Fitness Integral

Airfresheners Stink

2009-02-28T13:30:00.004+01:00

I was just watching a little TV while folding the laundry and the amount of air freshener commercials caught my attention.

We are stuffed full of messages that our bodies smell bad, our homes smell bad, our clothes smell bad, our cars smell bad, and the list goes on. Thankfully we are also offered "fabulous" solutions to these "problems" we have.

So, deodorants, scented candles, air fresheners, etc. are the answer, right? WRONG!

First, often there is no "problem". All these messages make us paranoid. (However, my husband's workout clothes really DO smell bad)

Second, life is suppose to have some scent to it. It would suck to live in a neutrally smelling world.

Third, these chemical options to de-smell ourselves are not the way to go. These products are full of chemicals and toxins. Yes, the companies say that their products are harmless but this is far from the truth.

Did you know that these companies are not even required to list all the ingredients?!??! They are allowed to list "fragrance" without disclosing what chemicals that might include.

Many deodorizers use phthalates which are not regulated by the FDA. Phthalates have been shown to cause cancer, developmental and sex hormone abnormalities in infants and can effect fertility.

During my masters program in Public Health I did a project on indoor air quality and the health effects in children. Sadly I found that our kids are not protected by the current systems. Kids metabolisms are higher thus a lower level creates toxicity in their bodies. Most products are NOT tested with kids little bodies mind so these so called "safe levels" of cancer causing chemicals are speaking about adult bodies. And even for adults, why would you choose to breath in a product that has been shown to cause cancer? It just seems to contrary to common sense.

So, stop deodorizing your homes, your carpets, your laundry, your car, and especially your kids rooms and play areas. You precious babies do not need cologne. Choose organic and all natural products for deodorants. Use ecological laundry detergents and house cleaners.

When a real need for improving odors surfaces, try ventilating and it all else fails, use a few drops of an essential oil and water in a warmer. Even then, check the label.

Diet truths

2009-02-27T18:05:00.004+01:00

The people who come to me wanting to lose fat are endless. The people who really are willing to change their habits are few and far between.

People, if you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always got!

If fat loss was easy, personal trainers wouldn't be needed. Fat loss is SIMPLE but not easy. There is a difference. I can GUARANTEE that you will loose fat IF you follow the plan. The problem is, most people who want to lose fat aren't really willing to do the work. Well, sorry, but there is no easy way. You've got to change your habits. And the worse news is that you have to KEEP (most of) those habits because if you go back to your old habits, as I said before, "you will get what you always got" and gain the weight back.

Getting older is not an excuse either for getting fat. The reason people gain weight as they get older is because their metabolism gets slower. Now, before you jump up and say "See! It's not my fault!", I'll tell you why the metabolism slowed down. It slowed down because if you do not maintain muscle, it will atrophy and go away. Basically each year that you don't stay active, lift weights, you will lose muscle. Losing muscle means lowering metabolism. Then if you eat the same as before and worse combine it with moving less, it shouldn't be a surprise to see the fat accumulate.

Basic healthy eating habits (while achieving fat loss):

Eat fresh foods and avoid processed crap
Eat like a king for breakfast, like a prince for lunch, and like a peasant for dinner
Eat slow and chew well
Drink only water and herbal/green teas (no pop (not even diet!), no coffee, no alcohol, no juice, etc.)
Eat some protein and fat with complex carbs. Avoid carbs alone.
Eat enough good fats
Load up on nutrient dense foods and avoid empty calories
Watch the portion sizes

That's about it. If you want to see more specifics you can check out our other blog that follows body transformation and describes our diet.

It's not that difficult. Just love your health and your body more than the endless array of crappy food available to us.

Basic question to keep in mind when you make your nutrition choices:
"Will this choice get me closer to my goal or further away from it?"

Lazy Buns

2009-02-12T16:04:00.003+01:00

Is your butt taking a free ride?

One of the most common problems I see as a corrective exercise specialist is lazy glutes. Is your bum a lazy bum?

