Evolving your body: More than what you think

Good Thursday to you Internet Friends

I haven't written in awhile due to lack of inspiration/time. However, once again I find myself at a point in my training life where I find that my perspectives are evolving and I think it may be beneficial for some of my readers (if there are still any!) who currently find themselves in a rut with their workouts/body/performance.

I recently had the opportunity to have a six week placement at a fantastic private physiotherapy clinic in Burlington, Ontario with an extremely talented and knowledgeable clinician with over 20 years in the field. This preceptor has done an incredible job at helping me continue to fine tune my approach to looking at the body, including my own.

I won't mention their name, as I haven't asked their permission to blog about them, but this physiotherapist has a strong Pilates, yoga, and manual therapy background and does an excellent job at combining all three to give patients what they need to get better and avoid injury in the future.

My first day in this clinic I was excited and apprehensive to see 4 Pilates reformers staring me down. Now, I've always turned my nose up at Pilates proclaiming "Pilates is bad for your lower back, and is not an efficient form of training...it's just another fitness fad to make money".  However, I thought why not give my preceptor's evening reformer class a go, since it was better than sitting on my but charting.

All I can say is … holy potatoes! I engaged muscles I never knew I had and have finally had a deep abdominal "a ha" moment. In school we are taught how to engage the deep stabilizers of the pelvis in one or two ways on our back and on all fours. My preceptor quickly taught me that engaging those muscles in isolation is all well and good, but if you cannot engage them when they count during everyday movement and exercise then they are essentially useless…. Pilates taught me just that.

Another wonderful thing I discovered about Pilates is that it is like yoga… but more… flow-ey, at least the way my preceptor taught it. We used our muscles in a way to lengthen and engage full range of motion. I found that after the class I felt fantastic. It is a great adjunct to my overall training.

Upon some reflection I had another a-ha moment. I had always dismissed training such as Pilates proclaiming that building muscle and functional strength is the "only" way to train. However, as I age (as we all do), strength training can only bring you so far without mobility.

I'm seeing something interesting happening in the fitness world with the heavy lifters. I don't know if it's because my friends are becoming older along with me, or if this is a true evolution of the industry, but mobility training is starting to become an essential part of over all body health and performance.

I kind of always knew this in the back of my head, and about 5 years ago made a solid effort to increase my flexibility. However, the more and more I learn about the body from a functional and injury prevention/rehabilitation perspective, I find that mobility training is way more than just stretching.

So to avoid further rambling, I'm going to put in point form some stuff that I have learned since last September on incorporating mobility into your sport/lifting/training program.


1. Breathing is way more important than you think it is: After I wrote this, it seemed kinda silly. Of course breathing is important Robyn, you need breathing to live and stuff. However, I've noticed through observation of myself and clients that we often do not breathe properly. Breathing seems pretty straight forward. However, as you are moving, working, stretching.. etc notice how you're breathing. Here are some common things I have noticed that contribute to inefficient breathing...

• Holding your breath: no brainer, don't hold your breath. However, pay more attention to your breathing during the day and notice when you do so (it's probably more than you think). Also, when people hold their breath they tend to tense their neck and upper back… bad news bears.

• Upper chest breathing: a lot of us, especially when stressed/working hard, breath with the top of our chest (think everything pec/boob up). Efficient breathing involves the entire lung, including the lower half (think belly button to bottom of pec/boob). When stretching/lifting/stressed out think about breathing from your belly, mid-chest, then upper chest last.

• Inhalation/exhalation timing: Some people will exhale when the abdominal cavity needs stabilization naturally. However, a lot of us don't or simply don't think about it. This is even more likely to happen during everyday movement. It feels weird at first to be constantly thinking about when to exhale, but eventually it becomes habit. The idea is simple…. we want the spine and pelvis to be as stable as possible when moving and lifting, so, ideally, we want to be exhaling and thus engaging the deep abdominal muscles during these movements. For example, when getting up from a chair, ideally, you should exhale and engage your deep abdominals (that's a topic for another day). The amount of exhalation and deep abdominal activation will vary on the amount of load you are moving (your body vs. deadlifting weight).

2. What is your body actually doing?!: This is something that I see as being a subtle/often overlooked contributor to overuse injuries. To go into depth on this topic is way beyond the scope of this blog post, so I'll just use this point to put a little birdy in the back of your head to pay attention to your body when you're using it.

