Moving Day!

It’s been pretty much forever since my last blog post.  And for that I apologize heartily.  But it’s all been for an excellent reason – I’m moving my blog to my own site!

From here on out, all of my blogging will take place at –

www.howwerollfitness.com

If you’re currently an email subscriber, you’ll move with me to the new site (exciting!).  If you’re WordPress subscriber, you’ll move with me too (equally exciting!), but you’ll have to sign up again for email notifications on the new site.  Please do that – I love my subscribers!

The site will be up and running pretty much right away, with new content as soon as my brain comes up with it.   If you want more posts about derby, and training, and good times, please head on over to http://www.howwerollfitness.com, it’s going to be amazeballs!*

*actually, it’ll be pretty much just like this site, just in a different inter-webby place, and with way more frequent blog posts 🙂  See you there!

Do The Work: My Path to StrongFirst

Tomorrow I’ll be heading to Bang Fitness in Toronto to participate in a StrongFirst Level 1 Kettlebell certification.

I am beyond excited.  And a little bit (or rather a huge, massive, heaving bit) scared.  I have trained all year for this weekend.  I have followed a meticulous training schedule (thanks Brett Jones!).  I have read theory, watched videos, and attended workshops (thanks Chris Lopez!).  I’ve tried to dial in my diet, and I’ve been progressive and particular about weighting up my bells.  I’ve done countless swings, squats, get-ups, cleans, presses, and snatches.  In short, I’ve tried to do the work necessary to become certified at the end of the weekend.

Here’s the thing – I still might not pass.  I might end the weekend with a bunch of knowledge, and more work to do.

Strongfirst is a very challenging certification.  You need to be able to demonstrate your ability to teach, perform, and persevere.  The lifting standards are detailed.  The workouts are grueling.  The weekend is long, and hard on the body and mind (so I’ve heard).  It’s also incredibly rewarding and, pass or fail, you come home better and stronger than you were.

So, what does this have to do with roller derby?

More than you’d think, actually.

As you know, I train all of our fresh meat.  I also train our league skaters. I have seen a lot of girls try to become derby skaters.  I have seen a lot of them succeed, and I have seen a lot of them quit.

Please note, I’ve not mentioned seeing anyone fail.  Derby is tough on you – both physically and mentally.  Derby takes a lot of commitment, time, and energy.  Derby forces you to be honest about what you can do, and what you have yet to be able to accomplish.

You only fail if you cease to try.

That’s how I’m looking at this certification – either I’m ready to pass, or I still need more work before I’m ready to pass.  I don’t fail.  I don’t suck at everything.  The instructors won’t be wrong and biased and just have it out for me – either I’m ready now or I’m not yet.

Derby is the same way.  I have seen dozens of girls lose their bananas over not being drafted, rostered, or played.  I have seen them call themselves all sorts of names, and beat themselves into the ground.  Over and over again, I’ve seen skaters call themselves failures, and then I’ve seen them spiral into self-doubt and poor play.  I’ve also seen skaters pull themselves up after missing the draft (or roster or line) and come back at it hard.  I’ve seen them attack their challenges like mad dogs and turn those challenges into the skills that they dominate.

Want to guess which strategy makes better derby skaters?

What matters is not always the outcome – we can’t control the outcome most of the time.  What matters is the input.  What matters is doing the work, and being confident that you’ve done the work.  Sometimes you’re just not the right person for the job, sometimes you’re not the one who needs to be on the roster, or the one who makes the team.  But if you did the work, you have nothing to be ashamed of if the output isn’t quite what you wanted.

Don’t get me wrong – if I don’t pass this weekend, I’ll likely be upset and I’ll go through some “what did I do wrong” drama with myself.   Not getting what you want when you feel like you’ve worked hard for it STINKS.   Especially when you feel like you’ve done all you can do.  But if that happens, it will likely be that I just wasn’t ready yet.  And accepting when you’re not yet ready is a pretty important skill to learn.   It’s one I’m still working on.  But I’m thinking of it this way, no matter which way things go – I spent a full year dedicated to a very specific goal.  I worked my tail off, and have already accomplished things I never thought I could when I started.  I met some wonderful people.  If all I focus on is 5 minutes at the end of a 3-day weekend, I’m not giving myself nearly enough credit for all of the amazingness that I’ve already achieved.  If you focus on one roster (or line or whatever), you’re not giving your whole derby journey nearly the weight it deserves.

photo courtesy Joe Mac

So whether in derby, or training for a tough kettlebell certification, or anything you’re excited about – do the work.  Don’t avoid your challenges.  No one ever became a champion by ONLY doing things they were already good at.   Ask for help when you need it.   Do the work with confidence.   Let that confidence show no matter the outcome.

Rocking the “Big Rocks” of Weight Training

Most of you know that I’m a big fan of Booty Quake (from the other TCRG) and the awesome content she posts on Roller Derby Athletics.  She always has fantastic videos, gives great advice, and really cares about the conditioning of roller derby skaters.

Well, since Booty is jet-setting around the world, she graciously offered to let me guest post on her blog.  SO EXCITING!

Without further ado, here’s part one of a two-part series about how to craft a simple and effective weight-training program that focuses on the “big rocks” of training.

Keep your eyes peeled for part two, coming soon!

 

Sex & Sports & Fitness, Oh My! (Part Two)

Sex sells.  Lots of things, in lots of different ways.  Our media is awash in lots of sexy, irrelevant advertising.

In part one, I addressed how I’m pretty okay with using sex to sell women’s sports. Mostly because I think in time, more spectators who actually care about the sport will help to broaden our definition of “sexy” as it pertains to femininity and athletics. In time, I think female athletes will be able to choose exactly how they want to be marketed, and all sorts of marketing strategies will be successful. But for the time being, the sports-watching majority watches to see attractive women do something cool. It’s about novelty, and it’s about sex.

Let’s not deny our primal urges – watching men’s sports is rooted there too. We like to watch virile specimens engaging in simulated war on the field, court, or ice.

So, using the most primal of urges, sex drive, to get fans revved up about organized sports isn’t so far off the mark.  At its best, sex appeal in sports advertising adds to the athlete – making them seem both a fierce competitor and an object of desire, not a bad deal.  Despite the spin, you’re still selling the sport.  Maria Sharapova’s scores still get listed,   Anna Rawson’s golf games are still televised.  Sexy ads might draw more viewers, but the sport (and drawing spectators to it) is still the focus.

Now to fitness –

Personal fitness is an individual pursuit, not a spectator sport. It does not rely on asses in seats.  The only ass it needs to motivate is yours. It’s something you do (mostly) with yourself and (hopefully) for yourself.  Personal fitness should make you feel awesome about who you are and what your body can do.  And if it’s something you do for yourself, you should get to set the parameters of what you want to get out of it. Here’s where fitness marketing throws a wrench into the works – they say they’re selling fit and healthy and then give us this:

This is a gym ad. Seriously. Ugh.

