Fit Pregnancy

Pregnancy is an exciting and exhaustive journey. Whether you are trying to conceive or you are already a proud mummy, motherhood is a ceaseless, selfless struggle toward one of the greatest gifts we can receive as a human being, becoming a parent. From the moment that you decide that you are “ready” and the time is right, until…well, perhaps their University graduation, your child’s health and wellbeing are at the forefront of your priorities. Making healthy choices, such as having proper nutrition, and starting or continuing an exercise program are essential when trying to conceive, during pregnancy, and post natal.

The old fashion notion that pregnant women are fragile beings, who shouldn’t exert themselves, is no longer. Gone with it is the idea that a pregnant woman “eats for two.” We all know the importance of exercising and having good healthy eating habits for all people, so that importance becomes even greater during pregnancy. With the help of a good fitness trainer who is certified and experienced in training this special population and who works closely with your doctor, your chance of conception, your pregnancy and labour, and your post childbirth recovery can all be greatly improved.

Here are a few of the benefits of exercise during pregnancy:
Increased maternal aerobic fitness
Promotes appropriate body fat/weight gain
Facilitates labour (think endurance here)
Prevents the onset of gestational diabetes
Improves circulation and reduces the incidence of varicose veins
Improves posture and muscular balance (essential to counter the shift in your centre of gravity)
Improves core strength
Increases postpartum recovery
Increases self-esteem, self-confidence and helps you cope with the physical changes

Every pregnancy is unique and a personalized program should be developed with both a trainer and a doctor. However, in general and depending on which week of pregnancy you are in, exercise can be adapted to include 3-5 sessions per week, at a moderate intensity, for a maximum of 30 minutes per session, doing non-weight bearing, low-impact movements. Activity that imposes the risk of abdominal trauma, exposure to hot, humid or high altitude conditions should be avoided.
Fitness Anywhere trainers are educated and certified in Pre/Post Natal Fitness and follow the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as well as the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology’s guidelines very closely. If you have any questions, talk to your doctor. To learn more about the importance of exercise for pre and post natal women, call us today.

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Strength Training: Why Running Alone Just Won’t Cut It

So you’ve decided to take up running to get yourself moving and feeling healthy and fit again. That’s great! You certainly have made the right initial step toward improved health and fitness, but is it the only step? Certainly not! In fact, cardiovascular exercises alone are not enough when it comes to having complete fitness and health. Exercises such as running, swimming, aerobics and cycling are essential for keeping blood pressure normal, lowering bad cholesterol and increasing good cholesterol, and for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death. However, including resistance training (weight lifting) is a must and the ultimate compliment to cardio when it comes to weight loss and overall health and fitness.

Here are some of the benefits of including resistance training into your fitness routine:
- Decreases body fat
- Promotes joint stability
- Increases muscular strength
- Increases muscle mass and decreases body fat
- Increases resting metabolism
- Improves balance, coordination, and agility
- Improves strength in your core (back, pelvis, abdominals)
- Improves posture
- Increases self-esteem and body image
Resistance training can include training using your body weight, using machines or lifting free weights.

Unfortunately, although less and less, women tend to shy away from weight training for fear of increasing their size, getting bulky, or developing overly large, masculine muscles. To the contrary, weight training increases your resting metabolism far more than cardio exercises alone, so that your body burns more calories while you are not exercising. In order to maintain your developing muscle mass, your body needs to use more calories for fuel, so instead of storing calories, your muscles essentially eat up excess calories. Women do not have the testosterone levels that men have and therefore will develop small but strong muscles that help give great shape to the body. Hours and hours of weight training and high levels of testosterone are what yield large muscles. Including a 1-3 sets of resistance training exercises for each of your major muscles 2-4 per week, will not make you big, but will make you lean and firm and will help you on your road to weight loss and overall health and wellness.

Finding Strength in New Places

Fitness Anywhere Trivia: Name the discreet, yet essential exercise, important for both men and women, that can be done absolutely anywhere, at anytime, without anyone knowing that you’re even doing anything at all.

