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Friday, August 13, 2010

Overpowering Yourself

As a personal trainer, a coach or any fitness professional, it is very common to hear the phrase "I can't". So in order to help our clients, I decided to transform this ‘I can't’ into something positive.
We tend to feel the need to say those words when we are fazed with a challenge that we need to conquer. In order to overcome that obstacle every time those words surface, we must learn to add a few words at the end, in order to finish the phrase; Such as. I can't: give up, surrender, lose, stop, let up, fail, be beaten, etc.... Now read it again. Repetition makes perfection. I can't give up, I can't surrender, I can't lose, I can't stop, I can't let up, I can't fail, I can't be beaten.
There is at least one situation where these statements can be applied helping you overcome that obstacle.
Don't let "I can't" hinder your success.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Don't sleep; it's a waste of time.

Why do we, and all other living creatures, sleep? Why is it that babies sleep more than they are awake when they are infants?

ALL living, breathing, creatures sleep. Since that is true, sleep must be very vital to our health. All the damage that we do to ourselves throughout the day: whether it is physical because we worked out or because it is mental from stress at work, our body repairs itself when it is sleeping. In our modern society we easily lose sight of why we need to sleep until we get so sleep deprived that we get ill. While sick, your body chooses to sleep 10 to 12 hrs. Depending on the severity of the illness, the only time that you are going to be awake is when you are eating or drinking. Don't let your body get to that point. We need to learn to listen to the signs that our body provides to us. When getting sufficient sleep, we should wake up without any stimulants such as coffee or caffeinated teas. Sleep should be enjoyed and not looked at as a burden or a waste of time.

Let's get back to the infants. They sleep so much because they are growing and healing. They eat, defecate and sleep. How come we don't value sleep like they do? Sleeping for infants is an instinctive thing to do. They did not learn it anywhere, it's just what Mother Nature intended for them to do and they follow it well.

So how much sleep is enough, and what qualifies as good sleep? Doctors recommend that we sleep 7-9 hrs for adults and much longer for children. Now what most people don't know is when the best sleep is. Since our body is 75% water we are in sync with the moon. The moon affects the tides and so does our sleep. This means that we need to sleep during the night, 10 pm to 6 am is the best time interval for the most beneficial sleep when the body does the most repairing.

So sleep well and stay healthy!