Snow Day Fitness

Posted in Blog by nh02jmr

Ok, if you’re in the New England area like me, you’re experiencing this weekends blizzard and thinking “no way I’m going to the gym!” Or walking outside, etc…

I took the kids outside this morning and was thinking wrestling them into their snow gear should count as my workout. I mean, it REALLY is a workout with my 2 year old…

But, my mental state is SO much better when I get my workout in, so I joined my 12 PM client in a HIIT workout. It felt great, I’m a whole lot warmer, and my energy is about 100x better…

If you’re stuck at home today without much workout equipment, try a HIIT circuit of your own. Or try a Nifty 50” circuits- do each of these moves for 50 repetitions (but not all at once- divide them into manageable chunks and take breaks as needed):

1. 50 muscle makers (some call these “man makers”, but I’ve changed the name)

2. 50 side lunges (with or without weights)

3. 50 cricket climbers

4. 50 push ups

5. 50 touch downs

Put on some show you’ve been dying to catch up on, grab your yoga mat and let’s do this!! (And don’t forget a proper warm up, cool down and stretch).

And then, cozy up by the fire with a book and cup of tea and enjoy that snowfall ❄️❄️❄️

We’re only halfway through the storm. Pretty sure that fence will be buried!

22Jan2022

Can fitness be fun again??

Posted in Blog by nh02jmr

This morning I was watching my son run around the soccer field during practice, out of breath from non stop running and yet giggling and smiling so big! It made me think…

My littlest being silly at big brother’s soccer

When did exercise stop being fun?? When did it become a chore for you??

I mean, I help people develop effective exercise programs for a living, I have a wide repertoire of exercises in my mental library, I LOVE how I feel after a workout, and still…I don’t always love working out. (It’s true- it’s work for trainers too)

Somewhere along the way, we learned that exercise is an obligation for us as adults. We need to exercise to stay healthy or fit like we need to work to pay bills or clean our houses. But what if we didn’t…

What if we went back to making exercise a game, a chance to connect with friends, a chance to truly be SILLY and laugh the whole time.

When we do this, we actually end up “getting as much out of a workout” as one of those hard HIIT workouts we feel we have to do every week. We really enjoy the movement, making it more likely that we’ll do it over and over again (and the BEST type of exercise is the one you’re consistent with!!). And we get that extra endorphin high- from working out and from laughing while we do it.

This weekend, I encourage you to make exercise fun again. Take a class you’ve never tried, grab a friend to catch up while you walk or bike ride, play in the snow with the kids (don’t tell me walking up those hills in snow gear doesn’t burn calories!). Dance. Stretch. And laugh the whole time

Our favorite fun family fitness activity!

I worked out with a friend this morning and later I’m doing a kids yoga workout with my kids. Tell me what you’re up to this weekend for fun AND fitness!!

~Jess

15Jan2022

Don’t Go It Alone!

Posted in Blog by nh02jmr

Ever set that resolution on January 1st, only to find you’ve forgotten about it by the 14th?? Or committed on Sunday night that you’ll get to the gym five times this week, to find yourself on the couch Wednesday evening?? And the next two evenings after that??

DO NOT start beating yourself up right now. You ARE NOT alone. There are many of reasons our goals my lose traction as time progresses, but today I’m gonna talk about the major one.

You probably didn’t set up accountability. My clients and I joke all the time that they really pay me to be an accountability partner (I like to think the time I spend designing effective workouts is the reason, but it’s not a totally off base thought)

Think back to the times you’ve set a goal in your own head, or maybe just spoke it to the people in your house. The main reason we do that is to protect ourselves from our fear of failure- but, chances are, by doing that, we don’t often see the goal all the way through.

You also may be trying to go it alone. NEVER a good idea. Motivation naturally wears off, life gets overwhelmingly busy, you may not see the progress that someone else does. All reasons we quit too soon.

This is exactly why I run accountability groups. I’ve found that my clients who join either my 11 day or 30 day groups meet the goals they set for themselves. We state our goals out loud, we set daily challenges for everyone, we check in often, we share recipes and workouts and we cheer each other on days when the couch looks more inviting then the gym or when the pizza sounds better than the healthy meal we would need to cook.

So do yourself a favor: this year, this month, this Monday…whenever you set your next wellness goal, find a tribe to do it alongside you and cheer you on. If you need a tribe, I’m always excited to welcome you to mine.

Here are a few transformation from our past challenge groups: