Impact

Not sure if this counts as a blog, rather just a short story about a little motivation about why I enjoy coaching kids.

I grew up playing softball, competitive travel and high school.  I was also a shy, quiet, not popular kid going through high school.  It was never on my agenda to be "cool," and I usually didn't associate with or understand why those kids made those choices.  I tell you that because my high school softball coach only saw popularity, she didn't see talent or work ethic.  I did not like this woman (to say the least).

I recently went to a conference filled with fitness business owners. The last speaker of the conference had us punch through a board.  It was a powerful room to be in with 200 plus people yelling, getting pumped up, and then succeeding as we all punched through our board with our weaknesses facing us as we punched through those to our strengths.

One of the things that I had written on the board as a proud moment was "standing up to my high school coach."

My senior year I never got to play. I don't say this out of jealously, but out of true fact- all the cool popular kids got to play.  One day we were playing our in town rivals and I was excited I was finally going to get to play.  See many of the popular kids had gotten suspended from school that week which meant they weren't eligible to play, which meant, I was going to have to play because coach didn't have other options.  Sadly I got to play one or two innings is all because coach still let the popular kids play against school rules.  There's more politics to be had in there I'm sure, but the basics still speak volumes.

Another example, I finally worked up the courage to ask coach why I wasn't getting playing time after practice one day. Not only did she not let me play, she barely acknowledged me ever, so confronting her after practice was terrifying, but I did it. I honestly don't remember what she said, but it had to be something about not working hard enough.  I knew that was a lie, but I was going to prove to her I can work.  The fastest girl on the team (who's one of the fastest girls playing in our age group in the state) was doing our conditioning sprints one day in practice with only half effort because she knew she could beat everyone with no effort.  So I went all out, almost beat her (made her actually start running), came in a close second and about died because I had asthma that made it so I couldn't recover and breathe like everyone else.  With my chest burning, lungs hurting I knew I gave it my all.  Coach never acknowledged it and made us run again.  I still couldn't breathe so I knew it wasn't worth trying anymore.

There were many more moments of this defeating feeling throughout the season. This coach was terrible.  So much so, it made me want to make sure no kid I taught would feel that way.  I coached my own team for a few seasons and now coaching athletes every day for my job, I try to make sure the quiet ones in class get recognized. I do not believe in an "everyone wins" attitude, but if you are working your butt off and just tend to be a quiet kid, I'll make sure I acknowledge that and encourage bravery and self confidence.  People don't remember what you say, but they definitely remember how you made them feel.  Make sure the people you're around and influencing get positive interactions with you.  Lift people up, encourage them.  Don't just point out mistakes and problems. Be the supportive friend, impactful teacher, encouraging with tough love parent. Be the better person, take the high road.

Oh and as for my softball coach, my last words to her were in her card at the end of the season banquet, "see you later coach, I wish I could say thanks."  Don't be that coach or influencer, be the person that kids learn and grow from, they are most definitely learning and watching.

We aren't just a speed and agility gym

It's so great watching the kids attitudes change.

Watching them improve in school.  Some kids that have struggled with a class now push themselves to get good grades.  They didn't think they could get "A's" and now they come in proud saying when they do see those "A's."  Others weren't making homework a priority and now they do.  Their self confidence changes.  Some start our program walking in heads down defeated by life and school and within a few months they believe in themselves and see they can be successful.  Now they come to class, head held high, smiling and talking.  A teenager who's confident with themselves is extremely powerful and uplifting.  Kids that started our program who are not athletes and more training just to control weight and learn a healthy lifestyle, start talking about what sports they want to play.  Or on the flip side, a high level soccer player who's team is doing "other training" at their soccer practice once a week, says "I'd rather just go to TNT."

My favorite is showing them that they can do anything.  It's been no secret around TNT what my huge dreams are and what building I want to take over (it remains a secret for those not in class).  When I mentioned that I had found the building I want, one response was quickly, "so you're just going to give up on [the secret building] like that?"  They know how much I want it.  They see that it's possible.  They don't think it's crazy, they encourage it.  Tonight when I showed I didn't believe in my own plan anymore, I was quickly called out and I love it.  I want to show the kids they can do whatever they want.  That first comes by showing them that I'm not afraid to go after what I want, even when we see every day it's not possible yet, we still believe.

When the kids are training together, they get along.  Great athletes with kids that don't play sports.  They could easily create drama and throw attitudes, but it's a huge rule in our facility that we respect everyone and it shows.  Kids ask about others when they don't show to class.  I ask each of them specifics about their life so I check in on each of them, which lets everyone in the group know what's going on, what problems they're struggling with, how to make the best of some tough situations, and how to have fun.  Even on the most stressful school days, the little kids come to blow off energy and run around.  The older kids, *come in with a sigh*, but know they will have a good time so they come anyways.

Our culture is something I love to sit back and watch, it makes me so happy.  To have a class of three female high school seniors who've been training for a couple years welcome two new ten year old boys to the class with hand shakes and introductions.  This would be so uncool by an school standards, but at TNT it was normal.  Our athletes welcome in all new comers.

When a young athlete who's been training consistently over a year brings his friend to class who isn't as good yet because he is brand new.  The new kid sees his friend doing everything right and in his eyes, he's doing everything wrong.  On his third day of class he stops with tears welling up, saying "I am not good at any of these drills."  I stop class and remind him of the rules where his friend points out the number one rule on the wall "Can't is a bad word."  In TNT, "Can't" is far worse than any curse word.  We listen to clean music and gasp when a bad word sneaks out of the lyrics.  But when "Can't" gets dropped during class, everybody stops, the problem gets fixed immediately.  This makes me happier than anything.  So the new kid that said "can't" after his first try of new drills, listened to my words of encouragement and totally came back strong and walked out proud. I am so proud of the expectations that get upheld and understood by every athlete that comes through class.  I never expect perfection, I expect your best effort and your best attitude.

Yes, we sell speed and agility.  We sell fitness.  We sell a gym that caters to kids.  What do we actually get from all of that- a huge self improvement and great stories that will carry them through life.

The struggles of living the life of your dreams

The biggest problem with trying to live the life of your dreams is people will always tell you can't have it. "You can't do it, it's not possible."  It's constant.  I wanted to write this blog out of pure frustration, but have since calmed down to find a better purpose.  Twice this week I've been told I'm wrong, by people that have no idea what's going on.  The only reason I've been told that this week, is because I've actually opened up a bit about my recent actions towards reaching my dream goals. So what happens, only negativity and doubt get spread around like melted butter trying to wipe away my light and excitement.  When I can talk confidently about my answers, I can correct their hesitations, and they insist "I'm wrong, that will never work" is now a reason for me to just laugh and know I won't share anymore details with that person. I can say I have the perfect situation and people will find a way to find a negative; must find something wrong, it cannot be perfect.  They cannot simply accept what I say and respond, "cool, good for you."  I have quit talking about the goals as they are now a work in action and I don't need unwanted judgement. The dreams I've had for 12 plus years are now finally being worked out on paper in reality.  The money I write is real, no dreaming monopoly dollars anymore.  The business plan I prepare is a real plan, real research, real intent to execute with massive success.  Anyone attempting to go after a dream is actively shaking their head yes to all of the above. My story is not unique, the doubters are everywhere, ready to squash every dream.  It's usually subconscious from people.  With enough education, experience, and confidence in myself, now I can take that negativity and not let it bother me, I understand why they say that.  Until a day like today makes me so mad, it ruined my afternoon.

I am fully aware I let it ruin my afternoon.  I am in full control of my emotions. Comments can make me mad, or I can ignore them and they have no effect on me.  It takes a lot to make me mad.  Annoyed, frustrated sure, but rarely mad.  I don't like to be mad, it takes too much energy.  Today I stayed mad. What happened you wonder?  I was told my idea would fail.  Now, if you read the first paragraph this should come to no surprise as a response to my business idea.  This one was different. I'll start by saying I never once asked this person for advice... I was asked a simple question about my future gym plans in which I was cut off mid first sentence TWICE because the person asking was looking for a very specific answer.  I was trying to explain, he was only open to one option and my words weren't matching his thoughts.  In that moment, this fitness professional decided he had ALL the knowledge and I had none (even though he never really let me answer).  I got a 30+ minute lecture on why I am wrong.  When I stopped him early on to say he was wrong (politely), I was corrected and again told I would fail and I am wrong, so he continued talking (still never asked for one ounce of his advice or opinions). This person had no concept of my goals, but he thought he did.  If I was meaner I would have just said, "we're done, please leave."  I'm working on getting tougher.  I stood up for myself today as much as I could so that's progress, next step, shut up the haters and move on with my life.

Then later in the afternoon, scrolling Facebook there's an ad portraying the story of an overweight black women who is a superstar killing it in long distance races, trail runs, and all day running events.  They share the judgement she receives, the comments and looks she gets, and the harsh hatred of emails she gets. People are cruel.  People judge.  People don't show their best colors when others are doing something they want. I have had an easy path compared to so many that endure far more abuse and negativity on their quest for their dreams. Those that keep focus on their goals can shrug off the negativity and move forward. You have to have your mind right.  You have to be so true to yourself that unwanted comments do not change who you are.  Many live to please others.  There's no happiness in that because people judge everything.  Be who you want to be.  You only have to please yourself.  An afternoon of anger doesn't change anything.  It lets me be mad because I am, but I will not let it carry into tomorrow or any actions I take.  It's just an emotion.  You have to listen to those too, but on the road to happiness, stay true to yourself.  For the record, I also had one great interaction this week where we talked ideas and I was not a failure, we supported each other (so not everyone is bad, just those that don't want to understand).

Don't base happiness on your numbers

I wrote a new style of training program for myself to try over a 6 week course.  Here are those notes.

