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CSC BLOG

Four Advantages to Ditching the Straight Bar

September 14, 2022
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| Categories: Exercise, fitness, Strength, Training

1) Better Core Stability, Less Lower Back, Hip & Knee Stress For starters, the safety bar sits a bit higher than a standard bar and the camber pushes you forward, forcing you to fight to stay upright. Therefore, you will be a bit more upright than a high-bar squat and a lot more upright than a low-bar squat. Generally speaking, the more upright your torso is, the less pressure is placed on your lower back. And with the safety bar, the pressure will be displaced more towards your glutes and quads without putting your lower back in a tough spot.

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Ice or Heat?

September 14, 2022
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| Categories: Fitness Tip of the Week, Health Tips, Recovery

It’s the classic question.  Something hurts, should I ice it or heat it? Here are some simple ideas to keep in mind to help you make the right choice. If it is a ‘new’ or sudden injury, you will want to ice. If you are treating a long standing injury and or trying to warm up your muscles before your workout/race/game you will want to heat. ICE Ice constricts the blood cells around the damaged area and reduces the flow/amount of blood to the injured muscle. HEAT Heat dilates the blood cells around the damaged area and increases the flow/amount of

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Sleep, Rest & Recovery – What’s The Difference?

September 14, 2022
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| Categories: Health and Fitness, Recovery
Sleep, Rest, Recovery - What's The Difference? By Evan LaBarre, CSC Personal Trainer

Within the realm of exercise and fitness these words and ideas get used interchangeably. So let’s take a quick moment to clarify. SLEEP While we all know what actual sleep is, to be clear rest and recovery are both occurring while we are sleeping. REST Rest is simply not being active or reducing our level of activity. Resting between sets of a strength trainingworkout would be short term rest, sleeping at night is an example of a nightly rest cycle. RECOVERY This describes the actual physical anatomical rebuilding and refueling process that take place while at rest and when while

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Why Walking is Wonderful

September 1, 2022
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| Categories: Exercise, Health and Fitness
Why walking is so wonderful by CSC Personal Trainer Andy Konz

Walking is one of the most overlooked activities you can do to ensure your stress is in check and progress keeps humming along at a good pace. Intense exercise and dieting are both stressors. When added to an already stressful life, this can keep cortisol elevated, causing the body to revolt, thereby making the fat loss more difficult. Adding in lots of slow, leisurely walking will help negate the effects stress and elevated cortisol can have on the body, like fat storage, muscle loss, and sleep disturbances. Walking also increases blood flow to the muscles, which will aid in recovery

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Is breakfast the most important meal of the day?

September 1, 2022
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| Categories: diet, Exercise, fitness, Health and Fitness
What should I eat for breakfast by CSC Trainer, Tom Nyilis

It’s a fair enough question and like so many things with nutrition it is a complex one and different for different people. Here is MY personal take on the question. YES, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and a healthy habit for long term health, weight management, athletic performance and cognitive thinking. For example, one 2021 systematic review of 14 observational studies found that those who eat breakfast seven times per week have a reduced risk for: Heart diseaseDiabetesObesityHigh blood pressureStrokeAbdominal obesityCardiovascular-related deathElevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol Weight management---by having breakfast you have more control of your

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Exercising In The Summer Heat

August 17, 2022
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| Categories: Fitness Tip of the Week, Health and Fitness, Health Tips, Hydration
Exercising in the summer heat

Working out is challenging enough, but working out in the summer heat can be hazardous unless you follow a couple of basic precautions. Workout Early: Working out early in the morning or before the afternoon sun can greatly reduce the risk of overheating as the sun has not yet peaked. Stay Hydrated: Staying properly hydrated throughout the day is always a challenge but it becomes a matter of life and death when we are being active in the hot sun for an extended period of time! Water is good but an electrolyte solution like Gatorade or Pedialyte is better as

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9 Foods To Help You Get Through Your Workout

August 17, 2022
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| Categories: diet, Fitness Tip of the Week, Health and Fitness, Health Tips
9 foods to help you get through your workout

It’s quite simple, if you don’t have any fuel in the tank then your workout will suffer.  If you come to the gym at 6pm and the last thing you ate was a salad at 1pm your workout will suffer and you will be more susceptible to injury. Pre-exercise meals should be mainly composed of "slow-burning" complex carbs, such as fruits, vegetables, whole-grain bread, rice, pasta, and cereals. Given that they are your body's main source of energy, 65% to 70% of the total calories of your pre-workout meal should come from carbs. Complex carbs take longer to convert to

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Cold Shower Benefits for Your Health

August 17, 2022
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| Categories: Fitness Tip of the Week, Health and Fitness, Health Tips
Benefits of a Cold Shower

Cold showers are any showers with a water temperature below 70°F. They may have health benefits. Water therapy (also called hydrotherapy) has been used for centuries to take advantage of our body’s tendency to adapt to harsher conditions. As a result, our bodies become more resistant to stress. Increases endorphins Depression affects at least 10 percent of American adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many drugs treat depression, depending on the severity or duration of symptoms. One holistic method of treatment that’s gaining popularity is hydrotherapy. Taking a cold shower for up to 5 minutes, 2

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Strength Training: Using the landmine to build power

July 26, 2022
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| Categories: Strength, strength training

What is the Landmine?  It's a barbell anchored to the floor with a weight on the other end. What is Power?  Power is how fast you can move weight. Training for Power:  If power is measured by how quickly you can move weight, explosive strength is needed to accelerate force, hence, speed, elasticity, explosiveness, size and stability all play a role in training for power. Using the Landmine to build power: The movement of the landmine itself can help teach an athlete how to effectively transfer force between the upper and lower body, while also presenting a greater demand on

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Strength Training: Fatbells

July 22, 2022
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| Categories: Exercise, fitness, Strength, strength training
CSC Trainer Evan squatting with an overhead fatbell

Fatbells are a variation on the classic Kettlebell but with a twist. The handle is located inside the bell putting all the weight an equal distance from your wrist and hand. This allows the Fatbell to move with your hand and arm as if it was an extension of your body! This makes learning exercises like The Single Arm Snatch far easier than with a traditional Kettlebell while still getting more of a challenge than a dumbbell provides! Fatbells can be used in place of dumbbells for presses and rows but also for popular Kettlebell exercises like Swings, Snatches, and

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