Tag Archives: Cardio

A BETTER New Year’s Health and Fitness Resolution

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Every time a new year dawns, millions of folks dust off a fitness or health resolution that ends up fading by Valentine’s Day. Sound familiar? Not this year! Join me and set a better goal, one that you can stick with, enjoy and most importantly, one that works.

Oh, and let’s start today. (Why wait until January 1st?)

We aren’t going to cut calories or go on a fad diet. We are going to resolve to get more of the thing proven to keep us feeling young, chronic disease at bay and our weight a non-issue. This new year,  build and protect your lean muscle level. (That’s your LML on Koko FitCheck!)

I’m fired up that all our Koko FitClub members around the country now have access to our new, patented FitCheck technology. Now you’ll be able to quantify the great Koko results happening inside your body. (The ones I’m always telling you about and you “feel,” but you can’t always see right away.) FitCheck is the tool we will use to track this totally different (and did I mention better?) new year’s fitness resolution.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to drive your LML number upward through regular Smartraining workouts over the course of 8 weeks and then again over the course of a second 8 weeks.  You wont be alone, I have everyone at Koko headquarters getting their strength, cardio and FitCheck on!

Here’s what to do to get started. Next time you head in for a workout at your local Koko FitClub, climb on FitCheck and get your LML and eBMI (enhanced body mass index) measurements. Your measurements will be recorded and charted for you automatically and you can track them on your personal MyKokoFitClub.com website under the “My Fitness” tab.  At minimum, take weekly measurements and check in online occasionally. Keep in mind over the short term you will see some ups and downs – it’s normal and to be expected. The real payoff will be looking at the sum total of those measurements after you have completed your first 8 weeks and then after 16 weeks.

If you consistently get to Koko FitClub for strength and cardio 3 times a week for 8 weeks, you will be very happy with the changes you see in your lean muscle levels and eBMI.  And, after 16 weeks? Forget about it! (Plus, you can pat yourself on the back for sticking to your resolution way past Valentine’s Day!)

Keep me posted on your progress. (You can post them right here as a comment.) I want to know the strength programs that you are on as well as your baseline and follow-up numbers. Both your eBMI and LML interest me, but I’m most tuned into seeing what happens to your lean muscle level.

Good luck, stay in touch and have a happy, healthy holiday season!

Michael Wood, CSCS
Cheif Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

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Does your workout take advantage of the best learning about exercise?

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Best learning about exercise built into Koko FitClub workoutsI’m an exercise physiologist by training with a keen interest in keeping up with the very best research. I use it to design your Smartraining workouts! There’s solid science behind the Koko FitClub workouts planned for you each and every visit – so you don’t have to think about it. That’s why you’re here, right?

So, while I generally keep this stuff “behind the curtain,” I spotted a couple studies recently that not only reinforce the Koko Smartraining methodology BUT they have awesome motivational value. (You know my ultimate goal – successfully convince you to keep up with your workout prescription of 3 strength and 4 cardio a week!)

The first study, from the Journal of Obesity1 looked at the effect of high intensity cardiovascular exercise on male body composition. These men did interval training workouts that looked like this: 8 seconds of hard work followed by 12 seconds of light work. This workout was done for 20 minutes, three times a week for 12 weeks. The men in the study showed excellent improvements in aerobic capacity (15% increase,) a reduction in visceral fat (17% decrease) and significant increases in lean muscle level.

Once again, proof that it’s not the quantity of  exercise you do when you’re at Koko FitClub, but the quality of exercise that matters.  And, there’s no reason you won’t see the same type of results by just sticking to your Koko Smartraining exercise prescription.

The second study appeared Archives of Internal Medicine2 using research from the renowned Cooper Clinic and the University of Texas’ Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. The research involved men and women who were tested for fitness at age 50 and then again surveyed about general health a decade later.

What did they learn? “Physical fitness at midlife made healthy aging — long considered a contradiction in terms –a distinct possibility.” The fittest 1/5th in their 50′s had far fewer chronic conditions in their 60′s, ( by more than half,) than the folks in the lowest fitness category.

What does that mean for you? When your Q-score and lean muscle level goes up, or your eBMI goes down, the immediate payout is that you look and feel better right now. Turns out, you are also banking that fitness so you look and feel great for years to come. It’s an investment in healthy aging so you can enjoy your entire life!

All this by meeting your Smartraining exercise prescription of 3 strength and 4 cardio a week. Could it be any easier to take advantage of the best learning about exercise? No way. Now go hit the club!

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

1Journal of Obesity link – http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jobes/2012/480467/

2 Archives of Internal Medicine link – http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1352789

New Koko Cardio Workouts for the Fall Coming Soon!

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Your favorite NFL teams are on the field. Kids are heading back to school. You know what that means at Koko FitClub? It’s time for new Fall Cardio Programs!

This Fall’s theme is “Take the Koko Challenge.”

Whether you are exercising on the elliptical or treadmill, there are plenty of new interval training cardio challenges this season  including hiking adventures, speed walking, Boot Camp, Tabata and Stadium Stairs workouts inspired by my days of running private clients up and down the stairs at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, MA.

The hiking adventures are a blast this time around. Inspired by your suggestions, some were even recorded on location, including  Bear Creek Trail, a hike I took while visiting Koko FitClubs near Keller, Texas. A Koko owner from Arizona recently hiked the famous Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon so we’ve included that, too. These are fun and challenging across both moderate and high intensity.