My results were both great and disappointing. When I started this program, I hadn't followed a consistent training routine in years.  I'd been doing random workouts, different strength building routines, but mostly rehab type workouts.  I've also had to be very careful with intensity because my nervous system needs many days to recover from each workout.  I didn't have much excitement to start training, but I did have a reason.  I was very motivated to accomplish a goal I've had for a couple years- a bike ride through the Colorado mountains.  I had the trip planned and knew I was not in shape to do the bike ride, or the newly added major hike.  I knew at my current fitness/health level, I could get through it, but I wanted to enjoy it; so I had 6 weeks to become the best I could be.  That's not a long time so I kept my expectations in check.

The great part about this program:

• After a couple weeks, I was excited to go to the gym, excited to be back on a routine.
• It felt good to eat healthy.  I always eat casually healthy, but it felt great to eat for a reason.  My body craved healthy fruits and vegetables.  I was eating consistently and following a plan.
• I was feeling strong again; not injured, not in pain.
• I had more energy, my mood was better, my stress went down.  I had more confidence in my abilities.
• My training routines for my clients improved because I had better focus and connection to the training process.  I had new ideas, new excitement.

As for the numbers, well, my happiness wasn't based entirely on those:

• Body fat percentage increased 2%
• Total weight increased 2.5 pounds
• Bench press 3 rep max improved slightly.  The 100 pounds I did on test day needed a spot assist every time.  On progress day, I was able to lift the 100 pounds without assistance but was unable to lift anymore than that.
• Front Squat total reps with 70 pounds increased from 17 to 25 reps.  What's better, on test day I had noted that I couldn't move 100 pounds without pain.  On progress day, I got 12 reps at 100 pounds but technique was poor and pain eventually set in... but that's huge progress in only 6 weeks!
• Single leg, leg press machine 3 rep max improved from 150 to 180 pounds.  This is my proudest measure since this is where the pain and problems would shine through. 

I wasn't able to finish the other test markers on progress day because I wasn't feeling great.  I had eaten a meal the night before that I knew would have consequences.  My neurological system was too fatigued, I was struggling to breathe and I had no energy; so instead of forcing it, I just noted how I felt and I will re-try the program another time.  My biggest problem is that my body wasn't ready for so many training days.  I trained 3 days a week.  As I've mentioned, my body needs more rest than that, so by the final week I couldn't function at a high level.  

The big takeaways- I was able to accomplish my goal of the bike ride from Breckenridge to Copper (and back to Breck), which in total was just under 40 miles and I can literally say, "uphill both ways."  The last 2-3 miles at either end of the ride were tough.  For 3 of the 6 weeks of training I couldn't get on a bike without knee pain.  Knowing the entire trip was about the bike ride, I tried to stay focused on the drills that would fix the knee.  Instead of forcing mileage training on a bike, I corrected my problem and was able to ride in the mountains without pain.

I was also able to make the Manitu Incline hike top to bottom.  Up is 0.88 miles gaining 2,000 feet of elevation.  Coming down, switchback path about 4 miles with a steep decline grade.  This was an added bonus to the trip that I'm so thrilled I did.  One of the coolest things I've done.  Loved the challenge and loved the views.  Also loved having no pain up thousands of steps and having my asthma never be a problem because I paced myself and listened to my body.

The increase in body fat % and body weight shows the poor choice of eating the night before, the fatigue the body was having (increased numbers shows overtraining on the system), and my lack of ability to do hard cardiovascular work.  I could lift but would have pain with the quick movements so I didn't get many workouts in with elevated heart rate, which is essential to changing body composition.  Lastly, this was squished into 6 weeks when it should be at least 10 - 12 weeks.  With no pressures to climb a mountain anytime soon, I'll retry this program with more flexibility.  Overall, very happy with the many short term benefits it brought.

Push yourself out of your comfort zone and great things will happen.  Your body will love you for having a consistent training program so I highly encourage you to start now!  Or, if you've been consistent, then do something new.  Change up the pace, the intensity, or try new workout skills.  I know you can do this! Go be successful!

Benefits of Balance and Stability

Neuromuscular control:  The ability for the brain and the muscles to communicate efficiently

When an athlete has good neuromuscular control, this means their muscles have proper timing, activation, control, balance and coordination.  Without proper neuromuscular control, this increases an athlete’s chance of injury and it decreases their chance to perform at a high level.

70% of ACL tears happen by non-contact situations.  This means an athlete with an ACL injury that happens without impact from another athlete, is usually performing with bio-mechanical inefficiencies (“bad technique”).

With poor movement technique, an athlete is performing thousands of repetitions incorrectly through practices and games.  With the high rate of speed games are played with, this opens the door for an athlete to get a serious injury, which most likely could have been prevented if they had better movement technique.

The body is made up of alternating stable and mobile joints.

Ankle:  mobile
Knee:  stable
Hip:  mobile
Lumbar spine: stable
Thoracic spine:  mobile
Cervical spine:  stable
Shoulder:  mobile
Elbow:  stable
Wrist:  mobile

If the ankle is stiff and the hip is tight, this creates a more mobile knee.  That’s not what you want, that creates a compensation pattern which can cause injury.  For example, if an athlete goes for a quick cut and the ankle and hip are stiff, the motion has to come from somewhere and if it comes for a mobile knee over and over again, the athlete may end up with some serious injuries.  This is why balance and stability drills need to be in every practice and workout to create good movement habits.

