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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

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

You become the food you eat.

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

Namaste
Daniel

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

Strength When You Need It

Let me set the scene: it was the morning after I broke my arm while snowboarding at Beaver Creek with my good friends Rob and Colleen. Our plan was to ‘board two more days. Instead, I was conquering the challenges of a different mountain-overcoming a broken humerus and thumb. I soon found out that I needed to re-learn every “simple” movement that I had previously taken for granted. Every move became a torso/core exercise. Just sitting up from a pullout bed to go to the bathroom took me what felt like 10 minutes. To say that it was extremely challenging to try and move that first morning would be an understatement. I immediately realized that if I did not engage my abdominals with maximum concentration, my arm would naturally move to help me stand. And when it did, boy, did I feel those broken bones dangling about! I couldn’t help but think what people without strength would have to do just to move. I’m fairly strong but someone with less hip, leg and abdominal strength would have an impossible time with what I would now be facing–from sitting up to brushing my teeth.

From the very first day of my injury, it’s been an ongoing education. My injury has been a not-too-subtle reminder that all movement is an integrated experience. Even lifting a weight with one arm translates throughout your entire muscular-skeletal system. The mind and body must work together to allow you to move, with muscles working as movers (angonists), antagonists (muscles working in opposition of movers) stabilizers and neutralizers. Think of muscles working like lights on a dimmer. They can be at full strength (as bright as possible) or weakened (dimmed low).  A muscle’s neuromuscular strength can be affected by many variables: injury, posture, repetitive stress, nutrition and even food allergies. The bone break I experienced turned the muscles in my arm completely off for several reasons one being because using those muscles would have caused me great pain so they received limited calls to activate.

I’m sharing my story to make a point: strength matters. Strength helps you live independently, recover faster, do fun and challenging things (think white water rafting), have better posture, feel empowered and perform seemingly simple everyday tasks, like walking up a set of stairs. And strength is not just about weight training, but encompasses many things. Strength for life is about having muscle balance, body awareness and belief in yourself.

Live strong,
Daniel

Here are your keys to building strength in the gym:

*Get started with an exercise program where you have at least two days dedicated to weight training.

*Studies have shown that performing two sets of 8-12 repetitions is good for a beginner, but progressing to three sets or more will produce optimal results.

*Train under control and with a full range of motion! Get your ego out of the way and lift a weight you can handle. Start with a tempo of two seconds up(concentric) and two seconds down(eccentric).

*Change things up every 4-6 weeks. Your body adapts to the the stress you place on it, so changing your exercise variables can be as simple as changing the order of your exercises, the tempo of movement, the time you rest between sets, altering your base of support and even shifting intention.

*Allow yourself time to recover. Some people want to train, train and train some more. This is not necessarily the way to achieve better results. Give yourself 24 hours to 48 hours of recovery after intense days of training. A lighter training day can be used as a recovery day. We call these organization days in Nimble Fitness.

*Of course, if you are interested in learning more, contact me.

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

Great lower back exercise?

Don’t laugh, but during your next exercise session try crawling.  Crawling is a neurologically important activation exercise that connects your left and right brains, while also working the smaller stabilizing muscles of the spine. When these muscles are active and strong, the result is more support for your spine and less lower-back discomfort. Start on all fours, making sure your belly doesn’t dip too far towards the floor, and begin crawling, starting with the right arm and left leg.  Work your way across a carpeted floor and always focus your eyes on the forward hand.  Try crawling backward to your starting position.  Trust us- it’s not as easy as you think.

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

TheNimbleWay… Foundation-Education-Integration

At Nimble, we believe that you are only as strong as your foundation. Your personal foundation is made up of your character, your integrity and the life you see for yourself. This mixture is bound together by your mental and physical blueprint, as well as your relationship with nutrition, movement and your deeper self. It is our intention to develop the Nimble Fitness blog to support you in your journey toward a knowingness of being strong, empowered, and living a joyful life. Namaste from the Nimble Team.

Nimble Nutrition Approach

Here’s some of Nimble’s simple nutrition rules:

1. If it’s white and it’s been commercially processed don’t eat it! This means white flour, white sugar and milk processed by pasteurization or homogenization. If you do consume dairy, choose Certified Organic whenever possible.

2. Check food labels. If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it!

3. Steer clear of drinks with added sugar.

4. Processed food is not your friend. The longer a food’s shelf life, the greater risk to your health.

5. When it comes to meats, choose organic and free-range whenever possible.

6. Use 100% unprocessed sea salt to season foods.

7. Drink quality filtered water.

8. Use the 80/20 rule- if you’re on point with your health choices 80 percent of the time, your doing a pretty darn good job.

Pins Pulled!

Hello! It’s week five and the 3 inch pins were pulled out of my thumb today–literally pulled out with pliers. After a couple of weeks, the body starts to reject the 3 inch long metal pins that are used to guide the broken metacarpal bones which was shattered into four pieces, back together. Yep! I started my rehab right there in the doctors’ office, and anyone that knows me would tell you they expect nothing less. I started by washing the funk off of my hand and cleaning off the initials of my doctor. It felt like I was looking at an autographed ball that a professional athlete signed after reaching a career milestone. Was this a milestone for my doctor? His 1000th pin stuck into a human hand? D

Daniel Lucas the pins pulled. from Nimble Fitness on Vimeo.

No more pain killers!

It’s been four weeks since I crashed at Bear Creek and honestly it’s been quite a journey. Many things have changed in my life in these past few weeks. For the most part, all of the changes have been good. I’m taking this time to slow down and meditate several times a day. I believe everything that happens in one’s life becomes a guiding force to realize your dreams. It’s just what is and how you perceive it.! The quicker you’re one with the experience, the quicker you’re aligned with source/life energy. Source being god, nature or what ever you call the flow of life. A place without worries or fear. Yesterday was my first day off of the painkillers I was taking and I was worried I may feel pain. The truth is I did feel pain but knowing it was going to pass and using my mind to allow it to happen was the key. It’s great to have your very own super computer! Love your mind.. D

We all need help sometimes.

If you ask any of my close friends and clients, I like being in control. It just so happens that on a snowboard control can be a bit challenging sometimes, especially when you get fatigued and are riding on ice. My broken arm and thumb have put me at the mercy of loving friends and family and I greatly appreciate all the help I’m receiving. This video clip captures the first attempt to remove the devices holding my bones together and clean my funky skin. Yeh Mon!

Cleaning the break. from Nimble Fitness on Vimeo.

My rehab begins

It’s been two weeks since I face planted at Beaver Creek, and my rehab up to this point has been rest, food and meditation. Meditation is training for your brain and I’m utilizing imagery, meridian tracing, asking, allowing and mantra. I will be uploading audio files for the guided meditation I’m doing and video clips of exercises that are helping me recover. I will blog my workouts and as soon I can get a picture of my arm pre-physical rehab you will be the first to see it. Peace, Daniel