It’s easy to get up in arms about using hot girls (and the potential for them to have sex with you) to sell gym memberships to dudes (see every gym ad ever).  And it’s easy to think using sex (almost exclusively) to hype fitness is silly since essentially personal fitness is about the business doing real life things, and most of us don’t spend the majority of our waking hours boning (we might say we are, but seriously, almost no one is getting it on 24/7).

However, fitness is about getting in touch with our bodies, and our bodies have primal impulses.  For argument’s sake, let’s give fitness marketing the benefit of the doubt and say fitness=success at biological imperatives and reproduction=biological imperative, so fitness=winning at sexy times.   Even if that is true (which is a stretch), let’s take a look at the routes they choose.

My major issue with marketing sex appeal as fitness is that “sexy” looks pretty narrow in the marketer’s eyes.  “Strong is the new sexy” (or “Real women have curves”, or “Suck it up so you don’t have to suck it in”) throws up guidelines about what’s sexy, and if you’re not hitting the benchmarks (skinny, muscular, still have boobs, thigh gap, perky glutes, no cellulite), you’re not it.  Whereas in sports, sex appeal can add to what we think of the athlete, in fitness sex appeal diminishes what we think of ourselves.  It gives us a sexed-up image of strength (apparently the only image of strength that sells, seeing as the ads aren’t full of powerlifters or moms toting multiple children and bags of groceries), and forces us to admit we don’t measure up.*

Relying on the same tactics to sell personal fitness as sports (and cars, and Axe spray) to the public belies the fact that those selling it want your dollars (you know, the ones you shell out because you feel bad about yourself), not your well-being.  Since most of us aren’t professional athletes, we don’t get coverage of how great we’re doing day-to-day, we don’t read articles about how well we served a customer, or how insightful a report we wrote, or how diplomatically we handled a PTA meeting – all we have is our less-than-airbrushed bodies to compare to the glossy ads.

No one uses phones with wires anymore. Just sayin’.

Fitness marketers aren’t so concerned about celebrating the personal accomplishments you’re achieving now, they’re concerned with getting you to spend money to get where you want to be next.   If you feel a little bit inadequate, you’ll be more motivated to buy into whatever it is they’re selling.  The worse you feel, the more you’ll buy.

With a hard focus on the superficial outcome of what clean eating and hard training can bring,  sexy ads imply that you and your self-worth amount to what your body looks like.  That the more cut (or lean or disciplined or whatever) you are, the more sex with attractive people you will have.

And with less pants.

I’d like to challenge that – I think oftentimes more focused you become on super-sexy extreme leanness, the less connected to others you become, and the more you begin to treat your body like the enemy.  The more unrealistic the images used to market, the more hardcore the message, the less attainable the “end product” becomes.  “Do what makes you feel accomplished, energetic, and healthy” turns into “cut for that 6-pack until your hair falls out,  you’re cold all the time, and your sex drive is totally shot.”.

In one of my favourite posts about sex appeal, Juliet asked the real question:

“What really makes us attractive? Sure, a physically attractive body never hurts to look at – I won’t argue that point. But! How much of that is adding to our sex appeal? How much is our pursuit of sex appeal making us less appealing?”

In the post, she really digs into the fact that a) we all have physique goals, whether we are willing to admit them or not, and b) sometimes the crazy things we do to achieve those physique goals end up making us less attractive to potential partners (and ourselves). Single-minded fixation on your physique goals, whatever they may be,  is not appealing.  I speak from experience – my partner doesn’t find it attractive when I bitch and moan about how much I hate (certain parts of) my body.  Yes, we all want to look better naked – but at what point does wanting to look better naked turn to being disgusted with what you currently look like naked?  Trust me, feeling terrible about the way your body looks (no matter what it shape or size or state it’s in) is a great way to drastically cut down the amount of sex you’re having.

You know what’s “sexy”?  Confidence.  And advertising that makes you feel like you’re failing isn’t really a confidence-booster.  Hotness as a fix-all in your life is a fallacy – if hotness fixed everything, people wouldn’t have multiple plastic surgeries.  Fitness can make you hotter, sure, but it doesn’t necessarily make you more confident.  If you drink the Kool-Aid about the “ideal” body, and aren’t getting the “right” results, fitness can make you feel less confident.

So, what’s the fix?  Total media blackout?  Stop trying to get hot and forgo fitness altogether?  Deny that you have physique goals (and secretly think that you’re vain because you still do)?

I think the solution is the same with sports marketing – broadening.  Expose yourself to all types and shapes and sizes of sexy.  Celebrate your body for what it can do.   Move.  Eat well and joyfully.  Give yourself a freaking break.

Figure out what makes you feel sexy – maybe it’s a PR deadlift, maybe it’s strapping on your skates, maybe it’s making your family a beautiful meal, maybe it’s reading a book in your jammies – whatever it is, be mindful of it.  And keep that sexiness with you for the next time you see an ad that makes you feel “less than”.

 

* For an amazing (and fantastically snarky) deconstruction of the marketing of fitness through “fitspo”, look no further than Kevin Moore’s brilliant post.  I LOVED this article.  My favourite part: “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being skinny. I’m also not suggesting that being skinny and strong are mutually exclusive. I’m only pointing out that strength only sells when it’s sexy and, make no mistake, advertisers want very badly to make you feel like you are currently failing at both.”

Sex and Sports and Fitness, Oh My! (Part One)

A recent article in the Daily Mail caught my eye.  I’m not on the Twitter, so I didn’t see any of it first hand, but 15th seeded French tennis player Marion Bartoli, who won June 6th’s Wimbledon final, was trolled like crazy on Twitter after winning the championship.

The trolls made fun of her looks, calling her ‘ugly, ‘manly’, and ‘a fat slob’.  You can read all of the nasty details here.

First, that it’s a shame that I was able to find more coverage of the internet trolling of Bartoli than details of her win.  Second, that I’m pretty sure this sort of thing wouldn’t happen in men’s sports.  Which got me thinking, how much of a role does sex appeal play in women’s sports?  It also got me thinking about how sex appeal sells fitness, but I’ll cover that in another post.

Let’s look again at tennis, where Wimbledon officials (in the 2009 tournament) admitted that they take physical attractiveness into consideration when assigning courts.  Anna Kournikova, once ranked 19th in world, routinely makes more sponsorship money than much higher ranked players, including the Williams sisters.   She starred in a music video with Enrique Iglesias.  She does countless magazine covers.   Nora Lanktree, of Lanktree Sports Celebrity Network, who matches endorsers and athletes says it’s a matter of economics – ”For an advertiser, the most important element is visibility,” Ms. Lanktree said. ”And in sports, women are just not as visible.”  Female athletes who get that visibility are less often the ones with great accomplishments, and more often the ones who are easiest on the eyes.

Even golf, which has not traditionally been a sport centering on sex appeal, has parameters about the appearance of their players, said LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw, “The very number one point … is performance. Everything else follows from that. But, you have to also find ways in which you make yourself relevant to our fan base, play the game and represent the sport with joy and passion, be mindful of your appearance and also be approachable so the fans want that autograph and that interaction with you.”

LPGA golfer, Anna Rawson

Millions of viewers tune in to the Legends Cup (formerly the Lingerie Bowl), while WNBA games can barely attract 250,000 viewers per game.

