Just Some Motivation

Consistency is key. I know that after about a week of training, you'll start to get tired and bogged down. Kids, college, your job, and almost anything else will start to tire you out, but I promise you, you're going to look back at past photos or habits in a year or even a couple months and be SO incredibly proud of yourself. Its a learning process, and not one that comes to you quickly. Be patient. Be proud. Be consistent.

Dead Lifts

For this movement: Your feet should be under your your hips and hands about shoulder length apart. You should be bent over the bar somewhat with your core engaged (no rounded backs). When you pull up, the barbell should trace the length of your shin. Once it reaches your knees, that's when you move knees back and your hips come forward, letting the barbell trace your thigh to full extension of the hips. 

This is probably one of my favorite lifts. It works lower back and legs although you need to keep all of this in mind when lifting:

• Keep your core engaged! I know ya'll like to flex, and now is the time. This goes for almost every movement you will do, however I'll stress it every time.
• Keep your head neutral. When I say this, I'm asking you to keep you neck and head in line with your back. You should refrain from straining your neck upward or pushing your chin into your chest. 
• Pace yourself. Start with a blank barbell and practice the movement up to or even more than 10 times to prepare your muscles for the movement. Then progress to a moderate weight, working up to a 75% max by your last round. Increase the weight on your barbell by 5-10 lbs each round. (DO NOT MAKE 20# JUMPS) This means that the weight you start with should be moderately heavy, not incredibly easy. 
• Don't go too fast. You should leave at least 2 minutes between each round to give your muscles a quick chance to recover from the strain. This is a rule during your strength training to make sure your muscles wont give out during your next round.
• Don't be afraid to let the weight bounce. You'll notice in my video that i let the weigh bounce off the floor in order to let gravity help me in pulling it back up. You can choose to let the weight become stagnant (it's really no big deal) but I like to keep the movement fluid, so I allow my deadlifts to bounce off the floor. My only caution is that you keep your core engaged and don't round out your back when you let gravity bounce the weight (again, thats BAD).

Tire Flips

Rope Slams

Tips for this movement:

• Keep your arms in front of you. Don't let your elbows stick out on either side.
• Keep a slight bend in your knee. It will help with balance and power.
• Keep your core engaged! Can I stress this enough?
• Don't round your back.  This will cause your back to hurt in the morning, when it should really be your arms doing all of the work.

"The Diets"

"Diet."

What a dreadful word. 

It's loaded with negative connotations, false promises and honestly, diets are downright awful. I mean, who wants to eat something that has a taste equivalent to cardboard? Pre-made "diet" foods are often either tasteless or terrible. Have you every had a Smart Meal that made you say, 

"Wow, I wish I could have another!"

I didn't think so. Or maybe your diet food is delicious! But you can only have 3 ounces at a time. I mean, does that sound like living to you? The best way to get confident about yourself, is to follow some simple directions.

1.  Stop calling yourself fat. Body image should only be conceived by YOU. Don't let another person tell you that what you have isn't something amazing and beautiful. 
2. STOP PAYING ATTENTION TO YOUR WEIGHT! I know that the scale can be daunting, but weight is just a number. Look at yourself in the mirror. You have exponentially more worth than what numbers on a scale will tell you. More often than not, you have more worth that you recognize in yourself. 
3. We all cheat when we eat. Don't feel guilty! Cheating every now and again will help you stave off unhealthy binges. I'm not saying that you should go all out and make it a buffet every other day, but once a week, take a day to eat what you want. Remember, Everything is good in moderation! (i.e. don't eat an entire pizza but you deserve a few slices, babe). 
4. Get moving! Not only do we want to burn calories but we need to exercise to keep healthy!
5. Get Motivated :) I find it motivating to leave myself little notes here and there to keep me on track. You can also work out with friends to hold yourself accountable!
6. Portion and prep. Portioning in restaurants is a little off... food is supposed to energize you! Not put you in a food coma. A very general food rule when trying to loosing weight and build muscle is to eat 4 times a day. (Look for portioning in a separate section of the blog).
7. Be patient. Results wont happen over night, but consistency is key. Take progress pictures every 2 weeks and watch yourself improve.