Why the Thigh Gap?

Have you heard of this? That having a thigh gap is desirable? 

Apparently this is a thing with some people-  It is somehow important that they can see daylight between the tops of their thighs. 

First of all, I'm trying to figure out why....... That makes about as much sense to me as an armpit gap being a sign of superiority. It's bizarre and I just don't get it. 

Furthermore, aren't big butts a thing now? Has it occurred to anyone that the two might be mutually exclusive? 

At any rate, I think it bears noting that thigh gap has about as much to do with anatomy as it does with body fat. Possibly more. 

I know teeny tiny people who don't have a thigh gap and never will simply because of the way the top of their femur bone sits in their hip socket: If the socket is shaped so that the bone settles into it facing slightly out, they're less likely to have a thigh gap because the thighs are naturally (and healthily) closer together. 

On the other hand, those with femur's that turn slightly inward will naturally have more of a gap between their thighs- Sometimes even when their body fat is higher than is healthy. I know this, because I am one of those people. 

At about a dozen or so pounds above my idea weight, I will finally have a thigh gap. It's one way I know that my body fat is going down, even if my scale weight is not. It's a signal to me that I'm getting close to where I need to be. 

But it is in no way something that makes me superior to anyone else. Quite frankly, I'd rather NOT have the thigh gap and have the narrower hips, because it would be easier to find pants to fit. 

I know this blog isn't of much consequence. It's just something I've been pondering for a while now. 

I guess the moral is this: Just do you. 

Be the best version of you that you can be. 

That's all. And that's good enough. 

A New Resource for Exercise Wear!

First of all, the link to the company:

https://curvesncombatboots.com/

Secondly, my daughter's discount code that will save you 10%: maddox_flute

Because we all want the good stuff first, right?

Secondly,  I am in not paid or compensated in any way by Curves and Combat Boots or any other company I have positively blogged about. I just like helping people! My daughter is not paid, either, although she does get perks with the company if someone uses her code when they checkout (So please use her code 😀  ) . I am sharing a story that involves the owner of this company in a deeply personal way: 

Lane was an awkward kid growing up. Always very tall (at 21 she seems to have finally stopped growing at 6'1" if that gives you an idea), very thin, and with a not-so-small nose, she was the target of bullying and being the kid no one wanted to hang out with throughout most of her elementary, middle, and high school years. 
 

Here she is recently with her three biological siblings (there are 7 kids, total). Bear in mind that she is the youngest here: 
 

As a mom, this was really hard to watch. I saw the beauty in her- The pretty eyes, the full lips, the gorgeous hair, and the grace that came from dance lessons, making her elegant instead of gangley. But she did not see this in herself. As she aged and matured into high school, she stopped trying in every way she had tried before. Her formerly high grades took a sudden nosedive and she just didn't seem to care about herself so much anymore. Her depression was clearly evident. I got her into counseling, but as someone who'd also been bullied in school is very excruciating to watch my own daughter go through the same thing, 

If she didn't love playing the flute so much and hadn't set her sights on the Marine Corps Band for her vocation........ I don't know......... 

After she graduated high school we moved here to Indiana, where she is a student at Indiana University. She has just entered her senior year. Lane's heart's desire has never fluctuated from becoming a Marine Musician. Every choice she has made in college has been with that end goal in mind. 

She LOVES the armed forces: Her mom (me) is prior Air Force, her Dad is a retired Air Force fighter pilot, and one of her brothers was in the Marine Corps. He stepped on an IED in Afghanistan. We thought he might have died. Thankfully, he did not and is (mostly) Okay today. Two of her sisters married active duty military men, and our family's military service record goes back generations. She has done fund raisers for and given herself from her limited college funds to the Disabled American Vets. Since both her Dad and brother are disabled vets, it's a cause close to her heart. 

So when she found out that there was a company that made exercise-wear called Curves and Combat Boots, of COURSE she had to get a pair of the leggings! By this time she was heavily training with the Marine Recruiters and had already sworn into the Marine Corps on the Delayed Entry Program. (She leaves for boot camp after she graduates with her bachelors in US History [of course!] next May.) She needed leggings that could hold up to the tough workouts she was being put through. 

As SOON as she received the leggings, she started excitedly talking about them. She took pictures and posted them, tagging the company's owner, Sarah. Sarah is an Air Force Reservist and her hubby is full time Navy. This further endeared Lane to her. Sarah and Lane developed a bit of rapport and Sarah, bless her heart, started giving Lane positive feedback. 

Turns out that when someone you respect who is NOT your mom compliments you, you take it much more seriously.  

Almost immediately I saw my daughter's countenance change. She was putting more effort into her appearance. She was putting more effort into her workouts. She was putting more effort into herSELF. 

 

And over time, she started to believe what I knew all along: She is beautiful. 

Because, as it turns out, when you get more positive input than negative, you start to believe it. 

And what they say about beauty coming from the inside is really true. 

She now is, as I stated above, a Brand Ambassador for the company. Consequently her Instagram following has grown. I think Sarah and her husband saw her passion for both her country and the company and made an exception for her. (Her instagram ID is maddox_flute,the same as her10% discount code, if you would like to check her out.) 

I now possess a couple of their bras and a pair of leggings. I have to say that I HIGHLY recommend both, but especially the leggings. They are high enough and thick enough that I don't fear squats (i.e. they don't become see-through when stretched), they have pockets on each leg plenty big enough for a cell phone, a pedometer, or whatever else you'd like to keep with you, they smooth out my "bumps", and the saddle-back stitching is extremely flattering. 

As someone who is big-busted I appreciate the bras- I love the cute laced-back design, the cut-out at the base of the band to help with ventilation, and that they aren't too high in the arm pits- They don't get in the way of lifts like chest press. With my daughter's discount code I can get a bra with shipping and tax for less than $40. Anyone who knows workout wear knows that's a deal! 

Personally, I like supporting small American established companies. I like supporting the one that helped my daughter even more. :-)

But more than anything, I am grateful for the support Sarah has personally shown my daughter, then a complete stranger, and what she has done for Lane's self-esteem. Sarah was, and continues to be, a gift from God. 

And may God bless America! 

Middle Age is No Excuse!

This is going to be a controversial blog.  I already know this, and am prepared for the backlash.  :-)

I have arrived at the conclusion that losing weight after 40 isn't really that much harder than losing weight when we are  younger.  I believe the challenge comes in where our mindset is, not what our bodies are doing.

I don't know about you, but at the age of 50 I'm not as compliant with an eating program as I used to be.  I'm not as likely to follow rules.  I'm more set in my ways.  And I've seen many other people middle aged and older who are the exact same way.

I seem to think that I can put an extra half serving on my plate, not account for it, and not have it affect my weight loss goals.

I want to have ice cream when the rest of the family has ice cream, darn it.

I don't want to work out as hard as the people on the DVD I'm following.

Sound familiar?

Look, I understand that science has proven metabolisms slow down, muscle decreases (slowing metabolism down), and fat displaces as we age.  But I truly don't believe this is the main reason many see the "over 40 spread".  I think it's because we are more likely to be noncompliant.

So go ahead, bring it on..... I'm ready for ya!  But I'm willing to bet this wakes a few of us up and gets us looking honestly about our habits and making some changes that FINALLY get us moving towards a better body.

Sitting With Intention

When I was recently in California taking care of my mom for her knee replacement surgery I noticed something- She would just "drop out" when she sat down. About halfway down, she'd release all of her muscles and simply fall back into her seat. I knew it was because of her knee, but I pointed it out and told her that after surgery we were going to work on quads to help regain lost muscle.

Anyhow, this had me paying attention to my own sitting habits and you know what? I sometimes "drop out" of my lowering, too! I think this may be a getting older thing- As we age, we tend to naturally become less flexible and lose muscle. The lower you get into a sitting position, the more the quads have to engage (muscle) and the more the hip flexors stretch (flexibility). I don't want to be one of these older people with imbalances- It can lead to falls and injures later on in life. So I've been trying to pay more attention to sitting down with intention; Staying in control all the way down. Such a small thing, but something I think is worth paying attention to.

What do you think? Do you sit with intention?

Banishing Post-Exercise Fuel Paranoia

A lot of lifting types are concerned about eating the perfect thing pre and post workout to enhance muscle building.  The common thought process is complex carbs, protein, and fat before a workout and fast-digesting both carbs and protein after a workout.  This usually winds up looking something like this:
Before workout- Oats with coconut oil and egg whites
After workout- Whey protein and a piece of fruit

Certainly nothing bad will happen to someone by following this protocol, but I'd like to propose that maybe, since the carbs and protein we just ate are already digesting and feeding the muscles DURING the workout (and at a good pace to continue fueling them, I might add, because the complex carbs and fat both slow the digestive process), the need to fuel them after is slim, if needed at all.

Let me say this another way- If you eat complex carbs and protein before your workout, they're giving your muscles all the stuff they need during the workout to build muscle and recover.

The need to fuel right after a workout is, in my opinion, very important in only two instances:
1) You worked out on an empty stomach, and/or
2) You are prepping for a competition.

In the case of #1, well....... of course you can see the reasoning.  After tearing down tissue with intense exercise, your body needs something to build stronger muscle to meet those demands next time you work out.  And, honestly, you'll probably be starving afterwords, anyhow.

In the case of #2, it's splitting hairs when someone eats both before and after, which isn't relevant in every day life. But when prepping for comp, especially as you get closer to showtime, the littlest things can make the difference between taking home a trophy and not.

But since most of us aren't prepping for competition, let's not worry about that.  Okay?

Instead, let's concentrate on eating clean foods, and in moderate amounts particularly if we are trying to lose weight.  For a poorly-video-ed blog (I'm sorry), about that subject, you can click here.

And remember to take Bites that Build a Better Body!

Baby Got Back (Muscles!)

I had a request from one of my faithful blog followers, after seeing my last entry with a weighted ab routine, to do a blog with a back routine. I'd like to apologize in advance for this being so long- I simply like to educate as much as possible for those who want to learn. If you just want to get to a sample routine, scroll down to the bottom of this blog!

One thing my follower pointed out is that it seems you hear a lot about rows for back, but not much more. So the first thing I'd like to do is break down back movements and the muscles they involve:

First of all, you have your upright pulling up or down exercises. The granddaddy of these is pull-ups, which is probably the best back muscle developer out there. The other exercises in this group would be all variations of machine pull-downs (to include my personal favorite- Strait-arm pull-downs), as well as pull-ups on the assisted chin machine and dumbbell pullovers on a bench.

Regular pull-ups are almost impossible for most people, yours truly included. There are ways to graduate yourself into doing unassisted pull-ups, the most effective of which I think is using really big bands. You secure then band on the pull-up bar, then place your foot or knees into the hanging end of the band, which then helps to propel you up. The advantage to these is that they keep the same path and range of motion as an unassisted pull-up would use, which develops the muscles to get you up there more fully. The thicker the band, the more of your body weight it assumes and the easier the exercise. This does not, however, mean they are easy! Even banded pull-ups can be really difficult.

The downside to banded pull-ups is that, particularly with the thicker band, you will probably need assistance getting your foot securely in there, particularly if you don't have a lot of upper body strength to pull the band down (which you probably don't, since you are using the thicker band).

Also, the grip on pull-ups greatly affects their difficulty. Palms facing you, hands close together, is the easiest version as it recruits arm muscles, as well as a little chest, to assist in the lift. This, by the way, is technically called a "chin up". The next up in difficulty is with palms facing each other, if you can find an apparatus that offers this feature. And the most difficult is the traditional "Pull-up", where your palms face away from you and your arms are just wider than shoulder width apart. To make these easier to start, you can fold your legs at a 90 degree angle, with your heels behind you. Legs strait is the most difficult to perform, as it places weight farther away from the lifting hinge, therefore making your body heavier. (It's a gravity thang!)

Regardless of the type of motion you do in this position, all of these exercises work mainly the latissimus dorsi (aka "lats"), which is the big wide muscle at the sides of the back that make the impressive "wing span" on big bodybuilding types. Building this muscle for everyone, male of female, goes a long ways towards making ones waist appear smaller in comparison.

The next general movement for back muscles is a rowing motion, where weight is pulled towards you from the front. These exercises always target the muscles in the middle upper back, but as a general rule the wider the arms on this motion the more the lats are brought into the move, such as in wide machine pulley rows.

These exercises include bent rows of all kinds (where the upper body is parallel to the ground), as well as upright machine and cable rows where you are pulling the weight in towards you.

And lastly we have extension moves, where the upper body hinges at the hip to go from strait to a bent position, or from bent to strait, in the instance of machine back extensions. They also include moves where the back moves behind the body into a semi-arched position, as is the case with supermans. The point is that the movement is coming from the hip area

These extension moves target the very important lower back muscles and include all types of hyperextentions, back extensions on the machine, good mornings, all kinds of deadlifts, cable pull-throughs, and all variations of supermans. And all of these moves, save the supermans, have the added benefit of being great for glutes and back of the legs, as well.

A back routine will typically include at least one of each of these levers, to effectively hit all areas of the back. If you are a more advanced lifter, two or more exercises of the pull-down and rowing type can be incorporated into your routine.

After a thorough dynamic warmup, I usually try to start with my pull-down/pull-up motion. It tends to be the most difficult of these lifts and strongly recruits every muscle in the back, as well as arms and shoulders. Consequently, it is wise to hit those moves while muscles are fresh and at their strongest.

Then I move on to my rowing motion, and finish off with my lower back movement, since these small muscles need less weight to be stimulated and won't recruit so much of the upper body muscles to assist in the move.

Here is a sample back routine for a beginner. All of these are to be done with moderate weight, so that at the end of the last set you feel that you could perform 2-3 more repetitions:

- Machine Lat Pull Downs- 3 sets of 15 reps. Here's a really good demonstration.

