If you have one goal in 2012, one resolution that you make to help you get in the best shape of your life, start with this: “I want to be happy.”  Forget everything else for a moment. Forget going to the gym five days a week; forget about the foods you plan to give up or your plan to quit drinking for six months. Simply tell yourself, “My resolution this year is to be happy.”

Being happy is the key to better health and wellbeing.  Don’t get me wrong–getting into great shape requires some sweat and sacrifice–but before we think about exercise routines or food plans, we have to ask, “Are all the aspects of my life in alignment with my happiness?”  Physical, emotional and mental health are all deeply connected.   For instance, how can someone achieve true physical health if they work in an extremely stressful environment?   The same is true of personal relationships. You simply can’t ignore these other aspects of life if you want to be truly fit.

I ask you to take a moment to reflect on the following areas, which can make a positive difference in your happiness and health:

• Relationships. Be honest and sincere when you communicate with the people close to you–your spouse, friends, co-workers and family members.  You’ll be much happier if you address and overcome your fears, frustrations and anger rather than bottling those emotions up inside.  If you have trouble communicating with someone close to you, then maybe counseling or some professional help would have a positive influence.

• Work. Your work environment can be a huge influence on your happiness.  If you spend a large part of the day at your job, examine whether there is satisfaction and balance in what you do.  It doesn’t have to be the perfect job, but if your work environment is so stressful that you dread going, it is going to adversely affect your health and how you treat those around you.

• Friends. Are you surrounded by problems, or people that make you happy?  A happy emotional state can be infectious. Just being near happy people can put you in a better mood. Children, for example, can be especially carefree and happy.  Limit your time with needy friends and create more time with your kids, nieces or nephews.  Try and ensure the people around you share your goals of health and happiness.

• Exercise! Besides the fact that exercise has been shown to release endorphins and other body chemicals that give you a feeling of happiness, exercise helps you to feel more satisfied with the way you look and will boost your morale.  This in turn will help you stay more present, and more determined in your pursuit for a happy and fulfilling life.

Take each day as it comes and start to make decisions that you know will benefit your happiness.  This new approach to achieving life-long health will positively change the way you become fit and allow you reach your fitness goals for 2012 and many more years to come.

Do you know what “home” feels like for your body?

I’m talking about the place where you feel structurally in alignment.  Where you move with poise and feel relaxed. Whether we’re feeling “at home” or not often comes down to what we have done, or what he haven’t done, prior to being aware that we are out of alignment.  Being able to feel our bodies, and having checks and balances so that we can catch small disruptions in our joints or tissue, can save us from creating further dysfunction.

Here is a simple assessment that I got from my friend Sue Hitzman, creator of the MELT method. I love it and have used it on myself during my marathon training and with almost every client I have ever worked with.  It’s called a body scan, and it’s also great for starting a lying meditation.

After you assess yourself, you can perform any movement you wish and now you have a way to simply assess how it affected your body. For example, if you are performing a power move but your technique is off, you may feel a hip positioned differently then before. Remember everything changes when under load, so you can use this technique to see how the quality of your movement changes while in motion. Re-assess often! You’re simply using it to have an easy way get in your body and feel how your workouts are affecting how your body presents itself to the floor when simply lying relaxed. (For more information, contact Daniel and the Nimble Fitness team at info@nimblefitness.com).

Namaste,
Daniel

Here’s your daily step-by-step guide to better health.

As soon as you wake up…
Set yourself up for a healthy and happy day by aligning your thoughts with positive energy and reciting a few simple declarations. This lays the foundation for emotional health and facilitates positive subconscious thinking.

• I move through my day effortlessly and with abundant energy
• I eat healthy and feel strong
• I am confident and empowered
• I am successful in all that I set out to do

Immediately after, close your eyes and take a few deep, 3-dimensional breaths. Feel your stomach expand then your ribcage from back to front and right to left. As you inhale through your nose, feel both the stomach and ribcage expand. Slowly exhale through your mouth, allowing your body to relax. Lastly, drink a glass of water as part of your morning ritual. This will replace the fluid, which was lost during the night and start the daily process of hydration.

Before you leave for work…
Eating a nutritious breakfast is important for good health. Resent studies suggest that people who eat breakfast have better control of their weight and are healthier overall than those who don’t. Breakfast provides your body with the energy needed to begin functioning efficiently and thinking clearly. Eating a good breakfast will kick start your metabolism and have you feeling alert and ready by the time you reach the office.

