May 10th, 2010 / Workouts

In Monday’s X-Factor class, Sean threw this move into the circuit. The duck walk is a great workout for the glutes, quads and hamstrings. Do it in front of a mirror and see how low you can sit.

Tags: lower body workouts, Sean O'Brien, Workouts

August 16th, 2009 / Uncategorized

So I recently received several emails about an article published in Time magazine entitled “Why exercise won’t make you thin.” I read it and found it…interesting. The author is a good writer and makes some valid points in a way that gets you wanting to agree with him and maybe give this whole “skip the exercise thing” a try. He even uses some studies to back up his theory.

Unfortunately, as everybody who lives in DC should know, you can always find or skew data to support your argument no matter what that argument is. The main study that the article references was published by Dr. Timothy Church, who has recently stated that his professional opinions in the article were misrepresented but the bigger problem – that the author ignores literally hundreds and thousands of studies that show exercising DOES cause you to become thinner. Here are just a few…

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Tags: Sean O'Brien

July 27th, 2009 / Uncategorized

For those of you that are not on my monthly email list, I thought I would share my thoughts with you on the MINT blog.

This month, I started my email off by bragging. An athlete I train ran a huge personal record this week and qualified for the Track and Field World Championships in Berlin in the 5000m. This is a huge deal, as it is the biggest track meet in the world in non-Olympic years. She finished 4th at USA Nationals but because the winner will be focusing on the Marathon at Worlds, Julie got the standard at a race in Belgium this week, where she will be representing the USA. Here is an interview with her and two other runners after the race she hit her standard in.

Sticking with the running theme…just because it’s summer and scorching out doesn’t mean you have to be confined to a treadmill. Here are some hot weather running tips from Runner’s World.

And finally, one thing about nutrition that you may not consider while eating is energy density…eating a large amount of fruit, veggies or whole grain wheat may have less calories than a bowl of ice cream or a candy bar but could make you feel much more full. This article puts it really well.

Hope everyone is have a great summer so far. If you have any fitness-related questions, feel free to contact me at sobrien@mintconditionyourself.com.

Tags: running, Sean O'Brien, Track and Field

May 7th, 2009 / Uncategorized

Sean O’Brien here. So it’s spring time and even though it’s been cold and rainy the last couple days we are definitely past the worst of it and headed for the sunshine, a great time to really commit to a health plan. To motivate you, I’ve compiled a few articles that might just get you going.

In case you didn’t know, “running is good for you” (I know it’s from Shape! but it’s still good). And in case you missed it, check out this health article from the New York Times.

It was real hot earlier this week and that means you must make sure that you’re getting enough water, but also making sure that you don’t let your sodium levels get to low.

Finally, I have had a couple requests for info about my running days so I decided to put this to the TV broadcast of last year’s Penn Relays. If you want to see my race just skip to almost exactly the halfway point. I ran the anchor leg of the USA vs. The World Distance Medley Relay. Spoiler: I did not win but it was still one of my better races.

Tags: fitness, health updates, health updates dc, MINT Private Trainers, personal trainer, running, running dc, Sean O'Brien