As the New Year starts to unfold, here are some hints to making a healthier you!  Enjoy.

1.  Get adequate sleep.
2. Take time for yourself – pampering is ok!
3. Limit or eliminate foods with ingredients ending in "ose" eg fructose, sucrose, sucralose….
4. Eat breakfast everyday.
5. Ensure adequate protein daily – .8 grams per pound of body weight.
6. If at a desk job – get up and move once 2 hours
7. Include neck stretches into your daily regime; especially if you sit at a computer.
8. Find a good book, relax and read.
9. Delegate responsibilities, especially household chores.
10. Try to get in extra exercise each day – park in the corner of the mall parking lot, walk up an extra flight of stairs, make extra loads to carry in groceries.  Try to find ways to add a  few extra steps to your day.
11. Eat at least 5 servings of fresh vegetables daily.
12. Eliminate your intake of junk food.
13. Eat fresh fruit instead of drinking fruit juice.
14. Include some hand/forearm stretches while out for a daily walk.
15. Don't miss workouts, minimum 3 times per week whether at a gym or at home.
16. Hug your significant other, just because.
17. Workout hard, workout short and go home.
18. Avoid negativity; surround yourself with positive.
19. Make sure you eat adequate calories – starvation and low calorie diets don't work.
20. Include stretches after every workout, whether strength workout or cardio.
21. Tissue preparation (foam roller work) and warm ups are vital to safe workouts and injury prevention.
23. Use sunscreen; take care of your skin; prevent skin cancer.

Your body is like a garden; tend it well and it will blossom beautiful.

Till next time,

Narina

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What are you doing to ensure that you are getting in your exercise every day?  Yes, I do mean every day.  Some of you may have memberships at gyms or rec centers and go 2-3 times per week.  And, that is great and congratulations to those of you who make every workout.  But, what are you doing the other days?  It is important to be getting some form of exercise every day.  It doesn't have to be hour long workouts.  It can be as little as 15 minutes.

Remember, as well that not all your workouts need to be in a gym.  There are plenty of ways to get in extra exercise by just putting some thought into your day.  Where can you make life just a little more work and to a point, less efficient.  One of our clients, sent along this article from the web site Spark People.  It is interesting to read how you can incorporate your daily chores into a mini workout each day.  Keep in mind that exercise is cumulative – it all adds up at the end of the week.   The link to read that article on Spark People is:   http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=272

The article is entitled:  The "Real-Life Woman's" Workout – Find Ways to be Inefficient"  Some other ways to incorporate exercise into your daily life is:

1.  Use stairs instead of elevator – such a little thing, but counts big time.  In fact, do a couple of laps up and down the stairs before you get to your destination.

2.  Finish lunch 10 minutes early and go for a walk – helps to stretch out the ole body and get a few calories burned.  Get the heart rate up now…..

If you are not getting in your aerobic work, get up 15 minutes early and do a quick little workout:  BW Squats, Push ups (against a counter if need be), Floor Bridges.  Repeat 4 x and you are good to go!  Earlier this year,  I was interviewed by a reporter doing an article for an online magazine (Best Health)  Link:   http://www.besthealthmag.ca/  The article she is writing is called "7 Ways to Maximize your Gym Workout".  This is what I provided her: 

1)  Monitor your rest periods.  Use a stop watch or watch the clock at the gym.  Most people will rest far too long as they head to the water cooler, chat with friends.  Limit your rest periods to 30-45 seconds and be ready to start back onto your next exercise as soon as the watch denotes.

2)  Consolidate and pack your workout time.  In other words, group exercises together into mini circuits.  Combine 3-4 exercises together alternating upper body, lower body, core and complete 3-4 times through and then move onto the other circuits.

3)  When using mini circuits, use your core exercise as "active rest".  In other words, most times you won't need much rest after the core exercise before you start back on the first exercise of that circuit.

4)  Don't waste time on machines or isolation exercises.  These burn very little calories resulting in little if any changes in weight loss or body composition.  Least effective machines are leg extension/leg curl.  Least effective exercise is standing bicep curls.  Replace leg extensions with squats and lunges for quadriceps.  Replace leg curl with Romanian deadlifts for hamstrings.  And, any rowing movements will effectively work your biceps and burn more calories to boot!

