Athletics News Vol. 7: In this edition:

·       May 2020: Home Habit Challenge

·       SD Tip 3:  Cutting some Slack

·       Athletics ZWOD Update

·       Play it again Sam: Sunday WOD and Tunes

·       Caring in the Kitchen

Do it differently: Habit Challenge May 1-31, 2020.

Starting a new habit is hard, breaking a bad one is often oh so difficult, but either can be a game changer, a gateway to a different lifestyle, not yet explored! Want to join me and QuickSilver as we commit to one habit change for the month of May?  There is strength in numbers, and we’d love to have you on board.  Here is a brief overview. There are two parts to the challenge.  Part one, identify a daily change you want to make for the 31 days of May.  Some examples are: drinking a glass of lemon water on waking, log all meals in My Fitness Pal, 50 broomstick shoulder pass throughs a day with intent, daily SLIPs, no booze before 7pm, no candy.  In part two, we’ll tackle a game of health bingo, working to complete a card of 25 different health experiences for the month i.e, listen to a 5 minute meditation, practice double unders for 10 mins, 25 man makers for time, 20 TGU’s. Start up details shared next week.  Think about it! Love to have you on board.


SD Tip 3: Cutting Slack

Practice Self Compassion.  Not feeling quite yourself in these times? Maybe you’ve acted re-actively or are not eating as well as you’d like, you’re off your routine, feeling out of sorts and getting down on yourself. Halt, I say. Cut yourself some slack with a healthy dose of self compassion. Talk to yourself with the same kindness and caring as you would another. Self-compassion practitioners understand it is impossible to get through life without making mistakes and no one is perfect.  Knowing this they strive to treat themselves kindly when life throws them a curve. We’ve been blessed with beautiful weather and living where we do, but we are still coping with a tremendous stress which can sap our energy and change our ways if we let it.  Cast an eye on the self-compassion links below. Virtual hugs.

https://self-compassion.org/the-three-elements-of-self-compassion-2/

https://centerformsc.org/10-self-compassion-practices-for-covid-19/


Athletics ZWOD Update
Thank you for coming out this week to help me test out the Zoom platform for this class.  You tore through those workouts in true fashion.  Way to keep active in these times.  Current plan is to see how the month pans out and if need to in May we will offer the class again. Personally, I’m crossing my fingers for park workouts sooner than later.

Play it again Sam: Tunes and a WOD

In my world working out to loud music with a good beat is the best.  In the olden days my favourite activity was dancing around at parties and Clubs.  Turn it up! Those days are gone replaced now by the search for a decent playlist for a workout.  A good one lasts about 3 days before it has been overplayed.  Not in the mood to workout? Turn up the tunes.  Helps with housecleaning too. But you know what it can also assist with? Home based cardio! Tired of burpees, skipping and other on the spot heart rate inducing subs, insert a dance.  Replace that 400m  repeats with a 2 minutes dance to your favourite tune!

Here are a couple of Athletics playlists.  See if they grab you. Swan sent me a great one just before the gym closed. I’m saving it. Have any to share?  Please send them in.  Always on the hunt.

WOD: Jam
50-40-30-20-10
10-20-30-40-50
Kettle Bell Swings
Kettle Bell Step-up

Complete 50 KBS then 10 KB Step Ups, 40 KBS, 20 KB Step-ups etc. Use a weight with which you can complete the 50s in 3 sets approx.

One-minute dance between rounds or 150 Single Unders or 50 Double Unders or 10 squat thrust burpees

Sub: DB Swings or backpack swings of appropriate weight for KB.

Sub:  Goblet Lunges if no proper step up (1 lunge = 1 rep)


Caring in the kitchen

Log it. Clean it. I’m caring again, really it had to happen.  A wise coach suggested I log my meals in My Fitness Pal to get a read.  I started with caveat I would log it all, no concerns for amounts, just to build awareness. The 3 bowls of cereal went in along with the handfuls of chocolate eggs.  And you know what happened? A miracle. By day 4, (I put a comma here because at first I thought it read day 41!) I started eating better.  I now have a couple of decent days under my belt and it is helping my mood and outlook.   At the same time, I cleaned out a few kitchen cupboards, throwing out boatloads of expired spices.  It is great to look at tidy, organized shelves and easier to eat better when you can see what is what.  Small steps my friends if needed.   Current motivation is the last Support Your Box WOD.  Can I tackle the 35 lb single arm Thrusters? There is a slim chance a few more days of clean eating might get me there. I have till Wednesday.
To a good week ahead. Could be rain. If so, let’s hit those indoor projects hard! May they be behind us when the Sun shines again.

Shades