The 'Holiday Magic' of Extrinsic Motivation

“Stop that! Don’t you want Santa to bring you anything for Christmas?!?”

What I have learned about life from watching the Sochi Olympics

I have been essentially glued to the TV since the winter Olympics began in Sochi about 2 weeks ago. Every four years, I find the stories that emerge from this global sporting spectacle so fascinating! This time, however, I also noticed that there are lots of 'life lessons' that accompany these special moments in sport. Here are a few things I learned from some specific Olympic events:

New Ways to Teach and Train

Last weekend, I was a delegate at the Canadian Fitness Professionals conference in Vancouver - what an amazing experience! The conference was a mix of lectures and practical workshops and by the end I was both mentally and physically exhausted! I did however, learn a lot and leave with many great ideas. Here are my conference highlights...

Measuring your 'hotness'...a scary conversation!

I was planning on doing a Halloween blog about some scary exercises but I have changed my mind because I heard a conversation on a local radio station this morning that was just too scary to ignore.

School's out for Summer!

"Teachers are lazy."

"Teachers make way too much money and have too many holidays."

"Teachers don't care."

Sadly, these are statements that I have heard a lot in the last little while.  Given that school and the whole issue of 'too many holidays' seems to be a hot topic around this time of year, I thought I would address the negativity surrounding teachers as my blog post.

It's golf season, finally!

After such a looonnnngggg winter, it's so nice to be back out on the course.

This off-season, I completely changed up my training routine and I'm super curious about how that will affect my game and competition results this summer.

Nerd Alert!

I'm fairly certain this officially qualifies me as a nerd but I LOVE going to conferences!

For as long as I can remember, I have always enjoyed learning new things. With a few exceptions (Grade 11 History springs to mind!), I enjoyed most of my classes in high school. University was super fun as I got to choose most of the courses I wanted to take and now that I have my own Personal Training & Sport Conditioning company, I spend my time learning the most fascinating things! Is there such a thing as a 'jock-nerd' because I think that might be me?!

Anyhow, my most recent learning expedition was this past weekend at the annual Canadian Fitness Professionals conference here in Winnipeg.

Kate the Keynoter

Most of my classmates at elementary school dreaded the 'Concours d'art oratoire' that we were forced to do every year as part of our French class. It was a project designed to help us develop our French speaking and presentation skills. Basically we were required to write a 3-5 minute speech on a topic of our choosing and present it to our class. I loved it.

Body By Vi - My Perspective

It has been exactly one year since I was introduced to the Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge. (For those of you who have no clue what I am talking about, where have you been hiding?? Here is the link to check it out... http://surefirefitness.myvi.net/index.html).

At first, I ignored my friend when she was sharing with me how great it was. I often get approached by people who want to sell me the latest fitness gadget, supplements, energy bars, and other 'nutritional' products and normally I don't pay much attention to any of it.  I'm not really a supplements person - I've always just thought people should get what they need from eating real food (like fruits and veggies). And while I still believe that is true, I am surrounded by people who just can't seem to get it together with regards to their nutrition. Perhaps this product could help them? I wasn't convinced, but I thought if it had the potential to help my clients with their dietary issues, that I should at least take a look at the product.

My Top 5 Activities for the Heart

Given that it’s Valentine’s Day and that February is Heart Month, I thought I would share my favourite 'heart' exercises. Your heart is just like every other muscle in your body - it gets stronger and more efficient if you push it. These exercises will definitely give your heart a workout!

It's never too late...

It was about minus 25 degrees Celsius and despite the fact that my face was frozen, you could still see the smile beneath my rosy cheeks as I left the rink!

I was ecstatic because I proved to myself that it's never too late to learn a new skill...

CAPS Convention Top 5

What an experience! There are no words to describe the amount of information, motivation, and inspiration all jammed into those three days.

It was the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS) convention, which took place in early December. Wow, am I ever glad I decided to attend! While most of the keynote presentations and break-out sessions were geared towards people in the speaking profession, I walked away with so many lessons that apply to all areas of life. Here they are....

