Everybody says exercise is something they have to do. The magic comes when you make it something you love to do—and especially when you make working out a tool to change your life.
I’m going to give you the motivation to push yourself into a zone where moving your muscles becomes as vital as brushing your teeth! Think of it as “brush your muscles/brush your teeth!”
You’ll crave some kind of motion every day. . . . It’s incredibly powerful, because it becomes a part of who you are!
So how do we train your body to get into that zone?
Well, it doesn’t just happen with weights or machines or a new pair of running shoes. You get there with your state of mind. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but your sense of physicality comes from the way you think, not just how you move your muscles (and joints and bones and everything else).
Everybody needs physical power in their lives. You need to be physically connected to your body—it’s called physical presence. You gotta move it—or you’re gonna lose it.
Knowing how and why exercise so profoundly affects your body and your brain can help you get into that mind-set.
According to Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, director of Women’s Heart Health at the Heart and Vascular Institute at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York and author of Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum’s Heart Book, “Exercise is by far the best medicine you can take for your health. Nothing else can do for your body what exercise does.”
You know what else? Dr. Nick Cavill, a public health specialist and research associate at the University of Oxford in the UK, said, “If exercise were a pill, it would be one of the most cost-effective drugs ever invented.”
Want proof? Take Isabel, who is one of my favorite students. We just celebrated her seventy-sixth birthday—with a ninety-minute ride! She knows better than anybody that adding movement into your regular routine can change your own world in a day.
Our celebration came at the end of a rough year for Isabel. And I can tell you that if anyone had every legitimate excuse possible to miss my class, she did. It all started with a diagnosis of breast cancer. She needed to have multiple surgeries and that was followed by chemotherapy. That’s enough to sock anybody and drain them of the energy we all need to move our bodies.
But Isabel was determined that instead of letting go of exercise during this time, she was going to make it as much a part of her cure as her medical treatments.
She is living proof of what Dr. Cavill said—that if exercise were a prescription, every doctor would give it to his or her patients. (Informed doctors, like Dr. Steinbaum, regularly prescribe exercise for many of their patients—and I’m here to fill those prescriptions! I certainly wish more of them would do so.) I know from firsthand experience that exercise is the best medicine you can give yourself for whatever is ailing you, as well as to keep you strong, fit, and on an even keel.
I’m happy to report that Isabel is doing well and still comes to class to kick ass four times a week, without fail!
Francesca is another of my longtime friends and students. She’s eighty-four years old and going strong, and began working out with me when she was in her mid-sixties. Franny and I became so close that when her slumlord kicked her out of her apartment, she came and lived with me for three months. This woman is inspiration, spunk, and determination all rolled into one person. She’s also living proof that exercise kept her alive during those awful months of not knowing where or how she would keep on living. It is still amazing to me the Franny can ride that bike. She is ninety-seven pounds of lean muscle!
While I’m sure you know how exercise helps you maintain healthy weight loss, and makes you look and feel better, it’s just as important to believe that it makes you feel better, too. Let’s dig into some detail about why that happens.
Me and Franny, Beverly Hills, 2015
HOW EXERCISE AFFECTS YOUR BODY
“This is what exercise does for you,” Dr. Steinbaum told me. “It dilates your arteries, which lowers your blood pressure. It lowers your bad cholesterol level and raises your good one. It keeps your blood sugar down. It releases serotonin, the feel-good brain chemical. It keeps your weight down. It gives you energy. And, of course, it keeps you young.”
The best thing about exercise is that anyone can do it. If you have access to a gym or if you can attend classes, that’s great, but it’s not necessary because movement is movement and all of it is good. Walking is terrific exercise, especially when you walk fast, and walking is free. Knowing that you can walk your way to health means there are no excuses for not tying on your shoes!
Even better, you don’t have to spend hours in the gym to begin reaping the health benefits of exercise. While as little as an hour a week—about nine minutes a day—will start to have an effect, according to the National Institute of Health, aiming for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week is a key factor in reducing the risk of many chronic diseases. That’s a mere two and a half hours a week. I know you can do that!
How Exercise Affects Your Cardiorespiratory (Heart and Lung) Health
According to the American Heart Association, more than a third of American adults are at risk for cardiovascular disease. And while one in thirty-one American women dies from breast cancer every year, which is terrifying enough, one in three dies of heart disease. Hundreds of thousands of men and women die unnecessarily every year because of conditions they might have prevented—especially if they exercised.
The National Institutes of Health also make it clear how important exercise is, by stating, “The benefits of physical activity on cardiorespiratory health (affecting the heart, lungs, and blood vessels) are some of the most extensively documented of all the health benefits. . . . People who do moderate-or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity have a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease than do inactive people. Regularly active adults have lower rates of heart disease and stroke, and have lower blood pressure, better blood lipid profiles, and fitness.”
One of the primary reasons for this is that your heart is a muscle, and all muscles respond to what’s called overload. Yes, you can feel that being overloaded is a bad thing when too much is going on in your life, or when you pick up too many heavy boxes at the same time, but physical overload, within moderation, is a good thing. It’s merely the physical stress your body undergoes when you’re more active than usual. Your body is built to handle overload—it relishes it, actually, because this is how you get stronger. When you do any kind of aerobic activity, which increases your heart and breathing rate, your lungs need to work harder to get more oxygen to your muscles, and your heart has to pump harder to get more blood to those same muscles. Overload makes your entire cardiovascular system work more efficiently, and with more power. You’ll be less prone to develop coronary heart disease. Your blood pressure should also decrease, which means less bad stress for the heart and a lower risk of stroke.
Exercise has also been proven to reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad type that leads to plaque forming in your arteries, clogging them and creating a higher risk of sudden heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots) while increasing HDL cholesterol (the good type that you need; cholesterol is a waxy substance your body must have to run your metabolism and hormone production properly). “In fact,” Dr. Steinbaum told me, “HDL cholesterol is what protects your arteries, and the only thing you can do to raise its level is to exercise. You can’t do it with food or medication.” In addition, you have to watch your triglyceride levels; triglycerides are a fat component and part of the cholesterol package. They become elevated as a direct response to an unhealthy diet, especially one laden with sugars and simple carbohydrates. Often, those who tend to gain weight in their belly areas have dangerously high triglyceride levels—and what brings them down is exercise.
How Exercise Affects the Rest of Your Body
Exercise doesn’t just affect your cardiovascular system. Your entire body benefits.
Better bone and muscle strength. As we get older, our bones become more brittle and less dense, and our muscles will atrophy without regular use. Weight-bearing exercises that put stress on bones by means of impact or overload, such as running, Spinning, aerobics, dance, and weight training, help to strengthen them and improve density. The stronger your bones, the less likely you are to suffer from osteoporosis or debilitating fractures. The more you use your muscles, the stronger and more pliable they become. The fibers of the fascia, or the connective tissue surrounding your joints, are strengthened by exercise, keeping your joints flexible and less prone to injury.
Antiaging. As time goes by, gravity starts to pull you to the earth. I want to make sure that by the time that starts to happen, your body looks the best it’s ever looked. The way to do that is to defy gravity by staying in motion. This means you want to build a lot of long, lean muscle in a nice long, lean way. You’ll move better not just when you’re young, but you’ll remain strong as you grow older.
Exercise may also work on a cellular level to reverse the toll the aging process has on our bodies. According to a 2010 study from the University of California, San Francisco, for example, researchers found that stressed-out women who exercised vigorously for an average of forty-five minutes over a three-day period had cells that showed fewer signs of aging compared to women who were stressed and inactive.
The anti-inflammatory benefits of exercise also impact aging on a cellular level. What is inflammation? It’s a normal, natural response to any kind of injury. But as we get older, our blood vessels get more inflamed, so they thicken. This affects blood transport to your cells, which need the nutrient-enriched blood to function properly. The more you exercise, the more your body can rid itself of protein molecules called cytokines, which act as a sort of molecular messenger to regulate your inflammatory response. (Too many cytokines can cause inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, for example.)
And, of course, your skin always looks better when you exercise; not only do you get a rosy glow when your blood is pumping, but as science has told us, your skin is your body’s largest organ. Take care of it, and it will take care of you.
Improved immune system. A strong and fit body is a body less likely to get sick and one that will recover more quickly from common illnesses like colds and the flu. Researchers at Appalachian State University in North Carolina found that people who exercised regularly were 23 percent less likely to get colds than those who exercised less.
Reduces likelihood of developing cancer. At least 35 percent of all cancer deaths may be related to obesity and lack of activity, the Seattle Cancer Research Center has found. And according to the National Cancer Institute, “Adults who increase their physical activity, either in intensity, duration, or frequency, can reduce their risk of developing colon cancer by 30 to 40 percent relative to those who are sedentary regardless of body mass index (BMI), with the greatest risk reduction seen among those who are most active.”
THE BIGGEST MISTAKE PEOPLE MAKE ABOUT EXERCISE
I had a long discussion with Dr. Steinbaum about the biggest mistake people make when they work out, and although I don’t see this in my classes, I do see it when I go to the gym. This is what she told me:
The biggest mistake is that people don’t actually know what “exercise” means. I had a patient one day who showed me her workout shoes. They were lovely sling-backs with kitten heels. I asked her where her sneakers were, and she told me she didn’t own any. So I told her that whatever she was doing, it did not constitute exercise!
My patients often tell me that when they start to work out, they’re short of breath, they’re sweating, their hearts are pounding. They’re scared that something’s wrong. I always reassure them that nothing is wrong. That all those “symptoms” are what’s supposed to happen when they exercise! That they’re doing it right.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that, and it’s really a failure of education that people don’t understand what aerobic exercise actually means and how much they need to do for optimum benefits. Based on recommendations of the American Heart Association, you should aim for 150 minutes each week of moderate aerobic exercise, and two days of strength training.
But here’s where confusion sets in. Within those 150 minutes, your heart rate needs to be elevated. A simple stroll won’t do that. A gentle ride on a recumbent bicycle at the gym won’t do that. The easiest way to check how “moderate” your exercise is is to remember what it’s like to answer a phone when it’s ringing and you are breathing so hard you literally can’t quite speak in a complete sentence. If you can say a full sentence with out pausing to catch your breath, you aren’t working hard enough—you should aim for huffing and puffing.
Also, use a device on your wrist or on machines in the gym to monitor your heart rate. Your target heart rate (THR) should be 220 minus your age times 85 percent. (Remember to multiply the figure by .85, not 85!) You want to hit that number and sustain it for twenty minutes to get the maximum cardiovascular benefits of that exercise session. Don’t go over your maximum heart rate. Stay just at or below it—not above!
In other words, you need to push yourself. If you do not get your heart rate up, you are not exercising right!
It’s also extremely important to be mindful when you work out. If your mind is not engaged, your body isn’t. Reading a magazine while you walk on a treadmill is not mindful exercise. Checking Instagram while you jog isn’t mindful. Exercising isn’t just about engaging your muscles—it’s about engaging your entire body. Use this time wisely, and focus. When you do that, everything starts to change!
What a great doctor! Everything she says is just what I believe about setting intentions, mindfulness, and physical presence in your life. It’s all about the presence, not the presents—you can buy all the gadgets you want, but nothing is going to bring you into reality more than being aware of what you’re doing when you’re exercising, and how well you’re doing it.
The Institute also found that lower rates of breast and endometrial cancers could be linked to the exercise-triggered benefits of lower hormone production (for postmenopausal women) and weight management. Lung cancer rates also go down—how many smokers do you know who are regular exercisers?
Reduces type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome rates, especially those related to obesity. Metabolic syndrome is a worrying health condition most people have never heard of—but they should, as it’s often a signal that type 2 diabetes and/or heart disease is going to develop. It is characterized by having several medical conditions: high blood sugar, high blood pressure, excess weight (especially around the midsection), and abnormal cholesterol levels. Key to preventing it is a normal weight and regular exercise. Keeping your weight at normal levels also makes you far less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, which is an extremely serious and life-threatening disease. It’s caused by insulin irregularities and an increasing inability to process nutrients due to blood sugar problems.
If you eat too many simple carbohydrates in the form of junk food, white flour and sugar, juice, and pasta, your body has a hard time processing it; your blood sugar spikes, a large amount of insulin is released by the pancreas to regulate it; and you are suddenly starving even if you’ve just eaten a large bagel. Worse, when you don’t metabolize all the calories you eat, your body stores them . . . in the form of fat. That type 2 diabetes is on the rise is extremely alarming, especially when a good diet and exercise habits almost always prevent it from occurring.
Natural sleeping pill. The National Sleep Foundation has reported that those who exercise regularly not only have more energy during the day, but they sleep better at night. I can also tell you that exercise helps me nap, and I am a strong believer in the power nap. My short power naps keep me energized from morning till night, and I try to have one every day. I typically get my nap on after my morning classes and meetings. I allow for a minimum of twenty minutes, though sometimes I go for an hour, but no more, unless I’m sick, because then I try to sleep as much as I possibly can. The body completely recharges during sleep. I am convinced this is why I look twenty-nine at forty-eight. I sleep a lot!
AOA = ADULT-ONSET ATHLETICISM
I work with students of many different ages, and lots of the adults want me to know right off the bat that they were never coordinated as kids, never got picked for teams at school, were never strong or athletic. It’s their way of telling me not to expect much of them and letting me know that working out scares them. They’ve also got it in their heads that it’s too late to train like an athlete.
I don’t buy it—and here’s what I tell them, courtesy of Bill Bowerman, cofounder of Nike: “If you have a body, you are an athlete.”
Right away, I think of Geralyn, who came to me when she was a forty-five-year-old mom. Her last experience with team sports was sitting on the bench for her high school lacrosse team, and recently her only exercise was putting on Spanx, hopping on and off bar stools, and using a wineglass to do bicep curls. She was full of rage and full of frustration. She had no outlets for her stress. When we started working together, a memory flashed through her mind: “Will not pump on the playground swings.”
“Ohmigod,” she told me, through tears. “I was too scared to be strong. I couldn’t even get on a swing at the local playground when I was a little girl.”
I know it took a lot of courage to say she wanted to change. “And now look at you,” I said. “You’re here, right? It isn’t going to take long at all for you to be in the best shape of your life. I’m going to show you that it didn’t matter who you were—what matters is what you want to become.”
I saw Geralyn in class at least three or four times a week. I saw that determined look on her face. I saw how she went from asking to be seated in the very back, on the bike farthest from the experienced riders—because she didn’t want anyone looking at her and she was terrified she couldn’t keep up the pace—to moving flat-out, at top speed, her dial turned firmly way past zero. Fast-forward six months, and Geralyn has lost twenty pounds. She breezes through my classes, which she still attends at least three or four times a week. She is buff and strong. She calls herself an athlete. She is an athlete.
Geralyn is proof that it is never too late to become an athlete. She’s lucky because she’s caught something I want everyone to have. I call it AOA—Adult-Onset Athleticism.
What is an athlete, after all? The dictionary says it’s any person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise. A person who is trained or skilled in exercises, or in games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina.
“It is never too late to become an athlete.”
Got that? Did you see the words team sports anywhere in that? Of course not! As a society focused on team sports, we’re conditioned to think of athletes as professionals who play on some kind of team and have coaches and have been training for years. If that’s not you, it’s really easy to count yourself out of the the realm of being an athlete. I’m here to tell you that’s just wrong. You can embody your inner AOA in the way you regularly walk around your neighborhood with your dog.
AOA is all about changing how you see yourself and reimagining your body’s physical and emotional capabilities. AOA is about you discovering what kind of athlete you can be as a grown-up, especially if you were never nurtured as an athlete when you were a child. If that’s you, you’re in luck—I’m really sorry for how awful you might have felt when you were little, but you’re my absolute favorite kind of adult to transform. Anyone who still has strong and damaging memories of always being the last one picked for any team during those dreaded gym classes, or who was the fat kid, or the clumsy kid, or the one who had a real fear of sports. Anyone who could never ride a bike or dive into a pool is the most rewarding student for those of us in the fitness industry.
I get a lot of new students who, like Geralyn, put themselves in the farthest corner in the back of the room. “I was never an athlete when I was younger,” they tell me. “I’m so old now—look at me. I’m never going to get in shape. It’s too late to start, isn’t it? Did I miss my peak? I know I did. Forget it. I just want to get through this class.”
This is what I tell them: “You’re here. That’s amazing. No way have you missed your peak. You are about to discover your new peak! So let’s have some fun. Think of it as your moment to re-learn how to use your body, kick some ass, and once and for all feel good about participating in things that are physically good for you!”
I absolutely love watching my students blossom before my eyes. Often, it takes only a few weeks for me to see the beginnings of the transformation. That’s an incredibly short period of time for someone who spent decades thinking they were never going to be strong or capable.
The reward comes as I get to watch the AOA come over them, like a spell being cast by a benevolent wizard. It happens because turning into an athlete isn’t just about getting the muscles. It’s about turning around that little voice in your head that says you’re not one, that you’re not coordinated and that you can’t move. It’s an amazing transformation, and it can happen to anyone.
If you’re already comfortable calling yourself an athlete, this book is going to crank you up more than a few notches. If you’re not an athlete, this book will turn you into one!
And you’re going beyond just being a physical athlete—you’re going to be an emotional athlete. That’s actually far more important. You can’t be a physical athlete without being an emotional athlete first. That means loving your body, setting goals and intentions, visualizing the future you want, taking some risks when you add more movement to your life, and believing in yourself.