You are absolutely right, Kegel exercises! These inconspicuous movements are no longer considered important merely for pre and postnatal women, but are actually recommended to everyone as preventative care for your aging pelvic muscles.

So what are these exercises exactly? Kegels, appropriately named after the doctor who invented them, involve contracting and releasing the muscles of the pelvis, which are responsible for holding the uterus, bladder and bowel in place for women, and are responsible for controlling the flow of semen and urine, as well as maintaining an erection for men.

For women, regularly doing your Kegels will prevent or improve incontinence related issues that often develop with age, during pregnancy or post childbirth. They have even been reported to enhance and increase the frequency and intensity of orgasm in many Kegel-fit women, as there is greater blood flow and circulation to the pelvis.

For men, strengthening your pelvic floor muscles will enable you to have better control of your ejaculations, ultimately lasting longer during sex, not to mention maintaining a firmer erection for longer. It also improves your projection, which could help men who are trying to conceive.

So how does one correctly do Kegels, for how long, and at what intervals? First of all, be sure you’ve correctly identified these muscles. For both men and women, the muscles you use to stop the flow of urine are the best way to describe it. Be sure that your buttocks, abs and thighs are relaxed throughout.
Once you’ve got it, practice contracting the pelvic floor muscles by holding for 3 seconds and relaxing for 3 seconds and repeat this pattern 10 times. As you get stronger, increase this to 4 seconds, then 5, etc. Work your way up to holding for 10 seconds at a time. Including a minimum of 3 sets per day, while you’re in an elevator, waiting in line for your daily coffee, or stopped at a red light, will greatly improve the health and strength of your sex organs and will prevent or alleviate incontinence. When planning your full body workouts, don’t forget your Kegels!

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Turning Back the Clock with Exercise

Turning Back the Clock with Exercise

It’s inevitable, whether we like it or not, every single one of us will age. Our bodies will wear out, our skin will sag and our minds will become less and less sharp over time.   However, have you ever noticed that some people age much better than others?  And although some of this has to do with our genes, much more of it can be attributed to lifestyle habits.  In general, most people notice an increase in the signs of aging around 30.  Increased fatigue, gradual loss of mental acuteness, increased stiffness in the joints, sagging skin, loss of bone density, loss of muscle mass and a slowed metabolism are just to name a few. 

However, again and again regular exercise has been proven to slow the aging process, and in many instances, actually reverses signs of aging, even after years of being sedentary. 

Here’s how just a few of the signs of aging are directly affected by exercise:

Increased fatigue  - Time and time again, research suggests that exercise, although it would seem counterintuitive, actually gives the body and brain more energy in the long run. Regular activity increases the level of endorphins that your body releases, and provides euphoric feelings that last long after the exercise is over. 

Loss of mental acuteness – Exercise improves circulation throughout the body. Recent research demonstrates that cognitive function is greatly improved after only 10 minutes of aerobic exercise. 

Increased stiffness in joints – Arthritis and Osteoarthritis are the most common reasons for joint pain and stiffness in middle-aged to elderly adults.  One of the best treatments in relieving the symptoms of these diseases is physical activity, as improving flexibility, joint strength and range of motion will help manage recurring pain and will promote mobility.

Sagging skin – Exercise increases blood circulation and invigorates the skin by supplying more oxygen to the skin cells, giving you a youthful glow.

Loss of bone density – At 35, boss mass density peaks.  Every year after that, our bones weaken and become less dense with age, and we become more and more susceptible osteoporosis.  Load-bearing exercises, such as weight lifting, help stimulate the cells to produce more bone, directly reversing the aging process of your skeletal structure.

Loss of muscle mass – After the age of 30, we lose nearly 1% of our muscle mass every year.  Without strength training, everyday activities such as climbing stairs, shovelling snow and even taking out the garbage would require assistance and could leave us dependant on others for help.  By adding resistance training to your weekly routine, you can easily increase your strength and improve your muscle mass, reversing the aging of your muscles.

