Kick some BUTT!

Time to kick some BUTT!!!

Saddlebags, flat-butt, or “the connector” whichever issue you have we hear it time and time again in the gym. You want to look as good going as you do coming. In the 80s and 90s we had the era cardiovascular training which fashioned itself after the skinny-no hips women in spandex and matching headbands. All of that cardio created a Bull market for flat butt woman and brought is things like Chic jeans and Wranglers. This trend also started to create some functional issues. Low back pain and injury skipped happily singing through local gyms and chiropractic practices took off. Why? Because Low back pain and lower body injuries can be the result of delayed and reduced gluteal activation. Second cousin to this are problems with compensation issues in the hamstrings, hips, and low back. Muscle groups are not built like rows of houses with easements and yards separating the two, they are apartment buildings with joint power, water, and lighting systems so if one unit has an issue it will always trickle down to the other tenants. Thankfully the 21^st century has brought fitness trends back to the weight room. This trend started in the weight rooms of athletic departments and it was not long before the general public wanted to know why tiny gymnasts to NFL linebackers where all lift weights. Strength, that was the key word, everyone wants it and it is the fastest way to prevent injury. It also did not hurt that trainer also started teaching gym rats that extra muscle cells mean higher metabolisms and higher success with weight loss and body shaping.

“Twin Powers Activate!” (Bad 80s reference) get it? There are two….and they should match….

Activating the gluteal muscles would seem like second nature, but it isn’t. When I started working as a personal trainer I never had any idea how often I would have to talk about the butt. So many people pay little or no attention to what their gluteus are doing and we use them in almost every exercise so here is how we activate them.

                Gluteal muscles are a group of four muscles. Three of these muscles make up the butt. Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medias, and Gluteus minimus. Then finally anterior and lateral to these is the tensor fasciae latae muscles (say that three times fast). First step to building a stronger backside is to active those gluteal muscles that have had way too much time in your office chair or on your couch. I want you to start with these three basic stretches;

First the “Cobra”

Lying on your stomach put the palms of your hands down flat on the floor directly under your shoulders. Take a deep breath, and then press your chest away from the floor while trying to keep your hips and pelvis on the floor. Hold this for 15 seconds then go back to the starting position. Repeat 10 times

 

Next comes the Hip Flexor stretch

Start in a kneeling position with your front foot flat on the floor and the knee of your back leg on the floor. Walking your front foot into a deep lunge press your hips down toward the floor and forward stretching the hip on your back leg. Hold the stretch for 15 seconds then back to your starting position. Repeat 10 times with each leg.

 

And finally the Single leg hip bridge

Lying on your back with both knees bent and feet flat on the floor, extend one leg out straight then extend your hips toward the ceiling using your bent leg. Hold this position for 15 seconds then return to your starting position. Repeat 10 times with each leg.

 

Now that you have properly activated your gluteal muscles it is time to start strengthening and toning a great posterior.  Come closer and I will tell you the super-secret exercises that will help develop a great looking behind….. Squats, Lunges, and Dead lifts. I KNOW!! It’s crazy. The trainers at Health and Fitness Academy know how to perform these exercises with proper form in hundreds of different ways and would be happy to help you strengthen your glute, Low back, and core to fight of the dreaded “Connector”. We can be reached at 208.557.2823 or email me directly at ghouston@mvhospital.net.

How Should I Feel?

Do you know what it feels like to be full? Hungry? Thirsty? Grumpy? Happy? Excited? Emotions…emotions…emotions! Feelings…feelings…feelings!

Healthy Habit #1     Eat Slowly & Stop at 80% Full

            Both are much harder for me than I anticipated, especially when I first learned about them and their impact on fat loss. I have improved but still struggle to stay plugged in to my thoughts, emotions, and feelings as I eat. I am a fast paced adrenaline junkie and I struggle to slow myself down enough to listen to what my body is telling me.

            SO…what is a girl to do? How should I feel? Check out the Precision Nutrition timeline below that helped me identify my “feelings”.

The “How You Should Feel” timeline

Today you’re going to eat what you feel is a “typical” meal and then observe how you feel immediately after finishing and every hour afterward. If you’ve eaten the right amount for fat loss, you might feel like this:

0hour         Immediately after

                        You’re probably still a little hungry. It will take roughly 15-20 minutes to get a sense of satisfaction from a meal. If you’re a fast eater, wait it out before you go for more.

1hour           One hour after finishing

                        You should still feel satisfied with no desire to eat another meal.

2hours        Two hours after finishing

                        You may start to feel a little hungry, like you could eat something, but the feeling isn’t overwhelming.

3hours        Three to four hours after finishing

                        You should feel like it’s time for the next meal. Your hunger should be around a 7 or 8 out of 10 (where 10 is the hungriest you’ve ever been), but may be more or less depending on when you exercises and what your daily physical activity level is.

                        Not really hungry yet? You likely had too much food at your previous meal.

4hours        More than four hours after finishing

                        You’re quite hungry, like nothing is getting between you and the kitchen. You’re at 8 or 9 out of 10. This is when the “I’m so hungry I could eat anything” feeling appears.

            Obviously, if you let your hunger get this far you may make poor choices.

Oh that last statement is VERY true for me! Ask anyone that knows me well and they’ll say “Hayley gets grumpy, quite, and withdrawn when she hasn’t had enough to eat or has waited too long”. Then, once I’ve rebooted with my nutrition they’ll likely say, “There she is! Welcome back!”

So…do you know how you feel? I encourage you to take a day and experiment with your feelings, compare them to this timeline, and journal them.

**Email your journal day of feelings to me at hjones@mvhospital.net for a chance to win a FREE 30 minute nutrition session!**

Until next time,

Hayley Jones, BS, CSCS, Pn1

hjones@mvhospital.net

           

Exercise, weight loss, and fun.... All about perspective?

                In a recent study, researchers examined the relationship between physical activity and consequent food intake. Two groups of women were given the task of going on a 30 minute walk.  The first group was given a 1-mile course map with instructions to record their energy level at points along the way. The second group was given the map and an MP3 player with instructions to record the quality of sound at the same stopping points. Both groups were served lunch following the experiment, and researchers recorded the food choices of each participant. They found that the women who believed they were walking for exercise made poorer for choices and ate more total calories than the second group.

                This got me thinking about my exercise habits and perspective. Although my goal isn’t always necessarily weight loss, I consistently find myself focusing on what I am getting out of exercise rather than simply enjoying it. I think this can be most relatable in terms of running. For most, running is a means of weight loss, and is always measured in terms of distance, time, or calories burned. Nearly every run I go on is chance to beat my time or reach a certain distance, and inevitably, I burnout. It’s exhausting to put that much pressure on yourself! In my experience, the constant work-reward relationship between exercise and diet inevitably becomes overwhelming. There tends to be so much focus on burning enough calories to account for food intake, it is easy to forget how enjoyable exercise can be.

                The next time you go for a run, try this: Find a neat place to run you haven’t been before, don’t bring a watch, and don’t pick a route. Settle into a nice pace and go wherever your feet take you. Make sure to take the time to enjoy your surroundings and let your mind wander. When you are done, take a second to evaluate how you feel. A little different, relaxing maybe? Who knows, maybe after taking up a new perspective on exercise, you may be surprised by the results!

Give it a try!

The study mentioned above is one of three in the article. If you are interested in reading further, here is the link:

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11002-014-9301-6#page-1

Bozeman or Bust

I am currently sitting in my old, yet Oh So Comfortable orange Popazan chair.  I didn't know till recently that it even had a name besides orange, round comfortable, don't sit in My camp chair or else.  Therefore, I don't know how to spell it and am not even going to spell check it.  Sorry of if you are uncomfortable with that. Ok, not really sorry, because today's topic is a reflection on my past weekend and how it could have been Really uncomfortable in many moments had my head/heart not been in the right space.

So, Friday morning a friend and I tossed some basic needs into her car.  Clothes, sleeping bags, a tent and some food. Oh, and she did toss in matches.  I think she may have seen a couple episodes of Survivor and remembered that fire is a good thing out in the wild and we were headed to the wild for sure. Our chosen direction was North; with Bozeman, MT being our most northern point given we only had a few days and didn't want to spend all our time driving to Awesomer destinations.  Bozeman would be awesome enough given she had never crossed its borders.

With the air conditioner in our hair and a song in our ears, we hit the road. Free at last! For those planners out there...Breath...it will all be ok.  Big Sky was our first stop and we met a wonderful woman who gave us Get Lost Montana stickers.  Two for each of us!!  Now we were livin. We wandered the resort area and took many silly pictures and soaked in the beauty of that area before continuing North.

Hmmm, do we rough camp along the river or hit the KOA outside Bozeman?  We had set out to find hot springs and the hot tub at the KOA was pretty darn close to that...right? Upon arrival, we found the whole set up changed and no hot tub.  Bummer!  Next.  We found a sports store and the cute, energetic girl inside filled our heads and a piece of paper with extrodinary camping ideas and directions.  We were set now!

A plate full of sushi, no we didn't spear it ourselves, and another server's ideas found us headed toward Hyalite Resevoir, in the complete opposite direction from the first girl's suggestions. This decision came partly due to the huge rainstorm outside and staying lower down the mountain sounded like a smart idea. We were a little lost though, as the server didn't provide as elaborate of instructions.  Luckily, I purchased a fancy map while at the sports store which came in handy at several points on the trip, especially this night as it was raining and we were lost, it was getting late and All the campsites were taken. We found the last one...a literal mud pit due to all the rain. I won't tell you how long it took us or how many times up and down the canyon road we drove to find it.  I was about ready to just pull over and sleep in the car. I fell in love with our mud pit and the beautiful things that were close to it to see.  Did I mention that even though we were lower down the mountain we were actually right below the dam, we could see it from our campsite.  Funny!

We hiked, took pictures, came across lots of grouchy storm clouds, met great people, found another Last Spot at a KOA near Livingston, got rained on a little, sat by a smoking fire because to wood was wet, saw deer, a bald eagle, cows, elk, buffalo, amazing mountains and beautiful rivers. We ate healthy food and lots of Wilcoxson's creamy, smooth peanut butter & chocolate ice cream with a scoop of bubble gum.  We drank water, hot chocolate and a few swigs of soda. We were serious and we were silly. We had it all because we were happy, carefree and doin different.

So that is my message!  For those of you who are so stuck to schedules and planners and the "this is how it must be done's," I say Be Free.  Let your hair down and go with the Flow.  Set your exercise routines down for a day or two and do whatever comes to mind; even if that's just putting on your shoes and walking, going to the hills, or turning on some music and dancing.  Maybe it's simply resting and not pushing so hard for a moment. Be willing to Flow and see what comes across your path and trust it will be the right thing for you in that moment.   Be Spontaneous!  Be Silly! Be Soul-full!  You might just be amazed at what you discover when you take the time to do different from the routine and scheduled lives you lead. You might just hear You calling!

For exercise ideas different from your norm give us a holler at Health and Fitness Academy.  Or, if your norm is never having a plan and you would like one, it would be our pleasure to assist you with that as well. We have a team of four trainers to fit your needs and assist you in "doing different."

So go ahead, get in the ring, get dirty, Be spontaneous, Be free and then share your stories with us! You never know how you may inspire another with your courage &/or crazy story.

Until Next Time...Go BE Great!

Jennifer Saunders
Health & Fitness Academy
ButtinGear
Reiki
Intuitive Life Coach

Change is hard.....

CHANGE

It is such a big word.

Change is hard

Change is scary

                Change can cause more stress in your life than your Aunt Mildred who won’t stop asking “why you are not married yet”.  It is worse than any Deadline you could possibly have a work. It is worse than the loss of an important relationship. In fact we will worry, and plan, and stew over it, and plan again before we will actually take the steps to try to make a change. We will sabotage our efforts before we are even started on the road to it by surrounding ourselves with friends and family that do not expect it. We will harm our self-esteem by using negative self-statements to keep us from believing we are capable of it. We will even tell the world and everyone in it that we don’t care to do it with our “I don’t have to attitude.”

                Let’s get real….we have to do it. We already are doing it. A human being is forced to change through physiology every day. Our brains are hungry for information. The spirit is always looking for ways to find happiness, and the body wants to be challenged. So why do we make such a big deal out of it? We reward it like a Pulitzer Prize when anyone can pull it off, and we don’t even try to hide our disappointment when someone tries and fails to reach their goal. Small changes are looked upon as not enough, and big promises that are never fulfilled are considered better in some social and business circles.

                Granted, at this point I have been talking about changes that we have little control of. They will happen whether or not we have the will power, strength, or smarts to get them done. So let’s talk about the harder changes. Diet, exercise, improving our self-esteem, improving your health,  loving yourself, landing a better job, beating addiction, finding god or a spiritual connection with the world, changing the course of a relationship, learning to be a better parent, or partner. These are the big ones; they are the changes we procrastinate because we fear a very public failure. These are the changes that if we cannot or will not make, will deeply affect our ability to be truly happy. Are you actually doing harm to others because you won’t change? Does being stagnant in one area of your life affect the rest with its Karmic quicksand? Is it time?

If your answer to any of those questions was yes, then here are a few steps to get you started. Break out your pen and paper and get to work. Change can be liberating.

·         Ask yourself what it is that you want to change.

·         Be specific about your current behavior.

·         Develop strategies and intermediate goals that will help you to reach the ultimate goal.

·         Identify the situations that may make you susceptible to the undesirable behavior.

If you need any help with your future changes, the staff at Health and Fitness Academy is ready for you!

Call 208.557.2823 or email me at ghouston@mvhospital.net.

Honesty

Honesty…

A friend recently explained that she was on a journey of honesty. She wanted to share with me where she really was at, looking at her life without excuses, without justifications, without judgment, just accountability and honesty.

I then read a daily verse that rang even truer to that concept of honesty and it made me think about the amount of honesty in my life. Am I making excuses for things? Do I think I am doing better in areas of my life than I am? Do I think I am doing worse than I am? Where is my responsibility? Where is my accountability?

Since my entries are related to nutrition, I wanted to apply the honesty concept to that today. What did I come up with you ask?

“I stink at eating my vegetables!”

For some that know me closely, you may think, “oh yea, I knew that.” But there may be a lot that don’t know, as a personal trainers, we don’t always have it together either! There are areas of my nutrition journey that I am MUCH stronger in, but vegetables are unfortunately not one of them.

So, what do I do about it? Well…I like steps, I like processes, I like checklists!

Here comes the checklist girl in me!

1.      Identify what vegetables I like and will eat. If I am feeling adventurous, choose 1-2 NEW vegetables I have not tried! But let’s not get carried away yet…

2.      Identify how I like to eat those vegetables most (cooked, raw, salad, shake…etc).

3.      Revisit old strategies I have used in the past to eat more vegetables. What worked then? Why am I not using those strategies now?

4.      Identify 3-5 recipes that are quick and easy. (I don’t do long complicated recipes!)

5.      Plan and prepare! Grocery shop for the items I like and for the recipes I will use as well as prepare (chop/slice/dice/package) them for easy use. (I've gotten lazy! This has been a struggle for me)

6.      DO! ACTION!

All the planning and preparation in the world won’t help if you don’t take ACTION!

            So far, my favorite recipe to use has been:

            Mediterranean Salad

                        Sliced cucumbers, grape tomatoes, black olives, green olives, feta cheese with a homemade dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper!

            NOW…the question is…what do you need to be honest about? Feel free to email me your answer for your accountability at hjones@mvhospital.net OR seek out our insightful Jennifer Saunders at jsaunders@mvhospital.net if you need help identifying your answer.

            Until next time!

            Hayley Jones, BS, CSCS, Pn1

            hjones@mvhospital.net

Dance in the rain

Spectacular weather and Memorial weekend are a bit of an oxymoron in Idaho. Yet I just had one for the first time in about 9 years and it was Amazing! Sitting by a warm beautiful fire, seeing thousands of stars, watching the little ones excitement as they reel in a fish, gutting those fish cause their dad said they could if Aunt JJ helped them, catching up with friends, and hiking the hill with my daughter niece and sister are some of what made this weekend so wonderful.  Not to mention time to do a whole lot of Nothing!

Many things stood out over the weekend and I would like to share one of those things that relates to many of us. On Saturday I had the opportunity to go on a 4 wheeler ride with my sister, brother, nephew and my friend. The day was beautiful and warm and was starting to threaten rain.  So, like any smart person would do, I took sunglasses to protect my eyes, wore some gloves in case my hands got cold and put on a jacket to keep my upper body dry. After making sure we all had what we "needed", we were off to the mouth of some unknown canyon. Unknown to me at least, and I was excited!

Not 60 seconds after we took off it started to rain.  Imagine that! Five minutes later and that nice, gentle rain turned to hail. I'm not sure if my bare skinned legs were red from cold or sunburn but I do know that they were hurting from the pelting ice balls the size of peas. Not to mention the back of my ears! I was happy I had gloves and a coat though!  Upon a quick stop my sister decided we should turn back and went to tell the boys.  I decided to wait for her instead of returning to camp so she wouldn't be stranded if something happened.

I sat hunched over, my friend covered my ears and I covered my legs while we waited for the storm to pass or my sister to return. After a bit we decided she wasn't coming back, I wasn't ready to quit and the storm had let up to a light rain. So, I did what any girl seeking adventure would do...I went on.  We rode around the muddy hills and got oh so dirty in the slippery mud and gianormous puddles. We explored the paths we thought the others had taken until we decided it was time to return. After one more newly formed lake crossing, we saw the others behind us. We waited, shared stories and returned together, cold and soaking wet but fulfilled.

Life, like this little adventure can toss some crazy stuff at us. It may look ominous and even dump that 10% chance of rain showers, or even hail on us.  That does not mean All is lost. These storms usually only last a moment in comparison to the big picture. They give us time to rest, rethink, refuel and restart if we will allow them to do so. We can even use them to create some fun moments and memories that make us smile when we reflect on them. They give us an opportunity to grow and see where we are at compared to where we have been.

If you are currently in a hail storm in your  life, be patient. Take the time to rest and reflect on the possibilities and choices before you.  Remember to dance in the rain and only take cover when absolutely necessary. Be gentle with yourself and find those "gloves" and "coats" to be grateful for. Treasure the loved ones and friends in your life and remember to look for the rainbow. The storm will pass and you can be better because of it if you choose  too.

If your storm deals with health and fitness, visit us at Mountain View Hospital's Health and Fitness Academy and let us assist you in riding it out and learning to have fun while you do.  It's always better with a buddy! You may get a little dirty but you'll have a great story to tell afterwards. Not to mention, you might just have Fun while your at it.

So go ahead, continuing with last months message, get in and get dirty and see what amazing things just might take place in your life because you Chose To Dance in the Rain!

Until Next Time,
Go BE Great!

Jennifer Saunders
HFA Personal Trainer -ACE
ButtIn Gear
Reiki Energy Therapy
Intuitive Life Coaching