Tag: San Jose boot camp

How to Stay Fit While Traveling in San Jose

Oct 05, 2011

Guadalupe River Park and Gardens in San JoseBusiness and vacation travel can wreak havoc on one’s efforts to lose weight and stay in shape.  Luckily for those traveling to San Jose, there are many venues and opportunities to stay fit while there.

Located in Northern California, San Jose has mild climates that are conducive to outdoor workouts almost year round.  San Jose and surrounding cities (Campbell, Saratoga and Los Gatos) have a large network of paved bike paths and dirt walking trails that offer miles of beautiful scenery for walkers, runners and cyclists.

One of my favorite hiking trails starts in Downtown Los Gatos at Main Street and takes you up to the top of Lexington Dam for beautiful views of the valley.  Another collection of hiking/biking trails worth considering are the trails of Almaden Quicksilver Park. Quicksilver Park offers miles of trails with beautiful scenery.

Business travelers who may not have the option of venturing far from their hotel will find many downtown San Jose hotels,  such as the Fairmont Hotel,  offer well-equipped gyms for patrons.   Business travelers in Downtown San Jose who find themselves at a hotel without a gym can purchase a day pass at the San Jose Athletic Club on 3rd street. The local YMCA on The Alameda and the Southwest YMCA on Santa Teresa Boulevard offer non-local members passes to work out while traveling in San Jose.

Also available to travelers in Downtown San Jose are the paths of  Guadalupe River Park and Gardens.  These paths run through Downtown San Jose and offer several miles of paved, flat paths for walking or running.

For the adventurous types who like a challenging workout, I suggest walking the 224 steps at Communications Hill in South San Jose.  This creates a great interval training workout by challenging you on the way up, and giving you a much needed rest on the way down.

Rain or shine, if you want to stay fit while traveling in San Jose, we’ve got many options for you!

San Jose Boot Camp: The 30-day Challenge

Aug 01, 2011

San Jose boot camp 30-day challengeIt is said that it takes 30 days to solidify a new habit or behavior change. As I write this post, it is Monday, August 1st. It’s the beginning of the week, and the beginning of a new month. August has 31 days, so it seems like a great month to put this “30 days” theory to the test.

I am challenging all the members of our Campbell and San Jose boot camps to make  a commitment to work on just one simple behavior change all month.  I decided to throw to challenge out to all readers of this blog as well.

What is one small thing that you could change in your current lifestyle this month that would lead to better fitness down the road?  The ideas are endless–but you instinctively know what you need to change :-).

 

Here are some ideas to get you thinking……

• If you’re currently sedentary, pledge to add moderate exercise to your schedule on a consistent basis two times per week this month.

• If you’re currently exercising and you’ve hit a plateau, challenge yourself to do a “different” style of exercise once each week or to consistently add in a 4th, 5th or 6th day of exercise.

• If you’re trying to lose weight and you drink alcohol or soda, decrease your intake of calorie filled drinks like blended coffee drinks, juices, or alcoholic beverages by 60% each week.

• If you’re trying to lose weight and you eat out a lot, challenge yourself to eat no more than 2 “commercial” meals each week this month.

• If you eat the same things day in and day out, challenge yourself to eat one new fruit and one new vegetable each week this month

• If you’re trying to lose weight , challenge yourself to decrease your portion sizes by 20% at dinner each night this month.

Increased veggie consumption is promoted at San Jose boot camps

Very often, when we’re trying to lose weight or get in better shape, we go hog wild and try to change everything in our lives all at once. We over-exercise, we under-eat and we deprive ourselves. For many of us, it’s a 180 degree turn from our normal routine. An approach like this, although it may provide some immediate results, is doomed to fail because it is so foreign to our normal way of doing things.  Eventually the “other shoe” drops and we revert to our normal routine.

Although results won’t come overnight, long term results are often realized by taking smaller steps toward better nutrition and fitness. I believe that long term results come from consistently applied change—not quick fix diets or overbearing workout routines that you couldn’t ever stay on for more than a few weeks.  The ideas I’ve listed above are ways to work on improving your lifestyle in smaller steps. Work on just that one thing all month. That’s it! Just one thing.

