Before you jump into your core workouts, try these moves to help turn on your core and maximize your results.

OPEN UP YOUR HIPS: tight hips can make it harder to contract the pelvic floor muscles (the base of your core). In fact, tight hips can pretty much turn off your pelvic floor.  Stretch the front and back of your hips with a  runner’s lunge and full squat to prep for a core workout.
 
WARM UP YOUR SPINE: The Baby Get Up is one of our favorites for warming up your spine and turning on your core before a workout.
 
CHECK YOUR FORM: Use this Head To Toe Posture Checklist to turn on your deep core stabilizer muscles and reset your posture during workouts.  Be mindful of these spots for better form and check in frequently from head to toe that you’ve got yourself lined up during your core workouts. 
 
Here is the Head To Toe Posture Checklist and posture cues to become familiar with and the video to walk you through the following spots. 

• Feet balanced- find the 3 points of triangle
• Knee’s over 2nd toes as you bend them
• Inner thighs turned on and pulling toward each other
• Sits bones pulling together
• Pelvic Floor Lifted (Do Your Kegel)
• Belly scooped up and in
• Arm Pits to Hips
• Ribs pulled down and in
• Sternum lifted
• Shoulder blades pulled down and in (toward back pocket)
• Chin tucked in with neck long
• Spine elongated reaching through top of your head

 
HEAD TO TOE POSTURE CHECKLIST VIDEO

Becoming mindful of these key spots from head to toe during your core, Pilates or Yoga workouts will help you improve your posture overtime.  Using good form during your workouts WILL carry over into your day. 

You can take these posture cues out of the gym or off the mat to help reset your posture anytime during your day. 

Better posture equals more confidence, better performance, and decreased risk for injury.  You’ll walk, run, bike, row, and move better.

Prep, Reset, Reshape!
Mollie

P.S. Download the Head To Toe Posture Checklist Video to reset your posture during your day.

Ready to have some fun? Dust off your mat. It’s time to try the Baby Get Up.

Baby Get Up is one of our favorites for warming up your spine and turning on your core before a workout. 

To be honest, I stole this exercise from Ender.  His athletes all love it.  But I've spiced it up for you. 

Besides being a great prep for your workouts, it’ll give you some feedback on which side of your body is tighter and which side is less coordinated. 

Remember we all have a difference between the right and left side of our bodies because of which hand is dominate and what we do all day.

As you do the Baby Get Up, which side is more clunky or feels harder to do?  That’s the side that needs more reps or attention.

Before you try it, please read through everything below so you get the most out of it and stay safe.

• Listen to & know your body. If you have chronic neck or back pain due to disc issues, this may not be the exercise for you. You need to be able to round out your spine to do it safely.
• Do NOT roll into your neck with this exercise. It’s a small movement from hips to shoulder blades.
• Make sure you have a soft surface or thick mat to do it on.
• Take as long as you need to loosen up your low back and spine before you start the Baby Get Ups.
• If you sit a lot, you might need to do a short walk, some stairs, or few minutes on the mini tramp before starting this routine. The blood flow can help your hips and spine loosen up better.
• This exercise is contraindicated for anyone who is pregnant or has osteoporosis.

Watch the video one time before you try it (it’s only 1.5 minutes).  You’ll find some more details below the video on how to do it safely.

If you can’t even attempt it safely due to pain or tightness, you need to get yourself into HIP Camp™ to unlock your tight & tender spots using our favorite bodywork tools.  It’s never too late to improve your mobility and strength, but you probably need some tools to help you.

OK, let’s do it.  Watch the video then test it out.

1. LOW BACK STRETCH: Lay on your back. Bring your knees to your chest & breathe to stretch out your low back. Rock side to side or circle your knees one way then the other to loosen up.
2. SPINE STRETCH: Gently lower feet to floor. Scoop & pull your belly in and rotate legs to right side. Take a few breaths to stretch then rotate knees to left side. Take a few breaths to stretch then bring knees back to the middle.
3. BABY GET UP ON RIGHT SIDE: Scoop & pull your belly in, round out spine, chin to chest, and rock on right side 3 times. Rock from hips to shoulder blade. Stay rounded throughout the movement with your eyes on your knees. DO NOT ROLL INTO YOUR NECK.
4. BABY GET UP ON LEFT SIDE: Switch over to left side. Scoop & pull your belly in, round out spine, chin to chest, and rock on left side 3 times. Rock from hips to shoulder blade.Stay rounded throughout the movement with your eyes on your knees. DO NOT ROLL INTO YOUR NECK.

TIPS TO MODIFY THE BABY GET UP

You can modify by holding your knees as you rock, using your elbow on the floor as you rock, or make the rocking motion smaller. 

EXERCISES TO DO AFTER THE BABY GET UP

If you love Pilates Mat Work, you could add on the following exercises after your Baby Get Up’s:

• Rolling Like A Ball or Seal
• Pilates Open Leg Rocker
• Spine Stretch Forward

If you love Body Weight Training, do some planks after the Baby Get Ups.

If you love resistance training, do some band work that targets your shoulder, core and hips after the Baby Get Ups.

If you love Yoga, do some Warrior Poses after the Baby Get Ups.

Lastly, Baby Get Ups are an excellent warm up for the old school Turkish Get Up Exercise.

If you can’t decide, do them all in the order I wrote them for an awesome core workout that targets and balances both sides of your body. 

A few reps with good form of each exercise will improve your mobility, strength, and overall posture.

And if you’ve got kiddos, it’s a good one to show them. 

Have fun with it!

Mollie (& Ender)

P.S. Want to reshape your body and have better mobility, posture and energy? Check out HIP Camp™.

Disclaimer: We do not provide medical advice. Always consult with your physician before starting a new fitness or wellness program.

1. Fascial Body Work: Our favorite way to deal with inflammation or flare-ups is with fascial stretching and trigger point self-massage.   Sore muscles after workouts is common.  Soreness that lasts several days is a sign you over did it and might be pushing too hard without having a good recovery program in place.  HIP Camp™ shows you how to use bodywork recovery tools for flare-ups and chronic pain so you can get stronger and recover faster after workouts. Learn more here.
2. Lymph Care: we shared 4 tips to start a daily lymph care practice in the last FIT BLOG that’ll help decrease inflammation in your body.  You can find them here.
3. Sleep Care: 7-9 hours of consistent sleep that’s also good quality helps your body renew and heal itself.  Do you wake up feeling refreshed?  If you’re exercising and eating well but not getting enough or quality sleep, you’re actually aging yourself faster and lowering your immune system.  Here’s a 5 minute rest meditation to help you prep your body for sleep.
4. Clean Eating: eating an anti-inflammatory diet full of anti-oxidants and whole foods can help decrease inflammation in your body.  Aim to eliminate or avoid artificial foods, dyes, sweeteners and GMO’s as well as highly processed foods from your diet. Here are some simple recipes to help you get started.
5. Treatment strategies:  a physical therapist can show you how to use ice packs, compression garments, kinesiotape and/or cupping to help manage flare-ups and chronic pain.
6. Acupuncture: one form of traditional Chinese medicine where the practitioner inserts needles into specific points on the body to alleviate pain and to treat various physical, mental, and emotional conditions.  Studies suggest it can help relieve chronic low back pain, dental pain, migraine headaches, fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis.  It has also been used to treat addiction, anxiety, depression, digestive complaints, and neurological problems. 

THE MORE YOU:

• sit for your job (computer work) or sport (cycling)
• have adhesions from chronic injuries (neck/back/knee injuries)
• play a contact sport (running/tennis/basketball/football)
  

 
The more you'll benefit from supporting your body with daily practices to decrease inflammation.

Which one are you going to test out first?

It's never too late to feel, move, and perform better!  Here's to taking it one day or one step at a time.

Happy Healing!

Mollie

How's your summer going? It’s so easy to slide into the summer slump with your exercise routine. The heat, travel, changes in schedules, and now a pandemic can throw you off track before you know it. 

It’s the perfect time to bust out our favorite summer workout hack, The 1 Minute Workout*.

Fast. Powerful. Can be done anywhere. Even barefoot depending on what exercises you pick.

One minute of hard exercise gives you the benefits of 50 minutes of training! Woo hoo!

Moving your body is also one of the best ways to combat “brain fog”, if you happen to be one of the many who are experiencing it during the Rona Ride.  It’s even got a name, COVID Brain. 

This FIT BLOG explains the 1 Minute Workout* in detail.  You can do it with your cardio, body weight exercises, resistance bands, or a combo of them. 

It’s basically warm up 2-3 minutes, do a cardio or strength exercise as fast or as many reps as you can for 20 seconds (intensity of 10 or make it burn), do 2-3 minutes of gentle cardio, repeat 2 more times.  Cool down for a few minutes. Should be a total 10 minutes of actual exercise with 1 minute of hard exercise. 

These FIT BLOGS have 9 different full body movements you can use to design a combo strength/cardio interval 1 Minute Workout:

• 3 Strength Moves with Bands
• 3 Core Floor Exercises
• 3 Core Power Moves

You can do it!  Go hard for 1 minute (with good form).  Get creative.  Mix it up and have fun.  Always take a minimum of one day to rest between interval workouts so your body can fully recover.

