Amy Slater Coaching

09/03/2026

It's 3:45 AM. I have to leave the house by 4:15 AM in order to get to the parking deck by 4:45, drop off my bags in the locker room for work, and walk across campus to the wellness center for a morning swim.
Why make the effort?!

The same reason when the boys were 11 months old, I was still recovering from a twin pregnancy. I'm figuring out how to fit it all in… A Pack 'n Play was positioned in the garage right near my area to exercise. I would feed them, and they would hang out with me.

It was not hard, but new. It was a new routine that allowed me to better support myself so I could support them! It was not out of want, but out of need!

I refuse to ever use the line, "Well, I'm here." When asked, "Amy, how's it going?"
In order to own that refusal to accomplish that goal… I better take really good care of myself!

Now, that means:
* Working on my asymmetries
* Actively seeking out building strength/cardiovascular fitness
* Maintaining muscle health
* NOT simply conceding

💪🏻 Have a great Thursday!!

09/01/2026

Resilience!

It is my responsibility to remain resilient, physically and mentally intact. That alone is empowering because it puts the ball in my court to do the things that I need to support myself as a nurse.

It is an incredible privilege to care for others and give them support and highly specialized care during a time when they needed it the most. But it does take a physical and mental toll if a strategy is not in place to prevent it.

Here are some drills that I used the other day to not only assess for areas of stagnation in my body, but also to improve flow.

Many times… We do not need:
• Another cup of coffee
• A piece of candy
• An energy drink
• Or a spiral into the abyss of scrolling.

We need our body, our tissues, our joints, and especially our brain to experience movements that oppose the repetitive nature of nursing, which is primarily forward and down.

Adding these drills in while still observing my patient's strip helped me to:

• Stand
• Walk
• Bend
• And lift with more efficiency

= Better energy, mentally and physically!

Try them! Do it consistently! Notice how different you feel and function!

Have a great Tuesday!

09/01/2026

08/28/2026

It's 4 AM and there's a full 13 hour shift ahead of me… But first I GET to train. 🤗

I look at training as an opportunity to not only strengthen my heart, lungs, bones, joints, and muscles, but also a chance to strengthen my mental and emotional resilience.

Resilience is the ability to bounce back, to be malleable, and to bend without breaking.

That concept applies because exercise can give us that, especially when you approach the exercise session with gratitude.

👊🏻But these drills, in particular, can help us to bend without breaking.

The other day, my patient had a significant diastasis from previous pregnancies. Her belly looked like a sideways watermelon when pushing. She had pain in one area of her rib cage.

I had one knee on the bed, her leg on my shoulder, in both hands helping to create closure and maintain pressure when she pushed. This went on for 45 minutes until she met her baby.

💪🏻I didn't hesitate because my body could do it. I wasn't worried that afterwards my body would hurt or I would injure something. Had another seven hours to go.

I was grateful that I had the ability to help her.

Training with 𝗩𝗶𝗣𝗥 𝗣𝗥𝗢 allows me to load my body through a full spectrum of movements, to train the movements and not just muscles.

Enjoy these drills that I used to prepare my body for my pre-Work swim session.

👉🏼I truly believe with the right inputs… Shift work can actually make us stronger and more resilient, but we gotta have a system.
Have a great Friday!

08/25/2026

Let's be real… There is enough information provided to us from trusted sources that tell us walking is simply not enough. I would argue this point should be more emphatically stated, especially for nurses who have an intensely physical job.

Last year, I learned from one of the ICU managers that critical care nurses used to have stringent physical fitness requirements in order to be eligible to work in a critical care unit. This included: Sandbag throws, 1 mile runs, Other metrics to determine eligibility.

With the current nursing crisis, I can't imagine them ever implementing these requirements anytime in the near future.

But I would argue…

⭐️💪🏻We need them, now more than ever, in order to preserve the longevity that nurses have in a very rewarding career!

But in order to sustain an exercise program, we must have the physical capacity to tolerate not only the stressors of work, but also the stressors of the inputs from training!

Enjoy these drills, add them into your training program and continue to grow!

Have a great Tuesday! Keep working hard 💪🏻

08/16/2026

If you are a nurse… Drop a 💪🏻
if you know a nurse… Drop a 👊🏻
If you've met a nurse who you'll never forget, drop a…💙

06/20/2026

Signing in the garden this morning… Nervous system reset, light, nature, all the angles!

06/17/2026

There is extensive support that skipping breakfast and pushing the first meal to 2PM as a busy woman creates a severe physiologic stressor (1). Metabolism is regulated by light-dark cycles and food intake (2). Cortisol naturally peaks in the early morning…this is GOOD, we want this! But skipping or skimping on food drops blood sugar and signals crisis in the brain. This causes a prolonged cortisol activation, triggering chronic exhaustion and systemic inflammation…we do NOT want this.

Ok, so…great news! WE can change the habit of not eating. AND…NO time to eat or no appetite for food cannot be a reason not to eat, because you have to change the habit to have a better outcome.

WHY you may not be hungry in the morning…
1. Eating too much, too late in the evening.
2. Inefficient elimination…are you constipated?
3. Poor digestion…do you feel bloated after meals?
4. Low muscle mass or low physical activity…there is a difference between running around like a crazy person, stressed, and performing physical exercise.
5. Self labeling…”I am just not a morning person”
6. Caffeine before food driving down appetite.

WHAT TO DO…
1. Eat on a schedule…get your body in the groove, plan to eat breakfast even if you are not hungry.
2. Meal prep…have it ready to go so you don’t have to think in the morning.
3. Center your meal around protein; skip the bars and go for a whole food meal!
4. Move at night after dinner…something that involves all of you moving for 20 min.

(1) PMID: 39027820; (2) PMID: 33413444 (3)

05/10/2026

Happy Mother's Day!

Soaking in all the green 🌿

💚

04/26/2026

“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.” – Joseph Campbell

Remembering today that L&D is a team sport and I am a member of a great team!!

But it does not take away the feelings of new and uncertain.

Looking forward to walking confidently in a little while!!