Physical:

-Strengthen abdominal muscles
(side bridges and planks)

-Strengthen hip extensors
(floor bridges and soft-knee dead lifts)

-Stretch hip flexors
(lunge stretch or standing psoas stretch)

-Stretch hamstrings
(lying hamstring stretch or waiter’s bow)

Behavioural:

-Avoid hazardous exercises
-Avoid sudden jerky back movements
-Avoid improper lifting and carrying

Postural:

-When standing, keep the lower back
neutral (stand with one foot on a stool)

-When sitting, avoid slouching

-When lying, keep knees and hips bent
(avoid lying on stomach)

-When sleeping, use a firm mattress

Ask your personal trainer if you have any questions about exercises or stretches to strengthen your back and core.

-Christian Kubas

Tightness in the shoulder, neck, and back often leads to fatigue, injury, soreness, and lack of mobility. It’s a casualty of the modern desk job. Good flexibility allows a muscle to lengthen and the joints to operate through a full range of motion. When muscles are elastic, your posture improves and you breathe deeper. Using more lung capacity sends more oxygen-rich blood to your brain to keep you alert and productive.

Employ the 20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, stand for 20 seconds and stretch or shake things out. 20 seconds away from your computer reduces fatigue and increases blood circulation.

Every 2 hours, try to the following series of postural correction moves and rejuvenating stretches that will make tight muscles feel great and improve your oxygen efficiency.

1. Chest Elevation

Sit in a chair with your arms at your sides and your feet flat on the floor. Gently raise your chest toward the ceiling, but don’t look up. Keep your chin level with the floor. Hold this position for 10 seconds, then relax, and repeat 5 to 10 times.

2. Scapular Retraction

Get into the position for the chest elevation stretch while sitting, but this time place your hands on your hips. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, feeling the stretch in your chest. Hold for 10 seconds, then relax, and repeat the sequence 5 to 10 times.

Read more and get the other 5 stretches go to: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/work_stretches/Work_Stretches_Scapular_Retraction.php#slidetop#ixzz0uY8w3iDt

Vancouver Pilates Instructor Jessica Slonski - Kalev Personal Training
w: http://www.KalevTraining.com
t: 604-518-4691
e: Kalev@KalevTraining.com
b: www.rippedmansecrets.com

80% of the population will experience  back pain at some point during their lifetime. Strategies for promoting a healthy back can be categorized into physical, behavioral, and postural.

Physical:

-Strengthen abdominal muscles
(side bridges and planks)

-Strengthen hip extensors
(floor bridges and soft-knee dead lifts)

-Stretch hip flexors
(lunge stretch or standing psoas stretch)

-Stretch hamstrings
(lying hamstring stretch or waiter’s bow)

Behavioral:

-Avoid hazardous exercises
-Avoid sudden jerky back movements
-Avoid improper lifting and carrying

Postural:

-When standing, keep the lower back
neutral (stand with one foot on a stool)

-When sitting, avoid slouching

-When lying, keep knees and hips bent
(avoid lying on stomach)

-When sleeping, use a firm mattress

Ask your trainer if you have any questions about exercises or stretches to strengthen your back and core.

Vancouver Personal Trainer Christian Kubas – Kalev Training in Yaletown
w: http://www.KalevTraining.com
t: 604-518-4691
e: Kalev@KalevTraining.com
b: www.rippedmansecrets.com

Have you have been doing the same routine for  months yet you don’t see results? You’re not meeting the goals you have or you can’t stay consistent? There is a big chance that a certified personal trainer will help you out a lot. First off, consistency is a key factor to success in a workout schedule. It does not matter if you are preparing for a bodybuilding competition or you are simply trying to put on some muscles. You need to work out regularly in order to achieve the goals you set for yourself. If you have regular appointments with a professional personal trainer you will see that you are forced to get results, which immediately means results will appear faster. It can be  the key factor in achieving your goals, let us help you make a change!

Personal Trainer Vancouver – Kalev Personal Training Yaletown
w: http://www.KalevTraining.com
t: 604-518-4691
e: Kalev@KalevTraining.com
b: www.rippedmansecrets.com

Pilates is the exercise of choice for dancers, gymnasts, and a host of famous Hollywood celebrities, and now it finds itself firmly entrenched in the mainstream. So why is pilates so hot?

If you want a long, lean look without bulky muscles, but with all the strength, Pilates might be exactly what you’re looking for.

There are many benefits that one can achieve through a pilates program, including:

Toning and building long, lean muscles without bulk.

Reduce stress, relieve tension, and boost energy.

Restore postural alignment and create a stronger, more flexible spine.

Offer relief from back pain and joint stress.

Compliment sports training and develop functional fitness for daily life activity.

Improve the way your body looks and feels.

