Coaching

Athlete, Coaching, Ironman, Triathlon

Endurance Triathlon Strength Training

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GOOD ARTICLE

https://kyrakissinger.com/get-faster-with-strength-training/

STEP 1:  Trans Ab Test

https://youtu.be/pBW16_q4cLQ

 HIP Anatomy and Strength

https://youtu.be/l8rVI-5WhEM

Strength Work for SI Joint

https://youtu.be/uo1kFryOMlU

Sample Strength

Plank / shoulder protract/retract. 1 min x3
Globet squats. 3 sets of 12.
Standing reverse fly. 3 sets of 12 (5 pounds)
Leg Press. 3 sets of 12.
Cross arm cable pull. 3 sets of 12 (light weight)
Dead lift. 3 sets of 12.
Standing single arm row. 3 sets of 12 (light weight)
Standing double arm row. 3 sets of 12 (light weight)
Cable/band hamstring kick back. 3 sets of 12.

Medium weight with correct mechanics.

Single DeadLifting

https://youtu.be/z4yJ7mGVvJE

 

Coaching, Education, Personal Growth

Be your own boss, like a boss, or you will be bossed around

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Today’s blog is brought to you by my attempt at balancing building my own business, working for someone else and putting food in my kids mouth. (And paying for heart surgeries).

Admittedly I don’t take being bossed around well. I don’t know if it’s me and my personality or that I just don’t deal well with crappy bosses. Maybe a combo. I do think that I do ok with folks telling me what to do. I don’t think I do well when I don’t have room to do things with excellence , if thats outside of their status quo / expectations. Certainly if what they want me to do goes against my ethics. That’s a real big rub. One of the main reasons for the beginning of the end of my 9-5 engineering gig.

I know that in the past I would take things personal and all that. Now … I think I just don’t do well with disrespect and lack of adulting ability.

Definitely tho … I have work to do. Roger that.

Today, with some work related drama in the background … I think about the fact that I haven’t been the best boss to myself.

– I for sure in the past haven’t given myself enough praise

– I might not give myself enough grace in recognizing that making changes is hard and needs more of the above to help facilitate a perm change

– Definitely too critical and default to being to hard on myself

– I tend to not honor the boundaries that I set for myself and others

– I am not the best at being consistent but I am getting better at this

AT this sentence I think a big fat pause is needed in this conversation!

PAUSE!!!

Let’s take a second to look at terms and maybe open up to different thoughts in this area.

BOSS = ??

When we say boss … what does your mind say to you? What filter do you automatically put in place.

“Person in charge”.  Your thought: oh, I need to behave differently.

Your thoughts …

LEADER= ??

PARTNER= ??

MENTOR= ??

Anyway. The point is …. how do you really view the person that is “above” you. In that place of guidance and leadership.

I believe that the person is suppose to be teaching you a lesson. That the catch 22 is that maybe it’s the terrible “boss” that is suppose to be teaching you the lesson. Funny how karma makes things so zesty and fun to figure out.

POINT IS …

Are you being a good leader to yourself? Are you inspiring yourself to work differently to improve and reach towards your next goals.

Is your job “boss” inspiring the same? Do your principles align with theirs?

So many hard questions.

Let’s pull this point into a convo that you have a lot of control on. Influence. YOU BEING YOUR OWN EXCELLENT BOSS. Even if you have to go to a J O B, you can still be your own boss. Leader. Inspire-er of all this epic and awesome.

1. KNOW WHO YOU ARE

What you stand for. This is the make it or break it. You know (mindful) of who you really are, or hold the one with the boundaries that honor that. The ship sinks.

This is why Franklin Covey in the planners starts out with your principles.

(Truth needs to be present here. The deep down, who you are. Not … “good mom” or whatever. YOU. Deep down. The stuff on your tombstone.

for me ….

I am a person that says the truth. “Satya”. So if I have to tell an untruth or be in the gray area, this is a big fat rub for me personally, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

2. BUILD TRUST

So considering that you know who you are and what you stand for. Build trust with yourself by honoring your ethics and beliefs. AND….

When you say you are going to do something. Do it. For your own trust with yourself. As well as having others trust you.

for me ….

