Exercise really is one of the best things you can do in your life. It's kind of like the Frank's RedHot sauce of condiments. Remember their tagline? Just like Frank's RedHot, exercise does it all as well. Or if you're more of a movie buff than a chef maybe Windex is a better example. Just like Windex, exercise can solve many of life's problems. Because we're aware of many of the benefits of exercise including increased/improved: strengthfitnessmobilityhealthsleepmental healthpostureimmune functionlongevitybone & joint healthenergy weight managementacademic performance And this is really preaching to the choir because as a reader of this blog, and possibly subscriber of our newsletter, you already live an active life for the reasons listed above. But did you consider one of your reasons for increased fitness to be so that you would have improved motor skills? In other words, is there a physical task you were looking to improve and thought the way you would get better would be by increasing your fitness? If you hadn't thought that way don't worry you're not alone, read this blog for tips to staying fit and healthy.. Not many people had. And new research published this months is among the first evidence to show this. The study looked at how running fitness improved motor learning. More specifically the researchers wanted to know what was the mechanism that allowed for better movement. Here's what they did. The had mice run daily on a wheel for a week. And then they measured how the mice on the time to cross a balance beam and their performance on a rotarod measuring speed when they fell off. Below are the results comparing the the mice that ran versus the controls that didn't. e Time to cross a 1-m long, 4-mm diameter rod balance beam during each trial...

There's an expression we'll commonly use at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc that goes 'It's simple but not easy'. What we mean is that healthy living involves a simple plan but following the plan isn't always easy.Get eight hours of sleep per night. Drink water. Eat protein and veggies. Move your body, preferably with resistance.That's not very complicated. Every 5 year old would understand this prescription. Yet most adults struggle with doing these things.And we know they struggle because each year they put on more weight. They become more diseased and injured.So where is the breakdown? We have a simple plan. We understand the plan. Yet we fail to achieve the goal at the end.Why does this happen?Why is that by the first week of January 27% of people abandon their new year's resolutions. Why is thatjust over half of people make it to the one month mark?Well there are a number of things that come to mind.But here are 5 reasons why you might not be satisfied with the results.1.You do it for the wrong reasonsWhen you decide to make a change you need to do this for the right reasons. This means it has to be your choice and not due to outside pressures.Consider a dad that is trying to quit smoking. And the family is hounding him to give up this bad habit. They do things to 'help' like hiding his cigarettes or lighters. They make jokes about smokers and how awful their teeth look and breath smell. They complain constantly about this habit and nag dad about giving it up.Obviously this won't work.Dad will recognize this outside pressure and won't like it. He may get annoyed when his smokes are hidden on him. And he won't feel in control of the process but instead may feel restricted and bound by someone...

I remember back when we were building our house. We had decided to do a natural rock wall and stairs in our backyard using some huge boulders. When the guy who was going to build the wall showed up and rang the door bell I wasn't sure if I should open the door or call Crime Stoppers.[caption id="attachment_5396" align="aligncenter" width="300"] My reaction when I saw the wall builder show up.But as it turned out he was legit and built a beautiful wall in our backyard.Now as this was during the summer and I was home for the day I offered to help the guy out. Although he had some heavy equipment to move all the boulders around I figured there would be benefit to a  second set of hands.My thoughts were that this guy would probably appreciate the help. And maybe the job would go more smoothly. And if the job took less time because I was helping him maybe it would shave a little of the bill time-wise. Because as some of you know building a home isn't cheap.So I offered to help. And this is what the guy said.'It's 50% more if you watch. Double if you help.'Roger that. Alexandra packed up some food, drinks and a blanket and we headed to the beach.But home build projects aren't the only areas where we might be tempted to lend a hand or DIY (do it yourself). We all know lots of examples where people do their own investing. They take care of their own vehicles. They log on to Web MD to diagnose whatever ails them. And a number of people will look to take after their health and fitness on their own as well.But what kind of results can you get on your own compared to using a coach? Can...

Last weekend we held an end-of-season bike ride followed by a BBQ at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc. At the BBQ there were burgers, ice cream and beer. This is typically the kinds of foods that fitness coaches tell their clients to avoid eating. And yet there we were serving it up to our clients. Was this some kind of trick? Do we not care about our clients results? Do we not believe these to be unhealthy foods? Why would we do such a thing? [caption id="attachment_5291" align="aligncenter" width="300"] When you're offered beer or ice cream in a gym. Well for a number of reasons. And the first being is that these are foods and drinks associated with fun times. And we want our clients to be able to relax and have some fun from time to time. The goal is never to go cold turkey with any of the indulgences we may enjoy. If someone loves chocolate we would never say 'you can't eat chocolate again' or worse 'you're a bad person if you do eat chocolate'. Instead the message should be to recognize where does chocolate fit into a healthy living plan? Maybe I won't eat it daily but instead will look to reduce my consumption and set it aside for special times. For example, maybe I'll watch a fun show on the weekend and have some chocolate while I do. We need to find the time and place for burgers, beers and ice cream. The other thing to remember is that these are low nutrition foods. It never ceases to amaze me to look at any 'health or whole foods' store flyer. You will always be to find offerings such as tofu burgers, soy ice cream and vegan cookies. Adding a trendy nutritional label doesn't make these higher in nutritional value....

Almost on a daily basis I'll cross paths with an acquaintance that knows what I do for a living. And without any prompting on my end I begin hearing about their plans to take care of their health & fitness. I mean I could be coming out of the movies and see someone and ask how they're doing? And maybe it's a natural response for them to try to relate to my domain. And I hear about how things will change once something else happens. What is the something else? It might be a change in seasons. It might be when the kids go back to school. It could be that there is a move or transition going on at work. Or could it be that they have something else going on their life that is taking up more of their time and attention. And so they are waiting for a return to normal. And sometimes they are waiting for perfect. What I mean by perfect is that they are waiting for all the conditions to come together and the stars to align better they take action. Unfortunately this never happens. And days become weeks which become months and a couple of extra pounds have become an extra 8-10 pounds. It's almost like waiting for the perfect time to have a baby. For Alexandra and I it took a while. And then one day I came to find out we would be parents. Best day ever! And it couldn't have been planned. Here's another example related to exercise. Last weekend I didn't have any plans for a ride. Which is unusual. So I fired out a few quick texts on Friday night and made plans to ride to Crystal with my friend Mike. I didn't have the best sleep on Friday....

Hey! How’s it going? Its Chris here and I’ve got an amazing success story to share with you. This post is about Barry Chretien’s fitness journey so far. You know Barry, right? Barry works out at OPP in the mornings 4 or 5 times a week and swims laps 3 times a week at the Parkinson Rec Center. He also runs a marketing agency and does volunteer work feeding the homeless as well, so this makes his results even more impressive. Now before I get to telling everything Barry has achieved in the last 9 months I should back up and give you a little background. You see Barry was someone who had a hard time working out consistently, which was not only a physical challenge but a mental one too.  [caption id="attachment_5045" align="aligncenter" width="169"] Barry before starting with Okanagan Peak Performance Inc. [caption id="attachment_5046" align="aligncenter" width="169"] Barry at the start of his journey with OPP.  Maybe you can relate to Barry in sharing these same challenges such as feeling intimidated when he first started at OPP, having chronic pain in both knees due to severe osteoarthritis or something else standing in the way of optimal health. But even though Barry had these challenges before him, he set the goal of getting into the best shape of his life and decided to start working out at OPP in April of 2016. So far he has: Dropped 90 lbs Gained muscle mass Addressed movement compensation so he is moving better than he has in years Reduced and eliminated pain to the point where most days are pain-free Started mountain biking and hiking again Set a goal to complete Mudd Sweat & Tears and to snowboard next season[caption id="attachment_5047" align="aligncenter" width="220"] Barry after 9 months of training at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc and...

Unless you've been living in a cave for the past couple of weeks you've probably heard the name Ryan Lochte. And if you're not familiar with the name than you may have heard something about a US swimmer at the Olympics fabricating a story about being robbed in Brazil at the Olympics.You can google the story later if you're interested. Otherwise I'll you're up to speed let's see what take-aways there are from this train wreck.[caption id="attachment_4941" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY SportsSo with that in mind here are 6 Lessons from US Swimmer Ryan Lochte to help with your health & fitness. Have Fun - I would guess Lochte might be a pretty fun guy. He's always seems to have a smile on his face, he has a funky hairstyle and enjoys a night out celebrating. His decision making might need some work. The take-away lesson would be to enjoy the process. Choose workouts that you enjoy doing. Train with people you like. Eat healthy foods that you find appetizing. Life's too short to not enjoy the process. The Company You Keep - This example has less to do with Lochte and more to do with the swimmers that were hanging out with on the night in question. You may have heard the expression that you are the average of the company you keep. If you're a student you'll want to hang around with the smarter kids. If you're looking to grow your business you'll want to connect with leaders in this area. And with health and fitness you'll want to train with people who are stronger, faster and fitter than you are. Or at minimum you'll want to associate with people who are committed to a healthy lifestyle. Be Honest - I'm not sure who Lochte thought he...

Have you ever run 800s? If you've competed in track and field there's a good chance you may have some experience with this distance. And therefore you know how awful this event can be. Why is it so awful? Well it's too long of a distance to sprint and not long of a distance to really pace yourself. It's basically 2 to 3 minutes of pure physical discomfort. And if you're into that sort of thing than you've found the perfect workout to inflict as much pain and discomfort as you can handle. But there are a few other reasons I like the 800s as a training distance as it provides valuable feedback as to what you should workout on to improve performance. Below are 4 Benefits of Running 800s. Benefit #1 - Measure of Overall SpeedThe nice thing about 800s is that you do two laps of a track oval to achieve this distance. And based on your time you get a bit of an idea of your overall speed. If you want to know how you compare to the world record you can do two laps and see how close to 1 minute 40 seconds which is the current world record. Are you within 30 seconds of the world record? 60 seconds? More? Test yourself and see how your overall speed ranks. Benefit #2 - Measure of Your PaceAs I mentioned at the beginning you can't sprint an 800 m nor can you pace yourself. And after running this distance a few times you'll quickly learn a bit about your pace. For example, let's say your total time was three minutes which is not too shabby. And your splits were 1 min 40 for the first lap and 1 min 20 for the second. Since most people tire in...

Matt Baumeister Final Blog PostHi everyone,Matt here again. Here I go, writing to you for one last time. As many of you know, I will soon be starting another phase of my life as I travel to Vancouver to begin a Master’s degree program in Physiotherapy. As I write this final column, I can’t help but stop and reflect on some of the great times and learning experiences I have had over the past year. Working alongside such a great mentor as Chris has been a fabulous learning opportunity, and has undoubtedly made me a better and more balanced professional. Perhaps my fondest memory will be of our 80’s workout themed Halloween dress-up day! Simply legendary would be an apt way to describe it.And who could forget those two lovely ladies – Megan and Jordy? Although I have yet to receive any frozen remuneration from a certain Dairy Queen Heiress (who shall invariably remain nameless) I am indebted to each of these girls for the support and encouragement they have provided me every step of the way.In addition to reflecting upon my colleagues and mentors, I also find myself reflecting on my own work as well. If you take anything from this blog - or from me for that matter, I hope to be thought of as a kind, smart and encouraging trainer who had an affinity for dubiously short-shorts and an ever present love for styling his hair. And, perhaps something should be mentioned about an unquenchable thirst for Arizona Ice Tea here as well.Of course, who could forget all of you? Yes you, the clients of this great facility, the life-blood of any fitness community. In the past year I have come to know many of you much better and in turn each of you have no doubt made...

Starting next Monday August 13 Okanagan Peak Performance Inc is proud to present its 8 Week 10 K Running Clinic. So what brought this about? Well there are lots of people who start running programs. And fewer complete them. And fewer stay injury free. And fewer get faster over the years. Are you one of these people? Have you given running a shot in the past? Have you suffered an injury? Or found that the time you needed to invest to running became too great? Chances are you may have answered 'yes' to one of these questions. So we created the 8 Week 10 K Running Clinic - The efficient, pain-free way to running your best 10 K. Here's what's included. 1. Complementary Gym Based Workouts - Have you ever noticed people either lift or they run? But they don't do both. But to have the best health we need both muscular strength and a well developed cardiovascular system. And since these two types of training are often separate we tend to fall short of our full potential. Or we see people make the effort to incorporate resistance training with their run program and they select exercises like leg presses, leg extensions and leg curls. Sure these are lower body exercises, which should be beneficial for running but definitely not your best choice. We'll show how to do better exercises specific to running. 2. Efficient Run Programs - If you've tried running in the past you've noticed there is a time commitment required. And the more you run the more time you need to invest. I remember reading in Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes that if a women in her 20's runs 3 miles per day, she will have to run 15 miles per day in her 40's to keep the...

Remember back when you were in school? Maybe you're still in school and this is very familiar. But for those of us that aren't going to school anymore we'll have particular memories.Sometimes they are good memories of teachers that helped us get to the next level and develop. We probably did better in their classes and worked a little harder. And maybe we had some smart friends to do some group study sessions with to help us along.The point is when we have success in school, or in many other things for that matter, there is often someone else we can look to who helped us. With school this would have been a teacher, a tutor or a friend.But the cool thing is that this applies to all areas of your life. Think about it.When I think back to when I made the best gains in the gym it was when I had a training partner. But not just any training partner. It had to be someone who was equally committed. Someone who shared similar goals. And most importantly someone who was a step ahead of where I was. Someone who could show me the ropes and help me get to where I wanted to be.This is very similar to the saying that your income is related to the five people closest to you. That's not the exact expression but it's something along those lines anyways.And it applies to your health and fitness as well.We could hang with these 5 guys...or...with these 6 people.Most likely the second group is going to be a better influence. They will probably get more sleep. They will probably train more frequently and more intensely. They will make better nutritional choices. And they probably won't smoke and drink.Of course these are all generalizations.Fit people stay up too late....

There are a few things Okanagan Peak Performance is synonomous. And these include physical feats, strong women and helping others. So when we were approached about sponsoring a team for the United Way's Plane Pull Challenge it was a no-brainer. But we're not just sponsoring any team. We're sponsoring a team made up 100% of women. And these women will probably be the only all-female team pulling a plane down the tarmac. I know they will put some of the men's teams to shame. I already know what Jordy and Megan can do on the weightroom floor and they don't ease up for anyone in competition. But this event is for charity and we need your help. The team needs to raise $750 as an entry fee. So here's what Okanagan Peak Performance is going to do. We're going to run a Pull the Plane Training Session at our facility on Saturday April 14, 2011 with a mimimum $20 donation. We will run two training sessions at 11 am and another at 1230 pm with a goal of having 20 people out for each session. 40 people get an awesome workout. The United Way collects a $800 donation for the entry fee. We get to have fun working your butt off! Everybody wins! Here are all the details.DateSaturday April 14, 2012Times11:00 AM-12:00 PM and 12:30 – 1:30 PMLocationOkanagan Peak Performance Inc. #123-1511 Sutherland Ave.What to bringIndoor athletic shoes, comfortable workout wear, water bottle, min $20 donation 5X Bonus - We want to throw something else in for you to make this day a little more memorable. Take your donation to the United Way and times it by 5. We will credit this much towards a membership for you on Saturday April 14, 2012 should you sign up that day. For example, donate...

Over the next few days you're going to see an emphasis on nutrition with respect to the content you receive.Why nutrition?Well because it has such a HUGE impact on the results you achieve. I mean we can put emphasis in our workouts. We can do more resistance-based workouts.And we can also put more efforts on our recovery by doing more stretching, foam rolling, immediate post workout shakes and get adequate sleep at night.But if you want the absolute best bang for your buck and return on investment than nutrition is the best place to start.With that in mind here are The Top 5 Reasons Nutrition Should be Your Emphasis for 2011 Health, Fitness & Performance Goals.Reason #1 - We may eat up to 20 times more than we trainIt's not uncommon these days for people to have their three squares a day, a post workout shake and a snack or two. This works out to 6 meals a day times 7 days and you have 42 meals a week.The average gym goer visits their gym less than 3 days per week. This is the average of people who have gym memberships! Many others get a lot less exercise than this.So if someone were eating 40 plus meals a week and training two times a week it's easy to see where there is huge opportunity to make substantial gains and improvement by modifying their nutritional plan.Reason #2 - We always consumeEven if you're the most serious, dedicated athlete out there, there will still be times when you'll take a day of rest.But most of us aren't professional. Or that serious. Or that motivated.And there will be times when we are sick. Or injured. Or travelling. And therefore not able to train at all.So while the outputs may slow, or stop altogether for brief periods,...

Today was a great morning. Why? Because when I was at the gym for a couple of sessions the gym was hopping.And I don't mean the cardio side of the gym which is normally busy but the weight room side. This brings a smile to my face as it makes me feel the message is starting to get out there to the masses that intense resistance-based workouts is the way to go for weight loss, sports performance or general fitness. Period.While part of the crowd had to do with it being a Monday morning in January it was still encouraging to see a shift in training approaches taking place.So what about the rest of the people there? Why are there still so many cardio kings & queens? Well part of it is mis-information and believing that cardio will yield the best return on their investment. But part of it has to do with intimidation. Or not knowing what load to use.You see many people would rather go to the gym and feel productive by walking/running on the treadmill than to venture over to the weight room side and feel lost.So how can you feel confident and safe when selecting your weights for your training session? Here are 4 rules.Rule #1 On Selecting the Correct Weight - Consider the muscles doing the workIf the first thing you can answer is what part of the body you will be working or what movements you will be performing you will do a better job at choosing the correct weight. For examplen if you were performing a squatting exercise you will be able to handle a heavier load than an exercise for the triceps. Duh, right?You'd be surprised though to see the number of people that use the same dumbbell to squat with and then go straight into a...

