March Golf, Posture, Nutrition & Fitness Tips From NeighborhoodTrainers

When temperatures rise and the birds begin chirping, we get inspired to resume
our warm-weather activities. For golfers that means hitting lots of balls at the driving range or hitting the links.

Every golfer wants to play better golf! The desire to lower one's handicap is present from the tour professional down to the recreational golfer. However, the most common method used for improving your golf game is either lessons from a golf professional and/or a lot practice. Although this seems like a logical approach, it is the very reason most golfers rarely reach their potential.

Did you know that: 80% of golfers suffer from some sort of pain or injury? According to a Golfers Health study by Golf Digest in 2006, 64% of all golfers suffered from low back pain. By following this three-step formula for success, you can avoid pain and injury
and have your best swing yet!

Step 1: Know Before You Go.. Get Assessed..
Most golfers go out and hit ball not realizing that their body is quite ready for the repetitive and ballistic nature of hitting a golf ball. The only way to know if your body is ready to swing is by having a proper screening, assessment or evaluation. A physical golf evaluation looks at a golfer's movement patterns,
posture and overall flexibility as it relates to golf. The objective of an evaluation is to determine a player's physical limitations and injury risk potential by identifying movement deficiencies that may lead not only to a break down of the body over time, but to a host of common swing faults. This information allows the golf fitness professional to customize a stretching and
strengthening program that allows the golfer to overcome his/her performance challenges.

Step 2: Attack Your Weaknesses
Now that you know the physical factors that are the cause of your swing faultswork
on improving your body. Of the 5 factors that determine the flight and destination of the ball: (Read on)

Contact Brett today and get ready to tee off.

Rule of Sum, Shaving Off Body Fat--

James Lee

Personal Trainer &

Martial Arts Instructor

* Eat clean, balance of protein, fat & carbs

* Carbs & natural sugar, pre-post-workout only

* Don't eat too late (cut down carbs @ night)

* Watch the timing & portion thru out the day

* Don't snack on Doritos & (junk food)
See James & start shaving off your own body fat.

Learn Your Body Mass Index (BMI)

Body Mass Index (BMI) is essentially a height to weight ratio. Am I a healthy weight for my height.

Figure out your BMI now.

Underweight = < 18.5

Normal Weight = 18.5-24.9

Overweight = 25-29.9

Obese- 30 or higher

Remember, speak to your doctor before starting a fitness program and then seek out the right personal trainer for correct program design. Enjoy your workout!

Find more great articles on the blog

Greetings!

Obesity costs our country $1 trillion per year in medical costs, according to the Milken Institute. Now that is March madness! Do your part to trim the fat and costs. This month, Lisa, Phillip, Brett, Rachel and Meredith will show you how.

NEW! Looking for fitness classes around the city? Check out our 5 Boroughs of NYC Fitness Classes schedule page. It's new and growing! Let me know what you think of it.

Happy reading,

Glenn

P.S.

The Health Benefits of Yoga

Lisa Neilsen Health Coach, Nutritionist, & Yoga Instructor

According to the Mayo Clinic, the potential health benefits of yoga are numerous and may include:

Stress reduction. With its quiet, precise movements, yoga draws your focus away from your busy, chaotic day and toward calm as you move your body through poses that require balance and concentration.
Increased fitness. As you learn and refine new poses, you may enjoy improved balance, flexibility, range of motion and strength. And this means you're less likely to injure yourself in other physical endeavors or in your daily activities.
Management of chronic health conditions. Yoga might help with a variety of health conditions, such as cancer, depression, pain, anxiety and insomnia, by helping with sleep problems, fatigue and mood. Yoga also can help reduce heart rate and blood pressure.
Weight control. If you're overweight or have binge-eating disorder, yoga may help you make the healthy lifestyle changes necessary to gain control of your eating.

Enjoy these benefits & more with Lisa's 6-week Green Yoga 101 class. Classes begin April 4th! Free Green Smoothies, too!

Energize! Your Health Depends On It.

Phillip Tomlinson
Personal Trainer, Group Fitness, Martial Arts Instructor, & Health Coach

"He keeps going and going and...

Yeah, "going and going and going..." like the Energizer Bunny may be great when it comes to squashing the competition, but sometimes it may be something else.

May even be downright hazardous.

If we are to avert disaster further up the pike, concluded a study by the Division of Sleep at Brigham and Women's Hospital, most of us -- especially younger people -- need to put on the brakes and sleep more.

And if you are thinking that simply grabbing some sleep will do the trick when you're at the end of your rope, think again. In other words, for those of us who burn the candle at both ends and then grab some shut-eye when we can, we've hardly extinguished the candle.

To put it mildly, we may just be fanning the flames. That's because, according to the evidence, insufficient sleep is associated with increased risk of accidents, errors, decreased learning, compromised immune function, and metabolic changes similar to diabetes.

In addition, ignoring our natural sleeping cycle -- the circadian cycle influenced by the movement of the sun -- can be downright problematic from the confusion that results.

Confusion?

Yup. In a nutshell, as the sun rises, the level of cortisol, our stress hormone, rises. This peaks from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and is at its lowest from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. It's during this down period that our body starts secreting melatonin, the hormone that helps us go to sleep so that our system can re-energize and repair itself.

Needless to say, somewhere between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., we need to be turning out the lights at a reasonable hour (Continue reading)

Phillip offers flexible 30, 45, and 60 minute sessions to fit exercise into your busy schedule and still get plenty of sleep.

Practice Perfect Posture on the Subway

Rachel Shasha Personal Trainer & Health Coach

Instead of being annoyed that there is no where to sit or that someone is breathing down your neck, try focusing on your posture. It's the perfect opportunity to straighten your back, hold your head up high and drop your shoulders down and back. As an added bonus to your new posture, tighten your abs as well holding an isometric contraction. You will immediately feel more confidant. Now at least while having to deal with the smelly guy that's practically on top of you, you can at least feel good about yourself.

Perfect your fitness program, contact Rachel and avoid anymore train(ing) delays.

Spring Cleaning Your Insides

Meredith Stewart Personal Trainer, Pilates Instructor, & Health Coach

It's almost that time of year...Spring! A time for renewal...when plants break through the ground and bloom in the warming weather. It's also a great time for us to "renew" our bodies with a spring cleaning of sorts, a detox.

Why do we want to do a detox diet? To clean out the system so that it can effectively and efficiently absorb all of the nutrients from the raw fruits and vegetables you'll be eating. Overeating over works the GI tract and stresses the liver which means that we can't fully metabolize fat which leads to vitamin deficiencies and poor digestion. The colon can become strained over time if it doesn't get enough fiber too.

As a certified TLS weight management consultant, I recommend a seasonal detox, especially in the spring: a full 7 days of fruits and vegetables. Cleanse the taste buds, liver and GI tract!

Keep it simple: vegetables in unlimited amounts - go for green veggies especially, but keep the starchy ones to a minimum - raw, saut�e, steam, grill or boil, just NO FATS for the detox. But use spices to keep things tasty, plus vinegar, mustard, soy sauce too. You can include fruits, but keep them to 3 fruit servings per day.

No coffee, alcohol, sugar, caffeine, fat, oils, etc. Plan ahead and always carry a stash of veggies with you. You will almost constantly eat this week...and that's ok! You can't go wrong with veggies and fruit!

Start each morning with (Continue reading)

If you need any assistance in planning or completing your detox week, please get in touch! Email me at meredith@ShopWellLiveWell.com or call me at 215.837.4621.

Refer Your Favorite Fitness Pro

Let new clients find them here. NeighborhoodTrainers is looking for great trainers and instructors in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, & the Bronx.

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Find more great fitness tips from previous issues.