Category Archives: Show me yours
One Exercise For The Rest of Your Life
A while back I did a post about what I thought were the five foundational exercises for health.
I said, “Deadlift, Squat, Push Up, Pull Up and Sprints.”
An oldie but goodie photo…Ah deadlift….I love you…
I started thinking about this list after the wealth of new information I’ve learned over the last year since writing that post.
What would I change about that list now that I’ve experienced so much more and learned so many new exercises?
The crazy part is….
Nothing.
Those to me still hit everything.
Although the Turkish Get Up was a tempting one. Super functional. A great way to get total body strength. A great way to help older adults strengthen their core and create a stronger mind-body connection. A GREAT move. Probably the closest one to making the list. But would it make the list…No…It would be #6.
Same goes for the hip thruster or glute bridges. While the hip thruster is arguably the BEST glute exercise out there and glute bridges are great for glute activation, which is essential, they just wouldn’t make the list. They just aren’t as complete to me as the five moves I chose.
Honestly, deadlift, pull up, push up, squat and sprints hit EVERYTHING. Almost all the moves work the entire body. And they are functional. They are also movement patterns that I think everyone should be able to do.
I guess the only thing that made me hesitate about committing to the list above is the fact that all of them are sagittal plane movements and I really do believe it is important to move in every direction. I guess for that reason the only thing I might at some point do is switch out squats for lunges…but at this place and time, that just isn’t happening.
So if you every wanted to know what I think the five best foundational moves are:
Deadlift
Squat
Pull Ups
Push Ups
Sprints
Every workout progression should include some variation of these moves, if not these moves in their purest form.
Now the only other comment I would make about this list, is that BEGINNERS may have VARIATIONS of these moves to start. BUT the intent and purpose of those moves would be to get them to these five.
NOW….
Last night while we were doing a glute workout, I got asked, “If you could only do one move for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I didn’t even have to think…Actually it was easier than picking five moves…
I liked this picture and thought it really hit the basics of form.
Why do I think the deadlift is the queen/king of exercise moves?
Because it hits everything down the entire back side of your body, which honestly is generally highly underactive in a society that sits all day hunched over a computer.
It works a ton of big muscle groups. It strengthens areas that are weak on post people, their back, their core, their glutes…
And it is functional. Think about how many times a day you have to freaking pick things up off the ground.
People tell you, “You need to squat down to pick stuff up!”
But actually you DON’T need to squat down!
You need to DEADLIFT!
The deadlift is not a squat. Your chest does not stay back. You HINGE forward. And when you pick something up, you generally ned to lean forward to get it.
And on top of all that, DEADLIFTS ARE EMPOWERING.
I’m sorry, but there is nothing like picking something super heavy off the ground to make you feel strong and confident.
For me conquering any other task, even the 300ft on the Versa Climber which made me want to throw up 12 hours later and made me want to cry for my mommy, didn’t feel near as empowering. It didn’t make me feel near as strong. (Actually it just made me feel sick and like I never wanted to step on the Versa Climber again….)
To me deadlift is queen…or king….end of story. I could list a bazillion more reasons, but those should give you the gist of why I think that.
So my question to you is, “What do you think are the five foundational exercises?” And if you could only pick one, “What do you consider to be the best of the best?”
There are no right or wrong answers. Every list has great points and every list has flaws. I even showed you what I thought were a couple of the flaws in mine. (The great part/bad part about fitness is that there really are no right and wrong answers…Ok…maybe there are a few wrong answers…But those are generally when people do stupid things with bad form….)
Anyway, looking forward to reading some other lists! Hope you share yours!
It’s Never Too Late – Becoming a Beast at Any Age
I have many older adults that come to train with me who think that certain exercises, activities that they even used to do, are now out of reach….I find it is especially common among women.
But that simply isn’t the case.
Even as we age, our bodies are capable of so much more than we give them credit for.
Getting old doesn’t have to mean the end of being an athlete. It doesn’t have to mean accepting pain or not being able to do fun and crazy workout moves!
No matter your age, or even whether or not you were an athlete, you can become a beast. Yup…that’s right…you can become a beast at ANY AGE!
Really becoming a beast isn’t about developing more strength or even better movement patterns – it is about developing CONFIDENCE in yourself.
It is about not being intimidated and believing you CAN do it.
And for women, especially older women who may feel like there are things they can no longer do, the physical fitness realm can be intimidating, which doesn’t make becoming a beast very easy.
You hear fairly often how weight rooms are intimidating for many women. And honestly, for many they only become more intimidating with age.
Heck I’m sure many of you have experienced the dread and fear of walking into a busy weight room. I know I’ve seen it on many of the faces of women I train (before of course I win them over with my great sense of humor…just kidding…sort of…)
I mean…I get it.
Thinking about the gym I work in now, I could see how some of my older women are at first intimidated.
They walk in and there are professional MMA fighters and crazy people running around sweating and grunting. There are chains and tires and sledge hammers as well as other stuff that doesn’t even look like gym equipment lining the walls.
They see people doing handstands and swinging around gigantic kettlebells. And everyone is sweating profusely. (hey we don’t have air conditioning…there are very few people who don’t sweat even without air conditioning…I do know a few…but not many!)
Sometimes it just looks crazy. And there seems to be a lot of stuff going on that looks impossible to do. (And once the first shock is over, most of my older adults, especially the women, love the craziness, but that initial shock can truly intimidate.)
I mean…handstands at 60?
Heck many people aren’t doing handstands at 15 let alone 60!
But they aren’t impossible.
And the only reason I mention handstands is because that is one of those exercises that many women see and turn to me and say, “I can’t do that.”
I always respond the same thing, “Well have you tried to do one?”
The answer is always, without a doubt, “NO.”
Or better yet, “No. I’m too old!”
So they haven’t tried one, but there is no way they are going to be able to do one.
And somewhere along the line, they decided there is an age limit to handstands. (Even after all those videos of the 86-year-old gymnast!)
But doing a handstand, or any exercise like it, is truly all about confidence.
Yes, doing handstands requires strength.
But you would be amazed at the number of women who haven’t lifted that much and haven’t ever really done handstands that can do the second, or even third, level of the handstand progression on their first or second day.
And the best thing EVER is that look in their eyes when they are amazed at the fact that they can walk their feet up the wall and hold a true handstand.
It is all about confidence.
If we don’t believe we can do something, we aren’t ever going to attempt it.
We aren’t ever going to give ourselves a shot.
Yes, our bodies change as we age, but that doesn’t mean that all of a sudden we are restricted from doing a ton of things!
Aging doesn’t mean we have to accept immobility and pain. Aging can still mean running and playing! Heck, there are grandchildren to chase after!
There is no cap on improving your physical fitness. Aging doesn’t have to mean going downhill.
You can become a beast at any age and take on a ton of new physical challenges. I’ve seen it happen.
I have 60-year-old clients who have never been athletes, or really ever even worked out before, find joy in doing chain plank pulls (100 lbs chain plank pulls for that matter).
I bet you if you asked them if they’d ever be able to do something like that, they would have told you NO.
Or what about the woman who came in and lost over 50lbs and regained her ability to do cartwheels after not having done one since high school?
She wasn’t just always a super athlete.
Just because you aren’t a beast right now, doesn’t mean you can’t become one.
Give yourself a chance.
Tell yourself you CAN DO IT and start training today.
Age doesn’t have to mean we are limited! We can be beasts at any age!
If you have discovered your beastliness later in your life, share your story! Comment below and help inspire others to pursue their own “beastliness!”
Redefining Strength – Empowerment through exercise
So over the last year, I’ve thought a lot about what Man Bicep stood for in my life and the life of my clients.
It wasn’t about powerlifting. It most definitely wasn’t about running. And it wasn’t even about a specific diet.
It was about doing something….anything…that made you feel healthy and strong. It was about working out to feel empowered.
It was about taking on new challenges and feeling like you COULD do anything.
It was about redefining what strong really means.
And so I started considering what could really make us feel more empowered. And I began developing workout programs based around this principle.
I believe that working out can be an outlet, a release. I believe it can help us build confidence in a way few other things can. Overcoming physical challenges – lifting more or running further than we thought possible – is just about the most empowering thing you can do.
