💥 This is a free newsletter from Michelle Caira at Vivi Rocks - personal training online. Included in your membership is access to the VR community 💥
Hello Everyone!
How are you doing this week? Monday Funday, am I right?! Today is the first day back to school for my son following the two week mid-term break. Honestly, I do not recall having so many “long” holidays when I was at school! And after two weeks of mucking about, he really struggled to get back into the groove this morning. Once he eventually got on his way I took a while to reflect on motherhood and how it never seems to be smooth. We reach different age zones when things are great, and by default motherhood seems to be easier, then we hit the tough or struggles again. This is what I’m feeling today. It has always been interesting that my child’s mood or feeling or emotions impact my mood and feelings and emotions. And I know that other mothers feel this too.
This could result in jarring your own smooth start to the day/week. Maybe you got up in a sprightly mood and were raring to go only to be stopped in your buoyant tracks by your child feeling almost the opposite. That impact might be enough to eat into your fitness workout (you use your work out time to console a young child instead), or simply alter your mood (dulling the super positive vibes a little).
What do you do in that situation? Would love to hear your thoughts and tips that you swear by!
For me - I was initially quite cross as I knew my son was “playing up” but at the same time I wanted to reach him where his mind was and help and support him whatever he was feeling. Turns out he was feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and nervous about writing a book report on a book that he had skim read during the holidays.
Haven’t we all felt that about something looming? Haven’t we all wanted to call in sick when we’ve got a deadline that you are worried about?
Once he went to school I went out for a coffee in the local café and took some time to plan out my after-school chat, which we’ll be having so that I can help my son the next time he’s feeling like this. Amongst my “things I must do” is to make sure I listen to him. To truly listen to what went wrong this morning. How was his mind working? And what can I do to better support him if this happens again?
Taking care of your mental health and wellness is sometimes easier as an adult because we tend to have the words to help explain what is going on in our mind. For a child it can be crippling. They don’t always have the words or ways to describe what’s happening.
But for some adults, whilst we might have the words and phrases, we might not have a community around us to share these with or get any support and help.
Top ways that I try to work through problems when I can’t share them, or don’t quite have the friends around me at that time, include:
Taking a walk - always helps me to calm down
Listening to music - depending on my mood it’s either upbeat tracks or slow and steady
Writing in my journal - I have written a journal since I was a teenager and truly find it a way to write it all out and take my time to truly write out each word. This helps me to decompress
Mental wellness is critical for everyone at every age and I wanted to share with you this story of my home life, this morning, as transparency around what motherhood looks like is critical. Every family has moments of joy, happiness, and struggle. It’s important to be open to asking for advice and help and also feel comfortable in sharing what works for you.
In the Vivi Rocks community home I have set up a Wellness Zone - and within that a room called “Let’s Talk: Wellness” and I invite you to share your experiences as a mom - and to ask for any advice. It takes a village!
This week I wanted to teach you about Fitness Assessments, why they are important and how to do one. Take a look below, grab your schedule and block out an hour this week to do yours. I’m so keen for everyone to do this that I’ve also set up a spreadsheet that will capture your results (completely anonymous) so that I can map out data that includes age and fitness level. You will be able to access this spreadsheet and see where you are, in general, for your age and fitness level.
Next up: In the next newsletter I’ll walk you through New Years’ Resolutions and how they could be a great motivator!
Until then - please take a look at the links at the bottom of this newsletter - if you still haven’t joined the Vivi Rocks community then please feel free to do that - there are different membership levels, including free!
As always - if you need anything from my side please drop me an email, Telegram, or message me via the app.
Have a great week ahead!
Michelle
xoxo
Here is your #WOD
I’m so nervous about sharing this workout video as it’s like nothing I’ve done before! It is a light, beginner-friendly, easy-to-follow workout. Check it out!
And - please feel free to like, share, and most importantly: SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube channel - it makes a big difference to the ranking of the videos ;-)
The long read: How to do a Fitness Assessment
What is a Fitness Assessment?
A simple way of testing your current fitness level, measured through doing a set of exercises, counting your repetitions or time, recording this, then retesting at regular intervals.
It’s very simple, easy to do, easy to record, and helps you to see how your fitness program and fitness goal is progressing.
Also - nothing to worry about either!
When should I do a Fitness Assessment?
At the start of any fitness program. Ideally what you’re trying to do is figure out:
where am I today as a base measurement of my fitness
what things can I record today, that can also be recorded at a future date, that are relevant to my fitness plan and health goals
Training for Progression
When you start any fitness program, whether it’s a free one online, a new app you’ve downloaded, a local class that you’re going to every week, a gym you’ve joined, or even a new personal trainer - completing a fitness assessment is a brilliant way for you to see where you’re at today, and to measure where you are after x weeks of training.
It can help you to figure out if your training is working for you, if your plan is the right one, and even if your PT is worth their money!
It's also pretty critical for your success in creating habits, which hit your goals, milestones, and trigger motivation for each client to find their perfect workouts and fitness preferences. Theory being: if you’re not enjoying your workouts, you’ll likely not do your workouts, and that will show up in your next fitness assessment.
Why this matters to you and to me (as your PT)
The reason is quite simple: if you're forcing yourself to do something that doesn't feel good, or fun, or enjoyable, then that "task" becomes like a chore. A chore that you're not getting much from.
When this happens it's often the time when clients drop out or start missing sessions. If I am working with a client who is not really *that* interested in fitness - but is working with me as they need to lose weight/improve health/tackle a body issue, then they need a little more than simply the twice-weekly session… they desperately need to see and feel more. The best way to do this is through fitness and body assessments.
Seeing the numbers change from one assessment to the next is one of the best things about being a PT! So often clients just don’t realize that they’re getting fitter. They pitch up for sessions and do what’s asked of them, but they're not seeing what I see - that their push ups are closer to the ground, that their burpees are getting quicker, that their sprint runs are faster, that their squats are turning into jump squats, that they are becoming much fitter.
They don’t see this as it’s tough to notice this when you come to sessions a couple/few times per week. But… the fitness assessment doesn’t lie. It’s the most beautiful way to demonstrate that “all that work” is really paying off. There is nowhere to hide with fitness assessments, so if you are not seeing any changes/improvements, then it’s a great chance to catch what’s not working for you and how to start making changes to your program or possibly your own commitment and schedule.
So - to recap - fitness assessments are a fantastic and critical way to measure your fitness levels, fitness plan, goals, programming, classes and sessions you’re doing, and whether they are worth your time and money.
Who are Fitness Assessments NOT for?
Off the top of my head I’d say that anyone who is not really interested in measuring their fitness by numbers. You might have clients who are looking for a regular fitness class which is measured by their enjoyment, camaraderie, fun-factor, and not at all about how many pushups they can do. They might take their fitness seriously, so don’t misunderstand me that this might be someone who’s not interested. They might be, but they’re just not interested in testing it. They pitch up every week, they contribute to your session, they love working out, they just don’t have any interest in the numbers. Their clothes fit well, they look and feel healthy. And that’s all they need to keep them motivated and engaged.
The First Fitness Assessment
Now is the time to complete your very first Fitness Assessment!
The key to this assessment process is to repeat it every so often:
• To check that you are progressing
• To adapt your training methods if you are not progressing
For a woman I always do a fitness assessment under as close to the original conditions as possible - and this means tying in your FA's every 4, 8 or 12 weeks. Yes, exactly.
Whether you're menstruating or not, it stands to reason that your body will be going through its cycle and rhythm every 28 or so days. Whether you have menses (blood) every month through your period, is not an issue. The aim today is simply to try to create and recreate the same "Utopian" conditions as possible.
The goal, between fitness assessments, is to work very hard on two things:
• Technique of each of the FA exercises
• Speed of each rep
We will never compromise technique for speed, but we must also be able to see and feel progression, in future fitness assessments, otherwise what have we been doing for the past x weeks?
Here's a list of the exercises that we test:
• Push Ups • Burpees • High knees • Triceps Dips
• Mountain Climbers • Crunches • Plank (how long, not rep)
• Sprint test • Endurance run
Fitness Assessment Instructions:
Always with new Personal Training clients I conduct Fitness Assessments. It’s a great way to see where your fitness levels are now, during the program, and at the end. The tests will show you and your PT where your strengths and weaknesses lie, and give you a good insight as to what to work on to improve your scores.
You will need:
- Timer or stopwatch
- Fitness Assessment record template (in the Fitness Zone in the Vivi Rocks Home)
- Around 60 mins – which includes warm-up, cool-down and stretch times too.
🟢 Press Ups / Tricep Dips / Crunches / Mountain Climbers / Burpees / High Knees
Count how many repetitions you can complete in a 1 minute period then record the number.
Take a break of around one minute in between each exercise.
🟢 Plank
Simply hold your plank position, in the correct form until you can no longer hold – come out immediately. Record how long you held the correct form
🟢 15 Minute “Endurance”
Find a circuit loop that you can walk, jog or run around. Record how many times you get around the circuit loop within a 15 minute period.
e.g. A 400m athletics track – count how many laps in 15 mins. Partial laps do count – just remember to record exactly how far around a partial lap you got!
That’s it!
There are also agility and flexibility tests that PTs can run - along with body fat and body muscle measurements. And PTs with access to VO2 max running machines might also do that too.
The key to the assessments is to make sure that they are relevant. It may not be relevant to conduct body measurement testing or VO2 max.
My suggestion for you this week:
Find a spot in your schedule and block out an hour to conduct your fitness assessment.
Join or log into the Vivi Rocks community and go to: Fitness Zone → How To room and download the Fitness Assessment template. Print off or simply check what you’ve to do and write your scores on a note.
Tuck your scores away and repeat this whole thing in 4 weeks time.
Between this week and 4 weeks time - start working out regularly!!
Let me know if you need any help!
Here are the Bits and Pieces:
⚡️ The Templates - I have created a few templates for menstrual cycle tracking. You can purchase, download and reuse the templates time and again. They have been designed to help you to track your cycle, your training, and if you’re in perimenopause - your symptoms.
👉 Villages - Looking for a personal trainer? This is the solution for you!
The idea is very simple: you sign up and join a village with same-stage women, each week you get a group fitness schedule (just to give you an idea of what to do for the next 7 days), and you get a personal plan too - something that is specific to you. I’ll be in every village, there to provide the whole group help, guidance, advice and support. The members of each village have a safe space to share their wins and woes and also to have accountability. The villages are designed to give you access to a personal trainer and a group that can help you to create a superb fitness habit - that works for you!
Interested in joining? Here’s the link!
Community - Join! Free and VIP memberships are available.
Michelle Caira is the Founder and CEO of Fit Mama Fitness Inc , a community contributor at Thrive Global and a certified Master Personal Trainer. Michelle launched Fit Mama, a digital platform for mothers, in 2018. Now focusing on women throughout their hormonal lifecycles, Michelle has launched Vivi Rocks. Its goal is to equip women with the fitness, nutrition and mental wellness solutions and tools they need to thrive - at home and returning to the workplace. Passionate about women in business, Michelle is an entrepreneur with a global vision, and committed to help create a world where women thrive, regardless of any and all other factors.
Email me: hello@vivirocks.com
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Meet me in my virtual office:
Pick up my book: The Ultimate Guide to Fitness, Health & Wellness: