Angie's Corner

Six Ways to Sit Less and Move More

by Angie Miller

Exercise is like a bad word. Everyone has a different reaction when you say it, but they all have some sort of emotional response. Some are immediately filled with dread, some have a list of excuses that go from plain ridiculous to pretty clever, and some (like me) actually love it and can’t imagine their life without it.

The thing about exercise is that it’s really just a naughty name for movement. Naughty because we demonize it in our society by making it all about looks, aka six pack abs, and intense programming that is well beyond what most of us need to get healthy. Movement on the other hand is exercise, but it doesn’t come with the same negative connotation. Movement is a lifestyle. We move to get from point A to point B, and we move because we want or need something. When it comes to movement there are endless options, but all of them are sure to accomplish one thing- the more we move the less we sit, and that’s where the magic lies. Sitting less won’t replace vigorous exercise in terms of calorie burn and heart pumping activity, but it will help us to focus on being less sedentary and more mindful of keeping our body and brain active.

Six Ways to Sit Less and Move More- at Home and Work:

1. Standing Desk- You don’t need to invest in an expensive desk that promotes all the benefits of standing vs. sitting while you work, because the truth is that standing for too long comes with its own set of risks. Instead, set a timer or use your fitness tracker to remind you, and every hour make it a point to stand up while you work. Stand for five or ten minutes, or as long as you’re comfortable. You’ll wake up your brain and body and you’ll feel better being in full extension vs. slouched in a chair.
2. Make an Excuse- If you’re in an office, rather than email your co-worker who is in the same building why not walk to where they are and deliver the message in person? If you work from home you can make your next phone call while you move around your house, straighten your cupboards, or even stand up and fold a load of laundry. If you’re vegging in front of the TV, get up every thirty minutes or so and grab a glass of water or stretch your body so your mind doesn’t turn to mush. They key is that you avoid sitting or lying down for extended periods of time by making an excuse to get up and move.
3. Stability Ball- If you’re going to sit while you’re at work, while you watch TV, or while you’re in front of your computer, who says you have to sit in a chair? Wouldn’t it more beneficial to sit on a stability ball where you engage your core and actually improve your balance and posture while you work? You can also swap out your dining room chair for a stability ball. Think better breathing and better body awareness.
4. Walk While You Work- Maybe you have a meeting with a co-worker or a brain storming session with your client. Whatever the reasons, a walk might be just what you need to connect with people in your business on a different level. Walking gives everyone a breath of fresh air and it gets positive energy flowing. If you work at home, take a ten a minute walk once or twice a day to clear your mind and help you connect with the world outside of work.
5. Take the Stairs- If you work in office building take the stairs. If you’re going to the store, to the doctor, or wherever you’re going, take the stairs. Stairs step up your heart rate, give you a little energy boost, and help you avoid the claustrophobic feeling of elevators. Not to mention, you don’t have to stop on every floor or stand elbow to elbow with perfect strangers.
6. Meet for a Movement Date- The next time you meet a friend for coffee, how about if you grab it in a to go cup and window shop while you walk? Or maybe you grab lunch at a quick café and rather than linger at the table, you head out the door and finish catching up as you stroll through the streets. A movement date can be a tennis game, a golf game, or sharing a fitness class together. Traditional lunch and coffee dates are fun, but movement dates are much more memorable. They connect you and your friend on a different level and allow you share experiences that engage your mind and body.

Make it a goal this week to sit less and move more for better health.

- Angie

Angie Miller, M.S., is a fitness educator, university instructor, and Licensed Professional Counselor who blends her skills and expertise to empower individuals, mentally and physically, and provide them the tools they need to succeed. A veteran group exercise instructor and personal trainer, Angie is the star of acclaimed exercise DVD’s, including the Bedroom Body™ workout. Her passion for progressive education brought her to Northern Illinois University, where she teaches in the Dept. of Kinesiology & Physical Education. Outside of the university, she presents at fitness conventions worldwide and leads industry trainings as an AFAA Certification Specialist and Kettlebell Concepts Master Instructor. Angie writes for fitness journals and digital communities, and blogs for Collage Video. Connect with Angie at: http://www.angiemillerfitness.com

Fit Tips For Your Week

by Angie Miller

Monday Motivation:

Rise and Shine: Did you know that the most successful people are often early risers? It's the difference between staying up late and struggling to “finish” something, vs. getting up early to “start” something fresh. I'm by nature a late-night person who has had to work hard to turn this around, often reminding myself that there's nothing so important that it won't wait until morning when my body and brain have had rest. I'd rather be an early morning person who wakes up and says, “Let’s do this!” than a late-night person who says, “I can’t do this.” Discipline, leadership, and success require a good night's sleep and a fresh mind. Tonight, sleep well and start your week off right! #MondayMotivation

Tuesday Transformation:

The Best of all Three- (These are the top three questions I get asked, and my top three answers):

1. What's the best time of day to work out? The time that's best for you.
   2. What's the best type of workout? The workout that you enjoy, that will motivate you to do again and again and again.
   3. What workout the burns the most calories? The workout that you do consistently- (as opposed to the one you do once and hate every minute of because it’s not any fun.)

Truth- it doesn’t benefit us to focus on these things. There is no best workout, best time, or best calorie burn. Anything you do will burn more calories than if you don't exercise at all. #TuesdayTransformation

Wednesday Workout:

Is Exercise Dangerous? One of my favorite sayings is, "Exercise isn't dangerous, people are." It's not the kettlebell, step, dumbbell, barbell, or any other piece of equipment that are dangerous. It’s people, and potentially poor application of a piece of equipment that when used improperly can cause injury. The key here is, "when used improperly." When bad posture and muscle imbalances meet a piece of equipment, dangerous things can (and often do) happen. Bottom line, alignment and execution are pivotal in order to get the best results and to remain injury free. Start by building a strong foundation with no equipment at all. Just your body against gravity. Focus on alignment, weight distribution, and core strength among other things, then add resistance. I love kettlebells, they have transformed my body; but before you use any piece equipment make sure your posture and alignment is top notch and seek proper instruction. #WednesdayWorkout

Thursday Thought:

Thought for the day: I've shared this one before, and it still rings true. Exercise for self-care, self-preservation, and self-control. You know when you're flying on an airplane and they're going through emergency landing procedures- they tell you to put on your mask first before your child's, right? Because they know that you can't save your child (or anyone else) if you don't save yourself first. That's how I look at exercise. How can we care for others if we aren't caring for ourselves? Put on your mask first- exercise, eat well, sleep, and take time out once in a while for self-care and self-preservation. Only when we’re feeling out best can we give our best to others. #ThursdayThought

Friday Fit Tip:

Mindset Matters: Do you work out because you feel guilty if you don't, or because you feel great if you do? If you want to make exercise more enjoyable take out the “shoulds” and bring on the coulds. There’s a big difference in how we feel about exercise when we say, “I should work out today because __________________ “ (you fill in the blank), vs. “If I could ____________________(run one mile today, finish the entire workout DVD I just purchased, lift weights for twenty minutes, etc.) imagine how good I could feel. Shoulds make us feel obligated and resentful about exercise. Coulds open our mind to possibility. Replace shoulds with coulds to take away the guilt and change the way you feel about exercise! #FridayFitTip

- Angie

Angie Miller, M.S., is a fitness educator, university instructor, and Licensed Professional Counselor who blends her skills and expertise to empower individuals, mentally and physically, and provide them the tools they need to succeed. A veteran group exercise instructor and personal trainer, Angie is the star of acclaimed exercise DVD’s, including the Bedroom Body™ workout. Her passion for progressive education brought her to Northern Illinois University, where she teaches in the Dept. of Kinesiology & Physical Education. Outside of the university, she presents at fitness conventions worldwide and leads industry trainings as an AFAA Certification Specialist and Kettlebell Concepts Master Instructor. Angie writes for fitness journals and digital communities, and blogs for Collage Video. Connect with Angie at: http://www.angiemillerfitness.com

Mental Motivators to Maximize Your Workouts (2)

by Angie Miller

Last week I wrote a blog titled, Four Mental Motivators to Maximize Your Workout. This week I want to continue in that spirit, and give you two more mental motivators to maximize your workouts.

5. Reframe Your Resistance- Negative self-talk is a form of resistance that interferes with motivation. Negative self-talk might prevent you from starting your workout, or it may prevent you from enjoying it once you begin. The only way to defeat negative self-talk is to reframe- to redirect your thoughts and turn negative statements into positive ones. Here’s a simple exercise to practice reframing:

On a piece of paper make two columns. In the left-hand column write down negative self-talk that affects you personally- things you say to yourself that bring you down. In the right hand column write a more positive, encouraging way to look at the situation. Pretend it’s your friend who said the statement on the left. How would you respond to make your friend feel better?

Here are a few examples:

 6. Park Your Thoughts- Sometimes stress and worry can suck the motivation right out of us, and it’s those times that “parking” our thoughts can be a powerful tool. When we “park” our thoughts we give our mind a respite from our worries, if only temporarily. Parking our thoughts is a way to put them aside, or compartmentalize if you will, so that we can focus on what we need to do- which in this case is to enjoy our workout. Sometimes we need to park our thoughts at the door, right before we walk into the gym, or we need to park them at work, before we leave the office. The bottom line is that exercise will clear our mind and better prepare us to face our stress with more clarity and a healthier perspective, and that’s the power of parking. I’ve parked many negative thoughts on my way into the gym, and when I leave and come back they don’t seem nearly as overwhelming.

