When you work in an office for eight hours a day, it’s very difficult to eat healthy and keep in shape. There’s too many temptations when eating out for lunch every day, not to mention all the treats vendors and co-workers bring in each day. On top of that, most office work is done while sitting down, so there’s no real chance to work off some of the excess calories consumed throughout the day.

Despite the odds stacked against you, there are a few things you can do to help keep healthy and in shape while working a desk job.

1. Avoid the break room as much as possible. – Vending machines are rarely stocked with healthy food, and it’s even rarer to find them in offices. If you are easily tempted by potato chips and candy bars, stay far, far away. Also try to avoid rushing down there at each announcement of free food.
2. Stretch whenever you can. – Sitting for long periods of time can cause muscle stiffness and soreness. Whenever you get a spare minute, stand up and stretch your arms, legs, and back.
3. Pack nuts for a snack. – Almonds, walnuts, and pistachios are all high in healthy fats. Nuts will also keep you full longer than junk food, so you won’t feel the need to eat as often.
4. Take the stairs. – You will be amazed at how much a simple thing like taking the stairs over the elevator will boost your fitness. However, be smart about it. Don’t take the stairs all the way if your office on the 20th floor; take the elevator to a few floors below your office, and then walk the rest of the way.
5. Occasionally shake your hands. – The repetitiveness of typing can cause carpal tunnel syndrome, so throughout your day, shake out the muscles in your hands.
6. Dump the candy jar. – If you keep a candy jar on your desk and you find your hand in it often, it’s time to get rid of it. While you’re at it, stay away from your officemates’ candy too.
7. Physically talk to your co-workers. – Instead of constantly calling and/or emailing co-workers, every now and then, get up and walk over to them to talk. Please note that we are not advising you to chat to the point of getting in trouble.
8. Do some leg lifts under your desk. – The circulation in your legs can slow down if you don’t move much during the day. Do some leg lifts at your desk to help keep the blood flowing.
9. Drink water instead of soda. – All sodas, even diet soda, contain chemicals harmful for your body. By drinking water, not only will you hydrate yourself better, you will also help clean out toxins from your body.

Now don’t try adding in all of these into your workday at once. Slowly trickle them in, and soon you will find that all of them will easily become part of your daily routine.

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The summer may be winding down to a close, but the Brickhouse Gym is still going strong with the specials!

Starting September 1st, we will be offering half off the fee to start an automatic draft account for your membership fees. In other words, if you’d like to start paying your monthly membership fees through our electronic fund transfer (EFT) service automatically each month, you can set it up for 50% off the regular fee. There’s no time like now to remove another reminder that you have another bill to pay.

This special is available for both new members and current members.

In addition, we have a brand new special available on Foursquare. Our Foursquare mayor will receive half off one of our T-shirts! Just show proof from your phone that you are indeed the mayor to the front desk, and they will help you snag a new shirt. Please note that this special is limited to one per member. Once you earn the mayor title and claim a shirt, you cannot claim this special again.

Don’t worry, this won’t be our only Foursquare special. We will soon create specials for number of check-ins in addition to mayor specials. So don’t forget to check in with Foursquare at the gym!

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The Brickhouse Gym will be open on Labor Day, September 6, 2010, but we will have different hours from normal. After all, we want to get into some of that Labor Day barbecue action too.

So for those of you who will include working out as part of your Labor Day celebration, we will be open from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Also please note that we are now on Facebook Places! If you have a phone with the Facebook app, please be sure to check in whenever you’re at the gym, announcing that you are going to the best gym in Denton.

Please note again our Labor Day hours, and we look forward to seeing you at the gym!

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Courtesy of Gary's World of Wellness

Last week, we discussed why it’s important to stay hydrated while you exercise. But do you know what you should drink in order to stay hydrated? Water is an obvious choice, and it’s one of the best options out there. However, not everyone likes the taste of water, and since there are so many options available – flavored water, sports drinks, energy drinks, etc. – it’s hard to pick what’s the best one. Some of it depends on taste preferences, but it also greatly depends on how long and how intensely you work out.

Water: Flavored and Unflavored

Plain water is most people’s drink of choice, but not everyone is a fan. If you’re one of those who really does not like the taste of plain, unflavored water, then flavored water is perfectly acceptable when trying to replace fluids during and after workouts. However, water, flavored or unflavored, is only good for your body for moderate workouts, which typically last under an hour and a half. Beyond that, your body will have lost enough nutrients through sweat to warrant something extra.

