Blog Archives - EA Fitness

Category: Blog

Blog, Healthy Lifestyle

October 12, 2023

Introducing Collections

This month we introduced EA Collections to the Virtual Studio to help take your wellness to the next level! Our Collections are curated classes where you can find programs and progressive series that target fitness focus that you can easily follow along. No more guessing what workouts you should do. Looking to feel stronger, leaner, or improve your flexibility? We got your back!

These collections were carefully created to help target your specific fitness goals and interests. Whether you’re looking to feel stronger, leaner, or improve your flexibility, our collections can help you get there. We plan it all, so all you have to do is show up. It’s that easy!

How does it work?

Check out our collections and programs here.
Choose the one that suits your fitness goals/fitness journey, interests, time availability, or try simply them all.
Once you have chosen your program, it’s time to get started, make sure you read the ‘getting started‘ section on the program page for any additional details and information on rest days.
Download the workout calendar! You can download and print the workout calendar located on the right, and follow along, it will tell you which workouts to perform on which days.
Click play! All the workouts are conveniently accessible from the program page, all you need to do is click play.
Enjoy the journey 🙂 When you finish feel free to start all over again for another round, you can challenge yourself and increase your intensity or work on your form. Finally, let us know how you did!

Are these programs for me?

We currently have 4 different programs/collections to choose from, which you choose depends on your fitness goal and what you are hoping to get from your fitness journey. But rest assured, all our programs are suitable for any level of fitness.

Dance & Tone: Is designed to help keep you feeling amazing and get lean with a combination of dance and resistance training.

Duration: 4 weeks/ 30-40 min workouts

4 Week to Strong: Strength training isn’t only for building muscle (check out all the benefits of strength training in this blog post). This 4-week program was created to combine muscle-sculpting strength workouts with the benefits of stretch and flexibility classes, and a sprinkle of HIIT.

Duration: 4 weeks/ 15-30 min workouts

Bodyweight Only: This 3 week challenge works every muscle group and all you need is your body to get strong, lean and sculpted.

Duration: 3 weeks/ 5-30 min workouts

Stretch it Out: Enjoy a head-to-toe refresh with 3 days per week of stretches that release tension, improve range of motion, and aid in injury prevention.

Duration: 3 weeks/ 5-20 min workouts

Will there be more collections and programs added?

Yes! We will be adding new programs in the future that will target different fitness goals and interests!

Ready to check it out: Go to collections.

Blog, Uncategorized

September 5, 2023

September Reset

We love September, it’s our favourite month. The weather, the smell, and the feeling of new possibilities. The shifting seasons seems like a perfect time to reset our mindset and re-evaluate our goals.

Let’s face it, it is likely that the goals/intentions we committed to at the beginning of the year most likely did not account for those real-life occurrences. But what if we set goals and acknowledged that real life circumstances will inevitable pop up, and be ok with the fact that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing? At the end of the day, what’s important is that we keep moving forward, regularly re-evaluate where we are, and reset!

Consider September as a clean slate. Instead of dwelling on the things we haven’t done, let’s use our energy instead to reboot and make the most of the coming months. With that said, we’ll share a few tips to help restart and recommit to your wellness, fitness, and life goals. September is a beautiful month to reboot, let’s jump in!

Re-Evaluate Your Goals
Take a look at your goals and decide if they make sense in the context of your unique life. If they need to be tweaked, how can you shoot for “better” instead of “perfect”?
Plan For the Inevitable
What’s coming up in your life – that you know about – that might derail your forward progress? What are potential roadblocks that could pop up out of nowhere? Start planning some strategies and workarounds to those challenges now, and when they come, you’ll be ready for them.
Check out our Home Workout Fitness Guide
We have made a short guide filled with tips to maximize your exercise routine and achieve your fitness goals from the comfort of your own home. Check it out here.
Start Small
Just because it’s September, it doesn’t mean you need to go from 0-100 to make up for lost time. Instead, try to break your goal down into the smallest possible steps. We’re talking about the smallest action possible that serves to move you forward in a meaningful way.
Check In With Your Goals Each Day
One of the best ways to not let your goals fall by the wayside? Re-read them each day! We are all so busy and have a million things pulling at our attention. It’s easy to forget the new lifestyle habits and goals you’re trying to adopt. By checking in with your goals regularily, you will be reminded of what you’re working towards. Make sure you’re always taking those small steps. Self-improvement is gradual and continuous.
Show up Again Tomorrow
Remember that it doesn’t matter what happened yesterday. Begin each day with a fresh start and an open mind. After all, this isn’t a race to be completed: it’s your life. Tomorrow is a fresh start. Just show up and begin again.
Join A Community
Being consistent and working on yourself can seem like a lonely, tiresome road. Sometimes we need a little bit of help and guidance. That’s where our EA Fitness community comes into play. Inside our members portal, you can make comments, ask questions, and interact with other members so you never feel like you’re on this journey alone.
Bonus: Introducing something new can help your motivation.
Aha, we got you covered with this one! This month we will be introducing our EA Collections to the Virtual Studio to help take your wellness to the next level! Our Collections will be curated classes where you’ll find programs and progressive series that target fitness focus that you can easily follow along. No more guessing what workouts you should do. Looking to feel stronger, leaner, or improve your flexibility? We got your back!

This community can be not just your accountability partner, but a source of joy, connection, a place to meet new people that share your interests.

Together, we are dedicating time, energy, and money into bettering ourselves. Are you ready to get it started with us?

Blog, Uncategorized

August 8, 2023

Grounding

August is like the Sunday of summer, let’s soak it in and spend a little time replenishing ourselves. This month, we’ll be talking about grounding. The Earth is like a gigantic battery that contains a natural, subtle electrical charge—a special kind of energy present in the ground. Grounding (which is also called earthing), is a therapeutic technique that involves doing activities that “ground” or electrically reconnect you to the earth. This totally makes sense, if you think about it, human beings evolved in connection with the Earth’s energy, we walked barefoot and we slept in contact with the Earth never realizing that its surface contained limitless, natural, healing energy, that’s pretty amazing.. right?

Grounding and its health benefits have existed for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine, Aboriginal cultures, and Indigenous communities. The most recent research has explored grounding for inflammation, cardiovascular disease, muscle damage, chronic pain, and mood. Studies suggest that earth’s natural electric charge stabilizes the physiology at the deepest levels, reduces inflammation, pain, and stress, improves blood flow, energy, and sleep, and generates greater well-being.

Many people report on the spiritual aspect of grounding, including feelings of peace, meditation, and contentment after a grounding session. Sometimes, grounding is seen as a way to connect to the present moment, to Mother Earth or a greater force and to return internally to a simpler way of life that is in tune with earth.

There are different ways you can practice grounding, the best part is, you don’t need anything fancy, most of us can practice simply by stepping into nature (literally…).

Grounding can be performed both outdoors and indoors, depending on the technique you choose to use. When you’re outside, you can easily ground yourself by allowing the bottoms of your feet, palms of your hands, or entire body to touch the earth. Walk in the grass, lay in the sand, or swim in the sea. These are all easy ways to naturally reconnect.

Walking barefoot

One of the easiest ways to ground yourself to the earth is to walk barefoot. Whether this is on grass, sand, or even mud, allowing your skin to touch the ground can provide you with grounding energy.

Lying on the ground

You can increase your skin-to-earth contact by lying on the ground. You can do it in the grass by the park or on the sand at the beach (just make sure to take precautions and never lie somewhere you could get hurt).

Grounding in water

Water can also be used to ground in the same way the earth is used for grounding. Swimming in the ocean or a lake is a great way to ground yourself.

Using grounding equipment

When grounding outside isn’t really an option (i.e. middle of winter), there are alternative methods you can try, including: grounding mats, grounding sheets or blankets or grounding socks.

We love this simple, inexpensive way of replenishing ourselves. Have you tried grounding? We’d love to hear your experience!

