A quick Pilates stretch that’s great for flexibility!
All of our Pilates workouts include some form of stretching, and this routine includes the best of the best! These stretches will help relieve tension throughout the body and reduce stress – you’ll feel so much better than before you started.
Click here to view this workout on YouTube and make sure to hit subscribe so you never miss a Pilates workout from The Balanced Life!
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Happy Holidays! It’s time to get some gift ideas for the cyclists in your life or get yourself some goodies. I’m pretty sure there is a ratio of 2:1 where for every two gifts you buy, you need to get…
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“Winter is coming”
– House Stark.
Like the White Walkers of the old stories our Gran used to tell us, winter is descending upon us mere mortals, and we must prepare! This endless onslaught of vicious attacks on our brains and our bellies will leave us ripe for slaughter if we’re not careful:
Cold weather that encourages us to sleep in, avoid the elements, and say “maybe tomorrow.”
A sun that rises too late and sets too soon means we often go days without seeing the damn thing.
Cookies and candies bombarded us from everywhere we look.
Oh, and a f’ing global pandemic that has left us isolated and alone.
These and more challenges are just begging us to go off the rails. And a built-in excuse called January 1st where we promise to “start over” helps us rationalize us “pausing” until then. Black Friday has come and gone. Cyber Monday is now in the rearview. Thanksgiving is now a distant memory.
And yet…the challenges are just getting started.
Luckily, we have 7 “hacks” to survive these trying times. If you want, you can try them too!
Here’s what we’ll cover:
Alright, let’s equip you with some strategies to survive the storm.
We need you back in the fight, right now.
We all see January 1st as the “reset,” and there’s nothing wrong with a reset to start out the year. The problem is when you compound your issues by digging yourself deeper into a hole that you have to eventually climb out of!
Say “F it” long enough, and the hole will start to resemble Bruce Wayne’s prison in The Dark Knight Rises:
Think of it like you’re on the starting line of a race for a healthy life that starts on Jan 1st. You have two options:
So, Step 1 is not running in the opposite direction. This means you can’t skip all your workouts and eat like crap and give up til January. This is you going the wrong way, and will make the task of “starting over” on January 1st that much more brutal.
Instead, do what you can to “tread water” and hang out around the starting line. If you CAN, stay on target. One bad meal doesn’t ruin things. One missed workout isn’t the end of the world. If you have an awful day, respawn and get back in the fight. Immediately.
A four-week freefall is a hole you’d rather not be in. You also don’t want to be in THIS hole:
But that’s beside the point…
So forget B. Let’s aim for A.
In the video above, I explain the importance of “Never Two in a Row.”
You’re human. And life happens.
What SHOULD NOT HAPPEN is missing two days in a row. Or eating TWO bad meals in a row. Or having TWO bad days in a row.
Why?
One bad day can feel like a speed bump if you’re trying to get healthy. Get back on track right away and there’s no problem.
However, missing two days in a row is like turning that tiny speed bump into the Misty Mountains. If you miss one day in a row, no problem! Just act like it didn’t happen and get back on track.
But once you miss two days in a row, you are now 67.42% more likely to fall into a multiple-week hole. Okay, I made up that statistic, but two days very easily becomes three, which very easily becomes a week, which easily becomes “I’ll wait til January.”
That’s running in the wrong direction.
AIM TO NEVER EVER EVER miss two workouts in a row. If you miss a workout on Monday, go on Tuesday and get right back on track. If you eat pie for lunch, because it ain’t gonna eat itself, make your dinner healthy AF. Do that, and you’ll be fine.
So whenever you have a bad day or do something against your plan, I need you to respawn right away (“start over” in video game lingo) and make the next day the best day you possibly can.
Spoiler alert: you’re going to eat lots of decadent food this upcoming month. (Unlike Noel’s delicious Thai Zoodle recipe above)
I know it. You know it. So we can do one of two things.
For starters, our metabolisms aren’t that smart. Our weight will fluctuate based on total calories consumed over many many days, not after ONE power-bomb of a meal.
So, if you know you are going to eat a monster lunch and dinner (I see you, Christmas), eat a stupidly light breakfast, and a light breakfast tomorrow – the calories will average out in the long run.
Or, if you’re willing to dig in and do the research, SKIP breakfast (and maybe lunch) before your monster meal. It’s called “intermittent fasting,” and it’s what I do to stay on track during weeks when I know I’m going to eat poorly.
If you’re interested in skipping a meal here or there, our snazzy new app has an intermittent fasting adventure in it that you can try RIGHT NOW.
Sign-up for a free trial right here:
Whether or not you take advantage of intermittent fasting, you can time your workouts to coincide with your unhealthy meals.
As I mentioned in our article on The 5 Rules of Weight Loss, think of all the calories you eat as first-year wizards at Hogwarts.
They need to be sorted into one of three houses (“Burn as Energy,” Store as Fat,” or “Rebuild Muscle.”)
The extra calories you eat over the holidays always go towards “store as fat” unless you give them a really good reason to head to the “build muscle” common room. Politely asking them won’t help.
You need to give them a reason. And that wonderful reason is STRENGTH TRAINING.
When you strength train before a big meal, the muscles you trained are broken down and need to be rebuilt. So, over the next 48+ hours many of those extra calories will be diverted to rebuilding (stronger) muscles instead of becoming fat.
Yeah, gyms have been hit or miss during the pandemic. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do bodyweight training from our living room.
Try a heavy strength training workout just a few hours before a holiday mean, then proceed to eat with everybody else. While they all lament “I’m so full, I ate too much, wahhhh,” you’ll know your calories are being used to rebuild muscle. So internally, you can start doing an evil villain laugh… Muahahahah, you know the one.
Work smarter (like a nerd).
Here’s another spoiler for you: you are NOT going to want to work out this month. It’s going to be dark and cold, and your nose is going to run (better catch it!), Zoom meetings are going to go on unending, you’re going to be hungover, and so on.
