Monthly Archives: May 2012

Summer Cardio Workouts in Koko FitClubs Now

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Climb the Columbia Tower at Koko FitClubExercise may not have been in your Memorial Day plans. (It’s okay to admit that!) But, you may want to change your workout plans, now that the latest and greatest Koko FitClub Summer Seasonal Cardio Programs have arrived.

This time around I’ve designed 13 treadmill and 13 elliptical programs just for you. It’s a summer road trip theme: Across-the-Country Adventures. We hit our old favorite  - the Blue Hills – in  Skyline Trail 1 and 2, but I’ve tossed in new fitness locales including Boston’s Beacon Hill, New Hampshire’s Franconia Notch, the University of Connecticut Stadium and (thanks to a great member suggestion on facebook) Washington State’s Columbia Tower.

Let me know what you think. Send me feedback on the current programs and ideas for new destination programs. You never know, maybe your idea will be featured for Fall cardio!

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

In the News: Why the Campaign to Stop America’s Obesity Crisis Keeps Failing

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I read with interest the recent Newsweek cover story, Why the Campaign to Stop America’s Obesity Crisis Keeps Failing, by Gary Taubes. Taubes shines a light on the importance of eating the right types of calories to beat obesity and I want to share it with Koko Nation along with my own insights into some of the questions he raises.

As a professional in the business of helping clients get and stay in better shape long term, I applaud Mr. Taubes for questioning the status quo. My experience at Tufts Center for Nutrition taught me how sugars and white flour products can wreak havoc on the metabolism and lead directly to chronic weight gain. However, I believe Taubes’ assessment of the role of exercise in weight management is overly simplistic and may mislead readers to think exercise (especially high-intensity type training) is ineffective and possibly even a contributing factor in our nation’s struggle with weight.

One of the most powerful benefits of exercise is not how many calories are burned during exercise. Exercise, particularly strength training, is absolutely essential for maintaining our body’s lean muscle mass as we age. This, in turn, helps maintain or elevate our metabolism. By boosting our metabolic rate, our bodies naturally burn calories at a higher rate 24/7.  Unfortunately, too many dieters today instead focus on low calorie diets that result in an overall loss of precious lean muscle mass, (research shows as much as 10-50%,) which ultimately slows their metabolic rate. And unknown to many, excessive cardio exercise (“chronic cardio”) can exacerbate this muscle loss.

Bottom line, the real key to long term weight control is both the right type of calories, as Mr. Taube states, and the right type of exercise. It’s that simple.

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

Is Sugar Hampering Your Exercise Results?

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Read nutrition labels to spot added sugarYou are working out every day at Koko FitClub. You are healthier and your body is responding to the regular exercise with extra energy and strength when you need it most. Love it, but…

What are you putting into your body?

Even if you are not actively counting calories and just aspiring to “eat healthier,” a relatively easy (and often eye opening) habit to adopt is monitoring  your daily sugar consumption.  As a country, we consume a lot of sugar, and much has been written recently about its toxicity and addictive qualities. If you rein in your added sugar consumption, you will truly maximize the benefits of  your Koko Smartraining workouts.

Sugar can come in two forms – natural and added. Natural sugar can be found in fruits and the milk you drink. What I want you to keep a watchful eye on is the added sugar that is found in just about everything else you consume on a daily basis. Often they are sneaky – listed with names like “high fructose corn syrup,” “dextrose,” “sucrose,” etc.

*Warning* – you will be shocked to see how much added sugar is in the food you’re eating and the soda and fruit drinks you’re drinking! An average American adult consumes 92 grams (almost 400 calories) of added sugar each day.

Experiment with this for a week or two: look for the grams of sugar on ALL food/drink labels. Women, keep your daily amount of added sugar under 100 calories/25 grams a day. Men, keep your daily amount of added sugar under 150 calories/38 grams a day.

After this exercise, you won’t want to go back to your days of blind sugar consumption!

You can do this! If you have soda, sports or fruit drinks on a daily basis, just cutting these out of your regular diet will significantly cut down on both your sugar consumption and daily calories. ( The average person drinks about 450 liquid calories a day!)  It is one of the simplest changes you can make to boost your Koko workout results. And an easy rule-of-thumb for label reading? If the ingredient list is long and full of things that require a chemistry degree to translate, (including various forms of hidden sugar,) just put it back on the shelf.

Getting your sugar intake under control will pay off big when combined with your Smartraining workouts. Don’t be surprised if you get a better view of all that new muscle you’ve gained by losing a few pounds or inches from your waist like I have!

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

 

A Healthy Fitness Habit for Life

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Health, Happiness, Longevity

At Koko, we know fitness must fit into your life. 80% of adults will never spend an hour and a half a day working out at the gym, no matter how great the health benefits. You have other priorities more demanding of your time, energy and intellect. We figured out early on in the development of Koko Smartraining that unless we remove the roadblocks to fitness – which, besides time, includes confusion (“what the heck should I do?”,) boredom and the health club “scene” – the majority of adults will never make exercise a habit for the long haul.

But, our health, happiness and longevity depends on it. So, Koko FitClub exists to be fitness you can live with forever. Created to be roadblock-free so exercise finally becomes a great habit for the long haul.

Koko for Life! That’s the goal.

How does Koko FitClub remove the roadblocks to regular exercise?

Time: It’s precious and it feels like we never have enough. So, Koko designed the Koko Smartrainer, an incredibly effective strength training workout that takes 30 minutes. And, Koko Cardio gives you the aerobic benefits of a typical 30 minute cardio work out in just 15, using high intensity interval training. If you have time for both, you can be in and out of Koko FitClub in under an hour having completed a serious workout.

Confusion: Even for those of us who are pretty adept at finding our way around a gym, confusion about the best use of our exercise time can stop us in our tracks. No one wants to wander around aimlessly wondering what to do next. (Didn’t we just determine we don’t have time for that?) A personal trainer can solve this problem, but the good ones are expensive. (Since we have to keep on this exercise thing forever,  the consistent expense of a trainer is a real issue.) Each Koko Smartraining program is designed by Koko Chief Fitness Officer Michael Wood, CSCS,  a world-class personal trainer and exercise physiologist. Koko Smartraining Technology customizes the programs to your specific needs and ability. Koko Cardio programs are guided by Wood, who ensures that you work out at an intensity level that will provide maximum aerobic benefit.

Boredom: No one wants to feel like a hamster on the treadmill. Nor can we stomach the same strength routine over and over. *YAWN* It’s boring, and worse, its ineffective. Koko programs are interactive and engaging and – go figure – different every time! You are also rewarded with positive feedback that updates you on your progress. It is hard to be bored when there is so much to keep you motivated!

The Gym Scene: It’s just overwhelming for most of us. The over-socializing. The sweat marks on the machines. Tons of exercise equipment you can’t decipher that, frankly, looks like medieval torture devices. The smell of… ok, let’s not go there! There is so much NOT to like about gyms, it’s a wonder people use them at all. In contrast, Koko FitClub has been described (by an especially eloquent member) as a “fitness oasis.” A welcoming, clean, spa-like space that smells good. Everyone is fully focused on their workouts, not each other, and you have your own (non-sweaty) machine to use for the entire workout.

The simple truth is, the exercise regimen you can make a habit of for the long haul is the most effective exercise regimen for you. By figuring out the things that prevent you from making fitness a habit and removing them from the picture, Koko FitClub will help you be successful at getting fit and healthy. We are happy you have made Koko a lifestyle choice. Here’s to your health, happiness and longevity.

Koko for Life!

Mary Obana
President and Co-Founder
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising