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So, just to get the ball rolling, I want to acknowledge a few people out there who have been working really hard to get started on their fitness journey, or to complete the first step! These guys are kicking butt and deserve a huge round of applause! In that spirit, I want to extend my Congratulations to:

Nate and Tim who just finished their first p90x cycle in the past week and are reaping the benefits of lower body fat, higher muscle, and all around improved health! I also want to congratulate my brother, Colin, who is finishing up Insanity in the next 2 weeks! He is very proud of his emerging six pack.

I also want to make a special shout-out to Carol (AKA Sel),a good friend of mine who, a year and a half ago, was struggling with being 400 lbs at 24, and having to wear a heart rate monitor because her doctors were afraid she would have a heart attack. Relying on motorized scooters to get around long distances, and being unable to stand up for the length of a shower was rock bottom for Carol, and she knew, something had to change. Thanks to a steady workout plan and a complete revolution in her diet in January of 2009, Carol has lost an amazing 175 lbs!

She has gone from a size 32-34, to a 18-20, and she is now 50 lbs from her target weight and ready to kick up her activity level with Chalene Johnson and TurboJam! Carol’s progress is incredibly inspirational, and a big CAN-DO example for all of you out there who might be struggling. Do you think you’re so far gone you can’t recover? Wrong! Anything is possible, and Carol is living proof! If you want to stop by and wish Carol well, or to read about her journey, you can go here: The Fangirl Diet Plan.

Now that we’ve given acknowledgment to some well deserved achievements, I would like to say good luck to a few of my friends who are just starting out! So, best of luck to the following people; you will be where you want to be in no time!!

Brian and Jin who are getting with with Tony, as they are starting P90X, Ali who has kick started a fitness regime for herself, Fry , who is getting started with some Ten Minute Trainer. (Keep up with Fry here!) Dakota is also working with the Ten Minute Trainer, as a means to help exercise and get into better health to combat her problems with lupus. (Here’s Dakota!)

Also, best of luck to My Dad! He’s working through Insanity with the rest of us. And last but not least, my mom who is finally feeling well enough to exercise again.

Are you starting out and want to be included on this list? Do you have a recent fitness achievement that you want to share? Want to trade blog links for the side bar? Post it in the comments and I will get back to you!

With all the motivation  spirit going around now, I’m compelled to share my goals with you all as well. Now that I have finished with my schooling for the semester, I will be continuing my Insanity/P90X hybrid doubles program, and introducing a more consistent 3rd workout with Brazil Butt Lift, or a visit to the gym!

I am 100 days away from my 21st birthday trip to Las Vegas, and its time to get cracking for optimum results!

‘How do you keep track, or stay conscious of overcoming the bilateral bias?’

My answer is ridiculously simple: I have a workout calendar posted on my wall, and each week starts with a big ‘RIGHT’ and ‘LEFT’ printed on it. For a whole week, I start with the same side: either I am going with what is said on the video, or going opposite to whatever Shaun and Tony says. It makes it fairly easy to remember!

Any other suggestions?

P.S – This is my last post until the end of exams on April 26th. Truthfully, this one only got written while I was taking notes in the classroom! I hope new readers will be entertained by what I have posted for the time being, and in 2 weeks from today, I will have something fantastic to post!

Also, for anyone interested in Brazil Butt Lift – I gave some a try last night and wow. I had been totally discouraged by Cardio Axe, but I have to hand it to the rest of the program- its excellent!

Thanks so much to Tryggtorkel for such an awesome piece of work!

Let me know what you think!

We give ourselves so many excuses, to justify skipping a workout:

“I’m too tired.”
“I have cramps/a headache.”
“I worked twice this week.”
“One day doesn’t matter.”
“I’m too busy, I don’t have the time.”
“I ate healthy today, I’m covered.”

And even as we make these excuses, we know they are weak, and lazy. We know they are detrimental to our goals, we know that later on, we’ll feel guilty and regret not making the effort…. and still, it can be really hard to get up and get started! Our mental resistance will provide a thousand procrastinating alternatives that might sound wonderful, but we’ll pay for it later.

So what can one do about a lack of motivation?

The answer is different for every person. What motivates you may not work for your workout partner! So it is important when starting any sort of fitness program, to take a moment and consider what motivates you to get moving. Is it the summer, and bathing suit season? A friend who has made great progress? A celebrity bod or picture you’ve found online? A pair of skinny jeans sitting in the closet?

Once we know what really motivates us, we need to find a way to make them visible, and a constant reminder of why we are struggling and working hard. Inspiration boards, screen savers and desktops, putting those skinny jeans out where you can see them every day, or trying them on once a week, are all good reminders!

So, to kick start everyone thinking about their personal motivations, I just wanted to share some of mine!

The cold: The cold is not necessarily a motivator for working out, its a force.  When its cold outside, I open the windows, and let myself freeze. This only gives me motivation to get up and work myself into a healthy sweat as a way to warm up. If I don’t allow myself a sweater, or to close the windows, I am forced to do what I should be doing. This works particularly well in my current living situation, as I am in the basement. Winter brings enough cold to get me moving no matter how much I don’t want to.

