FIT BLOG:
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We’ve all seen the power of water by what happens in flash flooding events. Trees, cars, buildings are no match. Water will WIN every time. We can take advantage of that force when we exercise IN water. Water provides 12-14% more resistance than on land. The more you push, the harder the water pushes back. Exercise IN water is not just for cardio workouts like swimming. You can get a full body, low impact, strength training workout IN water. A gentle yet challenging way to workout. It’s great to build strength AND work on your posture and balance. It’s a safe place for you to exercise if you have pain or arthritis. Anything you can do on land exercise wise, you can do in the water. The water can assist or resist your muscles. 30 minutes of pool exercise can give you the benefits of closer to a 2 hour land workout. Less time, same or better results. You can change the intensity by moving:
You can add weights or bands to increase resistance or just use the water itself. When you change the shape of what you’re pushing or moving through water, it changes the resistance (i.e. hand closed vs open or with a fin vs without). You can do your arm or leg strength workouts in the water- punch, lift, kick, squat, lunge. Walking in water is a great full body workout for your strength, cardio, & balance. Walk forward then turn around and walk through the current you just made to increase the resistance and intensity. Do that all directions (front, side, back). Kick Boards are great for pressing through the water to workout your core and arms or across the water to workout your core and legs. Group exercise classes in the water are getting more varied lately as well. Some classes might focus more on strength training vs cardio or do a combo of both. I’m seeing more Mind Body Exercise classes pop up especially at the YMCA. Yoga Aquatic classes or even ‘Ai Chi’ classes that involve breathing & resistance training to relax and strengthen your Body using Qi Gong and Tai Chi Movements. Water exercise can make your strength training more fun, varied, and full bodied. Remember to Start Slow! If you aren’t used to water exercise, start with 15 minutes and build up slowly overtime especially if you have an injury or chronic pain. Monitor how you feel into the next day to see if you overdid it or not. Aim for 2-3 times a week of strength training whether it's on land or in water. NEXT UP: I’ll share how to use water for recovery or rehab. In the meantime… jump in. The YMCA is one of the best places to find an indoor pool. If it's Summer where you are right now, you should be able to find an outdoor pool to exercise in.   *If you have diabetes or cardiac conditions like uncontrolled hypertension, you'll need clearance from your physician to exercise safely in water. P.S. Ready to be active & agile at any age? Download your FREE Relaxed Body Toolkit to get started here.
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It’s no secret I love to talk about the power of water for healing, relaxing, and challenging (i.e. Stand Up Paddle Boarding) your Body. I realized recently those are all ON top of the water and I haven’t really shared about the benefits of being IN the water. Kind of funny considering it’s one of my favorite things to recommend to clients. If you’ve got chronic pain and inflammation especially in your joints, water is one of the safest places for you to exercise. Why? There are many reasons but one of the most amazing benefits of water is something you can’t get on land: HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE This is the compression that water has on your body when you are IN it. What’s the big deal? Well, plenty… Compression has a calming effect on the Body and can help reduce pain in your joints and muscles. The pressure water provides also helps your:
As we age, one of the things that happens is our blood vessels stiffen and this leads to elevated blood pressure. So not only can you work on your joint flexibility and range of motion in the water, you’re actually helping your blood vessels do that too! You don’t even have to move your body to get the benefits of hydrostatic pressure. You just need to be standing or sitting in the water. Of course- if you exercise, you’ll increase these benefits. All this pumping of fluids while IN water is why it’s important to drink lots of fluids when you get OUT of the water. It’s just like when you get a massage and you’re encouraged to hydrate after it to help the body flush all the toxins. Ever notice you have to pee when you get out of the pool or lake? That’s from all the pumping of fluids that your Body is ready to let go of. Hydrostatic Pressure isn’t the only benefit of exercising IN water. NEXT UP- I’ll share why water isn’t just for cardio workouts. In the meantime… you can soak in your tub with some Epsom salt (& lavender) if you don't have access to a pool right now. It’s not as intense as the pool but it’s still providing compression to your Body and gives a boost to your circulatory and lymph systems.  P.S. Ready to be active & agile at any age? Download your FREE Relaxed Body Toolkit to get started here.
You never know what you might encounter when you go exploring in nature... I mean crossing the street in Austin, Texas. Check out what Ender ran across recently... I’m not sure how I went from growing up with the dad that everyone knew as the neighborhood’s 'Rattle Snake Killer' to having a husband who stops to make sure a snake got home safely?!?! It was alarming but NOT surprising that Ender decided to jump out of his truck to video the snake. One day I’ll share how we ended up visiting The Snake Whisperer on our Amazon trip in the southern region of Venezuela. Fun fact snakes have more bones than us but no pelvis and have evolved to have no legs. We obviously can’t change our shape as smoothly or as much as a snake but we can work on our mobility by targeting our Fascia (connective tissue). Fascia is the tough connective tissue that spreads throughout your body in a three-dimensional web from head to toe. It holds everything together from the bones, and organs to the nerves, blood vessels, and muscles. Everything is connected to everything by your Fascia. How you spend your day effects your play. Your fascia takes the shape of what you do most. If you sit most of the day, your hips are going to be tight in the front (your hip flexors). Your PSOAS MUSCLE is the most popular or well known of your hip flexors. It starts at the front of your lumbar spine (lumbar vertebra) goes under the organs and attaches to the front of your hip (i.e. at the lesser trochanter of femur) helping bring your thigh to your chest (bend your hip).  When the Psoas Muscle is tight, it can lead to low back, hip, groin or pelvic pain. It can also affect your posture and ability to stand up straight. It’s even been called the “muscle of the soul” as it can be tense or tight from holding onto emotional stress (fear, anxiety) and trauma due to being activated during fight or flight stress response. Tight hip flexors can cause your gluteal (buttock) muscles to not fire properly which impacts your power, speed and stability. Stretching your hip flexors daily will improve your posture and performance. ️Here are 3 HIP FLEXOR STRETCH MOVES that go from less to more fascia. The tighter you are, start with the least amount of fascia and work your way to more full body stretches (i.e. supine > kneeling > standing positions). 
OVER TO YOU: Do you have tight hip flexors? If so, are you ready to give them some attention each day? Your low back will appreciate it. You’ll notice you have better posture and more ease with movement and walking kind of like that floating on air sensation when you get a new pair of running shoes. Stretching your hip flexors is a great counter to all the sitting we do now. Make sure to add Hip Flexor Stretches to your Rest Toolbox.  P.S. If you’d like to work on your gluts & get more healthy hips tips, check out this FIT Blog. If you're ready to improve your mobility, posture & fascia fitness, get on the interest list for our next online Rest Camp here. We do not provide medical advice. Always consult your physician before starting a new exercise program.
What if I told you there is one thing you could do to:
Would you do it? If that’s a hell YES, then it’s time to add more FIBER to your diet. It’s been on my radar ever since my GI doc told me after my colonoscopy to eat more fiber (even though it was normal). My dad had colon cancer and my mom had breast cancer so I did a deep dive and realized I wasn't getting enough fiber throughout the day. I’ve been intentional ever since about eating high fiber foods at every meal and snack. And it has made a HUGE difference. Less bloating. Things are flowing. Better energy. Most of the foods that have high fiber are also Superfoods that give your brain the fuel it needs to do its job. A Win Win! FIBER CHECK UPDaily Goal: Aim for a minimum of 25 grams of fiber. How many of these high fiber foods in your diet? **Fruits, veggies, nuts & seeds, whole grains, legumes are all high in fiber.
