Yackadactyl

I looove fitness toys. At least the ones that work. I figure whatever gets you moving, from boot camp to belly dancing, is a good thing. They add variety, as well as an element of fun, and can also make movements more functional in terms of improving our ability to do every day things.

At the same time, I have seen all too many exercises bikes functioning as clothes hangers. And let’s face it pretty much every garage sale on the planet features some sort of near-new-all too-fabulous, and often ineffective exercise device. How many Thighmasters can there be?

I sometimes look around the gym and add up the environmental impact of all the equipment and activity. A huge hunk of metal and paint for every body part. Fans blasting and TV’s blaring over the sounds of the treadmills humming. I often can’t help but wonder if there is a better way.

My new mini studio (formerly my garage) has forced me to be creative in a small space, and so I was thrilled to discover the Mini Stability Ball by STOTT Pilates.  My new participants are loving them.  Okay I think they are hating them, but because they are working so hard.  Its the ultimate love hate relationship.

For only $10 bucks and almost no space, you can have your own dymanite abdominal training tool. Its not quite as versatile as a full sized stability ball, but is easier to use. I highly recommend it – small, cheap and amazingly effective.

If you want more on how to use it, just ask!

I was asked to speak to a group of Times Columnist 10K clinic runners early this morning. They wanted some strategies for keeping moving beyond race day. Here’s a summary of what I think I said.

1.  Be whole in your approach. Consider body, mind and spirit. Maybe bootcamp or kickboxing isn’t the best choice after a day of traffic and tension at work. Stress and our ramped up lifestyles have a profound physiological affect on our bodies. Yes, those activities are great, but find ways to also soothe your soul and quiet your mind.

2.  Variety is the spice of life. Your body physically needs a variety of activities including cardiovascular, strength and flexibility. By mixing it up you can prevent boredom and help keep yourself moving, uninjured, in the long term.

3. Be active for all the right reasons – because of how it makes you feel, not how you HOPE it will make you look. If you are sweating and grunting in the hopes of looking like one of those perfect genetic freaks of nature you see in a magazine, then you’ve got a lifetime of disappointment before you. Exercising to feel great and improve the quality of your entire life is a guaranteed route to success.

4. Use the KISS (Keep It Simple and Sensible) principle when it comes to nutrition and weight management. I once had a client come running up to me proudly pronouncing how a certain diet forbade eating carrots because of their sugar content. Pleeeease, I think we all know carrots are not the problem.

Eat lots of fruits and veggies and drink lots of water. Chances are the rest will fall into place. Let go of the complicated, nonsensical, fad diets. They don’t work.

5. Remember the Fun Factor. I don’t know about you, but running on a treadmill indoors while watching CNN does not bring me great joy. I love gyms when I am injured (like now), or when there is a foot of snow outside, but if this is all I did, I’d loose my marbles. Okay maybe I already have.  Running it the forest, beams of light piercing through the branches of Douglas Fir, varied thrushes calling to each other… the feeling of my feet on the earth… that brings me great joy, and keeps me coming back, time after time. Take the time to find something you love and give up on the things you don’t.

6. Pay attention to your body. It has all the answers.

You know those times when you ate too much? Sitting there wishing you could undo a button, or change into some sweats? Had we really truly listened to the signs earlier, we would have known we were about to overdo it. Or for me its those times I am running down the road with an ache in my IT band, insistent despite the discomfort.

Why is it I don’t hear the signs until my body screams so loudly I am stopped in my tracks? When you figure out how, let me know.

7.  Your commitment to a healthy balanced life should be a way to build not berate. NEVER use exercise as punishment for something you ate or didn’t do. You will inevitably turn it into something to dread, a penance for your sins.

8. Make sure to balance action and performance goals. Performance goals, like running a 10K in an hour, can be great motivators, until your performance is less than what you hoped. Twice I have missed qualifying for the Boston Marathon by less then 2 minutes and both time the fact I had just run 42.2 KM was lost in my disappointment. How stupid is that?

9. Use the ‘argument’ as a cue to get moving. How much time do you spend arguing with yourself about whether or not you should exercise? Oh I have to. But its raining. It will be good for me. But now its pouring. This is important for my health. The puddles are ginormous and my feet will get wet.