And yes, it also means having the courage to walk through the door of a gym or a dance studio. There’s risk—but good risk, the kind where you’re challenging yourself to do something good, just for you. Because you need it. Because it’s unbelievably good for you. And, most of all, because you deserve it!
Before I moved to New York, I used to go full-out during every class I taught, working out at least twelve hours every week. I don’t do that anymore and couldn’t even if I wanted to. I’ve had to have two arthroscopic surgeries and one major ACL reconstruction. I still walk around with two screws in my bones, one in my femur and one in my tibia. Does that stop me from finding something that works for me? No. I still train. Each week, I work out for myself at least twice, ride once or twice, and teach my twenty classes.
Find Out What Kind of AOA Turns You On the Most
One of the best things about exercise is there’s so much to choose from—so many completely wonderful ways to move. I have friends who love tennis and other racquet sports. They experience great joy from the mental acuity they develop while making split-second decisions about where to hit the ball, but they also find it deeply satisfying to hit a benign object for an hour or two.
Ditto with those who like to box (and believe me, you’ll get killer arms, abs, and a butt like you won’t believe if you box).
Some like the solitary pursuit of running because it gives them a chance to be alone with their thoughts and their music; I know a writer who plotted out an entire novel while she ran.
Some people crave the camaraderie you get from being on a team. Others just like to dance. I tell all my newbie AOAs to experiment with lots of different kinds of movement, and eventually you’ll find something you really love. When you love it, it’s going to be much easier to stick to it.
If you like a particular sport or kind of exercise but you feel like something is missing, you can be creative and make up your own version. When my dad was going through treatment for stage IV bladder cancer, to help him get through such a stressful and debilitating time, he came up with his own version of Tai Chi. He had always had his own version of stretching out slowly, and did it every day, so I’m not sure it was even a “type” of Tai Chi, but it was his . . . and he was into it, so it worked for him up until the end.
When I was determined to keep myself away from my old unhealthy lifestyle, I decided the only way I could heal myself was through exercise. But I took a very important lesson from my dad’s slowly-stretching-out-every-day routine when I also decided I needed a kind of exercise I’d never done before. I knew if I took on something that ended up being too easy for me physically, I would become bored and that could cause me to slip back into old bad habits I didn’t want to do.
I decided I would take up yoga, and to get started I signed on to do a two-month course in Mysore, India. This was not New York trendy yoga—it was Sri K. Patthabhi Jois Ashtanga yoga, the real deal.
In Mysore, I stayed with my friend Kelly in a beautiful little house. I found the course incredibly therapeutic, but at the same time, I realized real-deal Ashtanga yoga was not for me. I need loud music and fast movement to stay committed—that’s just how I’m hardwired. But there was no way I was going to quit my stint there because it was such an incredible adventure, and because I had made my mind up to stick out what I had committed to do.
So while I was doing my yoga poses for hours every day and still reaping its rewards and becoming more flexible than I ever thought possible, I kept coming up with all these ideas of how to improve the yoga experience for me.
After three months of study in India, 2001
I suddenly realized one day that I wasn’t just going to teach yoga—I was going to adapt the best principles of yoga (being present, focus on breathing, learning stillness, visualizations, meditations, using your own body strength without any props, core strength, flexibility) and put them to music and create my own workout system.
I wouldn’t ever dream of calling it yoga, because the yogis would have been appalled—and after all, it wasn’t real yoga! But it was the kind of exercise and mindfulness I knew I liked, and I liked it because it worked for me. I also figured my students would like the more dynamic aspects of it, too.
At the same time, with exercise giving me the physical rush and emotional discipline that were healing everything I was suffering from, there was no way I was going to stop doing it. So that was my way of turning my own knob way past zero—and that is what’s brought me to the place of calm and peace and accomplishment as a teacher I never thought I’d find.
Visualization—Motivation for Any Workout
Use this visualization when you find yourself asking why you should even bother working out. You know why you should, but sometimes your brain takes over from your body. You know that getting a move on isn’t just about physicality—it’s about finding the mental focus and feeling it in your heart. In this moment, I would use a song you love with a strong beat that will help you focus while you visualize. Also, read how to do it first, then put the book down, the song on, and give it a shot!
Note: This visualization technique will only work if you back it up with the action that will actually take you there. Here’s what I mean by this: If your meditation is about having flatter abs, don’t think about lunch—think about dropping on the floor and doing the planks or the sit-ups after you do the meditation. This is the trick to putting the meditation to actual work; see it first in your head . . . then go friggin’ do it! You have to truly believe in what you see in your mind. When you start doubting, you unwind the process. . . . Do not doubt! Then get into action!
1. Close your eyes and picture yourself in your absolute favorite destination, looking the way you’ve always wanted to look. You have to create a genuine focus on what you’re about to do and how you plan to do it. You can’t stop thinking about what you want to look like, because if your mind drifts, you start thinking about other things. As you think, breathe . . . deeply, and with each breath, feel the changes as if they are showing up every time you inhale and exhale.
2. Continue to see yourself down to the clothes you’re wearing, the way you feel in them, and the shoes on your feet. Be strong. Imagine your body changing into exactly what you’ve always wanted it to be. Everything about you is changing. Every day it’s changing for the better. What is that? you ask. That’s mind, body, soul. That’s what makes you want to cry! You imagining yourself as a better version of you should bring tears to your eyes. Being in shape and having the body you want is an emotional and physical labor of love.
3. The key to putting this all together is finding the workouts, the movements, the rituals of exercise to get you in motion and keep you in motion. As you continue to visualize yourself, think about what it is that makes you happy and excited when you do it—this could be running, speed walking, swimming, indoor cycling, tennis, whatever . . .
After your visualization, your next step is making the right time to bring motion into your life, as well as finding a teacher to give you instruction for your sport or activity. We live in a wonderful Internet age of Google and other search engines where you can get a lot of information. Try out a few different instructors to see who suits your personality. Sometimes it takes a while to find the perfect fit. Be patient and have fun while you’re looking!
DON’T LET FEAR HOLD YOU BACK
Not long ago, a woman named Denise came up to me before class started and said, “I have to let you know that I might not be able to do the push-ups today because I had a mastectomy.” I thanked her for telling me and asked her how long ago she’d had it. She told me it had been a year. Wait a minute—a year?
“Come with me,” I told Denise as I took her out to a quiet corner in the hallway. “Okay, tell me, if you can, what’s really going on. You’ve had a year to heal, which should be long enough for you, physically, at least. Is that true?”
She nodded, so I went on. “So I need you to let go of that mentally,” I added. “Let go of your diagnosis. Let go of your mastectomy. Let go of everything that happened. Don’t let that be what’s identifying how and who you are. This is a new you. Letting go of what happened last year is the best thing you can do right now. We’re going to rebuild you in every possible way, and you’re going to be the strongest student in my class today. Do the push-ups today and don’t be afraid to do them the best way you can. If you feel any discomfort at all from the scar tissue, then please listen to your body and go easy. It doesn’t matter if your form isn’t perfect or if you can’t go all the way down and up. Don’t even think about that. I know you can do it.”
PLAYLIST
FOR AOA
These songs will help you get into the groove, and stay there.
Aerosmith |
“Sweet Emotion” |
Toni Braxton |
“You’re Making Me High” |
Coldplay |
“Hymn for the Weekend” |
DNCE |
“Cake by the Ocean” |
Kirk Franklin |
“Brighter Day” |
FUTURPOETS |
“Superman” |
David Guetta |
“Lift Me Up (Mylo Mix) |
George Michael |
“Faith” (Aeroplane Remix) |
Bruno Mars |
“24K Magic” |
Justin Timberlake |
“Can’t Stop the Feelin’” |
Her eyes filled with tears that she quickly blinked away.
“You’re still here, and you need to kick ass,” I added. “So let’s freaking kick ass today!”
“Thank you, Stacey,” she said as she turned to go back inside.
I kept a careful eye on her during class, and when we got to the push-ups I saw she was doing them. And doing them really well, I might add. That’s when I moved near her and gave her a big smile and a thumbs-up.
When the class was over, I stood by the door as I always do to fist-bump my students as they leave, giving them the acknowledgment they deserve for their hard work. Denise smiled when she saw me.
“That was the best advice ever,” she said. “You really got me through it.”
“I’m glad,” I replied. “I knew you weren’t going to hurt yourself. You’re strong now. You’re so much stronger than you think.”
Denise had finally allowed herself to push past the fear. Her muscles were sturdy; her brain was not. She was still thinking of herself as a victim rather than a warrior who’d fought the enemy that had tried to kill her—and vanquished it.
The new determination on Denise’s face made me think of another one of my longtime students, Maria Pargac, whom I told you about on page. Her late-stage breast cancer had spread to some of her lymph nodes. Her oncologist told her it wasn’t looking good, that it was likely terminal. During surgery, most of her pectoral muscle was removed, and she was told that due to the trauma, she’d never have muscles there again.
Maria was determined to get better, and she asked me for help. When we would focus before class, I would tell her to visualize her pec muscles coming back, to see herself as whole and strong again. Well, you should see Maria’s pec muscles now from doing all the push-ups in class—muscles her doctors were sure would be gone for good. I would love to see the look on those doctors’ faces now when she goes in for her checkups! She is beyond buff. I am in awe of her guts and determination.
The difference between Denise and Maria was stark. Maria told herself on day one of her diagnosis that she was a general in the army of her life, and she was going to defeat the enemy, whatever the doctors said. Her disease actually empowered her. She fired up her mental cancer carpet duster, and she started using it to beat that old rug to get all the entrenched dirt and grime out until she won.
Denise took a different approach. She, too, was a general, but it took her much longer to fight the battle. She had a lot more fear to conquer. Finally, it was power she got from exercise that gave her the last bit of courage she needed. Denise needed me to tell her it was okay to be fierce—and to freaking kick ass.
Time to Shed the Excuses
I’ve been working as a fitness professional for so long I could swear I’ve heard every possible excuse a person could come up with to skip their workouts. Here’s a list of some of them, matched up with what you can tell yourself when one goes through your mind.
No, I Can’t |
Oh Yes, You Can |
I don’t have the time. |
You have time to shop, to prepare your meals, to go get your hair done for special occasions. You spend time taking care of your kids, and now it is time to take care of yourself. |
A gym membership is too expensive. |
Exercise is free. Walking is one of the best exercises for you, and it doesn’t cost anything. Working out to exercise shows on TV or via streaming is free. (There are lots of incredible workouts on YouTube, and they’re all free!) In addition, what else are you spending money on that you can cut down on or eliminate? |
I’m afraid to use the equipment in the gym. |
It’s always a good idea to hire a professional personal trainer for a session or two when you go to a gym—they’ll show you the right way to work out for your body. This will not only prevent injuries but improve your workouts right away. Many people get hurt because they don’t know the right way to use weights or equipment and are too shy to ask. Speak up. Ask for help! You’re paying to be there! |
I don’t have space in the house. |
You can leave the house and take a walk. |
I don’t have the right gear. |
You can wear anything comfortable to exercise. Think of what cavemen wore to do it. There’s no reason to spend a lot of money on designer clothes that you’re going to sweat in, right? |
I just had surgery, and I’m sore. |
Discuss when you can start a modified program with your surgeon and/or physical therapist. Start slow and listen to your body. |
I have exercise-induced asthma. |
See a pulmonologist. An inhaler might help a lot. Exercise can actually improve lung function, but be sure not to overdo it. (Asthma is no joke. Always, always consult your doctor before you do any kind of exercise.) |
I have an injury. |
All athletes get injured at some point—it goes with the territory. They rest and heal until they’re given the go-ahead to start working out again, and then they’re right back at it. |
Everyone is going to make fun of me. |
If anyone is so shallow as to judge another person’s body or abilities, they’re losers who aren’t worth thinking about. Besides, people are almost always much more concerned with their own workouts than they are with looking at or thinking about anyone else at the gym or anywhere else. |
I do understand why these excuses are said. Finding time can be hard. Going from inactive to active is hard. Feeling that you’re being judged (even if you’re not) is a valid fear—walking into any new gym or studio can be daunting, even for experienced exercisers. Learning how to do any new sport or dance moves or exercises is sometimes really tough. Especially if doing so came much more easily to you when you were younger. As we get older, flexibility or stamina don’t come as easily anymore. You can also be experiencing a painful twinge of ruefulness about your own mortality. But are you going to wallow in it? Of course not! You’re going to get up and kick ass today!
So when I hear any of these excuses, I always walk my students through whatever it is they’re saying, and together we find solutions. There’s always a solution.
Especially when it comes to the time factor. Most people think exercise must be done in chunks of at least thirty minutes, but that’s not true. A study done at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, with results published in 2016, found that you can reap the benefits of just one minute of intense exercise each day—not that you should do so little, but your body instantly responds.
There have been other, numerous studies showing that those who split their exercise time into ten-minute increments were more likely to exercise consistently. In one study, women who divided up their exercise sessions lost more weight after five months than women who exercised for twenty to forty minutes at a time.
In a landmark study conducted at the University of Virginia, exercise physiologist Glenn Gaesser, PhD, asked men and women to complete fifteen 10-minute exercise routines a week. After just twenty-one days, the volunteers’ aerobic fitness was equal to that of people ten to fifteen years younger. “It would be useful for people to get out of the all-or-nothing mind-set that unless they exercise for thirty minutes, they’re wasting their time,” he said.
I saw this myself in 2007 when I worked on a program called Healthy Upgrade Team with Brooke Shields for Colgate, an ad campaign targeting women to help them take better care of their teeth. My part of the process was to challenge women to get moving. I came up with a regime that had them scrubbing pots in a circular pattern, brushing their teeth with extra oomph, mopping the floor with their feet—you get the idea. The women we worked with didn’t equate cleaning with exercise until we showed them how pushing a heavy vacuum back and forth did wonders for their arms and butts.
It makes sense; when you’re actively cleaning, your body is in motion. You just need to take the time to focus on the kinesiology of how you’re actually using your muscles, instead of just performing the task. You will be surprised how sore you can get from mopping the floor with your feet!
I know it is more challenging today to be active than in previous generations. As unfathomable as it might seem to anyone born after 1970, back in the day, people actually had to get up to answer the telephone and change the TV channels; they even had to wash all the dishes by hand.
Decades ago, kids walked or biked to school. Now there are buses and carpools. These same kids would come home from school and then go out to play. Now helicopter parents are too scared not to have a GPS blinking on their little ones’ cell phones.
If you had to research a project, you’d go to a library and stand in front of the card catalogue and then walk around the shelves and reach up and down for the books you needed. Now all you have to do is hit the search button on your browser. Sedentary jobs have increased 83 percent since 1950; physically active jobs now make up less than 20 percent of our workforce, compared to 1960, when about half of the US workforce was physically active.
THE THIRTY-SECOND T-SHIRT WORKOUT
You can do this either sitting or standing. This sequence is surprisingly tough, especially when you keep a lot of tension on the shirt (or you can use a towel). For a harder workout, you can repeat this up to one hundred times if you want to go crazy! Knock yourself out.
1. Grab a T-shirt and hold it with one hand at each end.
2. Position your hands at 9 and 3 on the clock and move the T-shirt from side to side for 5 seconds.
3. Move your hands to 12 and 6 on the clock. Hold the hand at 12 steady while circling the hand at 6 as if you are stirring a pot of thick oatmeal.
4. Move your hands to do a bicep curl, and then when your hands are at shoulder height, extend them upward, over your head. Do as many as you can for 10 seconds.
5. Move your left hand to forehead height, palm facing out, and your right hand in the bicep curl position. Move the T-shirt up and down on a diagonal for 5 seconds. Switch sides and repeat. Do not overextend the upper arm too much—it’s not about moving the T-shirt too high but about feeling the tension in your triceps.
The consequences and problems from lack of movement are deadly. In all, sedentary lifestyles lead to an estimated 5.3 million premature deaths a year worldwide, right up there with smoking.
Half an hour of brisk walking every day can do more for your long-term health than all the efforts of a dozen doctors and their medication. (The key word is brisk, as you need to get your heart pumping, as Dr. Steinbaum explained on page.) Thirty minutes is all you need—whether from walking, jogging, running, using machines at the gym, biking, dancing, or swimming. Every day.
I don’t care how you move, but I want you to get up and get a move on. Even just doing a minute or two is a start. Rosanna Scotto is the cohost of a local morning TV show, Good Day New York, and she asked me to come on the program one day to reach those viewers sitting on the couch who didn’t have exercise equipment like an indoor bike at their disposal. I wanted to reach the viewers who knew they should be exercising, but still weren’t.
Together, Rosanna and I decided to demonstrate a thirty-second T-shirt workout that anyone can find the time to do. (It was all the time they had in the segment for us to do the moves!) We hoped it would trigger these people to see how easily they could incorporate a really fun little sequence of movement into their lives, even while they were watching TV.
Obviously, you can’t change your body in thirty seconds, but you can trigger some endorphins, capture a small amount of motivation, and possibly activate your brain to challenge yourself and do something bigger as a result of the thirty-second kick-start!
It is easy, and it is fun. Gradually, I want your magic number to increase so you’re aiming for 150 minutes of movement a week. Or more!
Finally Confronting Fear Itself
I’m pretty fearless, but even I have my moments. I know the primary reason people don’t do the things they dream of—whether it’s starting a new business, moving, opening their heart to love, standing up to a bully, treating themselves with the nurturing care they deserve and making better eating and working out habits a regular part of their lives—is fear.
Fear of the unknown, fear of rejection, fear of failure.
When I got the call that I was going out with Oprah Winfrey on her “Life You Want” tour in November 2014, I had to sit down for a minute. I was told I’d be training fifteen thousand people. All at once. You gotta give me this one. Yes, I, the fearless Stacey, had a moment of sheer, blind panic.
No way, I told myself, that fifteen thousand people are going to get up out of their seat and do this workout. No freaking way! What if they don’t like my teaching? What if I ask them to get up, and they stay in their seats? What if, what if, what if?
Was I listening to my own normal, confident self? Nope. That blind moment of sheer panic took residence in my brain the entire time I was working with Angela Davis, who was teaching Sheri Salata (president of Harpo Productions) and Oprah at SoulCycle at the time. She lived in Los Angeles, and I was in New York, so we had to create the routine over Skype, using a two-by-two-foot space because we knew the participants were going to be in a stadium, in their seats, not on bikes, and we had to keep the movements small so they wouldn’t be whacking the people sitting next to them. It took us about two months to figure it out, and I spent the entire time working myself into a tizzy.
STAND TALL—IT WORKS
I had horrible posture as a kid. It was so bad that my dad would make me stand against a wall with a book on my head to practice what it was like to keep my shoulders back! My mom would also constantly say, “Stand up straight!”
They knew that posture is important. It speaks volumes about you because the second you walk through the door, it’s the first thing anybody sees. You always want to walk into any room with your head up and your eyes focused on some point in the distance to elongate your neck—as if you were clad in an enormous velvet cloak, and you were dragging it regally behind you.
Pattabhi Jois, the founder of Ashtanga or “flow” yoga, was a teacher famous for the head-up-high/cloak-behind-you method of thinking. He is the reason Ashtanga became what it is today.
And this means, of course, that you are not looking down at the cell phone glued to your hand. Doing this is terrible for your posture, especially the muscles of your neck and upper back. It’s also terrible for your ability to open your eyes and see what’s truly happening around you.
When you show up in the morning with your intentions set and a positive attitude, good vibrations are going to start passing through your body automatically. Remember, thoughts are vibrating inside you, so keep them positive. Pass the negative ones like clouds; just let them leave your head. It’s the positive ones that you have on repeat . . . those are the ones that vibrate through you and keep your disposition on point. They’re going to give you energy. They’re going to make you push past your fears. They’re going to make stride wherever it is you’re going with power and confidence.
I still battle the rolled-shoulder syndrome thanks to all my years of riding the bike, and I have to really think about it when I go anywhere. You need to pay more attention, too. That, and keeping your chin from jutting out and leading your gait with your head sticking out. Try it. It works!
What if they don’t like what we’re doing? I asked myself. There’s just no way this is going to work. I mean, Oprah’s people, most of them are women, are going to be in nice clothes because Oprah asked them to be in their Sunday best, and a lot of them won’t be in fantastic shape. Nobody’s going to want to do it right after lunch; they’ll be tired. I’m going to make a total fool out of myself and Oprah is going to think I suck. Of all the people on this planet I want to impress, at the top of my list is Oprah . . . and I’m in a complete self-doubt zone!
Finally, the big day arrived, and I showed up at the Prudential Center in New Jersey with my Soul army in tow. There were twelve people onstage on bikes, and me in front of them cueing the “#soul-15” workout Angela and I created. As soon as I started talking and showing the crowd what to do, sure enough, every single person was jumping up and down in their Sunday best, enjoying the movements we’d devised—and having a blast.
They easily followed our lead, watching us and repeating everything I showed them. I could tell, because they’d been given light-up wristbands. Every single light was moving in unison, all thirty thousand arms, like a magical army of fireflies. (You can see snippets of it on YouTube at www.youtube.com/results?search_query=oprah+live+the+life+you+want+tour+soul+cycle.)
All my fears melted away, and I was filled with a pure surge of ecstatic energy, watching those wonderful participants as they shouted out wild whoops of joy and power. It was one of my proudest moments as a teacher.
Afterward, when the adrenaline was finally melting away, I had to have a tough conversation with myself. It was one of my biggest life lessons ever. I had allowed myself to become so fearful, and I had to push past the fear. I had to learn that I could not torture myself by being too scared to try. Never again.
After all, what was the worst thing that could have happened to me that day? I could have missed that opportunity by passing on it altogether. I could have said no just because the thought of fucking up in front of fifteen thousand people was so unbelievably terrifying!
Actually, once we got to Seattle, I did get caught up in a wardrobe malfunction, but at that point I had already done two cities, and I knew the audiences. I still remember seeing people up in the rafters dancing and jumping, and they were so far away their heads were the size of pins.
I often think of that day when a new student comes up to me before class and tells me he or she is scared, that everyone else knows what they’re doing, and that they won’t be able to do it. “Nobody else in the class matters except you,” I always tell them. “You have your own bike; you have your own seat; you have your own space. And in my class nobody’s looking at anybody else. No one cares.”
You know why no one cares?
Two reasons. One, they are concentrating so hard on what they’re doing that they don’t see anyone else. And two, it starts at the top. It starts with who’s creating the vibe in the room. And my vibe is focused on each and every person who’s there to work. They are setting their intentions. That’s more than enough to deal with!
“Besides,” I go on, “you have your own will, and you have your own goals. So you don’t have to worry about anything. It’s not like we’re in a boat and you have an oar and you go the wrong way and your oar’s going to hit theirs and the boat is going to topple over and sink. That’s not why we’re here. You’re going to be in your own universe in this studio, inside of a bigger universe. You’re going to turn that knob past zero, and you’re going to have the ride of your life.”
Moving Meditation—Motivation to Push Past the Fear
If the fear is getting to you, this Moving Meditation ought to help. As you need to keep your eyes closed, do this one when you are moving on a stable piece of equipment, such as a Spin bike, a recumbent bicycle, or a rowing machine. You can also do it when holding on to the edge of a pool and kicking, or marching in place in your home.
1. Close your eyes and see yourself in your mind’s eye. You are a vivacious, strong human being. There is a reason why you were born a human being and not a book or a tree. You were meant to do special and amazing things.
2. Picture yourself climbing or cycling up a hill. I don’t know what’s at the top of the hill. Only you know. This is only about you and your goals—not anyone else’s. The top of this hill is you pushing as hard as you possibly can against resistance. That’s what the top of the hill means in real life. You are climbing your personal mountain. This is your hill, baby. This is your time. This is your place. This is your workout. This moment belongs to you.
3. Keep climbing until you get to the top. That’s where you’ll find what you want: your goals, your dream job, your next big project, more goals, more dreams, your love.
PLAYLIST
FOR WORKING OUT
Even if I’m having a draggy kind of day, when I walk into the studio, where seventy expectant faces are turned toward me, I know there’s one easy thing guaranteed to get me in the mood: I turn the music up. Way up. And then I am ready to kick butt. It never fails!
These particular songs are relatable to the same vibration that makes you want to instantly get up and get on the dance floor. They’re some of my favorites that are all extremely propulsive in feeling, with that sexy beat that literally compels you to move.
Astor |
“Flashback” |
Michael Chiklis/David Bowie |
“The Way to Dirty Fame” |
Depeche Mode |
“Policy of Truth” |
Dirty Vegas |
“Tonight” |
deadmau5 |
“Let Go” |
Demi Lovato |
“Old Ways” |
Pink |
“Fuckin’ Perfect” |
Lisa Shaw |
“Like I Want To” |
Taylor Swift |
“Better than Revenge” |
Yelawolf |
“Till It’s Gone By” |
4. Instantly, you are flooded with an indescribable sensation of accomplishment and happiness, and you stand there for a minute, basking in the love.
5. You hear a soft, sweet, but determined voice saying, Let it all out. Let out everything you’ve got through your breath. . . . Celebration, frustration, happiness, anxiety, anticipation, fear—all of it, let it out, exhale it out. Every emotion you ever had, let it out. You cannot keep it all inside. You have got to let it out in your life. This is your safe place. This is where the hot air comes out of your body, and the courage and strength is breathed in as you inhale.
6. Take another deep breath. You let it all out. You are in charge.
7. Slowly, you imagine yourself living inside the goals you just visualized. You see that you are several thoughts away from actually manifesting these things into your life.
Now it’s time to leave the Moving Meditation and go put these awesome thoughts into physical action. Go send the e-mail, send the text, make the phone calls to the people who can help you bring your visualization into reality. Do it now!
