Thinking of giving up?

Posted by Brian - 08/07/08 at 10:08:56 pm

Tired of setbacks? Beginning to think that you’ll just never be able to…
• Lose weight?
• Lower your body fat?
• Get that next lift?
• Improve your heart rate, cholesterol, or energy?

While I doubt that anyone reading this is currently in a phase where you’ve given up hope of achieving your health and fitness goals, or, let’s face it, you probably wouldn’t be logging onto Gyminee right now, I bet that most everyone has felt that way at some point in time. You wonder whether or not it’s worth it; wonder if you should just quit; think it’s just never going to happen for you.

Now, I could be wrong, but I would bet that the most widely used reason for giving up goes something like <*ahem*>, “I just don’t have time to workout or eat healthy; my lifestyle is too busy and hectic to allow for that” or the less common, but more direct, “It’s just too hard”.

Well, don’t let Melanie Roach hear you say that because there’s a good chance she could lift you over her head until you change your tune. She does hold the unofficial world record for Clean & Jerking more than twice her body weight, after all.

Melanie Roach, a 33-year-old, 5′1″, 117-pound mother of three is a weightlifting competitor for the good ol’ U S of A in the 2008 Beijing Olympics (whose opening ceremonies are tomorrow night), and if you haven’t heard her story before, she’ll make you think twice about giving up. Because until you’ve suffered from a hyperextended elbow, a herniated disk (which affected her for seven years, caused her more pain than any of her three, natural child births, left her unable to stand up straight, forced her to remain in bed for days at a time, and threatened to put her in a wheelchair if she injured it any further), depression, and dealt with the unique challenges that come with having an autistic 5-year-old son, all while running a business, I don’t think your excuses (or mine) hold a candle to the numerous ones she could have fallen back on. In fact, most of the reasons I’ve used for not aggressively pursing my next life, health, or nutrition goal sound rather stupid stacked up against Melanie’s story.

Now, I could choose to let that bring me down. I could tell myself, “Wow, if she can do all of that, how pathetic am I that I can’t…<insert goal here>”. But instead I challenge myself (and you) to let this story be a motivating factor in my (and your) life. I don’t have Olympic aspirations; I don’t have the same degree of obstacles standing in my way. So, if Melanie can earn herself a spot on the US Olympic team, against all of the odds that life stacked against her, then why can’t you or I achieve our goals as well? It should be easy in comparison, right?
…
…
OK, maybe it’s not easy, but it is, without a single, microscopic doubt, doable!

Want to know more about Melanie Roach?
Below is a link to an article written by Greg Bishop of the New York Times, which details the daily challenges Melanie and her husband face as the parents of an autistic child, Melanie’s conquest over her injuries, and the amazing comeback that led to her qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Finding Inner Strength by Greg Bishop
Note: Mr. Bishop’s article was published on May 6th, 2008. Melanie qualified for the Beijing Olympics at the trials held on May 17th, 2008.

Melanie has also been featured by ABC World News Tonight, National Public Radio, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, NBC, CNN, among others.

As an added bonus, you can follow Melanie’s 2008 Beijing Olympics experience on her blog, “Worth the Weight“, or on her fan site, MelanieRoach.com.

Good luck in your competition, Melanie…but you’re already a winner.

Do Women Need More Cardio Then Men?

Posted by Susan - 08/06/08 at 03:08:38 pm

A friend asked me this question a while back and I really didn’t know how to respond. My instinct was to immediately answer this question with a resounding “no”, but I felt that I needed to do a bit more research.

I’m glad I took my time to investigate as it turns out the answer is actually “yes”, if you subscribe to Alwyn Cosgrove’s example.

Alwyn points out that while physiologically there is no difference between men and women, because women tend to weigh less then men, they do need to find ways to a means for extending energy expenditure from exercise.

The example Alwyn gives is as follows:

Client A: 200 lb male. Maintenance calories = 2500.
Client B: 130 lb female. Maintenance calories = 1560.

