What it Means to be “Fit” – Part 2

By Kevin Hirose – BHK, CSCS

The football athlete posted in the picture above is clearly very lean and muscular and obviously fast and powerful – a case of an athlete looking fit and being fit for his sport. However, he would not be the fittest person to a marathon or play as a lineman (the big guys on the front line football), despite the impressive physique. To reiterate the last point of Part 1 of this entry; I would choose the “fit’ individual vs the “fit-looking” one in any situation that required “fitness” or physical ability. Don’t get me wrong; there is nothing wrong with looking fit, lean and muscular but do not gauge one’s fitness solely on his/her appearance. You can get into trouble there, in more than one way. Read More

What it Means to be “Fit” – Part 1

By Kevin Hirose – BHK, CSCS

Over the past several years, the terms “fitness” and “fit”, in my opinion, have been distorted by the industry and media. First look at the dictionary definition of “fitness”:

fit·ness
ˈfitnəs/
noun

the condition of being physically fit and healthy.”disease and lack of fitness are closely related”

What It Means to Prioritize Health

By Victor Ngo

The First Step

There are a lot of reasons why you “don’t have time” for the gym – work, family, and so on. However for each of those excuses there is an even better reason to start taking better care of your health now. We won’t even get into that, let’s just say if you are here then you already realized that you have to take care of yourself first and foremost. And the first step is to make that appointment with your trainer. However, that is only the beginning. The next phase is what separates those who sees great versus mediocre results after training for a period of time.

Do we offer Crossfit?

Do We offer Crossfit or Crossfit-type training?

Short answer is “No” – we do not offer Crossfit Training. If you are set on finding a Crossfit Gym in Richmond you may search for an affiliate at www.crossfit.com/affiliate-list

Over the last few months, I have encountered a few people who think that we what do at APEX is similar to Crossfit or that we specialize in “group training”. Even with the term “semi-private” many still think that our members are doing the same workout at the same time in a group setting. This is completely inaccurate, our Semi-Private Classes are more similar to a Personal Training Session, which is what makes our gym so unique. Each of our members receive a completely customized program based their goals and our assessments, and individualized coaching attention despite being in a class.

If it is still unclear, I will illustrate this with a spectrum or hierarchy diagram:

Personal Training

1:1 Personal Training
– individualized programming
– highest coaching attention

APEX Semi-private Training Model (2-4 clients/trainer)
– individualized programming
– high coaching attn

______________________________________________________________________

Group Training

Crossfit or Crossfit-type training
– not individualized programming (everyone does the same workout), but often scaled to the individual’s level
– varying coaching attention (depending on coach to member ratio)

Bootcamp
– not individualized programming (everyone does the same workout)
– usually low coaching/supervisory attention due to high # of participants

With that being said, we do have ONE true group training class – the weekly APEX Strength & Conditioning Class, only for our semi-private training members. This class functions as a supplement to our members’ semi-private sessions to introduce them to new exercises/workouts and spice up their training.

So if you have not tried APEX Semi-private Training and are interested in tasting the APEX training experience, including our Strength & Conditioning Class, please contact us!

info@apexthegym.com

Kevin Hirose
APEX Strength & Conditioning Specialist
BKin,CSCS,FMS-2

What Does Fitness Mean? – Part 2

By Kevin Hirose – BHK, CSCS

Again, back to the whole weight loss thing. So 150 lbs is a 150 lbs, right? It is but not all weight/mass is created equal. It could be 150 lbs of fat or 150 lbs of muscle or 150 lbs of bone or a combination of the three. This is where body composition comes into play and body weight/mass can lose its importance and meaning. Two people of the same weight, height, age, and gender can appear to have quite different body shape and appearance. In fact, the SAME PERSON AT THE SAME BODY WEIGHT/MASS can look very different:

What Does Fitness Mean? – Part 1

By Kevin Hirose – BHK, CSCS

What is fitness? More importantly, what is your definition of fitness? In my experience, for many people it means being at a particular weight. But what if the person is already at a normal or healthy weight? What’s next? Losing more weight? Is that fitness – becoming as skinny or as light as possible? For some people, it seems like it is. Perhaps this thinking is limited and quite possibly an unhealthy perspective on health and fitness.

The Importance of Outdoor Play

By Kevin Hirose – BHK, CSCS

Summer is in full swing and what are your kids doing? Or if you do not have kids then what are your nieces and nephews or the neighbourhood kids doing? Are they playing video games or watching TV inside the house or playing outside? If they spend most of their day in front of an electronic screen, then it is time to change their habits now.

How Much Alcohol is Okay?

Alcohol is a regular part of peoples’ lives not just in North America but in many parts of the world. But a few questions that many of you are probably asking are, “Should I quit drinking?” or “How much alcohol is acceptable/healthy?”. It may not be as simple as black and white or good vs bad. This article by Precision Nutrition is quite long so if you are looking for strategies to figure out what is best for you, you will find them at the end of the article. But I recommend you do at least a quick scan of the whole article since there is much useful information.

Introducing the New Assistant Coach

By Kevin Hirose – BHK, CSCS

Until now, it has always been just Victor and I coaching at Apex the Gym (Apex Strength & Conditioning Inc). But we knew at some point we would have to hire staff, especially when we became busier and needed someone to cover vacations and such. Enter Karen Tam…

EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!

Here is a very infographic from Precision Nutrition on ways to help prepare your veggies to make them easier to eat and even tasty! Precision Nutrition is an excellent source of nutrition information for the average person and a great resource for trainers/coaches on their clients’ basic nutritional component, which is sometimes overlooked.

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The First Step

Do We offer Crossfit or Crossfit-type training?