Blog Archives
Don’t say “I can’t” unless you’ve tried!
So today when I went to start my workout, I brought out the weight vest for one of the exercises.
Brian then goes to me, “Why don’t you wear the weight vest for the entire thing?”
I looked at him like he had two heads.
Uhm wear the weight vests for all those exercises that are already ridiculously hard without any extra weight?!?!
UHM was he crazy!?!
I just looked at him. And I said, “I can’t.”
And he gave me a look like “if you don’t do this you’re a wimp.”
So I did it. I did the entire freaking workout with a weight vest and I’ve never wanted to die more.
Actually I think it was the fact that I uttered the words “I can’t” more than his look that got me to do it and made me push all the way through.
I can’t believe I uttered those words! I’d never attempted most of those exercises with a weight vest before so how did I know I couldn’t do them!?!
I didn’t know!!!!
And that is why I hate those words!
If you haven’t tried something, you don’t KNOW if you can or can’t do it!
So don’t EVER say you can’t do something before you’ve tried it!
And the worst part about all of this is…Most of the time when you say “I can’t,” you actually CAN!
Do you really see yourself clearly?
People come to me confused about why things aren’t working. Why they aren’t losing weight. Why they aren’t gaining muscle. Why they aren’t getting stronger/fitter/faster.
The first thing I ask them is to take a closer look at what they are TRULY doing. What does your diet or workout program truly look like?
You know what I most often hear back?
Not the facts. Just excuses.
Well I had only a little bread. Oh well I couldn’t come in on Wednesday for an hour because of work. Oh I was tired. Oh I didn’t feel 100%. Oh well I was hungry. Oh well someone brought in snacks. Oh well….
Oh well nothing!
Seriously I’m sick of excuses. I’m sick of whining.
Freaking just do it people! Stick to the diet. Don’t just have a “little” bread. Stick to the workout program. Don’t go easy because you are a “little” sore or you have too much work that day.
There will always be excuses – there will always be things that can get in the way.
But if you want results, you need to work to get them.
I was inspired to write this post because of all the whining I’ve heard recently and this old Nike ad.
Next time you whine, think seriously before you do it!
Death by Cardio
Tomorrow, Friday and Saturday I will suffer death by cardio – 16 hours of spin. At least my suffering is for a good cause!
A few of the riders from last year!
I have three comments to make about this death by cardio though.
One….
BLEHHHHHHHHH! Have I mentioned before I hate cardio?!?
Two…
I’m prepared for my body to hurt after all of the hours. Not my muscles necessarily, but my butt and my knees. Because I knew I would be in enough pain, I didn’t want to be sitting on the bike super sore from heavy lifts this week.
I did lift heavy Monday (my butt and hamstrings are still sore) and I did lift yesterday (my shoulders, triceps and chest were brutalized), but today I chose to do a short and killer cardio bodyweight workout. It is bad enough being sore when I teach two classes let alone ride for 16 hours!!!
So if you are looking for a great cardio, bodyweight workout, try this workout of the week!
10 rounds:
10 Ab roller
20 Box Jumps
30 Double Unders
Shoot for under 20 minutes!
Three….
Mark Sisson had an interesting post the other day about trying your own little self experiment.
I’m going to be trying my own little experiment the next couple of days. I’m going to prove that you don’t need to eat all those crap gels and simple carbohydrates to survive such an intense workout session.
While everyone else will be drinking Gatorade and chowing down on crap carbs, I will be eating my delicious Primal meals and snacks. Nuts, fruits, all sorts of protein and some veggies. I may even throw in some potatoes on Friday after 7 hours of spinning tomorrow. BUT we will see!
I’m betting I will feel better than everyone else…What do you think?
Also, thank you to all of those who donated! A special thanks goes out to our mystery donor who made our day today!!!
Thank you all! Wish the Man Bicep Team good luck! I hope my butt survives!!!
Strength grows from vulnerability
Sometimes it is hard for me to want to do things that I know I’m bad at.
I don’t like failing.
But if I don’t make myself vulnerable to failure, if I don’t attempt the things I’m bad at, I will never grow stronger.
It sucks, but it is the hard truth.
And I want to be strong. AND you are only as strong as your weakest point.
So I work on my weak points. Sometimes I want to cry or puke. Sometimes I just want to give up.
But every time I push through, I get stronger.
Not only do I get stronger physically, but I also get stronger mentally. I become more empowered every time I make myself vulnerable and overcome an obstacle.
I actually think sometimes we focus too much on the physical obstacle without realizing how much pushing ourselves to do something will make us grow and become empowered as a person.
And honestly, isn’t growing stronger as a person really the most important part? I mean who really cares if you lift 45lbs or 300lbs?
No one.
The point is to OVERCOME something CHALLENGING to you. The numbers don’t matter. The exercise doesn’t matter.
All the matters is that you take on the challenge and make yourself vulnerable.
That in and of itself is success.
And sometimes that success is very hard-won and comes about in a form in which you didn’t necessarily intend. But that success is strength.
You made yourself vulnerable.
You took the risk.
You got stronger.
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…
Getting our Vitamin D
It has been nice outside the past few days so Ryan and I have gone outside to workout. A great way to get our Vitamin D for the day! (More about the importance of Vitamin D later!)
Our favorite outdoor workout spot is down by the Charles River. There is a little outdoor workout area with pull up bars and places to do abs, push ups, inverted rows, plyometrics and more.
Last year we did the Murph down there.
This year our first outdoor workout was:
1 round as fast as you can:
50 Pull ups
50 Push Ups
50 Inverted Rows
50 Dips
50 Burpees
50 Sit ups
The 1.5 mile walk down to the river felt good, but the 1.5 mile walk back wasn’t near as fun. The workout was definitely a bit harder because we aren’t yet used to the heat and humidity.
What made the walk back more rewarding was a nice BBQ meal with some delicious Cider Sangria.
We grilled up some delicious Grass-fed Buffalo Flank Steak courtesy of The Meat House!
No sauce needed! Just seasoned with cumin, smoked paprika, salt and pepper!
SOOOO GOOD!
Does anyone else catch flack because of their AMBITION, COMPETITIVENESS, TENACITY or DRIVE?
Recently I’ve caught some flack from people around me because of my ambition, competitiveness, tenacity and drive.
For some reason it seems to be much more acceptable for MEN to be super driven and competitive than WOMEN.
Hehe…yes I have a weird sense of humor. We’ve established that! 😉
Usually women who are competitive and driven are called “pushy,” “bossy,” and even “bitchy.” (Sorry for the crude language!)
But it’s true. Drive and ambition aren’t necessarily seen as positive things in women.
My question is, “WHY!?!”
Why shouldn’t I want to take advantage of any opportunity I can to better myself?
Why shouldn’t I want to succeed?
Why is it that when I go after what I want with all my heart that I get condemned and told to not be so pushy?
I’m sorry but I REFUSE to apologize for my AMBITION, COMPETITIVENESS, TENACITY OR DRIVE!
If I want something, I’m going to go after it. I’m going to work hard and EARN IT.
Call me pushy, bossy or a bitch. It would deter me. And I hope all of you out there are the same way.
Has anyone else ever been condemned because of their ambition, competitiveness, tenacity or drive?
Oh and if you ever need to work out any frustration because someone puts you down because of your ambition, try this workout! 🙂
Strength:
Bench 3×10
Auxiliary Lifts:
Pull up/Burpee Pyramid
Pull ups 1-10-1 paired with Burpees 2-20-2
P.S. Man Bicep Mom – Happy Mother’s Day! I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again…YOU ARE AMAZING AND MY ROLE MODEL! Love you!
Off to Cali!
So tomorrow Ryan and I are heading off to Cali for vacation. YAY!
I’m so excited because we will be able to workout outside and may even get to go paddle boarding!
It’s sort of a tradition for us to do The Murph each time we visit.
Try it!
Paddle boarding last summer.
The Murph
For time:
Run 1 mile
You can do the exercises in any order, but all reps must be completed before running the final mile.
100 pull ups
200 push ups
300 bodyweight squats
Run 1 mile
It’s my workout and I’ll cry if I want to
I’ll be the first to admit I’m an emotional person. When I decided to do something, I commit fully. Because I invest myself so fully into things, I can get super upset at the littlest set back.
In college, I would get super upset if I couldn’t lift a weight. When trainers would tell me “you almost have it,” I would almost get more frustrated than if I wasn’t even close.
To this day, I still get frustrated when I can’t hit a PR or at least match what I did the time before.
Most of the male trainers at my gym, don’t understand the emotional investment I make. Most don’t get why a failure can cause me to cry.
He's not crying now, but he will be when that weight doesn't budge from the floor!
I’m not ashamed to admit that I cry. I have been known to cry if I can’t hit a new PR after training hard for months. I don’t half ass things. It doesn’t matter what it is – I want to do my best at it. Shoot even pool, which I suck at, I still want to win and will get mad if Ryan beats me!
I’m not saying this is the best way to behave…trust me, there are definitely some times when I wish I wouldn’t get so upset about a bad lift…BUT the point is, I’ve also accepted that this is who I am.
That’s not to say that I’m not working on things. It is much more rare now that I cry after a bad lift. I, most of the time, don’t sweat the small stuff. I remind myself that there are going to be bad days. I remind myself that while Ryan may beat me in pool, I can kick his butt in everything else. (Just kidding Ryan….sort of…)
But even though I remind myself of these things, I’m still an emotional and competitive person who WILL get upset when she doesn’t “succeed.”
