Yes, well, you did read that title right! I want to share with you today someone I've recently subscribed to on YouTube. I'd actually done one of his videos a long time ago, but wasn't hooked. It was a 20 minute jump rope video and it just wasn't my fav. I realize it's confusing to start a post about something I love by saying I didn't like it! But seriously, doesn't that happen?! You really are unsure (or strait up hate/dislike) something, and then you just give it a solid effort and then you realize how much you enjoy it!? Maybe it's just me, but it happens all the time! Anyway, while looking on YouTube for a workout video, one of the other channels I subscribe to, BeFit, had a bunch of videos featuring this guy from the jump rope video. I was looking for a quick and hard workout, so I thought I'd give him a try again. Well, turns out he's the freakin' best. Ok, I'll admit calling someone "the best" is pretty relative, but take my word for it - if you're looking for a workout to seriously kick your butt, and have a laugh, and feel like you're working out with your friend who happens to swear like a sailor, you will LOVE Mike! Mike Donavanik is his name, and his shirt status in the intros to a lot of his workous? Non-exsistent. Why does this matter? It doesn't. Except when your 8 year old daughter asks if he's wearing clothes at all and you need to explain he is....or you hope he is....but you can definitely reassure her that he wears clothes during the workout. I wanetd to narrow down the videos and show you my favourite today, but basically ALL of his videos are my favourite! He works you hard (especially if you try to keep pace with him!), and if you're slightly ADD when it comes to working out (like I am), you'll appreciate that he rarely repeats moves. I mean, yes, he does some times, but it's not the kind of workout where you do 4 moves, and then repeat that circuit of 4 moves 5 times! That makes my brain so upset! I like to kick-ass in a move and know that I won't have to do it again! Anyway, here's one of my favourites! He even has his shirt on in the intro! : ) One of my favourite things about Mike's videos is seeing how hard he's working, and how difficult it is for him (even though he's super fit) and feeling like you're not alone in your torrent of sweat dripping down your face! I hate feeling like I'm working SO HARD at a workout, and the pretty person leading the workout is still fresh and happy looking! I'm freakin' dying and they're just have beautiful rosy cheeks and are still smiling! With Mike you'll get someone leading you through a workout who is super sweaty, swears, and make crazy faces. I can relate to that!!! Since the spring I've been struggling with getting back into better shape. The spring was very stressful for me, and I didn't workout as often or as hard as I wanted to, and my eating habits were getting pretty derailed. So, the end of the summer and early fall I really buckled down and started eating better and trying to workout harder and smarter....but it seemed like nothing was changing. I realized that my workouts, although they were tough, were not kicking me into gear like I needed them to. They were difficult, but not the leave me with a purple face, sweat everywhere, and a serious jello legs kind of difficult. I think when working out we know if we're giving our all, or just trying to do it so we can say we did. And that's what I was doing. I was doing good workouts, but not really pushing myself hard enough. Then I started these workouts with Mike at the end of October, and I'm down 2 inches on my wasit, an inch on each leg, down 5lbs in total weight, my arms are getting definition again, and my stomach is getting flatter again. And I wore a pair of jeans. On purpose. : ) If you know me you know that I basically only ever wear leggings. I wear them because they're cozy, they go well with all my whacko sweaters I own, and they are forgiving for when the waist is growing or shrinking! But, I wore jeans. And they fit great! They'd been hiding in my pant drawer since last winter, and I had tried to wear them once just before summer...and it was a little upsetting how they didn't fit well at all! So, to wear my fav jeans again, and feel comfortable in them was amazing! I literally put them on, and proclaimed, "I LOVE Mike!". My adoring husband just rolled his eyes at me. : ) This past weekend was my husbands work Christmas party. I had kinda sorta wanted to get a new dress for it, but I hate shopping. Seriously hate it. Anyway, after we spent many hours at the mall with me going "bleh", "meh", and "yuk!" to many dresses I finally found one I liked. I grabbed the size I thought I needed and headed to the changeroom to try it on, but ended up needing a store employee to bring me one 2 sizes smaller to try on instead! That's me wearing the dress in the photos above!
So, Mike, thanks for the new motivation, the new found love of working out, and for the new dress, 2 sizes smaller than I thought I would have been wearing! If you want to try some new workouts, head over to Mike's YouTube channel (MikeDFitness), and give them a whirl. Seriously, just doing one of his 10 minute workouts will leave you feeling whipped! Can I also say though that my version of being fit doesn't have to be (and shouldn't be) your version. In October, while a friend was visiting, I told her I'd put on 15-lbs and had lost a lot of muscle and muscle definition during the spring and summer, and she was like, "what? For real? You weigh 15-lbs more than before?". She's not the kind of person to be nice just for the sake of it, and it reminded me that I am my biggest critic, and I need to be kinder to myself. For me though, I only care moderately what other people think of me and how I look. What I care about more is how I feel in my body, my clothes and how healthy I feel (getting good sleep, having lots of energy, stable moods, etc.). So, that's it! I hope you check out Mike's videos, and I hope you had a good weekend and have a great week!
