How to assist your body in moving better and feeling better, even if only temporarily.
How To Get The Most Out of Working Out From Home - 6 Steps for Success
Let’s be honest, the new reality is that we’re all working out from home these days, whether that’s by choice or state mandate. Take the time to apply these pro tips to make the most of your at-home workouts and build habits that will last you beyond quarantine.
While some of us might always prefer working out at home due to time limitations, schedule, family obligations, the desire for privacy, etc, others might just be making this choice due to the current restrictions and their favorite community facilities being closed. Whatever your reason, the truth is that we all still need to move to keep ourselves healthy, both physically and mentally. And even though working out from home can be convenient and efficient, there are often challenges that arise that we might not have on our radar. Follow these recommendations and you’ll create WoFH (workout from home) habits that’ll leave you feeling like a new human.
Dedicate a specific space for your movement
It might be nice to have a dedicated home gym but realistically, that’s not possible for most of us. Especially if you’re living in a studio apartment in Manhattan. Luckily, all you really need is enough space to lay down a mat and spread your wings. This might mean sliding your coffee table or couch out of the way, and that’s ok! Currently, I have a couch in my dining room ;). Designating a part of your home to use as your dedicated fitness space is a sure way to keep you coming back for more. You’ll waste less time creating a space each time you’re ready to move, you’ll have all that you need in one spot, and your brain and body will begin to recognize this space as a distraction-free zone to move and breathe. Keep this space clean and clear of clutter to help remove any barriers when it comes time for your next workout.
Minimize distractions
Remove all the barriers that may potentially interrupt your workout or ultimately put it to a complete halt. Put your phone and computer in another room if possible, or place them in airplane mode if your workouts are digital so you can be focused and committed without distraction. Let family members know you’ll be taking some personal time to take care of yourself and ask if they can leave you be..
Set a Schedule
Find the best time for you and stick to that routine. Working out from home when you’re working from home might sound convenient, but in reality, this flexibility can often times make it more challenging to prioritize activity. To keep yourself committed, schedule your workouts into your calendar just as you would any meeting, and keep the time consistent. The best place to start if you’re new to working out from home is first thing in the morning. Once your day actually begins, there’s often too many distractions fighting for your attention like computers, iphones, couches, meetings, snacks, happy hour, and the TV. Morning routines can be as simple as a 5-10 minute Morning Breathwork Practice to clear and energize your mind or a Mindful Movement Routine to get your body moving and grooving. If mornings aren’t your thing, schedule a quick lunchtime workout like this 30 minute Feel Good Flow. Getting in quality daily movement doesn’t require a ton of time and if scheduled in during the mini pockets throughout your day, I bet you’ll find you have greater productivity at work and more energy for those other things that are important for your overall health and wellbeing.
Order some basic equipment
While you can get a fantastic workout in using just your body, it can be helpful to have a few staples to enhance the quality of those workouts and to help take it up a notch and make necessary progressions as things get easier. First and foremost, a yoga mat is one of the most widely used pieces of equipment for yoga and stretching and a bonus that it protects your floors and prevents the neighbors below from getting angry in the middle of your high intensity workout. (Manduka Mat Pro is my go-to, but there are plenty of other options). In regards to weights, you can create your own weights and equipment using various household items such as chairs, stairs, water jugs, suitcases, backpacks, and small children, but if you’re looking to pick up a few pieces, I typically recommend one lighter weight for upper body work and one heavier weight for lower body work. Here is a list of my top recommended equipment for home use. (*please note many items are out of stock or low during this time. If there’s something you need or can’t find, please let me know and I may have an additional resource for you). Update: This website still has some kettlebells left in stock or at least the ability to get them soon - order as soon as you can!
Set a goal
Setting a reasonable challenge for yourself can keep you motivated, hold you accountable, and keep you pushing forward each day . This might be aiming to get in 20 minutes of movement five days a week, doing 5 minutes of breathwork every night before bed to help with your sleep, or building your strength up to do a full pushup or pull-up by adding one extra rep of an exercise that complements that goal each day. What’s even more important though, is that we’re setting goals to do things we actually enjoy doing. If you don’t enjoy it, it’s highly unlikely you’ll stick to the plan. Continuously setting small achievable goals of movements that leave you feeling good keeps motivation high as you improve on your journey.
Find a program or coach for guidance
In addition to creating the time and dedicated space for exercise, two of the most common hurdles for maintaining a home workout program are motivation and accountability. We all need someone to hold us accountable for reaching our goals, myself included. Find a friend to schedule virtual workouts with, join an online challenge, or hire a coach to create a customized program just for you that you’ll be more likely to stick to. If you like strength training, download a fitness app like the Nike app, Aaptiv, or Obé for virtual classes. If you’re more of a cardio lover, order a trainer for your bike, hop on the Peloton bandwagon if that’s within your budget, or head outside for a socially-distanced run or ride. Whatever you prefer, just keep moving.
Move anywhere and move often.
Working out from home can be convenient, efficient, and effective, and at the same time pose many challenges. Taking the time to create a designated workout space, minimizing any possible distractions, setting a schedule and a routine you can stick to, ordering some basic equipment, set realistic and fun goals, and finding a program or coach that holds you accountable to those goals can significantly improve your success in maintaining a routine in the comfort of your own home.
Why train barefoot?
I’m a sucker for a sleek and minimal athletic shoe. After all, the footwear industry claims they’ll make you run faster, lift heavier and crush your next workout.
I choose mine purely based on lightness, comfort, and color (black, just like everything else I own).
My current pair got me stopped in the grocery store. ‘Excuse me, where’d you get your shoes?' (obviously Nike..) After asking if I liked them for my workouts, I felt the urge to expand on why I don’t train in them which led to a conversation around the concept of barefoot training in the middle of the milk aisle.
Have you seen those people in the gym working out without their shoes on and wondered why they would do something so unsanitary? There is a reason.
One of the first things I assess in people is how well their body moves, especially the ankles, feet, and toes and in turn, assess what response happens up the chain as they go through a movement pattern. If you were to poke your head into any one of my training sessions, every single client is doing some sort of work barefoot at some point during their session, if not the whole thing.
WHY SHOULD YOU TRAIN BAREFOOT?
Your feet are the FOUNDATION for your entire body and are rich with 100,000 little nerve endings that are the very first sensory input to the brain for your movement which provides feedback on your alignment and body positioning. It is the one body part that connects you to the ground and transmits force and energy to the rest of the body…all. day. long. Yet, we rarely pay attention to them. We shove (and sometimes squish) them into shoes and go about our day. The majority of shoes eliminate the work that our feet are meant to do which encourages us to compensate in our movements leading to weakness in the muscles, tendons, and ligaments along with a decrease in mobility. You might be surprised at how little connection you might have!
How well do your feet move?
First, try this:
Sit down on a chair or the floor and hold your shin stable with both hands. With your shoes off, flex your foot as much as you can and take your ankle into the biggest, most controlled, slow clockwise circle you can and then reverse directions. Is it smooth? Are there jumpy or crunchy sections? Do the arches of your feet or toes feel like they want to cramp? Try your other foot, too.
Next, try this: Stand up tall with your socks off. While keeping the base of your big toes, base of your pinky toes and heels firmly planted into the ground like a tripod, can you:
Press your outer four toes down and actively lift ONLY your big toe up as high as you can without the other toes following or rolling to the outside of your feet? Be honest.
Press the big toes down and lift the outer toes up simultaneously without letting your big toe lift or letting your feet roll in?
Lift all your toes up and tap and press ONLY the big toe down?
Keep your big toes lifted and tap your outer 4 toes down?
And can you lift all toes up, spread them wide and slowly piano your toes back down from pinky toe to big toe in a controlled manner?
So… do you have access to the intrinsic muscles of your feet? These muscles affect how the rest of the body moves. It’s all connected.
Start small.
Don’t just go get rid of your shoes and do all your activities barefoot. There IS a time and place for them and I recommend you start small. Gradually increase your intensity and duration of being barefoot. That may mean you start simply with spending more time barefoot around the house.
Depending on the amount of time you currently spend barefoot, your feet may be sore as you introduce this work and they start waking up. And depending on the mobility of the nearby joints (ie: ankles), you may need to wear shoes in certain loaded exercises while working on improving that particular joint mobility before attempting barefoot while load bearing.
