Saturday, May 24, 2014

A Site a Day in the Month of May: Jensinkler.com

The other day at the gym, I was in midst of killing my workout when all of a sudden, I felt my energy and motivation take a nosedive. Seriously, mid-workout, everything's fine, and then next thing I knew I'd lost my mojo.

I continued with my workout, hoping the feeling would subside, when I glanced at my training plan and realized what was the next ab exercise in my circuit: V-ups. It suddenly dawned on me that it was the anticipation of the dreaded V-up that set my workout on a downward spiral. I HATE V-ups. They are elusive to me for several reasons, not least of which is the fact that my buff quads make the hip-flexion-spinal-flexion combo extremely difficult. I have a strong core, and don't shy away from abdominal exercises because they're hard, but my body just doesn't like to cooperate when I try to get it to do V ups.

The World's Worst Exercise...according to me
Despite these physiological impediments to performing the exercise correctly, I stubbornly keep V ups in many of my workouts. Am I a glutton for punishment? Will I magically improve my ability to perform the exercise and therefore start to love it? Sure, I could keep working on V ups, suffer through rep after stinkin' rep, but whyyyy?!?!?! Why should I keep doing exercises I dislike when I can work the same body part with an exercise that I do like?!

This is the exact point that Jen Sinkler makes in a recent blog post she wrote called, appropriately, "If You Don't Like It, DON'T DO IT." Jen writes about a friend of hers who every six months, like clockwork, asks Jen to join her in some endurance event like a mud run, half marathon, etc. And every single time, Jen declines, albeit nicely, because she just doesn't like endurance sports and/or events. And it's as simple as that: when it comes to fitness, if you don't like it, you either: 1) won't do it; or 2) will develop an unhealthy habit towards it because it's hard to admit sometimes that things are hard.

Simple in theory, tough in practice
I thought about Jen's post as I struggled through my first set of V ups. Then I said to myself: f**k it. Do something you like and tell this negative attitude to take a hike. So I finished off my sets with knee grab sit ups, and I was happy as a clam.

So, if you wanna absorb more of these real-world fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle tips from one of the coolest female trainers out there, I suggest you mosey on over to Jen's site. While you're at it, consider buying yourself a piece of awesome apparel from her store. I did, and let me just say that I feel invincible when I wear this tee:

Gonna rock this tee for my a.m. workout!!!!!

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