Besides burning calories and boosting your heart health, all these moves will improve your energy and strength.  Add them to your stretch care for longer lasting results in your mobility and posture. You can even squeeze this in during a work break if you have to. No excuses!

How To Modify Your Interval Training: If you’re coming off a long gap in exercising or a break due to injury, you can modify the interval training by doing interval walking.  

Research shows it improves blood sugar levels (glucose control) in those with Type 2 Diabetes better than just walking.  And studies have shown that 34 minutes of interval walking has shown to improve blood pressure.

1. Walk to warm up for 3 minutes at an intensity of 1 (i.e. extremely easy pace)**.  You’re just getting the blood flowing.
2. Increase your effort to intensity of 3 (i.e. breathing deeply but can still hold a conversation) for 3 minutes. Another way to figure out the brisk walking pace is hitting 100 steps in a minute.
3. Ease back down to intensity of 2 (i.e. very easy pace and ability to talk in complete sentences) for 3 minutes.
4. Repeat steps 1 to 3 for 30 minutes. If that is too long at first, build up to 30 minutes over time (i.e. do 5-10 minutes your first workout and build from there or 1 cycle then 2 cycles to increase your workout time, etc.)

OK, get up & get your body moving!
Mollie & Ender

P.S. Want to get stronger with less effort?  Download this 3-minute Active Recovery Yoga Routine to help you train smarter, it's free!

*From the book: The One Minute Workout by Martin Gibala, Ph.D. 

**For intensity guidance, refer to the Modified Borg RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion) Scale from 1 (extremely easy) -10 (extremely hard or max effort).

One of the things I love about Pilates, Yoga, and Qi Gong is the emphasis on the breath work. 

They all teach you how the breath is where it all starts.  It controls everything.  How you heal.  How you feel.  How you move. 

And there are so many breathing exercises out there that can give you different results. 

You can change the way you breathe so that it calms your nervous system, to turn on your nervous system before or during activity, to boost your energy, to loosen muscle tension, and/or to decrease anxiety and overwhelm. 

It’s fascinating how something so simple can make such a difference in your body and mind. 

Try this.

Put your hand over your heart and close your eyes.  Take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.  Repeat a few more deep breaths. 

Did that release some tension in your neck?  Do you feel a less overwhelmed?  How about more grounded or centered?

You can use this breathing exercise anytime you feel like life is spiraling out of control.  It reminds you that you DO have control. 

One breath can change everything.  Your mood.  Your energy level. 

And as they say you've gotta feel it to heal it.  Breath work will help you do that.

Having a variety of breathing exercises in your self-care tool box will help you manage stress, fatigue, and pain to perform and feel your best each day. 

Here is another breathing exercise for you to try that will help you release STRONG emotions: The Ha Breath*.

Some of us were taught that it's not OK to express strong or negative emotions (i.e. anger, sadness) and they get trapped in our body. This technique will help you release them. 

Not to get too woo woo on you, but it'll also help you center yourself by combining both your masculine and feminine energy so you’re in a more peaceful place. 

Real quick, let’s do a body check.

How well are you moving without pain or stiffness?
 
Mobility is your ability to move without pain or restrictions during your daily activities. 

So how are you doing with that?

Before you throw the age card out, here me as I gently call B.S. to that. 

It's NOT a sign of healthy aging to wake up or end the day with a lot of tightness or soreness.

Healthy tissue doesn’t hurt.  It isn’t tender to touch.  It isn’t stiff.  It doesn’t hurt when you move. 

Inflammation, soreness and stiffness are signs of inflammation and over-training (or over-doing). 

I know you go, go, go and never take a time out to allow your body to rest. 

I see you...
 
Seriously, you may not be giving your body enough rest and recovery time between your workouts and activities.

Stiff, sore muscles are signs you need to slow down and work on your mobility.
 
Most people think about stretching as the way to better mobility.

We’re asked all the time what's the best way to stretch for this or that.

Yes, gentle stretching is a great way to work on your tight spots and improving your flexibility.

Going after your tight spots is one piece of the mobility puzzle.

But there's a flexibility hack you can do to maximize your stretch results.
 
It's a way to make lasting changes to your mobility, posture, and performance.

Did you figure out your Peak Time to workout yet?  If so, did you shift anything around in your schedule and see changes in your energy or performance?

Hope so.  I've got another fitness hack to help you plan your workouts.

Cycle syncing.

You can use your monthly cycle to help guide you with exercise.

