities with an attendant, tanning beds, clean locker rooms and
showers, and sports supplements. Prices are very
reasonable and there are no
enrollment fees ever. Wolf's also offers a full slate
of fitness classes including kickboxing and pilates, as well as spinning classes.
Check out their website, www.wolfsfitness.com for rates and
specials.
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