• Cervical spine and head: your c-spine is your neck and your head is… attached to your neck. A lot of the time slight changes in your head and neck position during movement can lead to injury/pain over time. Something common I see is people "leading with their chin". This is especially apparent when people deadlift or squat. When going into a deep squat or deadlift the body actually needs quite a bit of thoracic (upper back) extension and hip flexibility (which a lot of us are deficient in since we SIT too much). Therefore, the body will naturally compensate by "poking" our chin out and extending through the neck. It looks like this….

Holy neck strain batman

VERSUS

Some sneaky chin poking/c-spine extending moments can also occur when driving, working on the computer, and going from seated to standing. So pay attention to what that head is doing!!!

• Thoracic Spine: Ohhh the t-spine. My love hate relationship. The t-spine can cause all sorts of problems. I actually contemplated going straight to lumbar spine/pelvis because mines so terrible and I'm not sure how the picture will turn out. As mentioned previously, lack of t-spine flexibility causes all sorts of issues in the head and neck (i.e., the head and neck will extend to obtain the extension lacking in the t-spine). Climbers and people with crazy back muscles I'm talking to you! If your t-spine is hypomobile/inflexible this will effect things above and below your upper back and just make everything so much less efficient. An example of an inflexible t-spine is when you generally look like this….

Notice the considerable rounding of the subjects upper back contributing to forward head posture and overall generalized sadness

So instead of being a douche-bag  unhelpful and just telling you to "stand up taller and don't round your back", how about I give you a simple thing to do to help your back extension.

First you need two towels (or a foam roller if you have one)….

two towels

Second, fold the two towels in half and then roll them tightly into a log type situation….

old-school foam roller

Finally, place the log towel down longitudinally (along your spine) and lye down on it starting at your bum all the way to your head. You can put your arms over your head to increase upper back extension or make your arms into a cactus to open the chest…. as so….

arms above head (not in cactus) for ease of viewing 

I would keep your knees bent to support your lower back. Here's some cactus arms….

Muther fudging cactus arms

If this position is too easy for you (the towel longitudinally along your spine that is), you can alternatively put it horizontally across your upper back. I like to do this with a foam roller at various hypomobile sections of my upper back. Cactus arms/arms over head still apply to this towel position.

Ok jeeze. I think I'm gonna leave it there. I'm not sure how this blog post started about me now loving Pilates and turned into me taking pictures of myself with a towel, but it is what it is.

There are, indeed, other parts of the body that we must be aware of (like everything below the belly button) that I'll try and make a post on before the ridiculousness of my 4th unit of physio-school ensues.

Any questions/comments are always appreciated. They actually keep me motivated to keep posting.

Stay strong!

~Byn

Cyclebilitation: On the Bike!

Good Wednesday to you Internets!

So today I’m going to write a part post about how to keep your joints healthy if you do a lot of cycling. I’ve been a spin instructor for a little over 7 years now and along the way I have learned that we can do things both on (part 1) and off (part 2) the bike to ensure our joints and muscles stay healthy (slowly becoming a physiotherapist is also helping of course!).

Now, one premise I do have regarding this post is that doing cardio will not destroy your joints if you are smart about your training and are doing the exercises correctly! I just don’t want to deter anyone from being active!

These suggestions are for those that do a lot of indoor cycling or are thinking of starting to do indoor cycling as a means of exercise.

I highly recommend spin classes, as they are extremely awesome! You just go to the class, sit on the bike, and listen to someone yell (happily and encouragingly) at you for an hour – simple right! However, I have also gone to a lot of spin instructors’ classes that don’t check their clients’ form or even show/talk about how they should set up their bikes!!! Eeech!

If anyone that reads this has other suggestions and/or outdoor/racing experience I would love to hear your take on this blog post (That’s how we (I) all get better).

(1) Setting up your bike: I already have written a blog post on how to set up your spin bike before class, so you can get that information here.

(2) During Cycling: while cycling there are 7 or 8 things that you should be constantly aware of to ensure proper form. Now, if the instructor is not cuing you every so often or you are cycling alone you should be keep these things in the back of your mind.

1.  No knees over toes! While standing (and sometimes sitting) some people will lean on the handlebars and allow their knees to go past their toes. Just like in squatting you need to ensure your knees stay behind the toes (ideally inline with your ankles) so unequal forces do not travel through the knee.