Stability: the ability to remain in control while in motion

This has to be taught.  It’s usually common to work speed and power all the time (because we want to be faster and stronger).  It’s actually more important for an athlete to learn how to control the body rather than learn how to accelerate.  The athlete needs to be taught and then practice over and over again, the ability to decelerate and always remain in control.

Examples of balance and stability drills:

1. Stand on one leg and pump the arms as if you are running, maintain balance.
2. Walk backwards and not zig zag all over to keep a straight line in reverse.
3. Lateral hops side to side landing on one foot and maintaining balance.
4. Stand on one leg and reach down with the opposite hand to touch the toes, try both with a straight leg like a single leg deadlift and try bending the knee like a single leg squat.  Can you touch the toe and stand back up all without touching the other foot to the ground?
5. Play catch on one leg.
6. Hop forward alternating legs but holding 5 seconds before moving to the next hop.
7. Step and balance on the coach’s call.  Athletes have to stand on one leg until coach says, “go.”

Any movements done on one leg will challenge the body to get better at balance and control.  There are endless ideas to try so be sure to add any kind of these drills into every practice, workout, and even pre-game warm ups.

I am ready to quit, but I know I can't

I'm supposed to be writing the final blog on interval training, and yet, I can't seem to focus to get it finished.  The last few weeks have been challenging.  My mood, not great.  My motivation, not there.  My stress level, maxed.  Although, stress is only perceived by how I look at the situation, so it's really self-inflicted stress.  "I want to quit" has passed through my thoughts often this pass month.  I've spent the last two Sundays lying in a hammock by the water to force myself to calm down.  I should be doing other things, I have no time to sit, I should be out being social and doing weekend things.  The first Sunday did turn into a surprisingly socially fun day, but kind words from a stranger had me in tears and I unfortunately ruined a fun day.  I realize how guarded I am when people show me affection because someone genuinely caring catches me off guard.  I beat myself up for every missed or ruined opportunity (with kind strangers or friends).  The second Sunday was a much quieter day and I was at peace and happy for the first time in a long time.  The week between those Sundays was challenging and brought on unexpected changes... but all things that I realized were meant to be, even though I didn't have all the answers yet.

This month I've questioned "why?"  Why am I still living here?  Florida was never meant to be a permanent spot, I have a Colorado heart.  Why am I working so hard?  I can't even count the number of hours I work in a week.  Why did I think my ideas would be successful? Starting a second business before the first one is fully functional seems insane.  (Is it crazy that I already know my next project too?!)  You hear about all the failure to fame, broke to millions, zero to hero stories... but the one thing they all have in common... the story is complete.  It's easier to tell the story when you can prove you've "made it" and your ideas worked.  Nobody can tell the story as it's happening because it's just complaining, and there's no lessons to be learned in that.  Well, I haven't "made it" yet and I have no proof that my ideas will work.  I do know I am stressed and feel differently than I have.  There's something different, something changing.  I want to quit, I want to lay in a hammock all day with no responsibilities, I want to escape to the mountains and ride my bike all day.  I guess I just need a vacation; which luckily is only a few weeks away.



What would be lost if I quit?  That whole pile of diamonds would be gone.  I know I can't see how many more hits I have to take before I see a diamond, but I do know quitting is not an option.  It's only failure if you give up and I could never live with myself if I quit on myself.  I haven't failed but I have learned many lessons.  I can't quit because I know the stress I'm feeling now means that big changes are coming and I have to stick it out.  I can easily see why people give up on businesses and dreams, but I am not someone that ever will.  My heart knows what's right and I've learned to listen to it.  I've learned the meaning of "having faith" and the power of knowing I don't have to do everything myself.  Sometimes just sitting and asking for help and answers has brought me everything I need. I am really good at internalizing stress and not dealing with it.  I fear I'm not allowed to show a bad mood, or that I'm done and want to give up, or that I'm not positive all the time.  Truth is, this is hard. Really hard, but it doesn't have to be.  It's the journey that makes it all worth it.  I'm learning to speak up.  I'm learning to be tougher.  I'm learning what it takes to accomplish massive dreams.  I'm not perfect.  I haven't eaten much this month.  I don't have a consistent training plan.  I struggle with having people in my life and speaking clearly.  I've learned what panic attacks are and how to get myself out of them.  I've learned that I am happier doing exactly what I'm doing than anything else.  I just have to remember to be proud of myself and take time to acknowledge the work accomplished.  TNT has 12 months left on the lease, hard to believe it's been two years already.  Time to create the real facility now!  The new business will slowly take shape into whatever greatness it's growing.  I have full faith in myself that something great is just on the other side.  Maybe it's a diamond, maybe it's just clearing a better path.  Why am I still living in Florida?  Because the moments that make me stop and just smile let me know I'm right where I need to be.  Why am I working so hard?  Because I know my dream won't come true if I don't and I'm tired of waiting. Why did I think my ideas would be successful?  I've always been one to follow my heart and even more so now, I know I'm doing everything correctly, even if I don't get immediate rewards.