Stay Inspired~ Angie

Angie Miller, M.S., is a fitness educator, university instructor, and Licensed Professional Counselor who blends her skills and expertise to empower individuals, mentally and physically, and provide them the tools they need to succeed. A veteran group exercise instructor and personal trainer, Angie is the star of acclaimed exercise DVD’s, including the Bedroom Body™ workout. Her passion for progressive education brought her to Northern Illinois University, where she teaches in the Dept. of Kinesiology & Physical Education. Outside of the university, she presents at fitness conventions worldwide and leads industry trainings as an AFAA Certification Specialist and Kettlebell Concepts Master Instructor. Angie writes for fitness journals and digital communities, and blogs for Collage Video. Connect with Angie at: http://www.angiemillerfitness.com

Four Mental Motivators to Maximize Your Workouts

by Angie Miller

1. Just Five Minutes More- This is a tool I personally use when I run, because it’s an activity where I always need a little nudge. When I want to quit I tell myself, “just five minutes more,” because that helps me to break it up into smaller, and more do-able increments. No matter how much I may be struggling with my run, I know I can manage five minutes. Five minutes is a short-term goal that motivates me to complete my long term-goal. When the five minutes are up I say it again, and so it goes until the end.

2. Repeat a Mantra- Find a short phrase that speaks to you, something that will center your attention and keep your mind focused. It could be, “you got this,” or “breathe through it,” and one of my personal favorites, “turn into it.” In mindfulness and meditation I teach people to turn into their discomfort, not to resist it, because it’s the only way to manage it and move forward. Whatever your mantra, stay with it as long as it’s effective, and change it up when you need new inspiration.

3. Prompts are Powerful- Sometimes mental motivation needs to come before the workout starts, and this is why prompts are powerful. A prompt is a cue that inspires you to act on a behavior, and the behavior in this case is your workout. Prompts can be posters, signs or notes you place around your house with motivational sayings, quotes, or images that inspire. Prompts can also be symbolic, such as placing your gym shoes and gym bag next to your bed so they’re the first thing you see when you wake up; or in your car so you’re not tempted to stop home after work. Prompts are reminders, and they help to prevent us from losing our motivation or getting distracted.

4. Use Imagery- Imagery is used by athletes to build confidence and to keep them focused. Imagery is where you visualize yourself doing something that you may not have been able to accomplish up until this point. It’s a “mental film” of you surpassing your own self-imposed limits. Maybe it’s you running that half marathon or completing the full hour of your favorite fitness DVD. Imagery is designed to help generate positive feelings, images, and thoughts about your capacity to achieve your goal. Runners visualize themselves crossing the finish line, while other athletes visualize how they would feel, act, and think when they win the championship. Imagery is a visual representation of you accomplishing your goals.

Stay Inspired!

Angie Miller, M.S., is a fitness educator, university instructor, and Licensed Professional Counselor who blends her skills and expertise to empower individuals, mentally and physically, and provide them the tools they need to succeed. A veteran group exercise instructor and personal trainer, Angie is the star of acclaimed exercise DVD’s, including the Bedroom Body™ workout. Her passion for progressive education brought her to Northern Illinois University, where she teaches in the Dept. of Kinesiology & Physical Education. Outside of the university, she presents at fitness conventions worldwide and leads industry trainings as an AFAA Certification Specialist and Kettlebell Concepts Master Instructor. Angie writes for fitness journals and digital communities, and blogs for Collage Video. Connect with Angie at: http://www.angiemillerfitness.com

Learning to Love Yourself~ An Ode to Valentine's Day

by Angie Miller

- Angie

Angie Miller, M.S., is a fitness educator, university instructor, and Licensed Professional Counselor who blends her skills and expertise to empower individuals, mentally and physically, and provide them the tools they need to succeed. A veteran group exercise instructor and personal trainer, Angie is the star of acclaimed exercise DVD’s, including the Bedroom Body™ workout. Her passion for progressive education brought her to Northern Illinois University, where she teaches in the Dept. of Kinesiology & Physical Education. Outside of the university, she presents at fitness conventions worldwide and leads industry trainings as an AFAA Certification Specialist and Kettlebell Concepts Master Instructor. Angie writes for fitness journals and digital communities, and blogs for Collage Video. Connect with Angie at: http://www.angiemillerfitness.com