Crossfit smoshfit

Crossfit.....If you don't know what it is let's start there.  Crossfit is a minimalist program, consisting of basic exercises using basic equipment.  High repetitions & maximum capacity is the name of the game. Crossfit marks the world that we live in, a world of crazed fad work outs.  There are so many programs to choose from Insanity, P90x, TRX, etc.  These structured work outs are designed to push you to your max.  However these regimens generally give little instruction and keep me in business with many injuries especially to the low back.  Most people who end up injured are people who jump into these work outs looking for a fast way to drop the fat & increase muscle.  But instead of seeing those much sought after results, they end up in my physical therapy office with crazy injuries & back to where they started.

Now I'm not here to bash these work outs or say you shouldn't do them, because like any work out I think they can be great.  I am simply writing about this so the average joe can know what to do & what not to do.  The fact is when you hear about a new work out it sounds exciting to try, but there are some rules to live by to prevent the classic "tried it once never going again" feeling.

1)  If you are a sedentary person, i.e. you don't really engage in activity.  Getting the bright idea to just jump into Crossfit, which is a high intensity work out, is NEVER a good idea.  To start something like Insanity or Crossfit you have to be in some sort of shape before you start.  Begin any sort of exercise, walking, elliptical trainer, light weights, etc.  Make sure you can stick to a work out plan with these beginner activities 3-4x/week for 12 weeks first!  If you can stick to it and all is going well (meaning you are progressing yourself & challenging yourself), then it may be time to branch out.  12 weeks seems like an eternity once you get the motivation to start, however I know you will thank me later when you aren't injured from jumping into something that was too difficult from the start.

2)  Any time you try a new work out it's a good idea to do your homework.  Simply throwing yourself into a class or regimen will leave you sore and confused & not to mention you probably looked like an idiot during the class.  I was practicing behind a girl in yoga the other day who clearly had no idea what she was doing!  I couldn't help but think I should give her my card after the class because it was apparent that she was going to end up with a knee injury if she continued on this way.  Do some research! You wanna try yoga, Crossfit, whatever, look it up!  The internet can be a beautiful thing, learn the basics online like the structure of the classes.  This will help you to know what to expect.

3)  Admit you're new!  If you are new to a class, studio, or work out in general let the instructor know.  Most of the time the instructors have 20-30 other students they are trying to watch so they may not catch what you are doing incorrectly.  But if prior to the start of class you let the teacher know, "Hey I'm new to this class."  The instructor should be more tuned into checking you out to make sure you aren't performing something incorrectly or compensating.

4)  To completely conflict with my last point....You have to look out for you.  I have been in exercise classes where the instructor's form is the worst form I've seen ever!  If you know they are doing something incorrectly, don't be the sheep following the shepherd! Motify.  Most Crossfit injuries I see are from lifting incorrectly, lifting huge amounts of weight, or jumping.  Despite what the instructor is showing you, good form is the key.  If you do 100 repetitions in bad form you might as well have stayed home & eaten a cake because it didn't count for squat.  10 reps in great form is better than 1,000 anything in bad form.  For lifting & jumping, make sure you are hinging at the hips & if you feel something in your low back, stop, reset & then try again using your legs not straining your back.

5)  In the same respect if you know you have old injuries that will flare-up if you do the right aggravating movement, don't do them!  I have to be especially careful here.  I love to push myself, and I hate feeling like I didn't push myself to the max.  However, I have 2 knees that have each gone through surgery, and I have a very physical career where a back or upper extremity injury could leave me using sick time.  I have to listen to my body!  Certain twists in yoga, or certain jumps in a conditioning class are not for me.  I have to pick a different pose or exercise for that 60 seconds & challenge myself in a different way.

With injuries prevention is the key.  Good form is your best prevention & if you don't know the correct form, ASK!  Trying a new work out is exciting, but in the same respect you must take care of your body.  You may get through 1 class injury free, but that may be your lucky break.  Straining & bad form will catch up with you, and I have seen some debilitating, life altering injuries from just simple lack of knowledge and carelessness.  Protect your joints & your back, and you will be good.  Jumping into a high intensity work out or trying a new work out is fun & exciting, but always remember to take care of you!

Foam roll it!

The foam roll is one of my favorite exercise tools!  It's good for everything.  Check out my video to introduce you to the foam roll.  I also show you the most common way to use it, and that's by foam rolling those sore legs!  After a good run I perform each of these techniques for about a minute to help combat soreness & decrease my risk for overuse injuries like tendinitis.  Great way to start the week!!!

