Don't Listen to the Hype

It's January 2nd and I'm already overloaded with the constant onslaught of messages from gyms and other fitness professionals.  The "New Year, New You!" and 21-Day Detox Challenges and Six Week Transformations all sound appealing and simple, but they're missing the point.

You're not going to be a different person in 21 days or six weeks or even this year.  You're still going to be you, and there's nothing wrong with that because

there's nothing wrong with YOU!

Being overweight or out of shape doesn't tell me anything about your fundamental character, it tells me you haven't formed healthy habits.  And in spite of popular culture's obsession with quick transformations, you are not going to form lifelong habits in just a few weeks.  It takes weeks - sometimes years - to make lasting changes to your lifestyle.

Here's the thing about losing weight and getting fit:

• Consistency is the only "trick" that actually works.  And, obviously, that's not really a trick at all.  It's a habit, and one that takes a little willpower on your part before you'll see any results.  Six weeks isn't long enough to call yourself consistent.  Six months is getting closer to it, but you really don't reap the benefits of consistency until you've stuck to a good habit for years.  Yes, years.  And here's why...
• It's not a linear process.  You will go through peaks and valleys in your fitness journey, and some of them will be serious setbacks.  You will gain weight back sometimes.  You will go weeks with barely any exercise.  You will question your commitment to your goals.  But if you keep plugging away at it, looking at the big picture and stay focused on being consistent, you'll still make progress.  Progress should be your true goal because...
• There is no destination.  You aren't going to "get fit" and then go back to all your old habits.  When you let go of old habits, they're going to be gone forever, because you don't just get fit, you are going to stay fit.  You're going to BE fit.  And you're not going to be fit if you're always waiting to go back to the things you used to do.  Which means...
• You gotta enjoy what you're doing.  Don't go on a diet.  Don't punish yourself with exercise.  Anything that you do begrudgingly and without joy is not going to last, so don't waste your time.  Choose a healthy food that you like to eat, and add it to your daily routine.  Find an exercise group that is fun and makes you feel strong and happy.  The habits you do with a smile are the habits you will keep forever.

Cheers to a new year, the beginning of new habits, and the same old imperfect, wonderful, and always trying to get better YOU!

I'm Not Trying to Intimidate You

You know a friend of a friend who attends or you did a Google search or maybe you saw my Facebook promotion of three free sessions and you wanted to see what this Sweat Camp thing is all about.  You checked out my website and called and talked to me on the phone and I sounded friendly enough, so you decided to give it a try.  You showed up at Morse Park, ready as you would ever be to work out at 5 o'clock in the morning.  I greeted you pleasantly, but even though there was a smile on my face, you couldn't help your first thought at seeing me in person:  "Ugh!  She's a skinny bitch in yoga pants."

When I clapped my hands and said, "Let's get movin' and groovin'!  Two laps on the blue line, one easy, one hustling," you were game to give it a try, but really?  Running?  "Sure, running's easy for her," you thought.  As I demonstrated the warm-up exercises, making them look easy and effortless even though they were anything but, you wondered if you could sneak back out to your car unnoticed.

Then I spent the entire hour picking on you:

"Spread your feet a little wider and don't come up on your toes."

"You can get lower than that."

"Try to land your feet quietly."

"Of course you can do burpees!!"

Oh, sure, there were lots of smiles and great jobs thrown in there, too, but mostly it felt like being under a microscope.  The other campers were awesome, friendly and welcoming, but as far as you could tell, I was just...intimidating.

Wait...what??  ME???  No way!

Let's rewind and look at this story from a different angle.

When you called me on the phone to talk about trying Sweat Camp, I was excited and nervous.  Sweat Camp is my baby, and I want other people to love it and look forward to coming, even though it's a pretty tough sell with such an early start time and being outdoors and all.  While we were chatting, I was sweating like a pig.  Meeting new people is so not my thing.  I love getting to know people and sharing my love of fitness with them, but that first conversation?  I'm always glad when it's done.  So if I sounded a little manic, it was all nerves, believe me.

When you met me in person, of course you were seeing the girl I am now - fit and strong and confident and oh, sooooooo comfortable in yoga pants.  I could live in those things!  In fact, I pretty much do.  I tell people it's because of my job, but I wear them on my days off, too.  I have about ten pairs.  But I digress.  As for the way I stand up straight and move through the exercises with ease?  There are a couple of reasons for that:

1. I've been doing this for years.  I didn't just up and decide to start exercising yesterday or last month.  I've been honing these skills for a very long time and I can tell you with certainty that if you work at it consistently for as long as I have, you will make everything look easy, too.
2. This is my job and I'm in control of the details.  I'm not going to ask you to do exercises I can't demonstrate!  I can pretty much guarantee that if I were to come and visit you at your job, our roles (and confidence levels) would be reversed.  You would be on top of your game, handling whatever it is that you handle, and I would feel like a fish out of water.  Please don't make me visit you at your job!

Now as far as picking on you is concerned, yeah.  I did.  I picked.  I was watching your movements with a critical eye, definitely, but I promise that I was NOT judging you!  Unless I saw you in Walmart wearing pajamas.  Because I would totally judge you for that.

When I'm watching you exercise, I'm paying attention to dozens of little details that are going to become second nature to you when you've been exercising regularly for awhile, but that I'm hyper-aware of during your first session with me.  Here's what I look/sound like versus what's going on in my head:

• I'm NOT thinking, "Wow, awkward much?" when I'm standing next to you and quietly observing your movements.  I'm actually listening to you, making sure that you're breathing hard without gasping or wheezing.  I'm looking at your face, checking your sweat rate and watching to make sure you don't seem nauseous.
• When you stop to catch your breath or get some water, I am NOT about to tell you to get your butt in gear.  In fact, 99% of the time, I wish you were moving a little slower, because I don't want you to injure yourself or do so much today that you can't get out of bed tomorrow.  I know you're working hard and I am NOT comparing you to anybody else at Camp.  This is your first time and the other campers have been with me for weeks or months or years.  I'm watching you so that I can be familiar with your particular strengths and taking mental notes so I can point out your progress to you in a few weeks.
• I'm NOT staring at your butt and thinking about its size or shape.  I am, however, staring at your butt to make sure you're using the muscles I want you to be using.  We do lots of exercises that can be tough on your lower back if you're not activating your glutes.  I'm always thinking about your form because I want you to be safe and get the most out of what we're doing.
• When you complain/stall/pretend to be joking when you say you "hate" to do a certain exercise, I am NOT making you do it just to be mean.  I know you're scared or feel awkward or have bad flashbacks to 8th grade PE when I ask you to do burpees, but I also know that you can do them.  I'm NOT listening to the voice in your head that says you can't do it, because that voice is a liar.  You can do anything.  And if it's too difficult or puts stress on your joints, then I will absolutely modify it for you!

And you know what else I'm thinking, all the time, when you come to Sweat Camp?  I'm thinking you're a freaking ROCK STAR!  I know that given your druthers, you'd be sleeping in, but here you are, giving it all you've got.  That's awesome, and if I forgot to say it out loud

I'M REALLY PROUD OF YOU!

5 AM is too Early, and Other Lies You Tell Yourself

Over the years, I'm pretty sure I've heard every "reason" there is for why people can't make it to Sweat Camp.  Some of them are borderline legitimate, from Campers whose lives are far more complicated than mine (I do not have six children, for example), and some of them are from potential Campers who are seriously looking for excuses not to take control of their lives.

• I didn't hear my alarm.
• I gave away my shoes.  This one made me laugh so hard I snorted.
• I'm up too late helping my kids with their homework/watching TV/reading/knitting.
• I hurt my shoulder/ankle/hip/knee.
• I'm not in good enough shape to start working out.
• My job/kids/life is stressing me out.
• 5 AM is just too early.

I know what you're thinking.  Some of these excuses really seem to hold some weight.  But here's the thing.

There are a few times in your life when exercise is a bad idea - when you've just had surgery, for example, or when you're vomiting.  Those are times when I'm okay with you staying in bed for a couple of days.  But, honestly, all the other "reasons" you can throw at me are non-starters.
Exercise reduces stress.
Exercise increases energy.
Regular exercise will help you sleep better.
You don't have to be in shape to get in shape, that's actually the whole point of getting started!  Every single person who started to exercise was a beginner at some point, and every single one of them felt clumsy and awkward the first time they tried something new.  But they kept at it.
Unless your entire body is injured, I can modify the program to reduce your risk of further injury and still work out the rest of you.
You can afford a pair of shoes, or - you know what? - you can even exercise barefoot.
And 5 AM?  It's the perfect time of day to work out.  It sets the tone for your whole day.  You get it done before your brain is even awake enough to register that you're exercising and then you get the smug satisfaction of being done with your workout before most people are even up.  You are a rock star!