The very instant you find yourself doing this is the exact moment you need to lace up your shoes and head out the door. You will never look back and regret the fact you exercised. Expend your energy moving, not debating.

10.  Move Your Body, Move Your Life. Your body is the vehicle for living your life. It is the home of your mind and your soul, without it you have no life. Its the greatest gift you’ll ever own. Use it every chance you get.

Thunder Thighs. Buffalo But. Hippo Hips. That’s me.  Truly.  I come from generations of farming women on both sides of family, and it shows. Who needs a horse when you can pull the plough yourself?  I’m not even joking.  I’ve cursed my California-Redwood-like legs all my life and literally ached with envy at the pictures of women with long thin legs that seem to go on for days.

I’m learning this is shallow thinking.  If I only focus on what my legs look I will never be happy – particularly at 43.  If instead I appreciate what they do for me, I realize what an amazing gift I have been given.  Truly.  I’ve run eleven marathons and still run 10 KM most days of my life. I’ve taught thousands of fitness classes and trained thousands of fitness professionals. For close to 20 years, this was how I made my living in the world.  I’ve climbed mountains, and walked beaches on five continents.

Try it.  Think about that part of your body. You know the one.  The one you think about hiding.  The one you curse under your breath.  And then pause.  Ask yourself, what has it given me?  What does it enable me to do?

Did it work?  Care to share?

Clothes shopping at Winners makes me feel like a loser, or at least it did last week. I was nearly mowed down twice by an unsmiling salesperson with a movable rack of clothes. I’m not sure exactly where she was going in such a rush, but I was happy to escape with my Achilles tendon in tact. I swear the sterile change room had lighting designed to emphasize every dimple and pucker and the annoying anti-shop lifting devices were attached in places that prevented doing up the clothes. Maybe a mute point because nothing fit properly anyway. Imagine that.

Unfortunately this happens to me a lot, and I’m pretty sure I am not alone.  N’est pas? Somewhere along the way we’ve been brainwashed into believing we need to fit ourselves into factory made clothing of a certain size, namely size 6, or smaller. When we don’t, we either makes ourselves lie down on the bed, exhaling every bit of available carbon dioxide in our bodies and zipping, so we can beat ourselves up over the resulting muffin top, (is it any wonder?) or we buy it anyway, despite the fact it fits in some places but not in others, telling ourselves not eating for two or three days will remedy the problem.

But it doesn’t really, does it? The item sits in the closet never to be worn, instead serving as a painful reminder of how bad we are for not starving away those annoying lumps and bumps. I say its time to stop the torture. The whole concept of size 6 arrived with the mass production of clothes during the Industrial Revolution. Prior to that, we sewed, or had sewn for us, garmets tailor made for our unique shapes. Imagine that?

Obviously, that would get pricey and might not be realistic in today’s world, but about three years ago, I discovered that a good tailor can do pretty much anything, even jeans, and its not nearly as expensive as one might think. So now, when I really like something, I buy a size larger and take it to the Duncan Tailors where they get out the pin cushion and for about $12.00 make it fit me. Sure it costs a little more, but less than spending money on clothes I’ll never wear.

Winners may not be my favourite place to shop, but I am usually able to come home with something I feel good about, knowing a few alterations will make it work for me. I can honestly say I am done with trying to fit into what’s on the rack.  Thank God, because it was a losing battle.

What about you?  What are your shopping experiences?

I find it painful to go to the gym. Not so much because I don’t like cardio equipment, fans and TVs, but because its extremely difficult to watch people essentially wasting time by unknowingly performing ineffective, or worse yet potentially harmful, exercises without offering up some assistance. Especially as I am an extroverted Fitness Yackadactyl (creature defined by a well defined and constantly moving set of jaw muscles, or in this blogger’s case, fingers).

I was reminded of this the other day while driving to work and listening to CBC. I heard about something called ROWE, or Results Only Work Environment.  The tagline, ‘where people are paid for productivity and not time spent,’ expresses the underlying premise of getting the job done, rather than putting in a prerequisite number of hours.

So, how does this apply to fitness you ask? We can increase productivity and decrease time at the gym by applying ROWE to exercise. The key is to select exercises and activities that give you the most bang for your time-spent buck. Here are some tips for constructing your Results Only Workout. 

