Your Resident Fitness Critic: FENWAY Spartan Race

Just over two weeks ago,  I participated in the Spartan Obstacle Race held in historic Fenway Park.  Here is a review of my personal thoughts on the experience.  What's cool thing about being involved in race events is that each person has their own unique story to share, this is a piece of mine.

My goal is to provide you, the reader and hopefully fellow-fitness-enthusiast, with some information on different experiences in exercise and healthy living.  By gaining a better understanding of what is "out there" in terms of fitness options - I hope to inspire others to Take Action.  Sometimes, we all need a swift kick in the pants to break out of our routine and try something new.  Stepping out of our exercise comfort-zone is part of changing things up from time to time.  It should be noted that having a fitness routine is critical in keeping one motivated, engaged on a consistent basis, and living a fit-lifestyle.  Intergrating exercise into our weekly routine is a "way of life" and not something we turn on and off depending on our mood, what's going on in our lives or what time of year it is -  is a key element in achieving an overall sound and healthy body.  So weight-training, stretching, and moving (cardio or walking) is something I strive to do on a consistent basis.  However, variety is the spice of life - so finding different things to look forward to, or new things to try and experience can be a fulfilling and exhilarating experience!

This past June was my first exposure to one of these "alternative" races that have, and are continuing to, grow in popularity.  I have not participated in any of the latest craze mud-runs, Beast Races, Warrior, Zombie, Urban Scavenger Hunts, Ruckus Runs, Tough Mudders, or the like.  In June I was lucky enough to be invited to do a "Warrior Dash" in CT with some friends who share an interest in fitness.  It was a sunny, 75-degree, fun-filled day that involved a 3 mile course outside, actually based at an auto-race track and field.  There was running in the woods, through a small river, with lots of mud, traversing walls, running up and down steep hills, back in and out of the woods, and obstacles like climbing over demolished cars and through a small field of tires, walking a tight rope over a pool of water and mud, over and under walls and hurdles, cargo nets, through tubes, finally jumping over flames of fire and crawling under barbed wire through mud to the finish.  Overall it was a lot of fun and exciting to finish - unscathed!  It felt like a grown-up's playground, an excuse to get dirty and be active.  The racers were "rewarded" with an optional free beer and a turkey leg to chomp on (visual: caveman/warrior-like turkey leg... a very "Paleo"- the "eat like a caveman" style of protein-based foods, sans processed carbohydrate/grain diet).  Most races reward participants with free food, whether it be bananas, bagels, protein bars - I've even seen hot dogs. ;-)  The more social-friendly races do include a free beer at the end - those crowds tend to be a little more "fun loving" than hard-core competitive, though each venue is different.

Disclaimer:  I consider myself athletic.

Following a successful collegiate field hockey career, I turned to running to fill my extra time, and fulfill my sports and energy fix.  I ran distances through my 20's and completed 4 Boston marathons.  Overuse, injuries, and a new career that demanded more time than I could give to my running habit brought me to begin seeking out and experimenting with new forms of fitness.  I began to pursue an interest in sprint-triathlons.  I enjoyed the cross-training aspect and the new endeavor of incorporating swimming and biking into my exercise repertoire.  With a handful of sprint-distance tri's under my belt, I've added 6 years of the annual 10K Falmouth Road Race, 2 Figure (bodybuilding) Competitions, Bikrahm, Baptiste, and Power Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga classes, Pilates, Barre Classes, Spinning Classes, a Jingle Bell Run, the Tufts 10K, numerous walks/5Ks for charity, last year even added a 1-mile "Santa Speedo" (yes, sprinting down Newbury Street in a bikini...in December)...and-a-partridge-in-a-pear-tree.  :-)

Sooo...what else is there to do? 
PLENTY!  After the Warrior Dash, I didn't really foresee myself doing another "Muddy" race.  It was fun, but I heard a lot about injuries too.  I feel obligated to inform readers that my competition exercise experience has given the confidence to give this a go.  I'd heard enough stories about sprained ankles, broken wrists from falls and other-alternative-race-related injuries that can occur.  I understand that these injuries are probably a small percentage of people who do participate in these races, but it's something to keep in mind for the "Weekend Fitness Warrior" out there who is not actually fit, nor athletic, but wants to do a race like this.  Being self-employed, a fear of injury lingers in my brain when it comes to putting myself at risk of injury - though, heck, nobody can predict when one might get hurt - one could just as likely trip and sprain an ankle walking down the street.
On the same token, I would not want to discourage someone interested in pushing their own envelop, but to encourage one to be sure they are well prepared physically for one of these races if they have set completing one as their goal!  I tend to heed on the side of caution when advising one to pursue a fitness challenge - so being informed is a key element in succeeding once you have chosen to participate.

