Getting in Shape for Summer

If you’re looking for way to get lean and toned for the summer right now, it probably means you haven’t done anything up until this point. Now you’re going to go run on a treadmill until you puke, do a juice cleanse until you have no insides, and you’ll be set for the your beach weekend, right? Nopers.

 

Here’s the most important thing to remember: getting in shape takes time. I know that’s antithetical to every fad diet and workout article that promises “toned sculpted and sexy arms 10 days”. Getting a strong, healthy, good looking body requires dedication and changes in lifestyle to reach your goals and stay there. Sure you could eat lettuce wraps filled with nothing for a few weeks, lose a few pounds, feel awful and be a pile of loose skin- if that’s your goal. But after that you’ll be right back to where you were and probably actually fain some weight.

 

Getting in shape for summer is the same as getting in shape any other time of year- a solid diet and workout plan. It’s not like summer is a surprise. It comes at the same time every year.

 

Diet- as they say, “you can’t out exercise a bad diet”. This is true.  The foundation of your summer six pack needs to be a solid, consistent diet. Eat for your body type and needs. That means depending on your goals, weight, activity level, and needs, your diet will be specific to you. Focus on eating lean meats, vegetables, and good fats. Stay away from processed, refined foods filled with sugary carbs and empty calories. Pretty easy, right? If you stick to a good diet, you will feel and look great- permanently.

 

You also need a good program built around weighlifting and short, high intensity conditioning. No one ever went astray with some squats, deadlifts, and pressing as the base of a training regimen. You will build muscle that will lead to a hot, toned body and will actually burn fat all day long.

The key here is building good muscle and losing excess body fat. No one has ever complimented someone’s bikini body by saying “man, that loose skin and flat butt look really good on you”. Getting a summer body isn’t about a fad diet and running until you puke. It’s about eating well and sticking to a good training program. You’ll find that sticking to a solid, simple diet and training program is actually easier (and much more worth it) than going on a juice cleanse and running 10 miles a day. Unless you’re a masochist.

 

-Coach Lily

They Aren’t You, You Aren’t They

It often perplexes me when somebody compares my son to another child and uses that child to mark certain milestones and “norms”. As a mom, it can be irritating, because oftentimes that person does not know either children well enough to ascertain what’s normal and/or acceptable for my son. Then comes the overused chant: “All children are different”, blah, blah...

Though I am instinctively defensive of my son, I was never really the same way about myself until recently. I’d continuously compare other people’s achievements and lifestyles to my own and that would somehow affect how I set goals. But now, I really don’t believe that comparing oneself to another is useful at all. Of course, there are always exceptions and one example right off the bat is competitive athletes. Sorry, but kids who play sports will usually fall into this habit and compare themselves to others, whether they are trying to defend a first-string position or take a spot in an individual sport such as track or wrestling. But for things that aren’t competitive, why waste precious energy comparing yourself to someone else?

Successful people don’t compare themselves to other people, they focus on getting better. Once you’ve started chasing someone else’s achievements, you’ve already set a ceiling for yourself. Sure, I look to others for inspiration. I steal ideas and I think about what other people have been able to accomplish in the face of adversity. But I don’t compare myself to other people because it’s a toxic mentality that I’ve known all too well. Even in competitive sports, doing this can set you up for failure in the long run because if you are the “best” at your sport it won’t matter because the world in a huge, huge place. If you haven’t prepared your mind to set goals independently, when someone sets out to squash you, and DOES squash you, it will be difficult to recover.

Set quantifiable goals, so you can track who you were and who you want to be. Every day should be about getting better against who you were yesterday, not someone else. Look to those who are better than you as role models, not as competitors, because one day they might be able to help you out. And even though other people might compare you to someone else, don’t ever do it to yourself.

Savannah Steamer

Spot Athletics Intern