Slowed metabolism – It’s a hard fact to swallow, but as we age, it becomes harder and harder to keep the weight off without a lot of extra effort.  However, by keeping variety in your workouts, confusing your muscles, and making resistance training a large part of your exercise routine, you can keep your metabolism revved and youthful.

We are all human, and whether we like it or not, every single one of us will age.  However, the rate at which we age can be greatly manipulated and controlled with exercise.  Do not go gentle into that goodnight! Fight the aging process with exercise.

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Body Acceptance

No body is perfect. Accept your body and weight for what it is, and instead, aim for a healthy goal, such as having better fitness, to become a faster runner, or to be able to touch your toes. Avoid obsessing about imperfections by target training only problem areas. Work at your overall health and fitness and the rest will fall into place. Don’t expect perfection but strive to be you at your very best; healthy and fit.


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The Importance of Stretching

One could say that stretching can be likened to flossing; it’s something we should do everyday for our overall health, yet it’s often neglected and overlooked in an attempt to make the best use of our time. However, maintaining good flexibility is essential for injury prevention, having good posture, improving range of motion and avoiding premature aging of your overall body.

Stretching can be done anywhere at anytime, doesn’t require fancy equipment or even athletic clothing. Just taking ten minutes a day can make you feel taller, look slimmer, and keep you light-years away from arthritis, osteoporosis and can prevent other joint injuries related to sports. Although it’s been debated for decades, the current research suggests that stretching should be completed at the end of your training or physical activity as part of your cool down and not necessarily before. However, a gradual warm up is equally important before activity in order to prevent injury.

Even on your “off days” one should stretch each major muscle group at least once, holding between 20-30 seconds. Stretching should provide a light tension in the muscle, which should feel good, and never painful.

Although it may be easy to place stretching at the bottom of your list of exercise priorities, especially when time is of the essence, it is an essential component to your health and well-being, and perhaps the key to maintaining a youthful, mobile body throughout the years.

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Beware of overtraining

Although it can be hard to break a good pattern when you’re feeling motivated, be sure that you’re leaving yourself a good full day of rest during the week. Not only is your body more susceptible to injury and illness from training too much, but it can also bring you to a training plateau much more quickly. This is where your fitness begins to inevitably level off no matter how much harder you push yourself.

To prevent this and to continue onwards and upwards in your journey to a healthier, more fit you, be sure that you give your muscles at least 24 hours to recuperate between resistance training sessions. Similarly, it is wise to alternate between resistance training sessions and cardiovascular sessions. In some cases, resistances training can be broken down into specific muscle groups or upper and lower body sessions, which thereby allows for daily weight training in alternation. Between sessions, choose to do some light cardio training, treat yourself to a good yoga or stretching session, or take the day off completely, so that your body can get the rest that it needs in order to respond to the demands that exercise is putting on it.

Regular exercise is essential for optimal health, just be sure you’re not overdoing it. Listen to your body when it’s tired and don’t be afraid to take a break, it will actually enhance your overall performance.
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Fitness: Simply and Naturally

When it comes to Health and Fitness, Get Back to What’s Simple and Natural!

For many, getting fit and healthy evokes intimidating ideas of lifting weights amongst bulging bodies in a health club, or even radically changing one’s regime to conform to the latest bestselling diet book that’s hitting the stands. However, maintaining your fitness and being ‘in good shape’ really doesn’t have to be so complicated. Despite the booming production of high-tech “fat-burning” equipment, and the massive growth of the dietary supplement industry, your health and wellbeing are still best fostered the old-fashioned way, through an active and balanced lifestyle. When it comes to your health, ignore the hype and stick to common sense practices that you can live by throughout the years to come. Here are a few simple lifestyle staples, easily underestimated and often overlooked, but nevertheless fundamental in the battle to stay fit and healthy.

Eat Fresh and from the Earth
More and more processed and packaged foods such as microwave dinners, chips, cookies, pastas, and desserts are filling the isles at the supermarket. They are even finding their way into the stalls of farmer’s markets. Although tasty, packaged foods can have high amounts of preservatives, sugar and sodium. Unfortunately, they can also have harmful chemicals that seep from the plastic into the food itself during storage. Similarly, certain packaged foods labeled BIO or Organic, aren’t necessarily good for you. Despite their conformity to the bien-etre movement, many of them can be high in sugars, salt, and saturated fat.
Think Simple: Foods that come from the earth are always better than from the factory. Forget counting calories, and enjoy healthy-sized portions of a variety of food that is grown locally and is in season. Choose colourful fruits and vegetables from local farmer’s markets, and avoid the inside aisles of the grocery store. If you must do your shopping at the supermarket, remain near the outside aisles, where the fresh food can be found. Prepare lunches and snacks that travel with you in order to avoid an impulsive unhealthy food purchase, and be wary of food that has a long shelf life.

Get your H2O
Our bodies are made up of over 60% water. The average male needs to 3.7 liters of water everyday and the average female 2.5 liters. Exercise, salty foods, caffeine, and alcohol dehydrate the body. Drinking enough water is essential for maintaining good healthy skin, warding off colds, flu and other winter ailments, as well as maintaining proper organ function.
Think Simple: Try drinking a full 8 oz. glass of water first thing upon waking. It is an excellent way to rejuvenate the body and reactivates your sleeping digestive system. Carry a refillable bottle of water with you and sip it throughout the day at work. Drink 500 ml of water an hour before any physical activity, then another 200 ml 20 minutes before, and then again every 15 minutes during activity.

Get out there and Play.
Our bodies are designed to be mobile. However, the average person does not get enough exercise and spends the majority of their time on this earth in a chair or in their vehicles. Most doctors agree that in order to maintain an appropriate weight and a healthy heart, we need to do a minimum of 20 minutes of exercise 3-5 days per week. But what defines exercise, and how do you know if what you’re doing is effective for your particular body? For some, a 10 km run is child’s play, while for others, vacuuming the living room carpet can be strenuous. So how can you know if you’re fulfilling your body’s exercise needs?
Think Simple: Play a sport, walk with friends, or bike to work, but be sure that you are working at the appropriate intensity for you. To determine if you’re working too hard or not enough, perform a few self-monitoring tests. For starters, monitor your perspiration. The body will sweat at room temperature if it is working. Similarly, you can monitor your breathing. Can you carry on a conversation with someone during activity? With the appropriate intensity, you should be able to chat without gasping for breath. Finally, second to none for assuring that you’re working at the intensity that is best for you, know your Target Heart Rate (THR), there are a few ways to perform this calculation, the simplest one that has been used in the fitness industry for decades is as followed. To find your THR subtract your age from 220 and then multiply your answer by .6 to find the lower end of the range. Then do the calculation again, but multiply by .85 to find the upper end of your TRH.

For example, for a 45 year old male:
220-45=175
175 x .6= 105
175 x .85 = 149
Target Heart Rate: between105 beats per minute to 149 beats per minute

Generally speaking, a 45-year-old male should aim to have his heart beating between 105 and 149 beats per minute during physical activity. A novice exerciser should stick to the lower end of the range, while those more experienced at the upper end. To monitor your HR during exercise, place two fingers on your wrist or neck and count your heartbeats for 15 seconds. Then multiply that number by four. If the number falls within your THR, you are working at an intensity level that is appropriate for you. If it falls below, turn up the intensity and vice versa.

Achieving your optimal health can be simple. Eating fresh and healthy, exercising your heart, as well as strengthening and stretching your muscles regularly are the simple gests that count. You needn’t be a member of an expensive fitness club, restrict your diet, or buy the latest exercise equipment. Sticking to simple and natural exercises that you enjoy, eating fresh, locally grown food, with treats in moderation, and consciously making an effort to commit to a healthy lifestyle over the long term, is your best bet in achieving success that lasts a lifetime.

