Cashman Lifestyle

How Much to Exercise Each Day

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 21:14:37 +0000

How Much to Exercise Each Day

You may have heard the U.S. Surgeon General’s recommendation of at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each week (and that breaks down to just 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week). What’s important to understand is that this is intended for people who want to maintain the most basic level of fitness — but not for people who want to lose weight. But if you want to drop those pounds, you’re going to have to be prepared for a bit more work and a healthy diet.

We much prefer the World Health Organization’s recommendation of between 50-60 minutes at a time for our members which is ideal to get the most out of your workout and see significant results. This was a major factor when we established the LAB5 classes and workouts! Your LAB5 50-minute workout sessions should always include a 5-minute warm-up, followed by 40 minutes of the workout, followed by 5 minutes of cooling down and stretching.

Of course, putting in more time will get you more results — but there’s a limit. Excessive intense physical activity releases stress hormones, such as cortisol, into the body. This can actually inhibit weight loss, causing your body to react by storing fat and retaining water out of self-protection. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask any of our great instructors.

Alan and Bonnie Cashman

Co-Founders, LAB5 Fitness

5 Reasons You May Not Be Getting Results

admin — Sun, 20 Apr 2014 21:21:06 +0000

5 Reasons Why You Might Not Be Getting Results!

You’re been working out religiously, you’ve been trying to eat right, but you’re still not getting results. Many people never stop to think of other factors that might influence their lack of results.

We have outlined 5 reasons why you might not be getting results and how to solve them.

1) No overall plan.

Good intentions are great, but if you’re serious about reaching a goal, you must have a plan.

First, decide what is important to you! For fitness it might be strength, balance, core, toning, sculpting, mental well-being, cardio, flexibility or range of motion. It could be a combination but you need to set clear specific goals. When you set you goals monitor your results and commit to a workout at least 3 times a week.

For your nutrition start by monitoring one thing. For example, we try to avoid sugar as much as possible as a result we read labels very carefully and try not to eat more than 5 grams of sugar in whatever we eat and no more than 40 total grams per day. Also, try to avoid processed foods and high fat snacks.

2) Lack of follow-through.

Anyone can set a goal, but it takes a real commitment to follow-through. Once the goals are set the real work begins. You have to push through all the excuses that present themselves and make your fitness and nutrition plans a top priority. Decide in the beginning what’s really important to you and how committed you are to succeed especially in those times you want to skip a workout or have another slice of pizza.

3) Bad or incorrect advice.

If you were given advice that has not worked for you in the past look for new advice from professionals that have proven track records and not just trying to sell you something. There is so much wrong information about fitness and nutrition it’s totally understandable why many people do not succeed.

4) You don’t take your nutrition seriously.

We have encountered many members who think all they have to do to change their bodies is go to our studio for great workouts. But they don’t change their eating habits. They sweat and toil during their workouts and wonder why they’re not seeing results, get fed up, and quit.

Nutrition is responsible for at least 80% of your results not your workouts!

You may expend plenty of calories in the gym, but if you’re not altering the number or quality of calories you’re putting in your mouth, you’re not going to get the results you want.

If you owned a high performance car like a Mercedes would you put the inexpensive oil and gas in it? Would you keep the tires without proper air pressure or inadequate water in the radiator? No, of course not especially if you paid $100,000 plus for the car and you wanted it to run smoothly. Think of your body as that high performance vehicle much like the Mercedes, so it’s only fair that you nourish it and treat it like one.

5) You’re not having fun.

For both your fitness and nutrition plans you need to have fun to stick with it.

Find a fitness program that you like and have fun doing. If you’re not having fun and getting results you won’t stick with it. Hop online to check out classes, gyms and studios that offer programs you like and encourage your partner or friends to workout with you.

For your nutrition plan learn to eat quality food and avoid sugar as much as possible. If you get off the track for a while or occasionally eat the wrong food don’t beat yourself up. Enjoy and get back on track at the next opportunity!

Alan and Bonnie Cashman

Co-Founders LAB5 Fitness

www.lab5fitness.com

Be fit, be healthy, be happy

5 Simple Truths About Exercise That Nobody Wants to Believe

admin — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 21:23:17 +0000

5 Simple Truths About Exercise That Nobody Wants to Believe

Success with fitness, as with most things in life, comes down to mastering the basics. After three years in our new fitness business here at LAB5 there are some things we have learned that we believe apply to most people and everyone should follow.

Take these ideas to heart and you’ll reap major benefits. While most people waste time debating the endless stream of “new” workout programs and diet plans, all you really have to do is focus on these simple concepts and you’ll see results.

1. You need to commit for the long term.

Most people work out with a short-term goal in mind. We like looking at health and fitness in a different way.