2.  Alignment: A simple misalignment of the knee and foot relative to each other can also compromise the biomechanics of your joints. Therefore, follow these principles when biking:

(a) Your toes should be pointed directly forward with NO rotation

(b) Your kneecap should be aligned with your second and third toes (some people will either turn their kneecaps in/out or let their knees collapse in/out).

(c) If you do not have clips you should push down on the center of the pedal with the ball (front 1/4) of your foot not the center.

(d) Make sure both of your shoulders are level and your hipbones are level.

3. Active your Muscles! This is something a lot of people will overlook, especially if they have no/little biking experience. First, it is very easy to forget about your hamstrings when you pull the pedal backwards (i.e., after 6 o-clock).

The cue I use for this is “imagine there is mud on the bottom of your shoes and you want to scrape it off”. As you increase your resistance during climbing the amount you will pull back when cycling should increase!

*This is also a very good indication that you’re not using enough resistance!

4. Keep your Core Engaged Properly: When cycling you should always be protecting your spine to ensure proper alignment (this will be discusses in further detail in point 4).

A common problem that I see is that we tend to or are told to pull our stomachs/belly buttons inwards rather than “engaging” our deep supporting trunk musculature. However, there are problems with this logic. For example:

(a) Simply pulling your belly button towards your spine will primarily activate your upper abdominals (which are –usually- pretty strong) but not your deep/supporting trunk musculature, which are either directly attached to your spine or attached to your spine via a crazy cool tissue network called the thoracolumbar facia (if you want to get your nerd on and learn more about that click here or here). 

Engage that corset to support your spine!

(b) Pulling in your belly button is counterintuitive to correct diaphragmatic breathing (there isn’t enough room in this blog post to go through this so you’ll have to trust me on this one).

(c) Due to the primary action of the superficial abdominals (those are the ones everyone wants to get strong so they can have a 6 pack), simply pulling your belly button in can facilitate lumbar flexion. Although having a shredded 6 pack is awesome and all, when cycling your trunk will naturally want to go into flexion/the fetal position (see point 4). Why we want to avoid doing this is because of your intervertebral discs.

Without going into an extensive anatomy lecture, when you bend forward you put pressure on the shock absorbers (discs) in your spine, which can cause wear and tear. Therefore, we want to maintain proper spinal alignment as much as possible by engaging the deep spinal stabilizers.

Ok that’s a lot of rambling… so now you know why you need to engage your deep musculature but how the fudge are you suppose to do it?! Well without me physically being there to show you this (you could always invite me over for tea and we’ll have a core party), I will try my best to explain this via text.

Cue 1: think of your abdominals as a corset. Try and contract the corset around your entire trunk. This should feel more like “stabilizing” than pulling your core in.

Cue 2: If that didn’t work, try imagining that there is an elevator at the bottom of your pelvis and you want the elevator to go to the second floor (with the top floor being your belly button). So engaging your muscles to try and bring the elevator up.

Cue 3: Imagine there is a string attached to your tail-bone (or you have a tail) and it is going through your legs. Imagine pulling on the string gently to tilt your bum under slightly to activate your deep muscles.

Now the important thing to remember is you don’t want an all out 100% crazy contraction. You’re just trying to maintain proper alignment so the movement is very slight.

In other words: With 100% being a full contraction (think about bicep curling something at your max weight), you want roughly 25% of that force. I know it seems counterintuitive to exercise, but these are endurance muscles that just need a little bit of love, not all of the love.

5. Spinal alignment: I’ve given spinal alignment it’s own section because it can be a relatively complicated subject depending on your natural posture.

As we get tired the most often thing I see and experience myself is what I call the “spinning fetal position”. That’s when we start to close in, hunch our backs, round our shoulders. As much as we would like the bike to go away, going into the fetal position will not help, it’s still going to be there and the instructor will continue to make you climb that hill…

I’m being silly, but this is very important and a lot of the times we don’t even realize we are doing it.

So what is proper spinal alignment? Well I’ll try my best to explain it without physically being there to show you myself (as mentioned above I’ll get some pictures up once I wrangle my husband into helping me take pictures).

Cue 1: Keep your breastbone/sternum lifted (I find this one is more effective than simply “keep your shoulders back, because people tend to overdo it with the scapular/shoulder blade retraction/closing).