- Single-Arm Dumbbell Bent Rows- 3 sets of 15 reps. The only thing I would add to this video demonstration  is that you don't want to just drop the weight down into the extended position. Instead, continue to maintain firm control of the weight and lower to a count of two. This will not only give you better muscle definition in the long run, but it's also safer.

- Supermans- 3 sets of 8-12. Here's a video of it, but I'd like to add that I really don't like the way the guy just drops down to the mat from the top of the move. Stay in control in both directions! You lose half of the muscle-building potential when you leave out the releasing half of any weight lifting move.

In the case of all exercises, make sure to give the muscles rest in-between the moves, whether this means not moving, stretching, or working on a different muscle group is entirely up to you.

Back muscles get recruited when you work other body parts, as well, so once a week is adequate for a back-specific workout. Additionally, I would not advise doing the same routine with the exact same exercises for more than 4 weeks. As with all muscles, eventually they adapt to the movement and this slows progression. Likewise, don't be afraid to switch exercises, even as often as each new workout. Rarely do I do the same routine twice in a row.

Back has always been my favorite body part to work on. I love the way the exercises feel, and I look of a strong back, male or female. You may not see those muscles, but your body will function better for working them, and the rest of the world will get a treat every time you turn around:

A Manly Ab Routine

I was advising a young man on how to get his abs to show the other day. Now, before we go any farther, let me clarify something: You can't spot reduce because you don't get to choose where your fat collects, or where you lose it. But there are some things you CAN do to make muscle more visible.

The first thing I advised him to do is cut out all the refined carbs (namely while flour and all forms of sugar) possible. This can really help a person look less "spongy". He is young and has a relatively low level of body fat, so while most people's waistline will respond favorably to this change, the younger and leaner you are the more dramatic the results from reducing refined carbs will generally be.

The next thing I advised him to do was add in weighted ab moves. Reason? With a lower body fat level, one thing he can do to increase the visibility of the ab muscles is actually increase the thickness of them. Now, I know this idea freaks a lot of people out, but the truth is that most people aren't going to increase muscle thickness in their abs enough to make their waist bigger- It's just going to give more definition.

Another benefit, given his male status? Weighted moves tend to look more impressive in the gym. Plus, guys, and some of us girls, like picking up heavy stuff.

I know a plethora of ab moves involving weights (I have been called "The Ab Nazi"), but here is a trio of weighted ab exercises that can be done in the same workout, making you look like a beast AND leave your abs aware that they did something:

First off, start with Barbell Floor Wipers. Here's a Quick Video.

A couple of things I want to point out about this. First of all, the guy in the video, I feel, could use a heavier weight. See how it's swaying around a bit? If the weight were heavier he'd have more stabilization through the upper body and be better able to concentrate on his abs. Trust me, holding the weight up in the air like that isn't the hard part. It's getting it there and back down to the ground that's tricky. I do them with 45's on each end, if that gives you any idea. The amount of weight isn't the important thing here- It's the movement.

This leads me to my second point about this exercise- If you are doing this with free weights, unless you know a means to press the weight up from the ground, as well as lower it back down, without crushing yourself, you are going to need a spotter. If no spotter is available, do them on the Smith machine, making sure to raise the bar out of the hooks and hold it up, not simply hang on. It's not quite as effective as doing it with free weights, but still a great ab move. Do two to three sets of these, resting between sets, and don't be surprised at first if you can't get out more than 5 per side at first. These are NOT easy!

Now that we've worn out your obliques and lower abs, and as long as we are on the ground, lets move on to upper abs. For this, pick up a dumbbell or plate that will allow you to crank out about 15, and do two to three sets of weighted crunches, again resting between sets:  Click here to see a short video.

And now we'll stand up and finish with one of my favorite weighted ab moves; Barbell Rainbows (or "Landmines").  He does a good job of explaining what's going on with them in this video., but keep in mind that you will need a corner of some kind to stabilize the lower end of the barbell.  Keep your abs sucked in really tight the entire time you do them, and start with just the bar.  They are harder than they look and your arms and shoulders might wear out pretty quick, especially following Rainbows and Weighted Crunches.

Lastly, consider adding in two to three sets of a targeted lower back move. The lower back knits in with the ab muscles, making a cinching effect on the ab area. They are, in effect, the other half of your abs. Also, adding low back work in is just generally good for spine stabilization, posture, and overall health. They are, in my opinion, one of the more critical muscles in the body to keep strong. The trick with lower back moves is to keep the weight relatively light. Too much weight too soon on this vulnerable area, particularly if you are already weak there, can make your lower back health worse, not better. So increase very gradually. Some good lower back moves are: Hyperextensions, Good Mornings, Stiff Leg Deadlifts, Supermans, and Machine Back Extensions.

As you can see, these moves involve other muscles besides the abs, which also increases calorie burn. That's a win-win, in my books!