Heave and Ho - What are Sandbags Doing in the Gym?

Sandbags, what and why is this in the gym and not at a construction site? Sandbags (which are literally just bags filled with sand) are an old school tool that are getting a lot of new publicity as of lately. You see them being used by NFL players, by UFC fighters, by that guy at the park. Why are these bags so utilized by highly powerful athletes and those looking to gain that explosive edge?

Here are just a few reasons to use a sandbag instead of a conventional dumbbell or barbell:

1. Because the bags are filled with sand the weight is constantly varied and no rep will feel the same. As the weight moves around in the bag you'll have to balance it out as you move explosively through exercises.
2. Balance, ripping a 45lb bag filled with loose sand off the floor to your chest will require much more full body balance and coordination than a unified barbell would.
3. Real world training. It's cool to bicep curl 50lbs but if you are looking to gain an athletic advantage on the soccer field (increasing your take off speed, jumping, quick turns, etc) or looking to be able to work in the yard without throwing out your back every other weekend, you'll find that sandbags are as real as it gets.
4. Unique exercises, sandbags are diverse and will challenge you with full body power movements as well as with stretching and core work. The possibilities are endless with this tool.
5. Fun! The bags are diverse, challenging, and can be used just about anywhere. You can build an intense workout with 4 basic exercises, sounds more fun than sitting on benches doesn't it?!

Sandbags will push you to find new ways to use your legs and arms as one powerful unit and help you build full body strength. Give it a try, pick up a bag and see how unique it is. This is one time you won’t get in trouble for throwing sand around!

To learn more about sandbag training contact Personal Fitness Trainer, Adriana Brown by phone at 443-1111 ext. 273.

Written by Adriana Brown
Personal Fitness Trainer, Seattle Athletic Club Downtown

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Barbells for Everyone

What's new? Try something old; we are talking the tried and true basic barbell lifts. Here's a few basic barbell exercises you may have heard of before; Front squat, Back squat, Overhead squat, RDL's, Shoulder Press, Bench Press, and Good Mornings. If you haven't heard of these movements you should get to know them ASAP.

Why are these movements so great if they are "basic?" There are a few reasons to do these exercises;

1. Increase your strength quickly, safely, and efficiently.
2. Increase your core strength actively through a full range of motion.
3. Increase your flexibility and joint/bone strength.
4. Burn more calories by using your full body, targeting larger muscle groups and increasing body tension while moving through the motions.
5. Using your new found strength and range of motion to apply to sports, general fitness, and overall health.

These basic lifts, when done correctly and to full range of motion, will make your workout feel like sprinting up a hill. The full range of motion, combined with a heavier load, pushes your body both in muscular strength and increased heart rate. Not only do these lifts make you sweat (buckets even) they push you to keep good form, good posture, and the concentration demands are much higher than sitting on a bench or using a leg press. You'll test yourself physically and mentally to find more depth, increase your weight, and build core strength. Lifting with barbells will help you understand your body better and coordinate your muscles to fire harder, faster, and more efficiently. All these things add up to a intense workout, quicker strength gains and greater flexibility that will push you to continually work harder (increasing your heart rate and caloric burn).

Learning how to coordinate and move your body through space without weight first is pivotal in executing these more demanding exercises. Be smart, make small gains, be true to the movement, always aim for proficiency before increases in weight, and have fun!

If you want to learn more about these lifts and how to increase strength quickly, Personal Fitness Trainer Adriana Brown runs Men's Power Training for Sport (barbell lifting) every Wednesday from 7:00-8:00am. To find out how you can become a barbell aficionado, call Adriana at 206-443-1111 or send her an email.

Written by Adriana Brown
Personal Fitness Trainer, Seattle Athletic Club Downtown

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Lunch Box Express 45 Minute Workout

Earlier in June Personal Fitness Trainer Adriana Brown talked about the benefits of High Intensity Training. Her latest "Get It Done" lunch time workout applies these principles in a quick 45 minutes.





Written by Adriana Brown
Personal Fitness Trainer, Seattle Athletic Club Downtown

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Post Exercise Fueling

Just finished a hard training session with Captain "I said 10 more!" and now you are dog tired and hungry as a wolf. What do you re-fuel your body with, there are so many choices! The best thing to do is pick food higher in protein and fat and lower in carbohydrates and sugars especially. The more protein the better chance your body (muscles in particular) have of re-pairing themselves. The protein combined with the fat will take long to metabolize and sustain your energy for longer. Stay away from simple carbohydrates such as bagels, muffins, scones, syrups, yogurt coated nuts, etc. Need something fast, a protein shake with real fruit and a small amount of milk/soy milk in it will really hit the spot! Want to keep it simple? Try a hand full of almonds, a hard boiled egg, and a small piece of fruit. Don't forget to follow it all up with plenty of water!

