Courage To Sweat

Bike - 2
Jen - 0

If you caught last week’s biking saga where I realized I managed to strap my water bottle holder overtop my brake cable causing my back brakes to basically always be on, ensuring I got in some unwanted resistance training, that resulted in some multi-day foot pain drama — then here’s my new saga…

Got some good cycling shoes courtesy of one of my clients 👍🏼

Got the back brakes fixed and water bottle holder in the correct positioning 👍🏼

Put on these pedal straps courtesy of Amazon 👍🏼

So it sounds like all is back in order, but ALAS, no.

❌ Turns out my front brakes are actually too tight (not my fault, but I guess we can’t 💯 rule that out yet until the Mr. investigates)

❌ Those pedal straps? Well, they’re very secure and so secure that I pulled back into my driveway ready to hop off as I automatically, naturally do but my foot was stuck.

I fell. My leg and arm are scraped up but very minorly. My pride is hurt worse. At the moment I fell, my core muscles decided to do that thing where they pull tight and cramp, so there my 40-something self was laid out in the driveway, feet stuck on a bike, leaning backwards like I’m in an awkward photo shoot trying to calm my core down. *I don’t think Tyra or Janice would have liked that photo.*

At this rate, what should my hashtag be for this series? JenSucksAtBiking ? BikeDefeatsJen CyclingFailureAtForty WTFJen

Amongst all the success stories on social media, and the pictures of folks making you unnecessarily feel bad about yourself - let my cycling journey here give you a little reprieve that in reality, we’re all actually out here on some sort of struggle bus.

If you’ve ever worked in fitness or worked with a trainer, you know it’s not nearly as simple as, “you just make people exercise, right?”. It’s a culmination of challenges and triumphs coming together. It’s often raw and emotional.

Here’s a few things I’ve learned over the past 8 years — part 1.

🔥PRO TIP:

If you plan to join the gym in January, or to hire a personal trainer, do it NOW.

Come January the gym will be packed. The trainers will be sorting through a lot of inquiries. You might think, “I’ll go January 1st, hire a trainer and get started!” Nope - you’ll fill out a form. You’ll wait for a call or email. You’ll schedule a consultation and assessment. You won’t actually get started for a little bit…

If you have any sort of “gym anxiety” then it’s only going to get worse when everyone and their sister is at the gym and you’re trying to mentally keep it together figuring out what does what.

So start now… get through the personal training paperwork so you can be the one actually getting started comfortably in January. Go to the gym while everyone is busy with holiday stress. Get familiar with the surroundings and the equipment so once the crowds come you don’t immediately panic and bail on the whole idea.

💪🏼 NOTE - If you’re interested in me as your trainer, I’m available in-person in Virginia Beach as well as online (you can be located anywhere) and via Zoom.

Want to start a conversation? ⬇️

💣 Talk to me about your fears of going into the gym not knowing what you’re doing, or times you’ve tried and bailed. Maybe I can help guide you through that…

‼️ Mini Life Update ‼️

💪🏼 I have taken a personal training position with the City of VA Beach. If you’re a resident taking advantage of the super cheap membership, you can now hire me to personally train you at either the Kempsville or Williams Farm rec center locations.

💪🏼I am still doing my online Courage To Sweat trainings, so anyone interested in training with me via my app, shoot me a DM or comment below ⬇️.

💪🏼 I am still doing my 30-minute Zoom sessions, and have availability some early mornings (6:30-7:00) and afternoons (4:00-4:30), so DM me or comment below ⬇️ if interested in those.

📣 If you have friends in looking for a tag them so we can get connected. Thanks! 😘

Hi friends 👋

Word-of-mouth and personal recommendations are small businesses best friends.

If you work for a company that may be interested in hosting virtual classes for its staff, pass along my page here, or email [email protected].

Healthcare costs in the U.S. are absolutely insane and being stuck indoors at a desk all day is not helping folks stay healthy. Offering classes to employees during the day to give a physical and mental break helps them get exercise in.

We can chat times, days, styles, etc…

**Also note — personal, 30-minute Zoom sessions times are still available. If you work from home, this is a great option to break up the monotony!

Thanks! 🙇‍♀️

A few interesting thoughts about Anxiety, Stress, Depression as they relate to Exercise from reading my Health Coach textbook:

‼️Depression can exacerbate chronic pain, affecting adherence to healthy lifestyle choices.

‼️With anxiety, fear can be out of proportion to reality, and avoidance behavior is a common reaction.

‼️Exercise may feel “good” OR “bad” in the moment and after the fact, impacting mood and how well you may adhere to continuing an exercise program. If it feeling “bad” relates to you, or you feel to be in a poor mood because of exercise, noting the type of exercise or intensity may help you find what program is best suited for you mentally.

‼️If you monitor how non-health related activities make you feel, and find that exercise does improve your mood while other activities do not, even when feeling stressed or depressed, you may be more inclined to exercise as you understand how it relates to your mood.

‼️Motivation and energy levels can be overtaxed for people with anxiety, depression and/or stress so setting small, achievable goals is helpful to not add on more stress.

‼️Think about how healthy lifestyle choices tie into one’s own values, not just “exercise is good for me”. If making a positive impact on your child by being a good model of health is highly important, then connecting that to your motivation to workout might be key.

‼️Low distress tolerance is real and can make the discomfort of exercise or healthy eating feel intolerable. Acknowledging discomfort exists but not letting it define the experience may be a helpful strategy. Revert back to those values when feeling of escaping occurs.

Am I a big time expert on this? No.

Do I have empathy for those suffering with depression, chronic stress and/or anxiety? Absolutely!

Have I worked for many clients who deal with these mental concerns every day? Yes.

So what’s the point of all those ‼️ ⬆️ there? Just food for thought, and to reiterate that you are NOT a failure, you are NOT lazy. You are fighting a hard inner battle, and just showing up for yourself and others every day is applaudable. You also are not alone.

One step at a time…

Former Client Check Up Time!

I’ve worked with soooo many people over the years. Nearly 100 folks for one-on-one, but then I’ve taught online classes, Teacher Workout classes in both MS & Japan, Youth Fit Clubs & Camps, and the list goes on…

If I haven’t worked with you recently, or haven’t talked to you in awhile because we no longer live in the same area — what are you up to these days? What exercise have you been doing lately?

I always like to hear what folks have been doing “Post Jen” 😉!

Let me know in the comments….