Inactive or poorly active glutes can cause havoc for the body. Just imagine these huge muscles not doing their job! Someone else has to take up the slack. This can cause the hamstring and lower back to over work and thus complain in the form of pain, strains, etc. Also, knee pain can often be traced back to lazy glutes. Obviously poorly functioning glutes leave you far from optimal performance. This is like driving a car with only half of the cylinders working!

So, let’s see if your glutes are asleep and going for a free ride.

Hold a basic back bridge for 60 seconds. At the end of the 60 seconds note where you feel the effort. Which muscles are working the most: the hamstrings, the glutes, or the low back?

Your glutes are lazy if you feel this exercise more in the low back or the hamstrings.

Other signs for potentially lazy glutes include:

Anterior pelvic tilt
Tight hip flexors
“No butt”
Knee problems
Knees that cave in while running, squatting, etc.

So I have Lazy Glutes. Now what?!

A few basic exercises to activate the glutes include:

Clam shell
Back bridge
The Cook hip lift (pictured below)
1 leg squat
Horizontal bird dog

Keys to successful reactivation include:

Focus and concentration. You must think of the muscle you want to fire. We are working on the nervous system connection to the muscles.

Palpation. Touch your glutes. This will increase neuromuscular facilitation and assist in activation.

Patience. Most likely your butt didn’t start bumming yesterday. It can take some time to retrain the brain-muscle connection.

Perfect technique. Poor technique only teaches poor mechanics to your system. Be sure to use perfect technique. Otherwise you might as well do nothing.

Pick 2 to 3 activation exercises above and do them every day for 2 sets of 10-15. It is recommended that you start with the easier exercises first to assure perfect technique. Always do your activation exercises BEFORE your workout to aid in better movements during the training.

This glute bridge test is part of a full corrective assessment. A corrective exercise specialist can perform a complete movement assessment and provide compensation specific exercises to help you realign your body. The idea is to calm down the over active muscles, lengthen the shortened muscles, activate the inactive muscles, and improve integrated muscle coordination. This article only touches on activating the glutes. A comprehensive corrective exercise program would also include self myofascial release, specific stretches, additional activation exercises, and integration exercises.

25 Random Things about Me

2009-02-01T16:34:00.003+01:00

I've been infected with this game played in Facebook. I have loved reading about my friends so I thought I would share with you 25 random things about me so you can get know me a little better.

1. I have moved across the Atlantic 2 times, every 14 years. From Finland to Oregon when I was 14 and from Oregon to Catalunya (Spain) when I was 28. Where will I move when I'm 42?

2. My 2 biggest loves are horses and dancing (ballroom, esp. latin).

3. I also love all things pregnancy, birth, and babies.

4. I used to love horror movies and thriller books and now can't stand either.

5. I can hear the electronic sound from the tv and the cell phone charger and both drive me nuts.

6. I still haven't found the right moment to spread my dad's and my brother's ashes.

7. My mom will soon live in Finland again and my other brother lives in Oregon.

8. I have 15 cousins that I am getting to know now as an adult. I'm already looking forward to summer at the family summer place in Finland!

9. I love board games, especially puzzles.

10. I was the top student in my exercise and sport science graduating class at OSU.

11. I completed a masters in public health only because i wanted a graduate assisstantship at Dixon (the rec center at OSU).

12. I am athletic but can't play any team sport with a ball to save my life. I do much better in individual sports.

13. I have worked as a barista, a telemarketer, inn-keeper at a B&B, cleaner, English teacher, and a catering waitress before sticking to the fitness industry.

14. I was a party animal my first 2 years of college. I got two MIPs, my favorite drink was Everclear, I gained 25 lbs, and I was in a sorority. I felt like hell those years. Now I drink maybe 3 drinks a year.

15. I speak 4 languages on a daily basis. (Finnish, English, Spanish, and Catalan)

16. I have worked as a personal trainer since 1998 and a fitness instructor since 2000. At one point I taught 6 spin classes a week. I have taught everything from kickboxing to dance.

17. I skiied for 7 years and switched to snowboarding 16 years ago. I am now thinking about switching back.

18. I have done a few triathlons only because my hubby does them and I really wanted to like doing them. I still hate swimming and running. I do now enjoy road biking and we even bought a tandem as our wedding gift to ourselves.

