Live it Outside, Sweat it Inside

Hi guys! I’m Melissa, an extremely clumsy 30 something “fit-ish person”. What does fit-ish mean? Well – it means that I like to be active, but the top drawer of my desk is usually full of Dino Sours and chocolate covered almonds.  I’ve been an employee of Blue Mountain for over a year now and have decided it is time to embrace our mantra of “#LiveItOutside”. What does #LiveItOutside mean? Well, it means exactly that; life your life outside.

As an employer, Blue Mountain likes to organize monthly “fun” activities for our staff to enjoy. I used quotations because some events are more fun than others. Puppy Cuddling and Free Ice Cream Day have topped the list of my favourite work place activities. I am a proud “cherry picker” of work place activities, meaning – if it looks challenging or hard – I probably sit on the sidelines. But this year, I think it’s time to dive into the deep end and embrace the more physical side of LiveItOutside – starting with the Spring Tune Up 8 week program.  The sad truth is that the #LiveItOutside Chronicles was off to a rocky start once 5:15pm hit and the skies opened up. Thankfully for a sweet girl like myself – we were moved inside so the fear of melting in the rain dissipated, so for now we shall call this week #SweatItInside.

Meet our trainer for the next 8 weeks…Dillon Fremlin, Director of Risk aka Man of Steel. Legend has it Dillon trained with the marine corps. He’s also a former police officer who worked in downtown Toronto, so it’s fair to say he has dealt with some intense situations. As you can imagine, for someone like me, whose cardio includes practicing the fine art of Namaste  (as in “Naw I’m a stay right here, but you guys have fun on your run!) this is going to be more of a complete re-build, rather than a spring tune up. Dillon, who is the role model for a healthy lifestyle, joined the Blue Mountain team about 3 years ago. He has lived a healthy and active life since he could walk. He is a certified CrossFit and Olympic Lifting coach for over 10 years, and was a personal trainer before that.

The room filled up rather quickly and what I thought would be 5-6 employees turned into about 25 employees from all walks of life. We had everyone from VP’s to part time employees – but in this room everyone was an equal which was a really great vibe. Dillon made sure that everyone introduced themselves and said what they were hoping to get out of the class. It ranged from “Summer Bods” to kick starting daily activities.

I asked Dillon how the opportunity came about – He said “I was approached by Human Resources and immediately jumped at the opportunity. I love Blue Mountain and everything it has to offer.  If I can get a few people moving and motivated to get out and enjoy our amazing environment, then that’s a huge win!” And move we did. We went through proper movement mechanics before jumping into a HIT style workout that consisted of Squats, Mountain Climbers and Push Ups, each round adding another 2 repetitions to the circuit.

The amazing thing about this was the fact that despite the varying fitness abilities everyone was able to participate in this, it was fully scalable to fit your ability and comfort level and by the end of the class everyone was out of breath, a little sweaty and feeling great.  We were not only equipped with a routine we could now do at our leisure a few times a week, but were set with a daily stretching routine – that we can do at work – to start positive daily habits.  When asked about tips to stay on track Dillon stated “Move a little bit each day, eat clean 80% of the time, drink water and get 7-8 hours of sleep. The importance of a bed time routine and uninterrupted sleep is more important than you think”.

Before the class wrapped we were challenged with drinking one litre of water a day. So this is where I leave you, with bathroom break #4 of the day – and its only noon.

I am excited to see what Dillon has in store for us next week and proudly survived the #SweatItInside and encourage you to join in next week to #LiveItOutside