The Inside Life: Behind The Scenes With A Fitness Instructor - Part 1

A DelhiPlanet Exclusive - Checkout the introduction to the Inside Life Series here

Tall, Slender, Slim, highly attractive and very fit. Five characteristics that can make a woman extremely desirable. However, for a fitness instructor these characteristics are not only important but highly essential.

Stop for a moment and think about the lives of fitness instructors. Their job is to make you us feel good and to keep us healthy. They work their minds and bodies at the same time and if you’ve ever been to a fitness class you will have noticed as to how they speak out the instructions, demonstrate the poses and also observe that people are doing them right, all at the same time. A good fitness instructor not only needs to know the skills of what she teaches but also needs to look stunningly fit, so that she can develop an aspirational effect (The desire to look as good as your instructor by regularly attending their classes and adhering to their advice) around her. While we have the luxury to fall sick or chuck a sickie a fitness instructor doesn’t have this luxury. Falling sick is equal to leave without pay and very rarely do the instructors get paid leave.

Down Under, in Australia fitness is a big deal as is evident from the superlative performances of Australia in various different sports. Thus, we decided to take you behind the scenes into the life of a gorgeous, stunning and extremely flexible Aussie fitness instructor. We talked to Lia Mcinnis, who is a boxacise instructor at the University Gym in UNSW to get an idea of what her life is and what she feels about her occupation.

DelhiPlanet (DP) : Hi Lia, Welcome to DelhiPlanet. A very warm welcome to you from the entire team at DelhiPlanet. Let’s start by getting to know you better, please tell us something about yourself.

Lia Mcinnis(LM) : Hi, my name is Lia Mcinnis and I was born and raised in Canberra, Australia. I was a competitive gymnast from the age of five, a sport which took me all around Australia for various competitions. I competed in gymnastics till the age of 18 after which I focused more on my education.

At the age of 18, I wanted to be either a psychologist, a nutriontist or a physiotherapist. Since I couldn’t make up my mind I decided to do a double degree in psychology and sports science. My life as a gymnast along with my academic interests drew me to fitness and so I started working as a fitness instructor at the age of 18 and have now been doing it for eight years (and with that I just gave you my age).

DP: That’s a really interesting story. What is it like to grow up in a country like Australia where there is great importance placed on fitness and sports ? Was it something that was a part of your family legacy ?

LM: Although I have been born and brought up in Australia, I have grown up with some exposure to American culture. My father is American and is a big fan of Baseball. When he came to Australia he became a part of the local Baseball league and eventually played for the Australian Base League. Thus from a very young age I was exposed to sports and fitness. I also think that I had special talents and a gifted body as I could do my first cartwheel at the age of four years.

DP: A cartwheel at the age of four, no wonder you became a Gymnast !!! How challenging is it to become a gymnast. Please share some of your favorite memories with us.

LM: I started training as a gymnast at the AIS at the age of five and was selected to be in the Olympics 2000 squad for Artistic Gymnastics, so the training actually started 12 years before the Olympics. I continued to be a part of the squad for the next three years but then made the choice to pull out as the squad members attended gym school and not normal school.

The preparation was also too hard and demanding for a seven year old. However I continued training at a local club and was a part of the National squad that traveled to Hawaii for the Aloha Fest. Our team won the Bronze medal. In Australia, gymnasts are not put under that much pressure as compared to countries like Russia and China. However we did train for 30 hours a week. I learned a lot of good lessons and inculcated qualities of team spirit and hard work through this experience.

DP: You are very experienced fitness instructor having taught in various health clubs across Australia. What kind of training programs does one need to take to become a fitness trainer in Australia?

LM: To be a fitness trainer in Australia one needs to have a level -3 certification in order to teach on the Gym floor and level - 4 certification to teach Personal clients. To teach fitness classes one needs to do an Aerobics Modules, while to teach Boxing you need to do Boxing workshops. The skills in these areas keep changing and you need to get re-certified every two years. I finished the first two courses by the age of 18 and started working thereafter. I started working at Hyatt, Canberra followed by Alive Health and Fitness, Southern Cross and then Anytime Fitness in Canberra. Currently I work at UNSW in Sydney. I also have my own Business where I run Bootcamps for women.

DP: Now let’s talk a little bit about the profession of a Fitness Instructor. How long does it take to become comfortable in the role after having gained the necessary certifications ?

LM: Initially I started teaching one on one classes as I didn’t think I could do group classes. I actually started teaching group classes by accident or you could call it “fate“. One day while working at the Southern cross gymnasium in Canberra one of the instructors pulled out of a class at the last minute and no one else was available. At that point I had to jump in and fill in for her. I thoroughly enjoyed that experience and decided to take advance certifications that allowed me to do different kinds of group classes.

We’ll continue the rest of the conversation with Lia and give you an idea of what life as a fitness instructor is in the next part of this episode. Stay tuned.

Note: The Inside Life and all content published as a part of Inside Life is owned by and exclusive to DelhiPlanet. Any reproduction without permission is prohibited.

Spice Up Your Love Life With These Simple Yoga Moves

A DelhiPlanet Health And Wellness Exclusive, In Association With Queen Yogini Kristin McGee.

In the last part of our video series with Kristin Mcgee, we bring to you some tips on how one can enhance one’s sex life by practicing some simple yoga moves. As Kristin states,

Yoga is a wonderful thing as it really works to strengthen our pelvic floor muscles. It also releases our inner thighs, groins and lower back and strengthens key areas that make for a great experience.

Catch these simple moves in the video below. You can also checkout our remaining posts in this series here.

3 Yoga Moves For A Younger Body, Mind And Soul

A DelhiPlanet Health And Wellness Exclusive, In Association With Queen Yogini Kristin McGee.

Anti aging products, Botox, Anti-wrinkle creams etc are all passe. Unless you’re ready to counter the side effects of these products you shouldn’t really go for them as they are known to have harmful after effects. Many movie stars and media personalities are known to go for such medications in order to maintain a younger look.

In a recent interview Former “Friends” star Courteney Cox admitted that she tried Botox and hated its muscle-paralysing effects. Cox 44, said after using the face-freezing injection she lost her ability to make facial expressions and it hampered her acting skills (Source).

Queen Yogini Kristin Mcgee is however living proof of the fact that all it takes to slow down the aging process is to keep your mind and body in balance. Most people age faster than they should because of increased stress, tension and worries. Yoga is however known across the world for it’s ability to eliminate stress and worries. It is also a great way to stimulate the thyroid gland and improve body circulation, both of which play a vital role in keeping a person young. In today’s edition of DelhiPlanet Health And Wellness, Kristin, shows us some bendy yoga moves that tone your body, relieve stress and eliminate wrinkles. So forget those creams and try out some yoga for a change.

Drop Into A Peaceful Slumber With These 4 Yoga Moves

A DelhiPlanet Health And Wellness Exclusive, In Association With Queen Yogini Kristin McGee.

“I’m not so happy with my job, My boss gives me a tough time, When will I get married ?, When will I get promoted ?, My friend from college is doing much better in life than me, Why do I never get what I deserve ?“. These are just some of the thoughts and ramblings that develop in our minds as we move along the journey of life.

Many a times these thoughts or tensions put a significant stress on the mind, leading to a lot of health related problems and worst of all to irregular sleep patterns. Just as it is important to keep oneself fit and healthy so as to lead an active life it is also important to sleep well so that the body can be recharged the right way. The aspect of sleeping is an area of medicine that is still not well understood, however it does play a major role in our body functions. Most people would agree that the best form of sleep is one where even a gun shot would fail to wake you up and does not consist of any dreams.

In today’s edition of DP Health And Wellness, Kristin shows some really easy yoga moves that one can practice before going to bed. These moves would make you relax and forget your worries, thereby helping you to get a sound sleep.

iPump With Your Favorite Trainer - Now Carry Your Workout Wherever You Go

In today’s fast-paced and highly uncertain world it is very important to ensure that we don’t get caught up in the madness and start neglecting the certain subtle things that end making a huge difference later on. It is common observation that the richer a person gets the more his/her health starts to suffer. As Spiderman famously says “with great power comes great responsibility” and great power is mostly followed by great wealth.

Most of the people who can’t keep up with their fitness regimes complain that the nature of their jobs prevent them from doing so. Such folks are constantly on the move and thus find it difficult to keep up with their fitness routines. Well as we gradually move on from the “Internet Age” to the “iPhone Age” it’s almost certain that there are going to be technological innovations that will take care of problems that arise out of frequent movement and travel.

PumpOne is one such organization that specializes in mobile personalized workouts. PumpOne offers different Video Trainer series meant for the iPhone, iPod and a number of other different handheld devices thus allowing one to carry his fitness in the most convenient fashion. Such a solution if well extended can make a profound impact in the growth of the Health Industry as people will have access to their favorite workouts right at their fingertips as opposed to the previous form, where one needed a DVD to practice a trainer workout.