**Flaxseed and Chia Seeds are a great source of fiber & easy to sprinkle onto anything or add to a smoothie. **More high fiber foods: peas, black beans, garbanzo beans, broccoli, collard greens, Brussel sprouts, potatoes, chickpeas **Even whole wheat tortillas and popcorn! How much fiber do you think you're getting each day? What can you tweak? Which foods sound good to add to your shopping list this week? Fiber will help you feel full longer, support your gut health, AND it’s a great way to get rid of constipation. All that extra weight in your bowels when you're backed up is pressing on your bladder and can overstretch your pelvic floor muscles. It’s normal to go daily if not more than that. Think about a baby and how they eat and poop, eat and poop, etc. It’s not normal to skip a few days. Fiber is one piece of the puzzle to helping you get back to normal. If you need some more help, remember the Seated Twist can help your digestion & get things flowing. Always go slow with adding fiber to your diet and drink LOTS of water or you can experience some uncomfortable gas and bloating as you bump it up. It helps me to make sure I’m eating it throughout the day just like I do with protein at every meal and snack. I’ve been doing this consistently enough that I can tell when I’m not getting enough fiber each day. Everything slows down- my energy and my bowels. And the C-R-A-V-I-N-G-S kick in. Fill your up your home with high fiber foods to help your gut stay healthy and do its job. Your body & brain will be super grateful!  P.S. Ready to be active & agile at any age? Download your FREE Relaxed Body Toolkit to get started here.
Today's the day! Time to Celebrate Earth Day AND National Beagle Day! Beagles & Nature- 2 of my favs that bring me so much joy. Here are 5 ways to tweak how you SHOP so you can make healthier choices for not only your Body & Home but also Animals and the Environment: 1. Shop Cruelty Free: Look for the BUNNY LABEL to find brands that don’t do testing on animals especially beagles & rabbits. Download the cruelty cutter app to make it easier to shop cruelty free. Check that all your skin care, cosmetics, and household cleaning products have the bunny on them. 2. Shop with Certified B Corporations™: B Corps are for profit businesses that commit to balance both profit and purpose. These brands meet legal standards to consider not only the needs of their customer and employees in their decision making but also the environment and larger global community. Check the labels of products you already buy from and see if they are one. 3. Chemical Free Home: keep chemicals, plastics and pesticides out of your home.
4. Clean Eating:
5. Donate: Find organizations that help the environment & find their brand partners (like seatrees.org has on their webpage or Climate Neutral and 1% For The Planet). The brands you choose matter for not only you and your home but our planet. OVER TO YOU: What's ONE thing you can change about how you SHOP that'll help support your Body, Home & the Environment? BONUS MOVES: In honor of National Beagle Day, add some Yoga "Dog" Poses to help you stretch and strengthen your core. You can do all of these on a counter or wall if you don't have the shoulder range of motion to do them on the floor. Warm up a little before you do them. Listen to your Body & do the ones that you can do with good form and still breathe well. You can either pick one move & do a few reps of it or do a few sets of the entire sequence.  Now get outside & celebrate this beautiful Earth (& National Beagle) Day!  P.S. Every sale of our online Rest Camps support organizations that improve the health & welfare of animals including Beagles. One of our favs to support is Beagle Freedom Project. They rescue and rehome beagles & other animals who have been used for lab testing in the U.S. and abroad. They also work tirelessly to champion laws & legislation to ban the cruel practice of animal testing nationwide.
