Another wine study: Red wine equals an hour in the gym

From this article, A new study says a glass of red wine is the equivalent to an hour at the gym:

“Research conducted by the University of Alberta in Canada has found that health benefits in resveratrol, a compound found in red wine, are similar to those we get from exercise.” Resveratrol comes in pill form too. There are other alternatives as well.

One high-intensity-training (HIT) session for strength plus two bike-sprint interval training sessions will take about an hour out of your week. HIT is what we do at New Orleans Fitness Trainers and Austin Personal Training. Do HIT consistently and you’ll be stronger, more flexible, leaner, and more resistance to sickness and injury. You’ll have stronger bones, lower blood pressure, more muscle,  a higher testosterone level, an increased VO2 max,lower blood sugar, more cardiovascular endurance, and an enhanced sense of well-being as there will be increase in endorphins along with a decrease in aches and pains (enough wine can do that, at least in the short run). 

You will also stimulate neurogenesis, the growth and development of brain cells, something a glass of wine cannot do.

Vigorous aerobic exercise, the only know trigger for building new brain cells

From this New York Magazine article Why Running Helps Clear Your Mind -- Science of Us:

Studies in animal models have shown that new neurons are produced in the brain throughout the lifespan, and, so far, only one activity is known to trigger the birth of those new neurons: vigorous aerobic exercise, said Karen Postal, president of the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology. “That’s it,” she said. “That’s the only trigger that we know about.” Vigorous exercise in the form of  High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is what we do  at New Orleans Fitness Trainers  and Austin Personal Training. Regular exercise improves our ability to think and remember through the creation of new brain cells, a process known as neurogenesis, the growth and development of nervous tissue. Another blog post on the same subject: Growing new brain cells by exercising.

The wisdom of setting the bar lower from a former Olympic hopeful

After spending several hours in the gym the first week of the year, the man told me, “Six months from now I will be doing the butterfly across that pool”. I didn’t see the man the next week; in fact, I never saw him again. What good is an exercise program that requires several hours a week if you don’t stick to it? It is worse than useless if you are paying monthly bank drafts to the gym/collection agency.

From this NY Times article Advice From a Former Olympic Hopeful: Set the Bar Low - The New York Times some quotes:

“There are those who manage to maintain a rigorous fitness routine despite the demands of work and family. But far more common are folks like me — those who have a hard time fitting fitness into daily life.”

“I asked myself, what’s a goal that I know I could achieve? I settled on two short workouts a week. I figured at a minimum I could get in a run every Saturday and Sunday.”

“As it turns out, my approach is sanctioned by science ... a growing body of evidence is showing that doing higher-intensity workouts just a couple days a week can be just as good for you. I now understand that quality need not be quantity.”

Instead of seeing how much exercise you can fit into your life see what is the least amount that will produce the highest marginal return, the biggest bang for your limited free time.  If you do that, make modest dietary changes, and do an activity you enjoy you will find that a year from now you’ll still be doing it, and your quality of life will have profoundly changed.  At Austin Personal Trainer and New Orleans personal Trainer we can help you achieve that change without endless hours in the gym.

Doctor says asthmatic's improvement using high intensity interval training is remarkable

I am an asthmatic prone to bronchitis and debilitating migraines induced by sinusitis.

A year and half ago I got pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, and my asthma flared up and stay flared.  I was weeks using a nebulizer to get the asthma under control.  

My oxygen consumption level was in the low 80 percent range.  My heart had to work harder to get the oxygen I needed. As a result my blood pressure rose, and my resting pulse was twenty beats per minute higher. I was listless and constantly tired. 

Forced expiratory volume (FEV) measures how much air a person can exhale during a forced breath.  My FEV test was one long wheeze.  I was a mess.

My oxygen consumption level is now in the high nineties, where it should be.   My blood pressure and resting pulse are the lowest they have been in decades, and I am 35 pounds lighter (that comes from diet).

My FEV measurement is now above average for my age with asthma, above average for my age without asthma, and my doctor says it is the highest it has been in 10 years. I asked him how he would characterize that result. He said, “Remarkable”.

For more than a year now I have been doing high intensity interval sprint training (HIIT) on a bike twice a week along with a weekly 22-24 minute high intensity interval strength training session. When I first started doing the eight sprints it took me 29 minutes to complete, and it was very difficult.  I would not start the next sprint until my pulse returned to a specified reasonable rate.  It now takes me 19 minutes - same exact protocol, same difficulty level, and the same RPMs – and it is a comparative breeze.

In total, factoring out sick times, vacations, and life in general it comes to about 48 hours of exercise in a year. 

Is there a study showing improvement for other asthmatics doing high intensity interval training?  Yes - the effect of interval training in children with exercise-induced asthma competing in soccer.

Is there a personal training facility specializing in HIIT using bikes and strength training? Yes - our Austin Personal Trainers facility! 

Americans heavier than 20 years ago

According to this AOL article Americans weigh 15 more pounds than they did 20 years ago - AOL as the title says:

“According to a new federal report U.S. men and women weigh about 15 pounds more than they did 20 years ago!”

The number is for average adults, but the average adult has changed over the years. The average age of Americans has gone from 30 years of age in 1980 to 37.7 years of age in 2014, and 37 year olds tend to weigh more than 30 year olds.   

How much of that 15 pound gain is fat and how much is muscle? It may be that they actually lost muscle and gained even more fat.  The number might be accurate, but it’s not specific.

Here is a number that is specific: adults lose on average 5 pounds of muscle as decade as they age.  Less muscle means a lower metabolism leading to increased likelihood of fat gain.

At Austin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Fitness Training we can help you reverse that trend.  One of our clients, 65 years old, attends a fat lose clinic.  Her latest reading at the clinic indicated that in addition to losing fatshe was gaining muscle.

Lifting lighter weights produces the same results as heavier weights, a point to consider

From this NYT article Lifting Lighter Weights Can Be Just as Effective as Heavy Ones:

“A new study finds that people who lift relatively light weights can build just as much strength and muscle size as those who grunt through sessions using much heftier weights.”

If lifting heavy or lighter weights produce the same strength increases you might do well to consider which produces those results in the safest manner. Increasing strength should not be the cause of injuries, but rather it should give you protection from injuries.

Whether the weights lifted are lighter or heavier in both instances the stress imposed on the body needs to be sufficient to affect a positive change. When the body is exposed to more than it’s used to handling, as an act of self-preservation, the body responds by making a positive adaptation if given enough time and resources to recover from the imposed stress.

Lifting a very heavy weight requires force that can be potentially harmful.  Additionally, momentum is often required just to have a chance of completing the repetition; momentum is counter-productive as it has the effect of unloading the muscles you are trying to work.

With a lighter weight there will be less force needed to move the weight, and if you slow down the movement just a bit it will be even safer and there will be less momentum – less unloading of the muscles. If a set is taken to volitional failure (you can’t move it) a heavier weight will have a shorter time under load than a lighter weight, but in both instances the muscles will be exposed to more than they can handle producing deep fatigue. The main difference is the potential for injury.

A characteristic of many strength exercise programs is a very high injury rate. Google any strength training program along with the keys words injury rate, and you will likely see a whole lot of hits. With a program with high potential risks you might make 10 steps forward barring injury, but if you are injured you will likely take 10 or more steps backward.

At Austin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Personal Trainers we place a high premium of safety and increasing strength.  We use MedX equipment with its special medical rehab features. We can show you how to safely increase your strength and avoid injuries.

How many more calories are burned standing instead of sitting? Not much

Researchers measured the caloric expenditure of four groups doing four different activities: typing while sitting, watching TV while sitting, standing, and walking. In 15 minutes it turns out that standing burns 2 more calories than sitting. From this article How Many Calories We Burn When We Sit, Stand or Walk, some quotes: “Someone who stood up while working instead of sitting would burn about 8 or 9 extra calories per hour. (Just for comparison, a single cup of coffee with cream and sugar contains around 50 calories.)” And: “When the volunteers walked for 15 minutes, even at a fairly easy pace, they burned about three times as many calories as when they sat or stood. If they walked for an hour, the researchers calculated, they would incinerate about 130 more calories than if they stayed in their chairs or stood up at their desks.” You’ve got options for creating a caloric deficit. You could stand at work for most of the day and earn cream and sugar in your coffee, or you could sit at work and drink your coffee black. An Oreo is 45 calories. You could walk an hour at work (good luck with that) and eat three Oreos or the equivalent, or pass on the sweets and sit. There is another option. Do a form of exercise that burns more calories while you are doing it, long after you finished doing it, and will raise your resting metabolism so that you are burning more calories even when you are sitting at work drinking your coffee with cream and sugar. While the best way to lose fat is eating less, exercise can help. High Intensity Training (HIT) burns calories four ways. One study examining the effect of high intensity strength training on metabolism showed a nine-fold improvement in fat burning. This is the type of training we do at Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Personal Training.

