When it comes to your core muscles, one group often gets overlooked … until they become a problem! That is because when we think of our core, we usually only think of the six pack of muscles. 

Did you know that your pelvic floor muscles are the FOUNDATION for your core? We forget all about the pelvic floor muscles until we start having bladder issues but they work very hard to support you – as well as all the organs that are inside your pelvic region.

The pelvic floor muscles give you the ability to control urine, feces and gas, and can delay emptying until it is convenient. Keeping those muscles strong and fit can make a big difference in your body’s overall stability, as well as your digestive and reproductive organs. When you contract the pelvic floor muscles they lift up the internal organs in the pelvis and tighten the vagina, urethra, and anus. 

This doesn’t just apply to women, BTW – men also benefit from...

I’ve got an eye-opener for you today. It’s all about warning signs that your core muscles are getting weak. This is HUGE for your fitness & wellness journey because your core muscles are some of the most important in your body. They support your spine and your internal organs, they help maintain bladder control, and they power almost every movement you make. The problem is, our lifestyles work against having a strong core – and over time your muscles can get weaker without you even realizing it! This can set you up for poor posture, injuries, aches & pains, and more!

 Have you noticed any of these warning signs?

 7 Warning Signs You Have a Weak Core

1. You have to use your arms to help you get out of bed or out of a chair. This one can be super sneaky because you can do it subconsciously.

 Here’s a test to try right now: sit down in a chair, wait a few seconds, and then stand up. Did you automatically reach out to grab a table, desk,...

Motivation - it comes out of nowhere and disappears just as quickly!!

One of my favorite quotes is by Zig Ziglar and he says "People often say that motivation doesn't last. Neither does bathing, that is why we recommend it daily!" Well, from my personal experience it can be challenging to get it back in terms of working out. It's not quite the same as motivation in other areas of life. I can simply listen to a quick podcast or read a personal development book and it will motivate me in life quite easily, but working out is a different story. Life happens and whether it is stress or illness, exercise can just feel like an overwhelming task on the to-do list. So what to do when the motivation is gone but you still want to stay in shape? Mini-workouts!

If you have tried out any of my YouTube workout videos, you know that I like to keep my workouts fairly short anyways. Most of my workouts are 15 minutes long but this new one only takes three minutes!! 

Mini-workouts are just two...

I'm so excited my book is finally available in Kindle version and the paperback will be shipping out in two weeks!

This book will help you learn how stretching works but more importantly you will learn how to fit stretching exercises into your day with easy 10-minute routines.

Discover how easy it is to improve your flexibility, reduce pain, and eliminate stress with just a few minutes of stretching every day. This illustrated guide provides you with essential stretches and simple routines for increasing your range of motion, supplementing physical therapy, and more.

Featuring 60 individual stretches for your neck, feet, and everything in between, the detailed instructions and informative images in this book give you everything you need to incorporate stretching into your life. You’ll also find insight on how to develop short, multi-muscle routines for everyday living, exercise, and even injury recovery.

This collection of stretching exercises includes:

• Stretches for the...

In my experience, nobody really talks about balance until they are seniors. You would think at some point a senior would warn the younger generation to work on their balance!! Unfortunately they don't, but I am happy to educate you on the importance of balance.

I have had clients come to me after taking major falls from teens to seniors and the aftermath is never pretty. I have seen concussions, brain injuries, broken ankles that needed to be screwed together, dislocated knees and torn tendons. Falling can do major damage that can not only stick with you for a lifetime but can even be deadly.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• One in four Americans aged 65+ falls each year.

• Every 11 seconds, an older adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall; every 19 minutes, an older adult dies from a fall.

• Falls are the leading cause of fatal injury and the most common cause of nonfatal trauma-related hospital admissions among older adults.

  ...

The online world is FULL of fitness and wellness professionals that all have varying degrees of qualifications. Some people's only qualification is that they look the part by living the lifestyle or have good genetics. Some people may have gone to college for a health related career but some may have just taken a one-day online course and now because they look the part and say there are qualified - you trust them. I would recommend you look into the qualifications of anyone you are trusting with your body and health.

From my personal experience, one certification isn't nearly enough. It doesn't quite prepare you for the real world and the wide variety of human bodies and their issues.

Now, I have to be honest - I am horrified by all the people working out, unsupervised at home, following...

The first personal training certification that I took about 18 years ago taught us that the average American spends about 18 hours a day or more in a seated position. Think about it - let's say 8 hours sleeping in the fetal position, 8 hours sitting at a desk - that side sleeper is already at 16 hours and we haven't included any Netflix time, meals, or commutes!

Also, if spinning is your exercise - you are in a seated position with your hips flexed once again. The one opportunity to do something in a standing, upright position and you opted to contribute to your issues instead.

Our lifestyle has several different factors that contribute to whether we are flexible or tight. It is important to know the contributing factors so you can do you best to build a healthier lifestyle. Even diet and dehydration has an effect on your flexibility levels so that may be why you feel tighter some days more than others.

Other factors include: lack of movement, injury, scar tissue, poor workout...

By skipping the assessment process, most practitioners are simply "winging it". We have to trust the information you have given us to be true and that you haven't left anything out of your history. I often forget to inform a practitioner I am working with of ALL the issues going on in my body so I have to assume my clients forget too. I think we can all get in that excited mindset of starting a new program and just wanting to get to work immediately!...

Mindset is more than a popular gym buzz word. It is has been studied in the fields of cognitive and positive psychology since about 1920, and that has provided a scientific foundation to help trainers like me understand how our beliefs influence our behaviors.

People in the wellness world are coming from two different mindsets, promotion or prevention. The promotion focused person may exercise with a focus on the improvements associated with living a healthier lifestyle. The prevention focused mindset might focus on avoiding medical issues and joint replacements. As a trainer, it is important for me to understand my client's mindset because I am able to encourage them in different ways. People with a...

A Short & Sweet workout…well maybe not sweet, let’s replace that with sweaty! Make sure you get warmed up for a few minutes before you get started but that is also why the first exercise is high knees because that will finish off your warm up quite nicely.

Tabata training is performed in intervals working as hard as you possibly can for twenty seconds and resting for ten seconds. During your rest period try to take a couple deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth to help slow your heart rate down and prepare for the next round. You repeat this eight times to total four minutes. Take a one minute break in between each exercise. Don’t hold back! You should not be able to work as hard/fast on your last round as you do on your first. If you can that means you are not giving each round 100% effort or perhaps you are a super hero.

 

High Knees

Low Impact: March in place with high knees as quickly as you can bringing your knee as close to...