Jennifer on the Optimizing Brains and Bodies Podcast

Jennifer was recently a guest on the Optimizing Brains and Bodies Podcast with Dr. Kristen Allot and Natasha Duarte. The title of the episode is Eye Exercises to Improve Brain Fatigue After Zoom Meetings , also available here as a video so you can see the exercises performed.

It was a light, fun and informative interview dealing with the current trend of Zoom and other web based video conferencing that has become so common this year because of the Covid-19 restrictions.

By |2020-09-14T15:47:29-07:00September 14th, 2020|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Jennifer on the Optimizing Brains and Bodies Podcast
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Movement With A Purpose

Recently a friend remarked that modern fitness practice came from the practice of gymnastics. I don’t know if this is true, and I wasn’t interested enough to attempt anything but cursory research. But it did get me thinking about something similar I had heard in the past. That most sports and fitness across a variety of cultures can be traced back to that cultures style of warfare. In other words, the preparation and practice of human conflict was the driver for the rote repetition of skills necessary for people to fight together. 

For now, let’s assume this statement is accurate and look at the original olympics as practiced from 777BC to at least 393AD. The only sports were military skills; boxing, wrestling, penkration (anything goes fighting, except for biting and eye gouging), running (with and without armor), long jump, javelin, discus, and chariot racing. The olympics as we know them today were reinvented at the end of the 19th century. 

The overall purpose of the movement practice was the defense of the nation. The “games” reflected the skills needed for that defense. In order to do well at the games you needed technical skill practice, as well as attribute training such as strength, endurance, coordination, etc… But there was a unified movement goal far bigger than being a “runner”, or a “weight lifter”, or any other repetitive action we now think of in the world of “fitness.”

Throughout my life I have had a variety of movement practices to enable me to participate in other activities such as rock climbing, parachuting, scuba-diving, hiking, biking, and a variety of martial arts practices. My personal measure of fitness changed based on the activity I was focused on […]

By |2019-05-30T09:33:43-07:00May 30th, 2019|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Movement With A Purpose
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Holiday Raffles Between Thanksgiving and Christmas

Season’s Greetings, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and all that stuff. Taiso loves Christmas. If it was up to Jennifer we would start the Christmas season on July 5th. So to celebrate the season we are doing weekly raffles for clients every Friday between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

So, first things first. How do I enter the raffle?

Great question. Every time you come in and work out you get one entry into the raffle for that week. We will not pick the winner until after everyone has been in on Friday. The winner will be announced on Monday. You don’t need to be present to win.

You also get three additional entries if you bring a guest, or a referral of yours comes in. And as an added bonus we’ll tell the Elf on the Shelf to put in a good word for you with Santa!

Ok, you got me. Now, what do I win?

I’m glad you asked. As we approach New Years, people start thinking about goals and resolutions. So we put together some of our most popular options for helping you get focused and be successful with your goals.

  • Three Personal Training Sessions with Jennifer
  • Six Week Nutrition Counseling
  • One month upgrade to Unlimited Group Classes
  • Body Composition Analysis with James from 5 Ring Systems.

Do I get to pick my prize?

Nope. We took a lead from Santa. If you win the raffle that week, you get to pick a card from under the tree. The cards are sealed, much like the boxes Old Saint Nick drops off, and you don’t know what’s inside till you open it.

But, what if I didn’t get the prize I was hoping for?

This is where we remind you of the whole naughty and […]

By |2017-11-28T07:51:47-08:00November 28th, 2017|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Holiday Raffles Between Thanksgiving and Christmas
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Contemplation about Weight Loss and Metabolism

The defining characteristic of the pre-contemplation stage was that you were aware you had a problem or behavior you wanted to change but you were not willing to research or discuss the problem or possible solutions.

In the contemplation stage you are willing to research your problem, and discuss the problem or solutions with others. However the contemplator stills feels they do not yet have enough information to act.

In some cases people may become chronic contemplators in which case they get stuck in the information gathering phase and never move on to action. You may have heard the term “analysis paralysis.”

Contemplators walk the line between wanting to change and the fear of failure. Ambivalence is understandable because we are all creatures of habit and on some level we all fear change.

Contemplators have a tendency to substitute worrying for working. They want to be sure they have made the very best choice, or selected the very best strategy so they continue to gather information waiting for the magic moment to act. Guess what? The magic moment may never come.

Contemplators do this because it is easier to wish for change than to put in the work to create a change.

For contemplators, just wishing for change will not create change, they have to take an active part.

In this module we will provide the information you need to confidently move you through contemplation and into the preparation phase.

The more you learn about how your brain and body responds to stress, and how to gain the skills to effect those responses, you will naturally gain confidence in your ability to create change and achieve your goals.

This is an excerpt of the RESOLUTE online weight loss and metabolic repair course inspired by the […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:35-07:00September 14th, 2015|Uncategorized, Weight Loss & Metabolism|Comments Off on Contemplation about Weight Loss and Metabolism
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Winning Like Michael Phelps

We all want to be a champion in our own lives, winning like #winning. Micheal Phelps knows a thing or two about winning so we will look at his behavior and mindset to become a champion of our own lives.

In Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown narrates the race ritual of Micheal Phelps, the most decorated American Olympian of all time winning 22 Olympic medals. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing China he set a record for most first place finishes by any athlete in a single Olympics, eight gold medals.

Two hours before a race Michael Phelps would conduct the exact same warmup swim every time, in the exact same order.

After the swim he would dry off, put on his headphones and sit on the massage table. Always sitting, never lying down.

From this point forward he would not speak to his coach or anyone else until after the race was over.

At 45 minutes before the race, he would get dressed for the race. At 30 minutes before, he would go to the warmup pool for a 600 meter swim.

At 10 minutes before the race he would walk to the ready room and find a place where he could sit alone. He would place his goggles on one side and his towel on the other.

When his race was called, he would walk to the blocks. He always approached the blocks from the left side. He would dry the block every time, perform the same two stretches in the exact same order always with the left leg first. Then he would remove the right earbud.

When his name was called he would remove the […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:44-07:00May 17th, 2015|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Winning Like Michael Phelps
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Thinking About Thinking About It

This past Saturday we held one of our monthly RESOLUTE Studio Sessions. One the topics we discussed was the first stage of change – precontemplation. Precontemplation is when you are becoming aware of something that needs to change but you are not ready to do anything just yet.

We like to think about this as the “thinking about thinking about.” If you have read Martha Beck, or have started the RESOLUTE Online Course, you already know the story behind that phrase.

But for everyone else, precontemplation is when we avoid the subject, we do not want to learn or discuss it, we do not take responsibility for our actions, and we are unwilling to consider the consequences.

But if a person has already made the effort to start the online course or attend a studio session, haven’t they already progressed beyond the precontemplation stage? Yes they have. However, if the change is too much or happens too quickly they may revert to the precontemplation stage and they need to know what it looks like.

It is also important to understand that we are all in various stages of change at any given time. We may have one change which we are doing well on, but others we are still in precontemplation about.

Our best chance to implement long term change is to understand each of the stages of change, what it takes to fulfill the need of that stage, and what to do next to insure success.

Taiso Fitness and Nutrition

If you are looking for a unique gym experience try Taiso Fitness and Nutrition. We are Tacoma’s fitness and nutrition gym for people who want to get out of pain or improve performance, who need immediate, measurable […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:45-07:00May 4th, 2015|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Thinking About Thinking About It
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RESOLUTE Free Studio Sessions

This is a FREE to-the-public in-studio Q and A about stress, metabolism, and health. It is the live discussion portion of our RESOLUTE online program and takes place on the first Saturday of each month at 10am at Taiso Fitness.

Stress, Metabolism, Health

Why stress, metabolism, and health? Because stress and metabolism effect every measure of health.  And stress, as the brain experiences it, comes from a lot of places other then the mental stress that we normally consider.

We each have a personal threshold for stress, and when that threshold is exceeded we experience negative effects on our health and performance. This is one of the reason the same diet and exercise program does not work for everyone.

We can experience stress from a variety of sources. In the body it may come from posture, movement, sleep, balance, vision, diet, breathing, etc… Now add to that all the outside sources that we would normally consider such as work, relationships, traffic, bills, etc…

As an example, lets say my posture stress is 10% of my threshold. I had a past injury to my back so lets call that 20%. I use a computer all day so my eyes contribute another 25%. I have a big deadline at work so that is 30%.

Right now I’m at 85% of my stress threshold. If I have a good diet with enough nutrients and calories, I may be ok and never experience performance crashes or chronic pain.

