Monthly Archives: August 2011

Need more motivation for your Koko Cardio workout? How about a longer life?

Posted on by

There is no denying that the positive benefits from strength training on the Koko Smartrainer are tremendous. (The average member strength gain following 24 weeks is a whopping 33%!) But I’m here today to beat the drum for Koko Cardio. If you are religious about your strength workouts, but get to cardio “when you can,” this post is for you.

Koko Cardio is no add on; it is critical to Smartraining. (You can’t get fit from the “inside out” if you ignore your heart and lungs.)  So, I’m excited to share with you groundbreaking research that I think just may get you over that motivational hump so that you consistently work in your Koko Cardio.

The well-respected medical journal, Lancet, recently published a new study out of Taiwan that showed the huge benefits of 15 minutes of exercise a day. The study found those who followed this prescription cut their risk of death by 14% and extended their life expectancy by three years compared with those who did no exercise. Both men and women benefited equally from the minimum activity. Each additional 15 minutes of exercise *reduced the risk of death by another 4% compared with the inactive group.

Our mission at Koko FitClub is to educate our members on the importance and benefits of getting fit from the inside out, and  this is what the elements of the Koko Smartraining System are designed to do without you having to think about it: Building lean muscle tissue through regular strength training on the Smartrainer, strengthening your heart and lungs by layering in our interval-based Koko Cardio and tying it all together by following the 8 Koko Nutrition Principles.

And I promise you, when you focus on being fit inside, your outside will be fit, too.

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

*Researchers did not report how the additional exercise affected life expectancy.

 

8 Ways to Avoid “Creeping Obesity” Like the Plague

Posted on by

Be aware of liquid calories. The average person consumes an extra 450 calories a day from soft drinks, sports drinks, juice, iced tea, alcohol, etc. This can add up to almost a pound/week!

 

We all suffer from portion distortion these days- don’t be a victim! Keep portion sizes no bigger than the size of your fist.

 

Avoid fast food restaurants. A typical lunch time meal at McDonald’s can total a whopping 1650 EMPTY calories!

 

Skip the late night eating. This is a time where many of us tip the scales and exceed our daily caloric needs and after 8 PM, your metabolism begins to slooowwww down.

 

Naturally curb you hunger and cut down on the calories you take in at each meal by first drinking two 8 ounce glasses of water.

 

Limit the sports bars. Some brands contain as much as 500 calories! Or, try eating a half a bar at a time.

 

Eat a healthy high protein breakfast. Not only will it require more calories to digest, it will stick with you until lunch so you don’t fall victim to a caloric snack attack before lunch.

 

Sharing is nice. When eating out – if you can’t skip dessert all together – split portions among your dinner companions.

 

 

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko Smartraining: Getting Fit From the Inside Out

Posted on by
Fat tissue takes up three times as much space, pound for pound, as muscle tissue.

This is how 5 pounds of muscle compares to 5 pounds of fat.

Last week at our annual owners conference, Koko Jam,  I had a captive audience for a brief lesson on the importance of body composition and how Smartraining gets you fit from the inside out. True fitness is not about being skinny and watching the numbers on your bathroom scale drop. Stepping on a scale does not tell you the whole story. Today I want to share this information with the rest of Koko Nation.

When you work out at Koko FitClub each week,  your goal is to complete 3 strength training sessions and 3-4 cardio sessions,  totaling the approximately 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise recommended by the  CDC. What I want to teach you more about is the incredible changes happening to your body physiologically when you are consistent with your Koko Smartraining over  the course of each 8 week program: You build more of the most important tissue in your body - MUSCLE - your metabolic engine.

Each and every strength and cardio session at Koko FitClub is helping you to build that internal engine (muscle) which increases  your metabolic rate (calorie burn.) And remember, your heart is a muscle and with Koko Cardio you’re making that stronger, too. With consistent Smartraining, you can expect to add 1-2 pounds of muscle every 8-20 weeks according to the research that has been published to date.

This is critically important, because adults lose muscle at a rate of a half a pound per year or more when you’re NOT strength training. That is 5-8 pounds of metabolically active tissue lost each decade. Now, add to the equation  the 1-2 pounds of fat the average baby boomer layers on each year. The result? Every year,  the average person is essentially replacing muscle with fat – and then some. Think of your friends and family who are not Smartraining – their softening appearance, chronic health conditions, low energy level,  aches and pains,  poor posture – this is what a steady decline of lean muscle looks like – and it’s not pretty.

Koko Nation, you want to gain muscle weight! Lean muscle tissue requires 3.5 times more calories per pound to maintain each day compared to fat.  When that engine is running optimally, you will feel better, look better, have more energy, be healthier and you will find yourself able to do things you never thought possible. Building muscle  is especially important as you age. If you want to maintain your functionality and healthy quality of life as you enter the 6th, 7th and 8th decades of life and beyond, keep Smartraining!

The nice side effect of having a fit body composed of a high percentage of muscle is that muscle takes up less space pound for pound than fat.  A lot less space. (Take a look at that photo again- 5 pounds of fat takes up 3 times more space than 5 pounds of muscle.) So, if you work consistently to increase the amount of lean muscle tissue in your body through strength training, it’s possible to  jump on the scale and weight the same- or more-  but look svelter , feel better and be fitter.  Remember: stepping on a scale does not tell you the whole story.

So, don’t give so much credence to the bathroom scale. Each and every Koko session, I want you to remember that your goal, with all the hard work you’re putting in at Koko FitClub, is building your metabolic engine. Smartraining is about getting fit from the inside out and changing your body’s composition so it has more muscle and less fat. Don’t ever be afraid to put on muscle weight. You’ll look and feel great, and more importantly, it will pay back great dividends later in life when you need it most.

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Owners ROCK!

Posted on by

Hello Koko Nation!

We spent the past week on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, learning, sharing and reconnecting with our amazing owners at Koko’s second annual owner conference: KokoJam 2011. It was priceless. We are so grateful for them! They are our Koko forces on the front lines, changing lives by turning regular folks into Koko Nuts. It’s clear that you are also grateful for them, going by the incredible response we received after asking how you felt about the people who make it possible for you to get your Koko on.

What you may not know is how grateful they are for YOU. For many, it is one of the biggest, best surprises of Koko FitClub ownership.

We made a special thank you video for them (and featuring them!) We want to share because it’s YOU who are their inspiration and it is wonderful to hear them say it in their own words. Keep up the good work!

Mary Obana
President & Co-Founder
Koko FitClub