Thursday, August 29, 2013

Want to lose weight and get stronger?

By Katherine MacPherson BS, ACSM HFS & UVAC Personal Trainer


Hi again! It’s been a while since I’ve written a new blog and I've got the perfect topic to discuss.  Have you heard about our program Shed and Shred here at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center?  It has been nearly a year and a half since our first round started and WOW…the changes we instructors have seen in the participants have been incredible. 
What is Shed and Shred?  It is a small group Personal Training weight loss program.  It runs for 6 or 8 weeks and includes 2 shed and shred fitness classes, two 30 minute personal meetings, off day workout homework’s, weekly weigh-in and measurements.  Plus it offers encouraging incentives such a 10% discount off your next Shed and Shred and winners get 3 free personal training sessions (a $135 value!)
Before you start to think that I am just marketing the program (I sort of am :) because it rocks!) there are many things for you to discover about the people that partake in the 6 or 8 week rounds.  The program is a not only a major commitment, but when participant’s truly follow our weight loss regimen they lose the weight and keep it off.   Above all, these people are happier, stronger and now educated on real life useful healthy eating tips and planning. 
No, we don’t market meal replacements, shakes or the latest and strangest diet.  We literally teach our participants to eat REAL food.  Learning to make food healthier and easier to plan out has been the ultimate educator for Shed and Shred.   Many us want to lose the weight fast and are ready to try almost anything.  Again, you have to be committed to the long term idea of healthy living.  “Diets” are temporary! 
Fitness is of course also a major aspect of the program.  The classes typically focus around strength endurance interval training.  Meaning we infuse anywhere from 6 to 12 exercises in timed or repetition bursts and rotations.  Also meaning... we keep you moving!  Each class is different and we love to surprise our participants with motivating new exercises.  One participant says “I have been wanting to lose weight and improve my fitness level for a long time.  Shed and Shred gave me the structure that I needed to achieve my goals.  The group dynamic and effective coaching kept me motivated and on track!” 
The first day of each new round we hold a “testing day.”  This is where we test how far you can walk or run in 12 minutes, how many push-ups you can do, how long you can hold a plank and how many squats you can do a 60 seconds.   OK, don’t be intimated!  It’s actually a great day because 100% of Shed and Shreder's INCREASE all their results on the final testing day 6 or 8 weeks later.  It’s not uncommon to see a participant hold a 20 second plank on day one, and then complete a 2:00 plank by week 6 or 8.  The improvement is waiting for you!!
Each week we post the body percent loss for each group.  Yes, this is where we get a little competitive (cough cough John and Garrett cough.)  We mathematically group individual weigh-ins by group and show the building the percent’s (no names are displayed.)  At the end of each round, we go back to our equations and two winners are picked.  The two criteria’s to win are highest weight loss by pounds and highest percent body weight loss.   
If you want to lose weight, or learn how to be fit and eat healthy I encourage you to take this class.  As an instructor I personally get inspired when I see individuals fight their barriers and become a stronger person.  I take pride in helping others reach their goals!  Plus I love beating John and Garrett!  Just kidding, but seriously.  If you have any questions about Shed and Shred, or even Personal Training please feel free to call or email us at anytime.
Shed and Shred Round 10 starts September 9th, 2013.
Call us at 802-286-2850 X 104 or email jgrainger@uvac-swim.org for questions.   

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Teenage UVAC Swimmer Creates eyeFree Sports Stopwatch App


Teenage UVAC Swimmer 

Creates eyeFree Sports Stopwatch App

iPod (medium)



The Upper Valley Aquatic Center is home to many amazing swimmers who do many amazing things. Last year, Conner Koehler, UVAC team swimmer created the eyeFree Sport Stopwatch for the iPhone.

Brian Dirrane, swim coach at Upper Valley Aquatic Center, knew Koehler was a tech savvy kid. So he asked him if he could figure out something that would work better than the stopwatch on his iPhone. “Brian was having trouble hitting the software buttons and starting the stopwatch, so he asked me to help,” said Koehler, a 15-year-old high school sophomore who has been swimming at Upper Valley since he was 10. “He would need to look at the screen which is hard to do when you try to look at the start and at the swimmer finishing at the wall.”

Koehler’s solution was to use the volume buttons instead of the screen. “The use of the volume buttons give it a physical button to press, and when it is pressed, the iPhone vibrates to confirm that the command was sent. You can even customize it to make the screen flash when the button is pressed.”

With Max Greenwald, An iOS developer, who worked on the project over last summer, they built the app to include an intuitive history functionality so that anyone can go back and look at the total time and laps that happened during that session with an easy-to-use interface.

The two are currently working on an Android version expected to come out in the first half of 2013.

“Max and I started programming for the iPhone and iPad about a year and a half ago, and we wanted to put custom apps on our iPads,” said Koehler, whose main swim events are the 500 freestyle and 100 butterfly. “Our first app was a calculator called InfinityCalc, which is a free calculator for the iPad and iPhone. It’s meant to be a simple calculator that you can have wherever you go.”
iPod (medium)
The stopwatch app is currently available on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, and coaches can go and download the app. They set the price for the app at $.99,and they are continually adding new features and working on it. “The app is not aimed just at coaches; other swimmers and parents could use it for timing,” Koehler said.

And Brian Dirrane is now using the app faithfully as he trains his athletes. “It’s an excellent app; I use it all the time,” Dirrane said. “It displays continuously, and there are ideas for future functionality. It’s very easy to use no matter how tech-savvy someone may or may not be.

“Someone asked me why I just don’t use a regular stopwatch at the pool, but with the iPhone, there are so many ways to store and record splits and times that can be used in some many different ways electronically. Rather than having to input times over and over for various uses, I can do it once with the iPhone stopwatch app. Plus, stopwatch buttons lose their sensitivity over time, and that’s not a problem with the iPhone."


Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The Art of Active Listening: The Gorilla in the Room


There was a study done a while back where a group of people were asked to watch a screen and count the number of times a basketball was passed back and forth between two teams.  The task required a high amount of concentration. During the test the researchers had a man, dressed in a gorilla costume, walk into the middle of the court, stand for a few seconds, beat his chest, and then walk off. Amazingly only 50% of the people watching the video noticed the gorilla. The rest were so intent on counting the ball being passed that they didn’t see the gorilla. It turns out that when performing a task that requires concentration our brains respond by filtering out information that doesn’t pertain directly to the task at hand.

I started writing this as a memo to the Upper Valley Aquatic Center staff to point out an important skill associated with providing good customer interactions.  Just about every business talks about how they are focused on customer service. But when American consumers are asked to rate customer service the general consensus is that it’s not very good, with some exceptions of course. But I realized that it has broader implications for all of us to improve our interactions with our children, spouses, and friends. So I thought that I’d share it with you. Good customer service begins with “active” listening. So does being a good parent, spouse or friend.

On a personal level I know that I have messed up opportunities to have a more meaningful interchange with business associates, customers, and my family because of missing the obvious signals. I missed them because I was concentrating too hard on a project that I was in the middle of, how I was going to respond, or what I wanted to get out of the conversation. So I missed what they were actually saying.  I frequently have to remind myself to look for the “gorilla” when interacting with people, especially someone who is uncomfortable or could just use some extra help. If we all get a little bit better at listening I’m sure that our lives will be enhanced. All of us at UVAC are working on improving this skill.
 By Upper Valley Aquatic Center's Executive Director, Richard Synnott