Get your salsa on!

Welcome to the blog, workout friends! This week we are showing you a really fun way to burn some calories and make new friends.

The people who know what they're doing make salsa dancing look effortless. Their hips shimmy and their feet fly, so we're surprised to learn that this dance is a good choice for beginners like us. "Salsa is probably one of the easiest dances to learn," says instructor Luisito Cabrera. He explains that the basic timing of this dance never changes. You move on counts one, two and three and pause on four. You move again on counts five, six and seven and pause on eight.

In this beginner class we start by learning the basic. There’s no music, just Luisito’s constant counting. I’ve already had a few lessons and given Sonya a heads up about the footwork so we quickly move on to learning the right turn and that cross body lead.

Now it’s time to try the moves with a partner and at times it’s ugly. Sonya is stepping on people’s feet and I hit one poor guy in the face with my elbow. In spite of all that, Luisito turns on the music and counts us through the steps. Regulars like Sara Reimer are practically glowing. "One of my friends asked if I would take salsa lessons with him so I gave it a try and now I'm hooked!"

Sara stuck with beginner lessons and quickly moved through intermediate and onto advanced classes. "It's fun!” she says, “Plus, it's a great workout, so that's a bonus!" If you're as talented as some of these people, you can burn about 400 calories an hour! "It depends on how showy you are,” says Luisito, “some ladies will work a lot of arms and a lot of hips and the guys have to learn how to lead a turn, which requires a lot of arm strength."

There are more perks … dancing reduces stress, increases energy, and makes you happy! What more could you ask for?!?

"That's part of the magic of salsa,” Luisito says with a laugh, “it is fun. It’s very social and you make a lot of friends... a lot of friends."

For more information on salsa dancing www.salsadesmoines.org.

The reason I've been taking lessons is because I foolishly agreed to be part of a "celebrity" dance competition at the Latino Heritage Festival on Sunday afternoon. For more information visit www.latinoheritagefestival.org. Hopefully I won't embarass myself too badly - thankfully, Luisito is a great teacher!

EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com

What a blessing

This week's workout was absolutely wonderful, in many ways.

Tammy Stanbrough has been a fitness trainer since 1982. Her southern accent mirrors her hospitality.
“I teach this water aerobics class at my home and I’ve been doing this for five years at the house.”
Tammy welcomes everyone, every Tuesday and Thursday evening, weather permitting.
“We have all ages, all fitness levels. We have just about anything for everybody.”
We begin by jogging in place. This isn’t so bad, but then come the water noodles. They add some resistance and force you to use your core to stay afloat. Suddenly, Tammy’s southern accent takes on a drill sergeant tone, but the same women keep coming back for more, week after week.
“I have people from all over the metro: Grimes, Polk City – they come from everywhere.”
Tammy is from Florida. She moved here years ago, not knowing anyone. She says many of these women were her first friends. They’re now like family.
“They have been with me for 11 years now and the camaraderie and the social aspect of this keep these people active. Plus, I keep feeding them treats and they keep coming back,” Tammy says with a hearty laugh.
Tammy gives a lot, but she also receives a lot in return. That became clear when the breast cancer she thought she’d beat in 2002, returned seven years later.
“I wound up going back to Mayo and they told me not only was there one cancer tumor, there were three.”
Doctors took out the tumors and reconstructed her body during a 16 hour surgery. Tammy also received chemotherapy and radiation. But after a few months off, Tammy is back.
“I’m blessed,” she says. “It’s gone – again.”
She believes her recovery is due, in part to her workouts, and her workout buddies.
“It’s been a very good blessing to have these people in my life.”

Have a healthy week!
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com

The ViPR is vicious!

Hello fitness fans! This week features a workout that pushed us to our limits - we hope you like it - and maybe even try it!

A personal trainer in Ames says he hasn’t repeated a workout in a year and a half and now he’s added a brand new fitness tool to his bag of tricks. "Yeah,” Jeff Barton says with a grin, “Viper. I just discovered it online - they haven't been on the market very long, maybe six months."

"ViPR" stands for vitality, performance and reconditioning. We're soon thinking of other names for it. "To the novice it's a very simple tool,” Jeff explains, “it’s just a hollow cylinder with some handles on it."

ViPR is the main component of station number one during this workout. Jeff has us doing uppercuts, lunges, squats and tire kicks with it - but the possibilities are endless. The creators of ViPR claim it provides more than nine-thousand exercises. "The fact that it's made of rubber makes it virtually indestructible ... you can really get creative and have quite a bit of fun with it."

The cylinders range in weight from 8 to 45 pounds, and push our bodies in a whole new way. Jeff explains why. "I like to think in terms of movements, not muscles. Especially with ViPR we're doing movements not just, ok we're working biceps now."

That theory carries through to station number two. Pipes and resistance balls are filled with water - throwing everything off balance. "Yeah, we live in a world where things are constantly changing around us - it's not this fixed path like a chest press...that's not real life." There are eight different stops, with moves like atomic pushups, single leg cobras, and ball slams. "The fact that we do interval training is good for overall conditioning, not only strength training,” says Jeff. “Your heart is racing throughout the workout and probably stays elevated."

Our hears are pounding, and that's before we hit station number three. It incorporates kettle bells and resistance bands to form challenging combination moves, and soon we're pouring sweat. "There may be brief periods where your heart rate comes down, but the up and down is good ... it's great for annihilating fat!"

Curiosity about the ViPR is what brought us here, and curiosity about what Jeff will dream up next is what keeps people coming back. "It’s something new and fresh – which keeps it interesting. They know they're going to do something new when they walk in the door."

You can try ViPR, or any of Jeff’s boot camp classes for FREE all this week. Visit www.jeffbartontraining.com for details!

Have a healthy week!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com

Team You

Hello workout friends!
We learned an interesting idea from this week's success story ... "Team You".

Chris Maske would not have even considered running around Gray’s Lake last year. But a trip to the hospital changed everything.

“Long story short, I had an infected tooth and the infection spread into the soft tissue into my throat and the body’s natural reaction was to split my jaw shut,” says Chris. “So, I had to have an emergency tracheotomy.”

Chris was clearly in bad shape. Her blood pressure was so high doctors warned her she was dangerously close to having a stroke. You might say the experience scared her straight.

“I knew I could do better and I knew I deserved better for myself,” says Chris.

The first step: An attitude adjustment. Chris started eliminating negative relationships and began chronically her life changing journey on YouTube.

The physical transformation began in December. She weighed 353 pounds.

“Initially, I had a lot of difficulty walking just from my front door to my car. I would get winded. I would get sweaty. So I started out slow.”

She committed to dancing an hour a night with her Wii. She joined a Gym, the Phat Club in St. Charles, and started walking at the mall. Two months later, she started running.

“There were days I didn’t want to get up. Back in February, when I started, I was up at 4:30 in the morning, running outside in the Iowa winter.”

Her perseverance is paying off. Chris now has several five and ten kilometer races under her belt. The next goal: The Des Moines Half Marathon.

“I never thought I would be a runner. I never thought I would enjoy it so much… I love the way my body feels when I do it. It’s great!”

The exercise and changes to her diet have helped her lose 113 pounds in seven months. You can see the transformation in these before and after pictures. They’re posted on her Facebook page under the headline, “The Incredible Shrinking Me.”

This journey isn’t over, but Chris is well on her way. She’s turned one of the worst experiences of her life into one of the best and the scar from her tracheotomy is a constant reminder that change is possible and success is just a step away.

“Set your goals high and believe in yourself. Surround yourself with like-minded individuals who are going to be on ‘Team You’ and give you that positive support.”

We will let you know how Chris does in the Des Moines half marathon - it won't surprise us in the least if she decides to train for a full one!

EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com

The Fountain of Youth

Hello fitness friends!
Sonya and I met the most amazing woman last week and we're thrilled to share her story with you.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday the dining room fills up at Green Hills Retirement Community in Ames. Residents are here to get the blood pumping and keep their bodies moving. The exercise classes include moves like squats and legs lifts, bicep curls and triceps extensions and one of the spriest people here just happens to be one of the oldest.

"Well, I guess i never thought about it until this year, but now I'm thinking, I've lived a century!" You'd never guess Marjorie Hennigs is turning one hundred. Her body is still nimble and her mind is still sharp.

She's seen a lot of changes over the past ten decades and says electricity was probably the most remarkable invention. She vividly remembers getting indoor plumbing and the excitement of her family getting a radio, and later a television. According to Marjorie, keeping up with 'the younger generation' - keeps her young. "I go to all the activities here you know and I’m acquainted with almost everyone."

Marjorie's family calls her "Nana". Great Granddaughter Erica Sandve will turn twenty two the same day Marjorie turns one hundred. "She used to play basketball,” says Erica, “she's a huge fan of the Iowa State women and goes to almost every game. She has season tickets!"

Erica also calls her great grandmother amazing. "Seriously, ten years ago she was wrestling on the floor with my brother. She's been active her whole life and she won't stop!"

Exercise is just one of Marjorie’s secrets. She also does beautiful cross stitch. "Well I think everyone should have a hobby - something you enjoy doing, to stimulate the mind."

And then there's the 22-hundred Club ... a social hour at 4-30 every afternoon. "Don't say anything about that martini,” Marjorie whispers, "sometimes its wine instead of a martini, it depends how I feel."

But Marjorie says the thing that really keeps her going strong - is her family. "My grandchildren and my great-grandchildren have given me so much pleasure." And she's given them a good role model. She's living proof that exercising your body and mind can add years to your life. Keeping a positive attitude makes the journey that much sweeter - no matter what comes along. "Oh, life has changed,” she says with a smile, “it’s changed."

Here's to a healthy week!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com

How hard are you REALLY working?

Hello fitness fans!
This week we're focusing on a simple little tool that can make all the difference in the world when it comes to what you're getting out of your time working out.

You may feel like you’re giving it your all, when in reality you need to work a lot harder to maximize your calorie burn.

Personal trainer, Angie Gallagher, swears by a heart rate monitor to keep you in the zone.

“I use it myself every work-out because I want to make sure I’m not wasting my time.”

There are several different calculations to determine your maximum heart rate and the rate at which you’re burning the most calories and fat. Our goal is between 140 and 150 beats per minute to get the most workout “bang for our buck.”

“When you use that equation with this monitor you know exactly where you need to be when you’re doing your cardio workout so that you’re not going to low or too fast and injuring yourself.”

Angie says it’s far more accurate than the “Perceived Rate of Exertion” test, in which you rate the work-out on a scale from one to ten.

“Most people rate themselves as being much higher and then when they strap one of these on they realize they’re not even close to where they need to be for the aerobic weight loss zone they want to be in.”

The most accurate heart rate monitors feature a transmitter that wraps around the chest. The most basic monitors cost about $50. More advanced models, which can include complex data analysis and computer compatibility, will set you back a couple hundred dollars.

Angie says all of them make your work-out the best it can be, “because it takes all the guesswork out of it.”

You can find heart rate monitors just about everywhere, and the staff at places like Fitness Sports or Scheels can help you pick one that's right for you.

Here's to a healthy week!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com

Muscle Glide

By now you’re used to us showing you funky fitness tools, but this one’s different. "I fully understand when someone looks at this they're going - what the heck is that?!?!" says inventor Bret Daves.

"It's one of those really silly stories,” he explains with a laugh. “Several years ago I was doing triathlons and I'm not a spring chicken anymore and I was having some leg issues." Bret tried everything ... yoga, massage, chiropractors ... nothing eased his pain. "I remembered when i used to rollerblade and some racers used to take the skate and roll it up and down their legs."

It was an "a-ha!" moment, that led to the creation he calls “Muscle Glide”. "As word got out, more and more people were asking me to make them one. I thought, well maybe there's something to this." First local universities ordered some. Then Scheels started stocking them. And Bret became bold. "I called the NFL,” he says with a grin, “about half the teams called back and ordered!" Before he knew it - a business was born!

Everyone who uses the Muscle Glide turns into a fan, and there’s real science behind it. "When you work out, your muscles actually get little tears,” explains Bret, “the theory is, if you take an implement and roll it over your muscles it helps break up that scar tissue in the muscle."

Most people don't care about the theory. It's the feeling that makes people fans of the Muscle Glide. You can use it on yourself - or convince a friend to give you a massage. Either way, this therapy tool will help ease those workout-related aches & pains.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out www.muscleglide.com or visit a Scheels store near you!

Here's to a healthy week!
EEK
Erin.Kiernan@whotv.com