5)  Pick 3-5 complex exercises (total body exercises) combine with 2-3 core exercises and workout completed.  Fast and quick.  Big bang for your buck when it comes to weight loss and fat burning.

6)  Monitor your reps and weights.  Don't waste time doing 20-25 reps.  This has little, if any effect on weight loss or fat burning.  Pick a weight that you need to work hard at for 8-10 reps max.

7)  Keep your intensity high.  Intensity high; volume low.  Work out hard, work out short.  In a nutshell – increase your intensity; decrease your time.  Combine exercises into circuits.  Use complex exercises (total body).  Stay off machine and away from isolation exercises.

Okay, there you have it.  Some good hints to incorporate into both your gym workouts and time away from the gym. 

Narina Prokosch

“Monitoring, Mentoring, Motivation”

www.victoriawellness.com

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Today's topic came about because of a discussion I had with a fellow trainer whose opinion I value and respect.  Also, with Xmas being so close this is also the time of year when people may be looking for that perfect Xmas gift and possibly thinking a gym membership or Boot camp membership would fit the bill.

I would like to focus primarily on Boot camps for two reasons:  #1 they are immensely popular right now and it seems a new boot camp is popping up almost every week, and #2 boot camps will involve working directly with a personal trainer or fitness instructor and a gym membership may not.

When shopping or looking for a boot camp or group fitness to attend, it is really buyer beware.  The fitness industry is an unregulated industry and a certification for a personal trainer is as easy as entering your credit card number on the internet.   Also, it is important to not only check credentials of the instructor or personal trainer, but you also need to verify that they are insured.  The boot camp instructor should be able to provide you a copy of their insurance – if they can't or aren't willing then run the other way and seek elsewhere.

One determining factor of a well run boot camp is an orientation or assessment session.  These are normally booked separately from the start of the boot camp and may be done as a group.  But, this is the time when the instructor will discuss what you can expect from the class.  The instructor will also want to discuss any health concerns, previous injuries or physical limitations you may have.  At no time, should you be joining a boot camp for the first session and be thrown in with an already running group.  This is just an injury waiting to happen.  If there is no orientation session or assessment discussed in your initial inquiry, then once again look elsewhere.

You may want to go and watch one session to see how they are conducted.  Is the instructor able to watch the whole group?   Is there an adequate warm up done before the exercise portion begins?  And, going for a run is not a warm up!  There should be mobility/dynamic warm up drills done before asking the body to perform.  Is there adequate stretching done at the end of the program?

Is the instructor/trainer qualified to teach everything that is being done in the boot camp?  With the increase in popularity of kettlebells specifically, not everyone is well qualified to teach their proper use.  As with a lot of the "latest trends" in the fitness world, they are not always appropriate or in the best interest of the client.  Just because it looks fun and trendy, doesn't make it safe and a good choice for new exercisers.

Boot camps can be fun.  They are filled with like minded individuals and can develop a great sense of camaraderie within the group.  But, they also needed to be well researched.  Do not just pick the boot camp closest to home, or the cheapest.  Do your homework.  Look for credentials of those providing the service.  Check for insurance and ask about orientation or assessment prior to start of classes.  Don't just join the first boot camp you come across or see an ad for.

A little homework on your part will go a long way to providing a safe and enjoyable exercise program that you will continue to participate in and remain injury free.

Till next time,
Narina Prokosch

"Monitoring, Mentoring, Motivation"

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Life is interesting and always keeps us on our toes.  I met on the weekend with a friend and fellow business owner.  We talked about the excitement of owning and running your own business.  We also talked about the work involved and at how at times you can feel you are alone with your problems.  But, we also talked about the joy both of our businesses bring to our lives and how the satisfaction of helping others and hopefully bringing positive change to someone else's life is worth it all.

