Since it is the time of the year for making New Year’s Resolutions, I thought you would enjoy this classic Dave Barry column. Here is a brief excerpt:

“… keeping resolutions can be difficult. But you CAN do it, if you follow these practical tips:

1. BE REALISTIC

Many people give up because they ”set their sights too high.” In making a New Year’s resolution, pick a goal that you can reasonably expect to attain, as we see in these examples:

Unrealistic Goal: “In the next month, I will lose 25 pounds.”

Realistic Goal: “Over the next year, taking it an ounce or two at a time, I will gain 25 pounds, and my face will bloat like a military life raft.”

Unrealistic Goal: “I will learn to speak Chinese.”

Realistic Goal: “I will order some Chinese food.”

To read the entire column, you can click here.

And while we are talking about Dave Barry, here is a link to his annual Year in Review column from the Miami Herald. It’s refreshing to have someone put a humorous spin on the events of the past year!

Finally, I want to thank all of you for a great 2008. We are honored that you have entrusted us to be your partner in your commitment to your health and fitness and look forward to helping you make 2009 your Best Year ever!

Best wishes to you and your family for a Happy New Year!

I’ll keep this one brief and just pass along some information about holiday snacking from the American College of Sports Medicine. Feel free to read this or completely ignore it, the most important thing is to HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY! (if you skip ahead to number 10, you can find out what’s the best exercise to do during the holidays

Best wishes for a Happy Holiday!

To your health and happiness.

Are you looking for an inexpensive way to stick to your exercise routine? A low-budget gadget that will help motivate you to be more active? Something that will make a great holiday gift? Look no further than the pedometer.

The Wall Street Journal had a story last week that highlighted the many benefits of using a pedometer. The story notes that scientific data is showing pedometers to be more than just nifty gizmos. The devices can be surprisingly effective at motivating even deeply rooted couch potatoes to become more active. That, in turn, can pay dividends that include weight loss, reduced stress and cholesterol levels, and lower blood pressure.

In a report published in November 2007 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers at Stanford University analyzed 26 studies involving 2,767 people and found that sedentary adults given a pedometer walked more than 2,000 extra steps a day — roughly a mile — and lost weight. Another boon: Systolic blood pressure — the top number, which measures pressure when the heart contracts — fell enough to significantly reduce the risk of stroke, says Dena Bravata, the study’s lead author.

A decent model can be had for around $25. Pedometers give credit for everyday activities such as housework and walking to the car, as well as exercise such as aerobics class, jogging, cycling (wear the pedometer on your shoe) and soccer. They work best, Dr. Bravata says, for people who set a daily step goal, which provides extra motivation.

“You are always accountable to that little machine on your waist,” says Rita Knierim, 61, from Curtis, Mich. “At the end of the day, you look at those numbers and wonder what I could have done to add more steps.”

Most people could use the help. As adults, Americans gain an average of two pounds of weight a year, causing what some researchers call “creeping obesity.” Two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight. Half don’t get the minimum 150 minutes a week (30 minutes, five days each week) of moderately intensive exercise recommended for a healthy heart.

Walking 10,000 steps a day can help meet that goal. To reach that total, “you’ll need to take a few brisk walks every day” on top of your daily activities, says James Hill, founder of America on the Move, a nonprofit foundation that promotes healthy lifestyles. If you follow former President Harry Truman’s advice — walk “like you have someplace to go” — you can rack up 3,000 to 4,000 steps in 30 minutes.

Strapping on a pedometer can be “a wake-up call,” says David R. Bassett, Jr., a professor at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and co-author of “Pedometer Walking: Stepping Your Way to Health, Weight Loss, and Fitness.”

“Being busy is not the same as being active,” Dr. Bassett says. “We have sedentary occupations. We don’t have time for leisure-time activities. We drive instead of walk.”

The author of the WSJ article notes that her first day wearing a pedometer was an eye-opener. An entire Saturday spent running errands and Christmas shopping ended with only 5,002 steps. Two days later, she walked to the train station rather than driving, took the stairs, walked to lunch — and hit 7,000 steps.

Pedometers aren’t foolproof. Those that use a spring-levered mechanism can be inexact for people who walk slowly or have bulging stomachs. Such individuals may get better results from an accelerometer, a highly sensitive pedometer that uses piezoelectric crystals. But keep in mind when using these more sensitive devices that fidgeting in a chair or a bumpy car ride can register extra steps.

You can get started by setting a daily goal — say, 3,000 steps — and increase your activity level gradually. If you’re just getting up off the couch, raise your daily step goal by 10% to 20% every week.

Wear the pedometer on your belt, in line with the middle of your thigh. Test its accuracy. And don’t be too impressed with extra features like Global Positioning System capabilities and the often-inaccurate calorie counters. “If you like lots of fancy features, fine. But we find that people are more likely to use a simple device,” says Dr. Hill.

The Web site www.pedometers.com/reviews.asp offers detailed reviews of pedometers. Some of its favorites include the Digiwalker SW series from Japanese maker Yamax and the New-Lifestyles NL-2000, a piezoelectric device. Dr. Bassett, who has long studied the accuracy of pedometers, also recommends the Omron HJ-720ITC.

And if you’re looking for a little fun, AARP’s “Step Up to Better Health” program lets members chart their step count online at www.aarp.stepuptobetterhealth.com and track their progress on virtual versions of four famous trails, including the Lewis and Clark Trail.

To your health and happiness.

P.S. If you are interested in our current offer and would rather have a pedometer than a heart rate monitor, just let us know and we can accommodate your request.

source: “Health Matters: Making resolutions to lose weight? Get a pedometer” Wall Street Journal, December 12, 2008.

I don’t know what it was, but last week’s email was the most popular email I have ever sent. Many of you have contacted us to find out more about our special offer, and then went ahead and took us up on our limited time offer. I was also impressed by how many of you clicked on the link to find out what sarcopenia is; this tells me that you have a strong interest in your health and are looking for reliable sources of information to support you in your quest for optimal health.

As promised last week, this week’s email will focus on sarcopenia, along with a reminder about our limited time BEST HOLIDAY OFFER EVER

So what is sarcopenia? Sarcopenia is defined as “age-related loss of muscle”. Sarcopenia generally starts to set in around age 45, when muscle mass begins to decline at a rate of about 1 percent per year. As muscle mass begins to decline, so does muscle strength. Studies have revealed that muscle strength declines by approximately 15 percent per decade in the sixties and seventies and about 30 percent thereafter. As strength goes, so does physical functioning—the ability to do chores, take walks, climb stairs, or the accomplishment of other activities. This loss of strength can create a vicious cycle. Since it takes a great deal of physical effort and discomfort to perform daily tasks, one naturally avoids it, which creates even more weakness. Even some activity, no matter how limited, can help maintain muscle mass.

Just like osteoporosis and arthritis, “sarcopenia is a serious degenerative condition that increases ones risks for falls and makes one more vulnerable to injury.” Less obvious consequences are metabolic effects that result when muscle-the body’s most metabolically active tissue—diminishes.

Metabolism changes when there is less muscle, and many consequences result, such as obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, and changes in the ability to regulate body temperature. In addition, since muscular contractions help keep bones strong, muscle loss can also weaken bones.

Women face a greater risk than men, because women have less muscle than men, and those who have less muscle to begin with, generally have a greater loss.

Nutrition can also be a factor in the development of sarcopenia if one is not consuming adequate energy intake. Many older individuals may not be consuming enough calories and/or protein, thereby depleting muscle protein to sustain energy requirement.

Along with proper nutrition, a powerful intervention in the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia is resistance training (weight-lifting or strength training). Resistance training works to build muscle by forcing the body to heal the damage to muscle cells that occur with use. When the intensity is high enough, microscopic tears occur in the muscle, which then rebuild protein and make the muscle stronger.

Although it has been known for decades that resistance training increases muscle mass and strength in young adults, many thought that muscle loss in older people was inevitable. However, it is now known that past studies done on older people using weights, did not show a positive response because the studies were not using the correct exercise intensity. Instead, subjects were lifting weights that were too light.

More current studies, using higher intensity workouts have shown that “strength could be doubled in only 12 weeks of training, and that even frail nursing-home residents in their 90′s could build muscle and strength.”

The American College of Sports Medicine, in its guidelines on exercise and physical activity for older adults, says that aerobic conditioning should follow strength and balance training, which is, unfortunately, the opposite of what is usually done. Aerobic exercise, while it strengthens the heart and lungs, is not sufficient by itself to prevent sarcopenia.

