WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO EXERCISE?

First things first.

I often get asked when is the best time in the day to exercise. Is there a time to get the biggest bang for your hard efforts? The answer is yes... and... it's complicated. First, let's talk about where you are at With your current exercise program. If you're one of those people whose workout routine is firmly established, I will post to answer the question of the most efficient time of the day to work out in a later blog post. 

On the other hand, if you are working on creating a regular exercise routine, this is not a question that you should worry about quite yet. If ever. 

The answer to that question is actually simple, though not so easy to implement: the best time for you to exercise is the time when you are more likely to exercise. How's that for an obvious statement?

I know it sounds silly, but you have to fit your workouts at a time of the day when you won't be interrupted, disturbed or otherwise derailed.

So obvious, isn't it? So, take some time to plan ahead, to honestly look at your average day.

Do you have a time in the day when the demands from 

work, family and other obligations lull for a little bit? Could you cut short some activities like watching TV, scrolling down Facebook of playing video games? Finding some calmer portion of the day can be a tall order in and of itself and you might need to actively carve that time out. Think of waking up an hour early to do your workout before anyone is awake. Or maybe you are more of a night owl and would prefer to exercise when everyone else is slumbering. 

I strongly recommend you try to workout at the same time every day, it will greatly help create your routine. The more automatic and routine like your workouts become, the more likely you are to stick to them. The less thinking is involved the better off you are. And with that said, that is not always possible. Your schedule might be different from week to week or even day to day. Use the same planning technic, find those times where it makes sense to schedule your daily exercise. Go with what is most likely to work for you. 

Write down your exercise time and make your workouts non negotiable. 

I am personally a big proponent of doing what works best for you and your lifestyle. You have a much better chance to sticking to a workout routine if it works well in your life.

So again, the best time to exercise is when you are most likely to exercise.

MY NEW FAVORITE SHOES!

When it comes to exercise footwear, I can be pretty difficult.

First off, I have gotten used to training barefoot the majority of the time. Training 'sans les chaussures' comes with a plethora of benefits: it is good for your feet and ankles, for your balance, it helps activating your muscle properly…. and these are just the obvious ones. 

-If your feet have collapsed arches or if you have other foot conditions, you might want to talk to your doctor and work on your specific challenge before you lose the shoes-

When impact is involved however, I enjoy having a little bit of cushioning. This is when I run into problems, because I still prefer using minimalist footwear, but I also really like when it doesn’t look awful.

Vibrams are probably the next best thing to prancing around barefoot, but goodness…. they are pretty ugly. And by pretty ugly, I mean they are SUPER ugly. I do own pair and I use it, just don’t expect me to wear it in any public setting.

So whenever I teach Zumba, do P90X3 or am out and about still in my workout clothes, I am wearing sneakers. Some of my favorite sneakers come from the Nike Free line. They have only a little cushioning, not much grip and bend very easily. The toe box is not enormous, don’t expect to be able to freely spread your tootsies but it is reasonable. There are tons and tons of colors to choose from, so if you are one those people who likes to match shoes with outfits, this is the brand you want to go with.

This week, I discovered what might very well my new all time favorite minimalist sneaker… The Women Reebok CrossFit Nano….

 I don’t even like CrossFit (whole other post…) but those are great! Flat, very little grip, supple articulation and roomy toe box. What else can a girl ask for? Well, one thing, they actually look pretty cute. I have used them while dancing, walking around and through a couple of jumpy, plyometrics types workouts, and they are GREAT!

You can also designed your own pair, and I lost to time creating a screaming hot pink shoe. With my name on it.  ;-)

I would love to hear what shoes you prefer to wear and for what type of activity.

THE POWER OF DEADLINES AND ACCOUNTABILITY

I don't know about you, but I can procrastinate really well. I would even venture to say it is a talent of mine. When it comes to doing something I don't want to do, I will clean the house, leave a note on all of my friends' FB walls, arrange my yard -and I don't even garden-... in short, I will do anything before that THING I am avoiding.

I find that I do much better when I have a solid deadline for the things I am trying to accomplish. I do even better when the deadline is not completely self imposed and involves some kind public accountability (you can procrastinate taxes only so long...).

When it comes to training, I have learned to leverage that trait of mine to create opportunities for me to be more disciplined.
Here are some of the things that I found helpful to stay on track with my training. I bet some of them will work for you too!

- Sign up for a race or some kind of competition. If you are in any kind of competitive sport, sign up for an event: a 5K, a weight lifting meet, a Spartan race, a swim meet, a soccer league game. Find something that will motivate and maybe sometimes force you to stay consistent. No one wants to enter a competitive event to score their worse or let their team down. Try it, it helps.

- Post your goals publicly. Does the thought of a public embarrassment make you cringe? Then post your goals publicly. As publicly as possible. Tell your whole family that you want to lose 20 lbs (especially that brother in law who kind of wants to see you fail), shout to the FB world how many pounds you intend on being able to squat 6 months from now... If you have a goal, go ahead tell the world.

- Have an accountability group. That one can be tremendous help. A group who shares common goals, expects you to stick to the task at hand and supports you though the hard times can be a significant influence for good. If you and I are both quitting sugar and reporting daily to each other, I am going to have a real hard time looking at you in the eye if I had a bag of mini Twixes yesterday. Peer pressure can be of help, but an accountability group is an even greater place to find support, encouragement and help.


If you have any other tips to share on how to increase our ability to avoid procrastination and stay consistent in our training, please, post them in the comment section!

PASSING MY STRONG FIRST GIRYA LEVEL 1 CERTIFICATION.

"Strength is a skill."

"Strength serves a greater purpose."

Such a great experience to take and successfully pass my SFG1! A lot of work, sweat and a few tears went into this preparation. Even a little blood, but not much. Okay, maybe more than a few tears.

Maybe you have not heard of the SFG yet, but might know about the RKC. Pavel Tsatsouline (who is credited for having popularized the Russian Kettlebells in the West) along with John DuCane had created the Russian Kettlebell Challenge, which is known to provide superior profesional kettlebell instructors. I would even say that unless someone has their RKC or at least HKC, you should not bother taking a kettlebell classe from them. Last year, Pavel split from John DuCane and founded his own company: Strong First. A lot of the senior trainers followed Pavel and the standard of certification was actually raised. As far as I was concerned, Pavel is the brain and wherever he goes is where I plan on following.

When I found out that the 3rd SFG1 certification was going to take place in Salt Lake City, I knew it had my name written all over it and I decided to sign-up, probably sooner than I would have otherwise dared. With the deadline set, I took on the task of training. Seriously train. I already did hold my HKC and I had not taken my preparing for it lightly. It was challenging, but not terribly so. After hearing someone compare the HKC to preschool and the SFG to college, I became a litte worried. Here are the certification requirements to successfully pass the SFG.

By an incredibly lucky set of circumstances, I was able to begin training under the mentorship of Dan John. I am so grateful to have been able to work with him. This man is one of the most brilliant minds in strength training. He has been kind, patient and our sessions have been very valuable. Everything he taught me has made me into a better trainer for my own clients. He teased out all of my weaknesses and set out to help me strengthen the areas where I lacked. My biggest concerns where my presses and of course, the snatch test. Ah the snatch test... 100 snatches at 16 kilos (35 lbs) in 5 minutes. At the beginning of my training, it seemed daunting.
On our first session, when I asked (politely) if he could check my snatching form, Dan said "if you are going to do 1, you are going to do 100". That was after an hour of training. I giggled, how humorous, okay let's check the form. But no, it was no joke. I had to do 100. And this is how I set out to work on my snatches. I always did 100 and increased the weight of my kettlebell until I was able to snatch my required weight.

On the first day of the certification, I showed up, hair done, make up in place, with my nails painted sparkly green, wearing fluorescent compression calves sleeves. Maybe I stuck out just a little bit. 2/3 of the attendees are male, and most people looked solid with their form and endured the pace just fine. We were separated in 4 teams of about 18 people each. My team leader was Andrea U-Shi Chang, who also happened to be the person I took my HKC from. The whole thing started like this "Good morning, let's go do your strength test". 5 pull-ups for men and 15 seconds of flexed arm hang for women. Yes, it starts with a test.
Team Leaders and their assistants play a very important role in the whole process: they correct, encourage, direct and ultimately pass or fail you on technic. Each Team Leader lectures on a topic. During this specific certification we had both Dan John and Pavel lecturing, which was a real treat.

