Spark Nutrition & Fitness

Just walk through the door.
Show up as you are.

You’re enough and full of potential, all at once.

Just gonna add to the chorus of smarter people than me, and remind you all to be smart and safe.

If you find yourself at the gym today, def thank someone on the maintenance crew while you’re there, breathing cool and filtered air.

This Mainer may never fully adjust to Fire Season, but at least I know enough to follow the lead of those who’ve been through this more often than me 😶‍🌫️😷🔥

Yesterday’s MEH lift was the result of too much time between breakfast and the gym, along with not enough attention paid towards hydration.

And my body told me as much - exhaustion when it wasn’t expected, groggy mind, shorter attention span.

Today? RECTIFIED and RESULTS ✨

Leg Day means tackling one of the biggest muscular systems in the human body. Quads, hamstrings, hips, glutes, and all the supportive muscles, tendons, and joint systems therein, working in concert = 🥵

Don’t skip legs.

And you know what?

It worked.

Is covering the basics a replacement for therapy and professional mental health support? No.

Is covering the basics around movement, nutrition, hydration, and recovery going to help the mind do what it needs to do in order to grow and change? Yes.

This is my place in the lives of those I support.
This is also how I lead by example.

Cover the basics. Get the support you need, if needed.

This week has been spent, primarily, watching Charlie, a 14-year old bundle of silver-faced love. His stout little body and daily routines (scaled to his size) have meant a bit of a slow-down for me as well. While I was initially anxious about it, as it’s Sunday, and upon reflecting over the week, this pause and easing of the gas-pedal that is progress/life/forward motion has been, actually, quite good for me. It’s given me the opportunity to deep-dive a bit, where normally I’d be more apt to turn the page and press onward.

Chatting with my clients, opening up with friends a bit more, and catching up on rest, have all made for a restorative week I also didn’t even know I needed.

In a world full of “maxxing” everything, it’s really easy to feel the heavy crush of not being up to speed, doing all the things, nailing all the bullet points, and so on.

Give yourself some grace, my friend. Breathe. Unplug, and take a bit of time to just exist.

Taking the pup for our morning stroll, I couldn’t help but notice all the golden colors in the golden morning light.

Fires to the east are making the light change in the smoke, and thankfully, some containment progress has been reported (huge amount of gratitude to our firefighters and crews doing that incredible and challenging work!)

Pause, notice, and hold gratitude.
It’s such a kinder, wiser way to live 🧡💛

That was a much-needed lift, after a couple of days of relocation and settlement into my next pet-sitting gig. Pup was very happy when I got home, and I feel much better in my body for the work I put into it.

Life happens, and sometimes we have to be a bit more flexible about it. No harm, no foul, manage what you can, and let it be perfect ✨

It’s a peaceful summer morning, and I’m back with an old friend (Charlie!) while his dad is down in SoCal for a couple of weeks. We’ve settled into a routine, had our morning walkies, and are gearing up for a hot day here in Portland. I’m off to Lloyd Athletic Club to work with a client who’s been enjoying their summer as well, and then getting my own lift in too.

Hydrate, watch the air quality out there, and be safe!

Last Tuesday, I pulled a muscle in my lower back. Research into why this may have happened, and looking at my own raw data from my workouts, showed that not only was I overdeveloping my anterior muscles, I have also been relegating posterior work towards the end of the week - when I’m less recovered and more likely to not push my back & posterior chain to where it ought to be, in order to keep muscular balance.

Today’s workout was a step back towards center, and it felt great.