Grandpa Bruce Series - Lifting for Beginners

GrandBatdad is BACK AT IT, AGAIN!

This time, he’s bringing you some of his favorite movements to do for his at-home workouts. Fun fact: Bruce LOVES Deadlifts and overhead movements, so this combines the two for a fun Ground-to-overhead Weightlifting series, perfect for strengthening the back, hamstrings, and shoulders!

This instructional blog is also perfect for lifting for beginners! All movements are modifiable to fit your needs!

Best workout pain face in the world… bar none.

A Little Bit About BatGrandDad

Meet Bruce Wayne… yes, the name on his actual birth certificate is Bruce Wayne Shimizu… we have his older brother Ron to thank for that!

68-year-old fitness superhero and granddad extraordinaire - he started working out regularly after retiring (almost 2-years ago), hitting up daily workouts with his daughter (Coach Cheryl) while she was pregnant with Jarrett! They scaled together, ain’t that adorbs.

To date, he has lost 40+ lbs., gotten off blood pressure meds, gotten his 5-rep max Deadlift up to 155 lbs., mile time down to under 10-minutes, can get up off of the ground unassisted, and is no longer pre-diabetic. 

How did he do this? Incorporating functional movement at varied intensities and modalities into his everyday workout routine. He used to go into a gym every day, but due to the recent pandemic, he has chosen to become a Gymparty #HomeWorkoutWarrior.

Follow the chronicles of Bruce Wayne and how he modifies movements to not only get in a good workout, but stay injury free at ANY age!

Lifting For Beginners: Ground-to-overhead

“Due to COVID I now work out in my driveway. I limit exposure to public places, so getting outside to work out is a release. I started doing Blue J's daily workouts at home and am able to personalize exercises to my own comfort so I get in a great workout.”

DB Snatch

• What it’s good for: strengthening single-arm strength and overhead stability.

• Level: MODERATE - not too back intensive, but requires more shoulder strength and the ability to lock out one arm at a time overhead.

• Lifting for beginners: if you are unable to keep your back in a flat position, instead of touching the ground, touch a stack of plates to elevate the DB contact point.

Plate Ground-to-overhead

• What it’s good for: helping to strengthen the back and shoulders while working on overhead mobility and range of motion.

• Level: EASY - since both arms are together, you can get away with some asymmetries between sides & requires less shoulder strength/stability.

• Lifting for beginners: if you are unable to keep your back in a flat position, instead of touching the ground, stop right around the knee and then up and overhead.

Overhead KB Swing 

• What it’s good for: working partial range of motion and helps to reinforce mechanics of hip extension into an overhead position - best if you don’t want to have to think and just want to move!

• Level: BEGINNER - less hamstring mobility required and the overhead position can be more easily maintained since arms are closer together.

• Lifting for beginners: if overhead strength or mobility is limited, only go to the level between the chest and eyes (half swing).

Grandpa Bruce Series - Burpee Alternatives

Our hero Bruce Wayne, no not THAT Bruce Wayne…this Bruce Wayne.

Bruce has been a member of our community for 4 months now. Based on what equipment he has at home and his range of motion, we provide different movement options for him so he can stay fit and keep up with Jarrett.

Watch his Burpees and Burpee alternatives in action!

I love knowing that I’m getting a well-rounded workout that I not only feel good after, but also not hurt myself since I’m 69 this year and don’t have any coach around to watch me!

The group is really fun and supportive and I’m motivated to tell them how I did because everyone else is so encouraging.

- Bruce Wayne Shimuzu

A Little Bit About Bat-Granddad

Bruce started working out regularly after retiring (1.5 years ago), hitting up daily workouts with his daughter (Coach Cheryl) while she was pregnant with Jarrett! They scaled together, ain’t that adorbs.

To date, he has lost 40+ lbs., gotten off blood pressure meds, gotten his 5-rep max Deadlift up to 155 lbs., mile time down to under 10-minutes, can get up off of the ground unassisted, and is no longer pre-diabetic. 

How did he do this? Incorporating functional movement at varied intensities and modalities into his everyday workout routine. He used to go into a gym every day, but due to the recent pandemic, he has chosen to become a Gymparty #HomeWorkoutWarrior.