Let's talk about the pace... Possibly this was the hardest physical thing I did in my life. We did a LOT of swings. A LOT. The atmosphere is almost what I imagine the military to be. Respect is a given, it is also expected that you will be very attentive the whole time as well as understand and implement corrections. It is expected that you will be prepared and have the stamina to keep going. And this where I was astonished. Day 1 was hard. By the end of the day I could feel my hamstrings and deep hip muscles getting sore. When soreness starts the day of, it does not bode well for the next couple of days. Not to my credit, I tend to get sore easily.
At the start of Day 2, I was exhausted. Physically very tired and mentally spent (the anxiety I was feeling was not helping). On that day, the workload was much bigger, but somewhere halfway through the day, I realized that in spite of how tired and sore I felt I could still perform. Every single time. I became even more grateful for my body and its ability to get past exhaustion and accomplish the tast at hand.
Day 1 and 2 are spent going over and drilling the 6 moves: Double Kettlebell Swing, Double Kettlebell Clean, Double Kettlebell Presses, Double Kettlebell Squats, Turkish Get Up and Snatch. Three ballistic moves and 3 grind moves. And did I mention a lot of swings? For any woman over 123 lbs and under 50 years of age the Snatch Test size kettlebell is 16 kilos (35lbs). Double Kettlebell moves are performed with two 16 kilos kettlebells.
                                   
Day 3 loomed... testing day... I felt worried about my snatch test. I had trained properly, but my mind was filled with doubts. Failure on any of the testing points means you will not pass. I worked on calming my anxiety. By the time I arrived at the location I felt almost a state of abandon. I was going to give it my all and see what would come. The Snatch Test was the first thing we did and I was asked to test with the first batch of SFG1 hopefuls. I grabbed my bell and started snatching, at the pace that Dan had taught me... and I did not put my kettlebell down until my judge counted rep # 100. I finished with some time to spare. I don't remember much aside my legs starting to seriously shake towards the end. Ah, adrenaline does do wonder does it not? The relief I felt from passing the snatch test helped me feel much more confident for my form test and I knew then that I had a very good chance to pass. And I did! The form testing though a little nerve racking went well, as did the written test.

The whole experience was pretty transformative. I learned so much from the preparation alone. It taught me that my mind can really bully my body, that my body has ressources of strength and endurance I did not really know about and that I am overall much stronger than I give myself credit for. The spirit of camaraderie was really strong. There is no sense of competition besides that with one self. We all genuinely want to see each other succeed. We correct each other and receive lots support and encouragement from teammates as well as the team leaders.
Again, without Dan's guidance, I would have been hard pressed to show up as prepared as I was.



And here is Pavel's best quote of the weekend: "the opposite of a bird is a tree". Right on.

                                     

Dan John and I shortly after I received my SFG1 Instructor certificate.

STAYING ON TRACK WHILE TRAVELING

A week from now, I will be visiting my family in France (Carcassonne) and well, let's just say this is a disruption to my exercise schedule. Between the length trip, the 8 hour time difference, the amazing and readily available DELICIOUS food and the fact that it is a vacation, it is hard to maintain any kind of training routine.
Most of us go through some version of that kind of disruption during the holiday: trips to be taken, children to be entertained and such. The summer can wreak substantial havoc on any exercise schedule.
The truth is that during those times, best can be the enemy of good. Don't fall for the "all or nothing" mentality because there are plenty of things you can do to maintain your fitness level.

Here are some ideas on how to adapt your workouts.

• VIDEOS: this is a no brainer. Can't go to the gym or meet with your trainer? Do an exercise video at home. Pick a time when you are least likely to be interrupted. Being a Team Beachbody coach, I can assure you that there is something on the market to suit your taste; from the high intensity Insanity to the slow and controlled Tai Cheng, you will find something fun and challenging. Take some time to investigate and find the perfect DVD series for you.

