STORY TIME
Create Your Own Change
Don’t get me wrong, you might push yourself for like a month, but then the excuses will start getting the best of you, and you’ll fall off of your own priority list.
Muscles in action leads to change.
It really is that simple and yet it is that hard.
If you want your workouts to change YOU, then it’s up to YOU to take action and make it happen.
At the end of the day, no one can do this work for you. No one is going to create the change you want to see except you, and it’s up to you to prioritize creating change.
Basically, it’s up to you to prioritize yourself.
That’s where we ultimately fail.
Don’t get me wrong, you might push yourself for like a month, but then the excuses will start getting the best of you, and you’ll fall off of your own priority list.
When you feel yourself falling lower and lower on your own To Do List, instead of just giving up, get creative with your workouts. Plan shorter, more efficient workouts so you know you’re still moving and still making yourself a priority.
Grab the workout below to get you started!
Save this Tabata Set
12 rounds
Alternate exercises on each round
Crunches
Russian twists
Plank hold
How to Build Consistency
Not by focusing on the end. Not by focusing on the big picture. By focusing on the small steps you’re taking every single day to establish a habit that will get you the results you want.
That is how you build a consistent workout routine:
One at a time.
One set at a time one interval at a time.
One workout at a time.
One day at a time.
Not by focusing on the end. Not by focusing on the big picture. By focusing on the small steps you’re taking every single day to establish a habit that will get you the results you want.
We can’t get caught up in the end goal.
When you get caught up in what you want to have happen, you’ll ultimately end up disappointed in however the work goes which makes you less likely to show up the next day.
This is the biggest struggle I see with my clients: consistency.
We focus so much on this end goal that we’ve created for ourselves that we don’t focus on the present work.
We have to focus on the work we’re stepping into instead of what we want the work to lead to at the end.
Because that end goal is ultimately only as good as we can hold on to it after we reach it.
You Can Do Hard Sh!t
We don’t do that for ourselves. We immediately think “nope that’s crazy” or “there’s NO way I could do that”.
Have the audacity to imagine yourself doing it.
I told my class today that as soon as you say “I can’t”, your body won’t let you.
It’ll become too hard, too much, and you’ll quit.
Think about it: we are the first ones who doubt our capabilities. If you told your best friend about what you were trying to do, they would NEVER say you couldn’t do it. They would say “Hell ya girl! Get it” and be right there cheering you on.
We don’t do that for ourselves. We immediately think “nope that’s crazy” or “there’s NO way I could do that”.
Instead of automatically doubting yourself, switch your approach.
Here’s my Top 3 Tips to Executing a Hard Exercise:
Break it down. Most complicated and complex exercises have foundational movements that build into something more difficult. Take it back a notch and practice those foundational movements.
Check your form. If you’re feeling the work in the incorrect muscles, it’s going to feel harder than necessary. Listen to your body to make sure the work is in the correct muscle groups.
Be patient. Learning something new takes time. It takes practice. Cut yourself some slack, you’ll get there. Just keep showing up.
Grab This Circuit Workout
Give yourself time with this workout if you do it as written. It’s a little longer and will take you a hot second.
Check this workout out. But make sure as you’re looking through it that you’re grabbing all the tips so you know you’re getting the most out of the work you’re putting in.
Give yourself time with this workout if you do it as written. It’s a little longer and will take you a hot second.
Like all my other workouts, it has those versatile aspects just in case you don’t have the time to do the workout as written.
If you can do it as written, go for it.
If you don’t have the time here’s what you do:
Take one (or two) of the circuits.
When you get to the work portion, do 3 rounds instead of one
Pro Tip: Mix and match the runs and the plank holds.
Running not your thing? Do the plank holds instead!
Circuit 1
400m run or 1 minute plank hold
15 swings
10 high pulls
10 renegade rows
10 deadlifts
15 swings
400 m run or 1 minute plank hold
Rest 1 minute
Circuit 2
400m run or 1 minute plank hold
15 swings
15 push press
10 push ups
10 squats
15 swings
400m run or 1 minute plank hold
Rest 1 minute
Circuit 3
400m run or 1 minute plank hold
15 swings
15 sumo deadlift
10 tricep presses
10 alternating lateral lunges
15 swings
400m run or 1 minute plank hold
What Does This Mean to You?
Your workouts give you the opportunity to catch your breath from the chaos that surrounds you, and from the stress of your day. It also gives you the chance to remind yourself that you are strong, you are capable and you are a badass (with a good ass).
If working out isn’t selfish, then what is it?
We’ve all been on this train for the past few years of “self-care isn’t selfish”. I remember when this movement started. I think I remember it because I was on that train as the freaking conductor well before it even started.
I used to tell clients the importance of making time for your health. Not just so you could look good naked with the lights on (to yourself) but so you could serve those around you from a more authentic place.
Your workouts give you the opportunity to catch your breath from the chaos that surrounds you, and from the stress of your day. It also gives you the chance to remind yourself that you are strong, you are capable and you are a badass (with a good ass).