Build your fitness program around 4 key cornerstones: Cardiovascular, Strength, Flexibility and Nourishment

Cardiovascular – In order to achieve results you must elevate your heart rate to 70 – 85% of your HR MAX. I can explain this at length if you are interested, or you can aim to work at an intensity where your heart and breathing rates are high enough you are able to carry on a conversation, but JUST barely. Never mind all the Fat Burning Zone, jargon, which warrants a post of its own. Just get your heart rate up and keep it up everyday for 30 – 50 minutes, remembering you can do this in intermittent bouts. Heart Rate Monitors are fabulous for helping with this, but if you don’t want to spend $100 ask me about taking your own pulse manually. Its free.

Strength – If you want maximum benefit for minimum time, perform one set of 12 reps of these four exercises: Chest Press or Push Up, Mid or Bent Over Row, Squat or Lunge and Dead Bug.  You will hit all the major muscle groups in the body with these four exercises.  Also, note the single set training has proven to be effectiveprovided your one set is a good one.  Remember, you MUST lift to momentary muscle fatigue in 12 or less reps.  This means you are not able to complete another rep while maintaining perfect form. If you are curling A two LB dumbbell 40 times, its much too light and you’re wearing out your joints, and not making a good use of your time.

NB – Generally weight exercises that involve bouncing, momentum, twisting of the spine, or bending over while hanging on to weights are NOT a good idea.

Flexibility - Stretch each major muscle group in the body and hold for 15 – 30 seconds without bouncing. Emphasize areas that are typically tight – hamstrings, hipflexors, calves, pecs and back of the neck. Yoga Sun Salutations are also a complete practice, so performing four Sun Series A and Sun Series B is a great way to target key tight spots.

NB – Generally, stretches that involve bouncing or wincing are not a good idea. You should never feel pain in a joint, only gentle tension in a muscle.

Nourishment – When it comes to eating focus your efforts on what you need to do, rather than obsessing about what you don’t. Eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Take time to slowly chew your food and pay attention to how what you are eating makes you feel.

And don’t forget to breathe!

I loooove this bag.  I bought one years ago when I was working at the Golden Door teaching a gazillion fitness classes a day. It fits perfectly into a locker without any ramming or jamming, and the front flap, complete with pouches for shampoo and toiletries, opens just like the locker door. The interior of the bag is split perfectly so a breatheable lower compartment perfectly fits my stinky sweaty shoes, and there’s a waterproof outer pocket for a wet swimsuit or towel.

Sadly, I don’t teach fitness all day every day, but I still love, and use the bag all the time.  Its worth noting that I have been using it frequently for almost 10 years and it has endured beautifully. I like to leave the toiletries, indoor gym shoes and a towel inside at all times, and then all I need to do is tuck in some shorts and a top the night before, and I am good to go. Its so easy.  No excuses.

Funnily enough though, someone at work asked me if I had a cat in my bag. She thought I was carrying a pet transport bag.  No, just my gear ready to go!

Over the past 20 years Personal Training I have come to see strengths and weaknesses are not as black and white we might think. Sometimes muscles that appear strong are actually weak, and strong muscles, while looking good in the mirror, are typically tight and short, often leading to musculo-skeletal injuries. Apparently, this blurring of the lines extends beyond just muscles.

I was having lunch with a friend last week and he talked about how sometimes our percieved biggest weakness is actually our hidden greatest strength. I immediately thought of my own body, which after running eleven marathons, teaching literally thousands of fitness classes, pumping countless weights, practicing yoga and Pilates daily and consuming a vegetarian diet, still resembles the Venus de Milo, not Twiggy. What the hell?

We all know Fitness Professionals are NOT supposed to be curvy. Says who? Well, no one actually says it out loud. Instead they do things like suggest playing squash, or cutting down on carbs to help shrink my hips.  Riiiiggght. Do you think if it was that easy I wouldn’t have done it by now? Then there is the ridiculously obvious look of surprise when people discover my marathon PR is sub 3:45. Once in a high school track meet, someone actually remarked, OUT LOUD, that he couldn’t believe someone my size could run so fast. Sigh.

