According to the National Institute of Health, sitting is the new smoking and sadly, the average American does more sitting than moving on a daily basis.

Raise your hand if you move your body daily?

Walk, hike, run, squat, push pull yoga, dance, skate, jump rope, tennis, skiing-they are all forms of movement and yes, they all work-but at the end of the day, fitness should be balanced and incorporate a wide variety of modalities.

Fitness is not just for maintaining a healthy weight, but more importantly to keep you injury free, flexible, prevent osteoporosis and keep your metabolism buzzing.

The first step to understanding movement is to recognize that our ancestors (hunter/gatherer's) moved on average 3.7 miles to 9 miles a day. It's important to understand that is was mostly walking-foraging for food and maintaining their village-yep, no smart phones to keep them preoccupied.

They also had small bursts of what we call today (HIIT) high intensity interval training peppered into their week. This would come in the form of running from a wild boar, lifting heavy rocks and climbing trees-all which create a heightened state of cardio for a short amount of time.

They also didn't sit in chairs hunched over looking at a computer screen-they did allot of sitting on the ground and squatting (my clients know this from all the yoga squats we do)-therefor they didn't have allot of muscular imbalances or flexibility issues.

So how does the modern caveman or cave-woman keep their bodies in primal condition (lean, strong and flexible)?

Here's the simple formula and how I educate my clients:

20 % of the equation is Fitness!

• Move daily in the form of light to moderate activity 3.7 miles up to 9 miles. Housework, walking, hiking, bike riding, tennis, walking 18 holes on the golf course. I strive for 5 miles daily! I use a fitbit to monitor my steps. I break this up 3 times a day by walking my dog morning, lunch and after dinner.
• Add in HIIT 2-3 times a week. This includes high intensity cardio coupled with strength (7 primal patterns).
• Daily Mobility & Flexibility. I incorporate this into all my classes and training sessions, but it can be a simple as to taking 5-10 minutes every days and focus on your areas of weakness. If you need a functional movement assessment, contact me!

80% is Diet & Lifestyle

• Last but not least, DIET and LIFESTYLE is the leading ROLE in meeting all of your fitness, health and fat-loss goals. This is where an Integrative Health & Nutrition coaching program comes into play. How you eat, drink, optimize, alkalize, manage stress, sleep, hydrate, digest and assimilate even hobbies all play a integral role in your hormones and health. Often times it's the high stress job and the release of cortisol that's derailing your health and making your waistline bigger. Having a coach helps you identify what is sabotaging your efforts and then create an action plan to help you reach your goals.

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you enjoy and Easter walk today!

Yours in health,

Christine xo