CategoriesEventFlow Ninja Warrior Contest
Still trying to recover from the last round, or are you up for the challenge?
Put your speed, strength, and agility to the test at Flow’s 3rd Ninja Warrior Contest!
Monday, February 29th. We begin at 5:30pm.
Please register at the front desk if you would like to participate.
(There will be prizes!)
CategoriesEventRelieve muscle tension and joint pain with your hands!
Trigger point therapy is a form of massage that holds pressure over taut bands or knots in the muscle for 15-20 seconds to reduce local constriction.
In this class, you will learn how to feel for and identify trigger points on a partner. Given some coaching, you will develop the right amount of pressure and technique to release trigger points. This class will be informative and fun!
Teach your husband, wife, partner, or best friend how to relieve your tension- Win Win!
Once you’ve released some tension after work,
enjoy the rest of your evening, pain free!
Please register at the Front Desk
** and bring a friend! **
A free 45 minute interactive workshop with Q & A for Flow Members by,
Dr. Traci Grandfield, D.C.
Dr. Traci Grandfield, DC completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Kansas with honors in 2004. She graduated from Life Chiropractic College West as Salutatorian of her class in 2008 with her doctorate in Chiropractic. Dr. Grandfield received extended training in a specialized Chiropractic technique called NUCCA (National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association). She is a certified fitness instructor and teaches a weekly core strength class. She enjoys working with athletic spines, baby spines, mama spines, and anyone that is driven for a better quality of life. She specializes in NUCCA and extremity adjustments to shoulders, wrists, hips, ankles, etc. Conditions that especially respond to NUCCA care are migraines & headaches, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, numbness and tingling, neck and shoulder tension.
When most people “warm-up” it consists of a light jog on the treadmill, a slow pedal on the bike, and maybe a couple of stretches from High School PE class. While on the right track in trying to raise core temperature and stretch out otherwise tight muscles, this does nothing to excite the central nervous system or prepare the body for the multidirectional movement necessary to train the body at high level. In actuality, the static stretching associated with most people’s warm-ups is doing the exact opposite by putting the body in a relaxed state and diminishing the excitability of the nervous systems.
An effective “warm-up” should take at least 15-20 minutes (especially if you are injury prone or de-conditioned), and consist of moving the body in various planes of motion (forward, backward, lateral, rotational, contralateral) in a dynamic fashion through walking, crawling, marching, skipping, and running, which tells the body that “it’s time to work”. Further, these dynamic movements should hit all major muscle complexes that require increased mobility to function properly (examples include the ankles, hips, thoracic spine, and shoulder joint). Prior to these dynamic movements, you should take several minutes and prepare the tissue through foam rolling tight areas, which will decrease the amount of “knots” and joint restrictions that you have in your body. This will allow you to achieve better range of motion during your movement preparation exercise and workout.
As with your movement preparation exercises, your tissue preparation should consist of major muscles groups such as the upper and low legs, glutes, thoracic spine, lats, and chest. It is always recommended to begin with a standard foam roller before moving on to more complex tissue preparation devices such as lacrosse ball or rollers with a harder surface.
Guidelines for Tissue Preparation on Foam Roller (5-6 minutes):
Guidelines for Movement Preparation (10-15 minutes)
Questions? Come on in, and let us know.
Article written by,
Brian Sutton, Flow GM
As we begin 2016, on top of the list of goals for the year is to get healthy. This can take many forms: losing weight, going to the gym. running a marathon, eating better, moving more, better posture, eight hours of sleep, etc.
However, many of us run into pitfalls on our way to health. Here are three popular roadblocks and ways to combat them:
1) The Reward. When you reward yourself for making it to that early morning class, or holding your own at the evening bootcamp, do you immediately think of food? Have you ever thought, “I’ve been so good today about eating and exercise, I totally deserve a brownie!“? For many of us, food is a reward. And that type of reward makes sense, if you’re punishing yourself with your diet or exercise routine.
However, in the long run, these rewards don’t work. Why would you reward yourself for exercising or eating “right” with junk? Don’t get me wrong, having a piece of chocolate or brownie isn’t going to kill you, but bribing yourself to get to the gym or eat vegetables with the promise of a sugary reward (be it food or drink) is not the way to develop healthy eating habits.
Instead of using food as a reward, find something else that motivates you: Free time. Pampering. A luxury item. Adventure. Reward yourself with something that adds to your life, and gets you closer to the person you want to be.
2) Eliminating Fat. Embracing a low-fat or no fat diet is something we’ve been encouraged to do by food marketing. However, foods that are labeled No Fat or Low Fat do not mean you can eat more of them. In fact, most of these foods are full of ingredients no one can pronounce. Fat is good for you (go ahead and repeat that). You need a decent amount of good fat in your diet, as all of the cells in your body are made up of two layers of fats, which will be composed of healthy fats or harmful fats, depending on what you eat.
Go ahead and eat real food. Use real butter, or olive oil. Eat avocados, walnuts, almonds, and salmon. Ban anything labeled low fat or no fat from your kitchen.
3) Starting your day with carbs. Cereal. It’s easy right? But not so great for your mind and body. Not only is cereal loaded with carbohydrates, it also tends to be high in sugar as well. If you begin your day with carbs and sugar, you’ll trigger an insulin response and end up feeling a little foggy in the brain, with no energy. Most people counter this with caffeine – which begins a vicious cycle throughout the day.
Better to begin your day with protein and a healthy fat. This will help keep your blood sugar steady, your energy even and your brain ready to go. An egg and avocado toast anyone?
Support your training with a well balanced eating plan. This will ensure you’re not wasting your time at the gym.
CategoriesEventHealthy Foot Workshop ~ Thursday, February 11th at 6pm
Learn how to reawaken your feet and legs for a healthier you! When your feet hurt, it affects your whole body; your foot health will determine how well you age. In this class, you’ll learn how to revitalize your feet through stretching, joint mobilization, self-massage, and self-care.
When your feet feel good, you feel good. Step in – your feet will thank you!
A free 45 minute interactive workshop with Q & A for Flow Members
Talk Given By,
Laura Houston
Certified Healthy Foot Practitioner™ & Master ChiRunning/Walking Instructor
Please register at the Front Desk
CategoriesEventLadies Night at Flow Fitness on Wednesday, January 20th, 5-8pm
Barre, Bubbles & Bras
Celebrate the New Year with Flow Fitness & Title Nine
Let’s kick this year off right!
CategoriesEventFlow Ninja Warrior Contest. The first one was such a success that we decided to make this a monthly event.
Come and watch members push their limits in this fun and entertaining physical challenge on Monday, January 18th at 5:30pm.
Please register at the front desk if you would like to participate.
CategoriesEventCarb Conundrum
Separating facts from fiction around carbohydrates
Learn what your body really needs— and what it doesn’t in order to support long term weight loss and optimal physical fitness. In this fun and engaging class, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Katy Figel will educate attendees on how much and what types of carbohydrates to eat (or avoid) in order to meet individualized nutritional goals. Healthy and easy recipe and snack ideas will also be provided.
A free 30 minute talk with Q & A for Flow Members, with healthy snacks & drinks
Please register at the Front Desk
As we round the corner and enter the last stretch of 2015, your thoughts may turn toward the New Year, and resolutions. Between 40 and 50% of us actually make resolutions, and losing weight or being fit and healthy rank among the top resolutions made each year. However, 25% of people give up their resolutions inside two weeks, and 46% throw in the towel after five months.
Making a resolution doesn’t have to be difficult. Here are five tips to make achieving your New Year’s goals easier:
1) Start Small. Steer clear of lofty or unreasonable resolutions. Yes, you might want to be fit and healthy, or lose weight, but it’s not going to happen over night. Resolving to go to the gym every day when you haven’t been in for months is a tad bit overzealous. Begin with two-three days a week. Get a feel for success, and then up the ante.
2) Schedule It. If your resolution isn’t planned into your calendar, when were you planning on achieving it? As a whole, we are terrible at scheduling time for ourselves, but oh-so-willing to fill our schedule pleasing others. Not this year. Make a plan and schedule it in. Treat your resolution as a commitment to yourself.
3) Let go of deprivation. One of the number one resolutions is to lose weight. In order to do this, many people adhere to strict diets or intense exercise regimes. Neither of which are sustainable in the long term. In setting resolutions or goals, choose ones that make you feel good ~ that energize and excite you, rather than make you want to hide under a blanket.
4) Minimize decision making. Many of us suffer from decision fatigue and don’t even realize it. Decision fatigue (according to Wikipedia) refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual, after a long session of decision making. Think of this long session as your typical day: choosing what to wear to, what to eat, how to get to work, and the list could go on. Minimize your decision making by automating some decisions: eat the same breakfast each day. Wear your gym clothes to bed. Exercise every Monday/Wednesday/Friday. Make it easy with decisions pre-made for you.
5) Learn to say no. Saying yes to one thing, can mean saying no to something important. Remember what your goals are as you make choices. Saying yes to happy hour can mean saying no to that workout, family time, or down time that you’ve been craving. Know what you want, and where you’re going, and make decisions accordingly.
Remember, change happens daily. If you want to see big things happen in your life, start with tiny steps.
Thanksgiving is right around the corner, with December hot on it’s heels. If you’re like most, your exercise routine suffers during the holidays. In December a workout gets squeezed out by shopping, parties, family time and other various activities. Many people look ahead to January, with plans to start again with a vengeance once the new year rolls around. At Flow, we challenge you to stick with your routine, even if you have to modify it to make it happen. Here are five reasons to get your workout in:
Whatever you do, don’t think of exercise as just one more thing on your to-do list this holiday season. Think of it as a valiant act of self care. Move your body today!
