Tag Archives: habits

On Point for the Best Workout Possible

Posted on by

Friends, I love earning Koko Points every time I exercise! They are instant feedback on how closely I followed my custom Smartraining workout. A pat on the back for a job well done. I know I’m not alone in this, but you may not know what’s actually at work behind the point system. (It’s really pretty amazing when you get down to it.) So, I’d like to broaden your understanding of why we award you Koko points every time you exercise and how they are calculated. I also want to encourage their use for positive motivation.

Remember: In the end it’s not about the points, it’s about getting the best workout possible.

Koko Points are calculated based on how well you keep to your prescribed Smartraining workout during a session. You must:

  • Stay on pace for each exercise (indicated by earning a 100% pace score)
  • Complete all sets and reps prescribed by the Smartrainer
  • Use the prescribed weights for each rep/set

Surprised? It’s a common misconception in Koko Nation that a 1000 point workout is earned simply by getting  a 100% pace score on every exercise.

The most important role of Koko points is to motivate and encourage the good strength training habits that make for the most effective workouts possible. How it motivates and encourages is different for each person, just like Koko workouts are different for each person.  We know that for some, Koko points light the fire of an already competitive nature and possibly an obsession with colored lanyards. (Just fine if you remember- It’s not about the points!) For others, my husband and Koko Co-founder Mike Lannon is a perfect example, the number is simply good feedback that lets him know how he’s doing each session and he doesn’t ever worry about a few points here and there. Different strokes for different folks.

I leave you with this final thought: Koko points are for good not evil. They are feedback meant to educate and encourage good exercise form. Never let them become a de-motivator and never, ever feel discouraged by a workout that doesn’t earn quadruple digits. That would be missing the point!

Mary Obana
President & Co-Founder
Koko FitClub

Sign up for a complimentary workout at Koko FitClub near you!

Koko FitClub Franchising

Returning to Your Workout Routine After Illness or Injury

Posted on by

You’re finally on a roll with regular exercise, thanks to Koko. You feel great and your workout has become part of your daily routine. Then it happens: you get sick, you sustain an injury or you need a medical procedure. You are told by your doctor (who is always telling you to get active) to stop exercising for awhile. Sometimes a long while. Don’t worry. I know firsthand you can come back from it better than ever. You just need to have the right expectations.

Last month, for the second time in three years, I had emergency eye surgery and could not exercise. After one week I was told I could start back with cardio. Great! But, I was still not able to do any strength training. It was two weeks before I was told I could slowly ease back into my strength training sessions.

What happens if you cannot get in your weekly Koko Smartraining workout, or worse, you become sick or have to go on bed rest for a few weeks or more? When your body receives no exercise stimulus, detraining will occur.

detraining | dē-ˈtrān- iŋ: the partial or complete loss of training-induced adaptations in response to cessation of training or a substantial decrease in training load. 

This loss in both strength and aerobic capacity is followed by a decrease in your lean muscle level (LML) and can occur in as quickly as two weeks!

Don’t worry. Life happens. You body is amazingly adaptable and you can get it back to where it was – and then some!

If you’re faced with returning to your Smartraining workouts after a period of two weeks or more of inactivity, just plan to slowly progress back to the level you left off.

Koko Cardio – To start, try and complete a full 15 minute workout, but at a lower intensity than what you could do before your break. Slowly increase the intensity of your exercise over subsequent weeks. If you find that next higher intensity program is too much, back off on my audio suggestions for the incline, speed or resistance (for the elliptical.) You know how to do it!  Also, it may be that 15 minutes is too much to handle at first. It’s ok. Be patient with yourself and your body. It will come back.

Koko Strength – Rarely do I suggest it, but do not try to lift the weight that the Smartrainer initially suggests. It remembers the “you” from before your time off. Instead, you can help it calibrate to your current strength level even if a strength test isn’t scheduled. What I did was to cut my weight in half (or less) for the all my exercises through the first few sessions. The Smartrainer remembers your adjustments for the next time it gives you those exercises. After a week or so, I started to increase my volume of work by doing three extra reps on the sets that felt easy. The Smartrainer understood this to mean, “Michael needs more weight on this exercise” and it automatically adjusted the next time.

It may be frustrating to feel like you’re starting over and difficult to convince yourself to “take it easy.” (You just want to get back to where you were, already!)  Be patient. By slowly letting your body adjust to the specific demands placed on it by both strength training and cardio sessions, you will avoid injury and be back in peak form before you know it and stronger than ever!

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

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

Posted on by

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

The Power of Mindset to Reaching Your Fitness Goals

Posted on by

At a gut-check level, isn’t it true that when you decide to do something – like exercising or eating better – the level of commitment you have at the outset pretty much determines that goal’s failure or success?

To set the stage, my husband/fellow Koko FitClub co-founder, Mike Lannon, believes that  with the right mindset, you can accomplish anything. He applies it to running this business, to working alongside our Koko owners and most importantly, the approach we take to give our members the best shot possible at successfully reaching their health and fitness goals.

Imagine how excited he was to come across this research to back up what he knew in his gut to be 100% true.

Making a long term commitment to health and fitness improves success

The research showed that simply making up your mind at the outset that you are committed for the long term versus the short term determined the level of success. Wow. Progress wasn’t correlated to any other measurable trait or aptitude.Simply this mindset.

Think about what this means for YOU and your goals to get healthier!

Koko FitClub is designed to make exercise time-efficient to fit into your life, to be simple so you to show up and get it done, and to be fun so you’re motivated along the way. Health is not a sprint, it’s a lifestyle choice. Adopt the mindset that you will exercise and make healthier choices from here on out. Koko FitClub is here to help.

Be patient, be consistent, decide that you’ll stick with it for the long haul. You will be successful!


o)< STAY STRONG

Mary Obana
President and Co-Founder
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

Health and Fitness Goals Unattainable? No Way! You Have Koko FitClub.

Posted on by

When you get your Koko FitClub exercise prescription in each week, you are actively increasing or preserving your precious lean muscle. You are keeping weight gain at bay, feeling more energetic, but what else have you thought about doing with all that… “fit?” Is there anything else you have ever wished you could do or achieve but never considered because you weren’t “fit enough?” Why not consider it again? Now that Koko has your back.

Recently, my friend and colleague here at Koko FitClub HQ, Cristina Batogowski, reached an incredible goal. She completed forty 5K road races in her 40th year!

Cristina is a Koko Nut to the nth degree.  For the past 6 years she’s been consistent with her weekly Smartraining and Koko Cardio workouts. But running? A couple of years ago, if you asked her, she’d tell you she “wasn’t a runner.” “Running hurts.” Things changed in early 2011 when she came to me and said that she had started jogging and was loving it. With all the muscle strength and endurance she had built up through her Smartraining workouts, running felt good for the first time ever. She was inspired to reach for a goal she once would have thought was unattainable.

We are so proud of Cristina’s accomplishment! You can be inspired by her quest for 40 by 41 here:

http://www.facebook.com/notes/cristina-curreri-batogowski/my-40-by-41-project/10150150295518015

So I ask you: What is it you want to do that you never believed possible? Think big, then start with Koko. You’ll get there.

To quote Cristina:  “Life is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. On to my next goal! 13.1 here I come!”

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising