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BEYOND BOOMER ENERGY

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Sunday, May 27th, 2012

Beyond Boomer Energy

How many of us in the Fitness World have often asked ourselves why we weren’t getting the results we wanted although we were certain we were doing all the right things. If this sounds like you, I can understand, feeling the same way many times. As a Coach and competitive athlete for over thirty years I am always looking for that “edge”. I am continually studying everything in nutrition, strength and psychology (Human Behavior) looking for that edge for myself and my clients. A few years ago as I was working with my Coach on an electrolyte problem I was having, I swerved into an area that grabbed my attention and changed everything. Being Alkaline. With my business focus being challenged populations, primarily those who I call “Beyond Boomers”, those who are beyond age 65, actually the averge age of my clients is 80-85. I needed to have a solid grasp of this concept before I would feel confident to share with these special populations.

My Plan

As a competitive Triathlete I proceeded to get myself alkaline. I used a very simple plan. I drank lots of water. But not just any water. It had to have a PH of at least 8.0. I also had to have a way to measure whether it worked. So being a good scientist I proceeded to eliminate my supplements that I had been using as buffering agents during training and replaced them with the water. It worked! I felt better. I was stronger and I was able to recover quicker from my workouts. I now felt it was time to share my knowledge with my clients.

My Clients

The first goal I have with a new client is to get them to start moving. After that is accomplished and we are establishing a training program or new activity, I then look at their nutrition. Now I need to remind everyone that I work with very challenged individuals, many having suffered very traumatic injuries, brain and spinal cord. For this article I am going to focus on Beyond Boomers which again their average age is 80-85. An important and often overlooked fact with this group is that as we age we lose taste buds. But we don’t lose our taste for sweets, which is why a lot of our Beyond Boomers have a difficult time with nutrition. The food has to taste good. I believed I had found at least a partial solution to the problem. I had a place to start. Plain old water. Let me make a couple points here. First it is very common that our Beyond Boomers are challenged when it comes to hydration. They just need to drink more. Second, remember it has to taste good. The goal was to introduce a more alkaline water. Most water is acidic which means it is less than 7.0 on a scale of 1-14. Although this will help with hydration, it won’t allow for maximum health. This is the goal, maximum health and performance. Just by drinking a more alkaline water anyone could quickly start to feel better and have increased energy, as I experienced in my own training.

The Science

How is it possible to achieve increased energy and strength through alkalinity? Some of you have probably been aware of the importance of keeping our bodies more alkaline, which has to do with your bloods PH. Ideally we need to be at 7.3 on that scale of 1-14 which I previously had mentioned. Your body will do whatever is possible to maintain 7.3 PH. This can weaken you. This is where drinking water that is alkaline is important. A more alkaline water can solve two problems at the same time. Proper hydration and being alkaline. Next, remember how I shared with you about those taste buds. The water must have a good taste to it. So to this point if we can get people to drink quality water we can begin to positively influence their health. If you want you can test your own PH with special strips from the Drugstore or a Health Food store. This gives you a baseline, but the real test is the results.

Benefits of Being Alkaline

Some of the benefits that are gained from drinking alkaline water and being alkaline are

* Increased Energy

* Increased Strength

* Improved Metabolism

* Improved Immunity

* Improved Fat Loss

* Feeling Better

* Improved Bone Density

Although all of these points are huge with Beyond Boomers, it’s important for everyone. Who would not want the benefits presented here?

Results from Being Alkaline

Let’s Look at these benefits and begin to appreciate the results of having more energy, such as providing you more time to do what you enjoy. Just think how important this is for our Beyond Boomers. With improved strength from having less muscle fatigue you are able to exercise more often, at an increased intensity because of being able to increase the time or resistance of your program. This then relates back to being able to do what you enjoy more, such as golf or other activities, at higher levels of performance. Which will then create a positive, emotional relationship to exercise and you will feel better.

Strength

Because I believe that being strong is the most important fitness component for Beyond Boomers. (I really believe it applies to everyone). I want to highlight this benefit. By being strong this population’s entire world opens up. They have no limits and now can find a purpose and go after it with physical certainty. Lastly by creating a healthier body with stronger bones and muscles, people have less health issues, which creates an incredible psychological boost. Being sick or injured is not fun at any age, but is devastating at this age.

Summary

Although many in the mainstream medical community may have problems understanding the concept of alkalinity, there has been good research that we should investigate for ourselves, as I did, by such individuals as Dr. Neil Solomon, Dr. Sang Whang, Dr. Alex Guerrero, top Endurance Coach, Joe Friel and many others. Remember what we in the fitness and athletic community are most concerned with is performance. When you can measure the effects on your own performance as well as others you coach, it becomes an undeniable and powerfull component of your peak performance program.

Arnie Fonseca, Jr
Wellness Coach
Exercise Physiologist
Founder of Your Awesome Life Now.com
Founder of Total Recovery
arnie@yourawesomelifenow.com
602-390-9144

Categories : anti-aging, Elderly, Exercise, Exercise Over 50, Healthy Products, Life, Nutrition, Over 65, Stength and Fitness, Traumatic Injury

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TBI CARE

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Sunday, May 13th, 2012

Key factors that weigh in on traumatic brain injury care, rehab
On behalf of Harris, Powers & Cunningham, P.L.L.C. posted in Brain Injury on Monday, January 23, 2012
Here is a startling disconnect, as noted by Geoff Manley, a neurological surgery expert at the University of California, San Francisco, and Lisa McGuire of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Although the estimated costs to the nation associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI) last year were in excess of $76 billion, the total funding that is available to the National Institutes of Health for TBI research in 2012 is a scant $85 million.
That both perplexes and frustrates researchers and medical practitioners who work with brain-injury victims. Manley calls the dearth of available services and lack of funding “a travesty.”
What medical professionals also find disconcerting are the relative hit-or-miss aspects related to treatment. One patient might be lucky enough to receive exemplary intensive trauma care with long-term rehabilitative treatment thereafter, for example, while another patient receives mediocre care initially and little follow-up over time to address issues concerning cognitive abilities, the emotional aspects of severe head trauma, and related issues.
The severe head injury sustained by Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords last year, and information concerning her rehabilitative therapy, has served to focus a great deal of attention on brain-injury symptoms and care. Giffords has both lauded the care she has received and advocated that it should be standard for every person suffering from a brain injury.
Experts say that Gifford’s high level of care owes less to her congressional status than it does to her insurance carrier and coverage through federal workers’ compensation.
Many factors are involved that influence the type of care ultimately received, say experts. The state a person lives in can have an affect (Texas law, for example, requires that rehabilitation be provided for brain-injury victims). Insurance plans vary widely, as does personal advocacy in any given case.
And hospitals matter. Some — if not most — render merely adequate care for head injuries, says Manley, who adds that there are very few facilities that truly stand out for offering exceptional care.
Source: Pro Publica, “Giffords may get better brain-injury care than most of her constituents” Lena Groeger, Jan. 17, 2012
Tags: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, TBI, intensive trauma care, rehabilitative therapy, traumatic brain injury
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Categories : anti-aging, dementia, Elderly, Exercise Over 50, Traumatic Injury

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HENRY IS AWESOME!

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Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

Categories : anti-aging, Elderly, Exercise, Life, Stength and Fitness, success, Traumatic Injury

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HARD WORK PAY OFF FOR SERGIO!

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Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

Categories : Exercise, Life, Stength and Fitness, Traumatic Injury, Uncategorized, Weight Training

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TOUGH MUDDER DAY 7

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Thursday, November 10th, 2011

Day 7. Thursday, November 10, 2011. 6am

I started today with an easy 10 minute warm-up and stretch. I am feeling good. I only have less than an hour. As I move forward this day may be more of a recovery day.

Here is what I did today. Remember to continue to comment or ask questions, as I am learning from this how to best train myself as well as others for similar events.

Day 7.

30 minutes of hill running repeats, on the street. This hill is 200 yards to the top of the street. I gradually picked up the pace as I warmed up. Felt good.

10 minutes. Finished with 150 yards of walking lunges, no weight, and proceeded onto the horizontal ladder. My goal each time is to be able to go through 25 rungs of the ladder to simulate the event. Today I did 50 rungs.

Total time: 50 minutes. This included warm-up and cool down stretch.

Starting today I’m going to start recording some of the things that I do nutritionally. These are things that I have found to work for me. They were learned through trial and error. Today I will give you two easy tips to help you get started.

Tip number 1:
Get Alkaline. There are three things you can do starting today to accomplish this. 1) Eat lots of green vegetables and other alkaline forming foods. These can found with some simple research. 2) Drink water with a least a PH of 8.5. Again do your homework and you can find sources for this. 3) Reduce your stress!

Tip Number 2:
Learn to eat your foods in a raw state. My goal each day is to eat a 50 percent raw diet. Believe me your digestive system will love you.

Over the next few days I will give you more nutrition tips. Remember to do your homework!

Arnie Fonseca, Jr. is the owner of Neuro Institute, Inc., which is located in Tempe, Arizona. He works as a Traumatic Injury Recovery Coach and loves a fitness challenge!

Categories : Exercise, Exercise Over 50, personal growth, Stength and Fitness, Tough Mudder, Traumatic Injury, Workouts

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REMOVE THE COLLAR

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Friday, July 22nd, 2011

Today I had a wonderful conversation with someone who has been affected by a Spinal Cord Injury. Over a year ago he was involved in an auto accident, as an innocent victim, he now is a quadriplegic. What makes this a bit tougher is that he is in his mid forties. As most of you are aware, adjusting to dramatic changes in your life, become more difficult as we age. The talk we were having today was about how in the last month he has become more aware of the possibilities he has to recover. As he expressed, it seems that each day he discovers something new that he can use as part of his recovery program. What he has learned is that now he is in charge, not his insurance, or those around him. He is learning one of the most valuable skills one can learn in their life. Control your destiny, or as I like to say, live by design. A neat concept we talked about today is that like a dog with a collar and a big chain holding him back. Sometimes removing the chain, doesn’t remove the pain that may be holding you back in your life. Many times we have to take off the collar! It’s the collar that is causing the actual pain. At this point we are aware that the only limits we have are those that we put on ourselves. We become more willing to put action to our words. We are able to begin stretching our comfort zones. But most of all we start the process of eliminating those who can drag us down and surround ourselves with people that can lead us closer to our dreams. It was at his point that he became very emotional, because as he explained to me, he really felt he had began the process of regaining control of his life, again. I believe that moist of us can understand the most amazing gift we have is that of choice. When we lose it, or think we’ve lost it can be devastating. Today this man found his Freedom again. Now he knows that he will be better. He now will start living by design. You also can choose to live your life by design. I challenge you to identify your pain, remove it, then go for it!

Categories : Life, personal growth, Traumatic Injury

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TREAT EVERYONE SPECIAL

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Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

As I reflect about what I have done recently in my coaching business. I have gained a huge sense of satisfaction from the many individuals that I have been able to help who have suffered traumatic injuries, which can and are very devastating to these individuals and their families. I have been blessed in my life to have had wonderful coaches and teachers who have taught me the skills that I have used with the talents that God has given me to be able to have the patience and empathy for these individuals and families. I also understand that many times these individuals and families are looking for someone who is willing to get into this” deep dark pit” with them and guide them out. This is done by coming up with strategies that are specific to the individual. I have found that all individuals are different. Regardless of the injury, they need and want to be treated in a way that they respond to. I have always used what I call the “Race Horse” treatment. If I treat someone like the owner of a race horse takes care of his horse. I have always found I got amazing results by treating someone special. This is nothing new, I’m just amazed that others don’t see the value in this. I have worked with others who call it the “10” treatment. If you treat everyone like a “10” you will be surprised by what you get.
One of the first things I noticed with most who have suffered from a traumatic injury is that they weren’t used to being treated special. This strategy, allows me to earn their trust. It is at that point that we can learn to work together to begin the journey out of this pit. At this point the healing journey begins. It is also at this point that miracles do happen.

Categories : Exercise, Persoanl Growth, success, Traumatic Injury

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Exercise Is Your Miracle

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Sunday, June 19th, 2011

The following letter was sent to me recently from a gentleman I began working with over 16 years ago. Lou wrote this when he began going back to College. He his now in his late thirties, doing well. I wanted to share because not only does he mean a lot to me, but what I learned from him has helped thousands of others over the years. Thanks Lou for the memories. I Love you, man!
Arnie

Lou Ollson
Com 110
Dr. Reed
June 12, 1996

MIRACLE MAN

Sometimes you meet heroes in the strangest of ways without any planning or anticipation whatsoever. On June 14, 1993, I was in a very serious accident which caused a traumatic injury. I was in a physical coma for four weeks and a barbiturate coma for two of those weeks. The doctors didn’t have much hope that I would ever function again on any level, but my family believed in a Higher Power and thought that I would come back to reach my fullest potential.

After 21 of the longest months of my life, including rehab which seemed like 24 hours a day, seven days a week, I met, by a stroke of God’s hand, Arnie Fonseca, the best Exercise Therapist in the world. Because of Arnie, in the last 15 months I have progressed from a wheelchair to a walker to a four-pronged can to just my feet.

When Arnie first started working with me, I had limited range-of –motion and could stand for no longer than two to three seconds at a time without assistance. We started by doing exercises that didn’t require too much motion on my part; for example, I lay on the bed and pushed my legs against his hands. Slowly I progressed and became mobile. I spent hours trying to walk without the cane or the walker. In fact, I was not using any walking aids when we started going to the gym.

Our program at the gym consisted of many different types of exercises, everything from the recumbent bicycle to the leg press. We started out with hardly any weights at all on a lot of the machines, but as I kept working, I continued to get stronger and the weights increased accordingly. For example, I started with just the seated leg press with a basic weight of 45 pounds. We added 45 pound plates on each side one by one until I was doing 750 pounds after a few months or so.

Today I have a lot of independent time; I am working out at the Fitness center primarily walking on the treadmill. This time has given me great confidence, and I now believe that I can achieve anything that I set my mind to.

When I first started training with Arnie, I felt like a lab rat whom was just under the microscope for testing only and nothing else. I was the indentured slave at Arnie’s beck and call and subject to his whims. But as we continued to work out, our relationship began to grow from one of patient-therapist to one of friend-friend. Now we even go out to social engagements together.

Arnie is a workaholic and demands the most that one can possibly achieve and will settle for nothing less. He is always on-task, and I admire him for having these qualities because they are the reason I’m where I am today.

We now work together six days per week, one hour a day, and we have had this schedule for the last 15 months. Some days we work at the Fitness Center; other days we work at Get Serious Gym or at the park. In fact, Channel 3 News did a report on me and how Arnie has helped me progress following the above schedule.

Thanks to this man who some call a”miracle man” I am doing things that I never expected to do again. He has me jogging and running figure eights. These are very advanced movements and the physical therapists at St. Joseph’s Hospital never in their wildest dreams thought I would be doing them. But, what do you know? I am! Miracles never cease.

Categories : Exercise, Persoanl Growth, Stength and Fitness, success, Traumatic Injury, Workouts

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