Category Archives: personal trainer boston (newton)

gobble, gobble

Posted on by
2

 

Gobble, Gobble Turkey Toss, Give to Hungry Learn Fat Loss


Friday, November 16, 2012 @ 7pm

At the Mackenzie Center, 1337 Centre St, Newton Centre, MA  02459

Presented by Mike Alves of Change Your Body Boot Camps

To Benefit the MHSA/Bristol Lodge of Waltham.

 

Mike Alves of Change Your Body Boot Camps is announcing the turkey donation fat loss workout event to remember with the 4th Gobble, Gobble Turkey Toss, Give to Hungry, Learn Fat Loss Charity Boot Camp Workout.  This event will provide food to hundreds of people during the Thanksgiving holiday and take the givers through a great fat loss routine they can do anytime, anywhere with most any object, even a back pack filled with canned goods or books.

 

 

The fat loss routine will be 45 minutes of total body interval training using only your body weight and the weight of the loaded back pack you bring. You’ll be warmed up and cooled down; we’ll address every functional movement pattern, work your holiday storage system (e.g. your core) and end with a “finisher”. The best part is, it will allow people of different levels of fitness to train together because it is time based and includes exercises for beginners to advance. It will be fast, fun and you’ll understand how to exercise to lose fat in the shortest amount of time.

 

 

The MHSA/Bristol Loge Meals of Waltham is a soup kitchen that will be providing Thanksgiving Day meals to individuals and families in need. Help ensure that no person is turned away this holiday season.

 

 

All attendees are asked to do the following:

 

 

  • Donate a FROZEN turkey which will be “tossed” from person to person at the end of the workout while loading the giving truck. All sizes of turkeys welcome.
  • bring a water bottle, hand towel and gloves (your hands will get cold passing what could be 100 turkeys)
  • a cooler to keep your FROZEN turkey frozen while we exercise.  please bring labeled cooler (so you don’t mix up your cooler w/ someone else) w/ turkey inside.
  • a back pack filled with dumbbells, weights, a medicine ball, a pumpkin or canned goods that you will use to exercise with (15-30lbs for women, 30-60lbs for men)
  • wear fitness attire
  • Rsvp by filling out contact form below to reserve your spot as there are only 100 spaces available.

 

 

 
Frequently Asked Questions:

 

“Mike, why are you doing all these charity events?” Why not? Seriously, Getting people in shape is what I do for a living. Getting you to break habits like overeating and not burning & earning is all part of it. Giving to others is a way to make you feel good about yourself and tie it into something you may not love yet, like exercise.

 

“Mike, why do I need to bring a labeled cooler?” Great question. The Mackenzie Center, our host venue has many services and programs to offer, but a walk-in freezer is not one of them. I could have the “giving truck” arrive for the start, but I feel the minor inconvenience of lugging a cooler, will be worth the experience of the turkey toss. That’s when you’ll really feel the power of celebrating the holidays, exercise and giving.

 

“Mike, what’s the workout going to be like?” Fast and as challenging as you are willing to make it. There will be music playing in the background, the exercises will be time based, each person will have a choice of 3 different levels to choose from for each exercise. You’ll be warmed up, train your core, do a total body strength circuit, experience a finisher, do the turkey toss and conclude with a static stretch.

 

“Mike, why do I need to bring a weighted backpack?” The backpack and your body weight will serve as your resistance for the day. It is also a symbol that you can exercise anywhere, anytime, with most any object, even a weighted back pack.

 

“Mike, what should I put in the back pack?” You can put books, a medicine ball, dumbbells, canned goods, a pumpkin, anything really.

 

“Mike, what if I want to do more or less weight than you recommended?” Go for it. Use less weight if you are in less shape and more weight if you are in better shape. The heavier weight you use, the faster your results will occur. If you choose too little weight and it’s too easy, strive to do as many reps as possible. If you choose too much weight and its too heavy, that’s o.k. too. Just do your best, rest as needed and keep going. Good things will happen faster.

 

“Mike, what if I get tired?” Great. Do your best to push through it. Challenge yourself, see what you really can do. Then if you need to rest, rest. Just stay where you are, grab a sip of water and rejoin when you can. If you need to sit down, then sit down.

