Archive for the ‘Exercise’ Category

 The best general answer to this 3 part question is this: any exercise is beneficial, do it whenever works best and do it as often as everyday but no less than 3 times a week.

Here’s my ideal exercise regime over the course of 7 days:

Monday: Yoga in the morning + 20-30 minutes cardio in the afternoon.
Maintains: Flexibility, mobility, lung capacity, cardiovascular fitness + smile enhancer 

Tuesday:  Urban Workout – a 40 minute total body workout
Maintains: General body strength, mobilty & flexibility, cardiovascular fitness + smile enhancer

Wednesday: Swim 1-2kms
Maintains: General body strength & cardiovascular fitness + smile enhancer

Thursday: Reformer Pilate’s in the morning & 20-30 minutes cardio in the afternoon
Maintains: General body strength with focus on core muscles, cardiovascular fitness + smile enhancer

Friday:   Urban Workout - a 40 minute total body workout
Maintains: General body strength, mobilty & flexibility, cardiovascular fitness + smile enhancer

Saturday/Sunday: Swim, bike ride, walk, kayak, surf or any other type of recreational activity on offer 
Maintains:Well-being, mother-daughter relationship, sense of fun & spirit + major smile enhancer!

Remember that is my ‘ideal’ week, it rarely works out that I do all of it however I adjust the following weeks regime to balance out what I missed the previous week.
It helps me to maintain my health on all levels – mental, physical and emotional. I am a huge believer in ‘intuitive exerise’ which means I might choose to swim instead of yoga if I felt I needed solitude and I might swap my swim for a workout if I felt the need for something a bit more dynamic and upbeat. 

The most important thing is that you do something, exercise must be a regualr non-negotiable part of your week, every week. 
You don’t have to ‘train’ like an athlete (unless you want to be one) - you just need to keep your body active so it can function optimally and keep that smile on your dial!   

Have a look at some of my really simple and short workout clips and there’s more coming!

Get moving my friend, I guarantee you’ll smile more everyday.  

Here’s a super simple workout you can do on the floor, you can even do it while you watch TV (if you must!) 
It has 2 leg exercises (one for the hip/glute/thigh and one for the inner thigh) and 1 oblique abdominal exercise.

You can do it up to 3 times through if you have the time and staying power however once or twice is totally acceptable and worthwhile. A bit of cardio activity beforehand would be a great addition too - be it a 10 minute brisk walk or a 60 minute bike ride.  

Remember our motto is SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING so get down on dat floor and workout!

PS. If you’re interested in learning more about  ‘Health Coaching’  with me just shoot me an email:-  jo@urbansmiler.com

Making time for exercise is essential to being a ’smiler’. It doesn’t have to be long and gruelling, just 30 minutes of moderate activity per day is the recommended minimum but 10 minutes is better than nothing so no excuses! 

In this workout I’m using ‘resistance bands’. They’re available in most sports stores or from physiotherapy suppliers. (email me if you have trouble finding them). The bands are super convenient because you can take them any where and they work! So get yourself some bands, set aside 10 minutes and join me for a quick workout. Click play now! 

Last weekend I went dancing in high heels (they’re high for me) and boy did my lower back scream at me for the next few days! I have to manage my lower back anyway because I’m knocked kneed so a 2 hour stint busting funky moves on the dance floor in my heels is always going to be problematic – so too is sitting in a chair at a computer all day!

The exercises/stretches in this clip will mobilise your spine and stretch your gluteals and hamstrings which, if done mindfully and with the breath, will loosen you up in all the right places . 

I’ve done this everyday this week and today I’m back to normal which means I can hit the dance-floor again this weekend but perhaps I’ll play it smart and wear my flats!

Look after your back.

Smiler.

PS. It’s really quite funny (both peculiar and amusing) watching clips of myself doing stuff on a mat – in this clip, my  ’kinder garden teacher’ style introduction particularly tickles me…I’ll get better, I promise!!

This workout uses one of those big exercise balls which I know a lot of people have at home but do nothing with. If you don’t have one you can just do Smiler’s Quick Workout #1  which requires only your body.

You’re here now so you might as one do at least one round of the 3 simple exercise in the workout below. If you have the time do it 3 times through which will take no more than 10 minutes. And, if you don’t have the time – make it!

Greetings Smiler’s

Here’s the first of many Smiler’s Workouts I’ll be posting for you. The idea is that you do the 3 exercises I’m demonstrating continuously for 10 or so mins. You can do them after your daily walk!

If you have any questions about the workout just email me smiler@urbanworkout.com.au 

Oh and by the way, in my intro, you’ll hear me tell you that I’ll be doing 2 types of squats – I lied! I only do 1 type but I do promise to include many more in future clips. 

Enjoy!

Thanks to Don, my business partner at Urban Workout,  for his help with getting this together. 

My ultimate objective as a health & well-being professional and as co-owner of ‘Urban Workout’ is to get people to live by my daily mantra ‘Exercise, Eat Well & Think Good Things’.  

On the exercise side of this my goal is ‘to get people to exercise every day for the rest of their lives ‘ which often raises eyebrows because to a lot of people that seems unachievable. Of course sometimes things do get in the way of planned exercise but with the ’exercise everyday mind-set’ you’re committing to doing something and that’s what matters most. 

Exercising everyday is not as difficult to achieve as you think and here’s why… 

Exercising everyday does not neccessarily mean going to the gym to slog it out for an hour, nor does it have to mean scheduling in kid-free time or earlier starts.  

