Author Archives: Coach Mike

About Coach Mike

Mike Alves is an award winning and highly sought after strength & conditioning expert in the areas of weight loss, body transformations, corrective exercise and performance enhancement. He received his B.S. in Athletic Training from the Prestigious Springfield College, aka the Harvard of Sports Sciences, his ATC from the World Renowned National Athletic Trainers Association, his CSCS from the National Strength & Conditioning Association, the global leader in bridging science with practical application and is Licensed by the state of Massachusetts as a Certified Athletic Trainer. Coach Mike has been written up in the Boston Globe, the Newton Tab, he's been featured on NECN, he's been named a Top Trainer by Boston Common Magazine and been invited to be listed on bostonsbestpersonaltrainers.com, and he's been a repeat #1 Trainer in Boston by Boston Sports Clubs and a #6 Trainer by Town Sports International. Coach Mike lives an active lifestyle, is a relationships 1st person and changes lives through his relationships 1st business. Currently he works out of Newton, MA running the #1 Body Transformation Group Personal Training Program in Massachusetts, Change Your Body Boot Camps and offers private training to a highly selective clientele. His strengths are making training fun and giving the love of training & hard work to those he comes in contact with and helping out of shape and overweight individuals get into their best shape. He has coached middle school, high school, college, amatuer, Olympic & professional athletes in the sports of baseball, soccer, football, basketball, mma, triathlons, endurance running and cycling as well as busy professionals, stay at home moms, retired adults all desiring to feel, move and look better.

Dynamic Stretching vs Static Stretching

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Here’s an e-mail I received from a gym friend that you may enjoy.

“Hey Mike,

I came across an interesting article on the NYTimes website which discusses dynamic vs. static stretching:
What are your thoughts on the matter?”
Mischa

My response:

“Hi Mischa,

Great article. I’ve been warming up like that for the last 10 years +. People make fun of me all the time for my unorthodox warm ups. It really is a superior way to prepare yourself. In addition to all the benefits they mention, it also makes you more aggressive and focused.

I liked the movements they showed too. I do all of them and some others. I have stopped doing the scorpion b/c you get excessive lumbar rotation and you really want to resist lumbar rotation to prevent injuries. Instead I would do side-lying thoracic rotations and hip swings to loosen up the same muscles. Attached are some photos.

Thanks for asking the question.

Mike”

Here’s a photo of Side-Lying Thoracic Shoulder Rolls.

You can do 1 set of 5-20 reps as a warm up.

And here’s a photo of Hips Swings or Leg Swings. The first 2 photos are sagittal plane or forwards and backwards swings and the last 2 photos are frontal plane or side to side swings. Again you can do 1 set of 5-20 reps as a warm up.


Not only do I use dynamic stretching as a warm up, but I also have my clients use it. We give it an even fancier name too. We call it movement prep (preparation).

Here are some benefits to dynamic stretching:

  • increased heart rate
  • increased core temperature
  • increased muscle elasticity
  • increased motor coordination
  • increased mental alertness
  • increased aggressiveness
  • increased mobility
  • increased flexibility
  • increased nervous system rate of muscle firing
  • decreased risk of injury

Now just because it makes sense to use dynamic stretching as a warm up, it also makes sense to use static stretching as a cool down. Here are some reasons why:

  • increased flexibility
  • increased muscle pliability and ability to be lengthened post workout
  • increased level of calmness
  • increased circulation
  • decreased heart rate
  • decreased blood pressure
  • decreased risk of injury
  • decreased aggressiveness

Last, here are 2 videos from my recent pumpkin workout showing both a dynamic warm up and a static cool down.

Have you ever tried a dynamic warm up?

How does it make you feel?

Cheers,

Mike Alves

www.mikealves.com

p.s. Turkey Workout for Charity, Thursday, November 20 @ 7pm. Come join me and support a good cause if you think you can hang.

p.p.s. visit, www.mikealves.com/gobble.html


PUMP-kin Workout Wrap Up

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I love peaking for big things, whether it be a race, a game, a wedding, a date, a test or an event. Its an unbelievable feeling to be at your best when it matters most. Some day I’ll write an article about it, but today I’ll explain what I mean.

This past Thursday, Halloween Eve, I hosted a Freaky Fat Loss PUMP-kin Workout and it was a major success. 20 of 24 people who committed to attending, received and learned one of the best workouts of their life. There were door prizes for the first 15 people to arrive, a Malibu Ken host, spooky music, over 200lbs of pumpkins, lots of red faces and $225 raised for the John M. Barry Boys & Girls Club.

I had been planning this event, non-stop for the last 3 weeks, calling, e-mailing and visiting with people, writing the program, taking video, researching on PubMed, and practicing my presentation out loud. When the time came and the lights were on, Mike Alves stepped aside and Malibu Ken and his crazy costume stepped up. It was non-stop adrenaline and showmanship after that (downward dog anyone?). I really went on autopilot, but from the feedback I received, everyone said I was a natural and that it looked like I had done it before. (o.k. I had, just not in a long time)

At one point, when I was nervous, I said, “Does anyone else get nervous? Because when I get nervous, my hair turns blonde, my muscles swell up and my clothes shrink.” (wink).

The attendees, who varied from a high school kid to moms, to in shape to out of shape, to young and to old, to men and to women, all survived, I mean participated and learned about fat loss first hand. They even sent me thank you e-mails stating “I really enjoyed it”, “excellent night” and “amazing” and they all said they were sore and their legs were killing them. My apologies for the soreness. We’ll use lighter pumpkins next year.

Anyways, enjoy the photos and I hope to see you at the Gobble, Gobble Turkey Toss, Give to Hungry, Learn Fat Loss Charity event on Thursday, November 20 at 7pm to benefit the Bristol Loge Food Shelter of Waltham.