This will change the trajectory of your life. If you can do these visualizations during exercise, while you’re in motion, you will have a bigger chance that they may actually come true, especially if, after the meditation, you actually put them in motion!
I know how well these visualizations work, because I’ve been told they do, hundreds of times over the last two decades, from the people who actually do this regularly.
You can be one of them!
So mark this page, put this book down, and send a text or e-mail that puts one of your goals or dreams in motion!
HOW EXERCISE AFFECTS YOUR BRAIN
Did your professors at college lectures or the speakers at a TED Talk or an online seminar sit at a desk or in a chair? No—they are always in motion. They’re walking back and forth. They’re waving their hands and writing on SMART Boards. They’re not doing this just so they can make eye contact with everybody in the audience.
They’re doing it instinctively because their brains need them to move so they can get their message across most effectively. And they do this because movement stimulates brain activity, emotionally and intellectually. So if you want a brain boost, get up and get going. Anything that’s good for your heart is going to be good for your brain, too—more blood flow means more thinking power.
Still not sure? Well, Dr. John Ratey, author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, says, “Exercise is the single best thing you can do for your brain in terms of mood, memory, and learning. Even ten minutes of activity changes your brain.”
Scientists used to think the brain stopped growing when we were around age four, but fortunately we now know that just isn’t true. Your brain cells, or neurons, are constantly being formed, even when you’re past the age of retirement. This is called neuroplasticity or neurogenesis.
“All new learning creates new synapses in your brain,” Michael Gonzalez-Wallace, a professional trainer and author of Super Body Super Brain, a mind/body exercise system particularly designed to stimulate brain activity, told me after class one day.
“We use the word plastic to show how adaptable to change and stimulus your brain is. The more complicated the movements you do are—even if they’re actually very simple, what counts is to have your brain think they’re complicated—the more brain activity you’ll stimulate.”
This is why one of my favorite reasons to exercise is brain growth. In the same way that learning a new language long after you’re out of school wakes up a dormant part of your brain, exercise stimulates the release of growth factors called brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) that increase neurogenesis. BDNF is what allows your brain to grow new connections between neurons—and the more connections we can form, the better “shape” our brains are in. This is an extremely important factor in keeping your memory strong—especially as exercise stimulates activity in the temporal lobe, which is responsible for storing sensory memories—and to help prevent degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.
For even more brain power, try doing exercises or a sport that constantly challenge your thinking as well as your moving; any kind of dance, for example, where you have to learn new sequences and remember steps, is a fantastic brain stimulator. So are racquet sports, where you’re always trying to think of where to hit the ball even as you’re hitting it. Mixing it up is always a good idea. Intersperse your runs or lap swimming or machines at the gym with a Zumba or yoga class. Your body will thank you. So will your brain.
Your Very Own Dr. Feel-Good: How Exercise Helps Regulate Your Emotions
Every time you move or work out, you stimulate neurotransmitters, signaling nerve cells in your brain to fire up and get a move on. Your heart rate rises, your body temperature rises, your metabolism kicks in, and you got it poppin’. Your brain is on chemical fire. This is how you change your attitude in life. You simply move, and your brain does the rest.
The most important neurotransmitters for movement are serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and endorphins. Serotonin is linked to muscle stimulation, memory, moods, digestion, and sleep. Dopamine and norepinephrine regulate movement, but they also deal with emotional responses.
Endorphins are truly unique. They are released when you exercise, and not only do they help us regulate pain and stress, but they can induce a glowing feeling of euphoria. You feel a rush of sweet happiness, and while you’re feeling so good, these endorphins are also improving your immune and circulatory systems while they reduce stress and improve memory.
Much better than just a cup of coffee to get you going, right?
Endorphins and other brain chemicals are released and stimulated during exercise, and this can help to regulate your moods. In some cases, this can act as a natural antidepressant—without the side effects of prescription medications. My father is a perfect example of this. Let me tell you why . . . .
My dad was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2014, when he was seventy-two years old. He had been healthy and was taking care of himself and eating well and was always active for his entire life. He was an avid sportsman and was especially good at tennis, golf, and bowling. It was this athletic attitude that made him able to fight his cancer for as long as he did.
From the minute of his diagnosis, he had a difficult cancer to treat. His bladder was removed and replaced with an artificial one; it was often very painful and uncomfortable. But this is what he said to his oncologists: “I don’t care what the plan is—whatever you say to do, I’m gonna do it. Radiation, chemotherapy, you just tell me what I have to do. As long as I can still play golf. I need to make sure I’m okay to get out on the course.”
Me, Tiff, and Poppa
My dad had a true warrior spirit. He refused to sit at home and give up. He went to the hospital, had his chemo and radiation treatments, and then went straight to the course to play golf.
I was so proud of my dad’s attitude, up until the day he died more than two years after a dire diagnosis. He didn’t complain. He was very realistic. He adjusted to his illness; he needed to take more frequent naps, and sometimes he lost his appetite and my stepmom had to nag him to eat. For the most part, his attitude was amazing. I was in awe of his courage.
Given the circumstances, my dad had every right to be depressed about his diagnosis and treatment. Anyone who has cancer does. (Anyone who has any kind of difficult circumstances can develop depression or anxiety, and justifiably so.) But he absolutely did not let himself get depressed. He never saw himself as a victim. He rarely even talked about it—more to protect his family than anything else, I think.
Part of what kept my dad going was that he was always a very personable man, and he loved people. He had a great relationship with all of his doctors at the VA Hospital at Stanford University. He passed that attitude down to all of us in the family. So his attitude kept him going through the pain. His general love for life was his elixir.
So was physical activity. Sports were an active component of my dad’s healing. He played golf up until a few months before his death. The fact that my dad was so fit absolutely helped him not be as sick as somebody his age who’s overweight or a smoker. If he’d been out of shape and had not taken care of himself his entire life, we would have lost him much sooner. It’s not so much that optimal health is a guarantee of letting you live a long life (although of course, it’s an essential component)—it’s that when something bad happens, being healthy gives you the stamina to help you heal quicker.
In addition, my dad had always done his own version of Tai Chi. As long as I can remember, I have memories of him doing his routine for about ten minutes every day. There’s no name for it; it was just his own thing. He didn’t study Tai Chi—he made it all up! He’d stretch, touch his toes, put his hands in a salutation, move around his head, balance or center himself, in a sequence he figured out on his own. He was amazingly flexible. He was my superstar.
I see my dad as a shining example of how to use your brain to power through trauma. After a daunting and terrifying delivery of bad news, he took the bull by the horns and went for it. He could have given up and watched TV all day while eating ice cream on the sofa and feeling sorry for himself. He definitely needed that ice cream to keep his weight up, but he went out there golfing and living his life instead of staying home in bed. If he’d given up, he would have died very quickly.
Not only did exercise keep my dad going up until the end, it helped him manage his stress. Whenever something stresses us in a good way (like getting a huge, challenging new project at work) or a bad way (the rent’s going up and you just lost your job; your children are having a hard time at school; your car engine just gave out for the last time), your body instinctively releases the corticosteroid hormones cortisol and epinephrine. These hormones give you a noticeable jolt of energy that can help you make effective snap decisions, such as swerving out of the way of a drunk driver when you’re on the road.
But if you’re under prolonged stress, the continual release of these hormones can wreak havoc on your body, leaving you with such problems as irritability, sleep disorders, anxiety, and depression. In other words, your stress makes your stress more stressful.
As much as my dad was able to manage his stress, he knew what was happening to his body. We were always sanguine about his prospects. He had a goal. He wanted to see my nephew graduate from high school, and I was heartbroken, along with the rest of my family, that he wasn’t able to make it. He was determined not to die from bladder cancer—he told himself he was going to die with it—and he was going to golf his way out of this life on his own terms. He fought up till the very end, and lived much longer than his doctors expected he would.
You might not be able to put an end to stressful situations that are out of your control (your parents getting a surprise divorce, for example, or a close friend becoming seriously ill), but you can do your utmost to manage them with specific techniques, such as mindful breathing, meditation, yoga, the kind of visualizations you’ve learned how to do in this book, and, of course, exercise. It’s such a great stress reliever because the endorphins that are released during exercise automatically lower your cortisol levels. Not only will you feel better while you’re moving—you’ll continue to feel better after your workout is over.
Let’s talk about abs!
Using exercise for regular stress management will not only help keep you on an even keel, it will improve your confidence and motivation.
I want to be clear that exercise can’t cure depression, anxiety, or other mental illnesses. When things go wrong and you’re having a particularly difficult time, you need to get the right kind of help—from a therapist, sometimes from medications, and especially from things you can do yourself that are guaranteed to make you feel better. Exercise will always be at the top of that list.