Then, come September, tackle one more thing.  If you practice this “30-day Challenge” with yourself each month, you could be living in a totally different body next year at this time!

 

Healthy, fit people practice a healthy lifestyle most of the time.

Healthy lifestyles aren’t always learned. But they can be adopted one step at a time.

Today is August 1st, 2011.  What ONE thing can you do consistently this month to be healthier, fitter, happier or more energetic than you are today??

Be an action taker and commit to change!  Please post here and share the 30-day challenge you will give yourself.

 

Committed to your success.

 

Becky

 

 

Welcome to lifeSport Fitness!

Nov 08, 2010

If you want to lose weight, get toned muscles, or decrease your risk for chronic disease, you’ve come to the right place! lifeSport Fitness has been helping get the residents of San Jose, Los Gatos and Campbell fit since 1989. There’s a lot of misleading information out there about how to get in shape and lose body fat. We take your health seriously by staying on the cutting edge of what’s new and relevant in fitness training.

We’ve got a number of programs to help you look better, feel better and have more energy.

If you want private, personalized attention in your fitness transformation, we suggest you visit our personal training page.  We can train you at your home*, your office, or at a private personal training studio in Campbell. We’ll design a program specific to your needs and tailored to your goals.  If you have a chronic health condition or simply prefer individualized attention our premiere personal training program is for you!

If you are on a budget, or prefer to work out with others, try our fitness boot camps located in San Jose (Downtown/Rosegarden area and Cambrian/Almaden area), Los Gatos an Campbell.  These workouts are non-stop action and non-stop fun!  You get a never-the-same twice professionally designed workout, supervision by a coach, and the motivation of working out with other fitness-minded people for a fraction of the cost of personal training!

If you’re a Benefits Manager at a Silicon Valley company and you need to develop a corporate wellness program, let us be your wellness team! We can administer your Health Risk Appraisal, create a wellness program and incentive plan specifically geared toward your corporate culture and your health care cost management goals.

Introducing Sarah King-Downtown San Jose Boot Camp Instructor

Oct 03, 2010

I’m excited to introduce one of the newest members of the lifeSport Fitness team, Sarah King.

Sarah is the Head Coach of our Downtown San Jose boot camp  location.   It’s a great location that is not only close to downtown, but very convenient for residents who live in the Rosegarden, Shasta/Hanchett Park or Naglee Park neighborhoods.  It’s also just 1 mile from the Santa Clara University campus.

Sarah King- Dowtown San Jose Boot Camp Instructor Sarah has been a fitness professional for 4 years and has experience in a variety of fitness class formats including Spinning, Body Flow, Body Pump, and Pilates. Sarah is also a certified personal trainer at a local health club in San Jose.

Sarah’s electric smile and warm personality will draw you to get yourself up and out to those very early morning workouts—-but don’t let that smile fool you—Sarah will firmly challenge you to push past what you think is possible to get results you’ve never seen before!

When she’s not teaching our early morning boot camp in San Jose or other fitness classes around town, Sarah can be found at West Valley College where she is working on her degree in Nutrition.

Fun facts about Sarah

Favorite personal workout:  I love working as many muscles at one time as I can.  So I’ll do lunges with a biceps curl or a triceps press, clean and presses, squat presses, and anything that is high intensity!

Favorite “healthy” food: 6-egg white omelette with loads of veggies, whole wheat toast and half an avocado. YUM!

Favorite “occasional indulgence” food: Fresh baked bread with butter

Hobbies: I love to be active.  I like to ride my bike (road and mountain), go hiking, running, and do triathlons. I also love to do NOTHING! I don’t have a lot of time to do that, but when I get the chance, I totally enjoy myself. I love to cook and try new recipes and EAT what I make! Trying new things definitely keeps life interesting!

Certifications:

YMCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach

Schwinn Indoor Cycling

YMCA and AFFA Group Exercise Instructor

In Progress: ACE Personal Trainer

If you’d like to experience a fun, fast paced workout on Wednesday and Friday mornings with Sarah King, please go to our San Jose boot camp webpage and sign up for a FREE trial week at her class!

