Need motivation? Use one of my Top 10!
Ok so these are the things that motivate me to work out even when I’m not feeling at the top of my game. These aren’t necessarily in a specific order. Depending on how you feel that day, some things may work better than others!
- Goals – Having goals clearly laid out keeps me on track. I also make sure to hang my goals up so that I see them every day. I also share my goals with friends and family so that I have some pressure or commitment to succeed. Clearly defined goals are a great way to stay on track because you have something specific to work toward!
- Friends and family – Friends and family can be a great motivator to work out. Knowing that Ryan, Candy and Brian are working out hard makes me not want to slack. I also love working out with them! So why would I ever want to skip doing something fun with friends and family!?! I also find that sticking to Primal is way easier because I’m doing it with someone else. Ryan and I keep each other on track during days of weakness.
- Being Healthy – There is no greater motivation than knowing that working out (and eating right!) is making you healthier so that you can lead a long, active life! It isn’t the most attractive reason to workout or eat well (let’s face it…looking good is), but it probably is the most important reason to do those things! And the thing is that every day you eat well or every time you workout, you are improving your health even if you didn’t lose a pound that week!
- Feeling Good – I don’t know about you, but I feel so much better when I workout. My body feels strong from lifting heavy weights and pushing through intense workouts. I feel like I can leap tall buildings in a single bound…ok maybe not that good, but you get the point! When you workout and eat well, your body just feels so darn good! You have energy to power through long days and the strength to do any physical activity presented to you!
- Looking Good – This is probably the reason most used by people to motivate themselves to workout. Unfortunately, it also doesn’t have great staying power. I definitely remind myself that all of my working out and eating well is what keeps me looking fit, but you need to find some deeper motivation to really keep you committed to a program. So use this HUGE motivator to get you started and keep you committed on days when you’re lagging, but don’t let this be your only motivation!
- Stress relief – Too often people think of working out and eating right as chores. For me working out and eating well relieves stress. When I work out, I clear my head and I get the endorphins flowing. When I eat well, I’m not worried about whether or not I’m going to feel and look good because if I’m eating the right foods I know I will!
- Competition (with yourself) – What better motivator is there than competition? Not only competition with your workout buddies but also with yourself. I keep a workout log and each and every time I lift, I want to beat my numbers from the lifts before. It motivates me to constantly push myself so that I do better than last time!
- Seeing results – When you see results (or even maintain the great results you already have), you are going to stick with the program. Find different ways to measure “results.” Take body measurements. Keep a workout log. Track how well you did on your diet that week. When you see positive changes, you will be motivated to continue. Not seeing results can also be a motivator…to start a new program.
- Quality of life – Enjoying life to its fullest! This and “being healthy” are not the most glamorous motivators but they are the ones that truly keep you dedicated. When you eat well and workout intensely, you feel good. You feel empowered, which makes you really tackle all of the challenges of life. I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve had that have started working out and eating right and just feel so much happier and content with life. Plus, they are able to be more active and enjoy more time with their families doing activities they couldn’t do before!
- Photos of your role models – So when I need a burst of motivation, I turn to this one. There is nothing like seeing one of your role models, looking amazing and strong, to make you want to stick to your diet and hit the gym! (Candy did some searching yesterday for this type of motivation!)
Candy’s motivation: Lindsay Smith
The BEST lifting shoes EVER!
Show me yours!
For one, Converse All-Stars are some of the best lifting shoes around…other than my Saucony Hattori for deadlifts. They are great because of their flat soles and lack of padding. The Saucony shoes are only better for deadlifts because they allow you to feel the ground and don’t add any inches whatsoever to your lift!
For two, Candy decked these out for me with cupcakes (because I like to bake…especially when it is a cheat day and I can eat it) and “Show me yours,” one of the Man Bicep slogans!
Plus they have like my three favorite colors on them – blue/green, purple and pink!
I know you all are so jealous! 😉
Nothing frustrates me more…
Oh yes…you bet there is about to be a rant. Hey, I’ve barely slept the last couple of nights because I’ve been hunting mice (LOOOONG story) so I deserve a nice rant.
Nothing frustrates me more than women choosing light weights THAT AREN’T CHALLENGING because they are too afraid to bulk up.
Ok nothing frustrates me more than that except maybe people slacking off IN MY CLASS! I mean at least look like you are trying hard!
Seriously ladies. Those barbie weights are cute and all but pick up the heavy dumbbells! You want to lose those love handles or get nice shapely legs? Well then lift some freaking weight!!!!!!!!
Even though I know the belief that women shouldn’t lift heavy is out there, I’m just always shocked when it rears its ugly head.
And I just had so much hope for today. A female member was out on the floor doing unassisted pull ups this morning. My clients were lifting some heavy weights. And I got emails from Man Bicepers across the country who are all taking back the weight room floor!
It almost felt as if that stupid lie about women lifting heavy was dead!
But sadly, it was just in hiding for the morning.
Boy was it in full force during my class though, which is shocking for numerous reasons.
For one, my class is torture. It is KNOWN because of its torture. So why would you come and slack off and use freaking joke weights?!?
For two, EVERYONE ALWAYS SEES ME LIFTING AND HEARS ME HARPING ABOUT WOMEN LIFTING. Why would you come to a class with a female instructor and ignore the fact that they are telling you to use heavier weights?
I always want to yell out one of two things..
“Get out of my class if you aren’t going to actually lift.”
or
“WHAT THE F***!” Use some freaking weights!”
I never yell out either, which is why I’m ranting right now.
I know I say this all the time, but why do people believe that women will get bulky if they lift heavy weights? Because there are female bodybuilders on steroids that look huge? Uhm it isn’t the weight lifting that made those women that big!!!
I do see a light at the end of the tunnel though – it’s all of you wonderful Man Bicepers out there flexing your man biceps!
A special “thank you” to Man Biceper Mary Kate for giving me hope!
Mary Kate is starting a nice version of the Man Bicep deadlift program and I can’t wait to hear how it goes!
Mary Kate's Man Bicep!!!
Front Squats
I haven’t done heavy front squats since college.
I’ve always sort of dreaded them. I traded them in for back squats partly because I like to lift as much weight as possible and my numbers are bigger in back squat and partly just because I hate them.
But front squats are super good for you. They really work your quads AND your core. So I’ve started doing them and hope one day I will love them…
Till today, I’d done front squats as an auxiliary lift. Higher reps with lighter weight usually after a nice heavy round of deadlifts.
But for some reason today I decided it was time to tackle heavy front squats.
5 sets of 5 repetitions of heavy front squats.
I was nervous. 5×5 is usually a killer workout no matter what lift you are doing. And to be doing 5×5 on front squat…Uhm what was I thinking!?!
I was thinking…”Gosh I hope I can even manage to do one rep at my college max of 130!” (And by the way, I do still hold the Boston U. Women’s Tennis front squat record…I’m both proud of this and a bit disappointed that no one has beaten it.)
And today…even though I still hate front squats…I was very happy at the results of my workout (and Candy did super well too! She has a VERY strong core!).
We started with 95lbs for 5 reps. It definitely didn’t feel like a warm up set like it does with back squats. We then put on 115. That wasn’t a picnic either, but it was manageable.
So I decided we should attempt 135lbs. Yep, I decided that we should attempt more than my max in college. I mean 135 is a warm up for back squats so I should be able to easily do it….right?
Uhm…easy? NOPE! Doable? Yes!
I managed 5 very nice deep front squats with 135 although I do think Candy wasn’t sure if I was actually going to make it up on the 5 one.
Candy then repped out 5 with the weight and I was a bit jealous of how easy she made them look. Her core is gnarly!
Of course, what I didn’t consider was the fact that we had two more rounds of 5 reps…sweet….
Both of us stuck with 135 and busted out two more rounds of 5 although my depth was questionable at the end and my core was struggling hard to keep me up straight.
BUT…I DID IT! I repped more than my college max! YAY!
Of course, I then still had to do conventional deadlifts and snatches, but hey…I’d done heavy front squats!
I still don’t like them though.
6% of Americans call out sick the Monday after the Super Bowl
I was not one of those Americans. Nope I was up at the crack of dawn per the usual – a day full of training, working out, emails and paperwork.
I did wake up super full though this morning because for the first time in the last 6 weeks, I ate more than just some fruit, veggies and nuts for carbs. I had POTATOES…fried in duck fat for that matter!
I was not one of thousands of Americans eating pizza, crackers and popcorn last night. I was instead enjoying a ridiculously delicious Primal feast!
This was definitely not served at my house!
And, I didn’t feel like I was at all deprived or missing out even though many of my friends couldn’t believe I was passing on a day to eat bad food.
Nope instead of pizza and wings and veggie oil fried chips I had: (The pictures are a bit rough and the food isn’t displayed super nicely since it was just me and Ryan chowing down!)
Homemade duck fat fried potato chips (peeled potatoes and duck fat with salt and pepper)
Homemade guacamole (organic avocados, salsa, heavy cream and seasoning spices)
Chorizo queso dip (local pork chorizo, full fat raw milk or grass-fed cheeses and homemade salsa)
Parmesan, scallion and bacon dip (full fat Parmesan, scallions, nitrite-free bacon)
Homemade deviled eggs (cage free eggs, heavy cream, paprika, nitrite-free bacon)
Parmesan Crisps (grass-fed butter and full-fat parmesan)
stacked up next to the guacomole...and almond butter haha
Organic apples, raw milk and grass-fed cheeses and wild boar salami tray
Banana, almond butter, chocolate bites (organic bananas spread with raw almond butter dipped in super dark chocolate)
They don't look good BUT they tasted delicious!
