I wish I could take credit for the term soul mate workout.
But, of course, it comes from one of my many incredible health inspirations,
Chalene Johnson. What is a soul mate workout? It’s your favorite, the workout
you absolutely love to do, the program that gives you the best results, the
approach that works for your body, and eases your mind. Find this, and you are
on your way to a healthier, happier you.
An article by another one of my
more recent role models, Tara Stiles, tied into this idea. The piece was called
“Why exercise and burning calories won’t help you lose weight”. A main point I
took away from this was that, if an exercise routine is a source of stress and aggression
to you, stress and aggression will spill over to all other areas of your life. For
example, if you are constantly anxious about getting your workout in when you
really don’t want to, you may eat with more aggression and urgency, as if you
were in that stressful state associated with working out. Not being able to eat
mindfully and calmly could result in overeating and a halt in your physical progress.
In addition, stress in general is associated with weight gain ( a lot of time
in the belly, due to the stress hormone, cortisol). I have just recently dealt
with this myself. I was putting so much emphasis on getting my workouts in,
that it became a source of stress, rather than a source of healing. In
combination with all of the other things on my plate during the semester, my
mind was constantly working saying “ok you need to do this, than that, then
this, than that”. Everything I did flew by. Eating was frantic and rushed. My
heart seemed like it was constantly pounding. It wasn’t exactly the healthiest
state. In her article, Tara emphasizes the importance of cultivating ease in
one’s life, living peacefully, and calmly. Then we can slow everything down, do
what makes our bodies feel good, not feel the need to shovel food into ourselves
all the time, and approach our wellness routines as a positive and healing part of
our life. To me, a big part of being successful in this includes finding your
soul mate workout, along with a few other things. Like everyone, I still am
figuring out the ropes on this, but here is what I have learned so far.
1. Mindset first- Everything starts out with your mindset. In your
everyday activities, try and remain calm. Everything always gets done that
needs to, right? Do not stress about it. Take things one at a time and continue
enjoying every moment of your life. Taking even just a little time in silence
to take a few deep breaths and slow down your racing mind can help with this.
See your exercise and health regimen as an opportunity to have fun, take time
for you, enjoy yourself, and cleanse your body.
2. Find your soul mate
workout- What do you love to do? What do you enjoy? What are you good at?
What gives you results that make you feel fabulous?? Do you love to run? Does
yoga make you feel fantastic? Maybe its training for sports, or swimming , spinning,
zumba? It’s all about finding what works best for you, and finding something
that you look forward to doing every day, something that does not disrupt your
inner ease and peace, but nurtures you even more. For example, I have never
been a natural born runner. Lately, I can conquer a 5k pretty well, but no long
long distance for me. So, I had to experiment with other ways in which I could
get the same physical benefits. I went through an elliptical phase, a biking
phase, and a few yoga phases. Ultimately, I found my soul mate workout, through
the woman who introduced that term, Chalene Johnson. Her Turbofire program gave
me a way to torch tons of calories and transform my body in a way that truly
worked for me. This kickboxing based routine is fueled by positivity, fun
choreography, and great music. I now can easily conquer hour long workouts.
When training for a 5k, I don’t run, I kick box! I figure, if I can do 30
straight minutes of high intensity intervals, or 60 straight minutes of kick
boxing choreo(which is the equivalent to running 6-7 miles), I can run for 3
miles. I could torture myself with crazy
workouts, but I found what is effective and keeps me at ease, and I’m sticking
to it. Everyone is different. Someone’s
torture is another’s relaxation. The key is finding what works, and what you truly
enjoy!! Once you do, use this as the basis of your weekly routine.
4. Lift! One activity
alone (like cardio) will give you results for a while, but ultimately will lead
you to a plateau. It’s important to cross train! Alternate days of high calorie
burning work with work that tones your muscles. Like Chalene says, nothing is
more attractive than muscle. Again, this may take some trial and error.
Depending on one’s fitness goals, different lifting techniques should be used.
For example, a man trying to bulk up will do something much different than a
woman who wishes to be slender and toned. Luckily, there are all the resources
in the world out there to help you in this! Find a program that works for you,
whether it’s from a website, dvd (beach body is great!), or magazine! Invest
some time in mastering correct form for maximum results. Make sure to work all
areas of the body, quads, abductors/adductors, hamstrings, calves, chest, shoulders,
back, biceps and triceps, dedicating different days to different areas. I personally love using free weights and doing exercises that target both the upper and lower body at the same time. Here,
it is definitely easiest to use a routine made by an expert. Hopefully I’ll be
one one day! =)
5. Mix it up!- In both
cardio and lifting, results will start to decrease after a certain amount of
time. Your body gets used to the routine, and wants something new. It’s
important to have variation in some area of your routine. For example, I do the
same few kickboxing dvds in various sequences (the workouts change in intensity
and time). Most of the variation in my workouts comes from my lifting routine.
I use Chalene Johnson’s Chalene Extreme which works perfectly (all her stuff is
available on beach body). The program has 3 different phases. Within each phase
are three different workouts. You repeat the workouts in a phase for 4 weeks
(so each workout 4 times) and then you switch to a new phase. This keeps your
body guessing. I just switched phases and boy am I sore (and I’ve been doing
this for years!). Try and find a routine that has a format similar to this!
5. Stretch- If yoga is a
base workout for you, this is no problem. But for everyone else, stretching is
equally important. I must admit, I have struggled with this. Stretching takes
time, and in a rush it’s tricky to fit in. However, during my small Bikram
hiatus, I realized how wonderful it felt to have a more flexible body.
Everything I do can be done more comfortably and with a greater range of
motion. Muscles will be less prone to injury, and you won’t feel restricted! I
used Bikram as a jump start for this, and will make sure to dedicate myself to some
quality stretch time after each workout.
6. Abs- Throw those in
there about every other day! Try and fatigue those muscles and feel the
soreness the next day.
7. Fuel- So you burned a
ton of calories today with your workout and your metabolism is revved to the
max! Time to pig out right? Wrong. A major mistake people make is assuming they
can indulge because their workout offset any damage for the day. Wrong. As I
mentioned in a previous post, one’s diet is much more influential in one’s
health and well-being than exercise. Without giving your body clean and proper
fuel, your exercise efforts are basically a waste. Sure, you can feel better
about munching on snacks, but make them healthy snacks, and don’t overdo it.
Another quote by Chalene, “your ab work is done in the kitchen”. You can work
those abs all you want, but until you lose the layer of fat covering them, the muscles
will just continue to grow, possibly pushing your stomach out more. Muscles
will not reveal themselves until the excess fat is gone. Easiest way to do
this? Stop eating extra fat, cholesterol, and sugar! Listen to your body. It
wants fuel that will give it energy for the next workout , not that will give
it an extra load to work off. For example, when I was younger, I used to run a
mile downtown to the ice cream shop (about 100 calories). I would then pick up
a chocolate frappe as a reward (about 1000 calories) and walk home. That doesn’t
add up to success does it? No wonder I had such awful endurance in soccer...
Ok, that was a lot!
But,in the end, the key is always stay calm. Find the routine that
becomes a source of positivity in your life. Focus on the rejuvenation you will
feel. Make it work with the rest of your day. With some planning, you can
easily fit in time to get a work out in, and spend time with friends and
family. One should not have to come at the expense of the other. After all, we
take care of our bodies so we can feel fantastic day to day. It isn’t worth it
if we miss out on everyday life obsessing over it! It’s a tricky balancing act,
but it’s very possible with research, and patience.
Your soul mate is waiting for you, go find it!
Be Well.
Love, Julie