Women’s beach volleyball (with ALL the bikinis) was one of the London Olympics’ hottest tickets.

Sexist?  Sure.

A detriment to women’s sporting culture?  Well, let’s take a closer look at that.

One empirical study out of the University of Minnesota looked at whether or not sex really does sell women’s sports.  Mary Jo Kane and a colleague showed a variety of age and gender specific focus groups photos of female athletes ranging from “on-court athletic competence to wholesome “girls next door” to soft pornography”  They then asked the participants to rate their interest in watching, reading about, or attending the sport in question.   According to the results of the study, the sexualized images alienated women and older men, and offended some of the viewers.  They noted that while the prime viewers of sports, younger men, found the provocative images “hot”, they would not be more likely to attend an event based on them.  The studies claim: Sex sells sex, not women’s sports.

Hm.  Maybe.

Another point – Many marketing campaigns for women’s sports (the ones that don’t rely on sex) focus on family values, and the wholesome nature of sport.  They appeal to all generations, often highlighting father-daughter connections.  If that’s the image we’re selling, sex appeal might not be the most complimentary bedfellow.

That being said, I  don’t think this issue is as black and white as Mary Jo Kane’s study would have us believe.

To deny that sex appeal is a part of women’s sports is to deny what I believe to be a pretty obvious truth.  Men are the major consumers of mainstream sports (don’t get all up in arms, I didn’t say only, I said major).  Men are visual creatures.  Men like action, they like aggression, and a good number of them can appreciate a fine-looking lady.

Does complaining about how sexist that is help to bring more fans to women’s sports?  Not a chance.

Too often we make the mistake of assuming that using sex to sell women’s sports is all bad.  That it’s an just insidious mindset that makes female athletes into objects, and downplays their real athletic abilities.   That by relying on sex appeal to get asses in seats, we we give up any claim to sporting prowess.

I call bullshit.

Sure, it might set your teeth on edge, but women’s sports do have something to gain by not denying or railing against the incorporation of the feminine and the athletic.

The primary image we hold of sports is traditionally male (hockey and women’s hockey, basketball and women’s basketball, etc.).  Since Title Nine in the States, girls have become more and more active in sports, operating under the existing structure of high-school and college competition – a structure that used to be for the boys.  This means more and more male coaches, and a “hyper-masculine” approach to training and achievement.  To get noticed, girls have to push themselves even harder than boys of comparable skill.  If you want to read more about the benefits and pitfalls, I highly suggest Warrior Girls, a great book about girls, sports, and the culture of injury that’s been built up.

Generally, women who play sports and play them well don’t fit into the box that we use to define femininity or the one we use to define athleticism.

Katy Kelleher, of Jezebel, puts it this way:

Female athletes seem to serve as a never-ending well of material for those obsessed with both the female body and the importance of femininity. There seems to be a real difficulty marketing athletic women to the general public without resorting to these tricks, which continually reiterate that this is about a woman in sports, a female athlete, someone with two X chromosomes. In a way it makes sense that a physical career would lead to coverage that is so heavily centered on the body, but the emphasis on womanly-ness and athleticism undercuts the fact that many women are naturally athletic, that it is not impossible to be both.

Also in Jezebel, Margaret Hartman writes,

At the core of (the) stereotypes is the idea that athleticism is inherently masculine. While women’s sports are supposed to be about greater equality and empowerment, female athletes are still expected to strike a balance between being too sexy and not attractive enough. Unfortunately, until Serena Williams grunting on the court and wearing a dress and pearls during an interview are seen as equally feminine, there won’t be a level playing field for women in sports.

Again, derby, solver of all of the problems of traditional sports culture, I look to you.

Powerful AND Sexy.
Photo courtesy Joe Mac

Roller derby holds a somewhat unique place in sports because it is defined by its female-played incarnation.  It’s roller derby and men’s roller derby, as opposed to hockey and women’s hockey, basketball and women’s basketball, golf and ladies golf, and so on.  We can define exactly the image of the sport that we want to send out to the public.  And, in my opinion, I think it’s best that image be both powerful and feminine.  Both athletic and sexy.  Roller derby is many things to many people – from the little girls wanting to be just like their skating idols, to the frat boys wanting to see hot chicks beat on each other, to the die-hard fans tracking the stats.  If we play our image card right, we can appeal to all of these people, and change (in our own small way) the way that female athletes are marketed.

The key is to make strength, power, and athletic competition appear sexy, not to sex-up the strong, powerful athletes in a context outside of their sport.  I appreciate ESPN’s annual bodies issue, but I get all up-in-arms when the athlete’s photos have nothing to do with what they do for a living.  When Suzy Hotrod was photographed, she was wearing her skates.  They’ll often have basketball players dunking, or runners in the starting blocks – fantastic.  Just lounging around like you’re on the cover of Playboy (or Playgirl as the case may be) – not as fantastic.  The photos that are the most captivating are the ones that show the athletes doing what they do best.

I guess the core of what I’m saying is that too often the pendulum is way to far in either direction when it comes to selling sex and women’s sports – they’re not antithetical.  The sex is there – but it doesn’t need to be the reason you start, the reason you stay, or the reason that drives you way deep in your soul.  Market the sport, market the action, market the power and the pull of strong bodies.  As female athletes (and marketers of roller derby), we should accept that we can be feminine and athletic.  Some examples from other sports:

“The Olympics is a platform to show we’re real athletes, …Walking out there in a bikini, trust me, I don’t feel sexy. I am mean. I am tough.” (US beach volleyball player & silver medalist, Jen Kessy)

“We don’t apologize for …the marketability of our players off the court, they’re attractive. They’re fit. They’re recognized as great athletes, which they are — some of the greatest athletes in the world.” (Women’s Tennis Organization CEO Kevin Wulff)

“It’s really wonderful to be feminine, I mean, why do you have to hide your femininity to be a professional athlete?” (Jan Stevenson, Senior Tour player)

Ms. Stevenson goes on to say, “They may go watch the other cute girls, but when, when it comes down the stretch, they’re going to be watching winners.”

Let’s aim for a more encompassing definition of what it is to be a female athlete, and embrace all of the aspects of who we are and what we offer to the sporting world.  Let’s be strong, be agile, be whatever shape, size, and composition we are, let’s be fierce competitors, and world-class athletes.

And let’s not forget that being all of those things is pretty darn sexy.

What I Learned At: The CanFitPro Conference 2013

It’s that time of year again.  Last weekend, I attended the Canfitpro International Fitness and Club Business Conference.  It was their 20th anniversary, and it was massive.  Allegedly, there were 15,000 people through the doors for the conference and trade show.  I am inclined to believe it after some of the lines, and the sardine can like lecture rooms.  All in all, a pretty decent weekend – I’ve tried to highlight my big take-aways from the event, and put them into real world (derby) application.

Todd Durkin: You are only as strong as your weakest link, as efficient as your worst movement. 

