Benefits of Foam Rolling

by Kris Pitcher

If you haven't gotten down on the ground and rolled yourself all over a foam roll you're missing out. There's a reason dogs and cats roll all around on the ground...it feels great! They're also using the dust to get bugs off of them, which incidentally isn't a part of this.

The foam roll is one of the top three pieces of fitness equipment in the most recent IDEA fitness professional survey. I've got one at home and keep one at work too. They come in various shapes and sizes.

When we purchased ours we bought a long one and got out the serrated kitchen knife and cut it in half to make two. It was more cost effective than buying two short ones. Smart me.

Basically, you use your body weight to roll along the foam roll to do "self massage". In the fitness world we're using it for muscle activation (MA) and ART or active release therapy. It's used for soft tissue work of the muscles and tendons.

Using your body weight, you roll a muscle over the foam roll looking for trigger, or tender, points. Rolling decreases muscle density in that area allowing for increased blood flow.

Foam rolling is the poor man's massage. It is a great tool for using post workout as an addition to your stretching, or preworkout. But don't think this is a passive, feel good massage - it's work. You need to be able to get down on the floor and manage and manipulate your body weight over the roll.

Rolling over those trigger points, or tender spots can also be painful - especially at first. I've incorporated foam rolling following my quad workouts, and boy-howdy! That's painful! But I think it's changing the way I'm able to train, and the way my legs are responding.

Try one of the top three pieces of equipment in your routine with foam rolling. And now you know what that cylindrical tube-thing is at the gym.

Five Minute Cardio Program!

by Kris Pitcher

Cardio is an integral component of your program. It's one of your pillars of success as you look to burn fat and make a dent in those unwanted pounds. And you can do it in just five minutes!

Five minutes at a time that is. What I mean by that is breaking it down into increments you can handle. As a beginner, 10 minutes may be all you are able to complete. That's just fine.

Add five more minutes each week. Now, as a progressed athlete, or as a regular exerciser - you may be doing 30 or 45 minutes. Here's where the 5 minute cardio program comes in...it's a trick for your brain.

Can you talk yourself into doing just 5 more minutes? Usually you can. And when that 5 minutes has passed you're thinking, "That wasn't so bad!"

I'd be a liar if I said I loved doing cardio. I love it when my cardio is over. I love the feeling when I've accomplished it, and when I can check it off for the day. I love the fact that I get results from doing it.

But in the moment...I do not love it. I use the 5 minute trick because it works. Before I know it, I've done 25 or 30 minutes. By then I'm on the home stretch. There is no magic to getting it done, but there is magic to coping and making it easier.

Scrimping on your cardio is one of the ways to ensure you aren't making forward progress. It's easy to watch time fly by in increments of time. Try the 5 minute trick and see if you can do just five more. It'll be over before you know it!

Body Confidence

by Kris Pitcher

Raise your hand if you would rather wear a sweat suit than a swim suit right now? Some of us would rather cover up...WAY up!

But when I think about body confidence, I'm not talking about what you're willing to wear. I'm talking about how you feel about your body. Just you.

Do you see yourself as a whole, or in parts? My arms, my thighs, my belly, my butt...or do you see me? Moving forward on the body confidence scale starts with seeing yourself in your entirety, versus compartmentalizing yourself.

If we are just parts and pieces we aren't whole. Confidence comes from being whole, feeling whole. It comes from feeling at peace with our entire self.

Similarly, we don't just focus on one part to "fix". We don't just work chest, or just biceps. We gain body confidence by not only working the things we like to work, but also challenging ourselves to work the part that are hard too.

Being confident in ourselves as a whole helps us direct a certain energy both inward and outward. We project that confidence outward, and we feel grounded in it internally. Confidence is more about being comfortable than conceited.

Body confidence breathes a certain air about it. You can tell when a woman feels confident about who she it, and in her skin. She carries herself differently than someone who doesn't feel that way about herself.

And the same goes for men. A quiet confidence is much more attractive than someone strutting around trying to prove something. Where are you on the body confidence scale? Start by considering how you see yourself.

Begin to build yourself up rather than tear yourself down. Begin by accepting compliments and being gracious about it. Begin by seeing yourself as a whole person with a body you are proud of and love. Body confidence begins with you.

Live Your Dreams!

by Kris Pitcher

They say if you live your dreams you'll never feel like you're working a day in your life. Most people don't live their dreams though. They save their dreams for...later.

They figure they'll live them in retirement, or when things settle down, or when the market recovers. Those things may never happen for any of us. So, why not live your dreams right now?

It's about happiness really. It's about doing the things and creating the life you dream of. If there is something you would love to do. You should do it now.

Sure it's scary to switch directions, to change careers, or to take the big jump and start a business. What ever your dream looks like you can do it. And you should.

People who live their dreams are those people we look at and think - wow, they've got it together! They do have it together because they love what they're doing. What ever it may be, they are loving it.

And wouldn't you love to love it too? I think we should all do more of the things we dream of and less of the things we "have" to do. Is it possible to turn your hobby into a job? Maybe not all at once, but it could happen bit by bit.

The more we follow our dreams the more we live a fulfilling life, one we choose. You don't have to quit your day job. Just consider what your life might look like if you began to follow your dreams. It's somehow freeing just to make those considerations.

You are not bound by anything but your own imagination. Create the life you want by following your dreams. It starts by doing the things that make you happy, the things you love. Don't save it all for "later" start some of it now!

Wardrobe Malfunctions

by Kris Pitcher

Last week I had a number of mornings which included wardrobe malfunctions. Now, my mornings are highly organized, timed events. I'm on a tight schedule, and I don't have time for the items on the hangers not to work out.

The first malfunction came when I tried to incorporate color into my outfit by wearing my light blue sweater. It was a little snug and looked, even with a slightly padded bra, like I'd been in the freezer for an hour. This would not be acceptable.

The second malfunction came another day when I slipped a pair of black slacks (I know) on and they felt like they'd been shrunk by some time-warp machine. I looked at my thighs...looked at the slacks. Not the usual ones in my normal rotation. Not acceptable.

I wish Stacy and Clinton would pluck me off the street and tell me What Not To Wear. Now, I know you should be careful what you wish for. But, I would dutifully try on my wardrobe for them while they crossed their arms and hissed at me.

I would let them tell me to throw it away. I would cringe as they clunked my several pairs of Dansko's into the bin. They would however, let me keep my black boots. That's about the only thing I have worth keeping.

I would let them take me shopping so they could see that indeed, nothing fits me. Pants do not come up over my thighs. The ones which do, have enough room for two people in the waist. Brows would furrow when they tried to slip me into a suit jacket - hmm? She's too wide?

We would try jersey knits and jeans with lycra. Most would be too long, too short, too tight, too loose. They would try dresses that would look disproportionate, and suits that would need extensive tailoring.

Ultimately they might find themselves exhausted at trying to fit me into the industry's standard. They can fit bigger girls, square girls, tom-boy looking girls, even skinny girls...they can fit younger girls, older ladies and those who've dressed "age inappropriate" for years. They've turned hippies, gunnie sack wearers, and all types into fashionistas.

But a fit girl with weekly wardrobe malfunctions? I don't know. I'm certainly not willing to change me or my shape for the clothes. If they don't fit, they don't fit.

I think I'll continue purging what doesn't work for me any more...and maybe I'll get a little better with my sewing machine. Because this fit girl is just getting fitter!

Potassium for Muscle Contraction

by Kris Pitcher

Potassium is one of my favorite micro nutrients to talk about because it's all about muscle contraction. And you know nothing gets me more excited than muscle contraction!

Well, maybe some things do. But nutrition is WAY up there on the exciting scale. Potassium is one of our electrolytes. It helps us regulate fluid and mineral uptake.

Guess what you're not getting enough of? Well, sure there's that...but today we're talking potassium. Most people don't get the U.S. RDA of 4700 mg/day. In fact, most people get less than half.

We all know bananas to be a good source. But did you know that baked potatoes are an excellent source of this power house mineral? Just don't load it up with bacon, butter and sour cream.

Tomato sauce is also an excellent source with 453 mg per 1/2 cup. It's easy to make your own so you are not getting added ingredients like sugar from processed brands, which you can do without.

Eating more fruits and vegetables will help you get enough potassium in your diet. Without this important micro nutrient we experience malfunctions in muscle contraction including cardiac muscle. If you're heart isn't beating...you're in trouble.

Look up your favorite fruits and veggies to see how much potassium you're getting daily. You won't know unless you do a little research on what you're eating. But isn't that the fun part of nutrition?

Who Do You Appreciate?

by Kris Pitcher

Do you remember the last time you did something really great? I mean super, awesome, great? And you waited for someone to notice and recognize you...and you waited, and waited.

No one ever noticed. You felt bad, got grumpy and stomped around a bit with your bottom lip out. When someone asked you what was the matter, you lied and said, "Nothing!"

It stinks to wait around to be appreciated. It's disappinting and it's frustrating. I am suggesting you just quit it. You shouldn't be waiting around for anyone to appreciate you. Ever.

It's part why you go about doing things and part appreciating yourself. We'll start with the why you go about doing things part.

If you do things to please other people, you're waiting for them to appreciate you for having done them. If you just do the things because you are happy to do them, or because doing them makes you happy - you'll never be waiting.

Doing those things will be the happiness. Sure you do things for other people, but not to be noticed for doing them. We do them to make that person's day better, sunnier, smoother. We do them because it makes us feel good.

The second part is appreciating yourself. Waiting for external appreciation which may never come is backward. Appreciate yourself first, love yourself first and what you put out will come back to you.

Our disposition in the way we go about things sets us up to either be eternally disappointed and frustrated, or self-satisfied that we are doing from the heart. No more stomping around for any of us, if I've done something good for you...I've done it for me too. *smile