Cue 2: You should be able to see the instructor or in front of you at all times. If you can’t your either looking at the floor (i.e., going into the fetal position) or you have left the class.

Cue 3: Do not hyperextend your lower back. This is a tricky one because I find that sometimes when people (especially bendy people) correct their cycling form they will overdo it and hyper extend their lower back. There should be a slight curve in your lower spine, but nothing super crazy.. see the picture below

No one has time for crazy spine!

Cue 4: Do not round your shoulders/upper back. This goes along with 1 and 2. However, some people will be able to see the instructor and think their breastbone is lifted but their upper back is still hyperflexed. I find an easy way to correct this is to think there is a string attached to the top of your head pulling you upwards and/or think about both lifting your breastbone and pushing your breastbone towards the handlebars.

So I think I’ll leave it there… if you’re all like “holy crow Robyn, there’s no way I’m gonna remember this ENTIRE blog post the next time I jump on a spin bike!” Here’s a summary for you to print out (just copy and paste it)…

Spinning Form:

1.     Knees stay behind toes (over ankles)

2.     Toes and kneecap should stay pointed forward at all times

3.     Knee cap inline with 2^nd/3^rd toe (don’t collapse knees in or out)

4.     Push threw the pedal with the ball/first ¼ of your foot

5.     Make sure your hip bones and shoulders are even

6.     Activate your legs correctly (remember to scrape the mud off your shoe)

7.     Activate your core correctly (think corset/elevator not belly button in)

8.     Don’t go into the fetal position (think breast bone up, head up).

So I hope this was informative for some of you! Also, if you know someone who may benefit from this blog post please share it, my goal is to de-mistify the whole working out thing…

Also if you want to see specific content let me know or I will not know what you want internets!

Stay tuned for some accompanying pictures and part 2 of this post which will deal with strengthen and stretching to help those who bike.

Stay Strong

~Byn

2.) Off the bike

Chill Bouldering/Stretching Playlist

Hey Internets!!!!!

Here is the bouldering/stretching playlist I used for my functional climbing class last night. It features different artists but mostly "Broke for Free", which is used in a lot of climbing videos.

Their Facebook group can be found here...

The playlist picks up in the middle, which is when I do the dynamic stabilization and strength intensive portions of the class.

If you're interested in trying out my class, it runs at Grand River Rocks in Kitchener Waterloo every Thursday at 8pm. You don't have to be a climber or member to participate. You can buy a day pass for $17 and climb AND take the class...

I recommend trying some climbing though because it's pretty much the best thing ever.

There are also classes EVERYDAY!

For more information go to GRR's website here or Facebook group here.

Here's the playlist... enjoy

If you'd like to see a blog about something you are interested in or would like to see PLEASE don't hesitate to ask...

Stay strong

~Byn

Spinning Awesomeness!!!!

Hey Everyone!

I figured it was about time to post some spin workouts since I have two new ones that I really like. I'm going to post one now and hopefully one sometime tomorrow. Writing all this out always takes way longer than I originally anticipate!

First, if you have never touched a spin bike it's important you know how to set your bike up properly You can read about all that jazz here.

Ok now time for the first profile.

Spin Playlist 1: 

Note: I use percentages for my resistance because all bikes are calibrated differently and most don't even have gears (depending on the brand). 100% of your "resistance" would be you cannot move your legs, so use that as a guide....

#1: Justin Timberlake: 4:18 - Warm Up

• Find a natural RPM for you and slowly add resistance until you are pushing through some resistance, but it's nothing to write home about. About half way come out of the saddle and continue to add resistance to warm up

#2: Beyonce: 4:50 - Seated and Standing Climbs

• Round 1: Seated - 85 RPM ~70% resistance on chorus: stand up 75 RMP 70% resistance
• Round 2: Seated - 80 RPM ~75-80% resistance on chorus: stand up 65 RMP 75-80% res.
• Round 3: Seated - 75 RPM ~85-90% resistance on chorus: stand up 55-60 RMP 85-90% res.

