Goal Setting | garagegym107

Posts Tagged ‘Goal Setting

Oct

Ride I did

Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
Tags: #bodyforlife, #fitatfifty, Body-for-Life, Clean Eating, gaining self confidence, Garagegym107, Goal Setting, health, healthy-living, Inspiration, Long term weight loss, Motivation, nutrition, Precision Nutrition, Training, Well-Being

I got up early this morning and started that head game smack talk again. Got dressed, filled a bottle, got all reflected up and set out on my bike at just after 5:00am. It’s amazing how peaceful things are before everyone gets up. Was I nervous, heck yes. But I did it anyway. I successfully rode in the dark, fully lit by street lamps, my light on the front of my bike and the red blinker on the back. I had no problem seeing the road and somewhere along the way I realized this early morning riding is so doable.

After watching my father-in-law, a very active man, lose his battle with cancer in 9 very short weeks and the follow-up deterioration of my mother-in-law, one thing is certain. We are all going to go sooner or later.

I’m not going to sit around and get old doing nothing. I’m going to continue to lift heavy things, swim, bike, run and just about anything else I really want to do. I may not do any of those things perfectly, but who really cares? Who are the exercise police that are going to say “you’re doing it all wrong”? Who are the food police that are going to come in my house and say “You aren’t supposed to eat that”? Really?

I’m feeling a little rebellious this morning. 🙂

My you all be blessed with the courage to do what really moves your soul.

Oct

Stop Thinking You’re Not Ready

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment

Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
Tags: #bodyforlife, #fitatfifty, #garagegym, Community, exercise, fat loss, fitness, gaining self confidence, Garagegym107, Goal Setting, Insecurity, Motivation, Precision Nutrition, Training, Triathlete

The biggest thing that keeps us from moving forward is the simple thought of thinking we are not ready. No-one ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity presents itself. Especially when the opportunity forces you to step out of your comfort zone and face your own insecurities.

The greatest opportunities in our lives usually require us to get out of the comfort zone. As a really good friend said early one morning “comfort is for couches” there is really something to that. When you have doubt, sitting idle allows that doubt to grow larger and loom in front of you.

Change takes courage. I’m not going to tell you it’s easy, but I will say it’s doable. It’s doable if you take that first step and commit to yourself you are willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish the goal.

Take for example my most recent goal of becoming a Triathlete by summer of next year. The first obstacle in my head wasn’t whether I could swim, bike, run. It was putting on a swimsuit and going to the local pool. You see, having freed myself of the excess burden of carrying an additional 168# See Me Here there are things about my body that I’m overly sensitive about. My legs are two of those things.

Initially my thinking was “how can I cover up my legs?” so I bought a tri-suit to swim in. If you’ve never seen one, they come halfway or more down the thighs. After wearing that a couple of times I realized I was being stupid for two reasons 1) A tri-suit is entirely too expensive to be swimming in on a regular basis because the chlorine will eat it up over a very short period of time and 2) No-one really gives a crap about my legs except me.

Yeah, that’s right. Not the swim coach, not the lifeguards, not the others in the pool. Everyone is too busy to give a flip about the appearance of my legs. So moving along.

My next paralyzing fear is riding my bike in the dark. I have a bike light for both the front and back, I have a bright reflective vest, the only thing missing is my nerve. With the fall time change coming at the end of this week, it will be dark morning and evening.

I was talking to one of my friends from work and explained my nervousness. He quickly and very directly said “How have you accomplished your CrossFit?”, you don’t talk yourself out of doing that. Stop thinking. You just have to get out there and do it.