Blog, Healthy Lifestyle, Uncategorized

July 4, 2023

Stay Hydrated this summer!

Did you know the human body is 60% water, a third of that is SALT water. We cry, sweat and bleed salt water (we’re basically a walking ocean).

Now that summer has arrived, it’s easy to lose water with summer heat and more time spent in nature.

Staying hydrated can benefit your physical, emotional, and mental health. Plus, it could even support your summer health and weight loss goals by boosting your metabolism!

To keep hydrated, drinking plain water is not always the way to go. Our body needs electrolytes for optimal hydration (hydration electrolytes include sodium, chloride, potassium and magnesium). Sometimes, over hydrating with plain water can actually dehydrate you, flush out electrolytes, lead to low sodium levels and cause you to use the bathroom all day. Here’s a tip, consume salt with water! Salt helps the body hydrate as it plays an important role in fluid balance, not getting enough can lead to dehydration, especially during high-intensity exercise or when outside in the heat. Studies suggest that 2-5,000mg of sodium per day is optimal for health (this increases by 1,000mg for every hour of exercise).

Yes salt has a bad rep, but it is an essential mineral. It helps regulate fluid balance and is required for muscle and nerve function. Want to learn more, check out this article with more information on the role of salt and what type is the best to consume.

Try these hydration hacks to keep hydrated this summer!

Keep a reusable water bottle with you as a reminder to replenish your water stores throughout the day. You can add a pinch of pink Himalayan salt and lemon, or if you want to get fancy you can add electrolytes. We love LMNT electrolytes when we can get our hands on them, they have simple ingredients and taste great.

Spice up The Flavor: Add frozen berries (like blueberries or raspberries) to your water with a squeeze of lemon and handful of mint, delicious.

Eat Water Rich Foods: Cucumbers and watermelon contain more than 90% water! You can add these water-rich foods to your meals for an extra hydration boost! You can also try adding zucchini, strawberries, melon, and tomatoes to your diet.

Try a Smoothy: Blend nourishing broths and veggies into your soups, or add a splash of electrolyte-filled coconut water to your smoothies to enhance the hydration.

We hope these tips help! Do you have any tips you want to share? Leave them in the comment section below!

Blog, Fitness, Healthy Lifestyle, Uncategorized

June 1, 2023

Give your metabolism a boost

Summer is just around the corner, and we’re so ready for it! As we dive into the warmer months, let’s talk about a topic that we often get asked about – metabolism, and how to keep you feeling your best as cottage days, summer vacations and patio season approaches.

Whether you’re 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and beyond, you can apply ALL of these tips for the healthiest, and happiest you.

Let’s get started! Our metabolism is actually a relatively complex chemical process that turns food into energy to power the functions of all of our cells and organs. We use this energy to breathe, to think, to move, to grow, to digest, etc. Although the metabolism does concern itself with how fast our body burns calories, it is important to remember that this complex process is incredibly important to keep our bodies functioning optimally. The speed of your metabolism has to do with a variety of factors including genetics, age, height and gender, etc. Although you can’t control these areas, here are a few things you can do to improve the health of your metabolism at any age.

Get Quality Sleep
We all know how important sleep is for all aspects of our lives! This is definitely the easiest and perhaps most enjoyable thing you can do to support your metabolism. There are a few hormones involved in the reset processes of the brain during sleep, ghrelin and leptin are two in particular that play an important role in regulating the metabolism along with hunger and fullness cues. Decreased levels of these hormones have been found to directly contribute to a slower metabolism. You can combat this by trying to get 7-8 hours of quality sleep per night.

Start or Continue Strength Training
Put simply, the more muscle you carry on your body, the more energy you’ll burn throughout the day. As we age, muscle mass naturally begins to decline (about 1% each year). So, if you don’t actively use your muscles, your body begins to store more fat instead. If you haven’t been prioritizing weight training, there is no better time than the present! Try to incorporate 3-4 days of strength training to your schedule keep that metabolism fired up.

Prioritize Protein
The traditional way of thinking was that eating less and exercising more is the answer to all metabolic problems. But if you really want to support your metabolism, it’s time to focus your efforts into eating a well-balanced diet – not restricting, or skipping meals. Food is fuel!

While planning your meals, try and prioritize protein intake. Protein provides our bodies with the building blocks it needs to build and repair cells, tissues, bones and muscles. Protein also helps our bodies make antibodies to help fight infection. As we age, protein has another important job: preventing muscle loss.

Starting around age 40, the body naturally starts to lose muscle. Over the years, this rate of muscle decline accelerates. Getting enough protein from a balanced diet is one way to combat muscle wasting.

In addition, not only does your body burn more calories digesting protein than it does fat or carbs (this does not mean skip fat or carbs), but protein also helps promote fullness and helps build lean muscle mass.

Eat Frequently
After eating a snack or meal, our metabolism gets a little boost as it works to digest the food and convert it into energy. You can support this by having a small meal or snack every couple of hours as opposed to three large meals spaced out throughout the day. Keep in mind, food quality still counts, aim for protein packed snack options, feeling lost on what to eat? We’ll being sending a few ideas you can incorporate in our weekly newsletters!

So there you have it, staying active, incorporating strength training workouts into your routine, including good sources of quality protein and getting plenty of sleep will help your metabolism at any age!

Blog, Healthy Lifestyle

May 1, 2023

Self-care is the new healthcare

If you think you’ve been hearing more about self-care lately, you’re absolutely right. With many stressors in our lives and around the world, the idea of self-care is even more present.

Self-care is defined by the World Health Organization as “personal health maintenance to improve or restore health and to treat preventative diseases.” Just to be clear, self-care is not the same as self-indulgence or being selfish, but rather, it means means taking care of yourself so that you can be healthy, you can feel great, physically, mentally and emotionally. When it comes to your health, self-care can help you manage stress, lower your risk of illness, and increase your energy, even small acts in your daily life can have a big impact.

When the pandemic started our daughter Sofia was barely 6 months old, all the unknowns and pressure of keeping our heads above water felt heavy, and we discovered just how important it was for us to not only create space for self-care, but also to stick to it. We slowly built our self-care regime, which we stick to as best as we can (some days are better than others, and that’s ok too). Self-care is something deeply personal and it could be anything that floats your boat — anything that puts a smile on your face, anything that makes you feel cared for. We’ll share a few examples that may resonate with you, or inspire you to give it a try. Let’s dive in!

Emotional self-care

Emotional self-care is the act of nurturing and tending to your inner feelings and emotions. This can be anything from daily affirmations, how you self-talk, weekly bubble baths, allowing yourself to say “no” to things that cause unnecessary stress, giving yourself permission to take a rest, or setting up a weekly coffee date with a friend

Physical self-care

Physical self-care ensures that your body functions properly on a day to day basis, such as prioritizing sleep, sticking to your exercise routine, or choosing healthy and nourishing foods over highly processed ones

Spiritual self-care

When is the last time you nurtured your spirit? A LOT is said about the importance of nurturing the physical body through diet and exercise, but the spiritual body is often forgotten. Spiritual self-care can be anything that helps you develop a deeper sense of meaning and understanding, and can also help you get in tune with the beliefs and values that guide your life. This can include spending time in nature, meditating, incorporating regular acts of kindness into your day, or keeping a gratitude journal.

This month, we’ll send weekly self care ideas to our EA Fitness members, one from each category that you can give a try. Make sure to check your email and let us know which one was your favourite!

Blog, Fitness

April 1, 2023

HIIT It

By now you’ve probably already heard the word HIIT (high intensity interval training) being thrown around, it has grown in popularity over the past few years and for good reason. However the concepts behind HIIT aren’t particularly new, they’re grounded in science and research, and they were around long before all the hype.

HIIT is a term for workouts that involve short periods of intense exercise alternated with recovery periods, it’s essentially any workout that alternates between intense bursts of activity and fixed periods of moderate activity or even complete rest.

