Home Archives for Kristi Fox
August 15, 2012

Myofascial Release

Myofascial release in its most generalized use refers to anything that applies a constant, steady pressure on restricted fascia tissue.  Fascia is a type of connective tissue that can surround many structures in the body, binding some together, while allowing others to move smoothly over each other.  Muscle fascia refers to the dense layers of connective tissue that offer a system of support and protection.  It bundles multiple muscle fibers, keeping them resilient and working in communion, dividing specific muscles or groups of muscles.

Our lifestyles, posture, and repetitious motions imperfect as they are cause dysfunction in the connective tissue.  This results in a trauma to the body (perceived or real) that sets off inflammation.  Inflammation is the body’s response to pain, which causes the body to feel protective of itself.  Such a protective reaction incites muscles spasms, working overtime to keep the injured area from being moved or impacted.

Spasms lead to adhesions when the muscle tissue knots up, first in the spasming muscle then the surrounding muscles that are being pulled into the motion of the initial spasms.  Because of the altered movement happening in the body as muscles are spasming, we actually gain new neuromuscular responses:  compensation patterns.  Our bodies are incredible at finding new paths of motion that will leave the injured area alone.  But that, in turn leads to imbalances because our natural biomechanical movements are altered.

I’m describing what is called the Cumulative Injury Cycle, something I’m sure that you have experienced before.  You probably remember the last time your neck and shoulders or your back or a leg muscle seized up on you, whether you remember the precipitating movement or not.  The pain that you feel in response, as well as the days of finding a million different ways to sit, stand, sleep or walk are indicators that your body is seeking another, easier way to deal.  A release.

Specifically, we’re going to talk about self myofascial release done with a foam roller or a massage ball.  These instruments are used, much like a massage therapists hands, to apply enough force to the knotted areas of your muscle tissue to help realign fascia and point muscles back into their optimal arrangements.

If you’ve worked with me long, I’m sure I’ve asked you to use a foam roller or to find time to lie on top of a ball.  These tools have been paramount to my own healing and daily function.  Muscles spasms result from so many of our daily activities, whether working out, sitting or sleeping in one position for too long.  The reasons are unlimited.  For this reason, I will often advocate as much or even more significance to self-myofascial release than training itself.  I think it is also important to have an incredible massage therapist that you are comfortable working with (we can all only do so much for our own bodies).  It may be important to work with a more specialized occupational therapist (or other professional) whose main area of interest is myofascial release.

What are you looking for when you use a foam roller or massage ball?  Just like getting a deep tissue massage, you want to find tender areas—knots—where your muscle tissue is overactive.  This hypertonicity is what is pulling your body out of its natural alignment and causing you pain or discomfort.  In each area that you focus on, you will align your body to target specific muscles or muscle groups.  You’ll rest on the roller or ball, using proper postural alignment and taking care to keep your core engaged appropriately (you want maintain spinal alignment while you are decreasing muscle knots and increasing mobility…not doing so could injure your spinal alignment).

In each area that you target, spend at least 20-30 seconds putting as much pressure as you can tolerate into a tender area.  This will gradually increase the signal that the area can relax, decrease the tension in the knotted muscle and help the fascia to realign.  In every muscle group that is targeted you will find multiple adhesions (knots) and you want to take the time that you can to slowly work along the line of that muscle and find other areas of tension.

I, myself, might work on a foam roller or ball anywhere from a minute or two working on a very specific knot if I’m in a crunch during the day.  Or I might take an hour to hour-and-a-half to concentrate throughout my body.  The more injuries that we incur, the older that we get, the longer that we spend time in one position, the more fatigued we are—all of these things cause us to need more time spent caring for our physical need of myofascial release.

In the following post I’ll show you many ways that you can target major areas of the body that will be longing for your attention!

Filed Under: Flexibility Tagged: , , , ,
August 14, 2012

So This Is It?

 

Down to the wire: Will you make it or will you fail? You gave your money to training. You spent countless sessions running, jumping, pushing and pulling. You believed in yourself, in the ads, in your support group, and in your trainer. Now it’s time to measure.

This isn’t the first time. Your last measurements were against you, but you thought you’d change between then and now. Stuff happened. Life sped up. You weren’t certain it was worth all the effort. …So this is it? Are you relegated to mediocre?


Some Nights, the song that has invaded this summer, penetrates my soul like no other anthem since I was warming up for basketball games to “We Will Rock You” by Queen in the 90’s. The lyrics alone tell a story that has sparked countless conversations among local DJ’s. Between the battle cry and whispered accusations, the quest for unrequited love and the tragedies of war, the chaotic dynamics of this song leave you wondering just what is it that led artist Nate Ruess to this point. I can’t help but hear the song ringing out through my entire body when I train, when I wake up, when I bike or climb.

Music doesn’t just help to focus an incredible workout session. It really helps to sort out your stuff. And for me that’s what it is about this song.

  • Some nights I lie awake wrought with anxiety about decisions I face, something I’m processing from the preceding day, people and all the ways I fear relationships.
  • Some nights I’m wracked by nightmares. Too many hard times to turn them off when I’m unconscious.
  • Some nights I’ve been certain that every unfounded voice in my head was true. I feel like a mistake, like I shouldn’t even be here. Some nights I’ve tried not to be.
  • Some nights I’ve grieved the loss of things I hoped for with all of my heart but had to let go.
  • Some nights I’ve questioned how much I’ve been swindled – did I trust the wrong voices? Did I hear my own? Did I go down the wrong path? Do I really know what I’m doing?
  • Some nights I’ve known what it is to be pit against family over beliefs of right and wrong, only to feel alone with every decision I make.

Where am I inside of all of this? Some nights I just don’t know.

Precisely what Ruess is referring to in his lyrics, I’m not sure. But that’s exactly the point. The song is laced with so much intensity of emotion that it’s all about the listener. We’ve all experienced our own “some nights”. Every one of us can relate to a piece of doubt, to being at a crossroads and feeling nothing but the sweat of uncertainty dripping into our eyes, down our arms and legs, pooling onto the floor. Doubt bigger than we are at the moment. Darkness thicker than any edge can slice; because at that moment it feels like the absolute truth.

Has it gotten bad enough for you yet? Have you had to choose what it is you’ll stand on or fight for? When life tells you that you can’t, where do you find your strength? These places are so uncomfortable we’d rather think of happier times or leave the junk to other people—“they’ve really had it tough.” And in that distance we create, we might become disillusioned and isolate those who are in their own season of crap.

Facing hard decisions in life can strengthen us more than any training program ever will. It’s the requisite nature of trials that helps us put a stake in the ground and have a point we refuse to fall back to. It becomes the tape across the finish line that every living cell in our being understands we’re aiming toward. Nobody will find health and happiness for decades without that decision first being rooted in the deep ground of their spirit. It might be shaken, but can’t be fully broken.

If you’ve watched yourself cycle in and out of motivation, believing you’ll make a change only to find yourself falling back into older, easier habits, I’d ask you: “Where is your decision being made?” If it’s external, or if it only reaches as far as the next stressful day, it’s time to exponentially internalize it. Get to the heart of knowing exactly what you want and why. Once your certainty is firmly grounded, even if it’s jarred or possibly repositioned, you’ll be able to remember your reason for starting this journey. You’ll have a marker to regain your footing and move forward.

Perhaps you’re in a good place right now. If you are strong and you see somebody else in the throes of their own dark night, can you be a healthy advocate for them? Are you willing get a little dirty while they recover their own health? This doesn’t mean being a crutch or enabling unhealthy behaviors. It’s being a friend. Listening to the hard stuff and helping the person that you care about remember what it is that they are fighting for. Sometimes, the arm wrapped around their shoulders without a sound or even seeing who’s there is all they’ll need to re-identify their personal hope.

Experiencing one more setback, feeling like the schedule never lets up so you can meet your goals, suffering injury after illness, it all blows your confidence.  This is what we forget some nights: they are “some”. Not every day is the worst. Not every doubt leaves you staggering for a foothold. Depression and anxiety aren’t eternal states of being. If we hold on, those feelings are the in between on the way to something new. They’re transitions. They’re proof you are willing to get real with your own internal junk.

