​Last week we took a look at the benefits of daily stretching for the body, and how it can improve your movement, flexibility, increase blood flow, assist with exercise recovery and help prevent injury.  All important reasons to start to incorporate stretching into your routine.

This week I thought we could take a look at the use of foam rollers as a way to assist and enhance the benefits of stretching. As the foam roller also as similar and added benefits.
Foam rollers are an inexpensive, versatile piece of equipment that can help with releasing muscle tension and loosing those tight trouble spots in the body.

The beauty of using a foam roller is that it is an affordable way to give yourself a deep tissue massage. By rolling slowly of different parts of your body, you can help to break up the adhesions and scar tissue in your muscles, this can assist in the healing and recovery process, especially if you are regularly exercising.

Form rollers work by using the body’s response to pressure, so as you roll over tight spots, the muscles begin to relax. For those especially tight spots, apply extra pressure.
When to us a foam roller

• You can use a foam roller before any exercise as the first part of a warm up as it helps to get the blood flowing in areas that may not be receiving much blood and it also helps to release muscle tension.
• As part of your cool down after exercise and as part of your daily routine add in the foam roller before any stretching – this will help to flush out any pooled blood in the muscles. It will also allow nutrients and oxygen back in.
• I would suggest as that you try to use the foam roll for at least 5 min or longer to achieve the best results.

Here is how to use the roller
Position yourself on top of the roller and use the weight of your body to slowly roll back and forth over it (pretend you are a rolling pin and you are rolling out dough).  Try not to use your arms for support, but focus on your body weight and relax as much as possible to move over the muscle you are targeting.
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You can pick almost any muscle in the body and apply this method to relieve the muscle successfully, some of the more trouble spots in the body are usually the outer thigh or iliotibial band, calves, quadriceps, hamstrings and the upper back and neck.
Here are two roller exercise to help with tightness in your neck and upper back.

• Neck – Lie on your back with the roller under your neck.  Allow your head to rest on top of the foam roller so that you feel the gently pressure on your neck.  You can slowly turn your head to the side, or to the side and down (aim your chin down to your shoulder).  Hold the position for up to 60 seconds.
• Back – Place the roller under your shoulder blades and cross your arms over your chest.  Lift your hips off the floor and use your body weight to apply pressure on the tight area.  Hold up to 60 seconds.

You can use the foam roller on its own, but I always find that to get the best results, follow your roller workout with a long stretch.
Believe me your body will than your afterwards.  So keep on rolling on!

This week I thought it might be good to look at the impact of the winter months and address some strategies to combat the colder weather and maintain your mojo!

For many of us winter can completely change our  lifestyle and we create habits to suit the colder weather, health and fitness can for many of us can be placed on the back burner and replaced with lazy days in front of the television curled up under a doona trying to stay warm. We can also crave the warm comfort food of hot pots and partake in those little extra treats – anything to keep us toasty inside and out. But unfortunately they can have a negative impact on our health, weight, metabolism and overall general wellbeing.

If we aim to stay active and fit over the colder months  it will put you in good stead for the summer months ahead when you are ready for more activity and embrace the outdoors-including putting on the summer swim suit or bikini!

Here are six helpful tips to staying in shape over winter:

1. Create a seasonal timetable that suits your lifestyle changes over winter – if you are finding it a struggle to get up in the mornings and exercise then try finding another time of the day that suits you better, like lunchtime or straight after work.

2. Setting a winter training goal can often help to stay motivated – pick an event to train for and even get some friends on board to do it with you and  you can all work together to achieve your goal.  Register for an event or buy the tickets and that way you have already made the commitment.  It’s a great opportunity to try something new and have some fun.

3. Diarise your workouts – it is completely okay to set the bar a little lower during the winter months especially if you are looking to maintain the gains you have made during the warmer months.  Get yourself a diary and commit to a minimum number of workouts and mark them off once you have done them.  If you treat them as if they are an important meeting that you cannot get out of then you are more likely to do them.  Remember no excuses!

4. Go shopping and get yourself some new gear for the gym to keep you motivated – if you look good and feel comfortable you are more inclined to show up and stay on track.

5. Utilize your workout time better so that you can maximize your training and have more down time under the covers at home.  Try some high intensity training where you work harder in a shorter space of time – these workouts have been proven to get amazing results.

6. Have a backup plan for the mornings that you’ll wake up and it’s colder than usual.  Get some Personal training and make the trainer ring you to get you out of bed and to show up – if that doesn’t work then get a trainer to come to your house.   Arrange to meet a friend to workout with and you can even car pool it so that you have to get out of bed.
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Most of all exercise is a great way to combat those winter blues that we can suffer from over the colder months when the skies are a little greyer and gloomier and our energy levels become lower. 

So stay focussed and on track and before you know it our warm summer days will be back again and we will be ready.
 

