Workout of the Week
Daily Camera’s Workout of the Week: The GET IT BACK System
-By Aimee Heckel, Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Trainer Glenn Hattem at right motivates David Rubin, owner of A Spice of Life, as he works on a core exercise on a hanging bar at Functional Fitness. Photo by Paul Aiken
Transformations, 303-242-5434, www.getitbacksystem.com
Instructor: Glenn Hattem, of Boulder. Hattem is certified with the National Strength and Conditioning Association and recently published “Get it Back,” a book that he worked on for four years.
What is the workout? This one is different than my usual weekly workouts, because it is a four-week “system” instead of a drop-in class. Get It Back centers on a book/journal, which teaches you about nutrition and facts about exercise, walks you through daily workouts (incrementally harder), provides recipes and helps you write goals and reaffirm them. It is designed to teach you how to become your own personal trainer, nutritionist, life coach and chef.
Purchase of the book also comes with two months of online coaching, including weekly accountability reports and a fitness expert to check in with and ask questions.
The premise is many people can’t afford to hire a trainer or nutritionist, but they want to learn how to make long-lasting changes in their health.
I started Get It Back on May 6 and have been keeping a journal of my experiences online at www.workout.pmpblogs.com.
Hattem also does personal coaching and teaches workshops for companies.
What does it cost? The book is $225, on sale right now $135. Sounds expensive, but as Hattem says, “You’re not buying a book. You’re buying a system.” Normally, I would be cynical at a statement like that. But from first-hand experience, it’s almost impossible to let this book collect dust. (I’ve tried.) Hattem won’t let it. He e-mails me every day to ask how I’m doing and see how he can help. I think I’d pay $135 just for that.
The book walks you through four weeks, with the option to continue for four more weeks at an intermediate level. If you complete two rounds in the workbook, Hattem gives you the next book, a 12-week advanced program. So the book has the potential to offer 20 weeks of coaching, and in that, a serious transformation.
Who does it? The system could work for anyone, but I think it’s ideal for people 30 years and older with busy lives who want a catapult into a healthier body, whether that means reclaiming lost fitness or taking athleticism to the next level. This kind of system works great for someone like me: deadline and goal oriented, a visual learner/reader, overworked but stubborn enough to not give up. I also think you need some degree of independence and self-motivation, but openness toward advice and new strategies. I wanted to do this system because I just turned 30 and recently had abdominal surgery. I want my pre-surgery body back, and then some.
It should also be noted that Hattem has trained celebrities, including Robert Redford.
When: Four to six times per week, depending on your participation level. Each workout also has varying lengths, from a 25-minute interval run to a 75-minute resistance workout with a 10-minute warm-up, 10 different exercises and six stretches. The workouts in the book are completely customizable, but with a skeleton structure that keeps you on track. One night, I only had 20 minutes, but was able to get through the routine. I also met with Hattem once a week for 90 minutes.
Level: All. The first pages of the book help you determine your level. I started at beginner. That turned out to be a good idea. Even the beginner level is not easy. My cardio sessions with Hattem have been a 10 on a 10-point scale every time. I actually cried during one of them. Tears. Lots. And I cursed at him. (Sorry.) But later, I was so thankful that I did it. I pushed farther than I ever had, and now I have a different vision of my capabilities. Even elite athletes can get something out of this. You’ve heard it before, but it’s especially true here: You get what you put in.
Format: Each day’s workout is in the book, although you can vary it, as needed. Step one: Warm up for 10 minutes. Step two: Resistance workout or cardio. Step three: Stretching for 10 minutes. Step four: Fill our your nutrition journal. (You don’t have to write down everything you ate. Just make checkmarks in boxes.) Step five: Recap and recommitment.
This final step is what I think takes the Get it Back system to a higher level of results. You rate your workout and what you ate, you say what improvements you will make tomorrow and you write an affirmation (that you determine before you start) and say it out loud five times. Then you must sign your name on a line, verifying your recommitment to your goals. Might sound like a lot of extra work that you can just skim over, but this is where you reprogram your mind, the only way to get lasting changes. It’s one thing to work out every day, but it is another to have a purpose, have a vision and constantly revisit it. It’s like renewing your wedding vows, to your abs, every night; “You are beautiful, abs. I love you.”
Equipment: The book, of course. A heart rate monitor during cardio teaches you to use your body as a personal trainer, to keep you from over- or under-training. Resistance exercises can be done with various equipment, but the basics include free weights (spreading the workload over a greater area and using more muscles than isolation machines), a fitness ball and a mat.
Hattem also recommends using a jump rope for the warm-up. It burns up to 1,000 calories per hour, making it one of the most efficient workouts possible. It also improves coordination, focus, joint stability, body awareness, agility and timing. And all the cool kids are doing it at recess.
What to wear: Exercise clothes, good shoes, heart rate monitor.
Muscles worked: All. Do resistance moves on Bosu balls or balance equipment to work smaller, stabilizing muscles.
One new move: Hanging ab crunches. Hattem says this is the most effective way to strengthen your abs. No joke. My abs have been sore for two weeks.
What’s different: The nutrition component. I have been working out regularly for years, but didn’t know as much about nutrition. In the two weeks that I have been doing Get It Back, my body feels different, and I think it starts with the food I’m eating. More protein, especially at breakfast. More, smaller meals throughout the day. And the only reason this works for me is because Hattem started slowly. The first week, all you worry about is eating a good breakfast, and he gives you simple (and cheap) recipe options. The second week, you incorporate lunch and snacks throughout the day. The third week, you add dinner. If I tried to change all of my eating habits at once, I would have felt overwhelmed and quit.
Also, Get It Back teaches you how to do things yourself. In a sense, Hattem teaches his way out of a job.
What I loved: That I’m actually using it. I am definitely not a straight A student, but I’m not bombing. I honestly think this system has the potential to change your life, if you want it to.
I also like how Hattem consistently checks in with me, even when I am too swamped to respond; it keeps the program in the forefront of my mind. He is not the typical fitness guru (although he does have massive arms). He is kind, but he doesn’t tolerate excuses. He turns anything negative I say into a positive. But not in a cheesy way. He’s real, for better and for (my poor hamstrings) worse.
What I didn’t like: My biggest struggle is with food: trying to find time to prepare food, much less eat it. I have been trying to make these homemade energy bars for about six days now. As it turns out, life really likes to get in the way of fitness.
Inspiration: Hattem used to work in the mortgage business. One night, his car was hit by a semi-truck, but he survived. The experience changed his perspective. A few days later, he quit his job and decided to follow his two passions, sports and helping people.
What others say: Read testimonials from other people on Hattem’s blog at www.getitbacksystem.com.
How I felt after: I’ll let you know when I am done with the four weeks. I am planning on taking the workouts with me to a refugee camp in Africa for the month of June, so this could get interesting.
