Health Benefits to a Good Night's Sleep

Every night before I go to bed I check on each of my kids while they are sleeping.  Sometimes they're curled up completely under the covers and other times they're all the way out with their heads at the foot of their beds.  My oldest sometimes talks and walks in his sleep and my daughter usually falls asleep with all the lights on and multiple books open on her lap.  They are deep sleepers and at their age they usually get about 10-12 hours of sleep (WebMed-How much should kids sleep) and I have to say, I'm a little jealous.

I used to be able to sleep in with no problem.  Getting up after 9am was a normal habit for me for a lot of years.  Then, I had my kids, and the whole sleep thing went completely haywire.   I thought when my kids were sleep trained that I would be able to sleep in again, but no, that didn't work.  So now I'm training myself to have a better sleep regimen.

Getting enough sleep as an adult is a simple task that can really improve your overall health, but not everyone makes it a priority.  Watching TV late at night or being on the computer through the night can really impact your overall sleep patterns and lead you to minimal amounts of good sleep; and if it continues will lead to weight gain, crankiness and other health issues.

According to Precision Nutrition: "The average adult gets about 7 hrs of sleep/night.  33% of the population gets fewer than 6.5 hrs/night.  Women sleep a bit more than men.  Those who carry high amounts of body fat tend to sleep less than those with a normal body fat. Studies suggest that people who sleep fewer than 6 hrs/night gain almost twice as much weight as people who sleep 7-8 hrs/night.  Excessive sleep isn't any better: those who sleep more than 9 hrs/night have similar body composition outcomes as those who sleep less than 6 hrs." (All About Sleep from Precision Nutrition).

So try to get your "Z's," that is 7-8 hrs of them every night.  Turn off the TV, put away your phone and have a cup of herbal tea and a hot bath instead.  Although it's tough to do this every night, try to make it your priority, you'll feel better during the day and give your body and your mind the rest it needs.  Then during the day if you feel energized and ready for a workout, you know where to find me.  ;-)

Have a great day!

Barb


Core Drop In Session This Week:
Friday, October 25th 9am: 5 people min to run.  Email me if you're interested in joining.

3 Week Intensive:
I'm trying to squeeze in another Intensive before the week of Thanksgiving.  Let me know if you are interested.  We will meet Wednesday and Friday at 9am and will need 5 people min to run the session,

6:30am Intensive:
Ok you early birds, I have a few folks asking about a 6:30am intensive. Email me if there are more of you out there who would like a workout at the crack of dawn.  Times and days TBD.

1-1 Training:
Get ahead of that New Year's resolution and treat yourself to a series of Personal Training Sessions.  What better gift to yourself than the gift of health and fitness?!?  Email me for more info and to schedule your first training session.



Don't forget to check out barbfit.blogspot.com for past posts on Health & Fitness

Exercises in the Planes of Motion

When I studied for my personal training exam, there were many concepts that were more challenging to  absorb by studying them from the book.  The 3 Planes of Motion: Sagittal Plane, Frontal Plane & Transverse Plane  ( Planes of Motion from Livestrong) were one of those concepts.

Now after a few years of personal training under my belt and multiple exercise seminars and classes later, I better understand the benefits and I practice exercises in all planes of motion in just about every workout I do.  So, why should you pay attention to these planes?  I'm just an exercise freak, right???  ;-)

Well, the reason I've incorporated exercises in these 3 different planes of motion is because it helps me to build a stronger and well balanced body.  I'm an older parent and my goal is to be able to play soccer with my sons through high school (they are 9 & 7 now).   I also want to run 10K's and half marathons with my youngest when she old enough (she's 4).  So it's going to be another 10+ years of staying active and capable of playing sports with my kids without blowing out a knee.  ;-)   This is where these exercises in different planes of motion help me.

Most gym equipment will force you into a single plane of motion exercise (example: the bicep curl machine). While this is not bad for you, it may cause you to miss out on strengthening multiple parts of your body by limiting you to only one plane of motion.  As you know, I am a TRX fan.  One of the reasons I am a fan is because just about every move that I do with the TRX requires multiple body parts to work at once.  What we do in everyday life requires you to use many different parts of our bodies, why should your workout limit you to only one area? 

So, think about the exercises you do on your next workout and see how many planes of motion you are working out in.  If it's all 3 then you already know what to do, but if it's only 1 or 2 planes then start slowly incorporating exercises that work in all planes.  Over time and with the right exercises you will start to see the benefits too.

Have a great week and hope to see you for a workout soon!

Barb


1-1 Training Sessions
Are you finally ready to get started with a customized training program?  If so, contact me and let's get started.  I would love to meet with you to understand your health and fitness goals and work together to get you closer to achieving those goals.  Email me to schedule your first 1-1 session.


Intensive
The 3 week intensive has started and we have a great group.  I would love to get plans in place for the next intensive so let me know if you are interested.  We meet 2 days/week and need a minimum of 5 to run the session.



Dont forget to check out my past posts about health and fitness at barbfit.blogspot.com