Follow the chronicles of Bruce Wayne and how he modifies movements to not only get in a good workout but stay injury-free at ANY age! In this saga, we cover the Burpee and Burpee alternatives!

The Burpee

The Burpee, a movement many have a love-hate relationship with! … well, let’s say mainly hate! haha. When starting out any fitness journey, the Burpees and Burpee alternatives can be performed without equipment, anywhere, and is extremely effective.

What are the best ways to scale this movement during a Burpee workout? Yes, doing the movement full out is the goal, but depending upon where you are in your fitness capabilities, doing it “as prescribed” may not necessarily be safe or even doable!

Here are a few Burpee alternatives to help increase fitness, strengthen your core and shoulders, and get in a great workout, with the eventual goal of performing them unassisted!

Adjust the height:

• Instructions: elevate your Burpee by planking your body out to a higher object - use stairs, counter top, table top, the bottom of a chair, etc.

• What this version is good for: strengthening both the core and shoulders.

Modify the Push-up:

• Instructions: perform the Burpee to the ground, then when you are lowering your torso to the ground, lower your knees as well, performing a knee Push-up. 

• What this version is good for: strengthening the shoulders & moving quickly.

• This version is NOT videoed because it’s not appropriate for Bruce Wayne - he needs to work on his core MORE than shoulder strength!

Remove the Push-up:

• Instructions: eliminate the Push-up and just Plank your body out - this is called a Kick-back.

• What this version is good for: moving fast and eliminating the shoulder demand as it is more leg-intensive. Works well for high volume workouts where you want to get a good sweat.

Jump or Step-in-and-out:

• Hardest:  jump out into the Plank and jump the feet back in.

• Medium: option 1 would be to jump the feet back into the Plank then step feet back in, or option 2 would be to step the feet out and then jump back in.

• Easiest: step the feet back out and in on each rep.

• What this version is good for: maintaining pace for a workout with a lot of reps to try to help control heart rate and exertion.

The Bottom Line

No matter if you perform a Burpee or a Burpee alternative listed above, we want your elbows in to maintain a safe shoulder strengthening position with your body planked and flat, no sagging of the lower back! Choose a scaling that will allow good positions - never sacrifice the two things mentioned for intensity.

Best place to start? Elevate the Burpee with stepping in and out and then add in the jump! From there you can keep going lower and lower until you’re eventually on the ground and then try other methods of assisting the Push-up! Happy camping in your Burpee and Burpee alternative adventures!

How to Make Instagram-worthy, Perfect Soft Boiled Eggs

Add a perfect soft boiled egg to any meal and suddenly you’ve got street cred. Laura shows us how easy it is. We’re so egg-cited!

Recipe for Cooking with Kids👩🏻‍🍳

Parents may be looking for new activities to do with their families during SIP. Looking for recipes for cooking with kids? Check out these willow crackers with Coach Laura and Evie!

They’re learning a ton during the process! How to measure, aka math. Practicing patience. Learning an appreciation for food and nourishment. Science! The list goes on. But most importantly, it’s quality time.

Our SIP Essentials

We’re three months in and no one could have predicted at the beginning of the year that we’d be spending our entire Spring and probably most of Summer at home sheltered in place.

But of course, as humans do, we adapt and find the joys of being inside. Each person on the team has their own essentials - what are yours?

Click on images to watch their video!

The New Year’s Resolution That Gave Me One of the Best Years Ever!!

I know New Year’s Resolutions are getting a bad rap lately. The inability to keep your resolution can bring you down a disappointing spiral and the feeling of failure makes having a resolution counterintuitive. Orrrr it just completely slips your mind come February. 

I believe it’s important to have some sense of direction when you’re creating a life of happiness. But I also understand that at times setting goals creates unwarranted pressures, especially if you don’t follow through with them.

Regardless of the apprehension, I actually made a resolution in 2019 that changed my life for the better! But before I divulge - here’s some back story. 