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Tips for new runners

Running or jogging may appear a simple task. Those sleek go-getters, clad head-to-toe in spandex, out there every morning, hurtling by you, barely breaking a sweat, don’t exactly give those contemplating becoming a jogger, very realistic expectations. Running is not easy, even though it may appear so. It, like any other sport, takes patience, practice and a certain amount of skill before one can be successful at it. The reason why so many beginning runners fail to succeed at actually becoming long-term runners is simply because their expectations upon starting are skewed. In no other sport do people expect to be immediately good when they begin as they do with jogging.

I realized this through experience over the years speaking with clients, but it became most clear the other day while running in my usual place in the Jardin des Tuilleries (Paris). On my 8th or 9th lap around the park, when fatigue began to take it’s toll, I was a little discouraged as two gentleman hustled past me. Not that this doesn’t happen often, I have never been a fast runner, but have gained strength and endurance while running over the years. However, overhearing their discussion as they passed, I learned that these two were embarking on their first attempt at jogging for fitness. Being their first time, I couldn’t help but be surprised by their quick, initial pace. Even if they had just begun, it was easy to guess that their pace could never be maintained for long by anyone in even moderate physical condition. And as I suspected, a mere 5 minutes later, I passed them under the shade of a tree, as they panted and had clearly given up, with not only sweat but disappointment on their faces.

Running, like many sports, takes endurance. To build endurance, beginners must start slowly with the objective of gradually elevating their heart rates for a fixed amount of time based on that person’s individual level of fitness. A cardio session of fast paced walking, that slowly and progressively incorporates small bouts of light jogging intervals is ideal for a novice runner. With time and practice, those bouts of jogging may eventually turn to running or even sprinting, and the portions of walking could become jogging. However the key to success is by starting slowly, taking small steps toward your goal.

For some, the objective may be to perform steady state jogging during a fixed amount of time. By starting with intervals, one can gradually build up the duration of their jogging with time and practice. However, if it is rushed, the inevitable will happen; the new runner will exhaust their energy stores and will ultimately need to stop before they have completed a sufficient amount of time to contribute to their fitness. Trying to perform more than you can take on, can not only bring your current workout to a halt before its end is due, but can also discourage your performance the second time around, or even worse, cause an injury.

For others, the goal may not be to complete a certain distance or to run a particular length of time, but simply to improve their fitness and burn more calories. In which case, including such interval training as alternating walking and jogging, and eventually jogging and sprinting, is one of the best ways to burn up fat and improve cardiovascular health. More and more, exercise and fitness studies suggest that intense bouts of exercise, coupled with resting sequences are superior to long steady hauls on the treadmill in terms of calorie expenditure.

Ultimately, whatever your objective, jogging interval training can bring you the results that you’re looking for.

How to Begin when you’re a Beginner?

Start by warming up with a 8-10 minute brisk walk to get the heart pumping progressively faster and the joints prepared for the workload ahead.

Using a stopwatch, your phone, or a wrist watch with a second hand, begin a light jog for 2-3 minutes, followed by a brisk walk for another 2-3 minutes. Continue completing the intervals consecutively for 30-40 minutes.

Cool down with a walk sequence, followed by stretching every major muscle of the body for at least 20 seconds each.

After 5 or 6 sessions, you may be able to advance further by diminishing the length of walk-time. For example, 3 minutes jogging and 2 minutes walking, then eventually 3 minutes jogging and 1 minute walking etc. Continue the interval training as you progress by increasing your speed, the time and frequency of your sessions.

Bottom line, build your foundation first, then you can add the bricks.

Good luck.

***Always consult a physician before beginning any exercise program. These suggestions may not be suitable for you.
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A Healthier Sex Life…Literally!

