Why we are GREEN

Do you know why Rock Bottom Personal Training picked green as their business color?  We are proud to be an Eco friendly fitness company. We are here to teach and educate people on how to be a healthier community and healthier planet. Have you ever asked yourself where does all the exercise equipment go when people no longer use it. Some many go to places like Goodwill and garage sales, but eventually it all ends up in the landfills. Think about all that equipment in the gym that you go to every day. How many machines they have that use around 855 watts of electricity if only ran at 5 mph at 0% incline. Now times that by how many machines your gym has, that is a lot of energy! There are many gyms that are now making improvements and going “Green”.  We here at Rock Bottom are already showing our clients how to use what they have to be healthier without more cost to their wallets and the planet. We want people to burn calories and not watts. All of our workouts are powered by our own personal energy. 

Are "YOU" a priority?

Only 20% for people are self motivators. Which leaves the rest of the 80% the need to be accountable to someone else. People forget that because I am a personal trainer and assume that I don’t have struggles as well. Most don’t know that I was pushing 200  pounds two years ago and had been at that weight for the last 15 years. I am a great trainer but I wasn’t walking the talk, if you know what I mean.  It was never that I didn’t have the knowledge or time to be at a lower body fat percentage. It was the fact that I put my family, friends and clients ahead of my own health. I didn’t make myself a priority. You see I could squeeze a 100 things into my day yet not one of them was clean healthy eating or exercising. I had screwed up my metabolism up so bad that it was dormant like a mountain. Oh my metabolism was ready to explode in to action as soon as I was ready to make it a priority. So after my father passed away from obesity related causes and my mother is also obese, I realized that I better make this a priority or I am going to leaving my children without a mother. 

I made an appointment with one of my clients nutritionist the next week. I told her that I knew what to do and what I am doing wrong. I just needed her to be “the bad guy” and make me accountable to her for my bad eating habits. I wasn’t eating super bad stuff I was just eating only 3 times a day. I was only eating at 6 am, noon, and 6 pm. So my body was in starvation mode most of the time. I also wasn’t eating “Clean” being non-processed foods. Since I am always on the go I had to find quick easy ways for me to be able to eat every 3 hours and have it on the go. So I stocked my trunk with apples, nuts and clean healthy bars that I could eat if I got stuck away from a store. I also had to start planning better therefore got a really cool lunch box with serving sized containers to use. I packed my lunch everyday!!! Even if I thought I might be home or going out because you never know when something may happen.

The next thing I did to make myself accountable was started planning exercise classes or Meetups. I knew that once it was on the calendar and the thought that someone else will be there makes it really hard to back out! So many times I would plan on exercising after my other job or client but I then would put something else in its place and talk myself right out of it. If I show up and nobody else does, it is so easy to cut the workout short and not push myself as hard as I should or would if there was someone else there. The inner competitor would never show up like it does when I am working out with others. In fact, I have told may of my clients that I prefer to train couples or friends durning sessions because they will work harder, cancel less often and get better results!  So many clients take a break from their trainings or group workouts and gain 10 or more pounds before they contact me about coming back. it is proof that you get better results when you have to be accountable to someone else! 

 Get out your iPhone, calendar or whatever you use to remember all your appointments  and make YOU a priority! Make YOU first in the day! I want you to schedule your workouts and eating plan NOW....TODAY just as it is a doctors appointment because in reality it is! 

Stairs "Flight Club"

As I am preparing for my next stairclimb this week. I realize that this is the one that set it all into motion for me a year ago. Last year when I had to find an alternative form of cardio and sport that I could do after I was told by my surgeon feb 2010 that I  could no longer do any “impact” sports due to my L5 disc being in pieces. And this being after my second surgery. This meant no running, volleyball, soccer, skiing, softball and the list went on. With being in the health field, I had to get creative. I looked for a low or non impact  activity that was going to tone up my legs and give me good cardio. I was out on the Tumwater stairs by the old town center in the summer of 2010.  I had been doing the stairs 3 times a week for 30 mins since May.  One day that summer when I was doing my stairs, a firefighter showed up.  I watched this firefighter put on his bunker gear and started taking 2 stairs at a time. He passed me a couple of times. Here I thought I was in good shape and doing pretty good for being almost 40 and 2 back surgeries behind me. I started up a conversation with him after he was done. He told me about stairclimb racing. I had no clue. I went home and started to research more about the sport and how I could start racing myself. What I found out was that this firefighter that I was talking to was Zach Schade of Tumwater. Come to find out he was the winner of “scale the Strat” in Las Vegas in 2009, which is a 108 flights. No wonder he was lapping me on the Tumwater stairs he was a pro! So since then I have learned so much about stairclimbing from other racers.Like how to use your arms and the hand rails for the climbs.  I have read and watched videos about the sport that I could find. I didn’t realize that this is a world wide sport until then. Here in the USA there are so many stairclimb races in all major cities. All races are fundraisers just like regular running races. 

