Fitness & Nutrition by Crissy

12/08/2021

Register to join me at Island Fitness Center in Pelican Village. 6.30pm Monday's and Thursday's in August.

03/08/2021

Join me at Island Fitness in Barbados for STRONG Nation classes. Monday's and Thursday's at 6.30pm. Make sure you register to secure your spot!

03/02/2021

Join the party!!!!

Special Birthday STRONG Nation™ followed by Zumba® with Kristi, Nate, Aurelio and me 2/6.

9am CST STRONG Nation™ https://www.zumba.dance/marketplace/details/5ff91e87-9420-4529-8ce0-2ef20a010a5d

10:05an CST Zumba® https://www.zumba.dance/class/online/60140dd4-5644-4783-8f1f-61310a010abb

01/11/2020

26/10/2020

Exercise boosts energy! Regular physical activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance. Exercise delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. And when your heart and lung health improve, you have more energy to tackle daily chores.

08/08/2020

Fitness is not about being better than anyone else. It is about being better than you used to be. Stop comparing yourself to to others, and start comparing yourself to the person you were yesterday.

07/08/2020

It doesn't take much effort or money to design an effective workout program at home. Things like fit balls, dumbbells, exercise bands or tubing, and push-up bars are an inexpensive way to create a routine that works all the major muscle groups.

But even with no props or machines, you can build muscles and burn calories.

To get started, take a brisk walk, then do abdominal exercises and push-ups. An effective fitness program has five components, all of which you can do at home:

- A warmup.
- A cardiovascular (aerobic) workout.
- Resistance (strength-building) exercises.
- Flexibility moves.
- A cooldown

A warm-up could be an easy walk outside or on a treadmill, or a slow pace on a stationary bike. For the cardiovascular portion, walk or pedal faster, do step aerobics with a video, or jump rope - whatever you enjoy that gets your heart rate up.

The resistance portion can be as simple as squats, push-ups and abdominal crunches. Or you could work with small dumbbells, a weight bar, bands or tubing.

Increase your flexibility with floor stretches or yoga poses. And your cooldown should be similar to the warm up. In other words, cardiovascular work at a low level to bring the heart rate down to a resting state.

05/08/2020

Negative attitudes and feelings can create chronic stress, which upsets the body's hormone balance, depletes the brain chemicals required for happiness, and damages the immune system.

Poorly managed or repressed anger (hostility) is also related to a slew of health conditions, such as hypertension (high blood pressure), cardiovascular disease, digestive disorders, and infection.

Part of a healthy lifestyle is to keep a positive mind and lead a positive life!

27/07/2020

Exercise triggers the breakdown of muscle protein. The rate at which this happens depends on the exercise and your level of training, but even well-trained athletes experience muscle protein breakdown.

Consuming an adequate amount of protein after a workout gives your body the amino acids it needs to repair and rebuild these proteins. It also gives you the building blocks required to build new muscle tissue.

27/07/2020

Meet Your Coach!

Hello! I'm Crissy – University Lecturer, health nut, and multilingual life enthusiast that loves to motivate people. My goal is to completely cater your training to your individual goals and expectations.

Being a working professional, I know how much of a challenge it can be to juggle the many demands of life, whilst finding time to eat well, exercise regularly and take care of ourselves. This is all possible, once we make self-care a priority!

As a certified personal trainer, exercise therapist and sports nutritionist, I am here to make your personal training programme tailored to what you need. Whether it's getting more toned, losing weight, gaining strength, or building muscle. You will get tailored workouts, personalised nutrition and confidence-boosting challenges to create a bullet-proof mind and body. Expect to be challenged, yet motivated to achieve your fitness goals!

If this sounds like something you are interested in, contact me!

25/07/2020

I've created this 12-Week Transformation Plan to help you take your fitness journey to new heights. Pick from four fitness goals; Getting Lean, Building Muscle, Boosting Performance, or Overall Health, and each week, you'll get tailored workouts developed especially for you. You even get a weekly meal plan to keep your diet and your workouts working together.

Choose the fitness goal that's right for you and take the first step towards a healthier future!

18/07/2020

To Eat Or Not to Eat. Does fasted workouts really burn more fat?

If eating before your early morning workout session at the track or gym doesn’t work with your schedule or stomach, that’s fine. Just pay attention to potential side effects such as dizziness or nausea.

If you’re truly interested in improving athletic performance or losing fat, make sure you’re asking the right question, not are you eating before workouts, but what are you eating throughout the day?

Check in on your diet and reduce your calories. Make some dietary changes overall. Feeding the whole system will help increase the intensity level during a workout, therefore recruiting more muscle activation and boosting metabolism for the whole day.

17/07/2020

Push harder than yesterday if you want a different tomorrow! Push harder in your workouts, push harder to avoid temptation and push harder to stick to your healthy meal plan! Push harder in every aspect of your life, and you’ll never see a plateau again!

12/07/2020

Embrace the outdoors and you'll reap physical and mental health benefits. Here are five good reasons to get outdoors:

1. Your vitamin D levels rise. Sunlight hitting the skin begins a process that leads to the creation and activation of vitamin D.

2. You'll get more exercise. If you make getting outside a goal, that should mean less time in front of the television and computer and more time walking and doing other things that put the body in motion.

3. You'll be happier. Light tends to elevate people's mood, and there's usually more light available outside than in. Physical activity has been shown to help people relax and cheer up, so if being outside replaces inactive pursuits with active ones, it might also mean more smiles.

4. Your concentration will improve. Children with ADHD seem to focus better after being outdoors. It might be a stretch to say that applies to adults, but if you have trouble concentrating,
outdoor activity may help.

5. You may heal faster. In one medical study, people recovering from spinal surgery experienced less pain and stress and took fewer pain medications when they were exposed to natural light. An older study showed that the view out the window (trees vs. a brick wall) helped recovery in the hospital.

10/07/2020

Tell me what you eat, and I tell you how much respect you have for yourself and for this planet.

09/07/2020

Proper hydration is crucial for our health. Water regulates your body temperature and lubricates your joints. It helps transport nutrients to give you energy and keep you healthy. If you're not hydrated, your body can't perform at its highest level. You may feel tired, have muscle cramps, dizziness, or other serious symptoms.

We’re flipping the “eight glasses of water per day” rule on its head and getting a little creative with hydration.

08/07/2020

Drinking plenty of clear water is essential for your health and, in fact, for your very survival.

Don’t wait to feel thirsty to start sipping — that’s a sign that dehydration has already started to occur. You want to drink water throughout the day, on a regular basis.

Four Tips for Getting Your Daily Fill of Water:

1. Use a water tracker
2. Add water throughout your day
3. Get water through food
4. Jazz up your water glass with a wedge of fruit

So what are you waiting for? Water is available right now from your tap, and it's free. Enjoy!

07/07/2020

Looking for the high intensity workout everybody is talking about? STRONG Nation! Look no forther.

STRONG Nation classes combine body weight, muscle conditioning, cardio and plyometric training moves, synced to original music that has been specifically designed to match every single move. Every squat, every lunge, every burpee is driven by the music, helping the participant make it to that last rep, and maybe even more. Join me for a class via Zoom!

DM or email for details.

07/07/2020

It is easy to come up with many reasons/excuses for not exercising – I’m too tired. I’m too overweight. I don’t have time. Below are 10 of the most common excuses for NOT exercising.

DM us or send an email if you want help with clever solutions to overcome those excuses.

EXCUSE #1: I’m too tired to exercise. EXCUSE #2: I can’t afford a gym.
EXCUSE #3: I don’t have time. Or I am a full time parent.
EXCUSE #4: I need to be motivated to exercise.
EXCUSE #5: I don’t like to exercise alone.
EXCUSE #6: I get bored easily. Exercise is no fun.
Excuse #7: I’m too old /fat /uncoordinated/embarrassed to exercise.
EXCUSE # 8: I’ve tried before. Or I can’t stick with a program.
EXCUSE #9: I don’t like to work out around the opposite s*x.
EXCUSE #10: I don’t like to sweat. Or I don’t want to take another shower and reapply makeup.

07/07/2020

07/07/2020

Everybody needs Vitamin C, whether you are a hard training athlete, or an everyday person that is just trying to get in shape. C can help protect the immune system and help bodybuilders recover from intense training.

Vitamin C promotes a healthy immune system and may help to prevent the dip in immune function that may occur right after exercise.

Primary sources fo vitamin C:
Cantaloupe
Orange
Broccoli
Red cabbage
Green pepper
Red pepper
Kiwi
Tomatoes
Strawberries
Raspberries
Pineapple
Blueberries
Cranberries
Papaya
Mango
Watermelon
Cauliflower
Brussels sprouts

How much C is too much depends on the person taking it. One thing you should not do is take it on an empty stomach. This can lead to indigestion. Also, do not take a lot at one time. Taking extra large dosages of C at one time can cause diarrhea, disturbed sleep, and nausea. Do not take more than 1,000mg of Vitamin C at one time.