Self-motivation

I’ve been instructing a boot camp for the last three weeks, and I’m pretty sure one of the ladies quit on me.  There was an instance where she quit during an exercise and never came back.  She felt I wasn’t motivating her how she needed it. Thinking back on it now, as a trainer, I should have stopped and talked with her and found a way  to get her going again, but as someone who has to self-motivate everyday, I feel that she shouldn’t be relying on me for motivation.  I hope she comes back, if only to show that she can get past her own obstacles and be the rock star I know she is.

This has really gotten me thinking about self-motivation. When do you stop relying on others and start relying on yourself? In anything, weight loss and other aspects of your life, nothing is actually going to get done unless you get up and do it. You can have friends urging you on, you can have a trainer telling you what exercises to do, but no one can do it for you. When things get hard in life, when you feel like you’re not treated right, do you just get to quit? No. You shouldn’t, at least. You should look whatever it is that’s stopping you in the face and say, “Get out of my way.” When someone tells you that you can’t do something, shout back at them, “Yes I can!” (In most instances, actual shouting might not be the best approach…shout metaphorically.) You have to dig down deep and find what’s going to get you through to the finish line. So my question for you, my sweaty followers, is what motivates you? What pushes you through to the very end?

3/22/12 Workout

Working out with allergies sucks! Can anyone else testify to that? Its hard enough to breathe in this Texas spring air without raising my heart rate like its going out of style. Oh, the sacrifices we make for our health. By the way, I wouldn’t trade a Texas spring for any other…the weather may be bipolar, but its the prettiest thing you’ll ever see.

Full body workout today people! Here it is  (1 minute work, 45 sec rest, 2x):

• Turkish get-ups, 15 lb dumbbell
• Medicine ball slam, 12 lbs
• Kettlebell swing, 15 lbs
• Burpees w/ push-up
• Elevated lunges w/ bicep curl, 10 lbs
• Dead lift w/ overhead press, 30 lbs

Abs

• Plank w/ knee twists, 10/ side, 2x
• Monsters, 25  (sit in a v w/ your feet off the floor and pull your knees toward your chest, push them out again, repeat)
• 40 Russian twists, 2x

Happy sweating!

3/20/12 Workout…HIIT

Happy first day of Spring y’all!

Tracy and I have been doing interval running for a while now. I realized, however, that we were not truly doing High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT, and I wanted to see if we could do it. There was a few, “I’m going to throw up”s and we definitely needed that 1 minute rest in between, but we got through it and now I’m hooked. We ran 30-60 splits, meaning we worked hard for 30 seconds and rested for 60 and repeated that 8 times. We started out at 9.5 for our sprints, but after 2, realized we could go to 10. Here’s what it looked like:

• Minute 1-5    3.5 (warm-up)
• Minute 5-7    6.0 (just for a little more warm-up)
• 7:00-7:30     9.5
• 7:30-8:30      5.0
• 8:30-9:00      9.5 (if you need to, which we did,  grab the handles and step to the sides of the treadmill to rest while you bring the speed down)
• 9:00-10:00    5.0
• 10:00-10: 30 10
• repeat 5 more times
• 5 minutes cool down @3.0

By the 6th one, my chest was on fire, but my legs were still strong. By the 8th one, everything in my body wanted to quit, but I didn’t and it felt fantastic. This was an intermediate exercise. On an advanced one, you’d repeat the intervals 10-12 times. If you can get through one of these workouts, you will feel like a freakin rock star.

After we calmed down, we worked our arms. I think our legs had enough torture for today. Did this routine 3x through

• lat pull downs, 50 lbs, 15 reps
• Push ups, 15
• Tricep dips, 15
• Front shoulder raise, 10 lb dumbbells, 15
• Bicep curl, 30 lb bar, 20
• side shoulder raise, 10 lb dumbbells, 15
• Tricep pull downs, 20 lbs, 20
• upright rows, 15 lb kettlebell, 15

I’m beat. Thank goodness tomorrow is a rest day. You don’t want to do intervals like that too many times a week, your body needs rest after a hardcore routine like that. Rest is VERY important to get the results you want. Otherwise, you’re just breaking down your muscles more and more.

Happy sweating (and you’ll sweat a lot with this workout!)

HIIT

Let’s talk a little about High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT. This type of training is very popular right now, I’ve even included some in my workouts. The claim is that if you do a shorter workout, at a higher level of intensity, you’ll burn more fat and get in better shape than steady state workouts like running for 45 minutes on the treadmill. You can apply HIIT to the treadmill, the bike, the elliptical, and even strength training. I like HIIT workouts so much better because they are faster and, especially on the treadmill, I don’t get bored. You’re constantly changing your speed so your mind doesn’t turn off. I know that if I’m running at a constant speed for too long, I get incredibly bored therefore I don’t feel like I’m working hard enough.

The workouts are high intensity in a short amount of time. You push yourself for 30 sec-1 minute as hard as you can go, then you rest for up to 2 minutes, then you push yourself again, and continue the repetitions for about 20-30 minutes.  You need to make sure you’re pushing yourself past your comfort zone. The cool thing, and to add a bit of science to this, is that your EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) goes way up, meaning the oxygen that you consume once you’re done exercising is higher than a steady state workout. This means that the amount of fat you’ll burn later in the day is up to 9x more than a steady state workout. So, while you’re sitting on your couch in the evening, your body is still working overtime. Pretty cool huh? HIIT workouts also improve your V02 max, which is the maximum amount of oxygen you consume while exercising, which means you get in better shape faster and you’ll be able to run either at a faster pace or farther then next time you do a steady state workout.

Now just because I’m advocating HIIT, doesn’t mean I”m discounting a steady state workout. There is a place for both of these types of workouts in your routine. Just be careful with your steady state workouts; working out for long durations at moderate intensity causes your body to go into a catabolic state in which your body starts to use your muscle mass for energy instead of fat or carbs. You can avoid catabolic state by not overtraining making sure you get the right nutrients into your body after a hard workout. I’ve talked about those before…protein and carbohydrates. Here are some websites that give you an idea of what a HIIT workout would look like. I’ve done Tabata training with my clients, and they are completely exhausted at the end of the workout. Check out my next post for the HIIT workout Tracy and I did today!

http://www.intervaltraining.net/HiitTraining-30.html

http://www.intervaltraining.net/HiitTraining-60.html

http://www.intervaltraining.net/tabata.html

Add HIIT into your workout routine, especially if you’re trying to drop extra pounds.

Happy sweating!

3/19/12 workout: Kettlebells!!!

I’ve been slacking a little on posting workouts, but I blame it on last week being Spring Break. Little Man goes to a Mother’s Day Out program and they follow the school district’s schedule, so we had a lot of time to kill last week. It was super fun, but I’m ready to get back to our routine. So Tracy and I dropped off the kiddos and headed to the gym. I’ve enjoyed the kettle bell swings so much that I wanted to make a whole routine with them. It was good stuff and my back is already sore. Like always, we did 1 minute work and 1 minute rest. I thought we’d get through more than one set, but time was not on our side since I had to meet a client at my house.

• warm-up: 6 minutes on treadmill @4.0
• Kettlebell swing, 15 lb kettlebell
• alternating arm swing, 15 lb (same movement as the original swing, but use one arm and switch at the top of  your swing)
• Around the body pass, 15 lbs, 30 sec one way, switch directions (move the kettlebell around your body at your waist)
• Dead lift, 15 lbs (a little different from a normal dead lift…keep the bell on the floor, squat down to it, pick it up, as you stand add an upright row, squat to put it down on ground, repeat)
• Bent over row, 15 lbs, 30 sec/arm (bend at your hips, knees slightly bent, weight out in front of you. Pull your elbow straight back, keeping your elbow close to your body)
• Figure 8’s, 15 lbs, 30 sec/direction (in a wide squat, move the kettlebell in a figure 8 around your legs)
• Turkish get-ups, 15 lb (Here is a video to help explain the TGU  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vhJza-2xiI )
• Windmill, 15 lbs (holding the kettlebell with your right hand, arm straight up, twist your body so your left arm reaches down to touch your left foot, do not move your right arm or your shoulder can get injured)

Abs

• 15 v-sit crunches, 12 lbs, 2 sets
• In plank position, feet on a stability ball, bring your knees toward your chest, do 10
• Same as above, but twist your hips so your knees are going to each side (obliques) do 10
• Stretch

Man this workout felt so good!! I hope you can understand my explanations. If not, look up videos to help you out. That’s what I do when I don’t understand an exercise. It will help you see the right form…form is everything! Hope you guys have a fantastic day!

Happy sweating!

3/15/12 Back to Plyos!

If you think plyos are easy, you’ve clearly never done them. or aren’t doing them right. Today, Tracy and I sweated and gasped for air like we hadn’t worked out in weeks. And, oh my gosh, the muscles that burned! It felt amazing. One thing to remember about plyos is that you need a longer rest period between each set than you would with other exercises. Here’s what the workout looked like: Repeat 2x

• Warm-up, 10 minutes @ 4.0 on treadmill (I know I’ve said this before, but a warm-up is crucial with plyometrics)
• 15 squat jumps (your feet are on the floor for as little time as possible for all these jumps)
• 15 box jumps (this really got my heart rate going)
• 10 plie jumps (wide squat jump and click your heels together at the peak of your jump)
• 15 medicine ball drops, 10 lb ball
• 10/leg one legged burpee w/ push-up (burn baby burn!!!)
• line jumps, side to side (we used a jump-rope for the line and went down and back twice)
• line jumps, front to back (same as above)
• 30 sec jump rope

If you’re not covered in sweat after that, then you’re not working hard enough! 🙂 Now for abs!

• side bends, 12 lb kettle bell, 10/side, 2 sets
• standing twist, 12 lb kettle bell, 20 twists
• weighted crunch, 12 lb med ball, 1 minute (make sure you’re holding the ball with straight arms)
• weighted v-sit, 12 lb med ball, 10 reps, 2 sets
• Superman, hold 10 sec, rest 10 sec, pulse 10 sec, rest 10 sec…repeat 3 times

Love workouts like these! It was another break from the routine we had made and our bodies were happy to be doing something different. Have fun trying out the plyos!

Happy sweating 🙂

3/14/12 Workout

I did not feel like going to the gym today. Do you ever have those days? I was tired from our activities (two toddlers at the aquarium and other various running around), my stomach hurt, and Little Man looked too cute cuddled in my blankets watching Mickey Mouse while I got dressed. I was two seconds away from texting Tracy that I wasn’t feeling it today, when I heard that annoying voice in the back of my head telling me I’d regret it. She’s right. I hate it when she’s right. So I pulled on my nikes, got Little Man dressed, and took my butt to the gym. I think part of it was that we have hit the 3rd or 4th week of our training and I didn’t want to do any of the things we have been doing. I think you call that a rut. lol So I changed things up a bit. We did some actual lifting for strength instead of endurance and threw in some jump rope for cardio. Just as the little voice knew I would, I perked up and left the gym in a fantastic mood.

While one person lifted, the other jump roped for the duration of the set. If you don’t have a partner, jump rope for 30 sec after each set.

• Warm-up, 3.5-4 speed on treadmill, 10 minutes
• Squat, 60 lbs+bar, 3 sets of 12
• Dead lift, 40 lbs bar, 3 sets of 12
• Bench Press, 30 lbs+bar, 2 sets of 10
• Shoulder Press, 15 lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 12
• Side dumbbell raise, 10 lbs, 2 sets of 12
• Bent over row, 12 lb dumbbells, 2 sets of 12
• 2 sets of 30 sec jump rope
• Stretch

My body thanked me for the hard lifting and will repay me by being sore tomorrow, but it was worth it. Remember, when you’re digging your heels in and trying to avoid something, go ahead and get it done. You never know, you might just like what you’ve been avoiding.

Happy Sweating!

Quick story about today’s workout…

This morning, there was a grunter working out in the same area as us. You know the grunter. He has to let everyone know how hard his workout truly is by adding a soundtrack. This guy had me cracking up all morning. At first, I was totally annoyed by it…every rep had a really loud grunt! Even tricep pull-downs, and I’m pretty sure he didn’t even have that much weight on there. Now, I’ve been known to throw out a grunt or two when doing the kettlebell swings, but a noise here and there isn’t that bad. When I can picture what you sound like when you’re getting intimate with a woman (or whatever, I don’t know your life), then you’re going a little extreme. Quit grunting around like a prized pig and just get the workout done. You’re already the size of a house, so we know that you lift heavy objects and put them down. Vocalizing it is just annoying…and a little hilarious.

3/10/12 Workout

I almost didn’t post the workout today, but I didn’t want y’all to think I was slacking. Today was supposed to be a light day with just running, but neither Tracy nor I felt like pounding on the treadmill. What we were really craving was another killer workout like Tuesday’s. Since it is Saturday, the minutes seemed longer than Tuesday, but I felt like I was able to get through each exercise a little easier. I also added two strictly leg moves since we hadn’t done a leg workout in a while. Same as always, 1 minute work, 1 minute rest, 2x through. Next week we are supposed to go up to 2 minutes, but I think I’ll bump us up to 1:30, and do it three times through.

• Med ball slam, 12 lbs
• Man makers, 12 lb dumbells
• Kettlebell swing, 10 lb kettlebell
• Wall climb (I can’t get through the full minute on this one without resting because my sinuses make it feel like my eyeballs are going to pop out of my head)
• Squat, 40 lb bar
• Dead lifts, 40 lb bar

Abs

• weighted crunches, 12 lb med ball
• plank, 1 minute, 5x

If you guys are getting tired of reading about 1 minute work, 1 minute rest…don’t worry, We will move on once we do the Warrior Dash. Its in a little over a month. I found a new back/shoulder workout that I’m excited to try, so I might through that in there on an upper body day.

Happy Sweating!

Woo!

You know that feeling when you can actually see all your hard work paying off? Yeah, I got that this morning. Just had to let y’all know. When it comes, you’ll know, and its the best feeling in the world!!