Seven brave riders, eleven great rides, one worthy cause

One month from today, your intrepid Red River Rebel Riders will be back in Riding Mountain National Park with a goal of raising $5,000 for MS in this, their 11th year! The only change in the team for 2014 is the addition of Deron Warkentin from the Roblin Campus, replacing Wayne Ferguson who is recovering from hip surgery.

Yes, 2014 marks 11 years! How can you help to make it a perfect ride?

• Donate securely online by clicking on any team member’s name at this site. All monies raised go to supporting those suffering with MS or to MS research.
• Join the 2014 team. As already mentioned, we are currently 7 riders: Marnie Boulet, Guy Dugas, Dayna Graham, Miguel Guzman, Mar-Zeus Macasieb, Michael Poitras, and Deron Warkentin. Train with us through August to get in shape for the big ride Sept. 6-7. Email Captain Marnie for details or simply click here and then click on the Join team button.

Together we can end MS. Help make 2014 a perfect ride!

You’ve taken the plunge; you are working out on a regular basis.  You’ve been more faithful to your workout schedule than any girlfriend/boyfriend in the past.  You are starting notice some changes and then days become weeks, the scales won’t budge you aren’t seeing any changes in your body and your resolve slowly turns to cookie-dough ice cream. You’re at serious risk of becoming another statistic, one more person fallen prey to the dreaded plateau.  Somebody who decides to pack it in, accept life as a couch potato accepting that the only way you’ll ever see your toes again is in mirror.

The human body is a remarkably adaptable instrument. Once it grows accustomed to the initial stimulus of a change in diet and activity level, it may simply submit to the law of diminishing returns, decide to declare a new state of normalcy and effectively put a stop to muscle gain and fat loss.

A plateau has a snowball effect, both mentally and physically. Mentally, you become frustrated, which leads to emotional eating, fatigue and finding excuses not to workout. This either amplifies the plateau or actually causes you to backslide. Physically, if you allow a plateau to negatively impact your mindset, you produce stress, which has many well-documented ill effects on the body, inhibiting the ability to gain muscle and promoting the storage of fat.

Plateaus are essentially a form of maintenance—if you run three days a week for the same amount of time you’ll continue to hold your own in terms of health and fitness, for example, but you won’t move forward.

So what do you do now?

• Build variety into your workout. Change what you do and how you do it. Alter your routine in duration, frequency and intensity. Add more exercise, or different activities, workout at different times.
• Sometimes less is more. When you hit a plateau, it’s tempting to workout more. You may be overtraining and stalling as a result. Rest is a critical aspect of any fitness regimen.
• Alter your diet. A change in nutrition can make a difference. Most people go the wrong way, lowering calories, when sometimes raising calories to maintain weight for a week and then dropping them again is all that’s needed.
• Don’t decrease the amount you eat — food is fuel for the metabolism. Try manipulating your eating routine — have your main meal at noon instead of the evening. Eat several smaller meals rather than three big ones.
• Stay focused. Write down goals and read them every day. Have an underlying reason to achieve your goals that’s more than a superficial ‘I want to lose weight.’ Focus on overall health.
• Don’t weigh yourself every day. A static scale over an extended period of time will just increase your frustration and be disheartening over the long run.
• Consult with a certified professional.  Now may be the time to schedule a session with a personal trainer to help you get back on track.  Perhaps one of the reasons you are stalling is improper technique.

Be successful. Create a vision of where you want to be and stick to it. Set goals, form a plan to attack those goals and consistently take action day after day.  Don’t get frustrated if you don’t advance X amount on a certain day; because it’s the long term plan (and results) that matter.

by Mario De Negri, Fitness Coordinator For Rebel Athletics and Recreation Services

I came across this blog when I was feeling a fair bit of turbulence in my life. I personally was doing great. Everything was in line, I was working at my best, and being my best self which warrants recognition as that’s something I have failed to do in my past, and can image others feeling something similar in their lives. This was affecting my life from the outside and I had the choice to sit there and take it or stand up and step to the side. I had made some tough decisions to try to keep myself on a healthy path but I couldn’t help shake the pain in my heart. Sometimes clarity of the mind doesn’t mean you’ll find peace in the heart right away. Sometimes the aches in the heart are real but just growing pains we must endure for our own personal growth as a person. Every time I look back at times this has been true I can feel peace in my heart now, but wasn’t so in the moment at that time. This blog brings to lights some of those tough self-questions we need to be asking ourselves to see if we are on our true path. So many of the points highlight quite directly some of the fears about myself I had to face and to accept if I was to move forward on my path. Hopefully they can bring some insight onto you as they have re-affirmed in mine.

