That's Fit

Women's Health magazine just sent me a release with some fun tips entailed, and I thought I'd share this one with you. Four fabulous moves useful for those of you guilty of missing morning workouts to sleep in late, and then missing the gym after work due to fatigue. As your online trainer I want to make this clear to you: skipping your workouts on a regular basis is detrimental to your health!

Of course, early morning workouts can be tough. They're also what keeps you full of the energy you need to get through each day with vigor! Check out this gallery, and next time you go to hit the snooze button ... get your fanny up and do the Cat Cow pose instead. (No moo-ing necessary!) These four easy moves will give you the energy to get to the gym and start your day off right!

I've struggled with sleep problems my whole life, and am certainly no stranger to bouts of insomnia. Not sleeping is more than a nuisance -- it can be overwhelmingly difficult to deal with, and it can impact every aspect of your life. So when it comes to sleep tips, I can assure you, I've tried them all. If you're having trouble getting your zzzs in, consider these steps:

• Eat dinner a few hours before bed, and don't eat too much. It's hard to sleep when you body is digesting and your stomach is uncomfortably full. And eating a nutritious diet never hurt either.
  
• Don't drink caffeine after 3pm.
  
• Don't nap -- go for a walk instead, and go to bed a bit earlier. If you must nap, make sure you nap before 3pm.
  
• Get some sort of exercise every day. This was key for me -- I rarely have trouble sleeping when I work out, but when I don't, I feel like I have extra energy at bed time.

My husband and I both set our alarms for 6:00 AM on weekdays. We don't get up at this early hour, though, because we snooze, and snooze, and snooze until an extra 30 minutes has passed. Then we roll out of bed and get on with our days. Why we don't just set our alarms for a later hour, I'm not sure. But we should -- because our extra eight-minute intervals of sleep are not doing us one bit of good. We aren't even really sleeping during these short spurts of time.

The average snooze button allows for seven to nine minutes of quiet, not long enough to get back into a deep sleep, says Michael Breus, author of Good Night: The Sleep Doctor's 4-Week Program to Better Sleep and Better Health. Breus suggests the snoozers of the world set their clocks for when they absolutely must be up and spend more time in nourishing sleep. Put your alarm on the other side of the room, he says, so you have to get up to get it. Also, open the curtains as soon as you step out of bed -- the daylight tells our brains it's time to wake up.

Are you a snoozer? If so, you might want to join me in listening to this wake-up call. The bonus sleep will surely do us good as we tackle the days that lie ahead.

One thing I seem to keep hearing consistently on how to be successful with a fitness/exercise regimen is to get it out of the way first thing every morning. Which means early, before work. Ugh.

I love my sleep, so getting up before I absolutely have to is generally out of the question. But therein lies the rub: why can't I wrap my head around the fact that I absolutely have to workout ?

I'm going to try these tricks from over at eDiets from a reformed "snoozer" like me. He lists tips like setting the clock 9 minutes ahead, preparing everything (clothes, lunch, etc) the night before, and setting the alarm to go off 15 minutes earlier (to allow for a couple snooze sessions) which are all pretty standard. But his last one of setting up an espresso machine on the nightstand (so all you have to do is hit the power and the aroma helps you wake up by the next snooze) is pretty ingenious. I think I'm gonna give it a shot -- it'll be like living in a Folger's commercial!

Not really. But this is my grand invention for the day. Wouldn't it be wonderful? The reason I wish for a nap room is because sometimes I am legitimately exhausted! I love to work out. My profession is fitness and I pursue it with a passion, but sometimes I just feel like a nap would do me equal good.

I have two small children ages 2 and 4, who stay with me full time. They're even in my gym with me while I train people. I run myself ragged doing it all. Between training, lecturing, writing and keeping my house nice... I take them on wonderful adventures each day.The only time I get for myself is when they stay at the "Kids Club" at the gym I attend. Mind you ... I own an amazing gym, but can't use it because the kids want me to entertain them. So ... I use the other gym and they play at the Kids Club.

Sometimes when I go to the gym, I'm really wishing for a nap. Just a little dark room with clean sheets that I could doze in for half an hour. How many people would go for that? I 'd bet it would be cool to go for a run and then take a snooze to break up the work day. So there you have it. My invention of the day. If someone reading this owns a gym, and puts in a nap room, please invite me. I could really use some rest.