Which supplements really work?

My dog Stella’s vet recommended turmeric for the inflammation in her leg. Stella and I both take it. Stella no longer limps, and my chronic sinusitis has all but disappeared, 

So many supplements out there, which ones work? Rather than spending hours researching on the internet, it would be nice if there was one big info-graphic showing which supplements are backed by science. There is here. The supplement ratings go from strong, good, promising, inconclusive, sight, none, all the way down to harmful. According the graph turmeric was trending and the research was promising. At Austin Personal Trainers and New Olreans Personal Trainers we follow the research. The exercise protocol we use was derived from a study working with osteopenia sufferers at the University of Florida. Researchers found that bone density increased, joints hurt less, and muscles were stronger and more toned with minimal time exercising. It has been shown effective for men and women of all ages.

Lumbar exercises increased bone density significantly for post transplant patients

From this study, Resistance training prevents vertebral osteoporosis in lung transplant patients:

“Osteoporosis and vertebral fractures are a consequence of glucocorticoid immunosuppression therapy in lung transplant recipients…Vertebral fractures are the most prevalent type of fracture in transplant recipients, representing approximately 35% of all fractures, and they can be the most debilitating and activity-restricting injuries in organ transplant recipients.”

The researchers wanted to see if lumbar extension could reverse thevertebral osteoporosis that results from the post-transplant drug regimen. The control group did nothing, and the trained group did lumbar extension exercises.  Six months later the control group was worse off, and the trained group returned to with 5% of their pre-transplantation baseline.

At Austin Personal Training and New Orleans Personal Training we have been seeing results like that for years. It helps to have capable trainers, the best lumbar extension exercise machine on the market, and the protocol to use it. The exercise protocol we use was derived from a study working with osteopenia sufferers at the University of Florida. Researchers found that joints hurt less, bone density increased, and muscles were stronger and more toned with minimal time exercising. It has been shown effective for men and women of all ages.

60 studies say exercising is not the key to weight loss

The opening lines from this article, Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight, explained with 60+ studies: "'I'm going to make you work hard', a blonde and perfectly muscled fitness instructor screamed at me in a recent spinning class, 'so you can have that second drink at happy hour!'

At the end of the 45-minute workout, my body was dripping with sweat. I felt like I had worked really, really hard. And according to my bike, I had burned more than 700 calories. Surely I had earned an extra margarita."  

She exercised “really, really hard”. It would be nice if all those calories burned on exercise translated into fat loss. That equation does not take into account that exercise can stimulate the appetite, or that strenuous exercise lends itself to less activity (compensatory behaviors) and fewer calories burned for the remainder of the day. It does not account for the body’s response to exercise. The body adapts to a daily dose of running or other aerobic activity by becoming more efficient. It is inefficient to lug around a lot of muscle on long runs; muscle is metabolically expensive to maintain. The body will catabolize calorie-consuming lean muscle tissue to conserve the body’s energy stores (metabolic compensation). One researcher called it part of the survival mechanism. A quote from the article: "A review of exercise intervention studies, published in 2001: It found that after 20 weeks, weight loss was less than expected, and that 'the amount of exercise energy expenditure had no correlation with weight loss in these longer studies." Other meta-studies reach similar conclusions. A quote: "Adding physical activity has a very modest effect on weight loss — 'a lesser effect than you'd mathematically predict'". Other quotes: “You cannot outrun a bad diet”, and “There are all kinds of reasons to exercise that are good for your health”.  

Good health is the reason. Our focus at New Orleans Personal Training and at Austin Personal Training is on the long list of health benefits provided by strength training. Additional calories burned are just an added bonus, and strength training produces the largest added bonus. Strength training burns calories four ways and burns calories long after exercise has been completed. For more on the subject of strength training and calorie burning go here.

