It was the quietest I'd ever heard Paige. From 6:15am-7am this morning, barely a peep came out of her mouth as we hopped back on the fitness wagon again. Part of the silence was simply due to the fact that I made her run harder, step up higher, pushup lower, squat deeper, rolldown slower, and row stronger. She had barely any breath to speak with. The other part was that, deep down, she knew that this time, there really were no excuses. There is no excuse for 31 days of no structured exercise. (Unless you're sick in the hospital.) One week? 10 days? Maybe. I'm sure I've gone a week or two here and there throughout my life without exercising. But really, there's no excuse for an entire month. That's 1/6 of our journey gone that we can never get back. She may have been cursing me in her mind, but at least she didn't vocalize it ;)
To say the least, I was very proud of Paige (and Nickey) this morning. I didn't hold anything back in the workout, and I was super thrilled that I didn't have to encounter any excuses. In fact, this workout would have been a tough workout for anyone,even if they hadn't taken a month off! (It was one of the workouts where I was glad that I was the trainer, not the trainee). Even though I do those types of workouts often, they're tough, and I know that from experience.
There were a few tears. (I like to think that they were tears of joy from her body telling her how thankful it was that she was back to exercising!) But, sometimes, within a tough workout, emotions get the best of us. It can bring up all the other negativity that could possibly be surrounding our life. We all have challenges. A tough workout will bring those emotions up. But they bring them up so that they can be dealt with. The body sometimes cries out, and that's our opportunity to change. Nothing in our lives will change, unless we change ourselves first and foremost. Every workout is an opportunity to change yourself for the better. You always leave a different person than when you walked in. So, good job Paige! Now, only you can take control of those emotions that came up in the workout! You are strong enough to deal with them, and ANYTHING else that comes your way!
Here's a taste of what Paige, Nickey, and I encountered this morning: (sorry I didn't have my camera to take a photo)
4 minute warmup jog
10 sit & stands
10 bench pushups
10 step ups each leg
30 sec. run to the bridge
Walking lunges across bridge (about 30 yards)
10 more sit & stands, pushups and step ups
2 minute jog
Tubing Rows & Tubing Straight Arm Pullbacks.
100 Yard easy x 100 Yard sprint
More tubing rows & pullbacks
3 minute jog
Water Break
Rolldowns
V Sits
Dead Bug Holds
Bodyweight Starfish
Ladder Runs (suicides) under the bridge for 2:12 of pure "fun"
Cooldown walk
Friday, August 30, 2013
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
31 Days and Counting...
That's how long it's been since Paige and I had our last workout together. Now, that doesn't mean she didn't have a plan to follow, workouts to do, and goals to reach. It's just since the last time I saw Paige to workout together. What's happened in the past 31 days? Well, I sure hope that she got in those workouts, videos, and runs that I stressed the importance of... But I have a feeling that didn't happen.
Now, as part of Paige's contract with me on this 6 month journey, she's supposed to write a blog post 5x per week. These blog posts don't have to be lengthy, in depth, or time consuming at all. They can be short little briefs about her day, her workout, or anything else related to her journey. Her last post? August 5th. That was 22 days ago. This is the way I can learn about how she's doing, from her words, written from her hands.
It worries me. Did I do something wrong and not hold her accountable enough? This happened to be a month where I was gone for 2+ weeks training folks in California, and then upon my return, Paige left town for over a week, leaving us with 3+ weeks of not being able to meet in person. But, she still should have been working out! In fact, I challenged her to find a running/walking path in her cities of travel, and take a photo or video of her working out on it. But, as you can guess, nothing appeared on her blog, or in my email.
I see it all the time in the fitness world. Right off the bat, there's so much energy, enthusiasm, and motivation to make the lifestyle changes. As the months go on, and the reality sets in that yes, this is something you'll have to do for the rest of your life, those old "demons" creep back in to tell you that it's just easier to go back to the way things used to be. Those voices that say, "a piece of cake won't kill me" or "a bottle of wine is actually a fruit" and "I need rest, so I'll just sit after work and not get back up." They try to rationalize that the old way of living will be better, easier, and thus the hard work on the new path, seems to diminish.
Now that Paige is back from her trip, I hope we get to see more blog posts. I hope she can find the courage to get back on track, holding herself accountable with her workouts. She needs to find the motivation from within. I cannot be there every day to workout with Paige. She's not alone though. She has Nickey, and a community who supports her journey. But it is up to her to make the time, and simply do the workouts. Its' a conscious choice to do them (or to not do them).
Please, if you read this, help support Paige's workout program. Ask her how her workout went today. Remind her that this is her once in a lifetime opportunity to get her life back on track. This is no joke. Paige, I need you back!
Now, as part of Paige's contract with me on this 6 month journey, she's supposed to write a blog post 5x per week. These blog posts don't have to be lengthy, in depth, or time consuming at all. They can be short little briefs about her day, her workout, or anything else related to her journey. Her last post? August 5th. That was 22 days ago. This is the way I can learn about how she's doing, from her words, written from her hands.
It worries me. Did I do something wrong and not hold her accountable enough? This happened to be a month where I was gone for 2+ weeks training folks in California, and then upon my return, Paige left town for over a week, leaving us with 3+ weeks of not being able to meet in person. But, she still should have been working out! In fact, I challenged her to find a running/walking path in her cities of travel, and take a photo or video of her working out on it. But, as you can guess, nothing appeared on her blog, or in my email.
I see it all the time in the fitness world. Right off the bat, there's so much energy, enthusiasm, and motivation to make the lifestyle changes. As the months go on, and the reality sets in that yes, this is something you'll have to do for the rest of your life, those old "demons" creep back in to tell you that it's just easier to go back to the way things used to be. Those voices that say, "a piece of cake won't kill me" or "a bottle of wine is actually a fruit" and "I need rest, so I'll just sit after work and not get back up." They try to rationalize that the old way of living will be better, easier, and thus the hard work on the new path, seems to diminish.
Now that Paige is back from her trip, I hope we get to see more blog posts. I hope she can find the courage to get back on track, holding herself accountable with her workouts. She needs to find the motivation from within. I cannot be there every day to workout with Paige. She's not alone though. She has Nickey, and a community who supports her journey. But it is up to her to make the time, and simply do the workouts. Its' a conscious choice to do them (or to not do them).
Please, if you read this, help support Paige's workout program. Ask her how her workout went today. Remind her that this is her once in a lifetime opportunity to get her life back on track. This is no joke. Paige, I need you back!
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