STORY TIME
Get ready for Flu Season...Again 🙄
I know…that’s not what you want to hear. You think you can sweat it out but here’s the reality:
Should You Work Out If You're Sick? Listen to Your Body
The question of whether to work out while you're sick often arises, but the answer may not be what you want to hear. The truth is, it's generally best to refrain from exercising when you're unwell. While you may believe that sweating it out will help, here's the reality you need to consider:
✔️ Working out with below-the-neck symptoms could potentially worsen your symptoms or prolong your illness. It's essential to give your body the time and space it needs to recover fully.
✔️ When you exercise while battling something like the flu, you divert energy that your body requires to fight off germs, redirecting it towards your workout instead.
✔️ Listening to your body and allowing it to rest will not cause regression in the progress you've made. In fact, giving yourself the necessary time to recover will help you come back stronger than before.
We understand that the current season of sickness may feel more intense than previous years, and it can be frustrating. However, don't hesitate to prioritize your well-being and give yourself the time you need to heal.
By allowing your body to rest and recover, you'll bounce back faster and stronger. Giving yourself permission to rest doesn't equate to regression—it's an essential part of the healing process.
So, when you're feeling under the weather, remember to listen to your body. Be kind to yourself and recognize that rest is a crucial component of your overall well-being. By taking the time you need to feel better, you'll be back on your feet in no time.
Remember, your health comes first. Take care of yourself, give yourself permission to rest, and trust that you'll emerge from this period of sickness even stronger than before.
Reframe Your Workouts
Working out can’t be a punishment or something we HAVE to do. It can’t even be that check in the box on our To Do List.
Let’s rethink how we think about working out.
I tease my clients a lot that they always act like they’re getting tortured and yet they come back ALL. THE. TIME.
Not because they necessarily love the hard work, but because they know that finish line isn’t something anyone can take from them.
Working out can’t be a punishment or something we HAVE to do. It can’t even be that check in the box on our To Do List.
It doesn’t have to be something you love either.
Maybe it’s your moment of sanity in an insane schedule, maybe it’s your moment of peace when the kiddos are pulling on every last thread of patience you have. Maybe it’s your reminder that you’re a bada$$.
Time to find that reason.
Start with the workout below!
Tabata
Switch exercises each round
12 rounds
Swings
Bent over row
Bridge hip taps
Crunches
Take What You Need
Self care is the time you deserve to have in your day to let go of whatever isn’t serving you IN that day so you can get through your day.
Take what you need from you workout today.
Workouts don’t always need to be these insane pushes that leave you feeling like you’re going to fall over when you’re done.
Sometimes your workout needs to show up for you more than you show up for it.
So you can move the stress and all the BS out of your body.
I don’t know how you slept, if your toddler had a tantrum, if work is blowing up, or if you’re just exhausted.
Please know that your workout does not always have to be what you think it should be or what you originally set out for it TO be.
It’s ok for your workout to be a way to get rid of stress, to rid yourself of the BS of the day, or to just have a minute to yourself.
Remember: self care is NOT selfish.
Self care is sacred.
Self care is the time you deserve to have in your day to let go of whatever isn’t serving you IN that day so you can get through your day.
Today’s challenge: when you start feeling guilty about taking time in your day to give to yourself, remind yourself that when you’re done, not only will you feel better but your day will feel better too.
The Power of Prehab
Realistically speaking, most of us don’t know what to do for recovery beyond just being lazy on our couch.
The more you do to recover, the more you do to prepare for your next workout.
Think of it like prehab.
Prepping your muscles for the next adventure you’re going to put them through. The better prepped they are, the harder you’re going to be able to work and see results.
I push the importance of recovery with my clients.
Realistically speaking, most of us don’t know what to do for recovery beyond just being lazy on our couch.
Things like:
Stretching
Hydrating
Low impact work
Foam rolling
All serve to get your muscles back to baseline.
There’s a dichotomy of thought around the idea of recovery:
You’re either:
✔️ fully embracing your recovery days, like a sloth, to the point where coming out of the recovery day SUCKS.
OR
✔️ you don’t see the point. At all.
Hate to break it to you B U T…your recovery matters just as much as your workouts.
Your body is working hard for you. It needs that TLC to KEEP working hard for you.
Sit in Discomfort
That’s the thing about working out: you’re not going to see change from a place of comfort. From the place of doing the same thing on repeat.
I am asking you to voluntarily sit in a space of discomfort.
Especially after the past couple years of LIVING that life, who would willing do that?
right?!!
Who in their right mind would WANT to be uncomfortable?
That’s the thing about working out: you’re not going to see change from a place of comfort. From the place of doing the same thing on repeat.
But you know that…
You also know that if you don’t step into those moments of discomfort NOTHING is going to change.
EMOM
15 minutes
Switch circuits each minute
Circuit #1:
12 tuck ups
12 toe touches
Circuit #2:
12 deadlifts
12 jump squats
Circuit #3:
12 bicep curls
12 push press
My Fave Kind of Workout
That’s the kind of accomplishment, as a trainer, I’m here for because that’s the kind of confidence that keeps you showing up.
The deceptive a$$ kicker. My favorite kind of workout.
Not that I would EVER admit that out loud.
But there’s something to be said for the workout that looks like it’ll be doable until you’re 10 reps in and feel like you might die.
Mostly because once you’re done, you feel like an absolute boss. That kind of confidence is the kind of confidence that ripples into the rest of your day.
That’s the kind of accomplishment, as a trainer, I’m here for because that’s the kind of confidence that keeps you showing up.
It’s the positive reinforcement that subconsciously lets you know that you’re capable of anything.