It was early October I learned of this obstacle-course race that was taking place in Fenway Park.
My ears perked up!  Being a life-long fan of the Red Sox (in good times and bad) and an even bigger Finding out about the race late in the game, I was able to sign up for the last open time offered online - "Under the Lights" in the year Fenway Park celebrates it's 100th year!  Fine, this past Sox baseball season made a bit of its own history under somewhat dismal circumstances, but this opportunity was still pretty cool!  I registered for my first Spartan Obstacle Course Race!  This even took place all day Saturday, November 17th and Sunday, November 18th 2012.

OK - so, I do consider myself athletic, but I didn't exactly "train" at all for this...which is pretty much my MO the last few years for the events I sign up for. 
My exercise experience has evolved over the years, and my experience working at Cutting Edge Fitness Inc, in Newton MA has opened my eyes to the fact that I like my body...in tact.

I observe on a daily basis what overuse and over-training can do to the body.  I've witnessed many people do too much exercise and over time, they damage their body.
As we age, it's not pretty!  I value what Cutting Edge Fitness Inc has to offer, and truly believe in the optimal style of weight-training for a fit-strong body, a SAFE and EFFECTIVE exercise protocol getting the results the clients are looking for and all the while bringing them good health.

My muscles are strong from safe, slow-speed, high-intensity weight lifting.
I do still enjoy running.  Yes, I know that's not every one's story, for me running boosts my mood naturally, helps relieve anxiety, improves brain function, and keeps me fit.  I have throttled back from running 10-12 miles with ease in my twenties, to enjoying a shorter 2-3 mile run or longer walk (the walking is MUCH better for my joints!)
But these "athletic" events peak my interest based on my sports-and athletics history.  Much like the CrossFit trend of the past few years, which attracts the former (or new) athlete who gets the opportunity to feel they are competing again and doing something athletic - I figured, why not?

I dabbled into investigating these events by reading online blogs and reviews of these kind of races, and learned it was advised to wear tights/running pants (to protect against the cold and potential scraping) and some sort of gloves - thank God I read to wear gloves!  I read on the Spartan website that they do not disclose the race-course before the day of the event, so the surprise factor is part of the whole experience.  Interesting.  OK.  And, I read - there will "probably be burpees".  :-)   Now, I think I can count on two hands the number of burpees I've done in my life.  This may be something I should not admit as a Fitness Professional, but, to be honest, I'm typically the instructor at boot camp or in the gym, and never the recipient of the burpee-prescribed workouts.  I do know I've done my lifetime fair share of push-ups and a few "star-jumps" in the past at camps etc, so I figured I could handle it.

Bring it.

My Mom accompanied me as my "sponsored spectator" - yes, it cost for me to bring a guest or for a spectator to observe!  (that was another "first" for my race experiences). 
Mom has been my SuperFan and has been there supporting all my crazy adventures in fitness. 
She herself has dropped 45 lbs off her body and kept it off over the past 2 years with Cutting Edge Fitness 30-Minute workouts, walking regularly, and a re-vamp of her diet. 
It cost $30.00 for Mom to come watch me compete in this "Time Trial" event at Fenway Park - more than a bleacher seat to the Red Sox!  Considering I'd pay less to do actual races before! - but, it's Fenway - so we'll pay.  We found it entertaining that she had her own waiver form to print out and bring with her to the race-registration, and had her own "Spectator Registration" booth to attend and sign-in at.

After registering on Landsdown Street – and peeking through the gates, we could see people in the middle of their race -  we could see in a section doing calisthenics and race-organizers yelling out instructions to them – it reeked of boot camp!  We walked in through Gate D – I felt like I was about to see a baseball game.
We were sent off in groups of about 10 racers. 
I got my first taste of the “burpee-tests” ahead, as we were assigned 10 burpees before the start of the race.

