Blog | Body Blocks Fitness | An experience in building fitness

From the Blog

My Time at Body Blocks

Posted under: General

My name is Austin Spatorico, and I want to start off by saying how unique and welcoming Body Blocks is for new member, interns, and employees.

I am a senior at Canisius College graduating this coming spring with a degree in Sports and Exercise Health Care with a minor in Strength and Conditioning. One requirement that I needed to complete to graduate was completing an internship at a location relevant to my desired field (I aspire to be a Strength and Conditioning coach). One of my club hockey teammates at Canisius recommended I check out Body Blocks Fitness; stating it had a great atmosphere, friendly members and employees, and a wealth of knowledge to learn from – he could not have been more correct.

I have been with Body Blocks since September of 2021 when I just started out shadowing at the facility where I quickly discovered it was more than “just a gym”. The first thing that caught my attention was some of the unique equipment that they had and utilized to optimize results and benefits for members – including power plates, TRX bands, spinal motion machine and more. All of the equipment is not for show, but is strategically used by a highly trained and knowledgeable staff during a member’s personal training session. Throughout my time, Bob Bateson (owner/personal trainer) and Nick Navarro (personal trainer/nutrition specialist) have trained and taught me how to use this equipment in a workout regimen. Resources like this and Bob and Nick’s expertise on personal training and session development makes Body Blocks a great place for anyone to join their fitness journey.

Body Blocks also does a lot more than your basic resistance and cardiovascular training. They pride themselves on their unique and easily accessible recovery methods – including an infrared sauna, Normatec recovery equipment, Ozone recovery, and even more. Not only will the staff here help you on how to train and exercise properly, but they have a wealth of knowledge on how to properly rest and recover your body when you are not working out; which is a very important fitness aspect a lot of people neglect (myself included until now). Ever since I began training using these methods myself I have found immediate results in areas that I desired.

The most noticeable thing I have found during my internship is the overall atmosphere of the staff and the members. It has always been said to any employee working in any facility to be kind and be friendly, however Body Blocks goes above and beyond those expectations. The repour and friendly relationships that are made not only between staff and members but within the members themselves helps Body Blocks feel more like a club with a welcoming family environment than like a place to just work. The number of smiles and friendly conversations and gestures I have seen on a daily basis is incredible and really makes coming into work feel more like a leisure activity than a job. Bob and Nick are extremely talented at knowing how to relate to the members and other staff members, but also know when it is time to train and get to work. This is one of the biggest reasons why I would recommend this internship opportunity to anyone who asks for advice.

As for myself after graduation I will be working for and power skating company for hockey players. We work with athletes ages 7 to adult with skill levels ranging from beginners to professionals, working on proper technique for powerful and efficient skating. Unfortunately, this job will include a lot of traveling time for me, meaning my time at Body Blocks will be few and far between. However, I am extremely excited to take my knowledge of personal training and strength and conditioning that I have developed here during my internship and applying it to specific athletes in a specific sport in order to improve their physical capabilities. Not only will I use this knowledge for athletes I will be working with but will also use this knowledge for my own training as well.

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A discussion about incorporating the NormaTec Recovery System into your wellness plan with Dr. Kaplan.

Posted under: Exercise, Fitness, Recovery, Stretching

Check out this great conversation I had with Dr. Kaplan from OWM Buffalo about the benefits of incorporating the NormaTec Recovery System into your wellness plan. A short 15-minute session helps flush toxins, reduce inflammation, improve circulation and oxygenation, and more.

Call Body Blocks to learn more about how it works or pricing. Discover the benefits that top athletes have been enjoying for years.

Call 716.847.2639 also be sure to visit OWN BUFFALO to learn more about the services that Dr. Kaplan and his team offer.

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Join Bob and Dr. Kaplan for Weekly Zoom Workout Sessions.

Posted under: Exercise, Fitness, Stretching, Super Slow Resistance Training

SIGN UP: Thursdays at 4:00PM, Bob and Dr. Kaplan will be doing live Zoom training sessions. These training sessions will focus on global muscle activation emphasizing minimal stress to the joints and immune system. We will go over strategies that will give your home workouts order and direction. Super Slow Resistance Training and breath work will be incorporated into each session.