My conference started with a great Todd Durkin session.  I’ve heard Todd speak before, he’s an awesome presenter, and he’s always a high-energy way to start the day.  This year’s session was “Core and Cuff”.  He focused on the pelvis, shoulder girdle, and varying your training approaches – this was a recurring theme in the sessions I went to: Don’t get so locked in to a particular hand or foot position within an exercise, but rather experiment and try new things.  Todd said not to forget the importance of breath work. And, as per usual, had the life advice that you should be regret-less, not fearless.  Feel the fear, do it anyway.

Derby Application:  There are a few derby applications here.  Absolutely that the things that scare you, both on and off the track, are often the most worth doing.  Also, as far as self-improvement and team-building goes – you are only as strong as your weak link.  That skill you hate, you should probably work on it more than any others.  That teammate who’s lagging behind, spend more time figuring out what she needs.  If you do, you’ll become a more efficient athlete, and your team will tighten up.

The opening ceremony keynote speaker was, wait for it… Jillian Michaels.  Hm.  Not going to lie, almost skipped this, but the trade show wasn’t open yet.  Here’s the funny part – I didn’t totally hate her.  And when I find myself parroting the things I learned, some of the insights are hers.

Where she went right was talking about being in the right place at the right time, knowing the right people and taking the risk.  she didn’t try to convince us that she was a brilliant trainer, she didn’t talk much about her training methods at all.  She mostly talked about identity.  She spoke about trying too hard to present the image that we think people will respond to (in auditions, in training, in life), mostly because we don’t think who we really are is good enough.  Yep, I can relate to that.  She said that her biggest challenge with a lot of the Biggest Loser clients is not getting them to exercise or eat right, since they’re essentially in a bubble that looks after that for them.  The challenge is to get them to believe that they are people who can exercise and eat right.  When all of your internal messaging says, “I’m lazy”, “I can’t eat the right things”, “I’m just not a motivated person”, “I don’t follow-through”, “I’m a failure”, those messages become your identity.  And questioning those statements feels like a challenge of self.  Sound familiar?  It did to me.  So the trick is to make small changes that don’t seem like a shock to the concept of self.  Sure, a lazy person might not go for a 10k run, but they could probably walk the dog around the block each night.  And thus, habits are built and changes in the messages begin to take shape.  So, Jillian, I’m actually glad I didn’t bail on your talk.

Paul Chek: I’ve never seen Paul Chek present before.  I think, like sky-diving or going to Vegas, you have to do it once.  It was a 3 hour lecture on core function and assessment.  Paul had only expected a 90-minute talk, so he went a little, um, off-notes.

Some key takeaways from Mr. Chek – Don’t eat gluten.  Don’t smoke – vaporize. Your organs are alive and moving just like plants in your body, realize that what you do with your muscular system affects the organs too.  Adrenal fatigue (caused by stress) will shut down your hip flexors and low back, really compromising your movement – the body does this on purpose to get you to slow the heck down.  Proper tongue position is pressed into the roof of the mouth behind the front teeth – if your mouth is open and your tongue is out, you are likely being chased, and are not stable.  Holding your breath usually comes from a fear pattern – teach yourself the importance of connecting to breath.

Derby application: Breathe.  Especially when you’re scared.  It will loosen up your skating, and help you to engage your whole body fully.  Also, try to keep your tongue behind your teeth.

Ajamu Bernard, KBell Jam: This was an awesome session to wake up for.  Kettlebells!  Bright and early in the morning!  KBell Jam was a pretty cool diversion from the strictness of SFG training.  There was a lot more emphasis on flow and fun.  While I won’t be trading styles any time soon, KBell Jam was a interesting look into what others are doing with kbs and how the modality is evolving and growing.

Chuck Wolf: The site of the injury should be the last place you look – the body doesn’t work in isolation.  Your proprioceptors are activated by lengthening, so don’t overlook dedicated flexibility work.

I didn’t get a chance to go to any of Chuck Wolf’s classes at last year’s Perform Better, and when I heard him in the PB panel, I regretted missing him.  His sessions were a big reason that I signed up for CanFitPro this year.  His Highways in Flexibility presentations were a conference highlight for sure.  Regret – not going to more/all of his sessions.

Chuck took an exploratory approach to flexibility and taught some really helpful movements that can be incorporated as stretch or strengthen.  He talked a lot about the fascial lines (still working my way through Myers’ Anatomy trains), saying that collagen favours mobility.  Our joints don’t touch, they float around in a network of fascia, so we need to take care of that tissue and work along the whole chain.  Seeing the lines in real-life movement, along with his guidance helped some of the ideas in the book to gel.  After attending both his lecture and hands-on, I’m committed to really learning about fascia, how it works, and how we can work with it.  He drove home that as trainers, we need to nail the big rocks – foot and ankle complex, hip and knee.  Those areas are where most pain can be found (knees, hips, low backs, shoulders), so let’s make sure that mobility in those areas is optimal.  He too advised not to be married one foot or hand position, height, angle, side, etc., but to vary as individual needs do.

Derby Application:  Vary your approach to learning skills.  Try different sides, different weight transfers, use different levels.  You might find that by making little tweaks to your body placement, you make a big improvement to your overall movement quality.

Chris Lopez: Okay, time to come clean.  I totally snuck out on Saturday afternoon, and went to Bang Fitness for an SFG prep session with the wonderful Chris Lopez.  This was the second prep session before the SFG in November.  Every time I come to see Chris and the guys at Bang, I leave feeling SO MUCH better about my training.  They give loads of feedback, great tips, and genuinely want to clean up your movement.  Also, Chris shared a quick Primal movement based warm-up that I’ve started doing in my own practice – feels great!  When I started into the new Brett Jones SFG prep program after returning from the weekend, I think I was able to synthesize some of the cues that I received at the workshop.  I did some heavy swings, really focusing on forcing the bell down, and finally feel like I got it.

Kevin Darby: We need mobility to move.  Mobility means independent living.  Personal trainers: Helping you to look good naked and poop efficiently.

Again, after having seen Kevin Darby in a panel last year, I was anxious to join one of his sessions.  This one didn’t disappoint.  I learned a ton about fascia (fascia was a big deal this year).  He described (the superficial layer) as a big jean tuxedo fresh out of the dryer – it needs movement and hydration to turn into a comfortable thing to move around in.  Without mobility and moisture, it’s like too-tight jeans, and it clamps down on your blood vessels, slows blood flow, sort of acting like a splint.  As fitness pros, we should aim to identify where in people’s day-to-day movement patterns to insult to their tissue is (where’s the energy leak, where do you move inefficiently, where are you making a compensation?) and correct it.  Without identifying the faulty patterns, we’re just going to be caught in a cycle of strengthening and resetting.  In a nutshell, doing exercise without setting the right environment (fascial, habitual, etc.) is basically dumb.

Terry Kane: I took a class on knee post-rehab with Dr. Kane.  Good stuff.  He broke down what is recommended with each type of knee injury, healing times, what will aggravate each injury, and so on.  He gave a handy tip about tissue colour relating to healing time – the redder the tissue, the faster it heals.  Also, he made the solid point that in a post-rehab situation the absence of pain does not equal complete healing.  He also had a pretty cool insight about how aging baby boomers set fitness trends (still!).  A few years ago, HIIT was all the rage, now as boomers are getting a little older, functional training, yoga, and zumba are more popular.  he posits that following that trend – aqua and cycling will be huge as the boomers age.

Derby Application: *THE ABSENCE OF PAIN DOES NOT EQUAL COMPLETE HEALING*  Do you hear me derby girls?  Because I think that’s maybe the most important thing that we need to learn as athletes.  Taking a game off to recover, even if you’re feeling better is a whole heck of a lot better than taking a season off to deal with a recurring issue.  Let yourself heal, listen to your medical professionals, be kind to your body.

Tosca Reno:  Tosca was the closing ceremonies keynote speaker and she was really engaging.  She spoke on clean eating, and told us all to eat more broccoli and coconut oil (which in some way will help you to get it on more).  The thing that resonated most was her encouragement to eat living foods rather than dead foods.  I think it’s an easy and illustrative way to describe clean eating.  She also advocated practicing gratitude every day.

I also took a session with Peter Twist addressing group sports conditioning.  We used some neat new toys, specifically the Surge (like a  big tube full of water).  The Surge was pretty cool, and pretty challenging, and I vowed to find a good way to incorporate more variable load work (sandbags, water, toddlers) into my training.  I also took a class with Dr. Mike Bracko that focused on innovative partner training – again, make it fun, think outside the box, vary your movement.  Dr. Kevin Jardine echoed the sentiment in his session on neuromuscular conditioning.  He said that it’s important to make exercise not only physically challenging, but cognitively engaging as well – ways to do this include variable loads, changing angles and directions, novel and unexpected movements.  I wish I’d had time to go to more nutritional sessions, but there are only so many things you can do in 3 days.

All in all, the conference and trade show were alright.  One of the gripes you can read about on CanFitPro’s facebook page is that the trade show was more geared to club managers than independents or home fitness users, hence WAY fewer free samples of stuff and not a ton of excellent deals.  Fair play, that’s where the big money comes from.  Was it a little lean on samples? Sure.  Were some of the conference sessions big pitches to spend money on the presenter’s products?  Yep (this was frustrating when the whole session was devoted to selling the product, instead of open exchange of helpful information).  I think as presenters mature, they realize that good information will sell itself.  If you help something become clear to someone else, they’ll want to buy your product, or attend your mentorship, or take your course.  If you’re closed off and say all the info is in the product, your chances of a sale plummet.  At least in my own experience, this is true of the fitness pro-client relationship too.  Just be the expert, and help people when they ask for it.  They’ll come respect your knowledge and when they’re ready for a trainer, you’ll be the guy.  And I guess the derby application would be to give away free tickets to folks who would never attend derby regularly.  You’ll make up the money in merch and beer, and you might gain some new fans.

The other lesson I learned?  Start saving now for next year’s Perform Better.

Cool

The weather here in Southwestern Ontario has been super-crazy lately.  Below 0 one day (that’s 32 for you ‘Mericans) and up to 30 (86) the next.  Crazy town.

Though the weather has clearly gone off-plan, you should not.  I’ve already written about how to keep training outdoors in cold weather, so here’s how to keep your cool when it’s hot outside.  Who knows, if you’re in Ontario, you might need both of these strategies.

First of all, don’t be stupid.  If you can see the oily haze of summertime heat rising off the pavement, maybe right now isn’t the best time to go for your first 10k run.

Our bodies are great little creatures and they can do incredible things provided we give them the right conditions.  Our bodies regulate heat by sweating, which helps us keep cool.  However, when we sweat, we lose fluid.  As long as you remain hydrated, your body should be able to cool itself.

When you become dehydrated in extreme heat, trouble can start.  Your body will start to store heat, and your core temperature will rise.   This can lead to such enjoyable side-effects as fatigue, dizziness, nausea, weakness, cramping, and vomiting.  Once your temp climbs above 104, you may lose your ability to sweat, and lose consciousness, all of which can signal heat stroke – which is serious and can kill you, so don’t let things get to that point.  Ever.

Have I scared you off steamy summertime workouts yet?  No?  Alright, then here are the things you need to do:

1) Work Into It

Our bodies like to adapt gradually to stimulus, and temperature is no different.  Don’t go whole hog your first summer session – maybe do a type of training that you’re already familiar with, or take things at a slightly slower pace.  Take rests when you need to.  Maybe two-hour endurance practice in your non-air conditioned arena isn’t the ideal plan if you’re already sweating just from carrying your gear in.

2) Hydrate

Seriously people.  Hydrate well and hydrate often.  If you are cutting significant weight (more than a pound) from pre-to-post workout, you are probably not hydrating enough.  If your pee is darker than lemonade, you are probably not hydrating enough.  If you’re going four to six hours without peeing, you are probably not hydrating enough.

Precision Nutrition says to drink:

• 500 ml of fluid on the night before exercise
• 500 ml in the morning
• 500 to 1000 ml, 1 hour before exercise
• 250 to 500ml, 20 minutes before exercise

and then a gulp every 15 to 20 minutes during exercise.   For every pound of sweat lost during exercise, rehydrate with 2 cups of fluid.  You are also losing sodium and potassium in your sweat, so it can be helpful to include a sports drink in your mid and post-exercise hydration strategy.

3) Wear Light, Breathable Clothing (Especially Shorts)

Make sure to wear light clothing that wicks sweat away from your skin.  I never wear sleeves, so I’m okay on that front.  However, I do not like to wear shorts.  I am pretty much this colour (and nobody wants to see that on display):

However, when it’s hot out, I rock the shorty-shorts so that my major muscle groups can stay cool.  To maintain my pearly-whiteness though, I load up on the sunscreen, and reapply as needed.  A sunburn limits your body’s ability to cool itself (plus they are not fun to have, plus if I see you with one I will totally nag you about sun-care), so prevent burns before they start.  If I’m out for a long time, I include a hat and sunglasses too.

When it’s derby time, wear as little as you safely can – nobody likes sweaty skin scraping on concrete.  Always wear all of your gear (obviously).  If you feel yourself getting too hot, take a break, move (far) away from the action – ideally behind the boards, take off your helmet and hydrate.

4) Exercise Early (before 7 am) or Late (after 6 pm)

If you can manage it, these are the best summer fitness times.  It’s not yet the peak time for sun,  and you’ll avoid the worst of the heat and humidity.  If that’s not an option, consider training somewhere climate-controlled.  If that’s not an option, at least find a spot with some shade.

5) Use Your Common Sense and Listen to Your Body

This shouldn’t even need saying, but sometimes fitness and derby people get so keyed up about training and practice that they push themselves too hard and wind up sick or injured.  Hear me when I say that challenging your limits is awesome, but ignoring them is foolish.  And super-sweaty-summer time is not the time to see how hardcore you can be.

Summer is awesome, and nature is beautiful, and training in the great outdoors is one of life’s simple pleasures.  Just play it smart, know your body, and keep it cool.