When I look at where I am today, I could never have seen myself in this place. If I’d believed what I felt some nights, I would be in a quiet place where nobody could see me. I wouldn’t be interacting with people at the level that I do every day. I wouldn’t be physically or emotionally strong. I wouldn’t be empowered to face new decisions, changes or difficulties.

We do wake up from some nights. They do turn into day. We can be strong. Relate to the strength inside your own spirit today!

 

Filed Under: Mindset Tagged: , , ,
August 3, 2012

Cultivating Relationship Between You and Your Food

When I was very young, I was often threatened with “not having food on the table”. If I failed to maintain my personal responsibilities then the weight of our ability as a family to eat was going to rest squarely on my shoulders. As young and powerless as I was this statement was pretty ludicrous, but it is the message that I internalized. Understandably, it owned me to the point that much of my drive in life has come down to a literal fear of going hungry.

In order for me to become healthy, I’ve had to come to grips with this and other fears. It takes pointing them out, seeing them for what they are and having the ability to let go of what isn’t true. This sometimes means risking the very thing that I’m afraid of–if I let go of that fear will I still care about working? If I stop caring so avidly about working, will I fail to make enough money to cover my expenses? What will happen to me? It’s very real and sometimes frightening, but working out these fears has helped me to find healthier balance around food and around work.  It’s also helped me to locate my own natural drives instead of being a slave to unrealistic manipulations.

Understanding your relationship with food is one of the most fundamental pieces of caring for yourself. Because of your physiological and emotional responses to nutritional balance, hoping that you can never think about food is akin to not sending in a payment for your bills and hoping that the lights will stay on month to month. It will catch up with you. This isn’t to say that food needs to rule you. And this is why we often hang out on the other side of the fence–we don’t want to be so caught up in trying to be healthy or eat “perfectly” that we lose our zest for life.

My hope is that I, that you, can find balance during the transitional stages of getting healthy without believing that means we’re “stuck”. Signs that you’ve gone too far in cleaning up your diet are:

  • Finding yourself thinking about, planning for, arranging your schedule around, all-in-all remaining consistently obsessed over your eating program.
  • Checking the scale every day, worrying when you see a few more pounds and feeling that you need to do something drastic to get your weight back down.
  • Trying often to find the “right” diet. If your eating program is changing multiple times a month, ask yourself where that’s coming from and if you can simplify.
  • Inability to change your eating program at all, even if it is a holiday or special event. Being concerned that you can’t take a day off is wandering off balance.

Extremes really aren’t what most of us have to worry about or where we are prone to fail. I believe that generally it’s the thought that nothing can change that gets us “stuck”. You might have come to the general acceptance that your body is where it’s at and your habits are what they are, so that’s the best you can do. If this describes you, ask yourself whether that is based on an internal acceptance (you have processed this information emotionally and are okay with your physical status) or an external acceptance (your times of trying and failing, seeing other people’s success and not finding your own brought you to believe you can’t have anything better).

If you are not quite ready to give up and your relationship with food is what’s holding you back from believing you can change your habits, what can you do about it?

  • Get to the root of the issue. This may mean talking to a professional. It might mean spending some time journaling your feelings around the times that you eat. Whatever it takes for you to find the association between how you view food and how much/when you eat it–this will be necessary to gain the upper hand in the long term
  • Internalize the long term work for long term satisfaction. Often, we are so overwhelmed by the long term dream (will I fail; will I get sick of this?) that we settle for shorter term gratification. Don’t let questions of the future sabotage the present. If you know that you want to be healthy in the long term, come to grips with making decisions in the moment that will line up with that truth–period. One healthy decision will lead to another and another. It’s the foundation building that promotes the long term success. It IS NOT the faith in what you can’t see (a new and improved body down the road) that will propel you when you look in the mirror or have an emotional need to eat right now.
  • Make decisive choices. You concluded that you want to be healthy in the long term. Find something that you are confident about (saying no to that easy-to-grab gas station treat) and follow through consistently.
  • Pick small, manageable areas of change. It is quite reasonable to determine to eat one more fruit and veggie serving per day or cut out one sugary beverage per day. Build on these little successes before you worry about the full picture.
  • Find a non-food-related reward. Our psyches benefit from rewarding success. But eating out to celebrate can sabotage us. What do you love? What makes the perfect pat on the back for you? Identify an area that feels good whether it’s buying a smaller-sized article of clothing or saving up for recreational equipment or vacations, a new book, or heading to the mall with a friend…what makes you smile and reinforces your great choices will help to keep you motivated!

Every one of us has a history of food. It’s been our constant companion since infant-hood. It only stands to reason that the relationship may be a little stale or in need of tweaking. Take the time today to identify a couple of areas to balance healthy feelings toward eating so that it doesn’t hold you back from meeting your goals.

Filed Under: Goal-Setting, Mindset, Nutrition Tagged: , , , , , , ,
July 19, 2012

Consulting the You Inside

Growing up, I lived through several traumatic experiences that were difficult to define or process because I was in a home where those reactions were forbidden.  My day-to-day was so filled with chaos, abusive power trips and manipulative or threatening interactions that I spent much of my time living inside myself.  My spirit was broken over and over as I realized that I had neither the means to stand up for myself nor someone around who cared enough to help me make sense of what was happening.

I’m not the kind of person that believes that everything happens for a reason.  I also don’t get into a lot of my personal history, simply because doing so often draws on people’s emotions who truly do care for me.  And it’s not for bashing people who hurt me or drawing sympathy from you that I would ever share my story.

That said, I think I came to a lot of lessons very early in life that serve me well now.  What I have to say in this post will be hard and filled with some dark feelings.  It isn’t your typical motivational speech, but I share where I come from so that maybe you can find new ways of addressing your own situations and learning how to navigate through them healthily.

Most of my earliest memories are filled with violence and chaos.  That and an insane sense of order that was required once I was moved into my grandfather’s house just shy of age four.  This move left me with three “parents”—a mother who’d left my father and wanted her parents to raise me and my siblings, a grandfather who didn’t want to raise young children, and a grandmother who wanted me to be obedient so that the house wouldn’t be any more disrupted.

I can’t count the number of times that I was backed into a corner, sat upon, held down, screamed at and so on, all with the expectation that I would return adults to a sense of peace that they felt outside of my existence.  I knew so intrinsically from that young age that I wasn’t welcomed and that my presence was a hardship to people whose lives were more valuable than mine.  And, yet, more deeply inside of that I knew that I mattered.  I might have not mattered to people who were too wrapped up inside their own dysfunction to see the child in front of them who also had needs, but I mattered to me.

I’m not exactly sure how I came to that, but I carried it with me and it’s what empowers me.  I think sometimes that being pushed to the absolute limit of us is where we find who we really are.  It’s in times of the greatest unknown that we can see more clearly what our intrinsic values are.  I think it’s the fear of getting pushed to that place and its discomfort that keeps us holding onto things that don’t serve us.

Whether it’s wanting answers where there aren’t answers, wanting to matter to people who don’t see you, feeling you won’t measure up, struggling with food or weight, to exercise or not, dealing with social pressure when people around you can indulge in habits that lead you to be more extreme…  We all have something that gets “wonky” in our lives.  It’s then that we need to understand how to consult the “me”, the “you”, inside.

I was in my early twenties when I gave a name to my habit of finding what mattered to me and not letting anybody endanger that.  Ever since, I have said that there is a “me” inside; that I must consult the core of who I am before I can engage any further in something that is causing life around me to feel catawampus.

Lest that sound to new-agey to you, consider this picture:  I’m a pre-teen, lying on the couch reading a book.  I’m minding my own business (not doing anything “wrong”), when my mother comes in, sits on top of me, holds my arms down and proceeds to tell me how I will honor her and the authority that she brings into my life.  Being in little position to have control over the situation, to change the outcome or to control the people around me, how do I healthily survive these events?  I choose what somebody will have access to and what they never can.  Throughout my childhood, I already had such access to knowing that the core of who I was would never be shared with somebody who didn’t value me.

As an adult, this habit is one that I think brings me great success because I know how to determine what feels healthy to me and what does not.  If something around me is pushing me to be unhealthy (whether it’s a relationship, work, recreation, finances, or any other facet of life), I know where I will be flexible to the things I can’t control and where I will draw the line to take care of the center of who I am—that part of me which has my best interest in mind.  I believe inside all of us is a core “knowing” of what we need or want.

The point of this article is that sometimes situations around you aren’t working out in the way that is best for you.  If you were able to stop momentarily and consult your inner “you”, what would you find?  Could it be that you’re pushing too hard and need a break?  Could it be that you need somebody supporting your vision of health and are afraid to rock the boat, so you keep letting people and circumstances make decisions for you?  Are you afraid of getting so involved in being healthy that you’ll miss the fun things in life, or that you might get extreme?  Maybe it’s hard to picture anything besides what you’ve always known.

Emotions are huge and variant and they can keep any one of us in a cycle of wanting something but letting other things get in the way of what we want.  That is very real and it needs to be seen for what it is.  But remember, too, you aren’t the sum of your emotions or the circumstances that you find yourself in or even the people that are closest to you.  You are you, full of all the good things that you need to be in the best position for health and success. 

And the best thing about that stronger you inside?  It thrives on personal balance.  It won’t let you become extreme or go unbidden into recklessness.  When you feel that edginess of wanting what something you can’t seem to get, it’s that voice inside you asking to be heard.  When you recognize that pattern and want to change course, take the time to quiet yourself away from that noise.  It may mean going outside, going into a dark room, taking a mini-vacation, talking to someone, or any number of healthy choices.

The points is to look deeply inside, ask yourself what you’re comfortable with keeping, what you’re willing to accept as uncontrollable, and what you value so highly that you aren’t willing to let it be robbed or cut down for any reason.  When you connect to the truth of what matters to you, I believe that you’ll find yourself in the perfect position to define healthier goals and make choices that reflect your wishes more than your circumstances.   Inside you is the greatness that you seek.  Next time that things seem insurmountable, be okay with shutting that off and searching out your “you”.

Filed Under: Mindset Tagged: , , , , , ,
June 18, 2012

Kristi’s Reflections on the MS-150: Day One


Friday evening, June 8th, we arrived in Proctor with just enough time to pitch our tents, eat, ready ourselves for sleep and move back into the tents before darkness set in. Tent city by this time was aflutter. Tents covered every conceivable space, so that we were nearly on top of each other, meaning we could hear the guy next to us snoring as if he were in the tent with us. Not quite the beauty sleep that I was hoping for heading into the first day. Add to that a damp cool morning and I was grabbing my inhaler to keep my lungs from closing off against the elements.

Saturday morning was a sea of people: people in long lines to the toilets, people in longer lines to load luggage, people stretching around the hallways of Proctor High School, waiting for pancakes and people walking in scores to the fields laden with bikes that had to be picked up, checked over and readied for the long day of riding. As far as the eye could see were bikes, riders and volunteers. As a side note both mornings we were met by a server slaving over a large griddle that contained maybe 30-40 pancakes. He was dancing, smiling and flipping cakes faster than we could keep up with. As soon as you blinked, he’d start flipping them right at you, so that you had to be sure and get your plate under them in time. It was people like this all through the weekend that added elements of cheer in what could otherwise be a fairly trying occasion.
Once we were fed and covered in sunscreen, we pedal-walked our bikes in to the start among hundreds of others. People so close together that you didn’t want to be clipped in until you found a little space to start and stop safely. Music was playing over loud speakers, an emcee keeping us both entertained and attuned to the news of the morning, everything revving up the “all systems go”.

The three of us on the Stronger U Fitness team started out together, but quickly were split up in all the riders on top of each other, passing each other, flooding Ugstad Rd, and leaving south from Proctor. Climbing the first hill out of the high school, a group of 20 something’s lined up in a driveway cheering us on. Were they sincere? Were they just caught in the driveway in the middle of a road closure with nothing better to do? Who knows, but it set the stage for scenes like that throughout our two day ride. People in the community cheered us on from the moment we started until we finished.

The first 10 miles was hard on me. My heart rate was over 150 going fairly slowly. The air was damp and cool enough to leave me struggling more to breathe, my lungs already compromised from poor, outdoor sleeping and a cold that I caught two weeks before the ride (couldn’t that have waited until after?!). My thoughts started running the gamut: was I going to be able to do this? Would I struggle behind the pack for the rest of the weekend? And on the other extreme, I was going to do this. I’d trained for it and I was here to prove to myself that I could do it, regardless of my uncertainties. I knew I would be giving it everything that I had.

The sad thing about this first leg is that much of it was downhill, but couple that with being surrounded by hundreds of riders for the first time, not breathing normally and not knowing the territory and I had a mixed bag. This went on for 12 or so miles when we finally came to a dead stand-still. Everybody bottle-necked into this narrow bridge because the view on both sides was breathtaking. People literally stopped in the middle of this cluster of riders to enjoy the view and take photos of the waterway below. Passing slowly through the Thomson reservoir, it was less than a mile before reaching a park and rest stop number 1. Bikes were tipped over everywhere in the grass, abandoned while people used toilets, grabbed water and re-fueled. Refilling the Camelback and having a moment to gather my senses, as well as reconnect with Jon, helped get me going again.

 

The second leg started with a bit more of the huffing and puffing. I couldn’t keep up with passing speeds and had to set a comfortable pace of my own. Where our training speeds were often 16+ mph, I was hanging closer to 13 mph while trying to deal with a body that wasn’t in its normal training condition (balanced nutrients, sleep, work, not sick, etc).

Through that second leg, though, the weather warmed, my long sleeves were off and the air dried out—I could breathe!!! I picked back up to a more comfortable 15-16 mph hour pace and started having a lot more fun as we passed through Moose Lake, saw all the ATV’s passing us on a side trail and just plain got caught up in the energy of knowing lunch was just around the corner.

By the time we got to lunch, we found Alan Wyman (who sorrowfully couldn’t join us for the ride as he had hoped), waiting with Dove ice cream bars. It was a joy that can’t be explained to see somebody you know waiting for you. The MS 150 is such a meaningful ride to Alan, and it was his influence that got us involved in the first place. We took an extra long break spending time, just plain enjoyed spending time with each other, and got prepared for the last 30 miles of the ride.

As we transferred to the Willard Munger Trail and made our way to Finlayson, the final rest stop before we’d arrive in Hinckley, we once more found ourselves bottle-necked. This time it was due to a narrowed, winding path that hit a couple of steep hills where many riders simply jumped off their bikes in the middle of the trail. Because of that we were darting around sudden stops, uphill in lower gears, trying not to roll backwards or have to get off our bikes ourselves. I have to say this is where I felt most at home (besides the suddenly stopping riders in front of me). Anyone who knows the road around White Bear Lake, cutting through Wildwood, we ride two very steep hills and live for getting over those without stopping or really slowing. Getting my gears timed perfectly over those hills is a rush that I felt while on the Munger Trail. Anything that feels like home is just plain refreshing!


So, after another nice stop, met again by Alan who made sure to photograph us as we rode by, we were ready for the last leg of the journey. My one regret for Saturday is that I completely forgot I had a large bag of walnuts in my bag, specifically for the purpose of balancing my nutrients against what I knew would be a heavy, simple sugars diet provided by the MS Society. While the fast energy gets right into you and gives you a little extra steam when you’re fatiguing, I was mixed up between the head rush and nausea of so much sugar, and lethargic from not having any true sustenance in my stomach. How I, who’d been so worried about nutrients, failed to recognize my lack of eating the nuts I brought with me I don’t know. I must have been more concerned with breathing in the beginning. And by the time I remembered, I was head-rushing my way through the last leg. I had one spot in that last leg where I doubted I’d have the umph that I needed to get that last bit of riding finished. It didn’t last long. A team of bikers sped past us and I was revived! It’s fun how that little bit of competition can rally you.

For the final 10 miles of the ride, we kept a pretty even 16 miles per hour. It felt solid. We even gathered a couple of followers who were using our pace to keep them going. That alone feels good—knowing that you’re pulling your weight and that you’re getting a little bit of the group energy. It wasn’t very long before we started seeing the signs, “so many miles to Hinckley”. That was inspirational. You know you’re close enough to taste it then. We popped off the trail onto 7th street NE in Hinckley and the streets were literally lined with people who were cheering us on. We followed the road to Old Highway 61 and we crossed over Interstate 35 by Tobies. There, at the place everyone in Minnesota knows Hinckley for, was a man shouting, “You did it! You made it! You’re here!” I almost cried. It’s times like that when you see the good in the world and feel like it’s just not so bad to be a part of a supportive community.

4100 calories after the 7am start, I was ready to park my bike in the corral, shower, get a massage, eat and head to bed as fast as humanly possible.

Filed Under: Biking, Events, Lifestyle
January 9, 2012

Building a New Body? Start with Your Mind


Nobody starts off where they want to be. Do you aspire to a level of health, fitness, ability or energy that you see other people enjoying? It helps to remember that those folks did much of the same planning and work that you’ll need to do too.

More importantly, remember that they faced the same challenges you will likely face. Can you think about those might be, ahead of time?

Having already thought through managing or redirecting your goals when life throws those curveballs will offer you security and padding when you feel like your original plans might be foiled. Remember that this happens to the best of us and that every brick you lay as you build your better self is just as significant as the finished product. I know that each of you is capable of success!

Filed Under: Goal-Setting, Mindset Tagged: , ,
January 6, 2012

Setting Intelligent Resolutions: Know Thyself


All goal-setting starts with the same component… You.

Think about it. Achieving a goal is the last step on a journey that begins with the person you are today. So start by knowing yourself, and understanding how the new fitness goals you’re about to set will fit into your life. Setting a goal of losing 40 pounds, or running a marathon requires courage and consistent action. You can get there. But if you’ve never run after anything but an ice cream truck, it makes sense to start with a smaller interim goal.

Our mind can play tricks on us. When we envision gigantic goals, it excites us. Envisioning a smaller but more attainable goal sometimes doesn’t seem quite as exciting. But when we allow this lower “drive” to stall our action completely, we don’t make any progress. It may even help to avoid numbers (like pounds and calories) for a while, and just focus on starting to exercise with correct form.

Get excited about small goals! Undervaluing their importance short-circuits your enthusiasm. So celebrate them, and allow them to form a pattern of success that makes the big goals follow naturally from what you’re already doing. Start now.

Filed Under: Goal-Setting Tagged: , ,
January 4, 2012

Setting Intelligent Resolutions

This is the first in a series of posts about setting intelligent resolutions. Stronger U Fitness clients understand that an intelligent goal is one that is structured properly.

Of course, any goal you set must be beyond your present abilities.

But a properly structured goal takes into consideration your current health, fitness and eating habits. It is articulated with clarity, it includes the WHY behind your goal, is broken down into steps, and has a deadline attached to it.

But it’s not about rigidity either. On your way to the goal, you need a way to measure your progress… or to ensure you’re progressing at all. Proof of progress helps keep you motivated – and if you learn you’re not happy with your speed or direction of that progress, you can adjust your commitment.

In the coming days, we’ll talk about how to set well-formed resolutions. What are you committed to this year?

Filed Under: Goal-Setting, New Year Tagged: ,
January 1, 2012

New Year, New You

Welcome to the Stronger U Fitness Blog!

The new year marks the birth of our blog. Look forward to twelve months of great, actionable health and fitness videos, articles, tips and tutorials. More about that later.

Despite the harried pace of November and December, we face each new year with a sense of anticipation and promise. We put our hopes and dreams into words –  in the form of New Years Resolutions. When it comes to our fitness, a new year is often a time when we’re most clear about creating a “new you”.

But hold on… Did you make any resolutions last January? How did it go?

It’s easy for us to start strong, but sometimes we find that we’ve lost our resolve before the middle of February. That’s why Stronger U Fitness is devoting the month of January to making changes that stick. We’ll have tips for you all month focused on clarity, motivation, and making sure your goals become your reality.

Filed Under: New Year