Sign Up for Free


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Staying Healthy and Fit During Stressful Times

Posted under: Exercise, Fitness, Nutrition

Check out this great conversation I had with my good friend and colleague Dr. Kaplan from OWM Buffalo about the importance of staying active and physically fit to reduce inflammation and support your immune system during times of stress. Watch for our upcoming Zoom workout sessions where we will be sharing tips, techniques, and strategies that you can implement at home or at the gym.

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Conventional Training vs. MC²

Posted under: Exercise, Fitness, Uncategorized

Nowadays we are exposed to all sorts of recommended work out styles, each of which have their own benefits. In this blog we are going to discuss the benefits that can be enjoyed by implementing a workout style that strategically combines the effectiveness of time, cardio, and compound movements; this workout is known as MC² (pronounced M C squared).

Start by establishing the basics:

Conventional weight training is the foundation of a good workout. Conventional training consists of exercises that incorporate an individual body part with single or [mutli] joint movements. Examples of these exercises would include basic: Presses, Rows, Fly, Squats, etc.This method of training is necessary to help establish your base. Without a good foundation, other workouts will be more difficult and often ineffective.

You should utilize conventional training methods and concentrate on proper form and technique before integrating compound movements into your workouts. Failure to do this may cause your workouts to get sloppy when you attempt to incorporate compound movements and could result in injuries. Clearly this is not functional or healthy for your body and may delay you achieving your fitness goals. Proper execution of exercises will accelerate your outcome.

Need help creating a conventional training program? Please consult a coach or a trainer. There is no shame in asking for help every now and again. All the best people, in whatever their vocation, have usually had some help or guidance along the way; the concept with your workouts is the same. When working out at the gym and unsure of how to use a piece of equipment or perform an exercise properly always ask a gym employee if there is someone to give you direction or feel free to shoot me an email and I’ll do my best to respond with the guidance that you need.

A MC² style workout (concept designed by Free Motion Fitness ) is a combination of timed compound movements and timed heavy-load cardio. Compound exercises are movements that utilize more than one body part at a time, such as squat/curls, lunge/chest press, lunge/triceps-extension, etc.

Cardio is done at a slower pace but with a heavier load and with a high level of incline. This form of cardio places the load on the large muscle groups in your lower body, engaging your muscle longer to produce a higher caloric output.

In this workout you perform timed compound movements in rotation with your cardio. The benefits of this style of training include high caloric output from the increased muscle contractions that result from your compound exercises in combination with high intensity cardio. MC² workouts promote development of leaner muscle, muscle endurance and are great for melting away fat.

Before attempting MC² style workouts, be aware of your foundation. You may need to practice more conventional training methods so you are more aware of the movements. As I’ve said before it is more important to concentrate on technique and for to prevent injury and insure the maximum results. (Plus you don’t want to end up looking like a person falling out of a tree.)

MC² is a fun, challenging, and effective workout that is capable of delivering exceptional results. Please feel free to contact me at fitnessdefined@bodyblocksfitness.com for more information and as always enjoy your success.

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I’m Back…

Posted under: Exercise, Fitness, Nutrition, Uncategorized

Hello readers,

I want to apologize for my absence from blogging for the past couple of months.  I promise that I have been hard at work during this time and I am excited to share some of the things that I’ve been working on with you.

One project that I’ve been able to kick off that I am extremely excited about is the implementation of a Body Blocks’ designed fitness and sports performance curriculum within the Buffalo Public Schools. This program will begin this fall in 4 schools (Riverside, South Park, City Honors, and Emerson) and will expand to the remaining 12 high schools within the school year. The program will  be incorporated as part of the current physical education curriculum and allow us to not only educate the students but also the faculty within these schools.  This sets the groundwork for a sustainable long-term model rather than a short-term fix. We are confident that this program will not only serve as a major contributing factor towards developing a culture that produces fitter and healthier students, but also that leads to increased academic performance and fewer sports-related injuries; ultimately making our schools and our students more competitive in multiple arenas.

Another announcement that I am pleased to make is that I have recently learned that I have been named as one of Business First’s 2012 Healthcare 50, which recognizes me as “one of the top 50 extraordinary professionals in the medical field in Western New York.”  I am extremely honored to be recognized on this list and in the company of the other great individuals who were also named, all of whom are committed to making Western New York a healthier community.  This recognition came on the heals of another recognition that I received from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).  I have been honored with the designation of a Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach Emeritus (RSCC,*E) which is the highest certification attainable through this organization. The NSCA only gives this title to individuals who have accumulated 20 or more years (WOW, time flies when you’re doing what you love!) as a trusted expert in their field and recognizes their area of expertise as separate and distinct from the medical, dietetic, athletic training, and sport coaching fields.  This certification is significant not only because I get to add some more cryptic letters after my name, but more importantly because it secures my status as an industry expert and trusted source of information even after I retire (whatever that word means).

I have just returned from the IHRSA (International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association) Annual Convention in Los Angeles, CA.  This event is the focal point of the fitness community every year and serves as the launching point for new breakthroughs in exercise techniques and equipment.  My week was jam packed with seminars and meetings with some pretty amazing people within the industry.  Anyone who has ever taken a trip and had people waiting for their return knows all too well that one of the first questions that you often get is, “what did you bring me?”  Confident that my staff of trainers and clients at Body Blocks would have the same question for me, I knew that I had to bring them back something that they would appreciate and “remember” and a T-Shirt just wasn’t going to cut it!  So my choice…

Meet the Step360 Pro

This piece of equipment may seem innocent enough, but after one 360MC session, even my most conditioned trainers were feeling the burn.  I’ll save the details and the science of the equipment and the workout for a future post, but suffice it to say that after that workout nobody was asking what else I may have brought them. [insert maniacal laugh here]

In addition to that, I have a lot of other exciting things that I am working on that hopefully I will be able to share with you soon.  In the mean time, I am pleased to return you to your regularly scheduled blog posts. As always thanks for reading and feel free to get in touch with me at fitnessdefined@bodyblocksfitness.com

Stay Healthy,

Bob

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You must eat to lose weight.

Posted under: Exercise, Fitness, Nutrition, Uncategorized

No that’s not a misprint in the title, today we tackle another common fitness myth that I have heard time and time again:  “If you want to lose weight you need to eat fewer calories than you burn off in a day”.  Sound familiar? Now, depending on your size and gender you’ve probably been given a calorie goal somewhere between 1200-1500 calories a day.

Although this “could” happen to be your goal, in reality you’re calorie goal should be based on your Basil Metabolic Rate (BMR) and your level of activity.  Your BMR is the number of calories your body burns at rest in a 24 hour period.  In other words, it’s the amount of fuel your body needs to continue sustaining life. So how do you obtain this magic number?  According to a formula provided in a 1990 study that appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Basil Metabolic Rate is equal to:

P = left ( frac {10.0 m} {1 ~ mbox {kg}} + frac {6.25 h} {1 ~ mbox {cm}} - frac {5.0 a} {1 ~ mbox {year}} + s right ) frac {mbox {kcal}} {mbox {day}}

from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_metabolic_rate

It’s that simple! (insert sarcasm here) 

Obviously the calculation is complicated and further studies have even included variables such as lean body mass and physiological elements.  The good news is there are tools out there that provide these measurements for you.  Although there seem to be some decent lower-cost, home products on the market, at Body Blocks we use a medical grade body composition analyzer called the InBody520.  This piece of equipment provides us with a number of measurements (including BMR) which allow us to understand the unique physiology of each of our clients.

InBody520

Now that we know how to get them, let’s look at what the numbers mean.

If you’re BMR is 1500 and you’re eating a recommended 1200 calories, you are not even providing your body enough fuel to make it through the day (and that’s if you were at rest all day).  Since most individuals have some level of activity throughout the day, walking, climbing stairs, talking, exercising, etc.  The true caloric deficit that they are experiencing is even greater than the 300 calories that is represented here.

If you think about your body as if it were a race car and that car required 11 quarts of oil to operate efficiently.  If you decided to put only 5 quarts in,  the car will still run, but at some point during the race it’s going to break down.  Additionally the car’s support systems would experience increased stress, overheating, and in some cases permanent damage as they are forced to work with insufficient resources.  Your body and it’s support systems respond in a very similar manner.

