There is always strength in numbers.  The more individuals or organizations that you can rally to your cause, the better.   —Mark Shields, American political commentator

Although he’s talking about politics, the quote certainly applies to what’s happening at O3 right now.

Beginning June 4, three of our personal trainers will be offering 45-minute group strength training classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at convenient times.  Each class will be limited to 4 people so that participants get the trainer’s individual attention and personal best. The classes will be held as follows:

• Samantha Stone will teach a class at 7 AM on MWF at theRiversidelocation.
• Rachel Blattner will teach a class at 5:45 PM on MWF at theRiversidelocation.
• Jay Goodman will teach a class at 9:15AM on MWF at the South location.

There are numerous benefits to these classes.  1) They’re more affordable – the cost of personal training is split between 4 people.  2) You will learn major lifts with proper techniques.  3) You can correct muscular imbalances to prevent injury. 4) You’ll build strength, increase intensity of your training, reduce body fat, and create a lean, strong, healthy body.  5) You’ll progress individually and as a group in fitness and nutrition knowledge.

So sign up now to push to the limit, burn through personal records, and maximize your potential.  Only 4 spots are available for each group strength training class, so commit before the classes fill up!  Call or email Samantha for more details:  828-808-3566 or Samantha@O3healthandfitness.com. To reach Rachel, call 828-691-1148 (Keith should we give her cell and email?) or email fitness@rachelblattner.com.  For Jay, call 828-713-5146 or email Jay@O3healthandfitness.com.

Stay tuned for more information about O3’s new Workplace Wellness program. The more individuals and organizations we can “rally to our cause” of health and fitness, the stronger our community will be.

According to a recent study, 59% of the world’s consumers do not understand nutrition labels.  And they have misconceptions about the health properties of their food choices.

There is an app for iPhones and Android phones called “Fooducate”. Created by a self-described team of “parents, dietitians, and techies”, the app turns your phone into a tool to use at the grocery store, enabling you to choose wisely.

Here’s how it works: download the Fooducate app on your phone or check out the Fooducate.com website for instructions.  You can then point your phone at a product barcode and up pops product highlights, good and bad, and brief pointers about what might be a healthier choice.  There  is a Fooducate Plus app that’s $3.99, but the free version is fun to use, too, and is full of information.

As soon as I loaded the app, I walked around my kitchen pointing my phone at barcodes.  (Don’t judge.) The low-sugar chewy granola bars got a C- and had a few choice words about them not being 100% whole grain and actually containing artificial sweeteners.  No longer is that a lunch box item for my child. Then I captured the barcode of the Stacy’s pita chips.  Uh-oh. They got a D+ and I was told that, “unlike potato chips that contain some potassium and vitamin C, pita chips are nutrient barren”.  The plus side is that I could just click through to the list of healthier alternatives to snack on – instead of doing the research myself. 

You’ll be able to instantly tell if what you have in your pantry and fridge is healthy. And if not, you can make a list of alternatives to help you turn bad eating patterns into good.

So get Fooducated…….and here’s to healthier food choices!

A report published in Science Transitional Medicine (2012; 4 [119], 119ra13) focused on what happens to the muscle at a physiological level when massage is applied after intense exercise. The test subjects, 11 young males, underwent resting muscle biopsies of the right and left vastus lateralis before the intervention. They then exercised at a high-intensity level for about 70 minutes.

Once the exercise protocol was complete, a licensed massage therapist massaged one leg of each participant for 10 minutes; the other, non-massaged leg of each participant acted as a control. The scientists were not told which leg had been massaged. Participants underwent two more rounds of biopsies on each leg: one immediately postmassage and the other 2.5 hours later. Researchers used microarray technology to measure abundance of mRNA (messenger RNA).

“Pathways that were apparent reflected an increase in mitochondrial biogenesis and a decrease in inflammation,” explained lead author Mark Tarnoplosky, MD, PhD.

“The overall theme of the biomechanical work is that the pathways for mitochondrial biogenesis appear to be enhanced and those pathways involved in the muscle inflammatory response appear to be attenuated in the massaged leg post-exercise,” Tarnopolsky added.

For more information about the benefits of massage or to make an appointment with Marlena, our resident massage therapist, please click here 

One of our bootcampers told me the other day that a woman came up to her and asked where she got her arms.  She replied that they are “O3 arms”, and told the woman how to get to our gym.

Next to women getting their abs in shape to wear the dreaded bathing suit, arm definition is a big summer goal.   Not everyone can have lean arms with biceps that flex with every slight movement. Genetics play a huge part in an individual’s fat storage areas. But if you do the exercises we give you with proper form, you will get more muscle for your work.

