Our expansion is progressing

Hello, everyone! We are moving along nicely with the expansion! There are a few details that have yet to be completed such as paper towel dispensers through the gym and things of that nature, but rest assured we are working on it and the details will be completed soon.

We have gotten in much of our anticipated equipment:

Meet our Lateral X machine

And our Zero Runner...

The water rower...

And our squat rack along with new 45 pound plates


















We do have new treadmills on the way and are loving all the bright sunshine in our new gym.

Thank you everyone for your support, excitement and encouragement throughout this transition and growth. 

End of year progress competition

We are currently hosting an end of year progress competition for our members. It is FREE to sign up and the winner will receive 2 months of their membership for FREE! Sign up sheets are located at the front desk.
After you sign up, you will meet with one of our amazing trainers to be tested on how many push ups and pull ups you can complete and how long you can comfortably hold a plank. We will keep track of your progress between now and the end of the year, by meeting with you bi-weekly to track your progress. The winner will be determined by the best % of increase between now and then. It is that simple!

Sign up for the challenge the next time you come in to workout!

Men's physique competition results: Snap Fitness Trainers

Randy Fobbs placed in the top 10 at the men's physique competition! He came in 8th place and has informed us that he is planning to take part in another competition in November of this year. I watched him train and he trained hard for this. Watch out world, Randy is at it again!

Snap Fitness is proud of you, Randy! Keep up all of the hard work.


The NPC has two different divisions for each competition. They have a novice division for those who have never competed with them before and they have the actual competition (physique open) that everyone is part of.


Stedman Greggs placed 2nd place in the novice division! He also placed 2nd place in the physique open! Because he placed 2nd in the open, he is now qualified for the Nationals! Stedman is planning to compete in the Charlotte Cup on April 23rd of this year! Let's go Stedman!

Bring in another win for us, Stedman! Snap Fitness is proud of you!

Spotlight on 2 of our personal trainers: Randy Fobbs and Stedman Greggs

We have the best personal trainers in Raleigh here at Snap Fitness, North Raleigh. Two of our trainers are gearing up to showcase themselves at the NCP (National Physic Competition) mens physic show. 

For Randy Fobbs, this will be the second physique competition that he has trained for and participated in. At his first show, he took second place! 








For Stedman Greggs, this will be his first physique competition.  He is nervous and excited about participating in this event. 







The competition, NC State Show, will take place in Greensboro, NC on Saturday, April 9, 2016. 
Pre-judging is at 8:30am and the show is scheduled to begin at 6pm. 

Stay tuned as we post specific interviews with each of the guys. They will share with us their motivation and training techniques. 

Is it possible to burn more calories weight lifting than doing cardio?

You'll burn more calories weight training (resistance training).

The physical act of lifting weights burns calories. If you opt for adding in calisthenics or circuit training, you will also get cardio benefits.

Truth be told, strength training can help you to burn more calories even when you're not working out!  

By lifting weights to add muscle mass, you're boosting your metabolism. Boosting metabolism will help your body burn even more calories!

Cardio vs. resistance training

Welcome to our new series: Cardio vs. Resistance training! We have successfully covered eating a healthy diet in the previous series…right down to the recipes we can make. Let’s dive into the benefits of cardio and resistance training…

Both are important for each of us! Fitness can be largely influenced by time (or lack of) and convenience. One of the most common thoughts for those with time constraints is usually: I have 30 minutes to work out today. Let me knock out some cardio. This isn’t a BAD thing, but we can actually get more benefits by doing resistance training if it is done correctly. The purpose of cardio is to sustain an elevated heart rate. We can also elevate our heart rate by performing resistance training, doing calisthenics in between each exercise. Calisthenics are: jumping jacks, running or walking quickly in place, etc. Doing this as opposed to doing an exercise and resting will incorporate out “cardio” into our weight/resistance training routine.

It is important to incorporate cardio and strength/resistance training into our daily workout routines.

Cardio

• Elevates heart rate
• Increases the flow of oxygen, therefore increasing our energy levels
• Burns calories at the time of the workout

Resistance Training

• Elevates heart rate
• Improves joint stability, strength and bone density
• Burns calories throughout the day 

Clean eating dessert recipes

Most of us crave sweets ever now and again. right? Maybe more "now" than "again"? Here are some sweet and healthy treats for those of us with a sweet tooth:

Black Forest Banana Split

• 2 cups nonfat ricotta cheese
• 2 bananas, split lengthwise
• 16 walnut halves
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons cherry concentrate (available at health-food stores)

Spoon ricotta into a dessert dish and place a banana half on each side of the cheese. Put the walnut halves on top and dust with the cocoa powder. Drizzle the cherry concentrate on top.

Makes: 2 servings

Black forest banana split

Chocolate Dipped Banana Pops

• 2 ounces roughly chopped unsweetened baking chocolate
• 3 ounces roughly chopped milk chocolate
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped salted peanuts (or toasted coconut or cacao nibs if desired)

Melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Slice bananas into thirds crosswise; insert a wooden freezer-pop stick or skewer in one end of each. Dip pieces in melted chocolate, spooning on additional chocolate to cover. Place on prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with chopped salted peanuts. Freeze until chocolate is firm, about 20 minutes, or up to 2 hours. (If frozen for more than 2 hours, let soften for 20 minutes before serving.)

Servings Per Recipe: 6

PER SERVING: 206 cal., 13 g total fat (6 g sat. fat), 69 mg sodium, 22 g carb. (4 g fiber), 5 g pro.

Chocolate dipped banana pops

Baked Apples

Makes 1

• 1 Fuji apple
• Raisins, as desired
• Cinnamon, as desired
• Honey, as desired

Core a Fuji apple, stuff with raisins, cinnamon, and honey, as desired. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Baked apples

RECIPES for clean eating!

Picture taken from forkandbeans.com 

Here is a list of some recipe ideas to help you on your clean eating lifestyle:

Breakfast:

Remember eggs in a hole? Fried egg in toast? Check out this revised version: Reinvented egg in a hole recipe

Oatmeal! Do you love oatmeal? I hope so because it is good for you! 5 minute power oatmeal recipe

Lunch:

These shrimp and avocado summer rolls look amazing! Shrimp and avocado summer roll recipe

Salmon is good for us! Check out this tasty recipe for salmon cakes...and yes, it is good for you: Oven fried salmon cake recipe

Dinner:

Crispy chicken? Yes please... Crispiest spring chicken recipe

Risotto anyone? How about: White bean cauliflower risotto 

Planning your meals…is it worth the extra effort?

If you want to continue to eat healthy and stay away from processed, boxed and packaged foods, I would say YES!

A simple way to meal plan is to find recipes you want to try via the Internet or cookbooks and put all the ingredients needed onto your grocery list…to make sure you have everything you need for the week. This may take you about 15 to 30 minutes.

You can do all the prep work for the meals over the weekend to make weekdays easier!

Your body will thank you!

Portion size…What is that?

Figuring out what the correct portion size for each serving is pretty simple…although many make it difficult. The proper portion size must be no larger than the palm of our hand! Yes! It is that simple.

What does this mean if I am eating out?
The average restaurant serves portions that are several times larger than what we are supposed to be eating. However, there is an easy fix for this too! Separate the food you are served into the correct portion size and take the rest home to have for another meal…or two!

Another portion control tip:
Use a smaller plate. When our plate appears full it gives us the illusion that we are eating more food! You can even do this when you go out to eat...just ask for a salad plate along with your meal and separate your food onto it!

Eat your snacks!

By preparing snacks for your day before leaving the house, you will be less likely to snack on foods that do not fall within the clean eating guidelines.
Preparation is key to a clean eating lifestyle.

Here are is a list of healthy snacks to get you through the day:

• Organic mini carrots and hummus
• Organic applesauce cups, with or without cinnamon
• Nuts, mixed or your favorite variety
• Organic string cheese
• Organic fruit, ex: apples, bananas, grapes, oranges
• Hard boiled eggs (organic)
• Pumpkin seeds
• Homemade trail mix: nuts, seeds and dried fruits
• Homemade granola with nuts
• Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and granola

Drinking clean…

Did the title of this post grab your attention? Drinking clean is super simple: DRINK water and plenty of it: approximately 2 liters (9 cups) for women and 3 liters (13 cups) for men.. Not only will this keep our bodies well hydrated, it will also cut back on the urge to eat. Water keeps the stomach full and if our bellies are full we are less likely to snack on junk. 

Don’t like water? Try this recipe for cucumber water! 

In addition, purchase in inexpensive cup that will hold the amount of liquid you need to drink each day. Add some ice cubes and water…now, you can sip all day long! 

Easy clean eating tips: How many times a day do I eat?

When you are eating clean, it is a good idea to eat 4 to 6 meals a day, leaning on the smaller size.  By doing this, you will keep your blood sugar regulated and your metabolism will increase…making it easier to lose weight if that is one of your goals! 

Don’t forget: NO SKIPPING BREAKFAST! We have the obvious: if we skip breakfast we are starving by lunchtime. When we are feeling super hungry, we tend to eat anything in site! Nooooo! Eat breakfast to prevent that from happening. See our post for: Overnight banana bread oatmeal for a healthy breakfast idea...this post also includes a simple how to video! 

Cooking clean...how do I do it?

One of the key parts to clean eating is to eat your fruits and veggies raw whenever possible. They do have many vitamins and nutrients in them and eating them raw will not alter anything that they have to offer.

Cooking your veggies is not a bad thing, as long as we stay away from deep frying and soaking them in animal fats. It is good to keep our food interesting by adding different spices, eating them raw at times and cooking them at times. It is hard to stick to any type of healthy lifestyle if we get bored with it!

Steaming veggies is the healthiest way to cook them. It maintains most of the vitamins and nutrients. We can also, stir fry them, but remember not to add lots of unhealthy oils and salts!

How to Shop Clean

A great tip to remember is: If we shop the perimeter of the grocery store, we will find more foods geared towards clean eating than if we shopped the center isles. The center isles tend to sell items that are processed and in most cases highly processed.

Tips to buying foods geared towards clean eating:

• Ingredient lists should be short
• Ingredients should be easy to pronounce and easily recognized 
• Check for additives such as flavors, colors, corn starch and imitation sugars
• Where do the ingredients come from…how much is it processed?

Remember:

Shop Organic as often as possible

Choose foods labeled "NON-GMO"

Eat as fresh as possible

Eat this and not that...it's really simple!

Need some examples of what to eat?
Here is a quick, yet thorough list of foods that make for good eating:

Un-processed foods:

• Fresh fruits and vegetables
• Nuts
• Dried beans
• Organic / cage free eggs

Mildly processed foods:

• Frozen fruits and vegetables
• Organic (hormone-free) dairy products
• Whole grain bread and pasta, brown rice, popcorn, steel-cut oatmeal, quinoa (Unrefined grains)
• Un-processed meat; wild, however, pastured over grain-fed meats
• Wild caught seafood over farm raised
• Oils

Good advice is to choose organic foods when they are available. Olive oil is a fantastic oil to use in cooking and in salad dressings. You can bake with Extra Virgin Olive oil as well, though it makes for denser baked goods.

The key is to choose foods that are free of chemicals and hormones. 

This is a good definition of what clean eating truly is. 

Are ALL processed foods bad for me?

Are all processed foods bad for me?

Milk is pasteurized and instant oatmeal is processed. Does that mean we should stay away from them? No. Always shop for organic, that will help. In addition, milk and instant oatmeal are not categorized in the same group of foods such as packaged cakes, doughnuts, cookies, diet drinks and so on.

“Ultra-processed” foods are foods that are heat and eat and food “like” products such as Velveeta cheese. These are foods that our bodies will be happy we stay away from consuming.

What are some health benefits of eating clean? 

Research has shown us that clean eating (eating whole, un-processed foods such as fruits and veggies) can prevent diseases and harmful conditions. Diabetes (type 2) and high blood pressure are just two examples of what can be prevented by eating clean.

Clean eating can also help to improve skin as well as our hair and nails. It is a healthy way to control our weight too!

What is a GMO and are they bad for me? See how this ties into clean eating...

GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organisms. The easiest way to explain it is: Farmers inject plants with chemicals that modify their genetics (GMO’s). The foods that we buy that are not labeled as non-GMO have been known to cause cancer, infertility and many additional health problems. These GMO’s that are consumed actually stay in our bodies as well as in the bodies of our children!

I encourage you to research this for yourself; don’t simply take my word on it.

How does this apply to clean eating?

Processed foods are stripped of important nutrients that our bodies need to obtain optimal health.  They also contain additives that overstimulate our bodies. This is how the constant craving for “junk” food is created.
We should not be adding extra chemicals to our bodies for best possible health, whether it be through processed foods or foods that contain GMO’s.

What is the bottom line?

Choose “live” foods! Choose to consume foods that are labeled as Non-GMO. If you choose to do this, you will easily live a clean eating lifestyle.

Clean Eating...what exactly is it?

Clean eating. What exactly is it? 

Clean eating is: eating whole/real food.  Food that is not processed, minimally processed or refined. Food that is as close to its natural form as possible.

What Are Processed Foods?

 Additions:  salt, sugar, and fat, preservatives that keep food from spoiling, and vitamins to “enrich”…from beverages to cereal.

Changing the form of natural food:  which generally happens when food is cooked.

Foods manufactured in a lab: any ingredient you cannot pronounce!

Processed foods include everything from canned meat and jarred pasta sauce to boxed cereal and Pop Tarts!

Check back regularly to learn more about Eating Clean and why it is good for you!

Resolutions vs. goals

Along with a new year, 2016 will bring millions of resolutions. Thousands of them will unfortunately fade away over time.
Creating goals for yourself as opposed to resolutions can help prevent this from happening.

Here is an example:

Resolution: I am going to become healthy in 2016.

Goal: In January 2016 I am going to become a member of a health club and work out on Mondays and Wednesdays after work.

Can you see the difference? The resolution is throwing what you want out there into the atmosphere. The goal actually outlines it exactly.

This concept not only applies to becoming healthy. You can easily outline your goals for all areas of your life.

We at Snap Fitness, hope you have a fantastic 2016!