*Special Note to readers*

I'm sorry there have not been updates recently on my blog or website. Due to a recent death in the family, things have been hectic the past week or so. Things are settling down now, and I do plan to begin updating the blog and website ASAP.

Thanks for your patience.

Yours in Fitness, Health and Wellness;

Derek Arsenault (CSEP-CPT)

Don't forget about "mental fitness"

Your brain is the absolute most important part of the body. When we think fitness we think muscles, bones, heart, lungs... What about the amazing "computer" we have inside our heads?!?! It too needs to be worked. It needs to constantly be challenged in order to improve, just as our muscles, heart, lungs, nervous system etc.. do.

When we are physically active our brain is very active as well. However, we need to work our brain daily with new and fun challenges. So how do we do that? Simple - Grab a good book to read for 10-15 minutes a day, do a crossword, sudoku or other word game puzzle, learn something new or read up on a new hobby... The benefit to this is that by training your mind with these types of methods, your mind will actually work more efficiently when your body is physically active by being more efficient in sending signals throughout the body. When we are doing physically activity, the body relies on the brain to send signals via the nervous system to our muscles, inner organs etc... so that we can perform to the best of our ability.

Not to mention, taking a few minutes to relax in a quiet, relaxing location and reading a bit of a good book feels just great! (Just be careful! If it's a good book, you may not want to put it down!)

Challenges within your routine

Everyone who is taking the adventure of changing their lifestyle and making it a healthier, happier one, experiences challenges along the way. Whether you're a doctor, a lawyer, a personal trainer, a teacher... we all have those days.

This week was one for me... Some clients were coming in not feeling 100% this week, one trainer I work with went home sick one day; I'm not in the profession where it's easy to avoid the cold and flu season. All I can do (and all anyone can do) is take care of their body as best they can, to strengthen the immune system and try to keep those nasty colds away!

So mid-week I felt a bit under the weather. Not 100% for sure. I had that "achey/tired muscle feeling", and light headed. BLAH! I first felt a change during my regular tuesday workout. I knew my body was telling me something wasn't right (Always listen to your body!) so I cut my workout to 1 set and finished with a light 15 minute run instead, and 10 minutes of yoga to relax the mind and body (I love yoga). Then on Wednesday at work when I felt "more blah" I knew I just needed to get through that day and then take it easy on my day off.

So I got home, took an echinecia (whether you believe in them or not) and relaxed. Thursdays are normally a workout day for me, but instead I did 20 minutes of yoga. This way, my body was still doing something in routine, but not at an intensity where it would affect my body's ability to fight the cold (instead, it would help it). Come friday (today) I'm back to normal and even got my Thursday workout in today plus some. BRING ON THE WEEKEND!

We all have challenges such as the cold, flu, days we feel tired or unmotivated... that's all ok; But it's how you pull through those days and get back on track that counts!