Patience...Growth...Excitement!

This afternoon I left the beautiful spring we have been experiencing in Whitefish in a bit of a rush. I am on my way to Chicago for a fitness expo.

Genesis Transformation, www.genesistransformation.com, is setting up a booth and my friend Chrisy and I are on our way to participate. I have been excited, the learning opportunity is fantastic, and apprehensive, networking with over 5,000 fitness professionals! I am about to get a crash course in marketing and promotion!

Unbeknownst to me our flight was canceled out of Kalispell, mechanical issues, and Christy spent the morning getting us situated on an earlier flight out of Kalispell. I came out of a session with a client this morning, list in hand, thinking I had plenty of time to run around, prepare food, shower, the basics and was quickly informed that if I could get out of Kalispell it was going to happen 2 hours sooner than I had planned.

I got the bare bones done, skipped the shower and trimming my bangs, probably a good thing, additional food prep and kitchen cleanup, zipped my bags and got to the airport in record time. We both got on the early flight and landed to dreary weather in Salt Lake.

In the last hour we have watched our luggage get loaded on the plane. Been told of another mechanical delay, mechanical fixed; boarding in 10 minutes, not fixed; not boarding, $6 meal voucher; more water, luggage taken off the plane, plane pushed away from the gate, new plane...maybe, canceled...maybe, oh not canceled; new plane...yep, leaving? When?

When I heard about the initial problems I panicked and for 30 minutes or so I was frantic. I lost my money, couldn't find my cell phone, ran around the house in my underpants, wasted time. After a bit I remembered the tattoo I got this winter, "engage" and I stopped to breathe. I told myself all was a-ok and I relaxed. On the flight to SLC I wrote in my journal. I identified my goals for this upcoming weekend. I considered my weaknesses and ways to tackle them to fully take advantage of this upcoming adventure.

So, I am excited. I am excited to share the information I will learn this weekend and will certainly come away with some new exercise ideas at the least!

Round It Up!

Begin this exercise laying on your right side with your right upper arm on the floor, your head resting in your hand and your legs extended. Lift your top (left) leg a few inches off the floor and make small forward circles, continue for a predetermined time, 30 seconds for example, and switch directions.
When you have finished circling in both directions, lower your leg, take a deep breath and lift the leg again for 15-20 small pulses. Lower and roll to the other side! You will feel this in the small muscles of your butt, the ones we often forget!

When doing this exercise, flex your feet and reach your top leg out beyond (will be VERY slight) your bottom leg. This will help to engage your core muscles and lift your right (if you are on your right side) oblique muscles off the floor.

Overacheiver!

Begin lying on your back. Bend your knees toward your chest and grasp your shins and engage your core muscles, do not allow your low back to arch.

Drop your shoulders away from your ears and with an exhale of your breath, lift your head, neck, and shoulders off the floor and extend your legs. Hold your legs a few inches off the floor and straighten your arms over your head with your palms facing in. Bring your knees back to your chest grasping your legs again.

Important points…keep your shoulders down and away from your ears, do not allow your stomach to “pop”, if you feel pressure or arching in your low back or your stomach pops toward the ceiling, do not lower your legs quite so much.
Continue this with your breath for 10-15 repetitions and have a fantastic day!

Roll Back!

Begin seated with your knees bent, feet on the floor hip-width apart. Sit up tall you’re your shoulders down and back. Suck your navel in so your torso forms a C and keeping your back rounded, slowly roll your torso down toward the floor, vertebrae by vertebrae. Take a deep breath when your torso reaches the floor and tuck your chin to your chest and slowly roll up to seated, vertebrae by vertebrae.

It is important that you do not allow your navel to “pop” toward the ceiling, if you feel tension in your low back or your navel does, assist yourself by placing your hands on the back of your thighs and be sure to keep your shoulders away from your ears!

Repeat this roll down for 8 – 12 repetitions with the flow of your breath. This is great work for your core, glute and hamstring muscles! Fun!

Plank Push-ups!

Begin in plank position, the up phase of a push-up with your hands flat on the floor beneath your shoulders. From here, lower your body and with your core strength, press back up, one (1) push-up. Pause at the top and lift your left hand off the floor with your arm extended out to side. Hold here and lift your right foot off the floor. Lower your hand and foot back to the floor, do another push-up and repeat with opposite hand and foot. Continue, alternating sides for 8-12 repetitions.

Please remember...do not allow your stomach to sag to the floor, maintain your core strength, keep your shoulders down away from your ears and don’t forget to breathe! Have fun!!

Your Arms Are Loving You!

Hold a medicine ball or dumbbell in both hands and come into a table top position on a stability ball with your head and shoulders resting on the ball, your knees bent with your feet hip distance and parallel. Engage your hamstrings and glutes to lift your torso so that it is parallel to the floor.

Engage your core and extend your arms, with the weight, toward the ceiling over your shoulders. Shift the weight to the left hand and open both arms into a T, bring your arms back together, extended toward the ceiling, shift the weight to the right hand and open again into a T; 1 repetition.

Continue with this motion for a series of 12 – 15 repetitions!

Tricep Crunch!

Begin seated with your knees bent and your feet planted on the floor, setting up to do a few sit-ups! Hold a weight in your hands in front of your chest with your elbows bent in to your sides. Lean your torso back to form a wide V with your torso and knees, think 10 and 2 on a clock. As you come back up to seated, keeping your elbows in to your sides, press your weight overhead. Bring the weight back to the front of your chest as your lean back again.

Some points to remember: do not allow your shoulders to creep up to your ears, keep your core engaged, do not allow your stomach “pop” and if you begin to feel pressure in your low back, you need to decrease the angle of your V.

Repeat the movement for a series of 15 – 20 repetitions! Feel free to do this without weight if you choose!

Lunge & Press!

Begin standing with your feet hip distance and parallel with your spine in neutral and your core engaged. Hold a medicine ball or a dumbbell in both hands at your chest with your elbows bent in to your sides.

Step your right leg back into a reverse lunge and at the same time twist your torso to the right. Engage your hamstrings and glutes to come out of your lunge, lifting your knee in front of you and at the same time, returning your torso to center and pressing your weight overhead.

Continue on: reverse lunge with a torso twist, knee lift, over head press and so on…for 10 – 15 repetitions and switch sides.

Tabletop Pullover

For this week grab your stability ball and a weighted medicine ball or light dumbbell. This first exercise begins in a table top position with your stability ball.

To get into a proper table top position begin seated on your stability ball with your feet hip distance apart, your shoulders down and back, your spine in neutral and your core engaged. Begin to walk your feet out away from the ball so you can come to create a table of sorts with your head and shoulders on the ball. Maintain your proper body position and engage your hamstring and glute muscles to keep your core in a level table top position.

Hold your medicine ball in both hands with your arms extended to the ceiling. If you are using a dumbbell, hold on to the weight horizontally with your hands grasping either end of the dumbbell. Using your core strength, inhale your breath and extend your arms overhead so they create a straight line with your torso. Exhale your breath and lift your arms back up to the starting position. Repeat for 10 to 15 repetitions, 2-3 sets.

More Lessons From A 7 Year Old…

How we go through life is just a matter of perspective and looking at things through the eyes of a 7 year old is often the best vantage point.

I don’t usually enjoy the days when I look around and it is obvious that I need to spend a few minutes on home maintenance. I am not the most organized or immaculate and neither is the rest of my family. On top if that, we have a lot of things and not a lot of space or storage which leads to piles and clutter.

Today was one of the days when our home needed a touch of attention. I pulled out the vacuum, got all the corners, headed for the cobwebs. Before long, I started to get frustrated by the dust on the shelves developed a bit of a “poor me Cinderella” complex.

I pulled Lillian away from the movie she was watching and told her that if I was cleaning I wasn’t going about it on my own. She wasn’t too happy about putting on her Cinderella shoes until I handed her the dust rag and set her on the “un-dusting” task (remember the very literal Amelia Bedelia). She couldn’t have been more excited to spend an hour “un-dusting” our house.

The enthusiasm Lillian had for her task completely changed my perspective on cleaning my house. I might not have the most organized home, I don’t have a lot of storage space for all our stuff, but my small house is comfortable and just right for my family and working on cleaning things up with my 7 year old couldn’t have been more enjoyable.

What else did I realize? Life can be a bit like house work; if one is not careful it can be somewhat tedious. It can be easy to get through life with just the bare minimum, not dusting the shelves. Put in a little effort and enthusiasm and the results are fantastic. Just a little attention to the small details brings the greatest rewards and blossoms into bigger ideas and greater possibilities.

Look at life now and again through the eyes of a 7 year old. “Un-dusting” is a great Sunday morning pastime and a jump rope can take you where you headed quicker than just a pair of feet. The possibilities are endless. Just a small change in a point of view can present what lies in front in a whole new light. Pretty fun really!

Get Up Off Your Arse…

I watched my friend Tracey do this at the gym today and it is a good one! This will target your hamstrings and glutes with a bit for your quads thrown in for good measure. It is also great for balance and stability!

Begin seated on a chair or bench with your feet flat on the floor. Extend your right leg out in front of you. Press through the heel of your left foot and with the strength of your glutes and hamstrings, don’t use your arms; come to stand on your left leg. Keep your leg extended and return to seated. Repeat for a series of 8 to 12repetitions and switch legs.

If this is too easy, grab a set of dumbbells and don’t forget to breathe!

Find Your Inner 7 Year Old!

My 7 year old daughter Lillian is the inspiration for this week's exercises so embrace your inner child and...

Find a sturdy piece of rope and start jumping. Jump rope for 5-10 minutes. Jumping rope is great exercise, can be done anywhere and is fun.

Aim to get your heart rate up for a minimum of 20 minutes, 3 days per week. Be sure to warm up for at least 5 minutes before you start jumping and have fun!!

Dinner...

Dinner tonight was easy and yummy!

What?
1 clove garlic
1 medium shallot, sliced
1 small eggplant, peeled and diced
2 roasted red peppers, diced
salt & pepper to taste
* polenta
* pesto
* tomato sauce
* fresh mozzarella & parmesan cheese
* determine amounts by personal taste

How?
Saute the onion and shallot in a bit of olive oil until translucent, add the eggplant and saute until tender, stir in the red peppers.

In a med um baking dish, spoon a bit of tomato sauce and top with polenta. Spoon the eggplant mixture on top of the polenta. Top the eggplant with the pesto, fresh mozzarella, parmesan and a bit more tomato sauce.

Bake at 400 degrees until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling. Serve with a green salad!