Click each image to download a printable PDF. You can assemble your very own wall of healthy cues.

Great for the Home

1.Small & Portable: Many people don’t have a ton of space for big home gyms, and a med ball is a multi-use weight, that can easily be rolled out of sight when not in use.

2. Gentle on Your Home: Traditional dumbbells or any weights with hard edges can damage floors if dropped or not set down gently. Med balls wont scrape your nice hardwood.

3. Endless Exercises: Just search YouTube for hundreds of videos for med ball exercises.

Versatility in Your Work Out

4. Dynamic Warm Ups – Rotating & Swinging. Using a low weight medicine ball with rotations and swings is a nice weighted foundation for dynamic movements at the beginning of a work out.

5. Speed & Agility Workout – Bouncing, catching and passing.  Any kind of fast paced movements done with low or moderate weight will train speed and agility.

6. Strength Conditioning -  Med balls are a great way to add a strength component to body-weight exercises like squats or lunges. Add your desired level of weight to any exercise for increased difficulty.

7. Balance Training: Use it under foot or hand to destabilize a certain move i.e. med ball push ups.

8. Massage: Use ball to roll out sore muscles

Uses You Never Thought Of

9. Fun for Kids: Smaller weights can be used for fun and safe active play time with kids.
Read ‘Medicine Ball Exercises for Children‘.

10. Foot Rest – Use under your desk at work and roll it around with your feet. It will keep you feet moving which will add up your small low intensity movements, in an otherwise sedentary space.

Yours in Health
Fitterfirst

1. Why you need an Active Office

“The office of tomorrow will be an active, engaging place that inspires good health and productivity”  – Louis Stack

The Active Office concept has long been a part of our company philosophy of S.A.M. “Practice STABILITY in everyday living to improve AGILITY at play and maintain MOBILITY for life”. This chain reaction of proactive health is incomplete without bringing activity into our work lives. By “Work lives” we are referring to how people spend the majority of their waking hours. Most people work some type of desk job, or an occupation with minimal movement. Ample research has shown that extended periods of being sedentary is a primary contributor to cardiovascular disease and cancer (We have compiled dozens of articles on the subject here). Traditional work conditions are simply no longer acceptable for maintaining health. Now – we don’t suggest everyone quit their office job and head for positions as a mail carriers (although it is a seriously healthy option). We would rather see workplaces adopt the Active Office approach. “The office of tomorrow” is now the office of today. More an more people are incorporating activity into their workplaces because it can be extremely easy, highly practical and healthy!

2. Think S.L.I.M. Small Low-Intesity Movements

For decades people have been looking to have their cake and eat it too – a “magic formula” that will make them slim, happy, healthy and productive. It actually exists and it’s called NEAT: Non-Exercise Activity Thermogensis – read: doing small low-intensity movements throughout the day. Read even just 1 article about NEAT (or just Google it!) and you’ll be amazed what a simple but profound concept it is. NEAT is that critical component in determining metabolism. It’s what can make the difference between slim and obsese, healthy and diseased, energized and fatigued. Diet of course plays a major role in all of these, but NEAT can play an even bigger role and is often overlooked, especially because it can be a buffer for overeating*. NEAT is responsible for the people who just “naturally have high metabolisms” – observe these people,  chances are they aren’t sitting still – they are “naturally” doing something, small things all day long.

*”We found that people can increase their NEAT by 800 calories a day and resist gaining weight, even when they eat too much.” – Endocrinologist Dr. James Levine.

Read that article here

Try replacing your sedentary hours with N.E.A.T.

 3. Revive your 9-5

If you consider that most people spend 8+ hours a day sitting hunched over a computer literally sitting still – it’s no wonder we are plagued the so many health problems. This is where the Active Office comes in. Incorporating activity into your work life doesn’t need to be difficult or expensive. Not everybody can afford an adjustable sit/stand desk  – a ball chair is a great addition to your sedentary office, and it’s a very affordable option. Constrained to an office chair ? A sit disc can help alleviate back pain, and allows your hips and joints move while seated. Remember – it’s the accumulation of small movement that will provide results. Everybody’s active office will be unique to their work and preferences, that’s why Fitterfirst carries a variety of products that will help introduce activity into your office. There are so many ways to improve the traditional office and find lots of ways to incorporate more NEAT into your life.

Corporate Lunch & Learn
Are you an employer that would like to improve the health of your employees? We would love to teach you more about the Active Office concept and personally work with you to incorporate activity into your workplace.

CALL:  1-800-FITTER1 (348-8371)    or   EMAIL: sales@fitter1.com

Your in Health
Fitterfirst

We have compiled articles, studies and research from a variety of reputable sources and experts. Even if you only read a couple of the articles, you’ll have an appreciation of why the Active Office is such a big deal. Caution: Reading these articles may have you itching to get up and move!

Active Office Support Articles

Burning Question: Why Sit Up Straight?

The Wall Street Journal – May , 2013

Click to read full article

Can sitting too much kill you?

Scientific American - January 6, 2011  – By Travis Saunders

Click to read full article

Sitting for hours can shave years off life

CNN.com - June 24, 2011 – By William Hudson

Click to read full article

 Get Up, Stand Up, For Your Life: Can Standing Desks Fight Sitting Disease?

Forbes.com – August 2, 2012 – By Kate Taylor

Click to read full article

Is Sitting a Lethal Activity?

The New York Times – April 14, 2011 – By James Vlahos

Click to read full article

Sitting May Increase Risk Of Disease

Science Daily- November 20, 2007

Click to read full article

Sitting time and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

US National Library of Medicine – May 2009 – By Katzmarzyk PT, Church TS, Craig CL, Bouchard C.

Click to read full article

Role of Low Energy Expenditure and Sitting in Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, Type 2 Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease

American Diabetes Association – September 2007 – By Deborah G. Hamilton, Marc T. Hamilton,Theodore W. Zderic

Click to read full article

Stand Up For Your Health - Physiologists And Microbiologists Find Link Between Sitting And Poor Health

Science Daily - June 2008

Click to read full article

Stand Up While You Read This!

The New York Times- February, 2010 – By Olivia Judson

Click to read full article

The Extreme Dangers of Sitting

Neurosenthesis - January 20, 2011 – By James A. Levine, PhD, Mayo Clinic

Click to read full article

The Most Dangerous Thing You’ll Do All Day

Yahoo Health- March 30, 2011 – By Bill Phillips & Editors of Men’s Health

Click to read full articles

Is Your Office Chair Killing You?

Men’s Health- October, 2010 – By Maria Masters

Click to read full article

Ditch Your Office Chair for a New ‘Standing Desk’

WIRED Magazine – May 2012 – By The Wirecutter

Click to read full article

Do you have sitting disease?

Mayo Clinic – July, 2012 – By

Click to Read Full article

Your in Health
Fitterfirst

The Video: Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic presents the study of Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenisis (NEAT) and discusses some of the solutions explored to increase mobility in every day life.

Other Great Articles with Dr. James Levine:

What are the Risks of Sitting too Much – mayoclinic.com

Is Sitting a Lethal Activity – nytimes.com

Your in Health
Fitterfirst

Bullet-Proof Knees

By Suzanne Nottingham
The key to your knees is to train for strength, support, and balance.

Every skier and snowboarder has heard it more than once in their life: “Bend your knees.” That’s particularly good advice for tense beginners or intermediates who look rigid. But what appears to be “knee bend” in experienced skiers and riders is actually a kind of functional relaxation, something that becomes a habit in all good athletes because of one important fact: Relaxing the knees facilitates balance.

Below are four exercises to develop knee strength, balance, and quickness using apparatus found in most gyms. Add them to your usual strength exercises before and during ski season. In preparation for winter, don’t ignore aerobic conditioning (try cycling or in-line skating) or the flexibility provided by stretching.

Here are 4 Quick Moves to Strengthen Your Knees:

#1 Fitness Ball Leg Curls: Lie on your back with the ball under the calves. Roll the ball toward your heels while lifting the pelvis; knees will bend. Keep your feet aligned with the hips. Try one to three sets of 12 repetitions.

Focus: to strengthen the hamstrings (one of the most under-conditioned muscle groups) and body core. Your hamstrings are responsible for stabilizing the knee joints if they strain their range of safe movement (about 3-5 degrees laterally).

#2 Lunges On A Wobble Board: Stand with your feet hips’ width apart and step one foot forward onto the wobble board so that the weight is on the heel. Lower and raise your center of mass (hips), keeping the weight evenly distributed between the heel of the front foot and the ball of the back foot while your upper body is upright. Lowering and raising your hips several times on a wobble board is challenging. So, first try one set of 12 repetitions on each side on the ground. Then go for one set of 8-12 on both sides on the board.

Focus: strengthens the lower back, hips, butt, and thighs. Be aware of the knee moving too far inside or outside during each lunge; chances are, the same thing is happening on skis or a board.

#3. Single-Side Squat With Resistance Tube: Put one end of the resistance tube under one foot and hold the other end on your hand. Standing on just that one leg, bend the knee to 30-60 degrees during squats. (Professionals bend to 80-90 degrees as a test of strength or dysfunction). Try one to three sets (depending on your fitness level) of 15 repetitions on both sides.

Focus: Supporting the body on one leg forces stabilization of the entire body. This amount of flexing and extending is similar to the moving from foot-to-foot action of both skiing and riding.

Focus: While squats alone will strengthen your thigh-to-knee connection, adding the Bongo Board trains your entire body for stabilization and balance.

#4 Squarts On A Bongo Board: First perfect a squat on solid ground. Place your feet slightly wider that your hips, toes pointing ahead. Lower your hips as though sitting in a chair, keeping your weight centered over the arch and heel of your feet, your head upright, and eyes focused straight ahead. Then, if you’ve never been on a Bongo Board, get comfortable with it. Use it on a carpeted area and have someone “spot” you while you try a few squats (the spotter’s hands should be close to your waist). As you get more confident, change foot positions to simulate skiing and snowboarding stances.

Your in Health
Fitterfirst

Suzanne Nottingham is a fitness consultant based in Mammoth Lakes, California. She serves on the Governor’s Council for Physical Fitness and is a part-time ski instructor at Mammoth Mountain.

Long gone are the days of stale workplaces that don’t support human life…or so we would hope. At Fitterfirst we strive to create an ergonomically sensible office – The Active Office approach and encourage all workplaces to follow suit. We understand for most people, the reality is spending  9 – 5 (or more) sedentary in front of a computer. It’s incredibly easy to stay hunched concentrating on work but we urge you – don’t sit still! Do yourself a favor and try doing these simple steps a few times a day.

The following 7 Steps are based on Paul Chek’s 7 primal Patterns of Movement. Performing them throughout the day will give your body the overall movement it naturally craves, and help stay fit at work.

1. PUSH
Stand with knees slightly bent, grasp the edge of your desk and lightly push against it to activate the muscles in your arms, shoulders, chest and core.

2. PULL
Holding the desk, gently pull back towards yourself, activating your arms, shoulders and back. Hold each push and pull for 5 seconds. Repeat 5 times.

3. BEND
From a standing position, fold forwards from the waist and rest your arms on your desk to extend the muscles in your back and stretch out your legs.

4. LIFT
In a controlled position with bent knees, grab the back of a chair and lift it 1inch off the ground, activating muscles up the kinetic chain.

5. SQUAT
From a standing position, keeping your back upright, slowly bend your knees into a deep squat, stretching all the muscle groups of the leg.

6. TWIST
Still holding the desk, gently pull back towards yourself, activating your arms, shoulders and back. Hold each push and pull for 5 second and repeat 5 times

7. WALK
The best way keep all your muscles active is to stand up and take a quick walk every half hour. Your muscles will thank you! Try a walk and talk for your next meeting.

7 Simple Steps to Activate you office PDF : Print and pin it up somewhere visible as a reminder.

Set a “Get Up & Move” alert on your computer or phone. Time it for regular intervals throughout your work day. Yay!

Check out the Active Office section of fitter1.com for a variety of products to help revive your 9-5.

Your in Health
Fitterfirst

Proprioception: From brushing your teeth to driving, the body relies on proprioception to effectively complete a range of motor tasks with minimal focus.

Here is the definition from Merriam-Webster:

Perception of stimuli relating to position, posture, equilibrium, or internal condition. Receptors (nerve endings) in skeletal muscles and on tendons provide constant information on limb position and muscle action for coordination of limb movements. Awareness of equilibrium changes usually involves perception of gravity. In humans, gravity, position, and orientation are registered by tiny grains called otoliths moving within two fluid-filled sacs in the inner ear in response to any change in position or orientation. Their motion is detected by sense hairs. Rotation is detected by the inertial lag of fluid in the semicircular canals acting on the sense hairs. The central nervous system integrates signals from the canals to perceive rotation in three dimensions.

A few fun facts about Proprioception:

• Is a combination of balance, coordination & agility
• It enables the body to move and control limbs without directly looking at them
• Can be improved with balance training on uneven surfaces
• People fail sobriety tests due to a lack of ability to spatially locate their limbs relative to their noses, i.e. decreased proprioception

This video is a look at proprioception  in children. It is funny but demonstrates how important this “6th sens is”. Our proprioceptive sense evolves into adulthood, but requires regular exercise so it doesn’t diminish over time.

Fun!

Your in Health
Fitterfirst

We believe that everybody WILL at some point invest time and money into keeping their body functional; either with preventative care (pre-hab) or reactive care (rehab). The later is usually much more difficult to preform and far more expensive. Preventative health measures don’t even have to break the bank. We have come up with a list of small products that are an asset to any fitness regimen.

All this for under $100

1. Foam Roller: $11.95 – 18″

I can’t stress how important it is to have a foam roller in your life. Regardless of fitness level (even sedentary) you should have one, they just feel plain good. Foam rollers  can be used for a myriad of stretches (download a free exercise chart). Using your body weight to roll you can achieve deep massage with relatively little effort. Although they are no replacement for a real massage therapist, if you roll regularly, you can easily reduce the amount of soreness and stiffness caused by being a human being. Stand with a foam roller between your back and a wall for an nice back massage. Foam Rollers can also double as a tool for stability exercises and strength work.

2. ProStretch- Single: $29.95
The Pro Stretch unique design naturally induces movement and enables you to stretch hamstrings, calf muscles, Achilles tendon and plantar fascia. Professional sports teams keep it by the bench to keep athletes calves and ankles flexible during games. It is a great way to turn muscles “on” pre run and feels amazing after a hard workout as well. The curvature helps with dynamic stretching so your muscles wont be held in a static position. I like it for running because it takes the guess work out of “which stretch should I do next” and with the Pro Stretch you can feel the stretches right away.

3. Torex – various sizes : Range $12.95 – $26.95 various sizes
R.I.C.E. is the age old acronym for Rest Ice Compression Elevation. For those of you who skip this important part of recovery, because being out of commission sitting on a couch holding a frozen bag of peas is not only inconvenient but boring, then YOU are in luck. The Torex radial sleeves are designed for elbow, knee, ankle and any other part of your body you can roll them around, which means they are HANDS FREE! ( multi-tasking optional). They are non toxic gel bags that don’t freeze solid but are as cold as ice, so they are flexible and give you a full 360 icing. They come with a compression sleeve that is easy for the Torex to roll over and means no direct contact with your skin. Once I bought one of these I was excited to ice. Torex are not just for icing either, they can be put in boiling water for heat therapy (just read the directions). They are also great for pre and post operative treatment and chilling a warm beverage.

4. Tiger Tail – 18″ : $24.95
“I 5 frugal Happy Muscles” reads the band around the handle of the Tiger Tail massager, and that’s exactly what you get. Not only is it the coolest name for a product but it works well too. The tiger tail is very firm, and with a smaller surface area than the foam roller it is better for massaging specific and hard to reach areas. There is so many different massages you can do with the tiger tail , and twice as many that you can do with a friend. Beware: when the Tiger tail is used properly it can result in guttural “Ohhhs” and “Ahh Ah Ahs” ( those are the sounds of pleasurable pain). I found  this helpful massage chart for the Tiger Tail, which introduced me to using it for foot rolling for sore arches. These are small enough to keep in your gym bag or on your desk at work for a mid-day roll.

5. Ever Bamboo Deodorizer Dehumidifier for Shoes : $9.95
These wont help your performance, but they will help you feel better about the freshness of your runners.These deodorizers are made from 100% natural moso bamboo charcoal. They are not chemical additives like most deodorizers, they simply suck up the stink and leave your sweaty stuff dry and scentless. They remove moisture from your shoes or gym bag which reduce the likelihood of bacteria. They are also a great addition to your frugal fitness regime because when you are done with them ( about a year of use) you can sprinkle them into gardening soil.

On the road to the final round, Elite West had to beat the Edmonton Green Bears ( Feeder to the U of A Golden Bears) who won the CDN National Championships in Toronto last month.  This win was Elite  Wests first in 2 year against their biggest rival the Green Bears.

In the Final Game  9th ranked Elite West had to beat #1 ranked VAQUEROS 17-1 (PU) (2   from Puerto Rico.  Edmonton Bear placed 3 over all  of 50 teams.

Over the four day event teams played at least  10 sets of best of 3 games in the Dallas Convention Center.

Fitterfirst has been a proud  2 year sponsor of all Fitness Training Equipment for Elite West.  Endurance and athletic focus was a big part of winning this prestigious National Championship and these Calgary area grade 12 students were able to put it all together at just the right time.