Start with just the warm up or perhaps just a few of the exercises in your workout and gradually build from there.
Keep your shoes ON for high intensity work, running, jumping, etc, unless you’ve already built your way up to that.
And when you’re home, always go barefoot or wear socks, and avoid solid-soled slippers or shoes.
When you can begin to engage your feet actively with the floor, you’ll start to see a greater connection to the rest of the body, improved body mechanics and injury mitigation.
Note: training barefoot all the time is not for everyone. I encourage you to get familiar with the strength and mobility in your feet, ankles, and toes and go from there. Start slow and listen to your body. Begin with movements where both feet are planted and continuously monitor your form and alignment.
Let me know…
Have you tried training barefoot? What other adjustments have you made to your training to support your mobility and mind-body connection? Share your favorite tips in the comments below — others in the community might benefit from your training tips!
Come connect with me on Instagram @running_with_forks
Do you have any questions about barefoot training not answered in this post? Comment below or send me a note so I can continue to add information to answer your questions.
Travel Survival Guide
Simple Strategies For Staying Active And Healthy On Vacation
Holidays and travel in general can be a challenging time to maintain consistency with your health and wellness. However, it can be easier than you think to maintain all the great progress you’ve been making at home with a few subtle shifts. So much of your success when getting thrown off your daily routine comes down to mindset, how you approach your travel, and having a plan. And you know I am ALL about balance. Use this guide to stay active and healthy over the holidays, on your next business trip, or your next vacation.
PLAN TO MOVE DAILY
Move daily – but don’t stress about your normal routine. Just choose activities that require movement. Moving for shorter bouts more frequently is more important than getting in long workouts.
This movement can be a family activity like a hike, or taking advantage of walking and exploring a city.
If you know you won’t be that active on certain days, plan to get up an extra 20 minutes earlier and get a quick full body workout in before you start the day.
(DOWNLOAD THESE BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS)
Build time into your travel schedule – and let whoever you are traveling with know ahead of time so the expectations are set in advance.
Don’t forget to PACK YOUR WORKOUT CLOTHES.
SET YOUR NUTRITIONAL MINDSET
Think ahead and make a few simple preparations to set your nutritional mindset for your trip.
Think of what to “ADD” to your meals rather than what to eliminate. Make sure to incorporate greens and protein at every single meal and fill in the rest as desired. Eating foods with little nutritional value, meals lacking balance, or too little water can throw your body completely out of whack, causing bloating, constipation, and digestive issues.
Base your approach to food on respect for your body and how food makes you feel. Vegetables, high-quality protein, and fiber-rich whole grains fuel your body and give you sustaining energy that leaves you feeling good.
Yes, there are definitely foods that are just simply delicious and pleasurable — and you are on vacation and life is meant to be celebrated. Duh. No one wants to be told not to eat pasta in Italy or that slice of pumpkin pie for breakfast. Live your life, fuel your body well, and remove the guilt from your thought process. It’s ok to indulge, it all comes down to finding balance in the day to day.
HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE
Drink plenty of water, especially mid-flight or staying at a high-altitude destination where air is dry and dehydration can cause jet lag and altitude-related illnesses.
Bring a water bottle with you to the airport and fill it up after you get through security and before boarding your flight. Drink the entire thing. Yes, I want you to get up and use the restroom. You can use that time to stretch your legs. And if you can, try to avoid alcohol mid-flight as well as those salty snacks.
And drink before meals and snacks to help prevent over-consuming.
IN-FLIGHT TIPS
Be prepared and pack your own snacks that fall in line with your current eating since healthy options may not always be available. Pack along nuts, fresh fruit, Rx protein bars, nut butter packets, collagen protein packets, greens powder packets, oatmeal cups, etc.
RELAX — Take a few minutes to do deep belly breaths in your seat to calm the nervous system and bring about relaxation. Bring one hand onto your belly and close your eyes. Take a deep breath in and expand your belly into your hand, feeling your ribs expand and your low back press toward the seat. Pause when you are full. Slowly exhale the breath out until you are empty, drawing the navel in and up and pause. Repeat for 2 minutes.
