healthy

Practicing Compassion in Your Fitness Community

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working on her flexibility

working on her flexibility

I learned this from lesson from my mom. She taught all kinds of aerobics classes when I was growing up and always knew everyone’s stories. She loves people’s stories: The tragedies they’ve endured, the mountains they’ve conquered and the struggles they’ve had to create healthier lifestyles.

She encouraged women in their twenties through their seventies and they loved her not because she herself was a picture perfect athlete (although she has always been athletic) but because she normalized the concept of healthy lifestyle and cared about them. As a kid, I remember rolling my eyes in impatience because we’d get to her gym and she would talk for an hour with different members who came up to chat with her. I used to get so tired of waiting for her. My dad always complained about her seemingly “useless” chatter at her YMCA community. She should have been home earlier for dinner and not “wasted” so much time talking at the gym. Now that I’m an adult, I now see the power and meaning behind her “chats.” She inspired other people from her own commitment to her health and fitness (a leader by example) and provided a safe place, free of judgement for those returning from a hiatus recommitting to their own health.

Last leg of her triathlon

Last leg of her triathlon

In my own role as coach, I’ve seen members come and go, and a rare few who come back again. The ones who return are the ones I look up to and hold in the highest regard. I think the hardest thing to do psychologically, is to know you used to be in better shape than you are and decide to do something about it by returning to your gym to re-start that climb. Even harder is to return to a gym that is a tight knit community of friends because they know your dirty little secret: You’ve been out in the world living and for a multitude of reasons and may have struggled with making your own health a priority. If you have left and then returned, I have the utmost respect for you. You should not feel anxiety or judgment. On the contrary, be proud, be kind to yourself, and keep going.

 

Action Steps:

1. Fitness is a lifetime commitment with ebbs and flows due to life circumstances. If you haven’t experienced this it is highly likely you will in your lifetime.

2. If you are a gym regular, remember this struggle and identify with it. Reach out and show some love to those you know are struggling.

2. An act of compassion is simple: Show up and listen.

 

Ab Wipers

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These suckers are fun dynamic way to work your core. I say suckers because they are tough but highly effective. I use 15 lb plates on a 35 lb barbell for a total of 65 lbs. You want just enough weight so that when you press it up it takes some shoulder stability to hang onto.

 

How to do it:

Starting on your back with the barbell rolled over you at hip level, raise the barbell with your hips creating a bridge. Then press bar straight above you at eye level with elbows locked out and shoulders squeezed together.

Lift head, neck and shoulders slightly to engage upper abdominals

Straighten and tighten your legs together, point your toes and start at the left end of the barbell.

Using control on the way down bring your feet to lightly tap the ground and lift your legs up to meet the right side of the barbell. HINT: You are making an imaginary V with your straight legs.

Starting at the left, tapping down, and bring feet up right then re-trace your pattern until you are all the way back left again– This is one repetition

Notes:

The barbell demands more stability because the weights are on either side, however you can do this same controlled movement holding your baby or puppy straight up in the air as well. Just make sure you swing the legs wide enough on either end.

The Value of Rest Days

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puppy in gymnast rings

Listen to your body

You can see it on the faces of women at your gym: Mentally and physically exhausted but slogging through a workout at half speed and intensity. Perhaps you’ve been there too. Maybe it was the only way to have some release from the stresses of life but what if you or someone you know is pushing themselves into the red zone weekly or even daily?

It’s taken me a long time to adopt the idea of exercise as being good to my body and not punishing it because I see it as heavy, ugly or it makes me you uncomfortable. A big part of honoring your body and all wonderful ways it performs is to not skimp on the rest it needs.

I like weight lifting but since it is not a restorative sport I need my rest. When I started training in power lifting I still wanted to CrossFit 5 days a week like I had been. I learned after just one day of CrossFit and no rest day in between I was operating on 75% of the strength I could recruit from a well-rested body. The percentage would decline from there for each day I over trained and got frustrated as to why I wasn’t making bigger gains.

sloth wrapped in banner

Rest Does a Body Good

It has taken me 30 years to start prioritizing my rest as much as my exercise and tuning into my body. When I start to feel mentally and physically drained I am always on the brink of crying as I feel overly sensitive. I used to show up for class, my coach would correct my form and I’d almost burst into tears I felt so judged. I finally realized this feeling means I’m in the red zone. Now when I’m at my office job feeling tired I picture my coach critiquing my form and imagine myself at the gym. Do I want to start crying or am I cool with the feedback? I know it sounds silly but it totally is how I can assess if I really need a rest day or two or sometimes three.

Action Steps:

1) Start listening to your body. If you’re feeling drained, overly tight, irritable or emotionally just not like yourself take a day off and do something good for your soul: Comfort tea, reading, going to dinner with a friend are a few things I like.

2) A rest day doesn’t mean you must be inactive, it means you are taking a full day off your sport. So if you’re a runner you are not running on your rest day. If I’ve been lifting heavy during my training an active rest day looks like swimming, walking or jogging the beach, mobilizing or yoga.

3) You’ll be amazed at the increase in your performance when you return from a day or two off. Sometimes extra sleep, hydration with light mobility or flexibility is what your body is calling for. You just have to honor it.

Burn Baby, Burn! Barbell Rollouts

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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!

Location: CrossFit Humanity

Strengthen your Posterior Anywhere: Chinese Arches

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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.

 

chinese arch

 

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

Hold static for 1 minute

Complete  3-5 sets, holding for 1 minute each

 

 

 

 

 

Beginning Yoga (Again)

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yoga mat on rug with puppy

My yoga mat

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.

tricep stretch yoga class

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.

 

Healthy Plane Travel (Part 2)

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Without emotional health there is no health. So let’s talk emotional health while traveling on a plane, shall we? Yesterday I flew to Philadelphia on the first flight of the morning. Here’s my issue with crack of dawn flights: The day before flying, as soon as I clock out at work, I’m like “Whoop whoop! I’m on vacation.” I ALWAYS have to express my newfound freedom from a consistent schedule by staying up as late as possible. Last night after work I worked out, went to dinner with friends, packed, re-organized my purse, cleaned my ring, watched Game of Thrones, flipped through magazines, re-watched Game of Thrones because I wasn’t paying good enough attention and did laundry. This took me right up until 11:45 pm. I get the biggest high staying up past my bedtime on vacation days. Freedom is important to me, apparently.

plane

 As a result, when my alarm went off at 430 am there was no amount of coffee I could chug to keep me from feeling like I was hung over I was so tired. By the time I waited to board at 600 am, it felt like lunch time to my body. I could feel the Grumpapotamos rising inside as I noticed the insane crowd around me with the same objective: board this plane ASAP to get space for my carry on and sleep off this hang over feeling. Now remember, I’m heading to Philly, where I’ve recently learned, all kinds of characters are made. One guy was clogging up the line dancing to blaring music in his headphones. The guys behind him started yelling at him to “move it” as if they could compete with the volume of what I’d guess to be reggae music by the sway in his dance moves. To make matters worse he was making it super awkward for people to pass him because he was dancing in a lateral fashion. I have minimal patience for crowds, slow walking people in front of me, and general a$$holes in airports. People were cutting each other in line and arguing for overhead compartment space once on the plane.

In times like this one, I like to play a game with myself called Aloha Spirit. If you’ve ever seen a plane loading to take off for Hawaii ain’t no one in a rush. They line up neatly and will always allow people who were not paying attention to the boarding calls step in front of them. Aloha spirit game is defined as me repeating “Aloha Oe” song over and over in my head to calm myself down and not react to the chaos surrounding me. The chorus goes, “Aloha Oe, Aloha Oe, until we meet again!” When Aloha Spirit doesn’t work, thank God there’s chocolate in my nut mixes.

Action Steps

1) Practice healthy habits so you do feel less like coming unhinged when someone cuts you in line to bored

2) If you do experience an flare up of anger ask yourself: Is this a fight worth fighting for?

3) If you’re traveling with your partner, friends or family be kind. It’s your responsibility to not take your frustrations out on them just because you’re HANGRY.

Healthy Plane Travel (Part 1)

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It saddens me that it takes so much planning to keep a travel day a healthy day. Nothing puts me in a worse mood than not having healthy options and being forced to pay for a $20 salad made of iceberg lettuce, croutons and strips of processed lunchmeat.

Here are some essentials I never get on a plane without:

My own water bottle–Chug one on your way to the airport, bring it through security empty and refill before you get on the plane.

Unsalted cashews and if I need a little more pizzazz in my life I love the sea salt and vinegar almonds from Sprouts.

My favorite chocolate nut mix from Trader Joes in case I am tempted by junky airport/airplane food called Happy Trekking: Almonds, cashews, pistachios, chocolate, cranberries, cherries.

Satisfies any and all chocolate cravings

Satisfies any and all chocolate cravings

I also like to pack a sandwich. Note: I don’t usually eat sandwiches unless I’m traveling. I like the neatness of eating half a sandwich on the plane and having the option for eating the other half later. I also don’t mind eating a sandwich at room temperature. Don’t use tomato or veggies that squish easily and contain a lot of water.

What if it’s just too hard to be Penny Perfect Planner the day before traveling? You’re screwed. Nah, just kidding!

Here are food/drink items I’ll buy in an airport in a pinch:

A protein style burger wrapped in lettuce—mustard, yes. Mayo, no. Easy on the ketchup if you must. Load up on the veggies.

