I wasn’t always in the fitness industry; I studied psychology at school. During my university days in the late 1980s/early 1990s, a professor announced that our generation would not have jobs for life. ​Instead, we would become the “continuous learning generation” and cycle through three to five career changes. 

​To be honest, I breathed a sigh of relief. At that point, I wasn’t entirely sure of two points:
1. that I could make a career with a Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, and
2. that I wanted a career in psychology.

The first realization drove me to extend my post-secondary study — first, to complete an honours thesis, and then to complete a Master of Arts, Psychology. And so I began my career in health promotion research. Not psychology — health promotion research — which I suppose qualifies as my first career change. And I loved it. I even toyed with completing a PhD in the field. But then research funding started to dry up, and the opportunities became scarcer.

That’s when I conjured my next career transition, which landed me in human resources. In high tech during the 90s tech boom. Talk about a trial by fire. Given my penchant for research, I found a home on the compensation side of HR. Numbers didn’t scare me, but having employees crying in my office did. 

The HR career sandwiched two maternity leaves, and I realized that I loved being a stay-at-home mom. More on this later; be patient, grasshopper.

During a return to the workforce, a foot injury sidelined my hobby as an occasional runner, I was devastated to hear that I needed orthotics and “indoor shoes.” Indoor shoes?! I’m a barefoot babe, and in my world, shoes are for outside only. Sometimes. 

During my first maternity leave, I had discovered the TV version of Essentrics® - Classical Stretch™ with Miranda Esmonde-White. I stumbled upon Classical Stretch again shortly after the shock of indoor shoes was thrust upon me. I’m not kidding when I say I was an “occasional runner.” I’ve never been a huge fan of structured exercise, which is partly why I stopped following Classical Stretch a few years earlier. 

But when my foot problems began to recede, I decided I needed to become more diligent about working out. Let’s be clear, I’ve always led an active lifestyle — walking and biking almost everywhere, taking the stairs instead of the elevator — but at the same time, I eschewed structured workouts.

One day, as I was searching for a Classical Stretch DVD online, I discovered that I could train to become a “Classical Stretch instructor” from home. You mean, I could get paid to exercise? Having the accountability of teaching others whilst working out appealed to me, because it forced me to be more consistent with my workouts. And actually get out of my pjs to exercise.

Over four years — 2010 to 2013 — I studied and passed the four levels of certification to become a fully certified Essentrics instructor.* And I taught A LOT of classes. In 2014, I was teaching 15 classes a week, in eight different locations across the city. In addition to teaching a lot, I was also travelling a lot between these classes. And spending a significant amount of time in front of my computer to market and promote the classes. 

All of a sudden, my enjoyment of teaching a workout I loved was taking its toll on my body: 

- I developed a serious shoulder injury from too much computer use;
- I fell down the stairs when I was rushing and carrying too much (you can’t really see the stairs when your arms are overflowing with stuff);
- I was involved in a car accident when I was hurrying to complete an errand before class; and
- I generally felt burnt out all the time.
Too much rushing. Too much on my plate. Something had to give. And it did. 

Around the same time, I was reading and writing about the risks of too much sedentary time. Headlines like “Sitting is the new smoking” preceded articles that were imploring people to sit less, move more. It was from this zeitgeist that The Move More Institute™ began to take shape. Even if people were going to the gym or a fitness class on a regular basis, they still needed to get off their butts in more frequent intervals. Every. Single. Day.

I wrote multiple blog posts and social media posts on the topic. And I also created workshops entitled, “I’m not sitting anymore. What now?!” The workshops were well-received. In addition to my Essentrics certification, I began taking other fitness courses and certifications, including my personal trainer certification. I was spending a great deal of time teaching my clients about body awareness. How? By teaching them how to use their muscles for their intended purposes. Even though I worked part-time at several gyms in this period, I much preferred to meet people on their home turf. In so doing, I could show them that they could be physically active without spending tons of money. Do we really need fancy clothes, complicated equipment or expensive memberships to use our bodies? Of course not! If you choose to hire a trainer, join a gym or exercise class to workout, that’s fantastic. But it’s not the only way to move your body. You also don’t need to get sweaty to get your body working. The World Health Organization defines physical activity as "any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure.”* Bottom line, all exercise is movement, but not all movement is exercise. 

As I looked back over the past 10 years, I realized that I was at my healthiest when my kids were young and movement was the name of the game. We were active all day long, whether I was playing with my kids or just taking care of them and running our household. Injuries began when I was sitting too much in an office job and then running myself ragged with my fitness business. 

The Move More Institute™ began to take shape. My slogan became “Move More, Feel Better.” Not exercise more. Not head to the gym and lift more weights. Just move more. My goal with movement coaching is short-term coaching, long-term results. And this goal is woven throughout my book Move More, Your Life Depends On It: Practical Tips to Add More Movement to Your Day. As I say in the book’s dedication, I wrote it for people who think physical fitness is beyond their reach. 

So there you have it. That’s my origin story, so to speak. After my book was published, someone asked if I had always wanted to write a book. Initially, I said no. But then I remembered a project from school; I believe I was in grade five. Our task was to create a family crest. One of the quadrants had to be how you saw yourself in the future, as an adult. I had drawn a book cover, complete with title and author - me. So I suppose I have always wanted to write a book.

Even though you may have heard the term “physio-terrorist” used before, I promise you, we physiotherapists do not derive any joy from giving you work. We do, however, prescribe just what we believe it’ll take to get you feeling better and moving more, free from pain and hesitation. 

​But why do we have to prescribe specific exercises if you’re already moving and keeping active? In a nutshell, we’re trying to get to the source of the issue to avoid the formation of compensations. 

A physiotherapist is trained to find and treat problems in muscles, joints, and the nervous system throughout the body. During an assessment, your therapist is looking for areas of weakness, points of tension, joints with decreased range of motion, and asymmetries in the way your body moves. The results from these evaluations guide your therapist as they prescribe the right treatment for you. This treatment plan should almost always include personalized exercises, tailored to your condition and your goals. 

With these exercises, you and your therapist are working to resolve elements that were found to be lacking during the assessment. These exercises are specifically chosen in order to target the proper element in question, whether it’s strength, flexibility, range of motion, or balance. What’s more, specific parameters will be specified for your exercises, including intensity, frequency, and number of repetitions. These parameters play a vital role in getting the desired results from the exercises your given. 

The law of parsimony states that things are usually connected or behave in the simplest or most efficient way. This law applies to our bodies and to the way we move. Muscles work in groups and chains, each with their own role, movements, and proper time to work. With that and the law of parsimony in mind, a weak or damaged muscle in a chain or group will continue to be weak, while the stronger muscles will be recruited to perform the majority of the work. This leads to muscles imbalances as well as strains of overstressed muscles if not addressed. 

By creating and following a tailored exercise plan with specifically chosen exercises, these compensations can be fixed or avoided entirely. 

I assure you, your “physio-terrorist” is not trying to overwhelm you with exercises. Rather, your therapist is trying to help your muscles work in harmony, sharing the workload correctly to avoid compensations and further harm. 
If ever it’s too much to do or too hard to perform, just let your physiotherapist know! Your home exercise plan is meant for YOU! It can be adjusted, modified, or tweaked to suit not only your problem, but also your way of life and abilities. 

Right exercises = right healing so you can move more and do more. 

About the author: Brad Lafortune is a registered physiotherapist with the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario and the founder of Function Physiotherapy. Brad is committed to providing quality care through an active, hands-on approach to better health.
​

What, exactly, is balance? It’s “the state of having your weight spread equally so that you do not fall”.(1) Think about it like this: it’s your centre of gravity over your base of support. That’s why four-legged creatures have an easier time maintaining balance on slippery surfaces: they have a lower centre of gravity and a wider base of support. 

We all need good balance to safely move around our world on a daily basis, but have you ever thought about it? If you’ve ever lost your balance, fallen and sustained an injury, you get it. Balance is a critical component of walking - because walking is essentially a weight transfer and balance exercise. One foot, then the other. Repeat. If you’re having trouble with balance, how will you be with walking? Well, walking will also be difficult, and that’s when you’re most likely to risk a fall.

If balance is a challenge for you, you’re likely more aware of its importance. The ability to maintain an upright position without falling over — it’s cute when a toddler is learning to walk unaided. A young child falls regularly, but over time, their balance improves and they fall less. As adults, poor balance can be life-threatening and, frankly, quite frightening. 

As we age, our balance is impacted negatively by our aging bodies: 
- cells die in our vestibular system, which is connected to the centre in our brain that controls balance,
- our vision declines and with it, our depth perception,
- changes to our blood pressure may cause dizziness, lightheadness or blurriness,
- we lose muscle mass, strength, and power — this can slow our reaction time if we trip,
- our reflexes and coordination also decline, and 
- a variety of health problems may also impact our balance, including arthritis, stroke, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.(2)

So, how is your balance? Did you know it’s actually one of your senses?(3) The myth that we have only 5 senses - sight, taste, touch, feeling, & hearing - can be traced back to Aristotle. But scientists know that we have many more than five. These include the sense of movement, temperature, hunger, thirst, pain, balance, and proprioception. Fitness professionals in the functional fitness realm regularly refer to proprioception - your ability to sense where the parts of your body are without seeing them. You know, how you can get up in the dark and walk to your bathroom without falling over. And think about a law-enforcement official asking you to close your eyes and touch your nose as a sobriety test. That’s proprioception!

​Regular physical activity is key to maintaining good balance. An exercise program that focuses on specific balance exercises as well as core strengthening and movement patterns will improve balance and stability, not to mention daily function. 

- Test yourself: set a timer and stand on one leg; repeat on the other side (this is your baseline)
- Check your feet/remove your shoes to engage proprioception
- Bend your standing leg to lower your centre of gravity
- Focus on a static point (e.g., during class, not me, but a point above my head)
- Think about your joints, making them as light as possible
- Slight pelvic tilt, engage the abs
- If in doubt, reset by lowering your leg to the ground
- Airplane arms out to the side to increase your base of support
- Stand near a wall/chair or gently touch a wall/chair with your hand
- Need more help? Sign up for one of my online courses, “3 Days to Better Balance” or “Balance 2.0”

Balance Courses

What’s on your bucket list? Are you missing out on life? Has a fear of falling or a past fall impacted how and when you go out? As we get older, the risk of falls that can injure us increases. As a result, individuals like you curb their activity levels. But it doesn’t have to be that way. If you take ownership of your body, you can be as active as you like. Working on improving your balance and strengthening your muscles will increase your confidence and reduce the risk of a fall. So you can get back to enjoying your life, and continue to tackle that bucket list.

Your body was designed to last a lifetime; but you need to use it daily for lasting effects. I have created online courses that can help: “3 Days to Better Balance” and “Balance 2.0: Progressions in Motion”. Both include daily videos with exercises and instructions on how to use more muscles in daily life. You’ll also receive daily check-ins with me via email or text message - this will help keep you on track with your goals. 
​
Here’s some feedback from participants completed my online balance courses:
“I found as I stood at the sink doing my teeth, and at the bus stop, being very aware of my standing base.”
“Wow so great for my unconscious winter hunched shoulders’ posture!”
“I really needed the 3 Day Balance work. It was great.”

A. How often do you walk sideways? It’s a great way to strengthen your inner and outer thighs - aka, your adductor and abductor muscles. Sideways walking can help improve your balance, by strengthening these smaller stabilizing muscles. And it’s great brain training too - since we don’t typically walk sideways, your body and brain have to exert more effort to move.

B. Backwards walking to improve your balance? You betcha! It’s important to rely on more than just your eyes when you’re moving around in life. Walking backwards helps you improve your proprioception, by relying on the input from your feet.
It’s also strengthening your brain-body connection by creating new pathways in your brain. AND improving coordination in the lower half of your body. 

​Michael Jordan’s name is synonymous with basketball; some even say he’s the best player ever. I certainly think he is, but not just for his game performance. When he stepped on a court, his sheer love of the game emanated from every pore.(1) It made me want to play basketball too. 

​
So I tried out for the women’s varsity team in my first year of university. I didn’t make the team, but I did make the training team. I was asked to be team manager of the UPEI Lady Panthers. This unpaid role had me practicing with them every day, and recording game stats both at home and on the road. We even won the Atlantic championship (AUAA) and headed to the nationals — both for the first-time ever!

I still enjoy shooting hoops, and I’m pleased to see that my son, Simon, has taken such an avid interest in basketball. In my opinion, he’s the greatest basketball player that the NBA will never know. You see, he’s got the Michael Jordan bball bug. Simon plays because he loves the game. 

Last winter, as the snow began to melt, he’d regularly check the local outdoor court, desperate for the snow to be cleared. I even saw him bike away holding our snow shovel. He had decided to take matters into his own hands and rid the court of any remaining snow. Although he and his friends had found an indoor gym with a daily one-hour open court time, they wanted to get back to playing outside for as long as their legs would allow.

Last month we travelled to the west coast to visit family. On day two, Simon was missing basketball. Lo and behold, his uncle had a ball! As soon as he got the ball in his hands, we headed to the waterfront of Nanaimo, and Simon headed directly to the basketball court. He played for over an hour in less-than-ideal footwear — flip flops, he was wearing flip flops — but he was happy.

In Seattle, the focus was on shopping for new basketball shoes. And he found the perfect pair, thanks to an attentive sales associate. Simon even tested them out in the store by playing some bball with him!


Back in the lower mainland of British Columbia, his goal was to secure a vintage jersey at a Langley antique shop. No luck, but he hopped online and found a great one from the new Big 3 league.(2)


Simon has just begun his final year of high school, and I’m confident that he’ll continue playing basketball into adulthood. You see, he plays for himself, and that motivation will help him keep it as a priority, as life piles on more responsibility. Whether you’re starting post-secondary education or you’re farther along in life, fitness and physical activity often slide off the plate when there are competing priorities.(3) 


​Even the best of intentions cannot guarantee exercise will happen. That’s why so many fitness professionals, myself included, tell people to find something they enjoy. If you love your workout, you’re more likely to want to do it and actually make time for it. Just look at how much fun Simon has when he’s got a basketball in his hands:

It's finally August, and the dog days of summer are living up to their moniker. Since the soft launch of my new book almost two months ago, I've been working on an official book launch in Ottawa. Don't worry, you won't miss it whilst at the cottage. Although I'm announcing it today, the launch is not happening until September. The 19th, to be exact. That's a Wednesday - middle of the week, so you'll definitely be in town. 

Are you ready to hear the location? I'll give you a hint first with this image: 

Function Physiotherapy will be hosting the official book launch of Move More, Your Life Depends On It: Practical Tips to Add More Movement to Your Day. Join us on Wednesday, September 19th, between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm, for the launch. Light refreshments will be served. There will be a limited supply of books for sale at the launch, and I'll be signing copies. If you've already bought a copy and would like it signed, bring it with you!

​See you in September!!

Move more, feel better. That’s the slogan I adopted when I created The More More Institute™ in 2016. Physical inactivity is causing a global health crisis, as we download more apps and purchase more labour-saving devices to make our lives “easier.” But is easier necessarily better? I don’t think so, and neither do most health and fitness professionals. For several years now, we have been sounding the alarm. Have you been listening?

Perhaps you’ve heard that “sitting is the new smoking.” Unfortunately, our busy lives have precluded many people from making the necessary changes to their daily lives. I'm just about to publish my first book, called "Move More, Your Life Depends On It: Practical Tips to Add More Movement to Your Day". With this book, I teach people how to add non-exercise activity to their busy days. Physical activity doesn't have to be complicated or cost a ton of money, but it does have to be part of your daily life if you want to prevent premature death.

    How will this book help you? I’m glad you asked. With the guidance provided in this book, you can:

    - Learn how to nudge yourself to be more active throughout the day, every day
    - Improve your health by incorporating non-exercise activity into your busy workday, and 
    - Identify and overcome barriers to being more physically active.

    The book is divided into three easy to follow sections: The Problem, The Solution, and The Action Plan. If you’re stuck and not sure what to do, this book will help you change your behaviour from "mostly sedentary" to "active mover.” 

​To reach more people, I chose to self-publish with Amazon. The paperback and e-book versions will be available for sale later this month. If you can buy books from Amazon in your country, you’ll be able to buy this book.

For those of you who live in the Ottawa area, I will be hosting a book launch in mid-September. Stay tuned for more details.


And remember: if you move more, you will feel better.

Move more, feel better. That’s the slogan I chose for The Move More Institute™. 

Just get up and move - that’s all I’m asking. As soon as you do, your body and brain will feel better. 

And they’ll start to crave the movement. Trust me, I know.

Let me explain…

It’s been about 8 years since I switched gears professionally and jumped into the world of fitness. I’ve always been in the business of helping people: 

• 2 social psychology degrees
• 10 years in health promotion research
• a brief stint (4 years) in human resources

You get the idea. I deal with humans - helping them improve their lives.

Well, about 4 years ago, I decided I needed to teach more Essentrics® classes in Ottawa. You know, get the word out, help people feel better in their bodies.

