Lifestyle
29.01.2018

Fitness tips from Svenja and Marleen from Greenbody Camp

Marleen and Svenja from Greenbodycamp share their tips for training with the right attitude, routine and realistic goals, all with an extra dose of motivation.

At the beginning of the year, many of us make plans to eat more healthily and do more sport. Very often though the motivation doesn’t stick around for very long, and begins to slip away when you start to think of the cold weather you’ll have to endure when you leave the house. But, that could change today with the help of Marleen and Svenja from Greenbodycamp who are here to offer valuable fitness tips to motivate you to achieve your fitness goals. You might recognise them too, as the pair already shared some of their great tips for healthier lunch breaks last year.

Hello, Svenja, hello, Marleen! Thanks for taking the time to share your fitness tips with our readers today.



At the moment, it’s still pretty cold outside – is finding the motivation to go outside and exercise in the winter something that a lot of people struggle with?

Yes, only very few people escape the winter blues, especially when it's so dark, wet and cold outside. This is enough of an excuse for most people to stay inside and put off going training.

But you must have some fitness tips for those of us who find it particularly difficult to stay active in winter?

It really helps if you create your training routine before the dark season begins. A helpful fitness tip is also to make sure that you have the right mindset, for example, having a positive attitude towards training. If you only do sport as a means to an end, or because of social pressures to do so, it will become harder to stick with it the longer time goes on. On the other hand, if you concentrate on the positive effects of exercise on my health and well-being, and find a type of exercise that you really enjoy, then the world of training suddenly looks more appealing. Sport, for us, means life, zest for life, and, of course, strength and energy!

What would you say to a good friend who is looking for an excuse to stay inside instead of training today?

Hey, just do it and make the reason to do it more exciting than your excuse! Put on your training clothes, your gloves and a cap and get out and enjoy the fresh air. Get yourself going by listening to a motivating podcast or a cool playlist. Make space in your life for sport and find a workout that you enjoy. Think positively, do your thing and don’t compare yourself to others.

The right mindset is als a key part of your “Strenghility” training. How did you come up with this concept?
 
Strengthility Coaching is our holistic nutrition and exercise plan which centres on "STRENGTH" and "ABILITY." The "strength" in “strenghility” stands for the development of mental and physical strength and the "ability" here refers to the ability to use your strength in your everyday life. This means that you have to find and realise your own strength, which makes you feel much more self-confident. Sport is the best way to do this, because in our eyes it is the strength multiplier.

What do you think of New Year's resolutions?
 
The top 10 New Year's resolutions normally include: exercising more, eating more healthily and losing weight. In our eyes, of course, these are all made with the best of intentions, but people often fail because the goals are not always realistic and are often made by focussing on the negative, which isn’t good for your mindset! Many of us are plagued with doubts like "you can’t do that anyway," "you can’t," "other people are better than you." To combat these, it helps to set small milestones which you can go for step by step without putting unnecessary pressure on yourself. We can become very impatient with ourselves very quickly, the key is to focus on the fact that a success is a success! Those who struggle to stay on the track can make use of a personal trainer or coach who can help to develop routines and uncover negative thinking patterns and behaviors, and help them to achieve a more positive mindset.

What motivates you to keep pushing your limits?

Our progress and success! This not only applies to training, but also to everyday life. Our subconscious wants us to stay in our comfort zones, because change can be scary. But without change we can’t ever realise all of our physical and mental power.

Marleen and Svenja, you’re both officers in the military. Do you integrate elements from your professional lives into your training and vice versa?
 
As a woman in a male dominated profession you have to be able to assert yourself. This in itself requires a lot of self-confidence. Physical fitness and stamina are especially important in the military, and that, of course, also applies to women. Another important part of working for the Bundeswehr is the camaraderie and cohesion that we have with each other. Officers have a special responsibility towards their comrades, because as leaders, they undertake the planning and organisation and give the commands. There are definite parallels between our jobs as officers and working as fitness trainers. The people who turn to us and come to our workouts or events entrust us with their health. During the workouts, we show our our participants that they are a unit and that they can support and motivate each other - this motivates every individual even more. This is just one of the elements that we have borrowed from the Bundeswehr to use in our training. For the nutrition side of things, we have internalised the saying "an army marches on its stomach." Food is strength and it helps to prepare us for the inevitable challenges both at work and in our everyday lives, so we love good food and don’t support dieting.

Thank you Marleen and Svenja for taking the time to do this interview. We wish you every success with Greenbody camp!

Author
Vapiano Redaktion

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