To be Strong or Not to be Strong

February is about to close and March is soon upon us.  How are you doing with your plans to create newness in the coming year?  Still on track? Taken a few side roads?  Fallen off the wagon all together?  Wherever you are at in the journey, it is Never too late to review &  reboot if necessary. Heck, count it as a Win that you are aware enough to know where you are at in the process and willing to own it.

Speaking of reviewing and rebooting, I had a huge ah-ha moment about 3 weeks ago that made me stop and take pause and have some powerful soul searching moments.  I walked out of the gym after a challenging workout of heavier squats than I had ever done and an unprovoked thought/realization smacked me right in the head. The realization...I am afraid to be strong!  What?!  I like to be strong.  I pride myself on being strong. (Not the best idea to pride myself on this)  Yet...it was true...at least in the past 3 years.

The thought caused me to take a good look at some things, and I continue to do so, that are a bit uncomfortable to admit and look at. However, in doing so, I have been able to shed some light on the truth of this thought by way of some events that have taken place, which I attached a belief too as proof of  "it's not ok to be strong."

So, let me take a moment to Dare Greatly and be vulnerable and share what I have discovered...in part. As my life and identity were changing in what felt like drastic ways I was afraid to be strong for fear I might not receive the help I thought I would need to survive.  I was also afraid to be strong because in some instances it would make me stand out and go against the norm and I already felt different as it was.  I had friends leave my life because they said I was too strong and in charge...something I had worked hard to learn as I overcame deep codependency behaviors from my past.  I also realized that being strong physically made me stand out and I didn't always like the comments people made in those regards either, because they say things like, "I am weird or crazy or obsessed." Not what I want to hear when I have worked hard to achieve something.  These are just a few of my ah-ha's in my "I'm afraid to be strong" realization.

Where to go from here. First, I had to get honest with myself and own the thought so I could do something about it.  Second, I had to get it outside of myself and share it with someone(s) who I trust and could give me a different perspective. Three, I got to decide if I wanted to change that belief and how I would do it. Four, be willing to go to the dark place and do the hard thing!

The realization and inquiry that came along with it have breathed some new life into me that has given me an energy I haven't felt for a while and I Am loving it! Some of the ways I know I need to be strong are still scary and I feel myself want to fight against them and I am going to let that be ok and keep moving forward. Being strong physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually is sexy and attractive. I/we don't have be zealots with our "strong-ness" but rather own it and go about in quiet, confident ways and make a difference in our lives and others. In doing so...we can change the world...one person at a time, if we desire to do so.

 Reminder...being strong does not equate to a pant/dress size, number on the scale, body fat or weight lifted...although they may be a part of the whole.  This is YOUR life and you only get ONE
! Why Not walk through it being strong, no matter what anyone else says or thinks. Go out and grab it and live it to the fullest...whatever that is for Y-O-U.

So, where are you afraid to be strong?  What scary things do get to own and/or put out there? What darkness do you get to wander through on your journey? How may we assist you?  Today is the day to review and reboot and make a commitment to be strong...or at least...stronger!

Happy to be a weirdo because I Am Strong!

Until next time..
Go BE Great...& Strong!

Jennifer Saunders
BS, ACE Certified Personal Trainer
Reiki Energy Therapy
Buttingear
Intuitive Life Coach

Highs and Lows...the truth about cardio

Highs and Lows

            So many times during my workday I get asked about what types of cardiovascular exercise are the most effective. Truth is it is the same as anything else in fitness. Both types of cardio training have their value, their place, and should be incorporated in your workout schedule. Traditionally steady state cardiovascular training has been and always will be the cornerstone that all good programs are built upon. However Interval training or HITT workouts can give you benefits that cannot be ignored, especially as our lives get busy and the time we can give our fitness gets harder to come by.

No-frills, steady-state cardio benefits the vast majority of physical functions — from digestion to breathing to everyday movements like walking, standing, and sleeping — are powered by the aerobic system. “The aerobic energy pathways are the limiting factor to anything we do,” says strength coach and physical therapist Charlie Weingroff, DPT. In other words, build a better aerobic engine, and you’ll get better at everything else.

The common belief that steady state cardio can cause injury have also been proven untrue. Unless you log an excessive number of hours each week doing steady-state cardio, and do little else in the way of exercise, “it doesn’t slow you down, and it doesn’t make you weak,” says Mike Robertson, MS, CSCS And people who are concerned that high-repetition cardio will wreck their knees can rest easy. In people of normal weight with healthy joints, moderate jogging can actually strengthen knees, suggests a 2011 study of lifetime runners by Monash University in Australia.

Steady-state cardio, says Robertson, also causes unique adaptations in the heart. When you exercise at a high intensity (while interval training, for example), he says, your heart often beats so fast that the left ventricle — which stores oxygenated blood momentarily before pumping it out — can’t refill completely between contractions. At a slightly lower intensity (and, thus, a lower heart rate), the left ventricle fills completely before it contracts, which causes it to grow in capacity — and thus pump more blood with each contraction — over time. This triggers your heart rate to drop substantially, both at rest and during exercise.

That’s a good thing. A lower heart rate isn’t just an indication of a healthy and high-functioning cardiovascular system. It’s also indicative of high “parasympathetic tone” in the nervous system — an enhanced ability to relax, focus, and recover from stress, including intense exercise.

When we spend our days working in a high stress environment then hit the gym for high intensity workouts this can sometimes do more bad than good. What your body needs after a hard day is more steady state exercise that helps relieve stress and does not tax the body any further.

Critics of steady-state cardio exercise are right about a few things. It isn’t a cure-all. Beyond a low baseline level, you won’t build much strength, power, or muscle. And contrary to what many people believe, you won’t burn an appreciable amount of fat, either. Exercisers in a 2009 study conducted by researchers at Queensland University of Technology in Australia who did steady-state cardio five times a week for 12 weeks lost only 7 pounds on average — and nearly half of them lost less than 2 pounds. Steady-state cardio is also repetitive. Jog for 30 minutes and you may take as many as 5,000 steps. To some exercisers, that’s meditative; to others, it’s a bore.

It may also be risky, says sports medicine physician Jordan Metzl, coauthor of The Exercise Cure (Rodale, 2013). “The more you perform a single-movement pattern, the more you load up one area of the body, and the more likely you are to get injured.”

Still, for a low-key workout that reduces your stress level and improves recovery while delivering general health and an efficient aerobic engine, old-fashioned steady-state cardio is underrated and tough to beat.

Sprints, shuttle runs, and timed lap swimming — has been a staple among athletes for at least a century. More recently, however, casual exercisers have caught on to its benefits as well. “Back in 1992, it was understood that if you wanted to be lean and healthy, you had to do cardio — hours of it,” recalls fitness journalist Lou Schuler, coauthor ofThe New Rules of Lifting Supercharged (Avery, 2012). In the late 90’s HITT type training started to gain in popularity. “If you’re trying to lose fat, it’s pretty clear that HIIT is a more effective tool than long-distance cardio,” Robertson says. Physiologists have yet to develop a full explanation for why this is, but one reason may be the so-called after burn effect, in which the metabolism remains elevated for hours — and sometimes even days — after an intense workout. The how isn’t important for coaches like Robertson and Mike. They just know that when a client wants to lose fat fast, HIIT is one of the best tools. One 1994 study at Laval University in Quebec, Canada, found HIIT was nine times more effective for losing fat than steady-state cardio.

