Nimble Blog

Working Effortlessly

Everything in life takes work.  Relationships, careers, keeping a comfortable home, having a fit and healthy body, raising children, and eating healthy, just to name a few.  What if the work we are required to do in life was effortless?   I am often reminding my clients to release tension while executing exercises.  Effortless work requires a sense of letting go, which inspires the simple act of being in the present moment.

Are you looking for a more balanced and in-the-moment workout?  Try to connect with the idea of working effortlessly next time you walk into your fitness class, personal training session, or gym, by remembering these 5 tips:

1. Find Your Perfect Match

Who can think twice about attending something they love?  Being passionate and joyful about movement is the key for effortlessly working up a sweat, feeling your heart beating, and journeying into a stronger body.  If you’ve found your ideal class, personal trainer, workout partner, or gym, then cherish it.  If you are feeling uninspired by your workout choices, think about searching around to find your perfect movement match.

2. Set Your Intention

Take a moment to connect in with the reason you are working out.  Is there a particular goal you are trying to achieve?  Let that goal and that intention carry you through your workout.

3. Talk To Yourself

Maybe not out loud but connect into what exactly you are doing.  Are you standing and doing a bicep curl?  Before initiating the exercise, connect your mind and body by drafting out what exactly is going on.

Bicep curl:
- Feet are rooted into the ground.
- Shoulders are directly over hips.
- Navel is reaching toward your spine for core stabilization.
- Bending at the elbow, hands are bringing your weight to your shoulder.
- Arms then extend completely.
- Shoulders remain dropped, head and neck relaxed.
- Breath is moving.

The body wants to work efficiently.  This dialogue will help clear any extra tension or unnecessary movement.

4. Open Your Heart

In this world, we are all hunched over at our desks, commuting to work, caring for children, etc.  During your workout, focus on keeping your heart literally and physically open.  This will help broaden the chest, which inspires correct posture; for example, instead of running on the treadmill with your head leading the way, lead with your heart.  Feel the difference in your posture, stride, and energy.

This also may bring up some emotions. Leading with the heart opens up the heart chakra, making us more vulnerable than we may be comfortable with.  If you find yourself asking what you are opening your heart to besides better posture, remember the intention you set for yourself at the beginning of your workout.

5. Let Go

Do you find you are forcing your body into a particular exercise, pose, or even meditation?  Instead of using brute force and willpower, remain mindful and try trusting your body.  Let go of expectations to allow your movements to energize and revive you as opposed to depleting and draining you.

Challenge yourself however; simply be fully present in your own body.  You may find your body is stronger than you think it is!

-Charlotte Blake

How strong is your FOUNDATION?

Sitting on my couch on a Sunday in February, I wept. Not because I worked 160 hours in the last two weeks, or that a flood ruined our new bamboo studio floor. I was watching images of Haiti on the morning show and they hit me hard, like they probably hit most of you.

These images made me think about many things; one thing that resonated with me and connects to our health was how important it is to have a strong foundation. The energy of a strong foundation resonates from one’s inner self and vibrates outward. This vibration is married to your values & beliefs, your friends & family, life cycles (sleep/food/movement), your soul and the health of your body’s system.

Our society is looking for the fountain of youth around every corner. In so many cases, people simply have a weak foundation to their health. If you’re getting stronger and more flexible, more organized structurally, gaining power and letting go of limiting ego thoughts, then you are continually building a strong foundation. Yes! There is much more I could add to this. Everyone is different, but we can all use the same building blocks for success.

Build your foundation and witness the new strength, power and flow of your mind, body and spirit.

Namaste,
Daniel

5 tips for creating a “New Mom ‘Me’ Moment”

1. Breathe
While breastfeeding, while your baby naps, or perhaps while bathing your baby, take five long and deep breaths. Inhale through your nose for 5 seconds, hold for 2 seconds, and exhale through your mouth for 5 seconds. Each time, inhale a little deeper and exhale more freely. Don’t be afraid to make sounds while exhaling or try fluttering your lips. It’ll feel good!