Ottawans are fortunate in that there are MANY fitness options in the city. And many fitness centres. So much so, that most people want fitness-on-demand: the class they want, at a time that suits them, near their home or office. 

You get the idea.

I rose to the challenge and tried to start up as many Essentrics classes in as many locations that would have me. Starting up a class takes time. And a lot of computer time as well: 

• researching fitness centres and their current classes
• looking for openings in the schedule
• contacting the fitness directors to pitch your class
• finding spaces to rent to run your own classes
• marketing, marketing, marketing

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

I got to the point where I was teaching 15 weekly classes in 8 locations. And spending A LOT of time on my computer in the interim. I hurt my shoulder and entire right side of my torso from too much “point and click”.

It made me realize how damaging it can be to sit at your computer too much. I was incredibly fit - 15 classes a week! - and yet I still go injured. At my computer.

I started to look into the research on physical inactivity and office workers. And I was astounded at what I discovered.*

More than bootcamps and gym memberships, people needed real help to relearn how to use their bodies in normal, everyday ways.

So, I went back to my earlier roots in health promotion research and psychology to work on a solution. Out of that work, The Move More Institute was born. 

On the continuum of physical activity, I’m targeting the basics. 

Your life is busy; you’ve got lots of people counting on you every single day. The thought of having to add one more location change - i.e., one hour at the gym, 3 times a week on your own, or once a week with a personal trainer - is making your head spin. 

That’s why The Move More Institute™ comes to you: short segments  delivered online to your home or office, when it works for you. And you don’t need to commit to a long-term training schedule. My goal is short-term coaching for long-term results.

Think about it: A 1-hour weekly personal training session accounts for less than 1% of your waking hours. I want you to get active and stay active every day of your life. If we only rely on that “less than 1%” block of time to change your behaviour, how successful do you think you’ll be? (Psst: rhetorical question alert)

The Move More Institute™ can’t make your life less busy, but it can make your life better by teaching you how to add natural movement to your busy life. What does “natural movement” mean, exactly? It’s a very literal term - it’s not deadlifts or pistol squats, glute bridges or planks. It’s about non-exercise activity to fuel your body and make you feel better. 

And I’m living proof that it works. I teach group fitness classes and deliver personal training sessions in my professional life. In my personal life, I apply behaviour change models - the habit loop and nudge theory - to be more active during the day:

• post-it notes to remind me to get up and move
• lock screen on my phone that says “Get up and move”
• making my desk setup a little bit more inconvenient so everything is not within arm’s reach

I could go on, but it’s time for me to take a break from my computer. It’s time for me to move more.


*You can refer to earlier blog posts for more information.

 About the author: Jannette is a 22-year old barista who has recently jumped into the world of freelance writing. She enjoys a good warm cup of latte, maintains a regular week workout schedule to keep fit, and loves playing video games from time to time.

References
1. Sedentary Behavior Research Network (SBRN) – Terminology Consensus Project process and outcome, Mark S. Tremblay, Salomé Aubert, Joel D. Barnes, Travis J. Saunders, Valerie Carson, Amy E. Latimer-Cheung, Sebastien F.M. Chastin, Teatske M. Altenburg, Mai J.M. Chinapaw and on behalf of SBRN Terminology Consensus Project Participants, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2017,14:75; https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0525-8
2. Too Much Sitting and Metabolic Risk—Has Modern Technology Caught Up with Us?
David W Dunstan, Genevieve N Healy, Takemi Sugiyama, Neville Owen
European Endocrinology, 2010; 6:19-23; DOI: http://doi.org/10.17925/EE.2010.06.00.19
3. Cholesterol: The Great Bluff, 2017; http://tvo.org/video/documentaries/cholesterol-the-great-bluff
4. Levine, J.A. Nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT): environment and biology, American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology & Metabolism. 10. 1152/ ajpendo. 00562. 2003 AJP - Endo May 1, 2004 vol. 286 no. 5 E675-E685
http://m.ajpendo.physiology.org/content/286/5/E675.full#F3
5. The Role of Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis in Human Obesity, Christian von Loeffelholz, 2004, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279077/
(endotext.org)

References

1. Wynn Kapit & Lawrence M. Elson. The Anatomy Coloring Book (1993). New York: Harper Collins, p. 37.

Special thanks to Nathane Jackson and Carrie James for sharing their knowledge and expertise!