New Addition to an Active Lifestyle

Hi Everyone! 

Last month was an exciting one for me.  I recently welcomed a new member into my family.  No, not a baby, we'll not a human baby anyway.  I purchased a dog!  A German short-haired pointer puppy.  Her name is Gabby and she has been quite a handful.  Short hairs are known to be dogs with a lot of energy and Gabby definitely fits that description.  This works well with my lifestyle as I like to be very active and even on my worst days, I have no choice but to get up and take her for a walk.  Her favorite place to go is the beach.  Luckily I live in South Boston and the beach is only a few blocks away.  She loves to play fetch and just run up and down the beach.  This allows me to get my own workout in as I'll run up and down the beach and she'll just chase me.
This leads me to my point.  Dogs can be excellent exercise partners.  Whether it be walking, running, or hiking, most dogs are usually up to the task.  So if you have a dog or have considered getting one take into account the effect they can have on your fitness routine. Just make sure you check with your veterinarian before you take your dog on a long run.  Some breeds are more capable of handling long distances than others. 
Spring is here, so get outside with your pet and enjoy!

Russ's Bio

Russ Erikson

My passion for fitness grew through my love of sports.  I was very active as a child and played many different organized sports.  Starting with soccer, hockey, and tee ball as a youth and football and track in high school.  I’m pretty sure there were a few years of basketball mixed in there as well.  Haha!

I have always held a passion for sports, both as a spectator and participant, but most enjoyed the active lifestyle myself. It was in high school, around the age of 14, that I started weight-training.  This was something I really come to enjoy and knew would be part of my routine for the rest of my life.  To this day, I still love the feeling of accomplishment physically and psychologically upon completing a workout.

After high school, I went on to participate in college athletics and played football at Bentley College (now Bentley University).  Weight training was required for everyone on the team.  This was fine with me since I had been doing it for 4 years already.  During these years I had the benefit of working out with other guys on the team, which was good for motivation, having a lifting-partner and for spotting purposes. We were fortunate to have an athletic trainer at Bentley that provided our training programs during and after the season.  After school, I moved home and quickly got a gym membership. I continued to work-out out consistently, but never really thought about becoming a personal trainer until a friend of mine told me about Ann Marie and Cutting Edge Fitness.  I met with Ann Marie at Cutting Edge Fitness 6 years ago when introduced me to this unique style of training.  She put me through my first high-intensity, slow-speed weight-training workout and I was hooked.  I started training with Ann Marie, and soon became a trainer at Cutting Edge, the rest, as they say, is history.

Some of the hobbies I enjoy are of course working out, skiing, and other recreational sports.  I've participated in many road races over the years including Reach the Beach, Samaritans Run, Smegs Legs, Jingle Bell Run, Santa Speedo Run, Boston Marathon 5K, and one Sprint Duathalon.  The races are fun and help keep me active outside of the gym.  I love personal training, connecting with clients and helping them achieve their goals, improve their fitness and lead a healthier life.

Through my experience as a fitness professional I refer to this quote to sum things up for those looking for motivation to start a fitness program, as I use it to motivate myself:

“If it is important to you, you will find a way.  If not, you will find an excuse"

Russ hails from Rockland, MA, which is about 25 minutes south of Boston, and now lives in South Boston.

Reach the Beach Part 2

Hi All,

So as you all now I completed the Reach the Beach run from Cannon Mountain to Hampton Beach on the weekend of September 16th and 17th. It was an interesting experience to say the least. We (my girlfriend Sam and her friend Michelle) drove up to Hampton Beach on Thursday afternoon to meet the rest of our teammates and transfer our belongings into the two vans that we rented. Well, of course with my luck the van that we rented had not arrived yet. A portion of our team was unable to make it up that afternoon so they were going to drive the last van up to Cannon later that evening. So we had one less van to pack our things in and had to cram them into one of the other vans that were already fully loaded. When we opened the trunk the first reaction we received was "oh my god". Ok they actually said something different, but I want to keep this PG, so I won't repeat it. They couldn't believe the amount of stuff we brought with us. Due to my excellent packing skills, we managed to get everything in one of the vans and than proceeded to make the trip to Cannon. We arrived at Cannon and checked-in to receive our race numbers. After checking in, we enjoyed a nice dinner at the mountain that consisted of chicken broccoli ziti, meatballs, salad, bread, apple pie and ice cream. A meal loaded with carbs to prepare for the amount of miles we would be running over the next couple of days. After dinner we went to the hotel to rest for the night.