Check out the blog here;

http://www.lifebuzz.com/just-stop/

College Days are upon us once again, and the Wellness Committee is hosting a series of events to eat, meet and greet, and move your feet.

Come out for a free Wellness Breakfast

On the morning of May 29^th staff are invited for a free Wellness Breakfast at the Roblin Centre and the Notre Dame Campus (Voyageur Cafeteria) beginning at 7:30 am and going till 9:30.  The buffet breakfast will offer a range of healthy (and tasty!) selections. Wellness Committee members and other helpers will be on hand to say hello, gather pledges for the Walk-a-thon, and answer any questions you may have.

Walkathon – EDC and NDC

After you’ve had time to digest your breakfast, come on out to the Wellness Walk-a-thon at noon on May 29^th.

Exchange District Campus:

The Walkathon starts after a brief warm up  at the Roblin Centre Atrium  (aka right by the Tim Hortons) and then we’ll walk to the Forks Market and back (three routes to choose from!)

Pledges $5 or over get entered to win prizes!

Check out the Wellness displays in the Atrium!

Notre Dame Campus:

The 2.5 km route will take you outside of the Notre Dame Campus grounds with a chance to enjoy some great scenery. Come with friends and colleagues to the North Gym area at noon after a brief warm up, or you can get a map and take the run or walk at your own pace. In order to limber up the limbs, drop by around 11:45 for a guided warm-up.

Pledges over $10 get entered to win prizes!

Register now at https://hub.rrc.ca/EmployeeDevelopment/

Get your pledge forms here.

Help support staff dependents to study at RRC

Aside from the benefits that come from walking, monies raised go toward the Bursary for Dependents of RRC Employees. The bursary was started back in 2009 from an endowment fund which the Walkathon has helped grow to nearly $25K. To date, the award has provided a total of $3,700 to nine recipients. For more information about this award and/or to get an application form, head to the RRC website and look under General Awards.

Do you have your tickets?

Despite rumours to the contrary, Rob Ford will not attend our first Rebel Riders’ event of the year on June 6th.

But, though his attending the much anticipated June 6th Bud, Spud, and Steak fundraiser for MS is now clearly unlikely, will Rob Ford ride with our Rebel Riders for the September MS Riding Mountain challenge?
Read More →

Try not.
Do or do not. There is no try.

Yes, it’s an awful pun, but this day marks my first Wellness post in a year. May 4th also happens to be my daughter’s one-year wedding anniversary, a bitter one because her marriage has since dissolved. To make things worse, the day begins with a call from the Grace hospital. Longtime cycling buddy, Wayne Ferguson, has just fallen on the hip that he had replaced last week. For some reason it reminds me of Gurdeesh Ghuman, another Rebel Rider, who had his dreams of a 2013 MS ride dashed by a heart attack . As if the day is not off to a gloomy enough start,Terry MacLeod shares on the Weekend Morning Show that he had to abandon a movie last night because an able-bodied couple occupying the only handicap seating in the theatre had refused to move. Jerks everywhere. Income taxes due tomorrow. Mine not done. And it’s still not above freezing!

Let’s get out of here before one of those things kills Guy. – Gwen DeMarco, Galaxy Quest

But you know, it is so easy to let life’s clouds obscure the sunlight beyond. I realized as I drove up Portage Avenue to drop my wife off at work that today was the Winnipeg Police Half Marathon (10th Annual to boot!). On the way back home I stopped to check it out. It was truly inspiring. Oh sure, there were hundreds (yes hundreds!) of runners zipping by, some not quite so zippy. But the people lining the curb are the ones who really gave me hope. Having parked our cars (and troubles?) on Portage Avenue, we were all clapping and cheering on total strangers as they ran past, a serendipitous breeze of shared enthusiasm that quickly sapped the chill out of the morning air. Read More →

by Cole Skinner, Athletics and Recreation Cooridantor

With exams currently taking place, and the rush to get summer jobs, this is often a busy and stressful time for Red River College Students. Rebels Athletics and Recreation Services has a great way to relieve stress, get fit for summer, and be at your best for exams and job interviews! RRC Athletics and Recreation Services offers Group Fitness Programs suited to all interests and fitness levels. Our highly trained and enthusiastic instructors will lead you through a fun and challenging workout suited to you. Use these classes to get a leg up on your personal fitness goals, with summer right around the corner, why not get active and have fun in the process. We offer a wide variety of classes that can help relieve stress, and improve your personal wellness.

