Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub
Monthly Archives: September 2010
Koko FitClub vs Globesity
Everyone at Koko FitClub has a shared goal: We are dedicated to changing the lives of people in our communities. For our future, we envision Koko FitClub fulfilling an important need in our communities. Not simply as a place to get a great workout, but as the way people get and stay healthy.
This need is dire, and it’s not confined to America. It’s global.
Last Friday, Koko FitClub Chief Fitness Officer, Michael Wood, shared some frightening world-wide statistics on people who are obese and overweight. He found this data on the World Health Organization (WHO) website (2004) showing a significant rise in both over the past decade:
- World-wide numbers (for 1999) included 1.3 billion *overweight and 300 million *obese
- World-wide numbers (for 2004) have risen to 1.7 billion overweight and 400 million obese.
- Prediction by WHO (for 2015) – 2.3 billion overweight and 700 million obese individuals worldwide.
*The WHO defines “overweight” as a BMI equal to or more than 25, and “obese” as a BMI equal to or more than 30.
Unfortunately, thanks to these staggering numbers, the World Health Organisation has found the need to coin a special term for this global epidemic: Globesity. “Globesity is fast becoming more of a problem than famine and under-nutrition, and has now reached a point where it is becoming a serious threat to the health of every nation striving for economic development.” (Independent, Feb. 2002) Wow. Does that quote blow your mind as much as it does mine?
We live in a global community. By saying Koko is dedicated to changing the lives of people in our communities, it’s clear that mission goes far beyond North America; and Koko is full of determined people striving to fulfill this mission. Do I think Koko can help save the world by saving it from the Globesity crisis? Absolutely.
If you’d like to read more on the subject:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/commerce/091125/obesity-epidemic-fattest-countries
Mary Obana
President & Co-Founder
Koko FitClub
The Koko Zone
Do do do do…Do do do do…
You unlock this Smartrainer with a key. A Koko Key. Through it is another dimension, a dimension of smaller waistlines, a dimension of more energy. You are moving into a land of lifelong health and fitness. You’ve just crossed over into…
The Koko Zone.
Let’s face it, there is no quick fix for getting — and staying — in shape. For real results, you must approach exercise as part of your everyday activities, just like eating and sleeping. It must become part of your daily life. Period.
However; Koko FitClub is designed to take all the guesswork out of exercise, one 30-minute workout at a time. That simplicity and efficiency makes it easier for you to stick with a long-term fitness plan. And consistency pays off. Look at the average strength data (automatically tracked by the Koko Smartraining System) for those of you in Koko Nation who hop on a Smartrainer 2-3x/week:
After your 1st Program: 19% improvement in strength after just 8-weeks
After your 2nd Program: 25% improvement in strength after 16 weeks
After your 3rd Program: 33% improvement in strength after 24 weeks
To put that in perspective, in traditional strength training, a 10% strength gain is considered excellent.
Once you’re at that point, the body begins to adapt to its new found strength and begins to work as a more efficient machine. You’ll begin to see, as you advance through your programs, these dramatic strength increases will begin to level off. This is when you enter the “Koko Zone”. Do do do do… Do do do do…(Sorry, I couldn’t resist!)
The Koko Zone is when your body is functioning at its optimal level. The goal is to work towards achieving your optimal strength, and then maintain these gains to combat the body’s natural tendency to lose muscle mass. Your body will benefit from increased muscle mass, ligament and tendon strength, and as a result, it will burn calories more efficiently during exercise and at rest. This increase in muscle means a sharp increase to your metabolism.
Being in the Koko Zone is like cheating the aging process. After your mid-twenties, the average person loses 0.5 lbs. of muscle per year without strength training. That may not sound like much, but over the course of a decade, that number equates to 5 lbs. of calorie-burning muscle replaced by fat tissue. This negatively impacts your body’s metabolism. With continued neglect, you could lose as much as 20-40% of healthy muscle tissue. Friends, this is what’s happening to the majority of American adults right now.
So Koko Nation, your goal is to get on that Smartrainer 2-3x/week. Work hard, ramp up, and maintain that strong, healthy Koko Zone body. You’ll keep your lean muscle tissue and have a strong, fat-burning metabolism.
Stay on track and stay in the zone…the Koko Zone!
Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub
September is Cholesterol Awareness Month: Do You Know Your Number?
Did you know that The American Heart Association recommends that we start getting our cholesterol checked at age 20? (I didn’t!) Even young children with a family history and other risk factors can have high cholesterol. There’s so much information out there, including mis-information and misconceptions, that the AHA has declared September Cholesterol Awareness Month to set the record straight. And, since physical activity plays such a big role in cholesterol levels, we at Koko think it is only natural to help the AHA with it’s educational efforts. So in the spirit of awareness here is a quick cholesterol tutorial:
Cholesterol, in and of itself, isn’t bad. The waxy substance is used to make things our bodies need like cell membranes, hormones and digestive acids. 75% of cholesterol is actually made in our liver and cells. The other 25% comes from the foods we eat. Ideally, unused cholesterol is absorbed by the intestines or back into the liver. This is how it is supposed to work. However, if there is too much of it in our bloodstream, it doesn’t all get absorbed. Too much unabsorbed cholesterol IS bad and can be the result of genetics, inactivity, eating foods high in dietary cholesterol, saturated and trans fats, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption or (phew!) a combination of these factors. Cholesterol doesn’t dissolve in the bloodstream it floats around, carried by High Density Lipoproteins (HDL-the good guys) and Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL- the bad guys.) The difference between the good guys and the bad guys lies in what they do with that excess floating cholesterol. HDL removes it from the bloodstream by returning it to the liver- our bodies own filtration system. LDL deposits cholesterol onto arterial walls where it helps to form a hard plaque that restricts blood flow, causing all kinds of deadly health problems from strokes to heart disease to peripheral arterial disease.
When you get your cholesterol checked, you want to have a total cholesterol level below 200 mg/dL with the constituent levels of protective HDL near 60 mg/dL or above and dangerous LDL near 100 mg/dL or below. So it’s not just how much cholesterol you have in your bloodstream that is important, the kinds of lipoproteins that are carrying it matter, too. According to the AHA, one of the best things you can do to up your HDL levels and lower your LDL levels is regular physical activity. (As if you needed another reason to love your Koko!) Physical activity combined with a balanced, nutritious diet low in saturated and trans-fats is all it takes for many people to take control of their cholesterol. For others, challenged by genetics, this healthy lifestyle must be augmented by cholesterol lowering medication.
Bottom line, high cholesterol is a big, bad risk factor for heart disease- the leading cause of death in the US. Taking control of your cholesterol is very doable, if you know your numbers. The AHA website is a wonderful educational resource on the subject of cholesterol. I encourage you to visit the site to learn more about why it is so important for you to know your cholesterol numbers: http://bit.ly/8Z7hu4
*Special thanks to Koko facebook friend Perry C. – the inspiration for this blog post. Perry has conquered his high cholesterol with Koko and dietary changes alone! We’d love to hear your ideas for blog topics, too! Anything you’d like Michael Wood or I to cover? Let us know in the comment section or via facebook.
Mary Obana
President and Co-Founder
Koko FitClub
Koko Smartraining: Better than Personal Training
Koko Nation, have you noticed our new campaign that boldly tells the world that Koko Smartraining is better than personal training? You may be wondering, “Michael Wood, how can you get behind that? YOU are a former personal trainer!” Tell you what, I have no problem with it. The Koko claim is based firmly on a combination of results*, time efficiency, cost per session and quality.
Quality. That’s the piece I want to focus on today.
I am a degreed exercise physiologist and a certified strength and conditioning specialist; during my personal training days I was voted “Best of Boston” and named to the Men’s Journal “Dream Team” comprised of the best nine trainers in the country. Unfortunately, with my qualifications, I represent only a small percentage of the personal trainers out there. And, in most states, there really are no degree or certification requirements for personal trainers. That’s not changing anytime soon. A recent email from the International Health and Racquet Sports Association (IHRSA) proves my point.
On August 18, I received a “legislative update” in my inbox from IHRSA. They are a prestigious industry group who’s mission is to “protect and promote the health club industry.” It announced a “victory for Bay State fitness professionals.” They defeated a Massachusetts senate bill that would require licensing for personal trainers. So, Massachusetts remains like most every other part of the country where you can pretty much become a personal trainer just by calling yourself one. This is a victory? It certainly isn’t a victory for people spending big money at clubs and training studios with the expectation that they are being trained by knowledgeable, quality professionals.
With our claim, Koko is not picking a fight with personal trainers. We know that quality personal training is very effective. The problem is, unfettered access to a quality personal trainer isn’t realistic for the vast majority of people who would benefit from the results this level of personal training can achieve. They are limited by many factors, including financial constraints and a lack of educated, certified trainers. Smartraining technology makes it possible for every Koko FitClub member to receive personalized, world-class training from myself and elite trainers Kathy Kaeler and Rob Parr for only a few dollars per session. And I have to say, human personal trainers simply can’t begin to manage all the variables or track progress with the precision we can through Smartraining technology. This is high quality training, with data to back it up.
So yes, I’m very comfortable telling the world that for the majority of people- for you, Koko Nation- Smartraining is better than personal training.
*Note: I plan share more details of the 8 week strength and body composition study I conducted early this summer in a near-future blog post. I will say that my results were at least as good and often better than those achieved through personal training, in half the workout time.
Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub