Have a Plan

Monday's...they're usually a pretty tough day to get going...you've just come off a fun weekend, you have piles of "to-do's" for work, and you have to set that stupid alarm clock. I know for me, Monday's are also the hardest day to get going with workouts...my head is still in bed. The thing that helps me the most and makes me motivated for my Monday workouts is to have a plan. Sometime during the weekend I plan out my next week of workouts. (if you're training with me at www.afitplace.com your plan is already set for you, so just print it out and have it ready to go)

Today's workout started out slow because it was SOOOO cold in my garage (23 degrees outside, not sure what it was inside), but after a good warm up on the spin bike I shed the sweatshirt and rocked a tough workout. It set the stage for my day/week!!!

Monday 11/16/09

Cardio: Spin Bike - 10 min WU, 20 min pyramid intervals (sprint 15sec, 30sec, 45sec, 1min, 1min, 45sec, 30sec, 15 sec) x2 with same time recovery between, 5 min CD

Strength: 30,25,20,15,10,5 of each exercise

Overhead Stationary Lunge (reps on each leg) 45#

Bent Over Row 25# ea arm

Pushups

BOSU Deep Squat (flat side)

50m sprint on Row Machine

Great way to start the day! What did you do today to start your week off with a bang? If nothing yet....the day is still young. Do my workout if you have nothing planned!

Finding "You" Time

This picture is a few weeks ago at Lake Powell. I took time to chill back, look at the lake and cuddle with my dog. Not doing a thing!

I used to work crazy hours...up at 3:30 or 4:30 every morning to either get my workout in before I had to work or taking clients at insane times of the morning to fit their schedules. I was getting max 6 hours of sleep every night, working 12-14 hour days, and pushing myself in workouts in between. I was living on meal replacements (bars and drinks) during the middle of my day and running myself into the ground. I LOVE to help people get stronger and healthier, but while I was trying to help as many people as I could, at 26 years old my body was on empty!

My life has drastically changed in the last year or so from the long days in the gym to finding balance in my life. With the help of my family and my boyfriend, Marcus, I needed to make more time for me. I still LOVE my job as a personal trainer and don't want to trade that for the world, but I am lucky to have found balance in my life at such a young age. I am lucky to have realized how important work/life balance is for one's well-being.

Being on both sides of this issue, I am able to relate to people who think that they don't have time for exercise and health in their life. I know what it's like to feel like you have to be working all the time and making your business better and giving, giving, giving. I know the toll that takes on a body too.

I encourage you to sit back, reflect on your daily/weekly life. Think about family/friends time, personal time, work time, leisure time, sleep time, etc. Prioritize the things in your life and then adjust your schedule to fit those priorities. I can tell you that once you start to put yourself and the ones you love in front of your work, your work will actually improve too. The happier you are, the healthier you are, the more successful you'll be.

Today is a direct reflection on how my life has changed...

5:30am - woke up energized and ready to hit the gym to get people in shape

6-8:15am - loved my job training a few clients and showing them that they are stronger than they were yesterday.

8:15-9:45am - My own workout time:

Elliptical 10 min WU, DROM

x20,15,10,5 reps on each exercise

Pullups/Push Jerks/Tricep Pullover/Narrow Pushups/Back Extensions/Sprint 1 min

Run hilly route for 4 miles

Stretch

10-11:30am - Tea with a dear friend that I haven't seen for a year. Had the best time!

12-1:30pm- Finished my book "The Art of Racing in the Rain" while throwing the ball for my dog.

1:30-now - Been working on online training/marketing/updating websites/networking

Plans tonight...

- Watch an episode of "House" with Marcus (we love that show)

- Take Ziggy for a walk

- Dinner

- Indoor Soccer Game tonight!!!!

Life is about balance. I know that every day isn't going to be exactly balanced and that some days will be more fun than others, but you HAVE to take care of yourself before you can take care of anyone else!

Here's to YOU!

Indian Summer

It's been absolutely amazing weather here in western CO! We had a 1 foot or so initial snow fall a couple weeks ago, but since then it's been in the 50's and 60's!! I have been taking full advantage of the weather by trail running, mountain biking, hiking, and just being outside as much as possible.

The picture above was taken last weekend. It's looking down on the CO river from my hike up Storm King Mountain in South Canyon (just west of Glenwood Springs, CO). This hike isn't just any 'ol hike. First of all it's pretty steep for the first mile or so straight up one mountain, then you descend on the other side just to climb up to another ridge. The second climb that day was ICY!!! I was slippin and sliding all over the place, but made it to the top of the ridge where the reason for the climb lays. I said this isn't any 'ol climb, but not because of the hike itself, more because of the meaning of it. On July 6th, 1994 there was a bad fire in these hills. Coming at the fire from the west, the fire crew was putting their life at risk to save the ours (the residents of the valley). There was an unexpected shift in direction which changed the fire's route directly toward the firemen and women. This tragic day ended the loss of 14 fire fighters. Their memorials are at the top of this hike. If you ever are in western CO, I strongly suggest you take a couple hours to go on a good hike, see beautiful country, and remember the 14 brave firefighters from that day.

With that said, the things that I've been doing for exercise haven't exactly been on my workout schedule. There's a lot to be said for going out and enjoying yourself (while being active) even if it's not on your schedule. Soon enough the trails will be muddy or covered in snow and the trail runs, hikes, and mountain biking will be put on hold until the spring/summer. So, get out there, enjoy the rest of the nice weather because soon enough we'll be stuck inside!

Colorado is inspiring!!!

Being back in CO has been great so far. I've been able to hook up with old friends, pick up some of my past clients, hang out with family, and enjoy the amazing weather.

My last post showed a good snow fall - we actually ended up with about a foot or so. However in the last 3 days it's almost gone from the amazing 50-60 degree weather. We've been taking advantage of that and going for bike rides, long runs, and just being outside in amazing CO fall weather.

To update you with my workouts...

THU:

Official OFF DAY (ended up not being able to stay inside so I went for an easy 6 mile run)

FRI:

30 min hilly run/Elliptical 10 min

3 x 1 min each

BOSU Jacknife

Ball Side Bend

BOSU Sit ups

3-way Leg Throw

Woodchops

Alternating Superman

Plank

SAT:

Spin 45 min {10 min Warmup/ 30 min (15 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1 min, 45 sec, 30 sec, 15 sec) sprints with same time recover spin between x 3/ 5 min Cooldown}

21, 15, 9, 3 reps of each exercise

Push Jerk

Russian Lunges

Pushups

Run Stairs

Pullups

Windmill

SUN:

Ride 45 min easy

MON:

Run 5 miles steady state/ Hill Sprints with walk back recovery (1x1 min, 2x45 sec, 3x30 sec)

5x20 each

Deep Squat

2 Med. Ball Pushup

Lunges

Step Ups

Sit Ups

Mtn Bike Ride Fruita, CO for 3 hours (BEAUTIFUL...check out the moon rise picture above)

TUE:

Today was the first day of the Ski Conditioning Class I teach. It was a great class!!! Good group who worked hard. Skiing is a lot of legs and core, so that's what we did. These skiers are going to have some sore legs tomorrow.

I came home and walked the dogs for 40 min and spent 30 min stretching and rolling! Gotta take care of those muscles.

First snow fall

It's been snowing since last night and it's DUMPING!!! I don't know when the last time Silt, CO got this much snow in October...this is great!!!

If you're like me and like the snow, then it probably means you like to play in it. Winter sports are a great way to keep off the winter "hibernation" pounds and the winter holiday pounds. With that said, you can't forget to still do your routines. Just like summer activities, they are sport specific which means that some muscles get left out. It's important to keep up your strength routine and stretching routine as to not lose strength (even when that POW is calling your name). "POW" is epic powder for those of you not familiar with ski lingo ;). I have taught ski conditioning classes for several years and am starting another one this coming Tuesday at New Castle Family Fitness in New Castle, CO...if you're near come join us! If you're not close by, then let's get you going on a program through my online training (www.afitplace.com).

To catch you up on my own training...

Being close to sea level for the last year has made altitude training a bit harder than I ever remember. Living at mile high elevation most of my life, this has never been an issue for me. But the last 3 days that I've been home I've been suckin' wind a bit! :) It feels good though.

MONDAY:

Cardio:

Run

6 miles Steady State (slightly hilly route)

Resistance:

5x15

Pushups + Alt Row - 10# each

Lunges + Cross Over Head Raise - 20#

Step Ups (15 ea leg)

Thrusters - 55#

Ball Back Extensions

Elliptical Sprint level 10 x 1 min

Stretch

TUESDAY:

Cardio:

Elliptical

10 min WU, sprint/arms only/legs only/backwards/recover 1 min each x 4

Resistance:

30 min - How many rounds? = 6+ 6 Side Kick Punch

BOSU Jacknife

BOSU Superman

BOSU V-ups

Side Kick Punch

Torso Rotations - 20#

BOSU Power Jumps

Sprint 200m

Stretch

TODAY:

Cardio:

Elliptical

30 min steady state level 8

Walk Dogs

1.5 mile loop

Resistance:

10x10

Split Lunge (10 ea leg)

Med. Ball Pushup

Jump Squats

Single Leg BOSU Stand + Front and Lateral Arm Raise (10x10# ea way)

Skaters (10 ea leg)

Grip Med. Ball Hang Clean (10x20# ea arm)

Burpees

Stretch

Until tomorrow....get out and do something extra tonight...go for a walk/run/hike!

Staying Active on Vacation

Ok...so this time I am really back to blogging on a regular basis....

As most of you know, my summers consist of traveling for 4 months in a big red Peterbilt motorhome, living out of a suitcase, and never knowing what my surroundings are going to be. This makes keeping a regular exercise routine difficult. However, I am very lucky to have a big garage in the motorhome where I have my workout equipment easily accessible. Now, on most vacation your "home" gym doesn't travel with you. Don't let this be an excuse to be lazy though...

The last week and a half we we've been on traveling on vacation and I was still able to have some of my toughest workouts in a while. From Friday the 16th through Friday the 23rd, we were at Lake Powell living on a houseboat. When it would have been easy to lay around on the boat, eating goodies and relaxing, I chose to take advantage of the amazing sandstone dessert for beautiful runs and hikes along the cliff walls of Lake Powell. Marcus and I collected rocks and logs to use as weights for strength training, which resulted in a really tough workout.

After Powell, the plan was to jet to our winter housesitting abode in Silt, CO, but instead we took a couple detours to again take advantage of beautiful country. On Saturday we headed to Moab, UT to get some crazy slickrock riding in. We road the Moab Rim trail...this is nuts!!! The trail starts out gaining 1000 ft elevation in less than a mile. Needless to say I didn't "ride" it all up, but it was a sick ride!

After Moab, we diverted down to Telluride, CO with the intention of getting in more mountain bike riding. However, we woke up to snow covered streets...the first snow of the year in town! This place is amazing! We spent the morning walking around town and then hit the road north toward Silt.

Kind of drained and ready to sleep in a real bed, we wanted to get home...but we couldn't help but be motivated to ride again, but this time on the Book Cliffs near Palisade, CO. We did some research, talked to some locals and found the trail head. Again, a TOUGH climb in the beginning, but we made it and the top of the cliffs were epic riding that day.

So, moral of today's blog....you can ALWAYS find a place to be active, no matter where you're at. It usually ends up being a great break from the health club or gym too. Where there's a will there's a way. You won't regret being active! :)

Mondays...

Monday's have a bad rap because it's the beginning of the work week...the weekend is over. That's not a good way to look at it. Think of Monday's as a fresh start. They are the first day of the week where you can get in your routine. Start the week with a killer workout, great attitude and healthy grub to fuel your body.

That was my outlook today and I had one of the best days ever! Got up, made a smoothie, headed into Chico for a sweet mountain bike ride followed by a fun workout. Then I met up with Marcus at a coffee shop to get some work done. Then did chores...grocery shopping, laundry, cleaned my truck, cleaned the house. After all the work was done, it was time for some more fun. I had Marcus pull me for a ski ride behind our new 2010 MasterCraft. Sweet boat!!!! I haven't been skiing very well lately, but today I just had a different attitude and approach and it ended up working in my favor. I skied great today!!...and had a blast doing it!!!

Moral of my story...your day is what you make of it. So, instead of dreading the day when you get up, make the day the best it can be.

Monday 10/5/09

Workout:

*Mountain Bike Middle Trail

*21 - 15 - 9 of each exercise

Forward Lunges

Pushups

Step Ups

Assisted Handstand Pushups

Backward Lunges

Skaters

Nutrition:

8:00 - Protein shake (frozen berries, OJ, water, Muscle Milk protein)

10:30 - Banana and 1 hard boiled egg

1:00 - Salad (mixed greens, carrots, celery, cauliflower, red peppers, pecans, chicken sausage) topped with olive oil and basil

4:00 - Handful of almonds, pistachios, dried cranberries and cherries

6:00 - Pear and 1/2 of a balance bar (not the best choice)

7:30 - Dinner Plan - Turkey burger with mustard and tomato, steamed broccoli and cauliflower

Water - 100 oz