goals

Healthiest

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Faith Levine Pilates

What are your barriers for living the healthiest version of you?

Exhaustion?

Lack of knowing what is “healthiest” for you?

Lack of resources, like time or money?

These are real questions (not rhetorical) that I’d love to hear your answers to, either in the comments or a private email if that feels more appropriate.

My biggest barriers are sleep, fear, and apathy.

I’ve never been a “good” sleeper. As a kid I would have insomnia a few times a month. Most of my 20’s were spent in a survival state of little to no sleep. Now at the end of my 30’s, sleep has improved but many of my days are still dictated by my nights.

Fear and apathy. Not quite ready to touch those ones right now.

What would your healthiest self look like?

Be realistic.

If I am being realistic, my healthiest self would meditate somewhat regularly, like a few times a week for even 5 minutes. Meditation is like broccoli; I know it’s an important part of the (mental health) plate but not as much fun as the mac n cheese. (mostly kidding, I genuinely love eating all veggies)

If I am being realistic, my healthiest self would weigh about 5 pounds less because it would be a result of less overindulging. Because if I’m being realistic, I would never expect myself to 100% stop overindulging, I honestly find a beauty and a pleasure in occasional, conscious gluttony.

If I am being realistic, my healthiest self would spend less “screen time”. I love my phone and I love social media, I really do, however I don’t love that I am addicted to it.

If I am being realistic, my healthiest self would spend daily time on “self-care” in the form of mobility work and self massage (myofascial release). This work has often been pushed to the back-burner in favor of work or workouts but, as I approach 40, my awareness is shifting from “more miles, longer runs, faster, burn calories, get stronger” towards “I wanna walk-and dance-when I’m 90!”. I notice a positive difference from as little as 5 minutes a day of mobility and massage work, 5 minutes that I definitely have to spare right now.

If I am being realistic, my healthiest self would dance more.

If you know what’s good for you, do it 😉

On that note, I’m rolling out the #545healthiestme game* starting Monday. Every Monday for 5 weeks I will set a goal of doing something specific for 5 minutes every(week)day. The first is 5 minutes a day of sitting meditation. Join me?

*I wrote challenge several times when deciding what to call this but it didn’t sit right with me. Call me a hippy (‘cus you’d be right, born and raised) but “game” sounds much more approachable, supportive, fun, and community building than “challenge” to me. So, let’s play!

{image by the magnificent Meredith Coe}

One Hour Plank

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I am going to plank for an hour this month.

Sounds ambitious, eh?

It is.  But not really.

Here’s how it’s going to breakdown; 5 minutes three times a week for four weeks. Voila! An hour of planking.

Still sounds a little ambitious to me but I’ve made it attainable by breaking up the five minutes into accessible-t0-me 30-90 second increments.

Plank challenges are far from a new idea, I’m well aware I’m really just jumping on the bandwagon and adding my own twist.  There’s a reason for this though, planks are one of the all-time best full body exercises possible.  They work your entire body, are low impact, easily modified or made more difficult, and require no equipment (not even shoes, or clothes for that matter!).

Form is paramount in performing a plank.

How to perform a plank

  1. My plank mantra is to “lift everything but the butt!”  Do not let any part of your body sink towards the floor or give in to gravity.  Lift your chest, lift your abs (and then lift them more!), lift your thighs, and lift your knees. 
  2. Have big hands. Spread your fingers wide and distribute the weight through every part of your hand, not just your fingers or the base of your wrists.
  3. Stack your hands under your shoulders.  A common mistake is to have your hands to far forward, putting unnecessary stress on your shoulders and making it harder to maintain proper form. You want your arms to create a vertical line from your hands to your shoulders, no diagonals.

So, wanna plank with me?  I’ll be posting my plank sequence of the day on my Facebook page every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this month.  Each workout will be broken down into 30-90 second increments and will feature a different signature plank variation.

Even if you aren’t able to perform the entire five minutes I encourage you to give it a try anyway (you could start by cutting my suggested times in half for instance).  Modifications and adjustments more than welcome, this is a super inclusive plank plan rather than exclusive and I am all about working at a challenging level for you.

Day 1 One Hour Plank Challenge

60 seconds hold high plank

rest

30 seconds alternating side tap in high plank (step one foot then the other wide then back to hip distance; out, out, in, in) Here’s a video of it posted on the Gracefulfitness Facebook page!

rest

60 seconds hold low plank

rest

30 seconds alternating side tap in low plank

rest

30 second hold high plank

30 second alternating side tap in high plank

rest

30 second hold low plank

30 second alternating side tap in low plank

Rest long enough between each set to come back strong and with good form, maybe even break the workout into two sessions (like morning and night)

Form reminders-for the signature plank go slow and controlled and aim for little or no twisting, lifting, or wiggling through the hips and spine.

Modification ideas-break each minute up into 2 sets of 30 seconds, gently rest your knees on the floor for the held planks (keeping your abs engaged), cut each round in half and perform 2.5 minutes of plank instead of 5.

I’ll be posting my plank workouts, including videos of the plank of the day, on the Gracefulfitness Facebook page if you want to plank along with me.

What’s your favorite plank variation?!