Tag: fitness

How (Not) To Do the Thing

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I learned something about myself recently. I’ve noticed that I spend the majority of my time searching for someone or something to tell me what to do. I listen to podcasts about writing and productivity and relationships and fitness. I read self-help books about everything else. I watch vloggers on YouTube and compare my schedule and work ethic to theirs even though I know nothing about their lives except what they’ve curated for me.

In other words, I seem to think that I’m clueless.

But here’s the thing: I already know the things that all of these sources are going to tell me. Now, I may not be clueless but I’m also not narcissistic; I know that these are all valuable resources with so much more knowledge than I have, but my point is I know more than enough, to the extent that now I’m trying to make an entire blog website around regurgitating it all back to the very place that it came from initially.

That sounds negative.

I don’t mean that I shouldn’t be sharing advice or that I shouldn’t continue to learn new things. On the contrary, I want to blog and listen to my informational podcasts. But this weekend, as I was scouring YouTube for random fitness routines because I was caught up on my subscribers list, I realized that it’s not knowledge that I’m seeking anymore, it’s distraction.

I’m looking for an excuse.

This whole post sounds like I’m gearing up for a pitch about “How-To Stop Procrastinating” or “How-To Do the Damn Thing” but it’s not, I’m sorry to disappoint. (I might title this post exactly that, so I’m doubly sorry if I click-baited you.) I have no idea why I’m looking for excuses or how to stop. Am I afraid of failure? Am I afraid of success? Am I just lazy? Or bored? Do I have such low self-confidence that I think I truly don’t know anything? Do I have a legitimate psychological issue?

I don’t know for sure, but I’m starting to suspect the fear option. I suspect that I’m trying to distract myself with the idea that I need more knowledge because of my paralyzing fear that if I start without all the information I won’t be good enough or smart enough to succeed.

Oof.

I don’t know how to remedy this fear, but I’m going to try. And lucky for no one, along with being an avid advice-taker I also happen to be a serial advice-giver. It’s a real problem. So I don’t know exactly where to start with this, but I’m going to document it on the blog. It isn’t like me to struggle with jumping in feet first. I mean, this whole site was started on a whim and essentially serves as a record of all the projects that I start on my many whims. But for some reason I’m stuck. This won’t be well-put-together, “How-To” style, advice blogs, it’s going to be my messy recounting of what I’m doing to become a better adult. I’m going to attempt to write through my struggles. Yikes.

So that was my existential crisis for the week; how are you? Is anyone else as lost as I am?

Oh! And I’m also a hypochondriac, apparently. I started watching Grey’s Anatomy for the first time ever this weekend and now I have a plethora of tumors, at least two brain abnormalities that went undiagnosed when I was a child, a heart condition that I have no reason to suspect I have, and my husband (who I’ve been with since we were both 17) has a secret, beautiful, successful, doctor wife who will definitely show up soon. It’s been great. I’m great.

My other distraction.
When a 6lb dog wants to sleep in your arms, you let the 6lb dog sleep in your arms.

Krav Maga?

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You all will never believe what I did on Tuesday night.

Or maybe you will believe it because you don’t fully know who I am yet. So before I start, let me paint you a picture.

I am not athletic. And when I say I am not athletic I don’t mean

“Oh, I played softball in middle school but that’s it.” or “Yeah I loved gym class as a kid, but I’m not an athlete or anything.”

No, people. I am not athletic whatsoever.

You know how everyone’s favorite class in elementary school is gym class? Because you get to play? Nope, hated it.

You know how every 8 year old’s favorite time of day is recess? I skipped it to take an extra violin lesson or go to the art room!

My elementary school had a “track & field” day every year which was basically a full day of recess spent outside playing games and sports. Well, I would “accidentally” wear a skirt every year so they would “make me” sit out. I distinctly remember my gym teacher making me do the mile walk/run anyway but at one point he lost track of how many laps I had actually done so I lied and told him I had one lap to go. I had much more than one lap to go.