Almost three years ago, I left a job I truly loved. It was like going through a break-up because I spent years committed to working hard hoping there was a future only to find out the relationship was never really reciprocated. It’s devastating to find out you were never really valued the way you thought you were. I spent five years as your typical “job comes first” person (my husband is very understanding and patient). I had something to prove in a male-dominated industry and I was going to work and work and work until I was “successful”. Little did I know that despite my hard work, I was dispensable. So when I left, it was truly heartbreaking. 

The most important thing to understand is that all those actions above were all my doing. It was completely on me. I chose to be that person. It was no one else’s fault that I essentially enabled the relationship. So like all break-ups, after you come out of it, you realize it was the best thing that could’ve happened to you!

In my time of moving on, the friends and family that always came second to my work were by my side. I was so grateful for their support, but I felt this enormous amount of guilt from all the years that I said no to plans, flaked on them last minute, or just my inability to be present because I HAD to answer an email or be on my computer. 

It was when I reconnected with my best friend Yasmine and seeing her daughter who I’ve known since she was born, now suddenly a full-grown adolescent did I grasp how much I had missed out on. 

I was devoted to making things right, so in 2019, I resolved to be a better friend. To show the people I love that they were important to me. 

It took small actionable items like setting down my phone at a meal to more substantial action items like scheduling trips to see friends who lived out of town. I worked on following through with plans to meet up, even if it meant it was passed my bedtime on a Sunday. Every time I had a random thought about someone, I made a point to send them a quick text to say hello and let them know I missed them. I wanted to create these new habits because it was important to me that the people in my life knew they mattered to me. Not by my words, but by my actions; big or small.

As a result, 2019 was one of THE best times I’ve had in a very long time. It was undeniably my most authentic year and I attribute that to being around people who I truly love where the love is indeed reciprocated. I’ve laughed the most. I’ve hugged the most. I’ve said the most “I love you”s and it’s been the most fulfilled I have ever felt. 

It’s not to say that I no longer work hard because I do! Especially now that I run my own business, I would say I work extra hard. But, I’ve stopped defining myself and my worth through work. And no matter how much I love my work and what I do, the relationships with the people I love should never suffer for it. 

And by no means was I the perfect friend this year. I’m sure there’s someone reading this now thinking “hey, she totally canceled on me that day!” The point is I’m way better than I was the years before and I’ll continue to make an ongoing effort. 

So resolutions are possible! They just have to be meaningful to you. Saying you want to lose 5lbs doesn’t carry as much weight (no pun intended) as say, setting a goal to be healthier so you can walk your daughter down the aisle. They also have to include actionable items with intention. Sometimes a resolution is just the kick-start you need to help you become better not just for the year, but for the rest of your life. I know for sure I can’t go back to the way it was and I wouldn’t have known that if I didn’t set my initial goal earlier this year. 

So, what’s your 2020 resolution going to be??

Blue J. Turns 2

We’re Still Here!

I know, I’m just as surprised as you are!

To me, taking the time to reflect back every year is very important. Not only does it help me appreciate the growth, but also it reminds me that success comes in all sizes.

I started the year off extremely unsure. Doubtful of my own abilities. Putting unnecessary pressure on myself and feeling that it (or I) wasn’t enough. In the process of creating Blue J. and building it up to something worthy, I’ve learned that I may not have the many years of business/entrepreneurial experience, but if I continue to treat people well, success will follow. 

Putting people first will always be non-negotiable. 

With that mindset, this year, we’ve brought on some great partnerships, created a new nutrition program, saw amazing progress in so many people, bought a company car, and most importantly we had a lot of FUN. 

I’m so thankful for everyone who has shown support! It motivates me to continue the mission to help people be healthier and happier. Whether you referred us to your friends, brought us on to help at your company,  liked our pictures, commented on the posts, or are just reading this right now! THANK YOU x million 💙

More of What’s to Come!

Our priority is to continue to grow our current programs and reinforce our value for our corporate partners.

Community will always be the core of everything we do. So you can expect plenty more community events in the future. 

We're hoping to continue to build our humble team who share the same passion and who will help promote our mission.

The more companies we partner with, the more people we can help, so we're always looking to expand our clientele. 

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We want to celebrate with you!

