Favourite Quotes
“The first wealth is health” Emerson
“The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body. The more efficient your body, the better you feel and the more you will use your talent to produce outstanding results.” Anthony Robbins
“To be successful, you must dedicate yourself 100% to your training, diet and mental approach” Arnold Schwarzenegger
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up”. Thomas Edison
“You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be.” David Viscott
“No matter how good you get you can always get better and that’s the exciting part.” Tiger Woods
“I’m not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat.” Michael Jordan
“I wouldn’t say anything is impossible. I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and put the work and time into it.”
Michael Phelps
“No pain, no gain”. – Athletic Proverb
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Procrastination
When it comes to your health, procrastination is not your friend. Risk factors and bad habits have a cumulative effect on the body so the sooner those patterns are altered, the better.
Procrastination is the habitual delay in starting a task or seeing it through to conclusion. The word “habitual” is the key. Most of us procrastinate to varying degrees. Occasional delay is no problem on less important tasks when the delay has no harmful effects to you or to others. However, once delay becomes a habit and creeps into the health and fitness area of your life, it undermines your ability to function effectively.
Procrastination is easy for many people because there are short-term rewards that come from putting things off. When you have too much to do, deciding not to do any of them can reduce the immediate tension and stress you feel. There is a natural tendency to avoid what we perceive to be unpleasant tasks or activities. Putting them off, even though you will have to do them later means, at the very least, that you do not have to face them right now. Plus, if you are lucky, they will go away or someone else will do them.
Procrastinating can also be exciting. It causes crises and the adrenaline rushes that go along with them. Waiting until the last possible minute is similar to pitting yourself against the odds. Waiting until the last minute to start an exercise program can also be used as a defense for poor performance. You can always claim that it would have been better had there been more time. You would have been in better shape, would have lost more weight, and any of a variety of other excuses that really just cover up the fact that you didn’t think you could meet your goals.
In trying to overcome procrastination, don’t decide all that your life will be completely different. Gradual change is better than cold turkey. Doing this with an exercise program is much like deciding to climb Mount Everest next week without ever having been climbing. Be reasonable and be fair to yourself. Start slowly. Give yourself time to break a habit that has become ingrained and automatic.
Another effective technique to get yourself out of your rut is to make a voluntary commitment to someone else. Allowing others to become involved in your efforts by reviewing your progress, helping you set deadlines and goals, or evaluating your results can be very helpful. Often, you are too close to the situation to be objective. Your concerns, fears, and anxieties become secondary to fulfilling the expectations of the people you respect and trust when you make a commitment to them as well as to yourself.
Many also find it effective to reward themselves for good behavior. Punishing yourself is not nearly as effective though we quickly and easily beat ourselves up for the smallest lapse. Reward yourself at milestones in the process, not just at the completion. Rewards can be anything you like. They can be simple and inexpensive, but they should be things that are important to you. Reading for pleasure, relaxing, playing a game, visiting friends, travelling, going out for dinner, and exercising can all be used as rewards.
Do you want a six pack?
You know what I am talking about – a great looking washboard stomach! I am sure some of you have a visible one and some of you have one hidden underneath that “little” layer of body fat. Ok..it may not be a six pack but we all do have abdominals. There are just some lucky ones that can show them off!
Today I will talk about our abdominals. First of all…the abdominal muscles are located between the ribs and the pelvis on the front of the body. The four abdominal muscle groups combine to completely cover the internal organs. So why do we need them? The abdominal muscles support the trunk, allow movement and hold organs in place by regulating internal abdominal pressure.
We do have a few abdominal muscles and they are:
• Transversus abdominus – the deepest muscle layer. Its main roles are to stabilise the trunk and maintain internal abdominal pressure.
• Rectus abdominus – slung between the ribs and the pubic bone at the front of the pelvis. This muscle has the characteristic bumps or bulges, when contracting, that are commonly called ‘the six pack’. The main function of the rectus abdominus is to move the body between the ribcage and the pelvis.
• External oblique muscles – these are on each side of the rectus abdominus. The external oblique muscles allow the trunk to twist, but to the opposite side of whichever external oblique is contracting. For example, the right external oblique contracts to turn the body to the left.
• Internal oblique muscles – these flank the rectus abdominus and are located just inside the hipbones. They operate in the opposite way to the external oblique muscles. For example, twisting the trunk to the left requires the left side internal oblique and the right side external oblique to contract together.
There is also another muscle that is also involved in moving the trunk and it is the:
• Multifidus – this is a deep back muscle that runs along the spine. It works together with the transversus abdominus to increase spine stability and protect against back injury or strain during movement or normal posture.
When practising Pilates – doing ‘core strengthening’ techniques – you will support the combined function of these two muscle groups.
So why is there so much talk about the abdominals? Why are they so “special”? The abdominal muscles support the lower back. People with weak abdominal muscles tend to suffer from back pain. The abdominal muscles also make us look great if they are strong, but only of course if we do not carry too much body fat.
There is effective ways to strengthen the four abdominal muscle groups & they include:
• Hollowing – the abdominal muscles are pulled back towards the spine.
• Bracing – the abdominal muscles are flattened and flared, so that the waist looks a little wider.
• Slow speed – research shows that performing abdominal exercises slowly (such as one repetition per two or three seconds) uses the stabilising muscles more than if the same exercises are performed quickly (such as one repetition per second).
All these ways of working the abdominals are practised whilst doing Pilates. I suggest you contact a Pilates instructor to learn more about abdominals and great ways to strengthen and tone these important muscles.