Month: July 2016

Fun Facts About YOU

Lisa Fitness 2 Comments
Share this:

DSC_0850

 

I love the human body. To me it is the greatest combination of art and science ever and I am thrilled that my work involves it.

The more you study it and know how it works and moves, the more you will want to look after it.

It really is the only thing in this world that you own and will keep for your entire life so take care of it and it will take care of you.

Did you know…

The human body releases about ½ litre of water everyday just from breathing.

The human brain cell can hold 5 times as much information as Wikipedia and it operates on as much power as a 10 watt light bulb. Nerve impulses travel to and from the brain at 170 mph.

Your body gives off enough heat in 30 minutes to bring 2 litres of water to a boil.

It is impossible to tickle yourself as your brain is ready for it vs. when someone else does it.

The life span of a human hair is on average between 3 and 7 years. We lose 60-140 strands per day and you have to lose about 50% of your scalp hairs before it becomes apparent.

Your teeth start growing 6 months before birth.

Babies have 300 bones but adults have 206 due to some fusing together.

Your nose can distinguish more than 10,000 scents and women are better smellers than men.

Your small intestine, which is your largest internal organ is about 24 feet long .Your skin is your largest external organ.

The strongest muscle you have is your tongue and one of ( if not) the strongest bones is your jaw.

The largest cell is a female’s egg ( it can actually be seen with the naked eye) and the smallest cell is a man’s sperm.

The acid in your stomach is strong enough to dissolve razor blades. The reason it doesn’t eat away at your stomach is that the cells of your stomach wall renew themselves so frequently that you get a new stomach lining every three to four days.

We are all spectacular masterpieces, inside and out!

 

Is That True? Fitness Facts and Myths

Lisa Fitness , , , , , , , 0 Comment
Share this:

siteIDAs a fitness professional, I get asked a lot of questions about anything and everything related to fitness, food and health. Luckily all of these areas interest me greatly and that is why I do what I do for a living. Here a few myths that I am happy to debunk and the reasons behind them.

THE MORE TIME THAT YOU SPEND IN THE GYM, THE BETTER RESULTS YOU WILL HAVE.

The quality or intensity of a workout is far more important than the quantity of time of that you spend at workouts. My workouts consist of about 20 minutes of intense cardio, 5-10 minutes of weights and 10 minutes of stretching. I mix things up quite a bit so things are always changing but the only time that I am in the gym for an hour or more is with clients.

PRE-WORKOUT STRETCHING REDUCES RISK OF INJURY OR STRETCHING IS NOT NECESSARY.

Stretching is a very important aspect of a complete fitness program. Stretching your muscles helps to reduce injuries by increasing range of motion. However, your body prefers to be stretched at its warmest point (after a workout) when you’re hot and sweaty. Stretching before a workout is not recommended as you may harm connective tissue like ligaments, tendons. Stretching the specific muscle groups that you’re working between or after sets is ok as well if you’re short on time. Hold each stretch for about 30 seconds. Research has shown that longer than that is of no increased benefit.

DOING A GAZILLION CRUNCHES WILL GIVE ME A SIX PACK.

There is no such thing at spot reducing ANY part of your body. Sorry. It’s not like plastic surgery where you can have your most hated body part removed immediately. You’ve got to earn that six pack and you start by getting rid of the layer of fat covering it. We all have the “six pack” but it’s just covered by fat. Get rid of the fat and voila- your six pack appears. The tricky part is figuring out how to do that, right? Despite what many people believe or hope, diet and exercise COMBINED is the way to achieve that.

There are no quick fixes, no magic powders. You reap what you sow when it comes to your health. Your body truly is the only thing you are guaranteed to carry with you throughout your lifetime so take care of it and it will take care of you.

If you have any fitness questions, leave a comment below.

To your good health!

 

Follow Your Heart

Lisa Knowing , , , 2 Comments
Share this:

 

Your heart beats for a reason. Every beat reminds you that you are alive and that you matter.