Registered Programs For 2014 Spring Term

Yoga with Amanda on Mondays from 4:15 to 5:15.

Rapid Revolution Spin with Lesley on Tuesdays from 11:05 to 11:50 and Thursdays from 11:05 to 11:50.

Dynamic Core with Leslie on Tuesdays from 12:05 to 12:50 and Thursdays from 12:05 to 12:50.

Cardio Complete with Ming on Tuesdays from 4:00 to 4:45

Boot Camps with Karly on Fridays from 11:05 to 11:50

Stott Pilates with Karly on Fridays from 12:05 to 12:50

Regular classes will start April 28th and run until June 27th.

Drop in cards for 4 or 8 classes per term can also be purchased. An unlimited Full Fitness Pass can also be purchased, allowing to attend as many classes as you want.

Register

To register for a class download the attached form, fill it out and take it to the Student Service Centre to make a payment. 2014 Spring Fitness Classes Registration Form

For many people exercise presents a special set of challenges. Here’s a realistic guide for getting started and not getting discouraged.

What’s love got to do with it? When it comes to fitness, in the end, love is all that matters. Exercising in public when you’re out of shape can be an emotionally bruising experience. Huffing and puffing to keep up, you feel inadequate and self-conscious, hating every moment you spend on the treadmill or pacing the track. Maybe you’re trying to tell yourself something.

One of the most common mistakes people make when starting to exercise is trying an exercise program that doesn’t suit them or was designed for someone else. People make the decision that they are going to “Do it right”, they join a health club and get a program and commit to working out four times a week. Most people taking this approach fail and failing makes them even more disheartened. What they don’t realize is that it was the wrong approach.

The first goal is to increase your physical activity and not to punish yourself for being out of shape. Begin by recognizing the benefits of diversity and explore the many options open to you and your individual interests. 

Learn to dance, take up a martial art, learn to swim, dig a garden, take up wall climbing, find a tennis partner. What’s important is to find something that you enjoy and works for your lifestyle.  Recreation Services on campus offers a wide variety of different programs that will help get you active.  Visit our website at http://blogs.rrc.ca/rebels/ for a complete listing of classes and start dates.

Regardless of what shape you are in, you can derive tremendous benefit from physical activity. Research indicates that exercise can reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease, for example, and can mitigate the effects of stress and depression.

For most people beginning an exercise program, the biggest considerations is losing weight and this in turn can also be the biggest emotional hurdle. An exercise program may or may not lead to weight loss, but it definitely will lead to an improvement in physical, metabolic and emotional fitness. When we learn to let go of ‘losing weight’ as the main goal of fitness training it frees us to focus on the real benefits and achievable goals of exercising.

In their eagerness to get started, the non-active people frequently fall into a pattern of error, which can sabotage the project before it gets off the ground.

Common mistakes are excising too hard and exercising too easy. There are those who try to get started with an exercise program, fling themselves at it only to get exhausted, injured, and realize few improvements in their health and fitness: they try to exercise too hard. Conversely, there are those who spend plenty of time exercising but don’t get their heart rate up enough to realize the benefits they are seeking.

Don’t swim laps just because someone says it’s an ideal exercise even though you hate it. Learn to ballroom dance, fence, ice skate, or snowboard.  Join a sports team.  Many leagues let you sign up as an individual with a free agent team or as team with a group of friends. This type of social(yet physical) activity could be just the thing to get you kick started on the road to a healthy active lifestyle.

Your Options:

• Find your starting point. Do some fitness tests to see where you are now.
• Forget the fat. Reprogram your thinking to focus on fitness not fatness.
• Find fitness goals. Learn about physical and emotional fitness and why these should be your goals. A rounded exercise program takes all goals into consideration and gives you training in all elements of fitness.

The main determinant of whether an exercise program is successful is how hard it is in relation to your current level of fitness. No program will get results unless you stick to it, which is why you have to find an activity you love. One of the main reasons for people not sticking to their exercise plans is lack of time, so don’t waste time with an exercise program that might not work for you. Tailor your program to your fitness level and unique emotional, and physical characteristics and you will be sure to achieve your goals.

Dig out your ball and glove and come out for a fun and friendly competition at the 8^th annual Red River College’s Staff Co-ed Slow-Pitch Community Event!

You can register as a team or register as an individual and be placed on a team.  Teams consist of at least TEN players and must have a minimum of FOUR females playing in each inning.  Every team can play up to three games.

The event takes place on June 11th from 9 am to 4 pm at the Little Mountain Park ball diamonds, just 10 minutes north of the Notre Dame Campus.  Registration are available from the RRC Wellness Portal page or by contacting “Super” Mario De Negri (mdenegri@rrc.ca).

