Monthly Archives: February 2012

Just One Of Those Days

Posted on by
6

Do you ever have those days when you get home from work/school/whatever and you are 

just.

mentally.

done.

Yep, I was there last night.

It all started off the other morning when I got to the gym. This week is a de-load week for me, meaning I’m still in the gym 3-4 times this week but doing much less intensity and volume, in order to give my body some much needed recovery time. However, I’m afraid the de-load has gone to my head.

Literally.

My schedule has been thrown off a little bit so it was even a squat day, which is usually my favorite day of the week! However, yesterday I was NOT feeling it. I got through the workout as planned, but it certainly wasn’t my best work, de-load or not.

So the question is… What came first? Did I have a crappy workout because I knew I was de-loading anyway so I wasn’t pumped up for a heavy lift? Or did I just physically crap out as my body’s way of telling me that this lighter week is desperately needed?

Chicken or the Egg? Which came first?

I guess the bigger question here is How much of your workout is mental, and how much is physical?? 

The answer? Well, I think it’s complicated.

There is a ton of research out there in the sports psychology world that tells us that mental imagery, positive thinking, and positive self-talk can have a huge impact on training and competition. That being said, there are obvious physical limitations as well — I’m not going to be squatting 300 lbs any time soon no matter HOW mentally ready I am.

No, I don’t walk around the weight room telling myself how jacked I am (out loud anyway), but I can honestly say that the days that I picture my lifts before hand are the days when I have the best lifts. It was the same when I used to be a pathetic runner. If I would take the time to do some mental imagery before I headed out door, 9 times out of 10 I would have a great run (I use that term loosely here).

On the same token, negative self-talk has exactly the effect that you would think. Let’s look back to my runs again. If I focused on how tired I was, or how slow I was, or how I would never make it home in one piece, guess what? Those runs were torture. Yesterday’s lift was a great example too. I can almost hear myself saying “Bah, it doesn’t matter, it’s an off week, just get through it.”

Just get through it? WHAT? Self?  Is THAT supposed to motivate me?

But I do care! I do I do!

So why is it that I know this, that lots of people know this, but that we don’t all practice it on a regular basis? I know that on my heavy squat and DL days, I have to be mentally all there or I won’t get the job done. I know that getting through my sprint workouts is at least 50% mental, and probably more like 80% for the last few reps.

Sometimes I watch people mope around the gym, looking like they have not a care in the world, nor any type of passion or motivation for what they are doing (and that is probably what I looked like the other day, to be honest).  Maybe I’m just tired this week, maybe my body really does desperately need this week to be light, or maybe I really just psyched myself out of the game yesterday?

I don’t know about you, but I’m going to try something next week. Once I’m back into my regular lift schedule I’m actually going to work at doing a little bit of positive imagery for every single workout session I have, because I can’t for the life of me figure out why I don’t do it every time anyway.  Lift, sprints, plyos; whatever the workout calls for, I will be ready for it mentally and physically.  Picture yourself hitting that last rep with perfect form. Picture yourself getting one more rep in. Picture yourself finishing a set with 5 lbs more than you did last week. Who’s with me?

Do any of you have specific psych-up techniques before a workout? Do you have music that helps you out the most? Has anyone ever totally psyched themselves out of a workout?

Monday Treats!

Posted on by
4

Quickie post today.

My upstairs neighbors hosted a pretty kick-ass Oscar party last night, so instead of reading/writing, I enjoyed some good food, good beverage, and great company! So due to my fantastic neighbors, you guys are getting a lot less of my time. Sorry!

First off, yesterday I went to a hot yoga class for the first time in about a month. Life has just been too hectic to go lately, but with an entire Sunday free, what better way to start my week than with 90 minutes of full-sweat posing and stretching?! The fact that my right wrist is missing about 10 degrees of extension due to an injury right now didn’t exactly make it blissful, but hey… no pain, no gain, right?

Nope, sorry. This is a lie.