Committed to your success,

Becky

Healthy Snacks For The Car

Sep 15, 2010

Last weekend I led a group of customers from my boot camps in Campbell and San Jose on a tour of a local grocery store.  We talked about how to pick the healthiest options at the store, and how to decipher faulty and misleading advertising on food packaging.

One of the attendees, Massimo, who attends my fitness boot camp in the Cambrian area of San Jose, asked what to do when he finds himself in the car a lot during the day going from one meeting to the next.  The temptation to go grab some fast food can get the best of us.

The solution is to plan ahead and put some healthy food items in your car so that the fast food restaurants aren’t such a temptation.  If you can stay hydrated, dampen your hunger and keep your blood sugar steady, you’re less likely to fall victim to a greasy, salty fast food meal.

So, thank you, Massimo, for giving me a great idea for a blog post!

Here are some ideas for healthy “car” food (and most of them only take one hand to eat, so you can keep the other hand on the wheel!)

• A ziplock bag of nuts (pre-measured  so that you don’t overdo it!)

• A ziplock bag of dried fruit

•  A ziplock bag of  sliced apples

•  A peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread

• Several skewers of fresh fruit chunks (you can eat them off the skewer with one hand without getting your hands sticky!)

• Prograde Cravers (the healthiest snack bar on the planet!)

• String cheese

• Zip lock bag of little shredded wheat biscuits

On warm days when I’m going to be in the car a lot, I put my food in a small cooler with an ice pack in it, and make sure to pack a couple of water bottles as well.  Snacking can tide you over until you can get home for a real meal, but you can also get a “real meal” by combining several of the snacks I’ve listed above.

Not only will healthy car snacking help you maintain a healthier body, it will also help you keep a few extra dollars in your wallet.  Regular fast food meals (or sugar laden venti coffee drinks!) put a dent in your wallet and flab on your waistline.

With just a little pre-planning and packing, you can get through a day of numerous car trips without having to resort to hitting the drive through.

If you’re a frequent car snacker, leave a post and list your favorite healthy snacks!

Committed to your success,

Becky

Help Fight Leukemia at Ladies Nite Out!

Aug 13, 2010

In honor of my friend Skip who was recently diagnosed with leukemia, I’m taking a break from blogging about fitness, nutrition, and my boot camps in San Jose in order to tell you about a really fun event coming up in Campbell next week.

Julie Adiutori and Jen Jaciw, two women who belong to The Sassy Networking group to which I also belong, will soon be walking a 1/2 marathon with Team in Training to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Team in Training is a wonderful organization that raises money to fund research to find a cure for leukemia and lymphoma.

Julie and Jen have put together an amazing fundraiser for their walk and I wanted to make sure to give you all the details.

Next week YOU can have a boatload of fun, AND help raise money for a worthy cause, and we’ll all be  doing something positive for folks who are battling leukemia or lymphoma right now or may battle them in the future.

Please, please tweet about this event, post it to your Facebook page, tell your friends, and, of course, make an effort to attend.

Here are the details!

Hot August Ladies Night!

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

5:30-8:30 pm

Sonya Paz Fine Art Gallery

195 E. Campbell Ave, Campbell 95008

What’s happening at the event:

Sexy Boudoir Dance lesson

Wine Tasting

Entertainment by comedian and cancer survivor Leslie Lang

TONS of raffle prizes (yep, I’m giving away two weeks FREE at one of my boot camps!)

Suggested entry fee for all this FUN:  $5.00 —-but I KNOW you’ll be more generous 🙂

If you can’t attend, but would like to make a tax deductible donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, please click on the link below

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/rnrsjha10/jadiutori

If you are healthy, be thankful.  If you are in a position to help a cause that is looking for a cure for leukemia, please give what you can.

If you are a prayerful or spiritual person, please say a prayer for my friend Skip.  He’s an amazing person and businessman, a loving father of two sons, and a wonderful husband to one of my lifelong best friends.  He deserves a long and productive life.  Your donation will help find the cure.

Yours in health,

Becky

Does Eating Healthy Cost More?

Aug 02, 2010

Although we’re all about working at at our boot camps in Campbell, San Jose and Los Gatos, we can’t really lose sight of the other key factor in getting results from your Bay Area boot camp experience.

If you’re trying to lose weight and tone up–NUTRITION MATTERS!

