In Week Five of the Health Club Challenge, Chad Jacques is into visualizing his ever-tougher workouts before he gets anywhere near the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence.

"It helps you prepare your mind. Your mind's already in the gym and your body kind of gets there to meet it."

The technique comes from athletic counsellor Christie Gialloreto, who has been helping all three winners put their personal situations and goals into perspective — and they're all managing to come through with higher levels of performance.

It has been a good week for the Oak Bay High School teacher, who reports his energy level is "through the roof" and he's having fun, despite unabated stomach growls at night.

His intervals on a treadmill with personal trainer Dalyce Hill involve going hard enough for one minute to leave him feeling "pretty gassed."

Then Hill ups the ante to a faster speed or steeper incline. "I'm finding I'm able to handle the increasing workload and enjoy it," Jacques says.

Debbie Poldrugovac is also having a hard-driving, no-potatoes kind of fun.

"I'm into a rhythm with this new lifestyle," she says, buoyed by successes such as reaching 2,800 metres during her first rowing machine workout.

The feat included four sets of 700 metres separated by plank exercises and pushups. At the 2,100-metre mark, she seriously wavered but rallied. Hill is "kicking it up a notch and that's good," she says.

Spending time with Gialloreto affirmed her level of commitment to her goals, chief among them dropping four dress sizes. She's pleased to have already dropped one.

"It doesn't take long for the body — with diet and exercise — to spring back into shape," she says.

She also wants to maintain the four-size reduction through exercise and a diet that still includes the occasional potato or piece of cheesecake. In the past month, she has had only one-quarter of one potato and that was on her birthday.

Nutrition expert Kim McQueen has Poldrugovac hooked on slow-cooker oatmeal made overnight with diced apple and cinnamon. "To wake up to oats already cooked is just wonderful," she says. Ditto for McQueen's pizza recipe with no-rise spelt crust topped with organic pizza sauce, skim mozzarella, a red pepper, onion, chicken breast and veggies.

"Because of eating such good food, there are no cravings," Poldrugovac says. "Isn't that amazing?"

Over at the Victoria Symphony office, Yvette Guigueno couldn't agree less. She felt a serious pull from a restaurant flyer that turned up in her desk drawer.

"I was just so sad, craving all-you-can-eat Indian food," she laughs. How strong did she stay? "I actually sat there and had a glass of water." OK, and a healthful salad with roast chicken, vegetables, nut crackers and light dressing.

Jacques has been saying no to his yen for a late-night bowl of cereal "which was never said before — like never," while Guigueno confesses she feels "a cheat meal" coming on. Still, her Sundays are now dedicated to preparing freezer packs of healthful food for the week — chicken, brown rice and baked yams.

She's readjusting her goal that running five kilometres is the definitive sign of the fit person. She hates running on the treadmill, and hates outside running even more, but went the distance in stair-climbing.

It was up and down three flights three times, with squats, side shuffles and plank exercises in between. Had Hill not been there, she doubts she would have worked herself as hard.

"She's very encouraging; she's very low-key but she totally makes us push ourselves and sweat ... I'm still not where I want to be in terms of fitness, but I'm seeing huge improvements in one month."

kdedyna@timescolonist.com

Fitness

"Most weight training exercises can be classified as either isolation exercises or compound exercises. Isolation exercises are exercises that only act on single joints, such as bicep curls. Com-pound exercises on the other hand, act on multiple joints, and therefore multiple muscle groups contract to perform the desired movement. Examples of compound exercises are push-ups, rowing and squats.

"Compound exercises are necessary in resistance training programs because they are more functional and have a greater carryover to day-to-day activities and sport-specific movements. Because compound exercises also work multiple joints and multiple muscle groups, they will give you more bang for your buck, especially if you are concerned with the time required to incorporate resistance training into your fitness program.

"A rowing exercise, for example, will work the large muscles in the back, including the rhomboids, trapezius, and latissimus dorsi, and will also work the biceps muscles in the arms. By incorporating a rowing exercise, you can reduce the overall number of exercises you need to perform because you are targeting so many muscles together.

"If you prefer to include isolation exercises, such as bicep curls, tricep extensions, and leg curls into your program, go for it, but include them in addition to other more functional compound exercises. When sequencing your program together, perform the compound, multi-joint exercises at the beginning of your session, followed by isolation exercises.

"When deciding which exercises to complete as part of your program, try to keep muscle groups balanced. If you do an exercise for your chest, for example, balance it out by also doing an exercise for your back."

— Melissa Wilson, trainer

Nutrition

"Be deliberate about plotting your week's meals and snacks. Make a commitment to putting pen to paper and write down your plans to heighten your commitment to the process. Further, when you take the time to think through the week's meals, you set the stage for efficient grocery shopping, the next component of the plan to plan.

"Write a grocery list of the foods you enjoy [minus the chocolate croissants] and staples for each of the grocery stores you frequent. Make copies of these lists for future reference so you can simply circle items when they are needed.

"When you are back from shopping, wash some of the vegetables and fruit you will use for snacks so they are ready. Where possible, cut your vegetables into snack-friendly sizes, put them into storage containers and refrigerate. Now you are ready for grab-and-go snacking, when needed.

"Use some of your planning time to make an appealing snack salad, a vegetable dip or a healthy muffin so your nutrition is dynamic and you don't get bored of the same routine. Make the effort to peruse the web, magazines or cookbooks to find inspiration and new recipes to round out your repertoire. Create enjoyment around food preparation and eating, striving to make it stress-free. If you find your lunches or snacks a little lacklustre, then put some energy into drumming up fresh ideas."

— Kimberly McQueen,

naturopathic doctor