Movement is an interesting thing. In some ways it comes naturally to us. Think of a baby on its back wiggling the arms and legs. Eventually with enough effort and momentum the baby will be able get a leg across the body, rotate the hips and flip onto their stomach.But what starts out as an inquisitive exploration of our surroundings can lead to many great abilities in sports and performance. As young kids we are fearless and will do and try just about anything to seek a thrill and have fun.As we get older life gets a little busier and we get a little wiser about the downside of being hell-bent for speed and thrills. Basically all we have to do is experience one injury to curb our thirst for extreme movement and velocity.But that doesn't have to mean sport and movement stops all together. In fact it can't and is essential for our vitality.So we must find that balance between fearlessly attacking a sport or activity with reckless abandom and taking ourselves 'out of the game' completely.And this balance comes with being able to load and unload the forces we experience with movement. And we do this most effectively when we have neuromuscular efficiency (NE). This basically means we get the right muscles to fire, at the right time and in the right plane.Unfortunately success in sport is not as simple as simply having NE because we still need to develop the fitness, strength and power of the relevant muscles. Add to that the demands for reading and reacting to an opponent as well as changing environmental conditions and you can quickly appreciate how skilled high level athletes really are.In order to develop some of the athletic abilities of the pros look to be able to efficiently load and unload the body....

Hi there: Hope you've had a great week. Mine flew by partly due to being busy. But I did manage to fit in a date night with my wife. And we went out for dinner and then to see the movie Conviction. She's not a huge Hilary Swank fan but we both did agree the show was pretty good. And it wasn't until after the show was over that it occured to me that the title was a play on words. You see the movie is about a couple of foster kids from small town Massasschusets. The brother is wrongly convicted of murder and the sister takes it upon herself to right this wrong and get her brother freed from jail. The only problem is that the sister is not a lawyer. Nor does she have degree to apply to law school. Nor a GED for that matter. But that doesn't stop her from doing whatever is necessary to achieve the end goal of freeing her brother from jail. Initially I looked at the title and thought it had to do with the brother and his conviction. But in retrospect it had to do with the sister and her conviction to overturn his sentence.So what does this have to with health, fitness, performance or anything?Well there are two messages you can take from this movie. The first is the most successful people aren't always the most gifted. Or the smartest. Or having the most of anything that is a pre-requisite for success in that field. Take Wayne Gretzky for example.He didn't have the hardest shot. He wasn't the fastest skater. He was in no way a physical presence on the ice. (some reports have him scoring the lowest on the Oilers' fitness testing). But he was the greatest player to ever play...

Hi there: Hope you're having a great week and are accomplishing all of your health, fitness and performance goals. One of my favourite ways to relax and unwind is to go the movies. Last night my wife and I check out 'Due Date'.  Think of it as an updated version of 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles'. Anyways, it was good for a laugh. Never underestimate the value of relaxing and having a good time as it relates to your body's ability to regenerate and recover.But enough about relaxing and movies because it's Wednesday and that means it's time for a nutritional tip. Over the past couple of weeks I have been experimenting with how many calories my body is burning. Knowing this informating allows me to be not only more specific with my training but also more specific with my meals.I now know how many calories I should have at each meal. And how often I should eat in order to put on 10 lbs of muscle. So with that being said check out the following video where I show you a sample healthy snack and a great online nutritional resource for looking up your favourite foods.Here's the link for the video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UomdVRRzzzsLet me know what your favourite snack is. And have you used this online resource before?Your coach,Chris                                                                                                                                                                                                    okanaganpeakperformance.com 'always moving forward'

Hi there: Before I get to today's email I want to let you know we've made a few changes on our website. In addition to a bit of a re-design the major change is that we've switched it over to a wordpress blog. What does this mean for you? Well, now you get to have your say. You can go to the site every time I post an article and leave some feedback. You can ask a question. Or you can present an alternate argument to a question. Maybe you're an expert in a particular field and have info that really would benefit the people reading these emails. Case in point when I wrote about celiac disease you replied to me with some excellent resources and info that I had to pass on to others.And so I really encourage you to go over to the site and post a comment, a question or whatever's on your mind. From time to time I'll reward those who post with meal plans, training programs and other freebies.So go take a look, let me know what you think and make okanaganpeakperformance.com your home for health, fitness and performance.Now on to the article.A while back I put a challenge out to you. I challenged you to lose 7 lbs by Thanksgiving. And we gave you the tools of how to make this a reality.And you responded. Big time.But one of you didn't stop at 7 lbs. Or at 10 lbs, 15 lbs or even 20 lbs. Annette Welke has managed to drop 22 lbs and is on track for more!Read on to see what Annette did to achieve this incredible result.Hi Chris! Since I have started working with you (almost 4 years!) I have seen my weight go up and down, with nobody to blame but...