I like to help others, a lot. I probably tend to sway that side more (maybe to fill my “acceptable account”) than compared to my “truth account”. So I will allow others to cross a boundary or two because I am “helping” them, at the cost of my own ethics, and not speaking my truth. Honoring who I am. As a result, I lose trust in myself, in a deep down sense.

So my action step, in knowing who I AM, appropriately communicating boundaries with myself (or others) and HOLD THE LINE. In as pleasant a way as possible. Not being afraid to step on toes, don’t shy away in an attempt to fill the “acceptance account”. Go to flipping sleep at 10 or 10:30, BK! Do it. Stop jacking around with that bed time/boundary.

3. PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE

It is so hard, but we really need to get into a better mental and emotional habit of defaulting to praise vs criticism or even constructive feedback. And praise ourselves. Praise others. FIRST.

Focus on what is working. Not what needs fixed. You might be wrong about the issue, or just completely full of feces. Positivity. Focus on what’s working and is always the way to go.

for me ….

Reward myself. Quiet time in the bath. Coffee outside watching the birds. Little sticky notes that say “good job BK, you rocked that!”  (and not internalize other’s judgments on my actions)

4. INSPIRE

I have a favor saying. #thelittlesarewatcing

A parenting truth. Your children do what you do. Not what you say. And if you constantly say something differently then they do …. OMG. The problems that ensue. Zero trust. They might actively do the opposite of what you want to express the face that you might be full of feces.

INSPIRE = fill someone with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

If #1, #2 and #3 are done well, this one naturally happens. Especially if you are thinking about how that person (or you ) think, learn, express themselves and feel …. you will be a rockstar in connecting and just rocking your jam. Inspiring others is a fully thing. It comes for you doing YOU EXCELLENTLY, giving all your heart and soul. Those that need to see that and experience it will be placed right in front of you.

BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE

(even if it is totally opposite what’s manifesting at that point in time)

for me…. I need to fill my life with people that are inspiring me. Simple as that. Read inspiring things. Watch inspiring things. Fill my soul with what’s inspiration.

5. CONSTRUCTIVE OBSERVATIONS

Communicating feedback is so important. Your relationship with yourself, with others and etc is a two way street. That is a truth. It completely maps up with that smartie Isaac Newton and his equal and opposite reaction law. You do something. There will be an affect. Feedback in and of itself isn’t good or bad. Positive or negative. Getting into the habit of giving positive feedback can be hard as we are a society that LOVES to take all the credit, not give credit to others and also to be obsessed with the negative. What’s not working.  Or how I’m so awesome and did this all myself, as help is construed as negative.  “I couldn’t do it myself.”

This positive feedback is the foundation of everything. Good parenting. Good dog training. Good coaching. Good relationship. Good self management.

On the opposite side of the coin, expressing the other feedback is equally important. (Truth, sometimes the lessons come the hard and uncomfortable way. Or most of the time). We just usually suck at it or shy away from conflict because others suck at it … or we are delusional and think we are always right. We aren’t all that good at looking it the mirror … in an objective and constructive (loving) way.

Constructive observation instead of criticism. If you do this and the panties get in a wad, you know that the issue isn’t (usually) with what you said or what not, but more in the person in front of you. If that happens to be you … then you need to have a reality check with your competing behaviors. And as my coach says to me all the time, “get your mind right Kissinger”.

for me….

I need to journal daily to communicate with myself. See what I’ve been doing well. What I can work on. Where my bullshit is at (Roger that!) Use the journalling platform to be the best boss of mine that I can be.

CAN I GET A HELL YEAH!?!? 😉

Final thoughts.

STOP FREAKING BULLYING YOURSELF. Be a good boss. A leader to yourself. Not a jerk face.

Do not be afraid to fire people. ;). Maybe they need a different job.

Do that and the others around you will probably naturally follow suit. Or things will get cleaned up. Either way. Winner winner chicken dinner.

Athlete, Coaching, Education, Personal Growth

The Dash in the Middle Matters

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We talk about goals. I want to do this. I want to do that. I want to lose weight. I want to do a marathon. I want to be a better mom and human being. I want to fix the anxiety.