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Hello! How was the weekend? Ours was fun & busy! After a very exciting soccer game on Friday (in which my dear wee Keziah scored her first goal!), we had some neighbours over for a campfire. Saturday we drove to visit friends in Haliburton. We don't get to see these friends nearly enough, so it was really good to catch up a little. Oh, some of that catching up happened at the hospital though, as the same dear wee Keziah attempted a back flip on a trampoline and may have fractured her elbow....whomp whomp. The results from the x-rays that night weren't conclusive (as can often be the case for kids and fractures), so yesterday we made another trip to a different hospital to see if we could get some answers. Well, we couldn't get any more answers, but the Dr.'s said based on her pain and mobility issues, they'd rather put a cast on it and play it safe. Although this really sucks for Keziah as far as cartwheels, monkey bars and general 6 year old shinanigans are concerned, I feel better knowing the arm is safe and healing, from whatever inconclusive thing happened! And she's a trooper though - she's had some teary moments wondering about whether she could go swimming or not, but other than that, she's admirably optimistic. Last night she went to soccer, and wanted to be in uniform to be supportive of the team, but because there was a storm warning, a lot of the kids on the team didn't show. So, she gladly stepped in (with me hovering like a helicopter parent in case she fell onto her arm!), and got her second ever goal! She was proud of herself! I was proud too - nothing's keeping that girl down! Anywho, back to Sunday - after leaving our friends house bright and early we drove 2 hours to Belleville because my hubby was playing drums for the music team, and I was teaching Sunday School. Then, in the evening we all went to the cast party for The Music Man. The show turned out beautifully, and I am proud (so proud) of that hard working cast of 40 people (and understudies who had to step in with literally 10 minutes notice!!!), and we had a wonderful time eating, drinking, and chatting with the cast and crew. So, that's it. Re-cap complete! Today I want to share with you a fun, really different, and ironically hilarious workout I've discovered. Now, I am a dancer, but I would not consider myself to be a good hip-hop dancer. I've taken hip-hop, I've choreographed hip-hop, but my kind of hip-hop is old school. I would describe my hip-hop style as "clean". Hip-hop now is a little sexier than I can manage, but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying the workouts I've found from The Fitness Marshall. He choreographs simple hip-hop routines to popular songs as workouts. Remember I said "ironically hilarious"? It's because these routines are the "new" kind of hip-hop (read: sexy), and as already mentioned, I'm not qualified for that kind of dancing! So, when I do these, I sweat, but I also laugh a lot at how bad I am at the dances! : ) Remember though, laughter is great for your health, so I consider it a double-whammy. On his YouTube channel he even has a "sweat set" that changes every week and consists of (usually) 12 videos equalling 35-40 minutes of dancing. I was reluctant to try these at first because of my "old school" hip-hop dancing skills, but I find that these workouts get me moving in new ways, I really have to pay attention to the routine (instead of just mindlessly working out, which can happen sometimes), and the time literally flies by! And I honestly, honestly, honest-to-goodness don't know ANY of the songs (I am unapologetically out of touch with the current music scene), but that doesn't matter. I'm sure it helps because you know what's coming next in the music so you can know what's coming next in the choreo, but (let's be real) these songs aren't a freakin' concerto, they are bare bones (....a hem....boring...talentless...?), and are easy to pick-up. Seriously though, these workouts/dances are a freakin' hoot. So, check out his YouTube channel, or his website, and try to "sweat yourself sexy" as the marshall likes to say. : ) Sometimes I do a workout plan that lasts a month or more, but more often than not I end up trolling through YouTube looking for something I think looks like it'll be challenging and still fun. Well, this video met both of these requirements! Sweaty Betty (a health & fitness brand) has a Get Fit 4 Free series on their YouTube channel, and I just loved this one from Body By Simone. It was enjoyable while kicking my butt! You can't beat that! : ) Enjoy!!! xoxo Just a quick share of some of my favourite workouts! I'll start ya with a 30 minute High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workout, then let you cool down with a 15 minute yoga routine. Enjoy! Weeks 1 & 2 of my February long "Keep It Real" series we talked about "real simple" and "real food". Today let's talk about keeping health & fitness real interesting! I know grammatically the word should be "really", but I live in the sticks, and saying something like, "real interesting" isn't uncommon, and I like it! Grammar aside, let's talk about keeping things interesting in health & fitness! If there is anything I've learned on this journey through health & fitness, it's that what you eat and how you workout need to be interesting. If you do the same thing over and over and over and over and over (you get it), then you'll get bored and quit! There are often times where you naturally fall into a routine, and that sameness can be comforting. But you need to be listening to yourself. A comfortable routine can slowly turn into feeling trapped. That little voice in your head that says, "ugh....more salad....." as you're prepping your 15th salad in a row for dinner. Or that same voice that says, "I am so not looking forward to my workout today because I've done the same one for the last month...." That voice is the voice of health & fitness boredom, and that voice is not your friend!!! It's like the little angel and devil sitting on your shoulders telling you the right and wrong things to do, except one of these little creatures would be an unhealthy, sickly thing, and then there would be a healthy & happy one. Well, the "this is boring" voice is coming from the sick and unhealthy one. After thinking up this clever notion I Googled "angel and devil on shoulder", and found the images below. So much for being original! Haha...fail. One key in keeping it interesting is being willing to try new things. If you keep saying, "I only really like (fill in the blank), and so that's all you ever try, eventually you will become bored of it. If you like having a workout video, see if a friend has one too and ask if you can borrow it or swap with one you have for a time. If you need new recipes (and have the internet....which I feel I can safely assume you do because you are reading this...), then decide to look up 3 new, healthy recipes to try in the next 3 weeks. Or you can go to a local library and see what healthy recipe books or magazines they have that you can borrow to try out some new things (you may also find some workout videos there too!). So, allow me to share with you some of my favourite recipes and workouts and maybe you can add them to your life to keep things "real interesting!" Favourite Healthy RecipesGrilled Chili Lime Chicken Fajita Salad from Cafe Delites There is brown sugar in the marinade/dressing that I have omitted and the salad was still amazing! Chicken with Rosemary & Mushrooms from Paleo Foodie Kitchen Such a simple recipe, but really full of flavour! Favourite WorkoutsA 20 minute workout from POPSUGAR Fitness 10 Minute Jump Rope with Tony Horton 15 Minute Power Yoga with Yoga by Candace A great way to find variety in YouTube without feeling overwhelmed is by finding a few channels you like (the 3 above are my favourites), and then just start working through their videos, and liking (clicking the thumbs up icon) the ones you really enjoyed to have as a reference for later use. The other thing about workouts and keeping them real is to keep them challenging too. You will get bored if you consistently choose workouts that are too easy for you. Challenge yourself and your brain won't get so bored! A few other ways to keep workouts interesting is to workout with a friend. I personally prefer working out alone, but if you're more social, than maybe having a friend to workout with will give you the boost you need in your workouts. Another thing you can do is to add new music to a playlist you might use while working out. Even just adding 3 new songs can add up to 15 more minutes of music that will be keeping you moving! So my friends, don't get stuck in a rut! There is no reason to in this day and age where we have so many resources available to us! Arm yourself with new and interesting recipes and workouts so that you can succeed in being the healthiest you possible! I am not a Dr. and any advice you take from me you do on your own free will! Read my full Health & Fitness disclaimer for full details Last week while I was walking to the barn with a 20 litre bucket of water in each hand I stepped onto ice that was hiding under some snow. The ice cracked and let a bit of water out of the icy puddle that caused me to start to slip backwards. When that happened, my arms swung forward, dumping the buckets of water all over myself, and making the ice more wet (and more slippery!) so that I completely fell backwards onto my hips/sits bones, and then hitting back onto my right shoulder. I may have dropped an f-bomb too. Whomp whomp. I was little pissed, wet & cold, but more than that, I got hurt. I could instantly feel my traps (trapezius), lats (latissimus), & glutes (gluteus medius) pinching. I do not get injured easily. There are some people who seem to get an injury from everything they do, but I am not one of those people! The sum and total of my injuries (not including horseback riding related injuries!) are as follows: When I was a teenager I completely threw my back out because of a bale of hay incident (I went to pick it up thinking it would move, but it was stuck! So, the bale stayed put, and my back went rrrriiiipppppp)! I beat that in no time though. Then when I was in labour with my third child I had extreme back labour (meaning that all my contractions were felt through my abdomen, but also felt through my lower back). This resulted in slipped (herniated) disks and caused pain through my lower back and leg for more than a month. Every winter this pain would return, presumably because I was doing more sitting and was not in great shape. Since getting into shape again I haven't had any back trouble, and the only other muscles pain/injury I've sustained was when I pulled my trap hauling something very heavy out of our basement, and a knee issue (not sure where