The goal is not to lose 30 pounds in the next 12 weeks. The goal is to regain your health for the rest of your life and fitness becomes a permanent part of your everyday lifestyle. Who wants to live to 100 if there is no quality in life?
The goal is not to lift the most weight or sweat the most. The goal is to be the one who never misses a workout and become the best you.
The goal is not to sacrifice everything to get your fastest time in next month’s race. The goal is to be faster next year than you are today. And faster two years from now than you will be next year. Monitor your long-term results!
Ignore the short-term results. If you commit to the long-term process, the results will come anyway.Furthermore, stop acting like living a healthy life is a big deal. You can go to the studio or workout somewhere every day. That can be “normal” for you. Not a sacrifice. Not an obligation. Normal.What’s funny is that when you commit to being consistent over the long term, you end up seeing remarkable results in the short term.2. You need to set a schedule for your workouts.
Most people never workout consistently because they are always wondering when they are going to workout next.

They are always wondering:

“Will I be motivated to work out when I get home from work?”

“Will I have enough free time to exercise today?”

“Will I have enough willpower to wake up early and workout?”

In other words, most people workout when they feel motivated or inspired.

Here’s a better idea. Stop treating exercise as something to do when it’s convenient and start setting a schedule (appointment) for yourself to follow. This is what makes the difference between professionals and amateurs.

For example, we put our workouts on our schedule each Sunday for the following week and then organize our life and responsibilities around it (just like you would organize your day around your work or your meetings, etc.) We don’t hope that we’ll have some extra time to workout we make it happen!

Setting a schedule for your workouts becomes even more important when life gets crazy. There will always be occasional emergencies that prevent you from working out. It’s part of life. The problem is that most people miss one workout and before they know it, they haven’t been to the studio in weeks. But when you have a schedule for your workouts, you have a way of pulling yourself back on track as quickly as possible.

Top performers make mistakes just like everyone else. The difference is that they get back on track quicker than most. Miss your workout on Friday because you were traveling for work? Guess what? Your next training session is already scheduled for Monday at 6:30 p.m. Let your schedule govern your actions, not your level of motivation.

3. You need to focus on the best workouts for you.

Everyone is different and great results come from focus on what is important to you regarding your fitness goals. For some results are better range of motion, sculpting, balance, flexibility, toning, strength or a combination.  It doesn’t matter what’s important to others its what’s important to you! Find what is important you and stick with it. Pick your workouts accordingly and they must be fun if you are going to stick with it. You can do it!

4. You need to make slow progress each week. If you want to see different results, you have to do something different than you done in the past. The definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” Not going to happen!  If you want to see progress each week, then you have to progress each week.

This is actually very simple to do. Add more springs each week. Add an extra reps this week. Do the same exercise, but rest for 15 seconds less between reps. Take a new class. These are all ways of changing the stimulus and forcing your body to slowly and methodically get better.

5. You need to record your workouts.

What gets measured, gets managed. If you can’t even tell us how many workouts you did with last week, how can you guarantee that you’re actually getting results?

Tracking your progress is simple: Check you visits to LAB5 online using MindBody and record in a notebook other workouts that you have completed each day.

Recording your training is especially important because it brings all of these points together.

You can look back and see how you’re making long-term progress (point #1). You can see on which dates you workout and how often you were on schedule (point #2). You can verify that you did the best workouts for you (point #3). You can see how you are slowly building up volume and developing a foundation  (point #4). And you can prove that you’re making slow methodical progress each week (point #5).

What You Should Do Now:

Here are your action steps:
Set a schedule. Days, When and where, exactly are you going to workout?
Get a notebook and record your workouts.
Focus on the best workouts that make you move a lot and that are fun and you enjoy.
Find ways to measure the results that you expect!

Alan and Bonnie Cashman
Co-Founders LAB5 Fitness
www.lab5fitness.com

Be fit, be healthy, be happy

Visiting Palm Springs?

admin — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 21:23:48 +0000

Visiting Palm Springs and need any help?

As many of you know, we spend part of the winter and spring in Palm Springs California. This is where we were first introduced to Pilates in 2008. As a result of our great experiences and finding nothing similar for fitness in Seattle we opened LAB5 Fitness April 2011.

Many of our members now are also finding time to visit Palm Springs. If at anytime we can be of help with any tips for things to do and favorite restaurants please let the front desk know of your interest and how to get in touch with us. We usually spend some time between October and May each season.

Some members ask where we practice Pilates in Palm Springs and our two favorite spots are the following:

1. Pilates Plus

611 S. Palm Canyon Drive #14

Palm Springs, CA 92264

760.325.8052

http://www.pilatespluspalmsprings.com/

2. AB Solute Pilates

333 North Palm Canyon Drive, Suite 204

Palm Springs, CA 92262
760.668.7944
www.absolutepilatesps.com

Both offer great workouts. Please check out their websites for details, scheduling and pricing to fit your needs. We hope our paths cross in the desert and warm sun!!!

Alan and Bonnie Cashman
Co-Founders, LAB5