Got Sarcopenia? If you are over forty you have it

The term sarcopenia has not been in common usage for very long (see graph), but the condition has been around forever.  Sarcopenia is the loss of muscle tissue that occurs as a natural part of the aging process. According to this article, Why You're Aging Ungracefully, there are two things we can do to help maintain our muscle as we age - lift weights and eat high-quality protein.

A quote from the article:

Sarcopenia begins naturally in the 4th and 5th decades of life, making your 40s and 50s an ideal time to increase dietary protein and weight training, but even those in their 60s and beyond can benefit."

Another quote: "The stronger you are, the more muscle you have, the less likely you are to become sick or die."  

It is a pretty simple equation: the more muscle you have the less likely you are to die. That is because muscle positively affects so many of the bio-markers of aging. There are bio-markers we cannot influence by exercise such as hearing loss or graying hair, but there is a long list of bio-markers we can change most effectively by strength training. People are not generally placed in nursing homes because they are out of breath; it is because they are too weak to carry out daily activities on their own.

At our Austin Fitness Training facility we use MedX equipment with its special medical rehab features. We can accommodate those with limiting conditions and can work with people of any age. One of our trainers has four clients in their 80s, and our oldest client was 95. Strength training can add years of vitality to your life. It is never too late to start.

More articles on aging here.

Your mother infected you with an alien

Your body is an amazing feat of construction.Ten trillion living cells all working together to make you. All the instructions required to build the You that You became are encoded in your DNA. Forty-Six chromosomes containing more than 25,000 genes have all the instructions required to build a human. Except…Nothing in your DNA explains how to make fuel for the engines that run inside you. Imagine if we had 1000 car manufacturers making millions of cars but no gasoline refineries. A car without fuel is just… art.

The fuel you need is call Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). For your cells to move, grow, repair, and reproduce they need ATP. To make your muscles move you need ATP, but your DNA doesn’t have any instructions for making ATP.

Luckily for you, your mother included a little extra in her reproductive package. A tiny cell-like structure, a tiny alien, called mitochondria. Mitochondria are inside you, but are not part of your genome. They do not have any instructions for making any part of you. They have their own DNA with genes and instructions needed to reproduce and thrive on their own. Like your cells, they also need ATP to function. Luckily, they make ATP. They know how. They just need a safe place to live while they do it. In fact, they make so much ATP that they give the extra to you for your body to use.

Over time these alien mitochonria get old and slow down. They produce less and less ATP. Strength training with sufficient intensity has been shown to revitalize mitochondria and increase ATP production.

At Austin Personal Trainers facility we have a strength training program that will give your mitochondria a boost and increase your energy to levels you have not experienced in years. It is like having a fountain of youth.

Thank you to John Shafer, personal trainer at Kelly Personal Training Austin, for writing this blog post. 

Strength training study shows seniors improving far more than younger set

Two groups of men and women strength trained for six months. One group was older and the other younger. At the start of the study the older group was 59% weaker than the younger group. After six months the older adults were only 38% weaker than younger adults. Both groups improved, but the older group improved much more. 

From this study Resistance Exercise Reverses Aging in Human Skeletal Muscle

“We conclude that healthy older adults show evidence of mitochondrial impairment and muscle weakness, but that this can be partially reversed at the phenotypic level, and substantially reversed at the transcriptome level, following six months of resistance exercise training”.

Mitochondria, found in most cells, is where respiration and energy production takes place. Six months of strength training partially reversed mitochondria impairments to a level consistent with a younger stage in life. It is like having a fountain of youth.

At Austin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Personal Trainers we use MedX equipment with its special medical rehab features.  We can accommodate those with limiting conditions and can work with people of any age.  Our oldest client was 95; one of our trainers has four clients in their 80s. It is never too late to start a strength training program. It can add years of vitality to your life.  

Pictured is Stella in a field of icy grass.  She was a fixture at the New Orlean Kelly Personal Training facility and now visits the Austin Kelly Personal Training facility. She is 12 and still fetches enthusiastically.

The Positive Side-effects of a Treatment for Osteopenia

Debra increased her bone density almost one full standard deviation - at age 60 no less. Carol suffered from back pain that prevented her from doing weight bearing exercise. Carol was able to use our MedX equipment with its special medical rehab features. After more that 20 years since she was first diagnosed with osteopenia her doctor informed her that she was osteopenia-free.  As she put it her 'bone tisssue was replaced,repaired and restored".

