exercise of the month: Chest PRess

The chest press is an exercise that targets the pectoral muscles of the chest. You can use a variety of equipment including dumbbells, barbells, a machine, or resistance bands to perform a chest press. The main muscle targeted by the chest press are the pectoral muscles but it also works the anterior deltoids in your shoulder and the triceps brachii in the upper arm. While building chest definition is important for looks, it is also functional because you need your pec muscles for power in sports like swinging a bat in baseball, swinging a racket in tennis or pickleball, or swinging a club in golf. Chest presses are a functional exercise that you use in daily life while performing activities that require you to push or carry anything. There are many variations and modifications for chest press to make it suitable for everyone!

Dumbbell Chest Press

1. Lie on a bench or floor with a dumbbell in each hand. If you use a bench, you may have your feet on the bench or the floor. Position the dumbbells at the shoulders with elbows bend at a 45 degree angle. Keep elbows forward of the shoulder line to avoid stress on the shoulder joint. Palms should face forward and thumbs should be wrapped around the handle.

2. Engage your abdominals and tilt your chin slightly towards your chest. Push weights up while exhaling without locking your elbows in an explosive movement. Weights should follow a shallow arc and almost meet over the top of your chest. It's OK to straighten your arms as long as you don't do it with sudden or explosive force. Your head and shoulders should not leave the bench or floor. 

3. Lower the weights with muscles engaged, inhaling and controlling the return to the starting position.

Cable Press

1. If you need a modification, you can use a cable machine to perform your chest press. Adjust the cable pulley to shoulder height and stand in the center, holding the handle of each pulley as you lift your arms to shoulder height. 

2. Engage your chest muscles and press the handles forward to extend your arms fully. With control, release back to your starting position.

Seated Chest Press Machine

1. Grasp handles with a full grip, your thumb circled around the handle. Maintain a neutral wrist position with your wrists in line with your forearms.

2. Exhale and push outward until your arms are fully extended (don't lock your elbows). Keep your head steady against the back support during this movement and your neck still. You should feel resistance against the horizontal push.

3. Pause briefly at full extension. Bend your elbows and return to the starting position, breathing in during this recovery.

As always, reach out to one of our personal trainers to help you get started with an exercise program and learn to properly perform a chest press!

🎉 Holiday Closure 🎉

💙💗 All MTS locations will be closed Monday, September 2nd for Labor Day!💗💙

Normal business hours will resume on Tuesday, September 3rd.

🙂 Friendly Reminders 🙂

- Please observe pool rules when utilizing the pool and/or whirlpool.

 👍Wellness Member Satisfaction survey👍

Have you taken our Wellness Member Satisfaction Survey yet? We sent an email out on Monday, August 19th, asking for your opinion. The survey contains questions that will help us to be better for you, our members! We appreciate any feedback you can give! IF you didn't get the email or just haven't gotten a chance to take the survey yet, click the QR code below to take it. Please only fill out the survey once. Thank you for your feedback!

September Class Schedules 

Townhouse

- No changes at Townhouse for September!

Dulles

- Pilates on Tuesdays and Thursdays has been put on hold for September!

You can still find Nanette at Townhouse for Pilates Wednesday - Friday!

- Adding Step It Up with Lainey on Thursdays at 5pm starting September 12th!

- Cardio Sculpt will be on Thursdays only for the month of September!

Youngsville

- Brian is taking over classes for September!

- Flex & Flow will be starting at 11:45am!

Healthy Eating

How to satify your sweet tooth and still be healthy

There's nothing wrong with still having a little dessert every once is a while when eating healthy! However, if you need a little sweet treat every night after dinner, you may want to try swapping some ingredients out to help make them healthier and cut out some of the sugars in regular desserts. There are many ways to make protein-packed or no sugar desserts to satisfy that sweet tooth each night. It's always a good idea to try adding nutrient rich foods to desserts instead of restricting others because sometimes restricting ourselves makes the cravings worse and we tend to over-indulge. Here are some nutrient rich food swaps to try!

