Thank you for your business and sharing your athletic energy with me this year. I appreciate every single one you! What a blessing to continue to work with healthy happy people and see all your body changes. Keep moving, setting new goals & working towards your perfectly balanced selves in side & out.
Love Shari & the girls
Category Archives: Fit Bits
Pre-Resolution Tips
I would like to share with you these few tips to begin thinking about before the New Year and all the great reflections of your year. Let’s make this New Year the best yet. Thank you for sharing your energy, strength, committing to show up and work hard. I have enjoyed each and every session this year. I am so blessed you are in my life. Thank you for your business and love.
Happy Holidays and a safe fun New Year!
Shari
Despite good intentions (a cleaner diet, a commitment to strength-train), New Year’s resolutions are inherently flawed. Research shows as much: A study from the University of Scranton found that six months into the New Year, fewer than half of us are still on the track we set out on.
Yet the solution isn’t to stop goal-setting: That same study found that having a resolution made a person more likely to achieve success than those who didn’t bother with one.
It might just be that our timing is off. “January 1 is an arbitrary date,” says Damon Bayles, Psy.D., a New York-based clinical psychologist. “If you’re actually committed to your health, and you know that healthy behaviors get tossed to the wayside over the holiday season, why not start now?”
Introducing pre-resolutions: specific goals and plans you can put into action right now. They’ll propel you through the holiday season stronger, healthier, and happier— and that’s important. After all, between November and January, the average person gains about 1 pound. While that doesn’t sound like much, researchers say we usually don’t lose that pound. Holiday weight gain, then, is a major contributor to overall weight gain (and thus diseases risk, like diabetes, down the line).
So set your pre-resolution today and use this guide to stick to it all year long.
1) Build Your Support System: Once you have a specific goal in mind, ID who you need around you in order to succeed. This might include fit friends, a registered dietitian, or a personal trainer, says Bayles. Start your research now and consider reaching out—you’ll beat the crowds and the stress that comes with them. Research from the International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association finds the busiest time of the year at gyms is between January and March.
2) Consider Relapse The Rule: Falling off the bandwagon every so often isn’t the exception, it’s to be expected, says Bayles. Thinking you’re going to make it through the holiday season on a diet of smoothies is not setting you up for success. A better suggestion: Plan indulgences. Building them into your day helps you sidestep debilitating feelings of guilt, says Bayles.
If you’re faced with an out-of-nowhere challenge, use your past experiences to guide your decisions, he suggests. Maybe an a.m. run helped you beat stressful family gatherings last year; so wake up early for some cardio. “Really think, ‘What strategies could I employ to help me through this?’” he says. This kind of thinking, as well as the experiences and solutions you’ll gather throughout the season, will help you tackle issues throughout the year.
3) Find Time For Daily Zen: “After three months of daily mindfulness practice, some of the impacts can be increased concentration, increased attention, decreased anxiety, decreased stress, and increased immune system functioning,” says Bayles. Start now. No matter your goal, guided breathing exercises, classes (like Unplug Meditation), meditations apps like Headspace or Calm, and books can help you build a stronger mental framework to stay fit in the New Year. Don’t throw in the towel if things aren’t coming naturally. “This is muscle that needs to be grown,” says Bayles.
4) Reassess January 1: “Efficacy can get generated for individuals who are successful in this holiday time period,” says Bayles. After all, if you can be healthy throughout December, you can be healthy in January. So use the New Year not as a time to start a new goal but as a time to enter ‘phase 2’ of your original plan, he suggests. Ask yourself: How are you going to continue to manage your goal for the next few weeks and months? What will you do differently? What worked? What didn’t?
Thank you Marie Forleo another great article
http://www.marieforleo.com/2016/12/year-in-review/?utm_campaign=3PowerfulQuestionsToAskBeforeYearEnd&utm_medium=Broadcast&utm_source=Email&utm_term=NewsletterList&utm_content=YearInReview
If you liked this article please be so kind to share, share, share.
Shari
5 simple stretches to a healthier more open you!
Stretch #1:
Pec Major Mobility
Starting Position:
Ending Position:
Place your elbows and hands in front of you, such that your elbows and hands are touching in a ‘prayer-like’ position, but with your elbows at chest-height and hands at forehead height. From this position, move your arms out to the side by slowly squeezing your shoulder blades together until your chest is wide open and you feel a stretch along the entire front of of your chest and abdomen. Return slowly to the starting position and repeat.
Stretch #2:
Pec Minor Mobility
Starting Position:
Ending Position:
Begin with your elbows straight and arms crossed in front of you, such that you’re squeezing your pecs together and rounding your shoulders forward. From this position, extend your arms upward and outward, while depressing your shoulders and retracting your chin into a double-chin position. You will be in a ‘Y-like’ position at the top. Return slowly to the starting position and repeat.
Stretch #3:
Rotator Cuff Tennis Ball Release
Position of tennis ball:
Reduced Tension (Beginner) Position:
Increased Tension (Advanced) Position:
Lie on your back and place the tennis ball just behind your shoulder, about 2 inches from the outer most point of your arm. From here, place your arm into the beginner (external rotation) or advanced (internal rotation) position, and gently rock side to side; gradually increase the amount of weight you’re placing through the tennis ball. By progressing how much pressure you use, you’ll release ‘fascia,’ which is what generally prevents you from progressing when doing a standard ‘stretching’ exercise.
