Fitness-Three Three Challenge

I hate loathe weightlifting with every fiber of my being. I don’t know what it is, but there’s a culmination of reasons including not knowing exactly what to do, not seeing progress fast enough, not being stimulated enough, etc. etc.

After I came back from Europe (post about my trip coming eventually), I was feeling really gross. In fact, before I left for Europe I was also feeling really gross (despite being incredibly active boxing, running, spinning, etc.)

My trip was great, but I definitely ate a lot. By the end I was ready to come back to my routine, and I didn’t enjoy the last few days of the trip because I wasn’t feeling healthy from not working out. Sure we walked, but it wasn’t the same. And yet again, I was thinking to myself how beautiful and fit some of the girls were on the trip and wishing I was more like them (that darn nasty comparison voice I can’t quiet).

Have you ever heard people say that until you get so fed up with the way things are you won’t change? Well, that’s where I got to.
Have you also heard that if you stick to something long enough you’ll end up not wanting to stop?

Enter- Three three challenge. I commit to weightlifting three days a week for three months. If after that amount of time I **still** don’t want to stick with lifting and **still** hate it, I don’t have to do it.

Tomorrow starts week 4. I started in the middle of September, so while it’s for “three months”, I count it as weeks into it, culminating in the final results right before Christmas.

Weeks go from Monday to Sunday (one week day 3 fell on a Sunday, so that’s why that happened).

Here are some beginning pics.

Jab!

Assisted pull-up

Kettle Bell Deadlift

I have been known to do experiments in the past that have been pretty fun (Not spending money on food for a month (post to come), minimalist game). This one, way more of a struggle.

I am eager to see the results. I can already feel a difference, but am annoyed with my weight increase progression. Who knew adding five pounds lifting something would be so hard.

I had a conversation with someone about how my results would be so much better if I ate better. I have heard that so many times, but to get my psychology to change it has to come from within. (This is why I have stopped lecturing people to change. More data doesn’t change psychology). Well, that tide is finally turning. I get so frustrated when day after day I’m KILLING IT at the gym (sometimes boxing for an hour in the morning then weightlifting, sometimes running then lifting) and I know I am sabotaging myself when I eat those extra carbs or sugary snacks.

It hasn’t completely worked yet, but I can feel myself getting more and more mad for not eating well. Let’s see what this three months does for me. Stay tuned!

What experiment could you try in the next week? Month? Three months? Something small to get you moving in a different, better direction than the same old?

Faith-The struggle is real

“I bought a gift for my girlfriend’s bachelorette party and they didn’t even have a box for me to put it in” I said sobbing into the phone to my friend.

I was walking out of the crazy busy mall in 88 degree, humid weather. Earlier that day I stopped at Market Basket to grab fruit salad to bring to a lunch with a different friend and stepped in gum. Shortly after leaving the store I received a text about bringing fruit salad to a brunch the next day. And now, I was walking out of a mall without gift wrapping for a gift. It felt like life became exponentially harder all in one day.

From the other end of the phone, in the only way a friend could ever do something like this to make me feel better, all I hear is chuckling and I immediately start laughing at the absurdity of my reasoning for crying. He then asked me what was truly wrong.

I attempted to give him the aforementioned obstacles in my day, to which he replied “so you need to stop at another store, big deal”. Again-only in a way this friend could say to me to make me laugh. He knew there was something deeper that spurred this, because he knows me well enough to know I don’t get upset over trivial things (more on this later). Then I proceeded to tell him what really triggered it. (pro tip- the first answer people give is rarely the most truthful).

While I was waiting in line forever-only to find out there wasn’t a box for my gift-I was flipping through Facebook as you do. There was a post from three of my friends from back home, all with their significant others, going to an event I was supposed to go today. It hit me, I’m back at square one, watching everyone live their life with their best friends and I am flying solo.

Then, like any good friend, he went into empathy mode and reminded me it’s ok to cry and be upset. He said all the things a good friend should say, but that I don’t necessarily currently believe (and that’s ok).

The one thing he said that struck me the most was “It’s so peculiar to hear you crying. You’re always so upbeat and optimistic. The whole time I’ve known you I don’t think I’ve heard you cry once”. (We’ve known each other ten years… Holy crap. Ten years!) Instinctually I thought, “I don’t want to be known as that person who pretends to be happy all the time, and who people think never has any problems”. Then I realized these are two different things.

I have been authentically happy for a very long time. Every now and again I have mood swings as any girl does and throw myself pity parties, but on the whole I am consistently happy and I should be proud of it. It takes work to be this way. I read a lot, don’t watch the news/t.v. shows, listen to podcasts of successful people, work out consistently, pray, maintain great friendships, eat healthy, surround myself with positive people.

The struggle of life is real. I have struggles, you have struggles, we all have struggles. Life’s about responding to these struggles with a good attitude, because that’s when it’s hardest to have one and when I have to draw on security and stability from God the most. I’m not perfect yet, as I was reminded by today’s experience, but I’m a lot farther than I’d be without preparing myself.

Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character.

My friend told me today that I’m the best break up handler she’s ever known. I’ll take it.

Fitness-Osteoperosis workout 2

Set 1:

10-12 reps

1. Squat with Bosu ball and arm extension (Bring the arms out and in at the bottom of the squat)

*To increase intensity, add more weight

2. Bird Dog exercise

*Add pause at top to increase intensity

**Slow and controlled movement

3. One arm cable row

*Add hold in the down position

**She does it kneeling, but I think standing in a lunge position is better.

Set 2:

10-12 reps

1. One leg Romanian dead lift

*Use a weight for balance then eventually for strength and increasing difficulty

2. Chest press on Bosu Ball

*Started with 6lbs

**Slow and steady

***Keep shoulders high on ball to help discomfort in neck area

3. Plank on exercise ball

*20 sec hold

**Start to make circles with your elbows as you advance

Replacement exercise for dead bug in Workout 1:

Stability ball alternate leg raise

10-12 reps

She complained that dead bug gave her back problems so we switched it out.

I am the star of the video of chest press on Bosu ball!

Fitness-Workout Plan for a client with Osteoperosis

I have concluded that I will be video taping my own workouts at some point in my life. Good exercise videos are hard to find!

I created this workout for a client with Osteoporosis. After researching PTOntheNET I found that weight bearing exercises are the most effective (almost all exercises are weight bearing. Swimming, biking, and rowing are the few that aren’t effectively weight bearing).

An interesting note from their article “Osteoporosis Prevention through Fitness and Nutrition”:

A study by Tufts University physiologist Miriam Nelson, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that postmenopausal women who performed just two 40-minute strength training sessions a week for one year gained one percent in bone density, while women in the sedentary control group lost two percent. 

They also need to work on balance because falls prevention is critical to preventing injury of weak bones. She specifically requested lumbar spine exercises, so I printed this packet from Princeton University. I love the dead bug exercise because it helps with coordination. I also love the anti-rotations. Here’s the plan:

Set 1 10-12 reps of each 

1. Shoulder press on Bosu Ball  3lbs

**You should do one shoulder at a time to get more time on the ball

Progression- Higher weight or stand on one foot

2. Body weight squat to box 

**There’s a wooden bar in the fitness center for reference to keep your back straight, ask a trainer if you can’t find it! (wooden bars help clients maintain straight back)

***The box was ~22 inches high

***Slow reps, work toward tapping the box with your butt and not sitting

Progression-Hold a weight at your chest, shorten the box height, use one leg

3. Dead bug Exercise

**Slow and steady

***Hold everything tight

Progression-Build up your reps to 10-12 on each side

Set 2  

1. Bent over Row 8lbs 10-12 reps

**Chest high

Progression-Increase weight, hold at top of pull

2. Step downs 10-12 reps

**Slow and steady

***Heel not toe

Progression-Make the platform higher

3. Anti-Rotations hold 30 secs

**Stand tall

Progressions-Increase weight, squat position while holding

Bonus: Sandbag side to side (8-10 pounds, 10-12 each side)