Feeling a bit crazy? Workouts are non-existent these days? Studies show that squats, curls and crunches can calm your frazzled nerves!

We already have plenty of evidence that exercise helps beat depression and that exercise can elevate feelings of happiness and contentment. But most past studies of exercise and moods have almost exclusively looked at the effects of aerobic exercise – which we know works!!! We know that a good old fashioned sweaty cardio workout can boost our mood. But what about strength training?

A 2018 article posted by the Harvard Medical School concluded that people with mild to moderate depression who performed resistance training two or more days a week saw “significant” reductions in their symptoms, compared with people who did not exercise. So grab your dumbbells and get to WORK! You’ll be feeling STRONGER mentally and physically – a WIN WIN during this time of uncertainty and stress! Cheers to a happy AND healthy Holiday season!

Erin Waldner
Owner & Trainer
Proving Ground Studio

November 1 is the new official kick off to the holiday season. The days are short, it’s dark at 4:00pm, and all of a sudden, New England turns gray and cold.

And now your exercise regime gets affected as well. It’s cold, maybe too cold for those early morning workouts, it’s so dark at 4;00PM, and it just seems like every single family member needs you at all hours of the day. Not to mention we are still in the middle of a pandemic.

The pressure can mount and this external pressure can start to create havoc with your fitness schedule as well as your eating plan.

So – how to deal with this and not fall completely off the rails?

If I had the “right” solution, well, I’d probably be the most famous fitness expert in the world. I don’t have all the answers, but I can certainly offer some thought and tricks to keep you on the right path, and do it in a healthy manner.

1. Pull up your weekly planner. Schedule your 3 workouts in first, before anything else gets put into those spots. Put these workouts in INK…not pencil!

2. During your workout, put your phone on “do not disturb.” And I’m serious about this. Distracted workouts equal mediocrity. If you can’t put your phone in another room while you workout, then at least make it so you aren’t distracted by calls and texts. Believe me, you can answer those messages after your workout.

3. Don’t stress about the length of your workout. It doesn’t have to be an hour. It can be 10-20 minutes long and that includes a warmup and cool down. If you can’t make that online or in-person class you normally take, maybe try a zoom class or something “on demand”. Anything that moves your body is better than nothing.

4. Take motivation in having accountability. Find a friend that can workout at the same time and message them the night before your workout and confirm what time you guys will workout together, whether it’s in person (socially distanced) or online. Having that person to be accountable to will make all the difference.

5. When in doubt, sweat it out. If you can find time to grocery shop, wrap gifts, deliver cookies to the police and volunteer, on top of all your other normal weekly responsibilities, you can make time for yourself to exercise. It can’t be at the bottom of the list. Make yourself a priority and you will be better to everyone else around you as well as yourself.

And lastly, don’t be so hard on yourself. If you miss a day, miss a workout, it’s not the end of the world. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and remember that tomorrow is a brand new day.

Ali

Ali Winslow, M.S. CFSC, NASM-CPT
Owner Hingham Strength
aliwinslow@mac.com
@hinghamcoach
@wellnesswinslow
617-290-7861

Photo Credit: Brooke Bartletta

We are proud to actively empower women and inspire young girls to rise up to positions of leadership and fulfill their dreams. Our “CK Girls For Prez” campaign highlights women and girls in our community that are dedicated to making a difference and breaking barriers. Today, we are proud to introduce you to Jenny Gusella, a CK editorial guest author, local certified personal trainer and strong, amazing woman. Our “CK Girls For Prez” campaign resonates with Jenny and we hope you are inspired by her own personal story and join us as we echo the sentiment that says “empowered women empower women”. Together, we are breaking barriers for future generations, erasing self-doubt and furthering the progress of women in leadership roles in our country.

Here is Jenny’s story:

‘In the third grade, my teacher was dating a professional football player, and one day she brought him into class to sign autographs and take pictures with us. When it was my turn to get my picture taken, my teacher smiled at her boyfriend and loudly said “this is Jen – she is going to be our first female President!’. Immediately, my face went red hot with embarrassment. Even though her statement was well-intentioned, and even though I was only in the third grade, I felt my classmate’s perception of me.

My fears became truth to me – that expressing my opinions was obnoxious. That my leadership was bossy and controlling. That my desire to have my thoughts and feelings heard was unbecoming…or, dare I say…nasty?

All of this self-doubt and shame, brought about by one phrase: ‘first female President’.

Maybe now, as those barriers become a little lighter by seeing powerful, smart women running for, and holding, office, those fine lines will get a little bit wider. Maybe now, outspoken little girls can be inspired to become women who trust that what they have to say matters, too…and, that maybe, I won’t have to run for President after all as we now have a generation of young women ready to rise up and lead knowing that the “first female President” is a badge to wear with honor and conviction.’

As a part of our “CK Girls For Prez” campaign, we have donated $250 to sheshouldrun.org to help reach equal representation in public leadership (thank you to everyone who ordered our pop up this week to support this mission!). By identifying and tackling the barriers to elected leadership, She Should Run convinces women from all political learnings, ethnicities, sexual identities, and backgrounds to see themselves as future candidates.

From all of us here at CK, we say “A woman’s place is in the House – and Senate”.

Jenny’s “Girls For Prez” button is made by Hemlock Goods. We are proud to feature their new Votes For Women Collection.

You always knew exercise was good for you. But the type of exercise is important as well. Functional fitness trains your muscles to help you do everyday activities SAFELY and EFFICIENTLY. Sitting down & getting up from a chair? Grabbing a glass from a tall kitchen cabinet? Picking up a heavy Amazon box from the porch? (oh wait, is that just me!?!)

Maybe you don’t love to exercise, but for all of us, it’s a way to maintain and/or improve our quality of life. That’s the main goal of functional fitness. And that’s why you absolutely should be adding it into your workout routine.

These types of exercises train your muscles to work together. Functional fitness is all about prepping the muscles for daily tasks by simulating common, every day movements that you do at home, work and in sports. While using multiple muscles in the upper & lower body at the same time, these types of exercises also emphasize core stability. It’s like multi-tasking for fitness.

Some of my favorite functional fitness exercises are:

• Air Squats (using bodyweight only and varying the tempo: slow squats, pulse at the bottom, slow to the bottom and faster on the rise up)
• Multi-directional lunges (back, forward and side lunges with or without weights)
• Planks (all of them – elbow plank, high plank, side planks, etc)
• Hand-release pushups

Cheers in Health,
Erin

Erin Waldner, Founder of Proving Ground Studio (Hull, MA), offers myriad functional fitness training workouts designed to achieve complete muscle conditioning with optimum recovery. For a full class schedule, please visit wwww.provinggroundstudio.com.

Anyone stressed?

Whoa, I just felt all of the hands whoosh up into the air. Life lately has been anything but stress-free. For me personally, my bucketful of self-care items are getting dusty simply because of the lack of time, and yet I know that I’d benefit from using them more now than perhaps ever before. And we know stress is bad for us, which stresses me out even more, and I find myself needing to get off this self-propagated stress rollercoaster!

Cue…. deep breaths. We’ve all heard the age old saying TAKE A DEEP BREATH! But all breaths are not created equal. And in times of deep stress, I’d urge you to try a breath exercise that has a longer EXHALE than INHALE. Why? It is scientifically proven that breathing this way activates our parasympathetic nervous system and quiets our sympathetic nervous system.

Our sympathetic nerves control our fight-or-flight system, causing our heart rates and breathing to elevate and stress hormones like cortisol to be released. This is super useful when we are face-to-face with a real threat, like being chased by a Siberian Tiger, for example, but less than helpful, and even damaging, when the threat is of the “when is this pandemic going to end?!/ how do I quiet my children?!/ who will win the next election?!” varieties. In fact, too much fight-or-flight response can damage the delicate balance of hormones in your body and lower your immune system.

Our parasympathetic nerves control our rest, relax, and digest responses. When we activate our parasympathetic nervous system, our heart rate and blood pressure lowers, our breathing slows, and we feel more calm and are better able to heal. Who needs more of this? (There go those whooshing raised hands again.)

The easiest way to go parasympathetic is to inhale for a slightly shorter amount of time than exhale. For example, my go-to calming breath starts with an inhale of 2 and an exhale of 4, with a 1 count pause in-between. Now you try:

– To begin, find a comfortable but tall sitting position & close your eyes.
– Inhale through your nose for a count of two.
– Hold the breath for a count of one.
– Exhale through your mouth for a count of four.
– Hold the breath for a count of one.
– Repeat the above for about 5 minutes.

If you want to extend your exhale, go for it. But remember to keep your breath slow and controlled and calm. If you feel any tension or anxiety, try a shorter breath. And if you would rather breath through your mouth the whole time, thats a-ok too.

Here’s to better breathing and a lot less stress in our future,
Jenn

Introducing Proving Ground Studio to the South Shore…it’s not just a place to get sweaty. It’s a community where people feel encouraged, motivated and pushed past their limits – both physically & mentally. Our incredible team of trainers will move athletes through a functional training workout, while focusing on mobility, movement and recovery. We train smart. We train hard. And we are always stronger together.

This is Proving Ground.

IG: @provinggroundstudio
Website: www.provinggroundstudio.com (coming soon)
Facebook: pg.studio.hull or search for Proving Ground

Upcoming event TODAY, May 5, 2020, via Zoom:
Get sweaty with Proving Ground Studio with virtual workouts to support Wellspring.

N O U R I S H

The New Year is HERE, which means millions of people around the world are making “resolutions” that focus on restriction and depletion, instead of gain.

Examples of depleting resolutions:
“I will lose 10 pounds”
“I will not eat food after dinner”
“I won’t have any refined sugar”
“I will cut my carb intake in half”
“I will adhere to my macro limits”

But, depleting resolutions do just that – they make us feel depleted and restricted, even if the goal in itself is supposed to positively impact your life and health.

What if, in 2020, we are kind to ourselves and frame our resolutions in a positive, nurturing way that ultimately serves us better?!!

I make New Year’s resolutions. They’re kind of like a dream board that just happen to fall at the beginning of the year. They help me tune into myself and my goals. But, I’m done with cutting myself down and depriving myself of ANYTHING. That’s what my 20’s were for…

I have several positive resolutions, now.

My first? NOURISH.
Each week I want to choose a nourishing ingredient (that I’ve maybe used before or perhaps not) to cook with. That’s it. It’s kind of simple but oftentimes, that’s better, no?

I’m getting a head start today by making a super-simple, but uber-delicious and NOURISHING veggie dish of roasted beets & sweet potato.

Root veggies like beets and sweet potatoes (and turnips, carrots, ginger, turmeric, rutabaga, onion, radish, celeriac, etc) are so warming and nutrient-dense. Perfect for a cold winter’s day.

Peel and dice veggies, toss in olive oil and sea salt and bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes. That’s it.

Happy NYE – cheers to nourishing resolutions.

– Jenn

Hey Wellness Warriors, it’s time to get SMART about goal setting. Have you ever set goals and actually crushed them? If you have, then congratulations! If you are one of the many who set goals and then feel frustrated when you aren’t accomplishing what you set out to do – these tips are for you!

By using the SMART goal-setting tool, you will be able to set precise & clear goals and then watch yourself CRUSH them! Most often, when you are setting health & wellness goals, they are general ones like “lose weight”, “tone up” “eat healthier”. These are all positive goals but in order to really be successful, your goals should be more fine –tuned in order to be effective. This is where the SMART goal setting process comes into the picture.

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.

Specific: Goals should be clear and state specifically what should be accomplished. Define your goal and ask yourself “why do I want this goal?”.

Measurable: Goals must be measurable so that you can see whether or not you are making progress. Figure out the best way to measure & track your progress, most likely in a journal dedicated to your fitness and nutrition journey.

Attainable: Goals should be realistic for you. When you reach an “attainable & realistic” goal, it will give you momentum to keep going in your health journey.

Relevant: Goals must be relevant to your interests, needs, available time schedule and abilities.

Time-bound: Goals should contain timelines for completion with some wiggle room as well. Evaluate yourself regularly to see if you are on the right track with timing and progress.

As 2019 comes to an end and you welcome 2020 with open arms, be SMART when setting your fitness and nutrition goals. Set reasonable fitness goals, create a nutrition plan that’s sustainable & realistic and let’s do this!