There are some great workouts to try, but I believe the true cardio challenge for Koko FitClub members this season will be the Traditional Tabata (moderate-intensity) and the Double Tabata. (Do I even have to mention that its high-intensity?) If you can handle that fitness challenge, then I want you to try Boot Camp and Wind Sprint sessions on the elliptical. That’ll get your heart rate up!

The new Fall Cardio programs will be available in clubs next Wednesday, August 29th. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on taking the Koko Challenge!

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

Strengthening the Mind / Body Fitness Connection at Koko

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Exercise the mind body connection at Koko FitClubEvery time I workout on the Smartrainer, my goal is 1000 points. Something about that goal is extremely motivating for me. I’m not the only one…but there are also equally dedicated Koko Nuts who aren’t as “focused” on earning 1000 points every time. That’s ok, because Koko points are just one part of a much bigger motivational environment. We want to do everything we can, through Smartraining technology, supportive FitCoaches and the serene training studios they inhabit, to engage your mind as well as your body. And how we accomplish that is going to be a bit different for every one of you.

Typical fitness scenes include armies of people lined up on treadmills, all zoned out to the television screens in front of them. On the weight floor, folks go through the motions at a such speed you know they just can’t wait to be finished. The whole purpose seems to be to distract from the unpleasantness at hand or get it over with ASAP because it’s boring. Working out like this helps you achieve your fitness goals no more than living like this helps you achieve your life goals. It’s very simple: engaging your mind in whatever you are doing translates to better results. In exercise, thinking about your form and the muscles you engage with each movement allows you to work them more efficiently and effectively.

Mindful exercise is essential for success.

Here are a few of the ways Koko encourages mindful exercise:

The Pace Bar- even I can’t explain exactly why, but the Koko pace bar is absolutely mesmerising and we all try very hard to follow it. No more racing through reps. No more daydreaming. Following the pace bar results in optimal time under tension for your muscles, making the most out of every rep.

Koko Points- They are little rewards at the end of each Smartraining session or ways we compete with ourselves and others to stay motivated. Bottom line is, the more engaged you are in your workout, the more points you’ll earn. Maybe even 1000!

Smartraining Form Tips- Available for every exercise, every workout, with a reminder about how important the right form is to your results.

Michael Wood, CSCS- The awesome Boston baritone of our Chief Fitness Officer has coached Koko Nation through hundreds of thousands of hours of Koko Cardio workouts, and we can’t help but pay attention! (Even our Louisiana contingent has grown fond of his “Yankee” accent, haven’t you?) Shoulders back? Arms pumping? Abs in? Always positive, Michael keeps us thinking and encouraged.

No TVs- No need for the distraction. We are too busy following the pace bar and listening to Michael.

Variety- Every workout is different so you never go on fitness autopilot, repeating the same exercises over an over without a second thought.

FitCoaches- They make sure you feel welcome, supported, and well oriented. Most importantly, they are your BIGGEST cheerleaders!

Spa-like Atmosphere- There really is nothing worse that trying to exercise in a giant warehouse full of equipment, noise and REALLY LOUD MUSIC. And let’s not even talk about the smell. Koko FitClubs are intimate, attractive, quiet an clean. Perfect for mindfully reflecting on you and your workout.

All this is designed to help YOU get and STAY STRONG! Is it working?

Mary Obana
President and Co-Founder
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

The Diet you Choose After Weight Loss Affects your Metabolism

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The food you eat after weight loss affects the likelihood of putting weight back onAs Chief Fitness Officer at Koko FitClub, part of my role is pouring through the mass of diet and exercise research out there to discover for you the best information from the most credible sources to help you succeed at your health and fitness goals.

This week, a very intriguing study was published in one of the most credible sources: The Journal of the American Medical Association. The title may be a mouthful ( “Effects of Dietary Composition on Energy Expenditure During Weight-Loss Maintenance”) but this research is big news, so I am going to boil it down for you.

The basic premise of the study was this: Reduced energy expenditure (a slowing of  metabolism) following weight loss is thought to contribute to the tendency to gain weight back. However, no one had yet studied how the type of food people eat when they are trying to maintain weight loss affects their energy expenditure. That is what the researchers set out to do here.

The study looked at the effects of three, very common weight -loss maintenance diets on energy expenditure among a group of overweight men/women aged 18-40 years old. Researchers also looked to see what affect these diets had on certain hormone levels and components of metabolic syndrome.

The diets were as follows:

  • Low fat (60/20/20)
  • Low glycemic index (40/40/20)
  • Very low carbohydrate (10/60/30)

(  )  =  % CARBOHYDRATES/FAT/PROTEIN in diet

The study demonstrated that of the three, the low fat diet fared worst. Producing changes in metabolism and hormone levels that would predict weight gain as well as worsening many components of metabolic syndrome.

The low carbohydrate diet fared best in terms of  metabolism and the beneficial effects it had on many of the metabolic syndrome components. However,  increases in the stress hormone cortisol and CRP were seen. (CRP or C-reactive protein, is found in your blood stream and at certain levels can indicate inflammation and a risk of developing coronary artery disease.)

The low glycemic index diet showed similar benefits as the very low carb diet, but to a lesser degree. But, those benefits came without  the negative effects of the very low carb diet – the increase in cortisol and CRP – making it, in the minds of the researchers, the most “advantageous for weight-loss maintenance and cardiovascular disease prevention.”

So what should you do with this information?

First, keep on strength training! The lean muscle you are building and maintaining with Koko Smartraining boosts your metabolism. Second, be conscious about the food you are eating and focus on eating foods that are low on the glycemic index while staying away from fast food, refined carbs, and “white” foods that are high on the glycemic index.

It is one more simple strategy to help you on the road to success – improving your health  and vitality!

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising