100 Days til Summer Challenge Results

It was a long 100 days. After all was said and done, over 320 lbs were lost and a lot of members at The Club at Morristown were well on there way to their weight loss goals. The 100 day competition, which combined exclusive boot camps, nutrition consultations and weekly meetings with trainers, ended in a surprisingly close finish, with just 1.5 lbs separating First and Second places.

The winner, Tim Jabbour, lost a total of 40 lbs, surpassing his original goal by a large margin. Tim will be celebrating his first place finish with a trip to Atlantic City's Borgata Hotel & Casino courtesy of The Club. Tim worked with Matt Kovacs over the last 5 weeks of the competition. "Tim's focus and drive throughout the entire contest was inspirational, "says Kovacs. "He'd make weekly goals and consistently hit them. He took everything I showed him and completely changed the way he trained. I'd see him every morning at 6am on the power racks or the treadmill. It's a great feeling to have contributed in a small way to his success." Tim and his wife, Katie, who recently became parents for the first time, are already looking forward to the next weight loss competition.

Second place finisher Cathi Hewston lost a total of 39 lbs. According to Cathi, her journey has just begun. Training with Greg Pompei, mostly in the boxing studio, Cathi's plan is to lose another 40 lbs by Christmas.

Rounding out the top 3 was Rachel Collins, a native of Ireland in the U.S. on an internship. Rachel lost a total of 16 lbs, and more importantly, has a newly found healthy lifestyle.

Kovacs says the success of the program can be attributed to the dedication of all the contestants as well as the training staff. "Seeing the reactions at the weigh ins every week was great. The participants really pushed each other. We're all proud of everyone involved."

Look for the next competition this Winter.

The Female Strength Training Movement

There's a movement that's sweeping through the fitness community. Although it's not a new concept, it's finally reaching the masses and making it's way into gyms and studios across the country. Thanks to resources like Girls Gone Strong, women are finally realizing the role that strength training should play a role in their training routine. Hopefully the days of steady state cardio routines and going to the gym just for the spin classes are over.

I'd like to say the myths associated with women strength training are gone as well. Statements like 'I don't want to get bulky' and 'I don't want to put on muscle, I just want to get toned' are unfortunately still heard by trainers every day from new clients. I always stress the importance of strength training as a key component on transforming their bodies, getting healthier, moving better, and just generally feeling better about themselves. Progressing through squat and deadlift variations, I always enjoy the reactions from my female clients when they hit a PR, or are finally able to squat past parallel. Accomplishments that they couldn't realize pounding away on the treadmill or working on machines. Big, compound movements such as some variation of the squat, deadlift, clean & press and pull ups should be incorporated into a program that also includes conditioning.

The self confidence and excitement I see from most of my female clients when they finally squat their body weight, or get through a set of heavy kettlebell snatches with perfect form, or are finally able to do a strict pull up makes my day. When a client hits her PR on deadlift and tells me to throw on 10 more pounds or hits a sticking point on bench press and tells me not to touch it; I know she's caught the bug. I know that coming to the gym means something different to her now. She's set goals for herself. She sees the changes, feels different, more healthy and confident. It's a great transformation to witness, both physically and emotionally.

Some strong women to follow. These are the founders of the Girls Gone Strong movement:

http://www.niashanks.com/

http://www.myomytv.com/

http://www.jencomaskeck.com/

http://www.negharfonooni.com/

http://allimckee.com/

http://www.julialadewski.com/

http://mollygalbraith.com/