 

“Mike, why the Bristol Loge Soup Kitchen?” I read a couple of articles in the Boston Globe about Soup Kitchens not having enough food to meet the demand of applicants requesting assistance. I couldn’t imagine not (1) having a place to go for Thanksgiving and (2) not being able to feed myself or my family. So…Gobble, Gobble. We’re going to give 100’s of pounds of turkeys and feed over a 100 hungry people. It will be awesome. Article #1, Article #2

 

“Mike, can I make a cash donation instead or as well?” Of course. You can make a cash donation to the MHSA Bristol Lodge Soup Kitchen of Waltham. You don’t have to bring a frozen turkey to participate, but you’ll be glad if you did.

 

“Mike, what if I haven’t exercised in a while, I’m really out of shape or I have an injury?” Good questions. Well its up to you. This will be a challenging workout, I will show 3 different levels for each exercise and I expect you to do your best. If you think you can’t, then you probably can’t. If you think you can, then come on down. You and I will do our best to get you a great workout.

 

“O.K. how do I sign up?” Fill out the contact form above. You can also contact me with questions on my contact page.


Change Your Body Boot Camps is a fun, challenging and dynamic body transformation exercise class for busy people looking to change their bodies and their lives. This class is perfect for people looking to be led, supported by peers and can make time to exercise either before or after work after school drop off. Participants will use their body weight, dumbbells and bands as resistance in an interval workout that incorporates exercise regressions and progressions to address different fitness levels. To learn more about Change Your Body Boot Camps go to bootcampboston.com.

1-Leg Dead Lifts: “less sore week my a**!”

Posted on by
Reply

“Less sore week my ass!…”  is an email quote I received from Super Client, Alicia, this past Monday following our “…killer Monday workouts…”. Continue reading →

Shin Splints

Posted on by
1


Ouch. You ever get shin splints. The very uncomfortable pain, most commonly associated with your anterior shin bone (tibia). Well, often times people who are de-conditioned and out of shape experience this problem when they:

  • Go from sedentary and inactive to weight bearing and active
  • Go from sedentary and/or walking to linear, multi-directional or stop + start running
  • change running surfaces: grass to turf, pavement, concrete or wood
  • wear improper footwear: old, worn out sneakers or poorly fitting sneakers
  • have poor foot musculature (soft feet as opposed to strong, muscular feet)
  • have weak (lack of stability or loose) or jacked up (lack of mobility or stiff) ankles
  • have weak anterior shin muscles
  • have poor hip mobility (stiff hips)
  • have poor lumbar spine stability (weak core)
  • have poor recovery from activity
  • forgot their shin pads and got kicked by your partner in Krav Maga

Why does this happen?

The most common reason they experience this is because their feet are soft from wearing soft shoes. Their ankles are weak and stiff from previous ankle sprains or sitting too often and for too long. Their calves, Achilles tendon or entire lower leg musculatures are tight from also sitting too often and for too long. They lack mobility in their hips (too stiff, not a good dancer) and their core is probably weak (unstable and soft like a bowl full of jelly). You could go further and say their thoracic spine is stiff (upper back), their scapulo-thoracic joint (shoulder blade) is unstable and weak and their gleno-humeral or shoulder joint is stiff and weak. The whole kinetic chain is usually messed up, but not in all cases.


What do you do?

Here’s an 11 point action plan I use in my Newton (Boston) Change Your Body Boot Camps to correct shin splints for my participants from acute symptomatic treatment of the actual pain on your shins (ouch!) to the long term resolution of your issue, sometimes it’s even instantaneous relief, just ask Flo.

1. Ice massage with an ice cup (paper cup filled with water and frozen) rubbed over pain site for 10min (if cold sensitive, take off and put back on when tolerable)

2. Foam Roll calf and Achilles tendon. Turn foot in & out.

3. Foam Roll peronneals on the lateral aspect of the lower leg. This is the Curt Shilling muscle from the blood sox or sock days of 2004.


4. Foam Roll the shins

5. Lacrosse ball roll on foot

6. 3-Directional Flat Ankle Mobes (straight over 2nd toe, diagonally towards big toe & pinky toe)


7. 3-Directional Incline Ankle Mobes (straight over 2nd toe, diagonally over big & pinky toes)


8. Frontal Plane ankle mobes (pronation & supination)


9. Active Shin Stretch

10. Active Gastrocnemius Stretch

11. Active Soleus Stretch

Give it a whirl and post a comment below to let me know how it works for you.