Each player must contribute $15.00, which covers park fees, use of equipment, and a lunch that includes one main dish and two side dishes and a drink. Please state if you are a vegetarian in your registration. This will also get you one raffle ticket to win one of many prizes through out the day. Make cheques payable to Red River College Slow-pitch event.

You can also register to play one of our many Low Organized Games such as bocce and ladder toss or bring a musical instrument to jam if slow pitch isn’t your forte but would like to be a part of the event. $15.00 will also include a lunch and raffle ticket.

If you feel you would just like to come out for the day or even a few hours please feel welcome at no cost. Food can be purchased on site from the clubhouse.

This is an eco-friendly event so please minimize all waste. Bring reusable water bottles or jugs as water is not supplied at the diamonds but refilling can be done in the clubhouse. Pack out what you pack in. Bring your own gloves, sun lotion, and hat.

Registration deadline is May 16 ^TH 2014

Location of the tournament is Little Mountain Park at 64-128 Klimpke Road. Every registered player will be forwarded game rules and a game schedule.

Directions to Little Mountain Sports plex from NDC is north bound on King Edward St, then west bound on Inkster Blvd. Turn North on Klimpke. The Sports plex will be on the left.

We’ve all been caught in the rush of the world in its quest to be going somewhere. This constant pressure has had us staring at a screen until out eyes are pounding , sitting on our butts until our back hurts…..what’s up with that, and going for hours without eating except for those few cups of coffee….that’s kind of like food right?

When I was younger I had a mentor tell me there was an on/off button on my backside. Anytime I was sitting down the button would be pressed to off and anytime I would stand up it would be released to the on position. This didn’t make a lot of sense hearing it but was something to be understood by applying it. It makes sense now, as I sit I am sedentary, there is little flow. As I stand I am in more motion as little as standing would be compared to sitting. Once some motion has been started it can grow into more and lead to many places. It’s like water, stagnant water has little life, can be dangerous to drink or play in. Whereas water that is flowing has vibrant energy with all sorts of life and purity, and this flowing water can be anything from a small creek to the Iguazu falls in South America.

Your life is that water. However you choose to live will reflect what kind water you manifest. There are times in our lives when we need to be slow moving like a creek to gather thoughts, have gratitude for the things we have now and there are times we need to move fast like giving time to our heart to challenge it and strengthen it cause it beats for us ALL THE TIME.

Here are 5 tips to be like water and disengage that button.

1. Stand up right now! Read the rest of this standing. Stand up and keep standing. From here after you read this make a decision to take a step forward.  What do you want to do? What can you do? Do something small as that will lead into something else and you can use momentum to keep going.
2. Set an alarm app on your phone or computer. Have it set for every hour. When the alarm goes off, stand up. Being in the office chair all day is no good for anyone. Make that once an hour commitment to do a back extension, stretch your pecs, or walk a flight of stairs. This does not have to take a long time. It can take less time than waiting in line for your morning coffee and results will come.
3. Be mindful of what your present actions are. If you are going to stand in line how are you standing? Try standing on one foot to work on balance. Try doing calf raises or just moving your body in general. I know… what if someone sees me right? Get over it. Yes people will see you so be one of the aware ones to use your time to your advantage. I bet you if more than half the people in that line were doing movements you’d do some small ones to just fit in and not be the minority. Start that movement to allow other to follow.
4. Build a ladder. Every day during your one hour self-check bell do a ladder activity. Start with one push up at 9am, then 2 at 10am and keep going until your done your day. If my math is correct in one day you will do 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8=36 pushups. That’s a lot of pushups! Next day, do squats, steps ups, ab crunch and change it. Remember to challenge yourself so maybe you need to start with 5 squats for example.
5. Commit to a club, group, games, and organization once a week. This has to be a you time thing that can include your family, or partner or just yourself but needs to be a regular commitment. I know for one of my groups we have game night every Tuesday where we play board games all winter to keep people moving out of the house and not get too nested. These change in the spring to more outdoor type activities. This has been one of the most positive additions to my life as I get to be with friends when I’m feeling worked over by winter, as well as it gives me something to look forward to each week.

Ultimately as long as you can focus on your back side button and check it often to see if it is on or off you can begin to see what the future has in store for you. The more often you can leave it on, the happier, healthier and fulfilled you will be. Once you develop the pattern, the way the river has its path it will just flow naturally and you can enjoy the ride.

Mario De Negri

Fitness Coordinator

Life style Design