Exercise doesn’t always have to be vigorous to be effective and for many of us fitness isn’t about smashing ourselves to have the perfect body – it is about maintaining our health and fitness so that we can have a better quality of life!
 
Exercise can be going for a walk with a friend, playing football in the park with the kids – I like to refer to exercise as moving and I always think that if it is fun there is a greater chance of continuing with it and having success in achieving your goals.
 
These days I see we all have such stressful busy lives, it is challenging to fit everything in and sometimes it is hard to take the time to care for ourselves and we find it more difficult to wind down and to relax – this is where I see holistic exercise as a fantastic solution as it incorporates fitness and relaxation all in one class.
 
Wellness classes such as Pilates and Yoga have become very popular for this very reason and recently there has been a real trend towards the introduction of holistic exercise in Toowoomba. Quite a few studios now specialise in Pilates, yoga and meditation classes.
 
If you have never attempted yoga – now may be a perfect time to try it and you may find that you have everything to gain and virtually nothing to lose by giving it a go. Not only can yoga improve your general health and fitness, as well as challenge the body, it can provide relaxation and pain relief depending on the type of yoga you wish to try. There is a yoga class to suit whatever you are looking for, whether you are 18 to 90 years of age, a beginner to advanced.
 
6 Reasons to give yoga a try
 1. Pain relief – Yoga has been shown to assist pain relief, ranging from back, arthritis, joint pain, neck pain, fibromyalgia and much more.

2. Anxiety and depression – Yoga is a mind-body exercise, which means it benefits both you physically and emotionally. The combination of physical activity with mindfulness can help reduce stress, anxiety, depression, improve sleep pattern and enhance overall quality of life.
 
3. Increase flexibility and balance – as we get older, our flexibility and balance can suffer greatly, which can increase our risk of serious falls and fractures. Yoga is a fun and effective way to assist in the prevention of future injury. As it maintains muscular upper body and lower body strength, flexibility, posture, improve your gait, and can assist in weight loss.
 
4. Better Breathing and Lung Capacity – if you suffer from any respiratory issue such as asthma than yoga could be of benefit to you.  As it involves deep purposeful breathing, which can help to improve breathing capacity and respiratory function. 
 
5. Improved Heart Health – by assisting in the reduction of risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, blood sugar and stress.

6. If you are already exercising yoga could be a great exercise to incorporate into your regular routines as it will help to build core strength, stretch out those tired muscles and help to prevent injury.
 
This week could be the perfect week to try something new, and yoga could be just the thing you have been looking for!
 
 
 

When chatting with many of my clients about their goals and what they want to see – I often find there is a focus on the outside body and appearance. We live in a world where the focus and attention is often about what we look like, which can be very stressful and sometime anxiety producing to many people as we are not all built like super models. In fact, in the real world we live it is not realistic or healthy for us to look like the men and women in the magazines.

For me looking after my body through good nutrition and exercise has been life changing on many levels and has allowed me to be fit, toned but most of all I feel healthy and in the best shape of my life – in fact I often say to people that I am training to be fit for life and living!

This I can certainly appreciate in my life, as there was a time in my life when my health was not the best and it impacted on the quality of my life immensely.   I worked hard to turn my life around, through medical assistance, a change of mindset, nutrition and embracing fitness and exercise.

This is why I wanted to share this article to show you how exercise can have a positive effect on your health and you don’t even realise it while you are doing it.

Health benefits of exercise

1.  Exercise can improve circulation of blood around the body – transporting nutrients and wastes to and from all of the organs and glands of your body.  If you have poor circulation, just heading out doors for a nice walk around the block can do your body the world of good.

2.  It can also stimulate the release of thyroid, adrenal and pituitary hormones which can assist in boosting and maintaining your metabolic rate.

3.  It can also stimulate the production of growth hormone which can help in the repair and growth of body tissue like muscle, bone, hair, nails and skin.

4.  Exercise helps to reduce the risks of type 2 diabetes – as it assists the blood sugar into the cells and reduces insulin requirements.

5.  It releases feel good endorphins which can help to improve your energy levels and mood – this can be beneficial if you are dealing with life or work stress, depression, anxiety and even insomnia.

6.  Exercise can also assist your bowels to work more regularly.

7.  It has been shown that regular exercise over a long period of time can help to improve cholesterol and blood pressure.

8.  It also can help to improve and maintain bone density which is extremely important as we get older and are more susceptible to osteoporosis.
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As you can see exercise can play an important role in maintaining and improving your health but it should never be used on its own to overcome any major illness or disease – seeking the assistance of medical professionals is extremely important.
So next time you are exercising remind yourself that you are doing more for your body than you think – it’s not all about body image and getting muscles – it’s about a healthier, happier life and you just get to look and feel better about yourself along the way!