SAC Elite Golf Weekly Golf Tip: Putting with Confidence

If your putts are coming up short, or nearly miss the hole, you may need to build some confidence in your stroke.

A drill that helps you build confidence in your putting stroke can be easily arranged on a practice green. Simply place a club horizontally in front of the hole (at the back/leading edge of the cup) so you have to cross over the shaft when attempting to make a putt. Once the club is set in this position, move away from the hole and square up to the shaft of the club. Take a few strokes to attempt to make a putt with the ball hopping over the shaft. It should take you a few strokes to find the right amount of force to put into your stroke. Once find this “sweet spot”, take away the club in front of the hole and see how your new stroke feels compared to your old stroke. You should see that you have a more confident putting stroke that places the ball a little further in to the hole.


Demonstrated by Dave Boivin
SAC Elite Golf PGA Professional, Seattle Athletic Club Downtown / Kayak Point Golf Course
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How many cyclist do you know with good posture?

Many Seattleites enjoy the vast terrain of Washington through the means of biking. Weather permitting many people hit the outdoors and enjoy all of its scenery using a road, mountain or on a hybrid bike. While the true enthusiast might brave the Seattle downpour, most people come inside the club and enjoy one of the many different spin classes offered at the club.

One Factor that is constant with all cyclists, indoor and outdoor, is that their posture will start to take a turn for the worst. Having correct posture consists of maintaining a balance in the strength and flexibility of the front side (chest and front deltoids) and back side muscles (rear deltoids, mid traps and upper lats) of the upper body. As we ride any type of bike we maintain a slight or extreme forward lean, sometimes for hours. This forward lean eventually causes a strengthening and tightening of the front side muscles, while never addressing the backside muscles. If this continues without constant stretching and strengthening of the backside muscles a kyphosis or mid back hunch back look will start to form. So now that we cyclists know what the issue is, how do we address it? Some of the great options offered at the club are to take a yoga class and ask them to add a cat and cow sequence to their class. This sequence is performed by getting onto your hands and knees and alternately depressing your chest as far as possible (cow) and then pushing your shoulder blades as far upward and apart as possible (cat). Another possible rehab solution would be to try pilates, where everything involves lengthening the spine and strengthening the core. If these are not addressing the posture problem then you could always get a personal fitness trainer to make a rehab workout to strengthen all the backside and core muscles as well as show you upper body stretches.

Cycling should be a fun and enjoyable sport that we can enjoy both indoor and outdoor until we are in our later years; in order to keep it that way and not create muscle imbalance problems for ourselves, we need to make sure that we stretch our chest and strengthen our back muscles as often as possible. If we keep our posture safe, we keep all of our daily activities safe and enjoyable.

Demonstrated by Jake Pedersen
Personal Fitness Trainer, Seattle Athletic Club Downtown
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Martial Arts Video: Strikes, Footwork and Kicks

Martial Arts Director, Jody Garcia demonstrates the basics to perform strikes, footwork and kicks using the equipment at the club.


Demonstrated by Jody Garcia
Martial Arts Director, Seattle Athletic Club Downtown
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Yoga Pose of the Month: Upward Facing Dog

The sun is peeking its elusive head out more often these days. For all those winter months we Seattleites have been hunched over our computers and bundled against the rain, and now it's high time to open our chests (and hearts) to the sun's warmth!

Upward Facing Dog is a quintessential pose in the Ashtanga/Power Yoga/Vinyasa warm up sequence that opens the chest, strengthens the arms, and provides a strong back bend when done correctly. Up Dog provides much needed space to breathe, strength for triceps, deltoids, traps, and core. Back bends are very energizing and calming when done in combination with a forward bend (like Down Dog, or standing forward bend). Most summer sports including, Cycling, Soccer, Squash/Tennis, Swimming would GREATLY benefit from Up Dog, because so many of those sports require the body to constantly be in a hunched or forward moving motion. Up Dog provides a much needed back bend relief.

Let's Begin:
It's best to warm up for 10 minutes doing gentle poses (refer to my previous SAC blogs for more info) before moving into Upward Facing Dog.

1. From Downward Facing Dog, roll your shoulders forward over the hands for a strong Plank pose.
2. Slowly, with elbows gracing the sides of your body, lower like a board, all the way to the mat.
3. Slide wrists back to the middle of the rib cage (your bra strap line... sorry gents, you'll have to use your imagination!) and with your hands as flat as a pancake and fingers spread wide to protect the wrists, push yourself up and forward through the arms until your legs are off the floor. Your chest should be forward of your wrists, shoulders away from your ears, elbows very slightly bent, low back in a deep arch, legs strong around the knee caps, and chin level to the floor. You should be able to breathe comfortably and have no pain in wrists or back. If you feel "pinched" in any way, please start with a variation, below.

Beginning Variations:

1. Low Cobra - from lying on your front side, squeeze your glutes and shoulder blades together until your chest peels off of the floor. In this Up Dog variation, your hands can be under your shoulders, and very light on the mat. This still gives you a chest opener, without aggravating wrists or shoulder injuries.
2. Sphinx Pose - Similar to Cobra, from laying on your frontside, prop yourself up on your forearms, and make sure your glutes are SOFT in this pose, and shoulders down. This is usually a strong back bend for folks, so be conscious of your low back.

From any of these variations, bend your knees on the floor, and push your hips back to Child's Pose or Down Dog for a counter pose to a back bend.

For more instruction on Upward Facing Dog, or any pose, please come to my classes at the club or schedule a private yoga lesson now offered by myself and many of our other wonderful yoga teachers at Seattle Athletic Club Downtown.

Written by Tonja Renee Hall
Yoga Instructor, Seattle Athletic Club Downtown
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Make Changes that Lead to Success in the First 90 Days

Many gym goers fall out of exercising within their first 90 days of joining a gym or starting a new exercise routine. One of the biggest reasons people stop exercising is because they do not have a very structured workout and/or do not know where to start with their exercising. A new and very beneficial program offered here at the Seattle Athletic Club Downtown is called "The First 90 Days of Fitness". It’s a structured introduction to fitness involving meeting with a nutritionist to get your diet analyzed in order to meet the demands of exercising; three consultations with fitness trainer where you get measurements and body fat taken and then training session. The Fitness trainers can also get set up on a structured workout program called ActivTrax.

One of the club's newer member’s, Chris Davidson, has been on this program and just completed his first 90 days of fitness. During his final assessment he was pleased to find out that he had lost 7.6 lbs of fat while gaining a considerable amount of muscle and strength. The major contributing factors to his fitness achievements were that he was at the SAC every day working out or playing racquetball; and that he exercised with a workout partner. This is just one of many success stories at the club. Fitness success is more attainable if you have a structured workout routine and with someone there to keep you accountable, whether it’s a Pilates instructor, personal trainer or workout partner.

Written by Jacob Galloway
Fitness Director, Seattle Athletic Club Downtown
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Stay Healthy, Train Smart

At this time of year, there are lots of athletes (swimmers, triathletes and runners) looking for ways to improve their times over last year’s records. Much effort is spent on training, diet, and a rigorous schedule to stay on top of it. Through it all, you may have missed something.

Ever wonder why many accomplished athletes are in their 30’s? It’s because they’ve learned how to train more efficiently. They can’t, and don’t “pound their body” like they did in their 20’s. It’s too hard on their bodies, the recovery time takes longer, the chance of injuries becomes greater, and they don’t improve their times as effectively. It’s not just “what” you do, but “how” you do it.

Your body can’t, or shouldn’t be expected to handle a punishing training session just because you feel you’re losing ground. Effective training takes into consideration, the current abilities of the athlete, their previous performance abilities and the future goals or records that are to be broken. From these things, it’s all about efficiency and effectiveness of a carefully managed training program. To improve means you have to stay in the game long enough to identify shortfalls and accept the work it will take to overcome them.

Another aspect to take into consideration is the environments that you train in. Living in the greater Seattle area, our weather isn’t always ideal for training outdoors whenever we feel like it. For this reason, I sometimes suggest rotating an athletes training events from indoor to outdoor (and vise versa) depending upon the type of workout and the weather forecast.

Stay healthy, train smart. Monitor your workouts to find what’s best for you, and seek professional advise if you are having questions or need guidance.

