When I taught outdoor education, I introduced my students to the “five finger contract.”  -The index finger represented their commitment to be safe, -the middle finger represented their commitment to refrain from put-downs, -the ring finger represented their commitment to try their best, and -the pinkie finger represented their willingness to try something new. 

If the students were able to fulfill all of these requirements, the thumb — which represented fun — would wrap around the rest of the fingers. Students would sign their five finger contracts with high-fives at the beginning of the week. 

No put-downs was probably the most often violated part of the “five finger contract.” But students rarely put down each other. They would put-down themselves.

I don’t use the five finger contract in my classes and personal training sessions, but maybe I should? 🙂 I see a lot of people use put-downs against themselves in fitness centers too. I find this heartbreaking. You don’t have to label parts of your body “bad” to make them better. You don’t have to beat yourself up to motivate yourself to work harder. 

What if you tried a more positive approach? -What if you celebrated the fact that you were physically able to make it to the fitness center in the first place? -What if you celebrated all the things that you are doing to improve your health and wellness? What if you framed all of your hard work as motivation to keep going?

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a safe and healthy week. 

Being put together at all times seems really important, but is it?

Many years ago, I visited an old friend for a weekend. She had moved to a different town— hours away. During my visit, we went to a park with a large lawn. It was a beautiful day and many people were at the park playing ultimate frisbee, having picnics, and walking their dogs.  My friend began doing cartwheels and encouraged me to do the same.  

Even though it looked like she was having a ton of fun, I politely declined. I hadn’t attempted a cartwheel in years. I wasn’t sure I could still do one, and I didn’t want to look stupid in public. She argued that “These people are strangers that you will never see again. You won’t know until you try. Why not enjoy yourself?” She made a good point, and I had a lot of fun that day doing cartwheels. Like me, you may be hesitant to exercise for fear of looking bad in public.  

While I can’t vouch for parks, at many fitness centers there is a certain understanding among most people.They want to exercise and better themselves. Sure, there will probably be some people who are dressed head-to-toe in the latest designer fitness clothes, but they too want to get a good workout in. They are willing to risk getting red-faced, sweaty, and looking awkward so that they can take care of themselves.  

Fitness enthusiasts also realize that  spending this time looking less put together in a fitness center will allow them to look more put together outside the fitness center. It will help them to stand up taller, move with more ease, and have more defined muscles, etc. 

Why not get these benefits too? You won’t know how rewarding it can be until you try. If you need some guidance along your fitness journey, don’t be afraid to seek some support. 

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a safe and healthy week.

I used to train at a fitness center whose members were cancer patients and survivors. Exercise has been clinically proven to promote recovery, and it was a wonderful opportunity to help a population I care deeply about. 

I soon realized that finding time to eat was a challenge. I was usually the only staff member there, and there was no break. Except for those who required appointments — such as those who had undergone treatment for brain cancer — participants came and went throughout the day.

I wanted to be available to help everyone who walked though the door, and I couldn’t really do that if I was eating at my desk. When I first started, I only ate when no one was there. Sometimes that meant quickly eating a few bites here and there and finishing the rest of my lunch at home. Thankfully, my sweet participants realized what was going on and encouraged me to eat — “Finish eating your lunch. Take your time. We can wait.” 

When you’re caring for those who want and need help, it can be tempting to sacrifice your own needs. Maybe you, like me, have experience skipping meals. Maybe you have stopped exercising or getting quality sleep. Whatever it is, I encourage you to meet your needs. Ironically, I was better able to help the participants when I ate my lunch. When you take care of of your own needs, you are better able to help others.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a safe and healthy week. 

When I was an outdoor educator, I taught forest class. Many of the students I taught were entering a forest for the first time in their lives, and some were afraid of the woods. Luckily I taught forest class near the end of the week. By then the students already knew that safety was my top priority. 

Still, every so often, I could tell when students didn’t feel safe in the forest. Students who were engaged during farm class, aquatics class, and orienteering class became distracted upon entering the woods. No mater what we did or observed in the forest, they seemed disinterested. The majority of the class would excitingly flip over a decomposing log in order to observe the decomposers (mushrooms, worms, slugs, roly-polies, etc.) in action. They would peer through their magnifying glasses to get a closer look at the animals and fungi and take notes in their journals. Those that didn’t feel safe would barely participate, and they learned very little from the lesson.

After noticing this pattern, I started to stand right next to my frightened students. It helped — they were more confident, they learned more, and they had more fun.

Whether you’re in the forest or the gym, it’s difficult to enjoy or learn anything if you don’t feel safe. If you don’t feel safe in the gym, I encourage you to find a fitness professional to walk with you along your fitness journey — someone to provide moral support and ensure you’re completing the exercises safely. With their help, you can achieve your goals.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a safe and healthy week.     

I recently watched a documentary about Alex Honnold’s pursuit to be the first person to free solo Yosemite’s El Cap, arguably the hardest rock formation to summit. He climbed 2,900 feet in 3 h 56 m without safety gear — neither ropes nor a parachute. He lived, breathed, and trained for a fitness goal that most us find ludicrous.

We all have different fitness goals. Some of us are training to climb a dangerous rock formation, some of us are training to confidently climb up the stairs at our local stadium, and some of us are training to climb out of our cars without assistance.

Have you hesitated to ask for help with your fitness goals because you think they aren’t big enough? Maybe you would ask for help if you were training for an unprecedented goal but are having second thoughts about getting assistance for something many others can easily do. Your goal may be smaller but it’s your goal for a reason—it’s important to you. You deserve to find help to reach your goals (whatever they may be) so that you can live life to the fullest.   

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a safe and healthy week.

I’ve been told that my bowling throws look graceful. If you didn’t see the results, you might think I get a lot spares, strikes, and turkeys. While my bowling may look pretty, I get a lot of gutter balls. 

I only know what a turkey is because my friend occasionally gets them.  Her throws don’t look graceful. She chooses the heaviest ball she can carry, awkwardly walks to the to the lane, bends over, and pushes the ball with both hands.

We know that we aren’t skilled bowlers. Her bowling technique depends on the bumpers and I average about 65 out of 300. Even though we knew each others’ shortcomings, we decided to coach each other. She wanted to be more graceful, and I was looking to improve my score. 

This happened many years before I had any formal fitness training. I wanted to help my friend, but I quickly realized that I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t even know how to start. She also struggled to help me. We weren’t qualified. If my friend or I were serious about becoming better at bowling, we would need a professionally trained bowling coach or a fitness professional who has bowling experience.

If you’ve been asking for help and getting nowhere, I encourage you to consider who’s helping you. It can be temping to ask for help from someone who is unqualified. However, if you’re serious about improving your health and wellness, I urge you to ask for help from a qualified professional—someone who has the tools and skills to help you.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a safe and healthy week.

One of my soccer coaches frequently gave a pep talk that I affectionately dubbed the shin-guard talk. He would use it when our team started commenting about how tall, fast, strong, etc. the other team was —i.e. we started shaking in our shin-guards. In the shin-guard talk our coach outlined all the things we had in common. Just like us — they put on their soccer uniform to get ready for the game. Just like us — they got their water bottles ready. Just like us — they double knotted their cleats. The message was: they may look intimidating, but they are human too — just like us.

Going to a gym, studio, or community fitness center can be intimidating. When I first started going to the gym, I found myself looking around at all the people who were so strong and fit. I felt like I didn’t belong, and my first reaction was to flee. Then I remembered that — just like me — they probably felt uncomfortable during their first visits. Just like me — they were there to get healthier. Basically, I gave myself the shin-guard talk. 

If you feel intimidated to go to your local gym, community fitness center, or studio, don’t be afraid to break out the shin-guard talk. You may need more help to make your gym, studio, or community center visits more effective. You may need someone to support you during your visits, ensure you’re doing a balanced workout with proper form.

If asking for help sounds intimidating, just remember that — just like you — the person whose help you need has probably felt uncomfortable asking for help at some point.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a safe and healthy week. 

One of my favorite yoga teachers regularly offered the option for students to practice the wheel pose. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the wheel pose, it is an intense backbend that requires strength and flexibility. While some people are able to enter into this pose fairly easily, others may find this pose impossible — even after years of practice. My teacher wasn’t able to safely enter into wheel pose, so he had an advanced student demonstrate instead. Because he didn’t demonstrate wheel, he demonstrated something much more valuable — the importance of listening to your body. 

Pain can provide valuable feedback if we listen to it. It can let us know that we’ve gone too far or done too much. I encourage you to listen to your body, and move in a pain-free range of motion. Some poses or exercises might not be appropriate for you, and that’s okay. There are so many poses, exercises, and modifications. If you aren’t able to do one, there is a good chance that you can get similar benefits with something else.    

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a safe and healthy week!

Yesterday, a huge storm attacked North Texas. The storm came quickly. The day started off sunny and warm. I checked the forecast, and there was a “normal” chance of summer thunderstorms. I decided to go on a walk outside of town. On my way home, the sky started to darken. I was planning on stopping at the farmer’s market and gas station, but when my weather app alerted me of of the impending severe thunderstorm, I decided to go straight home. As I was opening the door, I heard the first roar of thunder. 

The storm knocked over trees, destroyed property, caused massive power outages, took one life, and injured at least five people. The storm was stronger than almost everyone predicted.

Sometimes, things come out of nowhere and are hard or impossible to prepare for. Other things are much more probable— like getting older. We can even say that we get older with every breath.

While we don’t know exactly what the future may hold, we can prepare our bodies with exercise. Proper exercise builds our muscles and makes them stronger, improves our balance, strengthens our bones, increases our range of motion, and improves our mental and psychological functioning.

Do you have an action plan for graceful aging? If you don’t, now is the time to prepare. Please feel free to reach out to a fitness professional for help with creating your action plan for graceful aging. Many of us are passionate about helping people get ready for next year and the decades following.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a safe and healthy week.

When I was younger, a large group of family friends would meet at the beach. It was so much fun to see everyone because many of us kids went to different schools. One of the other kids my age was a girl with porcelain skin. On one trip, I found out her classmates had bullied her for being so pale. She had decided that that was the last year anyone could call her pale — she was going to tan.

Her plan was to sit out in the sun the whole day without reapplying sunscreen. She figured that — even if she burned — there would be a tan underneath. I’d had enough sunburns by that time to know her reasoning wasn’t sound, but she couldn’t be talked out of it. She hoped to leave the beach pleasantly bronzed but instead she left fire-engine red. 

The next time I saw her, she looked like she did before her day at the beach. She told me that she wished she had listened to me instead of suffering though a horrible sunburn (even then I was a know-it-all 🙂 I understood 🙂 After all, I too had been teased for being pale. The year prior I tried another desperate measure to get a tan. My own tanning mishap involved a bottle of self-tanning lotion. I had excitedly slathered it all over my legs and waited, and waited, and voila —I was orange. Bright orange. Upon further inspection, I also noticed that I hadn’t applied the lotion as evenly as I thought. I looked awful and vowed to never do that again.

We all want results, and we want them quickly. We may even try to take shortcuts in an attempt to speed things up. The fitness and wellness industry is bursting with all kinds of shortcuts that promise instant results, but often—like me and my friend’s tanning experience— the results aren’t always ideal.  The results we crave require dedication to a sensible plan and plenty of time. If you have been going from shortcut to shortcut wondering why you aren’t getting the results you want, I encourage you to find a fitness professional who can help you make a sensible plan and help you stick to it. 

Thanks for reading! I hope you have a safe and healthy week.