it came from). So, I'm not completely injury free, but I'm 32 and can only count on 1 hand the number of physical problems I've had (I make up for it in mental problems!! haha!). So, why would I bother talking about working out with an injury? Because it's important, and because for the injuries I have had, I am convinced that they got better faster than they might have if I hadn't known how to work out the problems! There are varying degrees of muscle injury, and It's important to know where you might be in this scale. Physiotherapy Notes puts it this way: Grade I Muscle Strain "In grade I muscle strain, the muscle or tendon is overstretched. Small tears to muscle fibers may or may not occur. You may have mild pain with or without swelling. Grade I strain is also called mild muscle strain". Grade II Muscle Strain "Also called moderate muscle strain, grade II strain occurs when the muscle or its tendon is overstretched with more of the fibers torn but not complete. Symptoms may include marked pain with swelling. The area of injury is tender. Bruising may occur if small blood vessels at the site of injury are damaged as well. Movement may be difficult because of pain". Grade III Muscle Strain "Grade III strain, or severe muscle strain, is the most serious among the three grades of muscle strains. Most of the muscle fibers are torn. In some cases, the muscle is completely torn or ruptured. Pain, swelling, tenderness, and bruising are usually present. Movement is usually difficult. Moderate and severe muscle strains should be seen by a qualified health care provider. For grade I muscle strain, simple home remedies, such as applying RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) therapy may be just enough to manage symptoms". So, you can see there are different ways the muscles can be injured. It's important to understand your body and know the difference between "pain" and "PAIN"!!! Ya know? I think you know if you're a big baby, or freakin' tough, so you need to take that into consideration and know that "pain" is fine to work through, but "PAIN" can be something serious and you should get it checked out. Also, chronic injuries can be horrible. Examples are joint injuries such as rotator cuff injury, shoulder bursitis, or tendonitis. Injuries like these need to be handled cautiously because just one wrong move and you could end up in the operating room. Be sure to take good care of a chronic injury and follow your doctor's instructions! But beyond deciding which type of injury you have, and being mindful of chronic injuries, it's important to try to figure out exactly where your injury is. Yes, you can go to see your doctor (as mentioned above, if you think it's a for real injury), but what if they can't see you for a day or two (or even longer!). You could go to your local Emergency Room or walk-in clinic.....but you may end up with a cold or flu from that visit! So, whatever you decide to do, you can also add to your own knowledge by doing some "research" (it's in quotes because I once heard of someone who called themselves a "researcher", and it.turned out they just Googled stuff all day!....geez). Anyway, when I had my slipped disks, my Dr. recommended a simple program of exercises to help stretch and strengthen the back and surrounding muscles. I also went to see a physical therapist who helped (and hurt!!!) a lot and who also recommend exercises that strengthened by back while reducing my pain. Having that injury taught me a lot about the human body and about how I can help it when it's trying to heal. Healthline.com recommends that instead of sitting around hoping the muscles will recover (which, ironically, causes the muscles & joints to become stiff), it is important to try to remain as active as possible through stretching or low-impact activities such as walking. And that's exactly what my Dr. & Physiotherapist told me to do! When I pulled my traps, I immediately went online to pinpoint which muscle I had pulled, then I looked up stretches for that particular muscle. I also started using a ball to press into and release the tight muscle (I've included a video example below)-p.s., I've seen that you can buy special balls that are attached to ropes to help with rolling out sore muscles, but they are a little costly. My cleaver parents got me a much cheaper version though--a dog toy!!! Seriously, it's the exact same thing that I had seen, but much cheaper (they found it at Dollarama!) : ) The picture of it is below! I also went online for info when my knee was giving me trouble. I also had a pre-planned & routine check-up with my Dr. while my knee was bothering me so I mentioned it and he told me to work at strengthening the muscles that surround my knee in order to give it more support. Which leads me more to the point.....how DO you workout while sustaining an injury? After you've figured out what type of injury you have, and where you have it, it's time to see which muscles are on each others team. What? Muscle teams? Yup! Ok, that is not an official term AT ALL, but I like to think of the muscle groups as teams because it helps make clear how muscle groups work together! For instance, if your shoulder is sore, you wouldn't just work on your quads because that clearly wouldn't benefit your shoulders at all! They are not on the same team! Get it?! Ok, let's re-cap & talk more about teams! How to Workout While Injured
WHAT DOES THAT SUPPORT LOOK LIKE???
