Yep, I’m another year older today, but to be brutally honest, it really isn’t phasing me a whole lot. I turned 32 today, and I’ve worked for myself since I was 25, pretty spectacular in my opinion. I’ve gone through some major ups and downs, both physically and mentally, yet it looks like I’ve come out on top.

I’m coming off a shoulder injury, where for the longest time I couldn’t do a push up without pain or a simple 20lbs overhead press. I’m back on the push ups and up to 45lbs presses. There’s no doubt I have some work ahead of me to get back to where I once was but I didn’t give up!

Do I feel older, or am I just working harder?

Who has the answer to that one? Am I a little still in the morning? Sure! Did I deadlift the day before? Probably. Point taken.

Am I ever going to give up this workout thing?

I highly doubt it. It keeps me going. I’m one of those people who actually gets cranky if I haven’t done a workout in several days.

So the truth is, it’s my birthday. I had a great day…it started with a leisurely cup of coffee, and nice strength workout, lunch with a dear friend, an adjustment at the chiro, a nap, and dinner with friends and family. Any other better day, not really, I was with the ones I love.

Age creeps on us when we aren’t looking but if we stare it dead in the face every day, it’ll never get a hold of us.

If you surround your self with people who are smarter than you, you will become smarter if you learn from them.

If you surround your self with people who are more successful than you, you will gain a working knowledge of what contributes to their success and be able to implement similar practices toward your own success.

If you surround your self with people who are conscience about nutrition and exercise, you will be encouraged to exercise and make healthy food choices.

The statement holds true to a great many things, including the bad, but I’ll stick to the positive spin here.

It may be hard to evaluate some relationships to see if they are helping you or harming you, but after you have and after you make some changes, you’ll see a difference in the things you’re looking to stop doing and an increase in the things you’re trying to start.

Try it out… Pick something bold and positive that you’d like to use to influence your life for the better.  Start spending time with people who possess that quality and who have mastered it.  See if you pick up and implement anything they do.

All that wrist banging, bruises, and contusions…yep, they shouldn’t exist.  So what’s up?

First, just with anything else you do, both in and out of the exercise world; there’s the wrong way to do an exercise, there are a variety of acceptable ways to do exercises, and then there’s the right way or the preferred way to do an exercise.

This is where you have to take the time to learn.  Take the time to learn how to do kettlebell exercises the right way with someone who actually knows what they are doing, and who has used them for a significant period of time.

It all unfolds from here…if you learn the right way to do kettlebell exercises then it isn’t going to hurt you, even snatches.

Here’s the stipulation.  Most of us have only done exercises that require the implement; either dumbbell, medicine ball, or barbell, among others all sit within our grip and the weight is distributed throughout our hands.

In some kettlebell training exercises such as snatches, cleans, presses, windmills, and Turkish get-ups, the majority of the weight rests on the outer part of your forearm.  Since our forearms are not used to this pressure from our other forms of exercise it takes some conditioning to get used to having weight rest on your forearm.

As you learn kettlebell training you will soon see that with proper instruction and technique that you will not bang your wrists, you won’t have bruises, and you won’t be in pain (except for maybe your glutes and hamstrings).

In fact, during a yoga class I took this evening, my instructor pointed out that doing even just a little bit of work each day is far better than doing one marathon session a week.

Yes!  She gets it!!

Earlier in the day I also drove past a car with a bumper sticker that read, “Children learn what they live.”  Which brings me to the main part of my post.  Why do you workout?

I personally workout so that I am healthier and have less of the common disease and disorder found in the sedentary population.  I also workout to keep my body strong so that I’m able to do a good number of daily tasks on my own.  This is the short version of course, and I’d be more than happy to expand at a later date in the future.

If I had kids, I’d work out just to keep them active, not sitting in front of the television, not spaced out on some new game system, but to show them the fun behind working out and all the creative things you can do to be active.

So, why do you workout?

So what’s next?  Hopefully you left a comment on the last post and let us all know what your goals are moving forward.  Your specific goals, the ones you want to achieve and are so serious about them that you’ve posted them on this page  and you will succeed in reaching them!

Back to what’s next…take ACTION.

Post this somewhere you can see it everyday, at least 10 times a day, and remember that actions you will be putting in place.

Set up a plan to get your goals in motion.  Hold yourself accountable, and if you don’t have a local friend or family member that will do that for you, use this site.

Do your goals mean that you will exercise a minimum of four times a week?

Do your goals mean that you will watch your nutrition and be mindful of the foods you chose to consume?

Do your goals reflect a lifestyle change that you will embrace moving forward?

Tell us what your next step is, and let me know if you need and help along the way.

It’s pretty common to start an exercise program, nutrition program, or lifestyle change; have a ton of success, and even feel really good about the gains you’ve made.

THEN…BAM…

-You fall off the wagon, and decide that you’ll start back up tomorrow but tomorrow ends up being 3 weeks.

-You get side-tracked, and all those great changes you made in your life get pushed aside.

-’Life’ gets in the way…house projects needed done, kids needed to get to camp, work kept you late, the holidays consumed your free time.

Here’s the truth:

-The longer you wait to get back on board the harder it will be to start back up.  You’ve already made visible life changing changes for the better, you don’t want to risk drifting back or beyond your starting point.

-If you think ‘life’ gets in the way now, imagine how much ‘life’ is going to get in the way if you aren’t mobile and active and able to take care of the important things in your life, including yourself.  You need to make time for yourself, even if you have to schedule it, so that you aren’t risking your own health.

-Health and fitness is part of life ( and notice this time it’s not in quotations.) Real life throws curve balls and you get derailed, but you need to keep balance between it all.

CHALLENGE YOURSELF!

Right now set a health and fitness goal for yourself for the rest of July.

Then set a three month goal for yourself.

Stick to the goals.  Get an accountability partner, some who will hold you to your goals and someone who also wants the same support from you.

Let me know what your goals are and keep us posted with your progress in the comments section below.