A personal trainer’s things to consider making new year’s resolutions Part 3

A personal trainer in Toronto is getting some good feedback!

You seem to be liking this! That’s rad - I’m happy for that. This will be the second last one, with one more to go in another couple of weeks. I certainly invite you to read the last couple if you have not already and otherwise - let’s jump right in!

A personal trainer in Toronto wants you moving all the time

Or at least more than you did the year before. Consider an incremental shift up. If you aren’t participating in any kind of movement now, resolve to begin once a week. If you are in the gym or yoga studio twice a week, resolve to go three times. It’s a little difference that I doubt I need to sell you on the merits of.

At the start of this year, my movement practice was actually nothing believe it or not. I was having a lot of issues with neck and shoulder pain that was bad enough to preclude me from being able to do most things that I liked doing in gyms. I had tried to fight through it in the Fall and it just wasn’t working for me. As I sought help and began getting things fixed I really took some time off to let my body heal. It was good - and it sucked. In February I began moving again very very incrementally. Closing out the year I am back in the gym and lifting and running and biking pretty much every day and it’s amazing. Point is, with every time I upped my game in the gym, I noticed a nice change in me. My well-being improved every time I added a day or a little something more here or there. Obviously this can be taken to extremes that are just no good and it should be noted that my recovery protocols were super in place and high functioning. A little more can be a good thing when it comes to movement. Give it a try.

A personal trainer in Toronto suggests beginning a morning practice

This can be as little as two minutes to as much as a half hour. It can make a huge difference in your day. A little bit of movement, gentle or vigorous. A little bit of stretching or yoga. A little bit of writing, intention setting, meditating, breathing. Taking a minute to get your self settled and set and ready - from a deeper place ready - for the day. If you can, at the same time, prepare your body for whatever it is about to be confronted with is a huge bonus. If 10 minutes seems like too much, start with two. Seriously. Two minutes. Set a timer. It will make a difference.

I began a morning practice probably thirteen years ago now. I was having a bit of a rough time. This may sound like an oversimplification, but I made a list of things that made me feel good and things that made me feel bad. I resolved to do more of the things that made me feel good and less of the things that made me feel bad. One of the things that I had noted made me feel good, was a little yoga first thing in the morning. I took to practicing it, and thirteen years later here we are. I currently don’t do the asana but I do breath work and meditate. Every morning of my life.

A personal trainer in Toronto wants to follow that up with a suggestion of an evening practice

Kind of the same as the above but in the evening. Hey look if you could take five minutes at the beginning and end of your day and do it consistently I guarantee the quality of your life would go way up. For real. I like to gratitude journal in the evening. We can tend to focus on the negative - this practice helps to wire our brains away from that habit. Add in a brief meditation and maybe a few gentle stretches to down-regulate us right off to sleep. It can be a powerful combination. Try it for a week and you’ll notice a difference.

I struggle with this one the most these days. The routine of our house doesn’t have a good space for it and it can often take me a while to actually do. The whole thing doesn’t need to take that long but I tend to meander with it. I really hope to get back into the habit with this because it really is a powerful way to end your day. I think I will try doing it with a timer present just to keep me on track. If I knew it was just going to be ten minutes and not thirty, I think I would be far more likely to do it more consistently.

A personal trainer in Toronto bids adieu

Until next time folks! I’ll be back to wrap this up in a couple of weeks and please let me know what ELSE you would like me to write about! What could I cover that would be of benefit to you? I’d really love to know. Please have a safe and happy time and I will see you soon!