We were off and running.  Up and down the ramps of Fenway, crawling under and jumping over ropes that zig-zagged endlessly.  There was running along corridors, and running up and down thousands of steps in what felt like every single section of the park.  We were challenged with obstacles along the way that tested fitness, endurance and mental stamina.  From lifting and moving 30 lb cement blocks, 5 gallon water jugs (the women 1 jug, the men 2 jugs) up and down stairs, throwing medicine balls up in the air and then smashing them down on the ground, “Spartan” push ups, to carrying 60 lb sandbags on our shoulder up and down the stadium stairs.  You name it, we did it.
There were many walls along the way to climb over, cargo nets to scale, even erg-rowing machines we had to pass a 2:00 minute challenge to continue on!  (who would have thought that 50 rowing machines would be set up in Fenway Park!)
Along they way, if a racer could not complete an obstacle or missed a target, they were faced with a set of 30 burpee push ups.  There was a challenge of hoisting a 30-40 lb cement block up to the ceiling by doing whatever it took to pull down a rope it was connected to (at this point in the race, after push-ups, the rowing challenge, and a vertical rope-climb challenge, my arms were shot) …but I did it with literally all my might!– anything to avoid the 30 burpee-punishment.  As this was a time-trial race, every time you had to do 30-burpees, that added probably 2:00 to ones time.  There was the challenge of throwing a spear into a straw target with 2 chances for it to stick - …I missed.  Twice.  30-burpees.
There was a “simple” baseball toss into a bucket, with one chance.  I prayed to hit the target.
I missed.  The race-volunteer nearby who was on staff to make sure nobody cheated – taunted me with another chance, at the risk of if I missed I would owe 60 burpees.  I did not take the chance.

We had hopping up about 7 flights of stairs with a resistance rubber band around our ankles – talk about a killer calf workout!
There was a heavy (30 lb?) weighted jumprope x 50 jumps, a horizontal wall climb (making it across without falling or the burpees awaited)…I held on for dear life – and made it!
After all that, we made our way out onto the ball field – and finished the race with, yes, more burpees, a dash in the outfield by the famous Green Monster, another cargo net pyramid to scale, 10 more box-jumps and a gladiator style alley to dodge guys with jousts trying to prevent you from finishing…yikes!

All in all, it took me just under an hour to complete (57:43).  My competitive nature wonders how much faster I would be able to do it in if I had been able to avoid the burpee-time-suck exercises.  The winning female competitor finished round 45:00:00.  Out of about 6000 participants I came in 553 overall, 73rd out of all the women, and 14th in my age division.   I was also very excited to have completed the race though, and in the venue that has such personal memories for me.  Fenway was where I saw my first Red Sox game with my Dad when I was about 8 years old.  Knowing that baseball greats like Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Carl Yastrzemski, heck – growing up in the 80’s I was a Roger Clemens fan (I am not ashamed to admit that!) – all played on that field was very inspirational and meaningful to me.  After receiving my medal I took a brief moment to step a little onto the field and take a deep breath, to soak it all in.  It was a cold night in November - reminiscent of the late fall days of post-season baseball, able to see my breath as I was catching it. 

I looked up and saw the blinking Citco Sign in the sky over left field, the Green Monster and famous Red Sox Scoreboard and stood there on that field of dreams and smiled...as one of mine had just come true.

Meet Jared!

Jared Pierce

Personal Trainer
MBA Exercise & Sports Science

Hi, my name is Jared Pierce.

I graduated from Ursinus College in PA holding a Bachelors of Science in Exercise and Sports Science degree with a minor in Coaching.
I ran track & field for 6 years and coached for 2 years, I have also been a lifeguard for 8 years so if you have any questions about swimming or running feel free to pick my brain.

I have personal training experience with both one-on-one and group training.  My goals are to motivate clients and any fitness level to work to their maximum safe potential with the Cutting Edge Fitness 30-Minute to Fitness Program to achieve their goal. 

I decided to become a personal trainer because I have always been fascinated by the human body and by what it can do.  Growing up in a family where my parents have always been slightly overweight, I developed a want to be able to help them and anyone else I can to maintain a healthy lifestyle. 

I look forward to working with you and helping you reach your fitness goals.