Exercising everyday just means making time to move your body for as little as 5 – 10 minutes at a time as often as possible throughout the day. This mind-set has worked a treat for all my clients who claim they “don’t have the time to exercise” or “just want to get a bit healthier not become a fitness freak”.

The motto I live by is ’something IS ALWAYS better than nothing’ and it’s true. For people who have basically been completely inactive for most of their adult life the idea of 30 or more minutes of exercise just does not seem achievable – but a 10 minute walk is and they know they can’t make an excuse for it either. It’s a start and that’s all we’re after to begin with - ‘a small change which can easily be integrated in to your current lifetsyle’.

What I know about this approach is that it is achievable so people do it, then, as their fitness and energy increases so does their desire to do “a litttle bit more“.  When they tell me this I feel euphoric because I know their exercise mind-set has shifted and they realise how essential exercise is to their health and well-being – they feel happier and they don’t want that feeling to go.

So, if you’re a ‘non-exerciser’ or a ’spasmosdic exerciser’ this is especially for you – start by incorporating 5 – 10 minutes walking 2- 3 times throughout your day and never stop.

Take Home Message:  MOVE MORE – SMILE MORE!

Here is my ‘ideal week of exercise’ which best suits my current age, health status, fitness needs, lifestyle & goals. I say ‘ideal’ because I rarely get to do everything on the list but it gives me loads of flexibility to do what my body/mind tells me I need most on any given day with the time I have available.   

Strength workouts: Minimum 2 per week + 1 Pilates reformer class. Being physically strong is SO important to me. I have a ‘dodgey’ lower back, I am knock knee’d plus I spend a lot of time at a computer so postural strength is essential. I also know that when I am physically strong I cope really well with stress.

Most weeks I do get my 2 strengths works in, at the very least I do one. I only use free weights, resistance bands/tubes and body weight. I enjoy my strength workouts.

Cardio workouts: Minimum 3 per week. I smoked for over 20 years so cardiovascular exercise was something I avoided. Now I have to say I don’t mind it because it makes me feel so good.

My top 3 cardio workouts are 1. 30 – 45 minutes at the studio on the cross trainer, bike, treadmill, rower & stepper 2. swimming 1-2kms 3. 1 hour fast walk. I always have music going and use the time to reflect and plan. I also love to play tennis, kick a footy and ride my bike. This summer I want to do sea kyaking and I would love to dance more.

Flexibilty & Mobilty:  Minimum 2 x 20 minutes yoga style stretching and mobilising per week. On a good week I will do a yoga class on Monday mornings plus a couple of other sessions either at the studio or at home, even if it’s in front of the tv. As my body ‘matures’ I respect the need to keep my muscles long and my joints mobile. 

This type of exercise also helps to keep my mind clear and my nervous system calm – something most of us need in our busy urban lives.  

That’s my ideal week, what’s yours?

Whatever you do, do something everyday and enjoy it.

Smiler. x

How flexible are you?

Are you flexible enough to touch your toes?

Are you flexible enough to adapt when plans change?

Are you flexible enough to peel your spine up like a cobra?

Are you flexible enough to accept someone elses opinion or ideas?

Are you flexible enough to ‘make do’ when your usual preferences are unavailable?

Are you flexible enough to try a new activity and THEN form an opinion?

Are you flexible enough to bend your arm around your back & touch your shoulder blades?

Are you flexible enough to manage the inevitable changes life brings?

Hopefully by answering these questions you will realise that flexibility is an extremely valuable thing to work on – physically & mentally.

Stay flexible: exercise, eat well and think good things!

Love,

Smiler

I love ‘to do lists’. I always have one on the go and I get a huge buzz out of ticking stuff off. Some things on my list are really really important and some are just things I want to do or am interested in doing.

I write a ’to do’ every Monday starting with the stuff I didn’t get done the week before. Some things are transferred across for many weeks before they either get done or left off completely because I’ve either lost interest or time has run out on it like buying concert tickets or something like that. I don’t get stressed about not ticking things off, it’s my to do list and I’ll get through it how and when I like. I include work and personal things so there’s always a good variety of things to do throughout the week. Anything which must be done that week gets an asterisk and all asterisked items get done on Monday/Tuesday so I’m free to float through the rest of the list as I please. 

My health and wellbeing are my #1 priority so I always have stuff to do in that area, for instance this week I have listed ’enjoy a long bath with sandalwood oil’ and it’s my intention to do that tonight right after I’ve vacuumed! Just in case you struggle to come up with good ideas for your health and well being I’ve made a fine list of 7 things to consider popping on your list this week which I believe will make you feel extra good. 

1. Do at least 20 mins of brisk walking everyday and appreciate how enlivening it is.

2. Watch an old film and appreciate how far cinema has come.

3. Buy a new book which will stimulate you in a new way and appreciate the fresh ideas it brings.

4. Make a HUGE pot of bolognaise sauce (or vegetarian equivalent) and appreciate what really goes in to good food (love!) 

5. Buy a neighbour flowers or if money is tight give them some of your bolognaise sauce.

6. Stretch and mobilise your body according to what it tells you it needs and appreciate how intelligent it is (it will tell you if you listen)

7. Sit quietly for 5 minutes in your favourite chair, eyes closed and just breath. Appreciate the calm it brings in the moment and the clarity it brings afterwards.

Have a super smiley feel good week.

Love,  

Smiler