Month: May 2015

Fear is not a motivator. I’ve seen it displayed in others, and yes, I’ve also experienced it enough times in my life, and it can paralyze you, it can hinder your growth and progress and worst of all, if you allow it, fear can keep you from moving forward in life. I became extremely aware of the overwhelming power of fear recently, when I found myself, along with my kids, at the thrilling attraction, CN Tower Edge Walk. Thoughts that barraged my mind included: Why do I do this to myself? This is terrifying! OMG, help me! This is self-inflicted! I don’t think I’m going to be able to take my hands off this lifesaving wire! Thank God I can do a pull-up! – As I sorted through all these fear-filled thoughts and emotions, I then began to mentally reason with myself. If I don’t walk to the edge, lean, and do all these terrifying stunts – all tested and proven to be completely safe – I’m going to be so disappointed in myself later on and feel completely jipped and so angry with myself.  

One thing’s for sure, conquering fear is empowering! The toughest part is the going through; not dwelling on the fear, but instead, focusing on the positives and the getting to the other side. As a metaphor, when compared to the many fearful experiences we go through in life, there are no shortcuts to getting around it. As scary as it often is, you’ve gotta go through or you get stuck. You conquer fear in your mind and you decide to act, even though you may feel inundated with it. Fear is an adversary designed to take you out, make you back down and scare you into not following through.  I reasoned through it, focused on the positives, decided and acted. Know what? Once you act and move beyond it, the experience gets easier, you get better, and gain confidence as a result.

A quote by Alfred Hitchcock says it best: There is no terror in the bang, only in the moments leading up to it. Life is full of these moments, be it your first job interview, a public speaking experience, etc.; trying something new can present much of the same conflicting emotion of fear. You know you should do it, but your fear is trying to convince you otherwise. Some of the seemingly smaller challenges (diving for the first time, doing a forward roll into the water – I’m drawing on the many personal experiences I witness as a swim instructor), can be a set up for the bigger things to come.  Will you rise to the challenge and overcome your fear or will you let it engulf you and hinder your future progress? Courage requires you to push past the fear and do it afraid. Repeating it enough times will annihilate and eventually, completely eliminate that fear altogether, in time. There’s something to be said for disciplining your mind and thoughts to resist yielding to fear – your progress depends on it!  Think of this acronym the next time you’re faced with FEAR; False Evidence Appearing Real! Don’t let it fool you or bully you into running away from pushing through and making progress! 

YES! I overcame the fear at 356m above the ground and performed all the “activities,” as they called them:-) What’s next, I ponder.

Susan Arruda

Water workouts are a great way to incorporate high intensity without the high impact wear and tear on bones and joints! I believe water training is the most overlooked and underutilized environment that can offer challenge and change to your workout regime. The liquid gym benefits are two-fold; natural resistance of the water provides a muscle toning effect while minimizing the impact in the high intensity (especially in plyometrics) cardiovascular work, thanks to the buoyancy factor. Plus, water is refreshing, especially in the warmer summer months.  Another bonus; if you’re really not a fan of heavy sweating, it’s ideal for you!  Although you still do sweat during the strenuous workouts, it’s simply not noticeable and felt in the same way. While on the topic of sweating, many people forget the importance of hydration while exercising in the water.  Just because you’re immersed in it, doesn’t change the fact that you need to replenish lost fluids during exercise and that means, “don’t forget your water bottle,” as it’s equally important as in land training.
The water training pay-off is grand:

TOTAL BODY STRENGTH
You’ll see a boost in muscle power and strength. It also helps increase flexibility and range of motion, muscle tone, coordination, circulation, renews energy levels, and can enhance your sleeping patterns.

TIGHT & TONED
The hydrostatic pressure of the water provides 12% more resistance than similar movements on land, resulting in higher workout intensities, yet lower heart rates (by about 10 beats per minute) while improving muscle tone.

SYMMETRY AND MUSCLE BALANCE
Training in the water forces you to work opposing muscles concentrically and eccentrically, creating a balance in strength, flexibility and muscle symmetry.

CORE AND ABS
Training in the water provides a safe environment to challenge and improve your balance which simultaneously challenges and strengthens your core. Maintaining upright vertical alignment and good exercise posture requires a consistent abdominal challenge throughout the entire training session.

INJURY PROTECTION 
The buoyancy of the water provides protection for your joints and spine from the impact and trauma typically associated with high impact land exercise. With the buoyancy and protective properties of the water, you’ll feel more confident about taking it up a notch and increasing your intensity. For those who have sustained an injury but don’t want to give up their training, water workouts provide the perfect exercise option, especially since swimming is not a requirement, therefore eliminating this as a prerequisite skill. The only thing required for water training is your swimsuit (no goggles) and plenty of energy and enthusiasm!

The flexibility component of your workout is important in preparing your muscles for the greater workload to come when done near the beginning of your workout, and for optimizing recovery and increasing flexibility after your training when your muscles are increasingly warm.  Never stretch cold muscles; it can be the equivalent of stretching a rubber band just out of the freezer -POP! Ouch! Capitalize on stretch training when your muscles are warm and pliable, making them more conducive to increasing your range of motion (ROM). 

There are so many benefits of flexibility training so it’s important not to neglect it. It’s critical for maintaining muscle balance. Other benefits of improved flexibility include: Flexible muscles reduce the risk of injury during exercise and daily activity, reduces stress and tension in the muscles you just trained, helps to dissipate lactic acid, minimizes the occurrence of muscle cramping, reduces the risk of injury during exercise and daily activities, enhances performance in exercise and sport as well as in everyday activities of life, promotes mobility, and flexible muscles assist in good posture which minimizes stress and maximizes the strength of all joint movements. 

Flexibility techniques can provide two functions: relaxation and flexibility. There are many types of alternative methods used to promote relaxation such as: yoga, Pilates, meditation, tai chi, visualization exercises and breathing exercises. Some of the different types of flexibility techniques for stretching include:

STATIC STRETCHING, the most known and common of all techniques. The muscle and connective tissue (tendons and ligaments) are gradually lengthened and a position is held for 10-30 seconds and repeated 2-3 times.  This promotes a relaxation response, increased blood flow to the muscle and facilitates elongation of the muscle. The goal is to encourage the muscle to move to a state of increased flexibility beyond its original normal position.

DYNAMIC RANGE OF MOTION: These exercises involve dynamic movement of the muscles at each major joint. A slow and controlled active range of motion (ROM) is performed starting from a large range of motion and moving to a smaller range. This type of stretching is useful to prepare the muscles for static stretches that are more intensely targeted. This method of stretching should be performed when muscles are warm and pliable. 

PROPRIOCEPTIVE NEUROMUSCULAR FACILITATION (PNF) technique involves an initial isometric contraction of a muscle group followed by a static, lengthening stretch.  This is a more advanced technique that can help in areas that are resistant to improved flexibility.  For best results when stretching, be sure you have warm muscles and work within your personal limits and understand how to alter the difficulty of a stretch.

http://www.getfitfaster.ca/lower-body-stretch-runner-focus/?rq=stretch