Feel free to email me at:  Jared@cuttingedgefitnessinc.com with any questions you may have about your own fitness goals and how I can help you reach them.  Thank you.

Happy National Nurses Week!

In honor of National Nurses Week we'd like to share with you some information for the Night-Shift Nurse.

Over the past few months, we at Cutting Edge Fitness have been asked many questions and suggestions specifically suited for the Night-Shift.  We did some researched, asked some nurse-confidants who have experience with working nights and long hours, and have come up with some helpful tips to take care of your health, body and suggestions to help to manage food choices when faced with a challenging schedule.
The good news is that everyone can benefit from many of the take-aways from this blog - so enjoy!


Those who go to med school, nursing school, any intense studying program - or anyone who is busy most hours of the day know what kind of a toll it takes mentally and physcially on your body - with lack of sleep and figuring out how to eat to fuel your body best.  When you feel good and have good energy, your work and life benefit and can feel easier than being over-tired, feeling sluggish and bogged down from poor nutrition and poor quality of sleep.

We surveyed some nurses who work nights and have discovered that the hardest thing is making time to eat during your shift. Most nurses are always go-go-go, so they don't make time to eat. When they do eat their body feels it is going crazy and craving all the foods that you don't want to eat if you're trying to lose weight. Mainly food that are high in carbs or sugar. Plus alot of nurses bring in candy or cookies, so there is always bad food out in the open to pick from. So it's easy to see how a nurse who hasn't had time to eat all night to stop by the nurses station and picks up a quick dose of sugar.
Work on doing a good job of packing your lunch each night, so you're not going to work empty handed is one of the best and critical first steps to start with. Relying on the cafeteria or snacks that others bring in is not the way to go.
The 2nd thing would be to make time to eat every few hours. Set an alarm to go off to remind yourself even if your super busy!  It may sound silly, but it works and will REMIND you to eat!

Working nights can be slower than working days depending on the unit. When you are so busy, you don't eat, then you eat anything you can get, and devour it in a second, probably not the best choices.
But when you are working nights, it tends to be slower so you may be eating to stay awake. It is cold and can feel depressing at night, so all you really want is comfort food. Doctors bring in pizza, nurses order out, and many nurses bring in junk foods - either to get it out of their own house or to treat everyone.  There are always baked goods, candy, pizza, and most fast food places are open, etc which allows for “easier” but not nutritionally sound choices to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Pack your lunch, usually one bigger meal, which is like dinner (salad with chicken or whatever healthy you cook for dinner at home). Work in eating this at around 10:00PM-11:00PM, then bring a bunch of snacks.
One nurse we spoke with (who is fit and makes preparing her foods in advance and staying on a good eating schedule a priority) said she feels she better overnight, if she does schedule eating this relatively "bigger" meal at that point in time.  She suggests something we call "clean" that is all natural and includes protein.  Choosing a fresh salad with chicken or hard boiled eggwhites or even oatmeal (non-processed, unrefined raw oats) because it serves to be hearty and warms her up. She also suggests packing fruit, veggies, yogurt, nuts, and mix protein powder into the oatmeal or yogurt, bringing healthy NON-PROCESSED little things you can pick at - this will keep you fuller, longer.

Her most recent new habit to control eating is tea. She usually makes a cup of green tea at 3:00AM, to sip on while documenting patient papers with and warm up, instead of eating. Some people drink coffee all night, you want to make sure you are staying hydrated and minimize cream/milk/sugar so try to stick with the tea and water. 
Avoid excessive reliance on caffeine.  This habit may get you by the occasional slump, but can become addictive and disruptive to your circadian rhythm.  If you feel the need for a "rush", excuse yourself from your duties for a few minutes and take a fast walk.  This will wake you up!

We have learned some tips to stay on a healthy timed schedule of eating and on a practiced, well-balanced food-plan is to make time to eat when you get home in the AM, then going straight to bed.  Many people are advised "never eat before bed." - we recommend everyone takes a step back and looks at "The Big Picture"...  if you are eating every few hours and your calories are monitored, it is OK to eat something before bed, and cottage cheese (or something that contains casein protein is recommended as it is a slow-digesting protein)  Many nurses may eat something at work around 5:00AM at work, and then get home from their night-shift at 8:00, and feel they need to eat something. We hear many night-nurses who don't eat before I sleep, have trouble sleeping, and then are awake at noon the next day zapped of energy.  Finding a healthy way to enable your body to sleep is critical - if you do not get a lot of sleep and are constantly tired, chances of eating for energy or making a poor food choice increasing - so you want to learn to maximize your sleep during the day.

