Check Your Vibe

Working out at home is a M A J O R vibe check.

I think it’s harder than working out at a gym. 

I understand when people tell me as much as they would like to workout at home, they know they won’t be able to be consistent with an at home workout program.

They like the gym vibe, they like the routine of going to the gym, they like getting the energy from the people around them as a means of motivation for their own workout, and mostly, they like that going to the gym gets them into a different environment to workout.

I get that vibe because I’ve needed that vibe as well. I’ve belonged to numerous gyms and I know the energy you can get from just stepping into that environment. 

When I first had my daughter, that gym environment was not conducive to life as a new mom, and I needed to figure out something to make sure I was taking care of myself. We didn’t have the home environment where I would be guaranteed time to go to the gym by myself everyday, and with the constant changing of our routine due to having a newborn, even if we had that flexibility as a family, it wouldn’t have worked.

Then we went through this phase where going to a gym with a daycare was a necessity of life. I needed to have that space and time to myself where I knew I had dedicated time to workout that wouldn’t be interrupted.

Life changed again though, and soon that gym environment didn’t work for my household. The hours of the daycare at the gym didn’t work for our family, and luckily my daughter was a little older and could be more easily distracted during the workout.

But then I have to make sure I’m not getting distracted during the workout by looking at all the distractions around my house.

Because your laundry is literally staring at you from across the room whereas at the gym, you can push it out of your head. You’re not getting interrupted every 5 seconds by someone who all of a sudden needs something, even though they didn’t right before you started working out. Shoot, even seeing the dog fur float around on the floor can be a total mind game.

When you workout at home, you have to figure out how to get that energy without the gym environment, as well as how to push those distractions out of your visual and mental space so you don’t get diverted from your workout.

I know it’s possible, but I know it takes time and ultimately the intrinsic motivation to WANT to workout. I know you’re choosing this option because logistically speaking, it’s going to be easier for your life.

It takes some getting used to. Like anything else, it takes patience and practice to get used to how this new aspect of your routine will work within your life and schedule.

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Here’s my Top 3 Tips to Adjusting to At Home Workouts:

1. I did a TON of HIIT workouts 🏋️‍♀️ . They’re short and they move fast. Less transitions = less time to get distracted.

2. I put an alarm in my phone 📱 for my workout time. Like I was going to a class without leaving my house 🏠.

3. I used a heart 💜 rate monitor. I know it sounds off the wall, but the monitor gave me accountability to keep moving and not stop my workout short or half ass it.

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How Badly Do You Want the Challenge?

Training for me is badass because I get to see more than just the physical transformation of a person. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing ole hit their weight loss goals, or get their body to the point of strength and capability where they can do things they didn’t think would ever happen. It’s amazing, it creates joy in my life because I’ve empowered someone to step outside of their comfort zone and into a more authentic version of themselves. 

But that physical transformation doesn’t just happen on its own and the more rewarding transformation for me is the internal transformation. 

We live in a society that’s very aware of the power of eating healthy and moving your body, but the reality is that most people half ass that effort. They’ll come in, they’ll workout but really it’s not their best effort. They’ll eat well but fail when it comes to eating well consistently. 

I don’t need to tell you what you NEED to do, I get to hold you accountable for what you know you should be doing. 

While I’m doing that with you, I’m waiting for that moment. I see it happen, gradually at first and then completely suddenly when you go from that half ass effort to the everything you’ve got to give effort. 

That transformation...I LIVE for that shit. In that moment everything about your energy and your aura changes. The confidence you exude is palpable. I know nothing will stand in your way and nothing I give you will be too much. 

Gone are the excuses and in its place is this inherent knowledge that you’re capable and deserving of actually achieving the goals you’ve set. You want the challenge because you know it won’t actually be that hard, and you know the change will be completely worth it in the end. 

We Don't Regress

I don’t care if you become stagnant or even plateau, but your ass better not go backwards. 

Life is going to get chaotic. That’s just a reality of adulting. Whether you work outside your home or not, between managing a household, pets, a family, or whatever it is that’s a priority to you, life can be crazy. The days pass by quickly and seem to be filled with a million things that NEED to get done but might not necessarily happen. 

I know exactly what happens to you when shit hits the fan and life seems crazier than normal. The first thing to go are your workouts. You just don’t have time right? You have this activity or that activity to get to, your kids need whatever they need from you, and frankly there’s just not enough hours in the day to get it all done. So bye bye fitness. You know what goes usually right after that? Your eating. I mean you’re not working out anyways so why worry about what your shoveling in your face? Plus you’re so busy that you don’t have time to even think about it. You’re more concerned with just having something as opposed to nothing at all. 

That’s all backwards motion to me. Regression at its finest. And no one is immune from it. But we have to have better coping mechanisms than that so when you are at the point where you can get consistent in your routine again, you don’t feel like you’ve been set back so far that there’s no catching up so there’s no point in TRYING to catch up. 

Don’t throw all your hard work out the window. When life gets crazy, we have to learn how to adapt and overcome. Have a plan for your week so you don’t get caught up in the chaos. Know the days that would work for you to get a workout in. Maybe that means you don’t get your workout one day, or maybe it means the workout is modified, but compensate for that in other ways. Be mindful of what you’re eating, make the effort to prep healthy snacks so you’re not grabbing for whatever is available and be intentional with your water intake. Maybe even cut out the alcohol on the days you know you’re not going to be working out. 

It doesn’t have to be perfect, this is all a journey and walking this journey means making the necessary adjustments to ensure you can still be making progress towards your goals. 

At the end of the day, don’t give up. Don’t quit on yourself and don’t go backwards. Remind yourself that your goals are still important and still deserved, even if the day isn’t perfect. 

You Know EXACTLY What To Do

Girl, I do NOT need to tell you what to do when it comes to being a healthy mama. 

I’ve been training people for a long time and in that time I’ve seen two commonalities amongst every single person I’ve trained: I’m not dealing with weak people and I’m sure AF not dealing with dumb people. 

You’re smart Boo and you know exactly what you need to do in order to get your body back to a point where you’re happy to see yourself naked in a mirror. 

Move your body and eat well. 

I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. 

So if it’s that easy, how come we’re not all doing it? Because you have to get to the point in your life where you either get so frustrated with your status quo that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to change it, and you also have to know that you’re deserving of that change. In accordance with those feelings, you also have to know that the world isn’t going to fall apart because you take an hour to workout. 

The goals you’ve set for yourself matter and more importantly, all that shit that was on your plate before the workout will be there for you AFTER the workout. I guarantee it. So give yourself the endorphin rush to have the energy to handle the never ending To Do List. 

Then fuel your body with high quality, GOOD food most of the time. It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your glass of wine but it does mean that the majority of the time, you’re giving your body good, not processed, fresh af food. 

Maybe that means meal prepping, snack prepping, getting a meal delivery service, busting out the crockpot, or whatever works the best for your family. For all of us, the strategies that are effective are different but the intention has to be the same. 

When all else fails, get the support you need to remind you that you matter, your goals matter and you have help to grant there. 

How Do You Breathe When You Workout?

I get this question all the time, in relation to specific exercises. When am I supposed to inhale and when am I supposed to exhale?

As a trainer, I love this question. What it shows to me is a greater understanding the person working out has about the power of exercise as well as a willingness to learn about said power. It also shows me that the person is wanting to make sure that what they’re doing is effective.

Here’s your technical fancy answer: for working out you should be inhaling on the eccentric phase of the exercise and exhaling during the concentric phase of the exercise. 

I know, you’re like eccentric? What the HECK is that? The eccentric portion of an exercise is when your muscle is lengthening under load. The easiest way for me to think of this is when you straighten out your arm in a bicep curl. That’s when you inhale. It prepares the muscle for work. Lengthening the muscle helps with muscle repair and increasing metabolic rates.