The amount of motivation you’ll need to get over these obstacles is gargantuan. So don’t force yourself to try and “dig deep” and just “work harder” and feel guilty when you’re “not motivated.”
Instead, do whatever you can to never, ever rely on motivation. Your body won’t say, “oh that’s okay, I’ll stay in shape because I feel bad for you.” There are 31 days in December just like there are 31 days in August.
This means you need to stay on track even though it’s much easier to do in the summer. So instead of motivation, build fail-safes to make sure you are staying healthy. Schedule your workouts in your calendar and set up alerts so you are reminded. Recruit a buddy so you can check in on each other.
Or go with one of these more diabolical examples:
Take a really really embarrassing photo of yourself, or type up a tweet with an embarrassing secret. Schedule it to post at 6:15 (or whatever time is early for you) every morning before you go to bed. Put your phone in the other room. If you don’t wake up on time, and run in the other room and cancel that tweet, it goes out! Better just get out of bed and train before work.
Give your co-worker $250. Tell him/her that you will work out 3 days per week, and text him a photo of your workout. If he/she does not receive that photo, they’ll donate $50 of your money to a political cause you can’t stand.
Set your credit card alerts to email you and your wife/husband every time it’s used. Agree ahead of time you’ll never use that card to buy fast food or else you’ll have to be on diaper duty for the next 3 months straight (or something that fits your situation).
In each of the instances above, you’re going to do exactly two things:
Never ever ever rely on motivation. Now, motivation doesn’t hurt. It’s just not reliable. So if you are in need of some motivation to get started, try this watching this video to remind you that training in the winter makes you a badass:
Just don’t rely on it, or feel guilty when you don’t have it! Whenever you DO feel a burst of motivation, use that extra energy to build systems.
Here’s how to use motivation properly.
“Too cold today! Can’t go to the gym and do my workout, DAMN! Looks like I’ll just have to sit here and eat ice cream.”
“Ran out of groceries, and it’s snowing. I guess I’ll just have to order pizza.”
The problem with winter is that it makes the unhealthy option always the easiest. We’re lazy, and I have to imagine we’re a bit like bears in that we want to hibernate and store fat when it gets cold out.
We have this tiny voice in our head subtly nudging us to pick the path of least resistance: aka pizza and skipped workouts.
And we can’t let that voice win. Then, the White Walkers win. And we’re all screwed. So, instead, we’re going to MacGuyver the sh** outta our winter by having a backup plan prepared.
For example:
A Workout Backup PLan: Have a place in your house or apartment that you can go to and do the Beginner Bodyweight Workout, a workout from Nerd Fitness Prime, or some yoga. It might not be as great as the gym (which may or may not be open), but it’s still a workout. It might mean investing in a door frame pull-up bar or a yoga mat, but a small investment for maintaining momentum through the winter is worth any amount of money. Here’s How to Build a Home Gym if you’re interested.
A Nutritional Backup Plan: Have a healthy meal in your freezer that has already been prepared and ready to be heated up. We make horrible decisions when the fridge is empty and we’re hungry. The Sirens of Dominos and Pizza Hut beckon us to call them for a 30-minute delivery.
So use your own laziness to help!
Here are some things to consider:
Do what you need to do to make it more difficult to make the wrong choice.
So you can only train for 15 minutes today instead of 20.
So you have time to do a few yoga poses instead of working out for an hour.
So your ONLY option at the holiday party is pizza and you didn’t have a great breakfast.
THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOUR WINTER IS RUINED. 80% IS STILL 80% BETTER THAN ZERO PERCENT.
Every little bit counts. It REALLY, REALLY does. Every small change, or even living off pie HALF of the time is FAR better than living off pie all the time. Swap ONE beer for ONE glass of water, and it’s a victory that will translate to your waistline. Do 5 push-ups as soon as you get out of bed, and it’s a victory.
Winter is a problem not because people make one bad mistake, but because one bad mistake quickly sets off a chain reaction of disasters justified by the fact that folks can’t do something 100%. So they opt for 0%.
If you don’t have time for a full workout, do half a workout! If you have to eat from a drive-through, no problem. Drinking water or a Diet Coke and grab some fruit as your side.
So instead of our Fitness Switch being flipped “off” for winter, maybe our Fitness Dial just comes down to a “5.”
Here’s something else to try:
Every morning when you wake up, do 20 bodyweight squats, 10 push-ups, and if you have access to a pull-up bar (or gymnastic rings), hang from them for 30 seconds. No bar? No problem, here are 5 pull-up alternatives.
Make this the FIRST thing you do every day (using systems built back in point #6). That way, at least every day during the winter you’ve done something.
There you have it.
While you don’t have to follow all 7 hacks this winter, even just adopting one or two might help you build some momentum between now and the new year.
And as always, if you need any additional help, we’re here for you.
What kind of help?
Well, you could consider:
#1) Our Online Coaching Program: a coaching program for busy people to help them make better food choices, stay accountable, and get healthier, permanently.
You can schedule a free call with our team so we can get to know you and see if our coaching program is right for you. Just click on the button below for more details:
#2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Check out Nerd Fitness Journey!
Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Try your free trial right here:
#3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.
Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our Rebel Starter Kit, which includes all of our “work out at home” guides, the Nerd Fitness Diet Cheat Sheet, and much more!
Alright, that about does it.
But real quick, before somebody yells at me in the comments, yes I know a lot of Aussies and Kiwis are NF Rebels, and I know it’s nearly summer down there. You can laugh at us all you want, your winter will come soon enough. Oh, it will.
Now, let’s hear from you:
What do you do when the going gets tough, when the temperature drops, and life gets busy as hell?
How do you fight back?
What are your favorite specific tricks or systems you use to stay on track?
Leave your comment below and share it with your fellow Rebels.
-Steve
P.S. If the cold weather is bringing you down, this guide on overcoming the winter blues may help.
###
Photo source: Joerg Huettenhoelscher © 123RF.com, qwartm © 123RF.com, Ivanko Brnjakovic © 123RF.com
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Today, you’re going to learn how to stretch.