So much truth. So I’m pulling up my big girl pants and will make sure my batteries are charged on my big 1200 lumens Bright Eye light and get to riding tomorrow morning before the crack of dawn. Yes like 4:30am. 🙂

Oct

Continuing Education, Yes For Real

By garagegym107 1 Comment

Categories: Precision Nutrition Certification
Tags: #fitatfifty, #garagegym, Clean Eating, fat loss, fitness, Garagegym107, Goal Setting, Motivation, nutrition

Most of my readers already know back in June I passed my Precision Nutrition Level 1 Coaching Certification. As per the norm, I took about 2 weeks to relish in the victory of self-improvement. Then I got the tickler email for the good folks over at Precision Nutrition announcing the very first Precision Nutrition Level 2 Master’s course. Without thinking too much about it, I sent the “yes I’m interested email” and left it at that. They only had slots for 100 people this year so I didn’t put too much into it at that point.

Well, much to my delight, I was accepted as one of the first 100 students. So mid-July began the most uncomfortable growth spurt I’ve in a while. It’s been as if I was picked up and dropped head-first right into a college level Science class and psychology class. Man I feel so smart some days, and other’s I feel like I am so far over my head. But either way, I’m learning more and more each week.

It’s a great adventure when you open yourself up to learn as much as you can about any topic you are passionate about. So far my progress is really good, in fact, I’ve surprised myself. This is a year-long course so there are many more obstacles to come. I’m elated to be a Pn1 Coach and I am grateful to be pushing it to the next level.

Seriously though….

“You’re never too old to reach for amazing.” ~Clara Showalter

Jul

Carole 165# Dead-Lift

By garagegym107 6 Comments

I have some pretty amazing clients. I’m blessed and grateful all at the same time. I’ve been working with Carole for a year and a half now. We’ve been focused on over-all body strength. Carole just turned 65 years young a little over a week ago.

Today, she dead-lifted more than her body weight. This is one of the most inspiring progressions I have witnessed. You see, we don’t train dead-lift once a week, once every two weeks, and some times we go a full month in between dead-lifting at all. Instead we work on all over body strength. The style of training varies. Kettle-bell training, dumbbell training, barbell training, and body weight training. She never says no to anything I ask her to do. She does band assisted pull-ups, ring-rows, barbell hip thrusts, sit-ups, anything I ask. I hope this blog will encourage other women to reach out to a reputable personal trainer and get you some strong! Find someone you are comfortable with and get busy. Change doesn’t happen overnight. Change happens with practice. Consistent practice.

Congratulations Carole!!

Jul

Baby Steps and Monster Leaps

By garagegym107 18 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I posted an update on passing my Precision Nutrition Level 1 Coach’s certification. It took a bunch of baby steps to get on with it after procrastinating for a good while. I learned a lot of lessons along the way.

Just a few of them are:

1) You’re never too old to reach for amazing.

2) Procrastination is still my crutch, even after all these years.

3) You can never learn enough concerning a topic you are passionate about.

Fast forward a couple of weeks later. I’ve committed to the Level 2 Coaching program with Precision Nutrition. It’s a year of intense training toward becoming an even more effective coach. I’m humbled and honored to have this opportunity.

Baby steps and monster leaps to better coaching. I consider this Level 2 a monster leap for me.

Jul

Doing the TGU Turkish Get-Up

By garagegym107 4 Comments

Of late I’ve been adding the Turkish Get-Up (TGU) to my own workouts more than ever. About two months ago I witnessed my neighbor take a spill while working in her yard. She lives on a slope and when she fell, she was unable to catch herself, resulting in a broken right arm and broken left hand. She is my age. Since that day the TGU has been coming to mind over and over.

By adding it to my program I’ve also gone through a cycle of self-realization. One, progress comes more rapidly when I get completely uncomfortable. You know that whole “suck it up Buttercup” thing. Secondly, the brain and central nervous system play a huge role in Turkish Get-up.

I’m strong, that’s not a secret. But I lean to the rather uncoordinated side for sure. In example, some folks take to the snatch and overhead squat like they were born to do them both. Me? It took months and months of skill drills to improve on both of those movements. Same with the TGU.

The TGU shows the uncoordinated and off-center balance I have and the need for unilateral training better than anything else I’ve ever done.

