Sammon Training

Fit Tip Friday: Drink more water. Water is crucial for staying healthy, energized, and even losing weight. There are so many reasons to stay hydratedhunger is often disguised as thirst, it boosts your metabolism, and water is the best energy drink available. To calculate how much water you should be drinking, divide your body weight (in pounds) by two and aim to drink that many ounces of water per day.

Fit Tip Friday: Cut out white food. This is one of the easiest ways to lose weight and improve your health. Most white foods (bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, sugar, flour) are primarily made up of refined carbs and empty calories, so cutting them out of your diet is one of the quickest ways to shed pounds and improve your well-being. There are a few exceptions to the rule, including egg whites, cauliflower, and fish. Those are the only white foods you should consume.

Fit Tip Friday: Mix up your diet, like you mix up your training. Everyone hits training plateaus after a while and that is when you normally need to change the program. If youre mixing up your training effectively and youre still not seeing the results you want, it is most likely your diet.

Fit Tip Friday: Lift weights to lose weight. Weight training builds muscle which is metabolically active. One pound of muscle burns approximately 50 maintenance calories per day, whereas one pound of fat only burns 20 maintenance calories per day. So for example, if you were to gain 5 pounds of muscle, you would burn an extra 250 calories per day just sitting at your desk. Weight training also keeps your metabolism elevated for up to 48 hours afterwards.

Stick to your New Years resolutions, contact me today!

Happy New Years! If you are looking to be in the best shape of your life for 2019, contact me today! Whether you are looking to lose fat, tone up, gain muscle or general fitness - I will help you reach all of your new years goals! Dont just make it a new years resolution that last 3 months maximum, make it a lifestyle change.

RIP to Charles Poliquin, one of the most well known and influential people in the fitness community. Ive read all his books and every article he ever wrote. His teachings and writings have influenced my career, and I will continue to implement his ideas into my programming. I had the pleasure of talking to him on occasion when he was working out at the gym I was working at. I actually learnt the most from him by observing his workouts for about a year. He leaves us with... a large body of work and some great no non-sense quotes: "Know that you have complete control over what you put in your mouth. No one ever ate anything by accident." "You cant fire a cannon, from a canoe!" "Strength is gained in the range it is trained." "Not only are squats not bad for the knees, every legitimate research study on this subject has shown that squats improve knee stability and therefore help reduce the risk of injuries." "If it doesnt swim, run, or fly, or isnt green and grow in the ground, dont eat it."

When Michelle Gomes first started training with me, she could barley muster one chin-up. Now in less than a year later, she set a new over 40 gym record, with a stellar 10 chin-ups!

Quick Tip #34: If you dont like an exercise, start doing it. Youre probably avoiding it because youre weak at it.

Quick Tip #33: Keep your weight workouts under an hour. After 60 minutes, your body starts producing more of the stress hormone cortisol, which can have a testosterone-blocking, muscle-wasting effect.

Quick Tip #32: Dont train with a weight belt. Over time, regular training in a weight belt actually weakens your abdominal and lower-back muscles. Wear it only when attempting maximal lifts in such exercises as squats, deadlifts, and overhead presses.

Quick Tip #31: Summer is right around the corner, which normally makes fat loss a priority for most people. However, dont try to lose your gut by working your abs. Researchers at the University of Virginia found that it takes 250,000 crunches to burn 1 pound of fatthats 100 crunches a day for 7 years!

New gym record!

Are you looking to lose body fat, tone up, and gain some muscle? Then contact Sammon Training today! We are body transformation specialists that will make sure you stick to your new years resolutions!

Sarah Thompson plays for the Ottawa Lady 67s "AA" Intermediate hockey team and has already committed to play division 1 hockey for Syracuse University. She is part of my elite hockey training program and has made tremendous strength gains in less than 6 months. She has noticed an increase in her speed on the ice, she is tougher to knock off the puck, and her shot has gotten harder. She hopes to break some strength records on the Syracuse Hockey team in a few years from now!

Quick Tip #30: Train your core equally. For every set of abdominal exercises you perform, do a set of lower-back exercises. Focusing only on your abs can lead to poor posture and lower-back pain.

Quick Tip #29: When performing pull-ups or lat pull-downs, dont wrap your thumb around the bar. Instead, place it on top, alongside your index finger. This decreases the involvement of your arm muscles, so youll work your back harder.

Dean "The Beast" Livingston is my 5th regular client to join the 3 plates club in the bench press and he reached his goal at age 50!

Quick Tip #28: Try not to weight train for more than an hour. After 60 minutes, your body could potentially start producing more of the stress hormone cortisol, which can have a testosterone-blocking, muscle-wasting effect.

Quick Tip #27: We are well into September, which I like to call the second wave of fitness after January. People start hitting the gym again after months of patio drinking and summer vacations. So if you are looking to shed a few pounds, concentrate on full body workouts. Full body workouts burn far more calories during and afterwards, then for example just training your arms.

Do you want to skate faster? Squat. Do you want to run faster? Squat. Do you want to jump higher? Squat. My son Liam increased his skating speed dramatically in... the off season with the help of squats. He went from playing house league hockey last year to making tier 1 competitive hockey this year. One of the biggest myths in fitness is that children should not lift weights. Light weights coupled with good form will not stunt your childs growth. In fact it will make them stronger, faster, and decrease the chance of injury. #hockey #hockeytraining #sportspecific #workout #gym #fitness #boy #squats #faster #stronger #kidstraining #sammontraining See more

Quick Tip #26: If you want to get the most out of your training program, use a variety of rep ranges. The following is a break down of the rep ranges: 1-3 reps = power 4-6 reps = strength 7-8 reps = strength/hypertrophy... 9-18 reps = hypertrophy +18 reps = muscular endurance Rest Periods: 1-3 reps: 4 minutes (full recovery) 4-6 reps: 4 minutes 7-8 reps: 2-4 minutes 9-18 reps: 1-2 minutes +18 reps: 30 seconds - 1 minute

Quick Tip #25: There are two parts to each repetition. The most well known is the concentric contraction, which occurs when the muscle fibres are shortening and stimulate the most amount of muscle fibres. For example curling a dumbbell towards your body is the concentric part of the motion. The more overlooked part of the repetition is the eccentric contraction. For example when you lower the dumbbell away from your body during the bicep curl. The eccentric contraction... occurs when the muscle fibres are lengthening, which some mistake as resting. During the eccentric contraction some muscle fibres are still being activated and some believe that it generates greater muscle protein synthesis and muscle damage. The body can also handle more weight in the eccentric range than the concentric range. For example, if you cannot perform a single pull-up, jump up until your chin is above the bar, then slowly lower yourself to a full extension at the bottom. In conclusion, slowing down the eccentric part of the repetition will stimulate more muscle fibres and stimulate some new muscle growth and strength! See more

Quick Tip #24: When it comes to training, do NOT try to reinvent the wheel. Squats on a swiss ball with your eyes closed will not activate your core more than a heavy barbell squat. Stick to the basic compound movements such as: squats, deadlifts, cleans, bench presses, shoulder presses, pull-ups, rows, dips, pull-overs, etc... Incorporate isolation movements to improve lagging body parts or structural imbalances.

Incredible transformation after only 6 months of training!

Quick Tip #23: Instantly improve your workouts and physique by taking caffeine approximately 30-60 minutes before you workout. Caffeine consumed before exercise can cause fat cells to be used as energy, as opposed to glycogen. Caffeine will speed up your metabolism so you will burn more calories during your workout and afterwards. Caffeine has been shown to increase muscular output and endurance during exercise. It is also known to increase mental focus, which allows you to push harder in the gym.

Quick Tip #22: When designing a weight training program, start with exercises that hit the largest cross section of muscle at once. These are called compound movements which involve two or more joints and require the most amount of energy. Once your muscle fibres are thoroughly fatigued, move onto isolation movements, which are exercises that involve a single joint. These movements require less energy and are better suited towards the end of the program to focus on laggin...g body parts or structural imbalances. Example: A: Back Squat B: Leg Press C: Straight Leg Deadlift D: Horizontal Leg Curl E: Standing Calf Raise G: Seated Calf Raise

Quick Tip #21: Summer is almost here, so its time to focus on the washboard stomach! In order to develop an outstanding abdominal region youll need to target all 4 sections, which are: lower abs, middle/upper abs, obliques, and transverse abdominis. The lower abs can be targeted with any type of leg raise. The middle/upper abs can be worked with any type of sit-up or crunch. The obliques can be developed by twisting your torso from side to side during a sit-up. The transverse abdominis is hit during a roll-out or plank.

Quick Tip #20: One of the best abdominal exercises is the L-Pull-Up/Chin-Up. When you are performing pull-ups or chin-ups simply keep your legs straight in front of you for the entire range of motion. If you cant keep your legs straight during the exercise, try bending your knees slightly and crossing your ankles.

Quick Tip #19: If you want get stronger in an exercise, perform it every single day. Lets say you want to increase your bench press for example. Start off with 50% of your max and perform one set of 5 reps. Then repeat every single day, increasing the weight by 5lbs each day, until you reach a plateau. Your body will make neurological adaptations, so you will actually become more efficient at the exercise.

Quick Tip #18: Eat fat to lose fat. Approximately 30% of your diet should be comprised of fat. One gram of fat is 9 calories, which makes it a better energy source than carbohydrates. When you eat fat with carbohydrates, it slows down the glycemic impact, so you are less likely to store fat. Eating fat teaches your body to become more efficient at burning fat. Fat makes you feel more full, so you are less likely to binge eat. If you are trying to lose body fat, eat more healthy fats and less carbohydrates. Eat healthy fats such as: avocados, nuts, whole eggs, olive oil, coconut oil, etc...

Quick Tip #17: Ditch the lat pull-down machine and focus on pull-ups. If you cannot perform one single body weight pull-up, it is most likely because your body fat is too high or you simply lack the strength. The pull-up is considered the squat for the upper body and the greatest indication of upper body strength. Besides the deadlift, the pull-up hits the greatest cross section of muscle fibres in the back. Arnold Schwarzenegger used to perform 50 pull-ups before every back workout.

Quick Tip #16: Eat some protein before you go to sleep. Amino acids, which are obtained through eating protein, are the raw materials that muscle tissue is built from. If no amino acids are available for use, your body cant build any muscle. This is why research has shown that, if protein isnt eaten before bed, protein synthesis rates are quite low when we sleep. Eating a slow release protein before you go to sleep will ensure you have a steady supply of amino acids and will speed up your metabolism while you are sleeping.

Quick Tip #15: Focus on exercises you dislike because they tend to be weaknesses or structural imbalances. Exercises that people tend to dislike are usually the most difficult exercises such as squats, deadlifts, etc... The most difficult movements tend to create the greatest metabolic and muscle building effect. Whereas fan favourite movements such as: push-downs and curls, stimulate less muscle growth and fat burning.

Quick Tip #14: DO NOT SKIP LEG DAY. The body tends to develop in proportion, so the more developed your legs become, the more developed your upper body will become as well. Training legs generates a greater metabolic response compared to training upper body, which means you will burn more calories during the workout and afterwards. Adding muscle in your legs is an easy way to speed up your metabolism, because one pound of muscle burns 50 calories per day, whereas one pound of fat only burns 20 calories per day.

Quick Tip #13: Do you want those rock hard abs you have always dreamed of? Well forget about dieting, there is new research showing that you can spot reduce fat around your midsection by training your abs everyday. I recommend 1000 crunches per day to get rid of the stubborn belly fat.

Quick Tip #12: Its the weekend! A good rule of thumb to stay lean, is to eat low carbs during the week, then eat higher carbs on the weekend. When you eat low carbs for a few days in a row your muscles become depleted of glycogen (carbs stored in bodily tissue). Once glycogen is depleted, your body will use another energy source - fat! The advantage to eating carbs when your muscles are depleted, is that the carbs will get stored directly in the muscle. However if youre muscles arent depleted, there is a chance some of those excess carbs can get converted into fat.