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Celine Vadam is passionate about wellness and her goal is to help people live healthier, longer, and happier lives. As the founder & CEO of WE(i) Think, she spends her days working on a range of hospitality projects from initial development stages to operations and asset management, implementing wellbeing concepts from light to holistic, and liaising with the top brands in the industry, including in the health/integrative field. Celine is also a certified Health Coach, yoga teacher, and energy healer! Presenting on topics ranging from senior living and wellness to sustainability at IHIF in Berlin this week, we caught up with Celine to find out more about making movement part of our daily routine, her personal workout routine, and trends in hotel gyms.
Hi Celine, what is your overall view of exercise as part of life?
Nowadays, working out is as much of a self-care activity as a socializing opportunity, being part of a community with like-minded, motivated people who are cheering and supporting each other in their wellness journey. Fitness can also be a great opportunity to make different friends outside of work, and if you need it, to find an accountability partner to keep you on track.
Working out is also a lot of fun when done as a family, and healthy habits to teach your kids at an early age. Find activities that you can do all together: going for a bike ride, a walk, to the swimming pool. I used to take my daughter bouldering and we loved challenging each other on the climbing wall!
Enjoy your workout: MAKE IT FUN
This is probably the most important part. Yes, working out should be physically challenging and of course, it will require from you more effort than watching Netflix on the couch - but it will definitely be more fun! Find an activity that makes you smile, where you can chat with happy people, be playful with uplifting music, be in nature, whatever fun looks like for you!
Ask yourself, what feelings do you want to get out of your workout? What are your body goals? Do you want to build muscles, get learner, gain flexibility, train for a particular event, and switch off your brain? Try to evaluate what you are looking for and start exploring and trying! You might be surprised what activity sets your soul and body on fire!
OK, here's what we all want to know, what is your (current) workout routine?
I say current because, again, your workout routine needs to be convenient and adapted to the various stages of your life. Now that I have my own company and traveling around, I am back to online workouts, in the morning first thing waking up, before breakfast (this is the time that works best for me):
I am following Tracy Anderson’s workouts 4 times a week and I absolutely love the movements, choreography, required focus and awesome feeling at the end of class (2 weeks free trial on www.tracyanderson.com)! As well as the convenience of having one class per week per level so I don’t have to scroll down a tone of content to find which workout I will do on the way – straightforward is another key parameter for me to choose a workout!
I do yoga online with Tara Stiles two times a week, enjoying her soothing voice, flow, and mix of movements and breathing.
On my rest day, I go for a walk, bike ride, paddle, surf, climb, hike … and a trapeze class as soon as I am close to a trapeze rig!
When traveling, I always take my resistance bands and do some abs series, yoga stretching, and band moves in my room if there is no gym.
I take every opportunity to walk and be outside!
Thanks for sharing your routine, what are five trends you are seeing in hotel gyms?
Fewer machines, more space for free weight, and functional training.
Gym designed by professionals (and not the director of finance who hasn’t been to the gym since high school - no offense!)
Addition of spaces to mingle post-workout- juice bar, cafe, lounge.
Trainers are being put on the front stage, like chefs, and using their followers to fill up the gym.
Spaces are getting bigger to accommodate locals, making hotel gyms a revenue-generating outlet.
Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, you've definitely inspired me!
I hope that this article will empower you to move more and be helpful to set up your own, tailor-made workout routine and think about what is next for in hotel fitness. I'm happy to support any of your readers, feel free to reach out!
Celine can be emailed at celine@wei-think.com.