I didn't want to get into a million exercises to work all those body parts because that would make this post far too long! So, if you're looking for something specific, you can look it up online, call your Dr. and see if they can give you any advice, or shoot me an e-mail and I'll see what I can do! Let's go back to my injury from last week. My workout that day consisted of lots of ab work in order to strengthen my core and assist my lower back, and a long yoga flow to help stretch out and relax the muscles in my neck and upper back. Within a few days everything was starting to feel better (well, except my butt that ended up with a huge bruise on it!!!) Haha, that made some sitting ab exercises very difficult! I just put a pillow under my butt to get around the pain! But I know that if I had gone, "oh no! I'm injured! I need to take a few days off from my workouts!" that my body would have seized up and I really would have been worse off! I want to say again that you need to know your body, know your pain tolerance, and know when you have a for real injury (like a bone sticking out because it's broken!), and go from there. I know I have a high pain tolerance, so that makes me less likely to take an injury seriously. When my back was toast after my third baby, it took a few weeks before my husband convinced me to go to see a Dr! I basically couldn't walk, I couldn't sit for long, I couldn't lie down for long. I sometimes would sit quietly crying while nursing because the pain was so bad, but I'd still say, "it's not that bad, it'll be fine!". I was taking a constant stream of pain killers, was rubbing an insane amount of Rub A535 (a muscle relaxant heat cream) onto my back, was using a heating pad on my back any time I was sitting or lying down, and could still barely move! My husband was right, I needed to see a doctor!!! But then there's those little pinches that you know are minor, or achy muscles from a previous workout that are just from lack of a proper cool-down and stretch session. It's important to work through some soreness (like from a previous workout), but not to work through nearly debilitating pain! I'm having a hard time summing up my thoughts! Let's do more point form!!!
I think that's all! So, I hope you found this info helpful today! Writing (and talking) about health & fitness is a passion of mine, but I need to rant again about how I am in no way shape or form a medical professional! I am an average woman with life experiences who wants to share those experiences with others! So, take my words as you will, remembering that I am not intending to replace your doctor or anything he or she tells you! But, on that note.....doctors don't know everything (gasp!), and you need to trust yourself, and get a second (or third) opinion on things if you're unsure about anything. Ok? Ok! I bid you farewell! Hello! How was the weekend for all? I feel like mine was a blur actually....Saturday I embarked on a shopping adventure never to be rivalled by anyone anywhere ever for all of time!!! Hahaha....ok, perhaps I am being just a teeeeny weeeeeny bit overly dramatic, but it went something like this (let your mind play some dream sequence music here).... 'Twas just this past Saturday..... I nominated myself to buy gifts for 19 children in our family, to make things simpler for one and all (I am NOT included in the one and all!) and so I drive into the big city and decide my first stop will be the mall (What? The mall!?! Who does that on the 2nd last shopping Saturday of the Christmas season!?! It's me. I do. Because I'm a big dumb dumb). Not only did I go to the mall, but I went to Toys R Us! (I know, I'm a psycho!) I walk into a store that seems more like a mad-house for crazy (and angry) people, and realize quickly that my heart is racing, I'm sweating, I'm smiling at strangers who are thinking I"M the mental one, and are therefore not smiling back at me, and I think I'm about to go into cardiac arrest! So, I left Toys R Us! I semi-ran out of there, actually.....I was there for about 20 minutes and knew that A:the empty and/or wildly messy shelves were not going to yield anything worth looking for, and B: that everything seemed just a little more expensive than usual....? Do they put the prices up knowing crazy people will do anything to get that exact thing their child wanted? Golly gee. So, I left the loonie-bin and decided I would go to Party City (never been? It's puuuurdy much my fav place! You can shop it online too, fyi!) It is full to the roof of every party thing imaginable, including party favours, games and toys, candy (sooooo much candy!!!), and really helpful staff (at least here at the Belleville location). 