Motivational Monday

What a fantastic experience! For those of you who have NO idea what Motivational Monday is all about, I will do my best to explain...It's basically a company out of Toronto that hosts events (on Mondays) where they invite a collection of 6-8 speakers (both professional and amateur) to come and share about 10 minutes each on a topic of their choosing with a live audience. Some of the speeches are inspiring, some are informative, some are funny, but all are motivating in some way - hence the name Motivational Monday, now more commonly known as MoMonday!

The 'No TV Experiment'

When I moved to my new place last April,  I made the decision to not to have a TV. It would be the first time ever that I would live in a place without a television....weird. Not that I was a huge TV junkie anyways, but I did enjoy having something on in the background while I was working on the computer (usually Sports Centre) and there was a brief period when I was somewhat addicted to reality shows (specifically and shamefully, the Bachelorette).

From Par to 94

It has been a long while since my last blog post because I have been so busy golfing all summer! The golf course is where I spend a significant portion of my time during in the warmer months of the year. While I love training and helping others to reach their health and fitness goals with Surefire Fitness, I am still an athlete at heart and playing competitive golf allows me to do just that - be an athlete.

The Power of Positive

What an amazing day! I am just so thankful that I got to be a part of it all...

A few months ago, Carol Ploen (the founder of an organization in Winnipeg called the Happy Monkey Club) asked me to speak at this 'event' she was planning called the Power of Positive. It would be a day for women to re-energize themselves and would include a handful of local speakers along with a flash mob dance. I wasn't sure how I felt about a flash mob.

Training Diary - Power Training Phase

In my last blog, I spoke about the importance of active rest. I am now in a different (and much more intense!) phase in my training for the upcoming golf season...power training!

Training Diary - Active Rest Week

Last week's training schedule was so nice! I slept in (some days until 8am!), went to a few yoga classes, played hockey a couple of times, worked a bit on my putting, and basically got to chill out. It's called my 'Active Rest' phase and every 6 or 8 weeks, I get a week OFF from my gym workouts.

My Favorite Smoothie

At this time of year, I am working very hard to build my strength. Golf season is just around the corner so my workouts are pretty intense as I prepare my body for the demands of playing and competing this summer.

I am usually at the gym first thing in the morning and being in strength building phase means my workouts are fairly long and exhausting. When I am done training, I am super hungry and definitely look forward to a post-workout breakfast smoothie.

Welcome to Yoga Public!

It's official...Yoga Public is finally open! It's Canada's largest yoga studio, right here in downtown Winnipeg. I have been so excited about this opportunity for quite some time!

And no, I have not become a yoga instructor...My voice is not exactly buttery soft like a 'real' yoga instructor's, nor can I sit still long enough to teach one yoga pose let alone an entire zen-like class. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE yoga and it is an integral part of my training for golf but I am at Yoga Public to teach TRX classes which tap right into my fitness and trainer background.

Who is 'The Biggest Loser'?

As many of you may already know, I am NOT a fan of 'The Biggest Loser'.

Television shows like 'The Biggest Loser' make it near impossible for me as a personal trainer to convince people that their weight is not an accurate measure of their health and that they should be focusing on 'feeling' better rather than measuring their progress with the scale. I do not agree with the premise of the show, the message that it sends, or what it really represents. That said, I will admit, that up until a week ago, I had never even watched an episode.

Join the 'Non-Resolution Revolution'

I dread going to the gym this time of year. New Year's is a time when fitness centres are full of fresh and eager faces, and while I think it's great that so many people use the beginning of a new year to kick-start their health and fitness goals, it saddens me that with each passing day, those people seem to fade away.

Going Gold!

So excited today! This probably confirms the depth of my nerdiness but I finally received my training manuals for the Twist Sport Conditioning Gold Level courses.

A few years ago, I completed the Twist Sport Movement, Sport Balance, and Sport Strength courses and I loved them.

I cringe when I see this at the gym...

I was only at the gym for about an hour this morning and in that short time, I observed at least 7 different people engaging in a particular exercise (or some form of it) that absolutely makes me cringe! While performing this exercise may help to strengthen some of your abdominal muscles, the hazards of doing this exercise far outweigh the benefits. Please, people...stop doing sit-ups!

Welcome to my blog!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my new blog site! First post will be coming soon...stay tuned!

Cheers,
K