3 Rounds
15 reps each exercise
Reverse Lunges
Deadlifts
Sumo Squats
Lateral Lunges
The Bigger Impact of Fitness
Nothing drives me crazier than hearing a client talk about some insane 60 day program they’re going to do just to see them burn out, stop, and then lose all of their progress.
Aerobic exercise creates neuron generation which reduces the risk of dementia and increases cognitive performance.
That makes me sound fancy af.
But it’s true.
The workouts that you’re doing DO more for you than just giving you an instantaneous 6 pack. They improve the quality of your life.
That’s why your workouts can’t be a temporary solution. They have to be a part of your life. They have to grow and change with you. They need to be flexible with your crazy schedule, with your goals, and with your LIFE.
Nothing drives me crazier than hearing a client talk about some insane 60 day program they’re going to do just to see them burn out, stop, and then lose all of their progress.
That’s not the realistic approach to health and wellness.
It needs to be imperfect, it needs to be messy, and it needs to be forever changing.
Because that’s who we are. Imperfectly perfect humans who are still learning what works the best for us in ever facet of our lives.
Humans who approach working out as a permanent part of our lives even if what we did yesterday isn’t the same as what we do tomorrow.
Humans who give ourselves grace and patience to show up for ourselves in the midst of all the other demands of our time.
Humans who understand that seeking the mirror results of a workout might matter but the life long impact of moving your body and taking care of yourself matters more.
Look at You Girl
We feel like it’s the expectation that we’ll just handle everything even at the cost of our own health and wellbeing. We know that without us, the things that matter wouldn’t get handled.
Look at you.
You’re incredible.
This is your friendly reminder to NOT discount your efforts to take care of yourself.
Because I know you’re not getting reminded enough of how much your efforts count. Even when they feel too small and too insignificant for you to feel like they matter or will make a difference.
Taking time out of your day to take care of your health, to workout, to eat well and make sure everything else in your life is handled is not a small feat. It’s not something to be discounted or ignored.
More often than not, we don’t give ourselves any credit for all the things we do.
We feel like it’s the expectation that we’ll just handle everything even at the cost of our own health and wellbeing. We know that without us, the things that matter wouldn’t get handled.
So that chaos of managing our circuses becomes an expected part of life. It doesn’t mean we do it alone, but it does mean that our focus more on those things than the things we need.
It’s just our nature right? Make sure everyone else is handled before we give anything to ourselves and if we run out of hours in the day taking care of everyone else well then…oh well.
It’s the thought that “if I have enough time, I’ll take care of me” with the caveat of knowing taking care of me means everyone else is already taken care of.
When you’re being diligent about your health and mindfully planning taking care of yourself into your day, don’t discount that effort.
Don’t downplay it, don’t ignore it, and don’t think it doesn’t matter.
Even if it feels like you’re making baby steps forward, they’re still steps forward.
Get Moving, Get Motivated
Here’s the hard truth: if you were already motivated, you would ALREADY be consistent with your workouts.
Action first, motivation later.
I know…you’re thinking you need the motivation first.
Here’s the hard truth: if you were already motivated, you would ALREADY be consistent with your workouts.
Consistency is what I hear most of my clients wanting. You don’t want to fall off the bandwagon of working out anymore. You know it’s important, you know you feel better when you do it, but you can’t seem to hold a habit longer than a few months.
It’s the falling off the bandwagon that makes you lose the little motivation you had. You’re falling off that bandwagon because you’re going too crazy too fast.
Kind of like how you work an interval.
If you push to your max effort the first couple minutes in, you’ll burn out fast. You burn out, you want to quit and before you know it, you’re back at your starting point.
Except you feel way worse because hey you tried…but you failed.
When your failure isn’t because you couldn’t do it, it’s because you weren’t realistic in the first place.
Reality: every workout you get through, cute or not, reinforces that you CAN get through it and gives you the motivation to show up again.
Save this Workout
4 Rounds
10 reps each exercise
Lateral lunges
Sumo squats
Deadlifts
Circle of Trust
Think of it like this: Your body is capable of amazing and wonderful things. Your workouts are an example of those capabilities. How freaking blessed are you that your body can do this for you today? That you can move today?
Can we be in the circle of trust right now?
I’ve gotten to train a TON of people over the years. Really, I tried to count one time how many people I would see in a week and I astonished myself.
I’m not saying that for bragging rights, I’m saying it to make this point hit home even more.
I have NEVER heard SO MANY freaking people complain that they get to move. Dang. If y’all spent as much time on your workouts as you did WHINING that you get to workout…anyways, I digress.
This is something that all of my people have in common. You complain.
Let’s talk about why this hits home in a unique way for me:
You complain you don’t have time to workout and then you complain when you make the sacrifice in your day TO workout. It’s like there’s no winning. You’re stuck in the proverbial rock and hard place dilemma.
Every time YOU complain, I think about all the times I would’ve given literally anything to be able to get out of bed, get rid of my injury and workout. I know that this doesn’t apply just to me. Every time you complain, there’s someone who would willingly take your place. While giving anything to do it.
Don’t complain that you get to workout . Be thankful that you get to workout.
Think of it like this: Your body is capable of amazing and wonderful things. Your workouts are an example of those capabilities. How freaking blessed are you that your body can do this for you today? That you can move today?
I used to end my classes with: You woke up today. It’s a good day to have a good day. Go out and make it great.
Because even when the workout sucks, in the bigger picture of life, you can move and that alone is an amazing thing.
Don’t get me wrong: complain all day when the workout gets hard. The workout SHOULD get hard, you should be challenged but dang how lucky you are that you get to do it.
Don’t complain that you get to show up for yourself in the first place.
It’s an amazing thing that your body can do this for you today, that you can move, that you can show yourself your strength, AND that you can take the time out of your crazy day to do it.
Approach your workout from that place. Ya the work might be hard, but you can do it and you’re stronger for it.