Anyway, my point is, don’t be ashamed if you are an emotional person. Don’t let people make you feel bad for showing emotion when you don’t succeed.
And the truth is, if you invest yourself fully into something, there is good reason to be upset when you don’t succeed! Obviously, you don’t want to let your emotions run out of control, but the occasional cry after missing a PR is good for you!
Is it just me or does anyone else out there ever cry after not achieving one of their fitness/diet/exercise goals?
P.S. No I didn’t cry today, but trust me I can name some really great examples of times when I did. Shoot I probably even have some pictures from tennis when I would slap my thigh if I missed a shot. Not the best way to express my emotions….
Bikini Season Calls
It’s getting warmer outside and stores are advertising all the summer fashions.
You can tell people are starting to get that “get in shape for summer” itch.
Of course, do people start eating well and working out for bikini season now?
NOPE!
They wait until it’s no more than a month before they are going on vacation/wearing a swim suit/buying summer clothes to start working toward “their ultimate beach body.”
When really they need to start working toward their bikini body months in advance! I know it sucks, but guess what!?! IT’S TRUE!
I hate this crap. Really!?! Two weeks till my ultimate beach body!?! OMG!
While it is possible to drop quite a few pounds in just a month, your results won’t be as good (or as easily maintainable) as they would be if you started NOW.
Actually, I take that back. I would even recommend starting earlier than now if you want to be in tip-top shape the second the pools open Memorial Day weekend.
For one, if you are looking for great results in just a month, you are going to have to do something drastic. Drastic to me usually means UNMAINTAINABLE.
And when something is unmaintainable it means that the second people reach their goal, they will start backsliding and potentially backslide to a point that was worse than before.
They haven’t created a habit or taught themselves to live a healthy lifestyle. All they’ve done is stressed out their minds, bodies and self-control for a month.
But I’m not saying you can’t diet intensely to reach your goal. There is a difference between that drastic one month diet plan and a “cutting phase” or an intense month of dieting.
From January 1st until March 1st, I did a cutting phase. I dieted INTENSELY, but it wasn’t DRASTIC. I still gave myself cheats. AND while it wasn’t something I could maintain forever, it built a base that I could then MAINTAIN.
Also, those two months weren’t that extremely different from what I was doing previously. I didn’t go from eating fast food every day to eating an apple, oatmeal and plain chicken breast.
Yes it was a change. And no at points it wasn’t fun (especially with the low carb flu at the beginning), BUT it wasn’t a SHOCK.
I cut out indulgences and was more regimented than I would be during a maintenance phase, but again IT WASN’T DRASTIC.
It wasn’t a “depriving myself of everything that I love for a month so that I could barely stand it and couldn’t wait to binge for the next three months” diet.
It was more of an “ok I can’t have the foods I like whenever I want and I wouldn’t want to do this forever, but the slight sacrifice is worth the results” diet.
Don’t get me wrong…when you are cutting it isn’t necessarily fun and it is more intense than you would want to diet on a normal basis, but it gets you results quickly in a realistic fashion – it helps you create a base which you can then maintain!
And it isn’t a one month process. I had to spend at least two months (and I had a solid base before) to get truly great results that could be maintained
Anyway, the point of all of this is that you can’t really get the results you want in one month. Even if you reach that goal weight, I guarantee you don’t look near as good at that weight after one month of dieting as you would if you spent two or three months working to reach the same weight. And you will be way more likely to gain all the weight back after that one month crash diet than after the two or three months of cutting!
So next time you want to drop a few pounds or tone up for bikini season, don’t wait till the last minute! Actually this goes for any event that you want to look your best at!
I recommend this same thing to all of the brides I work with. Don’t decide the month before that you want toned arms in your strapless wedding dress! You should have a workout/diet program mapped out for the entire year you spend planning your wedding!
Tomorrow, I’ll post some great recipes that you can eat during a Man Bicep cutting phase (And guess what!?! Two are BLTs!)
And below is a workout you can do to help you get a great beach body!
Strength:
Deadlift 5×5
Auxiliary lift circuit:
30-25-20-15-10-5 (Complete the set number of reps for each exercise before moving to the next rep range. Ex: Do 30 reps of all exercises then 25 of all the exercises.)
RDLs (Straight leg deadlifts, Romanian Deadlifts)
Burpees (chest hits the ground)
Split Squat jumps (Lunge, jump up and switch legs..Also it is the rep number per leg..ex: 30 per leg, 25 per leg…)
Ab roller (ouchie!)
P.S. I haven’t forgotten about the foam rolling video. I apologize I haven’t gotten one up yet! It will be up by next weekend!!!!
Man Bicep 