Written by Dan Lavin
Aquatics Director, Seattle Athletic Club Northgate

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Alleviate Your Computer Posture Discomfort

Repeatedly during the course of a massage, I have raked muscles between the scapula and thoracic spine and found them to be hard, tight and painful to the client who immediately pleads with me to work right there – that’s where they want me to provide them with relief. Unfortunately, it’s out of my hands, literally! Why? These muscles are typically stretched tight (like a rubber band) because they are weak; they are under tensile stress, and losing the battle against gravity. Most massage practitioners will agree that all the manipulating in the world will not relieve these muscles: they remain just as tight and painful at the end of the massage. It might feel good (or painful) to have them worked on but this is only palliative. The real solution to your discomfort is to strengthen these muscles yourself. You will learn five strengthening exercises that can banish your discomfort and/or improve your posture for these specific areas:

1. Neck (Forward Head Posture)
2. Upper Traps (Tensile Stress)
3. Mid Traps (Tensile Stress; “Rounded Shoulders” or Forward Shoulder Posture)
4. Descending Traps (Shoulders curled Forward/Down)
5. Thoracic Erectors (“Slump” or excessive Kyphotic Curve in Thoracic Spine)

A great witticism that I’ve grown fond of is this: “Nobody likes to drink out of a fire hose.” That’s what’s so great about these exercises: no 3 sets of 30 reps etc. Each one can be done using your body weight, just ONE time, for as long as you can hold it (to fatigue). I’d prefer you do them nightly, right before bed, but you can also do them in your office chair and/or on the carpet if necessary.

Computer Posture Exercises:
Shoulder Shrug (targets shoulder tension)
Lift shoulders as high as you can (arms hanging down). They should reach almost as high as your earlobes. Contract your shoulder muscles as hard as you can – so hard they tremble. Keep lifting/trembling for 20 –30 seconds. Now lower the shoulders slowly –dropping them too quickly can trigger spasm.

Forward Bend vs. Neck Extension (targets neck tension)
Perform a forward bend. Keeping knees straight, lace fingers together and extend arms over your back/head as far as possible. Now, without changing your position, lift your head back in opposition. (The tendency is to let arms down / back up as your head comes up.) Pit these two actions against each other in an isometric contraction for 20 seconds, then bend your knees, and return to standing (slowly).

Superman (targets longitudinal tension between your shoulder blades)
(Caused by descending fibers of the trapezius being weak and overstretched). It combats scapulae curling forward and down. Lying face-down and resting forehead on the floor, place arms in front of head. Upper arms should be at a 45 degree angle, elbows bent and forearms pointing straight forward. Lift arms off the floor and hold them in this position until you can’t anymore.

Iron Cross (targets tension across the top of the shoulder blades)
(Named after the gymnastic feat performed on the rings.) Targets tension across the top of your shoulder blades caused by weak, overstretched mid-fibers of the trapezius. It prevents shoulders rounding and curling inward. Lying face-down and resting forehead on the floor, stretch arms out to the side, perpendicular to your body. Make a fist, turn your thumbs up toward the ceiling, and lift your arms off the floor. Hold until you can’t any more.

Swan Dive (targets longitudinal tension along your thoracic spine)
It prevents forward slumping of thoracic spine, forward head posture and medial rotation of shoulders. (This is the grand-daddy of them all, if you’re only going to do one exercise, do this one!) Lying face-down, arms down at sides, lift head, neck and chest off floor, squeeze shoulder blades together while externally rotating arms by sticking thumbs out like a hitch-hiker. Hold until you can’t anymore.

Restorative Yoga (this is your big reward)
Using a bolster, yoga block or rolled up towel, position it horizontally directly inferior to the bottom edge of your shoulder blades – this is approximately half way down your thoracic spine. Resting in this position for up to 5 minutes lets the force of gravity work to undo excessive bowing forward by bending you backward!!