To anybody that is stuck, know that you don't have to stay stuck.  It's alright to be in a bad mood or stressed out, but don't take it out on yourself.  Be proud of who you are and live it up!  Don't change for anybody else's opinions or thoughts.  Do you and be awesome.  It's not always easy and there will be many ups and downs in life.  Learn to enjoy the journey because if you don't, you will have nothing when you get to the finish line.  And even more important, you'll probably never see your finish line if you're too busy saying "I'll be happy when..."  or "I'll make that change when..." or "I'll call that person when..."  Enjoy the journey!  It's been an interesting month, but it's just a change.  No reason to quit.  I encourage you to be your best!  Smile :)

You Should Be Doing Interval Training (Part 2)

If you haven't read Part 1 yet, start there.  In Part 1, I defined interval training with some quick facts you'll want to know before you start this style of training.  There's also 3 good workouts you can do listed at the end of Part 1!!  If you read Part 1 and tried the workouts, I'm sure you noticed they are not easy, but they should leave you feeling great.  It may take a couple weeks for your body to adapt, but stick with for at least 6 weeks of consistently training and you'll get some amazing results.  You should be doing at least one high intensity interval training session each week.

For our second part, let's talk about how to get the body metabolizing fat.  While there's many personalized benefits and motivations for training, we all do it to look good, feel good, get stronger, and stay healthy.  Most of society is training to lose some weight, or tone up, so let me tell you the best ways to make that happen.  It can get scientific and complicated quickly, so I'll try to keep it basic and helpful here.

The body needs oxygen to burn fat.  This is known as the oxidative system, or aerobic system.  The body has three many energy systems it uses to keep you going, no matter the activity.  If it needs energy quickly it looks to carbohydrates to keep you going.  If it's long duration, it will tap into the fat stores for energy.  This would have you thinking that long runs at a steady pace would burn the most fat.  While that is true, it's not the most efficient and doing those long runs just to accomplish a lean physique is VERY time consuming.  What if you could build strength, burn fat, improve your endurance, and gain more energy all in about 20 minutes of effort (vs. 1-2 hours of steady pace runs).

  

Enter interval training!!!  Interval training is effective because it challenges the mitochondria in the muscle, makes the enzymes and fat burning hormones kick in, and the overall strength building needed to get through the intervals turns your body into a fat burning machine!  During training your body ends up using all the carbohydrate and stored muscle energy during the workout.  This means it needs to replenish those energy stores, so while you are resting and going on about your day, your body is using fat as energy to replenish the muscle glycogen.  In short, carbs get used during the exercise, fat gets burned at rest.  This is the perfect situation for anyone looking to lose weight.  You must train your body which forms of food to store as fat and which ones to burn as energy.  When you eat properly, healthy, and supply your body with enough carbs, this helps promote a lean physique when in combination with interval training.  Carbs are not the enemy, carbs are the solution and absolutely necessary when you do interval training.  So check out Part 1 for 3 great workouts and know that you'll be burning fat while you rest!

You Should Be Doing Interval Training! (Part 1)

So I'm going to break this up into three parts: first, the fun part that let's you get to work right away.  The second will be a little more in-depth explaining some cool studies about metabolizing fat.  The third will be how breathing properly can help you burn fat, and how if you're not breathing properly, you may not benefit from HIIT (I can personally speak to the benefits, or rather, the negative effects of not breathing properly).

Know that the workouts listed are for high intensity interval training or HIIT.  To do this properly means you must REST!  During the rest intervals you must rest, the circuits are not meant to be non-stop.  Take the rest, you need the heart rate to go up and down.  To get the most benefit you also need to focus on moving quickly.  Speed is what makes this effective.

Benefits of HIIT:  Increased lung power which better oxygenates the blood, heart gets bigger (stronger) and beats slower (big slow beats is what you want when at rest), helps regulate hormones, and increases fat burning.  With so many positives it's hard to find a negative, but it could be overtraining.  Without proper diet and sleep, you can make a good training stress become negative.  

Some quick facts you'll want to read before you start:

• Really high intensity work (i.e. sprinting- either on a bike or running) for 30 seconds is too long.  Builds up too much lactate which gives you that sick feeling and you'll fatigue much quicker.

• Keep the intervals to less than 10 seconds.  You'll get the same metabolic effect (aka boost fat burning) without the consequences.  It was found that intervals of 8 seconds produced the same boost in fat burning hormones as intervals of 12 and 20 seconds, but yet, didn't leave participants with the sick feeling.  So it only makes sense to work for less than 10 seconds- you'll get the same results!

• Work faster, not harder.  The goal is to do less, but get more out of it!  But... you must work quickly in these intervals.

• Healthy eating (NOT dieting), sleep and stress control are main factors to regulate if you are looking to burn fat.

