November 1 is the new official kick off to the holiday season. The days are short, it’s dark at 4:00pm, and all of a sudden, New England turns gray and cold.

And now your exercise regime gets affected as well. It’s cold, maybe too cold for those early morning workouts, it’s so dark at 4;00PM, and it just seems like every single family member needs you at all hours of the day. Not to mention we are still in the middle of a pandemic.

The pressure can mount and this external pressure can start to create havoc with your fitness schedule as well as your eating plan.

So – how to deal with this and not fall completely off the rails?

If I had the “right” solution, well, I’d probably be the most famous fitness expert in the world. I don’t have all the answers, but I can certainly offer some thought and tricks to keep you on the right path, and do it in a healthy manner.

1. Pull up your weekly planner. Schedule your 3 workouts in first, before anything else gets put into those spots. Put these workouts in INK…not pencil!

2. During your workout, put your phone on “do not disturb.” And I’m serious about this. Distracted workouts equal mediocrity. If you can’t put your phone in another room while you workout, then at least make it so you aren’t distracted by calls and texts. Believe me, you can answer those messages after your workout.

3. Don’t stress about the length of your workout. It doesn’t have to be an hour. It can be 10-20 minutes long and that includes a warmup and cool down. If you can’t make that online or in-person class you normally take, maybe try a zoom class or something “on demand”. Anything that moves your body is better than nothing.

4. Take motivation in having accountability. Find a friend that can workout at the same time and message them the night before your workout and confirm what time you guys will workout together, whether it’s in person (socially distanced) or online. Having that person to be accountable to will make all the difference.

5. When in doubt, sweat it out. If you can find time to grocery shop, wrap gifts, deliver cookies to the police and volunteer, on top of all your other normal weekly responsibilities, you can make time for yourself to exercise. It can’t be at the bottom of the list. Make yourself a priority and you will be better to everyone else around you as well as yourself.

And lastly, don’t be so hard on yourself. If you miss a day, miss a workout, it’s not the end of the world. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and remember that tomorrow is a brand new day.

Ali

Ali Winslow, M.S. CFSC, NASM-CPT
Owner Hingham Strength
aliwinslow@mac.com
@hinghamcoach
@wellnesswinslow
617-290-7861

Photo Credit: Brooke Bartletta

Summer 2019 is coming to a close and while you probably kept up with your crazy routine of shuttling kids to their various summer activities, you may have fallen off of your own routines of eating well and exercising regularly.
No kidding. It happens to all of us. So, let’s get over it, move on and focus on September.

How do you get yourself back into that routine?
Well, break it down into a list of steps:

1. Look up the schedules of the places you like to take classes and book yourself in for the next 3-4 weeks.
⁃ why should you do at least 3-4 weeks? Well, it’s way too easy just to “book 1 week” because you don’t know how busy you will get with your fall schedule.
⁃ I say B.S. to the above. Other “stuff” will always be present. Commit to yourself to make it back to a routine and everything else will just happen around it!

2. Create your schedule and include your gym time in there. Don’t just input your kids after school activities and who is driving carpool on which days. Put your gym time down as an appointment that you can’t miss!
⁃ by adding yourself in as an appointment you are telling yourself you are just as important as volunteering to be a room parent for your kids!

3. Go thru your workout clothes and get rid of anything you really don’t like to wear. Anything that’s retaining a stink you can’t seem to get rid of. And if you have the desire-maybe go out and purchase that one pair of leggings or workout top you have been eyeing. While it may sound crazy- when you feel good in your workout clothes, you actually have a better workout!

4. Try a new place/class for a trial. Many of the gyms and classes in town offer a free trial class. Why not use that as an opportunity to get some knowledge as to what is out there? Grab a friend- so you can both motivate to try!

Making yourself a priority, especially coming off a fun filled summer will help you set the tone for a great fall and an even better version of you! I always like to think of Labor Day as basically “New Years Eve” an opportunity for a total reset. I hope to see you take that leap and get back into a good routine!!

Kids in today’s world are sitting more now than ever. When we were younger, we sat during the school day, but most of us had gym at least 2-3 times per week, we ran around at recess, and after school we walked or rode our bikes. Maybe we watched some TV, but we certainly didn’t have the access to the technology of today’s world.

A few years ago, there was a great article in Time Magazine with the title “Is Sitting The New Smoking?”

This article raised many concerns amongst corporate employers. Health insurance benefits are expensive for businesses and the biggest cost these corporations face are their employees health care costs. Well, consider that the current workforce didn’t even have the same level of technology access that our current youth population do, you only imagine how much worse the future health of the next generation will be, right?

Now, you may be saying to yourself “ my child does club soccer, town baseball, karate class and has a drumming lesson every week. So she’s good, I’m not too worried about her level of physical activity.” Well, I don’t disagree that most of our kids are involved in activities that keep them moving. However, the rate of attrition increases with age, and by the time these children are in middle school, many have quit for various reasons. So, then cue the sitting time and the increase of cell phone and video game use. And then, by the time these kids are 14-15 years old, they either stop playing sports all together or, their time is completely consumed by 1-2 sports. Not only do these kids play their sport that is in season, but many have additional club practices.

So, now you ask – how and where can you fit in strength training for your child? And more importantly than that- what is the right type and amount? Should you sign your child up for a class or is it crazy to hire them a personal trainer?

I’ll just state this right now- I am biased because I am a personal trainer. I do make my living coaching and training people. But understand this: I made a choice to be a trainer because of my experiences as a high school and collegiate athlete. I chose to help people, because I needed so much help in those formative years. And when my parents hired me a trainer at 15 years old, it wasn’t to help me lose weight. It was to help me recover from an injury and guide me on the path for athletic and mental success. My first trainer (her name was Barbara) taught me how important it was for my knees and core to squat, to lunge, to have proper form when doing a push-up. All things that we maybe take for granted. Ask yourself this; do you wish you had a trainer at some point in your life to help you learn? Have you relied solely on what you may see in a magazine or on Instagram?

Let’s get back to your kids. Do they ever complain about aches and pains? Can they squat? Do they “need yoga” because they are so tight? Honestly, what every kid needs is someone to hold them accountable and someone to be a positive athletic force. Kids naturally love to exercise. Some maybe more than others, but it boils down to helping these kids gain confidence thru strength and agility training. Nothing is more exciting to watch as when a kid gets their first body weight chin up, or has their fastest mile time or can do a “real push-up.” Even more incredible is to watch some of these goofy elementary and middle school kids go from a place where they can’t balance sufficiently on one leg, to jumping up onto a 24” box or using one leg to hurdle hop and land. Now more than ever, we have asked these kids to play sports almost year round in order to be at a competitive level, but we haven’t given them the foundation beneath their bodies. And then those kids who maybe lose interest in playing a sport because they weren’t competitive enough or skilled enough- what happens to them?

Let’s teach these kids how to squat. How to feel their feet on the ground and how to brace their core. Let’s teach them to breathe and keep their shoulders down and away, keep their rib cage down and how to stand on one leg while moving their opposite arms. Let’s give them the opportunity to challenge themselves and give themselves goals to achieve. In a safe and effective manner. Let’s help them prevent ACL tears, Achilles tendinitis and potential rotator cuff injuries. Let’s help them learn to be more powerful by picking up kettle bells or battle ropes or performing box jumps. Let them have fun – but be disciplined.

If there’s a shred of doubt in your mind that our youth needs to find a way to utilize strength training, consider that we understand and believe in tutoring our kids for school. Why wouldn’t you then “tutor” your child for sports by helping them get the tools they need?

And even if your child isn’t “serious” about a sport or “good enough” to play on their varsity team, why not give them the training to become a strong and fit adult?

I hope that by reading this you have opened your eyes to learning more about how strength and conditioning can not only help your child perform better on the field/court/ice/pool, but can assist them with lifelong skills and habits.

