Recently, I've been complaining to everyone around me about my Monday headaches. I trace them back to last summer when I first started instructing my hour-long spin class on Mondays. The drill is always the same: teach cycle from 11:45-12:45, do a weight lifting workout of my own for 30 minutes, chug a protein shake and take a shower, then train 6 clients back to back and go home. I normally feel the headaches coming on around 3:00, and they escalate from mild to severe by the time I'm driving home. Twice I would have classified them as migraines, where the second I got home, I would have to lie in a cold dark room with my head under a pillow. Lights seemed almost blinding, a simple phone conversation felt like something blaring into my ear, and even though I knew I should eat some dinner, I was too nauseous. I've tried all combinations of drinking extra water on top of my normal large quantity, in case it was dehydration, or trying to eat sooner after my workout, in case it was brought on by low blood sugar, but nothing seemed to work.
So, perfect timing, we recently invited Dr. Jay Bhatt, a neurologist in Indy, to do a Migraine Lunch & Learn at work. I stayed after to talk to him about my specific problem, knowing ahead of time I wasn't going to get a rocket science kind of response. He seemed to think it was simply the placement in that I have my busiest work day and also most physically demanding day on Monday...the first day back after a long relaxing weekend. He said often people get migraines on Monday morning, because they had to get up early after 2 days of sleeping in--but the reverse is also true, that he sees people whose migraines are triggered on Saturday mornings because they got MORE sleep than usual. Basically anything out of routine can spark a bad headache, especially when migraines run in the family--my mom's migraines were notoriously bad until she discovered Imitrex 2 years ago.
Since I don't really have the option of moving my spin class, and I don't have many other open spots for my Monday clients to switch to, Dr. Bhatt suggested the best thing to do is to pre-medicate on Monday morning before the headache even has a chance to strike, and then find as many opportunities as I can to just pause throughout the day and breathe...all I could think of was www.donothingfor2minutes.com!!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
2-Minute Challenge for the Day
http://donothingfor2minutes.com
A yoga instructor passed this on to me today. It's a simple challenge, but hard: Do NOTHING except listen to ocean waves for 2 full minutes. Can you do it? In the workplace, even if we physically can sit there for 2 minutes and not do a thing, we look weird to those around us. "Who is the freak starting at her computer screen??"
I find, especially in the fitness industry, many of us are Type A personalities (or Threes, for any of you Enneagram believers). I'm one of these types, so I understand the struggle of doing nothing. We find it hard to sit still and do something as simple as watch TV. Or, we can do those things, but we have a time limit and after about 30 minutes of mindless activity we HAVE to move! Learning the beauty of doing nothing, or at least learning how to truly relax is a process that you have to practice just like anything else
A yoga instructor passed this on to me today. It's a simple challenge, but hard: Do NOTHING except listen to ocean waves for 2 full minutes. Can you do it? In the workplace, even if we physically can sit there for 2 minutes and not do a thing, we look weird to those around us. "Who is the freak starting at her computer screen??"
I find, especially in the fitness industry, many of us are Type A personalities (or Threes, for any of you Enneagram believers). I'm one of these types, so I understand the struggle of doing nothing. We find it hard to sit still and do something as simple as watch TV. Or, we can do those things, but we have a time limit and after about 30 minutes of mindless activity we HAVE to move! Learning the beauty of doing nothing, or at least learning how to truly relax is a process that you have to practice just like anything else
Friday, March 25, 2011
Mechelle's Tried & True List
Recently, I was reading Rachel Cosgrove's blog. For those of you that aren't familiar with her, she is best known for creating "The Female Body Breakthrough" program, that I learned about through my co-worker Lucy. On Rachel's blog she was talking about an author she came across who went out and tried every exercise program out there and reported back on the results...or lack thereof. I thought I would do the same, but instead of exercise programs, talk about different exericse tools or gadgets that I have tried and loved. These are things that are very useful for the fitness professional, as they make things like personal training and group fitness a little simpler, but they can be used by anyone.
1. Jillian Michael's Hot Bod in a Box. This is a box of picture cards demonstrating several different great exercises. Some are basics, others are combo exercises, and others are variations of a standard exercise. Just ask my boot camp participants how many different push-up variations I've learned from Jillian--frog, half-crow, scorpion. (They are about as fun as they sound.) Also, this box has pre-made circuit workouts which I've often used in class. They include a good mix of strength exercises and high-intensity cardio that make for a great workout. I've used them for my own workouts on the days when I just want to go on auto-pilot, but I've also used them in my boot camps. There are 9 circuit cards total, so I did a 9-week session focusing on 1 card per class. Everyone dreads coming to class on Jillian days, but you'll leave with the satsifaction of using every ounce of strength left in your body.
2. Garmin Forerunner. Running made easy is what this watch should be called. Before I had this watch, I would map out my runs on mapmyrun.com before I took off outside. Now, I just get up and go, and I know at all times what my mileage is at. And not only that, but my pace, speed, time, calories burned and heart rate. I have the 110 model, but any of the basic Forerunners will at least tell your distance and pace. I can also upload my runs to the computer to show other people my route and all the stats about that particular run. It really comes in handy for races too, so you know that you're on your target pace even between the mile-markers.
3. Polar RS 200 sport zone watch. Before I got my Garmin, this was the watch that I never exercised without. (I don't think they make this exact model anymore, but there are several Polars with the same features.) You program in your max heart rate, and from there it splits up your 5 heart rate zones, 1-3 being aerobic, and 4-5 being anaerobic. It took my own training to a whole new level, because it gives you goals. For example I would say, for the next 2 minutes, let's try to get my heart rate into zone 4, or let's recover and see how fast my heart rate drops into zone 1. Knowing your individual zones helps you know when you're burning fat versus sugar (both are beneficial).
4. Gym Boss. This is basically a glorified stopwatch, (thanks for this idea, Lucy!) but it's made teaching group fitness so much easier, especially boot camps where things tend to be chaotic. Say you wanted to do a 45 second round of exercise alternated with a 15 second rest break, 20 times total. You can program all of this into the Gym Bosss, and it will beep and/or vibrate at those intervals. It allows you, as the group fitness intructor, to not have to stare at your watch, but rather watch people's form, give instructions, or participate yourself. I'm horrible at counting people's reps, but I can even tend to forget how long my stopwatch has been running, so it's great to have a tool to keep me on track and make sure we finish all the planned exercises before class is over. I've also found the Gym Boss is handy when you train clients that tend to chat more than workout:) They know when the Boss beeps, they have to get down to business!
When I come across new things that amaze me, I'll add them to the list! PS...I should totally be getting paid for this marketing!
1. Jillian Michael's Hot Bod in a Box. This is a box of picture cards demonstrating several different great exercises. Some are basics, others are combo exercises, and others are variations of a standard exercise. Just ask my boot camp participants how many different push-up variations I've learned from Jillian--frog, half-crow, scorpion. (They are about as fun as they sound.) Also, this box has pre-made circuit workouts which I've often used in class. They include a good mix of strength exercises and high-intensity cardio that make for a great workout. I've used them for my own workouts on the days when I just want to go on auto-pilot, but I've also used them in my boot camps. There are 9 circuit cards total, so I did a 9-week session focusing on 1 card per class. Everyone dreads coming to class on Jillian days, but you'll leave with the satsifaction of using every ounce of strength left in your body.
2. Garmin Forerunner. Running made easy is what this watch should be called. Before I had this watch, I would map out my runs on mapmyrun.com before I took off outside. Now, I just get up and go, and I know at all times what my mileage is at. And not only that, but my pace, speed, time, calories burned and heart rate. I have the 110 model, but any of the basic Forerunners will at least tell your distance and pace. I can also upload my runs to the computer to show other people my route and all the stats about that particular run. It really comes in handy for races too, so you know that you're on your target pace even between the mile-markers.
