Fitness Together Georgia

This month’s client of the month is Andy Cuppia.  Andy is the owner of  EVOS Sandy Springs and Midtown (a very cool resturant with a cool concept, of which I talk about all the time).  With newborns (kids and businesses), he is a very busy guy dealing with a lot of stress.  However, he manages to make his heath and fitness a priority.  Here is what he has to say: 

“So you wanna workout. But you pretty much hate the gym because there is always someone “looking” at you and judging your every move. Hey, just because you are paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.

The solution – talk to Kelly at Fitness Together. I’ve been going to this place for about 8 months now and absolutely love it. I’ve had one-on-one training in a gym setting before, but never in a private studio. It’s really nice to have the space all to yourself. The workouts last about an hour, but you can shower and change at the studio, so it is really easy to fit in during a hectic day.

The trainers – top notch. Kelly and his team aren’t some recent college graduates whose hobby is fitness and needed a job. These guys (and gal) have gone through extensive training and can talk you to death about the science behind the fitness… In short, they really know what they are talking about. In addition to being knowledgeable, they are very personable. Sorry, you aren’t going to get a Gillian Michaels type yelling at you and jumping on your back while you jump into a tire. But you will get someone who actually cares about your progress and will give you as much as you can (and should) handle. Don’t get me wrong. The workouts are challenging, but not in a dangerous-why-am-I-hauling-300lbs way…”  Read rest of Testimonial at Yelp,

Recommendation from Andy of Kelly and Fitness Together on LinkedIn

more Success Stories at FT North Buckhead

Atlanta Health Systems is the company that helps employers prevent illness, injury, and turnover by empowering employees to resolve the challenge of rising healthcare costs and manage their own health.

It is said, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.  Now, more than ever, companies need to implement wellness strategies to improve productivity, decrease worker absenteeism, and improve overall morale.  Unfortunately, companies will sometimes go with the strategy of dropping wellness programs thinking it will save them money.  However, this strategy often reflects the exact opposite.

Studies show that regardless of the size of company, investing into a wellness program saves them money in the long-term.  The president of Atlanta Health Systems is Lew Schiffman.  To learn more about improving the wellness program at your company, you can contact him at 404-636-9437 or e-mail at atl_health@mindspring.com.  

It’s competition time in Johns Creek! We needed to get everyone motivated and focused again (now that summer is coming to end) and we came up with the idea to hold our own Biggest Loser. We have 16 clients who joined and all have really seemed to have a winning mindset. This was our 2nd week and already everyone has lost weight or body fat!! One person even lost 7 lbs!

Soon, there will be team challenges (pushups or situps, etc.) and we are even thinking about doing a mountain climb towards the end. Best news yet – the overall male and female winners will get a $250 gift card to help with a new wardrobe WOOHOO! We will update on our challenge winners and give props to all the weight and fat loss.
Side note – we had such a diverse group come together that we decided to take not only weight and fat loss into consideration, but extra credit cardio done in the studio…bringing in a journal every session….and waist measurements as well. We are taking before and after pictures and we just can’t wait to see who will win. It’s Dawn’s team against Misty’s team and it’s the biggest loser who will be the biggest winner!

Ever wonder how many calories are lurking in your favorite fast food or chain restaurant meal? Restaurant chains now have to prominently display the calories in standard menu items. The FDA is fine-tuning the rules for other nutritional information.

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Join us at the US10K Classic, Sep. 6th (Labor Day). This 10K is held at Cumberland Mall. We have a few people already who are participating with us. Want to join us, email at ftnorthbuckhead@fitnesstogether.com.

Sign Up and Learn More

Join us at the DI Dash Benefiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, August 28th. Tiffany (a client) and Katie (a trainer) are signed up so far.

Learn more

If you want to join us (receive a FREE T-shirt) email ftnorthbuckhead@fitnesstogether.com.

The number of obese people in the United States has increased by 2.4 million since 2007, according to a CDC special report released Tuesday.

The report also says that 9 states – up from 3 in 2007 – now report obesity levels at 30 percent or higher (in 2000, no states were in that category). Not a single state has reached the 15 percent goal set in the CDC’s “Healthy People 2010″ initiative.

“Obesity is a major public health problem,” said CDC Director, Dr. Thomas Frieden. “We need intensive and ongoing efforts to address obesity, or more people will get sick and die from the complications of obesity, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer.”

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On October 30th, 2010 (Saturday morning at 9am), we will dare to run through the famous Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta Georgia. We plan to dress up and wear our black and white FT shirts (by joining us, I’ll make sure you get one before the race). If you want to join us- email us at ftnorthbuckhead@fitnesstogether.com.

To register go to the direct link at Active.com

You may have been told that doing cardiovascular exercise at a lower heart rate is better in order to burn more fat (look at the graphics on the treadmill and your will see “cardio zone” and “fat zone”). Though there is a degree of truth to this, it is really another myth that needs to be busted.

Somewhere, someone might have read an article or a journal stating that the ratio of fat that you burn while doing cardiovascular activity is higher at a lower heart rate. As you begin to increase the intensity by means of speed, resistance, or incline, your fat burning ratio will decline. While this is all true, this information can be severely misinterpreted.

At all times of the day the energy of which your body using is primarily aerobic (primarily fat). All this means is that you will utilize more fat energy as compared to carbohydrate energy (aka- glycogen that is converted to glucose). When you increase your aerobic output, you will begin to change the ratio at which you utilize fat and carbohydrate energy. No matter what, when you increase aerobic activity, you will increase your carbohydrate (glucose) usage. This is done by what is known as aerobic glycolosis (you don’t have to remember that).

There is a high correlation between your heart rate and increasing “carbohydrate burning”. So, when you read this you may think, “okay, if I want to burn more fat, I need to keep my heart rate down”. However, and this is a big however, notice that nothing is mentioned about the quantity of fat calories that is used at a lower intensity as compared to a higher intensity. All that is mentioned was the ratio.

When you increase your heart rate while doing cardiovascular training, you will use more fat than you would a lower intensity. Ratios don’t matter. It’s quantity of fat you’re after and it just so happens that your training will also be more qualitative. Even if you were to think, “well I don’t want to burn more carbs, I want to burn more fat”. Well, don’t worry; you’ll still be burning more fat than carbs at a higher heart rate, so as long as you’re not breaking what is known as anaerobic threshold (which you can’t sustain for long periods of time anyway).

So, when you go to do cardio, get a sweat going and do something more than a “mall paced walk”. Of course, this all depends on your current health and fitness level. At some time though, you’ve got to push it. Ideally, you want to eventually do cardio sessions where your heart rate reaches approximately 85% of target heart rate for 20 minutes or longer. One of the ways to do this is through interval training.

Written by Kelly Huggins
Exercise Science, B.S.
FTNorthBuckhead.com
Read more of Kelly’s Weight loss and fitness myths at the Mythbuster Examiner.com

(WebMD) Women who do weight-lifting exercise routines may be better off drinking two large glasses of milk than sugar-based energy drinks after workout regimens, a new study shows.

McMaster University researchers in Canada report they found that women who drank two large glasses of milk after weight-lifting exercises gained more muscle and lost more fat than women who drank sugar-based energy drinks.

The finding is published in the June issue of Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise.

“Resistance training is not a typical choice of exercise for women, but the health benefits of resistance training are enormous,” Stuart M. Phillips, a professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, said in a news release. “It boosts strength, bone, muscular and metabolic health in a way that other types of exercise cannot.”

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