The exercise protocol used by the personal trainers at Austin Personal Training and at New Oreans Personal Training was derived from a study working with osteopenia sufferers at the University of Florida. Researchers found that joints hurt less, bone density increased, and muscles were stronger and more toned with minimal time exercising. It has been shown effective for men and women of all ages.

What we do for those with osteopenia is a treatment not a cure. With treatments there often are side-effects. The side-effects of a properly designed strength training program are:

• Increased metabolism
•  
• Lessen chances for injury

•  
• Increased strength
•  
• Slows the aging process
•  
• Feel better
•  
• Look better
•  
• Improved functioning of your immune system
• Enhanced joint flexibility
• Improved balance and coordination
• Alleviated symptoms of depression

The results of a study on the effectiveness of targeting fat loss

A woman did a quarter million leg raises in a year, and there was no change, not a scintilla.  There was no spot reduction of fat deposits from her amply marbled hips. Well, that is just one person, and a sample size of one has no statistical power.  Maybe a larger sample size and more accuracy (MRI assessments) would produce a result of statistically significant spot reduction of fat from the area targeted with exercise.

Maybe not, from this article, Targeted Fat Loss: Myth or Reality?, this quote from a study:

“Tennis players constitute a population whose right and left arms have been consistently subjected to very different amounts of exercise over several years. Consequently, if spot reduction were a valid concept, one would expect the players’ dominant arms to have thinner layers of subcutaneous fat compared to their non-dominant arms. When the researchers measured the thickness of subcutaneous fat at specific points along the players’ arms, however, they found no statistically significant difference between right and left arms.”

Fat burned as fuel during exercise or even resting can come from anywhere in your body, not just the part that is being worked the most.  You don’t have a say, your genetics do. It is best to choose a form of exercise that burns the most calories and will continue to burn calories long after the exercise session is completed.

Another quote:

“High-intensity interval training (alternating between brief periods of high-intensity and low-intensity exercise) can be particularly effective, due to the phenomenon of after-burn – that is, an increase in resting metabolic rate that occurs for up to 24 hours post-exercise. “

That after-burn is excessive post-exercise oxygen consumption, (EPOC), and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) results in more EPOC than any other form of exercise. HIIT is the type training we do at Austin Personal Training and New Orleans Personal Training. 

Bogus BMI Numbers

Take two numbers, height and weight, and come up with another number, Body Mass Index (BMI), and as an indicator of good health you have next to nothing.  The BMI fails to take into account physical features - as an example those with broad shoulders will have a higher BMI compared to those with narrow shoulders. There is no differentiation between fat, muscle, and bone, and it does not account for gender.

The BMI often changes as we age. For some it is lower, but that does not necessarily mean better health. Thirty years ago I was in peak physical condition and had more muscle mass than I do today; I regularly played rugby, two 40 minutes halves of pretty much non-stop strenuous exertion with no substitutions.  According to this BMI chart I would have been bordering on obesity and classified as unhealthy.

Today I have a lower BMI number, but I also have less muscle than I did 30 years ago. Losing muscle is part of the aging process; it happens to all of us.  I suppose I could sit back in comfort and point to my lower BMI number as an indicator of good health.

The BMI statistic is negatively biased against those who have more muscle, and the BMI statistic does not capture the positive health factor of strength. It is absolutely essential for good health to remain as strong as possible we age. Fortunately with a proper personal training program like the one we offer at Austin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Fitness Training those who are younger will increase strength and muscle mass, and those who are older can remain strong, slow down age-related muscle loss, and even reverse it.  When you add muscle your BMI number will rise, but you will be better for it.

More BMI posts here.

Leveraging workouts for more safely and productivity

Demanding exercise is what stimulates positive change. Well designed exercise equipment will often use changes in leverage to make exercise more demanding and, interestly at the same time, safer.  

Wedge a crowbar under a heavy object and apply pressure at the very end of the crow bar. Your leverage decreases and difficulty level rises as you place your hands closer and apply pressure to the heavy object. MedX exercise equipment (the kind we use at our Austin Fitness Training facility) utilizes the same principle; while the weight stays the same throughout the range of motion, the leverage and difficulty level change.

Throughout a muscle's range of motion there will be points where the muscle is weaker and other parts of the range where the muscle is stronger. A muscle is more effectively fatigued when it works against a resistance it can barely handle at every part of its range of motion.  MedX equipment is engineered so that the resistance increases when you are in the strongest part of your range of motion and decreases when you are in the weakest part (the sticking point).  As a result you can eliminate thedangerous acceleration needed to get past that sticking point and complete the movement. It's a safer way to exercise.

The elimination of explosive accelerating movements obviates the need for warm-up sets. Demanding work produces change not warm-up sets. With MedX equipment you can confine your workout to safe, efficient, productive, demanding work. If you exercise in such a manner with minimal time between exercises you will find that in 20 to 30 minutes your muscles will be totally exhausted and your heart will be pounding. It produces an endorphin-inducing natural high. You’ll feel better, and with rest and recovery, you will come back stronger with more endurance.

A year after hitting bottom

The persistent aches and pains from old injuries were my excuse for not exercising. Not exercising led to more aches and pains, less activity, weight gain, and weakness. In a weakened state illnesses are likely to be more frequent and protracted. I got pneumonia and bronchitis, and my asthma flared up. My blood oxygen absorption rate fell to the low 80s. My heart had to work harder to get the oxygen I needed. As a result my blood pressure rose, and my resting pulse was twenty beats per minute higher. I was listless and constantly tired. My cardiologist was concerned that I may have had a silent heart attack, so he conducted a series of tests.  I passed.

That was almost a year ago, the bottom of a negative cycle. They say you have got to hit rock bottom before you commit to making a change. Since that time I have changed my eating habits. I have not missed a strength training session regardless of the aches and pains. Funny thing is, the exercise made the aches and pains go away. Pain-free, I was able to add other activities. I began biking a couple times a week. Results: Thirty-seven pounds lighter, greatly reduced blood pressure, blood oxygen absorption level in the high 90s, pulse more than 20 beats per minute slower, and no aches or pains.

Recently I went riding bikes with my tireless daughter. We spent 3 1/2 hours riding bikes one day and an hour and 45 minutes the next day through the hills of Austin where deer abound. That would have been unthinkable a year ago. As reassuring at the positive numbers have been what is most gratifying is to be able to do things you have not done in years with greater ease and to be able to get out of bed the next day and do it again - a positive cycle. This positive cycle begins with increasing one's strength.

At Austin Fitness Training and New Orleans Fitness Training we use MedX medical rehab equipment that is better tolerated by those with pain and joint problems. Our personal trainers can set up a program that will increase your strength and endurance, eliminate pain, and dramaticallyincrease your quality of life.

The resistance increasing throughout the range of motion - a demonstration

With free weights and most exercise equipment resistance is constantthroughout the range of motion. You are limited to lifting whatever amount you can lift through the sticking point, that point where you are at a mechanical disadvantage. That will be the hardest part of the movement; the reminder of the repetition will be relatively easier.

With variable resistance the weight changes throughout the range. It should be lighter at the sticking point and heavier in the range where one has a mechanical advantage. Watch the numbers on the scale change in the video. This feature makes for safer more productive exercise. MedXstrength training equipment has variable resistance. We have extensive lines of MedX equipment both our Austin Fitness Trainers and New Orleans Personal Trainers locations.

Lasting Impressions: I will never get another dog

Lasting Impressions, number two in a series. In all my years working at various health clubs, several thousand people have walked through the doors. Some become members, some not. Some become casual acquaintances, while others become life-long friends. A few make a brief appearance and are gone. One such person, I think about to this day. He came into our health club to look around; he was in his mid-fifties. He gave my dog Stella a rueful look, and after a long pause, he said he would never get another dog. I asked him why. He told me he had had a wonderful dog that died for no explainable reason when the dog was five years old. He said it was such a painful experience that he could not bear to go through it again. Stella was two at the time. The guy’s words haunted me. I thought about what he said with the passing of each of Stella’s birthdays, especially on her fifth birthday. Stella turns 12 in a couple of days. For the first five years New Orleans Personal Trainers was located directly across the street from a vet’s office. Austin Personal Trainers is presently located in a northwest Austin strip mall along with a vet’s office. I have known clients and friends to go into both locations to have their pets put down. Fortunately Stella (red fur) along with her step-sister Bella have so far avoided that fate and still come to work. I am thankful for each day and all the joy the dogs have provided, and occasionally I still think about that guy. I think he made a mistake; he should have got another dog.