Health, Longevity, A Balance of Strength, Flexiblity, + Endurance – Here’s How

It’s human nature to focus on what we’re good at.

I personally like bench pressing – because it’s a strong point of mine. It feels good to get under a heavy bar and move some weight.

You might be good at running long distances … or have strong abs … or be super flexible. Whatever you’re good at, left to your own devices, chances are you’ll do more of that in your workouts.

Problem is, what you’re good at is probably what you need the least of. Heavy benching is probably the last thing I need to be doing for my current fitness goals. And you too should be focusing on exercises and areas of your body that need work, not ones that are easy for you …

I know that the vast majority of folks I work with could use additional flexiblity and core work. And this is why yoga is the perfect compliment to the personal training and boot camp programs we offer.

Come and check out our new Wednesday night yoga class at the Land Park personal training studio; we’re currently offering a drop-in option, so you can come and try a class before you commit to signing up on an on-going basis. For more details and to reserve a spot in the next class, click the link below:

Sacramento – Land Park Yoga

Thanks, and talk to you soon –

– Forest Vance, owner, Forest Vance Training, Inc.

August 2011 Challenge Workout Results

The August 2011 Challenge Workout from Forest Vance Training Sacramento, CA personal training and fitness boot camps, in case you missed it:

  • 50 Push Ups (standard Push Ups for guys, knees for gals)
  • 50 Body Weight Squats
  • 50 full Sit Ups – feet unanchored, hands at sides
  • 50 two hand Kettlebell Swings
  • 50 Bicycle Crunches (each side)
  • 50 Lunges (backwards, alternating feet, in place, each side)
  • 50 Mountain Climbers (each side)

All 50 reps of each exercise must be completed before moving on to the next. Complete entire sequence for time. 20 minute time limit.

Results:

NE 10:49

AG 12:26

SP 12:29

GV 12:40

LE 12:59

JJ 13:02

JM 13:39

KH 13:39

PK 13:47

MA 13:54

CA 13:58

VL 14:11

JG 14:57

LA 15:16

NG 15:18

ML 15:37

AT 15:51

MP 16:14

AA 16:32

EZ 19:53

PT 20+

Great job as always to everyone! And enjoy your weekend –

Forest

P.S. If you liked this month’s challenge workout, make sure to sign up for our email newsletter; you’ll get first news of every new challenge workout as it’s released, plus all kinds of diet, exercise, and healthy lifestyle tips from Forest Vance, MS, CPT, RKC delivered straight to your email inbox every week. Just drop your name and best email address into the box at the upper right of the page to sign up now!

 

 

August 2011 Challenge Workout

August 2011 Challenge Workout, Sacramento-Based Forest Vance Training Fitness Boot Camp

  • 50 Push Ups (standard Push Ups for guys, knees for gals)
  • 50 Body Weight Squats
  • 50 full Sit Ups – feet unanchored, hands at sides
  • 50 two hand Kettlebell Swings
  • 50 Bicycle Crunches (each side)
  • 50 Lunges (backwards, alternating feet, in place, each side)
  • 50 Mountain Climbers (each side)

All 50 reps of each exercise must be completed before moving on to the next. Complete entire sequence for time. 20 minute time limit.

Good luck! Results will be posted at the end of the week.

Forest Vance

Owner and head trainer, Forest Vance Training, Inc.

P.S. Want first news of when the monthly challenge is posted? How about diet and exercise tips delivered to your email inbox every week? You’ll get all of that and much more when you sign up for my weekly newsletter … just drop your name and email into the box at the upper right of the page to sign up now!

Forest

Expanded Group Personal Training Schedule @ East Sac Location; Free Trial Offer

Four weekly group training times will now be offered at the East Sacramento location, starting Monday, 8/1/2011:

9:15 am Mon – Weds

12 noon Tues – Thurs

These 45 minute sessions are focused on fat loss, building endurance, strengthening your core and attacking all those ‘pesky’ problem areas like the midsection, hips and thighs. We use a combo of body weight exercises, dumbbells, kettlebells, interval cardio and more to help you get in the best shape of your life.

And to kick off these new times, I’m offering a special deal:

  • Current clients can come to either the Tuesday or Thursday noon class free of charge – as a ‘thank you’ for being awesome 🙂
  • New or returning clients can attend a single class, either the Tuesday or Thursday group, FREE to experience what a class is like before committing to a full-blown program

Remember, this offer is only good for the Tuesday 8/2 or Thursday 8/4 classes; space is very limited, so I’m cutting off the total attendance at six folks per class. It’s first-come-first-serve for these, so let me know if you want a spot asap –

Thanks and hope to see you there!

