Category: Health Space

A Very Merry Leg Day

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Good morning, interwebs.

This isn’t a cutesy blog like a couple days ago, this blog will mostly be my own brainstorming; you’ve been warned.

It’s currently 6:43am, I’m barely conscious, but today I’m going to do a lower body day at the gym. I’ll be taking off Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (mostly because I have so many places to be… I love the gym on holidays because no one is there), so I’m going to make this workout a killer.

The title says “leg day” but that was for brevity and word cadence, this will actually be my complete lower body workout for the day.

Stretch

I’ve heard controversial things about the benefits of static stretching lately, but my hamstrings are extremely tight and a nice toe-touch feels good, sue me.

5 minute Aerobic Warm-Up

I walk the track at my gym for 5 minutes usually for my warm-up because it’s easy and machines make my legs feel like they’re walking themselves afterwards and I really don’t need that confusion first thing in the morning.

3 x 10 Banded Side Leg Raise / Banded Leg Kick-Backs Superset

These exercises really warm up the glutes and stretch out the hammies. I typically start with a smaller set of both of these un-banded to correct any issues with my form and address any pains, then I go straight into this superset. I do 10 leg raises and immediately to 10 kick-backs on the same leg before switching sides.

3 x 10 Weighted Back Extensions

I prefer to use the free-weight machine not the one with the plates, but sometimes a girl is lazy. Today I will put this at the beginning of my workout to make sure I have the strength and will-power to use the free-weight one. With this exercise I always have to remind myself not to over-extend at the top; you should be dipping forward as far as you can but then pulling up only until your spine is straight and your torso and shoulders are aligned with your hips.

3 x 10 Kettlebell RDLs / Standing Side Crunches

RDLs or Romanian Deadlifts are probably my favorite lower body exercise at the moment. “But Emily, why not do regular deadlifts, they’re a more composite exercise, you preached about composite exercises…” True, however I have a very weak lower back and very strong quads. Deadlifts are a quad dominant movement that incorporates the entire body; whereas RDLs are more localized in targeting the glutes and lower back while still being a similar move. Ya girl wants to have a strong lower back without her thick thighs getting too much thicker, alright.

And as if that wasn’t a workout enough, while I’m resting my back and booty I immediately do 10 standing side crunches on each side with the same kettlebell. These are the adult version of “I’m a little teapot.”

3 x 10 Leg Press Machine

Again with the controversy, I have no idea if stance matter when it comes to the leg press machine, but I’ve always heard that it does. I use a wide, high, pointed-toe stance. From what I’ve read and felt, this stance helps target the hamstrings, glutes, and inner thighs, and let’s the quads chill a little bit.

3 x 10 Hip Abductor Machine

The awkward one.

3 x 10 Hip Adductor Machine

The one that makes you feel like you’re at the gynecologist.

5 minute Cool-Down

Depending on how I feel when I get done I either stretch more or walk the track or hop on a bike with no resistance. Today (and usually, tbh) I walked the track.

Ta-Da! That was my lower body day. Time wise, I aim to be at the gym from 7-8am every day, so for me this took about an hour from the time I put my jacket in a locker to the time I walk out the door. It may take longer if these are new moves to you or if you take it a little easier than I do when I’m jacked up on pre-workout.

I’m sure there are better workouts out there, but I know there are much worse (and I’ve probably done them). If you try this routine or take inspiration from it to create your own, I’d love to know about it! The contact form goes straight to my email so drop a line!

Alrighty, that’s all. And if I get too occupied or lazy to blog for the next couple days:

Merry Christmas, internet!

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Yes, my earrings do jingle. Thank you for asking.

Day 28/90: How to Re-Set

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Hey, hi, hello, internet.

Being an adult is weird… One moment you’re achieving your goals, blogging every day, hitting the gym, then the next moment your grandmother dies…

My grandmother passed away last Friday so I’ve been on a life-hiatus for the last week. When we lived in Wisconsin, we would drive to Kentucky to visit my Mamaw and Papaw every Thanksgiving. I fully credit Mamaw with my love of nature. Me being the true born city girl that I am, I never really did anything outside… until Thanksgiving. Mamaw would take me four-wheeling into the mountains; we walked waded in the creek for miles collecting rocks (I still collect rocks and minerals btw); we would play in the barn with the newest animals she had or walking across the plank between the two lofts; and she would sing while I played my violin on the porch (very badly as a 5th grader, but she didn’t care). She was 84 but truly acted like she was 14, in the best way. I’ll never look at Kentucky mountain or valley again without seeing her there.

Pardon the crass transition

Without surprise, I’ve fallen off the wagon as far as fitness and health goes for the past week, so I thought this would be a good time to talk about how I re-set and kick my butt back into gear.

 

How to Re-Set Your Goals

 

#1   Re-evaluate your goals

People “mess up” on their goals for a multitude of different reasons, most of them not nearly as dramatic as death, but regardless of the reason you need to first determine if it is a you-problem or a goal-problem.

A lot of the time it’s a you-problem (that sounds harsh but stay with me) where you’ve either lost motivation, or been a little too lax on yourself, or maybe it’s the holiday’s and you let yourself indulge, or maybe heavy, adult things smacked you in the face like they did me. All of those scenarios can be summed up by saying:

life happens. And that’s okay!

However, sometimes it’s a goal-problem. Maybe you got injured because your workouts were too intense, or maybe you’re exhausted from too few calories, or maybe you’re truly burnt out from being TOO strict on yourself. You have to be honest with yourself and adjust if your goals are too much to handle all at once.

#2   Let yourself change your mind!

If you need to adjust your goals, allow yourself to do so. This was going to be lumped in with the “re-evaluate” part, but I thought it was worth it’s own bullet point!

People (me, I’m people) get so stuck in their ways sometimes and don’t allow themselves to change their mind. Don’t set yourself up for failure! Adjust your goals so that they are still challenging but attainable.

#3   Be very strict for the first few days, but don’t overcompensate.

Again with the setting yourself up for failure; don’t overcompensate! Do what you would normally do to chug along towards your goals.

Think about it this way, if you push yourself too hard during your re-set you’re more likely to fail again, and then you’ll have to re-set again, and if you overcompensate again then you’ll be more likely to fail again, and then you’ll have to re-set again… You see what I mean? So start fresh. Move on. You can’t change anything you’ve already done, so do better this time around.

#4   Stay positive.

This is probably the most important part of a re-set for any goals. Your mindset can make all the difference when it comes to starting over.

Keep in mind:

  • You’ll bounce back quicker than before
  • You’ve already done this part successfully once, you can do it again
  • Take it day by day.
  • Actually, take it decision by decision.
    • If someone offers you a Christmas cookie and you only get those cookies at Christmas and you really want that cookie… Eat the cookie. But then the very next decision make sure it’s a good decision. That will set you back on track.

 

No matter what your goals may be or why you need a goal re-set right now, I hope this blog hits the right notes for you.

Does anyone have any other tips and tricks? Motivation? I’ll take it all: Questions, suggestions, criticism, concerns, send them my way please and thank you. I will be starting my re-set tomorrow. The day before Christmas Eve. Because I am a masochistic idiot.

Wish me luck.

Okkkkaaayyyyy bye!

Mamaw

Top Five Favorite Gym Exercises

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Gooooob morning, Hoomans! (Anyone else follow Thoughts of Dog on twitter? No? Just me?)

I have no backstory, I’m jumping right in…

My (current) Top 5 Favorite Gym Exercises:

#1 Single Leg Dumbbell Deadlift
  • Stand on one leg and with the same side hand lightly hold a chair or a wall to help balance (if you need to, which I absolutely do).
  • Hold a dumbbell in your other hand and on that same side leg you are going to perform a normal deadlift, however…
  • …when you tip forward let your other leg swing back and stay aligned with your spine.

single leg deadlift

#2 Vertical Inclined Dumbbell Row and Fly Superset
  • Stand-Straddle an inclined bench or seat and lean your chest against the backrest.
  • With a dumbbell in each hand, perform a vertical row with your palms facing in towards your sides.
    • (It’s kind of like a pulling-up-your-pants motion.)
  • Do that for your set and them immediately (after adjusting weights) perform a… Side fly? Arm raise? I don’t know what it’s called, but pretend you’re a bird flapping its wings for the set.
  • Then take your rest and repeat the superset starting with the row again.
inclined row fly superset
#3 Dumbbell Around the World’s
  • Stand with a dumbbell in each hand.
  • With your palms facing outward and your arms straight for the entire movement, start with the dumbbells touching each other in front of your hips and movement them outward and upward until they touch each other above your head.
  • Then bring them back down the same way.
  • That’s very confusing.
  • Google it. It’s the standing one.

around the worlds

#4 Hip Abductor Machine
  • The one where you push the pads out to the side, not the one where you squeeze.
  • This one is pretty self explanatory because it’s a fixed machine, but make sure you pick a weight that is heavy enough; your hips are stronger than you may think they are because it’s a weird movement and feels weird at first.
  • Also, make sure you’re adjusting the pads so that your legs are starting as close together as possible for a full range of motion.
hip abductor
#5 Reverse Crunches with Kettlebell for Stabilization
  • Lay Lie on your back with a heavy kettlebell on the floor right above your head.
  • Reach your arms back and grab each side of the kettlebell handle with your elbows bent 90 degrees.
  • Perform a reverse crunch with straight legs (relatively, I usually have a little bend in my knees) and make sure at the top you use your added stabilization to lift your butt and hips fully off the ground, pulling your abdominal muscles tight.
    • I have found that using the kettlebell keeps me from straining my neck to get that last little bit of extension on reverse crunches. And something about lifting your butt off the ground in this movement is kinda fun.

reverse crunch

Apparently I’m obsessed with kettlebells. I didn’t know this about myself

These are all great exercises to start off with if you’re a noob like me. They are all relatively easy while still being somewhat challenging compound movements. I would highly recommend googling videos of these though, it’s harder to describe exercises than I thought.