Stretch #4:
Thoracic Air Slides (Thoracic Extension)
Starting Position:
Ending Position:
Start with your elbows at your sides, hands up, chest big, and shoulders back. From here, slowly raise your arms into the air, while keeping your shoulders down and preventing them from hiking. Also, be sure not to lose your core, in that you’ll want to maintain a light abdominal contraction that prevents your low back from bending. The end position of this exercise is determined by the maximum height you can raise your arms without either of your shoulders shrugging upward. After reaching the top, return to the starting position and repeat.
Stretch #5:
Femoral Triangle Tennis Ball Release(25 seconds right leg, 25 seconds left leg)
Position of tennis ball:
Close-Up:
In the z-sit position, roll the ball about 2 inches or 2 revolutions up from your knee, until you find the soft spot in your leg. From there, press down and perform gentle revolutions of the tennis ball until you find the sensitive area; focus on increasing pressure slowly but surely, as you progress through this exercise. By gradually increasing pressure with this exercise, you’ll release ‘fascia,’ which is like the encasement for muscles, organs, and other areas of your body.
By Dr. Kareem F. Samhouri
Doctor of Physical Therapy & Kinesiologist
Advanced hamstring release & full knee extension video
An exercise to perform for great knee health
I came across this exercise while helping some clients rehab there ankles and knees. This exercise helps fire and recruit correct muscles around the knee and leg if done correctly. Try It! Progression is a barbell on bask or 1 or 2 dumbbells in hand.
Did you like this video? If so please leave a comment below and share with your wonderful friends!
My very best to you in health and fitness!
Shari
The four causes of Skinny Fat
I am often asked this question “what is skinny fat”? or “do you think I am skinny fat”?
I found a great explanation in this article below!
http://www.strengthsensei.com/the-four-causes-of-skinny-fat/
How did you like this article? If you found it helpful please leave a comment and be so kind to share with your friends!
Thank you for your subscription to this blog!
Have a great Day!
Shari
A video on how to help gain strength with your Pull-ups and Chin-ups
Understanding our posterior chain (back body). I work with many clients weekly on posture and gaining back strength to help with posture. As we age we loose range of motion, flexibility and strength in our backs! It is very important to understand the mechanics of back exercises and how important form is in performing these exercises. I have found a video by Charles Poliquin on 2 good strength exercises! The pictures below will help you understand the muscle anatomy of these exercises.
Let me know if this information is helpful! If you like it please share with your friends and post a comment below!
Have a wonderful day and keep lifting those weights.
Shari
Great Study on HIIT how it works & suggested exercise protocol
I know your short for time for your work outs during the holidays! So am I! Try HIIT intervals that include the bike and weights for 20 min. The variation on High intensity to active recovery! More and more studies show how effective HIIT training is. “Keep it short sweet, effective & simple”.
Journal of Obesity
Click for full artcle
dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/868305
High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise and Fat Loss
Stephen H. Boutcher
School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
If you like this article please leave a comment below and if you would be so kind to share with your friends!
Happy Holidays!
Great article from Paul Chek – 3 Keys to healthy holiday season!
3 Keys to a Healthy Holiday Season
by Paul Chek
When we think of the end-of-year holidays, usually we don’t think of them as being very healthy.
For some, holidays become obligations to spend time with people who drive us nuts. For others, feelings of loneliness or disconnection may drive us to fill that void with something. For the corporate giants of the world, they use holidays as leverage to get you to spend money on stuff you really don’t need.
Instead of celebrating what Christmas was intended to be — a holy day — it has become an expensive custom attached to the socio-cultural expectations of gifts (the kind you purchase). In fact, with today’s economy as it is, many people dread the approach of Christmas.
For those with food and alcohol addictions, Christmas and New Years are times when people give themselves permission to ignore their needs and dive head-long into their wants.
To give yourself a healthy holiday season, you need to be clear on what that concept truly means.
Key 1: Prioritizing Your Health
For you to be healthy during the holiday season is to be balanced. The healthy person or athlete is someone who can efficiently change direction because he or she has the internal resources and balance to do so.
Sadly, some people’s wants so overpower their needs — anything essential to maintaining one’s health and vital wellbeing — it can take weeks, months, or even years for their bodies to recover from the holidays. Once we meet our needs, only then can our wants be supported.
A healthy body is one that functions without pain or limitations. Conversely, the healthy, balanced mind is one that can entertain many ideas, even opposing ones. The healthy soul is one that makes room for others, and to love them!
Key 2: Celebrating Holidays
However, holidays aren’t limited to the ones we celebrate at year’s end. The word holiday is the fusion of the words holy and day. Viewed in religious terms, holy means coming from God. For our purposes, holy really means whole.
Think of something that is whole as equal to, and greater than, the sum of its parts. A holiday is a whole day in which you can celebrate life as something bigger and more beautiful than the sum of its parts.