Written by Adriana Brown
Personal Fitness Trainer, Seattle Athletic Club Downtown
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Get It In When it Fits In

What part of your work day are you guaranteed to have at least an hour to yourself? Before work, maybe if you don’t have to be at work at 6:00am, if you don’t have kids you have to get to school, if you don’t like to sleep in, if you don’t have dogs to walk. After work, maybe if you are still energized enough, if it’s not dinner time, if you don’t have to pick up the kids from soccer practice, if you don’t have a late meeting. Lunch time, for sure! This is the best part about working out on your lunch break, you’ll always be guaranteed to have that time to yourself. Maybe you might have a lunch meeting but for the most part that is your one hour out of the work day that is yours to do what you wish. Sounds like the perfect time to get a quick, strenuous, fun, energizing, and beneficial workout it! Besides having it fit nicely in the middle of your day, here are a few great reasons to workout at lunchtime:

1. Get in, get out and it’s done for the day. No worries about having to make time for a workout after work, this way there are no excuses.
2. Stop the after lunch crash, no more coffee or energy drinks required. After a lunchtime workout you’ll be energized with endorphins and will be ready to finish off the last half of your work day.
3. The quality of your lunch meal will be so much more beneficial. Most of the time you go for a salad at lunch but sometimes you grab a pizza, a pasta dish, or maybe even some heavy Thai food. After a good workout you will want nothing but good fuel for your body, I mean you didn’t do all that hard work just to turn around and un-do it all in 10 minutes - right!?
4. It’s easy to get your co-workers involved. Sometimes you go to lunch with your friends from work, but now make it a healthier get together and come down to the gym together. It’s always more fun if you have a partner in crime!
5. You are awake enough (as opposed to bright and early before work) to be alert and strong but not tired enough (as opposed to after an 8 hour work day) to not have enough gas in the tank to put forth good effort.

Come down during lunch, try it out and experience the benefits of a lunch time workout first hand. There are plenty of classes, programs, trainers, and gym partners for you, making this a great way to break up your work day. Plus, when you are done you can enjoy some of the healthy sandwiches, salads, smoothies, and fruit that available at the SAC Café.

Adriana offers a great Lunchbox Express workout that works for all fitness levels and is scheduled perfectly to suite the lunch hour.

Written by Adriana Brown
Personal Fitness Trainer, 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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Easy Outside Workout Tips

The sun is finally out and you are bursting at the seams to get out there and exercise. But you are torn because you don't want to give up your weightlifting hour, or your time on the elliptical but you aren’t a runner and walking doesn’t really seem like much of a workout. But it’s Seattle, there is finally Vitamin D to absorb and you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Well I have the answer for you, it’s called HILLS!

You can walk/run/bike/lunge/skip/go backwards up any hill and if you push yourself with speed or by wearing a weight vest I can assure you it will be a workout. Find the hilliest part of your neighborhood. Find a new area of town you want to see (a hilly one of course) and start at the bottom and work your way up. I personally enjoy hill repeats on a nice sunny day. If I don’t feel like putting miles in running I will simply find a steep incline or a mildly long incline and run up it. If it’s short I’ll do it 10-20 times if it’s long or I’m going up two or more blocks I might only do 5-10 repeats. The goal is always to keep moving, the down is the rest so enjoy it while it lasts. As soon as you get back to the bottom it’s time to sprint/walk/ride etc back up again.

If this sounds like fun but you are looking for a little more diversity try adding in stairs to your workout. Queen Anne has TONS of them (as do MANY other areas of town), add them to a run, add them to a walk, just go out and get up some stairs! You can repeat as many times as you like, go as fast or as slow as you like, use your body weight or added weight, whatever strikes your fancy. The goal is to push yourself just like you would in the gym but be able to be outside and enjoy the roses.

Lastly if you don’t feel too weird about being that guy doing squats, push-ups, park bench jumps on your trail run adding in the body weight exercises to your cardio is a great way to kill two birds with one stone. Tired of running/walking and you still have 3 more miles to go? Take a “break” and do 20 squats, 20 push-ups, 20 floor to ceilings, and or 20 tuck jumps. Take the gym outside and enjoy our few months sunshine!