• TRX: I really do love this device. It is fairly light and not too cumbersome to travel with. All you need to set it up is a door and there are many exercises you can do (you can download apps with TRX exercise descriptions). If you have never tried using a TRX, be warned, it is harder than it looks!

• BODY WEIGHT EXERCISES: push-ups, planks, side planks, squats, lunges, pike presses, burpees, mountain climbers, jumping jacks etc... Seriously, get creative and mix and match to create a heart raising and muscle building blend.

• WALK AND/OR RUN: enjoy your surroundings by taking a long walk or running. This is such a great way to discover a city or to enjoy a landscape and all it takes is a pair of sneakers.

• FORCE YOUR CHILDREN TO SHARE A SUITCASE AND USE YOUR 50LBS ALLOWANCE TO BRING YOUR KETTLEBELL ALONG OVERSEAS: true story, I love my bells that much.

BEACHBODY SUMMIT IN LAS VEGAS

Filmed a little video while at the airport. very excited about this trip to Las Vegas!

Today is Day 1 of our P90X® certification. Workout with Tony Horton is on the menu!

SO YOU FEEL SAD...

                      


Sometimes, we encounter difficult circumstances in our life. Family issues, health issues, work issues... a combo maybe?
Bottom line is, we all have phases in our life where we have difficulties, and often one of the first thing that gets dropped is good nutrition or exercise. Or both. Are you with me?

You know what I am talking about: you are stressed out and so you go on stress induced junk food binge; you feel depressed so you skip 1, then 2, then 2 weeks' worth of workouts.

Sometimes, the very things that would help us feel better and keep our head above water are the things we first let go of.

And I am guilty of this!

I have been taking a medication for Multiple Sclerosis once a week since January. If you are scientific minded, the medication I am on in the interferon category.
To make a long story short, it makes me quite sick. Strong flu like symptoms accompany each injection and they last about 8 to 12 hours. I take pretty massive doses of Ibuprofen to be able to cope. And by cope I mean lay on the couch. Not what I would call a great day. Keep in mind, this is happening every week.
Something else that is happening more and more is the feeling of being completely spent and exhausted the day after the injection. I have very little ressources left both emotionally and physically. So 7 days/week minus 1.5. Not great.

For the past month, I have been feeling very depressed. Depression is another not so uncommon side effects of taking Interferons.
Though it is unclear if the medication itself causes depression or if the realization that one has to be taking said medication forever is what causes depression. Possibly, the coming to terms with having MS can be causing depression too? Maybe all those things are causing depression? Who knows. I'm depressed.

It's no surprise, I have been struggling with my nutrition and exercise, and it is truly not like me to be dragging my feet to workout. I have gained a few lbs, I have been missing training days and sometimes my workouts are less than stellar.
While I tell myself that this might be the best I can do right now, you can imagine that with my personality this does not leave me in what I would call a "good place" with myself.
There is also the inner dialogue where I tell myself that if I let a little tiredness and feeling blue keep me from exercising hard, I will most definitely have huge regrets about not pushing myself a little (okay, much) harder if/when my health goes downhill and I TRULY cannot exercise.
You see the merry go round in my brain? Dizzying.

Needless to say this an on-going process.
But I will tell you this: while there is a discrepancy between what I think I should be doing and what I end up doing, I do not give up. I keep "falling off the wagon" in small and sometimes and not so small ways, but I always, always get back up.

I really believe this is the lesson in health and Fitness. Things happen, sometimes bad things, and they will knock us off the course we had charted for ourselves someway, somehow. Our responsibility is to take the hit, adjust our goals and start again.
As a Beachbody Coach and a Group Exercise professional, I have seen many people who, when they encounter difficulties don't take the step to assess the situation and get back to a routine. They just give up.
That makes me sad, and I want to tell all of you, that not many things come easy and we need to be prepared for this reality.
Things will come in the way of our Health and Fitness. Sometimes, those "things" are excuses we create to avoid having to hold ourselves accountable, but sometimes they are genuine hurdles and we eat the pavement a little bit. Or a lot.

But I do know this, we can always take a breath and start over, and over. Eventually we will hit a stride. And then that stride will be compromised and we will hit another one.