2. Stretch
Stretching releases stress and rejuvenates the body. Here are three stretch options:

* When sitting with your baby on the floor, straddle your legs and take a moment to reach one arm overhead toward the opposite leg or simply fold your upper body forward toward the floor.
* While standing, rest your right arm on a table or counter with your right hip a few inches away from the table. Reach your left arm overhead and lean to the right. Try to focus on lengthening both sides of your body, focusing on stretching the left side. Repeat on the opposite side.
* Downward facing dog. You know you love it and new moms NEED it. Start on hands and knees, plant your hands and feet into the floor and send your hips up toward the sky. Feel your back body stretching out and releasing tension. If this hurts your wrists too much, be gentle. The hormone, Relaxin is still apparent in a new mom’s body and may still be affecting joints. (New Mom Yogi/Pilates Bonus! End your down-dog with a child’s pose.)

3. Be a lady who lunches
Find a new mom group in your neighborhood so you can be social with other women in your community while indulging in a healthy luncheon out! Not sure how to find a new mom group? Search for the Yahoo Group that caters to new moms in your neighborhood.

4. Nap when your baby naps
Truly allow yourself to do this. If available to you, hire someone to help clean your apartment or house one to three times a week, just for the first few months. With this service, you can focus on getting the sleep YOU need.

5. Go for a walk
We’ve had some lovely blue sky days this winter. Bundle yourself and your sweet baby and venture out! It can be daunting to pack the stroller and diaper bag BUT, we encourage you to take that walk and honor the hour or two you are giving yourself to be in nature and fresh air.

By giving yourself a “New Mom Me Moment” you will be a happier mother and, as a result, your baby will be a happier baby. We hope you incorporate these tips into your life for a more balanced YOU.

Find your fitness related “new mom ‘me’ moment” by joining Charlotte in our Mama Moves class!

Love and Attachment

Ahh…Valentine’s Day. A celebration of love. A chance to spend cash on stuff that nobody needs, and often a cause of heartache. Love is tricky – both for those who are in a relationship and those who want to be in one.

If attachment breeds suffering, as the Buddha taught, then what should we do about love, the greatest attachment of all? Are we born to suffer if we don’t find a lover? We all long for the security of being with a person who’ll love us back. Our egos are satisfied when we feel loved. In our society, we’ve become attuned to acquiring things and judging our success by those things: money, a high-status job, a house. We can become attached to the idea of love in the same way, measuring our status as a person by our love lives. We’re flying high when our relationships go well, suffering when they fail.

Is it possible to experience love without attachment? Well…that depends on how we experience love. If we think of love as something that we have to get, than it can just as easily be lost, and we’ll suffer as a result. If instead we think of love as a way of being, the rules change. Love becomes active, not passive. Love becomes a daily experience, not something we have to find in someone else.

If this concept sounds kind of unrealistic, I believe it is much easier in practice. Whether it’s giving time to your kids or giving a donation to Haiti, we act with love all the time! Americans happen to be an incredibly generous people, especially when inspired by loss or need. Turn that same generosity towards yourself and those closest to you – in other words, act with love instead of searching for love- and you’ll be shocked at how much of it you get in return.

HAVING A POWERFUL “WHY”

One of the first questions we ask in Nimble is this: what’s your why? Why do you want to be stronger, lighter or more flexible? What is motivating you to take up an exercise program? We all get inundated with so much information about how to stay healthy that it can cloud our why, which ultimately slows the process of creating life-long healthy habits. Weight loss, for example, is a crucial reason for many people to exercise, but is losing weight the true inspiration? Or is losing weight a path to feeling better and more active in your own body?

