Mental health, positive vibes and stress

I keep noticing that people around me are getting more stressed and in a negative mind set. Have you noticed it too?
Or perhaps it just me getting older, really getting my foot in to the "stressful adult life".  It can be small comments about, "i dont have time to do this and that" " im so stressed today", today ths happend and it got me so annoyed" and the lis goes on.

Could the reason be because these persons are stressed and dissatisfyed and uncomftible about the way life is heading or going?
But how do you become satisfyed and comfortable about your life, and how do you stress less?

Time after time have i talked about meditation here but i still think far too few people take time to sit down and think about their life, their thoughts and feelings. To sit down, relax and contemplate only have to take 10 min of from your day. And those 10 min can really be life changing!
If you decide to sit down and meditate, (Or just think, contemplate) these are some good subjects and questions to ask yourself:

• What have you done good today?
• What would you have liked to change today and why?
• How would you change it?
• What gave you joy today?
• What did you learn today?
• What would you like to do today?
• What are important for you tofay, tomorrown, in one ,week, in one month, in one year, in one year?
• Why would you like to do those things?
• What do you value? Whats important for you? Why is those things importan?

When you find answers to these questions you also know what brings you joy in life and what long and short time goals that are important for you and for what reasons. By having these in mind, knowing that everyday you have done your best gives you a feeling of satisfaction an helps you find the good in things. In the end it's all about acceptance. Accepting the now and learn from that moment everything that there is there to learn.

For example
.
If you want to succeed in you work and doing your work well gives you joy it's perhaps necessary or even good to work long working hours.
Or if you love traveling and need to work a little bit extra to be able to travel, perhaps it's worth it?perhaps the extra work is a good thing? Perhaps you even could be thankful for even having a work to go to so that you are able to do nice things?

Or if you get a feeling of joy being with a partner it's perhaps only good that he or she messes up the kitchen every now and then. Because the mess is really quite a small thing compared to the feeling of joy he or she brings you.

Or school is stressful and it feels like a lot of musts, but perhaps you find yourself thankful for having the opportunity to go to school, for being able to learn something new, something that can help you later in life. Perhaps that knowledge even can get you to that dream job of yours? Or then you just become slightly wiser. Because in the end there's no bad knowledge, right?

Core workout for a better posture

Finally time for a new upload!

Here comes some interesting core exercises that are really effective and different. They are a little bit on the more challenging side so if you are a beginner, take it easy when your trying them out :)
I recommend you doing the exercises in small supersets to save some time and get that heartrate up.

1a) Toe drags in TRX 3 x 10-15
b) Windmill 3 x 10-15/side
c) Straight legged hip raises with leg lift 3 x 10-16

2a) Low plank walk with rubberband 8 walks forward and back
b) low plank turns with rubberband 10-16 lifts
c) V-sit with extended arms over head  10-16
d) V-sit with extended arms to the side 10-16

I cant stress how important good core stability is! Its the deep core muscles that keeps your body in a good position throughout the day, If those deep core muscles are in poor shape issues like lower back pain and shoulder/ neck pain is almost certain. When training the core its good to think about activating all the muscles all the way around, front, side, deep abdominals and also the back. I also like to include light stability training for my posterior shoulders to really work on my posture.

How to eat healthy on a budget

When training alot, and working as a PT you need to eat, and ALOT, to stay energized and healthy. Since i work kind of long hours i have had a bad habit of just going to the nearest superstore to get their daily lunch (for 6-7€). Thats about as cheap as it gets in finland. Only one problem with that, its not nearly enough food for me nor nutritious.

Sitting down contemplating o
n it for a while i figured that i actually doesnt take me THAT much time to make my own food. Especially if i make a big bunch at one time. The tricky part is just to plan a little ahead, what to eat as lunch, snack and dinner. Put it in small bags or cans and bring it to work. The trick is to keep it simple, if eating about the same things every day you dont have to think that much.
Chicken or meat for lunch and dinner.
boiled eggs and a fruit as snack
and wollah!

This is faaaar more cheaper than eating lunch out every day! I experimented the other day and went shopping for a whole week of food, The result was: 62,52 euros for a whole week of breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner,
Since i wanted it to be as nutritious as possible as i did buy more "luxurious" stuff as avocados, nuts and different kinds of protein sources. But even though being those the result was actually really cheap. I get a whole days food for the same amount as one lunch, plus its healthier!

Some tips and tricks for you to think about when you go buying food:

• Plan your meals in before hand so that nothing goes to waste nor do you buy extra stuff that you actually dont need
• Buy frozen veggies and berries, its cheaper, just as nutritious, time saving and doesn't go bad as fast as fresh ones.
• Buy from a bigger superstore, especially meat product are cheaper there
• Buy big packages, you save in the long run

So the conclusion:

Make your own food! It doesn't take that long time, its nutritious and you save some money!

Olympic weight lifting

Last weekend i spent the whole weekend on a olympic weight lifting teacher training course. Olympic lifts has become one of my favourites in the gym and i do them weekly. Meaning different kinds of Cleans and Snatches.

Big lifts like these activate the whole body at the same time as you directly see what your weak spots are. To be able to do lifts like this correctly you need strength, explosivity stability, mobility and coordination throughout your body. Its not a coincidence that top athletes in almost every sport do these moves. You know that when you are able to do these moves easily and correctly that your body is in sync and working properly.

If i take myself for example: Due to these lifts i have had to work A LOT on my mobility in upper spine, ankle and hip. I have found out that my weak areas are shoulder stability and hyperflexibility. Now when weights are increasing i have also noticed how upper body dominant I am. I can easily pull big weights up but my legs don't necessary handle the weight.
Since i haven't done too much explosive training in form of jumps, am i also slow to go under the barbell.


These are all parts that i can work on separately in the gym on the side of these lifts. These are just couple of good exercises that i do regularly to increase my performance:

• Front squat, back squats and deadlift for leg and core strength
• Push presses, handstands, different static holds with weights, scapula pulls and presses for shoulder stability
• Squat jumps, ninja tuck jumps, explosive barbell hip thrusts, bulgarian jump lunges, for explosivity
• Different kind of hollows and planks for core stability
• Mobility for the whole body but with increased focus on my stiff spots.

Good to keep in mind is that these movements are not for beginners and i strongly suggest you take help from a trainer in the beginning, to be able to perform the movement safely. You should also be able to do squats, deadlifts and push presses with a proper form before even thinking about doing these. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Do you get lower back pain after exercising? Check this out!

Many complain of getting sore lower back after exercising

One thing to keep in mind if this happens is weather your core is doing its work properly? Its your core that stabilizes most movements, and if your core doesn't do its work correctly the stress will show in the lower back.

It doesn't help much to contract your shallow, good looking, six pack. Its your deep core muscles that has to be activated, something that sometimes can be hard to figure out how to do. By watching my not so fancy video you get some good tips and tricks how to contract your deep core muscles and how not to do :)

An easy way to exercise the deep core muscles is to lay on the ground, bend your legs to 90 degree angle and start straightening the legs to the ground WITHOUT the lower back jumping of the flor at any point.

If this goes easy you can easily ad extra challange to the exercsise by adding wight on your legs or in your hands. One of my favourite exercises is this stick exercise. The first goal is just to get the stick behind your feet, if that goes well you can add a plate on the stick too :)

Another favourite is Plank. However the plank is also easily done wrong. Focus on turning your ribs down and turning your hips slightly forward (squeezing your glutes). Then start pulling your elbows to your feet  or knees at the sime time as you pull your feet or knees towards your elbows. Your lowerback should be totally straight without any backextension at all. Sadly Instagram has made it popular to point your ass as much as possible to make the plank look sexy, but by holding the plank like that for a longer time you only stress your lower back in a bad way and doesnt fully engage your deep core muscles!
Try it out and see the differens, i promice you that you will feel the difference :)

3 good ankle and feet stretches and my stretching routine

The ankle and feets are just as important to stetch as the rest fo the body, but many forget them. To be able to run and move correctly you need to take care of your ankle and feets aswell. Poor mobility in these areas can be one cause of knee pain and increases the risk of injury.
Here are 3 different but excellent ankle and feet stretches.

Deep squats is excellent tests for ankle and feet mobility. Try doing an deep squat before and one after the stretches and see if the exercises has helped you :)

I recommend doing every stretch for about 2 minutes

I also explain some about my stretching routine. I almost weekly get the question on how and when to stretch. Its  individual, but here is some short tips:

• Give the muscles some time to recover after training before you stretch. After a hot shower or sauna is idealy.
• Dont do deep stretches before an important strength performance since it decreses strength
• Dynamic light stretches is always good to do before strength training though, so that you are able to do the exercises in correct movement patterns.
• Deep stretching and mobility is good to do on a separate day
• Tools as triggerpoint ball and foamrollers are excellent tools to propperly open up yor body, without risking to overstretch something.

Monday HIT training

I feel like this monday need a extra kick in the but.

A quick Hi-intensity workout works wonderful for that. Just remember to not do these kind of hi intensity workouts too often, nor in hangover ;) Once or twice a week is a good amount! Your cardiovascular system need a good recovery after going all in althoug its is for a short time.

These kind of exercises are also easy to do at home, they dont take much time and are highly effective. I like them cos they are simple, you only have one task, and that is to go all in and push it. Perfect for a moody monday when you need to take your mind of something.

12min AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)

 

Goblet squat 10 (Or jumpsquats)

Stick situps 8

Superman lifts 10

spiderman pushups 8

This kind of workout increases your aerobic level, your muscle endurance and burns calories effectively. Just put a timer for 12min, some good music and GO!

This one you can do at home. If you dont have a kettlebell you can just do deep jump squats instead.
Or then you just join me for the Prformance HI-INT class this evening and let me push you to that extra limit ;)