But making your physical fitness a priority will help you maintain a balance to face difficult moments so you don’t trip and fall when you need to look calm, cool, and collected. This can happen when you need to be strong and go straight through a door to a meeting where you have to give a presentation and your nerves usually get the better of you. You know what I’m talking about, right?
We all have those days . . . we all have those moments . . . it doesn’t matter who you are or what you have or what you’ve already done, we will all have those moments when you just have to have your shit together and do what you have to do.
You can either falter, or you can get moving—you know this in your body memory from the feeling you get from movement and exercise that you can do this, and you take that same memory and apply it to what you need to unleash the cascade of chemicals in your brain, enabling the gears to start turning so that you’ll get the confidence and ideas and motivation and lift off you need.
You’ll turn into a rocket that blasts off so you can do your thing, the way you want to do it. And succeed the way you want to.
MY FAVORITE EXERCISES TO HELP YOU GET STACEY ABS
When you’re getting fit and losing weight, you naturally think about your belly and what goes into it. These abs exercises are a perfect reinforcement for your core—the seat of all your physical strength and power.
When I was in my twenties and started training clients at my local gym, one of my best classes was my abs class. I always had great abs from playing sports, and fine-tuned the routine I taught based on what I’d learned from my swim coach and basketball coach in high school. They’d drilled into us that core strength is the root of all body strength, and that if you didn’t have an awesome core, you wouldn’t ever be a good athlete. I just had to look at my winning teammates for proof: Their abs were ripped!
The average American spends approximately fifty-six hours per week sitting, so their core automatically weakens. Add in improper posture when doing all this sitting (not to mention all that looking down at your phone or other devices), and, most likely, a workstation that isn’t ergonomically designed to help you sit up straight, and you’ll suffer as a result—especially with lower back pain. Strong abs will not only help prevent back pain, but they’ll boost your stamina, increase your flexibility, and make you look and feel amazingly good.
Before you start, there are a few important things to remember:
How your abs will end up looking is predetermined genetically. Don’t be discouraged by the Photoshopped images of fantastically flat abs you see in magazines—they’re usually doctored images. Some people will quickly get “cut,” Magic Mike abs after a short time, and some will do tough abs workouts for years and never attain that kind of definition. What matters is that your abs are strong, and that you take the time to keep them that way.
It’s also important that you feel good about your abs. If you are constantly tugging on the shirt by your abs, thinking that’s going to help make them look better, it doesn’t. It only alerts everyone around you that you aren’t confident about your midsection. Be aware of this habit, especially on a job interview or a date. Leave your shirt alone!
Slow and steady is far more effective than rushing through the motions. It’s a myth that doing hundreds of fast-paced crunches every day will give you perfect, washboard abs. It’s much better to slow down and build up to thirty-second sets of stable, isolated moves that really work.
Here are a few of the best.
Bike Crunch
DO THIS FOR: At least 3 minutes
SUGGESTED SONG: “Happy” by Pharrell Williams
NOTE: If you have a back injury, be careful and don’t do any moves that compromise you.
1. Lie on your back with your hands behind your head and your legs elevated up to a slightly bent 90-degree angle. (How high you can raise them depends on your flexibility—do whatever feels comfortable.)
2. Bring your right elbow toward your left knee, then your left elbow toward your right knee.
3. Keep going till the song is half over.
4. Try to hold the crunch for a two count on each side to force a slower, more concentrated movement until the song ends.
TIPS
• This is going to start to fatigue the muscles in the core, so hold it for as long as you can. If you need to rest, then do so. The more you do this move, the longer you’ll be able to hold it.
Alt Taps
DO THIS FOR: 3 minutes
SUGGESTED SONG: “Blow” by Beyoncé
1. Lie on your back so your body forms an X on the ground.
2. Bring your right hand across to your left foot, then your left hand toward your right foot, lifting your head, neck, and shoulders off the ground.
3. Keep going until the song ends. If you can hit the pace of Beyoncé, great; if you have to half-beat it, fine—but do it!
TIPS
• Yes, it’s tough! If you need to rest, then do so.
• If you start to feel it in your neck, it’s okay to support it with the hand not in use.
• When you come straight up off the floor, you’re working your lower abs. When you twist on an angle, you’re working your obliques and your lower abs.
Ninja Plank Crunch
The plank is one of the only exercises that works the entire core, allowing you to strengthen the front and back of your abdominal area simultaneously. This makes it the most effective exercise in this book, so you should aim for doing it more than any other one!
DO THIS FOR: 3 minutes, 10 seconds
SUGGESTED SONG: “Faith” by George Michael
1. Get into the traditional plank position: forearms on the ground and your body perfectly straight. Lift up so your entire body is off the ground, resting on the weight of your forearms. Do not let your back arch or sag. Stay strong and locked into plank.
2. Bring your right knee forward toward your right elbow, then return to the plank position.
3. Repeat on the left side.
4. Continue for 90 seconds.
5. Rest for 10 seconds.
6. Repeat for 90 seconds more.
TIPS
• Don’t look down at your abs; instead, stare in neutral at the floor. Even skinny people look peculiar down there in this position. Don’t look—it’s weird!
Grab the Rope
DO THIS FOR: 3 to 4 minutes
SUGGESTED SONG: “The Way You Move” by Big Boi
1. Lie on your back, feet on the ground, knees bent, shoulder width apart.
2. Sit up with your arms and hands reaching through your legs, as if you’re grasping for an imaginary rope, and grab it as if it’s helping you stay up. Your shoulders should be off the ground.
3. Alternate the grab from right to left.
4. Continue for the entire song. Your shoulders and upper back remain up off the floor.
5. When you grab, also turn into the middle, flexing the obliques with each change of the hands. Keep the flex even more into the next move. Stay strong—this shit is hard!
TIPS
• You want a song with a strong, pulsating beat to it, as that will help keep you propelling the grab!
MY FAVORITE EXERCISES TO REINFORCE HOW YOU LOVE YOURSELF: SG BUTT
What many people don’t realize is how connected all our muscles are. All your power starts in your core, then wraps around to the corresponding muscle in the gluteus muscles of your backside (which is the largest muscle group in your body). In other words, you always flex your abs first, brace them, find your balance, and then power through the glutes.
When you go into glute training, you always engage the core first . . . and you really have to think about what move to do next. If you don’t, gravity takes over and that’s when your lower back starts to hurt. When your mind wanders during any kind of core work, or when you’re slouching at your desk, your lower back bears the brunt of this, gets compromised, and starts to ache.
So what does this have to do with love, you might ask? Well, butts are one area of the body where people tend to have a love/hate relationship. I want you to love yours, no matter what shape it’s in. Not only because you need strong glutes to keep your body upright and able to move, but because they are so powerful. Loving everything about who you are is one of the most freeing and satisfying things you can accomplish.
Ballet Barre Squats and Leg Lifts
DO THIS FOR: 5 minutes
SUGGESTED SONG: “Be Alright” by Ariana Grande (x 2)
NOTE: I have been training clients on the barre for thirty years, as it is the most effective and stable place to be. If you don’t have access to a barre at a gym, then use a heavy and stable piece of furniture instead.
1. Place your legs a bit farther than hip width apart, toes pointed out.
2. Allow yourself to feel the rhythm of the song while you squat about halfway down to the floor, then come back up to the starting position. Do not let your knees go past your toes. If you’re super flexible, go deep. If you aren’t, stay shallow and build up to going deep!
3. Move over to the barre or piece of furniture and hold on gently with one hand.
4. Turn your foot out as you raise it up. Go to your comfort zone of lifting here—I’m not asking you to punt a football, but almost! Switch legs after you can’t bear to do any more. Shoot for 30 on each side.
5. Turn to face the barre or piece of furniture and hold on to it with both hands.
6. Lean forward with your abs tight, then extend one leg out behind you, toe pointed. Keep your standing leg slightly bent and not locked out. Shoot for 30 on each side.
TIPS
• You most likely started doing moves like this when you were a child. Don’t overthink them. Stay connected to your core.
• Imagine your legs long and lean and strong while you are doing the movements.
• Stay positive, and speak nicely to yourself. After just one song of these movements, tomorrow you will feel it!
Donkey Pee Ballet
DO THIS FOR: 5 minutes
SUGGESTED SONG: Your current favorite song on the radio or “New York City” by the Chain Smokers
1. Get down on the floor on all fours.
2. With your heel pointed toward the ceiling, do “donkey kicks” as if you were about to kick someone in the nuts! Make sure to lead with your heel and jam the bottom of that foot up into the air toward the ceiling. Abs tight! Do 30 on each side.
3. Go back to the starting position.
4. Do knee-out-to-the-side raises: Lift your knee up from the hip, abs tight. Squeeze your inner thigh as you move. You will feel this one so much more in the opposite side booty! Keep going, 30 each side.