Written by Adriana Brown
Personal Fitness Trainer, Seattle Athletic Club Downtown

Proper Posture During Cardio

Have you ever seen (or maybe you’ve done it yourself) the people on the big revolving stairs called the Step Mill, hunched over, hugging the machine for dear life, and letting their buns hang out way behind them?

Have you ever seen the people on the little step machine called the Stair Stepper with their hands turned around behind them constantly holding up their body weight and when the turn the page of their magazine they start thudding on the floor?

Have you ever seen the people on a super high incline treadmill walking up the biggest hill ever created on a machine holding on with white knuckle grip and leaning back with all their weight holding on to the machine through their extended arms?

Have you ever seen (or maybe you’ve done it yourself) the people on the elliptical sprinting away with their hips way out behind them and their head right up in the control screen?

Well I’m here to tell you a few things about getting a good, safe, and result filled workout out of your “cardio time.” First off if you have decided to turn up the resistance or the speed and that results in you changing your posture then it’s too hard for you. If you have made the cardio exercise harder by increasing the resistance and all of a sudden you are getting an arm workout (from holding up your body weight) instead of the intended leg workout then it’s too hard for you. If you don’t walk up stairs normally by pulling your body weight up by the hand rails and bending over so that your head is around your hip height (think The Hunch Back of Notre Dame) then why on earth would you do that while you exercise?

By keeping good posture we not only work our core muscles but we also allow the best oxygen uptake into our lungs. We also help use are body in a real life fashion so that you can be stronger applying those same movements to the real world. In addition, keeping good posture also keeps us from causing injuries, the more out of align our bodies are while being stressed (with resistance or with speed) the more chance you will have to pull a muscle, cause joint inflammation, and or create lack of flexibility.

While it might be tempting to go faster than the person next to you on the machines or to turn up the resistance so you sweat a little more, if you can’t do it correctly you are FAR better off doing it at a slower pace or lower resistance. Make sure you are getting full benefit out of your cardio workouts, and that starts with good posture!

Don’t be that person!

Written by Adriana Brown
Personal Fitness Trainer, Seattle Athletic Club Downtown

Choosing the Right Exercise

Before you start any sport or exercise program there are a couple of questions you should be able to answer:

1. What are your goals? This will determine the kind of workouts you will want to do.

2. What do you feel confident doing? How much experience and knowledge do you have/need?

3. What do you like to do? What physical activities or types of exercise do you enjoy doing?

4. How much time do you have to workout? This will also determine what you do in the gym that will benefit you the most, in the least amount of time.

What are your goals? This is important because it will help you chose the right exercises to help you get to your goals as fast as possible. For instance, if you are looking to gain more flexibility then your goal should be to warm up and stretch or take a yoga class. If your goal is to increase your lean muscle mass and lose body fat then your exercises should be based more on high intensity weightlifting. If you are looking to get into better overall shape and increase strength then you should be do more complex full body exercises.

What do you feel confident doing? Do you have a ton of free weight experience? Have you never used a Free Motion machine before? Do you know how to use the elliptical but have never seen a Stepmill before? It's important to stick with stuff that you are comfortable with. Making sure your are doing exercises correctly, making sure you are not self-conscious about what you are doing, and making sure that your not wasting time wondering how to work something. Make sure you choose the equipment that you have had experience with is a good place to start.

What do you like to do? Do you hate running? Are you a die hard swimmer? Especially when you first start in a routine make sure to pick out the exercises that will keep you coming back. If you hate free weights but insist on making yourself do them make sure that doing so doesn't keep you avoiding the gym because you are dreading your workout. You have to be enjoying (at least somewhat) the things that you are doing in the gym. It's all about getting on a routine and sticking to it so make sure you having something to look forward to and that keeps you coming back.

How much time do you have to workout? If you are really limited with time, say 30 minutes, make sure you come into the gym with a plan of action. Make sure you know what you will be doing. A good example would be using Cybex equipment and going through a quick circuit making sure you hit all muscle groups. Or if you are dying to come in and work on your upper body strength make sure to have all the muscle groups you want in mind and make sure you know if you want to use dumbbells or barbells, etc. But most of all make sure to pick exercises (or exercise modes) that you know how to do so you don't waste time trying to figure out how to do something. A short amount of time means getting the best bang out of your buck, efficiency is key!

Written by Adriana Brown, Personal Trainer at the Seattle Athletic Club Downtown.
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