Retrieved from “http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/top-six-benefits-of-pilates-exercises-74468.html”

Vancouver Pilates Instructor Jessica Slonski - Kalev Personal Training
w: http://www.KalevTraining.com
t: 604-518-4691
e: Kalev@KalevTraining.com
b: www.rippedmansecrets.com

A few years ago I took a big step in my life, and decided to go see a chiropractor about the minor shoulder pains I was getting in my left side, and about how I just felt “un-even”.  It was one of the greatest decisions I made in my life. This guy showed me all I know about proper posture and alignment of the spine. He had me come in for weekly adjustments to get my spine back in proper shape. Here is an article written by a chiropractor who is associated with Kalev Personal Training. His name is Gordon Gertz, and here’s what he has to say about visits to the chiropractor:

Ranking Health Decisions

“I asked a patient the other day how often she visits her dentist for check-ups? She stated that she goes for a cleaning and check-up every 4 months. When I asked her “Why every 4 months and not 6 months?”, she replied “With my teeth, I know I need to go every 4 months. Every 6 months is not good enough to keep them clean.” Wow! It is great to hear that someone has put such thought into her health choices and decisions! As with many of our belief systems, many of our health decisions and choices are often something we have been doing automatically, like a “knee jerk” reaction due to influences in our lives often instilled in us from a young age. Take the dental check-up for example. We’re taught from a young age about the importance of oral hygiene. I don’t know if you remember, but when I was young the community dental hygienist would come into our classroom, give us these red tablets to put in our mouths which showed us areas of plaque build-up. We were then given dental floss and a toothbrush and instructed on how to best brush your teeth and most importantly – to visit your dentist for a check-up every 6 months.  Practice becomes habit and habits become beliefs. This is a healthy beneficial belief! As with most beliefs, it is also important to challenge them to ensure that they are beneficial to us.  What are your beliefs about other areas of your health? Not sure. Well, try ranking them in order. Drinking bottled water? Eating organic food? Exercising? How about your cardiovascular system? How does having a healthy strong heart rank in comparison to the importance of oral hygiene? Many would say that having a healthy heart ranks quite high on their health scale of importance. Are we then putting as much of our resources into maintaining a healthy heart as we are with keeping our teeth clean? How about spinal hygiene? We use our spines 24 hours per day and therefore it is subject to many cumulative stresses. If our teeth wear out we can have them replaced or cavities repaired (though obviously not desirable).  What if our spine wears out? There are no “false spines” to replace the worn out parts! Regular check-ups to help keep your spine healthy make good sense.  It’s just not something that many of us have incorporated into our health belief system. At Pacific Chiropractic, we can recommend a frequency of check-ups that is unique to each individual.  Everyone is different, and we all have unique stresses in our lives that affect our spines, so we all could benefit from our own unique schedule of check-ups. And remember, staying healthy for a lifetime means taking care of our health now, not when the symptoms show up!

~Dr. Gordon Gertz

www.thebackdoc.ca“

Vancouver Personal Trainer Virgil Isaacs- Kalev Training in Yaletown
w: http://www.KalevTraining.com
t: 604-518-4691
e: Kalev@KalevTraining.com
b: www.rippedmansecrets.com

Your abdominal region is a fairly complex muscle group. As of such, your training routines for them should be just as complex. There are 4 different groups that make up the entire abdominal region, and targeting all of them will bring about the best definition in your core.

The rectus abdominus is the top layer. It is the group we all know very well by sight because it gives us that washboard look (ideally). However, underneath that is something not everyone is so familiar with: our transverse abdominus. It is a sheath like layer that holds everything in place, drawing your rectus abdominus towards your spine, and helping you “suck it in”. Running along the sides of your torso are your internal and external obliques, and they allow you to twist, rotate, and bend side to side.

When training your abs be sure to target all of the individual groups, and in order to save time in the gym, do them simultaneously using compound movements (ex. Sit-up & Twist, and the Jack Knife). Treat your abs like any other muscle group when training them. 15-20 reps is ideal for abdominal routines, as well as is training them 2-3 times a week. Speak to your local personal trainer to develop your own personalized abdominal routine, and feel free to share some of your own thought and practices on abdominal training.

Vancouver Personal Trainer Virgil Isaacs- Kalev Training in Yaletown
w: http://www.KalevTraining.com
t: 604-518-4691
e: Kalev@KalevTraining.com
b: www.rippedmansecrets.com

-To reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and strengthen your heart

-To normalize blood pressure

-To decrease body fat

-To promote joint stability, increase bone density, and strengthen bones

-To increase balance, coordination, agility, and muscular strength

-To improve core strength and improve posture

-To eliminate stress and boost self esteem, giving an improved outlook on life and making it more enjoyable.

Bam! For all you people out there who make it a priority to keep fit and stay active: even if those washboard abs aren’t showing up as soon as you’d like them to, before you get discouraged take a step back and think of all the other ways your body is benefiting from working out. Keep it up!

Please comment on this post and share any other health benefits you’ve experienced, personally, from having a consistent workout program and a personal trainer to help you achieve your goals!

Vancouver Personal Trainer Virgil Isaacs- Kalev Training in Yaletown
w: http://www.KalevTraining.com
t: 604-518-4691
e: Kalev@KalevTraining.com
b: www.rippedmansecrets.com

Personal Trainer Vancouver  - Kalev Training in Yaletown
w: http://www.KalevTraining.com  
t: 604-518-4691
e: Kalev@KalevTraining.com
b: www.rippedmansecrets.com  
Vancouver Boot Camp with Cardio Kickboxing

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=fitness&category=muscle.building&topic=abs&conitem=4296d97e87c9a110VgnVCM20000012281eac____

Vancouver Personal Trainer – Kalev Training in Yaletown

w: http://www.KalevTraining.com 
t: 604-518-4691
e: Kalev@KalevTraining.com