STRETCH — Being stuck on a plane or in a car for an extended period of time can leave muscles feeling tight and achy. Book an aisle seat so you can get up frequently and do these stretches or do them right in your seat. Make it a goal to get up once an hour to do a full body stretch and be the person in the back of the plane stretching their legs, back and shoulders. Your body will thank you — everyone else will be envious.
Seated Figure 4 — Cross right ankle over left knee and sit up tall to lift chest while tilting your tailbone back behind you to anteriorly tilt the pelvis and enhance the stretch. Hold for 30-60 seconds and switch sides.
Eagle Arms Shoulder and Upper Back Stretch — Sit up tall in your seat and hook right elbow underneath left elbow and cross forearms to clasp hands. Squeeze forearms together as you draw shoulders down away from ears and lift fingertips up towards ceiling while dropping chin down. Hold for 30 seconds and switch sides.
Seated Trunk Rotations — Sit up tall in the middle of your seat and turn your torso to the right to place both hands on the armrest, keeping hips forward. Hold spinal twist for a few deep breaths and repeat on the other side.
Ankle Circles — Lift right foot off the floor slightly and keeping leg still, draw the largest clockwise circle that you can with your toes and repeat 5 rotations before switching to counterclockwise and then switch ankles.
Neck Circles — Engage your core and sit up tall. Keeping your torso and shoulders still, draw your chin down towards your chest, turn/rotate your chin towards your right shoulder, draw right ear towards right shoulder, extend neck back and around until left shoulder moves towards left ear, drop chin down towards shoulder and rotate back to neutral and reverse direction. Repeat twice in each direction.
Forward Fold — hinge at your hips and fold forward, hanging and holding opposite elbows. Relax shoulders, neck, and low back and take a few deep breaths.
Hip Flexor Stretch — Stand with left foot forward and right foot back about 2 feet apart with toes pointing forward. Tuck pelvis under into a posterior tilt, engage abdominals and gently shift hips forward slightly as you reach up through the right arm as high as you can. Repeat movement for 5-10 repetitions and switch sides.
POST-FLIGHT TIPS
Getting in a short and easy full body workout when you arrive at your destination has been proven to reduce fatigue and jet lag. A post-flight workout that falls within 24 hours of flying should be on the mellow side and purely just to bring movement and energy into the body. Think gentle mobility movements to warm up, 4-5 easy bodyweight exercises and a few stretches and belly breathing to cool down.
HEALTHY TRAVEL RECAP:
Move daily
Eat protein and greens at every meal
Hydrate
Pack healthy snacks
Drop the guilt and enjoy yourself
Stretch on the plane
From Dysfunctional to Functional Breathing
Master your breathing technique to unlock your body and enhance your overall well-being.
We all breathe. But the problem is, most of us do not breathe properly. And few people understand the impact improper breathing has on mobility, strength, power, and overall health. Correcting and realigning with the proper breathing biomechanics that we were designed for can improve not only our workouts, but our overall wellness and daily life. (Big statement, I know, but it’s absolutely true.)
FIRST — Are you a nose breather or a mouth breather?
Self Check — observe right now, in this very moment, whether you are breathing through your nose or your mouth. Now observe, without changing, whether your breaths are shallow and short, or long and deep.
MOUTH BREATHER: If you noticed you’re breathing primarily through your mouth, it’s important to work on shifting back to your natural inclination you were born with — to nose breathing.
BIOMECHANICS:
Mouth-breathing causes blood vessels in the nose to become inflamed and enlarged.
This, unfortunately, can lead to disruptions in sleep and sleep apnea, increases in stress and blood pressure, overeating, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and a decline in overall health and well-being.
NOSE BREATHER: As humans, we are naturally designed to breathe through our noses from birth. It’s the way we’ve evolved, it’s our built in filtration system is an intentional and functional part of our body’s design to keep us safe and healthy.
BENEFITS:
Breathing through your nose has many benefits to your survival that include temperature control by warming the air coming into your lungs, filtering of debris and toxins and reducing your risk of infection and colds, humidifying or moisture-balancing the body, smelling to detect harmful toxins in the air and in food, and a very important one including it’s ability to smell pheromones, perspiration and other odors that help you find a partner.
SECOND — Are you a chest breather or belly breather?
