Quit Tomorrow – Fight Today

Here is a great article from one of my favorite nutrition coaching sources: Precision Nutrition. I have learned a lot from John Berardi through his lectures, emails, and videos. This is an insert from one of their guest articles. To see the full article, visit their website at: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/motivation-quit-tomorrow

“In Special Operations Forces selection we used to have a saying:
“Finish out today and quit tomorrow.” SOF selection is essentially a system of heavy-duty hazing, ruthlessly tormenting a bunch of people until most of them drop out. During this intensive process, it’s so tempting to tell yourself that The run is too far. The water is too cold. My arms are too weak to do one… more… pushup… unnnggghh. It’s so tempting to tell yourself: It doesn’t matter. It’s not worth it. Nothing is worth this pain or boredom. So what’s the secret to staying the course?

Quitting. Later, that is.

My buddies and I promised each other we’d never quit in the middle of an evolution. At least, we’d wait until the end of the day, when the intensity of the moment had passed. The carrot of quitting dangled enticingly in front of us. A little treat, the promise of eventual relief to keep us going. It was just a little farther away. Of course, at the end of the day, we’d look back on the incident that had made us want to quit, realize it wasn’t so bad – and feel good about our decision to continue. Invariably, this simple trick would pull us through. We didn’t quit today. And every one of us made it through selection.

The Opposite Rule
In our coaching programs, we often like to use the Opposite Rule: If what you’re doing isn’t working, try the opposite. (Ridiculously simple, we know. But it works.) Most of us have told ourselves: I’ll start ___ tomorrow. [Insert one or more of the following self-improvement projects: running, getting up early, eating healthy, being nicer to my in-laws, learning Swahili, etc.] “Starting tomorrow” — while it’s a great way to begin — also often lets us justify poor decisions today. So what about trying the opposite? Instead of “start tomorrow”, how about: “Quit tomorrow”? You’re going to have moments of weakness when you want nothing more than a bag of chips or a package of Twinkies. Days when you can barely drag yourself to the gym. It’s only once. It can’t really hurt. It’s not so bad. The mind is remarkably adept at coming up with justifications. But this decision won’t stand on its own. Every choice you make lays neural groundwork that will bias your future decisions. Eventually, you’re the sum of your habits. No more, and no less.

So, my advice when you want to give up is this: Quit tomorrow.

Nourish yourself with healthy food today. Get yourself to the gym and do that set today. And tomorrow, if you want that Pop Tart or you need a rest, go ahead and take it. But I’m betting the urge to quit will be gone. Instead, when tomorrow dawns, you’ll feel just a bit healthier, a little less dependent on sugar, a little stronger. And you’ll be one step closer to your goals.”

So, let’s fight today and see the results from putting in 100% effort. Tomorrow, you can quit.

Foundations of Strength – Bear Crawls

It is amazing to watch my son grow and develop movement patterns.  I look at him learning new skills and stare in awe at the beauty of his movements.  They may not be fluid right off the bat, but he begins to build on his foundations to become stronger and more efficient.  Right now, he is in the process of learning to walk.  He is an exceptional crawler and can move very quickly and efficiently.  He is mastering the bear crawl, and performs it better than some of my high school/college athletes!  Here is a video of my son bear crawling (he ends his route with a downward dog- how I wish I could have that flexibility!).

A bear crawl is a great movement prep warm up exercise.  It works the entire body and gets the heart pumping as well.  They are also a great starting point for learning how to perform a push-up.  Once you have mastered a bear crawl for an extended period of time, you can take the next step to standing planks (then eccentric push-ups, then incline push-ups, then full push-ups).  Bear crawls are great for every athlete in every sport because is focuses on the anterior chain (shoulders, chest, trunk, hips, quads, etc).  I use bear crawls with my clients and athletes as part of their movement preparation.  I typically have them perform about 20 yards of bear crawls and once they perform that well, we begin going backwards.  Incorporate bear crawls into your daily workout prep… you won’t be sorry!

Favorite Equipment

Since moving to Hawaii I have met many people.  Inevitably, when talking with someone new the topic of jobs arise and when they find out I am a personal and athletic trainer, they usually ask me my favorite exercise or piece of equipment.  My go-to response is the TRX suspension trainer.  It is easy to hang in a home or outdoors, it can easily fit in a suitcase, and you can workout your entire body using just this one piece of equipment.  The TRX suspension trainer uses gravity and your own body weight for intensity, and allows for many exercises to be performed.  This morning, I did most of my workout on the TRX: hamstring curls, oblique planks, reverse flys, rows, atomic pushups, 1 leg elevated squats, 1 arm pull and rotation, pikes, and tricep extensions.  It felt great!  The company is a great resource for exercises and they even have a yoga exercise set.  It is pretty incredible.  So, if you are looking for just one piece of equipment, whether its for your home gym or something to travel with, I advise you to pick up a TRX suspension trainer.  Great quality and excellent rewards!

