Category Archives: Play
PLAY
It’s funny. I don’t feel that old.
But when I look at kids today, I can’t help but think about how different my childhood was from theirs.
I was always playing. I was always active even if that meant climbing trees…actually climbing jump ropes that I hung from trees (that occasionally snapped…I didn’t say I was bright…Sorry Man Bicep Mom if you didn’t know that….)
But kids today don’t just go out and play. They don’t ride their bikes around the neighborhood or roller blade or run around like mad people.
They are playing video games or watching TV or SITTING DOWN.
Not that studying isn’t great and not that watching TV doesn’t have its place, but kids need to MOVE!
I mean you hear about the increase in childhood obesity all of the time, but what are we really doing about it!?! Sending out more literature about it? Telling parents NOT to let their kids watch TV!?!
Well how about we tell parents what can actually CHANGE the situation!
And what is one of the best ways to encourage young kids to move!?! MUSIC!
Ryan actually was the one to show me how important music actually was to getting kids to move.
Ryan was a preschool teacher and music teacher. Now he pretty much solely focuses on the music education end of things.His Rhymin’ Ryan music gets preschoolers and younger children off their butts and wiggling to the music.
And of course I am musically challenged…in every way. So I was excited when he started doing something musical that I actually understood…music and MOVEMENT.
And why does music work so well to encourage kids to move?
Because music makes movement or exercise into PLAY!
Kids will move if they think it is fun. When you make movement into exercise or a chore, they won’t do it. They will want to instead sit in front of the TV.
So stop forcing them to do certain sports or tell them they need to exercise because they play too many video games.
Instead of just saying, “You can’t watch TV” find FUN ACTIVITIES you can do. Be it dancing around to music or playing on the playground together, make exercise something fun not a chore!
Spending time with family
In Boston, all too often Ryan and I would spend time together by watching TV or a movie. We would do active things together, but not near as frequently as we should have.
Since moving to Cali, we’ve spent so much more time together doing active things – even just activities such as walking around a farmers market together.
Ryan holding our purchases from the market.
There is something about being ACTIVE together that brings you even closer together. There is a bonding that goes on when you DO things together.
Yoga outside together…Ryan didn’t want to pose… haha
Like yesterday…We did a quick workout together then got some coffee and walked about 4 miles on the beach, watching the waves. We later put together some furniture. All active things. All times to bond.
There is just something about the bonding that happens during physical activity that is so different from the bonding that happens at any other time.
That is why I encourage all of my clients, friends and family to DO things together. Go paddleboarding. Go rock climbing. Go for a hike or jog or even do a workout together!
Team IR paddleboarding.
Yea there may be some competition when you do a workout with your spouse, friend or family member, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The fact that you are overcoming a challenge together will bring you closer. The fact that you are both talking and playing together while getting endorphins from the exercise will bring you closer.
Playing together will help you develop a stronger bond. A healthier relationship. And a healthier you.
So today…go play with your family and friends!
Go do headstands on a paddleboard even if you do flip over and fall in! (which by the way I did…numerous times…)
So I got some weird looks…
So currently I don’t have a gym to train at consistently.
But that is no excuse not to workout intensely!
Sunday I went and ran Stadiums, or as Ryan calls them “Serpentines.”
On Monday, Ryan and I borrowed any random workout equipment we could and did a workout in the backyard.
And then yesterday, I went to the park and busted out a very nice workout.
Yep….the park…er…playground
So what if a couple of people gave me a very strange look?! So what if I was crawling through the grass?!
Monkey bars are a great place to do pull ups and knees to elbows. Heck if you even just go back and forth across the monkey bars it is a great workout.
Ok so this wasn’t from yesterday…it was from Boston when I spent the afternoon playing with preschoolers!
A park bench or picnic table is perfect for box jumps.
There is just so many great exercises that you can do on a playground!
And hey, at least a kid said, “Mommy, I want to do what she is doing on the monkey bars!” (At this point I was doing knees to elbows.)
Who cares if you look “weird” bear-crawling on the ground?!?!
You are running and “playing” just like a kid! Shoot! Get your kids to do the workout with you on the playground! They will think it is so much fun!
It’s better than being one of those people just sitting around WATCHING their kids play, right!?! 🙂
So no excuses! Go out and play in the sun (and get in a great workout while you are at it!)
You can even try this workout!
Bear crawls (forward then back) 25 steps forward and 25 steps back
Pull ups 25
Picnic bench jumps 50
Leg lowers 50
“Walking” Lunges (jumping up and slightly forward each time switching legs) 25 each side
Knees to elbows 50
1 leg skater squats 25 each side
Monkey bars 50 (go back and forth across the monkey bars until you hit 50 reps)
Mountain climbers 50 each side
Pull ups 25
Bear crawls (forward then back) 25 steps forward and 25 steps back
Have I mentioned before I love warm weather!?!
So no post today…
I was too busy working out, paddleboarding and eating delicious local seafood!
A big “Thank you” to Snay, Monkey Knuckles and Ryan for a PERFECTLY WONDERFUL day!!!
A no stress, active day in the sun with wonderful people.
Honestly, what could be better!?!
The good, the bad and the simply stupid
So I’m not trying to brag, but I feel better after 16 hours of spin than I do after one of my own tough 30 minute lifts.
My taking-on-16-hours-of-spin face!
Honestly, no muscles are sore or even really tight. The ONLY pain I have besides a slightly bruised crouch is one knee that doesn’t like going up and down stairs too much.
Be it the ice bath, my diet with no gluten or my workouts (or all three combined), I feel perfectly normal today…just like I do after any other week of working out.
Anyway, all I can say is you definitely don’t need to carb load with crap gels and gluten to survive endurance cardio!
The Good
- Ice baths are amazing! They really do aid in muscle recovery. AND Tim Ferriss has done the research, and found the science to prove that ice baths may also help you lose fat!
- Get a healthy dose of Vitamin D! This just shows how important going out in the sun is! We all fear skin cancer, but some sun is good! And of course if you can’t get sun, you can always take a supplement! BUT anyone else seem to feel WAY BETTER when they’ve gotten some sun? I definitely do!
- Cool?!? Good news for me I guess! What do you think?
- I’m glad the FDA didn’t let them call high fructose corn syrup “corn sugar!”
- Thank you Therese for taking up the challenge of trying something new! Great job with the monkey bars!
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These are not easy and Therese is killing it!
- Our Jump Rope Slide is done!
The Bad
- Caffeine is not an alternative to sleep people! I’ve seen too many people over the last couple of days guzzle down espresso shots and Red Bull rather than sleeping enough. I know it is hard to get enough sleep sometimes, but seriously nothing is more important! Your body recovers and rebuilds when you sleep!!! So stop drinking your Starbucks bazillion shot coffees and Red Bulls and instead go to bed!
The Simply Stupid
- Is this really an article on WebMD?
- There is this girl on Fiverr.com saying she can give you flat abs in 3 days. How are people this stupid!?!
- This honestly sounds like something a client has said to me at some point…
And lastly, Happy Father’s Day people! All you Dad’s out there who are reading this…you better be supporting your women and making sure they lift heavy!!!
7 Down
Between getting up early and riding for 7 hours I’m a bit tired tonight and don’t have the attention span to write a post.
I must say though, I felt really good energy-wise eating Primally while doing all of that cardio! I didn’t even add in potatoes or anything. Just a bit of dark chocolate after dinner and some fruit during the day.
Here is a wonderful photo of me and Candy from before the 7 hours. Later I’ll post some sweaty photos taken during the event!
My bicep says “Bigger” because I always tease Dave that my bicep is bigger than his! Also, that is definitely my game face!