#3: Demi Levto: 3:43 - Anaerobic sprints

• For this drill at the high intensity intervals between 1:26 and 1:57 and 3:08 and 3:43 stay in the saddle, increase the resistance so staying over 100RMP is "difficult" (~70-80% max) and push hard. In between these two intervals take a full break with low resistance (40-50% of your max) and stay about 80RMP

#4: Coldplay remix: 8:36 - Long Hill

• For the first minute of this song stay on a seated flat around 90RMP with moderate resistance to recover from drill #3
• Every minute for the remainder of the song increase the resistance aiming to get around your max by the end of the song.
• Note: If you drop below 65RMP seated during the seated portion of the climb switch to a standing climb. Rotations should be smooth (i.e., no pauses) at all times during this drill.

#5 Pitbull: 4:11 - High/Low Intensity Interval This drill can be done either standing or seated. High intensity in this song starts very quickly so give yourself time at the end of #4 to get set up.

Here is the song break down

• High Intensity: 0:25-0:55 seconds
• Low Intensity: 0.55-2:10 minutes
• High Intensity: 2:10- 2:40 minutes
• Low Intensity: 2:40- 3:50 minutes
• High Intensity: 3:50 to end of song

Here are the specifics drill for both standing and seated:

Standing:

• High intensity: Aggressive stance (at least 45 degree angle or more of torso): RPM: between 80-100 (depending on your fitness level) Resistance: ~50-60% of max.
• Low intensity: Non aggressive stance (torso 45 degree or less)  moderate climb at 70RPM and Resistance ~70% of max (it should feel like a mild-moderate hill).

Seated:

• High intensity: RPM: between 100-120 (depending on your fitness level) Resistance: ~50-60% of max.
• Low intensity: Moderate climb at 85-90RPM and Resistance ~70% of max (it should feel like a mild-moderate hill).

#6  2 Unlimited - 3:45 - Jumps

• This is a simple drill. Basically you stand up for an 8 count then sit down for an 8 count. 
• The RPM seated should start around 85-90RPM and the resistance should be at leas 70% of max (so you don't need to increase the resistance when you stand).
• Standing should start at ~75 RPM and around 60% Resistance
• As the song progresses I encourage you to decrease the RPM and increase the resistance. 

#7 - Adele - 5:04 Sustained Ride

• This is a challenging drill for those of you with the attention span of a small puppy (i.e., me).
• The goal is to pick an RPM that you feel will be a) challenging but b) sustainable for 5 minutes.
• I usually do this drill around 100-110 RPM and 60-65% of my max on the wheel
• At 2:30 minutes do 1 of the following
• Increase the RPM 5-10 RMP for the remainder of the song (keep the resistance the same)
• Increase your resistance 10% for the remainder of the song (keep the speed the same)

#8 - Cascada - 3:55 Three Speed Sprints

• There are several variations of the drill. The goal is to have a base RPM and resistance (level 1), a moderate "level" (level 2) and an intense level (level 3). See below for 3 different combinations to try.
• Change between levels every 30 seconds

Combo 1: "Easiest"

• Level 1:  95-100 RMP, 50-60% of max
• Level 2: ~110 RPM, 50-60% of max
• Level 3: ~ 120 RMP, 50-60% of max

Combo 2: "Intermediate"

• Level 1: 110-115 RMP, 50-60% of max
• Level 2: 115-120 RMP, 50-60% of max
• Level 3: 90-100 RMP standing run, 50-60% of max (you will need to increase your resistance when transitioning from seated to standing.

Combo 3: "Advanced"

• Level 1: 115-120 RMP, 50-60% of max
• Level 2: 90-100 RMP standing run, 50-60% of max (you will need to increase your resistance when transitioning from seated to standing.
• Level 3: 85-95 RMP anaerobic standing run, 70-75% of max (you will need to increase your resistance when transitioning from seated to standing.

#9 Lady Gaga - 6:05 Rolling Hills

• Hills can either be done seated or standing. In between the hills you can either take a break or sprint.
• Seated Flat for 1 minute: 90-95 RPM, mild-moderate resistance
• Hill 1: 45 seconds you can make the hill as hard as you want as long as the rotations are smooth (i.e., no pausing).
• Seated Flat/Sprint: 30 seconds
• Hill 2: 1 minute
• Seated Flat/Sprint: 30 seconds
• Hill 3: until the end of the song

#10 Cher - 3:56 Lifts (you know you love Cher!!!!) 

