The Bench Press. Gym News

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1 Gym News Things are busy around our household with a newborn baby. Kaleb Wade Mahurin was born on January 18th at 9:05AM in Joplin. He weighed in at 7.96lbs and 19.5 long. After a month of rest I ll start him on his weight program: baby rattle curls, stuffed animal squats, binky bench press, baby bottle lunges, and my favorite, diaper dead lifts. You can never start them to early! We have several things going right now, working on the business plan, obtaining a local gym gear provider, and scouting locations for a possible new gym. If you have friends, family, or co-workers that might be interested in a 24/7 gym or personal training please make sure to pass the word to them about us. Help us grow the gym. Also if you have any ideas about events or other marketing things we could use to grow our business our ears are always open. We thank everyone for the well wishes for Kaleb and gifts you provided and again we thank you for your business! Questions or comments? us at kevin@gymratfitnessmo.com or call or

2 High Blood Pressure Estimates indicate that over 60 million Americans suffer from high blood pressure, or hypertension. Known factors that contribute to hypertension are age, heredity, obesity, gender, alcohol consumption and a sedentary lifestyle. Because high blood pressure puts extra work on the heart and arteries it is a primary risk factor for coronary heart disease, the number leading cause of death in the US. Research shows that there are some steps you can take to prevent high blood pressure and in a lot of cases reduce dependency on medication to treat it. 1. Appropriate bodyweight. Obese people are twice as likely to have hypertension than others. 2. Decrease alcohol intake. Too much can raise your blood pressure levels. 3. Limit salt intake. 4. Exercise regularly. Maintain a healthy cardiovascular system and bodyweight. Questions or comments? us at kevin@gymratfitnessmo.com or call or

3 There s A Pill For That. There was a popular saying back in WWII that our European allies coined for Americans, saying we were overpaid, oversexed and over here. That term could be changed now to Over-weight, over-stressed, and over-medicated. You can t watch a program on TV these days without seeing several commercials selling pills or creams for anything ranging from low testosterone to diet pills. Are you over-weight, there s a pill for that. Are you over-stressed, there s a pill for that. There is probably a pill for when you are taking too many pills and if there isn t one, I m sure there will be one soon. Thank You! Thank you to everyone that frequents our gym, we appreciate your patronage. One-third of the US population is considered obese, over 70% of the population say they experience physical and psychological symptoms caused by stress, and 70% of the population are taking prescription drugs for one thing or another. Those are staggering statistics. A large portion of these statistics could be prevented, treated or controlled by a healthy diet and proper exercise. Proper exercise should include resistance training as well as cardiovascular training at least 3-5 times a week.

4 Low Testosterone Today more than ever we see advertisements for low testosterone in men. There are creams and pills that if taken regularly supposedly increase your testosterone levels. The one thing that is left out or is printed in the finest of print on the advertisement is proper exercise. One of the most common factors for men that have low-t is being overweight. Exercise helps improve your T levels by helping you shed pounds. Content What other content would you like to see in the newsletter or website? The greatest way to build up those T levels is to lift weights. To get an even bigger boost in your levels you need to lift heavier weights rather than doing higher reps. Deadlifts, squats, hang and cleans, clean and jerks, snatches, are all great heavy weight lifts that engage your whole body and helps boost your T levels. In your exercise plan make sure to include cardio and flexibility training as well as your resistance training. If you feel like you are suffering from low testosterone levels, get to the gym and learn to lift properly, safely, and build up to lifting those heavy weights. Your body will do the rest.

5 Carbohydrate Restricted Diets Most fad diets put a large restriction on carbohydrates. Having a low carb diet greatly saps your energy and strength. The fact of the matter is our bodies need carbohydrates for our brain, heart, vital organs and muscles to function. The main fuel source for our brains and central nervous system comes from glucose, which is obtained most easily from carbohydrates. If carbs are not available for several days our bodies attempt to conserve essential proteins by making another fuel source known as ketones, which is made from partially burning fatty acids. These ketones build up in the blood which causes a condition called ketosis as the breakdown continues. The weight loss comes from water not fat as our kidneys try to flush the excess ketones. These Ketogenic diets upset the body s chemical balance and cause side effects such as headaches, dizziness, fatigue and nausea. The right amount of carbohydrates in your diet will ensure you have proper brain and CNS functionality and will allow you to get through your workouts without fatiguing as fast.

6 The One Arm Dumbbell Press I struggled for the longest time on flat barbell bench press with my right arm being slightly weaker than my left. I relied on my left arm to push most of the weight up as my right arm trailed behind. I tried several different things to try to even my arm strength up, dumbbell bench press, benching with a block on my chest, nothing seemed to work. Finally one day a friend of mine suggested doing one arm dumbbell bench press to try to even it out. You repeat the same motion you would do as if doing dumbbell bench press with each arm separately while resting the opposite arm s dumbbell on your chest to balance your body out, otherwise you might take a spill off the bench onto the floor. Not that I ever did that, but just wanted to give fair warning. After doing this for a couple months my arm strength evened out and now I do not lag behind with either arm on my benching, both seem to give out at the same time. I haven t barbell bench pressed in almost 2 years as I stay strictly with dumbbells. The reason for that is an article for another day. If you ve never tried 1 arm dumbbell bench press give it a try, the results are worth it. Have you seen our website?

7 Erasing Your Week s Work It s the weekend and oftentimes over the weekend we tend to slack off on our nutrition that we ve been following so hard over the work week. A weeks worth of eating properly and exercising can be erased just in a couple days time over a weekend. Here are some tips to help avoid negating that hard work: 1. Weekday eating. Try to eat like you have been the entire week, no snacking on things you normally wouldn t. Prep for the weekend by going to the store and making sure you are stocked up on food you eat during the week. 2. Sleep. Stick to your usual sleep schedule you maintain throughout the week. Don t stay up late just because it s your off time. 3. Drinks. Throughout the week we avoid soda and alcohol and over the weekend we loosen the reins and we wind up drinking more of our calories. Calories inside drinks can add up quickly. Go easy or even try choosing healthier drinks. 4. Don t be a rebel. Don t rebel over the weekend just because it s your down time. Don t alternate between times of good eating and bad eating throughout the week. The weekend isn t a time to rebel and fudge on your nutrition plan. 5. Plan ahead. Stock up on your healthy food and snacks and plan your meals for the weekend in advance. Nutritious eating and exercise does not have an off/on switch, it s a lifestyle change. Don t erase a weeks worth of hard work over a weekend.

8 Spotlight Member of the Month: Stephanie Mahurin This month we got the lowdown on Stephanie Mahurin who some say is the brains behind Gym Rat Fitness. Like our page on Facebook. How long have you been working out? 12 years, since Kevin and I have been together. He s my inspiration! Favorite lift or exercise? Squats Least favorite lift or exercise? Lunges What supplements do you take? Protein Where do you work? Where don t I work. Home, Wilma s Beauty Shop, Gym Rat. Hobbies? Chasing kids, reading.

9 Spotlight Member of the Month: Stephanie Mahurin Interview with Stephanie continued Favorite food? Spaghetti Least favorite food? Liver If you could go on a dream all expenses paid vacation where would you go and why? Hawaii. We went there on our honeymoon and I absolutely loved it, except for the redeye flight home. The climate is beautiful, the ocean is pretty and I love everything about it. Thank you Stephanie for your time you took to answer questions while not chasing the kids around. Check in next month when we spotlight another Gym Rat Fitness family member.