Conversely, concentric action of the muscle is when the muscle is contracted. Like the top of a bicep curl. That’s the actual work. When the muscle is shortened, it generates enough force to move an object. The concentric movement is when you exhale. Without getting too deep into the fancy science behind filaments and tendons, the exhale helps the work seem easier.

Ultimately, the breath works with the length of the muscle so you get maximum results. Really that’s what you want right? To make sure you’re getting the best results and the most effective workout in the short amount of time you have in your day TO workout. 

While all this depth of understanding is awesome, and definitely knowledge you should be aware of when you’re working out, at the end of the day, it’s not the primary focus for me. The primary focus for me is that you’re moving your body and taking time out for yourself, doing something that will more actively move you towards your goals.

It’s definitely something you should be practicing and while you need to have this awareness and be mindful of it while you’re working out, if it’s not being used with every single rep of every single exercise, it’s not the end of the world. Just make sure you’re breathing while you’re working out and you’re good. All those details will come with time and practice. 

Grab Your Dumbbells!

All you need are some weights for these time efficient workouts that are sure to make you sweat!

I Turned My Pain Into Power

When I first got hurt, I didn’t think that my story was interesting or really even dramatic. It wasn’t until more people asked and I shared more that I realized my story was a little dramatic. I guess that makes sense. Not walking for a year is definitely not something that happens to every person.

In hindsight, it’s not even the injury itself that makes the situation dramatic. For most people, it’s seeing how I walk, workout, live my life in general and then finding out this traumatic event happened to me that’s dramatic. Because they can’t tell by looking at me that anything significant has happened to my body, that I had this life altering thing happen, or that I overcame such a major, well…THING.

Unbeknownst to them, that was my goal. I was YOUNG when I got hurt, and I knew that the life ahead of me would be (hopefully) long and fantastic. But I also knew that I didn’t want to be treated any differently than anyone else around me. I didn’t want the stares I received when I was in a wheelchair with metal sticking out of my foot, I didn’t want the special treatment I received when I couldn’t walk, I just wanted to be like everyone else.

So I took all the pain I experienced both physically and emotionally, and I reverse engineered it to make me stronger. I knew that pain could derail me, bring me down, it could ruin my whole life, or it could become my source of power. It could show me how strong and capable I am, how resilient I am, and how I have an amazing support system around me that builds me up when I can’t hold myself up.

I tell my classes every time the work gets hard to remind themselves that they’ve made it through 100% of their bad days, so they can do whatever it is that I’m asking them to do. I tell them that because I tell myself that when the work gets hard. If I can get through that pain and anguish, I can do just about anything and be grateful for the opportunity to be ABLE to do it.

Make Discomfort Your Ally

The day you discover discomfort is your ally, your life will change. 

Working out sucks. Be honest. If working out was easy, or comfortable, everyone would do it. In reality, working out is NOT cute. The visceral effect of working out, that sweating, heart pounding, lungs burning feeling, is not ideal. At least not to most people. 

So now you’re in this tough catch-22 because you KNOW you need to workout. That’s how you’re going to reach your goal right? Working out and eating well. But then you have to get over what you know is going to be an uncomfortable and occasionally painful experience.

I would argue that you’ve been in uncomfortable situations before and gotten through it so there’s no reason why a little workout should scare you. Granted those past experiences might not have in a gym, but maybe they were at your work, with your family or with a friend. 

If you can get through those things, and do it well, you can get though the workout. Hell maybe that’s even a good catch-22 to get yourself in. Intentionally making yourself feel uncomfortable in a safe setting, seeing how you handle it so you can figure out how to handle it more effectively. Or just make the uncomfortable feeling not so foreign.

That’s what getting uncomfortable does to you. It makes you expand the limitations you’ve put on yourself by learning in a practical setting how strong you actually are and by doing so, you create change.