Join us for a very casual celebration! Come meet us for HAPPY HOUR at Puesto in Santa Clara and let's have a drink (or two) to celebrate.

More details here!

How to Travel for Work and Stay Fit and Healthy

Business trips usually come with a tough schedule filled hour to hour with client meetings, all-day conferences, followed by lots of drinking (especially if you’re in sales)! 

Despite this heavy schedule, you have the best intentions and pack your workout shoes and clothes anyway. You’re positive you’ll be able to wake up early and go on that morning run, even though it hasn’t happened on any of your trips yet. Well, maybe it’s time to try something different so that you can stay fit and healthy while you’re away. Here are a few practical tips you can do on your next trip. 

Working Out 
If your trip is only a few short days, the best thing to do is maintain your regiment at home and have your rest days fall on your travel days. That way, it’s as though nothing is really off while you’re away. 

For longer trips, this won’t be the case so here are some things you can keep in mind. 

Throw your at-home fitness goals out the window. Business travel is not the time to work on getting your first pull-up or starting a Smolov cycle. The goal is to move and get some endorphins going so you stay energetic throughout the day.

Eliminating barriers is another key to staying active while you travel. For instance, there can be an array of excuses that magically appear when you have to walk from your hotel room to the hotel fitness center. So, opt to work out in your room instead. Keep the workouts simple. The more you overthink what you’re planning to do, the more you’re eating away at your workout time. Start with a simple format like 3 Rounds 50 sit-ups + 50 squats + 50 lunges. Another option is to subscribe to a workout program that provides minimal to no equipment workouts. Outside the Box is a great one because it provides warm-ups, a variation of functional movements that keep things fun, and each workout is 30 minutes from start to finish.

Morning workouts are going to be your best bet. Get it out of the way and you don’t have to worry about putting it off. Yes, sometimes those precious extra minutes of sleep are needed! In that case, you should have a night-before prep routine. Have your clothes ironed and ready, pack your bag ahead of time, and do anything else you can get a head start on. That way you can press snooze at least once and still get a quick workout in. 

Eating Out
The same tip applies with food if you’re on a short trip. If you’ve stayed on your nutrition plan leading up to the trip, being a bit more relaxed for a couple of days won’t wreak havoc on your overall health. 

When you’re traveling, you’re unlikely in a position to meal prep. Oftentimes you’re at the helm of catering where you can’t control the ingredients. In these instances, you’re just going to have to control what you can. Load up on as many veggies as possible and try to keep your plates balanced. For example, instead of having the bread roll AND the potatoes, pick one of those instead. Add in some protein and fat alongside your veggie-heavy plate and you’re set up for success!

If you’re going to indulge, make it worth it. You better have pizza if it’s your first time in Chicago! Life is more than just about watching what you eat, so allow some indulgences here and there - that is actually a tip for life, not just for travel. 😊

Lastly, the best thing you can do is drink tons of water! Especially when partaking in alcohol. The more hydrated you are, the more efficiently your body will work for you. Aim for 12 ounces every hour and increase the amount if you’ve worked out or if you’ve had caffeine.

Staying fit and healthy while traveling is easier to read about than to actually do. But if you commit to at least one of these small practices, you’re headed in the right direction! Give it a try next time you’re away and see if you feel a difference!

Here are a few hotel workouts you can use. There’s a mix of ones you can do in your room and in the hotel gym.

4 Benefits of Yoga 🧘🏻‍♀️

The phrase “sitting is the new smoking” has spread through wellness communities like the “Flossing” dance craze swept the internet. Although I don’t foresee us outlawing sitting on airplanes any time soon, the detriments of sitting are undeniable.

As any veteran desk-jockey can attest to, sitting wreaks havoc on your health. Not just your physical health (organ damage, muscle degeneration, leg disorders), but also mental health (depression, foggy brain, fatigued central nervous system).

So what can we do to keep our office productive and successful for the long-haul? The solution is simple y’all, incorporating Yoga. Here are a few evidence based benefits of Yoga, whether that’s in your home or office.

