Empower Personal Training
Posts Tagged ‘health’
What Makes You Tick
Tuesday, October 13, 2009Do you hear the voices inside your head saying, “This is too hard” or “I can’t do this?” Do you look around and see someone else doing something and think “I’ll never be that good?”
Mental games we play with ourselves in our heads when we exercise are often more difficult to overcome then the physical aspect of the workout. Working on your ‘head’ game can take you leaps and bounds beyond what you’ve already accomplished and take you to a new level of fitness and athleticism.
Challenge: The next workout with your trainer, pay attention to the comments or thoughts you have during the workout. Do this for about five minutes and I think you’ll be surprised how many there are. After you figure that out, start again for another five minutes and each time you think something negative (“this hurts too much” is negative, “this hurts” is not) catch yourself and tell yourself you can or you will, whatever works. Explore it, find what works.
Then, keep practicing. Just like we need to work our bodies our minds need the same sort of attention. It takes practice. It won’t happen over night but it will happen. Dropping pounds takes time, dropping negative thoughts also takes time.
In the long run (pun intended) you will find that, while it is still a challenge, and always should be, your workouts will go places you never thought they could.
Mike Babbitt, M.F.A, M.A., CSCS, ACSM-HFI
USA Triathlon Level 1 Coach, Master Trainer
Mike is a Master Level trainer at Empower Personal Training. He has a unique approach to fitness that combines his scientific foundation of research and applied exercise physiology with his artistic experience as a professional stage actor. For more information about Empower Personal Training please call (919) 401-8024
Thank You Empower Fitness Fair Participants
Friday, April 24, 2009What a glorious day it was! Our First Annual Fitness Fair was a great success – from the morning boot camp to the afternoon Train-the-Trainer event, from the good food to the great live music, in the spirit of remembering our late client and friend Joanne Roberts to the upbeat mood of celebrating her life -it was a glorious day!
The sun was shining down as Matt called us all to gather for the beginning of boot camp -”jog down and back, butt-kickers, high knees, side shuffle, jumping jacks – repeat” (and that was just warm-up). Then on to the station work – sprinting to back-peddling, step-ups to push-ups, running laps around cones – 3 x through -phew! Quick water break then on to body weight circuits- squats, push-ups, mountain climbers, table -top plank. . . and more! A 1/4 mile sprint around the building finished off the hour and our energy!
Good thing there was a smoothie station and a delicious bake sale where we could re-fuel, our massage therapist giving therapeutic massages, a chiropractor to check our postural alignment, an acupuncturist healing us of pain , and a running store helping us find the best fitting shoes. After visiting all of our vendors tables the Fitness Fair participants were well fed, relaxed, standing tall, free of pain, and ready for their next road race; and we trainers were ready for Train-the-Trainer.
Train-the-Trainer is 1 day out of every year where we sacrifice our bodies for charity and for our clients’ pleasure. After a full year of being “beat-up” by their trainers ( all in the name of good health of course) our clients get to get their licks in on us. This year did not disappoint- just ask Paul or Michael (who definitely received the most punishing workouts).
In all seriousness, we were there to promote healthy living and to raise money for a very important organization. We are proud to say that The First Annual Fitness Fair successfully raised $3200 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in honor of Joanne. Fun was had by all and did I say – it was a glorious day!
Spring Cleaning for Digestive Health
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
My name is Jessica Bottesch and I am co-owner of Empower Personal Training. I am a vegetarian. I eat plenty of raw colorful vegetables, whole fruits and tofu, beans and brown rice are my staple protein. I stay away from high fructose corn syrup and definitely steer clear of trans-fats. All-in-all I am a pretty healthy eater. However, my digestive system didnít always work quite right and I felt weighed down, heavy and bloated- like my body was holding onto stuff it didnít need ñ like my engine was full of sludge. So, I consulted with Cara Demu our registered dietician and just through our initial conversation she made three suggestions that have helped me immensely. Often people worry that vegetarians do not get enough protein ñ but that is not what I was lacking. It turns out I do not digest soy products well, I wasnít getting enough Omega-3 fatty acids and I wasnít drinking enough water. I made three very simple dietary changes and already feel a lot better ñ no more bloating. I very excited to attend this monthís Nutrition Seminar THIS SATURDAY on gentle and natural ways to ìdetoxî and cleanse our colon, kidneys and liver titled:
Spring Cleaning: Organ Maintenance for Vibrant Health and a Slimmer Body
To learn more about this lecture or to register for the class click here:
http://tinyurl.com/marchnutrition
In loving memory of Joanne Roberts
Friday, March 20, 2009Empower Personal Training is hosting its first annual Fitness Fair on Saturday, April 18 from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis in loving memory of our client and friend Joanne Roberts. The Fitness Fair will feature fitness activities for the whole family including Durham’s Biggest Boot Camp, a Train-the-Trainer event, massage demos, smoothie tastings, allied health vendors, fun activities for the kids, live music, door prizes and more.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, often-disabling disease of the central nervous system that strikes people in the prime of life. There are more than 4,500 people living with MS in Eastern North Carolina and more than 400,000 nationally. MS affects each person differently and often stops people from moving. Our goal is to “empower” the larger community to get involved in health and wellness all while raising money for this important charity.
Joanne was diagnosed with MS in the 1991 and despite the debilitating effects of the disease she remained very active with her family, in her community and with her work. She always wore a smiling face and was more interested in checking on you than talking about her personal struggles.
Joanne passed away on November 1, 2008 from complications of Multiple Sclerosis. She was a senior scientist, professor of speech and hearing sciences, and a research professor of pediatrics at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was one of the most prolific researchers at the institute, with more than 125 publications in scholarly journals. At her death, Joanne was at the peak of her career, held in highest esteem by her colleagues.
The most important part of Joanne’s life was her family – her husband Barry and her two sons Justin and Matthew. Joanne’s personal strength and devotion showed through in both her work and family life. Her passing leaves a void that will not easily be filled.
