Fresh: Take Out the Trash

An inherent part of freshening our mindsets is taking out the trash.  I mean, how many times have we come home from the store with a bunch of new produce and found that we have to get the sad wilted lettuce and the other expired stuff out of the way before we can even put what we bought in the fridge?

When we spring clean our homes, or clear out our closets, we go through and figure out what needs to go.  What is worn out?  What doesn’t fit?  What hobbies have we grown out of?  What’s broken?

 

Sometimes we learn, as we make space, that what we really needed wasn’t a bunch of new stuff, but rather the space itself.

 

In a fitness context, this can mean anything from letting go of ideas about ourselves (“I’m too ___ to do that thing I want to do.”  “It takes too long.”  “People will look at me funny if I…”) to rethinking what dinner looks like (hint:  if it is mostly nutritious and tastes good, it can be whatever you want).  Maybe we’ve gotten tangled in a complex system of workouts and we just need to make it simple for a while.  Maybe, dare I say, we can put away our gizmos and trackers and just move for a bit to see how that feels.

 

My trash might be your treasure.  There are so many useful paths to take.  The key is that we use our big brains to evaluate what is actually serving us as we live our healthy, happy lives.

 

Go play.

Fresh: Mindset

In March, we’re ready for spring.  I’m going to focus on fresh (freshness, refreshment, all the variations) because that’s the essence of spring to me.

This week, it’s all about the mindset.  We all have mind-habits the same way we have other habits.  Our thoughts as well as our actions fall into ruts.  What I am suggesting here is that we try a new thought-road or two this month and see where we end up.

 

For example, I had a conversation recently with someone about things we wished we had learned about earlier in our lives.  For me, it was growth mindset, or the idea that how we work at things is more important than how innately talented we are.  Growth mindset is still a pretty fresh path for my little brain.  It is in the process of transforming the way I think about failures and about experiments.  I feel like there are a lot more options in the world than there used to be.  Obviously, this applies to fitness, but it’s one of those places where fitness is only one of many useful contexts for an idea.

 

Finding new mindsets means having new experiences.  We learn new stuff because we’ve talked to someone or read something or gone somewhere or seen something.

 

Where might we like to explore?  I’d love to hear ideas!

Monday Workout: Customize!

This is one of those workouts that we can customize based on how much we want to push ourselves.  If we want to go easier, we can (obviously) use lighter weights and we can do regular/modified jacks in place of the plank jacks.  If we want to go hard, we choose the heavier kettle bell, heavier weights generally, and maybe we add weights and/or reverse lunges to our step ups.  Three rounds.

 

kb alt arm swings	30
kb hammer curls	20
kb halo	10
plank jacks	30
bench press	20
Arnold press	10
step up	30
flies	20
side banana

Love Month: More

Still want more ways to love yourself?  How about these?

 

1.     Talk nicely to yourself.  You are amazing!

2.     Give yourself a break.  Sometimes we all need one.

3.     Be grateful.  We all have some blessings lying around in our lives.

4.     Hug somebody.  It’s good for both of you!

5.     Do a favor.  We can all use a bit of good karma, plus an instant mood boost.

Love Month: Love your tummy

All of this love for our bodies requires appropriate food.  We can’t do our best cardio, strength, balance, and flexibility work on a diet of Cheetos and whiskey.  Here are some general ideas for how to eat for self-love:

Drink water.  It’s good for hydration, calorie free, and essential to so many body processes.  If it seems a little boring, throw a slice of lemon in there, or try fizzy water.

 

Eat those veggies.  They really are good for you.  They fill us up, give us essential nutrients, and don’t have too many calories.

 

Get enough protein.  Choose wisely here, though.  We want to eat low on the food chain for our own health and for the health of our ecosystems.

 

Change it up.  There is no perfect food.  We need to eat a variety of foods to meet all our needs.  Plus it’s fun and tasty.

Love Month: Love your balance (plus a little relaxation video!)

Today we’re going to talk about loving ourselves by working on balance.  Falls are one of the biggest risks we face as we age.  The statistics on what happens to us after we fall and break a hip are not encouraging.  We want to prevent falls with better balance.

Balance is not a talent; it’s a skill.  That means we can practice and get better at it.

 

One way to practice, of course, is to take yoga or Pilates.  Both of those are good choices because they have lots of other benefits, making them efficient use of time.

 

But it’s not hard to work on balance in regular life.  I think we all spend a fair amount of time waiting for the microwave.  That minute while lunch heats is a great time to try standing on one leg, or doing one-leg squats or deadlifts.  Brushing our teeth is another daily opportunity to balance.  One of my clients practices calf raises in line at the grocery store.

 

Assuming we’re already doing weight workouts, a few tweaks can make those workouts even more effective for balance.  When we work asymmetrically, we challenge our balance.  Any exercise that works our core musculature helps balance.  Using instability also helps (think BOSU, wobble board, etc.).

 

Safety note:  start slow and simple and make sure that you are in an environment where you can get support if you need it!

Monday Workout: Mix

We’ve got a good mix of stuff for the end of the month.  Try for four rounds.

 

1 min cardio
plank jacks	30
gorilla row	20
pushups	10
skater jump/curtsy	30
flies	20
windscreen wipers	10