On your way out the door…
Take a look at your bag or briefcase. First thing you should do is remove any unnecessary items that may be adding extra weight. The repetitive loading of heavy bags can lead to neck, shoulder and back problems. Pay attention to how you carry your bag. We suggest switching hands or shoulders throughout your commute to avoid neck and shoulder strain. For those of you who have to carry something heavy for work—a laptop or tools for example–a backpack is a good alternative to a shoulder bag, as it will distribute weight evenly across your shoulders.

During your commute…
Take the stairs whenever possible to develop stronger legs and increase the circulation of blood and oxygen through your body. When you’re on the train or bus, you can strengthen other muscles by doing isometric work–contracting and holding different parts of your body as you travel between stations. Start by holding your abs tight for 10 seconds. After that, squeeze your glutes (butt cheeks) together. Hold the handrail and pull tight to flex your arms and shoulders. Alternate different muscles every station, and you’ll definitely feel your muscles have worked by the time you reach your destination. Another Nimble note: you can add some cardiovascular exercise to your day by simply getting off one stop sooner and walking the rest of your commute. Do this for a month, and you’ll burn around 1,000 extra calories! This is a great way to strengthen your heart and lungs.

Before Lunch…
Get up out of your chair every 30 minutes and stretch by reaching your arms to the ceiling. Take another series of deep, 3 dimensional breaths. Hold your arms out in front of you and gently bend your wrist back and forth. Roll your shoulders forward, then back to reduce tension. Remember to drink plenty of water, too. Keep a bottle at your desk and fill it often. Staying hydrated will help you stay alert and keep your metabolism fired up.

Lunch time…
If you’ve been following our advice you have had quite an active day so far and should be pretty hungry by now. Choosing the right lunch is important. Avoid high-sugar foods and meals with too many carbohydrates, like heavy pastas and breads, which can zap your energy and cause you to crash later. Choose brown rice over white. Have grilled chicken or fish added to a salad, rather than a sandwich. And watch out for unhealthy, high-calorie dressings! If you can, save the last 15 minutes of your lunch break for a casual walk. This will aid your body in digestion and can also help reduce heartburn.

The rest of your day…
Continue to drink water and do a quick stretch every 30 minutes. If you can take a break, go for a quick walk in the office or around the block. Some kind of movement will open up the circulation in your legs and help prevent lower back pain associated with sitting for long periods.

On your way Home…
Take the time on your way home to decompress from the challenges and stresses of your workday. Bring your attention to your breath, and gradually breath out any tension you’re carrying with you. Re-align your thoughts to a positive frame of mind, so you can enjoy quality time with your family and friends.

Incorporate interval training into your exercise routine and you will see your fitness and performance improve quickly, typically in just a few weeks. There are numerous studies that show you can improve your endurance and cardiovascular fitness with intense bouts of intervals just one hour per week compared with five hours of traditional cardiovascular training. If you are like most of us, pressed for time, then this is one big advantage of interval training. Other benefits include:

• It’s a great way spice up your cardio routine especially if you’ve gotten bored with your workouts.

• It’s a proven way to help get rid of that last bit of troublesome excess weight. This is because your metabolic rate stays higher for longer after interval training and you end up burning more calories throughout your day.

• Your immune system responds positively to regular strenuous exercise. Interval training – due to its intense qualities – yields a heightened immune response thus helping your body fight off colds and other illness.

How does it work?

The proper way to do intervals is to push your body past the aerobic threshold for a moment and then recover by returning to your aerobic conditioning level. The aerobic threshold is the intensity where your body switches from burning a greater percentage of fat (aerobic) to a greater percentage of glycogen or carbohydrates (anaerobic) and is generally 85% of your maximum heart rate (train below 85% and it’s aerobic; train above 85% and it’s anaerobic). Heart rate is a good indicator of how hard you’re working, and it’s easy to measure, so it’s an ideal method for setting up and monitoring intervals. A very simply method for estimating your anaerobic threshold is to assume anaerobic threshold occurs at 85-90% of your maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate is measured by taking the number 220 and subtracting your age. For example a 45 year old would have a max heart rate of 175 beats per minute. Heart rates vary greatly between individuals and even within the same individual so use this number as an estimate of your actual maximum heart rate.  (For a more accurate method – CLICK HERE)

Lets get started!

For the sake of ease and accurate measurement I like to use a stationary bike. The first thing you want to do is warm up for 5 minutes at 65-70% of your max heart rate. Check your pulse after 1 minute and then again after 4 minutes to make sure you are in that range. After 5 minutes prepare to begin your intervals.

