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Showing posts with the label NeverStopMoving

Muscle Of The Week:... Trapezius

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Hi There I am starting a new series. I want people to learn more about the body and how it works. I talk about the brain and body needing to learn to talk to one another. They need to speak the same language. During my time with clients and athletes I have realized that most of them have little to none body awareness.  Now let me be clear. You do not need to understand or have in- depth knowledge to have good body awareness, but it helps tremendously when you at least know where the muscle is and how it works.  So during this series I am going to try and keep it simple. I will provide you with what I deem credible sources that I use/d during my studies and ongoing quest to fully understand movement. This week's muscle is the Trapezius Muscle. I believe this is one of the muscles a lot of people do not understand and causes a lot of discomfort. This is what I call the stress muscle, because it seems this is where we carry our tension. Our work environments and how we are in

Putting In The Effort

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Hi There  I love my job. I love that I get to help and see other peoples' progress. I feel honored being a part of their journey.  But THEY need to put in the effort. When we start on their movement journey, we enter into an accountability relationship.This means we are accountable towards each other and our goals. I need to design programmes that challenges you in every way and that meets your physical standards and i need to make sure all this happens in a safe and productive way. YOU need to do the WORK. YOU need to put IN the EFFORT at your highest ability for it to work. I CAN NOT DO IT FOR YOU! I can shout, jump, do every movement with you whatever it takes, but I CANNOT DO THE WORK FOR YOU! Even if I sometimes wish I could.  Remember we are in this together. Sometimes it takes longer to see results or due to injury we get frustrated, but that is life. We have to push through the feelings and follow Nike and JUST DO IT. We might even have to start over or go in a diffe

The Difference Between Amateur And Champion/Olympian

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Hi There  I am a Sport Scientist.  I work with athletes and I have had the honor of interning in the National Rowing Program. I have learned and watched in awe how these Athletes work and strive for gold.  I identify myself as a Sport Scientist and it is where my love and knowledge of movement starts.But foremost, I value the human being and everything we are and can achieve in our very small capacity. I believe this makes me different than most other Sport Scientists.To me the human spirit and attitude can against all odds help us perform and achieve more than what "papers", "data" and even "statistics" show us is possible.I believe this. That said I always tell my athletes that being an athlete is not normal. You are either normal or your an athlete. You can not be both. If you want to read more on why I say this click here .  There is a reason why being the CHAMPION/OLYMPIAN is a BIG deal. I mean if it was easy, believe me I would not be the s

We Are People Too...

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Hi There  Coaches, Personal Trainers, Instructors etc. are people too. I am saying this because I feel like we forget this factor. Even though they are carrying over their knowledge over to us and plan out our sessions and then essentially lead us in their sessions. They are human.  Sometimes their planing wasn't up to par or had some logistic problems, but to judge them too hard on this factor is not fair. I also want to say that experience plays a big role in planing successes. Also that it is sometime nerve wrecking to do so. The dynamics of the nature of movement makes planning difficult. I always when in trouble go to these people to help work it out. They can change a plan sp quick and precisely AND it works!!!   Coaches, Personal Trainers, Instructors etc. also get frustrated, have long and varied days, have too be motivated ALL THE TIME, which takes a lot of energy. Think about it. If they are not motivated how on earth are they going to motivate you? But luckily most

Having Accountability Works Better

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Hi There  My blogging this year is very slow, I want to ask the followers to bear with me. I want to give you quality content to read and I REALLY do believe that what I have ta say can make a difference, And what I have to say is important. That is why I do not want to bombard you with blogs that don't mean anything or just to waffle useless information... That said let us get to this blog. I want to encourage you today to make movement fun. I have been looking a lot at exercise Youtube videos. I have also thought about exercise fads that come and go... Like Tae Bo, Zumba, Insanity  etc. They come because they are fun, they go because we do not get good instruction and most likely get hurt and motivation to keep going gets lost. Following an instructional Dvd or whatever medium your are using does not motivate you to carry on and you get bored. He always says the same thing wears the same thing, nothing changes. Also you are in control of your session and if you decide to skip

You Can Not Change What You Do Not Know

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Hi There  To make a change we need to be be conscious of what you need to change. You can not change what you don't know.  So taking that first step in admitting that a change is needed is a very big step towards the change.  Another thing we need to keep in mind is that change is a process. EVERYTHING is a PROCESS. Change takes time and follows a specific process.  Making small changes and building on them is the best way to change. It doesn't just happen. So let us become conscious and make a change by starting small and manageable, building on your successes.   Consciousness is key. Have a great weekend!! Keep Moving until ne xt time 👋

The Lie We Tell Ourselves

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Hi There  The biggest lie we tell ourselves and everyone who asks is.... I HATE EXERCISE... Yes you read correctly. It is a lie you tell everyone and you begin to believe it. Just hear me out. Firstly, usually you do it wrong... Read my last  blog on this matter. (Click this link)  ... and sometimes injure ourselves or over do it to the point that we do not want to go through the PAIN again... not the exercise... the PAIN.  Secondly, how do we know we are getting old or unfit? Isn't funny that we do not always realise or rather it takes us way longer to realise we are fitter than were but it takes us an instant to realise we are losing it? We only think of "exercise" when we realise we are moving harder or becoming tired more often. It is not the action of movement we hate it is the reaction from it because we usually do it wrong. We as human beings love to move. I believe it is a blessing, because we are the only species that do movement consciously. We literally

Do not... I repeat... DO NOT get overwhelmed!!

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Hi There  This time of the year we try and get our "lives" in order and set up goals for ourselves. Sometimes we are even excited about all these challenges!! Other times we don't know where to start. This is how it usually goes...  You have never ran a KM, now you need to lose some weight...So you are going to run 5 km every morning...😲😵😨 You die trying and the next hour or day you are so stiff you can not function as a human being and no human likes torture let alone torturing themselves, so you stop and hate exercise... and thinks it does not work! Running can be substituted with any type of exercise activity...FYI  Sorry but that is WRONG and NO excuse. YOU did it WRONG!!! There is a science behind movement. Thus a process! As with EVERYTHING in life!!!! Do not get overwhelmed and push to hard! Start small and build on your successes!! Start with walking 15 min a day and build on it weekly... You might find that you enjoy it!!!  Again small steps... 

RECOVERY: Something to PRIORITIZE in 2018!

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Hi There Recovery is an important part of training and life. As humans we need rest. If we do not rest we die or suffer serious health issues.This fact should show that recovery should be planned and prioritized in our life.  As a Sport Scientist, I am going to explain recovery in terms of Training and because this science has to do with enhancing performance it is easy to see that recovery has the same importance in normal regular life. Again I am going to explain it as simple as possible. I am not going to use big words to try and convince you I am smart and you should listen to me. I want you to understand that taking some time to recover, (whether it is mentally, physically, spiritually ect. because we are more than just one thing, we are more than the sum of or parts!) is important and should be prioritized.  As a Sport Scientist, I measure "fitness" by how quick you recover from exertion. The quicker you recover the "more fit" you are. In other words:

DO NOT make New Year's Resolutions

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Hi There!!!! Long time no... read? 😕 Anyway, I hope you all had a great festive season and took the time to rest. Remember recovery is important in training thus in our daily lives even more. Today I want to talk about resolutions... Yes, we all make them, we even resolute to not make resolutions!! But we do.  In my personal blog I talk about  #OneWord . Click on the link to read about my #OneWord2017. Also check out my blog for #MyOneWord2018 ! I really believe in this way of doing "resolutions". We are creatures of habit. We pick up habits way more, than breaking them. We all know how challenging this is. This is also the reason why we usually fail. When we try to change too much we fail, but if we change in steps we succeed. Think about it. Everything is done in steps. It has a process.  This is what I want to tell you today. DO NOT I repeat DO NOT make the New Year's Resolution of losing weight!!!! Not only is it a cleshay, but it usually doesn't become

Mind Over Mind: Knowing what to focus on.

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Hi There The year is coming to end and I am putting in a lot of thought into next year's challenges. I am also  reflecting on this year  . This was quite a year so much has happened.  I think it is important to keep in mind where we place our focus. This plays a huge role on our motivation. Just like with all things. The mind can be our worst enemy or our best friend. We can work with our body or against it. Knowing where to place our focus and how is going to make the journey quicker and more empowering!!  This time of year  don't just make goal and focus on where you want to be, rather start focussing on HOW you are going to get there. What are you going to change?  Again as with a lot of IMPORTANT thing... Easier said than done.  Keep Moving until ne xt time 👋

Where it begins

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HI There This is a special blog. One of my clients that read my blogs asked me where my fascination with movement lies. I always seem to talk about movement in the present and future and not so much from where it begins. I usually only address it as Life Is Movement. It is one of the 8 characteristics of life.  So this blog is dedicated to where movement begins. Why my world revolves around it. For conception to take place we need the sperm to move to the ovum. From there it needs to enter (through movement) the ovum for conception to take place. I am not going to go to deep in the biology and physiology of this process but basically a lot movement takes place in the whole process. Cells divide and multiply and a fetus is formed. We even move in the womb. We never stop moving from the beginning and it took movement for us to exist.  Through growth (movement in a different form) we expand our knowledge, skills and experiences through movement. Movement dictates our destinies. When

