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Fitness gifts…Good idea?
This product is not Man Bicep approved.
As long as you skip the Shake Weight and Sketchers Shape Ups, there are some great fitness gifts out there.
One year, I got Ryan Bowflex dumbbells, which were a great idea aside from the fact that I ended up with bruises trying to get the two 52lbs dumbbells up three flights of stairs (and hide them so they would be a surprise).
Here are 10 fitness gifts that I love:
1. TRX Suspension Training
2. Pull Up bar
3. Kettlebells
4. P90x DVDs
5. Personal Training Sessions
6. The Primal Blueprint
7. Bowflex Dumbbells
8. Resistance bands
9. Yoga mat
10. FOAM ROLLER!!!!!
Please just don’t get any of the products on this website!!
Absolute Randomness
So today all I can think about is the random discussions and facts that I’ve had this week. So I’ve decided to include them all here. I apologize that you must see this glimpse into what goes on in my brain on a regular basis.
Yesterday I was very amused by Candy and my shoes. So much so that I actually took pictures. Candy was wearing her new school Vibrams and I was repping the old school Converse.
New School
VS.
Old School
Ever since Ryan bought his first pair of Vibrams over a year ago, I’ve told him I would NEVER think of getting a pair…I must admit defeat in this battle though…I really want a pair like Candy’s!
BUT Converses are still the bombdiggity!
On to more randomness…
Some random topics I’ve thought about this week:
- Is being obsessed with eating healthily a disorder? According to Steve Bratman it is! He called this healthy eating obsession “Orthorexia.” He defined it as “an obsession with healthy or righteous eating.” He says it refers to people who “create severely limited diets in the name of healthy eating.” For more information on Orthorexia, click here. What do you think? Is orthorexia real?
- Do people really believe they are being healthier when they eat candy with less fat in it?
Maybe I should have gotten twizzlers...they have no fat...
- Uhm…what…the…heck…Edible Spray?
- Recently I’ve had numerous discussions about the safety of Crossfit and even extreme heavy lifting. One of the articles I was sent had to do with rhabdomyolysis. I personally don’t think this is a reason to not do Crossfit or any other intense workout program (I’ve known people who’ve gotten this from P90x). It is something to be aware of though. Anytime you go from doing nothing to working out intense 5-7 days a week, you have to understand the risks and potential consequences. I mean…there are risks to starting any intense workout routine and you should be aware of them. What do you think?
- Why are people so unwilling to question what their doctors tell them?
- Why do like 90% of the men you see in the gym not perform a full range of motion when they lift? My only guess is that they so concerned with the amount of weight they can lift that they don’t care if their lift is actually good.
- Will P90x2 be as good as P90x or is BeachBody just trying to sell more products?
AND the last piece of randomness I would like to include is the Burpee workout Candy and I did the other day. It is 210 burpees in 20 minutes. If for any reason you don’t hit the specified number of burpees in the minute, you must finish the remaining burpees in the next minute, but you can’t move on to the next set of burpees once you’ve finished the specified amount. You must wait until the next minute.
We wrote it down because we didn't think we could memorize it.
Experimentation
Everyone wants a quick fix. The diet miracle that will make them trim and beautiful – a magic exercise pill that will do all the work for them. Shoot I would love a quick fix that gave me superman strength and six-pack abs! I mean, who wouldn’t!
But unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. We have to struggle and battle. It costs us sweat and even tears to achieve the bodies we desire – which honestly is why most people fall short. It is easier to give up on finding a solution; it is easier to not stick with a plan than to battle day in and day out.
But is it really easier to give up? Are we really happen when we don’t achieve our goals? I’m not!
Always trying to find a better, EASIER way to achieve my goals has led me over the last few years to experiment with both my diet and exercise regime.
I’ve tried P90x. I’ve tried Insanity. I’ve done power lifting and bodybuilding workouts. I’ve tried those routines in women’s magazines.
I’ve tried low-fat diets. I’ve tried eating whatever I want (which was fun until my pants started to not fit because I’d gained 10lbs). I’ve tried portion control and eating everything in moderation.
I’ve experimented to find out what works best for ME. Because let’s face it…Everything I’ve listed above works for someone…yes even the eating whatever they want works for some lucky SOB.
Only by trying out lots of different things have I found one solution, one plan that I feel I can stick to for the rest of my life.
For me that one eating plan is my own take on Primal and enforcing the 80/20 rule. 80-90% of the time I maintain a Primal diet – a healthy diet. But then there is that 10-20% of the time when I just freaking want a huge slice of pizza – and I eat it! For me, giving in and cheating every once in a while is fun and worth it. I’ve found a good balance of eating healthy and cheating that allows me to easily maintain my diet. I’ve also found that for me Primal works. It is a LIFESTYLE I can maintain for the long run. It isn’t some crash diet.
The exercise plan that works best for me is VARIETY. You may think that isn’t a plan, but it is. I like to vary up what I do. I always do some form of heavy lifting each week (I have a hard time gaining muscle and keeping it on), but I also love to do crossfit style workouts, spinning and yoga (when I find the time to). Ok so maybe even more than variety I like a challenge and lifting heavy, heavy weights….like the guy on the Planet Fitness commercial that “Picks things up and puts them down!” haha
Anyway, to sum up my ramblings…The message of my blog is about more than lifting heavy weights…it is about experimenting to find what works for you. It is about not fearing something new and different. It is about taking risks. And for most women, the fitness “risk” they should be taking is trying out lifting. Most women fear it will make them huge so they never give lifting a chance. Just try lifting for 60 days. Let me know what you think then….
Man Bicep 