2 1/2 hours later.....I emerge, exhausted, triumphant, carrying many large bags bursting with childhood glee (overly dramatic again? Sorry). I wasn't actually completely finished, and headed over to Michaels Arts & Crafts store for a few more items, then (after I went to the Theatre for a 2 hour production meeting for the upcoming musical!!!) I headed to Wal-Mart for my last few things I needed to find! I realized at some point I was talking out loud to myself about toys I was looking at, laughing out loud at someone who made an announcement on the p.a. system who sounded like Pee-wee Herman, and then I opened a bag of chocolate covered ju-jubes and started eating them as I finished up (yes, I paid for them!). I believe I was at the end of my "normal"! I spent about 40 minutes in Wal-Mart, and then I was finally, finally finished with the day of craziness! ....until I got home and had to unload all the loot and sort & organize it and make sure I had gotten a fair amount of this and that for each child/age group, etc..... The End. Yes, I know it doesn't have that usual feel a classic Christmas story should have, but I think it's awesome. I shall tell the story for years to come to my children, and my children's children, gathered around the fireplace each wintry Christmas eve..... : ) Let's move on, shaaaall we!?! I wanted to chat today about High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). It is my favourite type of exercise because it gets a lot done in a short amount of time! HIIT is a method of exercise where you alternate between high intensity, aerobic exercises and low-intensity, recovery exercises. I didn't know about "HIIT" until March 2014, but I had done it in the past, just by a different name. Someone had mentioned to me that their doctor had recommend they try "bursting" exercises instead of the usual 20 minute stationary bike ride. The Dr. told my friend that they should try 1 minute of intense, full speed stationary bike riding, then followed by 1 minute of ab crunches, pushups, holding a plank, and any other strength building exercise that she could "recover" in. I thought this method was interesting, but didn't put it into practice until the summer of 2010 when I was in need of shedding some pregnancy weight I was lugging around. We were staying in a very small cottage for about 16 weeks, and the space I had to work in was very small, but I figured I could do 10 minutes a day, and that would be a great start to feeling better and loosing some weight. Well, I was literally shocked at the way it started to change my body! My initial "bursts" were really basic (I had very limited internet access and so I just wrote out a list of ten exercises I could do and had a timer going on the computer to help), but this "bursting" thing was really effective! What makes "bursting" or HIIT so effective? According to the Daily Burn, "this type of training gets and keeps your heart rate up and burns more fat in less time. “A high-intensity workout increases the body’s need for oxygen during the effort and creates an oxygen shortage, causing your body to ask for more oxygen during recovery,” says Eric Salvador, NASM, NSCA, head instructor at The Fhitting Room in New York City. “This afterburn effect is referred to as Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) and is the reason why intense exercise will help burn more fat and calories than regular aerobic and steady-state workouts.” Other reasons for HIIT being so effective (and popular) are that it increases your metabolism, it's convenient and can be as long or short as you want, and you can do it without any equipment! This article at Simply Shredded talks about many of the pros and medical studies done on the benefits of HIIT. The truth is, I don't really like running. I don't like hour-long cardio sessions. I like biking....but I don't own a bike. I don't live close to a pool, and I sure don't live close to a gym, and I couldn't afford it even if there was one right next door! HIIT is an amazing fitness solution for a lot of people. If you're older, out of shape, new to exercise, short on time, have no equipment, you can make this work for you. And why not? Why not trying to give yourself your best health you can? I'm not getting paid to sell anything here friends, I just cannot share enough about HIIT training! : ) The last year or so I have loved adding jump-rope to my training. I works a lot of muscles and gets you red-faced and out of breath quick! Anywho, let me share with you some videos that I enjoy.... Below is a 10 minute, full body HIIT workout from Class FitSugar (of POPSUGAR Fitness) that I enjoy! Next up is a 10 minute jump rope & ab HIIT that has you alternating between jumping rope, then doing a plank variation. This woman (Sara) is a little weird, funny, rude, but I really like this video. And, of course, I always like having a non-internet reliant idea for a workout, so I like to use my "Do Anywhere" 10 minute HIIT. So, thoughts, ideas, failures, successes you want to share, please do! Please do say hello and let me know if you've tried HIIT, or if you want to! I hope that this brief info about High Intensity Interval Training gave you some new ideas about fitness and working out. Put away the dated notion of endless cardio with little to no results! Embrace short bursts of really hard work with really big results! Imagine me now, standing on my soap box at the corner saying all of this to you in a big, dramatic, using lots of hand gestures kind of way! : ) xo P.S. I need to remind ya'll that I am not a health care practitioner, and my opinions are my own. If you decide to try something I recommend or talk about, you do so at your own risk. You can read my full Health & Fitness Disclaimer here.
