I’m so excited at the thought of having a family! I see all my new mommy friends and am taking notes on what they are doing to stay fit or get back to their fighting weight postpartum. I want to start sharing exercises moms or anyone looking to workout at home can do easily without equipment. I do have a fur baby. His name is Frankie and he weighs approximately 15 lbs on a slim day and closer to 18 lbs on a chunky day. I asked his assistance in the video below to demo how to do a proper squat while holding your baby as weight.
Notes before you try:
Practice your squat first without baby as weight.
Wear flat heeled shoes like converse or a barefoot go.
* Traditional running shoes have a lift in the heel causing you to pitch your weight onto your toes (not what you want in a squat.
How to Squat:
1) Start by widening your stance to hip width (slightly wider than your shoulders). Send your hips back first keeping legs straight until you feel tension in your hamstrings
2) As you start to bend your knees send them out to the sides away from you (avoid your knees going forward over your toes)
3) Slowly lower keeping the chest up and feeling your weight in your mid foot to heel (going barefoot helps you to feel the weight distribution in your foot)
4) It’s okay to start with a squat that is more shallow if that’s what flexibility allows. Over time, work towards a squat depth where hips break below parallel with the thighs
Notes on adding weight to your squat:
Remember your arms are levers. The further away you hold your weight the harder it’s going to be.
Beginner– no weight
Intermediate– Hold baby close at upper chest
Advanced– Hold baby away from your body while still maintaining your chest up throughout the movement.
If I truly care about a goal, it’s a scary thing because I feel vulnerable. I am mentally, physically, and emotionally invested. The goal feels overwhelming and out of reach but once I start taking the baby steps towards it it becomes something I can actually see achieving. In the beginning, I never think I can achieve a big goal. I get overwhelmed and usually don’t go forward out of fear. Where do I start? How do I get there? What if I can’t?
Here’s how I’ve learned to start:
I manifest the goal by visualizing myself achieving it. Whether that’s during shavasana on my yoga mat or random daydreaming at work. I find great power in visualization whether it’s dropping underneath a heavy barbell and catching it in the bottom of a squat or if I have to give a presentation at work.
I find sources of inspiration to stay motivated to keep going. It used to be pictures of super fit women but it was a fleeting temporary motivation. Now I like music, art and even a good quote within access on my phone. Inspiration is motivating, negative self-talk is not. I’m not going to set an alarm that says, “Get up, go hard and get ripped.” Seeing it first thing would make me want to sleep in. I do set alarms that say things like, “Make today great,” “No matter what you are loved,” “No matter what, you are worthwhile.” I wake up and feel good reading them. It sets a positive mindset and I feel like I’m ready to take on the day and do some good throughout.
I stay patient with my progress (no matter how little) and work to block out negative self talk. I appreciate the beauty of training for something that comes down to a single movement or moment. I find that the pressure helps me rise to the occasion.
I wanted to share the video of me missing the 295 lb deadlift on Friday. The last time we tested, I hit 290 lbs but had struggled for it every inch of the way and nearly came close to hitching it up my thighs (a no no in competition). Missing 5 lbs more than my last 1 rep max really made me question if I had what it took to try for 300 lbs.
You can see my face when I gave up mentally. I didn’t think I could fight for it so I didn’t fight for it. After, I was left resting with my thoughts and questioning myself entirely. It is in these moments that an immense amount of mental toughness forms and grit comes into play. All I thought to myself was, “How does my body feel? Do I have enough energy to go again?” The answer, was YES, so I did.
Cue crying like a baby when I hit my goal of 300 pounds. It never seems real even when it’s within 10 lbs in this case until it actually happens. I was overcome with a moment of shock, a floodgate of emotion, and a moment of gratitude. One would think I won an olympic gold medal. And those who wouldn’t understand may think, “What’s with the drama?” That’s the beauty of achieving a personal goal. Only you know the magnitude of the accomplishment because only you remember when you thought it was impossible, when you didn’t want to put in the work but did anyway, when you wondered when it would be your moment.
Action Steps:
1) Set a goal that scares you. One that you really think is too far out of reach.
2) Begin to manifest your goal. Visualize the moment or time frame of achievement. What does your life look like in that context? Visualize the first couple of steps towards your goal. What structures or support do you need to stay consistent?
3) Be kind to yourself (your body, mind, and spirit). Remember that motivation ebbs and flows and so does progress. This doesn’t mean you won’t get there.
4) Put yourself in situations that require you to rise to the occasion more than you normally would. A situation where you are slightly uncomfortable and have to push yourself a little further. Start to build your true grit. Build your mental endurance up for the moment you are required to achieve your goal so that on game day, you’ll be ready.
I spend four days a week lifting heavy. So when I get a day off from lifting, I like to do body weight movements, core, and running work. This movement is one of my favorites! It requires stabilization as well as control of movement. It is a bit more advanced so if you’ve been doing a lot of sit ups and planks this is a nice next step up in difficulty. Burn baby, burn!
Action Steps:
1) Take your time on these. Check in with yourself to see if you feel your core, glutes, arms and thighs engaged.
2) Try to keep the wrists as straight as you can.
3) Set the shoulders so they don’t get pulled out of joint. Imagine you are pinching a pencil vertically between your shoulder blades setting them up, back and down.
4) Try and keep hips parallel to the floor. Hips open!
Prior getting into strength training, accessory work was actually the only kind of strength work I did at my 24 Hour Fitness gym. It was an easy way for me to become aware of my body and how to work different muscle groups without much equipment. I always enjoy learning new effective accessory movements so I wanted to share one with you. This movement is also a great one for new moms who can do it anywhere using your child instead of a weight plate and any two even flat surfaces that can support your weight.
The three main lifts I currently train are the back squat, bench press, and deadlift. However, to continue to train the main muscles I use there is also programmed accessory work I follow. The purpose of accessory work is to complement the primary movement. I did these after heavy squats. The Chinese arch is a static movement that brings blood flow back to the low back and works on strengthening your posterior chain and core. It’s really simple and very effective.
What you need:
2 benches or same height flat surfaces
1 weight plate between 15-35 lbs
How to do the movement:
Suspend your body between the two benches with shoulders placed on one and ankles on the other
Gently place weight plate on your hip crease
Tighten glutes and core to raise hips to so body is completely flat
My parents aren’t married anymore and I’m totally cool with it. From my perspective their union was very one sided as far as nurturing what makes the other’s spirit soar. It was only a matter of time until the whole thing imploded. They were married for close to 30 years and the end was total destruction. It ripped apart our extended family and left a gaping hole in in my heart and my brothers’ hearts. Seeing as the end was so messy when I look back on these pictures of them on their wedding day I want to know what they loved about each other on that day. I want to know what they pledged whole heartedly on that day to each other. I want to jump inside the heads of the extended family and know how they truly felt about their union. That’s the funny thing about the past, memory, and perspective: The story changes the further you get from it.
Natural beauty
Handsome Groom
Serious Groom
Here’s what I see when I look at mom and dad’s wedding pictures:
They were so attractive. My mom looks like a goddess with long dark hair and my dad looks like a pretty boy band poster boy.
My dad has a look of searching and intensity and a wild eyed look about him. His eyes say it all. He’s not happy with himself. He’s his own worst enemy.
My mom looked like she wanted everything to work and everyone to be happy. Deep down, did she feel in over her head? Did he truly make her happy or did she marry him because she so desperately wanted to make him happy?
I’m not claiming to know the intricacies that go into trying to make a marriage work or if it’s better to recognize its expiration date than to deny happiness. The only thing I do know is I want to try. I want to whole heartedly try spending a lifetime with the person I’ve waited for so long to meet.
What will we remember from our wedding day?
I want to put in the work. Maybe I’m like every other fool who believes in love that lasts a lifetime. I’m typically a skeptical romantic but I’m choosing to put skepticism aside for experience. I want to look back on my life and be glad I took a risk or two instead of sitting safely on the sidelines. I can’t believe I’m choosing tradition. I hope I can remember and capture what my wedding means to me and be able to recount just how much I love my husband and future father of my children. I want to always honor my past because it is what makes my existence unique. It is the fabric of my identity and what makes life interesting.
Here’s the thing about me and fitness goals: They don’t stick unless I find the joy in them. I love long distance running because it calms me down, I love triathlons because they start with a swim and nothing makes me happier than being in the water, I love CrossFit because I’m continually challenged by a grab bag of movements, and I love power lifting because of the confidence it gives me and the immediate satisfaction I feel with every lift.
For years, I’ve been doing yoga on and off because when I moved to San Diego everyone was doing it and I can never stick with it. I love to lift heavy weights and I recognize if I want to continue to grow and benefit my sport I need to spend time on flexibility. I’ve been pondering why my experience “trying” yoga again and again has led me to think I dislike it? Is it because I didn’t identify with with crowd it attracted? Is it because I feel too ADD to every truly relax? Is it because I didn’t want to be packed into another room with other peoples smells too close to me? Or is it because I wasn’t ready to be open to getting in touch with myself on a deeper level?
Hesitant to set myself up for failure by setting a goal doing yoga x days per week, I started with a visual cue. I unrolled my yoga mat on my bedroom floor. Initially I did it as a reminder to do yoga. But my behavior upon seeing it before I went to bed and first thing when I woke up was interesting. At first, I stepped around it to get to my dresser or closet getting dressed in the morning. Then one night I thought: Why does my mat out mean I have to hold a pose that’s difficult for me? One night I went in and laid on my back in shavasana pose with the bottoms of my feet touching together and just tried to relax. “What are you doing, Hannah? This isn’t even yoga,” I told myself on night one. Now it’s been three weeks and I am looking forward to my nightly shavasana. It is my baby step towards meditation/self awareness. I strongly believe it has increased my creativity and I come out of it almost high that for a few minutes each day I get to exist somewhere between dreams and reality.
Saturday Yoga at Humanity
My next step is trying to make a point to attend CrossFit Humanity’s Saturday yoga session. Katie Dunn is excellent at what she does and is her authentic dog loving self instead of trying to be some uber zen yoga faker. Yoga is difficult and humbling. I’m continuing to use my mat to build awareness with myself and who knows maybe one of these days I’ll feel the pull to start doing poses on my own.