Tapping into your true motivations will help fuel your success. Here are some other motivating whys that can help cause profound transformation:

*More Energy
*Confidence
*Body/Mind connection
*Overall Preventative Health Care
*Better Sex Drive/Better Sexual Health
*Clearer Skin *Being able to do what you want to do – whether it’s climbing those stairs or climbing a mountain.

Have a powerful why and it will help you take daily action towards your goals.  Here’s the way we describe that path at Nimble Fitness:

Movement is an opportunity for profound transformation, which stimulates self-discovery and energizes the spirit. The journey it offers is made by sensing, feeling and being. It’s unique to each person.

Namaste,
Daniel

Before You Join The Gym…

Are you ready to start an exercise program but have no clue where to begin? Your first instinct might be to join a gym.  After all, that’s where people go to work out- right?  But is a gym the best place for you to learn how to exercise?  Health clubs can be very intimidating, especially if you have never exercised before.  Consider this before spending your hard-earned cash: studies show that as many as 7 out of 10 new gym members quit before ever achieving any of their goals.

As a former personal training manager for some of the largest gyms in New York City, I have seen first-hand how easy it is for new members to get lost in the sea of cardio machines and weights.  Trust me when I say, you need to be prepared before you join the gym or your fitness goals will be easily derailed.

So how do you prepare for truly changing your health?  Well, much like you wouldn’t want to dive into the middle of the ocean without a few scuba lessons, you shouldn’t jump into the middle of a fitness routine without first learning some things about your body.  We all need a little instruction, and starting in the right direction can make all the difference.  Make a good investment in your health and hire a private personal trainer. I say “private” because that’s where you’ll get the best service .  Large health clubs offer personal training but I don’t recommend you start here.  All too often I’ve seen health clubs hire staff more for their ability to talk you into purchasing sessions than for their actual exercise knowledge.  There’s also the environment.  How much of a personalized and focused experience can you really have when you’re sharing space with dozens, if not hundreds, of other people?

Private fitness studios are where you will find highly educated trainers who are motivated and passionate about your health and fitness.  These smaller facilities offer supportive environments where you can learn to succeed.  In our studio, Nimble Fitness, we know that a client’s health is only as strong as the foundation it’s built on.  Our principles of awareness, understanding and action establish a life-long pathway to health.  We start new clients with the basics - know your body, understand how it works and then take three daily actions: movement, good food choices, and sufficient rest.  This is how you learn.  This is how you change.  And this is how you succeed! Now that you are ready to start your own journey to better health, do some research and seek out a good private training studio that will steer you on the right track. (If you live or work in NYC contact us.)  I guarantee it will be the best investment you ever make.

-Antonio Sini

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Myth Buster: Is sweating the only way to burn calories?

A: No—and you might be surprised at how many calories you can burn by working consistently at a lower level of intensity, where you’re not sweating profusely.

The fact is, you’re burning calories all the time, even when you’re asleep. Those calories come from a combination of fat and carbs. The fat-to-carb ratio changes according to what your body needs, but the difference between a “fat-burning zone” and an “instant-energy carb zone” is less than you might think.

Here’s the deal: if you want to release weight, it’s not about where those calories come from, but how many you burn overall. So, the more active you are during your day, whether it’s a super-sweaty spin class, a challenging yoga session, or a climb up your office stairs, you’re still burning calories.  Check out these numbers:

*Average calories burned for an average hour Pilates or Tai Chi class: 200-250 cal

*Average calories for an average hour of jogging (not sprinting) 400-500 

If we do some simple math, we realize that there’s no difference, in calories at least, between 5 days of a medium intensity exercise, such as Pilates, Yoga, Tai Chi, or weight training, and 3 days of jogging. Now, jogging for an hour is more than most of us want or need to do, so create an ideal mix for yourself between lower and higher intensity exercise.

The key to really burning calories and releasing weight?  Consistent exercise and good food choices.

