Challenge Day Six - Rest Day

One of the most important things to remember when you start a new workout regimen is that rest days are a must. Even with a workout program like this one, its important to give your body time to recover. That is especially true if you haven't worked out in a long time, if ever. 

Since tomorrow (Challenge Day 6) is Sunday, we will make it a rest day as well. Now, that doesn't mean you can lie around on the couch all day eating Bon Bons and watching TV.  You can do what we call Active Rest: go for a short walk, play with your kids, go sledding or anything else that gets you moving but is not overly-taxing on your body. 

I will be doing some yoga before the big game and then will be watching the Golden Globes to,or row night. I might try to get some work done in between all of that! Whatever you do, enjoy your day.  We will start to increase the intensity of the daily,challenges starting Monday so be good and rest up! 

BE BOLD! BE YOU! 

Challenge Day Five

How did your jumping jacks go? I hope you broke a little sweat with them. 

Tomorrow we are going to focus on the back, primarily, though it will be a little arm workout as well. We are going to do one of my favorite exercises...bent over dumbbell rows.  

http://exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/DBBentOverRow.html

Start with a light weight and do 6-8 on each arm. Let me know how it goes. 

Oh and I got cleared by the surgeon to start doing upper body exercises so now I can join you in the daily challenge!! 

Have a great Saturday. 

BE BOLD!! BE YOU!! 

Challenge Day Four

We are taking it back old school for tomorrow's challenge. Remember in grade school P.E. doing jumping jacks? Yep.  We are going back to our 5th grade self for Friday's challenge. 

15 jumping jacks. That's it. But I promise you will get your heart pumping pretty good. Jumping jacks are a great way to get every single major muscle group in your body moving, challenging your cardiovascular system and burning more calories faster.  15 may not seem like a lot but remember, we are only on day 4. I promise you the challenges will get harder as we go so take advantage of the easier ones while you can :-) 

If doing full-out jacks are too difficult for you, don't worry. You can modify them but simply stepping out with your right leg as your arms come up then step together as arms come down.  The step out with left leg/arms up and back/arms down. Keep doing that for 15 on each leg. 

Good luck! Remember to check in and let me know how it goes! 

BE BOLD! BE YOU! 

Beckley fitness Challenge Day Three

Hello!! As promised, I am posting tomorrows challenge tonight.  Tomorrow is upper body day. I'm going to ease you into the really fun upper body workouts with the simple shoulder press.  This really is one of my favorite exercises because when I look in the mirror and see the results, I feel like a badass!  

So for tomorrow, I want you to do 10 shoulder presses. I want you to do them with weight as well. It doesn't haven't to be a heavy weight. Even just a (full) water bottle in each hand. Again, focus on the correct form. 

Keep your arms at 90 degrees when you bring them down and bring the weights together at the top. If you have resistance bands, those are a great added challenge. 

As always, keep your abs and glutes tight during the entire 10 reps. Don't lock your knees but keep legs straight. 

BONUS POINT: You will get an extra bonus point for taking a picture and posting one of your healthy meals or snacks tomorrow (January 9th). This is your motivation to eat healthy :-) You must post the pic in the comments here, on the Beckley Fitness Facebook page or email it to me at info@beckleyfitness.com to earn your bonus point. 

Have a great Thursday!  

BE BOLD!! BE YOU!!  

Challenge Day Two

So how did your first day go?  I hope you were successful with your 10 minutes of walking. 

I realized this morning that there may be some of you who workout in e morning before I post the challenge. This is what happens when you are to allowed to workout like normal...you forget that you prefer morning workouts and others do as well. So, I vow to post the next days challenge the night before. 

That being said, today's challenge is a bit late!  I apologize for that. 

Today's challenge is to do 5 squats. I know it's not much but as I said at the beginning of this challenge, the goal is to get you started and ease in to working out. I want you to really focus on form. This is true for those of you who are more advanced. The most important thing with form in squats is that your knees should not go beyond your toes. Here are a couple pictures to help you. 

So start with 5. You can do them with or without weights. Remember to focus on your form. 

Beyond the obvious benefits of squats (leg strength), there are other muscles that benefit. 

Remember to keep your abs and glutes tight the whole time. 

Good luck! 

BE BOLD! BE YOU!! 

Challenge Day One

Alright! it's time to start the new year off right!  Today's challenge is to walk 10 minutes non-stop. It doesn't have to be a brisk pace but I don't want you stopping. If that means you walk slower, then that's perfectly acceptable. 

For those of you who are more advanced, you can do one or more of the following modifications. 

1.  Carry weights with you as you walk. If you are at work and don't have free weights, find water bottles or soda bottles, fill them up and carry them with you. 

2.  Add running or jogging intervals. Walk for 2-3 minutes then run/jog for a minute. Repeat for the full 10 minutes. 

3.  If you are already a runner/jogger, I want you to complete this challenge as written and focus on your form. It's a good idea that we runners periodically get back to basics. http://m.youtube.com/watch?autoplay=1&v=mXV3c2_zTk8&desktop_uri=%252Fwatch%253Fv%253DmXV3c2_zTk8%2526autoplay%253D1

Don't forget to comment here, on www.beckleyfitness.com or email me at info@beckleyfitness.com today to earn your challenge point!

BE BOLD! BE YOU! 

The Turtle Always Wins...

That's what I'm telling myself as I sit here one week post-op not able to do much of a "workout."  Here's what my current allotment is:

• Bridges 3 sets of 10
• Clamshells 3 sets of 15
• Standing side leg lifts 3 sets of 10
• Standing front leg lifts 3 sets of 10
• Wall squats with stability ball 3 sets of 10

Of course there are caveats to that...front leg lifts are only about 1 inch (maybe 2 inches) off the ground with my knee bent and the wall squats are only to about 80 degrees of flexion.  Thus is the beginning of my recovery.  I see the surgeon tomorrow so maybe he will let me do something crazy like planks!  Oh wait...I know better than that.  Planks are not going to happen for a long, long time.  And burpees or mountain climbers?  Yeah, you can forget those until at least March. 

BUT...enough of the crying.  It's a slow journey to get back to full strength but I have done it before and will get there again.  I will tell you that this time around I am at a different clinic than last time and my PT is a hard-core runner as well.  That has been super refreshing since I no longer hear "well if you stopped running you wouldn't have these issues."  In fact, on the first day there he guaranteed me I would never hear that from his staff.  And the rehab plan is geared to get me back to running not
just recovering from surgery.  I am very excited about that!

I use my current situation as a way to encourage you to start the new year off right.  If you have been reluctant to start (or re-start) healthy habits because it's been too long or you just don't think you can do it because you are so out of shape or you don't have time, STOP THAT NON-SENSE.  It's never too late to start healthy habits!  I've talked about that before on this blog and I bring it up again because I want everyone to know that it really isn't too late.  The only time it's too late is when they are giving your eulogy.

So here's my challenge...those of you who are interested I am going to do a little challenge for you.  There will be prizes at the end of the challenge so it's a little incentive for you.  Every day, I am going to post an exercise on www.beckleyfitness.com for you to do that day.  It may be as simple as walking for 5 minutes or more difficult like doing 5 pushups.  The point is, it will be something to start you off right for the new year.  When you complete your exercise, you can post a comment here on the blog, on the webpage or you can send me an email at info@beckleyfitness.com.  I will be keeping track of how many days you complete the specified exercise and you get a point for every day of completion.  Periodically, I will throw in a "bonus point" challenge which may include a new recipe for you to try, another exercise or something else. 

This will run for 30 days from January 7 through February 5th.  It takes 12 days to make something a habit so if you are consistent with your exercises, you will have developed a healthy habit by February 5th. 

You don't need to let me know in advance if you are going to participate.  Just post a comment here on the blog, on the website or via email each day that you complete the challenge.  REMEMBER...this is completely on the honor system.  The only person you hurt if you are not honest is YOURSELF. 

I wish you all good health in the new year (and hopefully no more surgeries for me!)

BE BOLD.  BE YOU!