How can you find time for fitness with all the crazy busy things you have to deal with this time of year? (Or really any time of year…)

I constantly hear from my clients that they can’t make workouts or they don’t have time to workout during the holiday season. And, I completely understand that life can get crazy and hectic managing schedules, activities, and work – not to mention all the ‘extra ‘ that happens during the holiday time.

So, here’s my two cents on how to continue with a fitness focus even if you can’t make it to your favorite class or the gym during this time:

1. Your workout doesn’t have to be an hour to make it count.
For some reason we have deluded ourselves into thinking that if we don’t have an hour to workout, then we just can’t do it. Well that’s simply untrue. Even 10min of fitness counts and will contribute to your overall health. Do 20sec of work with 10sec of rest for multiple rounds of exercises. For example:
– 20 pushups/10 rest
– 20 squats/10 rest
– 20 alternating lunges/10 rest
– 20 plank hold/10 rest
Do this for 5 rounds

2. You need a ton of expensive equipment or a fancy gym to workout.
Again, as shown above in the simple workout, you don’t need much beyond your own body, some space and a good imagination. Using inexpensive items like mini bands, can provide a ton of exercises and they are portable!
Below is an example of a mini band workout:

(Reps of 8-15 for the following with bands around ankles:)
– walk laterally to the left and right
– walk forward and back
– stationary leg lifts
– plank position toe taps

(Reps of 8-15 for the following with bands around ankles:)
– squats
– hip bridges
– side lying clamshells

(Reps of 8-15 for the following with bands around wrists:)
– arm front raises

3. Make it a point to move every day.
Get up 10 minutes earlier and do your mini band exercises. If you sit at a desk for work, bring the mini bands to your office and take 5-10 minutes to do some band walking. Walk around your building every hour for 5-10 minutes. If you work from home, set a timer for the last 10minutes of each hour and do your exercises or get outside and walk.

4. Most importantly understand that every human needs to move at least for 30 minutes every day. It doesn’t have to be super high intensity exercise, it doesn’t have to involve complicated movements and it doesn’t have to be a class.

What you need to do is just make a commitment to yourself and honor that commitment.

In health and fitness friends!
Ali Winslow, MS
Certified Functional Strength Coach
NASM CPT

Why Sleep?

You exercise. You are fairly good about what you eat. You take care of your skin. Yet, you are dragging, not recovering from workouts, feeling drained at the end of the day, and you don’t feel like your body is changing like it should.

Why?

Sleep. Sleep is one of the most important components of our health. In the fitness world we refer to sleep as “restoration” or the ability to recover and rest from your workouts. Since this is our first week post time change, I figured it was a good time to highlight why sleep is the key to making your mind and body feel good.

When we sleep, our body recovers from the stresses of our daily lives. That could mean a stressful phone call, a hard workout, or a night out with friends. We need adequate time for our bodies to restore and rebuild. For some people that’s 8-9 hours, for others that’s 6-7 hours. Regardless of your “need” for sleep, if you continue to push the envelope and burn the candle at both ends, your light will extinguish. Essentially you will break down.

That presents itself as illness- colds, cough, upper respiratory infections, recurring sinus infections. Or it can present itself physically as overuse injuries/repetitive stress issues like elbow pain, back/neck pain, disc disease…the list could go on forever. Even further, your body’s response to sleep deprivation chronically is weight gain. It’s been documented that constant stress on the body without adequate rest/recovery actually releases acetylcholine (ACH) which directly targets belly fat. So- what I’m saying is your “pinch an inch” around your midsection has just as much to do with your eating as it does with your sleep.

A few years ago I had an amazing opportunity to meet Arianna Huffington, the creator of the Huffington post. She had just released a book called “Thrive” and she was doing a book tour with Virgin Wellness. She began her talk with a story about how she broke her face when she fell asleep at work. She was in the beginning stages of publication for the Huffington post when she collapsed at her desk in pure exhaustion and fell on her face. That was a wake up call. She then began to do a little bit of research into accidents like the metro train that crashed in NYC, oil spills like the Valdez and other major financial downfalls. All her research came to the same conclusion- these train conductors, boat operators, CEOs of major corporations were so sleep deprived they made bad decisions which ultimately cost people’s lives.