• What you eat before and after makes a huge difference on your results!  Fun fact- if you eat nasty sugar before this workout, it will stop any fat burning.  So cut out the unnecessary sweets- you don't have to drink that soda/energy drink, you don't have to eat that sugary treat.  However, if you drink true green tea (not the processed kind with sugar- cause we just cut that nasty sugar part out) before these workouts, you can double your fat burning!!

• You MUST consider stress.  Interval workouts are very stressful on the body.  If you already live in a high stress lifestyle, proceed with caution,  You may end up pushing your body too far and it will cause negative results.  I can personally speak to this.  I trained hard under a very stressful lifestyle about nine years ago and it greatly hurt my body.  My hormones failed,  my thyroid failed, my digestion failed, my ability to continue training failed.  It's been a long road of recovery but thyroid is healthy, digestion is improving, and I am able to train regularly again.  So, I give you a fair warning, these are great workouts, but you must keep control of your stress levels.  Sometimes it's better to rest than beat yourself down more.

• On that note, you must give your body enough rest.  These workouts are meant to really challenge your body.  It doesn't get stronger or better during the workout, it gets better and burns the fat during the rest!!  I promise.  You do these workouts correctly, your body will be burning fat while you rest.  It's so important to get enough sleep and allow time for rest and recovery.  If you want to see the benefits, then take your time to rest!!

• It's recommended you do at least 1 training session a week.  If you create your own interval workout, plan to warm up for about 15 minutes, maybe do a little strength work, and work hard in an interval circuit for no more than 20 minutes.  You can have a very successful workout in under an hour!  You can do HIIT sessions 1 - 3 times per week, but again, only if you are giving yourself enough rest.  It's still highly effective to only do 1 of these per week, don't overdo it!

Let's get to work:

Make sure you get in a proper warm up before you start.  If you'd like to do strength training, I recommend choosing 2-3 drills max.  For example, do a Bench Press 3 sets x 6 reps.  Lat Pull 3 sets x 6 reps.  Seated Row 3 sets x 6 reps. Strength is optional, the warm is mandatory.

Find any good interval app timer.  Set it for 8 seconds work, 12 seconds rest.  60 rounds = 20 minutes

Workout option #1- Cardio Machine

A stationary bike is best.  Can be a rower, an elliptical, or any other version you have available.  A treadmill is not ideal, it can't keep up with the fast time and speed changes.  You MUST keep the resistance low.  You do not adjust the resistance.  It's enough to keep the legs in control, but light enough for the rest.   

The Goal: move your legs very quickly (on a bike, get to 80-120 RPM)

The Time Interval: 8 seconds of work, 12 seconds of rest.  Keep repeating this pattern for as long as you can.  Do not go over a total of 20 minutes.

How to perform:  On your machine with light resistance, move very quickly ("sprint") for 8 seconds, then keep the feet moving very slowly for 12 seconds.  Start to build up the speed again so by 8 seconds, you're back to full speed.  Do not use the 8 seconds to get up to fast sprint.

Workout option #2

1. Mountain climbers (or plank) alternating each 8 seconds with hollow body (found this well instructed video)

2. Jump rope (or just mimic with jumps) alternating with punches

3. Squats with battle rope (if available) or jumping jacks

The goal: get variety with drills you can do quickly

The Time Interval:  8 seconds of work, 12 seconds of rest.  Do number 1 for 10-20 rounds (3:20 minutes - 6:40 minutes).  With very little rest move to #2 and then again very little rest, finish round #3. 

Workout option #3

Simply go out for a walk or a run.  If walking, then you walk faster and walk slower.  If you are running, you run faster (or sprint) and walk during the rest.  The key is to move fast for 8 seconds and rest for 12, you choose the intensity.  Work up to a total of 20 minutes.

Give these a try!  Be sure to eat properly and get enough rest!  Give it 6-8 weeks of consistent effort and really pushing yourself to move quickly- get out of your comfort zone.  Or as my client recently termed it "CZ crushers" (yeah that term will be used regularly now).  Good luck!  Get your sweat on and the fat off, you got this, you're awesome!!

Non-typical Fitness Blog

To the friend I thought my kids would call Auntie one day-

So I stole that title from the link below.  When I saw it on Facebook, it was a story that was worded so perfectly I had to tell the friend it made me miss; but I didn’t have the courage to tag that friend, so I decided to write my own version.  I’m not confident in explaining myself and that story took the words right out of my heart.  This friend has had to read and listen to enough from me though, so I’ve decided not to tag her.  Maybe she will read this and understand.  For anybody else reading that owns a business and knows it comes with its own unique challenges, maybe you'll relate to this post.  And to the people that just want to read up on a little more about me, here’s my non-typical fitness blog.

I realized reading that story that I’m not as “messed up” as I thought.  I just miss my best friend and that’s ok.  I tend to blame myself and I do wonder if my lifestyle choice of focusing so intensely on my business has cost me some great friendships (and a husband who I have yet to find).

