Travels With Melissa …
Posted: July 24, 2012 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: cooking, crossfit, eating, exercise, fitness, food, happiness, life, love, motivation, paleo, pilates, trail running, Travel, traveling, Walk, walking, yoga 13 CommentsTravel Tribulations
It can be really difficult and frustrating, after getting comfortable with your food ways at home, when you have to navigate new surroundings to figure out the healthiest choices. Sometimes it is so overwhelming I find myself on the brink of giving up and looking for the easiest most unhealthy food around. However, I have learned from my experiences and want to share some of the ways I minimize stress and appreciate the journey!
I encourage you to embrace what you are able to do and enjoy the adventure of being somewhere new!
1. Make some travel foods to fill in the blanks. Granola bars are great! They last for a long time, don’t need to be refrigerated and can be individually wrapped. Check out: Ina Garten- Homemade Granola Bars Recipe for an awesome recipe! Another good travel food is hummus if you have a cooler. If kept cool it can last for about a week and you can pre-cut veggies ahead of time. My favorite travel food is quinoa salad! It can be eaten cold or hot and if you have a cooler it will stay good for up to a week. Quinoa salad is full of protein and other awesome vitamins and minerals!
2. Don’t be afraid to stop along your route for local fresh foods. Check it out and see what they are offering in that area. If its local it is obviously fresh with bonus points for supporting local farmers!
3. If you go to a supermarket take your time, look at all your options, read the ingredients, keep it simple and ask questions. Some of the “freshly” made products might not have been made right away and sometimes a marinated meat in the prepared foods section is a bottled marinade with all kinds of crazy ingredients.
4. Don’t stress out. Make the best decision possible and enjoy your vacation! A couple sub par meals will not ruin everything you have worked for!
Being happy will always be a part of being healthy! Trust in yourself to make the best choices and don’t obsess too much over bad options. Enjoy and appreciate everything you do have!
Happy traveling 🙂
The Plan-
The Workout-
A funny thing happened the other day while sorting through countless emails from our dear readers. A trend started to emerge from the rubble. Nearly 80% percent or so emails were asking when Melissa would stop back over to save yourself from reading our tired and exhaustive posts daily. The remainder of the emails primarily focused on one question/topic: “How do I perform a Perfect Pull Up?“
The invidious Uncle Mo opines: “Do more Pull Ups, duh!” Ah, if it was that simple … Ladies? We are throwing you all under the bus so be prepared!
Pop Quiz Hot Shot: What are the steps involved before an infant takes his or her first steps? Lie on tummy, roll over, reaching for an object, crawling, supported stand, falling, falling, falling some more and finally one day? A first step … So what happened from puberty on when you magically surmised that by simply grabbing a pull up bar you should be able to do one? Life is about patterns, pattering and progressions. There was and is a reason why we perform Fractal programs from time to time around these parts. You can not measure the importance of this program today in traditional ways: Form, Flow, Grace …
Happy Hips Warm Up followed by:
30 Second Natural Dead Hang From Pull Up Bar (Neutral Grip- Thumbs around top of bar. Open your pits/axilla and lengthen. Neutral spine and eyes forward, gently look through your grip …) Followed by:
30 Second Handstand Hold (Absolutely no flopping around! Actively press through the floor while pointing your toes to the sky. Neutral spine, take a moment to look through your hands … The exact opposite of your hang! Feel your breath and under control return to standing) Followed by:
5-10 Perfect Push Ups (Thumbs centered on nipples. Pinkies pointing at 3 and 9 o’clock. Elbows tucked in at your sides in the bottom position. Three points of contact at the bottom: Hands, Feet, Chin. Allow your breath to control and initiate movement throughout. Load on the way down slowly- Anakin squeeze! And initiate the upward movement through your stinky pits!)
15 Times Through Today! 1-5: Focus on length. 6-10: Focus on control. 11-15: Let your breathing take over … Form , Flow, Grace!
How about a nice little wager ladies of CultFit? Perform this program twice a week for one month? And we will guarantee that you will be able to do a Perfect Pull Up. Without one of those lame ass bands!?!
To accept our challenge and to decry to the blog-o-sphere that you are giving our challenge a go: Leave a comment and keep all of us updated on your progress!
When you are successful in your new task, and you will be successful! We will send you a nice shirt to wear out in public!!!
Notes-
Sister Hazel did our program last month and needless to say she cursed out her blue pull up band, it was rather unseemly for a woman. But damn was it hot!!! Dudes? Feel free to join us as well! The choice is yours … ENJOY!!!
**If you need some more clarification on the movements? Please feel free to ask for some help, that’s what we are here for.**
You’re Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Posted: July 10, 2012 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: Chinning, crossfit, exercise, fitness, free range, gluten free, health, hipster, intensity, jogging, lululemon, marathon, motivation, natural, paleo, Peaches, perspective, pilates, running, trail running, Walk, walking, whole foods, WOD, yoga 12 CommentsHe slept beneath the moon. He basked beneath the sun; He lived a life of going-to-do, And died with nothing done-
If there was ever a time to turn away from CultFit, today would be that day! The topic of discussion today is going to be neither coherent nor digestible and is probably easier read over a cup of absinthe rather than our customary cup of green tea. So on that note … If you are late to your 9am Cardio Blast or 10am WAD at the local “Box“? Look at the pretty pictures, all too real videos and carry on with your fine day…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdctx_-BZMY
You’re Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
And this concludes our conversation about staying true to yourself and not jumping onto the latest fitness trend(s) : You’re damned if you are too supportive to “these” people and you are damned if you’re not supportive enough.
