My new Favourite Workout

For the past few weeks, I have started to get serious about Rollerblading of all things. I LOVE running, but, due to arthritis (and two meniscus) surgeries, I have been limiting my running to about once or twice per month.

What I am able to do pain-free is skate! I play hockey competitively and never feel any pain and never have any swelling after games. So...... I figured that 'blading would be the same.

My new routine is to strap 'em on saturday and/ or sunday mornings while the kids are watching cartoons and I go out for about 10- 15kms. Quite a workout considering part of the road I am 'blading on is uphill! The thing that really keeps me moving is my IPod which is quickly getting filled up (I will have over 25000 songs very soon).

The point is that, having limitations (in my case my knee) does not mean you have to STOP, just figure out a way "around" your limitation and don't stop.

Stay in shape........................because, you never know!

Amazing Women!

This morning was the wrap-up of the second All Canadian Fitness- Adventure Boot Camp for Women. We did our testing of physical abilities as well as body measurements.

What an amazing group! Everyone got stronger, fitter and more toned. Some women were able to do things that they hadn't done in over 20 years, since they were High School students. Walkers were able to run and then SPRINT! Pushups from the knees are now being done from the toes! We had one camper do an abdominal "plank" for 7 minutes and 45 seconds. !!!!!!!!

Most people do the plank for about 60 seconds. Yikes.

The thing that made me the most excited and proud, however, was for the woman that had previously been in the Cancer Rehab program operated out of our private Studio. Today she ran like crazy, did pushups with confidence and planked like crazy all the while, she laughed and smiled through the whole thing. This at 5:30am.

Beautiful.

Check out http://www.adventurebootcamphamilton.com/ to see what it's all about.

Kill Your Scale.

As a trainer, it drives us CRAZY how much people put value on how much they weigh. The numbers on the scale tell only a small part of the story when it comes to someone's fitness level. We always consider body composition to be the most important number when it comes to body change and fitness increases. This number is presented as a "percentage" of total body weight. Simply losing pounds does not always convey success if the pounds lost are lean tissue. Nobody wants to be lighter and fatter at the same time. Having said this, it seems like EVERYONE wants to be lighter!

At the moment at All Canadian Fitness, we have a couple of clients that are achieving great results. One of them is my Spect Fit Cadet, Diane Ledonne. Since we have started her training 5 weeks ago, she has lost just under 3" from her waist! She has also lost about 7% of her bodyfat. Her blood pressure has also come down from 140/90 to 126/86. Very impressive results all around. BUT, since her last assessment two weeks ago, her weight has stayed exactly the same!!! During this time, all of her body composition measurements have gone down, her strength has gone up, blood pressure has gone down...AND her energy is waaaaaay up. If we had been evaluating her progress solely by the scale (like they do on that awful Biggest Loser show), then she would have felt like a failure.

The other client is experiencing frustration at the numbers on the scale that appear to be stuck. Every single day, however, she is getting compliments from people about "how great she looks". She has also lost 4 dress sizes in the last few months. Again, impressive results that simply would not have been recognized if the scale were the only measure of progress.

Bottom line- We are human beings with LOTS and LOTS of things to consider about ourselves other than simply a number on a scale. Do yourself a favour and throw yours away (or give it to someone you really dislike!).