In high school I was required to have a Health & Fitness credit to graduate, but I was in the top ten of my class of almost 400 students and I wanted to boost my GPA and not waste time in gym class. So I took the credit hours online over the summer between my sophomore and junior years.

Y’all. I took my high school gym class online.

I’ve never played a sport, not even for recreation. I’ve never been on any kind of team. I’ve never even taken a group fitness class besides one Zumba class when I was 14 and I got there late!

Are you starting to understand?

I am not athletic.

Well on Tuesday night, I took a level one Krav Maga class.

Excuse me, what now?

And this was not an “introductory” class, this was the level one class that had been going on already that I hopped into. I had never punched anything, not even a pillow during an emotional break-up or something. One of the upper level students had to teach me how to make a fist. And I have certainly never been punched or kicked at, that was the weirdest part for me. It was a solid hour of learning and practicing self defense and martial arts drills with strangers.

Overall, I’d say it was terrifying and incredible.

At the halfway break in the class I looked down at my hands and my knuckles were split and bleeding, I had bruises already starting to form, and I was visibly shaking. I teared up and nearly quit. Not because I was in pain or scared of sparring, but because I was surprised at how soft I truly am. I knew I was weak, but I never realized how ill-prepared I was to protect myself from another human being.

But I continued.

If I had to pick one word to describe myself it would be “independent.” I hate feeling like I am at the mercy of my husband’s availability to escort me when I want to walk my dog on a semi-secluded trail, or hang out in a crowded bar, or go to Walmart when it’s dark outside. I hate being dependent on another person to defend me if the need were to arise. That’s what prompted me to look for a self-defense class in the first place!

So I finished out the entire class (except the choking drills, my partner and I modified those; I don’t like people I’m familiar with touching me, let alone a complete stranger choking me) and watched most of the level two class while we talked to one of the instructors. Needless to say we are going back… twice a week.

My husband immediately signed up, but I was a little apprehensive. I think at one point I told both him and the instructor: “I don’t know if I’m cut out to do this.” Then later when I voiced the same concern to the other instructor, she looked at me and said,

“Of course you can do it, you already did it.”

That resonated with me somewhere deep down. I did do it. Little goody-two-shoes, never-even-seen-a-fight, non-athletic, hide-in-a-corner-and-read, anti-social, recess-skipping, weakling Emily did an entire Krav Maga class.

And maybe I’ll still be a weakling in a month, or in 3 months, or in 3 years, but at least now I’m a weakling training to become a bad-ass.

I suppose this is the beginning of a new adventure.

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

Winter Goals

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Good morning, happy winter!

I’ve never been good at new year’s resolutions, mainly because by July of whatever year I’ve made the goals I’ve already forgotten what they were. So I decided a while back that I was going to do seasonal goals. So here we go!

Winter Goals

Lose 15lbs and 7% body fat

No explanation required, we’re still doing a fitness thing here even if I have fallen behind. 175lbs & 29% are the numbers I’m aiming for.

 

Write the first draft of my novel

It’s been in the works for a very very long time and I think I have everything I need to write a complete draft, everything except the will power that is.

 

Stop biting my nails

Surely 3 months is long enough to kick that habit, right?

 

Read at least three books

I don’t do this enough.

 

Do at least two charcoal drawings

I have an art degree, but you’d never know by the amount of art I make.

 

I think seasonal goals will be great not only for mindset but also for practicality! These are all things that I want to do, of course, but I tailored these goals to be winter specific. I also want to walk our husky more often and kayak and hike, but if I decide on those goals in January when it’s 16 degrees and we’re buried in Kentucky ice, how will I get excited about those goals again in May?

I need to do things immediately or I lose interest.

The fact that I won’t be writing on my novel as soon as I close this blog will undoubtedly make me think twice about that goal when I do sit down to write. But no matter, they’re written in the blog and so they shall be.

Alrighty, that’s all!

If you have any goals that you don’t want to put off until the ball drops, tell me about them! Let’s make seasonal goals a thing. Can we do that? Is that legal?

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I really do.