Cycle check in (for females): 

Where are you in your monthly cycle? 
 
Your body needs different activity and has different energy levels based on the changes in hormones you go through each monthly cycle. 
 
Paying attention to and respecting these needs throughout the month will help your body have more energy and perform better with less effort.
 
In general, you want to be gentle and take it easy while you are bleeding and start to ramp up exercise during the middle of your cycle.  You want to ramp down as you approach the end of your cycle. 
 
Beginning of your cycle (Days 1-5): focus on Rest/Reflect/Relax activities (i.e. naps, meditate, gentle stretching/walking). 
 
Middle of your cycle (Days 6-20): you can train harder and increase the intensity (i.e. strength, cardio, interval training).
 
End of your cycle (Days 21-28): start to taper down training (i.e. yoga, pilates).
                                            
To dig deeper into this, check out the:

• MyFLO free app to help you track your cycle, any PMS symptoms, and for recommendations on food and exercise during each phase of your cycle.
• Kate Northrup's latest book:  DO LESS: A revolutionary to time and energy management for busy moms.

Not bleeding regularly or at all?  You can use the lunar cycle to guide you.  Kate's book talks about this in detail but basically:

• New moons are like the first part of your menstrual cycle. Rest more.
• Full moons are like the middle part of your cycle.  Train harder at this time.

If you are male, you can do this too.  You actually go through all these hormone cycles in a 24 hour period.  Every. Single. Day.  You've got a few options:

• Find your Peak Time to plan your workouts
• Plan your day where your hardest workouts are midday (like mid cycle mentioned above). Consider starting your day with meditation and do recovery workouts later in the day (ramp up then ramp down). 
• Pay attention to how you feel as the moon changes and workout accordingly.  Like do you have a ton of extra energy around the full moon?  Then challenge yourself with your workouts around that time each month.  The moon is affecting you also, just like the tides of the ocean, we are all mostly made of water :-)
  
  

Bottom line for all of us is to tune into our body's signals.  It'll tell you the best time and type of exercise it needs, if you listen.  And be open to changing it up if that's what it needs to feel and move better.

Cycle syncing + working out at your Peak Time will help you get better results with less effort! 

If you test it out, you'll see what I mean.  Give it a go and let me know your results in the comments below.

Enjoy!
Mollie

P.S. Want to feel, move, & perform better in 3 minutes or less?  Download the free MINI MOVES Daily Planner & Cheat Sheet for simple self-care exercises that’ll help your body feel more energy, ease and flow each day.

I had the most fascinating thing happen last month.  I got a 12-minute treatment for dry eyes that my optometrist recommended and without changing my glasses prescription I was able to see SOOOOO much better.

Like immediately.
 
Driving home, I felt like a kid at Disney World looking around in awe at all the details.  Everything was so sharp and clear.  Kind of like you feel after getting a new pair of glasses or contacts.  Or it feels watching a 3-D movie.
 
And walking the dogs in the dark that night was dramatically better.  The difference before and after treatment really blew me away!
 
Being in the brain injury rehab world, I had heard some info on dry eyes but now I really get it.
 
Besides going to the eye doctor each year and eating your carrots, people don’t talk much about what you can do for your eye health.
 
It’s more important than ever because we all have so much screen time.
 
Anytime you’re focusing on a screen (any screen), you’re blinking less among other things.
 
We’ve got some tiny oil glands in our eyelids that help keep the eye lubricated and love it when we blink.  Apparently, they also love heat and massage.
 
The treatment I got a week ago was a heat and massage for my eyelids called LipiFlow.  It helps unblock those tiny oil glands that get backed up for various reasons.
 
I didn’t realize all the things I could do to help them function better.   Honestly, I didn’t really know they existed until this past month.
 
Here’s what I’ve learned you can do to counter screen time and help support the function of these tiny oil glands:

• Take breaks from focusing on a screen every 20 minutes. Look 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Includes TV, computer, phone and even books. If you work in an office, try to look out the window if you can. Taking eye breaks from screen time allows your eye to relax and hopefully encourages you to blink.
• Be more mindful of blinking. Maybe take some blink breaks. LOL
• Use lubricating drops 3-4 times a day.
• In the shower, close your eyes and let warm water massage your upper and lower eye lids for a few minutes. My doctor recommended this over warm compresses. Again, your tiny oil glands like heat AND massage.
• Make sure your diet is high in Omega 3’s. If you’ve got dry eyes or symptoms, my doctor recommends you supplement regardless with cold pressed flaxseed (The brand he recommends and went on and on about is Barlean’s.  He’s really into this topic and has trialed everything. Says this brand gets best results.)  Add it to yogurt to help with taste and your body’s ability to absorb it.

Not sure if you’ve got dry eyes?  Here are some symptoms to look out for:
Burning, dryness, irritation, light sensitivity, vision fluctuations, contact lens intolerance, eye fatigue.
 
MINI MOVEMENT BREAKS

Just like our eyes need breaks when we spend too much time focusing, the body needs to MOVE to feel good and work well.
 
We preach & teach about mini movement breaks throughout the day because the research shows it all adds up to support your brain and body health whether it’s 3 breaths, 3 reps, or 3 minutes of movement.
 
Mini Moves, as we call them, done throughout the day can help your body feel more energy, ease and flow each day.  
 
Your brain likes to move especially after long periods of sitting or focusing on a task.
 
When your brain slows down, or brain fog sets in, it’s time to MOVE.
 
Ignore these signals and you’ll likely get more easily frustrated, be less focused, and less productive.
 
Want to feel, move, and perform better?
 
We’ve got 16 mini moves for you to experiment with and see which ones work best for your body (including another eye massage exercise you can do).  They take anywhere from 3 reps to 3 minutes to do.
 
Download the MINI MOVES Daily Planner & Cheat Sheet to help your body feel more energy, ease and flow each day.

Enjoy & don’t forget to blink!
Mollie
 
P.S. Download this free daily planner to help you pick out a few self-care & mini moves each morning.  Your body will love them!

Do you wake up feeling well-rested and pain-free on most days?

Did you know that’s even possible?

Lots of clients tell us they’ve always been tight, are living with aches and pains, and assume they always will be.

Because that’s what happens when you get older, right?

Absolutely not! 

You’re not destined to a life of stiff or sore muscles, slowing down, and eventually falling and breaking your hip.

Stiff joints, sore muscles, and fatigue are all signs of over-training (or over-doing) and not giving your body enough rest or recovery time between your workouts and activities.

Your body needs time to work its magic…to heal and repair itself.

Stiff, sore muscles are also signs you need to work on your mobility or flexibility.

The truth is…

You can win the battle against gravity, sitting, adhesions from old injuries, and the impact exercise has on your body’s flexibility as you age. 

It’s possible even if you’ve never touched your toes. 

It’s about technique and knowing what to target. 

Once you know the fundamentals, you can see how easy they are to sprinkle into your day.

The pill-free way…

So, how can you stop struggling with stiff, sore muscles and fatigue?

You can stretch. 

You know that thing you skip when you're trying to squeeze in a quick workout.

But, here's the deal.

Healthy tissue isn’t stiff.  It’s elastic.  Bungee cord like versus rope like.

Is that how you feel when you move right now? 

If not, it’s OK because it’s never too late to improve your flexibility.

The first step…

Stretching is the first step to bringing the spring back into your tissue (after having good hydration and sleep habits).

And it doesn't take a lot of time when you know what to target and what to do before and after you stretch.

Just like we’ve evolved from flip phones to smart phones, we’ve made advances in stretching that’ll make a lasting impact on your flexibility and posture. 

If you feel pain with stretching, you’ve gone too far…

There’s nothing more annoying than seeing an athlete on the sidelines getting his hamstring cranked on by a trainer.  There is such a thing as over-stretching. 

Bottom line: if you have pain with stretching, your body will tighten up more.  The body’s response to pain is to protect, tighten up, guard. 

And since you’re the best judge of what’s painful or not, you’re the one who should be the stretch “super star” of your body.

You can help your body stay active, agile, & pain-free at any age when you know # 1 thing to target with your stretching and how to stop over-stretching.

We’ll show you how in our FREE training, MINI MOVES: How to have more energy, ease, and flow in your workouts (& life). 

In this free mini training series, you’ll learn:

• The #1 thing to target with your stretching.
• How to use your secret weapon to stop over-stretching.
• What to focus on before and after stretching for lasting changes in your mobility, posture, and performance.

The technique we’ll share with you can benefit everyone.  We’ve used it on clients with chronic neck or back pain to professional athletes. 

Our pros always seem to achieve their personal best after a treatment (i.e. no hitter, new race time).

Are we promising you’ll become as flexible as a prima ballerina if you stretch daily?  No, anatomy and genetics does play a role.

But it’s never too late to improve your flexibility…

if you’re willing to spend 10 minutes a day on simple self-care stretches and moves.

Let's get you stretching with (lasting) benefits!
Mollie & Ender

P.S. Sign up before 6/10/19 to get the free Mini Moves training – it's in 3 short parts (just like your stretch self-care can be) to help you feel better, move better, and ultimately live better.