5. Return to the starting position.
6. Do ballet points: Extend one leg back and kick long, straight back to the wall, abs tight. Push through your second toe (not your big toe). Go for 30 on each side.
TIPS
• This is a classic three-part leg series that really tones your butt and lengthens your thigh muscles, too. It’s an ideal replacement if you have bum knees and can’t do squats.
• Keep your neck relaxed and in neutral. Take all the pressure off your back by concentrating on keeping your abs tight.
Cardio Fix
DO THIS FOR: 5 minutes
SUGGESTED SONG: Play any fast-paced Madonna here . . . any song with a strong beat will do.
1. Stand with your feet hip width apart, arms extended in front you at shoulder height.
2. Crouch down and jump up as high as you can, landing softly. (This is called a jump squat.) Keep your abs tight. Do 20.
3. Return to the starting position, your arms at your sides, then stand on one leg.
4. Use the force of your arms to jump up in the air, then land softly, balancing on that same leg. Do this 20 times on each side.
5. Return to the starting position, your arms at your sides.
6. Do jumping jacks—except move your legs to the front and back, as if you were cross-country skiing, instead of out to the sides. Try to do this as fast as you can, switching legs, 30 times. (This really turns it up a notch!)
TIPS
• Keep your abs super tight and make sure you breathe calmly. You’ll be able to do more this way!
The Toilet Squat
DO THIS FOR: As long as you like
SUGGESTED SONG: Not appropriate here!
1. Get up from the toilet after you’ve done your thing and flushed.
2. Do as many squats up and down without touching the toilet seat as you can. Aim for at least 10.
TIPS
• This is one of my favorite exercises, since you’re there anyway! Use the moment. You can do it in any bathroom, anywhere, for however long you want to, and it’s an effective way to strengthen your glutes and your thigh muscles. It’s great on airplanes. Trust me, it’s not as easy as it looks.
• Just don’t ever touch the toilet with your butt! Ewww!
MY FAVORITE EXERCISES TO GIVE YOU SIGNATURE SG ARMS
When you think about exercise, and moving—going for an energetic walk, perhaps—what comes to mind? Are you just thinking about how a nice, brisk walk will make your cardiovascular system and your leg muscles strong? I hope so. But I also want you to think about the upper half of your body, as arms and shoulders tend to get neglected by those who like to get their aerobic exercise from walking, running, or outdoor cycling. Even if you swim or play racquet sports, you still need to do arm-strengthening exercises regularly—this will make a huge difference in your sporting prowess. And many people get confused about what arm exercises to do, as well as how to do them.
In the cities where I teach, my students are known for their “Stacey Griffith” arms. “My” arms have a special sculpted look, which my students get from the unique directionality of the moves and the sequences I do in class.
I learned decades ago that angles promote angles, so if you want a specific, strong, and sculpted toning to your arms, you not only have to move them in a way that is atypical, but you have to mix up the patterns of movement you make. This will give you the best arms you’ve ever had—the arms with muscle definition you never thought you’d have—which is especially important for everyone as they grow older and start wondering when that dreaded droop is gonna start, well, drooping!
Before you start, read these important tips:
• How your arms will end up looking is predetermined genetically. (This is true for your abs and butt as well, as you’ve learned already.) Some people bulk up quickly, and some will always have thinner, leaner muscles.
• It’s worth investing in a set of hand weights, especially in one-, two-, and three-pound sizes. Lighter weights—one to five pounds max for women and eight to ten pounds for men—coupled with higher reps are all anyone needs to get the definition they want.
• If you don’t have hand weights, you can use full cans of soup or beans, or a large, full bottle of water as a substitute. Anything with some weight to it that fits comfortably in your hands will be fine. Remember this tip next time you’re out of town, away from your regular exercise routine or equipment!
• The arms sequence I do in my class usually takes five to seven minutes. This sequence works the biceps, triceps, shoulders, and abs and back. These exercises should be done in the order listed, and should take a couple of minutes each.
• To make yourself even stronger and your arms even better, try to do at least ten push-ups at the end of any arm series. Even if you need to do them from a bent-knee position, a few pushups are better than none. You can also hit planks for two minutes if you want to.
• For the best results and to see your arm muscles really pop, you do have to watch what you eat. This means cutting out the sugar that you get in sodas and desserts, and watching the carbohydrates found in foods like pasta, pizza, and bread! It’s not rocket science—it’s just discipline. Train your mouth!
• As you do these arm moves, make sure you are thinking about what you want from them and why you are really doing them. This will help you stay on track with your mission.
Bicep Curl Press
DO THIS FOR: 4 minutes
SUGGESTED SONG: “Sacred Temple” by N.E.R.D.
1. Stand tall, then move your feet shoulder width apart. Hold your weights with your arms down by your sides, palms facing up.
2. With both arms, bring the weights up to a 90-degree angle, parallel to the floor. As you move, squeeze the sides of your arms as if you are holding a piece of paper on a windy day. Focus more on that squeeze than on actually gripping the weight. (You want to have a relaxed yet sturdy hold on the weight. Be careful not to overgrab.)
3. Next, press the weights over your head as if you are about to put them in the overhead compartment of an airplane. The count is one up, two down (in seconds).
4. Bring your arms back down to the starting position, all the way down to your sides.
TIPS
• Try to do this exercise for the length of one song, but it’s okay if you can’t at first. If you need to rest, take a short break, then start at the beginning again. Eventually, you’ll be able to do all these exercises without stopping.
Paddle Paddle Paddle
DO THIS FOR: 4 minutes
SUGGESTED SONG: “4 Minutes” by Madonna (ha—perfect song, right?)
1. Keeping your feet shoulder width apart, grip the weights as if you were holding a real paddle for a canoe or a wakeboard and are about to move the paddle through the water on your way back to the shore. Stack one hand on top of the other.
2. Switch the paddle from the right side 8 times to the left side 8 times.
3. Stay in motion, alternating sides, for the duration of the song.
TIPS
• You have to get into this one by slightly bending your legs and really reaching out as if you have the paddle in the water. It will only work if you’re really into it.
• If you find that you can’t get into it, then improvise your own movement like my dad did with his Tai Chi. What’s important is that you are reaching out with your upper body, and having some flow with the latissimus, biceps, deltoid, and triceps muscles. This is a full upper-body move, and you should be enjoying it, not dreading it!
Pour on the Definition
DO THIS FOR: 2 minutes
SUGGESTED SONG: “Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Def Leppard (it fits, right?!)
1. Grab 2-pound weights and sit on the edge of a sturdy chair.
2. Extend the weights straight out, away from your body. Picture a container full of negativity or frustration if you will—whatever it is, use the image as a dump or a get-rid-of moment.
3. Do an imaginary pour as you drop the weights down to your knees, then turn them upside down as you bring them back up to the starting position.
TIPS
• This is one of my favorite visualization exercises. Picture yourself pouring out whatever you want to get rid of on the way down, then fill up your imaginary container with what you need and want in your life on the way up. Continue dumping out and filling up for the entire song. The visuals work, but you have to do them. Most people get more caught up in watching themselves in the mirror and focusing on the way they look, as opposed to how they could actually make themselves feel from the inside out.
• Try doing this with your eyes closed, which I’ve found can help you focus.
Floor Flys
DO THIS FOR: 4 minutes
SUGGESTED SONG: “Fly to New York” by Above and Beyond
1. Lie on your back with 2- to 5-pound weights in each hand, arms bent with elbows on the ground, hands up and ready, feet on the floor.
2. Slowly bring your arms straight up in the air until they are up above your forehead.
3. Bring your arms down and wide, almost like you’re opening yourself up to receive a big giant hug from down on the floor. Imagine you’re spreading your wings so you can fly as effortlessly as an eagle.
TIPS
• If the 2-pound weights are too heavy at first, try doing this move with no weights at all. Gradually build up to the 1-pound and then the 2-pound weights. You really don’t need to go much higher than 2 or 3 pounds once you’ve mastered it for this exercise to be extremely effective. Guys will want 5 to 10 pounds.
• Keep your abs tight and your back flat on the ground. We tend to lift our butts off the floor, so keep that down, especially the small of your back. Some people also like to place their knees at a 90-degree angle to keep their backs on the floor, so see if that works for you.
• Always have strong, open thoughts when doing this exercise, as you are vulnerable with your heart open and your arms outstretched.
As I quoted Dr. Steinbaum saying earlier in this chapter, mindfulness while exercising is a must. She knows, as I do, that the body follows the mind—so that if your mind is telling your body that it will train hard . . . and if you think with every cell in your body about what you’re doing . . . and if you stay connected to your movements and your strong breathing patterns . . . and you tell yourself you want to change and you want to be in the best shape of your life and you won’t stop until you get there—then you will!