www.youtube.com/BlitzConditioning

Today we’re covering how to squat which is a follow up from Leigh’s blog last week.

It doesn’t matter if you are new to fitness, or have been active your whole life – everybody needs to consider over-training, and make sure to incorporate rest into their routine. I am a prime example of this – I’ve been physically active since I began walking. My parents kept me pretty busy with registered programs and activities my whole life, so as an adult I have a hard time sitting down and being idle.

Over a year ago I was so overzealous with teaching group fitness classes and running bootcamps that I ran myself down to the point where my doctor thought I had narcolepsy because I was so fatigued all the time. I was pushing a 40- hour work-week in the office, and then teaching 4 mornings per week before work, 2 evenings after work, and 2 weekend fitness classes on top of that. I was constantly sore, and was sleeping 6-7 hours per night, which for me, is 1 – 2 hours short of what my body requires. I was falling asleep during the day (at work, in meetings…), and I found myself needing to pull over to nap while driving anywhere for more than 30 – 45 minutes.  I was so stubborn to actually see what the root cause was, that I thought there must be something wrong with my body. I had experienced these symptoms since I began High School, and had always needed a lot of sleep, but they seemed to be getting worse.

What I know now, is that physical activity is only one side of the over-training puzzle. Physical activity is a stressor that we put on our body to elicit a response – which is usually repairing itself to be stronger and more fit. What happens when we add more stressors on top of physical activity? Such as:

• Environmental stresses (toxins in our environment – air pollution, chemicals in our products and food, etc.);
• Emotional Stress from work, money or our personal lives;
• Lack of sleep – our body repairs and regenerates itself while sleeping. If you cut that short, then it can’t catch up;
• Poor Nutrition – eating too much, not enough, or unhealthy foods.

If we don’t manage stresses, they start compounding on our body. Our body is a miraculous machine – it will fight cstresses and toxins to an extent, but if there are too many, it will begin to break down. The results can manifest in the following ways:

• Irritability
• Weight Gain (specifically fat increase)
• Soreness
• Fatigue
• Sickness (the flu, a cold, or much more severe – Cancer)
• Mental Illness (such as depression) - lack of motivation, retracting from social situations, loss of joy in life

So what happened? I lost my driver’s license because the Government thought I had a sleep disorder. To get it back as fast as possible (I needed my vehicle to be able to work) I met a Sleep Specialist and paid for a private sleep study. He made it clear that there likely was no problem with my body, but I had been sleep deprived for years. He asked me a series of questions about my lifestyle, and as I answered each one, I immediately felt silly. I had been overloading my body with stressors for so long, and not giving myself any reprieve in the form of rest. The diagnosis after the sleep study you ask? Two things were found:

1. Moderate Sleep Apnea (caused from a deviated septum and jaw shape) – not enough to cause the amount of Excessive Daytime Sleepiness I was experiencing.
2. Behaviourly-Induced Insufficient Sleep Syndrome. That’s a true technical term. Meaning – get more sleep!!!

So what’s my point?? While physical activity is important, so is managing all the other stresses in your life. This includes things like:

• Eat a well-balanced, whole-foods based diet. This will reduce the amount of preservatives, chemicals and other toxins that your body needs to filter and fight.
• Drink plenty of water throughout the day. This gives your cells a fighting chance – most nutrients are water soluble, and you body needs water for all its vital functions.
• Sleep!!! Allow your body to take the time it needs to repair itself from the stresses it saw throughout the day.
• Rest! Always incorporate 1 – 2 days of rest each week in your workout regime. This doesn’t mean you need to sit around and be a couch potato. Rest can include a light walk outdoors, or a gentle yoga class.
• Do things that you love. Make time for yourself, to do something that you truly enjoy. Whether this is meeting up with friends, artful expression, reading a book. Your body and spirit will benefit from you taking the time for enjoyment.

I am happy to report that I am managing my stresses a lot better, and it is always a journey with every day. Establishing a routine so that I can get enough sleep has been a priority. Being honest about stresses with your friends and family allows you to look out for each other and support each other when necessary. Lastly, pay attention to what your body is telling you. If you are irritable, tired, or are experiencing any symptoms that aren’t just muscle soreness from yesterdays workout, you may want to consider taking a day or evening for yourself to rejuvenate. Build it into your routine.

Happy Resting!

We’ll be running a series of Blogs that discuss the foundations of most (if not all) exercises. I want to emphazise the importance of learning basic functional movements, before moving into more complication moves that involve balance, jumping, etc. So many trainers take for granted how long they’ve been doing particular exercises – to the detriment of those they are training. My goal is to ensure I never train you into an injury, instead use the movements to increase strength and stability in your body to prevent injuries. It is so important to focus on proper technique and form in exercise to:

• prevent injuries to the joints (due to movement at improper joint angles),
• to prevent injuries to soft tissues (muscles, tendons and ligaments can be strained from improper form and range of motion), and
• to ensure we are working the muscles we intend to work.

The first of this series is about Squats: one of the most common functional movements. We squat every day while doing things you don’t even think about doing:  sitting down, standing up, picking something up, lifting something from the ground, you get the picture.

We can train ourselves to perform a movement near-perfectly every time without thinking about it if we do it properly, and repeatedly. This is due to an incredible phenomenom we call muscle-memory. Thats right – our brain makes tiny interconnections between itself and the muscle fibres when we do movements repetitively, which then allows that movement to become automatic (riding a bicycle, for example). For important functional exercises, we want to create proper muscle memory so that we can then perform the movement automatically and avoid injury and reap all the benefits!

So let’s break down a squat:

1. Standing to start, feet shoulder width apart, bend your knees and flex at the hips, and lower your body downwards. See the first half of the photo below. Focus on keeping your:

• butt and hips moving backwards and down (like you are pushing a door shut with your butt)
• abdominals engaged strong so that your spine remains neutral
• chest up, and shoulders back and down (squeeze your shoulder blades together to keep the chest open) – this helps to keep your spine neutral
• chin up, so that you are looking forwards, or slightly upwards (30 degrees) – this helps to prevent rounding in the upper spine
• knees behind the toes – or at least in line with them. This will prevent pain and damage to the knee joint

Leigh demonstrates the proper squat technique.

The primary muscles at work moving downwards are:

• Quadriceps (front of thighs) – controlling the hip flexion as you move down. They are working against gravity to ensure you don’t fall down. 
• Hamstrings (back of thighs) – controlling the bending of the knee as you move down. Again, they are working against gravity.
• Gluteus Maximus (butt cheeks) – controls the hip flexion as you descend, to resist gravity from pulling you down too quickly.

2. Once you’re in the squat position, you will hold for 1 second, and then press through the heels of your feet to stand tall again. Focus on:

• Keeping your back neutral (straight)
• Engaging your abdominals so your torso remains still
• Pressing through the heels so that most of your weight is in the backs of the feet
• Squeezing your hamstrings and glutes (butt cheeks) together as you stand to fire those muscle groups

The Primary muscles working as you come up to the starting position are:

• Gluteus maximus - hip extension
• Hamstrings – works with the gluteals to extend the hips
• Quadriceps – works to straighten the knee (extend the knee)

Secondary Muscles (Stabilizers or Synergists) in the Squat are:

• Transverse Abdominus – Holding your body upright to prevent rounding of your back and tipping forwards
  
• Gastrocnemius and Soleus (Calves) – Plantar Flexion (as you stand)
• Gluteus Medius and Minimum (Abductors) – Keep proper alignment of the hip to prevent internal rotation of the hip joint.
• Adductors – prevent external rotation of the hip joint.
• Erector Spinae  (lower back) – Extends your back as you stand
• Tibialis Anterior (front of shin) – As you descend, the ankle dorsi-flexes and this muscle controls the movement against gravity.

As you can see there are so many muscles at work in the Squat, which is why it is such a functional and important exercise for strength. Some common mistakes to avoid in the squat are (See photos below):

• Rounding the upper back, or bending forward too much – both of these are strenuous on the back muscles, and can cause stresses in the spine that could lead to back injuries.
• Allowing the knees to come too far past the toes – causing strain in the knee joint
• Allowing the hips to come forwards, which transfers the weight into the toes. This leads to knee pain or injury, and takes power away from the glutes and hamstrings – defeating the purpose of the exercise

What NOT to do when Squatting. Rounding back and weight in toes.

As a result, April was all about getting back on track! And it was not easy! So I decided to take it one step at a time, one week at a time I began focusing on the different aspects that comprise a complete training program. Beginning with number 1: FOOD. If you’re not getting the proper amount of energy in your body, you are not going to finish all of your training sessions, and if you do, you are not doing your body any favors by not replenishing it. So once I recovered from jet-lag, and being sick post- Africa, I started my training back up, but particularly focused on what I was eating and starting a schedule of buying my groceries and prepping my meals.

For a lot of athletes, especially endurance athletes, eating can be a job in itself! In my first week back training I made food my focus by creating a weekly plan. First up: Groceries. I created a list of ‘go-to’ items that I know I can throw together if need be and still create a healthy meal that gets me the energy that I need. This way when I’m exhausted at the end of a long day of training and need to hit the grocery store, I know where Im going what I need to grab and can get in and out quickly. No need to spend the little free time that I have standing in a grocery store wondering what to buy!

Next up: Prep! Food Prep doesn’t have to be an afternoon affair. I focus on prepping a couple things that I can grab and go if need be, but max amount of time I spend prepping is about 2hrs. I focus on quick sources of protein- like boiling eggs, or cooking egg muffins (I’ll post the recipe soon), cutting up ham, or cooking up a couple extra chicken breasts.

By focusing on food this week I felt set up for success for my next week of training. As the training hours increase I know I will be happy to have this game plan in place! Sometimes I think the hardest part of training, is all that it entails- People seem to get overwhelmed by all of the ‘parts’ that make up a training program, I know I was feeling it. Im hoping that by focusing on each part and creating a plan for each piece I will be able to avoid that overwhelmed feeling as training continues on.

Some of the benefits of exercising during pregnancy are;

• Ease or prevent back pain and other discomforts
• Boost your energy level
• Prevent excess weight gain
• Reduce the risk of gestational diabetes, pregnancy-related high blood pressure and postpartum depression
• Increase stamina and muscle strength, which helps you prepare for labor

Before starting any exercise program you should always check;

• With your doctor, midwife, and/or a physiotherapist before starting.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Avoid overheating.
• Stop if you have any of the following; Dizziness, Headache, Shortness of breath, Chest pain, Abdominal pain, Vaginal bleeding.

Here are a few exercises that we had a couple of our moms to be try for a workout. We would like to thank Carol McBee and Jennifer Neilson from WECAN and Mommy Connections for being our amazing models in this series.

They did 3 sets of 45 second of work and 15 seconds rest in between each set. Take more rest time if needed.

1.Walk or Run (Cardio)

• Depending on your experience and medical advice 20-30 minutes before the next 2 exercises should be a good start.

2. Shoulder Press-Seated or Standing (Shoulders/Arms/Upper Back/Core)

• Seated on a stability ball engage your core and bring your weights up to shoulder level. If you are standing engage your core, have your feet about shoulders width apart, and bring the weights to shoulder height.

• Push the dumbbells up until the ends of the dumbbells touch lightly and then lower the dumbbells back to shoulder level.

• Repeat until time is up.

3. Incline Fly (Upper Chest/Arms/Core)

• Set the bench at nothing less than a 45 degree angle. Sit on the bench with dumbbells in hand at chest level, palms facing in.

• Press the weight up and begin to lower the dumbbells in a controlled arcing motion with your elbows slightly bent and arms stretched out wide. Lower until your elbows and chest to form a straight line. Do not go the past this point.

• Reverse this motion back to the start position and repeat until time is up.

Opportunities don’t come when the time is right, they come because we make them.  As individuals, we are the creators of our own environment and destiny.  How we perceive life directly reflects what we welcome into our lives and how those things affect who we are.  As a culture have adopted this horrible habit of hesitation.  We create these grandiose visions about doom and gloom if something fails or if it doesn’t go the way we planned and we hesitate at doing something because we are afraid of negative consequences.  Ultimately the biggest error in life isn’t a mistake, it’s failing to take that first step. How many of us have said we wanted to do something and continually repeat it but never get around to doing it?  It’s the people who take the first step and build momentum in their lives who see more opportunity and success.

Stop waiting for perfection.  We’re human and we were born to make mistakes and that’s how we learn.  Perfection is a myth that we need to destroy.  We do things to the best of our ability and with all of our devotion and passion in order to attain something we can be happy about.  So that perfect time, job, body, or relationship will never materialize, we simply hone what we’re given and learn to drive with the best of our abilities.  We need to re-learn to embrace words like: “dirty”, “failure”, and “incomplete” because our lives revolve around them.  Entropy is a natural state where any system will eventually lead to disorder, we will always fail or leave somethings half done, it’s life.  We can’t clean, vacuum, and dust our homes once and assume we’ll never have to do it again right?  Why do we have this mindset for our lives and aim to make things perfect?