Unlike a race car, our bodies are able to interpret and adapt to changes in the environment.  This means that when the body recognizes a pattern of high caloric deficits, it interprets this as starvation and goes into survival mode.  At this point it starts managing fuel in an effort preserve energy, this means that it distributes the energy to essential life support systems while shutting down other systems and functions.  Clearly this is probably not the result that most people would be looking for from their diet.

The best way to manage your weight is to understand how your body works.  The first step is to learn your BMR.  Keep in mind that your BMR increases as you increase your lean muscle mass.  Put simply this means that the more lean muscle mass you add, the more you will NEED to eat for your body to operate efficiently.  It also means that you will have to monitor your BMR on a consistent basis to ensure that you are always eating at least what your body needs to survive.  Any attempts to lose weight should use strategies that reduce the extra calories that are consumed in addition to the BMR.  This means that many of you will have to actually eat more if you want to effectively lose weight.

I hope that this article helps clarify this common fitness myth and empowers you with the knowledge necessary to achieve your fitness goals.

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Cardio or Resistance Training?

Posted under: Exercise, Fitness

I want to first start off by thanking you all for reading my blog and for the tremendous response we’re getting.  In this post I want to address a question we recently received via email at fitnessdefined@bodyblocksfitness.com (remember send me your questions).  The question was submitted by John C. (one of our readers) who asked,

“what is better for you, cardio or weight training?”

This has got to be one of the most common questions that I have been asked throughout my career and honestly there are a number of different beliefs regarding the question.  Surprisingly many people believe that cardio is the best choice between the two.  A majority of people seeking to lose weight head straight for the treadmills or the elliptical trainers.  The question is how did this become the “go to” remedy?  The reality is that people hang on to the beliefs and myths as if they were facts and truths.  They have no idea why, other than just because someone told them so.  There is no real accreditation, it’s just “that’s the way it’s always been done”.

Any type of training should be result specific.  This means that there should be a specific goal that the training is being used to accomplish.  Cardio (short for cardiovascular) is a great method to strengthen the heart and lungs and to improve oxygen flow throughout the body.  Yet as we stated, most individuals head to the cardio equipment when they are trying to lose weight and burn calories; very few people get on a cardio machine and say “oh I want to exercise my heart”.  The reality is that cardio alone burns fewer calories than weight training.  You might be saying right now “no, no that can’t be true” and I hate to break it to you, but it is.

Me training my good friend and long-time client Jerry

Obviously during your workouts you want to try and burn fat instead of muscle.  You can do this by focusing on burning off your glycogen first.  When the body breaks down complex carbs it produces glycogen which is then stored in your muscles as energy.  Your body is going burn off glycogen first before it burns the fat.  It’s easier to burn, like burning pine in fire vs. a piece of oak.  The pine will burn first.

Resistance training in the work zone* produces three times the caloric output of cardio. This means that you want to structure your workouts to ensure that you have enough energy to hit the work zone associated with your fitness goals.  In order to effectively reach the work zone, your muscles will require energy (glycogen). When you do your cardio before your resistance training, the initial 20 minutes are spent burning that glycogen which results in not having the energy to achieve your desired rep range; it will be as if someone has unplugged you. By starting with Resistance training you ensure that your muscles have the energy that they need to achieve the desired output. What’s better is that when you follow up your resistance training with cardio, your body is already in the fat burning zone.  This means that you are maximizing the potential of your entire workout!

So the real answer to John’s question is that fitness should not be a trade-off of Cardio or Resistance, rather it is a matter of balancing the two to ensure success.  At the end of the day, getting the best fitness results are a simple matter of exercise efficiency.  Hopefully this article demonstrates the drastic impact that something as simple as the order of exercise can have on fitness results.

For more information check out this article “Warm Up With Cardio, Then Go to Weights. Right? Wrong”.

Another great fitness myth busted!  Thanks for the question John.

Send your fitness questions to me directly at: fitnessdefined@bodyblocksfitness.com

*Work zone: Maximum output for a desired rep range. For example an individual attempting to increase muscle endurance should work in a 12 rep max range.  Therefore if more than 12 reps are achieved the weight was too light and if less than 12 reps the weight was too heavy.

3 Basic Work Zone Ranges:

Strength: 6 Rep Max

Hypertrophy: 8 Rep Max

Endurance: 12 Rep Max

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