Chocolate macadamia nut bark with sea salt (Macadamia nuts and dark chocolate sprinkled with sea salt)
AND because I’m not a big beer drinker…Organic Hard Cider! YUM!
All in all a perfectly Primal and super delicious meal without the crappy bad food hangover! I did eat a bit too much though and roll around on the bean bag complaining the rest of the night…but what the hey!
Next time your friends tell you that you are missing out by not eating their gluten-laden party foods, show them this list and ask them if pizza really looks better!
Show Me Yours!
I was so thrilled to receive this picture from Erin of her “man bicep!”
LOVE IT!!!! 🙂
Thank you Erin!
Erin started lifting 6 months ago and sent me an email today asking for workout and nutrition suggestions. I sent her an email back that is probably a bazillion times longer than she wanted, but what the hey! If you ask me for information, trust me you will get it.
Keep up the great work Erin! I love the man bicep!
Now everyone else…SHOW ME YOURS!
P.S. Feel free to email me with your workout and nutrition questions! I seriously live to discuss health, fitness and nutrition!
The Cave Kids
So Ryan has been working on a Primal kids CD called “The Cave Kids” and last weekend I helped him write a song called “Just like Mom and Dad.”
You can totally see the Man Bicep influence in the song. Also, it is my singing debut! Hey, I’m definitely no singing star but it works well enough for this song. Let me know what you think!
“I thought it was a man writing this…”
I submitted my Primal powerlifting success story to Mark’s Daily Apple because of Ryan’s encouragement. And yesterday the story was posted on Mark’s site.
I honestly wasn’t sure how people would respond and was a bit nervous to have my story somewhere other than Man Bicep. I thought people would think it was cool or a bit different from the usual success story, but I never thought people would assume I was a man.
Actually I am very amused by how many people first assumed it was a man’s story until they saw the pictures.
It made me think about how conditioned we are to believe that men lift heavy weights, but women don’t.
I mean people even just assumed I spelled “fiance” wrong instead of thinking that I was a woman…and honestly I can’t blame them.
We all view life through a lens – a lens which is developed based on our own experiences and the influence of mainstream media.
And let’s face it, most women don’t lift heavy. And most mainstream media tells us that women shouldn’t even want to lift heavy unless they want to bulk up.
Most media sources tell women to avoid super low reps so that they aren’t training for hypertrophy (to make their muscles bigger). Instead they are supposed to stick with higher reps and use “challenging” weights.
While yes, there are some outlets out there that are trying to change this female phobia of heavy weights, things are changing slowly…very slowly.
I still train women who don’t want to lift too heavy because they don’t want to get bulky. Of course I slowly trick them into lifting heavy, but at first they really refuse.
I even had one client tell me she was getting bulky from doing too many push ups…from her knees!!! WHAT!?!
I try telling them that there is no way that they will bulk up. I even tell them that I’ve tried and it just isn’t possible, but they don’t believe me. Too many mainstream media sources telling them something different.
I’m just hoping more women who lift heavy come forward and share their stories and pictures so that people stop assuming that any story about a heavy lifter is about a man!
Join the Man Bicep movement ladies! Flex those biceps. Invade the weight room floor. And look sexy while doing it!
Dieting – Losing weight or being healthy?
So recently there have been a ton of articles about how what you eat isn’t as important as how much you eat. One article specifically states that adherence to any diet is what gets results not the diet itself.
I’m sorry but this is false. Diets aren’t created equal even if you can lose weight on them.
Yes losing weight is about calories in vs. calories out. BUT only if you don’t care if you are skinny fat with a very unhealthy inside.
I mean, I’ve been there and done that. I’ve done other diets (low-fat, higher carb diets specifically) and I’ve “lost weight.” I’ve suffered through the torture of giving up foods that I love.
And I never got real results. I never looked super lean and muscled. Before now, Id always gotten skinny-fat and I wasn’t very healthy.
But who wants to be skinny fat? Who wants to suffer doing a diet that doesn’t make them healthier?
NOT ME! I want great body composition and if I’m sacrificing at all to be on a “healthy” diet, I want the diet to make me healthier! So yea….I’m concerned with more than just simply calories in vs. calories out.
So the bottom line isn’t “All diets work if you stick to them.”
And I mean come on…it isn’t just simply easy to stick to ANY diet!
The Push Up Craze Reaches ELLEN!?!
So Candy found this video of Ellen and Michelle Obama doing push ups. I was very amused even though I did want to tell them both that they needed to get lower! Chest to the ground ladies!
http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/0_w7vznt17/uiconf_id/6995152
Man Bicep 