Category Archives: Move Well

What moves you?

Posted by beautifullystrong in Move Well and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

This song is one of the MANY bad-ass songs that I watched the Crossfitters working HARD to during the Games (and incase you haven’t seen the video, it’s really strange, and I thought I would share…). I remember standing under the punishing sun, whimpering a little bit, watching these people working as hard as they ever have, regardless of the heat (because unlike me, they are not a bunch of pansies who can’t even just STAND in the sun)…and then found myself  full fledge “fence dancing” (I was leaning against a fence…:)) because EVERY SINGLE song that was played during the weekend was AMAZING!

Music has an interesting power, doesn’t it? You could be having a super “off” day, or even working pretty hard during your WOD, but then all of a sudden the right song comes on, and you’re like “OHHHH YEAH!!!!” and all of a sudden Fran has become your little bitch.

Since we are all here to improve and find ways to make working out a little easier…(at least some of you are looking for that, anyway)  here are a few that do that for me:

- Rock that body by Black Eyed Peas

- Nasty Girl by Nitty (bonus if paired with “Nasty Girls”)

- Remember the name by Fort Minor

- Sexy and I know it by LMFAO

- My Chick Bad by Ludacris

- Anything Lil’ Wayne, Eminem, or could be categorized by “hate music” essentially :) …and apparently afer reviewing my list, I like songs that whisper sweet sublimitives to me that I am truly one bad-ass woman :)

 

So now is the fun part… let’s share! I want to know what songs really get you going HARD, and then we can make one BIG playlist that keeps us pushing our edge throughout all our workouts (sorry guys, but the random disco songs on the playlists at the gym are just no longer doing it for me :-p)

 

3, 2, 1….GO!

“I think I want to do Bikram again!”

Posted by beautifullystrong in Move Well and tagged with , , , ,

This morning on our way to work, out of the blue, I say to Nick,

“I think I’m going to start doing some Bikram again…”

This seemed to be a little out of no where for Nick…maybe even myself. I was thinking recently that I needed to “crosstrain” (isn’t Crossfit sort of the DEFINITION of crosstraining?? What does someone do to crosstrain when they Crossfit?!). While I was scanning through the good ole’ FB this morning, I noticed my friend Stephanie posted one of my old blog post videos on someone’s wall…and guess what it was? My old Bikram vlog post. After watching it, I’m not 100% I’m convinced I WANT to try it again…but I may have to now, just to prove to myself it won’t kill me…or at least make another interesting video :)

Enjoy :)


 

 

PS: Nick and I are traveling down to LA tonight to begin our LONG weekend of CROSSFIT!!!!! The 2012 Crossfit Games begin on Friday at 8am (well, it actually started Wednesday, but for spectators…), and that is where we will be from Friday 8am to Sunday 8pm :) If you are watching on ESPN3.com…cheer a little harder for Alicia Gomes (our trainer back in Beverly, MA), she’s amazing!!!!

 

Much love,

 

Jen

Taking personal responsibility…and potty talk

Posted by beautifullystrong in Eat Well, Move Well and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

I have been asked on numerous accounts why I am doing the candida diet. The number one (and probably ONLY reason) I started the candida diet is because (I’m going to get REALLY honest with you right now…) I have had digestive issues since college…

My senior year of college, shit hit the fan in my life (family, school, relationship,friendships, not knowing what I wanted to do with my life, etc, etc…you know, the normal stuff!) and my poor body could only handle the stress I was going through by deciding to seize all function of my digestive system. I was in and out of specialists for a year (my lowest low was having an “examination” (digestive system…take a gander at where that exam was taken…) by a 70 year old man…lowwww low). I was drugged up, knocked out, and had the pleasure (*puke*) of experiencing my first ever colonoscopy at the ripe age of 22. The final diagnosis was IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). What’s a girl to do with that information??!   I was terrified to eat ANYTHING; I was constantly full of fear. It got to a bad point where I was only eating about 500 calories a day (not on purpose…just because everything was making me sick!). That 500 calories usually came in the form of a Smart One (the broccoli and cheddar potatoes :-p).

I was CONSTANTLY on the lookout for some MAGIC PILL that would get rid of my digestive issues.

*In walks Nicholas Araza*

Through Nick I learned all about the Paleo diet, and it completely changed my world. I started exercising…uh duh, I think we know how that affected my world. I started getting adjusted. All three of these things have COMPLETELY changed my world for the better…including my digestive issues. I no longer FEAR eating (I am actually quite OBSESSED with it, thank you!) and I haven’t had an “episode” in a couple years. Phew! :)

So why the candida diet… well…while my guts are much happier, they are not 100% better. I have messed up my guts for the majority of my life…and while changing my diet, exercising and getting adjusted has stopped it from getting worse I’m sure…I have lost a LOT of integrity of my gut lining. In laymen’s terms: my guts are screwed. Presently :-p I was hoping that the candida diet would clean up the last of those bad bugs because since adding exercise to my life, my bad guts have posed a WHOLE other kind of problem…

If I, or anyone, is unable to keep their abs tight while doing Crossfit…you are essentially efffffffffffffed. There is WEIGHT you’re lifting, weird positions you’re getting into, high repetition of exercises, BURPEES, full extension of exercises…etc, etc. If you are unable to protect your spine during these exercises, you are GOING to get hurt…period. WELL…unfortunately, when you have inflamed guts due to something you ate, or bad bugs that are taking over your guts…you cannot properly protect your spine, and you get yourself in the predicament I have been putting myself in for the last year and a half…which is constantly hurting myself, over and over again. 

back pain

Here’s where some venting comes in: people constantly ASSUME that since I am married to a chiropractor I don’t EVER have back pain, that I have a BEAUTIFUL spine, and la da da…well, not exactly. I met Nick in 2009, and I was diagnosed with a Phase 1 subluxation…borderline phase 2. My spine was as straight as a rod…and I have a congenital scoliosis in my mid-back. Not the “ideal chiropractor’s wife spine”…sorry to disappoint. We have made AMAZING changes so far (I literally started crying when I saw my most recent progress x-rays, I was so happy)…but as magical as my husband (or ANY chiropractor for that matter) is…he’s not a magician…and in order for him to do his job the best he can, I NEED to stop hurting myself!!!! Which in short means (because after many, many discussions, we both believe is mainly related to my irritated guts)…I need to stop messing up my guts, and I need to KEEP working on PERFECTING my form in the gym (and in life for that matter!).

I started the candida diet on June 25th, and then decided to have some homemade coconut ice cream this past Saturday (that would be TOTALLY okay if I were not doing the candida) that was topped with homemade whipped cream (this would NOT be okay even if I WASN’T doing the candida) and let me tell you…that whipped cream EFFED me. I have been feeling it since Saturday. Yesterday was a workout with burpees and pull-ups (my two biggest offenders)…so last night I was laying in bed, complaining and whimpering because my back was in so much pain. I’m frustrated. I feel like I should be stronger, I feel like I should be able to go faster, I feel like I should be able to do MORE reps; it’s hard to do that when you start progressing, then jack yourself, you know?

Let me tell you THIS much…I am SO grateful that I AM married to a chiropractor…I can’t imagine doing this, and learning this journey without my sweet, sweet husband to clean up after me. Tip, however: do not use your chiropractor as a custodian for your injuries and then wonder why you’re not getting the results you want. Clean up your own messes, prevent messes, and do what your chiropractor says! :)

Anyway, the point of this post was a vent, mostly. I needed to be honest and “out” myself…I DON’T, yet, have a perfect spine…I don’t, yet, do the movements perfectly…and I still hurt myself…kind of often :-\ I, too, am working on my health everyday. I, too, am on this journey with you.

With love,

Jen

How do YOU prepare?

Posted by beautifullystrong in Move Well and tagged with , , , , , ,

How do you prepare for a workout?

…Let’s say the workout is Fran…what’s going on in your head right before the 3, 2, 1…?

Nick said before a workout he figures out how many sets and reps he wants to do at a time to pace himself…this does not surprise me, Nick is extremely LOGICAL :)

I, before a workout, stare at my bar…with lots of butterflies and deep breathes…and whispers sweet “eff you’s” to the bar before the 3, 2, 1…this again does not surprise me…I’m am extremely emotional :-p

…some people yell, some people bounce in place, some people pound their own chest (I’m not sure MANY people do this, but it’s reasonable)…

…Let’s see what, elite athlete Katie Hogan does :) …

 

What do YOU do before a workout to psych yourself up?

Yay, I was nominated!!… →

…for VERSATILE BLOGGER by the one, the only, the LOVELY…SheShredss!

Thank you lovely :)

To continue this fun little game and properly follow the rules, I need to, and will GLADLY answer 7 random facts about myself:

1) I can make three loops in my tongue!

2) I have my motorcycle license, and used to own a Kawasaki Ninja 250 with a hot pink helmet ;) Anything with a small engine pretty much, I can tear it up on. I prefer four wheelers and snowmobiles though. I’m from Northern Maine…I’m a country girl :-p

3) I love brushing my teeth in the shower…there is nothing better than an icy cool mouth in a hot steamy shower :)

4) I love reading marriage books…specifically Christian marriage books…couldn’t tell ya…

5) I, at one point, had FIRE ENGINE RED hair and BRIGHT GREEN contacts…it was in college, during my “punk phase”.

6) I have never been to Europe…in today’s world, this is an odd fact.

7) Je parle en peu francaise :-p

So now I get to nominate 15 versatile bloggers of my own!!

The lucky bloggers are…in no particular order…

KelsalynnFitLog

Sozo Life

Tales of me and the husband

Two red birthstones

Create something out of nothing

150 years young

Jessica Stephen

nomnom paleo

paleomg

everyday paleo

Bonfire Health

The Blog of Santa Barbara Family Chiropractic

Mark’s Daily Apple

The Clothes Make the Girl

Sweet Cheeks

Thank you to all these blogs for constantly providing knowledge, tips to make my (and everyone else’s) life easier, joy and entertainment, beauty, words of wisdom, recipes, and words of comfort and understanding. You all inspire every day :)

Have a wonderful day!! xoxo

Jen

Crossfit Trainer??

Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts, Move Well, Think Well and tagged with , ,

I just wanted to say thank you to Nicole for keeping me on my toes and calling me out on my absent ways :)

“How did {the Crossfit cert} go?”

Well…

WE ALL PASSED!!!

 

I sat down Monday morning (LAST Monday morning) to write about the weekend for all of you, and what happened is I just sat staring at my laptop screen for an hour with TOO much to say…so naturally, I said nothing. To recap the weekend, I’m going to bullet-ize it for you:

- Got to be coached by Katie Hogan and Jason Khalipa! It was so neat to be trained and coached by people who both Nick and myself admire as athletes, so much. Also, it was so great to be able to watch them be coaches (they are PHENOMINAL coaches…) and hear their thought processes while they’re training athletes and learn from them :) You guys rocked!

-We did FRAN the first night…did it in 7:30 (but finished in 8 something…took me a MINUTE to do my last pull-up…). Now, I need to stay on this for a second; this was the first time EVER that I have done Fran WITHOUT a band, and the pull-up bar was FOREIGN to me, and probably twice as thick as the bars at our gym. So even if this was my worst Fran time yet…it was a PR in a way for me :-p  China killed it though :) Something like 5:50!! Animal!

-Met and was coached by the first “kid” to go through Crossfit Kids…: Conner Martin; He is the eldest son of the creators of Crossift Kids,  Jeff and Mikki Martin. Super nice guy, and super impressive coach…he was certified as a trainer at the ripe old age of 12…seriously.

-I met a reader of my blog!! So neat to meet and chat with people who have randomly stumbled across my blog and enjoy reading it :) So nice to meet you Brittany!! :)

-The ride there was interesting…China, Dannielle and I drove down together to San Diego, while the guys left together. They literally left about 10 minutes before us, and got there 3 hours before we did…you do the math… Let’s just say that by the end of the ride, us ladies were completely delirious, and could do nothing but laugh till the point of tears when Nick’s directions led us to the middle of a cemetary…Who knew that there is both a Camino PUERTA and a Camino HUERTA in the SAME zip code…who knew… :-p

-I feel closer to my coworkers than ever before; it was a wonderful bonding moment, and I’m so thankful for the experience with them.

So, that is it, in a nutshell :) We all passed, we are all officially Crossfit level 1 trainers, and I get to start working it now :)

PS: 54 days until Nick and I’s wedding!!!

Love,

Jen

Boobs to Bar

Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts, Eat Well, Move Well and tagged with , , , ,

Yesterday’s Crossfit Main WOD:

7 rounds

7 front squats (165# for men RX’d, modified to 65# for intensity)

7 chest to bar pull-ups

Check out Crossfitter’s doing the workout HERE

 

Chest-to-bar pull ups

As you can see here, Jason K and other fitter-than-most were doing this workout in 3+ minutes…it took me 9:50. I DID, however, get my first, second, third and fourth (maybe more) CHEST TO BAR pull-up yesterday!!!! I was able to do a few un-assisted for the workout, but then had to switch to the orange band to finish them up with proper form. I guess all that time I thought I couldn’t do pull-ups I was actually STRONG enough, just didn’t have the coordination!! So here I am, a week after stringing my first set of pull-ups together, able to do a chest to bar…effing NUTS! :)

On another health related note, lack of coffee equals (honestly) goodness for Jen’s body; I have not been bloated this week, I feel more energy in my workouts and I dont’ feel SICK when I drink a hot, comforting cup of goodness! I had a decaf Americano this morning at my girl’s Wednesday breakfast, and all was good in this hood :) While I don’t think I would even have DECAF on the regular, it “felt” good to do it today :) So, here I am, at Starbucks drinking chamomile, and being fine with it :) Plus, I dont’ have that yucky, post-coffee, taste in my mouth. Why can’t I ALWAYS remember this feeling!? :)

I hope you all have an incredible day!! T-minus 3 days until the Crossfit Level 1 Cert!! :)

Love,

Jen

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts, Move Well and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Yesterday was one of those days in the gym that, regardless of what “place” I came in, I won in my mind :) Yesterday’s WOD:

“The Chief”

5 rounds

3 min AMRAP

3 power cleans (135/95 – I used 75)

6 pushups

9 squats

1 min rest

 

Now, I went into this KNOWING that I may not have as many rounds as everyone else, because I presently struggle with pushups; HOWEVER, I COMMITTED myself to doing the whole workout on my toes for the pushups(and I don’t mean halfsie pushups, I’m talking kissing the freakin’ floor pushups), and by golly, I did just that!

13 total rounds + 1 power clean =

40 {75#} power cleans

78 (TOE) pushups!

117 squats

If that is not exciting enough, (I can TELL that you’re freaking out with excitement :-p) I reached a goal that I have had for a year and a half (at least a year and a half that lululemon’s goal tender had been reminding me that I hadn’t reached my goal anyway…)!!!…

…::to string together 10 UNASSISTED kipping pull-ups::…

I FINALLY did it!!! Not once, maybe twice or three times…to the point where Nick told me I need to rest for the day :-p Doesn’t he know that when you get a new toy alllll you want to do is it play with that new toy?! :)

I’ve come a long way since my first ever pull-up in CENTRAL PARK on January 6, 2011…and no, I don’t have any actually pictures to PROVE my first pull-up…but it did happen there, after all these failed attempts

 

::and look at me now, 10 unassisted, consecutive kippers!! :-D ::

Great day in the gym followed by a great date night with my love…which will be followed by a GREAT weekend…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**::Weekend Ketchup::**

I know that I haven’t talked much about the wedding in the last, ohhhh, year and a half since we’ve been engaged, but with the practice, the move, making buddies and trying to feel like I LIVE here, it hasn’t been the forefront of our world. Now that it is two months away (as of a week from today) things are definitely starting to pick up! This weekend alone we:

  • BOOKED OUR HONEYMOON!!!!…TOOOOO MEXICO!!!!!!  I am BEYOND excited to be on vacation for a whole week, in the hot Mexican air, in an all inclusive resort where we won’t need to think about anything, besides, “do we want to lay on the beach or snorkel??” Trust me, I’m counting down the days :-p
  • I had my first DRESS FITTING/ALTERATIONS!!!! I was sooooo lucky to have some of my SB ladies there with me, you all made me feel like the most beautiful person on the planet!! I love you ladies!!!!
  • Finalized our CATERING MENU!!!! I am sooooooooooooo excited to eat that food again at the wedding :) hahaha.
  • My bridesmaid’s have their dresses!!
  • I am ALMOST finished addressing all 200 invites :-p

Great productive weekend with a little game of ‘Nick chases Jen up a mountain for ¾ of a mile’ to top it off (no joke, it was intense, I thought my lungs were bleeding when I got to the top) :-p We have fun ‘round here :-p

 

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Much love,

 

Jen

Lessons from the Universe

Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts, Move Well and tagged with , , , , ,

Nick training in Nevada :)

“Success is doing ordinary things, extraordinarily well”-Jim Rohn

 
As Mr. Rohn mentioned, being extraordinary is not what necessarily makes us successful at life, it’s doing those little day in and day out tasks extraordinarily well.

My goal is to be an AMAZING coach…not just an adequate enough coach, or even a GOOD coach…I want to be f$@*ing AMAZING. In order for that to be the case, I have a lot of work ahead of me. While I KNOW I have the heart to be an amazing coach, the passion, the enthusiasm; I have a whole lot of skills I need to tuck in my back pocket in addition to those gifts.

One of those skills will be checked off the list next weekend at the Level 1 Crossift certification. I am so excited to be around a whole room full of like-minded individuals who are all pursuing the opportunity to change people’s lives, just like I will be.

While I used to chase dreams for a whole hot second, and bail as soon as it looked difficult, or I looked inadequate…I feel like my mind set has changed dramatically in the last month! I am feeling a huge shift in my perspective as far as looking at that same difficult situation (let’s say I needed a particular degree for a career that I wanted to pursue), and while in the past I would have run if it looked like too large of a hurdle, I now am looking at it as one more tool I need to obtain to be a bad-ass TRAINER…an INCREDIBLE trainer. I have had the pleasure of having one particular challenge look me in the eye over and over again in the last week; that challenge comes in the form anatomy. ”Wait, you’re going to be a trainer and you’re not super sure on anatomy??? Say WHAT?” Now hold up…I never had any interest in this subject of movement AT ALL in my former years (up until two years ago) so I never did what I needed to obtain that information. Luckily, I’m still a vibrant young lass, and have the functional capabilities to learn new tricks! So rather than beating myself up and running the other direction yelling, “I am not worthy!!!” I will chalk this up as an OBVIOUS presentation from the universe of the next tool I need in my tool box in order to be the best trainer I can possibly be! :)  

Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em “Certainly I can!” then get busy and find out how to do it!

-Theodore Roosevelt

 

EXHAUSTO!

Posted by beautifullystrong in Crossfit Workouts, Move Well and tagged with , , , ,

The last few weeks I have been CONSISTENTLY working out 5 days a week, and HARD! Based on the title of this post, I’m sure you can figure out where this going…

Since upping my workouts, I have been….EXHAUSTED!!! I mean…EXHAAAAUUUUUSSSTTTEDDDD!! Going to bed at 8:30, taking naps in the middle of the day, incapable of waking up for ANYTHING in the morning…exhausted. Poor Nick has had to deal with me saying “Why am I so tired?!?!” pretty much every hour of the day for the last few weeks…he doesn’t seem to understand why I’m STILL asking this after he has already answered me about 50 times.

"I'm just going to lay here for one little second..."

While I am definitely noticing some differences in my strength, AND my body compisition…I’m super excited that I have a rest day today, to be perfectly honest with you. I’ve posted the last two days of my workouts…

Tuesday’s WOD

max pullups (15 kipped with orange band…I think I could have done more on a day when my hand was completely healed from the LAST time we did a lot of pull-ups :-p)

5k run (24:32) it was more like 3 miles, rather than 3.2 but I SCHOOLED my last 5k even still! :) (my 5k time was 30 minutes and some change the last time I did it :-p)

There was a lot of realization of growth in this one for me. While  I was no where near first done, which I didn’t expect anyway, I was able to run the entire 3 miles without stopping AND my time was significantly lower than any other time I’ve run 3 miles. To refresh you all on where I USED to be with running, essentially if I saw 200m on the board I would a) feel like crying, b) actually cry, or c) get SUPER grumpy and feel like leaving… So, I think it goes without saying that being able to run the whole time is definitely a spurt of growth, actually ENFORCING that we DO the 5k (because I don’t think anyone else wanted to do it either…) is a whole other level of growth in itself! :) Oh, and thank you to Andrew for running the last half of it with me :) Best brother-in-law-to-be ever :)

Wednesday’s WOD

6 min amrap:

10 deadlifts (#95)

15 pushups (knees)

20 sit-ups 

3 full rounds + 1 dead lift

I’m taking my rest day today and running with it :) I’m going to soak up every little morsel of my lunch break and fill it to the brim with food, sunshine and naps :)

 

Mucho love-o :)

Jen