HIIT not only provides the benefits of longer-duration exercise in a much shorter amount of time but also may provide some unique health benefits. Research has found that HIIT workouts may help improve cardiovascular and metabolic health, decrease body fat, and improve mental health in addition to some some great health benefits:

You’ll burn more fat

Not only do you burn more calories, but you burn more fat and calories in the 24 hours after a HIIT workout than you do after a steady-pace workout.

You’ll build a healthier heart

In a 2006 study, researchers found that after 8 weeks of doing HIIT workouts, subjects could bicycle twice as long as they could before the study, while maintaining the same pace.

There’s no equipment necessary

You can burn calories while toning your arms, legs, abs and glutes with plyometric or explosive moves interchanged with isometric moves like lunges, squats with no equipment necessary.

You lose weight, not muscle

While steady state cardio seems to encourage muscle loss, studies show that both weight training and HIIT workouts allow you to preserve hard-earned muscles while ensuring most of the weight loss comes from fat stores. Win and win!

HIIT workouts can include simple, beginner-friendly moves

HIIT workouts can include simple, beginner-friendly moves. One big assumption or misconception is that you need to be jumping, flailing, and sprinting in order to achieve a great HIIT workout. But this is not the case, the principle of HIIT lies in exertion. You can achieve a great HIIT workout without both feet ever leaving the floor and going gentle on your joints. Check out our No-Impact STRONG Nation class for a great example of this.

Improving mental health

We already have a good understanding the exercise may benefit mental health, however HIIT training may be especially helpful. A 2019 review suggests that HIIT can provide a range of benefits for people with mental illnesses, including reducing the severity of depression. Another study suggested that HIIT can alter your brain by boosting a protein called BDNF, which is involved in regulating brain function and mood. Short HIIT workouts can also overcome difficulties with motivation and finding time to exercise.

It keeps you younger

During HIIT, the production of the Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is stimulated by up to 450 percent during the 24 hours after you finish your workout. HGH is responsible for increased caloric burn and slows down the aging process, making you younger inside and out!

The bottom line: HIIT is a great training method to incorporate into your weekly routine for it’s many health benefits. We have tons of HIIT (both low impact and high impact) on the Virtual Studio. Ready to give a class a try? Checkout our classes here.

Blog, Fitness

March 6, 2023

Let’s talk about mobility

This month, we are focusing on mobility! Why mobility? Why should I care about mobility? What IS mobility? All great questions! Let’s dive in.

What is mobility?

According to the American Council on Exercise, mobility is how a joint moves through its normal range of motion. Most people think that mobility and flexibility are the same, when in fact they are two very different concepts.

Flexibility is the ability to lengthen your muscles, for example holding a stretch while your body melts into it. Mobility is the ability of a joint to move actively through its full range of motion. Mobility is active and also made up of motor control, strength and even skill. Flexible muscles help improve how well you can move your joints and considered an important component of mobility. But for good mobility, you also need strength and stability in addition to flexibility.

The importance of mobility

Mobility is important because it affects your ability to move freely throughout your daily activities without pain and strain, even outside of strenuous movements like you do during exercise (it’s also been associated with increased energy and strength, so that’s a bonus). Without good mobility, your muscles may be tight, but you can also have imbalances in the body and be more prone to injury. Good mobility can make a big difference to all areas of your life, whether you are a high-performance athlete or an office worker, it is what will keep you active years down the line.

Benefits of Mobility Training

There are tons of benefits to increasing your mobility:

Injury prevention/reduction
Increased body awareness/understanding
Increased strength through muscle activation
Relieve tightness, tension
Improved posture
Increased strength, balance, flexibility, etc
Keeps your body moving fluidly, optimally

How to Incorporate Mobility

Try one of our mobility classes on the virtual studio which incorporate mobility movement (i.e. yoga classes, stretching, mobility classes)
Look out for our new Mobility collections being released over the next while
Add in mobility exercises to your warm-up or cool down: for example, walking knee to chest, arm and hip circles, high-stepping, lunges with a twist or a squat to hinge
Self-massage or foam rolling
These are only a few points on how to start incorporating mobility into your daily routines. There are many more ways to work on your mobility so stay tuned for additional blog posts to come!