Increased Energy

We’ve all experienced that midday lull and find ourselves in dire need of some extra energy. Instead of slugging back yet another coffee, yoga will wake up the circulatory system and positively activate the nervous system to bring new life into the body

One benefit of yoga is that it provides a spur of energy, while also warding off the dreaded burnout feeling that is far too common in office culture. Published in 2005, a study focused on providing nurses with yoga at work. Despite working a physically and emotionally demanding job, 100% of nurses reported increased energy levels and decreased feelings of burnout.

Stress Management

Let’s be real, work can be a major source of stress. Particularly for those of us with standards of excellence towards success. The pressure can take a serious toll on employees. In a recent study, University of Utah monitored brain activity from people in pain. Participants who regularly practiced yoga exhibited significantly less of a stressful reaction when put in slight amounts of pain. The benefit if Yoga is strongly associated with a strong decrease in stress hormones, and increase in confidence hormones. In essence, your body and mind become more resilient to stress. 

Enhanced Focus & Productivity

You may be thinking, “I already need an 8th day in the week or a 5th quarter in the year - how on earth do I make time for yoga? That’s 30-60 minutes I can’t respond to emails or take a phone call.” One major benefit of yoga is the increased ability to focus.

In 2014, the New York Post asked Josh Schuster (president of a successful New York real estate company) about his use of yoga in the office. Schuster boasted of the tremendous burst of work he gets finished after his moving meditation. He reported, “I become so much more focused if I’m not stressed, because I can zero in on what matters to me”. He added that despite working 13 hours in a day, he accomplishes 20 hours of work after 60 minutes of yoga.

Health & Longevity

We’ve laid out how yoga mitigates stress, increases focus, and heightens energy levels. Now we zoom out to the big picture; one major benefit of yoga is that it is an investment in long term health. In 2012, Harvard University published an extensive study about the benefits of yoga on physical and mental health. Their evidence concluded that office yoga can manage or prevent many chronic health conditions. High blood pressure, insomnia, depression/anxiety, ADD/ADHD, and even cancer treatment outcomes can improve with regular yoga. 

By making a little time, your home or office can experience numerous benefits of yoga. Looking to lead your office to a more successful future?

Contact us to schedule a class!

- Jules Bautista
Yoga Instructor/Staff Writer

Pride 🌈

Gay. The kind of gay that at 5 I was stealing my mother’s blue heels and strutting down imaginary runways around the house. The kind of gay that was more interested in learning how to French braid hair (a great skill to possess) than play roller hockey with the neighbors. I came into the world like a queer bomb of glitter and while I’d like to say it never relented, the journey to self-love was not an easy road. Years have been spent hating my body, doubting my abilities, and discrediting my hard work, all due to my sexual orientation. It didn’t matter the accomplishment, being gay was like the dark cloud ruining any positivity. Never, in those early years, did I think I would be working a traditional day-time job in construction, then coaching CrossFit at night. The craziest part, is never did I ever think that fitness and CrossFit would have been the catalyst for this passionate self-love and acceptance that I have come to demand from myself.

Before getting too far, I need to acknowledge my own privilege. I am a gay, white, cisgender male. The LGBTQ community is made up of incredible individuals, each having their own story, unique and special only to them. I hope that by sharing my story, I can propel others to find the beauty inside their own body, and to reject the voices that say, “you are not worth it” and “you will never achieve what you want in life.”

June 1st brings us Pride month. 30 days of unrelenting exposure of rainbows, parades, and for some of us, exposure to seemingly perfect bodies gyrating on parade floats. (I encourage all of you to read about the Stonewall Riots and how a revolution began with some fearless revolting, led by Marsha P. Johnson, a transgendered woman of color.) Many years in my life, Pride month did not amount to anything. I was not “out”, I was not proud in the least. Through this, I had a deep yearning for acceptance and love for the true person I was inside.

Like many people in the LGBTQ community, I got through life by internalizing my self-hate. This had different manifestations over the 21 years of being in the lonely “closet”. The largest battle that I still fight is acceptance of my body and love of its capabilities. I am not alone. The national eating disorder website notes that existing research shows that gay males are seven times more likely to report binging and 12 times as likely to report purging than their straight counterparts. Additionally, even though gay males are only thought to encompass 5% of the male population, 42% of males with eating disorders identify as gay. Be Proud, amiright? These facts are eye-opening. I am reminded of an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race when an utterly fabulous drag queen Shea Coulee shared her battle with bulimia, saying she never thought she could find support from other drag queens.