The race started at 8:20AM, so we had to be up early to have some breakfast and get ready. It's always good to eat something light and plain before a race. You don't want to eat something that is going to cause any problems with your digestive system. We had some English muffins with some peanut butter. A perfect blend of carbohydrates and protein. It was very cold that morning, probably in the upper 30's, so I wanted nothing more than to get the race started, so I could get into the heated van. I ran the 4th leg that day which was about 4 miles. It was raining and cold during my run and the run finished with a nice long hill! It's safe to say I was looking forward to putting some dry clothes on and getting back in the van at the end of the run. We finished up our 1st set of legs and than stopped a restaurant along the way for some dinner. Our 2nd set of legs kicked off after 7:00pm and were set to go until around 11:30 or 12:00pm. This was my favorite run of the trip. It was about 48 degrees and dark of course, so we had to wear reflectors and head lamps. It was such a comfortable temperature to run in that I felt like I could have kept going after my 5 miles were up. After the 2nd set of legs, we stayed at a tent village. We were lucky enough to get there early so there were still some tents available. 3 of us stayed in the van and 3 stayed in the tent. We managed to get around 5 hours of sleep as our team arrived around 6am to pass the baton off to us. The day started off cool, but warmed up and turned out to be a really nice day. I ran the last leg this time around which was about 4 miles. My legs were pretty tired by the end of it, as I wasn't used to the starting and stopping routine of the race. It would have been nice to finish the race on Hampton beach, but that was left to other 6 members of our team in the other van. We drove to Hampton ahead of them, showered up and waited for them at the finish. The last 1/2 mile was right on the beach, which was a nice touch. Our team finished up around 3:30. They had lunch and a beer tent waiting at the finish line, which everyone was looking forward to. After lunch and a drink or two, we were very tired, so we packed up the truck and headed home. It was a long weekend, but an enjoyable one. It's something that I would definitely do again and would recommend to anyone who enjoys running as it was very well organized. It was also fun to see how creative people were with decorating their vans. Our team name was "Team Got the Runs" so we decorated our van with Pepto Bismal, bed pans, and toilet brushes! There were many other good ones out there as well. People really get into it. The most important tip to give you would be to pack plenty of clothes as you'll need 3 sets of running gear. Also be prepared for all types of weather as you never know what is going to be like in September.

Sorry for the long post. I could have gone on longer as again it was a great experience. I know they also do a Reach the Beach in Mass now from Wachussett mountain to Westport Ma. So if you're interested in running 15-18 miles and living out of a van and porta potties for the weekend give it a try! Or you really want to push the limits you can sign up as an ultra team and run a total of 32-36 miles. Not sure what I'm going to do next, but I'm always looking for another challenge. Whatever it is I'll be sure to post.

Thanks, Russ

Reach the Beach

Although I do enjoy working out and partaking in most fitness activities, I have never been one to enjoy long distance running. Most of the road races I've done have consisted of 3-7 miles. We'll that is all about to change the weekend of September 16th. I've signed up to run the Reach the Beach. For those of you who have never heard of it, it's a 200 mile relay race from Cannon Mountain to Hampton Beach. My team consists of 12 members who are each responsible for running 3 different legs of the race, which starts on Friday morning September 15th and ends on Saturday morning. Each leg is approximately 5-7 miles long. So all told each person will have run 15-18 miles by the end of the race. This is definitely a new challenge for me and should be pretty interesting. Running at 2am in the dark will be a first for me. I volunteered at one of the checkpoints for a race that was similar to this last spring and it looked like a lot of fun (except for the guy who vomited right after he ran through my checkpoint). I've been running 2 or 3 times a week in preparation for the race, but plan on taking it easy the week of the race to keep my legs strong and avoid injury by over training. Who knows maybe this race will change my outlook on running long distances. I'll follow up with another post after the race is over. Wish me luck!

What keeps me motivated?