Written by Julie Bacon
Massage Therapist, Seattle Athletic Club Downtown
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Benefits of High Intensity Training

Why is it a good idea to workout so hard you feel like you could be in the movie 300? Well because it's great to workout with the intensity that stresses not only your body but your mind. If you are a squash player, a basketball player, a marathon runner, any sort of sport, you know what I'm talking about. When it's the last quarter of the game, when it's those horrible final 6 miles, it's just as much about how conditioned your mind is as it is about how conditioned your body is. Doing workouts in the gym that challenge you to keep going, finish those 5 reps, keep moving that final 10 seconds, increase your weights by that extra 10lbs. Whatever the challenge may be, it's important to work hard and conquer whatever the road block is ahead of you with your muscles and your mind. Plus the harder you work the more you'll get out of it. Increasing your weight (thus upping the intensity) will produce stronger muscles and more lean body mass. By moving past that point of when you want to stop (up the intensity) you will continue your increased heart rate and thus burning more calories. A lot of the goal comes back to working hard to burn more calories and increase more muscle mass, the best way to do that is to add in harder workouts to your regime and keep making progress with your mind and body! Here are a few easy ways to increase your intensity (without feeling like you might puke!)

1. Add in more full body exercises (Kettlebell swings, squat presses, burpees, slam ball, etc.)
2. Try new exercises, just the new challenge is enough to get your brain, muscles, and heart rate up
3. Add in bouts of high intensity movements (in between sets 1 minute sprints on the eliptical, running stairs at the beginning, middle, and end of a workout, etc.)
4. Do as much with your own body weight as you can, resist using a bench, a machine, or a ball and MOVE YOURSELF THROUGH SPACE.
5. Work full range of motion, you have all that muscle and flexibility for a reason!
6. Make sure that the weights you are using are challenging enough, if you can do 20 reps (even 15) of most anything it's too light!
7. Be your own "hall monitor" if you know you are taking it easy, taking your time, resting more than working, not breathing hard, flat out... work harder!
8. Find a workout partner, a trainer, a new sport and have someone or something else outside of yourself to challenge you and push you to make progress.


Written by Adriana Brown
Personal Fitness Trainer, Seattle Athletic Club Downtown
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Third Limb of Patanjali’s Eight Limbed Path: Asana

The third limb of Patanjali’s eight limbed path is Asana, which can be translated as “seat” or “posture.” This is where most of us step onto the yogic path, through a practice of hatha yoga. Hatha can be translated as the union (yoga) of sun (ha) and moon (tha) where ha and tha are like the Taoist words yang and yin which point to active and receptive qualities within our minds and bodies-- active and receptive always in relation to something else. Hatha yoga is the yoga of the body, in which we balance these qualities (ha and tha) by finding the mid point between effort and ease, balancing strength with flexibility, finding optimal alignment within the body, with gravity and with the larger forces within and around us.

Asana refers to the various shapes in which our bodies are stretched in every direction from every orientation including forward, backward, twisted, upside down, reclining, prone seated and standing. Hatha yoga postures are an accessible and effective way of keeping the body/mind healthy, while balancing our subtle energies (the same energies balanced by acupuncture). There are many styles of hatha yoga to choose from so that a teenager, a young adult, a middle-aged man or an elderly woman can all find a practice that supports their body at their particular stage of life. Hatha yoga asanas, practiced with awareness, are something we can do throughout our lifetime.

When we practice asana, the simple guidelines Patanjali offers are to make it steady and pleasant. While performing a posture, we allow a steady, smooth breath so that our mind can relax and stay present, merging with whatever sensations arise. We take many actions within the pose to support good physical and energetic alignment so that we can relax our effort and find the support of gravity and the larger reservoirs of energy within and around us. Proper sequencing enhances the depth with which we can enter the postures by preparing the body to open so that we go deeper within a single pose or within a particular kind of pose such as backbends or twists.

Hatha Yoga asanas stretch and strengthen the entire body, and release stress held within our organs, supporting their proper functioning, while also toning the glandular system which supports healthy bodily cycles like menstruation, menopause, our stress response and overall mood. The proper performance and regular practice of asana will support us on all of these levels and allow these good effects to take root and blossom into a balanced and harmonious body/mind/heart. An imbalance at any level affects all levels, so working through the body tension allows for a smooth flow of energy through our emotional and mental systems and vice versa.

For asana to be most effective, we have to practice with sensitivity to our internal energy, understanding ourselves enough to see how we are faring with the tensions of life. During particularly stressful times it might be best to use the yoga practice as a time to restore and renew our energy. Likewise if we are feeling stuck and immobile, a practice that gets us moving is more appropriate. Understanding our constitution and how the seasonal shifts affect us also supports our self-understanding so that we can tailor a practice that will be balancing to our body/mind rather than throwing us deeper into imbalance.