 

 

Quiet Your Mind With The Zen Swing

In the Nimble Guide to Feeling Great in last month’s newsletter, I discussed having a dialogue with your soul, which can be a liberating and life-changing experience. (review here) Receiving information from the soul can take many forms, from unconditional love, to God, to universal energy. To be able to speak effectively to your soul, however, it is necessary to first quiet your mind. This takes some practice, but there are many movements and breath techniques that tap in to your body’s natural ability to relax. For example, check out the Zen Swing—it is a relaxing, natural way to calm your system and rebuild your chi, your natural life energy.

Keys to the Zen Swing:

1. Keep a long spine.

2. Use your hip as a hinge. (i.e.-don’t tuck your butt under and roll your lower spine.)

3. Let your arms completely relax as they swing side to side.

4. Keep your eyes forward.

5. *Find a smooth and even breathing pattern. Inhale as your arms go up and exhale as your arms go down.

6. If your spine doesn’t feel like its moving freely, relax, breath and release the tension with the movement.

7. Go for 5, 10 or even 15 minutes.

A little practice will go a long way-enjoy!

You become the food you eat.

Lets keep it real simple today… The food you eat is what your body becomes.

Namaste
Daniel

Keith Paine Performs at Rockwood Music Hall

Live Thursday 9/17 @ Rockwood Music Hall

Join the Nimble community at the venerable Rockwood Music Hall for a bluesy acoustic set– Featuring my good friends Scott E Moore, soul singer and guitar player, and keys man Rob Clores, recently off the road with the Black Crowes. We’ll be joined of course by Malcom Gold on bass and Chris Benelli on percussion.

Time: 7:00 - 8:00pm (party to follow)
Where: Rockwood Music Hall / 196 Allen Street (just below Houston), New York City
For more info and to check out the music, please go to www.keithpaine.com

My Cleanse Adventure …The End

It has been 3 weeks since I started this Cleanse Adventure. Once I found a cleanse I thought was right for me, I followed the direction, eliminating dairy, meats and caffeine from my diet for 3 days. I followed that with another 5 days where I stopped eating all together. My diet for those days consisted of some special herbal packets mixed with apple juice. I ate no solid food during this time. On my 9th day I reintroduced food into my body but started slow with simply grains, vegetables and fruits. On the 10th day I began eating solid food and have been back to a regular diet for almost 2 weeks. Here is a summary of my experience and the results that followed.

As you know, I was skeptical about putting myself through one of these. Now that it’s over I’m glad I did. When I started I weighed 207 lbs and had 14% body fat. On the 8th day (the last juice day) I had lost 6 lbs, weighing 201 lbs with 11.6% BF. This was a pleasant surprise as I did not consider weight loss to be one of my priorities. Today, almost 3 weeks into this, my weight has gone back up to 203 lbs but my body fat is down to 11%. That’s a total loss of 3% in 3 weeks -pretty awesome!  Mind you, I have been doing 40 minutes of cardio 3X a week along with some light strength training but this is the same exercise program I did before the cleanse. The difference is that my body is acting more efficiently and changing whereas before I was pretty stagnant and not seeing as much muscle definition. My metabolism has definitely been turned up a notch. The other really big thing I’ve noticed is how consistent my energy levels are throughout the day (and I’ve had some long days). I feel as fresh at 7am as I do after 1pm, all the way up to 9pm when I get home. This wasn’t the case before. I frequently needed naps after lunch and would have highs and lows throughout my day. My diet hasn’t changed much, but I have cut my portions down by 1/3. Out of everything, this seems to be the most noticeable change my body has made. Pretty impressive.

In summary, I feel more energetic, less tired and healthier today than 3 weeks ago. I have lost 3% of my body fat and a total of 4lbs. I sleep well and poop regularly (Yea I know, “Too much information!”). Food tatse better and I have renewed motivation to work out more consistently. Those first 8 days were challenging but I am happy I stuck to it and finished (with the support of my wife, of course). For me, this was definitely an adventure that was worth every bowel movement (Sorry, I had to throw that one in). Thank you for coming along for the ride, now go out and seek your own healthy adventure.