Cheers,

Mike Alves

www.mikealves.com

p.s. I created a card on how to peak on the most special day of the year, your birthday and if you would like to receive, just leave a comment below with your name and mailing address and I’ll send it to you on your big day. 🙂

p.p.s. grab a copy of Wednesdays Newton Tab as I believe Chrissy Long’s review of the Freaky Fat Loss PUMP-kin Workout will be in there.

p.p.p.s. Thursday, November 20, 7pm, Gobble, Gobble Turkey Toss, Give to Hungry, Learn Fat Loss. Be there!


Newton Tab and Great Client Feedback

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Great News and wanted to share it with you all.

The Newton Tab, a local publication in the town I do most of my training out of, responded to a story pitch/news release I sent them and said they would attend the Freaky Fat Loss PUMP-kin Workout and write a story about it.

So excited, I can’t write fast enough.

AND if that wasn’t great news, well I’ve got something that can top it.

One of my clients reported that 8lbs has miraculously disappeared in the past 2 weeks since we’ve regrouped and refocused and this is only the beginning. 4th Quarter Programs are beginning this week and my clients are going to be the talk of every holiday party they attend in the coming months. AND they’re either going to stick to their nutrition plan at these parties or they’re going to save up and use those nights as splurge meals. Right? 🙂

(calm down Mike, go lift something heavy)


Freaky Fat Loss PUMP-kin Workout

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Halloween is right around the corner and seeing that its on a Friday this year means its going to be a big night. Well as we Americans know the “eve” of a holiday is just as exciting. New Year’s Eve, Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving Eve (the day everyone commutes home for the big day and meets up with friends the night before), Columbus Day Eve,…o.k. I’m stretching it a bit, but the idea is often times people like to start early and Halloween is no different.

This year on October 30, Halloween Eve, at 7pm sharp, Change Your Body Boot Camps (a new offering from Athletes by Alves) will be holding a FREAKY FAT LOSS PUMP-kin WORKOUT to benefit the boys & girls club of Newton. This workout will use only a pumpkin and your body weight to give you an awesome workout that you can do anywhere, anytime with most any object. It will be fun, colorful and you’ll learn something new.

The reason I chose the boys & girls club was because I grew up attending their after school programs and participating in their recreation leagues. It has given me many friends and memories. A donation (optional) can be made out to the John M. Barry Boys & Girls Club.

Here’s the details:

When: Thursday, October 30, 2008 @ 7pm sharp (plan to arrive at 6:45pm)

Where: John M. Barry Boys & Girls Club of Newton, 675 Watertown Street, Newton, MA

Why: Because you’re gonna sneak some candy and some of you too much, so you mine as well burn and learn how to keep it off the extra pounds.

Who: Anyone who is looking to get in better shape (stronger, more conditioned, move better, change their body), likes to try new things, likes value, likes charity and wants to see how you use a PUMP-kin to workout with.

What: Please rsvp to mike(at)mikealves(dot)com and bring a pumpkin (8-10lbs for women, 15-20lbs for men), a water bottle and a hand towel.

Bonus: Not only is this a free workout, but you’ll also get an e-copy of this Pumpkin workout so you can remember and do it anywhere, anytime, with most anything and you get a complimentary week to Change Your Body Boot Camps, which runs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays @ 6am and starts November 3rd.

What do you think? Is this something you’d be interested in? Please comment below.


Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Blondie the comic strip

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Show of hands if you remember the Blondie comic strips when Dagwood napped on the sofa all day.

That was me today after practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with a much more experienced person who seemed to think I was wearing a skirt by the number of times he called me a girl or told me to take off the skirt.

Yup, this guy Keith, who was searching for a personal trainer and found the testimonial from my Krav Maga instructor, invited me to come train with him and compare fighting styles. I, wanting to be the best coach I can be excepted the offer so I could understand his sport better and what he was looking to do.

We met at a private gym near his home that has a small “mat room”. After warming up (most everyone knows I like to warm up my body before I play a sport), we “rolled” around on the mat, barefoot and wearing shorts & t-shirts. He showed me things like the guard (lying on your back with your opponent ready to attack), shrimping (like the bicycle ab exercise except its the same arm & leg coming together), the Kimora (think twisting someone’s arm into internal rotation) and the triangle arm lock (can’t explain yet). He told me that I made great facial expressions, was intense and got pissed off every time I had to tap out. “Yeah, thanks!”

In the end, even though I tapped out frequently and was called many feminine names (guys hate that) it was great. I really have natural athleticism in the form of kinesthetic awareness (knowing where your body is in space), strength (I was giving up 30 + pounds to this guy) and conditioning (I didn’t get tired). I moved well (thank you movement prep), endured (thank you planks & interval training) and made him work (thank you chosen profession). We agreed to do it again and he better watch out because I’m a fast learner. 🙂

Here’s a little background information on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with no gi or no Karate Kid uniform. It is basically grappling (wrestling) on the ground in which you try to get your opponent into a submission hold (think Head lock, arm lock, leg lock or some really embarrassing high pitched noise coming from your mouth that you never heard before). Once the victim, me in this case, is forced to submit, I tap out. “Tap out” or “tapping out” means you tap the floor or your opponent to signal “uncle” or “mercy”. And there’s no punching, kicking, elbows, knees or head butts. Just wrassling.

Here’s a video from youtube of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu without a gi.

Pretty cool isn’t it (roll your eyes if you’re a woman and repeat after me, “boys will be boys”)!

So you see how all of my training was used in a totally new experience and I held my own. What experiences have been surprisingly easier for you because of your training? Reply below.

Cheers,

Mike Alves
www.mikealves.com