I had an interesting but very important conversation with a few clients last night who are feeling a little "stuck" with their workouts. They're seeing strength improvements, but also feel like coming to the gym to workout is getting mundane and not as exciting as it once was. They felt they needed a new goal, something to strive for and something to get excited about.
But there was something else that really hit me that doesn't really get discussed often enough with clients. My clients told me that sometimes they feel like they need a break from the gym, some time away so they can regroup, take care of themselves, and (hopefully) get excited and ready to come back to the gym a week later. Unfortunately, there's a guilt that accompanies a "break" from the gym, like she shouldn't be missing any workouts at all even if her mind and body are telling her that is what she needs.
This needs to change.
I feel this way sometimes too. Particularly being in the fitness industry, I feel a strong pressure to workout everyday, for a longer period of time, and ultimately ignore the signals my body is sending me. This is not a healthy pressure, nor is it realistic or beneficial. We have become so conditioned to ignore the signals our bodies are telling us, push through the discomfort (physical or emotional), and ultimately end up putting ourselves behind our goals, low on energy and burned out. Stop it.
Your body is (usually) a very well designed machine with signals built in to tell you how you should be treating yourself. If you're hungry, you should eat. If you're tired, you should rest. If you're burned out you should take some time away from the gym, regaining motivation and desire to workout again. Sometimes this takes a week. Sometimes it takes a month.
The point is, it's not always healthy to be in the gym every week, year after year. It is okay to spend time away, to find yourself and your goals, and to regenerate. It's time you listen to your body. Start with the small signals, and continue to listen to the little signals your body is sending you. They're important.
If you are one of those people who need some time away from the gym, I would recommend trying something new. Try kayaking, rock climbing (I'm a fan of bouldering myself!), paddle boarding, bike riding, or swimming. Get outside, try something new, and have fun.
If you are one of those people who is feeling up to a workout, you're in luck! Here is your weekend workout:
Go through this circuit 3-4 times, depending on your fitness level. The intervals are 50 seconds of work and 30 seconds of rest. You will need dumbbells, and a bar or table top you can do body rows on.
Bent over row
3D Pushup
Squat Press
Body Row
Squat Kicks
Reverse Crunch
Strength component - After you complete this circuit, complete the following exercises in 20/15/10 reps:
Reverse Lunges
Overhead Press
Wall Sit + Bicep Curl
Complete 20 reps of each exercise, then 15, then 10.
Exercise Descriptions:
Bent over row: Begin standing tall with dumbbells in your hands. Hinge forward at your hips (not quite to 90 degrees) and bring your elbows towards the ceiling in a row, keeping the elbows close to your ribcage and squeezing your shoulder blades. Return to start. That's one rep.
3D Pushup: Begin in a pushup position, with your hands close together under your chest. Drop into a pushup and return to start. Move your hands under your shoulders and drop into another pushup. Last, move your hands outside of your shoulders and drop into another pushup. That's one rep. You can also do these from your knees.
Squat press: Feet are just outside of shoulder width, weights are held at shoulder height. Stick your butt out, and drop into a squat while keeping the weights up. You can turn your toes out slightly to keep your knees from "kissing," or collapsing in. Return to standing and press the weights above your head. Return to start. That is one rep.
Body Row: grab on to the bar just outside of should width, and hang below the table or bar with your feet on the ground. Pull yourself up, trying to touch your chest to the bar or table. Think of this as the reverse of a pushup.
Squat kicks: Begin with feet just outside of shoulder width, with toes pointed slightly out. Maintaining good squat form (tight core, shoulder blades pulled back), drop into as low of a squat as is comfortable for you. Upon standing, kick one leg out in front. Drop into another squat, and kick the other leg out when you stand back up. Keep alternating kicks with each squat.
Reverse Crunch: Laying on your back, place your hands under your tailbone for low back support if you'd like. Straighten your legs, extending your feet towards the ceiling. Keeping your legs straight, and lower them towards the ground, being sure to keep your lower back flat on the ground. If you feel your lower back begin to arch, you've gone too far. Return to start. That's one rep.
Reverse Lunges: Begin in a comfortable standing position. With one leg, take a large step back and drop your hips down towards the ground, bending both knees. Be sure to press through your front heel and don't allow the front knee to go over the toe. Return to start, then step back with the other leg, maintaining good lunge form. Continue to alternate legs.
Overhead Press: Standing with feet hip width apart, and weights held at shoulder height, keep your core tight and press the weights up overhead, and return them to shoulder height.
Wall Sit Plus Bicep Curl: Lean against a wall with the weights in your hands. Keep your back against the wall and walk your feel away from the wall slightly. Slowly slide down the wall until your knees are at 90 degrees, and while keeping your back pressed against the wall and your weight pressed into your heels, curl the weights (keep those elbows glued to your ribcage and only bend your elbows).
Message or email me with questions. Keep track of those reps you do, so you can see how you improve over time. Have FUN!
Friday, August 22, 2014
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Finding Balance
I can't believe how quickly the last month has flown by. While I should't be, I am constantly surprised by the amount that we can accomplish or that can happen in one short month.
I spent 2 weeks in Scotland (amazing) and enjoyed the time there immensely. Even though the pictures are beautiful, they simply don't do the countryside any justice. Everything is so green, water is literally everywhere - on the hillsides, side of the road and thick in the air. (We had an Airborne tablet sitting on a coffee table and it started dissolving on the table because the humidity there is so high.) But the culture was wonderful to experience, the people were wonderful and welcoming, and the architecture and countryside was more breathtaking than anything I have ever experienced. It was an adventure that I will never forget.
(This is relevant, so bear with me.)
Being in the health and fitness industry, I was anxious to observe the attitude around food and exercise. While Scotland is specked with Starbucks, McDonalds, and KFC (all the rage in Scotland!), there seemed to be a greater focus on smaller companies and local foods, particularly in the Isle of Skye. Which in retrospect makes sense - we see an attitude like that in California in the smaller towns and nearly every town in Scotland is small. It would seem silly not to focus on local foods with weather that appears to make just about anything green grow. I felt spoiled to stay in a bed and breakfast where nearly everything we ate was homemade from local ingredients (I'm talking daily fresh baked bread here, people. Homemade yogurt, home poached pears, and eggs from the chickens down the road. Most. Beautiful. Yolks. Ever.) and even the home was furnished with handmade items from the window coverings, comforter on the bed, placemats, and wall hangings. (Ardtreck Cottage on the Isle of Skye. So worth the trek out to it. Seriously.) But I was also surprised to see a low fat craze in the supermarkets and on TV commercials. Larger cities like Edinburgh and Inverness had larger supermarkets like what we are used to seeing, with a lot of the same products and only a few exceptions. But I noticed something interesting in myself while there. I didn't spend a lot of energy trying to be gluten free - my goal while there was to experience the culture and enjoy the vacation. I ate delicious food at every stop - including haggis and several different pate dishes. Yum! But while I was eating gluten, I wasn't troubled with the normal emotional and gastrointestinal distress that I experienced in the past. It's still somewhat puzzling to me and it's something I have been experimenting with over the last 2 weeks.
I was curious to see if I could handle gluten while at home. Needless to say, the experiment proved that I could not. The first several days I felt fine, but quickly started noticing severe GI distress - abnormal and uncomfortable. I tried sprouted wheat, which has worked well for me in the past, and found that I don't digest it well. At all. Regular gluten-containing items left me feeling sick to my stomach and paying for it later. I can't say that I noticed a brain fog or emotional distress, but being as I was still recovering from jet lag it is hard to say how much was from gluten and how much from jet lag. So far, I have concluded that either it was the lack of stress I experienced while on vacation or the quality of the wheat used in the U.K. (or a combination of the two) that left me able to tolerate gluten while traveling abroad. I can't say that I will be trying that again any time soon, and I have a feeling my recovery from the last 2 weeks will be a long one.
Because adjusting to the time change was so challenging for me, I was unable to conjure up enough energy to exercise outside of the 5 to 7 miles that we walked every day. I tried to get in a quick workout one morning before we got rolling for the day and it was the MOST miserable workout I've ever had. Coming back into our own time zone at home was even more difficult, and it took me over a week to feel like I had the energy to even think about working out. Apparently I don't travel well. Since then, my workouts have not been routine and I still don't feel like I've got a handle on things again. It's easy for me to skip the workout and just rest - something that would have previously had me sitting anxiously on my hands to just pick up some weights and move my body.
Finding balance has been a struggle. While I would like to think that I am the only one that struggles with this, I know I am not. Now that I have come back to the real world (vacation really messes with us doesn't it? Which is perhaps an American thing, because Holiday is a completely different concept in Europe) I don't know where I left off and how to pick it back up again. My food has been a complete disaster. Despite plenty of rest, I've felt tired, unsatisfied with food, and craving things that are SO not good for me - an unusual experience as I am usually craving vegetables, healthy fats and meats. I feel like my hormones are a mess, and I'm certainly paying for it.
My next mission is to work on achieving balance. While my vacation and time away was an amazing experience I would not trade, it turned out to be a huge setback in my health and fitness goals. I allowed myself to succumb to that setback when I got back home, and now feel that I am paying for it. It's taken a little time, but I feel ready to take this imbalance head on, and work on creating balance once again in my life. (I think my husband will thank me for that.) I've outlined below the steps I am planning on taking to getting myself back in order.
1. Food
I will be returning to a Paleo/Primal diet, rich in vegetables, meats, and healthy fats. This includes avoiding all gluten and grains, including rice and corn until I get my GI issues under control. I plan also on avoiding most dairy, with the exception of yogurt, heavy cream, and butter. I will also be eliminating all highly processed/manufactured fats like canola oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil and sunflower oil. From past experience, I know this works best for my energy, sleep, and mood. I still have a few changes to make in this department to really get it dialed in for optimal performance and mood but I am confident this is the best decision for me. For more information on the Paleo/Primal diet, go to my resources page.
2. Exercise
I have made an exercise schedule and plan for myself. I will not be doing my own programming, but rather following an exercise plan written my someone else with intensity tailored to my current needs. I have a tendency to go too hard too fast and send myself spiraling into adrenal fatigue or physical exhaustion, so I also have to mediate my intensity and work up to a higher intensity slowly. Here is the book I use for my at-home workouts.
3. Sleep
This is SO huge for me. I have not been prioritizing sleep like I should be, and my sleep hygiene has left something to be desired. My goal is to get 8 hours of sleep per night (when possible) and take more care to reduce my blue light exposure close to bed time. I have a set of amber glasses, like these ones to block blue light from my phone, Kindle, and (occasionally) television. If my husband didn't think I was insane I would probably get some larger ones, but for now these work. I also use an orange light in the light on my nightstand to avoid additional blue light exposure. On the not so rare occasion I am on my phone right before bed I make sure to turn on my EasyEyez app to lower the brightness and blue light usage on my android phone. I just discovered one called Twilight for my android I plan on trying (I think it will be a much better option, but will update this another time), and iPhone users can use F.lux for blue light reduction.
4. Supplements
I know that I am dealing with a hormone imbalance, given some symptoms I am experiencing and the way my monthly cycle is charting. (For more on a quick and easy way to track your cycle and fertility, check this website. For more on hormone imbalances, check this website.) My supplement regime, for now, includes a multivitamin, desiccated liver tablets, oil of evening primrose, milk thistle, fermented cod liver oil, and magnesium. I am going to experiment with Brewers Yeast and Maca - I have yet to try them, and cannot speak for their effects. I will also be working to get in more probiotics from food items like yogurt, sauerkraut, and kombucha. These are supplements that I have decided to take for my own hormonal imbalances and am not making any recommendations as to what would or would not work for you. That is a decision for you and your doctor or trusted health professional to make.
5. Have more fun!
I really don't do this enough. And there is definitely something to be said about the role fun and play have in our lives. I notice that I am happier and more content if I let my hair down every now and then and have a good time. Laughter really is wonderful medicine - get it in where you can! My fun takes place with my husband and our entourage of animals - there is always something to laugh about when you have a house full of loving and silly animals. (If you don't have animals at home, I highly recommend going to YouTube and watching animal or baby videos. Even better, baby animal videos! I'm serious. If those don't make you smile, I simply can't help you.) You can also spend time with friends, play games outside (or inside. But I'm a little biased on the spending active time outside thing.), or anything that makes you smile. Yeah, remember that thing called FUN that we used to have all the time as kids? You should go do THAT.