Forest

July 2011 Nutrition Challenge

 

No food from a bag or box for this month's challenge

Last month we finished up our six months of nutrition challenges with the Forest Vance Training Community Cookbook (for more details about that – and if you’re interested in ordering a copy – click here).

The monthly nutrition challenges were a hit – so we’re going to keep them going! The goal will be to focus on building the same foundation of good eating habits – we’ll just take some slightly different approaches and techniques to reach the same end goals.

This month’s challenge: no food from a bag or box

Pre-packaged and processed foods like chips, crackers, breakfast cereals, candy and the like should be removed from your diet. These foods contain preservatives and chemicals that are unlikely to be good for your body – and they also contain trans fats, excess sugars, and too many calories.

Bread, oatmeal, pasta, etc. should be whole grain and high fiber versions. The less ingredients the better.

Good luck with the challenge and have a great week!

Forest

P.S. Our monthly nutrition challenges are just a small part of our Sacramento, CA personal training and boot camp programs … we’re currently offering our ‘test-a-trainer’ program (a trial session at our facility), so it’s a great time to come check us out! Call (916) 273 9366 or leave a message here to set up your trial session today.

Get A Flat Stomach WITHOUT Hundreds Of Crunches And Sit Ups

Six pack abs. A flat stomach. A toned mid section. Everybody wants ABS –

Here’s the problem, though: most folks think that hundreds of situps and crunches per day is the answer. Not only is this approach ineffective, it can also destroy your neck and back.

The BIGGEST factor in getting the flat stomach you desire? Your diet. You have abs already, believe it or not – the trick is losing the layer of body fat that’s covering them up 🙂 Here’s an article I recently wrote if you need some help in that area – it’s an example of what I do to keep my body fat at a reasonable level year-round – and more importantly, it’s a do-able plan you can stick with for the long term:

Forest’s Fat Loss Diet Plan

Secondly, you need to focus on training your abs RIGHT way. This means sticking to metabolism-boosting high intensity workouts that work your entire body while also working your abs.

Here’s an awesome article by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer and
author of best-seller The Truth about Six Pack Abs, that gives you a great example of what I’m talking about (click the link below to check it out):

3 Best Ab Exercises That Aren’t Ab Exercises

In summary, the two most important factors when it comes to getting that flat stomach you’re after are 1) a clean diet and 2) a properly structured training plan. I hope the two resources provided in this article help you reach your flat belly goals. Keep training hard and talk to you soon!

Forest

P.S. I have a fitness presentation for groups that I’ve been working on for the last few months on this very topic – and I’d like to ask for your help in getting the word out!

In the presentation, I cover the same info I just did in this article – plus, I actually take everyone through a short five minute ab circuit (it’s a bit of an ‘active’ presentation 🙂 ). I also raffle off a couple of free two-week trial passes to my boot camp at the end of the presentation and give everyone in attendance an opportunity to book a free trial session …

IF you might be interested in hosting a talk like this for your employees, organization, etc., OR you know anyone who would, your help would be much appreciated … contact me via email or phone and we’ll get something set up! It’s a totally free presentation for your group, and it helps me get get some public speaking practice and the word out about my program. Thanks in advance!

The Forest Vance Training Community Cookbook

Healthy eating on a consistent basis is hard enough … being creative and keeping meals and food choices interesting can, at times, seem almost impossible.

A few weeks ago, I thought it’d be a great idea to have clients, friends, email list subscribers, etc. send in their own healthy recipes, and then put together all these recipes into a ‘community cookbook’.

Now, the Forest Vance Training Community Cookbook is complete!

If you sent in at least one recipe, you should have already received an email with your copy of the cookbook. If you didn’t for some reason, please let me know – but also please make sure to check your email first 🙂

For anyone who didn’t contribute for whatever reason but would still like a copy, I’ve set things up with a print-on-demand service where you can order a nicely formatted, bookstore-quality copy of the cookbook for the cost of printing ($6.40) – click the link below for more info and to order:

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/forest-vance-training-community-cookbook/16269058

Thanks and talk soon –

Forest Vance
Owner and head trainer, Forest Vance Training, Inc. Sacramento personal training, fitness boot camps and kettlebell instruction