“The moment you are about to quit, is
the moment right before a miracle happens.”
We have all seen the cartoon of the man digging for gold and he is about a foot away and he quits. There are too many stories of people who quit, and once someone took over they created something great. The night is the darkest before the sun rises. There is only a rainbow after the storm. When you break it all down, we are all made of the same matter; water and energy. The world works in crazy ways that many cannot explain. And the ones that do, we do not understand what they are saying anyways! What you need to realize is that problems are blessings in disguise. Like Tony Robbins says, “the only problem you all have, is that you think you should not have any.” Most people let the problem affect them and they quit. There is only one certainty of quitting; you will NEVER reach your goal. However, if you keep pushing forward, no matter how slow, there is at least a chance. Life happens to everyone and we all have horrible moments. Hopefully you have friends or family to help you through it and to push you to keep going. If tragedy strikes in your family, that does not mean you begin to eat horrible foods. That is no different than taking a drug. Try your best to keep a clear head and handle what needs to be done but do not hurt yourself more during the event. There are so many amazing stories of true will power of people who pushed through and accomplished great things. They are no different than you or me. We can all get through even the hardest of times, and when we do, we will then believe in miracles.
Exercise of the Week: Step Up
I do not think I need to reiterate the importance of working your legs. First we had the squat; two feet, some stability needed. Next was the reverse lunge; one leg at a time and stability added, but remaining on one plane. Finally we have the step up. Again, we are targeting the front and back of the leg, adding more stability, and also adding vertical movement onto another object. As with so many exercises, the step up is perform differently by many and unfortunately wrong as well. The step up can be performed as a cardio movement; simply stepping up and back down to get your heart rate up while working your legs. Here we are stressing a more strict and controlled movement to further strengthen the leg through the entire range of the exercise. You can do all reps on one leg and then the other, or alternate legs every rep. Also, never forget to keep good posture with your upper body!
The important things to note about performing a step up correctly are:
- Keep your core engaged; most of the weight should be on your front heel
- You should move downward as slow as possible to strengthen the full range of motion
- When your back foot hits the floor, reset your front foot and drive through the front heel
- Try not to use any momentum from body movement (which is natural)
More on the Step Up: There are plenty of ways to make the step up fit your level of fitness. Begin with only body weight and on a lower box or step. Do not move to a higher box until you are strong from top to bottom. You should be able to touch your back foot to the ground without weight transfer and drive right back up through the front let. Higher boxes and soft platforms (as shown) such as benches add a larger range of motion and less stability. Lastly, adding weights in both, and then finally only one hand adds even more fun to it!
Nutritional Tip:
Find the true reasons behind your actions
Habits and cravings are some of the most powerful things on Earth. Certain habits can create success and money beyond others’ beliefs and it can also hurt people, families, and even kill. Most habits are simple like playing with hair, biting our nails, drinking coffee in the morning, and cravings the same, such as chocolate, ice cream, or a juicy hamburger. However, even though many daily habits and cravings may seem so unimportant there is a reason behind most of them if not all. For example, since we are talking about nutrition, when people get stressed out their body uses a large amount of Vitamin C to help with the adrenaline release. Getting stressed out usually goes hand and hand with biting your nails. The actual reason behind this is that your body craves the Vitamin C in your nails! The same way as when you crave chocolate your body is wanting magnesium. Every simple craving or habit can have a small reason behind it that you can use to open your eyes and help deal with the problem. If it is never taken care of, the habit could turn into an addiction, and the numbers are startling on deaths due to addiction; yes, food is addictive too. Also, hand and hand with that is when you simply feed the cravings it can turn into a long-term issue which could also lead to many health issues. We see it all around us and know the statistics. Be honest with yourself and treat the problem rather than symptom!
“What does your ALTERA Life look like?”
ALTERA Life, LLC
www.alteralife.com
cforce@alteralife.com