Workout 14: Destination
The Intention
You began your Strong Mama journey with an important but challenging intention: to be compassionate with yourself, no matter your starting point, no matter the ratio of challenges to victories, no matter how many times you had to start and stop, no matter what. Compassion is difficult to navigate on some days, it means pushing ourselves outside our own limiting beliefs. Other times, it means being gentle, forgiving, and trusting the intuition to back off of our ambitious intentions. Both sides of the same coin, but most of us struggle with one piece of self-compassion more than the other. Which side is harder for you?
A) Confronting the part of you that says “I can’t” and to realize that you are capable, powerful, and stronger than you think?
B) Confronting the piece of you that says “I need to push harder I have to do more,” and listening to your intuition when it comes to resting, being gentle with yourself, and finding balance?
On day 1, you allowed yourself to not only push through the entire minute of each exercise in each set but also allow yourself to take a full minute to stretch and breathe, following each exercise. You thought of self-compassion as you pushed right up to your edge, and then you relaxed into the breath or stretch that your body needs for an equal amount of time. The intention of your 14th workout, in contrast, is to lean into the side of compassion that feels less comfortable less natural perhaps less necessary even.
Workout 14 is your opportunity to get real about where you are today in mind, body, and heart, and inch towards deeper self-compassion by embracing the side of the compassion coin that you need more of in your life. Whether that means trusting that you are capable of pushing beyond self-imposed limits or leaning into gentleness by giving yourself the freedom to be gentle, today is the day to be that form of compassion for yourself. If you notice yourself feeling frustrated at any time, return to your day 1 mantra, remembering that the journey has only just begun.
The Mantra
Today, I honor the journey over the destination.
The Moves
Squats+ Flies squat flies:
- Stand on your right leg.
- Kick the left leg back, while bending the right leg, reaching for the floor with both hands.
- From the bent over, kicking position, "fly" your arms up to shoulder height and pause.
- Lower hands to tap the floor
- Stand up, lower your left leg to the floor
Repeat on the same side for the full 80 seconds.
Alignment key: Bend your standing leg to keep your back straight. Hinging at your hips rather than rounding your spine will be helpful as well. This exercise is all about strengthening and lengthening the back chain of your body upper and lower back, rear deltoids, hamstrings, hips.
Modifications:
- Option 1: During 2, when you’re hinging at your hips, only lower your upper body until your finger-tips meet your knees.
- Option 2: Rather than kicking your left leg back, keep the toes of your left foot on the ground, slightly behind you, for more stability.
Planks Push-ups: Choose the version that makes the most sense for you today, knowing that your goal is to a push-up for the entire 80 seconds, even if that means decreasing intensity as the time goes on. For example, you may start with hands and shoulders wide (option (b), and after 35 seconds, move to a kneeling plank until you have to widen your hands or push-up from hands and knees.
Alignment key: No matter if you're on your toes or knees, for options a-d, keep your head, torso, and hips in one "plank-like" line. Engaging your abdominals will be key to maintaining form When you notice your form starting to waiver, move to the next, less intense option.
Modification Options.
- Most intense big toes touching, hands shoulder-width apart
- Place hands wider than shoulder-width apart and feet wide
- Start in a kneeling plank with hands shoulder-width apart
- Kneeling plank, hands wide
- Least intense push-up from a hands and knees position
Bonus frog crunches: Lay on your back and extend your legs up in the air at a 45-degree angle with flexed feet, heels touching, toes fanned out. Crunch up with fingertips behind the ears, bending knees toward elbows. Lower your head, neck, and shoulders while extending your legs back to the beginning position straight at 45-degrees. Repeat.
Alignment key: Lower back presses toward the floor. If it pops up, that's your cue to lift legs higher. If you need more of a challenge, lengthen legs closer to the ground.
Modification options:
- Extend legs straight up toward the ceiling rather than at a 45-degree angle.
- Place feet on the floor. As you crunch up, bring one knee in toward the same elbow.
Creating your workout
- Activity+Rest length: Perform each exercise for 80 seconds, recovering for 40 seconds between exercises.
- Circuit order:
1. Squat-Fly on the right leg (80-seconds)
recover (40-sec)
2. push-ups (80-sec)
recover (40-sec
3. Squat-fly on the left leg (80-sec)
recover (40-sec)
4. Frog crunches (80-sec)
recover (40-sec) - Your 30-minute workout
Option 1: Repeat this circuit 4x's for a 32-minute workout to be exact.
Option 2: Perform 4 circuits in 8-minute "pockets of time" throughout your day.
Don't forget
Go to: AlisonMendyka.com/DONE to claim your Strong Mama BONUS