So for example, if you’re keen on taking to Yoga and Pilates and would always like to have your workouts with you then you have a solution like PumpAsanas and PumpPilates featuring Queen Yogini and Health Expert Kristin Mcgee. For instance, PumpedAsanas has a number of picture-perfect poses and flowing sequences of new and familiar postures which together will provide a whole new yoga experience. PumpedPilates on the other hand is a series of mat workouts with exercises designed to target your core along with challenging your strength and flexibility.

PumpOne is certainly a excellent concept and great news for all health enthusiasts. Checkout a sample of what a PumpOne workout looks like below.

DP Health And Wellness: Is Only Yoga Enough To Loose Weight

A DelhiPlanet Health And Wellness Exclusive, In Association With Queen Yogini Kristin McGee

It is a common perception among people and especially the youth that yoga is a very slow form of exercise and not as intensive or satisfying as a gym workout. It is for this reason that not many young people take to it and even those who do treat it as something to help them do their workouts better or as an alternative to them. People who wish to loose weight feel that just doing yoga may not be enough and that results would be produced over a really long period of time. So what do the experts thin about this, in today’s article, Kristin writes about her thoughts on this.

It’s funny because people often ask me if all I do is yoga to stay in shape. A new private student today asked me that very question the other night and what else she could do along with her yoga to help her lose weight. Yoga is definitely a weight loss tool to some extent because it teaches us how to be mindful. As we become more aware of our bodies we can experience true hunger and feed ourselves when we’re hungry and learn to stop when we’re full. If we could all do this, we would naturally find our set point and be at a healthy weight.

But we eat for so many reasons outside of hunger. We eat to celebrate, we eat when we’re depressed, we eat because others are eating, etc. etc. So yes I do think yoga is a great way to lean out by tuning in to our body. Is it enough of a workout to blast calories and build strength? I think so, especially if you’re doing it correctly and really utilizing the breathing and working hard in the poses. But I also think it’s important to add some cardio. I do supplement my yoga with walking everywhere in Manhattan, playing tennis when I can and skiing every time I go home to Idaho. I also teach and do a lot of Pilates.

It’s important to do what you enjoy, and if I could do yoga all the time I would. I absolutely love it! The main thing is to continue to listen to your body and respond truthfully to its needs. Yoga more than any other activity will teach you this and that can be a huge benefit on many levels, including losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight.

Oh P.S., a great Web site for healthy recipes is www.hungry-girl.com.

Note: The above has been published by DelhiPlanet in association with and with explicit permission from Kristin Mcgee and originally published by Kristin on findyourdetour.com. Any reproduction without proper approval and acknowledgment is prohibited.

DP Health And Wellness - The Art Of Listening

A DelhiPlanet Health And Wellness Exclusive, In Association With Queen Yogini Kristin McGee

In daily life there are many occasions where people just don’t know what to do in spite of receiving clear instructions. This happens because many a times we aren’t just listening and are occupied with other thoughts or are doing something else. Just like writing and speaking, listening is also a very essential component of effective communication. People can avoid many problems and communicate very effectively if they just listen well. In today’s article Kristin will share her knowledge on how important it is to listen effectively and how yoga can help enhance that.

Sometime back when I was teaching my 12:30 yoga class at Clay and I gave the instruction “step your left foot forward and drop your right heel to the ground, lift up to warrior 1“, many students looked around for someone to make the first move so they could follow. Some of the students stepped their right foot forward instead and the rest of them were still in dog pose daydreaming! It made me realize just how much we’ve lost the art of listening.

We’ve become such a visual society and become lazy as far as how we learn. I remember taking a trapeze class down on the West Side Highway with my niece when she came to visit from Idaho. I learned very quickly that if you don’t listen and do exactly what they tell you to do when they tell you to do it, you’re screwed! My 12-year-old niece was a pro at it — she just listened and followed instructions. I wonder if we start to doubt ourselves as we age or if we get complacent and believe that hearing things is enough to get by instead of listening closely and absorbing things with our whole being. I think a lot of miscommunication in relationships could be solved if people truly listened to each other.

Yoga once again to the rescue. It is one of the few places where the teacher doesn’t do any demonstrating, but instead speaks the class through the poses and allows the students to experience the process. It is a wonderful way to redevelop all of our senses, especially our ears and truly listen. Once we give into listening we automatically are present and can no longer predict what will come next or get lost in what already happened. That is why music can make us feel so good — it puts us immediately in the moment and allows us to listen and experience things on a whole new level.

Note: The above has been published by DelhiPlanet in association with and with explicit permission from Kristin Mcgee and originally published by Kristin on findyourdetour.com. Any reproduction without proper approval and acknowledgment is prohibited.

DP Health And Wellness : The Power Of Meditation, Part 2

A DelhiPlanet Health And Wellness Exclusive, In Association With Queen Yogini

Following up on the first part of this series(read here) we are back with the last part, where Kristin will share a really simple and effective method on how to practice meditation, which is one of the best ways to achieve a balanced mind.

Here is a how-to guide to meditation that I read recently in Positive Thinking magazine (a little-known but great publication!). I like to breathe in and out through my nose only when I meditate but do what works best for you.

Meditation 101

1. Find a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted. Wear loose-fitting clothing and sit cross-legged on a chair or cushion, or on the floor. If you have time constraints, set an alarm to ring softly.
2. Keep your back, neck and head straight. Leave your eyes unfocused and half open (I like to close mine completely). Get comfortable and relaxed and minimize movement.
3. Breathe from your belly, not your chest. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Try to become aware of your breathing, fixing your attention on the inhalation and exhalation, how the air feels entering and exiting your body.
4. The goal of meditation is to become fully aware of the present moment. As you breathe, watch your thoughts come and go. Don’t fixate on any idea, thought or memory. Simply take note of them and let them fade. If you get distracted, retrain your focus on your breathing.
5. Keep breathing and refocusing for as long as you need. Gradually open your eyes, look around you and slowly stand up — refreshed!

I’ve learned that I don’t have to get up at 5 a.m. to mediate; I can meditate any time, any place and it’s truly making a difference in my life. I hope you give it a try.

Note: The above has been published by DelhiPlanet in association with and with explicit permission from Kristin Mcgee and originally published by Kristin on findyourdetour.com. Any reproduction without proper approval and acknowledgment is prohibited.

DP Health And Wellness: The Power Of Meditation, Part 1

A DelhiPlanet Health And Wellness Exclusive, In Association With Queen Yogini Kristin McGee

“I Don’t need to meditate, I have a good life.“, “Nah, Meditation is for losers. I like to pump it up“. Try talking to a teenager or a young adult in his 20’s about the benefits of meditation and it’s wondrous effects and you’ll probably end up hearing a response like that. Well, the whole purpose of doing meditation is to become more aware and alert, so that one can always live in the moment. Kids and teenagers are already like that and so they see no reason to learn this art. However as we progress in life, it becomes increasingly difficult to stay focused and that’s where the power of meditation comes into the picture.

Let’s hear more about the the Power of Meditation from Queen Yogini Kristin McGee who has mastered this art over many years.

Every night I go to bed with the thought that I’ll walk up at the crack of dawn and meditate for 30 minutes to start off my day. Why haven’t I made this a reality yet? Well, for one thing, I’m already up at 5:30 most mornings. But I really, really, really want to have a consistent meditation practice.

There are so many benefits to having a meditation practice. Especially now in our over-stimulated society, where crackberries and instant messaging is the norm, it is even more important to rein in the senses and quiet the mind. The physical asana practice of yoga is only one step in getting to a state of real genuine internal peace and happiness. Physical asana practice actually falls right before meditation in Patanjali’s eightfold path to enlightenment, making meditation even more important than the physical postures. Physical yoga as we know it is really just a way to open the body enough so we can sit still comfortably and focus on the breath and bring ourselves into a state of meditative awareness.

Meditation isn’t about zoning out or getting rid of all of our thoughts, it is actually being completely awake and aware to the present moment. We sit and witness our thoughts, then let them go and come back to our breath, which is happening in the here and now. It is what happens when you are completely involved in something and you lose track of time. Most children are moving meditations, i.e., they do what they feel like in the immediate moment. As adults we are constantly monitoring ourselves and thinking about the past or the future. Meditation teaches us to be still and be in the present, which is the greatest gift we can give ourselves.

No wonder meditation is said to help people perform better on tests of alertness and reaction time or lower blood pressure and increase life span. Who doesn’t want to live longer when they are truly enjoying each moment of their life!

Next week, we’ll be back with Part 2 of this series where Kristin will share her knowledge on how one should practice meditation. So stay tuned to this space.

Note: The above has been published by DelhiPlanet in association with and with explicit permission from Kristin Mcgee and originally published by Kristin on findyourdetour.com. Any reproduction without proper approval and acknowledgment is prohibited.

Next Page »