In the last year I have spread my passion or addiction to stairclimbing to many of my clients and friends. We have now started what many stairclimb racers call a  “Flight Club”  here in the Olympia area. My goal is to get more people aware of the health benefits of stairclimbing and get more racers for our team. This is a great way to  cross train for runners since most of the races are in fall and winter months.

I have raced in 4 stairclimbs in the last year and this week will be my 5th. I have realized that I may not be the fastest racer but I have improved since last year. I have no plans on quitting. I do plan on traveling more across the country in the next couple of years climbing stairs!

If you or anyone you know that are interested in joining Rock Bottom’s Flight Club please have them contact us. We are looking for all ages and abilities! 

Holiday Planning!

As the holidays approach quickly there are many obstacles that we have to tackle everyday which can effect our daily health routine that we have worked so hard at maintaining all year. Our first obstacle is coming up next week, Thanksgiving. The first part of your game plan is “prepare”! Prepare for the food binge the day of, prepare for the emotional eating that family can push you into and Prepare for the next month of holiday parties!

So what is your game plan? How are you going to get thru the next holiday season without putting on the average 10 lb. that most Americans do during this time.Have a PLAN!!! So sit down and plan what you are going to do for the next week before turkey day. For example, you will need to add in 2 extra workouts. You should cut out on all starchy foods like bread, pasta, rice, etc. and load up on veggies. You should offer to make a clean healthy side dish. Drink plenty of water to curb your appetite. And limit yourself to one alcoholic drink that is a “clear liquor”  and add club soda. Plan before you go what you will be putting on your plate. Like half the plate is veggies or salad. then followed by 3 oz ( deck of cards) of protein. You may even have a small ice cream scoop of stuffing.  In addition, remember it is alway healthier to go for a walk than to have an argument with that family member. 

Now many of these plan ideas can apply to the rest of your holiday season. What about that office party? Well, here are a few things that I have learned from the past.  People always want others to be enjoying themselves and a sign of that is the other person has something in their hand. Such as a full plate of food or a drink. So to play the healthy illusion magic trick. Have a full plate of healthy items on it, if there are not any good choices, then put the bad stuff on the plate walk around and talk with it in your hand then when the evening is over throw it away.... NOT EAT IT!!!  Same goes for the full glass trick...nobody knows what is in the glass but you. So put soda water or something with color in it but no sugar. This will make the host/hostess fill like you are not missing out or that they are not having a great holiday party.

So enjoy your holidays with your family and friends but have a game plan and “prepare”!

Summer Road Blocks

Here we are in the beginning August and I am hearing from all my very  active / physically fit friends that they have all put on 10 lbs....Including myself! WTH???  If we really think about it, we know why and how that has happened. We live in a state that has some really strange weather and you never know when the sun will be out or if it is out how warm it will be. For me, when the sun is out I am usually out on my motorcycle as much as possible. Which means that I sit all day and ride...not moving my body a whole lot. Which is different for my body because it is used to moving a lot!!  What I have noticed is that when you are out and about traveling with friends or family you put them first as far as where to stop and eat.  I know that this is one of my problems... the other is plan and simply...I don't put my health first! I am so rapped up in enjoying the sun, fun and friends. Unfortunately that has put 10 lbs of fun on my mid section! So I am going to try something new for the rest of the summer and see what happens. I am going to regroup and focus on my bodies needs and make sure that my portion sizes are right , not eat greasy foods, minimize my happy hour drinks to 1 or 2. I am also going to get back on a regular workout schedule since I have let that slide with all the summer vacations. Plus I have 2 competitions coming up in October that I want to do well in.

I write this so that others can see that we all have slips and gain weight from time to time. So what small things can you do to be healthier?

Summer time cook outs

I don't know about you but I love the summers time. Get togethers with great people and good eats! the hardest part is to stay on the clean eating and portion control while you are chatting & laughing away.  But if you remember the 80 /20 rule all is good! 80% of the time you eat and drink super clean plus exercise then that one day you can step out of the box alittle...and I do mean alittle.  Please remember that when you do step out it can be very hard to step back in.

I like to always bring on dish that I know is clean, that way I can always eat that instead of the same old cookout menu items. I also bring my own grill protein..because we all know what is in that hamburger and hot dog..YUCK!!!!

the one thing I love about cookouts is all the fun physical activities.... for example this past 4th of July, I had the pleasure to be invited to our friends the O'Brien's. They live on a lake so I got to paddle boat out to out the lake to watch the fireworks with my husband and awesome friend Dani. Before that we danced to great music the bands played and we even jumped on the trampoline like kids!

So stay active at your parties and eat clean! most of all have a great happy and healthy summer!

Summer is here

Now that summer is here and we live in the pacific northwest...our play ground is open for fitness! I am having a really hard time deciding on what to do every day for exercise! the choices are endless...in fact I am here waiting to go bike riding... no not on my motorcycle but the one with pedals that go around! this weekend I was out on the sound camping with friends and we canoed, climbed tress, raced up stairs and ran on the beach.

I have to say I can't wait to SUP(standup paddleboard)  again. Choices, choices, choices... what is a girl to do?

What is on your list of fun outdoor exercise activities?