Your coach,

Mike Alves

Boston Boot Camp


Newton Boot Camp


Change Your Body Boot Camps




Scary Change = Excitement

Posted on by
Reply

Here’s an e-mail I received from a new, Change Your Body Boot Camp client.

Hey Mike,

I just wanted to let you know that after Day 1 of Boot Camp I’m really excited! The workout was hard and I can’t believe how much I’m feeling it today! I think that this change was just what I needed. This really challenges me to do all I can and be the best I can be to keep up with everyone! It’s still a little scary but everyone seems pretty cool and nice so I’m glad I made the change.

I can only imagine how hard tomorrow’s workout will be since my legs and arms are pretty beat up from yesterday!

I hope you have a super day and I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow!

Lisa

Lisa, I thought you did great and I look forward to coaching you tomorrow.

Mike Alves

mikealves.com/change.html


Earn and Burn Baby!

Posted on by
1

Thanksgiving is upon us and boy am I ready for some cheesecake. Yup, I said it. I heart cheesecake. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is on the “bad” list, its a splurge meal, its part of the 10% cheat meal, etc…, but I know a secret that I’ve shared with my clients and I’ll share with you. It’s called earn and burn. Catchy isn’t it. 🙂

Earn & Burn

Earn and Burn simply means to earn your calories by burning your calories. Create a caloric deficit before, enjoy your meals and expend additional calories after. Get it? It’s simple right? Most people either have never thought about this or if they did, weren’t really sure how to do it.

Enter…the Mastuh Trainuh! 🙂

Here’s what you do. Call your friends, family or loved ones you’ll be spending Turkey day with and ask them if they’d like to join you in an “earn & burn”. Decide what you want to do. It could be a long, looping walk around town, a 5k (3mile) Turkey Trot or a 30-45minute Fat Loss Workout. It can be something else too, just remember it should either be of long duration or highly exertional. If you choose the walk, shoot for an hour looping walk. If you choose the run, have fun and make sure to warm up & cool down. The more calories burnt the better. If you choose a fat loss workout, intensity with minimal rest is key.

What’s a fat loss workout? Great question.

A fat loss workout is a high intensity interval training workout. It can be done anywhere, anytime with most any object.

Wanna see a fat loss workout in action? Click play to watch the video.

Did you see people just like you in the video? Most anyone can do this workout. Use more weight if you’re in better shape, use less weight or none if you’re out of shape. Rest if you need to. Not too intimidating and maybe it even looked interesting or dare I say, “fun”. 🙂

Back to earn & burn.

Next comes the holiday meal we’ve all been waiting for. Mmmmm, mmmm, look at all the good food. Go and enjoy your dinner and your company, savor each forkful and leave room for dessert, if that’s your thing, just don’t eat the cheesecake, I heard it was gross. (wink)

The final burn

After the big meal, go for a “Last Name” family Walk. We do an “Alves Family Walk” and because its New England we’re all bundled up. Doesn’t stop us though. It’s tradition. Sometimes we even do it before dessert, o.k. we maybe did that once, but we tried it. Not every one joins us, but the majority do. We go for a big walk, everyone together, little circles form talking about who knows what. Then we come back and fight over seats on the sofa. 🙂 Sound familiar?

So do you think you can do an earn & burn this year?

Would you like a fat loss workout to do and share Thanksgiving morning?

If you said yes, you’re in luck.

Fat Loss Workout

The Freaky Fat Loss PUMP-kin Workout is finally done and ready to be shared. It was supposed to be a copy and grew to a mini e-book, but its ready and I’m excited to share it with you, free of charge. To receive it, just comment below “More PUMP-kin Workout Please” with your e-mail address written like this: username(at)domain(dot)com. I’ll e-mail it to you asap.

That’s it. No strings, just my way of giving back and fighting fat.

(I’m still hoping to post it for easy download, but all of the pictures, descriptions and content has made it too large to host on my website. E-mail works fine as I’ve already sent it to myself).

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Your personal coach,

Mike Alves

www.mikealves.com

PS if you take the leftovers, keep earning & burning through the weekend.

PPS this is my first e-book, so feedback is very welcome.

PPPS Change Your Body Boot Camps begins Monday, December 1st. To learn more visit, http://mikealves.wpengine.com/cybbc.html