Did your grandmother write you yet another cheque for Christmas? Got a better deal than you expected on those Boxing Day electronics? Didn’t spend as much on the kids’ presents as you planned? Why not treat yourself to a new fitness tool?

Now while a lot can be accomplished with a few basic exercise tools (think dumbbells, bands, stability balls), there’s nothing like a new gadget to jump-start your exercise program.

Three of my current favourites?

1) BOSU balance trainer; a BOSU is essentially half a stability ball with a soft, compressible ‘dome’ side and a flat, rigid ‘platform’ side.

It can be used BOth Sides Up (that’s where it got it’s name) and is great for balance and core training as well as more traditional strength workouts and plyometric intervals. BOSU can be purchased at all major fitness equipment stores as well as on-line. Expect to pay between $120 and $150. Some suppliers include DVD instructional videos and foot pumps.

I use this tool in personal training sessions as well as during an hour long BOSU class. See my teaching schedule for details.

2) TRX suspension training system; a portable, lightweight, versatile, ‘take anywhere’ tool. Made of strong nylon webbing, the TRX uses your own body weight to functionally train all your major muscle groups. The TRX can be used either alone, for an intense full body workout, or together with more traditional fitness tools in circuit style. Purchase the TRX on-line and expect to pay $150 to $175. Make use of the thousands of You Tube videos of TRX workouts to design your own TRX program!

3) Ugi balls; new on the fitness scene. A small, portable, squishable ball, 15 inches in diameter and weighing 6, 8, 10 or 12 pounds.Great for circuit style functional

workouts that incorporate balance work, core and strength training and cardio intervals. Can only be purchased through ugifit.com from $129 for a single ball to $189 for a kit including ball, workout video and instructional poster. Expect to see these soon at your gym and perhaps even in small group fitness class!

Any one of these tools would be a great addition to your home gym. Need help getting started? Hire a personal trainer to guide you in the proper form and execution of some great new exercises.

It’s the eve of the eve of Christmas (or so my children keep telling me). The baking is done (and well-sampled), the gifts are wrapped and ready to pop under the tree, the final grocery list has been made and I’m worn out from all the planning, planning, planning. Despite it all, I’ve managed to carve out an hour tomorrow morning for my last pre-Christmas cardio workout. Spinning at 10:30.

I have been teaching spinning (aka ‘indoor cycling’) for about six months now. That’s incredible to me, given how resistant I was to even participating in a class this time last year. For the last three years I have been thoroughly committed to my weight room workouts. Nothing beats the feeling of a good muscle pump, or so I thought. What changed my mind? A comment made by an extremely fit co-worker when I asked her how she trained her (shapely and well-muscled) legs. She told me that she never trained legs in the weight room. Instead, she taught spin class. I was stunned. No squats? No lunges? No leg press? Nope. Just spinning, 2-4 times a week.

I decided to give it a try. Much to my surprise, it was a much more challenging leg workout than I was accustomed to. Instead of 20-30 minutes of squats, lunges and presses, I had to push against significant resistance on the bike for nearly an hour! While my legs were strong, they had no endurance. Combine the new challenge (I love a challenge!) with great music, an entertaining instructor and the energy of exercising with a group and I was hooked!

Currently, I spin twice a week; I teach a 45 min Spin and Abs class on Mondays and take an additional class either Wednesday or Friday. I still like to work legs in the gym, but love the shape my legs have taken on since starting to spin.

Tomorrow, spinning will elevate my heart rate, my metabolism and my mood. It will calm me and enable me to enjoy Christmas evening and the wonderful chaos of the following morning with my family. Have a happy and peaceful Christmas.

Have you ever had one of those months where your health and fitness plans were derailed at every turn? Where despite the best of intentions, life just seemed to keep getting in the way of getting to the gym?

That was November for me. A friend who had cancer was moved to palliative care where she passed away. My sister, diagnosed with a pre-cancerous breast tumour underwent a partial mastectomy. The school district, in its infinite wisdom, decided that we needed another long weekend over Remembrance Day and that parents should entertain their children on those days rather than work or workout. Despite having had his flu shot, my oldest son brought the virus home and required an attentive mother to stay home and care for him. Of course, he thanked me by passing it on. My poor immune system, crushed beyond belief, fell prey to the flu and then, adding insult to injury, a secondary infection that required antibiotics to get under control.

With a full teaching and personal training schedule there were very few hours left in the month for me to get my strength training workouts in (fortunately, I teach fitness classes, so I did manage to get some exercise!).

While the details of your challenging month likely differ from mine, we can use the same strategies to get back on track.

First of all, don’t dwell on what you didn’t accomplish. Life happens. People get sick. Other responsibilities sometimes take priority. Stop the negative self-talk and figure out what you can do RIGHT NOW to get back on track.

Get out your calendar. Schedule in your workouts for the next two weeks. I usually find that two weeks is about all I need to get back in the groove again. Don’t let anything get in the way of those workouts. They will feel difficult. Don’t use that as an excuse to give up. Cardio de-conditioning can happen in as little as a week. Loss of muscle mass takes considerably longer. You may not feel as strong as before your horrible month began, but your strength will return quickly if you just get through the next two weeks.

Go grocery shopping. Fill your cart with healthy, easy to prepare foods. Clean out the junk that crept into your cupboards during your time away from the gym (we both know it’s there; it happens in my house too!). Make nutrition a priority during this period of re-commitment.

As the end of the two weeks approaches, schedule in your workouts for the next two weeks! Increase your intensity in the gym. Add more challenging exercises to your workout. Up the weights. Cardiovascular function should be better, so let your heart rate climb a little higher than last week. Come visit me in the spinning studio for a great interval workout!

Reward yourself for successfully getting back on track. Treat yourself to a manicure or pedicure. A new pair of shoes. A cute exercise outfit. Did someone say Lululemon?