Bonus!

I love anything I’ve ever tried on the cable machine but Cable Tricep Pressdowns are my favorite. Let me tell you though, this move is fricken tough. If you’ve never worked out your triceps you’re gonna feel all sorts of muscles burn where you didn’t even know there were muscles.

*** Cable Tricep Pressdowns
  • Position the cable machine above your head and use the double rope attachment.
  • Grab one rope with each hand and pull the ropes down trying not to move your bicep.
  • You’ll start with your arms in an L shape with your biceps at your side and you forearms out in front of you, and you’ll pull until your forearms are straight to your side as well (without locking your elbow up), and end in your starting position.

cable tricep pressdowns

That’s it! Hope you enjoyed stick boi. Okay, bye!

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This is the majority of how I use my studio art degree. Oof.

Go to the gym in the morning…

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Pro-Tip: Go to the gym in the morning before the rest of the world is awake.

Hi, interwebs. I know this is a late night blog but I’ve been going through it. Lots of adult things, lots of anxiety, lots of sleeping in. I didn’t get up and go to the gym this morning, but working out keeps my brain from freaking tf out so I went after work today. What I’m trying to say is…

Go to the gym in the morning.

Listen, I know it’s not fun to get up at 6am and to go out in the cold and kick your own butt. But you know what’s even less fun?

  1. Waiting for equipment.
  2. Trying not to make eye-contact with a group of 14 year old boys playing on the machines who are staring you down relentlessly
  3. Asking “Are you using that kettlebell?” even though you know that woman is not using that kettlebell because she’s been taking selfies and sitting on her phone for the past 15 minutes while standing in front of the kettlebell rack.

Maybe this doesn’t sound that abnormal to you after-work gym rats, but now let me describe my gym at 7am when all the rational people are still asleep:

  1. Only 4 other beings in the entire building
  2. Pool still locked so no rampant children
  3. Everyone still super sleepy or hyper zoned-in because of pre-workout, so no one wants to hold a full conversation

Going to bed an hour earlier is a small price to pay for an empty gym, in my humble opinion. Try it out, y’all.

Okay, that’s it. Just needed to vent about my first world problems.

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Look at this. You know if I choose the gym over cuddling with these babies at 7am that it must be worth it. 

I won’t take it back!

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Hello, internet.

So, I’ve been conflicted. A couple days ago when I posted that guide to building a workout I thought I was so smart. Well, about 3 hours after posting I already wanted to make an amendment.

I read an article shortly after posting that blog about the difference between weight loss and fat loss and realized that I hadn’t specified that my guide was geared towards losing fat and gaining small amounts of muscle. Losing fat is the only thing I personally have focused on so far so it slipped my mind to mention that my current workouts aren’t geared towards body building or long distance running or sport training.

But alas, no amendment was written. I decided that I had stated that my goal was to lose fat enough times in that post and my blog in general that readers should understand the point I was trying to make.

Then I found a new YouTube channel…

It was all about fitness and they were short informative videos, so like any rational millennial would do: I binged watched them for three hours.

And they started saying things like:

“Static stretching isn’t necessary and may even be harmful”

“You don’t need to do any cardio on your lifting days”

“Warm-ups are stupid”

“Picking a handful of random exercises isn’t the right way to plan a workout”

“Sets of 3×10 aren’t the best”

This YouTube channel single-handedly debunked my entire post.

Again I reiterate, I don’t blindly trust strangers on the internet. However, this person gave a plethora of accredited sources with each video and has uploaded informational fitness videos weekly since 2015. I’d say at least some of their videos are accurate.

All day yesterday and all morning at the gym I was thinking about taking the post down altogether.

But then I realized that this isn’t the first time I’ve heard blatant contradictions to fitness matters. The reason that I knew all of the stuff I put in that long blog was because I’d learned it from a reputable source. And the reason that YouTube channel knew all of their information is because they learned it from reputable sources.

So no, I won’t take it back.

This exact plan has worked for me and maybe it’ll work for you too, but decide that for yourself and your own body. That’s what I did. Listen to your own self, don’t trust the internet to know how you feel. (*cough cough* Web MD people I’m talking to you.)

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Went Christmas Tree picking with the in-laws yesterday! This has nothing to do with anything, but how cool is this picture?