When it’s time to address our mental and emotional well-being, we might need or want help. That help can come from lots of places: family and friends, wellness coaches, therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists, among others. Choosing who to ask will depend on the scope of the issues.
As a wellness coach, I can help my clients identify strategies to reduce stress, improve relationships, increase mindfulness, and promote joy. Talk to me if you are interested!
Almost done with the year! Go us! This final week, we’re going to take a look at mental and emotional well-being.
Taking the time to look around our lives and see how things are going in this area can be a little dicey. It can be hard to acknowledge that we’re not quite where we’d like to be. Let me just say: I see you doing hard stuff over there.
We may realize that we’re being eaten alive by stress, or that we could use a little work on our relationships, or that a pursuit that used to fill us with joy is not fun anymore. Whatever it is, the first step to change is recognition.
You can do this. And I’m here to help if you need me.
It’s the last week of the year and I’m taking time off. So it’s a great time for a benchmark workout. Grab a friend because for this one you want somebody with you in person.
Basically, what we’re doing this time is taking some of our basic exercises and seeing how far we can go. Start each of the first seven exercises with ten reps at a weight that is easy. Then increase the weight until you can only do one good-looking rep. It is really good to have a buddy to spot you for safety when you are going for your one-rep max. I mean it.
For the pushups, pretty princesses, and brains, you do as many as you can.
There are lots of ways to organize this, but personally, I am impatient, so I choose to superset an upper body and a lower body exercise to reduce the time I’m just standing around. It’s also perfectly acceptable to take one exercise and do it to the end with appropriate rest periods (at least a couple minutes between the heavy sets!) before moving on to the next exercise. You do you.
Then save the results so you can compare them with next year’s!
start | end | |
squats | | |
deadlifts | | |
| | |
bench press | ||
fly | | |
row | | |
kickback | | |
| | |
pushups to fail | | |
| | |
| | |
pretty princesses | | |
brains | |
What better day than this to have a list of recovery gifts we can give ourselves?
1. Nap. For best results, keep naps to about half an hour.
2. Massage.
3. Bath. Bonus points for Epsom salts and whatever else makes it relaxing.
4. Foam rolling. Cheaper than massage and we can do it any time!
5. Yoga/Pilates/stretching. This is the kind of movement that is restorative.
6. Meditation. Reduces stress and improves focus and sleep.
7. Water. Yep. We need lots.
8. Snacks. Ideally a protein snack, like maybe some nuts.
9. Walk around the block. Nothing too intense. Just a little outside time with gentle movement.
10. Hugs. Human contact is good for us.
11. Make something. Creativity restores our brains.
12. Your favorite thing.
Sleep and recovery are a little different than the skills we’ve been working on so far. For one thing, they’re inherently pleasant. You’d think that would make them easier to prioritize, but no.
Here is your takeaway: you, you wonderful human you, deserve to rest when you are tired, to sleep when you are sleepy, and to recover as needed. Some people, some forces in our culture, will try to deny this, but they are wrong. Fight the power: go take a (short) nap.
To improve our sleep, we might have to admit that our moms were right. We need a bedtime. When we are consistent about when we go to bed and when we get up, our bodies adapt and we fall asleep more quickly. Please note: the bedtime and the wake up time need to be at least seven hours apart. Planning to be underslept is not good planning.
Setting that bedtime and wake up time can make us feel really efficient because look: we just implemented a recovery technique! Two things at once and we accomplish them in bed? Sign me up. However, our bodies do need more than sleep. We might need to think about what kind of food would help our bodies recover, or whether we’ve had enough water recently, or if massage might help.
It can feel overwhelming when we take stock of how much recovery we could use. Baby steps. Treating ourselves with love takes practice.
So: we’ve spent three weeks talking about and maybe working on various aspects of fitness. We might be tired. Time to talk about sleep and recovery.
The two are related. Sleep is a great recovery strategy. A whole lot of us don’t get enough sleep and we don’t get good sleep. How to tell? Do you wake up rested? QED.
Recovery is a broader concept. It’s all the things we do to help our bodies feel better after we work them. It includes things like nutrition and massage, foam rolling, and, a concept I would really like to introduce to my Wristy Overlord (aka Apple Watch): rest days.
We will know if we are recovering enough if we are not constantly sore.
We’ve got a bunch of compound exercises today so we’ll be working endurance and coordination along with everything else. Three rounds.
db circles | 30 |
squats | 20 |
1 leg deadlift | 10 |
| |
woodchoppers | 30 |
rows | 20 |
pushups | 10 |
| |
squat to leg lift | 30 |
flies | 20 |
windscreen wipers | 10 |
Here are some good starting exercises for weight training:
1. squats
2. deadlifts
3. bench press
4. flies
5. rows
6. kickbacks
7. chest lifts (some folks know these as crunches, but the Pilates way is better!)
Those of us who would like to gain some strength will perhaps not be surprised to learn that, like all the other skills we’ve been talking about this month, habit and routine help.
When we’re first starting out, we might want to commit to one weight workout a week. We’ll see more progress when we increase to two non-consecutive days a week. Most of us don’t really need more than three weight workouts a week, but that will depend on our goals and on how we structure our workouts.
In general, we don’t want to work the same muscle groups two days in a row. The way strength training works is that we do damage to our muscles when we work them and they heal stronger. (That’s an oversimplification, but it gets the point across.) People who want to work out on consecutive days do things like alternate between upper body days and lower body days.
The specifics of our workouts will be dictated by our goals (remember: endurance, hypertrophy, max strength, power), but the mechanics will work similarly. We will do a number of reps of an exercise at a weight. We’ll increase the reps until we’ve hit the target for the kind of goal we have, then we’ll increase the weight, reducing the reps back to our starting number. In short, we’ll alternate increasing reps and weight.
A trainer can help plan and track all that data. You know how to find me!
There are both formal and informal ways to evaluate strength. (Spoiler alert: there’s a workout in the last week of the year designed for evaluation!) Hit me up if you want to talk about getting into the nitty-gritty.
Some of the evaluation of your strength training routine will depend on what your goals are. There are, very loosely, a few categories of goals: endurance, which is exactly what it sounds like, hypertrophy, which is a fancy word for building big muscles, max strength, which again is exactly what it sounds like, and power, which is exerting a lot of force in a short period of time. If the weights you use are getting heavier over time, you’re probably doing fine.
Another way to think about how well the workouts are working is to see how our everyday tasks are going. If schlepping the groceries is not a problem, great! If you need to move the couch and you can, also great! Problems lifting the Pekinese? Maybe not so great.
No, it’s not quite Christmas yet, but just to make sure that everyone gets a chance, we’re doing the 12 days of Christmas workout this week. It’s tradition, like getting coal in my stocking. Hmm. Are those two things related?
Anyway: here’s how the workout works. On the first “day” of Christmas, we do one push press. Hooray! One down! On the second day, we do two goblet squats and one push press. You see where this is going. By the twelfth day, you will be absolutely sure that I am not your true love, but you will have had a great workout. And yes, I do know that you will have done 42 burpees by the end. I’m not sorry. I got you strength, bragging rights, and fatigue for Christmas.
Try to keep rest periods to between the days, but if you can’t, don’t fret. Now you’re safe until Christmas in June.
1 push press |
2 goblet squats |
3 Overhead press |
4 1 leg squats each leg |
5 deadlifts |
6 burpees |
7 pushups |
8 renegade rows |
9 mountain climbers |
10 jump lunges |
11 kb swings |
12 plyojacks |
Need some balance exercises? Here are some. Do both sides.
1. Stand on one foot.
2. Single leg squat.
3. Single leg deadlift
4. Calf raises and single leg calf raises.
5. One leg dumbbell pass. Stand on one leg holding a dumbbell. Pass the dumbbell from hand to hand around your body five times in each direction. Then change legs.
6. Do anything on a BOSU, wobble board, or turntable.
What do we do if our balance and flexibility are not where we’d like them to be? Well, we practice.
Balance is something we can practice almost anywhere. It’s a great thing to work on while brushing our teeth or waiting for the microwave. One of my clients works on her balance waiting in the checkout line at the grocery store (she’s one of my heroes, just sayin’). First we practice standing on one leg. Then we try single leg squats. Calf raises on two legs and then eventually on one leg are also great. Just be sure when you’re first starting out that there is something available to hang on to if you need it. Use as little support as you can while still feeling safe.
Flexibility is also one of those things that thrives on routine and habit. A few stretches at the end of a workout help a surprising amount. If we want more, Pilates is fabulous for gently inducing flexibility, as is yoga (hire your friendly Pilates instructor!).
The more we gain these skills, the more we see them percolate holistically (periodic reminder that I am from Berkeley and am allowed to use that word) into our lives.
This week, we’re going to reflect on flexibility and balance. Today we assess and tomorrow we address.
Flexibility makes life a lot easier, both literally and metaphorically. (Sometimes a little literal flexibility can help us achieve some metaphorical flexibility too!) For those of us who do not have osteopenia or osteoporosis, testing flexibility is pretty darn simple: reach for your toes. If they’re farther away than they used to be, it’s probably time to work on flexibility.
Balance also makes life easier and is also pretty easy to assess. Stand on one foot. Now stand on the other one. How long can you stay there? (Yes, I know the second foot is harder. Our bodies like success, so we do the easy side automatically.)
These two skills, together, help us react to the unexpected in life. If there’s anything we can expect, it’s the unexpected. Flexibility and balance help us bounce back when we suddenly find ourselves walking off a curb we didn’t notice or when we have to dodge a rogue shopping cart in a parking lot.
Building them into our routines is 100% worthwhile.
It’s no secret that I love kettle bells. But don’t despair if there aren’t any available! A dumbbell held by the end works much like one in a swing. Three rounds.
kb swings | 30 |
kb twists | 20 |
kb 8s | 10 |
| |
mountain climbers | 30 |
deadlift/good morning | 20 |
curls | 10 |
| |
squat raise | 30 |
db thrust | 20 |
brains | 10 |
Why do cardio? I have Reasons:
1. It improves mood. Seriously. My spin bike is actually called The Magic Mood-Fixing Machine. Science says that you will feel better after.
2. It makes your brain work better.
3. It burns calories.
4. It reduces stress. Remember this when your house is full of contentious relatives. Going for a walk is way better than ending up in jail for assault.
