Ski and Snowboard Workout: Balance & Stability (Video)

Ultimate Bootcamp Co-Founders Jill Tomich and Peter Lavelle shows skiers and snowboarders how to increase their stability and balance out there on the slopes. 

The first day of the season on the slopes can be brutal.  Creaky joints.  Sore muscles.  5 year old kids bombing down the hill faster than you.  But it doesn't have to be that way!  Ultimate Bootcamp can help you get prepared for the New England Ski Season.

Ultimate Bootcamp is pumped to be doing a live Ski and Snowboard Clinic this year in Boston. (See website for dates and details.)  You can join our Trainers for an awesome outdoor workout and learn a TON of new exercises.  Plus, you'll learn how to avoid some of the BIGGEST mistakes skiers and boarders make that lead to injury.

Get a sneak peek of the clinic here, in this Ski and Snowboard Balance and Stability Video

Boston's 'Fat Smack' Fights Sugary Drinks. Is it enough?

In September, Mayor Menino and the Boston Public Health Commission launched an awareness campaign against sugar-sweetened beverages.  As of October 7th, municipal buildings are under an executive order to no longer sell, advertise or promote drinks filled with sugar. On the so called "red" list of beverages are non-diet sodas, pre-sweetened ice teas, refrigerated coffee drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks, and juice drinks with added sugar.

It's Mayor Menino's hope that it's not just municipal workers who will be affected by the awareness campaign.

“With the launch of this campaign, I’m asking all parents in the city of Boston to join me in taking responsibility for helping young people choose healthier foods and beverages. And I’m asking youth – especially teenagers – to take a leadership role among your peers and push them to make healthier choices,” Mayor Menino said.

It's estimated that more than 40% of Boston Public School children are overweight or obese and about 10% of their calories are coming from sugar sweetened beverages.

The Boston Public Health Commission created a website www.sugarsmarts.org, where parents can learn about the potential effects sugary drinks might have on their children.  Parents are encouraged to give their children more water, low-fat milk and 100% fruit juice drinks.

But perhaps the most talk-worthy awareness campaign the Boston Public Health Commission launched is directed at teens themselves: Fat Smack.  In the videos and ads, flying blobs of lard are launched at teens who are drinking sugar-filled drinks. Now THAT's a wake-up call!


Fatsmack! from HealthyBoston on Vimeo
 
FatSmack.org is a great resource for teens. The big, fun graphics and clearly written copy reveal surprising facts about sugary drinks teens - and adults - might not know.  Including the cost of health care due to obesity is "like buying everyone in the U.S. an iPad 2."

However, I don't agree with the some of the optional "healthy" beverages the Boston Public Health Commission suggests as substitutes for sugar sweetened drinks: diet sodas, diet iced teas and low-calorie sports drinks.

While these beverages are often lower in calories than their non-diet counterparts, many contain artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and saccharin.  These can be 300 to 600 times sweeter than sugar, and some studies show them to be potentially addictive, just like sugar.

When the brain pumps out excessive dopamine because sweeteners and sugars make us feel good, our brain wants more, causing cravings. Why replace sugar cravings with sweetener cravings?  This fight on sugary drinks is about creating new, healthy habits that could last a lifetime, not about creating new addictions that are "less bad" than the old.

Let's not lead teens and their parents to believe that sugar substitutes are the best solution, let's lead them towards reducing overall sugar consumption....period.

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Jill Tomich is a certified Lifestyle and Weight Management Coach and co-founder of Ultimate Bootcamp. She works one-on-one with adults to help them lose weight, reduce their risk of heart disease and live more confidently by helping them develop new, healthy habits that will last a lifetime.

You Don't Have To Be a Triathlete to Complete Your First Triathlon!

Is the word “Triathlon” something that makes you feel suddenly not part of a conversation? Is it something that you’d love to do, but don’t have the time, fitness, or knowledge? How about the fact that maybe – just maybe – you don’t see yourself as someone who could possibly participate in – and finish! – a triathlon…? Well, believe me – there’s not a competitive triathlete, or marathon runner out there who didn’t think those very same things once. In fact, if you've experienced a fitness regime like Ultimate Bootcamp, you know anything is possible.

Finding the Time to Train
As with many other things in life, including fitness, time is of the essence. How you choose to use your time is up to you, and it’s probably that very choice that separates you from doing many things you think you could never do. Let’s add up the number of hours you watch TV each week, or play video games, or even read.  If you gave that time – even just some of it – to triathlon training, you’d be at the start line in no time! Let’s break it down a little more.

What kind of Triathlon is good for beginners?
An ideal place to start is a sprint triathlon. Most of these races total about 14 or 15 miles. A ¼ or ½ mile swim, a 10 or 12 mile bike, and about a 5k run. If you spend time at each one of these sports every week, you can get there. If you were to spend just 30-40 minutes swimming, biking, and running every week, you’d still have time on your hands! 30 minutes! If you were to replace just one daily activity with training, or even just get out of bed a half-hour earlier, you would have found the time.

Make a Triathlon Training Schedule
Treating your training like an actual appointment is an approach that works for many people. If it’s in your calendar, and you promise to keep that appointment with yourself, you’ll succeed. Joining a running club or triathlon group is one great way to have that 'task' in your calendar. And – once you get used to having all that fabulous new fitness in your life, you’ll begin to build upon it – lengthening the amount of time per day, or increasing the numbers of days per week, until you hardly recognize yourself! Improved health, higher levels of fitness, weight loss, a cool new conversation piece…the benefits are endless!

Advice for Triathletes
What you don’t want to do is commit to doing a triathlon, but not complete the training properly. Your body needs to adjust to the various demands being put on it by swimming, biking, and running. Your joints need to adapt, your muscles need to learn to recover, and you need to be able to gauge and test your ability and new-found skills.

So let’s give this a shot, shall we? Doesn’t 2012 look like a really perfect year for you, and your new hobby? Even if you do just one triathlon, and never do another one again, you’ll still have done a triathlon! So what are you waiting for? Get online to sites like active.com, find a race in your area in the next 3-6 months, and sign up. Then…all you have to do is train. Piece of cake! We’ll be right here, with all the tools you’ll need to reach the start line. See you there!