Fuck Cardio

Hard workouts suck. There’s no two ways around that. Hard workouts make you question your life choices, lead you into thinking you would rather be doing literally ANYTHING else except for what you’re doing in that moment. Like those taxes you’ve been neglecting to file…

It’s the HIIT workout that feels like it’s never going to end. That workout where the breaks don’t seem long enough and you’re counting down the minutes until you can move on with your day. Ever wondered how long a minute can last? Go do some burpees for a minute and find out. I promise, literally everything else you ever do will feel shorter than your minute of burpees.

But hey, with no challenge, you will see NO change. That much I can promise. And I don’t promise ANYTHING to my clients. Except that. Change, transformation, getting out of the mom jeans and back into that sexy little LBD that’s been accumulating dust in the back of your closet all comes from challenging yourself. It’s in those moments of questioning, of breathlessness, of SHOWING UP that change is made. I can also promise that staying in that comfort zone you’ve created for yourself hasn’t worked, you’re not seeing any change.

There’s pride in challenging yourself though. There’s pride in being able to say “hey I did that” after a tough as nails workout. There’s a sense of accomplishment in knowing that you did the hard thing. You pushed through, you prevailed and now you know you can keep going.

Here’s the thing: I’m always proud of you and I’ve never doubted your capabilities. I have this tremendously blessed position of being able to observe you and I know you can do it. I know that change you want so badly that you can taste it isn’t actually unreasonable or outside of your grasp. You just have to WANT to get uncomfortable, you have to embrace the hard workouts, you have to be willing to take that first step.

You know that even when the workout sucks and you want to quit, no one will be able to take that feeling of accomplishment once it’s over away from you. You can totally own your success as much as you can own your failure, so take your hard workouts one at a time. Take the challenges one at a time, and then over time you’ll notice, it gets easier.

Mental Fitness

I didn’t always approach my fitness as a means to grow mentally stronger. Fitness for me initially was a means to get past trauma. Be it the trauma from my foot, the trauma from delivery, the trauma of injury…it was always my way to push past something negative so I could regain my strength.

Working out is the place where I can focus my emotions and tune out the rest of the world. Let’s be honest, sometimes all that noise can be overwhelming AF, and deserves to be pushed into a corner so you can focus on YOU.

However my journey with my strength continued and the injuries became a thing of the past, I began to use my workouts as a way to push my own boundaries. I adapted with my strength as my body adapted to being strong.

I figured that no little hour long (or whatever) workout was going to own me, so I might as well see what I can do. Like a scientist in a lab, I started pushing my boundaries so I could see where my strength truly rested. Sometimes I succeeded and felt like a freaking olympian. Sometimes I failed. Even in those moments of failure, I took it as an opportunity to see where my starting point was and what I needed to do to get to the next point.

I began to push my boundaries. In part because I know my workouts are a safe space TO push my boundaries and in part because I was curious about my own strength. 

Mostly, I pushed my boundaries so I would know on an intrinsic level that I am not limited by my boundaries. I know that I can continue to expand the limits of those boundaries, I can push the edges until I am eventually where I want to be.

I also know that if I can push my own limits, I can move mountains for everyone around me. If I can show up for myself, show myself how resilient and mentally fit I am, then everyone around me will benefit because I’ll be able to show up in a bigger way.

So don’t stress about the workout not being cute or comfortable. Don’t stress if a complicated exercise gets the best of you this time, don’t stress if your workout leaves you feeling occasionally frustrated. You’re growing, you’re changing and you’re getting stronger, and as you adapt and change, so will your fitness.

You Can't Expect Me to Remember a Workout When I'm This Tired

I’ve never been as tired as when I first became a mom. This is coming from someone who was training to be in the military, and those training experiences look like child’s play in comparison to the fourth trimester. Like seriously, I remember being up for DAYS on Army training exercises, but giving birth and then the first few months that followed sucked WAY more. That kind of exhaustion is completely indescribable unless you’ve experienced it yourself. Even then it’s that nod of acknowledgement because I still can’t find the words. 

I remember turning around and going back home one day because I forgot to brush my teeth. That kind of tired. 

So I don’t even know how you can live in that space of exhaustion and be expected to remember a workout, much less be motivated to workout in the first place. Hard pass. 

But yet, if you want that baby weight to come off you have to do more than just breastfeed. You have to eat well and you have to move your body. It doesn’t have to be crazy, it doesn’t have to be aggressive, no one’s going to give you a medal for going bat shit crazy on the workouts but you have to do something. 

My 3 Tips for Post Baby Workout Plans:

1. I wrote down my workouts. Like in my planner every single week down to the hour I could work out. And then I scheduled a back up time with a potential back up workout in case my first plan fell through. Writing it down meant I knew what I was supposed to do and it wouldn’t get lost in my mom brain fog.

2. I walked Sully. He hated it, it’s not my favorite thing BUT it meant I was getting fresh air, moving my body and doing something in case #1 didn’t work out. And it was the easiest thing to do that included Grace. Plus the low impact aspect of walking meant I could do it after I got cleared to workout by my doctor but while I was still building up my strength.

3. I asked for help so I could workout. I asked people to come over and watch Grace so I could get a workout in. Granted this wasn’t a regular request, but it was a nice option to have every once in awhile so I could get my workout done and have a second to myself.