Motivation

What I’ve Learned in 28 Years of Living

I’m not really sure where the time has gone, but somehow I turned 28 yesterday. Sometimes I wake up and think I’m still 15, and there are many times I step back in wonder at my life and where I am today. After growing up in the tiny, boring mill town of Camas, Washington, I’ve …

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Why I’ll Never Compete In A Bodybuilding or Physique Competition

This past weekend was the 50th annual Mr. Olympia Weekend, arguably the biggest weekend of the year for bodybuilders and bikini competitors where they compete for titles like Mr. and Ms. Olympia, Fitness Olympia and Figure Olympia.

It’s a pretty big deal in the world of bodybuilding, to say the least—and I chose not to go, just as I haven’t gone any other year since becoming a personal trainer.

In fact, I’d never even been near a bodybuilding competition of any type until the other weekend when I was staying in Venice Beach, one of my favorite places ever because of the incredible variety of activities there. I mean there’s a giant outdoor workout area (full of pull up bars, dip bars, rings, speed bag stations, and more!), a huge skate park, surfing, swimming, SUPing, biking… the list is endless (I know, I know, I’m a total nerd).

One of the days I was there I got up to work out as usual and right next to the outdoor workout area a bunch of male and female bodybuilders were getting ready to compete in various bodybuilding/bikini/physique competitions.

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New Year’s Resolution Check-In (Six Months!)

We’re now officially halfway through the year.

I know, where has the time gone? I swear, the more I want to accomplish, the faster time goes by. Crazy how that works.

At the beginning of the year, I promised to check in with you every three months to see how your progress was going and to help keep you accountable for your resolutions. Well, April has already passed us by, and now we’re into July.

So how are you doing with your goals for the year?

Are you making progress? Feeling discouraged? Or have you forgotten about them altogether?

If that’s the case, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Most people forget about their New Year’s resolutions within just a couple of weeks. The good news? You still have time.

We still have six months of 2014 to accomplish all our goals!

But first, let’s take a look at how you should have created your goals in the first place—and whether you might want to reevaluate your goals for this year.

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17 Things That Don’t Feel Like Exercise (But Actually Are)

Not too long ago, I picked up a skateboard for the first time since 8th grade.

By the end of the afternoon, I was admittedly a little tired, and even had broke a sweat. But I didn’t think anything of it—it was just so much fun.

The next day, I was shocked—my legs were actually sore, and I’d only done a moderate leg workout the day before. My calves hurt, and so did my quads. I racked my brain for what I’d done the day before to cause the level of soreness I was experiencing. And then I figured it out: it was the skateboarding!

By skating, I’d actually been exercising without even realizing it.

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100 Burpee Challenge (And How Erin Knocked Almost 5 Minutes Off Her Time)

Tomorrow is the official start of the June 100 burpee challenge. Time to get excited!

But before getting you guys fired up to do the challenge, I first wanted to check in with Erin, last month’s contest winner. Erin knocked an impressive 4:29 off her 100 burpee time from April to May, so I thought it’d be pretty motivating to check in with her and see how she did it.

Because remember, while aspiring to reach a certain time at some point along your fitness journey awesome, it’s really all about YOUR improvement and how hard you can keep pushing yourself to get better and fitter than ever before.

First, let’s check in with Erin:

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4 Common Excuses Not to Work Out (And How to Push Through Them)

Let’s face it, we’re all pretty good at making excuses not to work out at times.

And while it’s certainly important to listen to your body and take a rest day when you need it, most people end up taking more rest than they actually need—not because their body is asking for it, but because they keep finding excuses not to work out.

But you’re not going to let excuses stop you, are you? Because you’re awesome and you’re a total badass. Excuses won’t hold you back!

Here are 4 common excuses not to work out, and how to push through them every time:

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You Can’t Fake Sweat

Note: This is a guest post by Thad Peterson from You Can’t Fake Sweat.

Working out sucks.

Burpees make my heart pound and light my lungs on fire. Wall balls make my legs burn. Crunches make my stomach quiver.

More often than not, when I’m in the middle of a hard workout, I just want it to be over. I want more air in my lungs. I want my heart to stop pounding against my chest. I want the pain to go away.

And even when it’s finally over, I am left there sweating. Dripping wet.

That means my clothes are left soaked with perspiration. Which means more laundry to do. I hate doing laundry.

Yet that feeling of sweat pouring down my face is perhaps the most glorious sensation I know. I love sweat.

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5 Reasons You’re Not Getting Stronger

Ever feel like you’ve reached a plateau and that no matter what you do, you just don’t seem to be getting stronger?

Yeah, we’ve all been there.

In fact, that’s one of the biggest downsides about bodyweight training—it can be harder to measure your progress, since so many of the movements are all or nothing. This means that unlike weight training, where you can up the weight five pounds every week or so, with bodyweight training you’ll be doing the same thing… over and over.

So it can definitely be kind of discouraging when you feel like you’ve been working at something forever and you still can’t do it.

Here are 5 reasons why you might not be getting stronger:

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New Year’s Resolution Check-In (Three Months)

Back in the beginning of the year, I wrote about how to set New Year’s resolutions that you’ll actually keep, and asked you guys to tell me about your own personal resolutions for the year.

Your responses gave me hope, made me smile, and really made me appreciate how awesome and determined you guys are. Your answers ranged from everything from holding a 10 second freestanding handstand to getting 100 burpees in under 10 minutes to accomplishing your very first pull up. I’ll admit too that it made me proud that you guys were focused not just on looks—because getting fit and healthy is so much more than just looking good.

In that post, I also outlined my own resolutions for the year, and mentioned that I would check in quarterly with you guys to see how your resolutions were coming along and give you some accountability to help you stick with them.

So here we are at the beginning of April (I know, what? Where has the year gone?)… and it’s time to see how those resolutions are coming along!

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Why You Should Never Feel Bad About Modifying Your Workouts

Have you ever had to modify an exercise because no matter how hard you tried, you just couldn’t do the full version?

Yeah, me too.

And if you’re anything like me, you don’t exactly like to have to modify exercises. You want to do the real thing. To be strong, fit, and kick ass at everything you do.

But… life doesn’t always work that way. And training, especially, doesn’t always work that way. Because although we all have our strengths, every single one of us has weaknesses and areas we need to work on.

For example, here are just a few of the many exercises I still have to modify:

  • Although I can do pull ups and chin ups without assistance, if I want to push past a certain number, I continue to have to use a band, which frustrates me like crazy (one of my New Year’s resolutions this year is to be able to do 10 unassisted pull ups in a row).
  • Similarly, though I can do a few full pistols in a row, I need to use a band or hold onto a chair in order to make it past those first few.
  • Despite being fairly flexible, I can’t even get close to doing the splits. This drives me nuts in gymnastics class, where some people are able to do it so easily.

And trust me, there are a lot more.

And although it frustrates me at times (as I’m sure it frustrates you), modifying an exercise because you can’t do the full or advanced version is actually not a bad thing.

Here’s why you should never be ashamed to modify your workouts:

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