The BLAST900 Life

Scroll to Info & Navigation

No matter what we throw at Katy, she’s not only up for the challenge, but she makes it look so easy!  You might have seen Katy if you frequent the 4pm classes.  If not, you can catch her everyday now at BLAST.  We are so happy to have this Bad-Ass BLASTER joining our management team! “I’m so excited to be here and have a job working for a brand I am so passionate about!” Pop your head into her office to say hi, introduce yourself, and ask questions.  The woman LIVES the BLASTLife!   You can also email her: katykellner@BLAST900.com.

No matter what we throw at Katy, she’s not only up for the challenge, but she makes it look so easy! 

You might have seen Katy if you frequent the 4pm classes.  If not, you can catch her everyday now at BLAST.  We are so happy to have this Bad-Ass BLASTER joining our management team!

“I’m so excited to be here and have a job working for a brand I am so passionate about!”

Pop your head into her office to say hi, introduce yourself, and ask questions.  The woman LIVES the BLASTLife!  

You can also email her: katykellner@BLAST900.com.

SO MANY REASONS NOT TO “SAVE UP” AND STARVE TO INDULGE ON DINNER TONIGHT! I myself have said and hear from others countless times, “I’m not eating so I can go out to [fill in indulgent restaurant here] tonight.”  Well, even though it sounds good and the numbers even out, famine now doesn’t mean you can or should feast later for several reasons: By not keeping your metabolism in motion, you slow it down AND store everything as fat!  Going long periods of time without eating you will start to produce cortisol which will cause you to store everything from that meal as fat so it’s better to keep your metabolism revved up so that you will metabolize that meal more efficiently. Your blood sugar will drop drastically and you’re not going to feel good or act appropriately.  Your productivity will suffer as well. If you’re hungry all day, you’re more likely to eat even MORE at dinner. Of course our nutritionist Hilary King has some suggestions for you! Exercise regularly at least an hour a day to keep your metabolism in high gear. Eat complete meals of lean protein, complex carbs, and good fats so you’re satisfied without snacking. Have a healthy snack (that includes protein, carbs, and fat) 30 minutes before you go out to dinner so you don’t get hungry waiting for dinner and inhale the bread. Cheat on salty and fatty foods instead of sweets.  The more sweets you eat, the more you will crave them. Choose a protein you’ll enjoy and limit bad side dishes (you know what we’re talking about). Eat some veggies (NOT STARCH) with dinner to slow down the absorption of alcohol and sugar into your blood stream. Opt for red wine or clear alcohols without juice mixers as your beverage. Basically, if you maintain a healthy and balanced diet, train your body to burn fat, and limit simple sugars, you can splurge without starving yourself or feeling guilty.

SO MANY REASONS NOT TO “SAVE UP” AND STARVE TO INDULGE ON DINNER TONIGHT!

I myself have said and hear from others countless times, “I’m not eating so I can go out to [fill in indulgent restaurant here] tonight.”  Well, even though it sounds good and the numbers even out, famine now doesn’t mean you can or should feast later for several reasons:

  1. By not keeping your metabolism in motion, you slow it down AND store everything as fat!  Going long periods of time without eating you will start to produce cortisol which will cause you to store everything from that meal as fat so it’s better to keep your metabolism revved up so that you will metabolize that meal more efficiently.
  2. Your blood sugar will drop drastically and you’re not going to feel good or act appropriately.  Your productivity will suffer as well.
  3. If you’re hungry all day, you’re more likely to eat even MORE at dinner.

Of course our nutritionist Hilary King has some suggestions for you!

  1. Exercise regularly at least an hour a day to keep your metabolism in high gear.
  2. Eat complete meals of lean protein, complex carbs, and good fats so you’re satisfied without snacking.
  3. Have a healthy snack (that includes protein, carbs, and fat) 30 minutes before you go out to dinner so you don’t get hungry waiting for dinner and inhale the bread.
  4. Cheat on salty and fatty foods instead of sweets.  The more sweets you eat, the more you will crave them.
  5. Choose a protein you’ll enjoy and limit bad side dishes (you know what we’re talking about).
  6. Eat some veggies (NOT STARCH) with dinner to slow down the absorption of alcohol and sugar into your blood stream.
  7. Opt for red wine or clear alcohols without juice mixers as your beverage.

Basically, if you maintain a healthy and balanced diet, train your body to burn fat, and limit simple sugars, you can splurge without starving yourself or feeling guilty.

We’re all loving gel manicures right now, but a few questions remain. 1.  What is the best brand? 2.  Is it as bad for our health as we think it might be? As a girl who can’t keep a manicure for longer than 4 days, I was really excited about gel with its promise of no-chipping for two weeks. My first experience with gel polish ended the day after I had it applied when it all peeled off.  You can understand I was a cynic for a while.  However, as the market grew, I figured I should give it another shot at a new salon.  I lucked into having a very meticulous esthetician (Traci at Trina’s Nail Salon in Buckhead, $25) give me a fabulous manicure that lasted the two weeks the gel polish promises!  Since then, I’ve been a gel junkie and have tried all the brands with a couple different girls at Trina’s salon. So far I’ve tried: Shellac, Gellish, Voss, and OPI.  I’ve heard about:  Akzentz, Bio Sculpture Color Gel, CalGel, Dashing Diva Gelife, IBD, the list goes on. For  more on brands, go here. What I’ve found is that it’s not the brand of polish that matters, but who tends to your cuticles and how they apply the polish. Your cuticles must be pushed and cut back as far as possible.  When they grow back to the edge of the polish, they push against it, causing the polish to peel up.  Also, if the polish is applied over your cuticles, your mani doesn’t stand a chance.  So you’ve got to run the gamut of estheticians before you find the right one.  Then choose your polish on color not brand. Wait, there’s more. After getting a few gel manicures I started to think, “this can’t be good for my nails.”  Kind of like the hair extensions that made my hair thick and beautiful…until I took them out.  In a gel manicure, they buff off the enamel of the nail, apply chemicals to replace it, and then bake it dry almost instantly with UV light.  Ugh.  If you want to read about the effects of the chemicals, click here.  It seems the one we need to look out for is BHA,  butylated hydroxyanisol, which is a “cancer-causing agent.”  The UV light is pretty self-explanatory. I never get to the part where I have to soak it off, which dries out your nail bed.  I find peeling it off to be a great distraction while sitting in horrific Atlanta traffic.  (I’m sure that’s bad for your nail bed too.)  I let my nails rest a week before returning to Trina’s for more gel.  It’s really the only thing that has ever worked for my nails.  I’m thinking about wearing finger-less gloves from now on to protect my hands.  As for the BHA, I’m just hoping it gets fried in the baking process. And you?  Now that you know the facts, will you continue to get gel manicures?

We’re all loving gel manicures right now, but a few questions remain.

1.  What is the best brand?

2.  Is it as bad for our health as we think it might be?

As a girl who can’t keep a manicure for longer than 4 days, I was really excited about gel with its promise of no-chipping for two weeks.

My first experience with gel polish ended the day after I had it applied when it all peeled off.  You can understand I was a cynic for a while.  However, as the market grew, I figured I should give it another shot at a new salon.  I lucked into having a very meticulous esthetician (Traci at Trina’s Nail Salon in Buckhead, $25) give me a fabulous manicure that lasted the two weeks the gel polish promises!  Since then, I’ve been a gel junkie and have tried all the brands with a couple different girls at Trina’s salon.

So far I’ve tried: Shellac, Gellish, Voss, and OPI.  I’ve heard about:  Akzentz, Bio Sculpture Color Gel, CalGel, Dashing Diva Gelife, IBD, the list goes on. For  more on brands, go here.

What I’ve found is that it’s not the brand of polish that matters, but who tends to your cuticles and how they apply the polish.

Your cuticles must be pushed and cut back as far as possible.  When they grow back to the edge of the polish, they push against it, causing the polish to peel up.  Also, if the polish is applied over your cuticles, your mani doesn’t stand a chance.  So you’ve got to run the gamut of estheticians before you find the right one.  Then choose your polish on color not brand.

Wait, there’s more.

After getting a few gel manicures I started to think, “this can’t be good for my nails.”  Kind of like the hair extensions that made my hair thick and beautiful…until I took them out.  In a gel manicure, they buff off the enamel of the nail, apply chemicals to replace it, and then bake it dry almost instantly with UV light.  Ugh.  If you want to read about the effects of the chemicals, click here.  It seems the one we need to look out for is BHA,  butylated hydroxyanisol, which is a “cancer-causing agent.”  The UV light is pretty self-explanatory.

I never get to the part where I have to soak it off, which dries out your nail bed.  I find peeling it off to be a great distraction while sitting in horrific Atlanta traffic.  (I’m sure that’s bad for your nail bed too.)  I let my nails rest a week before returning to Trina’s for more gel.  It’s really the only thing that has ever worked for my nails.  I’m thinking about wearing finger-less gloves from now on to protect my hands.  As for the BHA, I’m just hoping it gets fried in the baking process.

And you?  Now that you know the facts, will you continue to get gel manicures?

Are we really in too big of a hurry to stretch after class or your workout?  Come on…be honest! If you think about it, you only need 7 minutes to stretch.  According to Rich and numerous studies, unless you hold a stretch for 30 seconds, you aren’t getting the full benefit of it.  So, for a bare minimum, you can do 30 seconds each side for a total of 1 minute per stretch to knock out: Quads Hamstrings Hip Flexor (shown above by BLASTER Mary) Glutes Chest Triceps Back twist The time we spend stretching will pay dividends in the long run.  Tony Horton (the face of P90x) says, “if your flexibility is bad now, it’s only going to get worse as time passes.”  That’s his pitch for EVERYONE to do yoga, and you can’t really argue with it.  The least we can do is stretch, right?!

Are we really in too big of a hurry to stretch after class or your workout?  Come on…be honest!

If you think about it, you only need 7 minutes to stretch. 

According to Rich and numerous studies, unless you hold a stretch for 30 seconds, you aren’t getting the full benefit of it. 

So, for a bare minimum, you can do 30 seconds each side for a total of 1 minute per stretch to knock out:

  1. Quads
  2. Hamstrings
  3. Hip Flexor (shown above by BLASTER Mary)
  4. Glutes
  5. Chest
  6. Triceps
  7. Back twist

The time we spend stretching will pay dividends in the long run.  Tony Horton (the face of P90x) says, “if your flexibility is bad now, it’s only going to get worse as time passes.”  That’s his pitch for EVERYONE to do yoga, and you can’t really argue with it.  The least we can do is stretch, right?!

I have been doing blast for about a month now and am struggling with shin splints. Everytime I hit a big hill interval and go back to the floor my legs are shot and aching so bad. Help!!!

Asked by
Anonymous

We’re sorry to hear that!


The connective tissue running from your shin to the arch of your foot is probably not used to the strain of uphill running. You need to make sure you are striking the tread on the front of your foot, not the heel. Gradually, you will strengthen the tendons running through your shin. If your legs are aching after every steep incline block, try lowering the incline 3%-6% less than what the instructor says.


The primary cause of shin splints is not having proper footwear. The support underneath the arch of your shoe needs to be fitted properly for your specific arch.


There are several different “types” of supported shoes – Neutral, Stability,  Racer, etc. There are several shoe stores in Atlanta (Peachtree Runner is right up Roswell Road just north of Piedmont) that will take a look at your foot strike, arch, and running pattern. They then tell you what type of shoe is ideal for your foot. You don’t have to buy the shoes from that store. You just need to know what “type” of shoe you need!


Let us know if you need any additional help!


— Rich Shaw, Fitness Director

Did you know that lactose is sugar?  It’s a naturally occurring sugar in milk, but there is a lot of lactose in milk; as much as 12g in one cup of 2% milk. So if milk is high in sugar then it’s not the best addition for cereal, which is all carbs.  A Venti vanilla latte is also not smart.  WHY?  Because if you’re balancing your meals you need to get your carbs from fiber not sugar.  If you’ve consumed all of your carbs with milk, then you’re going to miss out on fiber. Yikes, this sounds tough!  How can you balance your meals without sacrificing the things you love? Hillary has all your answers and is going to share them with you - FOR FREE! Sign up for one of her nutrition seminars and learn how to: Train your metabolism to speed up Stop counting calories Work out less to burn more fat Make a lifestyle change, not a quick fix Dates and times for the seminar in January: Monday, January 21 @ Buckhead Studio, 1pm Tuesday, January 22, @ Buckhead Studio, 1:15pm Wednesday, January 23, @ Lululemon Buckhead, 7:30pm Thursday, Janyary 24, @ Dunwoody Studio, 11am Saturday, January 26, @ Dunwoody Studio 11:30 am You can sign up here!

Did you know that lactose is sugar?  It’s a naturally occurring sugar in milk, but there is a lot of lactose in milk; as much as 12g in one cup of 2% milk.

So if milk is high in sugar then it’s not the best addition for cereal, which is all carbs.  A Venti vanilla latte is also not smart.  WHY?  Because if you’re balancing your meals you need to get your carbs from fiber not sugar.  If you’ve consumed all of your carbs with milk, then you’re going to miss out on fiber.

Yikes, this sounds tough!  How can you balance your meals without sacrificing the things you love?

Hillary has all your answers and is going to share them with you - FOR FREE!

Sign up for one of her nutrition seminars and learn how to:

  • Train your metabolism to speed up
  • Stop counting calories
  • Work out less to burn more fat
  • Make a lifestyle change, not a quick fix

Dates and times for the seminar in January:

  • Monday, January 21 @ Buckhead Studio, 1pm
  • Tuesday, January 22, @ Buckhead Studio, 1:15pm
  • Wednesday, January 23, @ Lululemon Buckhead, 7:30pm
  • Thursday, Janyary 24, @ Dunwoody Studio, 11am
  • Saturday, January 26, @ Dunwoody Studio 11:30 am

You can sign up here!

As a physical and mental challenge for you runners, we do a lot of walking up steep inclines in class. So, we see a lot of you compensating your form when the climbs get intense.

That’s not good!

In this video, Rich shows you the proper form to make an incline walk effective AND safe.