Monday, September 30, 2013

October's Challenge Begins....

I know wrong season, but you get the point of how varied body weight exercises can be and how to increase the difficulty. 
It's October!!!!! I think this is my favorite month, crazy that I have a favorite month, but I do and it is this month. So, with this being my favorite month, we are going to embark on one of my favorite things, working out. Throughout this month, your challenges will be focused on getting up off your butt and using it. I will also discus different types of work outs, benefits, draw backs, things to avoid, what to watch out for, the good, the bad and the ugly. Let's begin.....

For this first week's challenge, we are going to focus on basic movements, how to do them, their importance, and how to add them in.

We have been led to believe more is better, longer is even better, lite lifting is the way to go, especially for women, which leads people to think they need to be in the gym for 2 hours working out. Most of us do not have that kind of time or want to. If that is what you have to do in order to get into shape and have the benefits of exercise, then I am not going to work out.

None of this is true. You do not need to work out for hours, longer is not better, and lite weights are basically a waste of time. In fact, you do not even need to go to a gym to use all the equipment, body weight workouts, bww, are some of the best exercise to do. This can give you all the functional muscle you need and a fantastic workout all in 20 minutes. You end up with "go muscle, not show muscle".

I am not saying going to a gym is bad or weight lifting is a waste of time. I am letting you know, you do not need them. If you want to build bulk muscle and look more like a body builder, than yes you need to be in a gym pumping significant amounts of iron. Along with mass quantities of protein. Being that most of us do not want to look this way, bww are perfect. Your weight will provide the resistance you need to build muscle, obtain the physic you desire, go about your daily tasks with greater ease, all the health benefits of working out, along with the long term benefits of working out.

20 minutes three times a week is all you need.
More than this can actually do more harm than good, we will discus this in a later post.

Basic movements:
Pushing ~ push up
Pulling ~ pull up
Up and Down ~ squats
Back and Forth ~ lunges
Rotational movement
Planks
We are looking for 3-dimensional training, we are 3-dimensional beings, we live in a 3-dimensional world. Our bodies need to be prepared for this type of movement.

This is a great link to the "Four Essential Movements" as defined by Mark Sisson. He explains how to do push up, pull ups, squats and planks, with progressions.

With these basics movements, you can add to them, make them more difficult, add some weight, do any variations of them. You can make these as easy or hard as you want. It all depends on you and your fitness goals.

If you are a beginner:
as many push up as you can
10-15 squats
10-15 lunges
holding a plank as long as you can
Do one set to begin with. If later in the day you fill you have the energy, do another set. Wok up to doing 3-5 sets in a row with a 30 second to one minute rest.

As you progress, add more reps, try a variation to some of the exercises, most importantly, have fun. Working out should be fun. If you do not want to do an actually workout like this, than figure out something you enjoy and go do it. You have to just start moving.

For other ramblings and ideas on workout, here are a few other posts I have done on them, Body Weight Training and some thoughts about why you train.

It is not as hard as you would think. It is about making the choice you are going to do it.
Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

September's Finale Challenge

Well, you have made it through to the finale week of another challenge, whoot whooot! You should be proud of yourself. I am proud of you. I hope it has been a successful challenge.

We are going to end where we began for this month, taking time to be in silence with yourself. Try adding on more time, another five or maybe 10 minutes, you can always do more, these are just suggestions, to your time in silence of just BEing. Here is the link to that post if you would like to go back and re-read that post.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God's many blessings,
Jenn

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

10 Things for the Day

How is slowing down going for you? I hope you are beginning to enjoy yourself more and reaping the benefits of not having so much going on in your life. It is nice to sit down and just be.

If you are still struggling with this challenge, never fear, I have a plan. This little exercise will help you to organize your day, slow down, see how much you accomplish, give you some space and time to just Be.

What you do it:
Take out a peace of paper and writing stick.
Write down 10 things you need to do today.
The conditions you only get 10. No More!!!!

Taking a shower and getting ready for the day, that counts as one.
Going to work, if you work, counts as one.
Cooking, that's one.
Running your kiddos everywhere, each time you leave, that counts as one.

As you can tell, this is going to help slow down your life. You might just find, you need to take some things out and slow down. I know at first this will be hard for some of you, but I promise, if you give it a go for a month, you are going to find the benefit and beauty in doing 10  things for the day. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God's abundant blessings,
Jenn


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

While BEing Bored, Deep Breath


I won the women's division. Ran it in 24:24, not bad for my first race. 

Deep breathing is a very powerful and under used technique to help with a host of issues. Deep breathing is something I like to use to help calm me down, de-stress and find my way into the phase of just being. There are a host of powerful benefits to deep breathing. Including:

  • de-stressing
  • calming the mind down
  • relaxing the body
  • reduction in pain levels
  • increase in oxygen
  • and many more health benefits


Here is a link that explains how to use this powerful technique.

Give it a try for several days, a couple of weeks and let me know the health benefits you receive.
Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God' many blessing,
Jenn


Tuesday, September 3, 2013

September Challenge: BEing Bored.....

The water fall and pond my Hublet put in. We love it!

Here we are at the beginning of another month. At least this time, we should be getting into cooler weather here in Utah. Yeah. I did notice yesterday while going for a run with my Hublet, that the leaves are beginning to change color. A very good sign that fall is near!

I am sure you are thinking I am crazy reading the title of this challenge? Yes, I am. Have you not figured that out yet? This month is about slowing down and being bored. I am not talking about being lazy and not getting anything done, but carving time out to just "BE". Slowing down from such an insane, fast past life and enjoying what you have around you.

One of the biggest things we hear today is: "I have to go out and find myself" I have to go and be crazy and try all this way out there stuff, things that could have dire consequences for you later life, to know who I am. We do not have to "go out to find ourselves", we need to go within to find ourselves. We have to go to the dark places, the demons we do not want to face, or acknowledge are there, be in silence, have time for our minds to just be and wonder in silence. This is how we find ourselves. But, if we are constantly going 100 MPH, have no time to stop and just be, how can we ever find ourselves? Then, we are told we have to go out and find ourselves, do all these stupid things, that is somehow how we are going to find our place in this world, our calling.

Stop believing the lie. Get off the train wreck that is barreling down the tracks to melt downs, not knowing who you, what you want out of this life, where your place is, confusion, self destruction, and whatever else is on that train. Stop believing you have to constantly be busy and going. Some how we have bought into thinking if we are not going all the time, in 10 different directions, we are some how lazy and not accomplishing anything. Really? Have you stopped to think what you are "accomplishing" on this crazy train? Are you accomplishing anything of value to yourself or those around you? Or are you just doing stuff because you have to be going all the time?

This month is about slowing down, enjoying the change of season, and finding out how to just BE.

The first week's challenge is to BE in silence for 10 minutes every day. This can mean being out side listening to the birds, the water fall, going for a walk in the changing woods, whatever you choose to do. But, what this does not mean is, NO electronics, NO cell phone, NO Electronics, NO one to speak with, No electronics, have I said that enough, silence. Turn everything off, including your brain of thinking about everything you need to do. This is time to just BE with yourself.

I know at first this will be difficult. But, in time you will come to enjoy this time alone. Time for your brain to decompress, wonder. You never know what great and amazing things you will come up with during these times. This is when I do all my best brain storming, when some of my best ideas have come, figuring things out.

Enjoy your time of BEing.
Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God bless,
Jenn