Welcome to the Personal Training Newsletter for Adrenaline Fitness, brought to you in cooperation with BeFit2 Personal Training. We hope you will find the information and resources useful and informative. We hope you will find the information and resources useful and informative. If you have any questions or need help with your fitness goals, please drop me a line and I'll be happy to assist you.

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We are excited to announce that Adrenaline Fusion is now open. When we were coming up with the concept of Adrenaline Fusion, we asked ourselves the question: What is fitness? Perusing the internet, I was inundated with information of all kinds. Searching through various dictionaries and internet sources produced nothing. The internet based Free Dictionary by Farlex gives it three attempts:

1. The state or condition of being fit; suitability or appropriateness.
2. Good health or physical condition, especially as the result of exercise and proper nutrition.
3. Biology The extent to which an organism is adapted to or able to produce offspring in a particular environment.

Suitability? Appropriateness? Suitable and appropriate for what? What is the definition for proper exercise and nutrition? Given the current health epidemic in America, it does not seem that the average citizen has that answer. In certain cases, the third definition can be affected by your level of fitness as the quality of food you eat plays a vital role in the optimal functioning of the body, its hormones and cellular activities.

Other definitions were slightly more useful.  The best that I came across was a 100 word definition. World Class Fitness in 100 Words:

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports.

All of that sounds pretty good to most people until we get to some of the exercises. Not to worry, when we defined our concept of fitness for Adrenaline Fusion, we turned to a few well respected professionals: Paul Chek and Chris Maund, who are two of my personal mentors, Charles Poliquin, another great strength and conditioning coach that I had the pleasure of spending time with in Montreal, and finally, Greg Glassman, founder of CrossFit.  The result is a process that uses a series of very basic exercises that mimic movements that you encounter in your daily life. The names may sound unfamiliar but the movements should not be. Although the movements do occur in daily life, they still require skill and practice to master. Many people are not aware of how poorly they move and sit. Fusion instructors are properly trained to assess the movement faults and assist in fixing them through corrective exercise. It is important to note that all of our programs and exercises are completely scalable for everyone from the elite athlete to someone who has not exercised in years.

This discussion will continue in next month’s newsletter. The importance of sufficient testing protocols will be discussed as well as a range of other topics. I will leave you with a letter from a client of mine (to his doctor) who has been training in our system for approximately four months.  In the beginning, I assessed Mr. Merritt’s condition and started him out with corrective exercises to improve his function mixed in with the “fun” stuff. He is now at a point where he is working at the same capacity as clients I have 20+ years younger than him.

All Fusion instructors have many of the same type of success stories over a wide variety of clients with different needs and ability levels. Most important is that when something is out of our scope we send them back to their healthcare providers or make suggestions to one we know to be competent. Thanks for reading and we hope to see you soon!

Contact me for Adrenaline Fusion schedule and pricing information. Class start times are 5:30 am and 6:30 am Monday-Friday, 5:30 pm, 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm Monday-Thursday. Open gym 4:00 pm-7:00 pm on Friday.

This month’s restaurant is a quaint spot called Canoe. Located in Vinings, it has delicious food and a gorgeous view from the patio. They also serve an amazing brunch and the service is first class. For a special occasion or a night out with your friends, Canoe is a great choice.

Visit the Web site.

Take a look at the following review.

Chopped Salad with Grapes and Mint

TOTAL: 30 Minutes
4 to 6 Servings

Making this terrifically zippy salad is a great way to show off your knife skills. While a gyuto and petty knife will both work, the best choice here is the santoku.

1 heart of romaine, coarsely chopped
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 medium seedless cucumber, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
1 small red onion, cut into ¼-inch dice
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup diced cooked chicken
½ cup halved green grapes
3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (½ cup)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
2 tablespoons finely chopped basil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a large bowl, toss all of the ingredients together. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and serve immediately.

Check out this intense total lower body/core exercise. Use it to increase your overall leg/core strength, hip stability and balance. First master the modified and unmodified versions of this exercise. Afterwards, feel free to contact me to find out how to progress it even further. This can be great tool for those who have suffered knee and hip issues.

Something To Think About

One question that continually comes up when working with clients is “Should my knees go over my toes when I am squatting or lunging?” I have been fortunate enough to work with some of the top people in my industry. The unanimous opinion is that there is no solid, peer-reviewed research that says that squatting or lunging while allowing the knees to go over the toes is dangerous. Nonetheless countless physical therapists, orthopedists, and chiropractors tell their patients instruct their patients not to put their knees in this position.

Our video covers the squat. I will quickly give a couple of tips on the lunges as far as knee placement. First, if you are trying to focus more on the quadriceps, allow the knee to float over the toe when lunging. Second, if you want to focus on more hamstring and glute recruitment, keep the lower leg vertical. These are recommendations for healthy individuals. If you have knee problems contact a professional to get it checked out. If you have been cleared to exercise after treatment, make sure that your healthcare provider gives you (or if you are working with a trainer make sure they talk to your provider) appropriate instructions on how to progress back into more aggressive forms of movement.

Additionally, do your own research. I look at what is out there and move in the direction which seems to be supported by the evidence. Let me know what you find.

As always, if you have any questions, drop me a line.