References:

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/exercising-in-the-heat

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-dehydration

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2008/05/fatigue-series-exercise-in-heat.htmls.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ00316/NSECTIONGROUP=2

Check Yourself: Accountability Check #1

I turn 31 this Sunday.  Bear with me, things are going to get a little personal.

I know that this is the blog where I give helpful advice on how best to achieve your goals, and how to keep your head about you in crazy derby space, and how to smash your training and nutrition.

I love doing those things.  But it is my birthday, and I’m going to be selfish and write a post almost entirely about me.  And goals.  And derby.  And training.  And accountability.

I had a list of things that I wanted to do by the time I turned 25.  And then when I turned 25, it was like, ‘I really wanted to do those things before I turn 30’.  Now, BAM, 31.   I made some pretty bold proclamations in a post shortly after I turned 30.

I said,

“Thirty is the year that I take that career into my own hands and try to make something of myself.  I am terrified, but thirty is the year that fear doesn’t stop me.  Thirty is the year that I have lots of new things to say to people I haven’t seen since high school. “

BIG PLANS.  Big words.  So, reality check:  How did I do?

Answer: Needs improvement.

I talk a lot about finding the bright spots and celebrating your successes. By and large, I think that’s the best way to keep yourself trying to get better each day. In the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle, keep moving forward. Don’t dwell on past failures.  Revel in the small wins.

I like to send positive messages.  I compliment people when they do things well.  I work to make my criticisms constructive and to deliver them in the most beneficial way for the receiver.  There is tons of social support in both fitness and derby.  It encourages people to try things they never thought possible.  I am convinced that a large percentage of the amazing things that happen in the gym, or on the track, happen because of a shared community ideal to push your limits and get better.

Positive self-talk and a strong community are great tools to use against your internal fear when it needs to shut up and get out of the way.

If you’re up against a wall (of blockers, or a metaphoric wall), thinking about how strong the wall is, and how you’ll never get through, and how tired you are is NEVER going to help you get through.  Find your people, talk yourself up, and just keep pushing.

So, why then do I mark myself as Needs Improvement if I’m all about positive messaging and relying on the support of your community?

Positive thinking doesn’t get you a free pass.

When you get down to it, positive messaging is a tool.  Community strength is a tool.  Self-help books are a tool.  Education is a tool.  Coaches are a tool.

You still have to take your tools and build something. 

Deciding to do it doesn’t make it so.  Putting it on your to-do list doesn’t make it so.  Even blogging about it doesn’t make it so (sigh).  Only doing it gets it done.

A good friend of mine always tells me to feel the fear, do it anyway.

That’s where I stumble.  And then procrastinate, and then say I’m working on my business, and then find all sorts of little things I can do to feel productive so that I can ignore the really big, scary thing (quitting my day job, so that I can ACTUALLY focus on what I love doing).

Which leads me to refine my steps to goal success:

Celebrate the small wins, but don’t lose sight of the big picture.  If you want to be a first-string jammer, celebrating your awesome blocking accomplishments will help you to be in a good head-space, but you still have to jam some jams.

Have a plan to get where you want, but not a plan that’s so locked into place that you can’t see opportunity.  Being deeply mired in the way that you think something will turn out often closes you off to other potential outcomes which may be even more amazing than the one in your mind.  Just like on the track, have a game plan, but be flexible.

I’m currently reading Small is the New Big, by Seth Godin.  In it, he talks about “Zooming”, which he basically describes as embracing change without pain, so that you can be open to all the opportunities that surround you.  Pain is inherent in change – just don’t dwell on the pain.  Example; a new training program will introduce you to new training stresses and you will be sore.  Do you focus on the looming soreness so much that you never get around to starting the program?  Or do you imagine how awesome you’re going to look/feel/be once you have some mastery of the program?  If you’re a zoomer, likely the latter.

Lastly – be accountable.  Which brings me back to my Needs Improvement.  I can post all I want as a fitness and derby advisor on the internet.  I can train clients every night and weekend, and every single spare second I have.  I can take every course and certification out there.  I can do all of that, and be reasonably happy about where I’m at.

But, if I’m honest with myself – I have to decide if this is my full-time job, and how I want that to look.  I have to put my goals out there and be responsible for achieving them.

In my year-end post, I listed some goals.  I didn’t give them deadlines or touchy-feely reasons, because putting information like that into the public sphere (instead of keeping it inside your head) adds pressure, both internal and external.  Now they get some:

• Finish my Precision Nutrition certification – BAM.  DONE.
• (new) Pass my Strongfirst Level 1 Certification – November 15-17, 2013.  I love kbs, I want to be the best teacher and practitioner that I can possibly be.  Strongfirst will help get me there.
• Develop a solid business plan (which goes hand in hand with really having a clear idea of what I want my business to look like) – September 16, 2013.  This isn’t just a random date.  My day job has a big event every September – this date lets me be involved, not leave them hanging, but clarifies an exit plan.
• Quit my day job – see above.  Also, maybe quitting isn’t quitting, maybe it’s going to part-time.  Or maybe it is quitting.  Either way, I’m going to take steps each day to clarify what I want, and grow in that direction.
• Captain the Tramps to a winning season – ending Oct. 2013.  This is likely my last season as the Tramps captain, I want more than anything to totally smash it.
• Solidify Plan B’s place in TCRG (and amongst other similar B-Teams) – ending Oct. 2013.  We’re a new team, with a new outlook, I want us to help the league grow and make a name for ourselves.
• Jam a full game as a primary jammer – April 20, 2013 – I’ve never jammed a full game, I think it would be awesome to try.
• Deadlift double bodyweight – KB training is my focus right now, and will be until after the SFG.  Deads are still a part of my training, but I’m pushing this one back to December 2013 – I’m currently at 195lbs, which is over 150% bodyweight, so I’m on the right track.
• Find a mentor – ASAP.  Like, yesterday.  Since I’m not super clear on what I want my life in fitness to look like, I am sometimes too quick to look past opportunities.  You know what I’m saying – it’s often easier to know what you don’t want than what you do.  I want to be more open to internships, guidance, any experience that lets me learn and gets me closer to knowing where I might fit in.

Those are my goals.  With deadlines.  And reasons to accomplish them.  Out in the world.

Social support doesn’t just mean cheer-leading.  Sometimes it means asking your friends what they did to get a little closer to their goals each and every day.

So, friends, what progress did you make today?

Fresh to Death: Three Things I Wish I’d Known When I Was Fresh Meat

TCRG just had its latest Fresh Meat intake on Monday. What a charming and enthusiastic group of girls! They came in all bright-eyed and hopeful for what was the first time on skates for some of them, and they all performed admirably.

Every time we have an intake, I hearken back to the days long, long ago when I was fresh meat, and didn’t know my ass from my elbow – but definitely fell on both of them – and I reflect on the things I wish I’d known.