Hi All,

Staying motivated to work out can be very tough for alot of people. Any of the following could be factors in keeping people from working out.

Tired of their routine
Tired from working too much
Not seeing results fast enough
Would rather be doing other things

I've come across each of these before and would like to share some of the things i've done to combat them.

Tired of the routine-For me its not really so much the routine that bothers me, but the intensity with which I go about it. I've been in the gym before and have been going through my workout and than i'll run into someone I know and end up talking to them for the next ten minutes. Anytime something like this happens it completely ruins my workout. I'll leave the gym saying to myself how bad the workout was and convince myself that my routine needs a change. The next time I workout i'll go in and do a similar routine without interruption and will leave the gym saying what a great workout I had. So i've come to realize that it has more to do with how I go about my workout than the routine i'm going through. Pace and intensity keys to getting yourself out of a workout rut.

Tired from working too much-We all have jobs that take up a large junk of our lives. There's no way around it. So you have to learn how to deal with it and avoid letting work get in the way of your fitness goals. If you know that you are going to be tired after work and will not work out than you have to change your workout time to the morning or afternoon if possible. Vice versa if your tired in the morning. Also remember that working out will give you energy if done with the right pace and intensity.

Not seeing results fast enough-If you're not seeing the results you want fast enough than you need to take an honest look at what you're doing and how disciplined you have been with it. If you want results you have to be all in with the fitness path you are following. You won't get there if you're doing it half way.

Would rather be doing other things-Everyone has a life and sometimes you'd rather be out fishing, playing with your kids, or going to a move than working out. It's totally understandable. One thing to ask yourself is how long do you want to be able to do these things? To have a quality of life as you get older it's imperative to stay fit. Strong muscles take pressure off the joints and ligaments and help prevent injury. Also you don't have to spend 2 hours in the gym everyday to stay fit. Cutting Edge has proven that with 30 minutes to Fitness. So the next time you think about skipping a workout to go to the beach remember that you still want to be do all those same beach activities when you get older.


Stay Fit and Stay Focused
Russ

Russ's Healthy Dinner Recipe

Ingredients:
Brown rice
Chicken
Mushrooms
Carrots
Broccoli
Water chestnuts
(I add green peppers)

1. Cut the chicken into strips
2. Mix a marinade of minced garlic, low sodium soy sauce, dash of hot pepper sauce, and ginger root.
3. Let chicken marinate for 1 hour
4. While you cook the rice in 2 cups of water for 40 minutes with 1/2 tblsp of sea salt Cook the chicken in a pan with 2 tblsp of EVOO.
5. Once the chicken is cooked through add the veggies and cook until soft.

Healthy Meal Completion - Serve the chicken and veggies over the rice or on the side if you like.

Train Hard, Sleep Hard

Rest, relaxation and sleep are very important when it comes to your body. Lack of sleep can cause stress which will hinder muscle development. The average sleep needs for adults over the age of 18 is 7.5 to 9 hours per night. Chronic lack of sleep can cause fatigue, lethargy, and lack of motivation. These are definitely three things you do not want to bring to the gym with you. So make sure to get the sleep that your body needs. Your workouts will improve and the results will follow.

Turning 30!

Hi All,
I just turned 30 years old and what did I do to celebrate it? I went zip lining out in Western Mass. I have never done it before and had a great time. I did 6 different lines ranging from 800 feet to 2600 feet. I was looking for some sort of addrenaline rush to help me forget about the age that i'm turning and the zip lining definitely provided it. I also enjoyed the hiking through the woods as we traveled from line to line. It was actually a pretty good workout. I'm starting to think that I might be an addrenaline junky, since i've always been a big fan of going fast. The zip lining just might be the start. Could there be some bungy jumping or jumping out of airplane in my future? It's possible. The point is there are many activities out there that don't require the boredom of running on a treadmill. There are lots of ways to get in a great workout and have fun at the same time. So pick an activity that you've never done before and give it a shot. Now it doesn't have to be an extreme sport, it can be something simple such as tennis, golf, hiking, or jumping rope. It can actually be fun to try and find diffent things to do each weekend. So enjoy the nice weather while it lasts! And find some fun ways to stay active!