The good, the bad and the simply stupid
The Good
- Vin Goat is a wonderful little shop that carries artisan and farmstead cheese and cupboard essentials. They also host lectures each weekend about their products. The other weekend Ryan’s parents went to a lecture by Anne Willan, a founder of a famous French cooking school among other culinary achievements. In her talk, Anne Willan supported the use of raw milk to make cheese (saying it made the cheese better!) AND talked about cooking with butter or lard NOT vegetable oil. All in all her lecture was apparently a Primal/Paleo eaters dream. Glad to know there are people out there supporting the consumption of raw milk and fat!
- Here is a little preview of a jump rope video Ryan is helping me making for the Under Armour Challenge. It was also part of my “do something new” workout challenge for this weekend. I’m by no means an awesome jump rope-er so this was definitely a challenge! If you want to do your own jump rope slide and send it to me, I’ll add it to the video!
- Coconut oil is about as close to a magical health pill as you get. Fat-a-phobs shy away from this oil because it contains saturated fat, but what they don’t realize is that the “saturated fat” in coconut oil is a form known as lauric acid, which has been proven to protect your heart by reducing total cholesterol and enhancing HDL cholesterol levels. Even Dr. Oz says so….WOW something he is right about!
The Bad
- I like dried fruit as a treat on occasion. BUT you have to be very careful when purchasing dried fruit as many have added ingredients. Actually I was surprised by how many WEREN’T simply dried fruit when I was at Trader Joe’s. It actually is more difficult than you think to find pure dried fruit. Next time you buy dried fruit make sure you are getting exactly what you want! Read the ingredients list!
- Just another reason to take medicine! NOT! Common painkillers tied to lower skin cancer risk! Ok but to get the benefit you must take these medicines in large quantities. BUT the large quantities have proven health risks. “The drugs have also been linked to an increased risk of kidney cancer and come with known bleeding risks.” So here we have an article telling our population to take painkillers to reduce their risk of skin cancer but we still don’t know if the benefits of taking large quantities of the medicine are worth the risks that have already been linked to the drugs…Hmmm…I think I’ll pass on the painkillers…
- Every time I think Paleo/Primal is becoming more accepted I see stupid articles like this one on IndyStar.com. I can’t believe a dietitian claimed that the diet is not only low carb but also lacking in some vitamins and minerals. Uhm hello!?! When you stop wasting calories on grains, you eat more fruits and vegetables…So how can the diet be “lacking?” If it is lacking in vitamins and minerals, than what word do we use to describe the average American’s diet…Non-existant in vitamins and minerals!?! (Ok I know that doesn’t work…but hopefully you get my point.)
The Simply Stupid
- Dennis, Ryan’s brother, sent this to him. Definitely a healthy breakfast…NOT!
The back of a Nutella jar.
Ok this isn’t simply stupid…It is actually awesome…
A great way to relax after a hard week
I find that there is no better way to relax (or get in a workout for that matter) than to chase after 4 and 5 year olds. To them, exercise is merely playing on the monkey bars. (Which actually is not as easy as it was when I was little!)
Not everyone wanted to participate but they were ready to be chased by the tickle monster afterwards….
Happy Friday Man Bicepers!!! Have a great weekend!
Spin To Cure
From June 14-16, Candy, Brian and I will be participating in a 16 hour Spin-a-thon to raise money for the PMC (the Pan-Mass Challenge).
We will all be riding all 16 hours.
Will we survive?
I’m not sure.
I’ve participated in the Spin-a-thon every year. The first year I did only 2 hours. Last year, I did all 12. And this year, I will attempt all 16!
And I’m prepared for my butt to be extremely sore for days afterwards!
I’m not a huge fan of cardio, but because it’s a challenge and because it will raise money for a GREAT CAUSE, Candy, Brian and I will do all 16 hours.
I would love for any of you in Boston to join me and the Man Bicep Team and ride in the Spin-a-thon! And if you can’t ride, you can always donate to support the Man Bicepers by clicking here! In the notes section, write that you are sponsoring the Man Bicep team!
If you have any questions, email me at manbiceps@gmail.com!!!
Man Bicep 