Goal: To decrease body fat for each individual by 10 lbs. A typical guideline is to start with a 500 calorie deficit or 20% of maintenance, whatever is smaller.

If we cut Client A’s caloric intake by 20%, we get 2000 calories per day (and a 500 calorie deficit). When we add in the calories burned from exercising, we can expect him to reach his goal in about 5 – 10 weeks.

But, if we take our female client down 500 calories, that would be 1060 calories per day. Being that we don’t want a woman to take in less than 1200 calories, we would cut her calories by 20% to around 1250. That’s a 310 calorie deficit which means we’re looking at 12 – 16 weeks for the same results.

As such, for the female to attain the same fat loss as the male client, she would need to accelerate fat loss by including additional training, which may include cardio.

To those of you not familiar with Alwyn, he is a Tae kwon-do international champion and has worked with a wide variety of clientele including several Olympic and national level athletes, five world champions, and professionals in a multitude of sports such as boxing, martial arts, soccer, ice skating, football, fencing, triathlon, rugby, bodybuilding, dance, and fitness competition.

Time for me to hit the gym for an extra HIIT workout!

Train hard; Stay strong.

Peace.

Susan

www.catapultfitnessblog.com

Ready For A Challenge?

Posted by Stephen - 08/06/08 at 11:08:29 am

Gyminee Challenges were launched only a couple of weeks ago, but they have really taken off! For example, the Inaugural Weight Loss Challenge currently has 138 competitors helping motivate each other to lose the largest percentage of their body weight. Some other interesting facts about Gyminee Challenges:

• There have been over 800 competitors in Gyminee Challenges
• Over 3,200 miles have been traveled by Gyminee competitors
• Over 750 lbs have been lost by Gyminee competitors
• Nearly 100 Challenges have been started so far
• My vote for the best Challenge picture is the 40 Miles in the Next 30 Days challenge (I pity the fool who doesn’t join a Gyminee Challenge!)

Tweet Your Fitness Activity

Posted by Stephen - 08/01/08 at 01:08:08 pm

Quite a few people have requested Twitter support in Gyminee, and we always thought it would be a cool way for users to share their progress and stay motivated. As of today, Gyminee now allows you to “tweet” your fitness activity as Twitter status updates.

Some example tweets:

• “Just did the Back and Biceps workout”
• “Just met my Body Weight goal!
• “Joined the Gyminee Running Challenge”

You can also configure which activities you do and don’t want tweeted. If you’re on Gyminee and on Twitter, then you can visit your Profile Settings page to set up Twitter support right now.

(Also, you can follow Gyminee on twitter)

Hitting the H20

Posted by GenaM - 08/01/08 at 09:08:55 am

Are you looking for simple ways to improve your health and shed the bulky effects of too many Big Macs? Are looking for ways to do it without settling for a life of endless carrot sticks and grilled chicken breasts? If so, then look no farther than your kitchen faucet.

A 2006 study presented by the Obesity Society found that people who replace water for calorie-filled drinks lose an additional five pounds per year, and those who take it a step further and increase their water intake by as little as two cups per day, drop another two pounds per year. In addition to happier times with your scale, adequate water intake improves your overall health by regulating body temperature, maintaining blood pressure, delivering nutrients to cells and improving waste elimination.

So the next time you’re tempted to reach for a soda, try filling your water bottle instead. To make the whole process a little easier, try carrying a 32-ounce bottle with you throughout your day. Determine to empty it once during the morning hours before lunch and again in the afternoon before dinner. It’s a simple way to keep track of your water and reach your goal without running to the water cooler eight… separate… times.

If you aren’t sure how much water you actually drink each day, be sure to use Gyminee’s WaterTracker. It’s a great way to monitor your daily water intake over time and set small goals – one glass at a time.

How about you? Do you have a simple and effective way for getting your 8-10 glasses of water each day? Let us know about it!

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