For some, having a healthy and active lifestyle aren’t reason enough to exercise, but what about fitness to increase your libido and improve your sex life?
Regular exercise, for obvious reasons, can give you a firmer body, which will naturally boost your confidence when you’re naked in front of your partner. Also, exercise is a natural mood enhancer and stress reducer as levels of serotonin (chemicals in your brain responsible for feelings of joy and happiness) increase during physical activity. But there’s much more to it than simply confidence and stress reduction.
Exercise can build your stamina in the bedroom. Good energetic sex needs good cardiovascular endurance to sustain it. You don’t want to damper a good thing simply because you’re winded. You can improve your cardio fitness by getting your heart rate elevated 2-3 times per week by walking, jogging or cycling. If you’re really adventurous, add climbing stairs to your routine.
Also, performing unusual sexual positions for a worthwhile amount of time can demand that you have strong muscles. Improve your muscular endurance by performing high repetitions of squats, pelvic tilts, planks and pushups. It’s better to have your muscles burn beforehand in the gym than later when you need them in the bedroom.
Finally, being flexible can give you a more limber body overall and a better range of motion to help you get in and out of positions easily without awkward pauses. Toe touches, hip/glute stretches and inner thigh stretches daily will have you limber for your bedroom endeavours.
Enjoy ALL the benefits of exercise, not just the ones your doctor will tell you about.

Feeling …bla? How to get something out of those low motivation days.

It’s inevitable and it happens to the best of us. We all experience those low days when we know we need to get up and get active, but we just don’t have the drive to do it. We put off training, making excuses for doing it later, or even the next day, saying to yourself… “I’ll wait til it stops raining, til the traffic dies down, or I’ll go after work instead of going before.”
Sometimes it has nothing to do with energy levels or fatigue, but the continuous argument between your body, your brain and your schedule that keeps you from getting it done. My advice…get up and do something….anything. If’ you’re having this argument with yourself, and you really don’t feel like training, give in with a compromise: Tell yourself that you’ll do something for 15 minutes and if you still feel the same, then you can quit and call it a day.
Chances are, that when you start to exercise the increases in blood circulation and oxygen to your brain will change your mood. In other words, once you feel the effects, you probably won’t want to stop. And if it turns out that you still do, well at least you performed 15 minutes of exercise. Something is better than nothing!

Managing Your Time to Exercise When You Just Don’t Have the Time

Some days there just aren’t enough hours to get everything you want to do into your day. Here are three tips that will help you stop the ceaseless argument between your brain, body and schedule.

1) Commit to making exercise a regular part of your life. – You wouldn’t say that you don’t have time to brush your teeth, to make your children dinner, to put gas in your car, or to go get groceries when you need them, so why would you let your health be any different? If you think of exercise as a regular part of your life, like walking the dog, washing your hair, or checking into facebook, and you make the conscience decision to incorporate it into your weekly routines, you’ll be less likely to neglect it. Organization is key! At the beginning or end of the week, whenever you do your planning for the days ahead, schedule exercise time in, and stick to it. Having the goal to get fit and exercise is great, but every journey needs a map. If you don’t plan how you will get there, you never will.
2) Hire a personal trainer. – Exercise professionals are not only great at correcting form and keeping your workouts interesting with variety, but half of our job is to motivate our clients to keep their training dates and schedule. I have had many athletes who were as knowledgeable as I with regard to fitness, but would never train unless I were there standing over them, making it happen. Having a fixed time and date with a trainer is the best chance for continued success. If you can’t afford a trainer, the next best bet is to get a friend to commit to exercising with you regularly. If you’re accountable to someone, you’re less likely to bail out when your schedule is tight.

3) Do what you can when you can. – 60 minutes of exercise a day 4-7 days a week is what is recommended to maintain health. No one says that it has to be all at once. If you have 10 minutes to spare on your lunch break, get on your office floor! You’d be surprised how many push ups and sit ups you can do in that short amount of time. Break it up and do little bits here and there. Take the stairs, park at the farthest space away, jog to the store to buy your milk. Also resistance training goes a long way when it comes to your metabolism, so a few sets here and there to strengthen and tone your muscles can do wonders for your health. Building muscle keeps your metabolism revved after your workout is over. You continue burning calories even at rest far more by lifting weights than by walking or jogging alone.