If your warm-up is the appetizer, and your strength-based workout is the main course, then a post-workout stretching routine is the dessert (sorry for making you think about Creme brulee).
In this guide, we’ll cover it all (click to get to those sections):
Now, if you’re stretching as part of a strength training routine, you might be interested in our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program.
We don’t just focus on weight loss, but helping people level up their entire lives. That includes nutrition, mobility, goal setting, and even overcoming fears and becoming an actual superhero.
Okay, let’s get bendy like Gumby!
The Beginner Full Body Stretching Routine:
You can do this routine both AFTER your strength training routine, and also on your off days. Do your best to stick with this routine regularly to get maximum benefits like increased mobility and flexibility!
This advanced stretching routine is a mix of yoga, stretching, tai-chi, pilates, and awesome.[1]
Although I move quickly through the movements to keep the video short, don’t confuse my movements with bouncing. Stretch as far as you can, hold it for a few seconds without bouncing, and then repeat the process
Yoga is awesome.
It can help improve flexibility, strength, and mindfulness.
Plus, if you’re looking for a stretching routine to cool down with after your training, yoga almost seems built for it. Oftentimes a yoga routine will end in corpse pose, the perfect posture after a hard training session.
Here is a FULL yoga routine you can do anywhere. It’s a great routine to follow on your non-training days:
Want more free videos and demos on yoga poses? You can click right here for “21 Yoga Poses for Beginners.”
Do you own a foam roller?
With that and a little floor space, you’ll have all you need for the perfect post-workout stretch.
Let’s show you how to do the following:
Here’s a video demonstrating the moves, plus a T-Rex (this is Nerd Fitness after all):
Want more tips on starting a foam roller practice? Click right here for our article “How to Use A Foam Roller.”
Let’s get the answer to this question right out of the way: “Should I Stretch BEFORE or AFTER my workout?”
The science is pretty clear on this one:
Instead, you should be doing a dynamic warm-up before you strength train (jump jacking, leg swings, arm circles) instead.
Coach Staci covers such a warm-up in this video:
As this study shows, “a dynamic warm-up” can also help reduce soreness after a workout.
Okay, back to stretching.
Stretching AFTER a workout CAN be helpful, but not for the reasons you’d expect!
Stretching hasn’t been proven to reduce soreness or improve one’s recovery time, but stretching CAN help improve flexibility.
This is super helpful if you have the flexibility and mobility of this robot:
So stretching after a workout allows you to work on flexibility and mobility without needing to worry about losing your strength (if you had stretched before your workout)!
And with improved flexibility comes improved performance in almost all areas of life (yup, even THAT).
If you are interested in improving your mobility, make sure you check out these two guides:
What’s that? You want even more stretching recommendations?
Depending on how you’re feeling, where you’re sore, and so on – you can throw in some additional movements:
#1) The Ballet Stretch
#2) The Full Body Stretch:
#3) The Back Stretch:
No matter what training you’re doing, whether it’s with bodyweights, actual weights, or running, always make sure you take some time post-workout for some stretching exercises: you’ll be improving your flexibility which gets more important every day you get older!
Before I dip out, if you want Nerd Fitness to help you along with your fitness journey, here are three ways we can help:
#1) If you want a professional coach in your pocket, who can do video form checks, provide feedback, and adjust your workouts based on your experience level, check out our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program!
For example, let’s say you have an old injury and couldn’t perform one of our streteches. A Nerd Fitness Coach can work with you to create a customized routine for your exact situation.
Personally, I’ve been working with the same online coach since 2015 and it’s changed my life. You can learn more by clicking on the box below:
#2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Check out Nerd Fitness Journey!
Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Plus, you can take part in flexibility challenges alongside a group of nerds who are all trying to better themselves!
Try your free trial right here:
#3) Become part of the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.
Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our Rebel Starter Kit, which includes all of our “work out from home” guides.
Alright, your turn:
Do you have any favorite post-exercise stretches?
Any difficult areas you try and troubleshoot after your training?
What do you do to help with post-workout recovery?
Let us know in the comments!
-Steve
PS: With all this talk on post-workout stretching, did you remember to warm up before your workout? I got you!
###
All photo citations can be read right here.[2]
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Winter is approaching and with it comes SAD.
No, I don’t mean the emotion (although that’s part of it).
I’m talking about Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Luckily, we have some tips and tricks for treating SAD that our Online Coaching Clients use. Today, we’ll share them with you too.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
Disclaimer: We’re going to be discussing some issues that may be difficult for some going through a tough time. If you (or someone you know) aren’t coping so well, PLEASE see the links at the bottom of this article with some resources from all around the world. Obviously, we recommend discussing this information with your health professional – none of this is a diagnosis, but rather a starting point for discussion.
BUT, armed with the right weapons, we can ward off the winter monster, or even keep it in full hibernation.
From here, mental health wizard and resident NF Family Rebel Correspondent, Dan Schmidt, will take it away:
Aside from being a really clever acronym, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder that, spoiler alert, has a seasonal pattern.
It’s also known as:
In a nutshell, SAD makes people with ‘normal’ mental health experience depressive symptoms at a specific time each year – most often winter.
SAD can be a cruel, powerful, and damaging arctic foe.
But armed with the right weapons, we can ward off the winter monster, or even keep it in full hibernation.
Most of us feel a little glum in winter…it’s natural to feel a little down.
Cold mornings, less time outside, and often it’s not as easy to get out and do our favorite things:
So for a lot of us, winter just sucks a little.
We’ve known something was up since the 6th century, but SAD remained a mythical creature until the 1980s in the West when it became officially recognized as a mood disorder. While we’re still not 100% sure of how it works; it’s pretty clear to see that SAD especially thrives in the cooler, darker climates.
For example, studies show[1] SAD’s prevalence in the U.S. ranges from around 1% in Florida to 9% in Alaska. Looking around the world, in Oslo, Norway, around 14% of the population will be impacted by SAD,[2] while us lucky buggers Down Under are barely impacted at all, with estimates that only around 1 in 300 Aussies (0.33%)[3] will experience SAD during the “winter.”
Yes, SAD can occur for some people during summer and other seasons, but this is particularly rare compared to winter prevalence.
Common SAD symptoms include:
Depression is not just a fancy word for feeling “bummed out”, and SAD is just as serious as any other depression and needs to be dealt with promptly and effectively. (See the end of the article for a list of mental health services links.)
“But how do I know the difference between general winter glumness, or if I’m being mauled by the SAD beast like Leo in the Revenant?”
Ask yourself these questions:
If so, then it could be time to have a chat with a professional and perhaps seek treatment. Once again, SAD is just as real and can be just as devastating as Major Depressive Disorder; the only difference is the yearly regular onset.
This bitter beast can take over someone’s entire wellbeing, and left untreated, the consequences can be devastating.
So let’s learn how we can slay the SAD, or even better, keep it in hibernation this year, so we nerds can continue to conquer all year round.
As with any injury or illness boss battle, you need to use the right medicine weapon to save the day. And there are many weapons you can equip yourself with to slay SAD.
Here is how to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder:
#1) GET SOME LIGHT:
Light helps the body produce serotonin (hormone that affects mood) and reduces the production of melatonin (hormone that makes you sleepy).[4]
Starting with natural light is best, even though it’s not always easy. If the sun happens to be peeking out from the clouds, try and get outside for a nice walk. Even on cold or cloudy days, outdoor light can help, particularly in the morning. Just make sure you bundle up properly. The Norwegians have a saying “There is no bad weather, only bad clothing!”
Also, making your work and home environments as light and airy as possible and sitting near windows can help too.
If you feel you’re just simply not able to get enough natural light, ‘Light Therapy’ is generally one of the first weapons picked up to slay SAD.[5] It can start alleviating symptoms in just a few days. It’s incredibly simple, and sitting under bright fluorescent globes or in front of a therapy lamp (again, particularly in the morning) has shown to be effective against SAD[6] (Anecdotal, but I once met a young woman who started to feel better just by increasing the wattage of her bedroom lightglobes).
Be forewarned that Light Therapy is not appropriate for everyone, including people with bipolar disorder – talk to a professional if this is a route you want to take.
#2) EXERCISE AND DIET
Surprise, surprise, our old friends come to the rescue once again. It’s clear[7] that exercise is key in keeping the blues at bay, so rug up and take a long walk, and be sure to work out when possible.
Exercise and other types of physical activity help relieve stress and anxiety, both of which can increase SAD symptoms.
If you’re really keen to take on winter, try the Winter Is Coming Workout, and start building that summer body early. For those who don’t like the freezing weather, that’s cool (get it?), you can always do Steve’s 20-minute hotel room workout (pro tip: you don’t actually need to be staying in a hotel room to do the workout… that was $250 I’ll never get back).
As for nutrition – while there is no well-established link between healthy nutritional practices and a reduction in SAD symptoms. BUT, studies HAVE shown links between healthy eating – like the Mediterranean diet – and a decrease in general depression.[8]
So anything we can do to eat healthy this time of year may certainly help.
Plus, Steve has already highlighted that if you’re going to eat unhealthy foods during winter, let’s at least be smart about it and negate the impact the holidays have on our waistlines. Try your best to provide a counterbalance to those comfort foods, and keep your diet as close as you can to what it is the rest of the year.
#3) GET SOME VITAMIN D
When exposure to sunlight is low, your body makes less Vitamin D.[9] According to this study,[10] Vitamin D deficiency affects nearly HALF of the world population. It is important for overall health. Our friends over at Examine say that if your diet is decent and there’s only one supplement you’re taking, it should probably be Vitamin D during these upcoming months.
The research is a little mixed when it comes to Vitamin D’s effectiveness in battling SAD,[11] but some studies[12] do show an improvement to everyone’s depression scale scores (those with or without SAD). Overall, if you aren’t getting enough sunlight in the winter, consider picking up some Vitamin D!
Recommendations differ for the amount of Vitamin D needed – or if you even need it – so further blood work and a talk with your doctor is a good choice here.
#4) MEDITATE
Meditation has been shown to help alleviate symptoms of depression.[13] Now, you don’t have to shed all your worldly possessions and go live in the mountains:
But if you’re suffering from the winter blues, a simple mindfulness practice may help. Even just a few minutes a day can go a long way.
If you want, Nerd Fitness Journey, has a meditation adventure to help you build up the habit.
It’s free to try, right here:
#5) EMBRACE THE SEASON
Going back to foreign sayings – there’s a Danish concept of “hygge.”
While there’s no direct English translation, it essentially means coziness and comfort
Things like:
So instead of lamenting the change of seasons – EMBRACE these other experiences that we get to enjoy.
#6) THERAPY
Talk Therapy (Psychotherapy) and cognitive behavioral therapy sound scary but really aren’t.
Psychotherapy focuses on helping you to build skills to deal with the stresses in your life, along with identifying and changing negative thinking patterns. Therapies such as these assist with relearning some of the patterns and thoughts in your life that aren’t doing you any good.
You can read the Nerd Fitness Guide to Mental Health for more info.
It can feel daunting and really weird ‘opening up’ to a stranger at first. But having a coach to talk through your negative thoughts and feelings, someone who can teach you to manage those better, is generally quite effective. Most people will notice an improvement in as little as two weeks. Really, the “weird” stigma is usually the biggest barrier to even doing the thing in the first place!
Finally, some people with SAD benefit from antidepressant treatment, especially if symptoms are severe. We’re not here to offer any medical advice, so please see your doctor if you think medication may assist you.
It’s normal to have some days when you feel down, and the holiday season can be especially hard for some.
When short days and miserable weather are piled on top of this, it’s easy to see why ‘winter blues’ is so common. But if you feel down for days at a time and you can’t get motivated to do activities you normally enjoy, please speak to someone and see your doctor. This is especially important if your sleep patterns and appetite have changed, you feel a sense of hopelessness, you have intrusive thoughts, or you turn to alcohol/substances for comfort or relaxation.
Above all, take care of yourself this winter:
And if someone reaches out to you, remember: We are Rebels, we fight conventional wisdom and smash stigmas. Never leave a fellow nerd behind.
If you feel the bitter, arctic beast starting to rise from its summer slumber, remember that you are not alone, and there are ways to slay the frosty fiend. You are strong enough to beat this, and the entire Rebellion has your back.
Want a little more from us?
If you want to continue your journey with Nerd Fitness, we have three great ways for you to do so:
#1) Our Online Coaching Program: a coaching program for busy people to help them make better food choices, stay accountable, and get healthier, permanently.
You can schedule a free call with our team so we can get to know you and see if our coaching program is right for you. Just click on the button below for more details:
#2) If you want an exact roadmap for getting fit, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Plus, we have Missions specifically designed to help you stay active, no matter what the weather is like outside.
Try your free trial right here:
#3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.
Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our Rebel Starter Kit, which includes all of our “work out at home” guides, the Nerd Fitness Diet Cheat Sheet, and much more!
Alright, that does it for me. Rebels, take care of yourself and each other.
Do you have your own secret weapon to slay the SAD? We’d love to hear from all you Rebels about how you keep your mind healthy during winter; the more ideas we all have, the better! Let us know in the comments!
– Dan
PS – If you, or someone you know, would like further support, here are some excellent links and services that will get you started in the right direction:
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Photo source: lilu330 © 123RF.com
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Do you find your grip a limiting factor in the gym (I see you chin-ups and deadlifts)?
Or in everyday life (looking at you, pickle jars)?
If so, don’t worry! We’ve got a handle on this (pun 100% intended).
As the lead trainer of our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program, I’m going to outline a number of helpful, handy (sigh) stretches and exercises to help eliminate pain and build you some powerful, useful hands and a strong grip.
Now, it goes without saying that the hands and forearms are anatomically complicated areas.
I am also not your mother, or your doctor. If anything in the article below causes pain, or your pain is not alleviated by these stretches – call in the pros!
See a physical therapist or sports massage practitioner.
We use our hands for EVERYTHING.
Whether it’s everyday tasks like carrying groceries, opening jars, and lifting suitcases, or gym-related activities like chin-ups, rows, and deadlifts.
Of course, you probably also type at your computer for hours – with resulting aches and pains at the end of the workday.
Guess what?
Stretching out the hands and building up a strong grip can help in all of those areas.
A strong grip has even been correlated to lower mortality rates – and you can also imagine the usefulness of a stronger grip for aging individuals if they happen to slip.
Our point is that it’s always better to have a stronger grip!
This is a favorite area of expertise for me. I’ve worked my grip for years and years, and recently won a local grip competition:
In fact, I’m currently typing this one-handed while squeezing coal into diamonds with my other hand.
Not really, but I promise my grip strength is above average.
SO WHERE TO START?
The hands are complex, and training them can seem just as complicated.
We’ll simplify matters a bit and you can categorize the grip exercises into the following general types:
#1) CRUSH
This is what you probably think of when you think of a “strong grip”. This is the whole hand closing in around something. A strong handshake. None of that dead-fish handshake stuff!
#2) PINCH
Think of making an alligator mouth with your hands, and chomping down. In this grip, there tends to be a lot more work/stress on the thumb. This is important to work, as the thumb is a vital part of a strong grip!
#3) SUPPORT
This is similar to crush, but rather than the ability to close, this type of grip tests the ability to hold.
#4) EXTENSION
Every action has an opposite reaction, right? This type of grip work is all about strengthening the opposing muscles. We were built to grab and hold onto things, so these muscles will not be as strong.
#5) WRIST WORK
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Wrist movement and wrist stability is the focus here. In order to be able to transfer energy from the body through the hands (for opening those pickle jars) we need to make sure every link in the chain is strong.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
When putting together a grip routine of your own, it’s a good idea to cycle through these different types of grips over the course of the week, in order to work different muscles and different angles.
If you have to pick just a few, I’d put my money on stretches, crushing, and extension to get your hands strong and keep them healthy!
Before we go further, I want to mention that if you’re improving your grip as part of a strength training practice, you’ve come to the right place! We have a free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know, that will walk you through every aspect of building muscle and growing stronger. Want in?
Grab it for free when you join the Rebellion (that’s us!) below:
Here are the best exercises you can do to strengthen your grip quickly:
Next, let’s talk about some stretches and exercises to perform at the gym.
#1) STRETCHES AT THE GYM
The only addition I have to your stretching routine that can be done at the gym is banded wrist stretches. The addition of the band can help open up your wrist joint a bit more. The band should be pulling in the opposite direction of the stretch (fingers face one way, band pulls the other way).
10-15 repetitions.
#2) EXERCISES AT THE GYM
While we recommend picking up some grippers as specialized grip equipment, there are TONS of options to work the grip at the gym with existing equipment! This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but should give you plenty of ideas.
The one warning I give for any of these exercises is WATCH YOUR TOES. The grip can give out fast and unexpectedly, so we don’t want to crush any little piggies!
This list is certainly not exhaustive, but it’ll get you started!
Other Easy-Grip Exercises to Integrate:
Things can get really crazy when you start combining exercises…Plate pinch farmer’s walks with bumper plates, anyone?
…and speaking of NF Coaching, if you’re worried that your grip strength is holding back your training, we can help!
Our certified coaches can do an assessment, design a program to increase your grip and overall strength, and provide support and accountability. It’s kind of like having a coach in your pocket (not literally – via an app).
Plus, our coaching app lets you record and send a video of your movement directly to your coach, so you can take comfort knowing you’re training correctly:
Alright, you’re ready to jump into grip strength training!
I’ve outlined a number of stretches and exercises for you to do, no matter where you are and what equipment you have. Skim over and see what you can add to your daily mix or gym training!
#1) STRETCHES AT YOUR DESK
You might be reading this while sitting at your computer right now.
We put a LOT of stress on our hands and wrists over the course of a day, so take the time to take care of these hard workers!
Below is a quick and dirty stretch routine, just three moves. This is good for a warm-up or just for overall hand health. We spend a lot of the day at our computer with our elbows bent and our hands in a pronated position (palms turned down), therefore stretches with our elbows extended and hands supinated (palms turned up) is a good idea.
The stretches from the video:
Give it a shot, I bet your hands feel noticeably different (and better) afterward.
If you have additional time, the first two stretches can also be done with your fingers forward!
You can also stretch the thumbs out on the desk. Moving into and out of the stretch shown below. You may be surprised how good this feels if you’ve never done it before. Again, 10-15 repetitions.
A final stretch, if you have the time between updating Excel and checking Facebook for the 100th time (I kid, I kid), is stretching your wrists in the direction of your thumb.
If you think about how your hands are often oriented on your keyboard, you’ll see that they are often bend toward your pinky.
So let’s stretch them in the opposite way! Make like you’re about to karate chop someone with one hand. With the other hand, grab the chopping hand and pull it sideways in the direction of your thumb.
Going gently into and out of this stretch for 10-15 repetitions. It may not feel as intense as the previous stretches, but it will still help.
This is certainly not an exhaustive list of hand and wrist stretches, but it should give you plenty to work with!
#2) EXERCISES AT YOUR DESK
Do you know there’s already an excellent piece of grip strengthening equipment present in many offices? What is that?
The rubber band!
Snag one off that rubber band ball in your desk and do these simple rubber band extensions:
If one band gets too easy, put two or more on! This is a super easy exercise to do while you’re on a phone call or that conference call (that you’re not paying attention to anyway) that gets the blood moving through the hands and helps balance out your vice-grip like hands.
Another grip exercise that can easily be done at your desk is closing grippers. Now, this does require an investment (~$20/gripper), but you’ll find that these grippers last FOREVER (I still use some grippers that are over a decade and half old!)
I would personally recommend Ironmind’s “Captains of Crush” grippers.
They are built to last and strong.
Consider the following when making your gripper purchase:
If you can close the Guide, you’ve got a pretty solid grip. If you can close the Sport, you have way above average grip strength, in my experience.
A fun bonus with these grippers at your desk is that EVERYONE who sees them will try and pick them up and close them. Great way to start a conversation with your coworkers!
You may be thinking, “eh, I’ve already got a gripper I bought from the store”. I’ll tell you that the strength in that gripper is probably minuscule compared to Ironmind’s. Time to upgrade!
You may also be thinking, “eh, I’ve got a tennis ball/stress ball that I can keep by my desk and crush”. Both of those might be better than nothing, but not by much. The grippers will allow a smoother movement and quantifiable progress. Did I mention they’re just $20 a pop?
“Jim, I can’t wait. I want to work my grip NOW.” Ok, ok, grab the biggest, heaviest book in the office you have. Grab it in that pinch grip position (fingers on one side, thumb on the other). This may be easy, if so, then “walk the book” in your hand by moving your fingers up and down the spine while you hold it in mid-air. Do this for several trips. Tough!
If you work out at home, there are still a few things you can do.
No (wo)man is an island, and no exercise exists in complete isolation. These grip exercises are a blast, but we hope you can also use them to help strengthen a deadlift, or work toward your first chin-up.
There are also various bodyweight exercises that will help strengthen your upper body AND build your grip strength at the same time.
#1) THE FALSE GRIP HANG
For example, here is a video from our rings course in Nerd Fitness Prime on doing a false-grip hang – and then doing scapular retractions. This is a killer grip strength exercise:
The false grip is an incredibly challenging grip variation that one must learn to build up to a muscle-up (a pull-up that transitions into a dip). Just like before, you can put your feet on the ground to assist this exercise.
#2) CROW POSE
Here’s a video of an exercise that builds up grip and wrist strength, pulled from Nerd Fitness Prime (which contains a course on doing handstands):
A staple of yoga classes everywhere, though we’ll be focusing on it for a different reason than a yogi might. We’re using this exercise as a foundational exercise to build up into the handstand. You won’t believe how much grip strength is involved in the crow pose until you are digging your fingers into the ground!
It’s been said “There’s never been a strong man (or woman) with weak hands.”
We’d have to agree wholeheartedly. There is never going to be a point in life where you say “Boy, my grip was too strong!”.
You might have some questions about how to mix these exercises in with your normal routine, or how you can use these things to improve your lifts safely and without injury. Or maybe all of the above just overwhelmed the heck out of you and you’re trying to make sense of it all.
If that sounds like you, you’re in the right place.
I’m the lead trainer of the 1-on-1 NF Coaching Program, where we help busy, normal people like yourself build muscle, lose weight, and level up their lives!.
You can learn more about our coaching program by clicking on the image below and scheduling a call with us to see if we’re a good fit!
You have a pair of incredibly useful tools at arm’s length, might as well make the most of them!
We hope you now have a handle on things (have to bring it back full circle). Go out and get a grip!
Leave any questions you have on grip strength or wrist mobility below in the comments.
-Jim
PS: What should you do after you improve your grip and wrist strength? Get started on doing muscle-ups and downward dogs, which you can learn all from our new app!
Try it for free right here:
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Photo Source: Reece & Emma Meins Chalky bar grip
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Some of our favorite wellness gifts we’re asking for this year or things we own and love to help inspire your own wish lists or help you buy for the health and wellness lover in your life.
Check out our top 15 gift ideas below and let us know in the comments what’s on your wishlist this year!
nourish
to wear
take care
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Meet Brent, a member of Nerd Fitness Coaching who just found out he no longer needs blood pressure medication.
Awesome!
Oh, and he’s also celebrating losing over 35 pounds.