Zuzana of Bodyrock.tv - Not only does Zuzana have the body that I am working hard for, she shows you how to get it. I appreciate a woman who understands the importance of both cardio and resistance training (in her case, mostly body resistance) to get fit, and demonstrates exactly what she does for everyone looking on. I also think that Zuzana is incredibly endearing and has a great attitude towards health and fitness – she is not afraid to admit when she hasn’t been eating right or working out as often, and sets goals for herself that other people can follow along with.

Jamie Eason – Shes such a beautiful, wonderful example of feminine fitness! Jamie is considered to be the ‘World’s Fittest Model’, and one look is enough to tell you why. This is a woman who works hard, plays hard, and enjoys doing it. She has clearly earned the results shes worked for, and as a result, makes me want to work just as hard to get to where she is. (Side note: I also love that Jamie Eason is 5’2: she’s my height, and looks amazing. This proves for all those tiny girls out there that it can be done! You can build muscle and look this good!)

The P90X infomercial – I cannot watch this without getting revved up and excited to work out. Even at 3 am. Not only because P90X is such an amazing program which delivers effective, dramatic results (I’m writing a full review of P90X to be posted in the near future, keep an eye out), but because watching the results of every day people changing their lives is empowering. Housewives getting ripped, and overweight men bringing out the six pack is exciting, and motivating! Every time this comes on, I want to jump out of bed, and do Plyometrics. You hear that Tony? You’re part of the reason I don’t sleep!

Tony Horton – I worship at the shrine of Tony; he is my personal fitness guru. Not a day goes by where Tony fails to make me smile, or make me want to work out. I must respect someone who has such endless and genuine enthusiasm for what they do! Moreover, Tony’s attitude is always a positive one, and he doesn’t let you make excuses. He does not allow you to say that you can’t do something. He believes that everything is possible with the right amount of hard work. I also love that Tony has no pretensions about what he does. He does not think himself above the people he is training, which is a vice many,many trainers seem to fall into. Any time he tries to surpass them, it is done in playful competition.

University – this may not make sense at first glance, but my schooling really motivates me to be fit and active. Why? Because the physical activity of the body help to stimulate mental activity, allowing us to perform better. So when I see an assignment coming up, a paper due, or an exam, I want to work out so my brain is functioning at is best capacity!

Music - There are certain types of music in which I find it nearly impossible not to get up and start dancing, or at very least moving my body to the music. (Some of which can be found here) And once I am moving, there is no excuse for not turning this movement into a cardio workout, or picking up some weights to bring the resistance into play.

Inspiration – Hearing from other people that I am an inspiration, or have helped them in any way shape or form towards their fitness goals is my biggest and most powerful motivator. I cannot NOT work out when I know that someone, somewhere might be looking to me for an example.

So here is the best possible time to say thank you to all my readers and commenter, and anyone who has expressed that I have helped motivate them or provide inspiration to their goals. Thank you so much, you all fuel my fire!

Overall, the fact is is that exercise is important to our lives, and necessary if we want to be fit and healthy. Despite our natural inclination to slack off, we need to be aware and accountable, and therefore, the more motivation we have, the better.

So Questions of the Day: (Comment and let me know!)

• What is the most common excuse you make to justify not working out?
• What is the most ridiculous excuse you’ve ever made?
• What motivates you to work out?
• What motivation do you wish you had?
• How do you keep your motivation present?

I haven’t done the Insanity Fit Test since about October of last year; though I continued through the entire Insanity program, I just didn’t have the time/chance to do the Fit Test along the way. So I wanted to share here my scores from then, and the scores I achieved today.

All those numbers went up! (Except for Suicide jumps, but for some reason I felt extremely tired while doing that move today — it might have just been that wall that needed to be broken down mid workout) So I am fairly proud of myself! This is an indication of how much my lungs have improved in less than a year.

I’m feeling great, looking at these numbers!

Also, just a few stats from my gym day yesterday:

Bench Press: 65lbs x8, 55lbs x10
Tricep Extension: 35 lbs x10
Leg Press: 140 lbs x 10 (2 sets)
Calf Raises: 50 lbs x 25
Shoulder Press 40lbs x 10 (2 sets)

I was completely guilty of this. But the question then becomes ‘does it matter?’ Actually, yes, it really does! Recently, I have discovered that this side-favoring (or as I have dubbed it, the bilateral bias) causes an imbalance in how your body trains, as well as affects the results you will see. So, having stumbled upon this wisdom for myself, I thought it would be best to share, so that there are not others making the same mistake.

Consider this: When lifting weights on one side and then the other, the second set is always a little harder than the first, simply because in the first round, you are stimulating a muscle before you have caused any exhaustion. If lifting correctly, the last 3 reps of an exercise should be a struggle. When you switch to the other side, your body has been fighting to complete those last burning reps from the first side, and therefore, is more exhausted than when you began. As a result, we are more likely to compromise our form, or make our reps shorter, even if we are not aware of it. Through this, what side we start with is subject to a more effective rep set. When one side is getting a more effective workout with each set, naturally these differences are going to start to add up, and this is why people begin to see less definition on one side of their body, or a lack of symmetry.

