Bring a Friend Week is back on from Tuesday 3rd  to Saturday 7th Jan 2017. It’s such a great way to start the new year by exercising with someone you care and have a bit of fun and always a laugh.

If you bring a friend, family member or work colleague during this time both you and your friend will receive your session for free. It’s a great chance to give someone you care about the opportunity to share in the benefits of exercise and maybe start them on a journey of a fitter, healthier & happier future.

All welcome, looking forward to you joining us, the easiest way is to call us on 0410 544 759 or send us an email on contact@altafitness.com.au and we’ll book you in.

Short and sweet – be happy, relaxed and spend time with those that matter the most.

Cheers from us where we are at our happiest and with those that we love the most – our children in the mountains hiking and Mountain Bike Riding waiting for like minded friends arriving during the week to do more of it!

Jean-Claude & Linda

As we know this time of year can get a little bit crazy and we are hardly immune from it with two 10 year olds! So this week we are concentrating on giving you five tips to help your way through by using Mindfulness – the art of simply paying full hearted attention to something – breath in and out….

1. Go for a short walk (or long) – a brilliant stress reliever and mood booster.

2. Make at least one person laugh everyday – laughing, especially hearty, is awesome and so good for your endorphins.

3. Just breathe – take at least 3 conscious big breaths in and out and work it up to 10 – great in moments of stress – like waiting in a line to pay for something.

4. Take time for yourself – stop to have a herbal tea, have a bath, get a massage (even a quick 10 minute neck massage while out shopping), go to a movie.

5. Enjoy Nature – take your shoes off, feel the grass under your feet, or simply sit on the grass in the sun (if we ever get any!) and just listen to the sounds – simply listen for 5 minutes no need to do anything else – in a hammock is nice too!

This is a nice simply exercise you can do at home.  All you need is a swiss ball or alternatively the floor will do.

Hip extension (or bridge) is an ideal / simple exercise for the toning of your posterior.  The idea is to sit on a stability ball, roll out to lay flat with both feet firmly on the floor so you are a bridge with the ball, knees bent at 90 degrees, chest to the sky. Keeping tension in the core through your belly button and glutes (butt) slowly lower your hips to the floor – the ball does not move – pause then raise hips back up squeezing glutes and pause again, all for a count of 3 up and 3 down.

Incorporate this into a morning or evening routine. Start with 10 reps and work up to 30. It really is a simply exercise with lots of benefits.

When you are ready you can progress to ankle over knee hip extension or leg extension.

As we speed up to Holiday Activities it’s important to find time to still exercise. The ‘Reverse Effect’ is that when you stop exercising you will decondition your body and mind and start to loose all the benefits you have gained, so with that in mind we are having Bring a Friend Week from Monday 12th to Saturday 17th December 2016.

If you bring a friend, family member or work colleague during this time both you and your friend will receive your session for free. It’s a great chance to give someone you care about the opportunity to see what you do and bring them the joy of exercise too!

You may ask “Why is JC holding a long pole on Linda’s back whilst she is holding a plank?” – good question! It’s because we all know that the plank is one of the better strengthening exercises, which is classified as an isometric (no movement) exercise, and we want to be sure you are creating strength and stability whilst also creating good postural habits i.e. a neutral spine.

It’s quite easy to drop your head and/or your hips whilst doing a plank however by slumping you create more problems for yourself in the longer run such as lower back and shoulder problems.  Using the stick a few times will help to give you bio neural feedback to holding that position (where your body is in space). Give it a go at home, grab your broom, partner/friend and get them to place it along your spine. The stick should touch the back of your head, shoulders and tail bone with only a small, 2 finger gap on the lower back.

The plank can also be taken to another level by placing your elbows on the swiss ball thus creating a more challenging exercise.

Michael Sexton gave a great talk on his philosophy Eat Well, Move Well, Think Well. He spoke how he comes from a family of Chiropractors and why he was so passionate about all aspects of health and how maintenance and prevention is key to living a healthier life.  Many people wait until they have an injury only then to find out that it could have been preventable should they have been doing the right things. Such as eating well (more whole foods, less processed), moving well (exercise, posture), thinking well (reducing stress as we are living in a chronically stressed society). What engaged him to be a Chiropractor was it utilises movement, in particular of the spine, in a natural way without the need for drugs (in the majority of cases). 

JC also got us interactive and took everyone through an exercise as well at the end throwing and catching a small ball with a partner, changing it up by standing on one leg, then the other, the one eye closed, then the other – you get the drift!

We had 11 people attend in all and I believe we all walked away with a greater appreciation of looking after our health.

Hints & Tips

This week it is all about the Power Band – You will no doubt have already used it in the studio but it is also great to have at home. Commonly the band is used for firing up your hips (& glutes) which is the main mover in squatting, lunging and assists in stabilising your core.  Often the hips are asleep, technically known as gluteal amnesia, especially as we sit at computers. The act of this exercise is to bring the band under the arches of your feet and hold tight at chest height, take small steps to the left between 10 to 20, then to the right, then forwards and backwards.  You will definitely feel this working in your hips! Make sure you keep your hips and pelvis in an upright position – not tilting forward.  

A piece of good advice – that was given to our son this week from our Chiropractor Michael from Sexton Chiropratic.  Our son is on the Autism Spectrum so we are always looking at ways to help guide him through life, hence I have been reading about the importance of Mitochondria which to my VERY basic understanding is that our Mitochondria are the power plants of our cells that give us our energy.  Now please don’t quote me on any of this as I am no expert but I asked Michael to explain it to Jack as he takes advice way better from others than his parents – His advice to Jack was simple,