Beginner intervals

Increase the bike resistance to a level that feels fairly uncomfortable and continue pedaling for 30 seconds. After 30 seconds bring the resistance back down to where you had it before. Check your pulse to make sure your heart rate jumped up to 85% of maximum (you may need to add or decrease resistance on the next interval). Continue pedaling at the easier pace for 2 minutes, bringing your heart rate back to 70% of your max. After 2 minutes jack the resistance up for another 30 seconds before dropping it down again for a 2-minute recovery. Repeat this process four more times and remember to keep your pedals strokes even throughout the routine.

Example:
Warm up at level 4 for at least 5 minutes

Increase to level 10 for 30 seconds
Return to level 4 and recovery for 2 minutes

Level 10 (30 seconds)
Level 4 (2 minutes)

Level 10 (30 seconds)
Level 4 (2 minutes)

Level 10 (30 seconds)
Level 4 (2 minutes)

Level 10 (30 seconds)
Level 4 (2 minutes)

Cool down at level 2 for 3 minutes
Total cardio exercise time: 20 minutes

Advanced intervals

If you have a good cardiovascular base then you can push your body past the aerobic threshold for longer than 30 seconds. In this case we are going to warm up for 5 minutes at 70% of max heart rate then perform 1 minute long intervals at 90% of max. We’ll follow these all-out efforts with 2-minute recovery periods.

Example:
Warm up at level 6 for at least 5 minutes

Increase to level 15 for 1 minute
Return to level 6 and recovery for 2 minutes

Level 15 (1 minute)
Level 6 (2 minutes)

Level 15 (1 minute)
Level 6 (2 minutes)

Level 15 (1 minute)
Level 6 (2 minutes)

Level 15 (1 minute)
Level 6 (2 minutes)

Cool down at level 4 for 3 minutes
Total cardio exercise time: 23 minutes

Important!

Keep in mind that interval training is extremely demanding on the heart, lungs and muscles, and it’s important to have an OK from your physician before you start interval training. You should also have a solid base of overall aerobic fitness before performing high intensity training of any kind. Lastly, do not performing intervals more than two times per week to avoid overtraining.

Watch Nimble Trainer Al Kavadlo demonstrate the Turkish Get Up in this short video clip.

Check out Al’s website for more awesome advice – www.alkavadlo.com

I know it sounds crazy but it’s true. This exercise program cost nothing. It doesn’t require any special clothing and involves absolutely no equipment. You do it on your way to and from work, and it only takes 10 minutes. Best of all you’ll increase your cardiovascular fitness, lose almost 8 lbs of body fat and feel better instantly.

“What is it”, you ask? It involves simply getting off one stop sooner on your bus or train commute and walking the rest of the way… Yes, you read correctly – get off one stop before your station and WALK the rest of the way to work.

Hear me out! Subway and bus stops are spaced 8-9 city blocks apart. Since 20 city blocks equal approximately 1 mile, you’ll be effectively walking a half-mile by getting off one stop sooner. Do the same for your commute home and you’ll have walked a mile or more. Even at a relatively modest pace of 3.0 mph it will take just 10 minutes each way. There really is no excuse not to try this. Even if it is summertime, the morning temperature should be cool enough that you won’t sweat through your clothes. This is less of an issue going home, where you can easily shower and change.

Follow this program and in one week you will have walked 5 miles and burned an extra 240 calories. It doesn’t sound like a lot but make this your daily routine and in one year you will have burned off enough calories to equal almost 8 lbs of body fat. Best of all you’ll have walked an extra 260 miles, increasing your cardiovascular fitness and making you look and feel healthier.

-Antonio

This month we are going to hit you with some quick, straightforward fit tips:

*INTERVALS : If you have not tried training with intervals give it some dedicated time. You can string 2 or 4 exercises together, in succession and without rest, to change the stress on your body and increase the metabolic effect.

*SUN SALUTATION : Learn it and use it as a warm up, or do it repetitively it as a stand-alone workout that you can do anywhere.

*GET A QUICK ONE IN! : Don’t let time keep you from getting a quick and effective session in. Sometime the quick hits end up being my best workouts of the week. Consistency is the key to results.

*THINK AHEAD! : Maximize the food you’re eating to give you the strength you need in a workout. If you walk in the gym for an intense session and don’t have any energy your performance will suffer. Get those carbohydrates in well before your scheduled workout time.

All these tips are ultimately about making EVERY SECOND COUNT! Train with intensity, educate yourself and become more aware of how your body works.