CORE will be holding a Thanksgiving Charity Workout on Saturday, November 10th at 9:00am. Attendees will receive a FREE large group workout in exchange for a donation to Middleton Outreach Ministry (MOM). This workout is open to the public so tell all your family and friends and help us fill the MOM Food Pantry before Thanksgiving!

Here is the current Food Pantry Top 10 Needs List for MOM:

1. Canned Fruit (all types)
2. Hearty Soups
3. Meals in a Box
4. Meals in a Can (ravioli, etc)
5. Toilet Paper
6. Kleenex
7. Laundry Detergent
8. Cooking Oil
9. Flour
10. Sugar

Bring one of these items with you on November 10th!

Help us support a great local organization while getting a great workout. RSVP to kane@coreathletic.com to save your spot at this rewarding event!

To find out more information about MOM please go to www.momhelps.org

At Core, we realize that many of our members travel quite a bit, whether it be for business or pleasure. This can make it tough to workout consistently as each hotel has a different type of gym (hopefully they at least have one!). After trying out different solutions, we think we have finally come up with a great one!

Starting soon, we will have a section of our website dedicated to showing our members some great travel and at-home workouts they can be doing on the days they are not able to make it to Core. This will be a special section that will be only available to our current members as we will be providing a lot of quality content to help augment your progress.

The great thing is, no matter where you are (in your living room, hotel room, etc) you will be able to follow the same workout with our new resistance bands. They are super easy to travel with, don’t take up any space and you can use them for most exercises we already do in the gym. There are plenty of bands out there in the market right now but we recommend bands from Resistance Band Training.

Here are a few options for our members to try out:

Economy Package – 2 Red Bands, 2 Black Bands, 1 Band Utility Strap, 1 Pair of Training Handles and A FREE RBT Sport Bag

This is a great start for men who are looking to get a great travel workout.

1 Pair of Red Bands – This is a great starter for females who have had some previous training experience. While a little less resistance than black bands, the red bands are very versatile and will give you a great workout.

1 Pair of Orange Bands – These are ideal for an older population who wants to get a little stronger but not deal with weights. These also might be a great fit for females who do not have as much training experience. Just as versatile as the red bands, just less resistance.

We are always looking for ways to help make health and fitness more convenient for our members and are convinced that these travel band workouts will add a brand new element to your trips. Stay on the lookout for our new Members Only section of the website with great educational materials, including travel workouts!

When it comes to health, wellness, fitness, weight loss, whatever you really want to call it, there is a stigma out there that you have to be perfect in order to get results. I truly feel that some times this holds people back from achieving their goals.  Here is a sample thought process that I have heard a lot:

“Well since I already ate ________ today, I might as well just keep eating this junk food!”

or

“I am not going to have time for a full workout today so I am just going to skip it altogether!”

Now we all know that it is impossible to be perfect with our eating and exercise habits, so it is important to have the right mindset when this comes up. Instead of just throwing in the towel and completely abandoning your habits, instead recognize that poor choices will come up and move past it. Get back to what makes you feel better and what will make you healthier in the long run.

There are a lot of people out there who say you should aim to hit 80% or 90% compliance on your healthy habits (aiming for 100% compliance is really just setting yourself up for failure!). While I do agree with these ideas, I don’t always like to put a number on it. Here is a great way to look at your journey toward your goals:

If you aim to be better than the day before, every single day, there is no way you cannot make progress and eventually achieve your goals. This does not have to just be in the health and fitness areas of your life, but can apply anywhere.

Every night sit down before bed and ask your self if you got better or made progress today. If you did, congrats you are on your way. If not, don’t fret about it but instead make a plan for the next day that will help you be better.

Remember, life is not a sprint but a marathon. Health is not created in a day but instead with smart choices over time and continual improvement.

So I ask you, what are you going to do to get better today?

Sue Brumm-Stumpf is a teacher in the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District who came to CORE by being a participant in the American Heart Association’s Go Red Girlfriends Challenge. Through the Go Red program, Sue started attending small group personal training sessions and our Strength Fusion class in the studio this past February. “I don’t believe in coincidence, I believe things happen for a reason,” says Sue. “On the first day of our Go Red Challenge, I had to drive to the UW-Health clinic for our first wellness check. On my way there as I was driving onto the beltline, and I glanced over and saw the big CORE Athletic sign hanging on the fence. I had probably seen that sign twenty times before, but that morning it stuck with me. Later that morning at the wellness check is when I learned that CORE would be one of the Go Red sponsors…coincidence? I think not.” Her decision to work out at CORE ended up having lasting effects on all aspects of her life!

“Before I came to CORE I was overweight, felt run down and lethargic. Stressful home situations were taking over and I had no way to deal with them, and they were taking a toll on me physically. My shoulders hurt constantly along with my hips…it was difficult to sleep in any position because of the pain.” Sue knew that some physical exercise could help improve these situations but did not know exactly how to go about it.

“Over the past years I had been a member at an enormous local gym but would often go there and feel overwhelmed with no clue what to do, how long to do it or why I was doing it. I always felt like everyone was in much better shape than me, and that I didn’t belong there; that I was an imposter. I knew that I wanted better for myself but felt lost and had no idea how to make it happen.” Feeling lost in a big box gym is a very common occurrence and even led to Sue discontinuing her membership and most physical exercise. She knew this was not great for her health but did not know where else to turn. Luckily for CORE and Sue, she came across the AHA Go Red Challenge and starting working out at CORE immediately.

So what has changed in Sue’s life since that fateful February evening she first set foot in CORE… she can tell it best! “What hasn’t changed since?? I feel like a new person!  I recently looked at the photo we took with Kim on our first night at CORE and I don’t recognize the person I was in that photo. And it’s funny, at the time I thought I was doing okay. My mental health and physical health have made the most significant changes. I have lost 40 pounds, and am over half-way to my goal. My shoulders no longer ache, my hip feels wonderful and I feel strong. Exercising has helped me mentally deal with some things going on in my life. I can wake up feeling down and go to one of the classes at CORE and my whole mood changes. CORE has truly saved my life!”

Sue's first night at CORE with her Go Red teammates

The important thing to recognize here is that Sue was the one that did all the work. CORE was here to help guide her but she is the one that deserves all the credit for her incredible transformation!

When asked what made CORE different from other fitness facilities, Sue spoke more powerful words about our philosophy, “Working out at CORE is nothing like working out at a big gym where you one of a hundred people at the gym on any given day. At CORE each individual matters and they take the time to get to know your story and why you are in the place you are. The care that the coaches all took in our lives, discussions about what we were eating, what we could change, and sharing with us why we were working certain muscles and what the outcome of the exercises were, was an invaluable experience. I didn’t feel like an impostor at CORE, they accepted each of us where we were and went from there to help us be the best we could be.”

A healthier and happier Sue!

It has been an awesome and rewarding experience for all of our coaches to work with Sue over the last six months and we look forward to serving her for years to come!

Below is an article published by Mike Boyle, a strength coach from Boston, MA, and CORE could not have said it any better! Now, is the car analogy absolutely perfect… no, but it still makes you think twice about your health and will hopefully encourage everyone to start being more PROACTIVE in their health. Enjoy!

Imagine you are sixteen years old and your parents
give you your first car. They also give you simple
instructions. There is one small hitch, you only get
one car, you can never get another. Never. No
trade-ins, no trade-ups. Nothing.

Ask your self how would you maintain that car?

My guess is you would be meticulous. Frequent oil
changes, proper fuel, etc. Now imagine if your
parents also told you that none of the replacement
parts for this car would ever work as well as the
ori ginal parts. Not only that, the replacement
parts would be expensive to install and cause you
to have decreased use of your car for the rest of
the cars useful life? In other words, the car would
continue to run but, not at the same speed and
with the efficiency you were used to.
Wow, now would we ever put a lot of time and effort
into maintenance if that were the case.

After reading the above example ask yourself another
question. Why is the human body different? Why do we
act as if we don’t care about the one body we were
given. Same deal. You only get one body. No returns
or trade-ins. Sure, we can replace parts but boy
it’s a lot of work and it hurts. Besides, the stuff
they put in never works as well as the original
“factory” parts. The replacement knee or hip doesn’t
give you the same feel and performance as the original
part.

Think about it. One body. You determine the mileage?
You set the maintenance plan?

No refunds, no warranties, no do-overs?

How about this perspective? One of my clients is a
very successful businessman. He often is asked to
speak to various groups. One thing he tells every
group is that you are going to spend time and money
on your health. The truth is the process can be a
proactive one or a reactive one. Money spent on your
health can take the form of a personal trainer,
massage therapist and a gym membership or, it can be
money spent on cardiologists, anesthesiologists, and
plastic surgeons. Either way, you will spend money.

Same goes for time. You can go to the gym or, to the
doctors office. It’s up to you. Either way, you will
spend time. Some people say things like “I hate to
work out”. Try sitting in the emergency room for a
few hours and then get back to me. Working out may
not seem so bad. Much like a car, a little preventative
maintenance can go a long way. However, in so many ways
the body is better than a car. With some good hard work
you can turn back the odometer on the body. I wrote
an article a while back (Strength Training- The Fountain
of Youth) that discussed a study done by McMaster
University which showed that muscle tissue of older
subjects actually changed at the cellular level and
looked more like the younger control subjects after
strength training.

Do me a favor, spend some time on preventative
maintenance, it beats the heck out of the alternative.

Just remember, you will spend both time and money.

Regards,

Mike Boyle

Alex Gee, a pastor in his late 40’s, has been working out at CORE Athletic for the past nine months and has made some significant life changes during that time. Alex initially met Chris through a mutual friend and started doing some in-home personal training. This lasted for a few years on and off but his busy schedule never made it possible to get into the gym consistently. Then 2010 came and Alex’s workout routine took a hit, “Reoccurring shoulder injuries kept me out of the gym for nearly a year. My inability to do any significant lifting or upper body training discouraged me so I just stopped working out in the fall of 2010.”

The inactivity started a small amount of weight gain for Alex but lead to more significant health complications down the road. “My annual physical check-up last summer revealed that I have Type 2 Diabetes. I was devastated because my doctor had previously warned me that the combination of hypertension and diabetes could increase my likelihood for stroke fourfold! This shocking news pushed me right back into the CORE gym.” Alex knew he had to make a lifestyle change but also knew that he needed to fix his shoulder to be able to consistently workout.

“Andy and Kane taught me back and pectoral exercises that helped to strengthen my shoulders and keep me from putting undue stress on them while exercising. Within a few months I not only regained flexibility in my shoulder but I was able to do pushups and chest presses again…something I have not been able to do for several years. In fact, I can more pushups today than I could when I was a college athlete 30 years ago.”

With the correct exercises and proper coaching, Alex was back on his way to better health. Not only is his shoulder doing much better but Alex has made some significant health improvements! “I have lost (and kept off) a total of 35 lbs, which, has caused my blood sugar to return to such healthy levels that I am no longer on any medicines for diabetes!” Alex has worked hard for the last nine months and has truly bought in to the CORE philosophy of healthy lifestyles. He is a very valued member at CORE and we look forward to serving him for years to come!

We are six weeks in to our LIGHT Program, with two weeks remaining in our pilot program, and are seeing some great results!

The LIGHT Program is a venture joining CORE Athletic and Nehemiah Community Development, a local non-profit that empowers local high-risk, low income youth. The initial pilot program includes four young men who are aspiring athletes at Madison West High School. These four student-athletes have been undergoing tutoring and pre-college prep work from Nehemiah as well as athletic training and life mentoring from CORE Athletic.

At the conclusion of the 8-week program we will have pre and post testing data but after only four weeks of training we re-tested vertical jump and here were the results:

Name                4/26                    5/24                        Difference

Terrell                31.2″                     36.2″                             +5.1″

Dierre                 29.9″                     32″                                +2.1″

Malik                  23.9″                    28.7″                              +4.8″

Quan                  25.6″                     NA                                    NA

In just four weeks of training, three of the athletes improved their vertical jump by a combined 12 inches!

However, we worked on more than just athletic performance with the LIGHT program; Chris also did some mentoring with the boys and talked a lot about their future. Here are some of the topics that have been discussed so far:

• #1 Dream-what do you want your life to be?
• #2A Clarify your dream life (if you don’t dream it, you won’t do it)
• #2B Be as Specific as possible (your type of work, where you will live, family details, vacations, what you drive, how you will give back, friendships, etc.)
• #3 Priorities-What are the top 5 priorities in your life (ex. Faith, Family, Grades, Sports, Fun, Job, etc.)
• #4 Brainstorm potential roadblocks
• #5 Put an Action Plan together

We are extremely happy and encouraged by the success of the LIGHT program so far and are hoping to continue and grow the program throughout the summer. As part of this program, Nehemiah will be taking all of their college prep students on a college tour this summer. If you would like to help out this program please visit WWW.BIKE4BGC.COM and visit the Nehemiah page to donate.

CORE Athletic will be offering an early morning bootcamp option this summer at Lakeview Park in Middleton. For individuals who want to feel better, work hard and enjoy the outdoors. During each 50 minute class, receive instruction and guidance under the watchful eye of a CORE trainer.  All fitness levels are welcomed, no matter if you are a seasoned workout person or have never worked out before!

2-sessions of Bootcamps are being offered:

 Session 1: June 4th-July 14th

Session 2: July 16th-August 25th

Times: Classes run from 6:00-6:50am  Monday-Friday

Where: Lakeview Park in Middleton

Price: $144 for unlimited access to each 6-week session

We will also be offering a free trial week of classes from May 29th-June 1st. Come try out our bootcamps for free to see if we are the right option for you!

Waivers will be available at the park or you can print the information and waiver off here and bring it with you. Bootcamp information and waiver

Contact Ryan at ryan@coreathletic.com for more information, or call 608-831-2673

Looking forward to seeing you there!

CORE is very pleased to announce a new partnership with the local non-profit, Nehemiah Community Development Corporation! Beginning this Thursday, April 26th, we will begin a pilot program working with the LIGHT Program (Learning Is our Greatest Hope for Tomorrow) of Nehemiah. This new offering will provide targeted at-risk youth with training and mentoring to help enrich their physical and academic development.

This pilot will be a six-week program with four at-risk youth who will be required to required to participate in a pre-college curriculum and attend the LIGHT after-school academic program. We will be measuring not only physical performance but also goals, grades and overall outlook in order to track progress and evaluate the pilot.

Even though this is a very small sample size, we are hoping that  over the next six weeks we can show considerable improvement that will allow CORE to obtain the funding to really grow this program to involve a larger number of at-risk youth in the Madison community.

If you would like to learn more about the LIGHT Program at Nehemiah, please contact Autumn Swain at autumnalena@gmail.com or grab CORE member Alex Gee during his workout! If you would like to get involved in the program here at CORE in any way contact Kane at kane@coreathletic.com.