EUGENIE JONES Achieve Fitness Resolutions

The effervescent champagne bubbles have dissipated, but hopefully your New Years fitness resolutions have greater resilience and you now have a few good workouts under your belt.

From your newly acquired workout experience vantage point, you may have begun to consider more closely if your workout approach is the one best suited for you for your unique fitness goals.

Too much too soon hurts, and too little for too long equals negligible results. The key then is to strike a happy moderate balance somewhere in between, decreasing your chances of injury and burnout.

A moderate approach can take many forms, including choosing to give one fitness component strength training, flexibility training, or cardiovascular training a greater amount of time while giving less to other two.

For instance, a cardio focus workout that focuses more on jogging or walking while incorporating only a minimal amount of stretching and resistance work would be a perfect. moderate cardio-focused workout.

This approach would be well suited for someone whose main goal is to lose weight while improving functional fitness ability. If thats your goal, you can give this cardio focus approach a try, by doing . . .

A little bit of stretching

After youve spent 5 to 10 minutes warming up with slow-paced marching in place, walking or jogging, stop and perform slow static stretches of your legs, back and shoulders.

A little bit of strength training

Twice a week, on non-consecutive days, do two sets of 12 to 15 repetitions of exercises that target your major muscle groups. Follow a quick warm-up and stretch a couple sets of push-ups, squats, lunges, abdominal crunches, and low-back extensions.

If you cant do push-ups on the floor, they can be done standing an arms distance away from a wall feet slightly further away from the wall than shoulders placing both hands on the wall. Bend your elbows, lowering your chest toward the wall and then press yourself back to your starting position.

If youre unfamiliar with the other exercises, pick up a good exercise guide at the library or your favorite bookstore.

After twenty to 30 minutes of strength training, its time to move on to . . .

A lot more cardio

Plan to do cardio workouts four to five times a week, for 30 minutes to an hour each workout. If initially youre unable to make it to 30 minutes, do what you can and add a few more minutes on each workout.

Your workouts can be walking, jogging, swimming, aerobics, cycling, or any continuous movement activity that gets you up into your target heart rate and keeps you there for the entire workout.

As you get stronger increase your workout duration or increase the number of times up to six per week that you exercise.

Depending upon your fitness goal you could use a workout plan that focused on other fitness components, but this higher frequency longer duration workout will help you burn fat quicker while also building your endurance.

A cardio focus workout routine also is ideal for newer exercisers because it decreases your chances of becoming overwhelmed and increases your chances of sticking with your program and seeing the New Year fitness results youre working to achieve. Now go be great!

Eugenie Jones, M. B. A. , ACE, is a workplace performance and lifestyle training expert. Find her fitness column, in its 17th year of running, here each Saturday. Visit her Web site at or e-mail her at.

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500 kids learn fundamentals at fourth annual Baca Baseball amp; Fitness Clinic in ...

SAN BERNARDINO - Hundreds of boys and girls, who are aspiring baseball and softball players, learned key skills from professional ballplayers and local coaches Saturday at a special clinic.

The children took the field at Arrowhead Credit Union Park in San Bernardino, home of the Inland Empire 66ers, to learn base running, fielding and hitting skills at the Joe Baca Foundation"s fourth annual Baseball Fitness Clinic.

Former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Derrel Thomas and outfielder Trayvon Robinson, who is on the Dodger"s 40-man roster, joined other ballplayers such as Bryan Salsbury, Mike Jones, Daniel Carroll and Greg Burns, to teach an estimated 500 kids the fundamentals of the game.

Joe Roque, of Highland, who brought his son 12-year-old Joseph Roque, Matthew Reese, 11, and Isaac Humildad, 12, thought the free clinic was a great way for the kids to learn baseball tips from the best.

"It"s exciting to play with the major league players," said the younger Roque, who plays on a travel baseball team.

After getting started with a few warm-up exercises, the kids separated into different age groups for drills in the outfield and infield.

At home plate, Thomas joined other coaches to teach some basics about running to first base.

"Everyone know what the batter"s box is?" Thomas asked the group. After getting a collective yes, the kids each got a chance to work on their first steps out of the batter"s box.

"Ready to explode? Go! Go!" Thomas said, as he

cheered on one of the kids.

While the free clinic given by the Joe Baca Foundation is officially in its fourth year, Joe Baca Jr. has organized the event for nine years since his inaugural clinic at Kessler Park, in Bloomington. Co-hosted by the Inland Empire 66ers and E29 Baseball, this is the first year at the 66ers stadium.

Each of the kids, ages 7 to 13, received free hats and t-shirts, a morning of baseball instruction and lunch provided by McDonalds. Free haircuts and health screenings were also available.

"You can"t put a price on the smiles on the faces of each and every one of these kids out here," said Congressman Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino.

Joe Baca Jr. , the president and CEO of the foundation, thanked the Rialto School District for bringing 250 kids. The clinic is also a great chance for all the players, coaches, sponsors and volunteers a chance to give back to the community, he said.

Colton resident Emilio Velasquez brought his 6-year-old son, Emilio Jr. , who plays shortstop on a T-ball team, to improve his baseball skills with professional athletes.

"I just want him to learn better," Velasquez said.

mike. cruz@inlandnewspapers. com
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Fitness Challenge: Des Moines Biggest Loser

Rebecca Meyer"s weight loss adventure to the "Biggest Loser" ranch and reality-TV bootcamp started in plus-size store Lane Bryant, when she bought her first pair of size 22/24 jeans 15 months ago.

Always an outgoing girl with a pretty face, Meyer knew she was big for her 5-foot, 6-inch frame. But it wasn"t until hitting 304 pounds that she decided to change things.

"I call that my maximum capacity," said the now-trim 25-year-old Des Moines native, who lost 139 pounds after competing on "The Biggest Loser" last year.

Meyer admits she "didn"t really want to watch heavy people" until she started to see herself in the contestants on season three of NBC"s hit reality show. She tried out for season five in 2007, but wasn"t selected because she didn"t have a partner. A year and a half went by and Meyer"s weight yo-yoed 40 pounds. Then, on Feb. 13, 2009, she got a call from producers who wanted her to apply again. In May, all 279 pounds of her were on their way to the ranch in Calabasas, Calif. , to take part in season eight.
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Over the course of 13 grueling weeks, she lost 21 inches in her hips and 49. 82 percent of her initial weight. On Dec. 8, she stepped off the scale during the season finale 139 pounds lighter. It was a victory over her former self that also netted her the $100,000 "at-home prize".

Meyer"s transformation was a feat fit for television, but her second act - maintaining a healthy size 8 - is a course without a finish line.

"I will be constantly beating down the fat girl inside forever," she said. "Some days it will be good and some days it will be hard, but I realize for the majority of the time there will be more good days than bad, and I control it. "

Meyer"s in a transitional phase right now, adjusting to life away from the "Biggest Loser" ranch, where contestants achieve dramatic weight loss with the help of a fully outfitted kitchen, star trainers and six-hour workouts. One recent morning, fresh from a workout session at the Clive Healthy Living Center, she was bursting with excitement about a future that will involve former castmate-turned-boyfriend Daniel Wright, graduate school in business and, she admits, a few more pounds.

"I"m probably going to live around 10-15 pounds above what I was at finale, just for healthy Rebecca and something I can maintain," she said.

For fans who followed her weight-loss journey on the show, the bubbly "pink team" member"s will to change should be a huge inspiration - but one that comes with a warning.

"(Rebecca"s) experience is not one to be mimicked," said Gigi Filer, the Des Moines trainer who helped Meyer after her elimination from the show. "You shouldn"t expect that kind of result. Rebecca"s a unique situation in that we were kind of racing against the clock. "

Meyer trained like it was her job, under direct medical supervision. Filer said she and her husband, Rodney, used techniques like explosive full body movements that would give Meyer "the most bang for her buck out of each minute. " To fend off the dreaded plateau, they were constantly changing her routine in a way that would "surprise" her body into weight loss. Anyone who"s inspired by Meyer should expect a much longer journey, but one that starts the same way: One step at a time.
Here"s how Rebecca Meyer used her experience on "The Biggest Loser" to re-shape her body.
Getting hooked on running.
In her first week on the ranch, she and contestant Amanda Arlauskas started out at a 4. 7 speed on the treadmill, a minute on and a minute off. "For me, it was each day, figuring out how long I could run at a certain speed and the next day bumping it up," she said. "That"s the only way you"re going to lift your heart rate up to that fat-burning stage. "

Meyer"s currently running eight-minute miles and completed two half-marathons (including the IMT Des Moines, which she ran on camera), with big goals on the horizon.
Re-training her palate.
At the "Biggest Loser" ranch, Meyer learned recipes and cooking techniques to keep her calorie intake at about 1,200 per day. She"s big on the sweet clusters of Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal mixed into Fage Greek yogurt before a workout, then an omelette with one egg and three egg whites, sprinkled with pepperjack cheese, and vegetable stir fry or baked whitefish for dinner.

"For the most part, I"m going to eat organic and clean, whole foods because I enjoy them now," Meyer said. "My palate"s changed. I tried to have biscuits and gravy the other day and it literally didn"t taste good. "
Balancing splurges with accountability.
Like a true Des Moines south-sider, Meyer loves her pizza, and still indulges in a slice of greasy pepperoni dipped in ranch dressing once in a while. But those choices come with consequences.

"Real life, post "Biggest Loser," I can go on the Ingersoll crawl with my girlfriends and have a piece of pizza," she said. "But the next day or even that day before I go out, I plan accordingly. I"m going to put an extra half hour or hour into my workout. It"s just accountability and it"s balancing the fact that I want to be a normal 25-year-old girl but not taking it to its limits. "
Bonding with teammates.
"If (former "Biggest Loser" contestant and now boyfriend) Daniel"s having food issues, he"ll call me," Meyer said. "We"re sort of like sponsors. Literally falling in love with my best friend and now having a built-in person who knows exactly my pitfalls, has seen me at what I consider my worst and can draw me back out -it"s incomparable. " She also told us Daniel is moving to Des Moines and the two plan to become certified for personal training.
Working with a trainer.
Superstar trainers Jillian Michael and Bob Harper made Meyer sweat on the show, but it took the dedication of trainers in Des Moines to help her become the at-home winner. "I have the best "Des Moines Jillian and Bob" - Gigi and Rodney Filer from Gigi"s Pilates Studio," Meyer said.
Wearing a calorie tracker.
The black band Meyer sported on her upper arm during an appearance on Jay Leno wasn"t a fashion accessory to show off her sculpted muscles, it was a calorie-tracking bodybugg device. "My calories now are going to be around 1,500 to 1,800 and anywhere to 2,000 because I no longer need to be burning a pound a day. With my bodybugg, it"s calories in, calories out. I"m making sure I"m burning if not a little more than the calories I"m consuming. "
Gaining self-esteem.
"Anyone can consume 1,200 calories and work out 4-6 hours a day," Meyer said. "You physically can do it, but it"s wrapping your mind about why you"re doing it and why it"s taken you this long. For me, it was literally figuring out . . . I was the person standing in front of my greatness. "
Setting goals.
Meyer"s first mile on "The Biggest Loser" took nearly 17 minutes to finish. A few months later, the 13. 1-miles of the IMT Des Moines half marathon took her only two hours and 16 minutes. Meyer"s new goal is to run a road race in every state before she turns 30 (she turns 26 in March) and in April, she"ll add Massachusetts to the list. She was invited to run the Boston Marathon for charity with 17 weeks to train.

"From now on, it"s setting goals," Meyer said. It"s just monotonous to work out. "

She plans to hit Hawaii for an Ironman in 2011. "Who thinks like that? Apparently I do now. "

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