I have also begun adding the TGU to clients training protocols as well. The pictures below are of one of my clients. She turns 65 years young on Friday. She is just as concerned with functional fitness and mobility as I am. She successfully completed 3 sets of TGU yesterday. We both learned a lot about where our focus needs to shift in her training. She gladly allowed me to take these photo’s to share with you. And BTW, at a few days shy of 65, she can dead-lift her own body weight.

Jan

Moving Past That Place

By garagegym107 272 Comments

Twice this week I’ve had conversations with women who find themselves at a crossroads. It’s the crossroads to long-term change. It’s a frightening place to be.

To the left is everything you know, comfort, habit, status quo, the norm, the place you’ve known for what could be your whole life, failures, the past.

To the right is belief, discomfort, truth, health, happiness, knowledge, pressure, fear of the unknown, trials, failures (yes you have failures on both roads), wisdom, desire, change, gratitude.

I know this crossroads all too well. In the spring and summer of 2010 I stood at the very same crossroads. I had just won the Body-for-Life challenge which had been a goal for 9 years. Everyone thought I had it all figured out. What people around me didn’t know, was what was happening on the inside. Even my best friends had no idea.

I was terrified. Afraid I’d back slide back to the 328# person I used to be. I was terrified I would fail again. I was terrified that I was a fake. I was afraid I didn’t believe in myself as much as others believed in me. I was afraid of the future.

Looking back on that crossroads now it seems silly. But at that time the fear was very real, very much a part of my daily life.

In order to overcome that fear, I had to put some daily habits in place. Below are the most important ones listed in the order of importance for me.

No Negative Self-Talk. EVER
Write down 3 things I’m grateful for daily
Write down 3 positive affirmations about my body daily
Get the fear out of your head

These things may look trivial to some, but to a person who doesn’t believe in themselves, I believe these things are a game changer. Let me elaborate.

No Negative Self-Talk. EVER

Negative self-talk is the single most detrimental habit a person can develop. Negative self-talk comes up when you look in the mirror, when you are handling your personal finances, when you go to work, when you parent your children, in your marriage. It’s everywhere. SHUT. IT. DOWN. You are worthy of greatness, no-one, not even yourself should tell you otherwise.

Write down 3 things you’re grateful for

Gratitude helps you realize in the big scheme of things you’ve got it really good. Be grateful you’re healthy and not fighting for your life. Be grateful you have a roof over your head. If you are reading this, be grateful for the very device allowing you to see this, even if it’s a loaner. Be grateful for the simplest things in your life. Once you remove your “woe is me” tunnel vision, you get to fully see what you have to be grateful for.

Write down 3 positive affirmations about my body daily

I don’t mean the same things every day. Each day find 3 things you love about your body. They may or may not have a thing to do with your physical appearance. I love my eyes because they allow me to see things. I love my strong and powerful legs that allow me to move heavy things. I love my ears because they allow me to hear beautiful music.

Get the fear out of your head

If you are afraid of something talk about it with a trusted friend, a person who’s walked this path before you, or if nothing else, write your fear down in a journal. What I found over time was the fear was much, much greater in my head than it ever was out in the open. I’ve written letters to people and then burned them (very healing). I have sobbed on my friend’s shoulder when faced with the realization I wasn’t going to reach a goal I set. Getting your fear of failure out of you mind clears the space so that it can be filled to the brim with positive and grateful thinking.

All of the above may seem trivial, but if you are at the crossroads of significant weight loss, throw these habits in to play and see if you don’t find some peace from the constant fear of back-sliding.

Jan

Strong Legs

By garagegym107 12 Comments

It seems like all I write about lately is the legs. Well mostly anyway. I’ve neglected to push my legs at the same level I’ve pushed my upper body, so now I’m playing catch up. I’ve used every excuse under the sun for the past four years as my excuse for not being more goal oriented on these strong legs.

As most of my readers know I’ve lost a lot of weight, with the losses, I’ve gained some unflattering skin issues on these strong legs. THAT has been my number one excuse for not being overly concerned with them. The whole “I’ll never wear shorts again” excuse.

Well as you can tell I’m sucking it up and getting busy changing these strong legs into even stronger legs. The lower body contains the largest muscles in the whole body. The more I work them, the more dense with muscle both the legs and glutes will become. I will burn more calories as well, like a big old furnace. I can’t wait.

I don’t expect them to be perfect because that would certainly be unrealistic. I’m all too familiar with unrealistic expectations, they set you up for failure. All I will say is that I have before pictures and I’m making videos along the way of this journey. I will stay the course and you guys will get sick of the updates. Until then I’ll keep sharing what I’m doing and you guys can cheer me on.

Jan

Whew Those Glutes

By garagegym107 5 Comments

Categories: 2014 Year of Legs
Tags: #bodyforlife, #fitatfifty, #garagegym, Body-for-Life, BodyBuilding, Bright Spots, Clean Eating, Community, Garagegym107, Goal Setting, Inspiration, Motivation, Training, Weight Lifting, weight loss, Weightloss, Working out, Workout

My focus this year is legs and glutes. Much more focus than last year. Not just heavy lifting but attention to detail with hamstrings and hip flexors as well. I like reading a lot. Anything to do with muscle activation and building I’ll read it. One thing I used to assume was that if I squat enough I didn’t need to work glutes separately. After two years of little change in my butt and the back of my legs it’s past time to step-up my backside. I began doing 3 sets of 25 body weight Glute Bridges every day since Friday. Wow. Talk about muscle awareness. I find it interesting how muscle can somehow become inactive, perhaps disengaged because other muscles start overcompensating.

My glutes are tender today, that’s a good thing. That tells me the work I’m doing is needed and it is working.

As most of my readers know I’ve started doing random videos of my workouts. I’ve learned a lot about my form and things I need to correct. In example I did 65# front rack position barbell walking lunges. Watching the video below I realized I turn my toes in terribly during these sets, I don’t normally turn my toes in doing walking lunges. Correcting it should be as simple as reducing the weight and doing higher reps.

Today’s Workout:

3 Sets x 25 reps Glute Raises Body Weight

3 Sets x 20 reps 65# Hip Thrust

3 Sets x 8 reps 65# Walking Lunges

5 Sets x 10 35# Back Extensions

5 Sets x 10 reps Reverse Hypers

Lunges, Back Ext, Reverse Hypers

Jan

Torn Between Two Loves

By garagegym107 232 Comments

Here lately I’ve been struggling. No not with food, that’s dialed in quite nicely actually. I’m torn. Torn between my love of bodybuilding and my love of barbell building. When I do one with serious focus, I feel like I’m cheating on the other. It sounds so silly but really it’s not.

Every morning I get up at 4am. Spend about 15 minutes getting ready to head out to the gym. If I do not have an iron clad plan of what I’m going to do in a given workout, I will falter. Monday and Friday are hard-core bodybuilding lifting days because I have much more time. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I teach at 5:30am class so that only gives me about 30 solid working minutes after I’ve warmed up. Saturday or Sunday when I’m afforded the time, I’ll sneak in another good workout and it rotates between barbell and body building. Here lately, I’ve decided to use those 3 shorter training times for barbell work. Man I love it.

I’m reminded every time I pick up the bar that I’m strong, but the bar can be stronger. I’m also reminded that my training over these past few years has really changed my functional fitness and ability level. At almost 51 years old I can do things I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing in my 30’s.

I read an article the other day that really struck home for me. It talked about the fact there are no studies showing eating healthy and exercising will prolong your years. Then it went on to talk about the quality of your life with strength training versus quality of life with out it. I already knew this, but it was quite gratifying to read it in black and white. I don’t care how long I have left, I just want that time to be spent as fit as I can possibly be.

So more motivation to lift! And more motivation to stop trying to choose between the two disciplines. I fully believe they compliment each other. The video below in particular reminds me of my functional ability. My form isn’t perfect, but my technique is improving with practice. If you have any doubts about whether weight training is for you, at minimum look into it. It will make you sore some days, those days will simply remind you that you are growing in your fitness. I look forward to being the little old lady in the corner lifting. Absolutely.

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