At this point in the schedule we recommend small something, a few hard boiled eggs, a whole grain English muffin, or even small (<200 calories) protein bar. This may be tough, who wants to be cooking at 8:00AM?  Having prepared foods in the refrigerator is always the key to having an edge on this tough work-schedule...and any schedule!  

The big take-away for the night nurse - AND all professions for that matter, is to PREPARE, and bring in healthy snacking food for at night, when your guard tends to be down and you are more tempted to pick at something.  Drinking tea, and/or one sugar-free hot chocolate that is a "treat" and will warm you up during the late night/early morning hours is another calorie-saving tip!


We hope some of these tips and habits are helpful for those who are on the evening-work schedule - and have given you some ideas about PLANNING and preparation!

Happy Nurses Week - and Thank You for helping us!

Paul Rosenberg, MD, Ph.D: Senior Associate in Neurology of Neurology Children's Hospital

Dear Cutting Edge,

I'd like to give you some feedback about my experience at Cutting Edge Fitness. I had been running for years, and then about 17 years ago began to realize that I was losing a lot of upper body strength and muscle mass. To prevent and revers this loss I joined a health club to train using machines. I was given a plan by the trainers at the club, but there never seemed to be much of a rationale for the plan I was given. Then I came across some articles in the New York Times about slow cadence training, and this made sense to me. It was also very appealing because of the promise of substantial return on a small amount of time spent each week training. I emailed Adam Zickerman, a slow-training expert out of New York, about finding a slow cadence trainer in the Boston area, and he referred me to Cutting Edge Fitness.

Now I have been training for about 7.5 years and I continue to be impressed. I started with shoulder and knee pain, and the trainers were very careful and genuinely concerned about not doing anything to aggravate these problems. After several months, there was dramatic improvement in both the shoulder problem and the knee problem. In the beginning we had to limit the range of motion in machines aimed at developing shoulder strength, and now, that isn't necessary. Beyond this, there was the chronic pain in everyday activities that is now gone. With respect to the knee pain, I used to have pain on standing up from a squatting position, but this has now disappeared. This experience makes me think that is is important to maintain and strengthen muscles around joints to protect the joints, and that one reason joint pain develops as one ages is because of loss of muscle mass and the protection of joints provided by muscle.

The experience at Cutting Edge is very different from that in the health club. At Cutting Edge, the time is used efficiently, and of course, there is no waiting for machines. In addition, it is actually a friendlier atmosphere at Cutting Edge, because at the club most people seemed to spend a lot of effort pretending the others in the club did not exist (and often acted as if the others did not exist). Probably this is because most people really would like to have privacy while working out for a variety of reasons.

Ultimately the bottom line is whether a particular approach works or not. Within the fist 10 months of starting at Cutting Edge, I noticed a significant increase in muscle mass in some areas, and since I've also become aware of significant differences in relative strength in different regions or muscle groups. I think this becomes clear as one pushes muscles to the limit, but would not be so clear if one were just moderately exerting oneself in the different exercises. The result is not just increase in strength but exposing areas that need work where one may have for some reason lost more strength that in other areas.

One of the big attractions of slow cadence training is the efficiency of it - the promise of being able to have a good strength building routine that doesn't seriously affect my schedule. I stop by the studio on my way to work, don't need to wear special clothes, and don't need to shower afterwards. There is minimal impact on my work day.

Finally, I should emphasize specific virtues of Cutting Edge - the very attentive, focused, upbeat trainers, the cleanliness of the studio, the upkeep of the machines, and the remarkable ability of everyone involved to stay on schedule.

Last, but not least, a thought. After some point as one grows up, most people never really exert themselves physically to the limit. I have a hunch that this ultimately is not healthy - or put another way, my guess is that there is benefit in pushing oneself to the limit, physically. This is what one does every workout at Cutting Edge. I wouldn't be surprised if one day this were found to be beneficial in warding off a number of problems associated with aging. We are told that continuing to challenge one's brain is important to successful aging; I suspect that challenging one's body is important as well.