Self Check — observe right now, in this very moment, whether your chest is lifting or if your belly is expanding as you inhale. Don’t try to change your breath, just observe it’s natural state. How long did you inhale and exhale for and were the durations of each comparable?
CHEST BREATHER: If you noticed you’re breathing primarily into your chest with a relatively large inhales and a shorter exhales, you are a shallow chest breather, along with 90% of the population. You’re not alone. But we need to change that.
BIOMECHANICS:
Shallow breathing dysfunctionally recruits accessory muscles such as your chest (pectorals), neck (scalenes and sternocleidomastoid), and upper trap musculature to inflate the chest and hold your ribcage in place, which takes your scapulae (shoulder blades) with it. Your body then uses the recoil of these muscles along with a dropping of the shoulders to perform the work of the diaphragm (dispelling air from your lungs).
This, unfortunately, can cause chronic tension, limitations in neck, shoulder and back, and poor posture…all making you more susceptible to injury.
NERVOUS SYSTEM RESPONSE:
Chest breathing has a purpose. It’s intended for our stressed states (like running from a bear!) as it stimulates the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS - aka, our fight or flight response). But when we chest breathe in what is supposed to be our relaxed state, we in turn trigger that same stress response.
If you’re someone who spends excess time living in a sympathetic state (anxiety, high stress, lack of sleep, overtraining), you are adding unnecessary stress to your body which ultimately, is shaving years off your life.
BELLY BREATHER: This is how we are meant to breathe. Yay, you. But so often we get pulled out of this pattern from either the stress mentioned above, postural changes from poor lifestyle habits, previous injuries, or trying to hold our bellies in all day long.
BIOMECHANICS AND NERVOUS SYSTEM RESPONSE:
Belly breathing relies on your diaphragm, intercostal muscles, internal obliques, and transversus abdominis (TVA), activating our Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) and shifts us into a relaxed state which optimizes our body for rest, recovery, and digestion.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT:
Our ability to fully expand and contract the belly on our inhales and exhales increases lung capacity, improves sleep, digestion, and overall health and wellness, ensures a healthy relationship with the pelvic floor, deep core musculature, and diaphragm. (Postpartum ladies, get on this one), and gets our bodies moving properly. Contrary to what many people believe, core strength isn’t just about holding in our core and keeping our abs tight. The diaphragm is the king of the core.
From Dysfunctional Breathing to Functional Breathing:
The best place to start if you’re trying to re-learn or re-wire your breathing mechanics is through awareness. Start paying attention throughout the day and catch yourself when you are breathing through your mouth or sitting with poor posture and breathing into your shoulders and chest. If you feel comfortable and ready, it is possible to correct the mechanics of mouth breathing by pressing low-adhesive paper tape, such as 3M Micropore, lightly over your mouth. I would first start with some time set aside during your awake hours to get comfortable and transition to using the tape at night while you are sleeping.
If you are relearning how to breathe a 3-dimensional breath into the belly and ribcage, I recommend beginning in a prone position (on your belly). Once you’ve mastered breathing in all four directions on your belly (see below — belly into the floor, ribs laterally out to the sides, low back to the ceiling), you can practice supine/on your back, seated, standing and while walking.
Prone Belly Breathing:
Lay on your belly and make a pillow with your hands to rest your forehead. Focus on deeply inhaling and exhaling through your nose (you can exhale through your mouth but consistently breathe in through the nose) with a 4-5 count inhale, a 4-5 count exhale, and a 4-5 count hold when empty.
As you Inhale, actively try to expand your abdomen and breathe your belly into the floor as well as breathe laterally into your side waist, as if your waist is an accordion.
As you exhale, slowly let all the breath out with control and feel empty at the bottom of your breath, gently engaging the deep core musculature and holding for 4-5 counts to allow the diaphragm to functionally engage and initiate a proper inhale.
Set a timer for 2 minutes (don’t poke your head up until the timer goes off).
Learn how to breathe properly for improved posture and breathing mechanics.
Practice anywhere and practice often.
Working on breathing mechanics for just two minutes a day can significantly restore mobility and hardwire your body to begin naturally breathing in this way.
And if you’re a mouth breather… breathing through your mouth most often means you’re a shallow chest breather. I like to say that breathing through your mouth is sort of like trying to eat through your nose. (Not really, but, you get the point).