Get on the interest list for our next online Rest Camp here. It's not looking so hot for the wildflowers in Central Texas this year. In fact, the nights have been dropping into the 40’s. I’ve seen a few patches of bluebonnets, but they don’t seem as vibrant as last year. Kind of a bummer so far. Despite this wild Spring weather, the trees are coming through and doing their job. Now it’s our turn. Consider this your early April warning that Earth Day is coming up on Tuesday, April 22nd! The 2025 theme is “Our Power, Our Planet™.” I’ll be sharing some tips to help you explore fun, new ways to support nature and the planet. Let's start with how you can help Restore Nature: PLANT
I was super pumped to learn about Seatrees when we purchased our Tandem SUP. It's incredible to see that over 4.7 million seatrees have been planted and restored around the world. You can get involved directly through as little as a $5 donation or by purchasing from a brand you love that donates to them. When you’re done finding a way to PLANT & Restore Nature, here's a Yoga Pose to help your BODY get grounded and centered.  HOW TO DO TREE POSE
MODS: Adjust your bent leg and arm position to your level of strength and balance. *Foot position: The higher you bring your foot up your leg, the harder it is on your balance. *Knee position: The more you open your knee out to the side, the harder it is to keep your hips aligned. Imagine you have flash lights on each hip bone. Keep the light shining in front of you equally (i.e. if you twist your hips one way, the beam of light would be facing that way vs straight in front of you). *Hand position: The higher you raise your hands, the harder it is to balance. **Don't forget to check that the foot you're standing on has equal contact on the floor/ground at the ball of your foot and heel with toes spread as much as you can. Think of growing roots into the ground like a tree to help you stabilize and ground yourself. OVER TO YOU: Which one of these Nature Moves sounds fun to do? I know it can be overwhelming to think about climate change. Remember it all matters. Small moves from all of us add up just like it does when you make healthy choices for your body each day. Baby steps my friend. Find small ways that are exciting to you to support the Planet. Don't forget to BE in nature as much as possible this Spring!  P.S. Ready to go from Stressed to your Relaxed Body? Download the Relaxed Body Toolkit & Daily Energy Planner here.
You're probably familiar with Wall Squats as a leg strengthening exercise but have you heard about other benefits? Research studies show it's #1 Isometric Exercise for reducing blood pressure. And by making one small tweak, your wall squat can also help release stress. So let's spice up your Wall Squats! Here are 3 Wall Squat Modifications that'll help you:
 WALL SQUAT WORKOUTS:STARTING POSITION FOR ALL SQUAT MOVES:
3 WALL SQUAT MODS & MOVES:
And of course, ALL of the above will help you have Strong Legs as well. Staying strong in your lower body as you age will help prevent falls & support good posture. If you haven't already added some Wall Squats to your workouts, it's time! Slide, Hold, & Shake your way to a Strong, Calm, more Balanced Body at least 3 times a week!  P.S. Ready to go from your Stressed Body to your Relaxed Body?
It’s never too late to break the habit of going too hard, too fast- THE recipe for inflammation, injury, & burnout... if you're willing to sprinkle some Rest & Relaxation Moves into your day. Let’s calm your body with daily Rest Moves so you can feel more energy, ease, & flow. Download the Relaxed Body Toolkit & Daily Energy Planner to help you get started. When you need to get focused, grounded, and ready to perform at work or for sports, one of the most powerful breathing exercise you can do to prep your Body & Brain is called: Breath of Fire. This Breath Work not only helps boost performance but gets your blood flowing, turns on your nervous system, breaks through emotional blocks, and stimulates your pituitary gland. Your pituitary gland secretes hormones that impact many body functions like:
Excellent reasons to add this one to your REST Toolbox. Please note: this breathing exercise should not be done while you are pregnant or bleeding during your cycle. BREATH OF FIREHow to do it:
Move with it: Once you have the breath work down, add it to a Yoga Pose. Breath of Fire + Yoga Pose for 1 minute = the same benefits as holding that pose for 1 hour with a normal breath. Boost confidence with it: Breath of Fire + a Power Pose will boost your confidence AND your focus before a Performance! Strike a Power Pose for 2 minutes (think Wonder Woman- feet apart and hands on hips) while doing the Breath of Fire. Then go for it. You'll be UNSTOPPABLE! Start practicing Breath of Fire slowly (during the daytime). If you get dizzy, go slower. It's not one to do before bed. It's to help you get ready to perform. The more you practice Breath Work, the faster you'll feel the benefits in your Body & Brain.  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!