Truly living and striving towards fulfillment doesn’t happen with a salary, a fancy car or house, or a perfect relationship.  It happens when we pull up our sleeves and work on it.  There is no easy road to success both in fitness and in life, it doesn’t come in a powder, or a magic pill.  The only road is one that is laden with bumps along the way.  We need to learn to develop, and then direct our passions towards something that we find fulfilling in life.  That is ultimately when things begin to come together and when we begin to look at the different talents and experiences that we have had in our lives and they culminate into who we are today.  So start whatever it is you’re thinking about today.  Make a small choice to being taking action to realizing a goal right now and you’ll realize that success is closer than you ever thought.

At the beginning of each month, Amy has us do a small fitness test. This helps us to gauge how we’ve improved.

The first Monday in April I could do (in one minute):
- 34 push-ups (with knees down)
- 45 second plank (with knees down)
- 30 jump squats
- 26 right leg touches while balancing
- 30 left leg touches while balancing

The first Monday in May, I could do:
- 41 push-ups (with knees down)
- 137 second plank (with knees down)
- 37 jump squats
- 31 right leg touches while balancing
- 36 left leg touches while balancing

You guys! Look at the difference in my plank! I improved by 92 seconds. That’s huge! Yes, it’s a modified plank and I still have a way to go, but I’m improving every single bootcamp class.

In fact, Amy (who my phone keeps trying to autocorrect to Army. If you know her, you know this is hilarious) stopped me after class last week to tell me how much I’ve improved and how fabulous I look. I can’t even tell you how much this meant to me. Positive motivation is the Blitz way.

In the past couple of weeks, some new women have joined our class. I recognized a lot of myself in them. The fear and anxiety- you allow your brain to tell you that you can’t do something.

Now, a couple of months into my journey, I trust that I can do everything in front of me. Skip rope for a minute? Sure, why not. Crawl under hurdles? Okay, I’ll do it. Ski jump myself down a hallway? I got this. My brain and body are finally in sync.

I’ve been trying my best to remind the new girls that it gets better. The pain subsides as strength grows and the transitions between exercises get easier the more you do them. It just takes effort and consistence.

Getting up at 5:40 is hard some days, but it’s worth it. It’s so worth it. I’m striving for a 90 second full plank (no modifications) in the first week of June. Pretty sure I got this in the bag.

Some of the benefits of exercising during pregnancy are;

• Ease or prevent back pain and other discomforts
• Boost your energy level
• Prevent excess weight gain
• Reduce the risk of gestational diabetes, pregnancy-related high blood pressure and postpartum depression
• Increase stamina and muscle strength, which helps you prepare for labor

Before starting any exercise program you should always check;

• With your doctor, midwife, and/or a physiotherapist before starting.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Avoid overheating.
• Stop if you have any of the following; Dizziness, Headache, Shortness of breath, Chest pain, Abdominal pain, Vaginal bleeding.

Here are a few exercises that we had a couple of our moms to be try for a workout. We would like to thank Carol McBee and Jennifer Neilson from WECAN and Mommy Connections for being our amazing models in this series.

They did 3 sets of 45 second of work and 15 seconds rest in between each set. Take more rest time if needed.

1. V-Sit/V-Sit on BOSU Ball (Abs/Obliques/Hip Flexors)

• If balance is a concern for this exercise all you will need is a mat on the floor to sit on. If you feel comfortable with a BOSU Ball you will place it flat side facing the floor.

• Sitting on the floor or Bosu Ball with your arms out in front of you parallel to the floor, knees bent, heels on the floor, and engage your core. (Beginner position)

• If you can do more challenging positions, then raise one or both feet off the floor and try to hold for the recommended time.

2. Reverse Chest Fly (Upper Back-Rhomboid/Back of Shoulders-Posterior Delts)

• Standing with dumbbells in hand engage your core. Bending at the hips to about 45 degrees while slightly bending at the knees. With a slight bend at your elbows, your arms will hang down in front of you.

• Raise the weights by pulling your arms up towards the ceiling squeezing your shoulder blades at the top of the movement.

• Return to start and repeat until time is up.

3. Bicep Curls on Stability Ball or Standing (Biceps/Core)

• A dumbbell in each hand with palms facing in. Sitting up tall with core engaged or standing up tall with feet about hips width apart and core engaged.

• Bending at the elbow bring the weights up towards your shoulders while turning your palms to face forward.

• Reverse those steps so your hands are back in the starting position. Repeat until time is up.

So I think my toe should at least get me a day’s pass from running.  Cause the truth is I don’t like running. I want to like it. I want to love it. I want to be the person who can turn their mind off and just run and run and run.  I want to feel alive not half dead as I run but the fact is I don’t. My bodacious ta’ta’s alone make it hard to run, the well-endowed girls amongst you will be able to relate. This body was not built for running. Swimming yes. Cycling maybe. Running not really.

So you might ask why I bother. I ask myself that all the time too. Why did I announce to the world that I want to run a half-marathon this year if I don’t even like running?

Part of me wants to keep up with the cool kids. The long lean running machines that you see in packs running everywhere through Edmonton’s river valley. Wearing the oh-so-stylish running room jackets with the little butt splash protectors and black running tights. A male friend (who wishes to remain anonymous) swears that women run just so they can wear cool running clothes.  Good call on going anonymous.

Let’s face it running is an “it” exercise these days along with other health trends such as yoga and meditation. There’s a push for everyone to do the latest and greatest exercise and then there’s the ones who spread the word with almost religious zeal. “You have to try it, I can’t believe the difference to my (sense of well being, butt, quads, sex life etc.)”  But realistically running won’t be for everyone.

But despite this hard earned wisdom I still want to run. Part of me wants admission to the exclusive club of runners. Part of me wants to do it because it’s something that I can’t do yet. In an earlier blog I described where I was this time last year, not being able to run longer than a minute at a time. Now I’m up to 5 km. At one point I could run it non-stop but I slacked off over the winter and now I need to run/walk to finish 5k. And yes I realize I am far far away from my goal of a half marathon.  But as the picture says, “If running is difficult run more.” So that’s what I’m going to try to do, run more.

There’s a quote I love about running by Mark Weber, “Running is real and relatively simple, but it ain’t easy.” And I think that’s part of the attraction of running. It is simple. You don’t need much in the way of gear. You don’t need a gym. You can leave your front door and go, and it’s a great cardio workout in a short period of time. You can do it alone, with a partner or a whole group of people. And I have to say unlike other athletic past times I have never been dissed by another runner. Most on the running paths are kind and share more of a “you-go-girl” attitude then one of condescension towards a neophyte runner trying her best.

A friend said that she doesn’t like running but she likes the feeling after she’s ran. And I must say I agree. Running also helps me achieve my goal of keeping my depression at bay. And I like where my runs take me. Last summer running through the river valley I saw some really gorgeous sites that I wouldn’t have seen if I hadn’t been running. Another quote by Kara Goucher sums up my attitude to running, “That’s the thing about running: your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success. They are the moments in time when running allows you to see how wonderful your life is.” And it does. I can recall several runs last year when this feeling of all is right in the world descended upon me.  So for that reason alone I will keep running.
But if anyone has any advice on how to just turn your mind off and run I’m all ears cause I really need an excuse to buy some new running clothes.

Try out this circuit as a way to finish your fun in the sun.

Bench Step-up

A very simple exercise that will help build that bubble butt you have always wanted.  Make sure to keep all your weight through your heel and focus on pushing through your heel as you step. Try to balance for 1-3 seconds at the top of each step-up and squeeze your butt cheeks as tight as you possibly can.  Do anywhere from 10-20 reps each leg.

Bench Push-up

A modification of your typical push-up that will help tone the front of your shoulders and build a stronger chest. Be sure to keep all your weight over your shoulders and your chest should be right above the bench. Be sure to flex your chest at the top of each push-up. Do anywhere from 10-20 reps for this exercise.

Bench Dip

Suns out guns out!! This is a great exercise to get that definition in your triceps, keep your elbows tight to your ribs, push through your palms and don’t shrug your shoulders! Do anywhere from 10-20 reps for this exercise!

Plank Torso Twist

This exercise is going to work your shoulders, chest and core all in one! Make sure your body stays straight, you’re rotating through your torso as much as possible and kicking that leg straight out at the end. Be sure not to allow your one foot the touch during the exercise. Do anywhere from 8-15 reps each leg.

Complete all 4 exercises and take a 1-2 minute rest. Repeat the circuit 3-4 times and let us know how you feel after!!