FitWorks Burbank

Today’s tip for how to make your workout fun💯:
𝘿𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙. Those types of goals never last. Instead, make your goals enjoyable. We consistently do what we enjoy, so find any way possible to make your goal more fun. Find ways to bring variety into the repetitive aspects of achieving your goal. 🎯

📢 We’ll share ideas on HOW to make it fun, next.

One thing that kills a great workout is when you’re ruminating about the past; an argument from earlier, something someone said that rubbed you the wrong way, a mistake you made that you wish you could go back and correct…😫

We can all relate to turning these kinds of interactions over in our head, and taking them with us to the next thing in our day.
It can be hard to let go, but letting go, even if temporarily, allows you to be in the moment, focus on the task at hand, and even return to the issue with a fresh perspective and better solution! 🤔

When you enter the gym, try these 3️⃣ techniques for “𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 ‘𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿” 👇

1️⃣ Before you get out of your car to go to class, set an intention for your workout. Something like, “𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧” is an example. Intention-setting helps with directing your focus towards what is supportive of your goals.

2️⃣ Before you open the door to the gym or enter the building, imagine all the stress, worries, concerns and problem-solving falling off of your body as glass. As the glass hits the floor, it breaks into a million pieces and you leave the shards behind. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵-𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥.

3️⃣ Write down the issue or situation that’s bothering you on a piece of paper. Set the piece of paper aside and say “𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸- 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.” This physical act of setting aside a worry or thought prevents it from distracting you during your workout, and provides temporary relief.

The average person needs 𝟳-𝟵 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, but athletes in training may need more! 🥱😴
Sleep has been proven to increase mental sharpness, speed and reaction time in athletes. Sufficient sleep, and rest play into fat loss and of course muscle gain. 💪

So this is a friendly reminder to plan ahead to get those Zzzs tonight, tomorrow, and the day after and the day after…. 😴

Your 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐀𝐛𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬 (or TVA) runs from your ribs to the front of your pelvis. It’s a VERY important muscle, but it gets overlooked, literally, because it lies underneath your re**us abdominis (the layer of abs that forms a “4-pack” or 6-pack) and your obliques.

Think of your TVA as the employee who does great work, comes up with the best ideas, makes the company millions, but doesn’t get the recognition. If we go along with that story for metaphor, then your Re**us Abdominis is like the manager who gets all the credit and promotion! 🧑🏻‍💼
Change that story and give your TVA some love! 💓
Here’s how you can better understand and strengthen your TVA!

“🅱🆁🅰🅲🅸🅽🅶” is one way to strengthen your TVA, and train it to be activated along with other core muscles.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲:
1️⃣ Take a deep breath into your belly. Retraining your breathing takes reps, so be patient. The goal is to 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙧𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩.
2️⃣ Place one hand on the front of your abdomen and one on the side. Both should feel extended. If your obliques have not expanded, try again.
3️⃣ Create tension in your abdominal muscles, pushing them outward. “Prepare for a punch in the abdomen” is a useful cue.

That’s it; your TVA is activated. As simple as it seems, proper bracing takes practice. Work on Step 1 before progressing to the abdominal expansion.

👁‍🗨 Watch out for the next post on training your Transverse Abdominis

Humans are unique compared to other species in that they can realize that they 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 a mind, but that 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 their mind. 🤔
As a human, you have the special ability to 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴!
Beyond that, you can change your thoughts at will! 😏

It’s a pretty cool feature of being human, and it's one thing Sean Webb talks about in his book, “𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀”. 📖

Webb’s research shows that people can set themselves free from the “equation of happiness”, and that we do not need to 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 in order to be happy.

We do not need goals to ACHIEVE happiness, but rather can be happy, and ALSO set goals. 🎯

How many times have you heard of someone achieving their biggest goal, only to say, “Is this it?”. When they get to “the finish line”, their sense of happiness is not improved, and they wonder why.

Psychological strength is largely about understanding happiness, and conditioning our minds to experience it often through our own will, regularly.

Stay tuned for more 😉

“𝐁𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐬. 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.”

Being vulnerable literally means being susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm. 🤕

Bravery and Courage, then, is not about gaining certainty that you will win, walk away unscathed, attain perfection, or get it right the first time– Bravery and Courage is about knowing the risks, the likelihood of imperfection, willing to learn from the process- and with that understanding taking action.
𝙋𝙖𝙪𝙡𝙤 𝘾𝙤𝙚𝙡𝙝𝙤, lyricist and author of The Alchemist, with his many words of wisdom, also says this:

“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦; 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵. 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺.”

Glutes do A LOT- we can all get behind that (no pun intended!) and agree that without strong, functional, flexible glutes, your athleticism suffers and even worse, you’re prone to injury!🦿

Since strong glutes means strong hips, if you neglect your hip strength, you are only limiting your athletic potential. ⚠️

As you know, there are 𝟒 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 which make up the largest muscle group in your whole body as a whole:

1️⃣ The gluteus maximus (the biggest muscle in the human body!) which helps the hip joint in extension, external rotation, abduction and adduction of the thigh.
2️⃣ The gluteus minimus is a small deep, triangular muscle which works closely with the gluteus medius on the hip joint. It helps you tilt your pelvis!
3️⃣ The gluteus medius helps to abduct the thigh or cause internal rotation of the thigh. It also helps you stay upright and balanced.

The tensor fasciae latae is very important to this group as well- what would a quick search of your own show you?

👉 Give these a try:
🔶 Can you feel each muscle group activated by these respective exercises?
🔸 Glute Bridge or Donkey Kicks
🔸 Lying Hip Abductions or Side Plank Pulses
🔸 Monster Walks (banded side-steps), or Side-Lying Clam Shells

High Jumper 🅰🅻🅸🅲🅴 🅲🅾🅰🅲🅷🅼🅰🅽 made history at the 1948 Olympics in London when she leaped to a record-breaking height of 5 feet, 6 and 1/8 inches in the high jump finals to become the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal.🥇

Back in her homeland of Albany a tribute was prepared for her, but the auditorium was segregated; the mayor, who was white, refused to shake her hand, and she had to leave the ceremony of which she was the star through a side door.

She was often denied the opportunity to train for or compete in organized sports events, so Coachman improvised and ran barefoot in fields or on dirt roads, using old equipment to improve her high jump.🤸‍♀️

Alice Coachman shows us that anything is possible, even when the odds are stacked against us. She is the epitome of grit, grind, and grace. 🤩

No matter what stands in your way, push forward and focus on making it happen! 💪

Let’s be real- a 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙥 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨 is never boring when you have such a mix of people. Working out alone, day after day, would get flat and redundant. Without a group, we’re less likely to be as consistent or challenge ourselves. 😟

Group-work is built into our wiring as humans, because of our social instinct and need to feel seen and part of the group, which is why we love our classes. 👯‍♀️👯

Your peers offer a fun way to stay healthy and fit, and we all motivate each other whether we do it on purpose or not! 🙌

Keep up the great team work everyone. 🤗
See ya in class! 👋

Whether you are doing KB Swings, 5 reps of Hang Power Cleans, or going for a 1RM, we gotta talk about Visualization before setting out to accomplish your ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛʟɪꜰᴛɪɴɢ Level. 🏋🏽‍♀️
Sport Psychology has already proven to us that imagery and visualization is a worthwhile skill for any athlete to use. 👏

◾️ Your brain cannot tell the difference between real and imagined (kind of like how a funny memory can make you laugh as if it’s just happened, or a sad thought can make you very sad, without anything actually changing in your external world- your brain can change your emotions and make you believe the visual is very real)

◾️ Consider, before going for your WL Assessment, closing your eyes, breathing through your nose slowly, and imagining a perfect ex*****on. Do the rep(s) in slow motion in your mind, then do the rep(s) a few more times in real-time.
◾️ Imagine and feel what it’s like to accomplish that Level.

Visualization in sports or mental imagery is a way of conditioning for your brain for successful outcomes. The more you mentally rehearse your performance, the more it becomes habituated in your mind.🧠

👊 Get it!