Moreover, it is most likely that the side you start with is your dexterous hand/side of your body. Our dexterous half is that which gets more use in your every day life: when you write, or utilize any sort of hand tools. Our dexterous side always becomes our habitual go-to, it is only natural! However, what happens due to our side bias is an additional exacerbation of the imbalance of symmetrical body usage, and the differences in definition will become more noticeable. Now, I can’t speak for those who are ambidextrous, but it is my understanding that they also have a preferred side that is a natural default.

Bilateral bias is an especially easy trap to fall into if you are like me and work out at home with Beachbody, or any other workout video set. When you play the video, and Tony says “Right foot forward,” you tend to simply listen, especially when you are midway through a workout, sweating and panting! And since it is the same video every time you do that specific workout, the side bias simply becomes a passively habitual process that we do not deign to think about.  But for the sake of symmetry, we must start to consciously be aware of what hand we start with, and make sure to switch it up the next week!

So to everyone out there: Alternate, and you will see better, more even results.

The article states that new research has unveiled that the lifestyles and habits of our friends have more impact in our lives than previously thought: lifestyle habits are more prevalent and uniform within close social circles. By this logic, therefore, our friends have a huge impact on our fitness choices.

“In other words, someone who exercises regularly influences those around him to do the same, who in turn influence their friends to exercise and so on. So if your friend goes to the gym, the probability increases significantly that you will eventually do the same. And while the response was the greatest between close friends, friends of friends and even friends of their friends also have the potential to be influenced by a change in behaviour.”

Now there is a powerful idea to consider. By making healthy choices for ourselves, we may be able to instigate a larger chain reaction that expands to various levels of our social group? What excellent motivation! But, do we believe the theory?

The newly coined term for this phenomenon is “social contagion” which implies that behaviour is contagious.

When starting a diet or exercise plan, it is always beneficial to start with someone else. The exercise partner is a fantastic tool for motivation, discipline, and if nothing else, to know that someone is just as sore as you are. Its much easier to push yourself to go running if you know that someone is waiting for you, easier to say no to that piece of chocolate if someone is there to watch you. Workout partners are also perfect for inciting some healthy competition. When working out with someone who surpasses you, you are pushed to improve, and catch up with them.

However, what about when it is not planned? When your friend is not your workout buddy, merely someone in your life that is making changes for themselves? Do we, or can we, still reap the benefits of motivation by association?

My opinion? Absolutely.

Since I became interested in fitness and started my journey towards a fitter me, I have converted nearly 20 people to Beachbody and P90X, and a few more to simply exercise. I have helped put together workout and meal plans; my advice has been requested more times than I can count. (And I love this, being able to encourage others!) This change has also provided the catalyst in changing my entire household and family. My brother has just started Insanity, and my parents are quite eager to get started with P90X. Not only that, but the food in the house is dramatically healthier as well. No longer are there flats of soda and bags of chips — no, that nasty junk food has been tossed aside for protein bars and more fresh fruits and vegetables!

However, I think the most telling evidence that I have to confirm the social contagion of physical exercise is what happens in my university classes. The first day of any class is inevitably somewhat awkward, especially if you do not know anyone in your class. This situation has lead me to make many new acquaintances, and just as many cherished friends. But to the point — when I am sitting next to someone I have never met, and we get to talking for a class or two, my fitness habits usually end up in discussion. Either by choice, or by what I’m eating, or what I’m surfing on the net when I really should be taking notes. And within a short period of time after this, they’ll be telling me that they’ve started to go back to the gym, or have taken up running, or are considering a gym membership. And they are thrilled to tell me this too, because they know that I will appreciate it! And it happens so regularly, that it is no mere coincidence.

However, the change of exercise habits can also be faced with a negative response. As stated in the article,

“If a group of buddies are all couch potatoes and one of them decides to exercise, the others in the group will find 100 ways to put the guy off and sabotage his routine”

Unfortunately, this is also true. Whether out of jealousy, or resistance to change, there will be people who will root for you to fail. Some will go out of their way to discourage you, and sabotage what you do. Personally, when my friends take on a new endeavor, or try to succeed or improve at something, I’m very happy for them, and want cheer them on! But for some reason, there seems to be a lingering fear of change that can’t always be shaken. To this end, it is crucial not to let yourself fall victim to this sort of negative behaviour. That is not to say to disregard your friends and make new ones, but finding a like minded individual to help support your goals is always a nice addition to life. Do not let others make your decisions for you!

In conclusion: What we do with our fitness habits can benefit more than just us. Perhaps its time to actively acknowledge this and use it to the benefit of others. Work hard, and others will work hard with you!

“Friends don’t let friends sit on the couch“… I really liked this!

Questions of the Day:

• Has your healthy behaviour in any way influenced others around you to change their ways?
• Have you been met with sabotage or resistance? How did you overcome it?
• Because I really want to know:  Has my behaviour  or advice in any way encouraged, motivated, or influenced you?

Write in! Let me know! (By the way I want to thank everyone who has been commenting on this blog, I really love hearing from you!)

P.S – WordPress does not like my Canadian spelling. TOO BAD.