• Use 70% or higher dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate
  • The percentage refers  to how much cacao is in the chocolate. Cacao has iron, magnesium, and calcium nutrients which is why dark chocolate can be beneficial. The lower the percentage, the higher amount of sugar in the chocolate 
• Use the water from a can of chickpeas to make an eggless meringue
  • If you are trying to avoid eggs (even though they have lots of health benefits), you can still have the cloud-like fluffiness they provide using the bean liquid. Here's a simple recipe for meringue:
    • 2 cups whipped garbanzo bean liquid
    • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
    • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Use fruit, especially dates and bananas, instead of refined sugar
  • Using fruit as a sweetener can add some micronutrients to the recipe. Try soaking some dried dates and then pureeing them into a rich caramel-like paste. The fruit is quite sugary naturally, but you're also getting more fiber and other nutrients like potassium. 
  • You can skip adding sugar or honey in a smoothie or dairy-free ice cream if you've got a frozen banana.
• Substitute white all-purpose flour for other flours
  • In some dishes, you can use whole-wheat flour at a 1-to-1 ratio, but with pastry, it's better to use less whole-wheat pastry flour because it's so heavy and doesn't flake. Usually, swapping about 1/3 to 1/2 of the white flour for whole-wheat flour is a good idea.
  • You can also get more protein and other nutrients when using other kinds of alternative flours, made from beans, oats, quinoa, etc. 

•  Try unsweetened applesauce instead of oil in baking
  • If using applesauce, you may want to slightly reduce the liquid in the rest of the recipe because of the liquid in applesauce but it can also be used in place of eggs or sugar.
• Swap Greek yogurt for butter
  • Some recipes can utilize plain Greek yogurt in place of butter at a 1-to-1 ratio, up to 1 cup but it must be Greek due to it's thickness. Greek yogurt is an awesome source of protein and will give your recipe some added creaminess.
• Try coconut cream instead of heavy cream
  • This is a simple swap for whipped dairy toppings and fillings for people with lactose allergies, vegans, or anyone wanting a more tropical flavor. Simply refrigerate your can of regular coconut milk and then scoop off the heavy coconut cream that solidifies on top. Whip it with an electric mixer for a few minutes, the same way you would heavy dairy cream.
• Use beans instead of flour
  • Black bean brownies and cookies can be just as rich and chocolaty as regular brownies with some added fiber, potassium, and other nutrients. 
  • Take beans from a can, rinse them, and puree them. 

Check out this healthy and delicious Strawberry Yogurt Bark recipe!

We're hiring!

MTS Wellness is hiring for PRN instructors, if you know someone interested in joining our team please have them send their resume to wellness@mtspts.com. We are in need of water aerobics instructors, cycling instructors, yoga instructors and more!

We are excited to bring on new members on our Wellness Team! Over the next few weeks you will start to see new faces shadowing current instructors in class and eventually teaching some classes. We thank you for your patience as we go through a new transition.  

Virtual Memberships and Virtual Add-on Service

MTS offers a virtual wellness membership for $22 + tax per month.

This includes access to all of our live scheduled virtual classes and our video library, which allows you to participate in your favorite MTS classes on your own time. All you need is a smart phone, tablet or computer to get set up and started today! 

We also offer a virtual add-on service for only $11.99 + tax per month added to your regular membership. With this add-on service you will have it all! It allows for you to come in house to use equipment AND have access to classes using our virtual platform. 

Our wellness team is eager to welcome you into your gym routine! We'd love to assist you with establishing an exercise regimen or guiding you to choose a class that best fits your needs! We are here to help answer any and all of your questions! 

Visit our website www.mtsphysicaltherapy.com for all your wellness needs!

As always, you can reach out to us by email at wellness@mtspts.com. You can reach Laurel @ Youngsville at 337-856-1717, Taylor @ Dulles at 337-703-3604, or Laura @ Townhouse at 337-571-1200.

About MTS Physcial Therapy & Wellness

MTS offers full physical therapy services, along with all inclusive wellness and gym memberships serving the Acadiana Area. Our approach is a concept that embraces all aspects of a person’s needs. We help you better understand the importance of body, mind and soul to your overall well-being.

With complete physical therapy services, relaxed settings, and supportive and encouraging staff at all locations, we will make it possible for you to get back to living LIFE again!