Soldiers of Fitness

Trying to hit your goals? Here is a week worth of tips to help you out.

Day 1: Don’t worry about what other people think. It doesn’t matter where you are starting, it’s about your journey forward. Not doing something because other people might judge you is not the best strategy for reaching your goals and waiting until you lose weight or get in shape to get back into real training will probably keep you in the same shape.

Day 2: Do something toward your goals every day. Seven days a week you can work on your goal. That doesn’t mean training the same movements over and over again (although depending on your goal that might be okay), it’s about knowing the major and minor muscle groups involved and building them up; or working on mobility and flexiblity of joints involved in the movement. Every day there is a little something you can do if you break your goal down enough to do it.

Day 3: Break every goal down into its tiny components so you can work on them. A muscle-up requires pull power, push power, transition power, explosive power, etc. Every muscle in the upper body and some in the lower body are involved in the movement and developing all of them in key ways is important.

Day 4: Hip Clocks. How to do them and why they are important in hip mobility and movement.

Day 5: Time based goals: How do you train when you want to do something for a set period of time. Doing something as long as you can, then trying to do it longer next time isn’t the most efficient method.

Day 6: Push-ups. How to regress the push-up if you’re trying to build up to your first full push-up.

Stay tuned for more in week 2 and get your goals in to me if you want to see them broken down in small steps.

Mark talks about nutrition and fad diets. Yes they work, but at what cost and for how long? Mark also discusses mentors and the people you hang around with. Are they impacting your success? Very likely – they can be your greatest strength and biggest setback. You become who you spend time with.

In this episode I include the first recording in the Soldiers of Fitness Eat Well contest. It moves away from traditional advice and digs a little deeper into your motivations and struggles. What is your real reason for wanting to lose weight? What struggles will you face? How can you overcome those struggles?

If you’re interested in joining the contest check out Soldiers of Fitness Ottawa on Facebook or e-mail [email protected]

Sign up to get the recordings. Even if you don’t compete, the knowledge can still help you.

 

Listen in on Episode 8 where I interview Sara Lajeunesse from Agatsu fitness about mobility. Why is it important and where is a good place to begin in our fitness journey?

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The interview begins with me thanking Sara Lajeunesse and Shawn Mozen from Agatsu for inspiring me to be a better Instructor and learn more about fitness.

Sara talks about her fitness background in tap dance and ballet.

– She got into movement when she couldn’t do a push-up and realized she wasn’t strong everywhere

– She took courses in Kinesiology to have a backup plan

Sara spent 12 years as a performer touring around the world.

*You don’t need to be on the floor dead after every workout

Movement and working out should never be a punishment – it should pick you up

Commit to a year of any discipline to learn from it and find out what it can do for you and if you want to continue it

*You can’t have everything all the time, all at once

Sara works in 4 week cycles of her training because she travels a lot. This way she can train handstands and other movements when she’s on the road

She trains to fill a void in her life (sport related) – she doesn’t want to go so far in one direction that she isn’t good at anything else.

*Training should fill a void, not create a void.

What are the first steps when you’re just getting off the couch?

* The first step in the movement pyramid is recovery. If you don’t have the capacity to recover from the workout, you shouldn’t do the workout yet. Are you sleeping and eating well enough? Is your stress level low enough?

* Paluna Santamaria works with Agatsu to correct nutrition

* Build neurological training through light mobility work, then progress to movements

* Be active and part of the community so your training is a positive force in your life

* Second step is mobility

* Third step is strength

* Fourth step is endurance

What is Agatsu and what is it all about? Check them out at https://www.agatsu.com/

The assessment course is long over as of the posting of this Podcast Episode – sorry to those that might have been interested in it.

What is mobility? Your ability to control yourself in a given range of motion. It’s composed of stability and flexibility. Are your restrictions hardware or software (your body or your brain preventing the movements)?

Ask yourself if you can accomplish five simple movements: squat, hinge, push-up, rotate, pull

Work in isolation first, then work in coordination

You don’t have to squat down to your calf to live a happy and healthy life. Pick the squat that works for you. Spinal position is your biggest consideration – you need to maintain a good spinal position through your squat.

