Fitness Together - Northshore

Tackling my Fitness by Will West from the Sports Animal 99.1 FM

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 22:06:00 -0500

If you listen to the Sports Animal, by now you know that I’ve been working out with Fitness Together for just over 2 weeks. The results have been awesome. The most accurate description that I can think of for Fitness Together is it’s a healthy lifestyle makeover without affecting your lifestyle.

I’m eating better. I have more energy. I’m losing weight and I’ve learned a ton. Here are the top 5 things that I’ve learned in my first two weeks with Fitness Together:

5) Man am I out of shape: It’s only been a few years since I really stopped living a healthy lifestyle and the initial shock that came during my fitness assessment was down right depressing. Even if you’ve only let yourself go for a few years you’d be amazed how far your health can decrease in just a short amount of time.

4) Accountability makes all the difference: Over the years it just became too easy for me to blow off going to the gym after a 10, 12, or 15 hour work day. Having that set appointment each day eliminates excuses. I treat it like a business appointment, leave my phone in the car, and simply do what I have to. It’s great to know that there’s no chance of talking myself into skipping a workout and it actually is a nice vacation from my workday 3 days a week.

3) Man am I out of shape…and that’s okay: Had I gone to a normal gym and found out how out of shape I was during my first Fitness Together workout I would have been mortified. There was none of that with Fitness Together. At Fitness Together you work out in a private fitness suite where you never wait on equipment and you never feel judged for your fitness level.

2) I’d worked out most of my life, but was doing it inefficiently: Here’s a quick example: I suffered a back injury playing sports in high school that’s caused me back pain for the better part of 2 decades. My Fitness Together workout has included a lot of work to my upper back and hamstrings which has taken the pressure off of my lower back and I’ve been pain free. It would have taken me months in the gym to focus this much on the problem areas if I had tried this on my own. Having an educated trainer designing a workout specifically for my body has eliminated a lot of wasted hours doing exercises that wouldn’t have been as beneficial.

1) Man am I out of shape…but not for long: Just over two weeks in and I’ve had numerous co-workers, listeners to the station, my boss, my girlfriend, and my family all comment on the difference they can see in my body. The first day I couldn’t do 5 minutes on an elliptical trainer at 3 ½ mph. Now I warm up on the same machine for 15 minutes at around 5 ½ mph before I begin my workout. Things are progressing and it’s a fun process to undertake.

It's never too late to start!

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:38:00 -0500

Senior fitness

Friday Fact or Fiction - Dead Lifts...Great exercise or back buster?

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 20:49:00 -0500

Friday Fact or Fiction 2 - Dead lifts

Cardio before or after strength training?

Fri, 20 May 2011 07:25:00 -0500

Determine your exercise order by prioritizing goals.

Train Your Trainer Day for Alzheimers Association - Saturday May 7!

Thu, 05 May 2011 11:51:00 -0500

Join us from 2-6 this Saturday as the clients and friends of Fitness Together "turn the tables" and get to train their trainers for our Second Annual Train Your Trainer Day. All proceeds go to the Alzheimer's Association of East Tennessee. Food will be provided by Moe's and there will be great prizes raffled off as well. It should be another great day in support of a greate cause!

Mid-day Specials at Fitness Together!

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 08:53:00 -0500

Fitness Together Northshore and Hardin Valley are making it easier than ever to train with the best in your private suite! We are now offering mid-day discounts, so skip that greasy restaurant food and come get in shape instead! Contact Melanie at Hardin Valley (865) 229-7630 or Andrew at Northshore (865) 357-8663 to get started today!

National Stroke Awareness Month: Be Healthy, Be Aware, Save a Life

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:11:00 -0500

As we prepare for summertime activities, we typically are focused on achieving a strong, fit and healthy body. In honor of National Stroke Awareness Month this month, elevate your body’s fitness to new levels by focusing on the importance of maintaining a brain healthy lifestyle, while understanding the risk levels and signs of a stroke.

According to the American Stroke Association (ASA), a stroke is a “brain attack,” as opposed to the most commonly known “heart attack,” that affects the arteries leading to and within the brain. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts. When this happens, part of the brain cannot get the blood (and oxygen) it needs, so it starts to die. While heredity can play a big part in the risk factors associated with stroke, lifestyle choices and patterns can be leading contributors to reducing the risk of this life threatening disease.