I guess that’s when it became a bit personal mission to show people fitness comes in varying shapes and sizes. Okay maybe its more that ‘a bit’ of a mission. Maybe its a life-driving-all-consuming obsession. I still struggle inside, looking at many of my colleagues with envy, but honestly its what defines my work. Thank you to so many of you who have responded and stuck with me for years even though I am so not a Barbie Doll. You have transformed what I percieve as my biggest struggle into my greatest strength.

Now what about you?  What’s your hidden Golden Achilles Heel?

When we were kids, my siblings and I used to invent our own knock-knock jokes. Many have long since been forgotten, but one endures as part of family lore. My brother would tell this joke and then roar with laughter as we sat there trying to figure out what was so funny.  Well… today, some thirty five years later, I am thrilled because I get the joke, and its hiiilaaarious.

Knock, knock

Who’s there?

Bare Bum.

Bare Bum Who?

Bare Bum on a Bike.

This joke came to life today when I was walking down Government Street. People were hooting, hollering, smiling and laughing behind me. I turned to look and was completely agape at a parade of bare naked people riding bikes. Apparently, this Naked Bike Ride takes place in several cities across the globe to protest vehicle emissions. What an attention grabber.

Part of me was captivated. Another part was thinking OMG this is way too much information, but I realized these are real people, no airbrushing, no photoshop, just the real goods. It hit me that these folks are praticing what I preach about being comfortable in my own skin and letting go of what I think I am supposed to look like.

I don’t look so different from the nakedness I saw today on the street, yet I still haven’t the courage to let it all hang out. I’m still trying not to measure myself against the unreal images I see in the media. I want the courage and comfort they have, and I want to thank them for reminding me normal is actually what I saw riding down the road, not the perfection plastered all over billboards and magazines. Plus I love that this is a proactive protest encouraging cycling as a mode of transport.

Does putting my money where my mouth is mean I should participate next year? Maybe it will take me longer than a year.  What about you? Care to join me?

Balance, like many things, typically declines with age, but it doesn’t have to. Balancing on a daily basis can ensure you maintain this ability well into, and beyond, your autumn years.

Good balance comes from strong core muscles and trained joint proprioceptors. The easiest way to incorporate a regular balancing act into your routine, is to brush your teeth standing on one foot. While it may seem obvious, alternate legs; If you brush in the morning on the right leg, finish the day on the left.

You can up the ante, and create pause in your busy day, by balancing on one foot with your eyes closed. Removing the visual input means you have to rely on your muscles and joint sensors. Its surprising how tough this really is.

Incorporating regular balancing exercises is an easy way to strengthen your abs, increase your joint stability and decrease the risk of injury.

I asked, and you responded. Turns out, most of you hire a Personal Trainer to help you get where you’ve never gone before. You’ve told me that you like to have your you-know-what kicked, and that the best trainers are the ones you love to hate. I’m taking everything you’ve said under serious advisement.

In the meantime, I’ve combined your input with recommendations from the American College of Sports Medicine, and my own experience to create a  top twelve list of things you should look for in a Personal Trainer.

• Does the trainer have any sort of provincially, or nationally recognized certification? Believe it or not, legally anyone can call himself a Personal Trainer, without any experience or education.
• Does he/she have liability insurance?
• What about first aid and CPR?  This could be important if you are training outside, particularly on trails or more remote areas.
• Can he/she provide references and a resume?
• What about experience and education outside of his/her own physical accomplishments?  Its one thing to complete a triathlon yourself, and another thing entirely to coach someone else.  Having a physical genetic gift doesn’t alone make a good trainer.
• Does he or she inquire as to whether or not you have any injuries, or medical conditions?  Ideally, this would be done with a form, but could also take the form of a pre-interview.
• What is the cancellation policy of the trainer?  This is very good to define at the outset, as many trainers have a 24 hour cancellation policy.
• Is the trainer sensitive to your needs? 
• Is he/she wholly focused on you during your training sessions?  Chances are the trainer who endlessly glances in the mirror isn’t going to help you forge new ground.
• Does the trainer communicate clearly?  Can he/she explain things to you thoroughly?
• Is the trainer prescribing supplements?  This is outside the scope and practice of a Personal Trainer, or Fitness Professional. 
• Does the Trainer present him/herself professionally, and does he/she treat you with respect?

Now, if you’ve anything to add, I am all ears…