Rest week.

My body told me this week. OK. That's enough. You need to take a damn break. I have been sore, beat up feeling, etc. So this week, I decided to take about three days of training off and just concentrate on my diet. The result? Lost 7 lbs from Saturday. Crazy, I know.
The key was to redirect my diet to make it as absolutely clean as possible, increase my vegetables and my fruit intake and voila! My system is completely cleaned out. I feel SO much better.
Obviously, that means I need to work on my triathlon diet because I shouldn't feel so bloaty all the time when on it.
I still have my Chicago Monster Dash Half Marathon in just over two weeks. So I'm back to hard core training tonight with some hill sprints then an eleven mile run tomorrow.
But sometimes, you just need to listen to your body when it says "Shut it down".
Finding the difference between "I can push a little more" and "I need a rest" is a fine line, but I think I found it.
I guess we'll find out in a couple weeks.

Burpees!!!!

Burpees... I love them... And I hate them. My workout on Monday was simple. 300 burpees. Took me a bit to do them around my clients, but it was quite awesome.
The burpee is the single best fat burning exercise ever. When I get done, my calves hurt, my feet hurt, my ribs ache, etc etc etc. It hits almost EVERY single muscle in your body.


I often prescribe them for my clients as their homework, which generally angers them :)

Anyway, a simple way to increase your calorie burning and what not is to add burpees to whatever you're planning on doing workout-wise.


I've been doing them for a while, so when I want to really add some work, I'll simply churn out 100 of them.


But here's what you can do if you're new to these. Simply do 1 today. Then, 2 tomorrow, 3 the day after, etc, until your last day where you do 100!!! Sounds like it's ridiculous, but trust me, they get easier... Well, not easier, but manageable.


Here's how to do a PROPER burpee.

So, give it a shot... let me know how much you hate me afterwards :)

Excuses, excuses, excuses

Excuses... You know the saying. Everyone has one...
My goal is to explain away these excuses... Get you to look past them and realize they're not this huge obstacle.
First excuse (my favorite...): I don't have time. Yes, you work 8 hours a day. Yes, your kid has baseball games. But it's not like you need to put away 3 hours a night, 7 days a week to workout. You need 1 hour, 3 to 5 times a week. If you have time to go drinking on a Friday night or write a blog, or go to dinner during the week, you can workout. Same saying goes for food preparation. You can spend 20 minutes on a Sunday night to get your food together for the week.
Second excuse: I don't have the money. This is also a favorite as I ALWAYS here this one, then watch said person post on Facebook about going to McDonald's, partying, or smoking. Come on. Priorities, people!
Third: I'll come train after I get in shape. Ok, ya know what? These are all my favorites. This one though, is mind blowing. I had a person TWO years ago, tell me she wanted to train with me, but wanted to wait till she was in shape. I'm still waiting. Look, why would you wait to get into shape? If you could get into shape on your own, you wouldn't need a trainer, right? It's an excuse for "I don't want my legs to be sore that first couple weeks". Get over it, and get in there with your trainer!

The main point, is that if you REALLY want something (like a new body, the ability to wear a bikini, not being able to break a chair when you sit in it, the ability to get into those new jeans, break your best mile time, run a half marathon, etc) you will work at it and go for it. If you don't, you'll find a way to concoct an excuse and a year later, you'll be wondering why you look exactly the same.

PEACE peeps!

Oh, btw... here are some Mom's that have the same excuses you do, but still get in shape... Lora Coalson, Kim Dolan and Michelle Kyman. And if I had her pic, my son's mother is also in tremendous shape, works full time and goes to school full time... NO EXCUSES!!!