Have your cake & eat it too.

Desserts.  One of life's most phenomenal gifts, a sweet treat at the end of a good meal.  Yet, desserts are one of the most controversial subjects in the diet & health food world.  Should we, or shouldn't we???? The debate (like other debates on what we should cut out of our diets) makes me sick.  If you cut it out, you are just going to want it more, just like an ex-boyfriend.  Depriving people of something they want has never worked in all of history.  But how to eat dessert and not pay for it later in unwanted pounds or stomach aches?!?!?!  HOW????  My always favorite (however annoying) answer is MODERATION. But to change to a different tune, because moderation does not always work for the average American bear, let us discuss desert options which will not send you into a sugar coma or to a weight loss specialist.

Making good dessert choices is your answer to this always puzzling issue.  Yes there are good dessert choices.  

My personal & first choice is a glass of red wine or a great craft beer.  We have all heard the benefits of a glass of red wine:  1) antioxidants, specifically polyphenols which protect the lining of blood vessels 2) resveratrol...what??? Ingredient which prevents blood vessel damage, reduces bad cholesterol (LDL), & also prevents blood clots  3)  There's is tons of animal research which has shown red wine can do anything from protect the stomach lining to diabetes prevention.  Have a glass!  Now craft beer has also been shown to have similar positive effects on the cardiovascular system.  However, craft beer also contains fiber & B vitamins!  1 glass of either option is a good alternative!

Ice cream substitutes:  FRO-YO!!! A huge american trend right now, and a great sweet treat!  However if you load your cup up with candy & chocolate you pretty much kill the healthy part of the dessert.  Try some honey & berries or other fruit to sweeten it without the empty calories.  I'm in love with Greek fat free frozen yogurt!  Another great ice cream substitute is soy ice cream.  Less sugar, no dairy overload, & yet satisfying.  One of my personal favorites are the soy ice cream bars from Trader Joes (90 calories & available in chocolate, my pic of them wouldn't upload boooooo)!

Dark Chocolate:  70% dark chocolate bars gives you a lot of the positive effects of red wine, specifically antioxidants!  They also satisfy my ever present chocolate craving.  To keep yourself in check with serving size try to buy bars which are pre-wrapped to control your portion size.

The last option is fat-free candies.  My personal favorite is RedVines (oldie but a goodie).  Yes, all candy is empty calories aka no nutritional value.  But if you have a craving for something sweet you could sit down & have 5 of these RedVines & only consume 140 calories!








Take these bits of advice & try enjoying a not-so-guilty dessert this week!  Until next time....

Paddle it

Here's to trying something new.....
I am always an advocate for changing it up.  It's easy to get bored and dread your work outs, it happens to everyone, trust me!  The truth is if you are bored with your work out you are probably half-assing it anyways, so time for a new challenge.  If you are sick of the usual walking/running route, yoga class, or whatever throw yourself out there and try something new.

A couple good suggestions on how to choose what to try:
1)  Living social or Groupon:  these are awesome!!!  Thought you
might want to try a circuit training class but they are too expensive? Get a groupon!  They will slash your prices big time and you can get a taste without buying the entree.  I wish I would have thought of this idea.....millions.
2)  Ask a friend:  whenever I need a switch I pole my girlfriends and see what they are into.  That's how I got into hot power yoga and it's my biggest obsession.  If I'm sick of the usual running route I'll ask Colin or turn on my "Map my run" app and just go.  These always need to new adventures.
3)  Research:  check out twitter or Facebook for various exercise pages.  Check a Shape/Self magazine for suggestions.  They always offer amazing options.

Warning:  It IS something NEW.  So there is always a chance you may not like it.  For example, I recently tried to branch out and try a new yoga studio.......didn't work out so well.  But hey I got a new experience and a cheap class!  If you don't try it you'll never know.

In addition to my not so positive trial of a new yoga studio, I recently tried paddle boarding.  My friend, Lisa, convinced me to buy a paddle boarding living social and try it out with her.  Lisa is like my go to "let's try something new for exercise" friend.  I figured yea I'll give it a shot.  Totally amazing!  We had an amazing day, great work out, got a little sun, absolutely nothing to complain about.  Well.....I guess I can only complain about when I slid down the embankment and busted my a$$.  No serious injuries just a hell of a battle wound that looks amazing on my R outside butt cheek, just in time for a beach weekend for the 4th.....obviously.  All negativity about my comical fall aside, paddle boarding made for a great core, butt, leg & arm work out.  And not only was the work out great we got to have a girls day & hand out on beautiful Lake Norman.  Totally worth the Living Social.

I'm 1 for 2 recently with trying something new, but hey you never know until you try.  If you are bored with your work outs & are dreading going to the gym try any of my tips and change it up!  Feel free to message  me or post on anything new you've tried.  Also, if you need suggestions let me know I'll try to rack my brain to help!

Battle wounds!

Lisa!!!

Don't have weights? No problem!

Check out the video above for a couple quick weight-bearing exercises.  These exercises use your own body weight as the resistance!  Easy if you are on the go.  One error, however, the cameras view of side plank shows my hand slightly in front of my shoulder, make sure your hand is directly under you shoulder to prevent any strain.  Also, with all these exercises make sure not to strain your neck!  Enjoy!

Backstreet's back!

Whoa 10 days of being a road warrior throughout the northeast and I am spent!  Sorry if I went off the radar without notice, but sometimes you just need to turn it off! We did and it was so worth it.  So welcome back readers, or more appropriately welcome back to me.  Now it's back to work this week, the beginning of our kitchen demolition, & a return to the blog world.  However, not without a little write up/reflection of our fantastic, but crazy trip!

We, well to be politically correct Colin, had a great trip planned for us.  He does all of our trip planning.  First off Colin LOVES trip planning & second of all he works at a computer whereas I run around with patients all day and do not have the luxury to look up restaurants in Maine & get paid.  So nonetheless Colin planned what on paper looked like a fantastic trip to the northeast.  Full of hiking, kayaking, running, great restaurants, phenomenal craft beer, & a tour of Maine/Vermont.  This trip looked like the ideal mix of good food & drinks with the added bonuses of adventure & activity.  Great way to prevent gaining the lbs while traveling.  Yea great unless you get rain, freezing cold, & a mountain of speed bumps in your plans to derail the activity!  Literally, remember the picture of the Griswold's from Vacation in my "On the Road Again" blog?  That is what this vacation turned into.  All jokes aside we got dealt a bit of a crappy hand with weather & other travel issues, but we did make the best of it & turned it into an amazing trip!

Wedding #1, beautiful Julie & some of my Kappa girls

When life throws you lemons you make lemonade, right?  That's exactly what we did and for a Type A person like myself sometimes this can be a very stressful task.  We had a plan, a great plan, however you can't control the weather or people's houses being sold (we'll get there), so we had to make the best of the hand we were dealt.  This trip came about due to 2 of my close friends getting married on back to back weekends in the northeast.  To sum up the trip: it began with our plane getting delayed and not arriving to Boston until 2AM the first night.  My bag got lost, which led to no sleep because we had to go back to Logan to get the bag.  Colin's grandmother's house (our place of stay the first few nights) got sold right before we left, found alternative places to stay which led to strange encounters with awkward B&B owners.  Rain, rain & more rain, which caused us to eat, drink & eat some more.  Whale watching cancelled, rescheduled but still no whales.  Immense fog & rain in Acadia.  Heard Acadia has some of the most beautiful views in the country, maybe next time?!  Different bed every night & cold & wet the entire 10 days.  That pretty much sums it up.  And don't confuse my sarcasm with negativity.....

"View" from the top of Cadillac Mtn in Acadia Nat'l Park

While the paragraph above sounds like Clark & Ellen Griswold were running our vacation, as the plan slowly fizzled day by day Colin & I said screw it!  No more plan, we will do whatever we feel like!  I definitely was a little bummed about not hiking, running or kayaking but you know what?  For the first time in a LONG time I chilled out!  I got 2 runs in during the 10 days (in between rain fall), and I let my body rest!  We ate great food, including so much lobster you could barf & sampled every craft brewery in the Northeast! AMAZING!  10 days of lack of structure did not kill me, neither did lack of activity.  We conformed to the surroundings & had a phenomenal time with each other.  

Allagash brewery tasting!

Being flexible is not one of my strong points, never has been.  But this trip allowed me to feel that it is possible to be flexible and not die.  The old saying "you can't change the weather," was the motto during this trip and it was true.  So what if all the trails are closed in Acadia, you can still enjoy the ride with your significant other & appreciate the surroundings.  This trip was a sign from somewhere that I needed a break!  Prior to the trip I had been working my regular full-time job, a couple weekends, was/am seeing several patients privately, & was still keeping up the regular work out routine!  Talk about spreading yourself to thin.  No wonder my passion of blog writing took a backseat these past couple weeks.  The universe was definitely saying "Ashley slow down, you are going to hurt yourself."  If the universe doesn't intervene I don't slow down, so thank you world!

lobstah rolls! yum!

Now after the 10 day road trip it is back to reality.  I am back into a kitchen renovation (which obviously is having complications), work, private patients, exercising & life in general.  No more weekends working though I took the hint that I needed a break.  Although I'm back to the real world (really happy to be back too :)  )I am trying to keep in mind how flexible I was on that trip & how life didn't unravel in front of me.  Maybe feeling stressed & trying to plan everything isn't the right thing all the time?  Maybe I need to take a piece from my own blogs and be practical about what can be accomplished in 24 hours?  Things will always find a way to get done.  Practical & flexible.......that's my take away from our crazy but amazing trip to Maine.







Check out some of the pics below of our chronicles through New England!  Side note, you may notice my outfit is the same in about every picture, no these weren't all on the same day.  In fact I was freezing and that was the best I could do.

Allagash brewery tasting & tour

Oysters!!!

freezing in Acadia

lobstah mac n cheese

more lobstahhhh

My second run in Burlington, VT

Wedding #2. Gorgeous setting!

Thank me.

I started my day this morning with a hot power yoga class at my favorite studio.  I figured what better way to start a relaxing Sunday, especially after attending an all-day beer fest yesterday.  Sweat it out!  The teacher this morning was new to me, but he maintained the same message that this specific studio preaches, "Love yourself."  That got me thinking that this message could be an excellent Sunday blog post.

The theme of love yourself, while cliche, is very appropriate for the average adult.  We spend very little time loving who we are and double the time critiquing who we are not.  This is true on a mental, physical, and professional level.  "I'm not skinny," "I don't make as much money as I want to," "I can't believe I said that, I'm so dumb."  The negativity is contagious & rampant in our lives.  What happened to being grateful for who we are?  If you can't love yourself, how are you every going to be happy in your life?  Think about the things that matter, "I am employed," "I am healthy," and "I'm a good person."  These are thoughts which help cut out the fluff that so often brings us down.

As I entered into my late 20s, I found myself being less occupied with those superficial negative thoughts.  In my early 20s I would've been consumed with the superficiality of everything, especially looks.  I spent more time critiquing my body & looks then I ever did just enjoying the young care-free look of my early 20s.  It has been an interesting shift.  I find myself being more comfortable in my own skin physically, and cutting out more & more of the drama mentally.  I no longer occupy my thoughts with who said what, or how fat these jeans make me look.  My focus has shifted to enjoying my life & the young professional I have become.  Finding days to hang with my hubby & puppy, run a leisurely pace just to enjoy the weather, or get exactly what I want at a great restaurant not thinking about the calories.  Overall to enjoy the life that I have worked so hard to create is what occupies my thoughts.

Along with loving yourself, my favorite yoga studio ties in another message and that is "thank yourself."  This is something that as adults we NEVER do!  And I mean never!  When was the last time you thanked yourself for simply showing up to work?  NEVER, and you should!  You could've called in sick and skipped that day, but you didn't.  If I had a "light" work out or didn't push myself hard enough I would beat myself up.  Why not just thank yourself for simply getting in a work out?  You could've skipped it all together.  Hence the title of this blog thank me.  It's time for us adults to start being grateful to the person who keeps it all together, me!  This message during my yoga class really resonates with me and I find myself happier for it.  If I'm having a bad day at work, or had a very complicated patient, instead of going to negative town I spin it around & say "Thanks, Ashley, for dealing with that complicated patient you did a great job."  Thank yourself for doing the laundry, thank yourself for eating healthy, thank yourself for that treat of ice cream, thank yourself for finishing that stupid project your boss made you do.  It doesn't matter what it is, but you should be grateful to yourself for the things you do every day.  This week I want all of us to try and not only love ourself, but be thankful for the little things we do that make us who we are.  I promise that it will help you enjoy your life more & help you to feel a little more confident in your own skin!  It's a new month, start this month off being a little more thankful & loving to the most important person in your life, ME!