Strickland Fitness

 

You are the Star

One of the things I have been touching on while working with my clients is how they approach each exercise, set, and even each individual rep. In my previous video I talked about turning off the autopilot to maximize your workouts. Well, the next thing you can do to take it to the next level and make each exercise count is to pretend that you are a 10 million dollar athlete filming a commercial for your sponsor. Think as though while you are working out, there are lights and cameras all around you filming your every move. How do you think your workout will go? What will happen is you will push yourself to the max making the workout that much better.

Here is an example: the other day I had a client do a warm-up lap around the track. I could tell that he was just running because that was the goal. While running, his shoulders were slumped, his feet were dragging, and his brain had obviously shut off and he had gone into auto-pilot. I asked him to run the lap again, but this time to think that he was in a commercial as a highly paid pro-athlete. I also told him to run at the same pace. The difference was astounding. He took off at a much faster speed, his shoulders were back with this chest up, his knees were driving up, and he was thinking about what he was doing. When he came back, I asked why he ran so fast. His response was, “I couldn’t slow down.” We used only 5 pound dumbbells for the rest of the workout keeping the “commercial” concept in mind. By the end, he was sweating, exhausted, and feeling awesome. All this with 5 pound dumbbells!

The next time you workout or do cardio, imagine you are at the top of the game!

 

Bored?

Have you just hit the top of the boredom mountain when it comes to your workout routine? Take a bite out of the conventional workout book and bring fun back into your fitness time! While working with a new client today, I was struck with the fact that there are a lot of people out there that are bored with their routine, do it anyway, and never look forward to going to the gym because they know they will do it again! While training, my client said to me today, “I have never done any of these exercises before. I love it!” And then she continued to say, “This is what I have been looking for. I have been doing the same stuff and I was so bored.” This client went from wanting to train twice a week to four times a week. That’s what I call looking forward to going to the gym and working out!!! Besides mixing up your routine for the purpose of bringing enjoyment back into your regiment, that change will also help you to avoid hitting plateaus; thus, getting you that much closer to hitting your goals. Our bodies are used to being in auto pilot. This means the body going through motion in the most easy and energy efficient way. That’s not what we want our bodies to do when we are working them. We want the body to be under constant demands from start to finish, burning calories, and putting on lean muscle. Search for new ways to work the body. And a final good reason to change it up is because our bodies are made for it. Think about this: Most traditional exercises are very one dimensional. The body however, moves in three dimensions. The best results, both functionally and physically, will come from training it that way. This will help to strengthen support muscles, increase flexibility, and help to reduce the chance of injury. The next time you are doing a lunge for instance, lunge forward (1^st dimension), lunge to the side (2^nd dimension), and then turn and lunge away from your original position (3^rd dimension).  

I decided to make a list of the top 10 excuses people use to stray away from their health and fitness goals. But I’m not going to stop there. Each is followed by an answer to that excuse.

 

1. “I don’t have the time.”

Make the time! If anything in life is important enough, time can be made. It’s all a matter of priorities.

2. “I can’t afford a gym membership.”

Not all gyms are expensive. There are some out there that cheaper than you think. You can also do exercises at home with little to no weights needed. Check out http://stricklandfitness.com/2008/11/20/2-full-body-exercises/

3. “I just don’t know what to do.”

It can be scary starting to work out and not know what to do. However, there are plenty of good websites out there (like this one  ) with free content to get you started.

4. “I need to lose a lot of weight and it seems like it will take forever.”

Shorten your goals to a month. If your goal is to lose 25 pounds, start by trying to lose 5. Once you reach that goal, try for another 5. Before you know it, you will have lost all 25. Read http://stricklandfitness.com/2008/11/17/short-term-goals-long-term-success/

5. “I know myself, and I can never commit to anything.”

Begin a program with a friend. Accountability is key.

6. “I’ll start soon.”

Start now! If you do, 6 months from now, you’ll be glad you did. Trust me!!!

7. “I’m not in good shape and everyone at the gym seems to be. “

Everyone at the gym is working towards their goal. That is what they are focusing on. Put your focus on your goals and not on other’s perception of them.

8. “I’m afraid people at the gym will laugh or stare at me while I’m exercising.”

To tell you the truth, I only laugh and stare at the people who walk around the gym doing nothing. To me, that’s funny. If you are worried about your form, work out with a friend or in front of a mirror to make sure you have correct form.

9. “I’m already in pretty good shape, and I don’t do anything.”

The outside doesn’t always match the inside. Working out and doing cardio is great for stress relief, prevention of heart disease, controlled cholesterol and blood pressure, and overall well-being.

10. “I have been working out but I haven’t seen any results.”

You have to mix it up or you might be overtraining. If you don’t change your routine, your body goes into autopilot and plateaus. You have to keep it guessing. Overtraining can also slow down results. Be sure to get plenty of rest between workouts and eat a healthy diet.

Ok, we are down to the last 2 challenges. With a workout at least every other day, you should be feeling fit! Let’s do a tough one to end the week! Give it everything you got and walk away feeling great! Go through each series of exercises twice. Once completed, put a check mark in the box for Oct. 30^th. If you don’t know how to do the listed exercises, there are explanations of them in previous posts for the October Challenge.

 

The Workout

10 minutes warm up

 

No rest between exercises…

15 body squats

12 push ups

20 isolated ab crunches

12 tricep extensions

On any cardio apparatus, do 15 seconds as fast as you can, followed by 15 seconds rest. Do 8 times.

2 minutes rest

 

12 Lat pull downs

12 bicep curls

12 1-leg squats

1 minute plank with limb raises

On any cardio apparatus, do 15 seconds as fast as you can, followed by 15 seconds rest. Do 8 times.

2 minutes rest

 

12 squat presses

20 isolated ab crunches

12 side lunges each direction

12 shoulder raises

On any cardio apparatus, do 15 seconds as fast as you can, followed by 15 seconds rest. Do 8 times.

 

Cool down

 

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