Incredible!
What’s crazy is that he did it all in about six months…which is BONKERS!
However, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Brent.
He had done the New Year’s resolution dance quite a few times…but always seemed to fizzle out.
“I didn’t know what I was doing,” Brent admits.
However, instead of going through the same “start and stop” pattern again, Brent decided to do something different – he decided to ask for help!
Let’s find out how it went.
“When I joined the coaching program, my coach asked me a novel question:
What exercise do I actually enjoy doing?
I hadn’t thought about it before – I always figured I’d just have to slog through my workout.
I admitted to my coach that I enjoyed running, so we quickly built a program around doing 5ks.”
Takeaway: Half the secret of getting in shape is moving in a way we enjoy.
(The other half is nutrition, but we’ll get to that.)
So when we first start exercising, we should focus on what excites us!
The important thing at first is to enjoy the activity! Then, we’re much more likely to make it a habit (our goal here).
There’s a reason Brent’s coach asked about his preference. They knew finding his passion would be critical for building consistency.
Here are our tips for running a 5k if you wanna get going yourself.
Although Brent loves to run – and even knocked out a couple of 5ks during the last six months – he also started a strength training practice.
“My coach advised we mix in some strength training as part of my 5k training. The goal was to build some muscle and also prevent injury during my runs.
The big surprise was just how quickly this helped me lose weight. My belt size shrunk fast because of all the workouts.”
Takeaway: Strength training can go a long way towards transforming our bodies.
Obviously, it’ll help us grow strong. But it might also help us slim down.
That’s because building and maintaining muscle takes a lot of calories.
As Brent learned, the side effect of strength training might be a lower body fat percentage (as we explain in our Guide to Body Recomposition).
“I never thought too much about what to eat – I just ate whatever was in front of me.
But since I wanted to lose some weight, my coach took me through a little Nutrition 101.
Now, I think about:
I don’t follow any sort of diet. But these simple lessons from my coach changed the way I eat, without too much effort.”
Takeaway: If we’re trying to lose weight, nutrition will be a big part of the puzzle.
However – as Brent learned – we don’t necessarily need to follow any sort of “diet.”
Just some good healthy habits might be enough:
This might be the trick if “going on a diet” hasn’t quite worked out yet. For more on our philosophy here, check out The Nerd’s Guide to Healthy Eating.
“To be honest, I think accountability to a coach and my financial investment helped me form habits more than anything.
Just knowing that someone would check in on me – and that I was paying for it – made me push through on days when I didn’t want to.
Now, I work out and train without too much thought. They’ve just become normal parts of my life.
Having accountability at first really helped me get here.”
Takeaway: Having someone check in on us can be critical when we’re starting a new habit.
Sure, a coach might be a great way to go about it.
But there are others:
Accountability was missing during Brent’s previous attempts to get in shape.
It really can be the difference-maker.
I’m super proud of Brent and what he’s accomplished the last year.
However, if you personally didn’t meet your fitness goals in 2021, don’t beat yourself up over it.
Getting in shape is tough stuff and the ongoing pandemic didn’t make it any easier.
But, as we close out this year, it can be important to ask: how will I handle my goals next year?
What can I do for the remainder of this year, to help me build momentum?
If you think one of our coaches might be able to help you prepare for 2022, we’re here for you.
With Nerd Fitness Coaching, you’ll gain:
Interested?
You can schedule a call to see if we’re right for each other right here:
Even if you decide not to join our coaching program, do one thing:
Think about how you can build accountability. Even if it’s just to yourself, with a daily journal.
But being asked “Am I doing what I said I would do?” can be incredibly powerful.
You have to look not much farther than our friend Brent for proof.
-Steve
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It’s time to make your pelvic floor a priority. No matter your age or stage of life, maintaining a healthy pelvic floor can be challenging, but it’s essential.
It’s no secret that pelvic floor issues can be embarrassing – like annoying urinary leaks when you sneeze, run, or jump or discomforts in the bathroom and the bedroom. It’s a key component of your core that frequently gets missed with traditional ab exercises.
The good news is Pilates makes it simple to strengthen your pelvic floor.
Try this NEW workout today (takes less than 10 minutes) and know that you are making progress each time you roll out your mat and press play!
The post Pelvic Floor Strengthening Workout appeared first on The Balanced Life.
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Today you learn one of the most underrated exercises of all time: the dip.
It’s something we remind our coaching clients not to overlook, and I’m excited to share the exercise with you today.
Here’s what we’ll cover so you can learn the bodyweight dip:
A quick note: we have compiled ALL of our strength training content into a comprehensive guide that will remove all the confusion and answer all the questions you have about weight training! Grab our guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know, when you sign up in the box below!
The dip is a compound, bodyweight exercise.
You grab two parallel bars, hoist yourself up, and then lower your entire body by bending your elbows.
When you hear “compound exercise,” it’s referring to multi-joint movements that work several muscles or muscle groups at the same time.
The dip exercise trains your:
You may be thinking, “abs?”
Yep! You need to stabilize your body as you raise and lower yourself.
Which is one of the reasons bodyweight dips are so great!
Some would even argue that dips are the best chest exercise out there, even better than the bench press.
There’s some logic to it.
Instead of isolating your chest for 5 exercises, your shoulders for 5 exercises, and triceps for 5 exercises, just do dips!
First of all, make sure you can do a dip.
Don’t hop up there and then lower yourself unless you’re fairly confident you can get through at least one of these things. We can’t have you tearing any muscles or falling on somebody, because that would suck.
Head to our progression plan if you can’t do a full dip yet.
Here’s how to do a proper dip exercise:
Those are dips.
Keep your elbows as tight as possible, engage your abs, and hold your body in balance as you go up and down.
Are you doing it right?
Check your form by recording a video of yourself and matching it against the videos and gifs here. If it looks close then you’re doing great!
Want to have an expert review your form? Our coaches can do just that in our spiffy app!
