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Getting Started With Kayaking Over 50

The origins of the kayak go back over 4,000 years ago and were invented by the Inuit, Yup’ik and Aleut peoples in the arctic regions of what is today Canada. They were often constructed from stitched seal and other animal skins built on either wood or whalebone skeletons. And what an incredible invention they are! Today kayaks are made from a wide range of materials and various designs for both flatwater and open water uses. Ideal for a quick paddle or multi-day trips. The longest recorded trip, according to Guinness world records for a solo journey was by Polish adventurer Marcin Gieniezcko at 3,462.9 miles. The unofficial record is by German Freya Hoffmesiter who circumnavigated Australia alone at a distance of 8,570 miles. Wow! Kayaking at any age is fun and a great way to work out the upper body, build core strength for better balance and get closer to

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Fitness

Fitness Fanatics – Hot Holiday Equipment – Our Top Picks!

So you like to work out? Why not put one of these sweaty Hot Holiday items under somebody’s tree this year! # 1 Lebert HIIT System No matter what your age or fitness No matter what your age or fitness level, increasing overall strength is one of the keys to living longer and healthier. The Lebert HIIT System is the ultimate pump machine. (If Arnold had one, he would have been bigger.) This system is direct torque on your muscles. The pump burns SO much and that’s why it made it to our HOT LIST! Whoever gets their hands on one will love it. # 2 CoreFX Adjustable Dumbbells This is not your grandmother’s weight set. Darth Vader beware. These futuristic Adjustable Dumbbells will make you addicted to doing more sets than you need to. This dumbbell set is incredible with the mobile stand that you can move around (costs

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Featured

Walking your way to better health

There is no question, it’s been a tough couple of years. COVID-19 brought a lot of uncertainty, impacted our physical health and mental well-being and eroded our social connections. In the meantime, Canadians became more sedentary.  It’s time we hit the reboot button.  According to Greg Wells, Ph.D., a performance physiologist and a senior associate at SickKids Hospital in Toronto, “If you look at humans from an evolutionary perspective, we are designed to walk. And when we walk long distances, we get healthier. Our muscles and bones get stronger. Our spines function better, blood flows to our brain and bodies, and the benefits are profound. We also know that the risk of 13 different types of cancer decreases when you walk for as little as 15 minutes a day.”  If you’ve ever doubted the power of taking a walk, consider how you feel when you get outdoors in nature. Walking

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Featured

Revealed: The increase in Canada’s social value from getting more active

The benefits of engaging in sport and physical activity on an individual level may seem obvious, but if you add them up on a national level, you find enormous savings to the Canadian taxpayer and economy through. Moreover, it demonstrates Canada could reap even more rewards from encouraging more people to get active.  These are the conclusions of the Fitness Industry Council of Canada (FIC). Two conclusions: The total value of health savings generated by sport and physical activity in 2019 was CAN$23.4 billion. Over 2.2 million cases of health conditions were prevented in 2019, as a result of sport and physical activity, including over 600,000 each for Coronary Heart Disease, Type 2 Diabetes, and Depression. Here’s the other side. The report – using the most recent data from before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic – shows the costs of not being physically active. This highlights the benefits to

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Fitness

Busting 8 myths about nutrition & exercise

When it comes to creating a healthy lifestyle, we often don’t make the progress we’d like because we’re operating under erroneous assumptions. Here, Warren Honeycutt shines a light on eight common myths about nutrition and fitness. Fitness and weight loss When it comes to losing weight and getting fit, do you find yourself unable to make progress despite your best efforts? If so, you’re not alone in your frustration—and it may not be entirely your fault. According to Warren Honeycutt, fitness and nutrition expert, marketers in the nutrition and fitness industries are very good at obscuring inconvenient facts that might keep consumers from buying their products. And beyond that, he says, misinformation about what’s healthy and what’s not often masquerades as “common knowledge” and “common sense.” “If you want to move the needle on your fitness, you have to separate fact from fiction, once and for all,” says Honeycutt, author

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Fitness

How to fight fitness fatigue

Fitness burnout is a real thing — these foolproof tips will help you get out of your workout rut. Trust me, it happens to all of us. Regardless of how dedicated a person is to their fitness routine, there will be times when they just don’t feel as motivated as they usually do. It’s easy to feel discouraged and to blame ourselves for losing focus, but the truth is that fitness fatigue is just one of the ways our bodies let us know what they need. Don’t think of a dip in your exercise enthusiasm as a negative reflection of your dedication to health and wellness, think of it as a sign that it’s time to change things up! Here are a few ways you can rev up your fitness performance and stay on track with your goals: Tips to fight fitness fatigue Modify your short-term goals If your regular

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Fitness

Fuelling your body to exercise

Meet Karen Graham, a registered dietitian and a certified diabetes educator. Karen shares her tips in how to properly fuel your body. In a Zoom interview Karen explains about healthy eating into their exercise routine. “I think what’s really important is to have regular meals and snacks. So for snacks, you may not want to have snacks, but regular meals and snacks, if you wish, and that’s the basis of your healthy eating and then your exercise, you build in around that. But you still maintain that regularity in terms of the time, because we know that for people who maybe they’re trying to lose weight or just eat healthier, that having a regular schedule is very important. So I think establish your schedule first.” She further explains, “So really it’s, what’s going to work with your schedule. The most important thing is that you build that exercise into your

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Fitness

Beware the deodorant you choose

Some people sweat more than others. The right deodorant can help. Sweating can be embarrassing, smelly and just downright messy. We’ve all been there. An awkward situation, a really hot day, or a workout at the gym, and all of a sudden our body temperature rises, our face gets red, our palms get clammy, and sweat pours out of our armpits, staining our brilliant white tees. This is the body’s natural response to activity level, stress and extreme temperatures that helps us cool down. What if you were constantly sweating excessively without anything to trigger it? This actually is a medical condition called hyperhidrosis. These people produce more sweat then the average person and they have an over-stimulation of sweat glands. This embarrassing disorder can lead to awkward social situations and can cause people to withdraw from normal daily activities. So what causes it? Hyperhidrosis can be caused by certain

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Fitness

The boxing workout

Boxing is a great basic sport, but drilling for the actual sport can actually improve your cardio stamina, endurance, coordination, strength, and balance. To help you improve on your boxing skills, we have designed a boxing style circuit mixed with a conditioning round, Tabata style (20 seconds of full on effort followed  by 10 seconds of rest, repeated eight times). But first, you will need a lesson on the basics: BASIC “FIGHTER STANCE”  Keep your feet shoulder width apart and stand diagonally with your lead foot (if you are right handed, your lead foot will be your left leg) slightly ahead. With your hands in a fist, bend your elbows and keep your hands in front of your face. Lean forward slightly, and keep your abdominals tight. Always be ready for action by keeping on the balls of your feet. BASIC PUNCHES All punches include a rotation of the hips

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