Now we’ve all come to understand the importance of taking care of yourself and how that care trickles into every other part of your life. We have the sweatshirts that say “self-care is the best care” or whatever. Even if we aren’t the best on implementing consistent self-care, we at least understand the importance of taking care of ourselves.
But if working out isn’t an act of selfishness, then what is it to you?
For me, it’s my sanity saver. Sure working out keeps me strong and serves a professional purpose. Obviously right? I train people how to workout, so really I have to be able to do the things I’m teaching and that only comes with practice.
But a hard workout completely diverts my focus. A hard EMOM means I’m only thinking about what I’m currently doing. I’m not thinking about all the stuff that needs to get handled in that day or the laundry or the dog, or the grocery list.
It’s my time. It’s my time ALONE. No one can help me on it, no one can do it for me, and there’s no way past it except to go straight through it.
It’s sacred to me.
Gimme 2 Minutes
I train a LOT of different types of people. From athletes, to adolescents, to stay at home parents, and basically everyone in between. Everyone has different goals, everyone has different things that propel them in their fitness journey, but their potential for success ALL looks the same.
I can tell right off the bat if someone will be successful in their fitness journey. Crazy huh? But really I can tell. Want to know how I can tell?
I train a LOT of different types of people. From athletes, to adolescents, to stay at home parents, and basically everyone in between. Everyone has different goals, everyone has different things that propel them in their fitness journey, but their potential for success ALL looks the same.
You want it so badly you can TASTE it. You want it so badly that nothing else in the world matters. You want it more than anything else.
At the end of the day, that’s what makes the biggest difference. I can’t want this for you. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I do want this for you, but you have to want it more. You have to want it arguably more than you want air.
You carry yourself differently and speak differently as a result. Not just in private coaching sessions but also in your workout.
It does not mean that this process comes easily nor does it mean that you don’t have aspects of it that challenge you.
It just means that the part of your brain that is telling you to JUST GO AND DO THE DAMN THING has taken over. Which means that all those excuses that used to hold you back are not as important anymore.
Here’s the thing: I also know that by the time you actually stop lurking on my IG, stop clicking the coaching link, STOP FREAKING TOE DIPPING and do the damn thing, you do want it more than air. By that point, you’re so sick and tired (ready for my cliche?) of being sick and tired, that you don’t give af about anything else. You’re in it to win it because you know how much the alternative SUCKS and you’re over the alternative. You’ve lived the alternative long enough and it’s past time for a change.
Maybe you don’t know how to get there, maybe you’re intimidated to take the first step, maybe the prospect of change is scary but you know it’s needed. Change goes from being a pipe dream to a necessity and when you hit that point, that’s when you find me.
Once you reach that point, anything I tell you need to do, any change I suggest you make, won’t feel like a sacrifice. You won’t feel like I’m inconveniencing you to incorporate healthy habits into your life. The excuses you once gave without a second thought will fall away.
Then all of those healthy habits won’t seem so extreme, they’ll be easy and you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
Have Kids They Say...
Change comes from challenge but the challenge needs to be realistic. You have to meet your body where it’s at, without judgment or criticism, in order to push yourself to get the change.
I was never the mom who wore the destruction of my body from having a baby as a badge of honor.
Labor is hard. Even when it goes smoothly, the transition into parenthood is like being initiated into a thunder dome. It tries even the strongest of people and it’s something no one else can understand unless they’ve been through it themselves.
I remember prior to having my daughter, telling my husband that even on the toughest days, I was going to shower. I wasn’t going to be one of those new moms who went days without brushing her teeth or taking a shower or changing my undies.
Even if I had no time for the kind of selfceare I would want to have, I would have time for something small like a shower.
I didn’t want what happened during labor, how quickly it spiraled out of control and how difficult it was after to become an excuse for me.
I didn’t want the newborn phase and the pure exhaustion and elation that came with it to be an excuse to let myself go.
I knew that if I went there, it was a slippery slope for me neglecting myself, and that neglect would lead to my chronic pain kicking in.
I also knew, that for me, if I went there, I wouldn’t lose the baby weight and eventually that last 10 pounds of baby weight would just be 10 extra pounds of weight.
It wasn’t a reason for me to give up on my body or how I looked in my clothes.
It was, frankly, another injury I needed to overcome.
With love 💗 , care, and a whole lot of f-ing patience. Not just with myself, but with my new schedule of having a newborn 👶 , and with the physical capabilities OF my body.
This is what I learned through that process:
Change comes from challenge but the challenge needs to be realistic. You have to meet your body where it’s at, without judgment or criticism, in order to push yourself to get the change.
Respecting your body and honoring it will get you change. Your body will respond to that love and support.
Trying to meet an unrealistic expectation for your life, your body, or where your head’s at, is only going to end in disappointment.
I also know that figuring out how to do this for yourself is overwhelming af.
Not just because you don’t have the time to figure it out because you don’t even know where to start.
But start you MUST so you can feel better. You deserve to figure it out because you deserve to feel better and to step into your own power and strength.
Ask for help, use the resources at your disposable to get you there, and don’t forget to take a deep breath. Change is a gradual shift, but it will happen as long as you continue to take steps forward.
