NOVEMBER, 2008
Welcome Letter
October was truly an eventful month at HFC. We had the Blue Devil 5K /10K Run/Walk and the Strongman & Strongwoman Competition. The weather was perfect for the race and we had over 135 runners and walkers. The Strongman and Strongwoman had over 7 men and 4 women competitors and they all could lift some heavy weights. I listed all the winners for both the events. Who knows your neighbor might be in there. We also bought 16 new treadmills & ellipticals this month. Now what’s your excuse for not working out? Anoop Balachandran Health & Fitness Center Coordinator balachandrana@uwstout.edu
AB MY TH 3: DOING ABS ON A STABILIT Y BALL WILL IMPROVE BALANCE. The use free weights by athletes, functional training and movement training are based on one theory called the theory of Speci city - It says strength, balance, & coordination is very speci c to the movement. Simply put, if you want to get better at running, you run; if you want to get better at running on a treadmill, you run on a treadmill not outside. The more close the exercise to the movement or skill which you are trying to improve, the better. So if you lay on a ball and do crunches, you will only become more balanced lying on a ball and doing crunches. The balance you gained lying on the ball won’t carry over to other activities, like running or walking. AB MY TH 4: HANGING LEG RAISES WORK YOUR LOWER ABS. Anatomically speaking, there is no lower or upper abs. The rectus abdominis is one single muscle. They are called upper and lower abs because they are innervated by different nerves and hence could be emphasized differently. And even if they could be emphasized, leg raises do not do a good job.
NEW CARDIO MACHINES
TREADMILL
ELLIPTICAL
AB EXERCISE MYTHS
AB MY TH 1: DO NOT USE WEIGHTS FOR AB EXERCISES. I see this myth all the time in the gym, but see no logic whatsoever. If you use weights for biceps, chest and every other muscle, why not use weights for abs? Your abdominal muscle is no different than the rest of the muscles in the human body. If you can already see your abs, using weights can only make them look a lot better. If it is under a thick layer of fat, your focus should be on your diet and cardio than ab exercises in the rst place.
COOL FEATURES: Touch screen. Charge your I-pod & view your songs on the display. Use the landscape, track & mountain views to motivate yourself. Use the USB to create, download workouts and track them online. Use the virtual trainer to talk you through the different features of the machine.
The only ones who should stay away from weights for The major function of the rectus abdominis muscle is abs are those have a lot of fat around their abs; exion or rounding of your spine. If you are just doing abs with weights can make their stomach look raising your legs without rounding your spine, you are mainly using a different muscle group called hip bigger as the muscle grows underneath. exors. This is simply because ab muscles are not attached to your legs and hence abs in no way can AB MY TH 2: HIGH REPS WILL TONE YOUR ABS. raise your legs. The burn you feel from leg raises is Spot reduction is the most well known myth in mainly from the hip exors which run deep below the tness. Ironically, you see people in every gym lower part of the abdomen. across the world trying to “spot reduce”. You cannot lose fat from a speci c area on your body by exercis- If you want to emphasize lower abs, make sure your round your spine when you bring your legs up. The ing that speci c area, period. same applies for upper abs too. Women have more fat on the back of their triceps & hip; men have more fat on their low abs and low back. Anoop Balachandran It is simply because that’s how we are wired Health & Fitness Center Coordinator genetically and is not because you do less exercise for these speci c body parts. So it doesn’t really matter whether you do low, medium or high reps for your abs, or for that matter any other muscle. When you start losing weight (eating less and doing cardio), the body gradually loses fat from those stubborn areas, including your abs.
NOVEMBER, 2008
NEW CARDIO MACHINES
DISPLAY FEATURES
BLUE DEVIL WINNERS
10K RUN WINNERS
Under 18 KAYLA BRICE 19-24 DAVID SCHONSCHECK BRENDA HUEBSCHER 25-34 JOE ANDERSON KRISTA MOORE 35-54 JOHN ZBARNIK JO WILSON 65+ PHILIP MCGUIRK
STRONGMAN / STRONGWOMEN COMPETITION RESULTS
The eleventh annual Strongman & Strongwoman competition was a success thanks to the many enthusiastic participants. Many competitors exceeded their expectations of their physical capabilities, endurance, and strength at this year’s event. On behalf of the Health and Fitness Center, we would like to thank all who participated. We would also like to congratulate this year’s winners. After enduring The Viking Grip with 20 lb weights, the 70lb Farmer’s Walk, and the 150 lb Axel Dead Lift, Laura Freund won the woman’s por tion of the competition. The rivalry was erce among the women as Laura Freund and Jenny Wegner battled it out. Upon calculating all of their points, the two tied. However, after the tie-breaker event, Laura won by a mere 0.2 seconds in the Farmer’s walk! The Men’s event consisted of a choice between 400 or 450 lbs for the Axle Dead Lift, the Press Medley event in which competitors are given one minute to press the 150lb Regular Bar, the 185lb 2” axle 225lb 8” diameter log from the oor. Men also competed in the Tire Flip and Plate Carry Competition. For this event, they ipped a 550lb tire 6 consecutive times, and then proceeded to carry a 200 lb plate down the track and around the cones for 120 feet. The last two events were the 300 lb Farmer’s Walk and the 25 lb Tire Throw. Ryan Thompson was the overall winner for the men and Dave Langer came second. All participants received a wide array of prizes, and there was a raf e contest for spectators. Thank you to all who made it a very fun event, we look forward to future successful Strongman & Strongwoman Competition. By Grace Brown HFC Personal Trainer
5K RUN WINNERS
Under 18 JORDAN BRINGOLD 19-24 LUCAS WILSON DANIELLE BLOOMQUIST 25-34 JUAN RAMIREZ EMILY HODGE 35-54 GERALD PORTER JEAN BRINGOLD 55-64 JOHN MIKESELL 65+ ROBERT NESVACIL
COMPETITION STANDINGS
Men’s RYAN THOMPSON DAVE LANGER JORDAN NELSON JOHN TARASIK JAKE REGNER JUSTINE LAVALLE DREW SOWLE Women’s LAURA FREUND JENNY WEGNER AMANDA JOHNSON ERIN DAHMS Standing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Standing 1 2 3 4
Laura Freund, Jenny Wegner
David Langer, Ryan Thompson