Oh now I get it ... accountability

Loving and holding each other accountable

As Kelly and I have mentioned we are recently married.  Our first year of marriage has been pretty good, every day we grow together and love each other a little more.  Yesterday, we had a discussion regarding eating meat.  I was feeling a bit despondent about it and I shared that with Kelly.  We talked for a bit about my despondency and then Kelly said something that was extremely important for me to hear:

"If we don't ask each other questions, and hold each other accountable, who will? It's our job."

I have forgotten her exact words, but it is essentially what Kelly shared with me.  For me it was a turning point in the conversation.  That statement is also key to fitness.  Sometimes we need someone to help push us along. 

Every Wednesday I am awake at 4:30 AM to teach a 5:30 AM class, usually I go home immediately afterwards.  Today, though, I did something different.  I worked out. I spent 30 minutes doing today's workout.  I also asked my coach, Jamie Fiddler @ Crossfit Renegade, to help keep me accountable on doing a workout Wednesday mornings.  

As my coach Jamie keeps me accountable at the gym, Kelly keeps me accountable when I am at home.  What I eat, where I eat, and how much extra exercise I do all are managed with the feedback I receive from Kelly. Together, as our married team, we help make each other into better people.

 Who can keep you accountable to your fitness goals?

You ask. We Answer. What about nutrition?

Q: How important is nutrition for weight loss?

A: Very, very important. Some say 80% of weight loss can be attributed to diet while only 20% can be attributed to exercise. So if you are working hard to be active and exercise be mindful of what you are eating.  

Overall, in order to lose weight you must burn more calories than you eat/drink. Going to the gym will help you lose weight if you create a calorie deficit within your body. 

For example, according to the Harris-Benedict formula I require approximately 1400 calories per day to maintain my current body weight. If I eat 2400 calories in a day and go to the gym and work off 500 of those calories, I still have a surplus of 500 calories which will be converted into fat and stored. 

2400 calories consumed - (1400 calories required + 500 extra calories burned at the gym) = 500 calorie surplus   

However, if I eat 1800 calories and go to the gym and work off 500 of those calories, I will have a deficit of 100 calories which my body will have to find from within. Burning some of the excess fat I have stored within my body.

1800 calories consumed - (1400 calories required + 500 extra calories burned at the gym) = 100 calorie deficit 

So if you are looking to lose fat, its a good idea to get an understanding of how many calories you need and how many you are eating/drinking. 

A great tool for this is FITDAY.COM which calculates and tracks your calories based on the food you eat and your activity levels. Use it for a few days or use it long term. At the very least you will gain some insight into how many (or how few) calories you are ingesting and at the most you will gain a useful tool for tracking your progress and weight loss.  

Look for the answers to the following questions in upcoming posts: 

Q: Does it matter WHAT I eat or just how many calories I eat? 

Q: How can people target __________ fat (insert: belly/thigh/arm)?  

If you have any questions we'd love to hear them, if we don't know the answer we will find it! 

One-minute workouts for achieving your goals

Kyle O - sure looks like he is achieving
his fitness goals!

Now that school has started I am only able to get to my gym three days a week. For me, this is not enough; I like to workout four to six days a week.  There is a simple solution: quick home workouts. At home, everyone has access to the most sophisticated workout machine: their bodies.

Quick home workouts are not only great when you can't get to your gym but they can also play a major role in achieving goals. 

Kyle O, our friend and an action coach, recently showed us his improvements in his toes-to-bar exercise (an exercise where you hang from a bar and bring your toes up to the bar). He credits his improvement to a daily toes-to-bar practice; he has added toes-to-bar to his everyday activities, doing up to 50 a day!   

Exercises you can add to your day to achieve your goals include:

• Push ups to improve upper body strength
• try adding 5 a day!
• Lunges and Squats to improve lower body strength
• try adding 20 a day
• Planks and sit ups (of any type!) to improve core strength
• try adding a 1 minute plank or 20 sit ups!
• Burpees to improve overall body strength and heart functioning
• try adding 10 a day!

So let us know: What is your goal and what can you add to your day to achieve it?

Picture courtesy of KC PHOTO

Training with Drew

We celebrated Andrew's birthday this weekend and I've decided that we should continue celebrating Andrew - as a trainer, today in this blog post. 

Andrew received his Level I Trainer Certificate on August 5th, 2012. Since then he has started coaching at CrossFit Renegade offering conditioning classes Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings. After only two months Andrew, or Drew as he is known at the gym, has already had a very positive impact on his clients. 

Now don't take it from me...take it from one of his clients who shared the following with me: 

"...one thing that separates Drew from every other trainer that I have seen is that while he is at a high fitness level he inspires me as a person to get better at what I am doing. The fact that he is so bloody positive doesn't hurt either.

If anyone is to read this and say 'there isn't a hope I could ever do crossfit' ... consider this. I am a 6'8" 295lb man. In a month of training with Drew (and eating properly of course) I have lost 15 pounds. I really feel that Drew...gets where I am coming from and does his best every single time to help me out personally and push me just enough to get me to my goal of being a more fit and healthy person.

Don't get me wrong, the workouts are hard, brutal at times, but I can honestly say he is a huge part of the reason why my wife and I have attended every class and why we will continue to go. Great motivation, great person...As he says: today is the best day ever"

If you are interested in trying CrossFit check out CrossFit Renegade. You can start with Andrew's conditioning class which focuses on body weight exercises and metabolic conditioning. The next step is Foundations which introduces you to olympic lifting (yes you can do it!) and other CrossFit movements. And finally you can join the regular classes and continue your progress!  

Baby Steps to the Super Spartan!