But if I cut calories because I am too busy to eat or because I’m on an extreme diet that’s going to add more stress. Or if I am eating enough calories but I’m busy and eating fast food that’s lacking the nutrients I need that’s […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:46-07:00April 27th, 2015|Uncategorized|Comments Off on RESOLUTE Free Studio Sessions
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Kickballerz

Thanks to everyone who came out Saturday to play kick ball. Penny and November led a great warmup with some quality movement and a little skill building. Then it was time for us to release our eight year old selves and enjoy the game.

The great thing about kick ball is that no expects to be awesome. Its a great way to just have fun for a while and remember what it’s like to play. Very often we get caught up in being serious adults, who do serious things. When we do play as an adult it usually revolves around machines or electronics. Be sure to take time to just relax and chase a ball. Laugh. Have fun.

Chasing a ball, any ball kick ball or not, is a great way to get our eyes out of the cages our society puts them in. We normally see the world through a framed experience. The frames may be glasses, or windows, or screens, or windshields. But they all limit the movement of our eyes and contribute to atrophy of the eye muscles, certain types of tracking, and peripheral vision.

Besides, when else does sprinting in one direction while looking in another sound safe?

Taiso Fitness and Nutrition

If you are looking for a unique gym experience try Taiso Fitness and Nutrition. We are Tacoma’s fitness and nutrition gym for people who want to get out of pain or improve performance, who need immediate, measurable results, and want to make educated decisions to take control of their health.

Ready to get out of pain or improve performance? Looking for a gym, personal trainer, or unique boot camp experience? Set up a complimentary consultation, or start a 21 Day Risk Free Trial. Stay […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:46-07:00April 20th, 2015|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Kickballerz
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The Polar Bear Effect When Dieting

The Polar Bear Effect When Dieting

Precontemplation is the phase in which we wonder if there is even any hope. Is it even possible to make a change? When it comes to weight loss most of us that are in precontemplation are here because we have tried a calorie restrictive diet in the past and ended up gaining weight.

At this point it may be helpful to look at restrictive dieting as the problem, and our weight is just a symptom. In fact, this is the case for almost everyone who comes to us for weight loss.

Probably the most important, yet seldom mentioned, study of weight loss took place in 1944. It was called the Minnesota Starvation Experiment. The United States government anticipated that at the conclusion of World War II, there would be thousands of people in Europe and Asia that were suffering from famine as a result of the war.

In order to determine how best to rehabilitate them they commissioned a study using conscientious objectors. From a group of 400 volunteers, they selected 36 healthy men of similar characteristics and cut their daily calorie intake from 3200 to 1800 calories for 24 weeks to induce a famine-like state, while maintaining a 3000 calorie a day workload.

Before going further, I just want to point out that many calorie restrictive diet programs today call for even less calories than the starvation experiment did, while also asking participants to workout in excess of their daily calorie intake.

Once the experiment achieved the target famine conditions, it was then focused on the requirements to successfully rehabilitate the participants.

The study concluded that restrictive dieting significantly increases severe emotional distress and depression. Restrictive dieting causes a pre-occupation with food during both the […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:48-07:00March 2nd, 2015|Uncategorized|Comments Off on The Polar Bear Effect When Dieting
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Shared Personal Training and Action Hero Programs

Shared Personal Training and Action Hero Programs

Over the last five years the main program at Taiso Fitness and Nutrition has been small group classes. We wanted to bridge the gap between bootcamp classes with minimal instruction and coaching and good personal training which is more expensive.

Over the last year we have continually improved our training and format to be more personalized. Now our primary service is shared personal training. So, how does shared personal training work? Just like with the small group classes you sign up online for the hour you want to start your session to keep the groups small enough for direct personal coaching. However you are no longer tied to class times that start at the top of the hour.

You have a 16 week training program that is specifically tailored to your goals and needs. You have a coach to helping you and the other seven or less participates through each session and you retest every two weeks.

So what is it you are retesting? That depends on what movement compensation you have and may include movement, balance, vision or breathing.

We recently developed major goals into several programs based on Action Heroes that personify those goals such as Tomb Raiders of the Lost Ark. This program is an endurance program that is modeled on Indiana Jones and Lara Croft.

Don’t be surprised if you see some special events created around the program characters and themes.

All our classes and programs are presented with four or more levels of difficulty based on your current needs and goals. At the base we have an alignment level appropriate to anyone who has a major compensation with that body part or has had a past trauma. This is a […]

By |2017-09-06T15:55:51-07:00December 22nd, 2014|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Shared Personal Training and Action Hero Programs
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DISCLAIMER: Results may vary. Consult your physician before beginning any exercise program.
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