So I created “Redefining Strength.”
Right now the site has a few products that I’m giving away. I spent a lot of time considering what would be most helpful and supplement everything that I post here, on Man Bicep.
If you go over and subscribe, you will get 4 different reports. One is bodyweight exercises that can be done by beginners and advanced a like. They are basically exercises you can do anywhere and get a full body workout.
Handstand progression…I show you ways to progress up to one!
You will also get a list of 10 Simple Diet Changes. Be you vegetarian or Atkins dieter, there are tips on there that EVERYONE needs to follow.
I also spent a lot of time creating a foam rolling video library and cheat sheet. I believe that foam rolling is one of the most important things when it comes to moving well and feeling great. I even included some foam rolling videos that show you how to roll out even if you don’t have any of the fancy trigger point equipment.
And last, but not least, you will get a goal setting sheet. I debated about putting this one in since many of you will skip it. But honestly, goal setting is one of the best things you can do for yourself.
I know it’s cheesy. I know it’s boring and seems stupid. But trust me it’s worth the time if you really set goals that MATTER.
Goals that MATTER are what keep you committed even through the roughest of times. Goals CAN be motivating and keep us on course.
You just have to set goals in a way that don’t allow them to fall by the wayside like most people’s New Years resolutions!
So head over to Redefining Strength and check out those four guides and the video library. I hope it gets you as excited as I am for the programs launching in August!
As always, if you have any questions, feel free to email me at manbiceps@gmail.com.
I LOVE MYSELF – When did we lose the courage to believe?
When was the last time you did this? When was the last time you looked at yourself in the mirror and was like, “I love everything about myself.”
Heck when was the last time that you looked in the mirror and didn’t instantly start focusing on all the things you would like to change?
Probably never or at least not very recently I’m guessing.
And that is just sad.
So often as adults all we focus on are the things about ourselves that we want to change – the things about ourselves that we don’t like.
When did we lose the courage to say, “I love myself?”
Because, honestly, I don’t believe it isn’t that we don’t see our good points. We do recognize our good points, we just don’t focus on them because we are afraid that everyone else sees our flaws and will think that we are cocky or full of ourselves or delusional if we say we love something about ourselves.
When in reality, we focus way more on our flaws than ANYONE else out there does.
We are our own harshest critics. And I firmly believe that.
We set our own limits. We push ourselves down.
We can say that magazines present unrealistic body images. We can can say society presents unrealistic standards.
And yes, those societal standards do seep into our brains as we age so that we can’t, with the same abandon as Jessica, say we love ourselves.
But despite what society tells you, I guarantee that there are traits that aren’t deemed beautiful or wonderful by society that you love about yourself. Yet, because society doesn’t value them, you are too afraid to admit your beauty out loud.
YOU hold yourself back.
When will it stop?
When will you muster the courage to admit that you love yourself? Flaws and all.
When will you stop picking and pushing and start enjoying and celebrating?
When will you stop setting boundaries and limits and instead look at the world and yourself for all that you have to offer?
Society isn’t going to change. Magazines. TV. Ads. Aren’t going to change….
Until we do.
So start creating change by changing your opinion of yourself. Tomorrow, look in that mirror and focus on what you LOVE not what you’d change…
And if you happen to do a little dance while looking in that mirror…well that is fine too!
No one’s judging except you.
Real Role Models
So as I’ve been preparing for this Women’s Conference this weekend, I’ve been thinking a lot about female role models and the transformative power of exercise/sports.
And then the other week, when Ryan and I were watching TV, I stumbled across a woman who’d undergone a great transformation and was also a GREAT role model – Nicole Eggert.
So I don’t know how many of you have seen the show “SPLASH”…And it is actually really really stupid but for some reason we watched it anyway…And now I’m sort of glad we did because I came across Nicole…
But anyway, it is a diving show in which celebrities who have never dived before compete.
And Nicole Eggert, a lifeguard on Baywatch, was one of the participants.
Nicole in her Wonder Woman suit. YES!
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – sports and exercise are incredibly empowering.
Over the course of the show, you saw a huge transformation in Nicole. She became stronger, more confident and empowered as she overcame physical challenges day in and day out.
At the beginning of the show, you could tell that she wasn’t confident in her body or in her abilities. But she had decided to compete and didn’t want to give up with her daughter looking on. She even bounced back after suffering a bad fall when practicing one of her dives publicly before the show.
She could have given up and even done an easier dive when she fell from the board in warm up.
But she didn’t.
She had worked hard and she was willing to risk everything to prove to herself that she COULD do it.
And guess what!?!
She did do it!
And each week, her dives got better and you could see her confidence grow.
Nicole wasn’t a world-class athlete competing for huge rewards. Many people won’t even remember what she did because she didn’t end up evening winning the Splash title.
But she was a REAL woman working hard to overcome challenges she’d never faced before. She was a REAL woman battling the same self-doubt that most of us women struggle with daily.
Nicole did probably the hardest thing that many of us could do – she put herself out there and risked failure…and in this case…very public failure.
She put herself outside her comfort zone and didn’t give up when the going got rough. She competed to the very end.
Nicole was a REAL woman who found REAL STRENGTH through sports.
Nicole is a REAL role model.
So this weekend, decide to become your own real role model. Set some goals and take a risk to achieve something you previously thought impossible.
How bad do you want it?
I’ve been asked this question numerous times recently when I’ve been lifting and have wanted to give up.
It always manages to amp me up just enough to push hard until the end even when I thought I had nothing left to give.
It even got me through my workout on Friday – and I literally almost skipped the workout because my body was just so tired.
I was bruised and beaten down. Just about every muscle was sore. I was on the verge of being completely overtrained.
And I talk a lot about NOT overtraining. But there are some points where you just have to give everything you’ve got and more.
There are going to be the rare times, like when training for competition, when you might have to overload your body to really get the results you want.
This overload isn’t prolonged. At most it is a couple of weeks. But still…those weeks leave you feeling destroyed and sometimes even emotionally drained.
But you push through knowing that the harder you work, the bigger the payoff in the end.
You push yourself because you know this isn’t the norm.
You fight even when you want to give up.
You prove how bad you want it.
Now I ask you, when is the last time you wanted something so bad that you fought through sweat, blood and tears?
When was the last time you pushed until you really had nothing left to give?
Never?
Well than maybe you just haven’t yet found something worth fighting for.
In my opinion though, being fit and strong and healthy is sometimes worth the pain. It is worth sometimes feeling like the odd man out because you aren’t indulging in junk food at the party. It is worth sometimes going to the gym even when you just want to go home.
It is worth a little sweat, blood and tears.
Do you?
WHY!?!
So before the weekend I wrote a post about you PUSHING YOURSELF – about you MOTIVATING yourself.
I wrote that you need to motivate yourself if you really want to get the most out of any workout that you do. I wrote that you don’t need fancy moves or to do things at break-neck speed to have a great workout.
But I didn’t get into HOW you motivate yourself.
Then this weekend I attend a Training for Warriors certification course, which was absolutely amazing. (I’ve honestly never enjoyed a seminar so much! Anyway, more about the course later…)
But one thing I really want to discuss now after my post last week is what Martin Rooney said about motivating yourself….He said you have to have a big enough “WHY.”
Saw this on the Innovative Results facebook page and just had to steal it! 🙂
When you have a big enough reason as to WHY you should do something, you will do it.
So if you have a big enough reason WHY you should push yourself during a workout or WHY you should eat well, you are going to do it.
Which honestly makes perfect sense. Saying you want to be healthy or be in shape isn’t a clear WHY. There also is no TIMELINE in which you want to accomplish the goal so why work hard right now?
But a wedding or a competition or any other BIG EVENT is a great motivator because it does give you a reason, a WHY, you should be committed and work hard right now.
So then the question arises of, “How do you motivate yourself when there is no big event, BUT you still need to eat well and workout because you logically know it is the right thing to do and you want to live a long healthy life.”
How do you get that sense of urgency that a big event creates when realistically you are just trying to make healthy habits a way of life?
You create that big event. You don’t allow yourself to slack off and put things off. You set immediate and pressing goals that force you to get started!