Give a few of these a try. It's hard to say that one is more important than the other (but I can definitely put supplements at the bottom of the priority list) because food, sleep, movement and fun are all integral to a healthy mind, body, and soul. Go back to the simple things that we know work - the nuts and bolts, remember?
What is your number one priority when getting back on track? Post it here or in the comments for this post on Facebook.
I spent 2 weeks in Scotland (amazing) and enjoyed the time there immensely. Even though the pictures are beautiful, they simply don't do the countryside any justice. Everything is so green, water is literally everywhere - on the hillsides, side of the road and thick in the air. (We had an Airborne tablet sitting on a coffee table and it started dissolving on the table because the humidity there is so high.) But the culture was wonderful to experience, the people were wonderful and welcoming, and the architecture and countryside was more breathtaking than anything I have ever experienced. It was an adventure that I will never forget.
(This is relevant, so bear with me.)
Being in the health and fitness industry, I was anxious to observe the attitude around food and exercise. While Scotland is specked with Starbucks, McDonalds, and KFC (all the rage in Scotland!), there seemed to be a greater focus on smaller companies and local foods, particularly in the Isle of Skye. Which in retrospect makes sense - we see an attitude like that in California in the smaller towns and nearly every town in Scotland is small. It would seem silly not to focus on local foods with weather that appears to make just about anything green grow. I felt spoiled to stay in a bed and breakfast where nearly everything we ate was homemade from local ingredients (I'm talking daily fresh baked bread here, people. Homemade yogurt, home poached pears, and eggs from the chickens down the road. Most. Beautiful. Yolks. Ever.) and even the home was furnished with handmade items from the window coverings, comforter on the bed, placemats, and wall hangings. (Ardtreck Cottage on the Isle of Skye. So worth the trek out to it. Seriously.) But I was also surprised to see a low fat craze in the supermarkets and on TV commercials. Larger cities like Edinburgh and Inverness had larger supermarkets like what we are used to seeing, with a lot of the same products and only a few exceptions. But I noticed something interesting in myself while there. I didn't spend a lot of energy trying to be gluten free - my goal while there was to experience the culture and enjoy the vacation. I ate delicious food at every stop - including haggis and several different pate dishes. Yum! But while I was eating gluten, I wasn't troubled with the normal emotional and gastrointestinal distress that I experienced in the past. It's still somewhat puzzling to me and it's something I have been experimenting with over the last 2 weeks.
I was curious to see if I could handle gluten while at home. Needless to say, the experiment proved that I could not. The first several days I felt fine, but quickly started noticing severe GI distress - abnormal and uncomfortable. I tried sprouted wheat, which has worked well for me in the past, and found that I don't digest it well. At all. Regular gluten-containing items left me feeling sick to my stomach and paying for it later. I can't say that I noticed a brain fog or emotional distress, but being as I was still recovering from jet lag it is hard to say how much was from gluten and how much from jet lag. So far, I have concluded that either it was the lack of stress I experienced while on vacation or the quality of the wheat used in the U.K. (or a combination of the two) that left me able to tolerate gluten while traveling abroad. I can't say that I will be trying that again any time soon, and I have a feeling my recovery from the last 2 weeks will be a long one.
Because adjusting to the time change was so challenging for me, I was unable to conjure up enough energy to exercise outside of the 5 to 7 miles that we walked every day. I tried to get in a quick workout one morning before we got rolling for the day and it was the MOST miserable workout I've ever had. Coming back into our own time zone at home was even more difficult, and it took me over a week to feel like I had the energy to even think about working out. Apparently I don't travel well. Since then, my workouts have not been routine and I still don't feel like I've got a handle on things again. It's easy for me to skip the workout and just rest - something that would have previously had me sitting anxiously on my hands to just pick up some weights and move my body.
Finding balance has been a struggle. While I would like to think that I am the only one that struggles with this, I know I am not. Now that I have come back to the real world (vacation really messes with us doesn't it? Which is perhaps an American thing, because Holiday is a completely different concept in Europe) I don't know where I left off and how to pick it back up again. My food has been a complete disaster. Despite plenty of rest, I've felt tired, unsatisfied with food, and craving things that are SO not good for me - an unusual experience as I am usually craving vegetables, healthy fats and meats. I feel like my hormones are a mess, and I'm certainly paying for it.