• To finish off this profile I picked an awesome song to do some lifts to.
• Basically, your riding seated at higher resistance and in the chorus you go aggressive and lift/stand up with your bum as far back on the seat as you can get it and your torso 45 degrees or more relative to the bike.
• Seated: RMP: 80; Resistance: 80-85% of max
• Lift: RMP: 60, Resistance: 80-85% of max (you'll need to increase the resistance coming out of the saddle to get back up to 80-85%).

So there you go! If you have any questions regarding this program please leave a comment. Also, if you would like me to write about something also let me know!

Stay Strong

~Byn

This year!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS and other holiday stuff!

As we wrap up 2013 and start the New Year, I thought a blog post was in order. Why? Because of New Years resolutions and all that jazz of course (this is a lifestyle blog right?). Now before you roll your eyes and say “I don’t believe in New Years resolutions Robyn, I live the dream”, well good for you, but do you really not believe with all of your being? No, well FINE then…

I only say this because I AM a believer! Not all of my resolutions stick, but at least one usually does to some degree. We are not perfect and are not going to stick to our “I’m never going to eat chocolate EVER again” or “I’m going to learn Chinese” promises that we jubilantly make to ourselves, but in my opinion that’s not the point. The point of resolving to achieve a goal is to simply work towards one in the quest of self-improvement.

This isn’t implying that your aren’t already a talented, funny, beautiful, wonderful (etc.) individual already (I know you are), but it’s to promise yourself you are going to try new things that you want to do! Now, figuring out if it’s really what you want or what you think you want is another issue. For insight on that click here.

Ok enough rambling. What this blog post is about is a method to help you if one of your goals is to improve or increase the amount of physical fitness you have. Big shocker there I know!

I have many blog posts on motivation, but in my opinion and through experience one the most powerful motivators to enhance the amount of physical activity you get is to seek out and achieve a sense of social connection/social support/sense of community!!! There is some research to back this up but at the moment strong evidence is lacking. For more see Bauman, 2012 for a review, which is cited at the end of this post (I put that there for all the physiotherapy students and researchers who are grading my level of evidence........Look what you've become).

Now, seeking a sense of community through physical fitness will not work for everyone. We are not a one size fits all species with all of our wonderful cognitions and “free thoughts”. However, for many seeking out activities that increase connection with others and feelings of belonging can keep them engaged and motivated when times get tough.

You know, when week 4 hits after January 1st and you are ready to give up or when you get the flu in March and never go back to the gym?… Those tough times.

So how do you know this will work for you? Well, there’s no easy way to say this, and hopefully you don’t close my blog as soon as you read this, but you have to simply try it. This means you have to put yourself out there!

Before you say “NO, I hate fitness people. They judge me and I’m not one of them”, hear me out. The truth is a lot of people in the fitness industry have their own success stories (i.e., they weren’t BORN gym rats) and actually quite a few lived unhealthy lifestyles, have been bullied, and were scared of the gym (aka me). Sure there are some not so nice characters, but they are lame anyway.

So how do you achieve this elusive sense of belongingness? Read on.

Tip 1: Figure out what activity you are most likely to enjoy.

I say to my classes ALL THE TIME that I hate working out. I’m not lying, I really do during the activity itself (except for restorative yoga and climbing). It’s the feeling  after I finish working out and the numerous benefits to my life and body that are the result of working out that I like.

So, there is a possibility that the idea of any physical activity is the most unappealing thing that you can think of. If that’s the case, try and think of an activity that would be the most tolerable for you to start.

This doesn’t have to be at a traditional gym by the way. Actually, there are plenty of "non traditional"  modes of physical activity that force involvement with other people and can also lead to a sense of community.

Some examples are…

1.     Rock Climbing (biased)

2.     Any martial art

3.     Recreational sport leagues (a lot of these have teams you can sign up for if you are a beginner or/AND are by yourself)

4.     Roller derby

5.     Zumba

6.     Bootcamp classes

7.     Spinning classes

8.     Running/walking clubs

And those are just off the top of my head.

Tip 2: Bug your friends/acquaintances

Another great way to get involved in an activity in a low pressure yet social way is to ask one of your friends OR acquaintances (new friend in the making) who does *insert activity of interest here* if you can join them the next time they go.

I LOVE IT when people want to workout or climb with me, and I can be pretty antisocial. So if you have that friend who does an activity you are super interested (or even just kind of interested) they will likely be more than happy, if not ecstatic, that you want to try what they do with them. It makes people feel super special and stuff.