I am currently sitting on our couch with knots in my stomach. We are leaving any minute for Squamish and the Super Spartan Race. Tomorrow at 11am, Andrew and I will be running through mud, fire, and other obstacles for 8+ miles (12km)! 

There are 3 versions of the Spartan obstacle races, the Spartan Sprint - 5 miles, the Super Spartan - 8 miles and the Spartan Beast - 12 + miles. If you do all three of those, FAST, you can then move on to the Death Race - 24 hours of mayhem! The idea is that you work your way up, no one is expected to wake up and be ready for the Beast. And Andrew and I have a long way to go before we will ever, if ever, be ready for the Death Race! 

Similarly, creating a sustainable, healthy lifestyle is a continuous journey, you meet certain milestones and keep on going.  

Since we started writing this blog I've had many conversations with friends and family regarding their health and fitness journey. One friend shared that she had stopped regularly buying pop for her household. What an amazing step along her journey! It's these small manageable changes that accumulate and effortlessly transform our lives. 

So start manageable, you don't need to jump into the Beast today! 
 
Wish us luck, we're out the door now!!! 

Why Women should lift heavy (and why partners should encourage it!)

I was talking to my mum the other day - who btw is a major inspiration! She's 50 something, had a heart attack just over a year ago and has worked her body (and heart) back into better shape than ever! 

Her new goal is to "tighten things up" (what woman doesn't want that!?). I told her to continue focusing on her strength training and to use heavier weights...she asked why. This is why. Strength training with heavier weights:

This pretty red kettle bell is 32 kilos or 70
pounds! A little heavy for me but I
can lift it! 

1. Burns more fat and calories than traditional cardiovascular training. This is because your metabolism is fired up for many hours after your training session.
2. Results in more muscle definition and tone. 2-5 pound weights do not challenge the muscles enough to produce noticeable results. 
3. Helps strengthen and protect your bones against osteoporosis. Similar to muscle, bones increase in strength and density with weight training and impact. 
4. Increases strength and functional ability! Allowing you to live without assistance to lift groceries, move your couch, open a pickle jar, etc. Giving you freedom and empowerment!
5. Helps protect your joints and prevent injuries. Joints rely on surrounding muscles for balance, stability and protection.  

Now husbands, the weight room is an intimidating place for many women. If your wife feels this way, accompany her there! If you are both unfamiliar with your local weight room, ask for a tour. As a weight room attendant at Port Moody Recreation Centre, I can tell you we love showing people around!

And finally women, you will not get bulky giant muscles from lifting heavier weights! Mostly because:

1. Women do not naturally have enough testosterone
2. People in general do not eat the large amounts of protein required
3. We do not train nearly hard or heavy enough.

Women in the muscle building magazines train and diet extremely rigorously to look the way they do, it does not happen accidentally. 


My mum's already increased her weights from 4 to 8 pounds...what about you?!

Picture Courtesy of amy leigh PHOTOGRAPHY

In sickness

Andrew here, I am sitting in my family doctor's office.  I am here to check in with him about an accident I was in in June 2011 - I was hit by a car while riding my bike home from my gym.  A piece of the bone of my foot was torn from my tibia at the tendon.  Or at least that is my understanding. 

I was off of my feet for four months.  I was distraught.  I felt like I was gaining weight (I wasn't) and that I was losing muscle mass (I was).  Then Kelly made some suggestions about some alternative exercises that I could do, we started doing very low impact water aerobics and swimming.  Limping to each destination and drowning short women in my waves.

It was very helpful for me to have my wife to show me new forms of physical activity.  It kept my spirits up and acted as a bridge until I was able to get back to my normal fitness routine. 

It is important to support and encourage your partner in difficult times of change, your support can prevents the Marriage 15!

NO Newlywed 10: Tip #2

Work out together. Work harder. Challenge one another.

Andrew and I have been training separately for the Super Spartan Race. I created a plan and some kick-ass work outs to get my body prepared for the race (check out My Favourite below). I was really pushing myself to my edge, my limits, my body’s capacity – well that’s what I thought until I invited Andrew to join me one evening.

The work out that we did that night (My Favourite) was generally taking me 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete. When I did it chasing Andrew’s long legs and explosive movements it took 53 minutes! Partner rivalry is a fun and easy way to push through your limits and reach new goals! Add a post work out meal and you’ve fit in a date night too ;)

My Favourite: Training for the Super Spartan

Measure 800m from your home base (use google maps), you want to find somewhere that you can perform lunges, push-ups, squats, pull ups and burpees (a park is ideal).

The Work Out:

Round 1

Run to your 800m mark - do 20 lunges (10 on each leg) - run back to your home base (option: if your home base is home and you have access to stairs run up and down them once) 

Round 2

Run to your 800m mark - do 20 lunges and 20 push-ups - run back to your home base  (option: stairs)

Round 3

Run to your 800m mark - do 20 lunges, 20 push-ups and 20 squats- run back to your home base (option: stairs)

Round 4

Run to your 800m mark - do 20 lunges, 20 push-ups, 20 squats and 20 pull ups - run back to your home base (option: stairs)

Round 5

Run to your 800m mark - do 20 lunges, 20 push-ups, 20 squats, 20 pull ups and 10 burpees - run back to your home base (option: stairs)

Walk to cool down and then stretch.

Congratulations you just completed a 5 mile run (8km), 100 lunges, 80 push-ups, 60 squats, 40 pull ups and 10 burpees!

To build on this add more rounds and more exercises – I’m going to work my way up to 8 rounds/miles! 

Photo Courtesy of: amy leigh PHOTOGRAPHY