I hope you have continued success in helping people to help themselves.

Best Regards,

Paul Rosenberg

Chris Arcudi

I came to the practice of SuperSlow after I had already been teaching yoga in California for over 5 years. When I was first introduced to the technique and machines utilized in the SuperSlow method of high-intensity slow-moving weight training my initial reaction to the protocol was highly suspect. Yoga had had a healing and cathartic effect on my body and I did not believe that moving weights so slowly and for just 30 min. once a week could be of any great benefit.

A trainer/friend who I had met during a yoga class offered to put me through a workout. After one workout came another, and in the space of 6 months I decided that in addition to teaching yoga I wanted to become a SuperSlow trainer. She offered to apprentice me and one year later after working with her and completing the SuperSlow certification I was working @ her studio in Brentwood.

The myriad of benefits from this form of weight-lifting was startling. I began to put on and keep muscle mass. My pain and injuries decreased while my strength increased. My endurance increased - my abilities in yoga increased, and my overall sense of well-being improved.

And what I found even more remarkable during the 7 years I have been training others in this modality - is that these gains were possible not just for the 20-year olds or 30 or 40 or 50 year-olds but to anyone. Over the years I have many many many clients in their 60s 70s and into their late 80s and all have been able to see exceptional consistent results brought about in a safe and very time effective manner.

The principal itself is simple - applying perfect form and alignment - the muscle is worked to exhaustion while the body is kept safe and protected from excessive joint fatigue and injury. The body is allowed to recover - and amazing strength gains are made.

I am an advocate and believer that this system of lifting will help you gain and maintain a level of strength and health that heretofore you might not have believed possible for yourself. I look forward to meeting you - working with you - and helping you to a healthier stronger life.

~ Chris

Timing Is Everything: In Fitness, Food & Life

Cutting Edge Fitness Memo & Personal Reflection
by: A.M. Sheridan

As some of you who frequent the Cutting Edge Studio may have been aware of, earlier this year in June I trained and competed in my first (and shortly thereafter, my second) Figure Competition. For those unfamiliar with what a “Figure Competition” is, it is in the Bodybuilding realm, which by definition is “The process of developing the musculature of the body through specific types of diet and physical exercise, such as weightlifting, especially for competitive exhibition.”
I trained and dieted for 5 months, learning about and experiencing the process of clean eating and cleansing my body of sugars, alcohol and processed foods. It was a true test of discipline and determination to condition my body and mind to reach this goal I set out for myself.
As the fall approached, having enjoying my first experience with this type of challenge, and still practicing a modified “clean-eating” diet, I set my sights on competing for a third Figure Competition. ......well...about 3 weeks into dieting....grilled chicken, brown rice, oatmeal, tilapia, egg whites,, broccoli....6-7 meals a day, staying hydrated, getting sleep, doing my workouts, getting in my cardio....running a business....
It was about 7:00PM on a Wednesday night....and I had had enough. ...wait a minute, I was not supposed to be struggling with this?! I did this just 6 months ago, this should be easy! It was one of my low-carb days, and I had made it through the day... ...and then it happened. I made myself a giant plate of SPAGHETTI!
Yup, completely refined-processed, pure starch....good ‘ol fashion Prince Spaghetti.
FAILURE!

Mind you, I don’t even love spaghetti (forgive me Silvia Marganella, my sister’s best and very Italian friend) :-)
I LIKE grilled chicken, and broccoli, and oatmeal, and whey protein powder...I do not miss pizza and french fries or cookies and candy....I feel good eating vegetables and lean meats and “If you really are what you eat”...I think it’d be safe to say I am 75% egg whites.
I’m an athlete. I have drive, ambition, goals...damnit! I’m determined!

So what happened???


.....


The fact of the matter was I CHOSE to discontinue training and dieting for the competition.
That one plate of spaghetti would not have set me so far back as to not be able to compete, but I chose to let it stop me. It was a personal declaration of defiance of my goals. Holding myself up to what I preach to others - accountability, I know I was not a victim nor did I set unrealistic goals. Self sabotage? I suppose you could look at it that way, but I know it was more a choice and decision. I took a few days to digest (no pun intended) my decision and debate if I was even disappointed in myself for setting a goal...and not following through. I suppose I could beat myself up over it and tell myself that, but honestly – after having struggled through the first few weeks, jugging things happening in my personal and professional life, and not being as motivated as I was the first time I competed – I felt a sense of relief. I had put this self-imposed pressure on myself, and it was having negative impacts on my life. I took a few breaths and was relieved.

TIMING....
What I learned through my first experience has proven invaluable. Taking time to record for a period of time what I was eating and when on a regular basis gave me the knowledge and actual records to step back and look at the big picture. Learning and practicing eating foods on a timely basis, so I was never starving to the point of making poor choices based on feeling a sense of uncontrollable hunger was a first step.
Thinking ahead to know when I was going to exercise and what exercises to do throughout the week was a second step...
And being at a point in my life, and acknowledging when I WANTED to achieve this goal was the third and critical step throughout this experience. It was evident this time around I did not take the necessary steps to accomplish the goal I had set, I assumed it would just happen... once again, I was reminded sometimes things you WANT to happen require more work than we are willing to do. But we still need to recognize that those goals are attainable, with work.
We have all heard, things in life “happen for a reason.” Well...they really do. And sometimes we go through a set-back, or come to obstacles and it seems no matter what we do, or how hard we try things won’t work out the way we want them....dot dot dot...at that particular point in time. For, as time goes on, our eyes are opened to what is before us, and as we reflect on what happened and how we managed through challenges and note things to work on to overcome these challenges, we then develop the ability to see the potential, energy and excitement of what else lies ahead of us!


So much goes into timing....
For optimal results you want to eat something substantial 1.5-2.0 hours before exercise and then maximize your results by providing your body with the best nutrients within 15-20 minutes post-intense exercise. Everyday we field questions pertaining to; When should I eat, When is the best time to exercise, How much protein should I be consuming, What time is too late to eat, and What about alcohol? ☺ (my favorite and practically most commonly asked question)....
I may sound like broken record most days, constantly reinforcing the importance of a well-balanced food-plan, hydration, and how to incorporate weights, cardio, and stretching into one's life. If we are creating a calorie deficit, what foods will best serve an individual to make sure they have the energy they need for optimal performance. Depending on what your personal goals are, we have to take a look at your lifestyle, schedule, and preferences, and discuss diet and exercise. The beauty of Cutting Edge Fitness is the time element of the workout fitting into your week. We maximize your time in the training studio, so you can enjoy your life outside the gym. Thirty minutes, twice a week. We work closely with clients via email support to keep people on track and motivated. We are Coaches. And want you to win. To beat...yourself and the obstacles you have come to in life, and are working to overcome to lead a well-rounded healthy and fulfilled life.


IS IT YOUR TIME?
I get to be a part of people’s “timing” on a regular basis at Cutting Edge Fitness as well. With people I have known for years...where one day, they realize it is up to them. Something in their life changes or something just “clicks” and there is a new mind-set. When people realize that within themselves they have the ability to determine their next decision and choose to be healthy and choose to eat well, fuel their bodies with healthy foods, and exercise to take care of themselves first...it is truly an amazing experience. My very own mother...at the age of 64 came to me after 5 years of me owning Cutting Edge Fitness...and started a fitness program. She now chooses more fruits and vegetables and is walking on a regular basis, and has been able to drop 10 lbs of body fat, while adding lean muscle through weight training, in a matter of 5 weeks!
Maybe now is YOUR time. Are you ready?
We are.
Come to Cutting Edge Fitness and start your Fitness Program! Get in shape...And have the time of your life doing it. ☺

"Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely."
- Rodin

Epilogue:

This past year has been one of lessons, experiences, challenges, re-evaluating goals, and setting new one. I still setting goals on a regular basis. Things to strive for, work towards, dreams to reach towards. In fitness there lies future road races, triathlons, continued success with weight-training in the gym, maybe even another Figure Competition down the road; in due time. In food, there are new healthy recipes to try, finding healthy options at new restaurants, finding what foods make me feel good and provide me with energy to be my best. And in life... there’s travel, and work, and friends, and goals, yes, well, it’s all about timing. And in the meantime...I’m having the time of my life.

Briles Is Losing It!: PROJECT: Briles 200 - Is This Okay, Sansei #2

Briles Is Losing It!: PROJECT: Briles 200 - Is This Okay, Sansei #2