They don’t have to be huge daunting goals they just have to be something that you can measure that have some sort of reward or consequence.
I know I definitely am more committed and focused when I have a “big” event. When I wanted to hit those VersaClimber mile-markers, I did everything I could to reach that goal. I stayed focused on working hard each and every workout. I made sure to do the proper recovery in between. I made sure to get enough sleep and to eat well EVEN when it meant not binging on Thanksgiving.
I had a big enough WHY. I didn’t just want to hit the mile-markers…I also wanted to be the first woman to do it at our gym, which meant that I couldn’t wait – I needed to start training and do it NOW.
I had a sense of urgency which made my reason for working out even more important – it gave me a big WHY that wouldn’t let me put off training and made me give everything I had each and every day.
So even if you don’t have a big event coming up, create one. Give yourself a real reason to do all the things you want or know you should do, but haven’t done.
Create “tests” at the end of each month to monitor your progress. Have weigh ins. Have performance evaluations. See if you can do better each and every time.
Heck maybe even add in a little competition. I know that when I’m competing against other people I definitely push harder!
Take a second and really hammer in WHY you should achieve some of the things you’ve been slacking on…like eating well or working out. You may just then get the results that you’ve always wanted!
Long-term…BLEH
So I always try to set a long-term goal, but sometimes it is really REALLY hard to start initiating changes when your goal seems so far away.
It is hard to get started when you goal seems COMPLETELY OVERWHELMING.
Sometimes it can seem so challenging that you don’t even want to get started – you’d rather just go sit on the couch, open up a bag of potato chips and watch some movies.
I know…I almost always feel that way each and every New Year.
A new set of challenges. A round of potential “failures.”
It can be extremely daunting.
But that doesn’t mean you should just give up or not even get started!
You need to break down that big, overwhelming long-term goal into smaller short-term goals.
And when I say “small short-term goals,” I mean SMALL. Like something you almost already do small.
Yes, month-long and week-long goals are important and great, but you need to set even smaller, easy to accomplish goals.
You need goals that you can easily accomplish so you stay motivated and constantly feel like you are moving forward.
Accomplishments and successes, no matter how small, motivate us. They really REALLY do.
And yes, there will still be set backs, but the more you can constantly feel like you are progressing, the easier it will be to stick to your goal and accomplish something that at once seemed overwhelming and completely undoable!
It’s amazing how something that once seemed undoable becomes so easily within reach when we just shrink the goal and make ourselves realize that we don’t need to be perfect to achieve it!
That’s right….We don’t need to be perfect. We just need to overcome little day-by-day challenges and we will get there.
Small steps. Small success are really what matter.
And those small success, over time, will add up to one big success, which may be even more than you were originally shooting for!
So take a deep breath, step back and shrink that long-term goal into small, DOABLE mini goals!
Then take small steps each and every day. And before you know it…YOU WILL BE THERE!
Happy New Year to the New You!
Under Armour Giveaway – Winner!
Man Biceper Therese won the Under Armour Giveway!
Congrats!
I also just wanted to take a second to post this awesome magazine cover she sent me with her entry.
I think the new fashion accessory for this next year may just be biceps….
UNDER ARMOUR GIVEAWAY!!!!
I’m excited to be giving some Man Biceper an Under Armour sweatshirt!
Yay you could have this sweatshirt!
I don’t want to make you jump through too many hoops BUT I do what to hear some interesting comments!
So what do you have to do to get one?
- Share this post on Facebook or Twitter.
- Comment that you shared the post.
- In that comment on this post also state either the funniest aka stupidest thing you’ve ever heard about diet and exercise OR your favorite exercise move and why.
- THEN send me a picture of your Man Bicep, manbiceps@gmail.com. (This last one is optional but it would be awesome to have a picture of a few awesome Man Bicepers! :-))
So there you have it.
Share this post and then comment on it with the link and either an exercise you love or the stupidest thing you’ve heard about diet and exercise! (And hopefully an awesome photo of your Man Bicep!)
You have until the end of the day Monday to enter! And on Tuesday I’ll announce a randomly picked winner from the comments!
Man Bicep 