Thank goodness we we’re Chinners here at CultFit HQ before it became “Hip” and mainstream … Look ‘Ma no kipping!?!
The Plan-
The Workout-
Trail Run/Bike/Swim/Hike/Walk as you see fit. Followed by:
20-30 Minutes of our classic “Plank Medley”.
Slice em and Dice em up as you see fit peeps although keep in mind: No plank will be held shorter than One Minute!
Notes:
Congrats and big pat on the back if you made it this far! Have a great day today and ENJOY!!!
Tuesday 27 March 2012
Posted: March 27, 2012 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: crossfit, exercise, fitness, health, jog, jogging, life, motivation, natural, paleo, perspective, pilates, recovery, rest, run, trail running, Walk, walking, WOD, yoga 8 CommentsWe are far more liable to catch the vices than the virtues of our associates-
Pop quiz time peeps! Ready? Here we go:
Try not to worry too much about the numbers at the moment. Openly ask yourself the questions and preferably ask them aloud, like right now. That little nugget of brain residing between your ears likes to sabotage events from time to time.
The Plan-
Life is wonderful and very, very humbling at times. Our crack Human Behavior Lab here at CultFit HQ estimates between 98.9 and 99.9% of you have tried this before in some manner or another in your life. Of course we would never know that from your perfect slice-o-life-blog…
The Workout-
Pulled from our “Thinking Cap” series at CultFit…
Trail Run/Bike/Swim into a nice lather followed by:
5 Perfect Dead Hang Pullups followed by:
10 Scap Dips (elbows lose not locked – neutral head position – toes pointing/reaching to the floor) followed by:
5 Perfect 5 Count Push Ups (allow your breath to release you)
20 minutes or so of Leg Drains and Self Reiki
Pattern and Loading remember? Ten times through is pretty good and if the Pull Ups become a challenge: Change grip first then stop…if you are not initiating the pull through your axilla? It’s time to start patterning proper Perfect Pull Ups!
Notes:
If your goal is to strike a nerve today (literally) go ahead with the program with reckless abandon (four people know why this is the case)! Have a splendid day, let the sun warm your face before you set off this morning and most importantly, ENJOY!!!
Monday 23 January 2012
Posted: January 23, 2012 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: bike, body weight, fitness, health, motivation, recovery, rest, Walk 1 CommentLuck affects everything. Let your hook always be cast. In the stream where you least expect it, there will be a fish-
The Plan-
Many of you know that our line of thinking here at the always classy CultFit HQ goes as follows: Body weight movements trump anything else we do in a program, period!
The logic is that if you can’t efficiently move yourself properly during a program you have no purpose adding weight until you can. The same goes for a bunch of other things: Walking before learning how to run as an example. It’s funny as adults seem to forget this as the years wear on and add up. Old Uncle Sachmo here of course was running as an infant before he learned how to crawl…Hmm why do so many old peeps seem to forget this as they train for their 5 hr long marathon? Oh well, we’re older and obviously so much smarter than a little stinky infant.
The Workout-
Pulled from our “Time to start” series at CultFit HQ:
Bike/Walk…Preferably outside and with a fair amount of effort put into it.
5-4-3-2-1 Perfect Pull Ups (ease into them and develop power from your torso-core-trunk-whatever the experts are calling it now)
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Perfect Push Ups and Perfect One Arm Presses (same as above…)
10 Minutes or so of the following:
Find a pace and rhythm and knock out some Goblet Squats for ten straight minutes (key is finding the right weight to push yourself just a little bit).
Notes:
have fun today and ENJOY!!!
Monday 03 October 2011
Posted: October 3, 2011 Filed under: Random Workout | Tags: 10k, 5k, active rest, crossfit, cultfit, educated mind, elite program, elite yoga, free range, gluten free, goblet, half, hipster, intensity, jog, jogging, kettlebell, lululemon, marathon, natural, paleo, pood, random fitness, recovery, rest, simplicity, tooth decay, trail running, Walk, walking, whole foods, WOD, X-Fit yoga, yoga, yoga WOD Leave a commentAs a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly-
Thank you for all the feedback, both positive and negative! It really does help us here at CultFit HQ no matter what the naysayers opine. Also, to all our athletes who competed this past weekend (you know who you are…) congratulations on the podium finishes! Training to lead a healthy life and to produce measurable results…what a novel idea, huh?
The Plan-
Think of some movements this morning that you have been neglecting of late and why you have been putting them on the back burner. If they are there for a reason i.e they make you hurt or aggravate an old injury, leave them there for good! The idea today is craft a series of movements that augment your training goals in addition to the proven movements that have been working for you of late.
The Workout-
Pulled this one from our “Craft Brew Series” here at the CultFit archives…
Walk/Run-Run-Run/Walk…Tempo run peeps, find a good pace and stay in the groove for 30 minutes.
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Weighted Step Ups
Perfect Dips
Notes-Once you pick the weight up for the ‘step ups’ it stays up…Plant foot and push through, nice controlled movement. ENJOY!!!
CultFit 