….If you missed it, here is the rest of my cleanse adventure.

Team!

Working as a team in any business takes dedication, practice and trust. Integrity is at the core of an effective team. Here at Nimble Fitness, it feels like every client, trainer and partner is part of our team. Our clients understand that they can communicate anything with us. And sometimes it’s not about the easy stuff but real issues that may need immediate action. This level of accountability is exactly what is taking Nimble Fitness to the next level. Keith, Antonio and myself are dedicated to exploring the mastermind abilities of a trusted team, and excited every day to see where that takes us.

peace
dlov

Conversation with my Uncle bob (black belt in Aikido)

“Mind leads the body.”
-Uncle Bob

Do it first in your mind and then it’s done. In Zen archery the idea is that the arrow has already hit the target. The key is total relaxation! The more relaxed you are the more you are in tune with the universe. These were the words used by my Uncle Bob and I love it! It’s the separation of attachments no different than the journey of letting go of ego. Uncle Bob knows more than he leads on and the best part has been being witness to his journey of letting go. Martial arts and Aikido in particular have been a vital piece of his life education. I received several lessons over our reunion weekend on energy, movement and life. Bob helped me figure out strategies for a client that is recovering from a stroke, raised my awareness to where strength of movement originates and allowed me to not be perfect at the movements he was sharing. I woke up that first morning with a mantra that stated, “I live in the present moment and have gratitude for being able to share such valuable time with my family.” I believe this raised my awareness to spending time with every family member allowing us to connect on a deeper level. I had a vision that morning in bed and lived it a second throughout the day besides a few text messages to a friend in Paris. ( lol -it happens!) I love my family!

Namaste,
Daniel

Holistic Coaching Journey

I’m off to Toronto for a six day Holistic Health Coaching Seminar and I can’t help but ask myself if I’m doing the things to live my healthiest. My little voice is saying NO; you could shop at the farmers market more, eat more vegetables and cultivate more chi through meditation/movement.
I have a smile on my face as I gaze at NYCs skyline and take a moment to feel the joy in my heart. I ask myself where this joy comes from? The answer comes immediately and with strong energy. It states that it comes from the appreciation you have for all the wonderful, intelligent, compassionate clients, friends and family in your life. I’m have a feeling this will be a great week of education and life that I can then share with you.

dlov

The $5 cardio machine that really works!

Smile!

How far can you make your smile travel?  Nothing has more power to elevate a mood than the impact of a genuine smile.  Surprisingly enough, the benefits of a smile extend not only to the recipient of the warm gesture but also to the smile’s originator.

Smiling will send a positive message to the person you express yourself to.  This can potentially change that person’s mood, making them feel better and in turn smile too.   As that person’s day goes on, his or her smile brightens the day of someone new …and so on and so on.

Your smile could potentially travel from person to person, eventually reaching and brightening up the day of a loved one many miles away.  So the next time you think of your Aunt Betty in Waterloo, Wisconsin, send her some good cheer.  Simply smile at the first person you see and let that smile find it’s way to her (I recommend you give her a call too).

Antonio Sini

Recharge with Nature

Whenever I mention the Laws of Nature, people assume I want to talk about physics or actual laws. (I bet you didn’t know that in Alaska it is illegal to feed alcoholic beverages to a moose?) All joking aside, what I’m actually trying to convey is simply that the natural energy of the earth, the mountains, trees, rivers and lakes, is therapeutic and good for our souls.

In this chronically overstressed society, we often forget how organically connected we are to the planet. Spending time outdoors, away from our cell phones and automobiles, is a great way to clear the mind of clutter and reconnect with our inner selves.

This summer, take time for yourself. Go visit the great outdoors and let nature recharge your soul.

Daniel Lucas

IT’S ALL CONNECTED!

