Category: Motivation

December 17, 2012 Suzie

I love bringing fitness classes to the workplace. It’s a fantastic way to work exercise and ‘you’ time into your day. It’s super convenient, affordable and a LOT of fun!

Move and stretch your body, be motivated, break up your work day, save  your precious personal time by training at work.

For more information on corporate fitness click here 

If you have any questions about how you can bring fitness to your workplace please feel free to send an email via the contact page 

 

 

For some inspiration check out some of my photos from classes via my facebook page here

 

November 28, 2012 Suzie

Any client who has ever worked with me will agree that I’m a fan of incidental and a big pusher for it.

What is incidental exercise? Well it’s like the name suggests it is the type of exercise that is part of another activity. It is not so much structured exercise as it is increasing your activity or increasing the intensity of the activity by doing something extra.

Everyone has done the old cliches “use the stairs instead of the lift/escalator, get off at a stop before your usual one etc.”Let me share some of my favourites and throw in some random ones for you.

Instead of incidental exercise I am going to call them opportunities to increase activity/exercise. Let me cover the most obvious ones first

1. Cleaning the house – dynamite opportunity for incidental exercise. Give your house a thorough clean and use all the muscles in your body. I’m talking scrubbing, dusting whilst shaking the booty, polishing and moving the couches to clean under them.

2. Washing the car is one of my favourites. I like to time myself to get that competitive edge. Include lots of squatting, bending, reaching, scrubbing, wiping – it covers your whole body!

Let’s get a little more creative

3. The clothes line booty shaper – Include squats when you are hanging the washing out. Squat down to pick up the item and come onto your toes as you peg to give your calves a wake up call. Try it single legged for extra intensity.

4. The random toilet workout – Now this sounds a little weird but going to the toilet is one of the best opportunities to fit in extra exercise. When you get up to go to the toilet, include a set of squats in the cubicle, nobody can see you or know what you’re doing so no need to feel self conscious at the work place.

5.Sneaky holds – if you’re stuck in a long meeting, or sitting down for a long period of time, start flexing and doing isometric holds of your muscles. These aren’t as obvious as jiggling your legs under the table and making those around you feel anxious. As an example, squeeze your bum really tight, now hold, hold and keep on holding for about 30 seconds or so, let go and repeat. you can do these for your quads, hamstrings, core and nobody will know the difference. These holds are stimulating the muscles and the tension is making them work.

6. Kitchen workout station – When waiting in the kitchen for something to cook,work sets of push ups against the bench into the process. Now of course you have to be careful with whats on the bench, i’m not suggesting you play around near hot surfaces or sharp utensils. hands on the bench, keep straight body, standing on your toes and bringing your chest in towards the bench then push up, keep good posture. To increase intensity go slower and increase repetitions. This one is particularly useful if you are going to the kitchen for a snack or something that isn’t too healthy. Before you have that snack, earn it with some exercise.

7. GET UP! – don’t underestimate the simple task of getting up. If you’re sitting down, especially on the floor it takes effort and a lot of muscles to get your body to an upright position, why not take advantage of that. Get up more often, which will also do your flexibility and muscles wonders and if appropriate sit on the floor.

8. The models walk – Now this is super old school but remember when people used to walk with a book on their head? Well let’s take a trip down memory lane and highlight the benefits. You are improving your posture, your neck muscles, using your core muscles for stability and probably having a laugh or causing other people to have a laugh at your expense. Either way it’s an interesting idea that can be revisited by today’s modern woman. (Right now i’m sitting here writing this post with a womens’ strength training book on my head, I’m certainly sitting up straight but the fact I look down at the keyboard every time I make a spelling error is causing problems!)

9. Improving pelvic floor muscles while you drive – I decided to do this one a couple of years ago, I never really paid much attention to the Pelvic Floor Muscles until I got a stern talking to by a certain physio. Now instead of dedicating valuable workout time to the cause I associate it with doing something else. I do it when I’m driving Every time i’m at a red light or stuck in traffic I make the most of my time and exercise them. Not sure how to do it? Check out my article on the importance of PFM here.

10. Taking away the convenience –  Have a look back through our history as human beings, there were nowhere near as many problems with obesity and disease as there is today. In today’s society everything is so easy, we have gadgets and services that make everything so easy we don’t have lift a finger. Except to press a button on our remotes but i’m sure in the near future technology will take that exhausting burden away from us. If you really want to increase your activity and incidental exercise take some of the easiness away. Think about what you have at home that makes your life so much easier… what can you do to give some effort back to your body and with that increase your mobility, strength and fitness.

Inspire others to exercise outside the box by sharing using the share buttons below.

Stay connected and up to date with the Reve community here

 

 Photo courtesy of Female First

October 3, 2012 Suzie

Sometimes people need a slap in the face. Ok maybe not quite so violent, perhaps a little shake, when it comes to facing the facts about health.

Some people tell themselves their bad habits are fine, normal, not harmful and happy to continue. I’ve been guilty of doing it myself. Maybe your wanting or needing a wake up call….

Here’s an extract from my book Empower Lifestyle Upgrade. I encourage people to really take  their time reading this and absorbing it:

Face the facts, the truth, the reality
You may not be able to read the following page.
This page tells you the truth. I am not here to lie to you, to sell you a quick fix.
You need to be told the truth and accept it as reality.
If you are ready to read this page and absorb it, then you are ready to change.

• Your body will not change unless you put in the hard work

• You cannot spot reduce fat on your body. Once you start losing weight your body will choose where it wants to lose weight, you can strengthen and tone areas however.

• There is no such thing as ‘try’ you either ‘do’ or ‘don’t’. You MUST DO to cause change

• You cannot improve/help something you dislike (i.e. your body, yourself)

• Unhealthy eating and lack of exercise can cause you an early death. YOU CAN KILL YOURSELF…. seriously.

• No one is going to save you… you have to help yourself

• You are worth the effort

• Life is short and will wait for no one

• Life is also a precious gift to be enjoyed to the fullest

• You CAN do it. You just chose not to in the past. DO IT NOW!

If you think someone you know could benefit from reading this post, then please share the love by pressing a share button 🙂

July 3, 2012 Suzie

How to overcome Winter training obstacles

We’ve identified the pros to training during winter and also looked at the cons. Let’s now help you overcome any obstacles you may be facing so you can achieve your goals.

 

TIPS FOR OVERCOMING OBSTACLES AND ACHIEVING AWESOME RESULTS!

 

  • Choose the right clothing – “there is no such thing as bad weather – just bad clothing choices”. Dress for the weather, layering is highly recommended. Try for 2 thin tops, with one being long sleeved and able to be taken off. Look for tops that use high-wicking materials, they take sweat away from your skin allowing you to stay warm without overheating. You may like to add fleece to start with, this will also be handy as you finish up your workout to keep you warm. A hat (beanie) may also be a good option for you as heat is lost through the head. Depending on the temperature and the type of exercise you are doing, gloves may also be appropriate and useful.
  • Change the tyres, on your feet – check your training shoes, just like tyres on a car or bike they get worn out through usage over time. You are more likely to slide on wet or icy surfaces and without good grip on your shoes you increase your risk of injury.
  • Alter goals seasonally – with shorter daylight it can be hard to stick to your original goals depending on what they are. Use the change in season as an opportunity to update your goals and making sure they are realistic and achievable. Work with what you’ve got.  For example, if you usually train after work, reduce the amount of time you exercise and/or workout in your lunch hour. You would be getting out in the sunshine and getting some of that essential Vitamin D from sun exposure, not to mention some fresh air. You could cut down the time but increase the frequency or the intensity of your workouts. There is always a way, sometimes you just need to think outside the box.
  • Boost that motivation – music can be an exceptional motivation tool. Music has the power to change your mood dramatically. It can make you sad, make you happy and seriously change your current state of mood from lazy to pumped and ready for anything.  Use the power of music to get you up on those dark cold mornings, or out of the house when it’s raining and miserable. Create your own power playlist to motivate yourself and take control.
  • Motivation is contagious – team up with a training buddy of a group for extra motivation. You will be more likely to attend workouts and work hard, you are being held accountable. Training with others adds a social dynamic and encourages a bit of healthy competition. Again why not take the training outdoors and soak up some of that vitamin D, you’ll be doing your body good and will feel better about the longer winter nights.
  • Keep it clean people – germs spread like wildfire in winter, you will notice in the office and especially if you have children. Whilst you can’t always prevent getting sick you can absolutely decrease your chances of getting sick and reduce the length of illness. Firstly let’s start with the most obvious and clichéd, washing your hands frequently. You come in to contact with lots of germs every day in the most common  and uncommon of places. Think doorknobs, keyboards, handles, petrol pumps, toilet doors, rails, buttons etc. Before you eat make sure you wash your hands and don’t touch your mouth or eyes etc. Quarantine the sickly, at the office try and steer clear of the Mr sniffles and Mrs outrageously loud cough/spluttering, if you can encourage them to go home, and if not, steer clear. Don’t share cups or utencils with others and definitely keep yours separate if you are sick so nobody else uses them. Use a tissue for sneezes and coughs, and have a bottle of hand sanitiser with you. These little bottles are pure genius when it comes to using public toilets and public transport in the germy season. Drink lots of water and eat a diet rich in highly nutritious foods to boost your immune system and keep your health in check. Get a good night’s sleep  and if you feel like you’re on the verge of getting sick, ease up and rest, increase vitamins and flush it out of your system

 

Now there’s really no excuse not to exercise during Winter is there 😉

 

 

June 27, 2012 Suzie

The obstacles to training during Winter

 

Let’s explore some of the most common obstacles experienced by exercise goers during winter.

  • Reduced daylight –  depending on what part of the world you live in, the length of daylight can be altered significantly. Lack of daylight and the ability to enjoy daylight during your day can lead to depression and Vitamin D deficiency.
  • Cold mornings – I will not lie to you, even I find it hard to get out of a warm bed on a cold early winter morning.
  • Lack of motivation – it’s not uncommon for goals to fall by the wayside at winter time. There’s no bikinis or summer outfits to drive you to looking your best. When it’s cold and conditions aren’t ideal it’s easy to choose the ‘easy’ option of opting out of training or eating healthy.
  • Comfort food – outside activities are often replaced with catch up dinners and socialising revolving around food and drinks. The type of food we eat as well tends to change to starchy warm, rich comforting food. Watching a DVD with popcorn and a block of chocolate anyone?
  • Dehydration/lack of moisture – the cold air actually deprives you of moisture, the extra layers worn whilst working out draw more sweat from body.  The cold weather also alters your thirst sensation to maintain core temperature, you are usually unaware you are dehydrated till it’s too late.
  • Redirection of blood flow – Cold weather draws blood towards the abdomen to raise core temperature. This can increase your risk of injury if the arms and legs aren’t prepared for strenuous work. To prepare them try performing longer and more gradual warm up, up to 15mins of cardio and mobility exercises. This prepares your arms and legs and all their joints for a hard workout and will reduce your risk of injury.
  • Increased risk of danger training outdoors – lack of light and wet, icy conditions can contribute to injuries. Be safe, know yoru environment. Do not train in the dark unless you have the proper equipment and check out your surfaces before you start to train. Reduce your risks, an injury is not worth it!
  • When outdoor training is not ideal – some conditions i.e heavy rain, snow, ice etc can make training outdoors or even participating in social /active events outside unappealing. When you are not a member of a gym or do your exercise purely outdoors (for e.g running, cycling, swimming) it can affect your training program and your motivation. Try thinking outside the box, look for fitness classes that are held indoors at community centres, workout DVDs may come in handy or even moving your workouts indoors – there are a lot of options and you can get just as good a workout indoors if you know what to do!
  • Illness – The germ infested months of the year. It’s not that cold weather by itself makes you sick, it can however lower your immunity and make you susceptible to picking up germs, infections etc. Illness can definitely be a set back to your training. Keep this in mind though, depending on what type of illness you have, exercise can actually help. If you catch a common cold right at the beginning, some gentle exercise can actually help your condition and lessen the severity and duration. However if you have a virus you must let your body rest and recover, pushing your body in such a state will only prolong the illness and delay recovery. Listen to your body it will tell you when you need to rest.

 

Don’t let these obstacles throw you off training in Winter, in our next post we will overcome these obstacles. The pros (although they appear fewer) are much more significant than the cons!

 

Stay connected with the Reve community via our facebook page 🙂

 

June 20, 2012 Suzie

Why training in Winter is fantastic!

 

The cooler months are by far the best for working out.

In a nutshell, if you want to look and feel your best for summer, the best time to start is in the winter months and the sooner the better. Often people make the mistake of waiting till the weather warms up to start their training program only to find that by the time they’re seeing awesome results the summer is nearly over.

If you truly want to look and feel your best, it’s time to start training now!

 

WINTER

Winter months vary in temperature depending on what country you reside in. In Australia we are fairly lucky with our winters, depending again on what part of the country you are in. We are prone to sunny clear blue skies with crisp air that make us question if it actually is winter or not. We do however experience the lows as well, bitterly cold winds, constant rain, shortened daylight and snow.

Training in winter can have a variety of obstacles, but on the flip side a lot of pros as well. Firstly let’s identify the pros:

 

THE PROS

  • Be summer ready – by far the best pro of all is being ‘summer ready’ before everyone else. Whilst everyone else will be realising they can’t hide under big bulky clothing anymore and wanting to fit into bikinis you my friend will already be parading around in your most desired summer outfit oozing confidence and pride in what you have achieved.
  • Winter is a good training climate – winter months are actually a good climate for some forms of exercise especially long slow aerobic distance training. Yes you may be cold to start with but as soon as you start exercising you will warm up and appreciate that the climate is not adding to your heightened body temperature. Running is the perfect example, think about a time you have gone for a run (or performed a workout) in hot humid conditions… it sucked right? Now compare that to when the conditions were cooler… there’s a reason you performed better in the cooler conditions.
  • Time out – again depending on what country you live in, in Australia our holiday season being Christmas and New Year coincide with summer. We love socialising in the long warm days and as a big generalisation our social events tend to quieten down in winter and we tend to hibernate.  If your winter season is quiet then you have more time to focus on you and use that time that might otherwise be tied up in family gatherings and holiday celebrations. It can be your time to set new goals and devote time in order to achieve them

 

In our next Winter series post we will identify the cons to training during Winter and offer you a range of tips and strategies to keep you feeling motivated, on track and achieve those results.

 

 

May 14, 2012 Suzie

This mother’s day was particularly special. I had a great group of people join me for the Mother’s day Classic which is a fun run/walk to raise money for breast cancer.

I felt so proud and happy for all my clients, friends and family who joined in for the event. It was a great morning, great atmosphere and we helped raise money for a great cause.

It’s a great feeling setting a goal and achieving it. Nothing beats the feeling as you cross the finish line – except that big drink of water you have right after it 🙂

Well done to everyone, you should be proud of yourself! 🙂

Check out some of the photos from the day here.

 

 

 

May 9, 2012 Suzie

I think my boyfriend is famous in Korea. We’ll get to that in a minute.

Last Saturday my boyfriend and I went on an adventure day thanks to a great daily deal. We were part of a group of overseas tourists in our own country which I found interesting and an eye opener. I haven’t had Sydney explained to me like an overseas traveller and I did not know that Gosford is pretty much only famous for carpooling… i’m sure it must be known for something else??

I love observing people and when we were enjoying our dolphin watching cruise it seemed that other people liked observing us too. I couldn’t help but notice a group of middle aged Korean ladies at a table in front of us clad with the brightest tracksuits i’ve ever seen. After we’d been sitting a little while Mark says to me, “I think that lady is filming me” and it was in fact true, one of the Korean ladies was holding her camera in the direction of Mark with the red light on and staying very still, I could put this down to coincidence except the only camera worthy thing behind Mark was in fact a wall. We had a bit of a giggle and kept on chatting. The next thing we know one of the Korean women had got up, approached our table and sat down next to Mark without saying a word, feeling quite awkward I looked at her Mark looked at me and the rest of fluro tracksuit bunch were looking at us all… with cameras.

The little lady sitting next to Mark edged closer and closer to him and one of her friends had the camera ready to take a photo. Now this could have been a truly awkward moment (well it was anyway) but instead of questioning and backing away Mark with his ever so down to earth nature and charm put his arm around her to take the photo and this absolutely made her day. She squealed in delight and grabbed at Mark’s hand like he was a rock star, I couldn’t help but laugh. You could not wipe the smile off her face. Then she got up and went back to her friends and they all thought it was hilarious and wonderful. What had just happened??

The remarkable thing was that it was all done with no verbal communication. Mark was able to make someone’s day without saying a word.

Then our little friend returned about 30 minutes later with a packet of, well to be honest I still don’t know what they were, super fried crisp things with cinnamon. The Korean version of chips! She came up to our table and offered us some, we both politely took one and said thank you, then the lady grabbed Mark’s hand and tipped a sizeable amount in it. She had just made his day in return, he thought they tasted great. Again all done without any verbal communication at all.

So what had happened? Were we the target of some social experimentation? A joke maybe? Or is Mark truly famous in Korea? Either way it made  me have a think, it does not take a lot of effort to be nice to people. Something that is so mundane such as opening a door for someone, smiling at a stranger, letting someone with less items than you go ahead at the supermarket could make a huge impact.

Be nice and open minded to others, you never know you just might be making their day 😉

Final thought – I wonder if Mark ends up on Youtube or in a Korean tabloid magazine.

 

 

picture used courtesy of ellohollywood

April 30, 2012 Suzie

Would you rather look like a supermodel or an athlete?

I was in the magazine section of the shops the other day and I started flicking through the girly fashion mags and felt very bored. Now let me put into context, it seemed like page after page was filled with stick thin girls with vacant expressions. I couldn’t imagine liking let alone wearing any of the clothes they were wearing because they seemed so far removed from reality.

This isn’t a tirade against the fashion industry promoting sickly thin models, that topic has been done to death. Plus, what is normal? Have we become such an obese society that plus size is now the norm and should be promoted? I’ll steer away now before I get myself in trouble.

The thing about the magazines that got me is, what do we actually believe to be attractive? Is it what we think men want us to be or how we view ourselves and other women?

When I think attractive and sexy when it comes to women I think of someone like Jessica Biel, now there is one foxy lady! She works hard for her body and it shows. A body like that doesn’t just happen, she trains hard and I find that inspiring. When you look at her she screams health and fitness and looks pretty much capable of doing anything. So for more inspiration I have provided some more pics below.

Would you rather look like a skeleton covered in skin or a strong healthy woman?

 

April 26, 2012 Suzie

‘Top 5 reasons healthy eating rocks!’ – wow that enthusiasm felt a little cheerleadery didn’t it. Let’s roll with it!

Ok so I had my little rant as to why dieting sucks ( diet meaning restricted eating) now I want to tell you why you want to do it.

At the risk of sounding cheesy eating healthy really can change your life drastically, for the better.

I’m not new to healthy eating, i’ve been doing it for quite a while now, but like most people i’m prone to indulging and in some cases (cue christmas), over indulging. But this new way of restricted eating doesn’t allow such things. I’m using the opportunity to explore the pros and cons of dieting. Hopefully in this article I showcase the benefits of eating healthy.

While I found restricted eating very hard at first, hence my previous posting, now i’d like to share with you all the positive aspects.

I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again – you don’t know how good you feel until you feel like crap. It’s so true, I think we take it for granted.

Here are my top 5 reasons why healthy eating rocks!

 

1. Health benefits

Adding years to your life, reducing your risk of lifestyle diseases such as type 2 diabetes, reducing cardiovascular disease. Improving immune system, digestive system, the list goes on and on.  My personal favourites that you notice early are increased energy and improved sleep!

 

2. Physical benefits

Even though good health is the most important thing anyone can ever have, it’s the physical benefits that people get most excited about. When you start seeing the benefits of your hard work, it is the best feeling ever! Let me run through some of them, weight loss (who doesn’t like a bit of that), reducing body fat, radiant skin – yep I said radiant, it’s smooth, clear and has a glow. Stronger nails, nicer hair, flatter stomach and that ‘firm’ feeling, nothing beats the feeling when you drop fluid weight and you feel your new firmer body, that’s where the muscles were hiding! Because you have more energy you’re able to be more active, only adding to your benefits.

 

3. Save money

I’m sorry but I disagree in the most part with those people who say that eating healthy is too expensive. Bull. Maybe look at your choices. I’ve been making recipes for 4 people and most of them cost less than $20 in total, last weeks roast chicken was about $10 in total with vegetables and left overs for the next day. When you’re in a food court, that’s a different story, a healthy lunch can cost about $15 as opposed to a cheap and nasty burger, fries and soft drink meal… I can see why people fall into the trap. Since eating restricted i’ve eaten most meals at home or prepared them at home to take with me. This has saved me money and I have still found ways to socialise. Saved money is going towards new clothes of the smaller size variety 😉

 

4. Good influence

I’m not forcing anyone around me to eat the way I do. But I am finding it is kind of rubbing off. Those close to me aren’t eating things  i’d be tempted by around me and told me they’ve cut them out also. My boyfriend is eating healthy too which is a big support. Since I am doing a lot of cooking at home, those who want to be fed must eat my super healthy stuff (they can add whatever they like to it). I’ve had no complaints so far!  When you eat healthy you are showing those around you the benefits and that it is possible for them to achieve those benefits also. Don’t ram the message down their throat, instead be a good example.

 

5. Liberation

Now this one sounds a little silly, but after you refuse foods for quite a while you build strength. This sounds overdramatic I know. But resisting and ditching old food habits makes way for new ones. I’m looking at the positive side, I’ve now learnt exactly what goes into foods and the effect they have on the body. I now have new cooking skills which I didn’t have before, i’m better at flavouring my food naturally and how to make natural fresh healthy food super yummy. I don’t feel tied down to any cravings, yep I used to get cravings for chocolate as most people do I think, but I now know that the world won’t fall apart if I don’t have it.

 

There are my top 5 reasons, although I really don’t think it’s possible to put into words just how fantastic it can be. Your health and physical benefits far outweigh anything else. The best way I can describe it is that when you are fit and healthy and eating foods that agree with your body, you are like a superhero…. yes, just roll with it for a second. A super hero because you realise that you can do everything with ease, things that used to feel hard for you feel super easy, and with extra energy you really do almost feel super human. Everything is easier, clearer and achievable when you’re fit and healthy.

Ok that’s enough cheese 🙂