One of the biggest myths out there is the myth that eating healthy costs too much


Just the opposite… and I’ll prove it to you in three ways.

 #1:  Cash

Here’s some sample figures courtesy of Scott Tousignant’s fitness blog…

:  2 medium size sweet potatoes $1 or… small fries from a fast food joint

:  2 red peppers $1 or… a can of soda from a vending machine

:  Bowl of oatmeal with fruit & protein powder $2 or… large bag of chips

:  6 Chicken Breasts $10 or… a sub combo from a fast food joint

:  18 eggs $3.50 or… a burger from a fast food joint

:  2 salmon fillets $15 or… large pizza

:  Loaded chicken salad (homemade) $3 or… bag of cookies

:  Large bag of oatmeal $3.50 or… 4 chocolate bars

Not much of a comparison, it is?

Yet the foods on the left would feed a family of two or more for 4-7 days.  The foods on the right? Probably 2-3 days, and you’d be feeling lousy (and bloated).

Tips to make the most expensive part of eating healthy — the cost of quality meats — go further include…

1. Use tofu fillers in chicken and beef recipes. Even if you hate tofu, you can barely taste the difference when combined properly.

2. Buy your meats in bulk online. You can find less expensive grass-fed beef and naturally-raised chicken and have it delivered to you if you live near a large city. If not, check the local farmers.

3. Eat beef and chicken only 3-4 times per week and use black beans with rice or inexpensive tuna for your other days. Try tuna cooked in a skillet with lots of veggies and some olive oil.

Jon Benson’s book The Every Other Day Dietplan (http://www.everyotherdaydiet.com/go/boomergals/video3) has over 40 pages of recipes in it to help you eat healthy and cheap… and you can still eat out and consume your favorite foods several times per week.

 #2:  Your Health

Do you find yourself buying new, larger clothes every year or two? Are you aware of what you spend with regard to health care costs associated with being just 20 pounds over your ideal weight, let alone more ?  Those blood pressure meds and anti-diabetic meds can begin to add up. How about the time you miss from work with excessive colds?

Eating healthy and taking care of your body adds years to your life, and for the record, the years eating poorly takes away from your life.

Want to add that to your food budget?

 #3: The Big Picture

Anyone who has been fit knows the joy it brings… the freedom you feel from wearing whatever you want… the productivity you see from increased energy… the pace at which you move during the day.

Not only are these gifts priceless, but they are also massive cash-savers. Your productivity alone can add thousands to your bottom line each year, well off-setting any costs associated with eating quality food.

 The Bottom Line…

Like any good accountant would suggest, you need to look at your ROI (return on in.vest.ment) if nothing else.

What does in.vest.ing in a better body, greater health, and vibrant energy do for your life? How can that actually translate into more in.come AND less expense?

You will be surprised.

Sincerely,

Becky

P.S.  If you want some tips on getting started with shedding that excess weight… go here for a short video… and prepare to take some notes! …

it’s freee….

http://www.everyotherdaydiet.com/go/boomergals/video3 <— click.here
ch.

Easy Weight Loss Tip for San Jose Residents

May 11, 2010

I’ve been a fitness trainer in Campbell, San Jose and Saratoga for many years.  One of the toughest jobs I have is helping people eat healthier, yet not allowing them to “diet” (e.g., eat next to nothing). The concept of eating well is simple, but it’s not always easy for people with bad eating habits to put healthy eating into practice.  Rather than take a cold turkey approach and change everything all at once, I usually advocate changing things a little bit at a time.

One  of the first tips I give to my new San Jose personal training clients if they’re trying to lose weight is to increase their fiber intake.  It’s such an easy change for most people.

When you’re trying to increase your fiber intake, you’re often adding something to your menu as opposed to taking something away! How cool is that?? The great thing about increasing your fiber intake is that you’re likely to fill up on good-for-you foods like beans, fruits, veggies and whole grain products. So it ends up being a positive situation in several ways:  you eat fresh, more healthful foods, you eat more fiber, and, you’re probably going to lose some weight (not to mention decrease your risk for heart disease, stroke, and some cancers).  What a deal!