LGBTQ folks do not feel a part of mainstream straight culture. The issue with being disenfranchised, means that you are not connected and you do not feel any sense of belonging. You battle your own issues alone. Your identity? Hidden. Your issues? Hidden. Your self-doubt? Hidden. Shove it all down inside, be funny, perform, and live up to the expectations that others place on you. Are you feeling fat? Too queer? Too feminine? Being gay is like walking a tightrope. Be gay, but like, not too gay where you will get attacked on the street. Be gay but like, don’t shove it in my face and have PDA. Well, you can kind of see how this creates some issues with loving yourself and your body. You can be yourself, but only JUST so much. I’ll say it, I have issues with loving myself. Trust and believe, this will connect to fitness.

When you are rejected for who you are for years and years. You tend to stop trying to find people who do love you. It’s not an outrageous statement. You build walls to keep others away from who you are, to protect whatever is glimmer of light is left of your spirit. I built concrete iron-clad walls. Any sort of new hobby filled me with extreme anxiety. The potential for rejection was enough to keep me from even trying to be accepted. That is not a life. What happened to that little boy who walked miles in heels by age 5? I had become a shell of myself. Allowing my self-hate and doubt dictate my life path.

Then came fitness. Then came a different pathway for my emotions. Then came some big decisions that spurred bigger opportunities. Then came back, a hint of the little hair stylist who wasn’t aware of anyone else’s evaluations of him.

When you’re snatching or doing any Olympic lift, there’s no room for doubt. You can’t simultaneously pull well over body weight over your head if you don’t believe in yourself. You have to believe in yourself and your capabilities. And while sexual orientation seems so irrelevant in this endeavor, it’s for sure not.

As a gay person, walking into gyms used to terrify me. Comments about how LGBTQ individuals should behave in locker rooms, and seeing the machismo masculinity run rampant, was enough to keep me far away from weights. Yes. I could do a yoga class with 40-year-old moms, that was safe enough. The squat rack. Absolutely not.

Thankfully, over time, I was able to create cracks in the walls I had built. Showing up to CrossFit classes on a daily basis was my therapy. For an hour, I didn’t have time to think about how much I despised myself, or how worried I was that anybody would reject me for my identity. It didn’t matter if I was “too femme” while kettlebell swinging. What did matter was my form, my effort, the movement of the kettlebell. Over time, going to the squat rack got less scary, even though I was sharing it with a (gasp) straight person. I didn’t catch their straightness, and they didn’t catch my gayness. I was there with another human, with their own struggles in their mind, and we felt the weight on our shoulders. That is what we were focused on. We battled through our weight sets, and we became one in our shared experiences. Without speaking, we validated one another’s struggles, in the gym and out. These moments of shared suffering allowed us the opportunity to create a safe space. And while our struggles may manifest differently, whether it be drinking, eating disorders, gambling, I’d say that the underlying root causes seem to be universal.

Back in college, a friend introduced me to the word “metanoia”. Metanoia, a turning point in your life related to self-reflection or conversion. Thankfully, I don’t think you only get one per lifetime, we as people should always be learning and adapting. In the fitness world, usually you have that one coach that makes the biggest impact on your life. For me, all it took was my own coach, Paige Sousa, looking into my eyes when all I wanted to do was give up. She saw my struggle, both mentally and physically, and said, “You are worth it. Fight for yourself.” Shit. All the narratives I had told myself about not being worth it, about not being able to reconcile my identity with my fitness goals fell apart. In the past, I would feed my doubts and keep them alive like a damn Tamagotchi. In this one interaction, the iron clad walls came crashing down. My identity has not been an issue since this very moment. I had created these obstacles in my head because of past interactions. I was stopping myself. Not only did this impact my gym performance, I allowed these negative thoughts to permeate all aspects of my life and dictate my trajectory. Sabotaging relationships and friendships as soon as they were too real and holding my potential back.

I am now, a proud, 30-year-old gay man. I have an amazing life partner whom I adore. I am unapologetically queer. I live for drag queens. I love Disney. I gag for a kick-line in a musical. I also love lifting weights and helping others see their own potential. There is no reason that these are mutually exclusive. The narrative we tell ourselves holds us back. Stop that. Literally, stop. When I am a PROUD man, I allow others to be proud of their own lives. If I feel as if I have to live meekly, that stands as an example for others. You should never alter yourself for the acceptance or love of others, sorry Ariel. Society says conform, and if you’re different, don’t be.

What would our world look like if we lifted each other up and truly loved one another in community? Our job as fitness professionals isn’t just 3-2-1 GO. It is seeing the humanity in each other and meeting people for where they are and allowing them to feel whole in those moments. You are valid. You are worth my hour. You are important to me. I am PROUD this June to work in fitness and I pledge to cultivate a safe space for you to be unapologetically YOU. I will fight for you until you see it in yourself that you are worth the fight. You are worthy of love and most importantly, I love you.

- Douglas McCoy
Guest Writer
Level 1 CrossFit Coach at CrossFit Moxie

Healthy Looks

“Lose your Gut”
“Summer Shred”
- Men’s Health Magazine

“Slim and Sexy Now”
“Get Bikini Ready”
- Women’s Fitness Magazine

Society has trained us to believe that healthy looks a certain way. Generally for women, it’s being slender and having “toned” muscles. For so long the expectation was that in order to be healthy we should look like Victoria Secret models. For men, through the inescapable shirtless covers on Men’s Fitness magazines, you were trained to think that you needed to be “ripped right now”! Presently, having curves and dad bods are a bit more embraced, but with social media and Instagram flooding our feeds with body images that seem almost unattainable, lines are definitely blurred between looking healthy and actually being healthy.

I work with many people of all different backgrounds, ages, sizes, and in my personal experience, the happiest and healthiest of them all generally don’t have or really want washboard abs. Being and looking healthy has been heavily misconstrued and defined as looking ONE way, but how is that possible when we’re all so different.

I’ll save you the snore-fest and will skip going into the misleading practices of the health and fitness conglomeration. And I’m also not trying to be preachy about the importance of loving yourself and your body (but really, it’s so important)! Everyone is going to have their preference on how they want to look. There is nothing wrong with being slender or being so muscular you can’t wipe your bottom – if that’s your preference.

What I think is unfair is that we’ve mainly been exposed to just one way. And that one way isn’t even necessarily healthy for us.

There’s a lot to take into consideration when you think of health.
Work/Life balance.
Your personal relationships.
Your self-esteem.
Your relationship with food.
How much do you exercise.
Your family health history.
With all this AND definitely much more, how could we judge what health is solely through aesthetics?

When I think about my most happiest and healthiest clients and what they all have in common. The first thing that comes to my mind is not whether their arms jiggle a little or a lot. Those healthy clients are mostly grateful for life; for the ability to move their bodies in ways they never knew they could. They have loving and respectful relationships with the people in their circle, but most importantly they love and respect themselves. They eat dessert without feeling guilty! And they laugh a lot! You see where I’m going here…

Being healthy takes time and practice. It’s starting a workout routine and nutrition program for the right reasons. It’s continually working on self-love so that you can love others. It’s not quick fixes, detox teas, or starving yourself thin just so you can look good for the summer.

It’s something that even I struggle with. I fear if I don’t look a certain way, that ONE way, people will judge and discredit me… “How can you train people, if you don’t have abs like Jillian Michaels?” Okay, no one has every said that to me, but I look in the mirror and sometimes that pops into my head! It’s crazy. So, let’s try together to be more realistic with the expectations we set for ourselves. Let’s not let mainstream media or even our moms dictate how we recognize true health and happiness.

Take the time to re-think what healthy can truly look like and then go out and spread that enlightenment to your family and friends!

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Janet Navarrette

Owner/Head Coach of Blue J. Health and Fitness
Self-proclaimed fun expert!