My next mission is to work on achieving balance. While my vacation and time away was an amazing experience I would not trade, it turned out to be a huge setback in my health and fitness goals. I allowed myself to succumb to that setback when I got back home, and now feel that I am paying for it. It's taken a little time, but I feel ready to take this imbalance head on, and work on creating balance once again in my life. (I think my husband will thank me for that.) I've outlined below the steps I am planning on taking to getting myself back in order.
1. Food
I will be returning to a Paleo/Primal diet, rich in vegetables, meats, and healthy fats. This includes avoiding all gluten and grains, including rice and corn until I get my GI issues under control. I plan also on avoiding most dairy, with the exception of yogurt, heavy cream, and butter. I will also be eliminating all highly processed/manufactured fats like canola oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil and sunflower oil. From past experience, I know this works best for my energy, sleep, and mood. I still have a few changes to make in this department to really get it dialed in for optimal performance and mood but I am confident this is the best decision for me. For more information on the Paleo/Primal diet, go to my resources page.
2. Exercise
I have made an exercise schedule and plan for myself. I will not be doing my own programming, but rather following an exercise plan written my someone else with intensity tailored to my current needs. I have a tendency to go too hard too fast and send myself spiraling into adrenal fatigue or physical exhaustion, so I also have to mediate my intensity and work up to a higher intensity slowly. Here is the book I use for my at-home workouts.
3. Sleep
This is SO huge for me. I have not been prioritizing sleep like I should be, and my sleep hygiene has left something to be desired. My goal is to get 8 hours of sleep per night (when possible) and take more care to reduce my blue light exposure close to bed time. I have a set of amber glasses, like these ones to block blue light from my phone, Kindle, and (occasionally) television. If my husband didn't think I was insane I would probably get some larger ones, but for now these work. I also use an orange light in the light on my nightstand to avoid additional blue light exposure. On the not so rare occasion I am on my phone right before bed I make sure to turn on my EasyEyez app to lower the brightness and blue light usage on my android phone. I just discovered one called Twilight for my android I plan on trying (I think it will be a much better option, but will update this another time), and iPhone users can use F.lux for blue light reduction.
4. Supplements
I know that I am dealing with a hormone imbalance, given some symptoms I am experiencing and the way my monthly cycle is charting. (For more on a quick and easy way to track your cycle and fertility, check this website. For more on hormone imbalances, check this website.) My supplement regime, for now, includes a multivitamin, desiccated liver tablets, oil of evening primrose, milk thistle, fermented cod liver oil, and magnesium. I am going to experiment with Brewers Yeast and Maca - I have yet to try them, and cannot speak for their effects. I will also be working to get in more probiotics from food items like yogurt, sauerkraut, and kombucha. These are supplements that I have decided to take for my own hormonal imbalances and am not making any recommendations as to what would or would not work for you. That is a decision for you and your doctor or trusted health professional to make.
5. Have more fun!
I really don't do this enough. And there is definitely something to be said about the role fun and play have in our lives. I notice that I am happier and more content if I let my hair down every now and then and have a good time. Laughter really is wonderful medicine - get it in where you can! My fun takes place with my husband and our entourage of animals - there is always something to laugh about when you have a house full of loving and silly animals. (If you don't have animals at home, I highly recommend going to YouTube and watching animal or baby videos. Even better, baby animal videos! I'm serious. If those don't make you smile, I simply can't help you.) You can also spend time with friends, play games outside (or inside. But I'm a little biased on the spending active time outside thing.), or anything that makes you smile. Yeah, remember that thing called FUN that we used to have all the time as kids? You should go do THAT.
Give a few of these a try. It's hard to say that one is more important than the other (but I can definitely put supplements at the bottom of the priority list) because food, sleep, movement and fun are all integral to a healthy mind, body, and soul. Go back to the simple things that we know work - the nuts and bolts, remember?
What is your number one priority when getting back on track? Post it here or in the comments for this post on Facebook.
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