Picture this, me, about 10 years ago, a young, fresh faced lamb. I try yoga for the first time ever.....and I hate it with every fibre of my being!!! The teacher, although well intentioned, and well educated at being a yogi hadn't really prepared us for her style of yoga. The slow, boring, "are we done yet?" kind of yoga. I was trying it at a gym I was part of, and I'm sure the classes listed didn't include "bored-out-of-your-mind-yoga", 'cause if it did, I wouldn't have attended! I think it just said "yoga with so&so", and I feel like my sister or my Mom wanted to do it, so we all did it. Hooray for peer pressure!! So, needless to say, I didn't enjoy that experience too much. I do know I laughed a lot though, which is good for you! I feel like I got kicked out? I honestly can't remember...that's bad. Anyway, fast-forward to the year 2012, I'm in Anne Of Green Gables at the Theatre Guild, and the director thinks it'll be a nice way to warm up for a rehearsal by having her yoga teacher come in and give us a quick 15 minute session. It was optional, and my first reaction was, "Optional? Hazaa! Count me out!!!". But then, peer pressure......geez. So, I (very, very reluctantly!) went, and somehow, despite myself, enjoyed it. Sort of. It was quick, we held each pose for just a few breaths, the teacher was easy going and nice. It didn't convert me though, I thought, "well, I guess only most yoga is terrible, and the rest is barely tolerable". Yes, I am super optimistic! Whomp whomp. Fast forward to March 2014, I started exercising again, and really started to appreciate the value in having at least 5-10 minutes of really good stretching after a workout to help keep my muscles from getting too sore. I would usually just do some random stretches, trying to get each muscle group, then I decided to ask my personal trainer, YouTube, to find me some good cool-downs, and I found one I was happy doing most days. Then I suddenly got sick of that particular cool-down video. Seriously sick of it. Not sure what happened, but all of a sudden I found the video irritating (well, the music in the video and the girl leading the stretching). Fickle me. Moving on. So, looking up "1o minute post-workout stretches" on YouTube again brought up the video below, among many other videos, but I clicked on this particular one, I think because I liked the look of the stretch in that title shot looked amazing! I clicked on the video to watch the first few minutes, and really liked the lady (Anita Goa) who was teaching, and I liked the not too slow, not too fast pace she had, so I decided to give it a try.....and I kinda loved it. What the-?!? Well, now I'm willing to admit that I kinda love yoga. I still don't (and never will!) like the crazy slow, super spiritual yoga, that's just not me. I do love a challenge though, I love opening up parts of my body that I never even knew existed (seriously, some yoga poses make muscles I didn't even know I had work really hard!), and I love finishing a session and thinking, "I can't believe I managed to do some of those poses!" It's wonderfully fulfilling and gratifying! One thing I've learned to love about yoga the more I do it, is the idea of being forgiving to yourself (which is important in any workout!). This principle is so applicable to every area of life, and I've always struggled with it! I tend to beat myself up if I didn't get a good enough sweat on, or if my flexibility isn't as awesome as I think it should be, or if the house is super dusty, or dinner is late, or I'm staring at a basket of clean laundry that needs folding and I just don't wanna fold it..... Sometimes you just need to give yourself a break and be forgiving! Below is a 22 second time-lapse video of a 40 minute workout and yoga session I did from a few weeks ago. I often workout in the great outdoors because I love the fresh air, feeling the earth under my feet, touching the grass with my fingers (seriously, this perks my brain right up!), and filming it in time-lapse is just sort of hilarious! : ) For real, it makes my kids laugh out loud! So, I promise you that you can find some yoga you like if you actually take a look! Ok, if you already like it, I'm just preaching to the choir, but if you think the way I used to (that yoga is the absolute worst!!!), don't write it off completely! It is a fantastic stress reliever, your body starts to strengthen and gain flexibility, and (even if you have a slightly ADHD brain like I do) you'll find that you will be able to focus better. Here are my absolute favourite yogi's on YouTube that you should check out! ~Yoga By Candace- I've only done her 5, 10, 15, and 20 minute videos because my attention span (even though I now enjoy most yoga!) is still limited. Ok, I also do a 30 Minute Power Yoga of hers, and it is awesome, but I usually stick to under 30 minutes! ~ Sarah Beth Yoga- I will be honest & say I don't do all of her videos, but I do love her Power Yoga playlist, and her Yoga for Flexibility playlist. ~ Anita Goa- I generally go to this channel for her stretching & restoration yoga. Her playlist Stretch, Restore , Meditation//All Levels is generally where I'll find the videos I wanna do Oh! I also want to be sure to mention that I do not own a yoga mat! If I'm outside I'll use a towel, if I'm inside I'm on an area rug, and that works just fine! You don't need anything special to do yoga!!! In conclusion (I do love ending posts like a bad high school essay!), I hated yoga because it was boring, not challenging in the right ways (I was only challenged in that I couldn't stand it because it was boring!), boring, overly spiritual, boring, did I mention boring? Now, I love yoga because I've found a style that fits me, I can find a class length I can tolerate, it's helped with my flexibility, being aware of my breathing, being forgiving, and I really do find some challenging poses (ever tried a forearm stand? Geepers!). If you have your own yoga time-lapse