Mobility is fundamental to your physical well being and the key to longevity (it is like adding in a little savings plan for your future). Training for mobility is about you and your unique body. Start where you are, listen to your body, and do what you can. At the end of the day, improving your mobility is one of the most effective ways to have a happy, pain-free body that will sustain you through your entire life.

Blog

July 31, 2022

Keeping your joints healthy at any age!

Let’s talk about our joints! We know taking care of your joints is important as we grow older, so today we’ll talk about how to guard your joints against injury and keep them healthy through all those Zumba classes! That’s fun right? 😉

Let’s break it down, a joint is the connection between two bones. Joints and their surrounding tissues are what enables you to bend at the knees and elbows, to shake your hips, to bend your back and reach for your toes, etc. A few different factors come into play when it comes to the health of your joints: age, injuries and even excess weight can all affect the stress placed on your joints. Excessive wear and tear on the cartilage can damage the joints and eventually lead to arthritis.

So…how can you protect yourself and your joints? Here are 3 quick tips you can start implementing anytime!

1. Get Strong
Getting stronger gives your joints a better foundation on which to rest. Strong muscles act as a support for your joints. Without sufficient amount of muscle, your joints will take a pounding. Weight training exercises help build muscle and keep your muscles and surrounding ligaments strong so that your joints don’t have to pick up all the slack.

2. Nourish Your Body
Some foods are particularly good for your joints- like dark, leafy vegetables, Omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish like salmon, eggs, nuts and seeds) and high antioxidant foods (like green tea, berries, etc). These foods can both prevent inflammation as well as assist in strengthening the connective tissues to both preserve your joints and prevent injuries.

3. Prioritize Posture
Standing and sitting up straight can protect the joints from your neck down to your knees. Good posture and proper spinal alignment is important not only for the health of your joints but it also can help you sleep and breathe better, alleviate tension in the neck and shoulders, and improve circulation and digestion.

Prioritizing posture involves teaching your body how to stand, walk, sit and lie in positions where the least strain is placed on the surrounding muscles and ligaments that support these positions. Adding a yoga class into your weekly workouts is a great way to increase body awareness and improve posture. If you would like more tips on improving your posture, check out this article from SELF magazine.

Caring for your joints with these tips will help to keep them and your muscles, ligaments, and bones strong and stable both now and in the years to come! Which one of these tips will you be incorporating? Leave a comment and let us know!

Blog, Nutrition

May 9, 2022

Easy Spring Time Pasta

Spring is in the air and we’re loving it! Right on time for our new blog post. We’re bringing the fresh, flavours of spring to your table with this Spring Time Pasta recipe. Brighten up your next lunch or dinner with this light but satisfying spring dish!

Serves 4

Ingredients

6 oz. dry whole wheat pasta
1 Tbsp. butter (unsalted, if possible)
½ cup frozen edamame
10-14 asparagus, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
¼ cup sliced green onions, white parts only (about 2 medium)
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice plus 1 tsp. finely grated lemon peel (lemon zest)
¼ tsp. sea salt or Himalayan salt
¼ tsp. ground black pepper
1 tbsp. sliced green onion, green parts only
1 tsp. chopped celery leaves
1 tsp. chopped dill

Instructions

Cook pasta according to package directions; reserve ¼ cup pasta water.
While pasta cooks, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add edamame, asparagus, and white parts of green onion; cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until tender-crisp.
Remove skillet from heat; add yogurt, lemon juice, lemon peel, salt, and pepper.
Add pasta, green parts of green onion, celery leaves, and dill; toss to combine. Add splashes of reserved pasta cooking water, as needed, to coat pasta in sauce.
Divide evenly among serving plates

We hope you enjoy these fresh flavours, it’s like spring in a plate!

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