If you've ever taken a yoga class, you're gonna be familiar with this yoga relaxation pose: CHILD'S POSE. What you may not realize is how many benefits it provides besides being calming to your nervous system. It's a great Rest Move to add to your REST TOOLBOX for breaks during the day, recovery after a workout, or before bed for better sleep.  BENEFITS OF CHILD'S POSE1. The forward folded position cues your nervous system to calm down which can help with pain and stress relief. 2. The pressure on your forehead can help with headaches, eyestrain, and allergies. It also activates your endocrine system which releases hormones to manage metabolism, energy, reproduction, growth and development as well as your bodies response to injury, stress, and mood. 3. The leg position helps open up your hips, pelvic floor and low back muscles. 4. The chest position helps expand the diaphragm and rib cage which encourages calming breaths. HOW TO DO CHILD'S POSE
If you've got issues with your pelvic floor like pain or tightness, add Child's Pose along with Happy Baby to your daily stretch moves. HOW TO MODIFY CHILD'S POSEIf getting on the floor isn't an option due to back or knee issues, you can do Child's Pose seated in a chair.
Always modify as needed depending on your particular health conditions including pregnancy. The seated version of Child's Pose is a great way to take Rest Breaks during the day when you can't get on the floor or if you have a headache or eye fatigue from work on the computer. Day or night, Child's Pose will help trigger your Relaxed Body so you can feel more grounded, calm, and centered. Give it a try before bed tonight to see how your body responds.  P.S. On the verge of Overwhelm & Burnout?
Calm your Brain with the 12 Days of Bliss Challenge- ONE simple REST Move in just 5-10 minutes a day to help you Recharge & Reset. Let the Adventure to a Peaceful, Playful, Powerful Body Begin- Download the FREE Challenge here. Do you have some "ME" time scheduled for this Valentine's weekend? It's a great weekend to tap into some "guilt free" rest & pamper yourself energy that our hustle culture encourages around the festivities. The challenge is to give yourself permission to slow down and prioritize yourself and your daily rest practices EVERY day. So tap into that energy this weekend and keep it going because you deserve to be first on your list before nurturing everyone else. If you're not used to slowing down, you might not know what Rest Move to choose. The cool thing is your body will tell you IF you're listening. Here's a simple breathing & short meditation exercise (Cherished Body Exercise) to help you tune into what Rest Move your body needs today: LISTEN HERE Or you can read it to yourself below: Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Hand on your heart or over your belly if you have tight shoulders. Close your eyes. Inhale through your nose. Exhale through your mouth. Relax your shoulders. Inhale through your nose. Exhale through your mouth. Soften your arms. Inhale through your nose. Exhale through your mouth. Let go from head to toe. Inhale through your nose. Exhale. Ask yourself “What would I do if I cherished myself?” Inhale through your nose. Exhale. Listen to your body. “What would I do if I cherished myself?” Keep breathing. "What would I do if I cherished myself?" Keep listening. "What would I do if I cherished myself?" When you're ready. Open your eyes. What came up (a thought, a word, a picture) when you asked your body the question? What does it need to feel cherished or nourished today? How can you schedule that into your day or take one baby step toward adding that to your day? If you didn’t get an answer right away, don't worry. Tune in throughout the day as it'll probably come to you later. You can repeat the Cherished Body Exercise daily to help you tune into what your body needs each day to feel more energy, ease, & flow. Your body knows best so make sure to check in daily. It’ll tell you what it needs to feel, move, perform better. Indulge in the chocolate & flowers but also pick one thing to refresh your body & brain this weekend. Let it be the start to cherishing yourself every day. Be kind to yourself!  P.S. Need ideas on how to cherish yourself daily? Take the 12 Days of Bliss Challenge- ONE simple REST Move in just 5-10 minutes a day to help you Recharge & Reset.
Let the Adventure to a Peaceful, Playful, Powerful Body Begin- Download the FREE Challenge here. |
Mollie, Ender, Ty & Teddie
Mollie Miller, PT
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