video, share it with me! Or make one to share with me! P.S. "time-lapse" is an option on (most?) iPhones in your camera. There is likely something similar on other smartphones, but I couldn't tell you for sure 'cause I ain't got one. : ) xoxo Monday, Monday, Monday!!! We're off to The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair today, and we are all pretty pumped! It's an amazing event held in Toronto every winter for 10 days that can't be described fully because it would take all day!!! It's got animal shows/competitions of every kind (seriously, cow, pig, goat, sheep, duck, chicken, horse, dog, I'm sure I'm missing a bunch!), food product competitions, a zillion activities for the kids, amazing food vendors and competitions, as well as booths of things to wander through and buy! Anywho, the fair is just an 'aside' from what I want to talk about today! My "Gym"! I want to start by saying that I know some personality types feel more motivated in a real gym setting....but, I think the majority of people think they should or need to workout in a gym to get any results. I think a big part in people feeling like they are failing though is because the idea of getting to the gym, spending a good amount of time at the gym (probably 30-60 minutes at least?), then getting cleaned up and driving back to work or home or wherever you need to go, and we're looking at anywhere from 1-2 hours! Good grief, Charlie Brown! That's an overwhelming thought, and an overwhelming amount of time that most people can't afford to dish out! Then if you start lagging on gym time, you could start to feel guilty about the $$$ it cost to get this membership you never use.....and guilt sure ain't your friend when it comes to getting healthy & fit. Noooo sir. In my case though....I didn't even have the option of a gym! We live roughly 45 minutes away from the nearest gym, and we are a single vehicle family, which means I don't always have the van! I'm sure walking the 8 hours and 55 minutes into that town (I Google Mapped it out!) would be good exercise though! Also, we are a single income family, and I am too Dutch (read: too cheap!!!) to spend any amount of money on a gym membership. Needless to say, it was me, myself and I, or nothing at all! Now, I don't want anyone to think I'm gym bashing, because if you can afford the cost, the time, and some other third thing, and you want to go, then go! When I was in college I had a gym membership.....though, ironically, I would walk about 30 minutes just to get there, and then I'd get there and have no clue what to do! I'm sure I used some machines incorrectly or something, but what I really remember distinctly is hating what I looked like (so many freakin' mirrors everywhere!!!). Then, when I was newly married and newly a Mom, my sister, Mom & I would hit up our local ladies only gym. I somehow managed to go there for free for the months & months I was going....seriously, I can't remember how that happened, but I'm feeling like it was some sort of loop hole? I dunno! I liked that gym experience though, really. We would attend classes like kick boxing (that literally left me purple in the face and feeling like I would die {thanks Anja!})!, as well as knowing how to use their circuit and having my sister and Mom there to workout with made it easier to commit to it. And their cardio machines had t.v.'s you could watch, so...... But, alas, this was only to be for a time, as we moved to Bangkok, no wait, we moved to Bancroft! One lady at the gym thought I had moved to Bangkok and when she saw me for the first time visiting after we had moved she referred to me as a "world traveller", then revealed a few minutes later she thought I had moved to Bangkok, and I was too embarrassed for her to correct it!) Haha, golly gee, N-E-ways.....we moved, and I was back to no gym! So, all that to say, I've done the gym thing, it can have it's pros and cons, but sometimes (many times) it's not an option at all! If you are in the "no gym" boat, fear not! The only gym you really need, you've already got! It's you! Your body weight, your heart & mind and the desire to get healthier! So, without further ado, let me show you "Gym Me, Myself, and I" (& YouTube) : ) Now what I want to share is a favourite Monday playlist I created on YouTube! I'm sharing with you a 40 minute playlist that consists of 4 different videos (I need variety!), that are designed to get you sweaty & breathless! Ok, well, apparently I can't seem to get the playlist to load, so, for the whole playlist on my YouTube channel, click HERE! : ) 40 minutes is not always very realistic though, I know that! Look up "10 Minute (or 15, 20, whatever!) High Intensity Interval Training" on YouTube though, and you'll find a bunch to pick from! Having the internet available isn't always an option either though, so, when I'm in that situation, I'll use something like the guide I've included at the end of this post to run me through a quick workout (the one I've provided takes me about 15 minutes to do once through). This workout doesn't have to happen outdoors, by the way, so don't let that throw you! Just run fast on the spot for the "Run (fast) 30 Seconds portion" and the rest is all indoor friendly! As a parting note about what one may or may not need to workout, over the (Canadian) Thanksgiving weekend, while at my parents house I did the above workout in a space (literally!) about 4x7 ft (that's being generous), and without my workout clothes (because I had apparently forgotten them!) so I wore the cosy pants I had packed and my sons t-shirt, and a bra I wasn't going to wear that day (so I knew I could get is washed and dried before I did need it!), and I got 'er done! I have included crappy cellphone photos of this experience below! No excuses people! There is no place, no amount of time, no special clothes or equipment needed to start feeling and being better! |
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