Saturday, December 31, 2016

Weekend Warrior Workout!

Get your workout gear on and join me!


Friday, December 30, 2016

How To Change Your Life In 3 Easy Steps :)



Change Is Scary!

 

Most people at one time or another want to make changes in their life.  It could be a fitness goal, a relationship goal, a business goal – could be anything.  No matter what you want to change there’s usually quite a bit of apprehension when you start thinking about change.

What To Do??

 

If you really want to change your life you need to have the right mindset.  Here are 3 beliefs you need to have in order to get your mind right!

1      Believe that something MUST change.

 

I’ll use the examples above.  Fitness Goal:  Do you want to get in shape because you think it would be nice or because your health is at risk or your joints hurt too much to stay the way you are? Relationship Goal:  Do you want to make changes in your relationship because of a couple of minor issues or because you know your relationship is going to end if you don’t do something about it right now?  Business Goal:  Do you want to change something in your business because you think it could be a good idea or because if you don’t make that change your business will fail?  You have to absolutely believe that if you don’t make the change the consequences will be FAR worse than the discomfort you might experience as you start to take steps toward your goal.


      Believe that you and ONLY YOU can change it. 

 

You have to take full responsibility for the changes you want to make.  You can’t rely on someone else to make the change for you.  Make this change your personal mission.  If you’re relying on someone else to do it then maybe you don’t really want it as much as you thought.  Let’s look at our examples above again.  Fitness Goal:  if you want to get healthy you have to exercise and eat healthy.  No one can do that for you.  Relationship Goal:  maybe you feel that you and your partner aren’t communicating enough.  You have to step up and communicate that to your partner – they might not even be aware that there’s any problem at all.  Business Goal:  if you want to take your business to the next level you have to decide what steps you need to take and take those steps – no one is going to do that for you unless they get a part of your business.  


3       You HAVE to believe that you CAN change.

 

You can do amazing things when you set your mind to it.  People are motivated by two things: to avoid pain and to get pleasure.  If you want to change a behavior pattern all you have to do is associate pain with the behavior pattern that’s keeping you stuck and associate pleasure with the behavior pattern that will get you unstuck.  Let’s look at a fitness goal.  Let’s say your fitness goal is to get healthy so you can keep up with your kids and right now you’re eating a lot of junk food and not exercising.  In your mind eating junk food equals pleasure and exercising equals pain.  All you have to do is swap that thinking!  Think about all the things you dislike about not being able to keep up with your kids and being unhealthy and attach those bad feelings to eating junk food.  Then think about all the pleasure that being strong and fit brings and attach those feelings to exercise.  Same thing with our other examples.  Attach your unhappiness to the behavior that’s keeping you stuck and attach happiness to the changes you’ll need to make to get you to your goal.   


You’ve Totally Got This!

 

You have within you everything you need to make any change you want in your life.  Decide what you want and go get it!


Thursday, December 29, 2016

Did You Do Your Warm Up?



Why Warm Up?

Sometimes you’re in a hurry to get your workout done so is it okay to skip the warm up?  NO!  Here’s why:  it will make your workout unpleasant and maybe even dangerous!  If you skip your warm up you could suffer joint pain during your workout or worse muscle strain or injury.  Not to mention it’s harder on your heart if you just jump into your workout without a proper warm up. 
Still not convince?  Well check this out:  warming up properly will actually improve your workout
performance! 

The Purpose Of The Warm Up

 

The warm up is meant to increase overall body and muscle temperature and also increase blood flow to the muscles you’ll be using most in your workout.

Your warm up will include low intensity moves that are specific to what you plan to do in your workout.  For example, you don’t need to do pushups before a run.  Walking for 5-10 minutes before your run would be more appropriate.  

Let’s Take It A Bit Further 


For anyone who participates regularly in physical activity there is nothing more frustrating than an injury.  Taking your warm-up to the next level might be what you need to do. 


  

Taking care of the pain source.  

 

Did you know that chronic joint pain and overuse injuries are caused by tightness in the muscles above and below that joint?  Knee pain is often caused by tightness in the calves and quads.  Got back pain?  You probably have tight glutes, hamstrings and hip flexors.  Shoulder pain can be caused by tight pecs and lats.

If you’re active, especially if you’re doing a lot of high intensity training, over time you’ll develop scar tissue, adhesions and knots that will eventually present itself as joint pain.  What to do?  

Self-massage!  Self-massage is a great way to loosen up muscles and prepare them for your workout.  You can also do a little self-massage after your workout just before you stretch.  

Focus on your weaknesses.   

 

We all have them.  Maybe it’s a lack of flexibility, or bad balance or imbalance in muscle strength from one side of the body to the other.  Knowing where your weaknesses are is a very valuable thing – once you know what’s wrong you can take measures to fix it.

One way to discover where you’re lacking is by going through a Functional Movement Screen (FMS).  Basically it’s a ranking system used to identify limitations and asymmetries that have been linked to an increased risk of injury.  Once you know what these limitations and asymmetries are you can focus on the proper exercises to improve these issues.   

If you’d like to get one done and you’re in the Vancouver area you can go see my favourite chiropractor Dr. Tony McDougall at Armitage& Associates in Kits or downtown at Performance Health Group.  I’ve had it done….I was surprised by the results!

Activate with mobility.   

 

Mobility is just the ability of a joint to move through a certain range of motion.  Mobility requires a certain amount of flexibility as well as strength, stability and neuromuscular control.  Mobility exercises will often activate key and often dormant muscles in your hips, core and shoulders.

Never Skip The Warm Up!

 

So as you see the warm up is an integral part of your workout.  If you skip it you run a huge risk of injuring yourself or at very least not performing at your best during your workout.  Either way it’s worth the 5-10 minute time investment before you start your workout.






Fit In A Minute! Speed Skater Burpees!

Make sure you warm up and cool down!!


Thursday, December 22, 2016

Boost Your Immune System Now!



Your Immune System

Cold and flu bugs are everywhere so we need to do everything we can to keep our immune system strong.  Your immune system is what protects you from those foreign invaders that make you sick so if you don’t want to get sick here are some things you need to do to keep your immune system running at its best!

  • Avoid processed foods!  Did you know that 80% of your immune system is located in your digestive track?  This is why it’s essential to eat healthy whole foods if you want to be healthy.  It’s very difficult for the digestive system to digest processed foods and use them for energy since they’re not whole foods.  If your system is overburdened with too many processed foods it sucks energy from your immune system leaving it unable to do a proper job of keeping you healthy.

  • Get enough sleep!  Studies have shown that people who don’t get enough quality sleep are more likely to get sick when exposed to a virus than their well-rested friends.  The amount of needed sleep for each individual will vary from person to person but generally 7-8 hours is recommended and it needs to be quality sleep.

  • Look on the bright side!  A pessimistic person is more likely to get sick than an optimistic person.  When you’re depressed your brain becomes depleted in certain hormones creating a chain of events that will actually slow down the activity of the immune system.  Practice thinking positively!  After a while it will become more natural ;)

  • Exercise!  Doctors have found that exercise actually provides a boost to the cells in your body that are assigned to attack bacteria.  These cells appear to work more slowly in people who don’t exercise than in those who do.  Need help?  Comment below and I’ll help you fit exercise into your daily routine.

Do It Now!

All of these tips can be implemented today to help you avoid getting sick later so start using these tips now and enjoy your health!