(No, stupid, if your wrist is injured, you probably shouldn’t go to a class where a good 50% of your time is spent with your full body weight bearing down on your wrists.)

WHOOPS.

Wrist pain aside, my hips and hammies feel great! Yay for Downward Facing Dog, and my personal favorite, Eagle Pose.

Now on to the sweet Monday treats!!

I present to you:

No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies.

I saw these sweet delectables over at Chocolate Covered Katie, and they are so freaking delicious (and healthy!) that I had to share them with you folks! I made a few mild adjustments, and also have started plotting for my future endeavors with these delicious balls of peanut-buttery heaven.

Despite what these pictures look like, these are in fact cookies, and not sliders.

What you need:

1/4 C Peanut Butter (I used organic creamy, with salt)

1/2 C Raisins

2 T Roasted, unsalted peanuts

1/4 Tsp Salt

1/8 Tsp Vanilla (I would actually use a little bit less than this next time)

(Gluten-free for all you gluten-freebies out there)

What you need to do:

Throw everything into a food processor and blend until smooth. Roll into balls, smoosh into bars, or however else you would like to eat these precious little PB treats.

*Note: I don’t have a real food processor, only the all-mighty As-Seen-On-TV Magic Bullet. Unfortunately, the MB, in all of its magical glory, isn’t quite strong enough for the full peanuts… soo…. if the Magic Bullet isn’t meant to work so hard that it starts smoking… that’s my bad. A real food processor is probably necessary to avoid unwanted house fires.

What I added in:

I ended up topping each one with a raisin (because to me, the combo of raisins and peanut butter is too good to resist) and added about 1 tsp of coconut to the batter.   I also added a little bit of coconut to top a few cookies, mostly for looks, but also for the yum factor (I’m a bit of a coconut fiend).  Needless to say, once I ate one with coconut on top, the rest of them got coated with it too :)

Next time I might try using dates instead of raisins, because I really like their consistency. Or maybe a mix of dates and raisins? If anyone tries them like that, let me know how they turn out! I’ll also probably try adding in a scoop of protein powder to the mix just for a little extra protein kick, but that may require adding in a little bit of water or they may be too dry.

As for this time around, all I have to say is…

YUM.

Addictive. Truly addictive. This recipe makes a glob of batter that is enough to make about 5 small cookies. Believe me though, they are rich; I couldn’t eat more than one at a time. The dough keeps well in the fridge (and in my opinion they are a little better after setting in the fridge for a while!) so you can keep them around for a great pre or post-workout snack during the week.

Again, I DID NOT make these up. I take no credit. I do, however, take full credit for eating them and enjoying them 100%. You can thank Katie for the recipe and for the fact that I found these too irresistible to keep from all of you! (You should also check out her blog for some WAY better pictures of these than I took, and for some other ridiculously good looking treats as well!)

That’s all for now. Have a great start to your week, and I hope you get to enjoy some great healthy treats today!

What Are You Doing?

Posted on by
14

After years of working out in commercial gyms and also the gyms of the schools that I have worked at, I’ve seen a lot of questionable exercise techniques.

For example:

I watched a guy yesterday do some sort of reverse DB fly, only what he was doing was more of a full body convulsion, flailing the too-heavy dumbbells back and forth with no muscular control whatsoever. I would never actually approach anyone in the weight room to critique them, but I wanted so badly to yell “WHAT ARE YOU DOING???” But alas, I just watched out of the corner of my eye, making sure that no dumbbells came flying across the room during his spastic “lift”.

And it’s certainly not just isolated to the weight room, or to men either. There was a woman at my old gym that used to literally gallop around, clapping her hands against her thighs. Yes, I said gallop. And if you’re confused, I was too. If you’re wondering what that even means, I don’t know how to explain it in words. I could do a pretty awesome imitation though. And this was not an isolated event; I saw this multiple times. Again, she could have used a good “WHAT are you doing?!?”

Just the other day, I was at the gym and watched a girl do an entire workout from atop a BOSU ball.Here was her routine, all done with an 8 lb bar:

Upright Rows

Bicep Curls

Squats

Overhead Press

Over. And Over. And Over. Again.

My problem here is not that she was holding an 8 lb bar. If that is a challenging weight for her, than that’s great, we all have to start somewhere. My problem with this is also not that her “squats” involved her moving about 3 inches, because hey, she was a little wobbly on that thing and I was slightly worried she was going to fall off if she squatted any deeper.

My BIG problem here is that Damn BOSU ball. I guarantee you, if I asked her “What are you doing? Why are you on a BOSU ball?” She would tell me something along the lines of “Oh, don’t you know? It works your core and makes all of your muscles work harder because you have to stabilize at the same time”

wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-yeah.

And I don’t blame her for this backwards way of thinking, I really don’t. I blame women’s magazines, and Jillian Michaels, and all of the other evil bullsh*t marketing geared towards “women’s fitness”.

Forgive me, I’m about to rant.

If I could get this girl to stop and think about it for one second, do you think I could get her to step off the BOSU? Do you think I would be able to get her to understand a few key points?

  1. You may be working on your balance, but being able to balance does not make you stronger.
  2. If you got off that gosh-darn BOSU, you’d be able to lift more weight. Guess what happens when you are able to lift more weight? Your muscles are working harder.
  3. When you begin lifting more weight, to lift with good form you MUST engage your core. So guess what again? Not only are your muscles working harder, but your core is also working to stabilize without having you look like a fool, perching atop a giant bubble.

Don’t get me wrong. BOSU balls are not trash. They have their place in the world. And that place is in rehab facilities. When rehabbing a lower extremity injury, working on balance and proprioception on an unstable surface can be useful.

Susie Schmoozie in the big commercial gym, however, is getting no conceivable benefit from teetering on a BOSU while lifting pink weights over her head.

Now, I don’t want all of you reading this to think that I just walk around the gym with my nose in the air judging everyone else. Because I know very well that I’m not perfect either, and there’s probably someone else who sees some of my lifts and thinks “What is SHE doing?!?”.   In fact, I fell victim to the BOSU mumbo-jumbo years ago too. I used to do all of those “functional” balancing exercises because I read that it was better for me. So I’ve been there. I get it. I’m also more educated now, and I know better.

The girl on the BOSU ball is not an idiot, and I’m glad she’s making the time to exercise at all. I just wish, for her sake, that she had a little bit more information on ways to improve what she’s already doing. She probably doesn’t know any better. The guy with the dumbbells, well, he may be too macho to go down in weight on the dumbbells, so hopefully he doesn’t get hurt, but at least he’s trying, I guess.

My point is, if you’re doing something, or if your personal trainer has you doing something and you’re not sure if it’s actually benefitting you or not, just take a second to ask “What am I doing?” If you have a legitimate reason as to why you are doing whatever it is that you do in the gym, than by all means, be my guest. But don’t “do” just to “do”. Do it with purpose. Do it with a goal in mind. Do it because it is making you better. If that’s the case, than no one else really can judge you, right?

As for the galloping woman… well… I have to admit it. I am judging her. I just don’t get it.

Sorry.

Updates and Good Reads

Posted on by
10

Well, Hello there.

I hope everyone had a fantastic long weekend!

I was actually pretty busy at work this weekend and didn’t have a whole lot of time to write.  So today’s post will actually be a mash-up of some of my own updates and some links to some good reads that I’ve found lately.

How I wish I spend my weekend:

How I actually spent my weekend:

Let’s go with the updates first.

I deadlifted 135 for reps for the first time on Friday! Woo Hoo!  I know that may not seem like a ton to some of you (and to some it may seem like a lot) but I feel like it’s been a long time coming for me. I’ve been stuck at 125 for a while, so to finally be able to move past that plateau was huge. With my hip mobility issues and the smaller plate size at the lower weight, I was having to do my DLs from a set of blocks. Finally, with the full 45 lb plates, I was able to DL straight from the floor and it felt great!! Honestly, my hips have never felt better. (Me-thinks it has something to do with the fact that I finally realized several months ago that I really needed to stop trying to become a “runner”).  I am also definitely going to attribute part a lot of my success on Friday to the added pulling/rowing lifts that I have added over the past month in order to improve my upper back strength.

Yes, deadlifting is mostly focused on hamstrings/glutes/lower back, but it really is a full body lift and a strong upper back is essential for good form. Now that I’ve started to see more strength gains in that mid-trap/rhomboid area of my upper back, I felt like I was supporting my DL much more than I had previously.

Yay for gains!

And now for some good reads. These are just a few blog posts/articles that I’ve come across fairly recently from some of my favorite writers/bloggers out there on the interwebz. Hopefully you’ll appreciate these as much as I do!

Nia Shanks – Nutrition Trigger and Tips - Nia is one of my favorite strong female voices out there. A great post here about food triggers (we all have them!)  and how to handle them.

Molly Galbraith – To Cheat Or Not To Cheat - Another excellent female voice when it comes to nutrition and strength training. Read this for thoughts on food “cheats” and if there really is such a thing.

Molly Galbraith – How To Tell If Your Trainer Knows What They Are Doing - Do You have a personal trainer? Are they actually benefitting you at all?

Brian St. Pierre – Cholesterol Fact and Fiction - A quick but informative read about cholesterol and what you really need to know about your lipid profile.

Alan Aragon – Interviewed By Wisconsin Poly Tech - Some great general information about nutrition and strength training.

That’s all for now, folks! This week has the potential to be pretty hectic as well so I’ll be back with a “real” blog post as soon as I’m able to. For now, I leave you with this, Pinterest find of the week:

Pinned Image

Fun Foods Friday!

Posted on by
11

I’m going to start this off by saying I’m not the most adventurous of eaters.

But it’s not for lack of trying. I have gotten much better over the past few years as Will has been able to convince me to try many new things, most of which I’ve really enjoyed.  My biggest roadblock when it comes to new foods actually has nothing to do with taste though, and has everything to do with texture.

Case In Point: the Head Cheese I tried a couple of weeks ago. Everyone else was raving about the delicious ham flavor, while I couldn’t get past the slimy, pasty texture without almost gagging.

One bite was enough for me. One and done.

However, on Wednesday night, Will came home with something a little bit suspicious for us to cook for dinner. It was something that I’ve never even heard of before, but you know what? I LOVED it. Aren’t you curious what this mystery food was?

Squid Ink Pasta

YES!!!!

Now, even though it was not especially appetizing to look at, I didn’t even hesitate on this one. Maybe it’s because I was ravenous after a long day, or maybe I was just in the mood for some iodine, but whatever it was, we got cooking right away.

First, we chopped up some onions and garlic and sauteed those with a touch of butter while the pasta was cooking.

Once the pasta was done, that went into the onion mix as well.

Ooh, Steamy!

But thats not all…

We had actual squid meat too!

MMmmmmmm… Tentacles!!

When everything was done, we served the pasta up with some roasted green beans, roasted asparagus that we had left over from the night before, and some roasted chicken.

YUM-O

I ended up eating about 3/4 of this. If I hadn’t gotten so gosh darn full, I would have eaten the whole thing. It was all so delicious!

Now, if you’re like me and have never heard of or tried squid ink pasta, yes, it is actually made with the ink that squid secrete, along with some eggs, flour, and a little salt. I’m really not sure how they get the ink, so if there are any animal activists reading this, I’m sorry if I’ve done something wrong?!  Surprisingly though, the pasta only had the very slightest hint of a seafood flavor, and was not “fishy” at all. It was a little bit salty, and did I mention it was delicious? The squid itself was actually not fishy either, and was just a little bit chewy with a mildly tangy flavor.

When all is said and done, this is definitely something I’d eat again and would also recommend to anyone who’s curious!  Are any of you especially adventurous with food? What’s the weirdest food you’ve tried and liked? Is anyone else picky about texture like I am?