Train With Hope

A few years ago I did bodybuilding for fun. Since COVID I took a step away from heavy weights due to gyms closing/major life changes. In 2023 my goal is to get some of that muscle back while balancing other activities that I enjoy like hiking, dancing, and jiu jitsu.

Here are the plant foods I’ve had in the last 4 days. I want to acknowledge that not everyone has access to fresh produce especially year round. However one option that is accessible for most folks is buying frozen foods. When food is frozen(ideally right after harvest) most of the nutrients are maintained.

There’s some solid research that consuming 30 different plants per week yields optimal gut diversity. My goal in 2023 is to hit that number. Want to join? It could be as simple as increasing your consumption by 5 plants a week.

Spent the first day of 2023 doing what I love which is hiking with friends. After 4 hours of making our way up to Smith Mountain, I came home and passed out for 12 hours. Feeling refreshed and ready to take on a new year!

Suffer from insomnia, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, or heart problems? Yoga Nidra is getting more attention from researches lately for these problems but this practice has been used since at least 1000 BC.

You can find scripts on YouTube and learn more from people like which is where I learned about it.

As someone who would chronically crash mid day, I haven’t taken a “nap” in almost a year. Instead I spend 10 minutes most days doing this practice. I never fall asleep but feel refreshed each time. The practice is associated with dopamine release which is great.

Tabata is a type of HIIT training that is great if you’re the type of person that hates going to the gym. Or if COVID-19 restrictions are are stopping you from going. YouTube is loaded with tons of tabata workout videos. The best features of this style of training is that it only takes 10 minutes, you don’t need equipment and it can improve your health if you’re consistent.

Let me know if you have any questions! Below is a link explaining the benefits and where it originated https://www.google.com/amp/s/breakingmuscle.com/amp/fitness/how-tabata-really-works-what-the-research-says

Holding your phone constantly? Check out my highlighted videos for information on how to avoid overuse injuries. I don’t subscribe to the idea that there are “bad postures” however, holding a particular posture for long periods of time can cause muscle discomfort/pain. The trick is to know your body’s tendencies and to get it into different positions regularly. Also, if you have hip pain, check out my video on hip shifting.

Last week I defined burnout and listed some symptoms that come along with it. Two tips that I gave were to get some sunlight daily to help set the circadian rhythm and to slow down your breathing in order to get your body in a rest and digest state.

This week focus on spending 5-10 minutes each day in complete silence with no distractions (i.e. phone, background noise). Eating is central to our health. Choose foods that you enjoy and that nourish your body. This could mean a combination of different foods or a food group that does both.

During this pandemic many people (including myself) are experiencing burnout. There are many symptoms beyond the ones listed.

We know that the brain has plasticity which means this experience won’t last forever if we do some things within our power to encourage change.

So many things are out of our control right now which is why this is happening to so many people. Here are a few things I’m trying to help with this: regulation of our body’s systems. So, getting sun light into the eyes (this sets a clock for us to know when to sleep), taking slow, quiet breaths in and out (3 seconds in and 3 out). Doing 1 or 2 things regularly at the same time every day will help you feel more stable. Let’s start here and I’ll add more things each week!

“Social determinants of health are conditions in the social environment in which people are born, live, learn, work and play that affect a wide range of health functioning and quality of life outcomes and risks.”

This was a quote from a study in the International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS. It looked at health inequality trends in the US.

In order to talk about health, I have to mention health inequalities and encourage you to think about the determinants of health in your own life.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5777389/

Happy hollow park workout this Saturday (tomorrow) at 11am! If you feel like moving your body, join me for a 30 min movement session. No equipment needed. It will be socially distanced of course and at no cost! Bring a friend, your kiddos, or partner. :)