Have you ever really listened to the thumping of your heart? It works so hard to keep you moving so that you can find your life’s purpose and live it.Follow_heart

I think one of the most important pieces of life advice that anyone can give or receive is” Follow Your Heart”. I always say that the heart will take you to places that the head would never go and those are the places where I want to be. They are the places filled with infinite possibilities- where anything can and does happen. The map to lead you to these places is located deep inside you and it is just waiting for you to discover it. Will you go there or will you continue to look out into the world or to other people for answers to your questions that may not even be right for you?

Everything you need you already have inside you. We’ve heard it time and time again but why are we not listening?  The ones that do are the ones whose light shines like the brightest star in the sky. You can’t miss them.  They have figured out what the rest of us are still trying to figure out and they aren’t  just existing on this planet- THEY ARE LIVING THEIR INTENDED LIFE. 

We all have that same opportunity but we are letting the unimportant superficial aspects of life and ourselves get in our own way. We become easily distracted with all of the unimportant things that others try to convince us as being of the utmost importance.

What will you find if you look inside to really find out who you are? You will find your true essence which may be completely different from what others have been telling you about yourself and pushing upon you since birth. Another person’s thoughts or perceptions of you are just that- their thoughts or perceptions, good or bad. Unfortunately though many of us hear it from someone we consider to be more important than ourselves or from more than one source so eventually we start to believe their words and get further away from the only truly correct source, our self.

All good things come from the heart. Think about it. First and foremost is the blood that flows from your heart through your whole body. That by the way is spectacular and definitely something to study when you have some time. Gifts from the heart are the best presents to give or get. When someone speaks from the heart you end up with heart felt words. See what I mean and these are just a few examples off the top of my head.

Your heart is on your side. It will keep beating while it waits for you to show up. Do so before it stops!

 

 

My First Time Going Solo

Lisa Taking new paths , , , , , 0 Comment
Share this:

Concert_jux

Have you ever noticed in your life that no matter how hard you try sometimes something is just not going to turn out the way you want it to?

You can do everything to try to make it happen but in the end, it just doesn’t come together.  Have you ever thought that maybe that what you wanted at that time may have either not been the right thing for you or that maybe you were going to discover something bigger or better or more useful to you?

Case in point- Many years ago I had tickets to go to a great concert.  At the last minute, my friend told me that she couldn’t go. I scrambled to find someone to take her ticket. I called (there was no texting then) many different people and no one could go or I couldn’t reach the people that I thought could go. Finally something in my head just knew that I could contact 100 people and it wasn’t going to come together. I didn’t know why, but I knew. So, I gave up. I went down to the venue to reluctantly sell the tickets at cost which I did. During that time, I met a guy who was looking for one ticket. I told him I had two but he only wanted one and wanted to be closer to the stage. He told me that he went by himself all the time and usually got a deal by buying one ticket. I watched him as he went up to other people looking for that one ticket.  He got it and was on his way inside.

I could see the excitement on the faces of the concert goers and felt sad that I was just going to go home.  I had to; what other option was there? I had never thought about seeing a show by myself. That would be… weird. I had gone to movies and restaurants by myself before, and had even travelled to Europe by myself but going to a concert alone- Yikes!

Then it happened.

I was going to put myself into that weird, unfamiliar place of going by myself. I had to get comfortable with being uncomfortable so  I bought one ticket. It ended up being 6 rows ahead of my original ticket and cost me less. Maybe that was my reward for going solo. I was on an isle and sitting beside a guy who was also alone. We had an interesting chat before the show started and I started to feel comfortable in my surroundings. Not so weird. In fact, it was pretty cool. I had a great time.

As I got out of the venue I saw the original” looking for one ticket” guy. He looked at me and said’  You went!” “Yes, I did and it was amazing”. We rode the subway together for the next 10 minutes and then said goodbye. He was a random person who came into my life for a split second to take me to a place where I had never been and had never thought of going to. Now, I go to concerts by myself all the time and meet many others who do the same and we have a blast TOGETHER.

 Lesson learned. Step out of your comfort zone. Surprises await.

What surprises have you found by stepping out of your comfort zone?