19. My hubby and I met as exchange students in Finland (I went back to study for a year). He lived 2 stories below me and I could see how he cooked without his shirt from the reflection off the next door building's windows. :) I fell in love with him playing ice-hockey and Finnish baseball. We had a long distance relationship for 6 years. We had 5 wedding celebrations.

20. I don't exercise as much as people think I do.

21. I LOVE black liquorice, especially the salted kind from Finlad, salmiakki. I can (and have) seriously eat a kilo of it by myself in one sitting. The only reason I am not fatter is because salmiakki is not available in Banyoles.

22. I broke my foot in grad school by getting out of bed.

23. I had this need to have a job with "a title" so I spent a miserable 6 months in California as the Wellness and Fitness Director at UCI. Then I realized I was being an idiot, moved to Catalunya to be with the man I love and opened a studio doing what I really love, perinatal fitness and corrective exercise.

24. I LOVE studying and going to workshops.

25. I remember the names of all the babies born to Fitness Integral moms.

Hamstring magic

2009-01-19T16:12:00.004+01:00

Try this:

1.) Stand up and try to touch your toes.
2.) Make a mental note of how far (or not) down you can reach.
3.) Hold your mouth wide open (think dentist) for 60 seconds (yes, time it!)
4.) Reach for your toes again and note the improvement.

Strange, huh?

Pregger Fit

2008-12-11T16:45:00.004+01:00

Today is the big day on 12 Days of Fitness that my ebook makes it debut!

If you have downloaded the program, I truly hope you will make use of it and not let it collect dust on your hard drive. The exercises are simple yet effective. I have focused on just 10 key exercises to help endure pregnancy with a smile and prepare your body for a fabulous birth and motherhood.

These exercises are part of each one of my pregger classes at the studio. They work!

Enjoy the program and let me know if you have questions or comments!

Salut,
Kaisa

Lessons from dog trainers

2008-12-07T16:35:00.003+01:00

Today I watched a Brittish show called "It's me or the dog". http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/its-me-or-the-dog/bio/bio.html

It is a reality show about disobedient dogs and their owners. A super fab trainer, Victoria Stilwell, comes to the rescue and whips these families and dogs into behaving better.

Today it was truly like "The Biggest Loser" for dogs. There were three obese dogs who Victoria took on as clients. Most of the poor dogs had been fed into DOUBLE their ideal body weight by their owners. Unreal.

What struck me about the show today was how difficult it was for some of these families to get their dogs to lose weight! Literally every single calorie the pooch intakes can be controlled by the owner. There is no reason these dogs shouldn't have fabulous results. Two out of three families did really well and the pups got their figures back. The third kept slowly killing their dog by feeding it too much. By the end Victoria took the third pup for one month bootcamp and gave the dog its life back. 5 months later when she returned to the families, this dog was fat again at DOUBLE her ideal body weight.

I think this is unexcusable! It is much harder for humans to lose weight because we eat for other reasons besides hunger and we have an abundance of food available. A pet dog can only eat when it is given food. It is a form of animal abuse to not feed and exercise your dog properly.

My theory on why fatty beagle's "mom" was keeping the dog fat is that she wanted company. She couldn't allow her dog to be slim if she couldn't be slim herself. Sadly the "mom" kept gaining weight throughout the 6 months of taping.

I would venture a guess that if you have a fat dog, he or she is not getting enough exercise. This probably means you are not getting enough exercise. Get off your bum and help your dog lose weight. Hopefully in the process you will get fitter too!

I will leave you with the a quote from the show about over eating:
"A moment on the lips, is a life time on the hips."

Make good choices.

Salut i felicitat,
Kaisa

Ill-fitting panties

2008-12-04T15:25:00.004+01:00

I am wearing underwear that doesn't fit....For the third day in a row. (at least it's not the same pair! :P)

I started thinking about it on my way to the studio as every single step I took on my 4 minute 22 second trip there, made my parts uncomfortable. I thought, "What the hell am I doing?!" I had the CHOICE to not put on this pair that I fully well know are not a good fit for my bum. "Why did I do this to myself?!"