In achieving muscle gain, form is one of the most important factors. Proper form should never be sacrificed in an attempt to add weight or increase reps; momentum that you use to hoist weights that are too heavy will not shred body fat. But the motion might shred a tendon or two.

During class or a training session, if you feel like you are a little out of control with the weights we hand you, don’t be afraid to say it.  We want you to be challenged, but we also want you to control the movement, isolate the muscle group we’re working on, and gain muscle tone.  If you’re cheating by using momentum, the same amount of energy and time was used but the muscles being worked were not fully involved. The only thing you’ve increased is the chance of injury.

If you want O3 arms, a daily regimen of pushups will help.  But don’t do them like this author, with your elbows acting as wings, and your hands under your shoulders.  Let us show you how to do them properly!

Live life better

Keith Wimsett

You are lucky if your mom harped on you to stand and sit erect. Good posture, when learned as a child, becomes a habit for life.  But it is a tough habit to learn as you get older.  And bad posture is even harder to unlearn.

Bad posture is one of the first indicators of back pain.  Therefore, good posture is important to avoiding low back pain problems.  How you stand, sit, and lift has an increasing effect on your spine health as you age.

Are you sitting up a little straighter while you read this? When you sit, keep your back in a normal, slightly arched position. Ideally, your chair will support your lower back.  Keep your head and shoulders erect — picture an imaginary straight line from the top of your head through to your hips.  Your working surface should be at a height where you don’t have to lean forward.  Once an hour, if possible, stand and stretch – placing your hands on your lower back and gently arching backwards.

One thing you can do is to be aware of holding in your stomach.  If you are holding in those muscles, you are naturally erect.  It is a habit worth achieving.  If you are on your feet or sitting for a long time, concentrate on holding in your stomach muscles to relieve your back.

The most common back pain injuries relate to lumbar pelvic discomfort and sacroiliac (SI joint) problems.  Our age, activity levels, hobbies, and work practices affect our bodies resilience or propensity to these injuries. Research suggests that common walking patterns can be somewhat responsible for lower back pain.  For instance, people with SI joint pan seem to walk using their hip flexors contracting first, pulling their legs forward rather than pushing them with their glutes.  Walking this way puts pressure on the hip joint and its ligaments.

Let’s test it: Stand up and pretend your pelvis is a bucket and you are pouring water out the front.  You should be sticking your butt out behind you with an arched lower back.  Now try walking –notice you have to use the front of your hips to move your legs?  It’s bad biomechanics – tough on your SI joint ligaments, hips joints, lower back, and you aren’t as stable.

Now try keeping the bucket full, without spilling any, by standing upright and making sure your glutes contract first and push you along.  A person with low back disc trouble should get relief.  

Pain is an indicator of poor posture.  It can be an indicator of other structural problems, too, and you should see your doctor or chiropractor for help.  But keep helping yourself to have the healthiest back possible by paying attention to what your mama told you.  And pass that good advice on!

Exercise shoes, and for that matter, street shoes, are tools for a healthy body.  Running in old or worn-out shoes is one of the most common causes of running injuries.  They lose shock absorption, cushioning, and stability after 300 to 400 miles.  If you keep up your normal pace in aging, blown out shoes, you open yourself to overuse injuries.  If you feel muscle fatigue, shin splints, or pain in your joints, especially knees, it may be because of your….worn out shoes.

So how do you know when they’re kaput?  If you wait for the treads on the bottoms to wear down, chances are your feet hurt. You’re likely to sustain an injury (or have already).  The midsole usually breaks down before the bottom shows major signs of wear. 

And how do you measure 300-400 miles? If you run distance, you’ll be able to approximate their mileage if you keep a track record.  To be safe, keep another pair and alternate the two, using the oldest pair for short runs and the newest for the long runs. But keep in mind that if you have them on when you are not running, you are still wearing them down. That means you’ll have to buy another expensive pair of shoes earlier.

If you are simply wearing them to exercise in, you can probably change your shoes every 6 months.  But again, don’t wear them outside of the gym.

Our feet are under tremendous daily stress as it is.  And athletic foot injuries can be difficult to diagnose properly and treat.  Let’s do what’s in our power to give them a break. We can’t afford not to.

When life is complicated and distracting, my executive function blurs. “The List” becomes the elephant in the room.  

I recently read a blog by an artist who, in her zeal to promote her artwork, used to write a huge daily list of tasks and goals to accomplish.  She wanted amazing and perfect results NOW. According to Jessica Swift, “The dark side of this whole ambitious to-do list way of running my life is that sometimes it undermines me.  There is so much on the list that I don’t know where to begin, and it paralyzes me.  So I go check my email again instead, or I head over to facebook.”  Too many jobs competing for attention is not the golden ticket to productivity.