Three Important Factors to Lowering Stroke Risk

• High Blood Pressure: High blood pressure is the leading cause of stroke and the most important controllable risk factor. According to industry research, there is a 55 percent increase in your stroke risk if you have prehypertension, which is blood pressure levels of 120 to 139 or 80-89 diastolic. Living a healthy lifestyle that can help to lower blood pressure levels includes exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, limiting alcohol intake, avoiding tobacco, reducing caffeine consumption, reducing stress, reaching out to family/friends for ongoing support, and visiting your doctor regularly.

• Healthy Diet: The way you feed your body not only contributes greatly to your body’s overall health and fitness, but also works to lower your risk of heart and brain disease. Research suggests that low fat, low cholesterol diets that include dark vegetables and fruits, which contain antioxidants, may reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. In general, dark-skinned fruits and vegetables (kale, spinach, brussel sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, broccoli,
beets, red bell pepper, onion, corn and eggplant, prunes, raisins, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, plums, oranges, red grapes and cherries) have the highest levels of naturally occurring antioxidant levels. Cold water fish contain beneficial omega-3 fatty acids (halibut, mackerel, salmon, trout and tuna) and some nuts (almonds, pecans and walnuts) are a good source of vitamin E antioxidants.

• Physically Fit Lifestyle: Constant, regular physical activity is the cornerstone to a fit body, healthy heart and strong brain. Physical activity 3-4 times a week in 45-60 minute increments is important for maintaining good blood flow throughout the body and to the brain, encouraging the growth of new brain cells, and significantly lowering the risk of heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke. The personal trainers at Fitness
Together can help you put an individual or small group workout plan in action to help you elevate your health and fitness goals, while reducing your risk of brain and heart disease.

Know the Risks to Act FAST

The ASA reports that the chance of having a stroke approximately doubles for each decade of life after 55; however, the risk of stroke can affect anyone at any age. It is essential to know the signs of stroke so that you can act quickly if you or a loved one is showing any of the following signs. Time is of the essence when it comes to strokes.

The ASA has released a new stroke detection method called FAST, which stands for the four items to check in a suspected stroke victim – Face, Arms, Speech, and Time. Specific stroke warning signs include:

• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body. Ask them to smile and raise an arm. If the face droops or looks crooked and/or if a raised arm droops down, then these are signs of a stroke.

• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding. Ask them to repeat a simple sentence like, “The sky is blue.” If they slur their speech or sound different, then this could be a sign of stroke.

• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes. Ask them to read a sign a short distance away with each eye. If they have difficulty making out words or letters that they normally can see, this could be a sign of stroke.

• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.

• Sudden severe headache with no known cause.

By living a lifestyle that includes healthy food, fitness and awareness, you are equipping yourself with the tools to reduce the risk of disease and prepare yourself for identifying the signs of stroke for yourself and your family. Certified personal trainers at Fitness Together are available today to help you get started on living a heart and brain healthy lifestyle that focuses on consistent exercise and healthy eating. Contact your local Fitness Together studio to begin one-on-one personal training or group PACK training focused on a healthy you.

Sources

1 American Stroke Association

2 Neurology

3 Mayo Clinic

4 Alzheimer's Association

Friday Fact or Fiction - Exercise immediately improves your ability to learn.

Tue, 15 May 2012 06:17:00 -0500

FACT!

As expained in Amy Van Deusen's article for Women's Health, exercise makes you ready to learn and it increases the production of stem cells which help develop new brain cells. "In a study at the University of Muenster in Germany, participants who ran sprints learned new words 20 percent faster than those who did nothing. Other research has tied physical activity to improve attention and memory as well."

Even better, check out what Christa Studzinski has to say in her article for FitnessRepublic.com:

"Adults who lead a physically active lifestyle seem to perform better on tests of cognitive function than sedentary adults. This effect is most pronounced in executive control, which is an important cognitive ability that allows us to schedule, plan, multi-task, monitor our own behavior and remember things in short-term memory (e.g., remembering a list of items you need from the grocery store). In addition, active adults tend to preserve their cognitive function as they age and may have a reduced risk for devastating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease."

Will West from the Sports Animal 99.1

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 22:48:00 -0600

Watch as Will talks about his training for his first 5K race coming up!

Aspire 8 Program Released

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:18:00 -0600

How Hard Should You Exercise?

Fitness Together of Knoxville introduces Aspire 8 to further customize each client’s fitness program

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – (Nov. 8, 2010) – When it comes to exercising, not all workouts are the same. And that’s just the way Fitness Together wants it.

The four Fitness Together studios in the area, located at Northshore Dr. & Pellissippi Parkway, Hardin Valley, Farragut, and Bearden, are part of the leading franchise network of one-on-one personal training, specializes in tailoring workouts for each and every client’s abilities, needs and goals. The science of crafting the right fitness routine just got better. The company recently unveiled Aspire 8, a proprietary program that will guide the studio’s personal trainers as they match each client’s aspirations to a custom fitness program designed to meet clients at their current fitness level and progressively move them forward.

“If we have 60 clients, there will be 60 tailored workouts in one-on-one sessions at our private studio with a personal trainer,” say Andrew Henderson and Craig Collier, owners of the Fitness Together franchises. “That’s the individual attention that gets results, pushes clients to excel, and takes the routine out of a fitness routine.”

The Aspire 8 program was released nationwide to Fitness Together studios in July. The system will help Fitness Together trainers classify each client into one of four training zones based on their current fitness level. Then, the personal trainer will work with the client individually to build a customized program designed to progressively move that client toward higher levels of fitness. The workouts will continue to evolve and adapt to the levels of improved health and fitness for each individual client ensuring that they continue to improve.

“The Aspire 8 program evolves with a Fitness Together client who is increasingly getting in better shape,” Henderson and Collier added. “It addresses the age-old question: How come I work out all the time but don’t lose weight?”

The results-oriented approach to exercising is one reason Fitness Together continues to excel as a growing national chain. And Henderson and Collier expect the Aspire 8 program to keep loyal Knoxville customers coming back, turning many into clients for life.

“We approach health and fitness as a lifestyle, and our personal trainers and fitness studio play an incredibly important role in the lives of clients,” Henderson and Collier added. “We’re not a volume business that focuses on dues versus usage. We’re about a very high level of service for people in Knoxville who want real results that will last. We make the most of their valuable time each and every session in a way they won’t get anywhere else. The Aspire 8 program will take that to the next level.”

For more information about Fitness Together in the Knoxville area go to http://fitnesstogether.com/knoxville.

About Fitness Together Holdings, Inc.:

Based in Highlands Ranch, Colo., Fitness Together Holdings, Inc., is one of the world’s largest wellness organizations. The parent company oversees Fitness Together Franchise Corporation, http://corp.fitnesstogether.com, a one-on-one personal training fitness franchisor established in 1983 that began franchising in 1996. In 2010, Fitness Together launched Nutrition Together, a nutrition and weight loss counseling program for their clients. Fitness Together Franchise Corporations also oversees Elements Therapeutic Massage, Inc., http://corp.touchofelements.com, a massage therapy franchisor that began franchising in 2006. Today, the combined franchise network has hundreds of franchises sold across the United States, Costa Rica, Brazil, Israel, Ireland, and Canada.

Franchise Information:

Fitness Together and Elements Therapeutic Massage are each actively selling franchises. If you are interested in changing your life and the lives of others, please visit http://corp.fitnesstogether.com/franchise/ and http://corp.touchofelements.com/franchise/ or call 877.663.0880 ext. 10 for more information about franchise opportunities.

Corporate Wellness with Fitness Together

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Would you like to decrease health care costs and absenteeism, increase productivity, and provide a healthier, happier work environment for your staff? If a corporate wellness program makes sense for your company then Fitness Together has a program for you. Below is a menu of programs we currently offer. Contact Fitness Together at 865-249-7630 or 865-357-8663 to see how we can take your “Desk Junkies” to the Finish Line!!

Health and Fitness Breakfasts and Lunches

Get motivated and learn about current tips to help your team get fit and live well! A Certified Personal Trainer will present to your staff at your location over a healthy meal.

Some topics include:

Weight Loss Fact and Fiction

Making Time for Exercise

Stress Relief Techniques

Desk Junkie to Finish Line

Get healthy and build teamwork among your colleagues!

A six-week program ending with an ultimate fitness challenge.

Get Started Gift Pack

Initial and Final fitness evaluations including comprehensive reports

6-week workout program

Breakfast or Lunch Fitness and Nutrition Seminar Weekly Motivational Trainer Tips

Ultimate Fitness Challenge (5K run/walk, Guided hike or bike ride, or any other event you can imagine!)

Biggest Loser

We will take your staff to new levels of fitness!! This 6-week program is designed to inspire weight loss, educate healthy eating habits, and encourage lifestyle modification for success!

Get Started Gift Pack

Initial and Final fitness evaluations including comprehensive reports

Weekly weigh-in and body composition testing

6-week Cardio, Strength and Flexibility program

Fitness Breakfast or Lunch Seminar and Weekly Motivational Trainer Tips

“Putting it all Together” – Rewards Ceremony and Wrap-up

All packages include one Free personal training session for each participant at Fitness Together and $100 off any package of 24 sessions or more!!