When our teacher is leading our practice, these considerations still apply. Our teachers may not always offer the practice that is appropriate to us that day, but we can be sensitive to ourselves so that we can surrender to the flow of the class while still staying connected to our energy level and any limitations that need to be considered. Our home practice allows us to tailor the practice to our needs each time, as well as supporting the integration of all we receive in class and the awakening of our inner teacher, our true guide.

So, in looking at your asana practice, notice what you are practicing, how often, and also how you are practicing (your state of mind). One helpful lens from Anusara yoga is to evaluate your asana based on action, alignment and attitude. Once we learn the proper actions that support a balanced body, we apply them each time. We learn to be sensitive to our alignment and we look at our minds. Often our mind is sleepy, distracted, trying to be good, overly striving, overly focused on the external. In practicing asana, we notice these mental patterns while bringing awareness back to the present moment breath and sensation, and tuning our awareness to go deeper within. This attention to how we are practicing, to the qualities with which we infuse our practice, whether focused, gentle, devotional, sensitive, expansive, etc. is what brings the asana to life and makes the practice more than just physical exercise.

So, this week, take a look at your asana practice. Are you finding ease and steadiness with the postures; practicing in a way that makes you feel good? If not, what blocks you from finding this? Are you competing with yourself or others? Is your mind distracted? Are you discouraged or self-critical? If so, practice coming back to your body sensations themselves, and give them your full attention. Open to whatever you find while also tuning your awareness to an attitude that is more in alignment with your deeper motivation for practice. A balanced practice will leave you feeling lighter, steadier, peaceful and more integrated on all levels. Any posture we are taking is asana, so practice awareness of the shapes you find yourself in during your work day, and around the house, and try bringing more awareness to your asana all the time!

Written by Shannon McCall
Yoga Instructor, Seattle Athletic Club Northgate

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Why Do You Put So Much Effort into Being Active and Fit?

Some of you members may ask yourself from time to time, “Why do I put so much effort into being active and fit?” Well here is a motivating story about why you should stay as active as possible.

Very early one Friday morning a 55 year old SAC member was working out with her personal fitness trainer, Jacob Galloway, and began to feel dizzy half way through her workout. They stopped for a minute and discussed what could be going on; such as not eating enough or eating their normal diet, or not getting enough sleep. They decided to continue to workout at a slower easier pace. The member then took a shower and was getting ready to leave the gym when she got dizzy again and had to sit down. She drove to work with no episode and after an hour at work she started having repeated dizzy spells accompanied by a racing heart while just sitting at her desk. It got to the point where she had to sit on the floor next to her desk; at no time was there pain or discomfort in her left arm. The member then made an appointment with her cardiologist (she had a coworker drive her), who gave her a 48-hour heart monitor to wear.

Three days later the heart rate monitor was returned for analysis and within 45 minutes of its return the member received a call at home explaining that her heartbeat had gotten up to 255 beats for minutes at a time and that the frequency of the episodes was substantial. The doctors couldn’t figure out why she had not passed out and told her to get to the hospital ASAP.

At the hospital the SAC member had an angiogram, which showed that her heart was unbelievably strong and had no blockages; but there was an electrical short in the heart (think misfiring spark plug) and that an ablation (soldering) was called for. It seems that this problem usually presents itself in athletes who are in their late twenties/early thirties and that there is a 5-10% chance of it happening again. The doctor explained that had she not been at the gym her usual 5 days a week doing weights training, Pilates and cardio exercise, this heart problem most likely would have been fatal.

The ablation was done the next day and five days later the SAC member was back in the gym for her first workout since the heart surgery, only lifting 10lbs maximum though, and like always with a smile on her face, happy to be able to continue working towards her fitness goals.

Two messages from this SAC member were:
(1) Do NOT ignore your body when it is trying to tell you something and do NOT delay in seeking a medical opinion.
(2) Start exercising if you are not already doing so. No excuses.

Written by Jacob Galloway
Fitness Director, Seattle Athletic Club Downtown
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