How do we build healthier habits and truly make fitness, better nutrition and overall wellness work for us long term? We have to take personal control via our daily choices and we have to make a healthy lifestyle part of our identity.

​How?

By focusing on progress over perfection.
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By choosing to have restraint over feeling restricted.
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By developing moderation over needing elimination.
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By always doing something rather than nothing.
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By working smarter (intention), not necessarily harder (intensity).
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By relying on momentum over motivation.
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And most of all...
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By choosing to show up and do your absolute best each day regardless of what happened the day before.
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You can do this... if you choose it.

3 ideas on building habits that last:

I. No zero days...don't have an all or nothing approach. 

"It's better to do less than you hoped than nothing at all. No zero days."

II. Check your surroundings...

An idea from the book, “Atomic Habits” by James Clear:

"The key—if you want to build habits that last—is to join a group where the desired behavior is the normal behavior."

III.

"In the long-run, the people who succeed are the ones who want to live the lifestyle that precedes the results.

Stop asking, "What results do I want to have?"

Start asking, "What lifestyle do I want to live?"

It's common to want results. It's rare to want the lifestyle."

Lifestyle is a daily practice that requires building habits through consistent (not perfect) efforts. How badly you want something dictates how hard you'll work at it. So...what lifestyle do you want to live and do you want it enough to make it a priority?

Vampires do exist and you've probably encountered one. I'm referring to energy vampires. Energy vampires are people who have a pattern of draining your emotional energy. Everyone has bad days, but there are distinguishing characteristics and patterns of behavior that set the energy vampire apart. There are different types and they fall on a spectrum. Regardless of the type or where they fall on the spectrum, they all have one thing in common: they feed on people who will listen and care for them. People who are empathetic, supportive, sensitive and compassionate are prime targets for energy vampires. Learning to spot them is important because constant exposure to them can eventually take its toll on our emotional, mental and physical health.

Take a look at the people surrounding you. Some will inspire you while some will "perspire" you. This easiest way to recognize this is to pay attention to how you feel after spending time with someone. More often than not, do you walk away feeling happy and energized or do you walk away feeling depleted and drained? Your body is wired to protect you, so take notice of what your body feels around certain people.

To be clear, I'm not talking about friends supporting each other through hard times. I'm not talking about friends having bad days and occasionally needing to vent (and there is a distinct difference between venting and dumping). We all ought to have a solid social circle of support that we can look to for encouragement and positive energy. But I'm not talking about any of that...I'm talking about people who take advantage of their relationships and who turn the aspects of a healthy, supportive social circle into an unhealthy dynamic. I'm talking about people who display patterns and cycles of behavior that are toxic or unhealthy. Time will always tell the difference.

They may be charming, charismatic, outgoing and fun to be around, but energy vampires always have another side to them that you cannot turn a blind eye to. They may often live in crisis mode or in the midst of drama. They may swing high and low with emotional ups and downs and have a propensity for turning every fun night out into an inevitable tear filled therapy session. They may often have a pattern of shirking personal responsibility for their crises and believe nothing is their fault. They often lack self-awareness including the awareness of their self-defeating patterns. They may be a melodramatic "damsel in distress" type or the "woe is me" victim type who seeks out others to fulfill their needs or provide solutions. They essentially prey on the energy and vitality of others as an attempt to heal their own inner suffering. There may be an element of codependency. Make sure you are not feeding back into this dysfunctional dynamic. They may perceive YOU as the solution to their problems; however, the important thing to remember is that you are NOT responsible for resolving their issues. It is not up to you to be a "fixer". While you may offer help and support, it is ultimately their responsibility to sort out their struggles. On that point, learn to recognize if they are truly striving to be solution oriented or if they seem to be content remaining in their drama and struggles. If you are recycling the same repetitive, draining conversations with them over and over and nothing ever changes, then they might not be truly interested in solutions. Instead, it may be a vicious cycle that they are stuck in and you do not have to be stuck in the cycle along with them. Get off the dysfunctional merry-go-round.

Learn to recognize these types of people. Learn how to draw the line and set boundaries. Learn to say "NO". Protect your space. Protect your time. Protect your energy. Recognizing these behaviors and putting an end to it is critical to protecting yourself, your health and your overall wellbeing. This is self-care and self-care is not selfish. This does not make you a bad or unsupportive friend. Support is not about constantly allowing yourself to serve as a sounding board or a door mat. Support does not mean feeling responsible for offering solutions to someone who is not interested in solutions. Support does not mean supporting and enabling poor behaviors. Support does not mean playing the constant role of therapist. Sometimes it is necessary to limit or eliminate your contact with certain people who drain you. Surround yourself with people who are good for your mental health--those who promote a positive, healthy and happy life--those who will build good and positive energy in you. And make sure that you give good energy back.

Lastly, we always ought to self-reflect, so take a hard, honest look inward and make sure that you are not the energy vampire. Don't be a sucker...but, if you realize that you are, it doesn't mean that you are a bad person, but you may have unhealthy patterns that are bad for you and the people close to you. The good news is that you can change things, starting now...but it's up to you! The first step to change is always awareness. The second step is acceptance. And the third step, is ACTION.

If you can relate to this post in any way, it is my hope that this has been helpful! 

Effective Strength Training Splits:

There are many options to choose from as shown in the image below and you’re not just limited to these examples. You can see how various training splits can be structured per these examples.

However, which type of split and training frequency provides the most benefit?
My simple answer: the one you can stick to.

But, personally, I’ve been reaping huge rewards from a Push (chest, shoulders, triceps) / Pull (back, rear delts, biceps) / Legs (including calves) routine with core built into every session. Hitting every major muscle group twice per week is an optimal growth stimulus.
Note: I only do legs once per week because I cycle 3-4 times per week which is taxing on the legs.
Don’t forget to rest! Recovery is a crucial part of progress!

My current schedule (just for reference) looks like this:
Monday: Push “Routine A” / Cycle 45 min
Tuesday: Pull “Routine A” / Cycle 45 min
Wednesday: Rest Day
Thursday: Push “Routine B” / Cycle 45 min
Friday: Pull “Routine B” / Cycle 45 min
Saturday: Legs
Sunday: Rest Day

Feel welcome to post or send questions! Happy to help if you’re wondering how to set up a program.

Cardio Tip: Interval Training

In simple terms, interval training is a method of conditioning that alternates periods of work with periods of recovery—it’s the opposite of steady state cardio. Interval training develops aerobic capacity better than steady state aerobic training. The fastest way to raise VO2 max, our standard measure of aerobic fitness is through interval training. This post will specifically be about HIIT (high intensity interval training). HIIT is intense. HIIT is hard. HIIT is uncomfortable. So, why do it? The hard is what makes it so great. HIIT torches calories, blasts fat, raises metabolic rate, preserves muscle and generates EPOC (post exercise oxygen consumption = caloric "after burn" resulting in higher caloric expenditure).

Please note: if you are just starting out, don't jump into doing HIIT. HIIT shoots the heart rate up to high levels and as the name says, is very "high intensity". HIIT may or may not be safe for you so please check with your health care provider before adding it to your exercise plan. I advise anyone who is new to exercise to consider training under a certified and experienced fitness coach. 

What about steady state cardio? Steady state cardio definitely has its place— it's great for recovery (always training at high intensity without recovery or without some lower intensity days may lead to overtraining, burn out, or even injury). If you’re an endurance athlete, then long steady state training is very important. Also, if you're just starting out, coming from a sedentary lifestyle, or are returning from an injury, then start first by building a basic foundation of cardio training using a non-impact form of steady state cardio at an intensity that is appropriate for you. 

Back to interval training...

The complicated part of interval training is figuring out the rest and work ratios. But it doesn’t have to be complicated if you use heart rate.

I prefer heart rate based methods of dictating work to rest ratios as opposed to arbitrary time based intervals (example: 20 seconds on / 10 seconds off) because with time based intervals, we have no idea what’s happening inside the body and we may either work TOO hard or not hard enough—it’s easy to either over work and under rest or under work and over rest. Get yourself a heart rate monitor and use that — to use this method, have an idea of your max heart rate and select an appropriate recovery heart rate—I use 60% of theoretical max heart rate as my recovery. Note—if you use a HR calculator/formula to calculate your max HR, understand that at least 70% of the population does not fit into the theoretical calculations of the commonly used 220–age maximum heart rate formula. My actual max HR is higher than the formula based max HR for my age—I know this because, well I’ve exceeded the formula based maxHR and I’m still here to blog about it (but I'm not recommending that you push yourself to potentially unsafe levels). Do the formula based version anyway to have a ballpark idea. Note your heart rate immediately after completing your first hard work interval. During a HIIT work effort, strive for 80% or slightly more of your estimated max HR (but stay safe and do what is appropriate for you). The recovery is set by the time it takes to return back to the recovery heart rate (~55-60% max HR). You’ll notice that initial recovery after the first interval may be rapid, but subsequent intervals may require slightly longer rest periods. So, your work time AND rest time are dictated by heart rate. If I'm pushing a sled and my heart rate hits 80-85% when I'm half way down the turf, then I stop pushing and recover back down to 55-60% before I start the next push effort. Note: don't come to a dead stop after hitting such a high heart rate. Recovery doesn't mean standing still. When you rest, keep moving, but move at a low intensity. I do a recovery walk up and down the turf while my heart rate recovers. 
​(*IMPORTANT: please see the paragraph below on exercise, heart rate, and medication)

​Alternative to heart rate method: RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion)
Scale of 1-10: 1 is least difficult (just above rest) and 10 is the most difficult (max effort).
On a 1-10 scale of perceived exertion, high intensity can be considered anything over an effort level of 7. During recovery periods, recover to a RPE of around 4. 

How many intervals should you do? Start small and build up—your first several sessions might include only 3 total intervals. And then, you might add an extra interval for several more sessions. Gradually, you can build up your total number of intervals. Note: up to 20-30 total HIIT session minutes is sufficient (rest periods included). If I am doing a longer session (such as a 45 minute group exercise HIIT class at the gym), we do not spend 45 solid minutes at a HIIT level. This entire period of time includes the warm up, workout with rest periods and the cool down/stretch period. Throughout a 45 minute to one-hour HIIT workout, you want to spend around 10 to 20 minutes at high intensity levels to see results.

When to do it? Do it when it works best for you. You can do stand alone HIIT workouts OR you can take on a shorter HIIT session following a strength training session. I usually do 10-15 total minutes right after a strength training workout (rest is included in the total time so actual work time might only be 5-7 minutes). Alternatively, if I am doing a stand alone HIIT workout, I might take a 45 minute HIIT style group exercise class OR I might do a 20-30 minute HIIT ride on my Peloton app.

More is not better when working at this level of intensity. Limit yourself to one or two HIIT style workouts per week on non-consecutive days. If your body is ready for more, you can add a third day, but always listen to your body. 

Find a modality you enjoy—I love sled push sprints. The AirDyne Bike is great too—it’s probably one of the best modalities because it’s non-impact, safe for everyone and uses both the legs & arms effectively raising heart rate. Mix it up though—don’t always do the same thing—have a few options to rotate through—battle ropes and sleds, treadmill or track sprints,  Assault Bike (AirDyne) sprints, etc. I do not recommend elliptical machines or stair climbers for HIIT/interval training.

VERY IMPORTANT— WARM UP THOROUGHLY BEFORE INTERVAL TRAINING. The more intense the workout will be, the longer and more thorough the warmup needs to be! 

​*EXERCISE AND MEDICATION MAY REQUIRE YOU TO ADJUST YOUR HEART RATE.
For those in this category, it may be better to use the RPE method vs. Heart Rate.
A common example is a group of drugs called beta-blockers, prescribed for patients with heart problems and high blood pressure. This drug reduces both the resting and exercise heart rate, although not always by the same amount. In some cases, a person can workout much harder without the heart rate elevating even into the aerobic zone. In this case, exercising at 125 beats per minute, for example, may be the same as 155 without the medication—so if your max aerobic heart rate is 140, you can easily be overtraining at 125. In fact, some people are unable to attain their max aerobic heart rate while on a beta-blocker. Anti-arrhythmic drugs, calcium channel blockers, and other medications can sometimes reduce exercise heart rate as well. If you’re taking any prescription or over-the-counter drug, you should know whether it affects the heart rate. Some drugs raise the heart rate. These include thyroid medication, Ritalin and other amphetamines, and even caffeine, which is found in certain cold remedies, pain relievers, and, of course, coffee, tea, and some sodas. These drugs will often cause higher exercise heart rates, forcing you to slow down to maintain your maximum aerobic heart rate. This means that by following your heart rate you may have to reduce your exercise intensity.

NOTE: Before beginning any training regimen, make sure it is medically safe for you to do so. If you have any injury, disease, disability or other concerns about starting an exercise program, consult your healthcare provider first.

Questions always welcomed! And I’m always happy to take you through a conditioning workout!

Mini Band Exercise Series:
What can you do with mini-bands? So much! If you’ve been in one of my exercise groups, then you’ll be familiar with these bands. Attached are 3 exercise videos using mini bands and I’ll post more next week. Then, we’ll use exercises from this series to put together a complete workout!

Where do you find these? You can get them on Amazon delivered straight to your door! I have the Synergee Mini Band multipack. This brand is a little higher priced but shop around-you don’t need to spend a lot —just search for mini bands on Amazon. You’ll need some med/heavy bands for lower body and lighter bands for upper body.

Exercise Form Cues:

Mini Band Deadlifts:

Bend knees slightly, hinge forward from hips until chest is almost parallel to the floor, keeping back naturally straight and abs in tight. You should feel a slight stretch in your hamstrings in the "down" position. Maintaining straight spine, engage your glutes to bring body back to start position

Mini Band Bent Over Back Row:

In a hinged position, row the mini bands up to your side, pulling with your back and driving your elbow back and up as you row. Keep your core tight as you row

Mini Band Stationary Lunges:

Be sure to keep your chest lifted, chin up and abs contracted so your back stays straight. During the lunge, make sure you’re balanced on your back toes and your front knee is in line with your ankle. Squeeze your glutes as you rise. If your knees bother you, decrease the depth to which you lunge. Only lunge in a pain free range of motion.

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All exercises can be performed with dumbbells, kettlebells, weight plates or resistance bands. If you don’t have any of those, then get creative! Use a backpack or fill up a jug of water and use that as your weight. A full gallon of water is heavy!

All exercises can be modified so please let me know if you need modifications or if you have any questions.

There are 3 parts to this workout. Each part is performed 3 times. This will take you 40-45 minutes.

If you try it, let me know!

Here’s an equipment free workout that you can do anywhere!

Substitutions / Modifications:

Burpees — substitutions (kettlebell swings; jumping jacks; jump squats; if jumping bothers your knees—take out the jump and do modified jacks or a squat to calf raise)

Pushups: Modify on knees or perform on an elevated surface or try wall pushups

Sit-up — substitutions (any style crunch or plank)

Air Squats (aka: bodyweight squats) — substitutions (Glute Bridge; Hip Thrusts; Wall Sit)

Mountain Climber — substitutions (high knees; plank with alternating side to side toe taps)

Get creative! This is only a template! Make up your own workouts with your own exercise ideas using the pyramid template!
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Share your workouts with me if you try it!