Vacation: Now What?

Vacation time is not always easy for people.

People working 9-5pm or shift work, usually cannot wait for a break in their job to sit on a beach somewhere and be completely mindless.

Retired individuals, love visiting family and friends, but they are always telling me "everyday is Friday." They do not want their routines to change.

These clients come regularly to classes and many of them do not appreciate when our gym closes for a week or two or three, depending on the time of year.

I often hear, "Why are we stopping?"

I usually laugh and express how much the teacher needs a vacation after teaching for ten or twelve weeks straight.  Of course they understand but I know where their concerns lie.

When we fall out of our routine, our fitness takes a bit of a hit depending on how in shape we are at the time that we stop.

I have some younger, working clients, who get upset because the exercise helps them to be productive at work by relieving stress.  I have other clients who are in the midst of working hard to lose weight and once their class stops they are fearful that the weight lost will come back. Some individuals use the their time at the gym for social purposes as they are alone otherwise!

Like it or not, we are off from classes this week but you can keep your fitness routine going to an extent by being active in that time slot when you would normally be in class.

I have always made it my mission to teach my students details about how and why we are doing each exercise. I am sure that you can workout on your own this week!

You can buy weights at the store for about a dollar a pound and if you sit down and really think about all that you have done with me over this past session, I am 99% sure that you can recreate the exercise keeping my voice in your head.

My yoga/stretch/relax classes can certainly do the routine with their eyes closed!  Simply put on some meditative music or use no music at all and once you get yourself on the matt, ( or the chair) it will all come to you, I promise!

Walk or dance around for a good 5 to 10 minutes before beginning any muscle conditioning or stretching session. Put on your favourite music and have fun for 30 minutes. See what you can remember.

What Beth's voice would be telling you:

How is your posture?

Are your shoulders back and down?

Is your head back, between the shoulders and not sticking out in front?

If something hurts stop and chose the easier alternative and if you cannot remember it, then try another exercise.

As you perform the exercises, exhale with the hard part.  Do not hold your breath. Breathe!

Move slowly as we do in class: "Up for a count of two and down for a count of two!"

Can you talk during the exercise? I keep you talking/laughing to make sure the intensity is not too hard. If you are unable to speak a sentence then you may be pushing yourself a bit much.

Specifically for stretching, if your breath is short and shallow, the stretch is too difficult. Your breath should be long and smooth, not short and choppy.
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While we are on this brief break before the summer session starts, keep in mind that though I am not with you, I am hard at work preparing the next 8-10 weeks of classes.

Have a great day everyone and even if you simply walk or dance during the hour that we are normally together, that is better than nothing!

Keep moving.

Have a great day!

Beth