Here are three things I wish I’d been told:

Hope Solo, From Nike+ Training

You Need to Train Like An Athlete

I’ll tell you what I told my new freshies on Monday – Derby isn’t the workout. Train outside of derby. Seriously. It will make a world of difference. This is probably the area that I get the most questions about since people know they need to cross-train, but haven’t a clue where to start. I’m a little reticent to give blanket workouts, since everyone has their own set of challenges, imbalances, and patterns. Your best bet is to find a trainer who knows a thing or two about bodies move, talk to them about your goals, and get them to write you a program. Or get a trainer to come up with an off-skates plan for your league. If that’s not the way you roll, no worries, you’ll just need to do a bit more research to find a plan that works for you. Try to get a professional to look at your form periodically though, there are few quicker ways to invite injury than repeating a faulty movement pattern over and over. Also, if something hurts (actually hurts – not is sore from exertion, learn the difference) – STOP DOING IT. Don’t keep plugging through something just because you think you have to be a bad-ass, pain is the body’s way of telling us something is up. What might be perfectly safe for others might not be a good idea for you (like I said, we all have our own challenges). Don’t ignore your body’s signals.

All of that disclaiming aside, here are a few key points to keep in mind when you get started with your cross-training and a basic plan to get you on your way:

In the derby, generally (very generally) our quads (the muscles on the front of your thigh that control extension at the knee, as well as flexion at the hip, along with your hip flexors) get crazy strong and muscular (hello, none of my pants fitting in the thigh anymore). Sometimes the left is slightly stronger (because you balance on it all the time turning left). Strong quads are great, but we need to encourage balance amongst the muscle groups, lest your quads take over everything. I wrote an entire post about training your glutes. Don’t neglect your posterior chain – it’s the most powerful mover in your body and you should give it some love.

When you start skating, oftentimes you find yourself with a host of new aches and pains (and bruises, but we’re not really talking about those), pay attention to them. If your low back is hurting, it could be that you need to work more on your glutes and hamstrings, it could be a lack of core strength, it could be something clinical. Track your pain and see if it gets better or worse as you get stronger. Bring a foam roller with you to practice, and roll out your shiz before (and after) practice – rolling out your calves often helps with shin splints, rolling out your quads often helps with posture.

When you’re training, if one side is stronger, only do as many reps of an exercise as you can do with good form on the weak side. On that note, meet yourself where you’re at. Don’t do exercises just because you think they’re cool, do them because they’ll give you the appropriate training effect. Don’t jump into something advanced before you are ready, there are tons of ways to regress an exercise (inclines, band assistance, lighter or no weights, smaller range of motion, etc.) – make sure you can perform the exercise with perfect form before you progress into a more challenging variation.

You can use a few simple multi-joint exercises – both upper and lower body, save time, and get a great training session. Here’s an easy template you can quickly adapt to a derby off-skates training regime. In any given session, you can include:

Upper Body Push – horizontal: eg.) push-ups, chest presses; vertical: eg.) military presses, push presses

Upper Body Pull – horizontal: eg.) rows – inverted, seated, alternating; vertical: pull-ups, chin-ups, lat pull-downs

Lower Body Squat Pattern – eg.) front squats, back squats, wall squats, goblet squats

Lower Body Deadlift Pattern – eg.) deadlifts, glute bridges, hip thrusts, romanian deadlifts (also kettlebell swings to a certain extent)

Lower Body Unilateral – eg.) split squats, step-ups, lunges, 1-leg RDLs, bulgarian split squats

Core – (I’m a big fan of stabilization here) – prone planks, side planks, woodchops, birddogs, get-ups

Agility and/or Endurance – I’m a big fan of interval training, going hard for brief spurts, recovering, going again. I find it carries over nicely into the energy systems you use in derby, takes less time overall, and is less boring than steady state cardio. Start with a working pace you can maintain and a challenge pace that is actually challenging. Be creative with your cardio. It doesn’t have to be treadmills and bikes – it can be sled pushes, swings, heavy carries, ropes, hill sprints, jumping, dancing – the only limit is your imagination (and your threshold for fatigue).

Pick 4-6 exercises, 3+ sets (depending on what you’re doing and what you want to accomplish), set appropriate rest periods – don’t skip them, have a dynamic warm-up, plan a cooldown, and go to town on your off-skates training!

Again, I restate – make sure you’re moving well, that nothing gives you pain, and that you have a plan. My most favourite advice, from the incomparable Grey Cook, ‘First move well, then move often.’

You Need to Eat Like An Athlete

(Hopefully) Gone are the days where your pre-bout meal was a slice of pizza and a large Coke. Poor nutrition all week will manifest in your derby performance, so it’s important to eat well. General sound guidelines (and I mean general – I am not a doctor or nutritionist, just someone who tries to eat well and help skaters to do the same):

Eat whole foods as often as you can, local or organic when you can swing it.

Eat lean proteins, veggies, and healthy fats (oils, nuts, seeds) with each meal.

Save your starchy carbs for post-exercise meals.

There are a raft of additional tools that you can use to help you dial in your nutrition, and to make sure that you are getting the energy you need to support your sport. I use (and love) Precision Nutrition – full disclosure: I’m a certified PN coach, so I’m a tad biased. If you struggle with this sort of thing, or are curious about nutrition – talk to someone! There’s so much nutritional information out there, some of which is helpful and some of which is bunk – instead of trying to sort through all of it, find a professional out there who can give you some tools.

The Trainers Critique You Because They Love You

I mention this because I am one of those trainers. I’ve had newly graduated meat tell me they thought I was picking on them. I’ve had girls break down because they think they’re never going to master a skill. I’ve had girls harbour negative feelings about trainers LONG after they joined the league. It’s a tough position – you are learning something new and challenging. The trainers are there to help you, not belittle you. We do, however, have to tell you when you are doing something that might be dangerous, and give you tips on how to refine your skills. If we’re giving you lots of feedback, it’s because we believe in you. If we’re only giving you negative feedback, it’s because there are more girls than trainers, and that’s all we have time to give. Know that when the trainers get together afterwards, we all talk about the great things you did and how far you are coming too. If you have an issue with the way a trainer critiques – talk to them. Let them know how to teach you best. We’re all in this to get better and bad-asser, so let’s help each other do it in the least emotionally-fraught way possible.

Finally, a couple of extra tips that make a difference in your Meat Experience:

Derby Takes Time to Change

Whenever you join a new organization, it’s easy to see the flaws. You have a fresh set of eyes, and you can see where people are dropping the ball, where there’s room for improvement, and where you can help out. I highly recommend only publicizing that last one. When new skaters come in with energy and the desire to pitch in wherever they can, managers love it. When new skaters come in with a laundry list of changes that should be made, we don’t love it quite so much. Have your great ideas, document them, and start work on a committee that interests you. Once you know a little bit about how the committee operates, and how the head of the committee likes to manage, pitch your idea – and say that you’ll do the work to implement it. This saves a lot of undue stress. We all want our leagues to be the best possible machine they can be – just sometimes the gears grind slowly, and you have to apply the grease gently.

Don’t Forget About the Things That Were Important Before Derby

Before you join derby, presumably you have friends, maybe a life partner, pets, a family, hobbies, a job. Don’t forget that these things exist just because you have a shiny new thing that you do. Derby will take up A LOT of your time if you let it, so have a plan to keep some balance. Make dates with your friends, family, and life partner and keep them. Try to keep things in your conversational reservoir that are not derby-related. People will want to hear about what you’re doing in derby – it’s a pretty cool thing to do – but don’t forget to ask about them and what they’re doing, they might be doing cool stuff as well.

