8.2.2016

It's going to be hot for those runs, guys!  Please drink plenty of water during the day BEFORE class so that you're well hydrated before you start.

Tuesday

Baseline
3 Rounds
100m Run
10 Walking Lunges
30 Singles
20 sec Hollow Body

Work Capacity
4 Rounds, 16 min cutoff
400m Run
10 Toe To Bar or V-Ups
60 second plank

Then, 4 min AMRAP
Max Effort unbroken DU*

*Every time you stop, perform 1 burpee +1 (the first time you stop, do 1 burpee.  The second time you stop, do 2 burpees.  The third time, do 3 burpees, etc).  Modify with unbroken singles or you can switch to singles with the battling jumprope.

Durability
Roll/ Stretch calves

8.1.2016

Today kicks off the attendance challenge!  Attend 4 classes per week over the next 5 weeks (or 20 classes total) and earn a new Octane shirt.  Yoga classes DO count, but you can't count more than one workout per day!  The point is to help you guys get back on track with consistent workouts... not run yourself into the ground on the last week of the challenge to make your goal!

Also... you are responsible for checking yourself in to class!  Every time you walk into the door at the gym, please check in on the iPad.  Even if you register for class ahead of time, you still need to check in to let the membership system know that you actually arrived.  At the end of the challenge, if you don't have 20 check ins  on the schedule, but you are certain you attended them all, we have no way of knowing unless without those check ins there.  Please help us out with this so that there won't be any confusion!  

Monday

Baseline
Mobility drills, 1x with bands
10 Straight Arm Pull Aparts, Palms Up
10 Straight Arm Pull Aparts, Palms Down
10 Bent Arm Pull Aparts, Palms Up
10 Bent Arm Pull Aparts, Palms Down

Then, 3 Rounds
5/5 Monster walk, with bands
10 Seated rows, with bands
10 Spiderman Planks
10 Shoulder Taps
10 Squat Jumps

Strength
3 x 10-20

1A Lunge
1B Pullup
1C 60 sec Lower body Rolling

2A Pushup
2B Snatch
2C 60 sec Back/ Shoulder Rolling

Work Capacity
5 x
50m Sprint/ Walk Back

Durability
Brettzel Stretch

BodEvolve Challenge Starts 9.2.2016!

Let’s say you've been eating right and exercising regularly.  Sure, you go out with friends and indulge on occasion, but for the most part, you feel like your nutrition is on track.  You really aren’t too overweight, but are about 5-10 pounds shy of where you think you should be.  It seems like no matter what you do, you can’t get rid of these last few pounds.  And really, it’s just those dang love handles (thighs, hips, belly, etc) that are the problem… you’re happy with everything else.  And that one trouble spot just won’t budge, no matter how much dieting you do.  I refer to these as “sticky spots”  So what gives?  Why is that layer of fat so stuck to these stupid sticky spots?!

Fat storage is driven by hormones.  Certain hormone responses tell fat to camp out on your thighs and others tell your fat to accumulate under your shoulder blades.  You can diet and exercise all you want, but until you bring these hormonal responses back to a healthy balance, these sticky spots will remain sticky, while other areas of your body may continue to lean out.  Here’s a quick run down of the most common sticky spots and some suggestions of what you can do to fix them:

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Belly 

The belly “pouch”.  Or “pooch” as some refer to it.  You hate sitting down while wearing low rise jeans because the waist band forces the extra fluff up and over and makes you feel especially scornful.  

Why?

Stress.  Cortisol tells your fat to take up residence around your belly button.  It’s like a constant reminder of how much stress you're holding every time you look down.  Even if you don’t FEEL stressed out, you need to take measures to get your cortisol under control.  Try to work on breathing techniques, connect with friends, laugh, exercise, and practice gratitude.  Physical stress can play a large factor, too, even if you don’t feel like you’re under stress.  For this type of stress, it’s important to get adequate quality sleep, avoid foods you are sensitive to (you may need to be tested), eat protein at every meal (especially in the morning, for you non-breakfast eaters!), get in healthy fats, avoid alcohol and caffeine, and be sure that you aren’t over training.  

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Sides of Waist

Ah, the muffin top.  Love handles.  It’s your favorite part of an actual muffin, but when it’s hanging over your yoga pants, you’re not so fond of it.

Why?

This one is kind of ironic, because what you call it (the muffin top) is directly what causes it!  Not only muffins, but carbs in general.  I’m not saying that carbs are inherently bad… not at all.  But in certain instances, you benefit from avoiding them.  If love handles are your sticky spot, you are probably releasing large amounts of insulin when you eat.  To keep those insulin spikes under control,  you need to avoid simple carbohydrates and switch to high fiber carb sources.  This means no processed carbs, no sugar, lots of vegetables, some fresh fruit (not too much!) and only 100% whole grains on occasion.  Focus on protein, healthy fat, and plant matter at every meal to keep those spikes from happening.

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Back

If you’re a girl, this is that awful roll that likes to peek out from under your bra strap.  You hate wearing tank tops with large arm holes, because they just seem to show off that “flap”.  With this spot, at least you don’t see it every time you look down, but it’s even worse sometimes when you can’t see it, because you just know it’s back there taunting you.

Why?

This one also has to do with your insulin.  Your love handles come from a spike in insulin, but back fat comes from your body not “listening” to your insulin.  When your body doesn’t hear the insulin signal, your insulin has to get louder (which means releasing more insulin) to be heard.  To fix this situation, you need to turn the volume down!  You need to get your body to hear the message so the insulin volume can back off.  Try limiting carbohydrates, adding in fish oil, and getting in some high intensity interval training a few times per week to promote insulin sensitivity. 

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Chest

I’ve heard this one referred to as chicken wings.  Whatever you want to call it, this is the roll of fat that that peeks out between your chest and armpit.  Being self conscious of this spot is another reason you may tend to shy away from tank tops.

Why?

Low testosterone levels have been linked to this one.  Yes, even women have (or should have) some testosterone.  To remedy this, you need to be sure you are taking in enough calories, and getting in adequate amounts of healthy fats.  Alcohol consumption can lower testosterone and increases estrogen for a period of 24 hours, so avoiding alcohol is important, too.  If you’re a guy with man boobs, go back and read that last sentence again!

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Triceps and Thighs

Bingo arms, as the wobble on the back of the upper arms is lovingly referred to, commonly goes hand-in-hand with a stubborn layer of fat on the thighs.   

Why?

These spots are related to high levels of estrogen in the body.  You absorb “bad” estrogens, called xenoestrogens, from your foods and environment daily, and your body has a hard time getting rid of this excess.  These xenoestrogens aren't actually estrogen, but they act like it inside your body.  Xenoestrogens come from plastics, artificial fragrances, chemical cleaners, flame retardants, among other things.  To help your body flush out the xenoestrogens and “unstick” these spots of your body, avoid eating or drinking from plastic (time to by a glass water bottle!) and especially avoid heating your food in plastic containers.  Choose natural, organic cleaning products for your home and natural body products for your skin.  Eat plenty of leafy green veggies and include flax seeds in your diet, as they both contain a compound that help rid your body of excess estrogen.  A supplement called DIM does the same, as well.

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Hopefully this helps explain why you can't seem to lose those last few pounds in your sticky spots!  But before you even try to tackle unsticking them, make sure your eating and lifestyle habits are on track.  Focusing on eating real, nutrient dense foods and taking care of yourself by balancing work, fun and sleep, are often enough for most of us to get those hormones balanced and achieve the body composition we’re after.

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On September 2, Octane will be launching a 12 week BodEvolve program!  Join in and learn how to incorporate healthy eating and lifestyle habits into your daily routine.  This is intended to help you stop dieting, cleansing, detoxing, wrapping, juice fasting, and whatever other nonsense you’ve been trying in your desperate efforts to drop some fat.  You will work on one new habit each week and you will stop obsessing over calorie counting.  You’ll also still be able to live your life while doing this!   This isn’t a 30 day quick-fix and it’s not a fast.  You will learn real life habits that you can follow forever.  You don't have to be an Octane member to join us, and you don't even have to live close by!

If you’re interested in getting more information about how the 12 week BodEvolve program will work, add your email address to the list below to be sure you don’t miss any updates or registration dates. Don't worry, your information is never shared, and you can remove yourself from our list at anytime!

7.29.2026

Don't forget- attendance challenge starts on Monday and all of our regular classes are back on the schedule!

Friday

 Baseline

3 Rounds

3/3 Halos

5 GSQ

10 Supermans

30 Singles

Strength

1 set x 10-20

Pullups

Military Press

60 Second Plank

Squats

KBS

Work Capacity

Tabata (20:10 X 8 of each)

Air Squats

Situps

20m Shuttle Run

Durability

Roll with Yoga Tune Up Balls

7.28.2016

Thursday

Baseline
3 Rounds
Bear Crawl- Length and Back
Walking Prisoner Lunges- Length and Back
5 Inchworm + pushup
25 Jumping Jacks

Strength
1 set x 10-20

Bent Over Row
Pushup

Rest 60 sec

Lunge/ Pistol Progression
Snatch

Work Capacity
For time, 12 min cutoff
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Wall Balls
Burpees

Durability
Foam Roller back stretching/ rolling 

7.27.2016

August Attendance Challenge!  Win free stuff!

Sadly, our summer vacations are coming to an end... school employees will be heading back to work the first and second weeks of August, and the kids will be joining them on the 11th.  You know what that means?  It means you have NO MORE EXCUSES for missing classes!  To help you get back on track, we will be running an attendance challenge for the month of August.  Here's the deal:

• Step 1: Get to class.

Attend at least 4 classes each week, from August 1- September 3.  This means a total of 20 classes in 5 weeks.  Yes, yoga counts.  All of our regular classes are back on schedule, so you CAN do this.  We have 5am, 8:30am, 10:30am, 4:15pm, and 5:30pm (5:30pm on Mon, Tues and Thurs only) to choose from. Saturdays at 8:30am are back on schedule, and as always, yoga on Sundays at 3pm and Wednesday at 6pm.

• Step 2: Get a shirt.

Accomplish the above and win a shirt!  I'll be ordering a second round of the colored Octane tees in September.  I'll be adding purple and charcoal gray to this order, so even if you got one in every color last time, you can still get one that you don't already have!

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Wednesday

Baseline
3 Rounds
5 Pass Throughs
5/5 Figure 8s
10 OH Squats
5 Pushup to down dog

Then,
5/5 TGU with 3 Windmils at the top of each

Work Capacity
4 Rounds- don’t put the KB down during each set!
5/5 Single Arm KBS
10 KBS
5/5 Cleans
10 KB Wall Balls
5/5 Thrusters

Durability
Stretch with bands

7.26.2016

We are starting a new strength phase!  We have completed 4 weeks in the metabolic phase (6-12 rep range) and now we're moving into 4 weeks of an endurance phase.  All strength work will be done in the 10-20 rep range during this phase.  Obviously, you will need to go lighter, or pick an easier progression for each of the exercises we've been doing.  You want to be as close as possible to 20 reps each time, and once you can consistently get 20 for every set, move up to the next weight or progression level.  Your rest period between each superset should be one minute, and you should feel things really starting to burn by the end of each set!

Tuesday

Baseline
3 Rounds
1/1 Arm Bar
5/5 Halos
5 GSQ
5 Good Mornings
5/5 Single Arm Thrusters

Strength
2 x 10-20

1A Military Press
1B Pullups
1C 60sec Jumprope

2A Squats
2B Swings
2C 60sec Foam Rolling

Work Capacity
3RFT
30 DU or Battling Jumprope
20 OH Walking Lunges (Single KB- 10/10)
10 V-Ups
1 Wall Walk

Durability
Roll/ Stretch

7.25.2016

8:30am classes are back on schedule this week!  

Monday

Baseline
4 Rounds
10 Frog Thrusters
10 OH Squats with PVC
10 Stick DL
100m Run

Work Capacity
1 min each x 5, for max reps
Ball Slams
Situps
Burpees
Rest

Durability
Stretching

7.22.2016

Friday

 Baseline

3 Rounds

1/1 Arm Bar

10 Supermans

10 Bird Dogs

20 Mountain Climbers

Then

5/5 TGU

Strength

3 x 6-12

1A- Lunge/ Pistol

1B- Pullups

1C- 30 sec Plank Hold

2A- Deadlift

2B- Pushups

2C- 30 sec Active Hang (accumulated)

Durability

100 Situps (modify to crunches)

Stretch

7.20.2016

 Baseline

3 Rounds

5 Pass- throughs with PVC
10 Stick DL

10 sec Prying GSQ

1/1 Arm Bar

Strength

3 x 6-12

1A- Squat

1B- Bent Over Row

1C- Foam Rolling (30-60sec)

2A- Military Press

2B- KBS

2C- Couch Stretches (30-60sec)


Work Capacity

3/3 TGU

30 KBS

2/2 TGU

20 KBS

1/1 TGU

10 KBS

Dura bility

Roll and Stretch