I find one issue people have with this method is the negative self talk that surrounds asking someone that you perceive as in “better shape than you” to work out. It usually goes something like this….

“I’d love to try snowboarding/zumba/yoga/etc, but *person* is soooooooooooooo good at it, I don’t want them to think I’m out of shape/suck/am a loser/etc.”

If you actually read that it seems kind of silly, but that self-talk is powerful (for more of self talk click here and here). A lot of the time our ego will get in the way of taking chances and trying new things. Yea, you probably WILL suck when you try something you have never done before, and you know what, people (cool people at least) will not judge you for being a beginner. You’re not friends with those judgmental types anyhoo right?

Tip 3: Take the steps to try out a new activity in the most social way possible

If you aren’t one for taking the “lets go do things friend” method, or none of your friends do anything fun, try and involve yourself in your new activity of choice (see tip 1) in the most social way possible.

This may seem like a hard thing to do, especially if you are on the shy side. Fitness classes are great to give you a weekly schedule and put you in a situation with a bunch of people trying to achieve the same thing as you.

If you feel that you cannot afford a gym membership, you don’t have to get one.  Actually, most cities actually offer free fitness classes. I know right? A lot of people don’t know this, but if you go to the “parks and recreation” or “health and wellness” sections of most township webpages you’ll find a whole bunch of free fitness classes offered at a variety of times.

If you do have some money to spend, but don’t want to commit to a gym membership, there are also a variety of organizations that allow you to do punch passes and month try outs with no contract.

The way to find out which organizations offer these services is to call around and ask! Most people at alternative sport and fitness centers are super duper awesome and friendly.

So you are set to go to your thing that you have chosen. Now, something to keep in mind is when you go to said activity, even if it is IN a social setting (e.g., fitness class), it is really easy to not be social at all when going.

To avoid this trap I would suggest doing some of the following…

1.     DO go early or stay late: If you go to a fitness class 15 minutes before it starts there is a very good chance you will find yourself standing next to someone who is also about to do the same class. This is a prime opportunity to meet some of the regulars/new people in the class to form friendships to increase your motivation to go. Also, take your sweet ass time leaving. Usually the more social people hang around after the classes and talk to each other and the instructors.

2.     DON’T avoid eye contact: If you’re super shy, even just acknowledging people by looking at them and saying a quick “hello” may open the doors for conversation. If you avoid contact with people at all costs it makes it hard to make friendships to keep you motivated.

3.     DO take the opportunity to do meet and greets: A lot of facilities will have special nights dedicated to “women only” or “beginners”, especially if you are doing less conventional things like martial arts or climbing. Take these opportunities to meet people. It may be a little anxiety provoking at first, but the people running these events are usually experts at making sure people have fun.

4.     DON’T listen to your negative self talk: If you are a little on the antisocial side, and often have the self talk that no one would want to hang out with you, you’re out of shape, and all that fun stuff, learn to change that way of thinking. Often we are our own worst enemies when it comes to behaviour change, especially involving social situations. The first step is to recognize when you are saying these things to yourself. As previously mentioned I have several posts on self talk. The links are above, but if you don't want to scroll up just click here or here

My final tip is for those already active!

A lot of my blog readers are already active. So this tip is to specifically address you…yes YOU. If you’ve made it this far you have a little insight on what may be going through someone’s head when trying to lead a more active lifestyle. Unless you’ve been an athlete from a very young age you have probably been in the "I want to start to be active but am scared of everyone and everything" situation before (I know I have).

So, this year try to acknowledge those people in your life that you are hearing the “I want to lose weight this year” and “I want to be active this year” "BUT".....messages from.  I bet you can guess what I’m going to say next…

Invite them to do your kick-ass physical activity of choice. They may roll their eyes, they may give you the “well I suck and you don’t” self-talk, or simply say no. However, if you can get one person to say yes, you are being a super awesome leader in your own world. Not to mention a pretty wicked friend. Remind them that you are a non-judgmental super fun person that was a beginner once as well.

So go out and be your awesome self, and resolve to try new things this year. I bet you’ll like it!

Happy New Year everyone!!!!

Stay Strong

~Byn

Review on the determinants of physical activity:

Bauman AE et al. (2012). Correlates of physical activity: Why are some people physically activate and others not?" The Lancet. 380 (9839): 258-271