I give you this TMI (too much information in case you're not familiar with TMIs) to illustrate something so many of us are guilty of way. too. often.

We CHOOSE to do things that are counter productive when a straight forward better way is available. We CHOOSE the "easy" way out instead of the one with more benefits. We CHOOSE for right this second vs. better in the long run.

Back to my knickers. :) So this morning my thoughts were like this: "S*!t, I really hate this pair of undies. Why do I only have these aweful pairs left? Where are all of my undies? Ahaa... They must be in the clean laundry pile on the couch... Nah, I don't want to go find them now, I'll just put on these uncomfy ones."

So, I CHOSE for what seemed easier at the moment (not making the effort to find the good ones) instead of CHOOSING to make the effort for what is good in the longterm (happy parts all day long).

If you are still with me after the TMI, now comes the link to wellness...

December is the month so many fall for the crappy (no pun intended...) undies. Temptation of party platters spilling over with delicious desserts, the stores full of special holiday foods, and the never ending to-dos the we use as excuses to miss workouts become our ill-fitting panties. We CHOOSE immediate satisfaction of gorging on unhealthy foods or the easier way of skipping exercise sessions and then suffer with stomach aches, tiredness, guilty feelings, and getting fatter. In the long run, it is so. much. easier. to CHOOSE the effort of taking care of yourself and giving up some instant satisfaction.

Ready for the tough love?

If you are wearing uncomfortable panties or boxers, the truth is, you CHOSE to put them on. As such, you lost your right to complain. Start making better CHOISES NOW. Don't wait until January to remove the ill-fitting panties. By January those panties will have grown stuck to your behind.

Salut i felicitat,
Kaisa

I Believe

2008-11-26T14:41:00.005+01:00

Welcome to my first blog post!

I am excited to share with you some personal development work that I have been embarking on with my new coach, Dax Moy. He has given me the needed kick in the butt to start a blog and a great inauguration topic. He challenged his mentees and other fitness coaches around the world to follow his lead to be very transparent in our work. First task is to post an "I Believe" blog. You can see the post that started a world wide "I Believe" phenomenon amongst fitness professionals here http://personaltrainersuccess.blogspot.com/2008/11/what-i-believe.html

Here it goes...

I believe

- I believe in collaboration and referral. As a fitness professional, I believe our task is to help clients achieve optimum wellbeing within all the dimensions of wellness. This means having a network of other professionals to refer to. Chances are a client will be better served by seeing multiple professionals for a more holistic approach.
- I belive that "excusitis" is an epidemic. If you look for the perfect time to start x, you will never find it. Perfect time doesn't exist. You should get started NOW.
- I agree with Dax that doctors in general know very little about exercise. I also would say that sadly, many gynocologists know very little about what is best for the woman and child during labor and birth.
- I believe that postpartum care for women is generally pathetic. Perinatal fitness specialists are desperately needed to help women recover their weak core and pelvic floor muscles. I bet if men were the ones giving birth postpartum care would be a lot different. Women, we deserve better!
- I believe every person needs a corrective exercise program to achieve optimum health. All of us end up with compensations from our past and current habits.
- I believe with poor nutrition optimum life is impossible. It saddens me that so many adults and kids eat so poorly. They have no idea how good they could be feeling!
- I believe most people, including myself, have a hard time living in the present. We all should slow down a little and enjoy the present. Life is too short to always be in a hurry.
- I believe people have good intentions and do the best they THINK they can in their current reality. Changing these thoughts and taking ACTION (thanks Dax!) is the way to change this reality.
- I believe all health professionals need to lead by example. It frustrates me to see doctors, trainers, nutritionists, etc. overweight, unfit, and/or smoking.
- I believe my task is to educate and empower.
- I believe we all need a lot of human touch on a regular basis for optimal wellbeing. I believe hugs are much better than cheek kisses. :) Since moving to Catalunya 2 years ago I really miss hugs!
I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into my thoughts. Do you agree with me? Do you disagree? Leave a comment!

Salut i felicitat,
Kaisa

www.fitnessintegral.com