Just a heads up. 7 Days until the Turkey Toss Workout.

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

When: 7pm sharp (arrive 6:45), Thursday, November 20, 2008

Where: John M. Barry Boys & Girls Club of Newton

Why: Fight Holiday Season Fatness, teach you an anytime, anywhere with any object fat loss routine and support the Soup Kitchens of Waltham.

Who: You of course. Yes your friends can come to. Yes there is an age limit,14 and up. No you don’t have to be in great shape, just healthy and free from injury.

How: Because your generosity, combined with my generosity will create something really special and help a ton of people.

Here’s what you need to do:

• bring frozen turkey to donate in labeled cooler (you keep cooler)
• bring weighted back to exercise with (books, weights, canned goods, or feathers weighing 8-15 lbs for females and 15-30lbs for males) 🙂
• bring water bottle, gloves (hands get cold tossing turkeys), waiver form
• wear fitness attire
• rsvp to mike(at)mikealves(dot)com

The workout is 30-35minutes long.

The charity is the Bristol Lodge Soup Kitchen of Waltham.

You can learn more by visiting, http://mikealves.wpengine.com/gobble-gobble/

See you soon,

Mike

www.mikealves.com

p.s. Here’s the newspaper article the Newton Tab wrote about last months Pumpkin Workout. You don’t want to miss this.

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:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pewarm.html?_r=4&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

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

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!

Click here to View this Video!

What is blood pressure?

“Blood pressure is a measurement of the force applied to the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps blood through the body. The pressure is determined by the force and amount of blood pumped, and the size and flexibility of the arteries.

Blood pressure is continually changing depending on activity, temperature, diet, emotional state, posture, physical state, and medication use.”1

What’s the difference between systolic (the top number) and diastolic (the bottom number)?

“Blood pressure readings are measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and usually given as 2 numbers. For example, 110 over 70 (written as 110/70).

• The top number is the systolic blood pressure reading. It represents the maximum pressure exerted when the heart contracts.
• The bottom number is the diastolic blood pressure reading. It represents the pressure in the arteries when the heart is at rest.”1

OK, so what’s happening when I’m getting it read at the doctors office?

When having your blood pressure read (using a sphygmomanometer or blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope), as the pressure around the arm reduces and the level on the dial or mercury tube falls, the point at which the pulsing (the thump, thump you feel) is first heard (the thump, thump the recorder hears) is recorded.1 This is the systolic pressure and represents how much force is being applied to the artery walls, how much blood is being pumped and how big & flexible your artery walls are when your under stress.

“As the air continues to be let out of the cuff, the sounds will disappear. The point at which the sound disappears is recorded. This is the diastolic pressure (the lowest amount of pressure in the arteries as the heart rests).”1

What’s a normal reading?

“In adults, the systolic pressure should be less than 120 mmHg and the diastolic pressure should be less than 80 mmHg.”1

Where can I learn more?

To learn more about risks of high & low blood pressure as well as what abnormal blood pressure readings are, visit this site: http://www.healthline.com/adamcontent/blood-pressure .

This post was quoted and summarized with permission from healthline.com.

1. Van Voorhees, Benjamin W., The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.; ADAM Health Illustrated Encyclopedia, http://www.healthline.com/adamcontent/blood-pressure, 07/21/2006