POWER

It's important to not let anyone take your power. 

Each and everyone of us has power. It may not feel like that sometimes but we do. 

There are times for all of us when we feel less than. We feel like we just don't measure up to someone or something. Those are the times positive self talk is a must!

Exercise can help you get your power back in more than one way. 

When you're feeling like you just don't count a good workout can help you clear your mind of the destructive talk and replace it with positive, useful thoughts. 

Exercise increases the "feel good" hormones so thinking about positives ways to view your situation is easier.

Exercise also adds power to your body. 

Powerful mind. Powerful body. 

Exercise is powerful!

Your fitness expert,

Lynn    www.getrealfit.org

BACK

Having a healthy back is so important. I've been sharing about my struggles with my neck and lower back. Sports and car accidents have left me in a bit of a mess. 

Exercise is may hero! 

I'm still under a few doctors care and have a great team of PT's working with me so I am getting better fast. 

I had to have a flexion xray to make sure I'm not having slippage at one area of my neck and the xray tech gave me a tip. He showed me a fantastic book. 

I went home and looked the book up on line and had to get it. It came and I started doing some of the exercises. I love it!

The creator of the exercises had issues and made lemonade out of lemons. He went on a hunt for solutions. 

If you're looking for some ways to gain good posture and body alignment I highly recommend this book. You can find it at

www.achievingexcellence.com

Keep coming back I'm full of great ideas :)

Your fitness expert

Lynn     www.getrealfit.org

EXERCISE!

I'm feeling pretty high right now!

I did one of my new workouts all low impact and had tons of fun! My neck is fine!

I swear by exercise. 

I inherited arthritis from my mom, "thanks mom!" and have been in a couple of car accidents when I was young ( my friends got a bit crazy when they drove ugggg) and I have several sport injuries. If I didn't exercise I'd be a mess!

My PT and I spoke about that. I truly have some serious issues but am very active at almost 59 years old. She said she tries to tell people that exercise will help keep them moving but a lot of people stop when they should keep going!

Exercise has never caused me to have injuries. It's what has saved me from injuries that have come my way. 

One of the benefits of my workouts is that I use the moves the PT's have given me throughout the years. I combine them with martial art moves and wow! what a great combo.

I still am not comfortable doing high impact and may not be able to go back to that but I'm putting together low impact moves that are making my thighs burn which makes me breath trying to get back into the aerobic state.

That's what happens when you get breathy. Your body is trying to get as much oxygen as it can because you need oxygen to burn fat and fat is your largest fuel source so the body wants to get to that fat by making you huff and puff.

The body is amazing!

Keep exercising! Even if you are injured. Work with your PT and keep going! 

Your fitness expert

Lynn    www.getrealfit.org

HOPE

I'm hanging onto hope. I see the specialist Tuesday to see where I'm at with my neck. 

I swear kick boxing gets you in better shape than anything else I've tried. I haven't been able to do any of my moves for a few weeks and I can see the difference in my abs and arms. ugggg! 

I hope I get the green flag soon so I can get going on a new low impact work out. It has to have kick boxing in it. 

I look at old photos when I was dancing and running and my arms and abs are not near as developed as they got from the martial arts and that was 20 years ago! I'm 58 years old.

I didn't get bulky but very defined from the martial arts. 

Once I'm given the go ahead I'll be able to see just how long it takes to see a change from my workouts. I'm going to chart it. 

I love putting together workouts and sharing them. There's a lot of great DVDs out there and fantastic instructors. I hope that I can continue to share my work. The competition is tough. 

Time will tell what my next move is.

If you are going through an injury or illness just keep doing the best you can and know that it happens to all of us!

Your fitness expert,

Lynn     www.getrealfit.org 

BOOKS

I'm still dealing with my neck issue. 

It seems I need to make some changes.

I told you I'd keep you updated on ways I find to live with a bad neck. 

Here's todays' special. A book holder!

If you go on line and look for "book holders" you'll find several manufacturers. 

I swear by mine! 

I do a lot of computer work and tons of reading keeping up with all the latest in health and fitness so my neck needed help!

This has helped so much it's crazy. I wish someone would have told me about them before.

You can use them sitting at the table reading your favorite book or at your office while you're typing.

Try one out. You'll thank me for sure!

Your fitness expert,

Lynn    www.getrealfit.org

SELF DEFENSE

I need some feed back PLEASE!

It's been suggested that I do a women's self defense DVD. 

I would like to know your thoughts on that. I want to make sure there's enough interest in that topic to warrant making a DVD.

It's so important to have some information and skills incase you are faced with an attacker. I do teach self defense and I specialize on teaching women so it would be a great DVD. I just like doing my homework before I invest time and money into projects.

So what do you think?

Your fitness expert

Lynn   www.getrealfit.org

INJURY

I have some sport injuries that come to visit me from time to time. Right now I'm dealing with a neck injury.

I've been spending lots of time on the computer and have not been taking enough breaks nor using the correct chair. My placement of the key board has been too high and my progressive glasses made my neck get in bad positions to see the computer screen.

My neck is injured from my fighting days in the martial arts. I took a really hard kick in my head and the story is long but it left me in a mess for a long time and never let me go completely. I continue to struggle off and on with the injury.

If you watch my DVDs you'll notice when I do push ups my left arm is weaker than my right. I wiggle a bit while doing the push ups. I had permanent damage to my nerves. 

Being on the computer can do some real harm if you have spine issues. Here are some tips I got from my PT:

Make sure your chair offers good back support! Sitting on a ball is not good for long time use. Your back has to work way too hard and gets injured. 20 minutes here and there is good but not full time. 

Your chair seat should not go into the back of your knees because that will cut off circulation to your legs. 

Your feet should be flat on the floor. 

Sit on lots of chairs before you decide which one to buy. Comfort before looks!

Your screen should be about an arm length away from you. 

If you need glasses spending the extra $100 bucks to get computer glasses will save you time and money in the long run. You won't need to go for doctor appointments due to neck strain!

Your keyboard and mouse should be low so you don't strain your back reaching up all day. 

Get a timer and make sure you get up to at least stretch every 30 minutes. Going for a short walk will help your body and your mind. You'll come back with some great ideas. 

Keep your wrists up when you type. Hover while typing and then rest your hands on the table or on your lap when not typing. 

Invest in a good book stand so you're not kinking you neck while typing.

I'll be sharing more info with you as I go through my "get better" journey so hopefully you won't have to suffer like I am. It's not fun! Learning how to avoid an injury is the better way to go.  

So keep coming back and I'll share some great info with you!

Your fitness expert

Lynn    www.getrealfit.org