High Performance Spinning (HPS) is back for another year. Join this premier class if your ambition is to improve your biking over the winter. Lead by Matt Hanson, this is the longest running class at Pinnacle. You can train on your own bicycle with one of our 20 Fluid trainers or bring in your own pedals and use one of our Keiser power trainers.
For more information contact Matt Hanson.
Sign up for HPS today!
This year it’s time to take advantage of the best Black Friday special in Madison – two free personal training sessions when you purchase a 20-pack with one of our trainers.
As you can imagine most of these results happen over time, but if 20 sessions is more than you’re ready for right now, the Black Friday special includes one free session when you purchase a 10-pack.
At Pinnacle Health + Fitness your training sessions can be used whenever you’re ready. Ten sessions can go almost half of a year if you train every-other week. This puts a lot of pressure on you to get the work done but with a trainer in your corner, the sky is the limit to starting 2018 as your best year ever.
Sale runs November 20-24, 2017
Kids are back in school. The summer was good but students definitely will need a refresher in their first week back in classes. Back to the basics!
This simple workout will take your fitness back to the basics also. A well-rounded exercise routine will have pushing, pulling, squatting and some agility. Adjust exercises and sets/reps as you see fit.
Rest 30-60 seconds. Repeat for total of 5 sets.
In our interview with client of the month, John Stathas noted how adjusting his approach to food was a game-changer. We asked John for one of his favorite recipes and here’s what he delivered.
(Recipe is for two people adjust as needed)
1 tsp minced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
¼ cup mayonnnaise
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp fresh lime juice
Salt and ground black pepper
1 cup very thinly sliced white cabbage
1 cup very thinly sliced red cabbage
1 green onion thinly sliced (white and tender green parts
1 large egg
2 tsp hot sauce1 cup panko bread crumbs
¼ cup all-purpose flour
8-10 oz catfish (or cod or tilapia) fillets
½ cup vegetable oil
4-5 flour tortillas
My trainer, Vikki Hettiger, and I have been working together twice a week for just over a year. During this period, I’ve made a number of observations that explain the extraordinary advantages of hiring a Personal Trainer.
First, there are a number of exercises I wouldn’t be able to perform without Vikki encouraging me. She is the cheerleader that reaches across to my inner resources, enabling them to succeed, where alone I would have failed.
Second, Vikki offers a view I could not otherwise have. It’s like having a “mirror”, and acquiring a level of critical vision that is beyond my capabilities when I’m working out by myself.
Third, working with a good trainer is a “cumulative” experience. The brain and the body do not grasp it all at once. Acquiring muscle memory takes time and repetition. The rigor eventually pays off, but only when there is consistency. Each session ‘builds’ on every detail of the experience – some of it works at a conscious level, and some of it is the subconscious effort of acquiring habits so they become “ingrained”. The things I learned early on in our sessions have become the building blocks that have eventually allowed me to perform more advanced exercises.
Another thing I realized is that even though I am reasonably body-conscious, there are still muscle groups that I barely had control over in the beginning. Through Vikki’s attentive and consistent training sessions, I gradually gained a much keener awareness of how my muscles inter-relate… and how to coordinate and control them consciously. This is, undoubtedly, what people mean when they say ‘I’m discovering muscles I didn’t know I had’!
Working with a trainer is sort of an extreme form of therapy. The aims are general, yet amazingly, the effects can be highly specific. While individual exercises usually aim for a specific muscle group, all seem almost inadvertently to enhance the ‘core.’ Strengthening the core muscles plays a role in everything you perform while training; and the benefit can be as dramatic as it is surprising. I happen to be subject to some pretty bad lower back problems; however, effectively training my core has helped immensely in avoiding bouts of serious back pain. Wouldn’t you rather spend the money on training than on drugs?
Finally, I have learned that the body has an innate desire to “cheat” or to find the easy way out. This cannot be helped; it’s practically instinctive. Vikki is there to be watchful and to point out exactly how and where my body is trying to ‘cheat’ when performing an exercise. This is important because any cheating in movements undermines the training process, preventing me from reaching my best potential. In this respect, working with Vikki has been invaluable.
I find working with Vikki to be a luxury experience. She has more faith in me than I do in myself. It’s part of her professionalism. She focuses on me during our time together, which in turn, helps me focus on myself. And I’m delighted that she calls the agenda – it is always a surprise, so there can be no dread, nor false anticipation. When training with Vikki, I live entirely in the moment, no extraneous worries, no apprehensions. That’s what I call a luxury service.
Did you know that wearable technology is the #1 trend in 2017? If you have a FitBit, Garmin, Apple Watch, or other fitness tracker, you are in great company. While some of these trackers are more expensive than others, at the end of the day they all worth their investment if they are used properly and to their fullest. Tracking steps is one thing; taking your 24/7 movements and exercise data and developing a custom workout and adjusting your lifestyle is another thing.
In 2016 I used a FitBit and in 2017 I’ve moved to Apple Watch to track my health and fitness. Both are great devices! They both track steps, FitBit is better for tracking sleep, but Apple Watch has coached me to relax and move better. My wife really wants to get a Garmin. It really doesn’t matter which device you get. I suggest everyone who wants to take their health and fitness to the next level get a device and start learning more about their day but more importantly their week and month. We all know life happens and the next thing you know you haven’t worked out for four days. Wearing a fitness tracker has changed my mentality without making me into a fitness crazy-person. When I had the FitBit, I realized how poorly I was sleeping and I learning to connect my sleep (or lack thereof) with my mood and performance on any given day. As I’ve worn Apple Watch, I’ve dedicated myself to listening and responding when it prompts me to breathe (it encourages you to stop and focus on controlled breathing get for one minute). I’ve also listened when it tells me to stand up if I haven’t stood in an hour. Your device will tell you similar things and it’s up to you to listen to it. It’s up to me to coach you through that process through my FT2 Series.
One of the biggest issues I see with clients and members tracking their fitness is the focus on steps vs. exercise. Tracking steps is great for beginners like the Sandwich Walker who used walking to lose considerable weight (100 pounds!). I talk about this in terms of exercise adherence: when you’re just gettting into fitness it starts with steps. After you’ve committed to and executed a weekly routine of working out 4-6 days per week, the next step (see what I did there?) is to challenge the body to exercise differently. This is where Fitness Tracker 2.0 comes in. FT2 Training is the third component in the FT2 series. This 10-week class is designed to do three things: (1) teach you the advanced features of your fitness tracker, (2) analyze your weekly workouts and design new progressions to reach your goals, and (3) expose you to new exercise routines, specifically HIIT training. Yes, it’s ok for older adults to do high-intensity interval training.
For the past year I have taught five sessions of FT2 Training. Members sign up primarily to have a coach look over their exercises and their weekly routines. But they also find great value working with the other class members. I put aside five minutes at the end of class for everyone to check in; every week this discussion carries over past our allotted time. I move on to other clients while class participants keep chatting as long as necessary. This social component has proven to be very beneficial for each member.
FT2 Training starts next Monday (April 17). The 10-week class meets from 6:15-7:15am Mondays. The two requirements are you need to have a fitness tracker and you need to sign up for a free MyFitnessPal account so I can monitor your workouts. If FT2 Training isn’t for you, try 8 weeks of FT2 Online and we’ll conduct our training on the internet – awesome! FT Online is the second component of the Series. Also keep an eye out for FT2 Seminar where I conduct a presentation and Q&A about all things fitness tracker. As always, happy training! Feel free to email me if you have any questions.
I have taken classes over the years that focus on tennis conditioning, but they are few and far between. Most tennis facilities do not offer a conditioning program along with the membership. That is why I am so excited that Pinnacle Health and Fitness is offering a class.
How have you seen conditioning help people’s game?
Tennis conditioning and training has changed dramatically over the last 20 years. The changes in racquet and string technology have changed the game at all levels, from recreational player to professional. As the equipment has changed, so has the training, with increased focus on core strength, agility, flexibility, and balance training, Professional tennis players today have highly sophisticated training regimens and a team to help them stay strong and injury free. Recreational players can certainly benefit from many of the same exercises. Tennis players are often stronger on one side than the other, since tennis is a one sided sport. Training both sides helps with balance in all areas of life, and can reduce injury risk as well.
What can participants expect in tennis camp/training?
We will incorporate many of the USTA, (United States Tennis Association), exercises for tennis conditioning in the class. Participants can expect a mixture of cardio, movement training, balance, core strength and flexibility training. Each class will also incorporate some injury prevention/training specific to shoulders and wrists. Modifications to the exercises will be offered to allow all levels of participation.
Pinnacle is proud to celebrate American Hearth Month. Help your heart and assist the American Heart Association. Join this month and save up to $129 + Pinnacle will donate $20 for each new member who joins in February.
This offer is for new members only. Offer Expires 2-28-17. Offer cannot be combined with other promotional offers or discounts.
Last Saturday was another successful Super Saturday Event! We launched Body Pump 100 and offered a bunch of other group exercise classes. It was a fantastic and fun-filled day for all! Our next “Super” event will take place in early spring, be sure to watch your email and our Facebook page for the date.
Friends and family are always welcome. Whether you attended or missed this event, make a point next time to bring anyone who has been thinking about this type of format – you can see it works for so many people!
We are excited to announce the addition of another awesome Les Mills program to our clubs! CX WORX will be joining its “sister programs”, BodyPump, BodyStep and BodyCombat on our Group Ex schedules in the very near future! Not familiar with CX WORX? Check it out!