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Today we interview Dan Suarez, a fitness expert and Equinox instructor in London. With over 10 years of experience in professional fitness training, Dan holds various fitness related awards and certificates.
Beyond his professional career and his good looks (yes that is him pictured above) Dan is also the most positive person we met in a long time! In fact Dan was WholyMe’s first ambassador and has brought his energy and expertise to many WholyMe community events.
So, in these difficult confined times, we couldn’t be happier to interview Dan and share some of his positive energy and fitness guidance with our community.
What does your routine look like during COVID19?
The Covid-19 is a worldwide crisis, this situation have forced us to stay at home in quarantine to help stop the spread of the disease. Now, more than ever it’s really important to maintain our body and mind’s health.
Personally, I think one of the best ways to keep ourselves motivated and energetic during this period is by using our body as an instrument; understand and discover its capabilities. Body weight exercises are the perfect way to do so, and my personal and professional advice is to work the whole body as one unit.
My routine these days (as before) involves exercises! Although now I am unable to use the gym, so my body weight fundamentals, at-home workouts go something like this:
– Press ups: a great exercise to work the upper body, more focused on the chest muscles but also engaging the arms, shoulders, back and core. There are hundreds of variations of press ups to work different parts of the chest and upper body, different angles and positions. I play around with those.
– Walk outs: a great full body exercise. One of my favourites! Your arms are going to be the first to feel this exercise but there is so much engagement from your back, core, legs and glutes as well.
– Superman holds: personally, I think this exercise is one of the best to strengthen your upper and lower back, engage your glutes and hamstrings. It no only helps with your back muscle but also alleviates back pain related to weak muscles.
– Planks: neutral, sides, unilateral, contralateral…, planks are fantastic exercises that work the entire body. They are more focused on the body’s core: the middle section of the body’s “trunk”. It helps improve core performance, posture and generally decreases risk of back injuries.
– Squats: a more common exercise, squats are one of the most functional movements for the human body. It’s a great exercise for your lower body, your glutes and your quadriceps are going to be the prime movers here. Let’s not forget about our hamstring, calf, core and lower back, they are all going to be engaged and this will improve your overall strength and balance over time.
These are my top daily exercises, simple with no need for extra equipment. Your progress will be determined by the number of sets, and the increase of resistance. You can play around with: slower repetitions, change angles, explosive repetitions, tempo, change the BOS (base of support).
As an athlete and Equinox instructor, what advice do you have for people exercising from home?
Doing home workouts can seem boring, and it can be hard to be motivated to do them. For gym goers it will be a difficult change. But hey! It’s a challenge and it could be fun too. Set yourself a daily target, take your time, don’t rush the reps, the slower the better, and of course, use your imagination. The exercises that you can do with your body are limitless, so be original, and have fun!
What is your diet like?
I try to keep a healthy diet; I eat everything in moderation. An example of my daily intake would be:
Breakfast:
I usually take a strong breakfast, and most of my ingredients contain fat and carbs – a good source of energy in the morning. This is what works best for me.
– One cup of freshly squeezed orange juice
– Two slices of whole-wheat bread, usually pitta
– 1/3 or 1/2 an avocado
– 1 tomato
– 2 boiled eggs
– 1 cup of black coffee
Lunch:
A protein based meal, I use different kinds of protein rich sources: meats, legumes.
– 70 – 100g of chicken
– Salad, which usually consists of: spinach or kale, almonds, tomato, feta cheese, onions and peppers
– Half a cup of rice or potatoes
– 1/2 litre of water
Dinner:
I usually go for a light dinner
– 70 or 100g of salmon
– 1 medium sweet potato (130g)
– Asparagus and spinach salad
– 150g of Greek yoghurt
– 1/2 litre of water
Like most people, I allow myself an occasional slip and have chocolate for example. I tend to eat my carbohydrates before my training and have my protein based meals after.
What are your favorite self-care products?
At the moment I am using your WholyMe balm! it’s a Hemp seed oil-based balm, for muscle recovery. It contains 12 different botanicals. I think the WholyMe team did a really good job at choosing every single one of them carefully to help muscles and joints recover effectively.
With the current isolation, what do you miss most?
In this situation, I miss the little things most: time shared with friends or loved ones, the face to face conversations, the interactions with the people and the training environment.
How do you keep positive and productive?
As I mentioned before, it’s important to set targets for yourself, now is the time to learn the things you’ve always wanted to learn, read all those books sitting on the shelf. Personally I bought a guitar, I always wanted to learn and it’s keeping me busy even though I am not very good and my fingers are quite clumsy!