It’s easy to understand why older adults participate in aerobic activity for exercise rather than resistance training. Walking doesn’t require a lot of planning to incorporate it into the day, and swimming or biking are familiar activities. Resistance training, however, is less familiar and it requires one to set aside extra time.

However, the time commitment is not significant; two or three 45-minutes resistance training sessions per week should allow you to see significant results. According to Dr. Miriam Nelson, the director of the Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Tufts University, gains in muscle are probably happening immediately at the cellular level, and in four weeks, one is significantly stronger and may even see less pain with conditions, such as arthritis.

In addition to building muscle, resistance training also builds vigor and self-esteem, which ultimately leads to one staying active and doing things they enjoy. Preserving muscle mass also impacts the ability to withstand disease. The body burns protein faster than usual, when sick, which then causes protein components to be pulled from the muscle to be delivered to the immune system, to help fight the illness. Sarcopenia reduces the amount of protein available to fight disease.

When we lose our ability to use our muscles, we lose independence, and quality of life diminishes. Let’s choose to not take for granted our ability to move around, and incorporate resistance training, into our exercise routine. Length of life is insignificant without quality of life!

For those of you who are current clients of FT, the advice given above is like preaching to the choir. You have felt the benefits of engaging in a well-designed, high-intensity workout. You feel stronger, have more energy, have better balance, and are more confident about yourself and what you are doing to improve the quality of your life.

For those of you understand the tremendous benefits that can accrue from working out, but have been hesitant to take the next step and make a commitment to your health and fitness, there is no better time than NOW!

With many of you making New Year’s resolutions to get in better shape, and with OUR BEST HOLIDAY OFFER EVER, it is like the stars have aligned to enable you to GET SERIOUS about your health.

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I wasn’t sure what I should talk about this week, sarcopenia or the details of our best holiday offer ever. So I went back to my old marketing textbooks and read about things like channels of distribution, relationship management, and the 4 Ps, but I found nothing that really helped me with this specific dilemma. I then asked my family and friends, and they all had the same reaction – sarcoWHAT?? After I explained to them what sarcopenia was, they basically said, “Who cares about that sort of stuff?” I told them that I certainly cared about it, but their reaction gave me the answer I was looking for – so here are the details of our best holiday offer ever!

For a limited time only, we are offering you the chance to buy as many personal training sessions as you want for only $60 per session!! This represents not only a significant saving, but the freedom to buy as few as 3 or as many as 300 sessions.

Think of all the ways you could take advantage of this limited time offer. You could:

• Share your love of fitness with a friend or relative by giving them a Fitness Together gift certificate for the holidays.
• Get a head start on your New Year’s resolution to commit to an exercise program in 2009.
• Extend the number of sessions you have remaining and lock in this great rate.
• Use this as a chance to “try us out” without making a major commitment up front.

I could go on and on, but I am sure each one of you can think of a way that this offer could benefit you or someone you care about.

If you are interested in finding out more about this limited time holiday offer, give us a call at 610-355-0935, or just reply to this email. This offer is only good until Friday, December 19, so you need to ACT NOW!

At Fitness together, we take a holistic approach to helping you reach your health and fitness goals. We

• develop custom designed workout programs tailored to your specific goals and abilities
• offer nutritional guidance and accountability (we have you not only watching what you eat, but we also watch what you eat through your ACCOUNTABILITY JOURNAL)
• focus on strength, cardio, balance, and flexibility as well as any client specific goals such as speed, agility, or quickness

All of our sessions are by appointment only, with you and the trainer in your own private personal training studio. There is no waiting for equipment or embarrassment about not knowing what to do, just 100% focus on you and your goals.

As a special bonus, anyone who invests in 24 or more sessions will get a FREE POLAR HEART RATE MONITOR! An HRM is a great way to measure the intensity of your workouts, one of the keys to successfully reaching your health and fitness goals. (This could make a great holiday present for someone as well!)

So if getting in better shape is something you have been contemplating for awhile, there is no better time to act than now. Give us a call at 610-355-0935, hit the reply button, or ask your trainer for the details. The results could be life changing, but you only have until December 19 to decide.

I look forward to hearing from you.

To your health and happiness,

P.S. I promise to talk about sarcopenia next week; but if you can’t wait, here is a great link: What Are You Doing to Fight “Sarcopenia”?