I have sympathy for the excuses, really I do.  Sometimes I make excuses, too.  Not for exercise, but for other things (cleaning the house comes to mind immediately here).  It's scary to do something new.  It's scary to put yourself out there and start holding yourself to a different standard.  It's a whole lot easier to do what everybody else is doing - sleeping in, eating pizza, and complaining about minor health issues.  It seems like a lot of hard work right now for an intangible future reward.

You're totally right.  But.  What about this?

What if you could be a little happier?  A little more productive?  A little more confident?  A little more excited about the future?  What if you could do a push up?  Or run a mile?  What if that voice in your head that says, "I can't," was silenced?

Set your alarm.  Get your booty up.  Put on your shoes (or not), and get moving.  YOU can do this!

I Heart Bootcamp Workouts!

It's dark, it's early, I have a full day ahead of me and sometimes the last thing in the world I wanna do is go outside and get all sweaty at bootcamp.  But of course I'm going to be there - I'm the instructor!

Welcome to Tales from Sweat Camp, I'm Pahla B - fitness trainer, health coach, and bootcamp babe.  I'm the lucky owner of Pahla B Fitness Training and I run Sweat Camp for an amazing group of campers that I call my Killer Bs.  We meet at Morse Park on weekdays at 5 am, even in the middle of winter.  We work out when it's hot, when it's cold, when it's raining, and even when we're all half-asleep and a little bit grouchy.  We laugh a lot, we swear pretty frequently, and boy, do we SWEAT!

I remember way back when I first started Sweat Camp, I was really excited about branching out from personal training to put on bootcamp-style group workouts, but I was also a complete nervous wreck!  I didn't know how many people would show up (or if anybody would show up at all!), and I wasn't entirely sure if the workout I planned would seem like too much or too little.  I worried that I wouldn't have enough equipment.  I worried that my timer would malfunction (it was critical to the workout).  I fretted for days beforehand about all the details that I just couldn't know until I was in the thick of it.  I was a sweaty mess that day and I wasn't even doing any of the exercises!  But I vividly remember, about halfway through the hour, looking around at everybody working out and thinking, "Yeah, this is awesome!"

Thankfully, the campers agreed with me and everyone came back for more bootcamp - yay!  The workouts have become a bit more elaborate in the year and a half since I started, and the nerves have definitely settled down, but the excitement I felt on that first day hasn't changed a bit.  I love bootcamp workouts, and here's why:

• I get to be creative.  I'm not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I love to put together different combinations of exercises, timing, reps, challenges and games to give my Killer Bs a good workout without pushing them too far into the "This isn't fun anymore" zone.  Every artist has their medium, and mine is apparently a park playground.
• I love to watch friendships being built on the foundation of sweat.  Lots of my campers knew each other to varying degrees before coming to Sweat Camp, but there is absolutely a unique bond that forms when you've conquered seven minutes of burpees side by side.
• There is nothing better than an early morning outdoor workout.  There are actual, legitimate, scientific health benefits, of course - fresh air, green space, etc. - but what I love the most is the awesome spectacle of nature.  Over the course of the last year, we've seen all sorts of weather, shooting stars, brilliant sunrises, creepy fog, sideways rain, and moons so full and luminous they look fake.  You can't get that at a gym!
• I'm the puppet master and I get to pull all the strings!  Oh wait, did I say that out loud?  Oops!  What I actually meant was that I really enjoy it when the workouts roll out just like I planned them.  Sometimes I'll have what I think is a great idea for a workout and it lands sort of flat.  Sad face.  So, I'm particularly happy when campers are smiling and having fun while they're sweating.  Best of all is when they tell me afterward that it was an awesome workout and they really loved it!  And maybe even better than best is when I get a text the next day saying, "Ow, I think my butt is broken!"  Yeah, it's good to be me.