#StayReal

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Hi There  I am going to go on a rant here...  This is why I despise the media and the way they "sell" exercise! They are LYING TO YOU!!! There is NO pill that is going to make you lose weight without YOU changing SOMETHING in your lifestyle. There is a reason you are where you are health wise, weight wise, mentally etc. This is why we lose the weight and gain it all back most of the time even more.   Worst is that we know it!!! We are just accustomed to instant gratification. We do not want to wait! Sorry but it is not how it works... You have to do the work... No magic here .. . The magic is within YOU. Start doing it for YOU. No other reason, because it is going to get hard. You are not all of a sudden going to love cardio... The mind needs to change. This is why I call it movement. Every aspect of your life is going to be affected by this movement... By you moving more. No one can make you promises.  Follw this link to You Need To Do The Work  No Personal Trainer, n

It Is OK To Rest

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Hi There  It is getting close to the end of the year. Depending on where you live, holiday season is upon us! The year has flown by! So many new adventures began and some are starting and... some are ending.  Isn't is amazing that we can have all three at the same time with different or even the same aspects of our lives! This is the complex beings we are! I absolutely love the complicated mess we are and at the same time organized!! Most of us start shutting down this time of year. We just want to finish, does not matter how as long as we finish.  I just want to say one thing. We must remember we are not perfect beings, we cannot do everything perfect. We strive for this and personally I believe this is why we are seeing the increase of burn out- even in our kids! Society makes us believe we need to be perfect in every aspect and way in our life. THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE. It should be our vision NOT our goal. What is the difference? "A vision is an unreachable ideal, a goa

Hiatus Over... I am Back!

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Hi There  Sorry for my hiatus...More on that @  my personal blog     I have been moving through the motions and even though I love movement, just moving is not good. Movement should always have direction. Does not matter what the direction of movement, it just needs intention... Movement is action. And as we all know. Action speaks louder than words. we can say all we want but it is what we DO that counts!! Let us carry on with moving with intention and a positive attitude.  Keep Moving until ne xt time 👋

... Why So SERIOUS?

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Hi There  Today is an absolutely beautiful day!! I love day like these... Birds chirping, sun shining, cold drinks ans just summer all around!! I love it! I realized that everyone around me looks... grumpy, busy and down. Problem is that we all are busy, but we need to look out of our normal view and expanded to more than just what is next on my list... Look at the birds in the trees, hear them. We are so serious... All the time!!! We take everything serious. We get easily offended....Because we are so serious. This also increases our stress levels, which is not good for our health! So my advise today is to figuratively to let your hair down and just be... Dance around with your loved ones and be a bit silly. Have some fun, not only on weekends, but during the week as well....TODAY!!!! Keep Moving until ne xt time 👋

What It Takes To Call Yourself An Athlete

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Hi There Not everyone can be an athlete or even wants to be an athlete. Now for some clarification. When I talk about Athlete I am referring to a person training for a sport and competing on an international level or at least trying to get in to the international scene, but nationally he/she is on top of the ranks.They are professionals. Before I get into trouble people participating in sport, but that are not as the above mentioned, are amateur athletes and there is nothing with that. They are the people that keep the sport and passion alive. In their pool the Pro athletes emerges.  An Athlete is not a normal person. An Athlete does not eat, sleep, train the same as a normal person. They push their bodies to where normal people usually get uncomfortable and stop. They do this in a controlled fashion and with help from their coaches and sport scientists, sport doctors and physio's. Their whole life revolves around training, training to win, be the best. They eat to tra

Patience is A Virtue... We All Hate

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Hi There  Patience is something we do well. Especially in today's lifestyle. We are rushed at work, we rush to get the kids to their activities, before and after school. Then it is homework, housework and prep work for the next day. Where did you take a breath? Where did you have a chance to laugh and play with the kids?  I think we do not even comprehend what it means to be patient. I also believe this is why we fail when we try new things. You want to learn how to draw, you suck, you stop... within a week or two. We want to become fit, so we run a 10k, when we never even ran 5km! We want to lose weight, so eat less, starve for a week, nothing's changed so we give up.  We want it all now. I totally get this because we are use to getting instant gratification. We don't wait for things we use to. For example before Netflix we had to wait an entire week for the next episode, now we wait 20 seconds and lets be honest you never just watch one episode... While being pat

Im Back... Listen to Your Body...

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Hi There Sorry for disappearing. I was sick in a bad way!! But here I am better and ready for action.  As I mentioned before this is usually a stressful time for most of us. I think it is important to remember to even though we have a lot on our plate; we need to rest. If we do not our bodies will force us and this is not good. It is not healthy to push the body to this limit.  We need to learn to communicate with our bodies. Get the brain and body talk the same language. We need to listen to the body, just like the body has to listen to the brain. The brain should be in charge but should also instinctively know to where the body can be pushed in any aspect of life. Literally every aspect of our being. This is what makes the brain-body relationship very delicate. It is hard to cultivate and this is the very essence of where movement patterns need to change, where conscious thought needs to enter the relationship. It all begins with what we think! Work in time to rest and reme