Happy New Year!
Give yourself at least two weeks before you even think about stepping on the scale…even if you already have. Especially if you already have. Because where did that first step lead? Very likely to a mindset of regret and recrimination. Not the ideal way to begin your new year.
What are you going to do in the year 2020!?! On January 1, 2020, Coaching by G is celebrating our 10th anniversary at 1120 Chicago Ave in Oak Park, IL. Ten years of life transformation through fitness coaching and individualized training programs!
Many people have a strongly held belief that youth can erase the effects of bad habits – insufficient sleep, junk food, poor movement. I (Coach G) specialize in coaching athletic teens across the US and Mexico. I am often confronted with a level of misinformation surrounding the topic of adolescent health that has helped me to clarify key lifestyle tips for athletic teens. First and foremost, know that no person can outrun bad choices. You are what you repeatedly do.
This past year my life I have been turned upside down and shaken on so many levels: as a woman, as a competitive athlete, and as the daughter of Rose (and Ampelio) Isetti. And oh, has it been dramatic.
I appreciate Thanksgiving, simply as a day to remember gratitude—always good as a concept, but even better as a practice. Gratitude as a daily practice is mind-expanding and heart-expanding, and research has shown that subjects who practiced daily gratitude had higher rates of cancer recovery than those who didn’t. But sometimes it’s hard to be grateful because it’s unseasonably cold, or because my hair doesn’t look right, or because I’m running late, or all three on the same day, plus… sometimes bad things happen, like divorces and car crashes.
The last fitness regimen you will ever need is not about doing the same thing every day until you die. In fact, the last fitness regimen you will ever need is not a training program—it is a lifestyle.
When you learn how to create lasting changes in small daily habits, you have found the last fitness regimen you will ever need. Habits create rhythm and routine and are two key components of the last fitness regimen you will ever need.
As my client Mike says, “The secret to your future is hidden in your daily routine.”
Why Coaching? I (Coach Tia) get this question a lot from family members and friends. I first fell in love with fitness and sport at a young age. The second I figured out I was a fast runner, I always wanted to race people every chance I got! My best friend knew this about me and when we got to high school she pushed me to join the track team. That was all I needed to do to know that fitness and sport would be a part of my life forever. My love for running track took me to college, which was a big game changer, especially the first time I stepped foot in a weight room. Seeing movements such as jerk, power clean, dead lift and snatch had me terrified and uncomfortable. I had never picked up a bar before and was scared at the thought of performing the exercises I saw performed so well by the upperclassmen. Although I was scared out of my mind, I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone, stuck with the training, and slowly but surely got better at performing the lifts. As I got comfortable in the weight room, I knew I wanted to be around this environment for the long run.
Mental toughness training for athletes is a topic that comes up frequently. Athletes and parents of athletes are interested to know what can be done to improve focus, attitude, and ultimately, results. So often a person comes to me for a training plan with goals for changing their body-get more muscle, lose fat, get stronger, faster, and so on – and the first thing I ask them is “How is your sleep?” and “Do you have a mindfulness practice?” There is no training plan that will get you any of the above if you are not sleeping 8-9 hours every night, making room to listen to yourself and eating healthy food that you cook yourself.
Mari Wolkstein is a competitive hockey defensewoman. She is small but mighty. It has been so much fun to watch this young athlete develop physically and emotionally. Mari has grit. She is determined with a deep sense of purpose. She is an athlete who needs no external motivation, because her engine is fired deep within. That level of motivation, a strong inner force that causes behavior, is a rare quality in anyone – but especially someone of Mari’s age. Her athletic achievements are astounding. She is not only training with Coaching by G 4-6 days a week, but playing hockey as much, traveling to tournaments, a rockstar in the classroom, an avid reader, guitar player, and much more. Mari is an example to everyone in the gym: she is not waiting for her life to happen, she is actively engaged in designing the life she wants. (Are you struggling with designing the life you want, specifically when it comes to diet? Here’s a whole bunch of nutritional know-how to help you harness the power of your biochemistry.)
The road in training from injury to recovery can be long and arduous – and yet it is always an opportunity for growth. Injury is a great equalizer, because as human beings we all experience something that sidelines us. Whether you workout a lot or sit too much for your job, your body has to adapt to what you do. Sitting all day does not prevent injury, in fact we know the opposite is true. Regardless of how you get injured, though, I am sure that it is not part of your plan and yet, injury is an opportunity to learn new ways to be in your body. How to get from injury to recovery is as individual as anything you do. While every injury is different, it is likely that there were signals along that way that you ignored