Monthly Goals

Alright. Been a while since I put up a new post and I can't claim this one my own either. It's actually my girlfriends idea, but it fit perfectly with what I talk about a lot, and that is setting goals. Goals are an important part of staying motivated and in previous posted I mentioned setting S.M.A.R.T goals. Now, since working out has been less than plentiful in the month of April my girlfriend decided it would be smart to set "monthly" goals. Goals to follow for just one month, four weeks. It would make sticking to them that much easier. "Workout four days a week for four weeks...it's just four weeks, I can do that easy." That's the idea.

This can be for workouts, nutrition, both, whatever you want. Try it out and let me know how it works for you. Comments always welcome below.

What do you want to know?

Wow! This blog just passed 7,000 views and I've been off my game for a while. As a reminder to my readers...feel free to send me thoughts, comments, questions, or suggestions via the email address located in the "comments" tab.

I'm excited to hear what's on your mind.


What I've been up to:
Now completely moved in and living with my lovely girlfriend in Portland Oregon, I have been on the job hunt since mid January. Curse this economy! On the plus side I've had plenty of time to stay in shape, and no excuse for not writing...

As a first time big city person my sympathy is growing for people living in big cities trying to stay in shape. Thankfully I live next to park, but holy smokes I still don't like going out for runs around here. Me I need a back country road or an empty forest trail. But...My inability to get off the couch and go running has, I think, helped with my bulking goals.

Till next time...

Setting Goals: S.M.A.R.T

Whether it's for working out, losing weight, your career, school, or your everyday life, setting goals is a crucial part of progression and most of us do it without even realizing it. But, seeing as how this is a fitness blog, let's talk about setting goals for your fitness objectives. These goals are going to help keep you motivated and honest about your workout routines.

First off, you need to think about what it is that you want. Do you want to lose fat weight? All weight including muscle? Bulk up? Get cut? Whatever it is, before you start thinking about goals you need to know exactly what you are shooting for.

Setting S.M.A.R.T Goals:

S.M.A.R.T goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.

Specific: This is pretty straight forward but still important. While we will always want to be healthier, that is to broad. How will you be healthier, or stronger? Example: lose 20 pounds.

Measurable: To me, this is the most important and most often left out of peoples goals. Your goal should not simply be to lose weight, because there is no end to that not objective. In the example, lose 20lbs, there is a set destiation that you can measure along the way.

Achievable: Achievable goals are very important, if you don't set a goal that is within reach, you'll know that you will never get there and thus never truely put in the effort. So instead of saying, I'm going to lose 20lbs in 3 days, say, I'm going to lose 20lbs in two months. 3 day...impossible, 2 months, very doable.

Relevant: This seems obvious, but still important. Whatever your goal is, it needs to be relevant to your overall objective. You want to lose weight? Maybe your goal is that you will workout 4 days a week for the next two months.

Timely: Set an end date to your goal. A date to beat. A point where when you get there you either completed your goal or you did not.

While lots of these seem obvious it's still important to go through each letter of S.M.A.R.T when setting goals to help keep you motivated.

It Sucks the Right Amount...

Got to be straight with the readers and general fitness pursuers. There is no easy way. There is, and never will be a get fit quick trick. The only "trick" out there is to find something that sucks just the right amount. Not so bad that you quit, and not bad enough that nothing changes. It has to suck just the right amount. You find something like that and all your left with is hard work. Not saying that those DVDs Beachbody comes out with won't work, they will if you do them. But there is no trick to what they do. They just tell you it works, you believe them, and all of a sudden your losing weight because you're actually doing something for an hour each day. But that's the point, you found something that sucks just the right amount. So if that's what it takes to get you working out on a regular basis then do it!

Whatever you do, do it right, and push yourself. Hard work is the only real trick.

My forearm after a hangboard workout. Climb on.

Know Your Kitchen + One Great Dinner

Want to be healthy? Get to know your kitchen! Your relationship with the kitchen shouldn't be like one of those "friends" you only see when you have to and might be a little scared of because you never know what they'll do next....we all know someone like that. And it's not a pit stop on your way to the TV. Nope, none of that. The kitchen should be your best friend, always there for you before work, the bright sunshine in your morning, and even a cold floor to sit on after a bad breakup. You and your kitchen deserve to take care of each other.

That being said, healthy starts in the kitchen! Workout all week, great, but in the end of the day, the thing that is going to keep you healthy till you're old and grey is your kitchen.

Rethink your kitchen. First off, and a probably the most problematic device to ever enter the kitchen is your microwave. The microwave should be used for two things, warming up leftovers and defrosting meats. It is not for heating up instant meals or, and despite what I thought as a child, not for standing in front of for long periods of time in hopes of gaining superpowers via the minuscule amounts of radiation pumping into my face.....

.....anyways.

Personally, it has taken some time for me to truly understand my kitchen, how to cook, and what to cook. And I'm still learning, always will be. The best way to learn how to cook, and to best understand your kitchen, is to simply get in there and try new things. Open a cookbook, pick a page, and try it out. Do this once a week and you'll be confident home chef in no time.

Here's a little something my girlfriend and I whipped up about a week ago out of my newest cookbook: The Feed Zone... http://feedzonecookbook.com/

This was an Orange Chicken marmalade dish with a Roasted Beets and Greens salad. Hannah also added popped Quinoa to the salad which I think added a great flavor and a necessary crunch to the recipe.

 

 

Hangboard Workout

Been a while since I put up a post for my climber friends. So here it is. Currently I'm in a bit of a rehab phase in my climbing career, trying to get back in the swing of things, get the fingers strong and in shape. Can't afford a gym membership at the time, but that being the case I've been doing lots of light hangboard workouts so that when I get into the gym I don't spend the whole time worried about my fingers.

Last night I go the idea to put a medicine ball on the chair I use to take weight off while working my fingers. Turns out it was a great idea, hence why I'm writing this post.

Here it is:
As seen in the pictures, place a chair about 1-3ft in front of your hangboard and put a medicine ball on top of it. During the course of your workout this is where you'll be putting your feet. The medicine ball is great because it takes weight off while still forcing you to activate your core for stability. It's one of the most realistic workouts I've ever done for climbing.

From here on out you can do any variation of finger exercises. For my workout I start by getting a good warm-up and continuing that into the workout by spending 20 sec on the crimps and slopers, avoid the jugs. Move your hands around as much or as little as you like and try not to use the jugs unless you absolutely must. I do the same thing for 30 sec. and then again for 1min. Take a break and stretch out your fingers and forearms.

From here on out add 30sec to each round. 1min 30sec, 2min, 2min 30sec, 3min....and so on. Continue this workout until you are forced to use the jugs for a rest. At that point do at least one additionally round at whatever time you made it to.

Remember to keep you feet on the ball at all times and feel free to move it around as much as you like just don't let your feet come off.