It’s almost here, the 1st official day of Spring is just mere weeks away. What better time to spring clean your body along with your closets, garage, cabinets etc.?

My challenge to you - for 1 week (7 days):

-drink green tea in place of coffee

-eat only organic foods

-trade sour cream for non fat plain Greek yogurt

-eat a salad every day

-sleep at least 8 hours nightly

-meet a friend for a walk or workout instead of happy hour

-drink at least 8 cups of water daily Read More »

You’ve probably heard the the words functional fitness before, but what does that mean? When your body is functionally fit, you are able to perform everyday movements in everyday situations without the pain associated with, say a bad back. For example you may be able to lift your weight in a bench press, but are you able to lift your toddler or a bag of groceries into your car without any problems? When you workout at a gym on the machines you are training your muscles to work in 1 plane with 1 stable and controlled motion. When you train for functional fitness you work multiple muscles at one time to work together in an unstable, yet controlled environment. For example, you may stand on 1 leg while holding a dumbell and Read More »

Sheila before

You most likely won’t lose 100 lbs over night, or even in a few weeks… (unless your on The Biggest Loser), but it can realistically happen slowly and with lifestyle changes and long term commitment.

“I started my journey in June of 2007. I was always a larger girl, but never really dieted. I just became fine with the way I was, however I did not feel healthy. After I kept talking about losing weight I finally made the decision to go to a gym and get a membership. The manager then convinced me that working out with a trainer 2 days a week was a good idea. That’s where I originally met Dawn. It was the best decision I ever made, and money spent!

Something just clicked, and I decided that I was going to accomplish this no matter what. It was a huge sacrifice of time and a life change in how I view, prepare, and eat food. Now, 100 lbs lighter, I feel better than ever, have more energy, and will lead a healthier lifestyle from now on.” Sheila Lozano 12/09

I met Shiela Lozano almost 3 years ago. She was 270+ lbs and wanted to get healthy. We started off working out 2 times a week together. In addition she was working out another 3 or 4 days on her own, with specific homework I gave her. Sheila knew she had to change her eating habits as well, and was ready for the change. Instead of putting her on a ‘diet’ I gave her healthier substitutions for the foods she was already eating and liked. Knowing she had a long road ahead of her, I did not want her to get ‘bored’ of her workouts so I made sure I changed them up every time we worked out together. Now, almost 3 years later, I don’t think we have ever done the same workout twice! Sheila has been very consistant with her workout and eating habits and is living proof that being fit is a life long commitment of daily decisions to make time for exercise and healthy food choices.

Words cannot describe how proud I am of this woman. Sheila has shown determintation, commitment, incredible hard work (lots of sweat!), strength, temprance, balance (dessert is ok) and patience in her journey to become the fit and strong person she is today. Along the way she has to learned how to run and completed her first half marathon!!!

Congradulations Sheila, I believe in you, like you have believed in yourself

~ To learn how to exercise properly (good technique) and avoid injury: A good trainer (not all trainers are good) will teach you how to exercise correctly by keeping your body in alignment and making sure your form is solid. A good trainer will watch you throughout each and every exercise to make sure you are moving properly and correcting you when you are slipping out of form or cheating your exercise.

~ To excel at a certain sport or event : If you’re training for a specific sport or event an experienced trainer can help you figure out what you need to do to stay strong during your season, as well as repairing and building up weakness for the up coming season or event. Make sure your trainer has sport specific training and has experience in your sport or event. Read More »

On Saturday August 29th my 2 teammates and I had quite the adventure…and workout while participating in the Oyster Adventure Race Series in Seattle. Finishing 3rd was a wonderful reward! It is a crazy challenge for the adventurist and the very fit!

Huge thanks to Recycled Cycles Bike Shop for the awesome road bikes which made our rides not only more enjoyable…but helped us earn 3rd place! Our bikes were perfectly fitted to us by the very knowledgeable staff member Andy Voight, and the store general manager Ted was awesome too! Recycled Cycles not only rents bikes, they also sell used and new bikes, as well as offer classes too. Check them out at recycledcycles.com.

The race began with a blind folded ride with bags over our heads on The Duck. I, along with one member of every other team (there were 80 teams total) were transported to a mystery location, while our teammates all ran from home base in lower Queen Anne to a 2nd location. After arriving at our mystery location (Palisades restaurant) we were given a passport telling us to run to Kerry Park to meet up with our teammates.

Our second leg (no resting in between unless you want to sacrifice time) was a mission to bike to the ‘Gum Wall’ and add our own gum then return to home base.

Read More »

Most likely you have heard a few of the things to watch for in this crazy heat of summer. The media is telling everyone, especially the elderly, to avoid exercising at the hottest points in the day. If you are going to exercise outside, even the fittest of us, we should go early in the morning when it is cooler and keep hydrated all day long. Stay inside with AC as much as possible.

It is very easy to get dehydrated in high temperatures. Dehydration is defined as excessive loss of body water. We may be dehydrated before we realize it and it can be very dangerous!

Common signs of dehydration:

• thirst
• loss of appetite
• dry skin
• dark colored urine
• dry mouth
• fatigue or weakness
• chills
• head rush

What to do: Read More »

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What is a Micro Class? A Micro Class is a 45 minute class designed by you and your exercise partners focussing on what you want to work on. Gyms tend to offer the same types of classes over and over and classes can get really crowded…or your schedule may not allow you to make it to a class. The Exercise Space Micro Classes’ are a very affordable solution to get in shape with the detailed attention of a personal training session, but the price of a group class. Class is limited to four people so there’s no hiding! And the best part - Micro Classes are on Special now for only $85 per 50 minute class, whether it’s 2 ,3 or 4 people!

Here’s how to get started:

1. Grab 1, 2 or 3 of your friends, family, co-workers, or teammates etc. (up to 4 people total)

2. Pick a time (some weekends available)

3. Choose a focus (cardio, strength, cardio/strength, core/cardio, plyometrics, gut & butt, sport specific, or other of your choice)

4. Choose a location (currently offered at The Exercise Space, Harbor Steps, The Sculpture Park (downtown waterfront), Discovery Park, or Green Lake) Other locations may be able to be accommodated, just ask!

5. Sign up at : microclass

There have been many studies on this subject, and turns out caffeine enhances your body’s performance and speeds up muscle recovery! I am not a caffeine consumer, and this info probably won’t make me one either, but I know most of you out there are, so now you have a good excuse to consume your caffeine fix!

Studies show that caffeine ingestion prior to exercising extends endurance in moderately strenuous aerobic activity. Other studies researching caffeine consumption on elite athletes show increased performance times following caffeine consumption.

But… before you make Starbucks part of your pre-workout warm-up be aware that: Read More »