Chances are in your life you’ll need to lift objects like: grocery bags, children, pets and water coolers and if you do not work on keeping your body strong these tasks will get harder and harder as you age. In addition to maintaining muscle mass and strength, one of the biggest benefits of resistance training in a controlled environment is an increase in body awareness which will decrease your risk of injury during daily activities.
Read MoreStarting the day earlier out of your own free will, puts the power in your hands from the beginning, you are choosing to greet the day instead of the other way around. You will feel ahead of the game because you are, which means you are in control of setting up the rest of the day and dictating how it will go
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The only way to make your life how you’ve envisioned is to start taking action. Time spent picturing the future you want can be greatly motivating and can help clarify your direction but too much focus on the future can turn that positive motivating energy into sharp knives of anxiety and worry. Start taking steps, lunges and leaps towards the future you desire, silence your inner worries with outward momentum.
Read MoreIn nature it is accepted and understood that time is an essential part of the growth and developmental process. Why then when it comes to changing, growing, and molding ourselves do we think that time is malleable and the quicker the better? If your goal is to shed 50lbs, would you be upset if you achieved the goal but it took you two years? Would you rather just stay as you are now because being 50lbs lighter in your mind should only take a year, and two years is too long to achieve what you want?
Read MoreThese are small adjustments that will produce massive change in your internal and external relationships. As far as we know we all possess free will and it is a gift that is not to be suffocated. Judgments have no place in our relationships and need to be left in the courtroom.
Read MoreWe’ve made the gym a detention hall for those who’ve broken the rules of healthy eating. When in reality physical exertion should be viewed as it was in middle school – RECESS.
Read MoreIn contrast the origins of commitment will bolster your efforts and nudge your psyche into a more serious state - you are making a pledge to take action, with complete understanding of what is required of you. When you make a commitment you have complete confidence and fortitude in your abilities and desires to see it through. You are recognizing that you can achieve what you are swearing yourself to.
Read MoreWhen you shift your focus outward onto others and are actually able to brighten their day, your own self–worth is boosted. The fact that you did something worthwhile and beneficial reinforces your own worth, because one cannot do worthy things and not be worthy, in order to do good one must be good.
Read MoreThere is more to life than work (even if like me you love what you do), and taking a few minutes away to let the brain rest and refocus may allow for connections to be made that wouldn’t have if you just stayed in it. There are several different methods that have been studied to be beneficial in one way or another as to how you schedule your work and break time. Going through the research I’ve listed three approaches that seem to be the most advantageous.
Read MoreYou may have all the talent and aptitude to achieve what you desire, but there will always be obstacles in your path, and without trust in yourself and your abilities those obstacles can become insurmountable. It is your belief in you that will keep you striving and pushing onward. So how do you foster this will from within?
Read MoreHabits are similar to well-trodden paths, but all well-trodden paths had to be bushwhacked and traversed repeatedly before they became clear and manageable. There is much effort put in to creating good habits, but the rewards are worth it. There are several books and articles on habits written by professionals with far greater knowledge and experience than myself, so with that in mind I will keep my input into the realm short and anecdotal.
Read MoreIs it just me or does it seem like there’s a tendency to stay in costume even after Halloween? The Halloween candy is still in the house, the temperature is dropping and with more festivities on the horizon you stay dressed up as Holiday You for the next two months. Then when January 1st rolls around you try to take off the holiday costume only to realize you’ve worn it far too long and it has permanently fused onto you.
Here are 10 Tips to help you have a wonderful stress and guilt free holiday season that won’t make you feel ungrateful come January 1st
Read MoreThe results are in, social connection is a critical part of our overall well-being and success. The data also indicates that the quality of those connections matter far more than quantity, and negative relationships can be more detrimental than positive relationships can be beneficial.
Read MoreOver the last decade foam rolling has become a staple in most gyms. Being a NASM certified personal trainer, SMR (Self-Myofascial Release) or trigger point release was a large part of the curriculum. The action itself seems relatively simple, apply pressure to an area of soft tissue (muscle and fascia) in which there is an adhesion (knot) and the knot will release. What many gym goers do not realize is that the pressure applied must be sustained (rolling up and down will not elicit the proper response) and one must be relaxed during the process.
Read MoreDo not ignore the gloom that comes with the ebb and flow of life, let it flow through you instead of dragging you down deeper. Be aware of what is happening, shut down any feelings of guilt, move your body, stand up straight, get back to your routine and appreciate all you have. The gray clouds will pass and the sun will shine, so act as if you always knew they would.
Read MoreThe trouble with self-improvement is that you are both who you were and who you are becoming, and during the beginning there is more attachment and perceived comfort in the old you. You must remind yourself of who you are struggling to be, the new you that is emerging through the painful process of shedding your old skin.
Read MoreTo avoid any nay-sayers from the start, this is NOT an article geared towards bashing weight lifting or stretching or any other form of physical activity, this is an article to REMIND us about the benefits of cardiovascular activity. We need to be strong, flexible, efficient users of energy, and cardiovascular exercise plays a part in that just like everything else.
Read MoreJealousy, that devious little emotion that can be expressed in a look, a smirk, or in an off handed and off colored comment. Jealousy is more about the person expressing it and less about it’s intended target, and it’s the best frenemy of insecurity…. I needed to acknowledge and own my jealousy, because jealousy was telling me something very important, it was telling me that deep down I had the ability to get where I wanted to go, and be who I wanted to be I just wasn’t willing to put in the necessary work.
Read MoreStart with building confidence in your ability to move and your ability to make time for that healthy habit. Build the habit on a foundation of enjoyment, make it a ‘get to’ instead of a ‘have to’. Once the foundation has been firmly set and supported then you may want to try new exercises or add sporadic jogs into your walks, and most likely these additions will feel more pleasant then if you started with them.
Read MoreHere’s the thing: when it comes down to actually doing the work, it is the current you that will have to step up and do it. That future you is only attainable through your current self. Meaning that if future you is a runner, current you still has to get on that treadmill and run in order for that to happen, and current you may not be anywhere near where future you is, which then can make current you discouraged and possibly more likely to give up. Where you are now is your starting point: you start here, the ending is yet to be determined, and the key to a good start is an honest start.
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