When warming up, don’t put your blinders on. Warm up the movements that you need for your workout. Neurological warm-ups (coordination) is a great way to start a workout after an isolation warm-up. Vary your tools (or use your body).

Three of her favorite warm-ups: light clubs, juggling, jump rope

Complete single leg or single side movements

Ask yourself – what is healthy and rewarding for you? Remember your training should be adding to your life, not taking away from it

Sara’s answers to the final questions:

Favorite place you have traveled to: Iceland or Bali

Where would you like to go that you haven’t gone to: Mongolia

Favorite piece of gear: Sports bra

Favorite adventure: Anything I can do with my kids

Guilty Nutrition Pleasure: Popcorn (Caramel, Cheese, Lots of butter)

Favorite Healthy Food: Roasted Vegetables with some protein

Get in touch with Sara or Shawn at Agatsu: www.agatsu.com

In this episode I rant a bit about bullies. After my son is bullied at a summer hockey camp, he decides he doesn’t want to play hockey anymore. As an update to this rant, since I recorded it a long time ago, Matthew made Novice A hockey and is enjoying his season as a goalie. But I not only talk about external bullies. I talk about all sides of the picture and how I think we can make a change. I also rant a little about internal bullies and how we bully ourselves onto the couch and out of being fitter. Our inner dialogue demon can be our greatest strength or our greatest weakness.

This episode takes a few twists but I hope you get something out of it.

A few things I talk about:

Bullying – the bullied, bully and audience

External physical bullying

External emotional bullying

Internal bullying (how we talk to ourselves)

In this episode I talk with Olympic Medalist Sue Holloway about her journey to the Olympics. We start with her experience as a youth and the support she had from her mother, all the way to the present moment and how she trains and competes today.

Sue Holloway was the first and one of only a few women to compete in both the summer and winter Olympic games. She has an Olympic Silver and Bronze medal, both in the canoe sprint. Sue was inducted into the hall of fame in 1986.

I’m sure you can tell from our conversation that Sue is a great personality and full of life. She has lived some of the greatest adventures you could hope for in your own life. Listen in and discover this incredible athlete and what it takes to reach the Olympics.

In this episode I talk with Stephen Pinsent about the Spartan Race Ultra we ran in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada at the Calabogie ski hill.

Some key points we discuss:

– Stephen’s history and how he came into the Soldiers of Fitness Boot Camp program and Obstacle Course Racing (OCR)

– Our views on Spartan Race and if it’s the best race to introduce you to the OCR world

– The obstacles and terrain we face in the ultra race (10.5km in this case)

– Some of the struggles and personal battles faced in every runners mind

– The venue and some ideas that could make the experience better for families

In this episode I talk with David Witiluk from the Ottawa Osteopathy and Sports Injury Clinic. Why is it important to have an analysis done and what is involved in the process? Even if you aren’t an avid running, you want to know all about your running technique to avoid injury and to stay healthy.

Some of our topics include:

– Running analysis

– Running technique

– Warming up for a run

– Core strength

– Tread patterns on your shoes

– Much more!

One of the studies mentioned in the podcast: Brooks Stride Study PDF

A book mentioned in the podcast: Daniel’s Running Formula

You can contact David at:

– [email protected]

– www.ottawaosteopathy.com

 

This episode I have Brian Kehoe from Peak Centre in Ottawa. Brian conducts the VO2 max testing and in this episode we talk about the testing process, the information you get when you do the testing, heart rate training and all kinds of goodies!

You can contact Brian at https://www.peakcentre.ca/

You can also fill out a contact form with Peak Centre at https://www.peakcentre.ca/why-peak-centre/contact-us/

Sadly I am aware of the microphone volume issues and I recorded a few episodes with this problem. I think I’ve straightened it out but there may be a couple of more episodes where you have a tougher time hearing me. I’m working on bringing the volume up during editing. I apologize if you can’t hear the questions that well.

In this episode Mark talks about his experience at the Thunder Bay Mudslinger and the lessons he learned from the race. He discusses his disappointment in his race results, the venue and the course. Do you want to avoid simple mistakes at your next race? Listen in.

Check out our sponsors running boot camps and strength and mobility classes in the Ottawa Canada area – www.soldiersoffitnessottawa.com