Water- Not the giant bottle that won’t fit in your bag but a mid sized bottle you can refill multiple times. Try and chug as your standing by the water fountain to refill. Chug half, refill, repeat.

Coffee- Black. Avoid the new Starbucks coconut milk it’s not REAL coconut milk. All kinds of nasty stuff in it. Need some pizzaz? Sprinkle cinnamon in it.

Action Steps:

1. If you can plan your plane snacks and hydration before traveling it’s more cost efficient and generally better for you.

2. If it comes down to game time food decisions in airports keep within the general strategy of minimizing sugar, maximizing protein, watching the dairy and BIG emphasis on hydration.

3. Avoiding a sugar crash means a more stable mood, providing you with energy and patience you need in an airport (trust me).

What is Mobility, Anyway?

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In the beginning I was hyper-focused on training. How can I be consistent with my training and how can I continue to push myself to the next level. I’m good at pushing myself and unfortunately I did some pretty crazy stuff and am lucky I haven’t sustained any serious injuries. In college, I would party all night and jump in a 10k run still drunk and dehydrated and run the entire race. In my mid-twenties in San Diego a fair number of my long distance training runs were hung over as I was insistent on living it up Friday and Saturday night EVERY weekend. At twenty-nine it was like the fifth gear in my engine gave out. If I wanted to improve I’d have to start changing my lifestyle. What I didn’t understand is that coming out of the invincible twenties decade I can no longer neglect my body and expect it to perform. Mobility is a big part of how I care for my body so it will continue to meet strength training demands.

I thought mobility was stretching. Stretching was what we did in gym class before the mile run. We sat on our bums with both legs straight out in front of us until we felt an uncomfortable pull in the backs of our legs hold for 10 seconds then move on. I learned that mobility was a newer school of thought from Kelly Starrett of San Francisco CrossFit and MobilityWOD. He describes it as, “a movement-based integrated full body approach that addresses all elements that limit movement performance including short and tight muscles, soft tissue restriction, joint capsule restriction, motor control problems, joint range of motion dysfunction, and neural dynamic issues. In short, mobilization is a tool to globally address movement and performance problems.”

The simple way I began thinking about this was adding movement to “stretching.” Like in these banded good mornings where you hinge at the hip with legs as straight as possible (without locking out the knees). It works you posterior chain and can be incorporated into a warm up or cool down.

banded good mornings

Photo Credit: Sal Ocampo/CrossFit Humanity

Finding a mobility routine has shown me the benefit of 3 tools: the roller, the lacrosse ball and the resistance band. If you want to see some of my favorites download the free app MoveWell and it has a nice little timer feature to ensure you spend ample time on each side. Also, if you’re at all physically active, invest in a roller, lacrosse ball and band. They will soon become your best friends and are easily packable for travel.

Action Steps:

1. What are some ways you can be gentler on your body? You only get one, folks.

2. Think about health and fitness as a lifelong goal. I want to be active well into my eighties.

3.  If you love training hard how can you care for yourself to gain top performance?

Bulletproof Coffee: A Love Affair

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There is no shame in my game when admitting my love of and often desperation for coffee. I love the way it smells, tastes, and the ritual of brewing it. Even though I’m not a huge Foldgers fan. My have fond memories of my parents making Folgers every morning.  I usually hum the old commercial jingle as I make my own coffee, “The best part of waking up… is Foldgers in your cup!” Before bed, I religiously grind the beans and load my coffee maker set for auto brew at 6 am every morning (weekends included). When I wake up and the coffee is brewing, I down my lemon water (see my post Waking Up with Lemon Water) and a five minute intention setting for my day. After, I mosey back over and begin making bulletproof coffee.

 

 

I started drinking bulletproof as my first cup of the day because I wanted to take in more healthy fats throughout my day.  The idea behind buttery/oily coffee is an easy one: Ingesting good fat first thing in the morning provides energy and balances your hormonal system.  I personally like it because I feel full for about three hours after I drink a cup and I don’t feel the effects of a caffeine crash as sharply. It also is convenient. I start drinking my bulletproof coffee on the way to work and then don’t have to build in extra time before work to eat breakfast as I’m not feeling hungry until about three hours later.

Action Steps:

1. Grind bulletproof coffee beans and load coffee machine before bed. I order my beans from the Bulletproof website.

2. Blend 2 Tablespoons of grass fed butter. I like Kerry Gold Unsalted grass fed Butter in the silver foil and get it from Sprouts or Trader Joes.

3. Blend one tablespoon of MCT (medium-chain triglycerides) oil per one cup of coffee. I order this from the Bulletproof website and prefer using an immersion blender on the slowest setting.