I often find myself wondering just how energetically connected everything in our universe really is. When thinking about the human body its seems as thought almost everything has some kind of effect on us. Over the years the links between stress, food, emotions and posture, and how they all affect one’s health, have become clear.

The energy produced and shared from each of these separate entities is expressed through our muscular system. Because of this connectedness, our quality of life and overall health can be affected when the stress on any one of these areas is too great for our system to handle. A good example of this is how we can easily feel physically drained, feeling weak and fatigued, after a long and stressful day at the office.  Whether your job demands little activity other than making business calls and sitting at a computer or requires you to lug around a heavy bag loaded with your laptop and anything else your day requires your physical body is being stressed. Let’s not forget the effect of mental stress on our systems.  If we do nothing about it, we eventually develop real physical symptoms in the form of postural imbalances, chronic back pain and even hypertension.

You probably already know of a multitude of common stress factors but there are many you may not think of as stress inducing, for example, food. Food delivers nutrients to our cells, but at the same time depending on its quality and quantity, can leave us feeling bad. Toxins in the foods we eat are stored within our muscles, creating stress throughout our system. The environment we live in is another factor. Toxic air travels through our lungs, into our bloodstream and eventually to our muscles. Emotions, especially ones rooted in deep-seeded thoughts, are another major stress factor. Our emotions carry energy and, when in states of heighten intensity, travel through or should  i say into our body. These negative emotions can easily be rooted in the muscular system, leaving us tense and unhealthy.   Often our body holds itself in a specific posture that represents this emotional holding.

The point here is to get you thinking about how you’re connected to everything and how all those factors are translated through the body. Your muscular system acts like a brain. It stores information. This information will either facilitate your journey to better health or block you from achieving it. Make a conscience decision to look at every aspect of your life when considering your health.  With meditation, movement and nutrition you can release old patterns and find new strength.  Take action and live healthy now. namaste Daniel

Wordology

Words have power! At Nimble Fitness we share with our clients the idea of Wordology. The non-conscious often does not know the difference between what you truly want and the words and ideas you are just playing around with. All of your thoughts get filed in the oneness of the non-conscious, so we ask clients to choose words that align with their life vision. Why not? Through what we have learned in our past, we often create habits or conditions that we live by that no longer serve us. These words we say over and over carry major energy and shape our perception. For example, I had a client that often stated “Every time I walk into the gym, I believe I’m moving forward in my journey to health,” and another that would often discount the work he did if it was not of a certain duration or intensity. He would often state that he could never do enough. Which client do you think progressed faster in his program? The point I would like to make is this: Are you setting yourself up for failure or success? Make the promise to yourself to use words that support you in success and believe it! Why not? Namaste

Volunteer Your Way to Better Health

As a member of the New York City Mountain Biking Association, I volunteer my time to build and maintaining multi-use trails throughout parks in New York City. A few weeks ago I helped with some trail maintenance at Highbridge Park in upper Manhattan. Rather than drive to Highbridge, I decided to up the ante and ride my bicycle the 28 miles from my house. This was a perfect opportunity to reduce my carbon footprint and make our planet a little greener while getting in a full day of exercise and activity. It couldn’t have been a better day too. The sun was shining and temperatures hovered around 65. My ride took just under 2 hours and I managed to put in another 3 hours of solid trail work. At the end, I was a little sore, a little scratched up and a little tired (ok, exhausted was more like it) but also really proud to have done my part to improve our city and make our planet a little greener.

Volunteering to do things like this is a great opportunity to incorporate more activity into your life. I know for me, working outdoors in the park beats sweating in some stale gym any day. Maybe the gym isn’t for you either? Don’t let that stop you from living a more active life. Seek out activities, which you find interesting and keep you active. Volunteer to spend the day playing with kids from a local youth group, participate in a sponsored charity walk or help with general park maintenance in your own community. Get out there. You’ll feel better all around.

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