exercise
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Hike Jasper: Whistler Mountain and Indian Ridge
Every year we make our way through BC to go hang out with Darcy's family in Merritt, on our way we have to stop in the mountains to do a hike. Not only is it a great way to break up the long drive but the mountains are so beautiful! How could one drive through them!
This hike is up past the skytram in Jasper, so you could pay some money and take the tram up then hike about 2km to the very top. OR you could use your legs and hike all the way up! This is what we decided to do, because we're cheap, we like exercise and our legs work.
Distance: Total 15.6 km, (out and back trail)
Elevation Gain: about 1200m
Time: Took us about 5 hours, stopping to eat a bit, take photos etc.
Difficulty: Moderate to hard, there were some really steep spots, and my legs were toasted afterwards. So sore the next day, which is always the sign of a good hike, yes?
We're so lucky to live so close to the mountains and get to explore all the time! I love this place!
Ladder Drills
I've been really into incorporating ladder drills into my workouts lately and clients workouts too. Not only are they fantastic to work on footwork, endurance, speed work but they're great for agility and stability work for everyone from an elite athlete to my 70 year old clients. For me, they're helpful for soccer as well as kickboxing, and they can be super fun too!
In/Out drill: Bring both feet into the ladder and bring out moving down parallel to ladder. Ensure you don't touch ladder!
Push ups: Travelling as you go, push up with hands in square, move to next square and repeat. Keep nice high plank position.
Crossovers: Only bringing one foot into the ladder at a time. Crossing the leg in front of the other as you go. 
Travelling Split squat jumps: Get down nice and low sink into legs spring up switching the legs in the air and landing softly in the next square, load and spring up again moving in one direction as you go.
Lateral hops: Standing on one side of the ladder sink jump up and over ladder bringing knees up as you jump. Land softly, not letting your knees fall in as you land.
*You can perform all in a sort of circuit, for 30s each or add one of each into a preexisting circuit.
Weekend Workout Guide
May Long in Edmonton
1. Run some Stairs. It's finally nice out, time to take the workout outside! Stairs are a great high intensity activity, they're quick to get in (aka they're over fast) and it's nice to get out.
2. Get out that bike!! Biking can be an easy workout or it can be quite challenging depending on the route you take. So map it out and go for a spin, take a picnic, make a day of it!
3. Outdoor Workout. Grab a couple pieces of equipment or go body weight. Take that workout outside of the gym, get some vitamin D, and fresh air at the same time.
4. Yoga in the Park. You don't have to do it in a group setting, work through a flow on your own in the park. You can download an app on your phone and follow along.
Sticking to a Plan
After setting goals it becomes important to actually follow through with them. Saying you're going to do something but not actually making a plan to move forward won't work.
1. Use a daytimer/white board/chalkboard and visually map out what day you're going to start. I find it useful to mark what days/times of the week you're going to work out. I even write what I'm doing each day (ex. Tuesday 7k run, wednesday lower body strength etc)
2. Get a workout buddy. Tons of my friends are always talking about losing weight/getting active, find someone with similar goals and hit the gym together. It can even be a coworker, who you can workout/go for a walk with on your lunch breaks. A dog also makes an excellent workout partner, I'm always running mine and taking him on adventures, he keeps me moving.
3. Get a trainer. Even if it's just to get the basics, especially if you're new to exercise and don't know where to start. It's important to find one with a great education to ensure you have a good experience, look for someone who has is a CSEP-CPT or CSEP-CEP, this means they have at least two full years of education. There is SO much more to exercise then reps and sets, having someone with this knowledge is important.
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