As our coffee cups slowly emptied, it became evident that she was at a crossroads with both her business and her life.  Her business is at the point where you need to make a decision to allow the business to grow and take on staff to help run or keep it manageable with just yourself.  She is also at a crossroads in her life and what direction she wants her own life.  Are you at a crossroad in your life?  Maybe you have been coasting along wondering about making changes in your life.   Maybe the possibility of starting a fitness program or increasing a present fitness regime is in the forefront of your mind.  Have you been looking at your nutrition lately  wondering how to start or make changes to your lifestyle?

It is not always easy to figure out the next step.  I think first you need to decide what is important to you and what your priorities are.  If your health and well being is important, and you are willing to make it a priority then you have taken the first step to success.

Step Number 1 is making a commitment to yourself and dedicating the time necessary to realize that goal.  You must make you a priority.  You must make your health and wellness No. 1. When you make the decision that you are ready for change and willing to embrace the work necessary to make those changes happen, you are already well on the road to success.   Our clients at Victoria Wellness have made that decision and have taken the steps
necessary to make their goals a reality.  Surrounding yourself with like minded people and having a support system in place are all necessary ingredients in order for your fitness program to be successful.  You must have everyone on board with you.

As the old saying goes, "Nothing good in life comes easy" and good health, a strong and fit body are no exception.  Hard work in all areas (strength training, cardio training, nutrition, recovery) is required in order to make any appreciable change in your body composition.  So, if you are at a crossroads in your life – now is the time to take control, seek out support and make those changes happen!

Till next time,
Narina
"Monitoring, Mentoring, Motivation"

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Unless you have just come in from living in the woods, you will have heard of The Biggest Loser.  This reality show features morbidly obese individuals striving to lose weight and change their lifestyle, all under the guidance of "expert" trainers and staff.   Now, this show has been on TV for a few years now and I can honestly say I have seen  some of the early episodes during its first season.   I tuned in during the first season more out of curiosity more than anything.  I  had clients ask about the show and the variety of workouts they perform, so I thought I should at least see a few shows to be able to make an informed comment.  I wish I had something positive to say about the show, I really do.

But, sadly I cannot find any redeeming qualities in the show at all.  First off let's talk about the contestants.  They are all what is classed as "morbidly obese".  Obesity is defined as:

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse affect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy.  Morbidly obese individuals will have a body mass index greater than 40.0.  Some of the medical conditions associated with obesity are:  heart disease, stroke, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis,  low back pain, poor mobility, asthma, sleep apnea, various cancers, diabetes, GI reflux disease.  These are just a few of the hundreds of medical conditions associated with obesity.  The items that stand out in my mind as a fitness professional are:  heart disease, high blood pressure,  osteoarthritis, low back pain, poor mobility, asthma, reflux.  All of these conditions will not only determine an individuals' ability to exercise safely, but also will dictate what type of exercises that would be selected.

So, you can imagine my thoughts as I watched this show.  Obviously no regard for the health of the contestants.  It was just one dangerous exercise followed by another  All, while their "expert" trainers yelled and belittled them to work hard, push more, go faster or further.  The saddest part of this show I find, is that the trainers on this show are viewed as experts in their field.   Now, I can't claim to know anything of their education or background.  I do know that they both have appeared on other TV shows as guests and also both have books out.  So, they must know what they are doing, right?    So, you are probably wondering what prompted this rant? 

Well, it first came to light early this morning as I was reading an article on the blog of  Strength Coach, Mike Boyle.  Here is the link to his article:

http://mboyle1959.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/the-biggest-loser/

This is not a new blog post.  But sadly, things have not changed that much with this show.  The article basically commented about a contestant having to leave the show because of a stress fracture in her hip. Now, from past discussions I have had with other Strength Coaches in the U.S., this is not the first injury that has occurred on the show.  There have been reports of various knee injuries, herniated discs; although most never make it to the public arena.  After all, that wouldn't be good public relations for the network.

For those of us that do take our profession seriously, most of what you see on The Biggest Loser would never occur in our facilities.   We take months to prepare clients to perform advanced exercises (lunges, push ups, etc).  It may not be as glamorous as being on TV, but I think it has its own rewards in our clients' health and well being.

Till next time,

Narina Prokosch

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