3. Polar RS 200 sport zone watch. Before I got my Garmin, this was the watch that I never exercised without. (I don't think they make this exact model anymore, but there are several Polars with the same features.) You program in your max heart rate, and from there it splits up your 5 heart rate zones, 1-3 being aerobic, and 4-5 being anaerobic. It took my own training to a whole new level, because it gives you goals. For example I would say, for the next 2 minutes, let's try to get my heart rate into zone 4, or let's recover and see how fast my heart rate drops into zone 1. Knowing your individual zones helps you know when you're burning fat versus sugar (both are beneficial).
4. Gym Boss. This is basically a glorified stopwatch, (thanks for this idea, Lucy!) but it's made teaching group fitness so much easier, especially boot camps where things tend to be chaotic. Say you wanted to do a 45 second round of exercise alternated with a 15 second rest break, 20 times total. You can program all of this into the Gym Bosss, and it will beep and/or vibrate at those intervals. It allows you, as the group fitness intructor, to not have to stare at your watch, but rather watch people's form, give instructions, or participate yourself. I'm horrible at counting people's reps, but I can even tend to forget how long my stopwatch has been running, so it's great to have a tool to keep me on track and make sure we finish all the planned exercises before class is over. I've also found the Gym Boss is handy when you train clients that tend to chat more than workout:) They know when the Boss beeps, they have to get down to business!
When I come across new things that amaze me, I'll add them to the list! PS...I should totally be getting paid for this marketing!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
What will YOUR fitness level look like at 74?
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/42248171#42248171
Part of my morning ritual is having my breakfast and coffee while watching The Today Show. (One of the perks of not going into work until 9:30am!) Today they had an interesting segment on an "Age Suit" designed by researchers at MIT. You can see the video at the link above. The suit was designed to make the person wearing it feel like the age of 74. It had padded shoes that throw off balance, a cord restricting movement and adding compression to the spine, gloves that made gripping objects harder, a brace around the neck limiting range of motion, and even blurry goggles. A Today Show correspondent tried on the suit and was given the task of grocery shopping. He said that not only was it harder to see the grocery list and the items on the shelves, but it was hard to reach any objects that were on high or low shelves. Pretty scary huh?!
The good news is that (with the exception of vision) exercise improves ALL of these things, and can delay the progress of aging "symptoms." Most of us know this, but we don't think that far ahead into the future. I would say people typically wait until their 40s before anti-aging is a real concern, and by then it can sometimes be hard to make up for not doing any regular physical activity for the past 20 years. The general complaint at the fitness center I work at is "I'm getting old," because people devote so much of their 20s and 30s to advancing their careers and starting families, that they take their health and fitness levels for granted.
So, at the risk of sounding like that pesky Mary Kay lady who contantly reminds you you're never too young to start using an anti-aging eye cream, you REALLY can't delay your anti-aging workout routine!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Feeling like a veg-head
One of my favorite reasons for having a blog is to allow other people see my own health struggles or lack of perfection. (Many of you already know these things, and don't need me to tell you!) I find that so often members at work only see me in the role as group fitness instructor or personal trainer, or they catch me as I'm snacking on some carrots, and therefore think that all exercise is easy for me and I eat a flawless diet. FALSE! While I do work hard at both fitness and nutrition, I have my weaknesses--avoiding the Stairmaster step mill because it gets me out of breath in 5 minutes, or having a major sweet tooth to name a couple!
With March being National Nutrition Month, we've been trying to heighten our members' awareness of healthy diet basics and getting in 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. I decided to keep my own fruit/veggie log for the month to see exactly how short I was falling. After 23 days so far of sprinkling cranberries in my oatmeal, stuffing spinach leaves on my sandwich, eating cranberries on top of spinach leaves, I realize it's hard!! Week days for the most part have been ok, hitting 4-6 servings of fruits and veggies. Weekends are another story...unless you count tomato sauce on pizza. I don't even realize until Monday morning that I only had around 2 servings of fruit or vegetables over the entire weekend!
I've learned to pack as many servings into one meal as possible, just in case my meal plan changes throughout the day. One really good recipe that I made for my weekly girls night this week is Rachael Ray's "Chili for Veg Heads." Everything you put in the pot is a vegetable (well, except for the cup of beer that cooks out anyway) including tons of fresh chopped peppers, onions and tomatoes and 3 kinds of beans--which count as veggies and protein too! Bonus! So a big bowl of chili almost meets your daily veggie requirements in one fell swoop.
So while my diet will never be perfect, and I certainly don't believe in eliminating any kind of food altogether, I can make a point to add in as many nutritious, whole foods as I can throughout the day. That should make up for the margaritas and chips and salsa, right?!
With March being National Nutrition Month, we've been trying to heighten our members' awareness of healthy diet basics and getting in 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. I decided to keep my own fruit/veggie log for the month to see exactly how short I was falling. After 23 days so far of sprinkling cranberries in my oatmeal, stuffing spinach leaves on my sandwich, eating cranberries on top of spinach leaves, I realize it's hard!! Week days for the most part have been ok, hitting 4-6 servings of fruits and veggies. Weekends are another story...unless you count tomato sauce on pizza. I don't even realize until Monday morning that I only had around 2 servings of fruit or vegetables over the entire weekend!
I've learned to pack as many servings into one meal as possible, just in case my meal plan changes throughout the day. One really good recipe that I made for my weekly girls night this week is Rachael Ray's "Chili for Veg Heads." Everything you put in the pot is a vegetable (well, except for the cup of beer that cooks out anyway) including tons of fresh chopped peppers, onions and tomatoes and 3 kinds of beans--which count as veggies and protein too! Bonus! So a big bowl of chili almost meets your daily veggie requirements in one fell swoop.
So while my diet will never be perfect, and I certainly don't believe in eliminating any kind of food altogether, I can make a point to add in as many nutritious, whole foods as I can throughout the day. That should make up for the margaritas and chips and salsa, right?!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Spring Festivities
Even though it's not officially spring yet, we've been experiencing some 60-70 degree weather in Indy! Even last weekend was in the mid-50s, and that's warm enough to be running outside! I've been dealing with a winter season of terrible treadmill runs. I just can't get into my groove, I've had to lower my pace by almost a full minute per mile, and it just hurts. I can't believe that I used to love treadmills and hardly ever ran outside. I decided to do a 5-mile outdoor run last Sunday night (thank God daylight savings has also kicked in!), and I was encouraged to see that my pace outside was right on my standard 9:00.
It feels weird right now, as the whole town of Indianapolis is in full training mode for the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini Marathon, to not be joining them. I've done this race the past two years (and had an extensive blog about last year's training!), but this year I'm doing something a little different. My mom has always been the one to drop me off at my races when I didn't want to deal with parking, and she even braved the fierce wind at last year's Mini to watch me cross the finish line. It was at that moment, as I was dripping with adrenaline, that some rubbed off on her and she said that she thought one day she might want to walk the Mini. So I said ok let's do it together, and we signed up! Walking for 3+ hours isn't exactly my idea of a good time, but I knew it's not an event she would sign up for without me being right there with her. My mom is one of those people naturally blessed with a thin build and killer abs, even though she rarely exercises. It's been fun to hear about her training, as it reminds me of my first Mini--stressing out about my mileage and pace and worrying whether or not I could even finish the thing. Last month she was already up to walking 8 miles!
As for my training, I've been keeping up with my usual amount of running--about twice a week, doing anywhere from 3-8 miles at a time. It feels great to not have the pressure of trying to beat last year's time! I plan on showing up to the mini this year in full makeup and Starbucks in hand...just out for a nice morning stroll :)
As many of you know, I've been debating on running a full marathon this fall. At this point I've told so many people that it's past debating and it's more an issue of just not being able to bring myself to actually sign up. I keep thinking about all the "what ifs" that would prevent me from being able to complete it. What if I get an injury--should I wait until closer to the race date and see how my body's feeling? What if we're so busy with buying a house and moving in this summer that I don't have time for long training runs? I have to remind myself that each year can potentially be more busy...and I'll be another more year older. Not that I feel like I'm getting old, but if there's ever a time to run a marathon, it's in your 20s when your body can adapt and recover quickly.
Ok ok...it's time to commit.
It feels weird right now, as the whole town of Indianapolis is in full training mode for the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini Marathon, to not be joining them. I've done this race the past two years (and had an extensive blog about last year's training!), but this year I'm doing something a little different. My mom has always been the one to drop me off at my races when I didn't want to deal with parking, and she even braved the fierce wind at last year's Mini to watch me cross the finish line. It was at that moment, as I was dripping with adrenaline, that some rubbed off on her and she said that she thought one day she might want to walk the Mini. So I said ok let's do it together, and we signed up! Walking for 3+ hours isn't exactly my idea of a good time, but I knew it's not an event she would sign up for without me being right there with her. My mom is one of those people naturally blessed with a thin build and killer abs, even though she rarely exercises. It's been fun to hear about her training, as it reminds me of my first Mini--stressing out about my mileage and pace and worrying whether or not I could even finish the thing. Last month she was already up to walking 8 miles!
As for my training, I've been keeping up with my usual amount of running--about twice a week, doing anywhere from 3-8 miles at a time. It feels great to not have the pressure of trying to beat last year's time! I plan on showing up to the mini this year in full makeup and Starbucks in hand...just out for a nice morning stroll :)
As many of you know, I've been debating on running a full marathon this fall. At this point I've told so many people that it's past debating and it's more an issue of just not being able to bring myself to actually sign up. I keep thinking about all the "what ifs" that would prevent me from being able to complete it. What if I get an injury--should I wait until closer to the race date and see how my body's feeling? What if we're so busy with buying a house and moving in this summer that I don't have time for long training runs? I have to remind myself that each year can potentially be more busy...and I'll be another more year older. Not that I feel like I'm getting old, but if there's ever a time to run a marathon, it's in your 20s when your body can adapt and recover quickly.
Ok ok...it's time to commit.
Friday, March 11, 2011
A yogi on a bike out for a run
This past Wednesday, I taught my first official yoga class. Let me preface this post with saying yoga is by NO means my specialty or passion. Although, as previously mentioned, I recently obtained my YogaFit cert, nobody would ever classify me as a "yogi." How this all started was with my stability ball class. I was teaching the same class twice each week, to mostly the same group of women, and running out of ideas fast. You'll find there's only so much you can do with an exercise ball until you start just using it as a prop...i.e. now we're going to do lunges holding the ball! So, one day, I pulled out a deck of yoga cards, and each of my class participants pulled one from the stack, then we would collectively find a way to modify the pose using the ball. It was a hit! My class participants started asking to do yoga more frequently, so about a year ago we starting designating one class per month as "Ball Yoga", basically doing a full-fledged yoga-style class with mats, barefeet, dim lights, relaxing music...but all still utilizing the stability ball.
After a few months of this, I decided I probably needed a basic background of yoga knowledge so I could add to the library of poses I was comfortable teaching, and at the very least, know about safety techniques and contraindications. Just this past February, I did a 2-day workshop to get my YogaFit certification. It's helped a lot so far with class formatting, especially. I always had this picture in my head of what yoga instructors were like---earthy, hippy, weird. (The last conversation I had with a yogi ended with her telling me bras cause cancer and I should ditch mine--no thanks.) I found I could relate to YogaFit's style, because it was more Americanized and put an emphasis on all the physical aspects--more about the strength, balance, flexibility, breathing, and less on the chanting, chakras, and the human's third eye...again, weird.
Now here's where it got interesting for me. Part of the process of actually receiving your certificate of completion for the YogaFit course is that you accumulate 8 hours of teaching yoga to populations that wouldn't normally be exposed, i.e. children, underpriveleged. I had a couple friends who work at a center for autism who said their teaching staff does classes like these occasionally, so I was able to go there to knock out my first hour of community service. The oddest part of it all was presenting myself as a yoga instructor. Little did they all know, that on the totem pole of my exercise passions, yoga is pretty low towards the bottom. Teaching the entire class using only your body and not the ball definitely had a different feel.
I also find it challenging to speak in the "yoga voice." You all know what I'm talking about--the soothing, transformational language of floating your hands up to the sky while rooting your foot in the earth beneath you--that crap. Now some yoga instructors I've had make this sound very natural. Maybe the difference is, I'm used to teaching classes like boot camp and spinning where your voice has to be loud and authoritative and give your participants the sense of urgency that when I say sprint, I mean SPRINT! True yogis also have the verbal gift of being able to tell you exactly how your body should be moving without demonstrating themselves. Most yoga instructors wander around the room while still explaining exactly what Reverse Warrior is. I find that I'm very reliant on showing my participants what to do and then giving them cues after I've deomnstrated the motion.
Part of teaching any group fitness class is making it your own. I've never felt so strongly attached to any one exercise specialty, but rather a mixture of running, cycling, circuit-style classes, and now yoga, so I accept that I can't specilaize in instructing or coaching ALL of these things, because the styles are so dissimilar. What I can do is be educated on the discipline and know that I can teach a safe but challenging, Mechelle-style class.
I think back to when spinning and boot camps were out of my element or back to college when teaching any group fitness class made me a nervous. Now I don't bat an eye at yelling at a room full of strangers or rushing into a class last minute without a mapped out plan. So, there is hope for me yet to be a yogi--during Wednesday's class, I even caught myself using the word "floating." :)
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Introductions
This first post will serve as a bit of an introduction for anyone out there that doesn't know me. I am currently 25 and have been in the health and fitness industry for the past 3 years (more counting jobs I held during college). I graduated in 2008 with an Exercise Science degree from Anderson University, and after a brief stint in the commercial fitness world, I transitioned into my current role as a Health/Fitness Specialist and Fitness Center Manager through the National Institute for Fitness & Sport (NIFS). http://www.wellness.nifs.org/corporate-fitness-management/ I work in their Corporate Fitness Management department, so I am located full-time at a company called Dow AgroSciences in their on-site fitness center. http://www.dowagro.com/homepage/index.htm My job there is hard to define in a few sentences. I do a lot of personal training, which is offered free to employees of DAS--it's really a great system to offer this service at no charge because it eliminates the sales aspect of fitness, which most people in my field hate, and, quite frankly, aren't good at. A big percentage of my job is also leading group fitness classes. I currently hold certifications for indoor spinning and yoga, but my class schedule ranges from cycling to boot camps to stability ball strength classes. When I'm not training or teaching, I am doing health promotion. This is the behind-the-scenes work of coming up with creative programs to run on site, marketing these to the employee population, and just generally increasing health awareness in the form of flyers, email blasts, or larger scale events such as health fairs or 5K runs.
I love my job. As the years go on, I realize how lucky I am in three ways: having a job that utilizes the degree I worked hard for in college; having a job period in this economy; and being able to go to work with passion for what I do each day. Sure, some days, especially when the alarm goes off, it just feels like work. But the unique aspect of a job in the health industry is that even if it's small, I am directly impacting someone's life for the better. Immediate gratification.
I often wonder what I want my next job or career to be. The answer, truthfully, is I don't know, because after two and a half years in my current position, I have yet to get restless. Just when things are becoming routine, I'm presented with a new challenge or project or a new certification to work towards. The blessing of an exercise science degree is that it's broad enough to take you in several different directions, and I presently have my hand involved in many of these areas, all wrapped up into the same job. I guess it's my nature to move frequently and to have the next step mapped out, so the feeling of being in one spot for an indefinite amount of time, no matter how great it is, is odd to me.
Consider this blog my "next step." Putting all these thoughts into writing, discussing current trends in the exercise world, and just having "someone" else to talk to about my own fitness level other than my co-workers and clients. So thanks for listening :)
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