In Good Health,
Russ

Vacation Season

We're in the middle of vacation season and it can be easy to loose site of you're goals and put back on the weight you've lost all in one week away from home. Most vacations include food that is available 24/7. I recently returned from a cruise to Bermuda and was able to make it through the week without packing on an unwanted lbs. And believe me it was a challenge. For those of you who have been on a cruise before you know what i'm talking about. They had 5 or 6 restaurants on the ship to go along with a buffet style cafeteria. And if that wasn't enought you could get room service anytime you wanted. Now the easiest way to combat this would be to just exhibit some will power, but where is the fun in that when you're on vacation. Below are 3 tips to maintaining what you've worked for while on vacation and enjoying yourself in the process.

1) Establish an post meal exercise routine-The worst thing you can do after indulging is to lay out on the beach or deck. This will just cause the calories you consumed to turn to fat. Use the calories as energy and go for a walk or job, or hit the gym for some weight training. Almost all cruise ships or resorts have them.
2) Try not to overeat during each meal. Have the food that you want, but try and eat it in smaller portions. If you do eat to much, do it in the morning or early afternoon. That way you have the rest of the day to burn off the extra calories.
3) Be as active as possible. Try and pack in as many activities as possible. This way you'll be burning calories and enjoying yourself at the same time. Site seeing, Snorkeling, swimming, dancing, etc. are a few activities to keep in mind.

So now you can enjoy your vacation without losing all the progress you've made.

Free Run Shoes

Free Run shoes.

If you like to run and you're looking for some new sneakers try the new barefoot technology out there. Barefoot originated the idea, but other companies have come out with there own version of the shoe. If you don't like the idea of sliding your toes into a shoe that looks like a foot, there are other options out there that provide a similar feel to the barefoot shoe. I just picked up a pair of the Nike Free runs. I've run with them a couple of times and am enjoying it. They're extremely light and very flexible.

Cheat Meals

Anybody who knows anything about dieting knows there is usually an option in there for a cheat meal. Sometimes its one day a week and others might include only one meal a week. This is something you want to be careful with. To ensure that you don't destroy all your progress from the week of clean eating be smart about your cheat meals. I'll use pizza as an example. If you choose to hit up your favorite pizza place to dine in or takeout make sure to control the portion that you consume. A couple of slices and a large portion of salad are perfect. If you decide you’re going to make your own pizza, go with wheat dough, low calorie sauce, low fat cheese, and some turkey pepperoni. You can have another slice or two without the added calories and fat. Enjoy!

Winter is Coming

Hi All,
The winter is almost here and I know people tend to get a little comfortable during the winter months. The holidays come and the diets and exercise are thrown out the window. The slim fitting clothes from the summer are packed away and the heavy sweaters, sweatshirts, jeans, and sweat pants come out. I'm going to stop right there because i'm sure you've all heard or experienced this before. We'll this is the year to put a stop to it. Being healthy doesn't mean you can do it for 8 months of the year and than take the next 4 off. It really is a lifestyle change. Don't let all the hard work you put in to get where you are go to waste, just to enjoy a second helping of stuffing and mashed potatoes. If you've noticed, they don't stop selling lean meats and vegetables at the grocery store during the winter, so you shouldn't stop eating them. Stick with your routine and make sure to stay active. Don't let the cold and snow stop you. If your a runner here is a link with some great information on proper gear for running in the cold.
http://running.about.com/od/coldweatherrunning/a/wintergear.htm. If you don't want to run outside, get to a gym and watch your favorite tv program while on the treadmill, elliptical, or bike. If you finding it hard to motivate yourself, find a friend to workout with. Make appointments to meet with them each week and stick to it.

Another way to beat the winter is to accept the snow for what it is and use it to your advantage. Shoveling is a great way to burn some calories. An hour of shoveling can burn up to 400 calories. You may also want to take up a winter sport such as skiing, or snow shoeing. So don't let the winter be your excuse to pack on the unwanted pounds. Stay active and stay healthy!

Russ

Motivation

Hi All,
I wanted to chime in on my activities over the past couple of weeks. I competed in a Duathalon and a 5 mile race over the last two weekends. This is a little out of the ordinary for me as the only other road race i've ever run was the Falmouth a couple of summers ago. As you can see I've never been much of a cardio person, but it's something i've always wanted to consistently add to my routine. To make this happen I decided to sign up for a couple of races and have something to train for. I was given a bike as a birthday gift a month back so I thought a duathalon would be a good place to start. I looked for a short one and found one in the Lynn Woods called the down and dirty duathalon. It consisted of a 2.5 mile run 5.9 mile bike and another 2.5 mile run. So I trained for the race by biking and running a couple of times a week leading up to it. The farthest I ran was 6.5 miles and the longest bike was 16. So in my mind I was ready for the race. We'll race day came and the conditions were less than stellar. It poored before, during, and after the race. It was a woods course so the terrain was full of large puddles and soft ground. Lets just say my finish time was not what I had hopef for. I had my girlfriend with me and she was terrified of the conditions. There were steep up hills and down hills that kept the both of us from pushing the pace. It was more about survival than trying to set a personal best. I was just happy that we finished the race, even though it was 4th to last out of a 40-50 person field with a time of 1 hour and 45 minutes.

We'll the next weekend(this past weekend) I was signed up for a 5 mile race in Quincy that I was pumped up for. I was determined to put up a good time in the race and I couldn't blame it on the conditions this time as it was a beautiful October day. I went strong for the first 3.5 miles, but than began to tire. I struggled though the last 1.5 miles and was able to finish in a little over 37 minutes, which was good enough for 16th place out of 115. This time was a little suprising to me. I would have been happy with something around 40 minutes. It goes to show you what you can do when your motivated. If your looking to jump start a cardio routine, find a local road race to sign up for. It gives you something to look forward to and than when you finish, it motivates you to sign up for the next one to improve your time. I'm also looking for some other road races/duathalons, so if anyone out there knows of anything local coming up let me know. I also plan on running with a South Boston running club on Wednesday evenings to help stay in shape. This is another great way to stay motivated. Having other people to run with always helps the cause. We'll that's my advice for the day. So try these out and let me know how it goes!

Russ

Meal Replacement's

Hello Again,
I'm sure everyone who has read about dieting knows that they should be eating 6 small meals a day rather than 3 large portions. When I stress this to people, the most common thing I hear is that they don't have time to cook or eat six meals everyday. We'll there is a pretty simple solutions to this. They're called meal replacements. You can find them at most any supplement or vitamin store. The one i'm currently taking is produced by MET-Rx Engineered Nutrion. I like this particular one because it gives me just the right amount of everything that my body needs.

Calories-240
Fat-2.5g
Carbs-17g
Protein-38g

The shake also tastes great(i go with chocolate) and is very low in sugar(only 2 grams), which is something I always look for. You can mix them with milk or water, but remember, your adding additional calories if you go with milk. If you go with the Met-Rx shake you really don't need it. It's so thick , you need to mix in atleast 20oz of water to get it to the right consistency. There are many other options out there, you just need to find the one that's right for you. It depends on what your trying to accomplish. If your trying to put on size and muscle mass, you may want something with more calories. If you trying to lose weight and tone up, something with less calories and carbs will do the trick. The important thing is that your getting some nutrients into your body in between your regular meals. If your training hard this is critical. If you deprive your body it will start to eat away at the muscle that you have worked so hard to create.

So if you don't have the time to eat, work a meal replacement into your diet once or twice a day to help provide a bridge to your next meal. Your hunger will be decreased at meal time and than you can make the smart choices on what to eat.

Regards,
Russ

early morning workouts

Hi All,
I never thought I would say this as i'm not much of a morning person, but I have come to enjoy an early morning workout. Recently I have been running a bootcamp in Canton from 5:30am to 6:30am 3 days a week. Since I live in South Boston, this requires me to wakeup at 4:30am. Until last week I had only administered the bootcamp, but had not taken part in the workout myself. We'll it's save to say that I have become addicted to it. Once the sleep deprevation wares off I really begin to enjoy the workout. I have so much more energy by the end of it, that I almost dont' even need that daily cup of coffee. Almost is the key word there.

The moral of the story is that if your looking for a boost of energy before you head to work, try getting up earlier and getting in a workout. Any type of cardio or weight training will do the trick. The key is to exert yourself a little bit and get your heart rate up. You'll be amazed at how much better you feel.