This one hurts, but it’s the right decision. A friend of mine had talked me into signing up for Ironman St George a few weeks before the event. Normally that would be ridiculous, but I had a couple good months of training under my belt and thought it would be a nice change to just “jump in” and do it rather than having it weighing on me for a year (most Ironman’s fill so far in advance you must sign up a year early to get in). A great half Ironman 3 wks before the race, which included an encouraging run course record and 2nd overall finish made it look like a good decision. But a serious lower leg injury … MORE→

A study that will soon be published in the American Journal of Public Health reveals something that will likely come as no surprise to anyone who has participated in an employee wellness program. It found that – at least with employees in the 40-68 years old age group, participation and outcomes were significantly better when the program went beyond simple web-based tools and included personal coaching. In fact, there was an impressive 36% difference in participation between the web-only program and the program that combined web tools with personalized coaching! More proof that relationships really do matter…

A heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS to the folks at the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center who were participating in the most recent Weight Management Contest with their co-workers as part of their employee wellness program. This group has now lost a total of 1,404 pounds over the past 3 months by encouraging each other and maintaining accountability among their various teams. Absolutely outstanding job everyone!!!!!!!

Research published recently in the National Academy of Sciences indicates just that. The study focused on mice that were genetically programmed to age faster than normal. Then, some of the mice exercised (treadmill) and the others were inactive. 5 months later, the mice who exercised were still young and their organs and brains functioned normally. By comparison, the sedentary mice had begun to age, go bald, were less active and had weakened organs. If you like details, it came down to the mitochondria (power center of cells that generates energy) and the exercising mice had fewer signs of damage to their mitochondria. Very interesting…

Under the heading of “Did You Know,” here’s an interesting one… When you’re ordering the new Starbucks “trenta” you’re not only getting a massive drink (31 ounces) but massive calories (up to 600) – with the potential to pack on more than 60 extra pounds in one year. “An extra 200 calories per day will lead to a weight gain of about 2 pounds per month, or 21 pounds per year, so an extra 600 calories could mean an increase in weight of upwards of 63 pounds in a year,” said Jessica Bartfield, MD, internal medicine and medical weight-loss specialist at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, part of the Loyola University Health System. “The new “trenta” will offer 4 – 5 cups … MORE→

The Wall Street Journal this week featured an article on those unique individuals who can function quite well on just a few hours of sleep each night. One line of the article jumped off the page at me – “most of those who think they’re in this group are wrong.” In our time-crunched world, who hasn’t dreamed (sorry – poor choice of words) of getting by on 3 hours of sleep and having an extra 4-5 hours/day to invest any way we’d like? Unfortunately, the fact is that the vast majority of us (97%+) function best on 7-8 hours of sleep. And, if we kid ourselves into getting by on less, it’s no different than paying our expenses with a … MORE→

Yes indeed – after months of planning, the first phase of the new Wellness Nation Website has now been launched. In addition to the interesting stats flowing across the home page, you also have easy access to the blog, can find out more about many of our coaches, pull up success stories and much, learn significantly more about what we do, just to note a few of the highlights. Thanks to everyone for the positive comments, and to many of our current clients for their suggestions along the way. Stay tuned – More to come!

Earlier this season, I posted a note about several adjustments made to the training strategy for this triathlon season. One of the most significant was a greater emphasis on cycling and a decreased emphasis on both the quality and quantity of the running. I’m naturally more of a runner, so in the past, I made it a priority to focus in on 2 very high-end run sessions (track work and tempo work). These were valuable, but they also produced fatigue that resulted in lower quality cycling training. My hope was that, come race day, I’d be faster on the bike but more importantly be fresh going into the run (since the extra bike training would make the race a lower … MORE→