This is a story about friendships and business.  Friendships have always been hard for me.  I’m not here to complain, I know everybody has friendships go bad.  But for me, I’ve always wished I could keep at least one good one.  My first best friend lived a few houses down from me.  We played sports together, made up games with our brothers, ran around the neighborhood on our bikes and got in daily fights… only to be asking mom a few hours later if it’s ok to call her again.  Then one day in 7^th grade she cold-shouldered, stopped talking to me and I never understood why.   That trend would continue through many other friends throughout my life.  I went through high school without any close friends.  Even remember my friend I thought I was closest to, trying to sneak out during our lunch and ditch me (we could leave campus, we had a cool school).  I had some great friends in college (or so I thought at the time) but now looking back I see those were not true friendships either.  Friends that get more enjoyment out of putting you down are not true friends.  It wasn’t until I moved to St Pete that I learned what true friendship meant and I knew I was so lucky to find this special friend.  I met many great people here and that’s how I knew this would be my home.  While I no longer speak to those good friends, at least regularly, I know I’ve been blessed with true friendship and my standards are much higher now.  I won’t be around people that pull me down.  I have learned to value myself and see all the problems in the so called friends I had… thank you to my St Pete friends.

I’ve always been focused though on what makes me happy.  I don’t need social pressure to fit in, I don’t need to feel cool or do what everybody else is doing.  At my first college party I turned down alcohol and cigarettes cause I didn’t want it, it was that simple.  My friend did it literally cause everybody else was and that just never made sense to me.  I think it’s why I’m so good at owning a business.  While that can be read two ways, and I don’t mean the cocky “I’m amazing” version.  I mean, I don’t have a social life, I don’t have a husband, I don’t have kids so I can spend a lot of time growing my empire because I don’t need to be out socially drinking and getting hammered every weekend.  Don't get me wrong though, I still wish for a more exciting social life.  I don’t have confidence in my friendship abilities (or dating abilities apparently) but I do know I can control my business, so that’s why I focus so hard on that.  Everything comes with a cost though and while I sit at home building my dream and working hard, I’ve lost every friendship I’ve had.  Why- I’m not really sure.  Life happens I guess.  There are two sides to every story, so you’d probably have to ask them too.  But to my best friend that I thought I would never not be calling my best friend, this story made me realize that I do miss you and I’m so thankful for our many great memories. 

To the business side- I am so confident in what I’m creating that I keep my head down and work.  In high school, I said, “it would be cool to live in Florida.”  My friends also said that, but I knew I meant it and I made it happen.  I learned senior year of college I would one day have a business called Top-Notch Training… I made it happen!  I’ve had more doubt put on me than trust in starting the business and told “don’t do it” by many people over the years, but I have done it and I promise TNT is about to be huge!  And now I can say I own two businesses- welcome to the world Lax Performance Academy!  I know the dream in my head I’m reaching for and when I remind myself of that, I know it will all be worth it.  I don’t spend much time explaining myself anymore.  I know what’s in my heart.  I know what I can achieve and I don’t have to convince anyone, they can see it for themselves when it comes true.

To the friendships I may have lost, know that there’s only love in my heart.   And to my best friend, if you read the story, know that with a few specific details changed, those words were pulled right from my heart.  I miss you.

http://www.puckermom.com/relationships/to-the-friend-who-was-like-a-sister-to-me (also copied below)

"True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island… to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing."

From day one we just kind of got each other... gurl, you had me at hello.

We went through every single stage together. From the nice stage where it was strictly all compliments and no teasing to the "hey you dickhead f*cking answer me,” to the literally no convo is off limits phase and then to the final phase where it went something like: “Yo I’m having dinner with your mom. Are you going to join us?"

You were literally my sister and thought that one day you'd even be my kid's super cool aunt. Never once through any of those phases, (even through our fight like a couple phase) did I think that there would come a day where we would no longer be best friends.

You changed my life.

You made me live in the moment, you tore down my walls. With you by my side, I felt like somehow everything was going to be okay; you believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. You brought out my Trap Queen confidence and made me not give a shit about what people thought.

You never let me self-deprecate. You told me when I was being a whiny bitch, needed to shut the hell up, and move on. I loved you for it.

There are a million things I never thanked you for.You were the one person who I relied on to tell me the things that I probably didn’t want to hear, but 100 percent needed to. Thank you for always making me come to my senses; when I missed that fuckboy, my friends would tell me to call him, while you would tell me: Fuck that asshole. Stab him. I’ll bail you outta jail. You saved me a lot of tears.

When I did cry, you knew exactly what to say to make me feel better, whether it was hating that person that did me wrong more than I did, making me realize that I was upset for nothing, or making me laugh through my tears, you just made everything suck a lot less.

You challenged me, you never tip-toed around me, our friendship was always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity, I realize now how rare that was.

Life got complicated.

This whole life ordeal got rough, things weren't as simple as they used to be when we were younger. It’s not that we gave up on our friendship, it’s just that certain circumstances happened.

But our friendship didn’t end because of a lack of love. I’ll always have mad love for you. That’s never going to change. When someone touches your heart, they will always have a place there.

