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22 May

Conditioning Cleans- A Kettlebell Training Finisher

Okay so in the instance of full disclosure, when I first came across this little kettlebell gem, it was being called the Cardio Clean exercise.

I just couldn’t bring myself to write about kettlebells and cardio as one. It just didn’t seem right, ya know?

And I just can’t stand the word cardio. I guess I’ll just add it to the list of words that I hate. Specifically ginormous. I know, I know, it’s in the dictionary but damn it, it’s a combination of two words, that does not count.

Anyway, I have a cool exercise for you today but I had to change the name. The Conditioning Cleans. This exercise is great to do as a finisher after a strength session. I did this one at the end of my training session on Sunday.

Here was my strength training session:

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20 May

Why You Should Add Sprints to Your Training Schedule

I get this question a lot….what should I do for cardio?

My answer is simple. Sprints.

If you are training properly with weights and resistance 2-3 days per week, adding 2 days of higher intensity sprint training is going to skyrocket your results.

When I talk about sprinting, that means an all out effort. But, at first it’s an all out effort for YOU. When you start out, you’re not going to be a Carl Lewis but as you get used to it and you supplement with your strength training, you will get faster.

The key is to push your effort during each set. This is not traditional cardio where you have to maintain a certain speed for several minutes. You’ll be done in 15-30 seconds so give it your all and then rest.

Why You Should Add Sprints to Your Training Schedule

 

Here are just a few reasons why sprinting is awesome:

1. You will lose fat

A study from 1994 supported the theory that sprints are superior to steady state cardio for fat loss in a shorter amount of time.

Participants did either 20 weeks of steady-state aerobic training or 15 weeks of intervals (15 sprints for 30 seconds each). The interval group lost nine times more body fat and 12 percent more visceral belly fat than the aerobic group.

A 2010 study found that just 6 sprint sessions of six 30-second all-out cycle sprints with 4 minutes rest over 2 weeks led to a leaner waist by 3 cm., and a much greater use of fat for fuel.

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5 May

Somerville Personal Training Sunday Spotlight: Emily Boynton

Happy Sunday! Today’s Spotlight is going to be a bit different. Instead of showcasing one of our awesome clients, I wanted to share with you the story of one of our awesome trainers. Here you can check out Emily’s journey through finding out she was pregnant, training hard through her pregnancy and how she transformed her body post-baby.

I’m having a baby!!! Oh yeah… Oh crap…..what does this means for hips, thighs, butt and belly?

When I first found out I was pregnant I was so elated, and thought wow this is going to be amazing. I get to experience one of the truly life changing events and most amazing process for the human body.

Then reality set in. My body is going to change and be COMPLETELY out of my control. So naturally, I freaked out for about a week. Having been formerly very heavy (fat kid right here) I knew with certainty I didn’t want to back there. I couldn’t go back there.

But sitting around freaking out about what I couldn’t control and what hadn’t happened yet was not going to help me avoid the dreaded fat.

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2 May

Our Somerville Training Client of the Month: Theresa Kelly

Congratulations to our April Training Client of the Month, Theresa Kelly.

Theresa has been training at Durbrow Performance since June of 2012. When we met for our initial consultation and talked about her goals and the plan of attack, I could tell she was ready. She was pissed, fired up and just ready to make a change.

I could see the fire and how bad she wanted to change and I was really psyched for her. I knew she was going to get results.

In the last 10 months Theresa has lost 11% body fat, 26 pounds of body fat and 31 inches. Pretty awesome.

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1 May

8 Simple Tricks to Lose More Fat This Week

You have heard it for years, get more sleep. Everyone knows it but a small majority of people actually do it. Why is sleep so important?

You know the basics.

  •  More energy
  • Alertness
  • Less irritability
  • Less stress
  • Longer life expectency (it’s true)
  • More muscle tissue
  • Less fat

 Less fat?

I know that one probably got your attention. This is exactly the one I want to talk about today. I want to give you the down and dirty version about why less sleep can make you fat and more sleep can help you burn it.

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29 Apr

Simple and Healthy Grocery Shopping List

Hey there, Happy Monday!

I just wanted to create a quick and easy grocery shopping list for you. This is one of the foundations of your healthy nutrition plan. If you have good stuff in the house, you’re more likely to stay the course.

We all know when there’s a box of cookies in the cabinet, they will get eaten. So how to do you remedy that? Just don’t buy them.

You want to focus on having your weekly eating plan 85% compliant. That means 2-3 small treats each week. The key is to only buy them when you’re planning to eat them and do not leave any leftovers.

For example, if you were going to have a slice of chocolate cake on Friday night, get a damn good piece that’s going to be so awesome and tasty. DO NOT buy a whole cake. You will eat more than a slice, I promise.

Eat like you normally would that day, enjoy that piece of cake and then go back to your plan. It’ll help keep you on track, and you won’t be using food as a reward or punishment, just a normal part of your life.

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Posted in Motivation, Nutrition Plans, Somerville personal trainer, Somerville Personal Training, Success, Weight Loss by Callie | No Comments
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28 Apr

Somerville Strength Training Spotlight Sunday: Rachna Mathur

Rachna has been training at Durbrow Performance since January and has quickly become one of our hardest working clients. She always has a smile and an awesome attitude and she is consistently trying to improve every exercise, every week. Check out Rachna’s story today. Enjoy!

Durbrow Performance Training has already changed my life. I joined in January 2013 as part of my New Year’s Resolution and have seen a complete change in my body shape and strength. My body fat percentage has dramatically dropped and I am looking forward to some skinny leg jeans and tank tops!!

 

I have always been small (I’m 5 foot 1 on a good day) and the majority of my adult life has been between 98-110 pounds. Growing up and throughout my and college years, I danced. A lot. It was a lot of cardio ranging from things like cheerleading/dance squad to doing Bhangra (a fast paced, high energy South Asian dance) to performing Kathak, a classical North Indian dance. I love Bollywood music and dancing as well. All that cardio was great and allowed me to eat whatever I wanted.

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24 Apr

Intermittent Fasting: What It Is and How You Should Do It

Last week I wrote an article for Fitness RX for Women on how to use Intermittent Fasting in your life. There were a lot of people that kinda bashed the idea, saying that it’s a form of starvation and there is no way you can eat enough.

I also got some great comments from people who want to try IF and I’m going to be doing a series of articles over there to break down exactly how to eat and when to eat depending on what time of day you train.

It’s important to know that this is not a dogmatic approach. If you don’t want to practice IF, I really don’t care. This has worked well for me and for a lot of my clients because it’s simple and there’s no hassle. You don’t have to pack 6 meals in your little cooler and set your clock to eat every 3 hours.

If eating every 3 hours was the key to fat loss, we likely wouldn’t have a 65% obesity rate in the United States. I’m just sayin’.

Check out my article, Intermittent Fasting: What It Is and How You Should Do It and please leave a comment over there at FitnessRX to let us know how you feel about IF.

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21 Apr

Somerville Training Spotlight Sunday: Chrissy C.

I have always been the LEAST athletic person out there. Never played a sport while growing up. I’ll  miss the bus before running to catch it. I like watching some sports – from a safe distance- but the idea of participating in a contact sport or any type of activity that requires movement has always made me feel tired before I even motion to stand up. I’m the one who loves going to baseball and hockey games but shamefully ducks whenever a fly ball goes into the stands or puck flies over the glass. Even when I’m in the nosebleed seats.

So the idea of starting small group personal training scared me a little. (OK, a lot.) But I can honestly say that it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Prior to joining I had tried everything- Weight Watchers, random “healthy” diets, plans to go on long walks multiple times a week, I’d done one on one personal training a number of times, and joined countless gyms and bought multiple packages for yoga that I would attend in spurts. Nothing ever seemed to hold my attention or provide results that would last. Read the rest of Somerville Training Spotlight Sunday: Chrissy C.

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14 Apr

Somerville Training Spotlight Sunday: Maureen O’Donnell

Check out this awesome story from one of our training clients, Maureen O’Donnell….

I have always been fairly active.  I have a 10-year-old son that is very athletic and I try to take every opportunity to play tennis, basketball or just throw the baseball around with him.   I also do a lot of walking.  I never considered myself out of shape or overweight but after a year of training with Callie, Emily and Caitlin at Durbrow Performance Training, I now know differently.

My friend Liz referred me to Callie.  She was so excited about what she was doing at Durbrow Performance Training and the results she was seeing.  She also told me how much fun she was having.  I was hooked after the first session with Emily.  After a year of training, I have been transformed.  I feel like a different person.  I have more energy than ever and can’t believe some of the things I am able to do.   I am so much stronger and fitter than I have been in quite a few years.

My favorite exercises are anything involving the TRX, most of the core workouts, the agility ladder and push-ups.  I also really love doing box jumps.   My favorite finisher is ropes.  The new facility has created an opportunity to do a lot more than we could at the previous space and I love that Callie and team are constantly changing up the workouts and offering new exercises and challenges every week. Read the rest of Somerville Training Spotlight Sunday: Maureen O’Donnell

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