Take Control

There are so many things in our lives that we cannot control, but conversely there are many situations that we can influence for our benefit.  One of those situations is school and another is sports.  In school, we cannot control what information we may be tested on but we can control how much we study and the amount of effort we put into our studying habits.  In sports, we cannot control what the other team or opponent will do, but we can prepare through diligent practice sessions, stretching and recovery, and proper nutrition habits.  Take control of your personal responsibility and rock it in school and sports!  Be determined, dedicated, and diligent.  Set your goals and reach them weekly.  What are some ways you take control of your lives?

Pool Therapy

In college, I was an athletic trainer working with the soccer teams. My head trainer introduced me to teaching our athletes exercises in the pool for rehabilitating ACL injured athletes. These exercises can be completed by everyone, even non-injured athletes. I swim at least twice a month and I usually end my lap swimming with these exercises. Sometimes people look at me funny, but they are great and usually people end up doing the exercises too!

Get into the pool so the water level is between your waist and your chest. You may want to wear old tennis shoes or water socks to protect your feet. In addition to the exercises listed below, you can also aqua jog. You wear a belt and can hold onto weights, you “run” in deep water and can get a great cardio workout aqua jogging. If you do not have a belt, and want to keep things simple, here are some exercises to try.

1. Forward running
2. Backward running
3. Side shuffles fast
4. Side shuffles slow (in a low squat position, so you will need to get to a more shallow area)
5. High Knees
6. Jumping Jacks

Perform at least 2 sets of each for approximately 15 meters each direction. Most public pools have 25 meter lengths, just ensure that your pool depth is the same for the whole length of your workout. Have fun and try a new workout to keep your body injury free!

Breakfast: what do you eat?

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but do we all follow by that guideline?  Whenever I ask my students or my clients who ate breakfast that day, they usually answer by putting their heads down implying that they did not eat the most important meal of the day.  Many people fail to eat breakfast due to 1) lack of time, 2) the fact that they are not hungry, or 3) simply because they do not have anything they want to eat.  Here are my responses:

1) Lack of time: Over the weekend or in the evening one week night, hard boil a few eggs to have for the week.  Keep them in their shells in the fridge until you are ready to eat them.  Put a piece of toast in the toaster or oven and while it is toasting, peel 1-3 eggs.  Put them on (or on the side) your toast with some avocado, salt, and pepper, and enjoy.

2) Not hungry: It is easy to ignore your hungry cues early in the morning so make sure you “break your fast” within one hour of waking.  Make a protein smoothie and drink your breakfast.  It will not feel like “food” because although it is filling, it is not heavy on your stomach.  Mix water or milk with rice/pea protein powder.  If you have a little more time, blend water or milk with rice/pea protein powder, a banana, kale or spinach, and ice.  You can get as creative as you want with your smoothie mixtures.  I will post more recipes in the near future.

3) Nothing desirable: Go shopping over the weekend and buy enough breakfast foods for that week.  Get a variety so you are not stumped with what to eat.  Yogurt, protein powder, eggs, oatmeal, granola, are a few options with which to start.  Add fruits, veggies, and make breakfast creatively delicious.  If all else fails, eat your leftovers from dinner the night before!

What are your favorite breakfast foods?  What gets you out of bed and moving in the morning?  I would love to hear your favorites.  Remember, in order to get better every day, you need to start with by breaking the fast and eating breakfast!

Squat Technique

Training through Pregnancy

Being pregnant is a huge blessing in life.  It is such a beautiful process to watch and feel a life be formed in your body.  Once you have a spouse with whom to share this joy and you are ready to bring another life into this world, I highly recommend it!  Every body is different and deals with pregnancy in a variety of ways.  I was fortunate to have a very good pregnancy, but I worked at it.  I ate very well and I exercised most days of the week.  I listened to my body and rested a lot, especially in the first trimester.  Although I do not claim to know it all, I would like to share a few things that worked for me.  They helped me during my pregnancy, through the delivery process, and postpartum as well.  I was back to exercising (albeit, lightly) after my 6 week post delivery check up.

If you are thinking of getting pregnant, or know someone who is, here are a few tips to help get you through it.

1. Take a prenatal multivitamin (it has more iron and folic acid than a regular multivitamin)
2. Take a fish oil supplement (does not have to be prenatal, just make sure it has DHA and EPA)
3. Continue to participate in all the activities you were doing prior to your pregnancy:  If you are really active, you can usually begin a new non-impact activity as well (I started doing water aerobics!).  In your mid-first to beginning-second trimester you should avoid contact activities (softball, tennis) and activities that have a risk of falling (skiing, cycling, horseback riding).  Monitor your form when exercising because as your baby grows, your weight distribution changes.  Make sure you are supported and performing the correct technique so you do not injure yourself.   As you progress through your pregnancy, you will have to decrease your intensity and may have to change your workouts altogether.  Just make sure you are listening to your body and doing what is right for both you and the baby.
4. Eat many small meals throughout the day: while eating for two may sound enticing, you only need to increase your daily caloric intake by 300 calories.  That is one small meal.  I ate about 5-6 meals per day.  For example, a protein shake for breakfast, a mid morning snack (apple and almond butter), lunch (salad with veggies and chicken), afternoon snack (carrots/celery/cheese and hummus), dinner (lean meat, quinoa/rice, veggies), and sometimes a post dinner snack (fruit and yogurt, homemade oatmeal dark chocolate chip cookie, or frozen yogurt for a treat).  Constantly eating will decrease your nausea, as well as decrease your hunger pangs/ cravings.
5. Drink half of your body weight in water each day
6. Wear a heart rate monitor while you workout so you can make sure your heart rate stays at or below 140 bpms.
7. Wear comfortable shoes and clothes, especially if you stand most of the day.  If needed, wear a back support belt.
8. Do kegel exercises.  Do them daily and all the time!  They help with preparing your body for delivery and so you do not tear as much (hopefully).
9. Rest.  Especially in your first and third trimesters.  Your body is making a human, starting on day 1.  That takes a lot of energy from you, so take the time to rest.  Put your feet up and take a nap when you get home from work.  You will feel invigorated and able to tackle the rest of your day.  My best friend told me to take advantage of “sleeping in” before you have a child.  ALthough I don’t usually sleep in, I did take her advice and lounge in bed a little longer than usual on the weekends.  Now that I have a son, I realize that she was so right.  You do not have the luxury of doing what you want when you want it anymore.  Your baby comes first and once he is awake, you are awake!  So please, take the time to rest your body.  You need it and deserve it!
10. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.  Every body is different, so although I can give you many tips and ideas on how to tackle a healthy pregnancy, they may not all work for you.  That is why it is so important to listen to your body.  It will tell you when you need more protein, more water, more rest.

Good luck and enjoy the process!

Another New Year

Hello!  Welcome back to Injury Free Female Athletes!  Sadly, it has been one full year since I last posted.  My life has turned upside down and back again since I last wrote in this blog.   In Jan, I dropped one of my jobs in order to devote more time to teaching and be closer to home.   My teaching schedule was action packed!  In April, I am excited to announce, I had a baby boy!  He is the love of my life and I cannot begin to describe how he has impacted my life for the better.  In September, I quit my teaching and training jobs andmoved to Hawaii.  And now, I am learning to live life in a beautiful island, with a baby, and enjoying all that the islands have to offer.

In honor of the new year, I decided to get back to writing my blog.  I love reaching out to athletes (young and old, current and past, females and males) and want to rekindle that friendship I began with many of you.  This year I look forward to helping you all stay healthy and injury free!

Happy 2013 and welcome back!

New Year

I am not a huge fan of new year’s resolutions mostly because of the fact that they seemingly fail quicker than a normal goal would last.  I am, however, a proponent of goal setting.  My boss, Todd Durkin, does a “90 Day Wonder” every quarter.  He sets goals for the next 30, 60, and 90 days.  These goals can be school/work, nutrition, sport/activity, relationship, etc.  So, in honor of the new year and a fresh start to 2012, I would like YOU to set goals!

SMART goals are Specific, Measureable, Realistic, Attainable, and Time-bound.  For example, a poor goal would be “I want to get good grades,” or “I want to lose weight.”   A great goal is “I am going to obtain a 3.85 gpa this semester,”  or “I want to lose 2% body fat by March 31, 2012.”

What goals do you want to accomplish in the next 30, 60, 90 days?

How are you going to achieve those goals? Be specific in your process.

What is your reward if and when you reach those goals?

Good luck goal setting everyone and HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Let’s start 2012 off with a bang!