Finally, The most important part of joining a roller derby league is finding your own way.

I can give you lots of helpful tips and tricks, but you need to learn who you are and where you fit into derby. There are lots of people ready and willing to help you along the way, just ask them. Vets aren’t as scary and insular as you think. They’re like bears – just as scared of you as you are of them. Most of us join derby because we’re social misfits to begin with – take the first step and introduce yourself to people you think you’d like to get to know. Come into derby with open ears, a willing spirit, and a determined heart and it’ll be no time before you find where you belong.

Burn, Baby, Burn: Managing February Burnout

I’m pretty glad that February is a short month that ends today.

It’s no secret, February can be a challenging month to stay motivated.  Especially when it snows.  And when the snow is heavy and wet.  And it clings to the trees, making it look really pretty from your window, but not-so-pretty when you are chucking it from the end of your driveway into the slushy, ever-growing piles that line your street.  By February, your scheduled has normalized from the holidays, you are back in the daily grind, but still really, really far from the next batch of holidays.  It’s a great time to go away, if you can swing it, but if you can’t (or won’t), you might need some coping strategies.

For me, it’s not so much the February blahs – it’s the February overwhelm.  February is the month where I realize that I’m not quite so far along on those goals I set at the start of January.  February is when I have lists and lists of jobs that I’ve wanted to do since January 1, and have been avoiding for one reason or another.  By about this time of the year, they start to weigh on me.  February is the month that ALL the derby starts back up – captaining duties in full swing, having to make attendance again, needing schedules and planning for the upcoming season, FM intakes to organize, skaters to keep motivated.

I’ve been skating derby for four seasons now.  I don’t consider myself a hardened veteran, but I’m also not a newbie.  I’m somewhere in that weird, amorphous space between new and excited and jaded and done.  For me, February (and early March) is my derby kryptonite.

Ever wonder why you do your draft before the off-season, and then in February a whole bunch of people leave? I don’t think it’s only simple burn-out.  I think it’s timing.  February until November looks like a very, very long slog.  Even February until summer looks like a long haul.  Also note – you are not the only person who feels this way about February, most people do.  Therefore most people are cranky and terse.  This doesn’t mesh super-well with an activity (like the derbs) that relies on people communicating well and working together.

So, February, a month of sucky weather, tempting reclusiveness, upcoming deadlines, mounting responsibilities, gnawing self-doubt, short tempers, and no foreseeable end to the grind.

It’s easy for February to get you down.

Even my tiny dog is unimpressed.  She’ll walk three houses down from ours, look up at me like ‘are you kidding?’ and then turn around and walk back.  Even if you are a tiny dog, it can get tough to get out of bed in the morning, knowing how cold and bleak it’s going to be.

It’s important, when you’re feeling crappy, to evaluate how bad you really feel.  Check out this article to see if it might be time to consult with a mental health professional.  Track where you’re at, listen to your gut, don’t let negative feelings spiral to the point where you feel you’ve lost control.  Reach out, get help if you need it.

If you’ve self-evaluated and you’re just feeling maudlin, but not clinically so –  what do you do?  I’ve found a lot of “How To Beat the Blahs” articles and they all say the same thing: Go outside for fun, eat better, exercise, laugh with friends.

All of these are good ideas.

They are all things that can help you keep a handle on yourself through what can be a tough time of the year.  Here’s a list of what’s been helping me:

DRINKING TEA:  First of all, tea makes you feel warm and snuggly.  This is a great way to feel after a long day out in the February.  Also, herbal teas, especially green, contain theanine – a natural mood enhancer. They are also full of antioxidants.

HAVING A VERY CLEAR TRAINING GOAL:  I am training for my Strongfirst Kettlebell certification in November.  That seems like a long time away, but it really isn’t.  I have a detailed training plan about where I need to be to accomplish this goal and when.  This helps me in two ways.  First, I know what I’m doing when I go down to my gym and don’t have to come up with ideas.  Because in February even coming up with a decent training session for yourself can be a challenge.  This way, it’s done for me.  Also, knowing my very clear goal and my process steps to get there makes me excited about almost every session.  I get to see progress.  I get to measure myself against where I want to be.  It helps, too, that my goal is kettlebell related.  Kettlebell practice is meditative to me.  It’s challenging, requires mental fortitude, can be extremely repetitive (but in a good, giving you feedback about your form sort of way), and is all-round a badass thing to do.  My love of kettlebells is no secret, and I have a post about why kettlebells are good for derby girls in the works.

All of this being said, there are days when it’s tough to get your train on.  Here’s an awesome article from Dean Somerset about what to do on those days (it includes more mobility drills than you can even imagine).

DERBY MENTORING:  It can be tough to get motivated to come to derby practice when your games are still months away.  For travel team members, this is less of an issue, but if you’ve already started bouting, burnout can become a concern too.  I’ve found that instead of thinking of the new fresh meat coming in as yet another thing you have to deal with, feed off their energy.  Like a vampire.  Okay, maybe not like an energy vampire, but let their derby enthusiasm infect you.  At practice, work with newer skaters.  You’ll feel good about helping them, they’ll feel good because they are getting better, and it’s far more productive than just looking at the clock waiting for the practice to end.

GET NATURAL VITAMIN C – Yes, citrus is not particularly in season, however lemons, grapefruits and oranges at this time of year help to a) boost your immunity, and b) make you feel like it’s the summer.  Also, you can pretend that you’re a pirate that needs fresh fruit so that you don’t get scurvy (not that I do that).  While we’re on the subject of nutrition, I’ve also increased the number of salads and raw vegetables that I’m eating this month.  Helps my body function, tricks me because they feel like warm weather food.  It’s just like eating soup in the summer to cool down, which I used to do all the time when I worked at an outdoor festival (it was a Renaissance Festival, but that’s a story for another time).  I promise you, fresh fruits and veggies will make you feel much better than loading up on the starchy carbs.

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS: Being nice for no reason is its own reward.  Open doors, help people shovel, let people merge in traffic.  Bit by bit the kindness you put out in the world will come back to you.  And even if it doesn’t you’ll feel good about helping people, which will give you an instant mood-boost.

CELEBRATING SMALL DAILY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
This is part of why I make lists – so I can cross things off of them.  I make a ridiculously big deal of minor accomplishments to celebrate my progress.  Make myself a smoothie for breakfast? – I am totally looking after myself, great work!  Shave my legs? – That means I might leave the house, awesome!  Write this blog post? – Look at all the commitments I am keeping with myself!  I am the most winning-est winner ever!  Am I going overboard?  Maybe a little, but celebrating the wins keeps me winning.  If I dwell on all the things I’m not doing, I will start to drown in them.  Focusing on the small things that I can accomplish keeps me moving forward and helps me stay motivated to keep on going when things are tough.

That’s how I’m dealing with February.  That, and resting assured that things will even out in time if I keep putting one snow-booted foot in front of the other.  What about you?  How are you weathering the winter?