burning fatRegular HIIT workouts also improve your ability to withstand the rigors of other types of interval training, adds Mike. The aching sensation in your muscles that accompanies a hard sprint (which results from burning carbohydrates for fuel) becomes less intense and subsides more quickly over time, allowing you to work at a higher intensity with less rest. Your capacity to transition smoothly from  (before your workout and during rest periods) to burning carbohydrates (during your work intervals) and back again — known as your “metabolic flexibility” — improves with HIIT, as well. Together, these metabolic benefits bolster health and athletic performance, particularly in sports requiring short bursts of all-out effort interspersed with periods of reduced effort, such as basketball or martial arts. “One of the biggest misconceptions about HIIT is that it develops the aerobic system and the anaerobic system equally,” says Robertson. “But aerobic and anaerobic exercise actually place very different demands on your heart and your muscles.” Since the advent of HIIT, Robertson says he’s seen more athletes who are anaerobically fit but aerobically weak. “We’re talking Division I athletes with resting heart rates in the high 70s or low 80s” — the equivalent of a couch potatoes. “They’re fast and strong, but they gas out after just a few minutes on the field.”

Improved aerobic production can also be short term. After four to six weeks of a HITT program beginners stop seeing improvements. A steady diet of HIIT can also stimulate a near-constant flight-or-fight response from your autonomic nervous system, says Robertson, resulting in a host of anxiety-like symptoms: racing heart, sweaty palms, difficulty sleeping, and an inability to sit still or focus. Over time, this hyper vigilant state can impair recovery. “With HIIT, you have a higher probability for overreaching and , especially if you’re doing strength training as well,” Mike says. This could be a recipe for disaster in the long run and land you with some very serious injuries.

So mix it up, and choose wisely. Listen to your body and adjust your workouts to fit your day, don’t just push through an exhausting workout when the benefits you are looking for are best found in something less flashy and more peaceful. The most important tool you have in your fitness quest is your body. Learn to take care of it.

What have you achieved?

It is common, especially in a weight loss challenge, to measure success in terms of weight lost. But I encourage you to take a step back and recognize the other improvements and accomplishments you have made. Have you improved your endurance, or become more efficient at a particular exercise? Have you gotten better about going to the gym consistently? Are you bringing healthier snacks to work, or eating a good breakfast before you leave?

These victories are important to recognize because as you progress into your new lifestyle changes, the going will inevitably get tough. Recognizing what you have already accomplished can be a powerful motivator, and will help you get through those difficult days. Oftentimes, it may even be more beneficial to redirect your focus from losing weight to continuing these little feats throughout the day (some people may refer to this as Breaking It Down). And you may be pleasantly surprised the next time you step on the scale.

I have two challenges for you this week:

1)      Send us an email describing what accomplishments you have made (besides weight loss) thus far in the challenge. (worth one entry)

2)      In light of using this opportunity to improve overall fitness, let’s take this week to focus on consistency on some fundamental movements. Every day this week, complete:

a.       30 Squats (weight in heels, knees behind toes, thighs reaching parallel to the ground)

b.      10 Push-ups (May go from knees, BUT must go all the way to chest touching ground; core tight, body straight)

c.       2 Plank holds to failure (On elbows, core tight, don’t forget to breathe!)

These are very basic movements that build a foundation for more complex exercises. They are also all fantastic for improving your day-to-day functional movement. So make sure you have good form, and if you would like some help making sure you are doing them correctly PLEASE come ask! There’s nothing worse than doing 210 squats and then realizing you did them wrong. Well, maybe….. but it’s definitely on the list!

Let us know if you have any questions.

How about a "quickie"?

How about a quickie?

            If you are among the world of busy people, and looking for quick, fast, and healthy nutrition options, then you are not alone.

            During my busiest of days, when I am scheduled for hours without a break, my go-to “quickie” is a Super Shake. My current recipe is pretty basic, but I like the way it tastes and it works great to keep me fueled through a busy day when I don’t have the option to sit down and eat.

                Current go-to Super Shake recipe:

                        -10 ounces water

                        -2 large handfuls of spinach

                        -1 cup of frozen mixed berries (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries)

                        -1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder

                        -1 TBSP Barlean’s Fish Oil

            *Check out Precision Nutrition’s “Super Shake Guide” for direction into how to create your own Super Shake.

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