I’m not talking about paring down your to-do list to running to the grocery store, calling your mom, and making dinner. But I am suggesting you identify your most important goals, then do just 3 things each day devoted to moving you closer to them. 

Crossing off a shorter list goes a long way towards inner peace.  You are amazing, but you can’t do it all in a short amount of time.   And accomplishing 3 tasks a day, rather than getting stupefied by a longer list of them, is productive and a lot easier to stick with.

Is an uncontrollable sugar addiction keeping you from your healthiest self? Well, you’re not alone. Unlike other addictive substances, sugar is 100% legal. It’s everywhere. It’s even hidden in some of your go-to “healthy” foods. It is one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome when you’re trying to lose weight, lower your cholesterol, or increase your energy levels.

So what can you do?

Come out on Wednesday, March 14th for some answers. Our resident health coach, Samantha Pollack will be discussing all things sugar – why it’s so addictive, how to ferret out hidden sugar on food labels, and how to break the cycle of addiction once and for all.

It is possible to overcome sugar addiction WITHOUT deprivation. Come learn how!

You and a guest are invited to attend this FREE event. Please reserve your spot in the seminar and RSVP directly to Samantha Pollack: skpollack@gmail.com. The seminar will fill up quickly, and you won’t want to miss this one!

WHEN:  Wednesday, March 14th at 6:00 PM

WHERE: O3 Health and Fitness, 554 Riverside Dr.

COST: FREE!

So on March 10, we launch our free Saturday boot camps at both gym locations.  The only caveat is that we ask you to bring in food items for MANNA FoodBank.

We will continue to have an 8:30 am class at 554-C Riverside Dr. We are adding a 10 am class for the month of March at the 856 Sweeten Creek Rd. location.

Our new Saturday boot camp will be taught by Travis Futrell.  Travis comes to us with many years experience teaching boot camps, and he has all the toys, too: tractor tires, kettlebells and kegs. And you haven’t lived until you’ve pushed or pulled his weighted sled.  Are you surmising that it is going to be outside?  You’d be correct. 

I thought I’d share the facts about the huge need for us to help our community families:

• In MANNA’s first operating year (1982), they distributed 40,000 pounds of food.  In 2010/2011, they distributed about 9.9 million pounds.  They may exceed 11 million pounds in 2012.
• A recent study by the Washington, D.C.-based Food and Research Action Center revealed that the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area ranked 3^rd Worst in the nation with respect to our residents’ basic capability to put food on the table. 
• 106,000 different WNC persons (including nearly 33,000 children and 9,600 senior citizens) seek emergency food assistance in a single year from one of our partner agencies.  Some need help only once; others need assistance long term.  This is 1 in 6 of our WNC neighbors needing help.
• Due to the efficiencies at MANNA FoodBank, they can turn a $1 donation into 3 meals.
• 74% of the clients seeking food assistance live below the federal poverty line of $22,128 annual income for a family of 4.
• It only takes about 1.2 pounds of food to feed an individual a meal.  MANNA Packs for Kids provide over four pound food packs each Friday to children in over 100 schools in a 16-county service area.  This helps children who are on subsidized lunches to have food for the weekend. 
• For more information, go to www.mannafoodbank.org.

This is a list of the most needed items in a Food Drive such as ours:

• Canned meats (beef, chicken, tuna)
• Peanut butter (plastic jars only)
• Dried/Canned beans (pork & beans, pinto, kidney, black)
• Hearty soup (pop-tops preferred)
• Meals in a box or can (beef stew, chili, mac&cheese, hash)
• Canned & dried fruits (fruit cocktail, applesauce, raisins)
• Canned vegetables (green beans, carrots, corn)
• Cereals & grains (rice, pasta, cereal in a box or bag)
• Fruit and vegetable juices (100% juice preferred)
• Dry milk (instant non-fat)

I hope we’ll see you at one of our free Saturday boot camps. We’ll have a barrel at each location for your food items.

So I’m going to shamelessly ask for your help to blow up our bootcamps.

We want more bootcamp members.  The more people we have, the more incentive trainers have to teach and the stronger our O3 community becomes. 

With spring right around the corner comes the ability to have classes outside. This gives us room to expand all of our classes, from the 6:15am class to the 5:45pm class.

How can you help and what do you get in return? 

Bring someone with you for a FREE WEEK trial, if they sign up for the following month you will receive a FREE month of bootcamp yourself.  If you bring in more than 1 referral and that person signs up too, you receive another FREE month.  And so on, ad infinitum.

That’s not all: The person who brings in the most new sign-ups in 2 months will win 6 MONTHS OF FREE BOOTCAMPS!

Think of it as “Sharing the Fitness Love”. 

Thank you, in advance, for your efforts in maintaining fit bodies and a well community.