Why can increasing your fiber intake help you lose weight? By eating foods high in fiber, you are likely to eat fewer calories.  Fiber helps you to feel fuller faster and satisfied longer because it moves through your body more slowly than highly processed foods.  It is estimated that most of us consume less than half of the recommended 25 grams of fiber per day.

Here are some foods you can add to your eating plan to increase fiber:

• Fruit (higher fiber fruits include berries, apples and pears)

• Vegetables (higher fiber veggies include broccoli, artichokes, avocados, and sweet potatoes)

• Beans/Legumes (higher fiber beans/legumes include soybeans, chickpeas, lentils, split peas and black beans)

• Whole grains (use barley, oats and whole wheat products in place of processed white flour products).

The moral of this story:  Eat more fiber, feel fuller longer, weigh less.  That’s it in a nutshell.

Committed to your success,

Becky

Come to my FREE boot camp workout in San Jose!

Apr 23, 2010

Let’s celebrate Spring and support the American Cancer Society!  You’re cordially invited to……….

A FREE MINI WORKOUT WITH ME!

Saturday, May 1st, 2010, 8 am

Oster School —  1855 Lencar Way, San Jose 95124

I’ve been asked to take part in the festivities at the Cambrian Relay for Life on Saturday, May 1st.  In case you’re not familiar with “Relay for Life”, it’s a 24-hour event in which teams take turns walking around a track throughout the night.  It’s a way to remember those who have lost their lives to cancer, as well as to honor those who are survivors–and of course, raise money to help fund research for a cure.

Throughout the 24-hour event there are various activities going on—-so, I guess you could say I’m one of the activities!  I’ll be doing a “Wake up your Workout” warm up and mini boot camp at 8 am.  I’ll try to rouse the ones who got to take a cat nap in their sleeping bags during the night, I suppose!

I’m donating my time and some $$ to to event in honor of three former clients of mine who are breast cancer survivors:

Yvonne M. ,  Sunny C., and Diana A.

and two very wonderful ladies who lost their battle with breast cancer

Barbara Podgorny and Nancy Stoney

So, what does this have to do with YOU?

There are a few ways you can participate in the Cambrian Relay for Life:

Organize a team to walk the event

Log on here for more info:

http://www.relayforlife.org/cambrianca

Donate to a team

One of my boot campers, Tina L., has registered a team for the event.  You can support her team by making a donation here:

Support Team Walk-a-Muck

Come out to the event

Enjoy my mini-boot camp at 8 am, and cruise by the various team tents/campsites. Many teams will be running mini-fundraisers by selling items at their  campsites.

After I put everyone through a workout, I’ll be doing a drawing at Team Walk-a-Muck’s campsite.  Come by their tent and register to win a certificate for 2 FREE weeks at a lifeSport boot camp in San Jose or Campbell.

Committed to your fitness success,

Becky

A Fat Blasting Workout for San Jose and Los Gatos boot campers!

Mar 26, 2010

This is a special blog post for customers in my fitness boot camps in San Jose and Los Gatos (as well as my private training clients). I’m always trying to encourage you to get a good workout in over the weekend.  So,  I decided to not only create a “no equipment needed” workout for you, but to also give you a little bribe to get it done!

You’ll have to watch the video to learn what the “prize” is for getting your workout in.

As usual, my furry sidekick, Noah, makes a cameo appearance (several, actually) in the video.  It’s amazing how he always manages to get right in line with the camera when it’s rolling.  In fact, this time, I think he’s trying to show you some version of our “core rotation” exercise we often do with exercise bands.  Maybe we could call it a “canine core rotation”?

So, if you’re game to get a quick, cardio interval workout in over the weekend, I’ve created one for you.  You don’t need to think about what to do.  I’ve thought it out for you.

Below the video, you’ll find a written version of the  workout in the event you want to print it out for reference.

Here’s the workout in case you want a written version:

Jumping jacks  (45-90 seconds)

Push ups (15 repetitions)

Jump rope (45-90 seconds)

Back extensions (15 repetitions)

Jump squats  (45-90 seconds)

Dips  (45-90 seconds)

Please watch the video for instructions on how to increase or decrease the intensity of each exercise.

I’m looking forward to your comments :-).

Committed to your success,

Becky