3 key areas that can alter your health

Motivation can make or break your fitness goals.  Everyday we make choices some are easy, some are difficult.  Some will make a huge impact on our lives others won’t make quite as much of a difference.  What it all comes down to is the decisions soon will form our habits.  Think about it how many times do you get home from work and think what should I have for dinner tonight?  Well if you say I don’t have anything at home I guess I will have to swing by the fast food restaurant again to pick up dinner.  If this is happening night after night you’re forming a new habit and not a healthy one at that.  I want to challenge you to think about these habits & decisions you’re making and how they are impacting your life.  Below are 3 key areas I want you to pay attention to this week and notice how by becoming more present in your decision making practice can really alter your health. 

3 key areas that can alter your health

1. What time should I go to bed tonight- Everyday we make this decision when should I go to bed?  Some people listen to their bodies and go to sleep when they are tired, others try and stay up just one more hour to watch that late night tv show that they could’ve taped and watched at a later date. Sleep will make or break your health.  Think about the last time you were tired and you had the choice at lunch to eat the salad or get the burger & fries, you probably went with the burger.  Then later in the day as you were driving home you drove right past the gym because you mentally couldn’t get yourself to workout.  My challenge to you is to get to bed 30 minutes earlier then you normally do this week, and let me know how you felt the next day. 

2. Should I get the fries or the veggies- The next decision we all make everyday is what to eat.  We are bombarded with food choices daily.  If you work at a large office people bring in birthday cake weekly that you most try and resist, then you go out to lunch and your co-workers say another salad this one time get the juicy steak.  Then you go home and your kids want mac and cheese so you decide what the heck I will indulge just this once.  Forgetting that you have indulged all day long.  Now over the course of time those little decisions add up to inches on your waistline.  If you give into the pushy co-workers, or the friend who just has to have the dessert but can’t eat it by herself you will start to form habits.  These are not the food habits you want to form.  My challenge to you this week with nutrition is to stick up for your healthy ways and don’t give into the temptations when you truly are not craving those items. 

3. I don’t really feel like going to the gym today- The last key area that affects your health is working out.  To many times I hear people saying I was just to tired, to busy, or didn’t feel like working out today.  Again if you start telling yourself it is okay to skip your workout you will accept that and now it is no longer a priority in your life.  If you have to skip a workout make it up.  You should have your workouts planned for the week and if you need to switch your rest day from a Tuesday to the Friday do so but just don’t let yourself off the hook by skipping gym appointments. My Challenge to you this week with your fitness is not to skip the gym.  Make it a mandatory appointment that cannot be missed. 

If you start to make those 3 changes in your life you will notice habits starting to form.  The more you notice how little decisions soon add up to bigger life changes the more motivated you will be to make good choices.  Now get out there are share this message with your friends if you found it helpful and start forming new habits together. 

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What can we learn from professional athletes?

What can we takeaway from professional athletes in terms of fitness? Most people see professional athletes of any sport and we see fit.  Now there are always a few exceptions, but to play at the level they are playing at night in and night out they are in pretty good shape.  They eat healthy, travel a lot and get lots of fitness in an average week.  What can we do to model their behavior?  Only modeling their fitness behavior not their social behavior.

1. Intervals- Athletes are on the court running full speed for a short period of time than resting for a period of time. So add some intervals into your workout this week.  Sprint or run as fast as you can for 30 seconds-1 minute than rest/walk for 30 seconds to 1 minute and repeat for a 30 minute workout!

2. Watch what you eat-  To athletes nutrition is key.  What you eat 2 days before a competition is what affects your body.  So think about what it is doing to you if you don't eat well and than try to work out all week long.  After a workout do you binge yourself with junk food?  How does that affect you when your doing a hard workout?

3. Lift weights- To be the best athlete in any sport the athletes lift weights.  They lift to be stronger, faster and a bonus is the defined and tone muscles you see.  If you don't know where to start ask a trainer for help or check out SaFire Training website for free workout videos.

4. Rest Days-  Yes even professional athletes need a day of rest.  Whether they go to a light yoga class, or take a complete day off varies.  But you need a rest day as well.  That is your bodies best chance of toning those muscles and gaining strength.  Plus it will keep you from burning out.

Get your goals right

Now that it is the New Year people are planning their goals for the year.  If you haven't done that yet no worries you have plenty of time all year to get goals written.  I wrote some of my best goals in the summer of last year.  I started my own training business last August which was a huge goal of mine to get off the ground. So don't stress yourself over making a goal right now if you don't have one in mind wait until it comes to you.  But if you are ready to make a goal of sorts go ahead and start now by following these tips.

1. Keep the goal realistic.  Don't say your going to lose 50lbs in 2 months and expect it to happen.  Don't say your going to quit your job in a week and pursue your passion when you financially won't be able to make it.
-Losing 1-2lbs a week is safe so stick to small but reasonable increments.  As far as pursing your passion I'm all for that but make sure you have a saved up at least 3 months of income when your starting your new business.

2. Put a time table on your goal.  If you don't have a set date you want to achieve something it most likely will not happen.  So make sure you have a time frame of when you want that goal to be achieved.

3. Tell someone about your goal.  Your more likely to go after that goal if you tell a friend, spouse, mother, father and let them know the date in which you want it achieved as well.

4. Really think about what you want to achieve this year.  Take a day or two to really think what is it I truly want to see happen in 2013.  Meditate on it, resist the urge in asking others what your goal should be really have it be your goal.

Let me know what your goal(s) are this year and leave a comment below.

For more information check out www.safiretraining.com

No time to workout this week? Try Tabata Training

What is tabata training you ask?  Is it like intervals while similar but it involves exercises and is not just limited to the treadmill or other cardio machines.

Tabata training is performing an exercise for 20 seconds as hard and as fast as you can.  Your heart rate should be very high well doing these exercises.  You than will get a 10 second rest and than repeat the exercise for 20 seconds and rest again for 10 seconds.  This is the pattern you will be doing during your tabata training.  Your workout will only last 4 minutes.  If your not tired by the end of the 4 minutes you need to push yourself even harder.

Below are some sample tabata exercises you can do in your own home.

*Note do not perform these exercises if you have a heart condition or were suggested  your doctor to not get your heart rate above a certain beat per minute while exercising.

Below workouts will be done 20 seconds and than rest 10 seconds before performing the same exercise one more time and than resting and move onto the 2nd exercises on the list.  So every exercise is performed twice before moving on.
Workout #1- recommended for beginners 
1. Jumping Jacks
2. Push-ups
3. Squats
4. Up/down planks

Workout #2- Intermediate to advanced 
1. Split Jumps
2. Donkey Kicks from side to side
3. Split Jumps with a reach to sky and touch the ground
4. Plank Jacks w/push-up

Workout #3- Intermediate to advanced
1. Butt kicks w/jumping jack arms
2. Squat Jumps
3. Burpees
4. Plyo-Jacks- (Jumping jack w/a jump off the ground)

Enjoy the holidays and get a quick 4 minute workout in to burn those calories!!
Check out www.safiretraining.com for more workout ideas.