Sports Drinks

Sports drinks offer three things for your body: hydration, carbohydrate fuel, and electrolytes (i.e. sodium, potassium and chloride). With rigorous exercise that lasts beyond 90 minutes, your body needs all these things to be replaced to avoid injury and excessive fatigue.

Although,  be careful of how much of a sports drink you consume, because while they don’t contain the same amount of sugar as found in sodas, they still have enough to be harmful in excess.

Vitamin Water

Vitamin water in moderate amounts is okay, but it’s far healthier for you to obtain vitamins from food and beverages. If you eat well, then you won’t need vitamin water. But if you really like vitamin water, then here are a couple of things to take into consideration:

• Check for alternative sweeteners. These are not healthier than sugar and should be consumed in moderation, especially when it comes to children.
• Watch your vitamin intake. If you already take vitamin supplements, do not drink vitamin water. In addition, do not drink too much vitamin water. Excess vitamins will pass through the kidneys like other waste, but passing large quantities of vitamins can create problems.

Energy Drinks

The chief component and attraction to energy drinks is the jolt of caffeine (or guarana, a stimulant similar to caffeine) within. In moderation (notice a pattern?) these drinks are fine and are not harmful. Before deciding on the best energy drink for you, look into how much sugar each contains. For example, Red Bull has 27 grams of carbs and 193 milligrams of sodium. There are several sugar-free energy drinks that will give you the boost without the extra calories. Also check out the herbal ingredients that many energy drinks have, as many of the herbals have not had their claimed effects proven, including ginkgo biloba and ginseng.

If you have any other questions regarding the best drink for you, be sure to ask any of our trainers at the gym!

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Keeping your body hydrated is always very important, but when you exercise, it’s even more so. No doubt you’ve heard trainers – like our own – harp on you or others about keeping adequately hydrated. Well here is exactly why keeping hydrated is so important, other than satiating your thirst.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that everyone drink 17 ounces of fluid two hours before exercise to start the needed hydration process and to help the body force out any excess water. Despite how crazy it sounds, the only way to lose retained water is to drink more water. While exercising, the College recommends that people drink early into the workout and at regular intervals throughout in order to replace the fluids they are losing through sweat. Constantly replenishing lost water helps the body continue to transport nutrients and gases (oxygen and carbon dioxide), remove toxins within the body, and regulate body temperature (which of course, helps prevent overheating or muscles freezing up in the cold).

Keeping yourself well hydrated during a workout will also greatly reduce the risk of injury. If the body doesn’t have enough fluid, nothing will work as well as it should, increasing the possibility of severe cramping, nausea, fatigue, and muscle strain.

Always keep a bottle of water or a sports drink with you while you exercise, and be sure to drink plenty both before and after your workout. Don’t forget to keep yourself hydrated throughout your day as well, whether you are working out or not. If you feel thirsty, your body has already started the dehydration process albeit minor at this point. Drink every half hour while not exercising, and then drink at regular intervals while exercising. If you have any questions about how well you are keeping hydrated while working out, please be sure to talk to our resident nutritionist, Dr. Quin.

Try it just once and see how much better you will feel as well as how much better your workout will be!

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We regret to announce that we will no longer be offering the Victims of Crime School Class within our self defense programs. However, we still offer our other self defense classes: Texas Isshinryu Karate Kai and Predator Martial Arts Self Defense.

Self defense is one of the world’s oldest methods of fitness of both the body and mind. Not only will it help you get in shape, you will learn discipline, control, and above all else, how to defend yourself if needed. And despite what you may believe, practically anyone can learn and excel at martial arts and self defense with determination and practice. Feel free to check out one of our self defense classes and discover how much self defense can improve your physique!

Please view our Self Defense page to view the dates and times of these classes.

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Starting on August 1st, the Brickhouse Gym will be running a new special that involves earning at least one month of membership for FREE.

Have your attention? We thought so.

Until the end of August, if current gym members refer someone to the gym, and that person signs up for either a 1-year, 2-year, 3-year or any EFT (12-month electronic fund transfer or cancel anytime electronic fund transfer) membership plan, the member who referred that person will receive ONE MONTH GYM MEMBERSHIP FREE. Refer a friend, get them to join a gym, and you will receive one month free per friend.

(If you need an idea on how to get them interested in going with you to the gym, we suggest bringing them to our Zumba classes.)

For potential members who are wondering what is in it for them (aside from getting in shape and looking and feeling great), we have an August special for you too. If you join the gym in August, for every year you purchase a membership, you will receive ONE MONTH FREE plus an ADDITIONAL FREE MONTH! So if you sign up for a one-year membership, you will receive two months absolutely free. A two-year membership will reign in three months free, and then yes, a three-year membership gives you four months free.

With summer coming to a close, this is the perfect time to join Denton’s best gym. With these specials, how much more persuasion do you need to join and bring a friend? Come on by in August! We look forward to seeing you at the gym!

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As of August 3, 2010, prices for the Zumba Fitness classes at the Brickhouse Gym will increase from $5 to $7. However, don’t let this minor price increase dissuade you or your friends from joining the party. We now also offer discount punch cards for frequent Zumba class participants, and as always, gym members can join the Zumba fun for free and as often as they like.

For those unfamiliar with Zumba, the fitness program is a one hour class that focuses on easy-to-learn Latin dance moves. While you will break quite a sweat during this one hour, you will also have the most fun you have ever had while working out.

The Brickhouse Gym even has its own Zumba certified instructor straight from the Zumba Instructor Network, Maria Basaldua! Anyone can jump into the classes at anytime, so bring your friends along! When you’re ready to ditch the workout and join the party, we’ll see you at the gym.

Zumba Class Times:

• Mondays and Wednesdays – 7:30 p.m.
• Wednesdays and Fridays – 10:00 a.m.

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You’ve been thinking about joining a gym for some time. You know you need to exercise and eat better to avoid future health problems such as heart disease and diabetes. Most likely though, you have no idea where to start getting in shape. Is a gym right for me? Should I just start jogging? Can I really get enough exercise playing with my kids’ Wii?

Before you start to wonder, the answer to the latter is no.

However, don’t think that jogging and biking are your only answers (unless you really enjoy them). There are thousands of fitness centers and gyms springing up all over the United States. One of them will have the right plan for you regarding fitness goals, preferences, and cost. Visit a number of them in your area to find a professional trainer you are most comfortable with. The trainer will help you choose the right fitness program for you, and hopefully will not push you toward extraneous classes just to increase your monthly fees.

For example, if you’re looking just to tone your body and maintain good heart health, then you will need a cardiovascular workout in addition to a healthier diet. (Tip! Always ask if there is a nutritionist on staff.) However, if you’re looking to build muscle mass and become stronger, weight training will needed to be added into your cardiovascular exercises.

Despite what you think you may need for your program, your current body shape will determine the right fitness program for you. If you’re overweight, you’ll need to join a weight loss fitness program first, and then you can expand to more advanced programs that focus on body toning and strength and endurance. On the flip side, if you’re too underweight, you’ll have to enter a weight gain fitness program that will help you build proper muscle mass.

As you can see, there are several different fitness programs for everyone, and this doesn’t even scratch the surface when it comes to all of the types of classes you can take (such as spinning, aerobics, kickboxing, step aerobics, and Zumba, just to name a few). If you’re in the Denton, Texas area, and you’re looking for a gym that has a wide variety of fitness programs, professional trainers, a nutritionist on staff, and numerous fun exercise classes, then stop by the Brickhouse Gym and see all that we have to offer you to help you reach your fitness goals. We guarantee that you like our programs, our staff, and our prices.

So go out there and exercise! We look forward to seeing you at the gym!

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The Brickhouse Gym is very proud to announce our new Zumba Fitness class! Zumba Fitness prides itself in being more about having fun than feeling like you are exercising. From the official Zumba website, its founders explain that

The Zumba® program fuses hypnotic Latin rhythms and easy-to-follow moves to create a one-of-a-kind fitness program that will blow you away. Our goal is simple: We want you to want to work out, to love working out, to get hooked. Zumba® Fanatics achieve long-term benefits while experiencing an absolute blast in one exciting hour of calorie-burning, body-energizing, awe-inspiring movements meant to engage and captivate for life!

We now have our very own specially licensed Zumba trainer, Maria Basaldua, to teach you how to “ditch the workout and join the party!” You do not even have to be a member to take part in these fun fitness classes. Non-members can join the party for only $5 per class. Brickhouse Gym members, however, can take as many Zumba classes as they wish for no additional fees.

Maria’s Zumba class times are as follows:

• Monday – 7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday – 10:00 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
• Friday – 10:00 a.m.

With both morning and evening classes, there is no excuse to not try out this exciting and exhilarating new method of aerobic fitness. You won’t regret it, and we’re fairly certain you will love it enough to become a regular attendee or a new Brickhouse Gym member.

If you have any questions about the class, do not hesitate to call us, drop by the gym personally, or e-mail Maria (mariaknows@msn.com) herself!

We look forward to seeing you at the gym and in Zumba!

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