If you don’t quite have the strength to do a full bodyweight dip, follow our progression plan below.
You’ll be doing the complete dip movement before you know it!
If you’re just starting to develop your push muscles, our first stop will be knee push-ups. We’ll build your strength up so you can start doing…
Can you do a push-up with proper form yet? If not, that’s our stop.
Push-ups will help you develop chest muscles for doing proper dips. Only after you can do 20 proper push-ups should you consider trying to do a dip.
It’s now time to do some dips! With a little bit of assistance…
We’ll use a resistance band to help support your weight while you grow stronger. You can progress with weaker and weaker resistance bands until you feel comfortable trying a proper bodyweight dip.
How about using an assisted dip machine?
We’re not huge fans of machines here at Nerd Fitness.
Here’s why: an assisted dip machine stabilizes your body during the movement, which means your own muscles don’t need to do any of that stabilization work! We’d rather you stick with resistance bands than mess with this contraption, as it still makes your muscles work together throughout the movement.
You can check out some brands to buy, and how to train with them, in our Guide to Resistance Bands.
Sure, if you don’t have bands and can ONLY do dips with the machine pictured above, it’s not the end of the world! Just make sure you are also doing other movements as well that DO recruit those stabilizer muscles (push-ups, presses, and so on).
ALSO, if you find yourself getting stuck on “assisted dips,” you’re not alone. Lots of folks find it difficult to move beyond the support of the band.
We work hand-in-hand with people like you to master bodyweight training in our Online Coaching Program. If you don’t know how to add dips into your workouts, or you just want somebody to give you the exact workout to follow every day, we got you!
Here are some extra tips on getting better at dips:
#1) Get your setup correct at the start.
When people experience pain with their dips, it’s probably one of two things:
Coach Jim shows you how to avoid these two issues in the video “How to Do Pain-Free Dips,” which you can check out right here:
#2) Don’t swing – this goes for practically every exercise. If you start swinging your body as you go up and down, you take the emphasis off the muscles you’re actually trying to work.
Save swinging for the playground:
#3) Don’t flare out your elbows if you can avoid it – the more “out” your elbows are, the more emphasis on your chest. Elbows tight = emphasis on shoulders and triceps.
Nicholas Elorreaga does a good job showing the difference here:
#4) Don’t do half reps – again, this could be another universal rule. Challenge your muscles by bringing your triceps parallel to the ground, then make sure you extend arms to almost “elbows locked” at the top:
#5) Don’t go too fast – you want to be slow and in control during your dip. When you go too quickly, proper form is often sacrificed. Make sure you train safely by going slowly…this isn’t a race!
#6) Don’t settle for cheap substitutes – don’t use dip machines or other isolation tricep machines:
These don’t recruit any of your stabilizer muscles, put your body at weird angles, and don’t give you full results. Stick with bodyweight dips!
Once you can do 3 sets of 15 dips no problem, you have a few options to ramp up the difficulty:
#1) Add weight to your bodyweight dips by:
#2) Go Slower: keep your abs tight, and lower yourself ridiculously slow.
Your body will have to recruit every muscle in your chest, shoulders, and triceps (including all stabilizer muscles) to keep your body under control.
#3) Try Ring Dips:
Lower yourself down until your chest touches the rings (yes, that low!), and then push up until you are in a straight arm support position.
If you’ve never played with gymnastic rings before, the instability of the rings will provide a greater challenge than your standard dip station.
You can also lower the height of your rings to utilize some support from your feet:
Raise the rings higher and higher as you grow stronger and stronger.
Make sure you check out our “Guide to Training with Gymnastic Rings” if you’d like to learn more.
If you’re training at your home gym, you can absolutely do bodyweight dips.
Here are two variations to try:
#1) Bodyweight Dips Between Two Chairs or Bar Stools:
This is all going to be about the chairs or barstools you can find.
The important thing here is the stability of your furniture – don’t pick anything that’s wobbly. However, if you have a couple tall and sturdy chairs or bar stools, you can set them up on either side of you to perform your bodyweight dips.
If they’re too high for you and you can’t quite get your feet on the ground for assisted dips, no problem. Just stand on a few books or a short stool to help you gain support.
#2) Bodyweight Dips Off a Countertop:
Another great option is to perform dips on the corner of two sturdy countertops. As long as you can place your hands to the side so they can face forward, and you have plenty of room to maneuver between them, then you’re solid.
One thing you should be careful with is bench dips, which could be done off of a couch:
The trouble with this comes from your arms being behind you.
As we covered in the “How to Do Pain-Free Dips” video above, this position is a common problem area for causing pain in bodyweight dips. If it hurts when trying the bench dip, stick to the other two home variations above.
Now that you know how to do dips, let’s discuss when to do them.
Unless you’ve been strength training for years and know what you’re doing, we recommend that you pick a full-body routine that you can do 2-3 times a week.
So let’s build a full-body workout right now!
You want a workout routine that has at least one exercise for:
Dips would make a great addition to your “push” muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps).
So a sample workout routine that includes dips could look like:
That’s all!
Do your full-body workout and then go play some Nintendo.
Need some help getting started?
I have three great options to help you with your dip and strength training journey:
#1) If you want step-by-step guidance, a custom strength training program that levels up as you get stronger, and a coach to keep you accountable, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:
2) If you want an exact blueprint for crushing dips, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Try your free trial right here:
3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.
Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. It’ll help you start incorporating dips into your training:
That should get you going on mastering the bodyweight dip.
Alright, now I want to hear from you:
Do you head to the gym to crush dips?
Are you currently progressing through assisted dips?
Any tips or tricks we missed?
Let us know in the comments!
For the Rebellion,
-Steve
PS: Want to learn more? Read the rest of our Strength Training 101 series:
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Photo source: Fitness time, Lost, Assisted Dip Machine, Blue benny, Maltz Challenge, The Harbor Divers of Stone Town, Visiting Friends.
GIF source: Weighted dips, Bodyweight Dip, Bench Dips.
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