Just One Pushup

This month, the craziness is back but in a very different way... The month started up in Tahoe and continued with a nice mountain bike ride in Marin while the kids were at home.  Then the heat wave hit and we found ourselves in a 100 degree weather up in Redwood Forest.  We had no clue what was waiting for us at 3am in the morning - one of the biggest thunderstorms in the Bay Area.  At the time, we were in our tent, on top of our truck, watching the lightening as a mystical nature show.  It was kind of scary to be surrounded by giant redwood trees - pretty much in the mercy of that beautiful nature.  As we were headed back home, we were able to see smoke rising from couple miles away... It was scary.  Just a few days after our return, that mystical nature managed to lock us down, in our homes...  With the bad air quality, the fun of outdoors was (and still is) over.

When it is over 90 degrees hide under the Shade!

Well... how about being locked down with a new kindergarten student who is as clueless as his parents on what to do?!  So, the whole school thing started the craziness.  Schools don’t know what to do, parents do not know what to do and the kids... they are even more confused.  We will all get through these times, I know, so i continue to see the bright side of it. At least, this way, I can spend more time with Kaya and see how he develops with all the new things that he is learning.  My little baby is now in kindergarten! 

FirSt day of school starts at home

With all the craziness in our household and outside, the one thing that I try to keep as a constant, for my body, is the PUSHUP.  Those of you who have been with me in bootcamps, you would know that pushups are my favorite because they work on the ENTIRE body, inclusive of your mind.  For some people, even the word “pushup”  is intimidating.  Therefore it becomes your mind over body to even get started with the move.  There is also the misconception of “knee pushups”, which some people, incorrectly, refer to as “women’s pushups”.  Doing pushups on knees can still be as challenging as doing them on toes.  The key to a pushup is the FORM.  Either on knees or on toes, the back needs to be straight, the lower back should you lifted up and the butt should be down.  Once you get that rigid body, the move is executed with elbows bending to get the body lower to the ground... and THAT is what makes this move a full body champion!

Towards the end of July, I was nominated for a challenge to do 25 pushups for 25 days...  The challenge was to raise awareness for PTSD and other mental illnesses - just a great move to support those suffering from mental illnesses.  The hardest part of the challenge was to video myself and post it on Facebook.  However, by that way, I was able to shoot the below video for you, as a good example for how to do pushups.  

Here are the key things to remember about a pushup: 

• If you cannot do more than one, THAT IS OK

• If you do it on your knees, THAT IS OK

• DO NOT STRETCH in between sets, instead do a SUPERMAN (lay down on your belly and lift both your arms and legs off the ground)

I had one participant who came into my Tuesday Bootcamp with the fear of not being able to make any pushups.  She started with ONLY 1, when we were all doing 10.  We worked hard on her form and finally, she was doing all 10 with us with a PERFECT form.  At some point, she stopped coming to my classes.  Finally one day, I ran into her in the gym.  She told me that she was in a bad traffic accident and she was rear ended.  Her doctor told her that her spine was saved because of her strong back.  She had mentioned that she was thankful to those pushups for developing her back and eventually saving her life!  That is exactly why the title of my blow is JUST ONE PUSHUP - it all starts with one...

Here is my challenge for you: I want you to do 4 pushups a day, 2 in the morning before you change into your day clothes and 2 at night, right before going to bed.  If you are an avid pushup-er than hold your pushups down for 10 seconds. ;). Don’t forget you can be on your knees.  By doing your 4 pushups, you will start your day strong and end it even stronger since your body is usually too tired before going bed.

Let me know how this challenge treats you.  And, who knows, maybe you can get a surprise workout video from me in the middle of the month. ;)

Big high five to you if you can do this challenge for our upcoming month!  Keep it strong... That’s what our bodies do the best.