So, going back to the top where I first grabbed your attention-lack of sleep makes you gain weight. It makes you gain wrinkles, drains your color from your hair and face, makes you sore, allows you to make poor decisions. When you are tired you are more likely to grab carbohydrate laden foods. You may drive poorly. You may struggle with falling asleep or staying asleep because you are stressing your body.

What’s the key to wellness? Eat right for your body, move 10,000 steps every day, love yourself and your family, treat people with kindness, get yourself adequate sleep. It’s not rocket science people, it’s common sense.

Now let’s set some ground rules for yourself/
Get off your phones in your bed. Turn them off at least 30’ before you go to sleep.
Spend 5-10 minutes meditating. Breathing, resting your brain.
Get a book. A magazine. Anything to help you relax.
Eat your final meal at least 45’ before you plan to go to sleep. Avoid super hard foods to digest like kale, Brussels sprouts, tons of nuts, heavy cheeses and wine. If your body is working hard to digest, it’s can’t rest.
Set an alarm and focus on getting up and going to sleep at the same time every day. Your body likes to be on a schedule. Stick to a routine.

If you are too tired to workout then don’t. Forcing yourself to get to the gym is detrimental to your body and your workout.
Give yourself a break. If you have a late night- sleep in. If you feel sore, take the next day off. Foam roll or get a massage instead.

No matter what, be kind to yourself. It’s the only body you got!

Rest on friends.

Ali

Organization requires a ton of focus, concentration, ability to compartmentalize, and balance. Organization is much like being a full time athlete. Athletes must focus on their bodies, concentrate on their movement, make decisions about when or where to move, and have balance to control their movement.

Being an adult “athlete” is no different. Getting yourself to a workout, proper re-fuel post workout, adequate restoration, ideal recovery, balancing your other time commitments all require organization. It’s easy to tell yourself you “don’t have time” to get to a class or to find a reason that you can’t make it to the gym. People always ask me how I am able to manage my various professional commitments. How is it possible that I have the chance to exercise, eat well and have time for my kids/family. My answer is always the same- it’s about being organized and committing to 5am workouts, quick on the go overnight oats/protein smoothies, and turning the bedroom lights off by 10pm.

This concept of how organization is like being a full time athlete occurred to me even more this week. I was making my shopping list and meal prep for the week, cleaning out my kids lunch boxes, and also answering my clients emails. Sometimes I feel like I have to be an octopus, running around putting my fingers in the holes that spring leaks and other times everything seems to fall into place. Planning ahead sounds cliche- I don’t plan ahead, I just prepare. And generally that means that I am doing food prep on Sundays when I can, making appts in my calendar for things like sending emails, making sure that I have my kids snacks and lunches ready, writing my clients workouts, prepping our coaches at OTF for the week, making playlists for Krigsman, and keeping up with my podcasts from movement as medicine….all organization that allows me to be prepared. Generally I have to put myself first-when will I work out, what will I need to refuel, when do I need to sleep. And of course not everything goes to plan- clients are late, appointments run over, the grocery store doesn’t have what I am looking for, the weather doesn’t cooperate…you know the deal. But I don’t let things like that derail my overall plan. At night I prepare my early morning nutrition, I pack my kids lunches/snacks, I set out my clothes for work (I get up at 4:30am in the dark). My calendar is color coded for every job commitment, child, husband, dog, event on a daily basis. See, being a full time fitness professional is not just about leading others in fitness activities, but truly about teaching others to be fitness organized.

Equate organization with being an adult athlete. give yourself the respect and admiration that you usually render to those athletes we all admire. See how your life can change, all from staying organized.

See ya in the studio friends,
Ali