Cheers in Health,
Erin

This time of year everybody is ready and eager to shed the extra weight – whether that be in the form of negative thoughts, a few extra pounds gained over the holidays, or maybe junk that accumulated around the house since the start of the school year.

At Orangetheory Fitness Hingham, our 2020 Transformation Challenge is designed to help you do just that. The 8-week challenge that runs from January 20th through March 15th encourages you to “transform” in whatever way you see fit: your body, your mind, your habits, or all three and more. This year we are teaming up with a hoarde of wellness-experts to assist you in reaching your goals through weekly Facebook-live seminars with Nutritionists, Macro Coaches, Psychologists, Physical Therapists, Yogi’s and more.

Our weekly challenges and prizes will keep you motivated, and a special focus on rest and recovery will remind you that what you do outside of the studio is just as important, if not more so, than what you do inside the studio. The newest addition to our challenge this year is the implementation of our Inbody machine – a safe, effective, and quick way to measure your body composition, because you are more than just a number! This will provide valuable knowledge into how you should approach your nutrition, your workouts, and your rest to ensure you are giving your body exactly what it needs to be the well-oiled machine it was designed to be. It is so important to remember, especially during this time of year, that weight is just one number. Someone with the exact same weight could have very different compositions inside. As we age, some need to worry about maintaining fat and muscle. Others may need to lose fat, but be sure that in that process of doing so they do not lose, but rather add to their muscle mass. Perhaps you find out your lower body is weaker than your upper body – you now have the extra push you needed to grab a more intimidating set of weights on your next leg day.

At Orangetheory Hingham, we have members that range from 14-75. The entire staff is really excited to go through this challenge alongside our members. For anyone that may have started and stopped a routine in their lifetime, its so true that committing to a certain habit or workout is far more fun with friends!

Note: This year we are offering a special option for nonmembers to participate in the challenge! For $199, you will receive 18 classes and a pre/post inbody scan. Those 18 classes get you 3 classes per week for 6 out of the 8 weeks – the minimum requirement to be eligible for the cash grand prize! Regardless of potential winnings [think LuluLemon, this is the only opportunity offered all year to try us out without having to commit to a recurring membership.

We love being able to be a bigger part of the CK community this time of year by offering CK’s amazing, clean food to challengers and having our Head Coach and CK Fitness editor, Ali Winslow, leading our fitness crew. The New Year has begun and we are ready to help make your 2020 goals become reality. New Year. Best You. Let’s do this…together.

Marisa Barr is the Studio Manager at OTF’s Hingham location. She can be reached via email HERE with any questions regarding OTF, the upcoming transformation challenge, or to help you find an OTF near you.

Are you a bath person?

I wasn’t always, but now I love treating my body and spirit to some sort of detox bath at least twice a week. I’d take one every day if I could (darn children & general “life obligations”!).

I feel like I now curate a bath like I would a craft cocktail, drawing from various beneficial ingredients depending upon my body state, mind state, and my environment – including:

* epsom salt
* ginger
* bentonite clay
* apple cider vinegar
* essential oils (ranging from eucalyptus to cinnamon)
* sea salt
* baking soda
* almond milk
* coconut oil (be careful – that’s slippery business. I speak from experience!)

Today, for example, I felt a migraine coming on so, I went with my go-to epsom salt and bentonite clay combo.

Epsom salts are full of magnesium – which is a scientifically-proven must-have for migraine sufferers. And there is no better way to effectively and efficiently absorb magnesium than through your largest organ – your skin!

Bentonite clay also contains essential minerals – including magnesium, calcium, and iron – but, it is a go-to bath ingredient because of it’s amazing toxin-removing power. Some people even DRINK bentonite clay!

Here is my Epsom Salt + Bentonite Clay Bath recipe:
– 2 heaping cups epsom salt
– 1 cup bentonite clay

Fill the tub with hot (but, not scalding) water (I admit – I like it HOT. But, apparently, the benefits are best served in a non-scalding temperature). Then, soak as long as you can, but at least 15-20 minutes.
Finally, be sure to hydrate!

Do you have a favorite craft bath cocktail?