So how can you do that? First, you must take care of the garbage in your life. You may not like taking out the garbage, but if you don’t, you won’t enjoy being in your home for very long as it will start stinking and attract bugs. The act of taking out the garbage, even when you don’t like it, creates a wholeness in which you can really enjoy your home.
Likewise, if we drink, smoke and eat more than we can efficiently and effectively eliminate, we begin to smell (think stinky poop) and attract bugs! Instead of creating wholeness, abusing a holiday can be the start of a long period of misery.
Creating division is no way to celebrate a Holy day. Keeping it Holy is keeping it whole! To be whole is to be better than the parts.
Key 3: Harmonizing With the Seasons
Above all, seasons represent change. New Year’s resolutions are commitments to necessary change.
Mother Nature teaches us that all life is in a constant state of change, which is exemplified by winter, spring, summer and fall because we are truly creatures of change!
If change weren’t part of her nature, our world would be in trouble. What if snow never melted? What if it stayed hot all the time and the forests and soil dried out? What if fruit never stopped falling off trees? Can you imagine all the flies, bugs, rot and stench?
During seasonal changes, I am reminded that Mother Nature, our Mother, is flexible and adaptable to change and never dogmatic. The seasons give the gift of a variety of weather environments that favor different biological rhythms and activities.
In summer, we hike and bike on ski trails, and, in the winter, we ski on them. During the summer, we are attracted to foods with higher water content as a means of cooling our bodies. In the fall and winter months, we become more drawn to foods filled with fats, protein and carbohydrates, which help keep us warm and insulated.
If you don’t adjust your dietary needs to your body’s instincts, which are driven by seasonal influences, you will have a far more difficult time adapting to change and are far more likely to become obese and sick!
Choosing how you enjoy a healthy, holiday season is up to you. Spent wisely, holidays serve as reminders:
To reconnect to our instincts.
To rekindle our relationships.
To be willing to change.
To allow the totality of you to adapt and harmonize effectively.
Choose Balance This Holiday Season
Enjoy a healthy holiday season by making your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs top priorities before your wants! In this way, you can truly experience Holy days as they were meant to be.
I use holidays as reminders to attend to my personal needs, knowing that they are best harmonized with Nature’s needs.
My priority is to maintain a healthy balanced body, mind and spirit so that every day is a holy day. I nurture my relationships with the awareness that they are mine.
I welcome seasonal changes by eating foods that grow during that specific time of year. During the winter season, I go to bed earlier because of decreased sunlight, and spend more time in quiet introspection.
That said, I sincerely wish all of you a Healthy (balanced) Holiday (whole) Season (period of necessary change)!
Love and chi,
Paul
– See more at: http://chekinstitute.com/blog/3-keys-to-a-healthy-holiday-season/#sthash.ecpR1Fqj.dpuf
5 surprising healthy foods to avoid & information on much better choices!
Healthy or not? It may surprise you to learn that there are 5 “health foods” that are actually not healthy at all. I changed my eating life style about 10 years ago after completing a great nutrition course, talking to nutritionists and my own research. These are my opinions including some great blogs I follow.
**Of course — as you know — what you choose to eat and consume is your choice and responsibility.**
1. Whole Wheat Bread. Healthy or not? In most cases, not. Why? Whole wheat bread contains a chemical that’s banned in numerous other countries. Instead, eat Ezekiel Bread, which is flourless and whole grain, and is digestible in the way our bodies were meant to eat. Better choice at home is sprouted grain Ezekiel Bread.
http://www.foodforlife.com/about_us/e…
2. Agave Nectar. This popular sweetener has a higher concentration of fructose than high fructose corn syrup. If you’re wondering whether this “health food” is still healthy or not, think about this: the high levels of fructose in agave nectar contribute to visceral belly fat. Instead, use coconut palm sugar, which contains all the minerals and vitamins from the coconut and is low-glycemic. Another option is Sweet Leaf Stevia. http://www.sweetleaf.com/
3. Gatorade & Powerade. This drink is on the list of 5 foods to not eat because it’s basically sugar, chemicals and salt. Until recently, it even contained a controversial flame-retardant chemical, too! Instead of drinking Gatorade, drink raw coconut water (not from concentrate) or try eating celery, which is also a great electrolyte booster. http://www.harmlessharvest.com/100-Ra…
http://foodbabe.com/2012/07/10/the-se…
4. Almond Milk. You may never have wondered if this was healthy or not, but store bought almond milk contains the ingredient Carageenan. This can disrupt your GI tract and is also found in dairy products. Instead, try the Whole Foods 365 brand of almond milk, check ingredient labels, or make your own at home.
5. Frozen Yogurt. This “health food” is loaded with sugars and processed ingredients. In fact, frozen yogurt is processed to the point where probiotic levels are diminished, so there’s no question if it’s healthy or not. Instead, try Red Mango, one of the cleanest ones out there, or make your own from coconut milk ice cream with frozen fruit. It’s amazing! http://www.edwardandsons.com/native_s…
http://foodbabe.com/2013/06/09/how-to…
My resources found from the below listed.
http://foodbabe.com/
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Shari