I miss you all the time.

I always want to send you stuff because you’re the only who will understand. I check up on you from time to time to see how you’re doing, and you’re doing great, btw, like I knew you would. (Though we both know we would be killing the game twice as hard if we still had each other).

I said a lot of stuff I didn’t mean. But my anger was fueled by emotions, not by indifference. When you love someone like a sister, you also fight with them like a sister, and sometimes you’re both just too proud to give in.

I thought we’d glow old together bae, but sometimes, life has other plans. No matter what though, I’ll always love you. 

And don't worry, all that dirt I got on you when you were drunk is safe and sound. *Wink*

Quick facts that need to be said

While last month we finished up our topic of strong running and building up some key muscles to prevent annoying pains and help improve running speed, the hamstrings definitely need to be addressed.  They are such a powerful muscle and many times, under utilized and always blamed for being "tight."  Well, life happens fast and I wasn't able to put together a quality informative blog on hamstrings this month, so I promise that will come soon.  This month, just some quick facts that need to be brought to the surface:

1.  Sleep more!
While it's great to train hard, you don't need to do it all the time.  Your body cannot keep up if you are constantly beating it down.  There needs to be a high attention placed on recovery!  You need to make sure you are getting enough sleep and allowing proper recovery.  If you are constantly working hard and not seeing the results you want- try backing down, resting, and recovering. (If you get mad and fight me on this small paragraph, then you are probably guilty of needing some major rest).

2.  Hydrate and eat good food
Along with sleep, comes hydration and nutrition.  These factors need to be on the top of your radar when you are training and reaching for goals.  Lifting heavy or running fast is great and it always feels great to smash your personal records, so keep your attention on making sure you're getting plenty of water and proper nutrition during training.  With sleep, water, and proper food intake (not cutting major calories, but eating good food) you'll see your hard work pay off with some huge improvements!

3.  Constantly sore muscles don't equal success
You don't have to be sore to judge the success of your training session.  Not every session needs to be max effort, or new movements to always elicit muscle confusion. Just because you're not sore after every session, doesn't mean you didn't gain from that workout.  Just be proud you did a quality workout and know your body is getting stronger and adapting, you are making progress!

These are facts that need to be stated and understood.  You may not want to accept them or say, "I don't need to do ____."  But seriously evaluate where you're at... are you seeing results?  If not, then stop doing the same thing expecting things will magically start to change.  Do something different if you are trying to make change.  Apply these three facts and you might just find reaching your goals is easier than you think!

Top 3 Drills to Master to Improve Your Running

The last couple posts have been about running so let's wrap up this trilogy with a "Top 3" list.  In the first post, we talked about running pains.  Many running pains come from an overuse pattern in the sagittal plane (or front to back motion) and weak core muscles.  So we'll make sure our first drill involves the core and side muscles of the body.

Drill #1- Side Plank Hip Lift      GOAL:  10 - 15 reps on each side
With your bottom knee bent, move pelvis up and down pushing into the ground with your forearm and shin.  With hips lifted, lift the top leg slightly, then drop it back down, drop to the floor and repeat.  Should be able to get at least 10 reps on each side.  Should feel this in your side glutes and side abs (aka glute medius and obliques)

Keeping up with fixing our problems from the first post, we need to make sure the running muscles stay properly stretched.  The inner thighs tend to get neglected, and if tight, can really pull your pelvis out of wack and cause back and hip pain; so lets fix that!


Drill #2- Inner Thigh Stretch with Twist      GOAL:  10 reps on each side
Take your knees as wide as you can to get a good stretch on the inside of your legs, don't over do it, just a comfortable stretch.  Make sure your feet are separated (in line with your knees, not touching together).  Hold the first position for about 30-60 seconds, then do 10 twists on each side.

I've saved the best for last!   A huge combination of awesome to mix strength, endurance, flexibility, and core into two great routines that should take you a total of about 5 minutes to complete.

Drill #3- Push Up Flow and Core Challenge      GOAL:  3 - 4 reps on each side
This will take some practice, but like the title of this blog post says, "drills to MASTER" which means with practice you will master this and your running will improve.

In the second part  about running we talked about improving your running times.  You can download a free program to help you get faster HERE.  Running faster really comes down to getting stronger (building muscle strength) and improving endurance (pushing your lungs during higher pace runs).  The top three drills here will definitely help you improve your running but it's not the end all, be all.  Finding drills to strengthen your hamstrings is so important.  Maybe so important the next post can be dedicated to hamstrings (yes, I'm excited already)!  It's also important to have a proper dynamic warm up before you start each run and hopefully a foam rolling regimen  in your whole program.  If you are not getting results after a few weeks, then you need to look at finding new things to do.  Your muscles should respond pretty quickly if you give them the right kind of love and what they need, but everyone is different so I'm sorry I don't have a quick fix for that.  Just know that if you are working, but not getting ahead in your running program, it's time to change something or reach out to me so we can get the answers you need.  Good luck, run strong, breathe easy!