We set goals. We have these big things that we want to do. We can get really wrapped up in that the end looks like. When we begin … most of the time we already have set the expectation of what success looks like. And it is usually borrowed from somewhere/someone else …. We might become very rigid in what that looks like.  Become very attached to “creating” that exact thing or how we perceive it to “look”.  Like… my 401K needs to have this amount of money it in because that is the only way I’m going to have security when I’m older.  Or …. my kid has to turn out to gotten all good grades and went through college and got a good job and a good marriage in order for me to check mark that I was a good parent.  Or … I have to hit my marathon goal to prove that I am a good enough athlete, that I’m not slow and pathetic”.  I think that some amount of that is important. To hold the line. (I don’t believe in everyone gets a participation ribbon, sometimes the line needs to be far enough that some fail. So the lessons are learned).

Goals are GREAT. But the truth is that everything is changing all the time.  Facts of science. And it’s just common sense that if that is true, hahaha, which it is, then the end picture if you will, has a high likelihood of looking different than what you envisioned when you started.  You almost want to really embrace this because it means (proves) that you did change.  Because we want to change.  If the goal is big enough, and heart felt ones always are … you have to be different in order to accomplish it.  Thats growth.  You are either growing or you are dying.  (THE DASH)  We need to learn how to be flexible with those changes so we roll with the slight adjustments along the way. That is where faith comes in. Faith that when you GET ON THE ROAD, and work your ass of to go down the road, hopefully faster than slower, you don’t freak the heck out on the slight detours that might just gift you with most awesome stuff …. That lack of faith or freaking out at the detours can very well cause you to cheat yourself out of something glorious or the whole flipping goal.

DO NOT FREAK OUT

HAVE FAITH

(plus be brave, look at what’s in front of you, pick up what you need, use the darn thing, and continue forward)

I do believe that all our goals, if we look close enough, have ties to our heart. “I want to lose this stupid 20 pounds!”. DEEP down I believe this stems from the #heartgoal of wanting to develop better self love activities, take better care of ourselves, love ourselves more, do the right things, etc. I do not believe that we REALLY want or are designed to drink our life away, or play small all the time or live a boring ass life that doesn’t make a dent anywhere.  (A positive dent thank you very much!)  Yeah, a lot will get hung up on fitting in the cute jeans, tri shorts, etc …. but I do truly believe that underneath that is the TRUE DESIRE to love ourselves more so we see (outwardly shine) a more attractive version of ourselves. It is the visual feedback that we accomplished the REAL CHANGE we wanted,  the self love habits accomplished.

It’s the journey that matters. We begin. And we end. We start out gloriously perfect. We ALWAYS have the part of ourselves that is gloriously perfect and bright (we just cover it up). And we will always die. What you can influence with the “dash”. What you do in the middle is what matters.

Did you take the detour and help a stranger, perhaps save a life and grace yourself a bit too … or did you freak the f out and make life harder on yourself and those around you?

THE DASH MATTERS. What you do with the dash is what brightens life. What graces others. What dictates not the end number or the end goal, but how big of a smile there was.  What gets WRITTEN ON YOUR TOMBSTONE is the dent you make.  What do you want written on yours?

This is why I tell my athletes, GET THE BEST RACE PICTURE EVER! It represents all the blood, sweat and tears that it took to get there. It represents the DASH! The Journey. Doesn’t matter if you got on the podium or were dead last.

THE DASH MATTERS

 

Coaching, Education, Ironman, Self Care, Yoga

Embracing the dark

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Our programmed minds work fast. A lot of things are coming at us, so we do need these trigger fast default values that we place on things. Helps us to process and deal with the world. We can have defaults that work for us and that hold us back.

I believe our default value of “bad” for the adjective “dark” doesn’t serve us well.

Light and Dark

The darkside

Anger as being dark

The dark wolf (or black)

The Dark Side of the Force ???

Black magic (they totally jacked up the word “black” with that one)

The Dark Knight ???

Black cats

Nightmare (night didn’t do anything bad …)

Black hearted

Disney’s Hercules depicts Hell as dark (The Underworld)

I could totally go on a tangent on how we thing the light is GOOD and the absence of light is bad, but Newton would beg to different and maybe some of the scientist and yogi’s too. Some think that the process of things (in a BIG picture) requires the cycling through light and dark (expansion and contraction) (sun to black hole …) blah blah blah. Back to my point … which is …

I think we do ourselves a big fat disservice when we default to anything with the adjective “black” or “dark” instantly gets a “bad” wrap.

For all of my life, I have been scared of the dark. Not like …. “scared” but more like “fight or flight” heart rate is now “160 thank you and panic is ensuing”. Like PTSD.

Hahahaha. You all are gonna start to like I need a straight jacket.

An example of how I use to live with this … I use to live in a house that the washer and dryer were in the basement (one of the quad level houses with 1/2 a basement with scary creepy steps …). The basement light was a bulb with a string on it, the basement wasn’t finished, etc. So when I would be climbing (crawling) up the stairs with my laundry, if I was going to adult well and turnoff the light, I would have to exit in the dark. I would have a mini panic. Each and every time. My smart brain would say “Bk, you’re stupid. You KNOW there is nothing in this basement that would hurt you.” And the badass voice would say, “you could probably kick their ass even if they were here 😉 ). Anyway, one of the voices would be “you are not safe”. That one is a hard one to deal with (or silence).

In my coaching and life experience, we don’t heal (silence some voices) but having an underlying thought that it’s “bad”. When I tore up my right AC joint, that shoulder didn’t get better until I stopped calling it my “bad shoulder”. It lots lots better when I called it “bambino”.

I tell people now …. “don’t slap the baby”. This goes for either dealing with hurt hamstrings, plantar fasciitis … or the soft spots of the heart.

It. Is. All. Energy. All of it.

More of the point BK ….

So the thought of doing night diving in Ecuador was sort of an interesting one. I’m pretty fearless and if there is a “reasonable amount of danger” involved … I’m in. I guess I like living on the edge. I’m usually well prepared and what not tho. 😉 I have an adventurer’s heart, which in this case just about completely won over my fear of not being able to see what’s around me. To lay in a bit of backstory … not to beat it like a dead horse, but …. I have copious amounts of glorious stories from my childhood that explain why the heck I’m a touch cray cray. This is a good one. I

might have been taken to see Psycho when I was … way to young, 8 maybe. When Norman got the part about whacking his mom over the head with a shovel … I finally ran out of the theater and sat (by myself) by the doors until the movie was done. What makes this super funny …. in a really ironic (perhaps f’ed up) way …. years later I had to visit my dad in Iowa for a month during the summer. He lived in this house … that no joke … looked EXACTLY like the Bates’ house. Ancient, creaky, 200 years old …. fill of dusty antiques, secret passage ways between rooms …. I shit you not. Hahahaha. I type this and what to laugh my ass

off and cry at the same time. I stayed in the north room for years, which had the attic door, which lead to the attic, which housed a big ass colony of bats. Let your mind wonder for a bit. This house was the bomb really. It had a spiral back stair case and and and … lovely. I finally got to stay in a better room that was a bit less …. anyway. I ended up 40 completely scared of the dark.

**Back to night scuba diving** …. So the adventure voice was fully in charge until I was sitting on the edge of the boat to **fall backwards** into the “**not filled with light**” ocean in the “**no sun to be seen**” sky. But I know how to tell the scared one “shhh” it’s ok. Really. And that generally works anymore.

As an aside. In the yoga world, we teach that back bends in general are filled with “fear” from not being able to see what’s coming next. hahaha. So this flipping over the side of a boat definitely pushed me WAY outside my comfort zone for a moment. “BK, what the f are you doing???” “Do we really have to do this?” I know exactly where these voices come from and that gives me power to shush the voices enough to get through until the adventure’s voice is loudest again. Or the warrior’s voice … that ones pretty loud too. (as well as working towards those parts of me not needing to express themselves so much. Healing the soft parts.)

Flipping off a perfectly good boat in the “unlight” …. I won’t lie. I sort of messed up the flipping business a little bit and ended up doing a somersault in the “can’t see shit” cold water. (Yeah yeah. It’s the ocean. Cold. I had a lot of neoprene on too. Add that in for those that know).

And this is what the voices had to say.

1. Nice job BK! You are going to drown because you screwed that shit up and you can’t use your flashlight right now because you have no idea which way is up and you FOR SURE can’t blind anyone use your light wrong and being a jerk face. 75%

2. BK. STFU and figure out which way is up. 23%

3. HOLY F ME. Scared. This was just a feeling, but it’s intense. (The kind that you pee. Lizard freaking brain). 3%

Looks like the snarky voice won out on that. And can apparently get shit done. 😉

Once I got myself righted and my light on. All was good. GREAT actually. Like maybe voices said “F$ck YEAH!” This is way cool!!! It was surprising very serene, peaceful. There was something about without the constant site of those I was diving with … I felt totally at peace with the ocean. I was INVESTIGATING. So cool. Our guide took us to a shallow cave where we saw and chilled with a sea turtle that was sleeping.

I was at peace. And stupid excited to be experience this beautiful piece of the earth.

Super glad that I didn’t let legitimate fear and issues stop me from experiencing that moment.

 

 

That’s the point?!

 

 

There are beautiful things in the darkness.

The dark places aren’t necessarily “bad”.

That dark wolf is a needed part of being badass. That’s your warrior.

You don’t/won’t heal your soft spots saying they are broken or bad. Don’t let anyone tell you different.

(ps.  I’m not afraid of the dark anymore.)

Athlete, Coaching, Ironman, Podcasts, Triathlon

#59 Ironman Triathlon Special Needs Bags

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[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5564695/height/90/width/480/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/” height=”90″ width=”480″]

What to do with all of the bags you receive at your Ironman race

What the #?$% do I do with all these bags?!

You just checked in at your Ironman race as are headed back to your hotel/condo wondering why did they give me all of these bags – Do I need them? What goes in them?   Where do I need to bring them and when*?  This can seem a bit overwhelming at first thought, so let’s demystify the process.

There will be 5 bags, each with a specific purpose to be utilized in a particular time and place:

  • Pre-swim/dry clothes
  • Swim to bike (T1)
  • Bike special needs
  • Bike to run (T2), and
  • Run special needs.

The bags will either come pre-numbered or you will receive a sticker sheet with your race number to place on the bags.  It is best to think about what you want to put into these bags well ahead of time.  Make a checklist for each bag so that you will not forget a single item.  Lists are a way to keep a sense of control at a time when tensions can be high.  Having this control and order will go a long way to staying calm during your final race preparation.  Let’s take a look at each bag.

Morning Clothes Bag – This bag is for your “street” clothes you wear to transition on race morning and/or your dry clothes for after the race.  Don’t underestimate how great it will feel to get on some dry clothes after being in clothes that can be wet and rather gross for so many different reasons.  😉  One item that is always a post-race favorite are flip-flops (aka “slippers”, if you’re in Kona).

Bike Gear Bag – This bag will be placed in T1 during the gear check-in and will have everything that you need for the bike leg.Transition_bags

  • Helmet
  • Sunglasses
  • Socks
  • Cycling shoes
  • Chamois cream
  • Sunscreen (this is often available in T1)
  • Arm warmers/coolers (and any other special clothing)
  • Race belt with number (if required to wear it during the bike leg)
  • Nutrition (calories, hydration, caffeine, and electrolyte tabs – if not stowed on the bike)
  • Cycling race kit (if not worn during the swim leg)

Run Gear Bag – This bag will be placed in T2 during the gear check-in and will have everything that you need for the run leg.

  • Visor/Hat
  • Running shoes
  • Sunglasses (if not worn on the bike)
  • Race belt with number (if not worn during the bike leg)
  • Nutrition for the run (calories, hydration, caffeine, and electrolyte tabs – if you plan to carry some)
  • Body Glide

Bike Special Needs – This bag will be available to you, usually right around the halfway point of the bike.  This bag will be dropped off race morning*.  Some items for this bag include nutritional items and some basic “oh crap” bike repair items.  Know that these repair items are purely back-ups and you should carry them and more on the bike with you.

  • Nutrition – bottles of your special sauce, gels, bars, caffeine, and electrolyte tabs, etc.
  • Something yummy – if things aren’t going well, it can be nice to have a special treat that you know will sound good.  I always put a king size Snickers Bar in my special needs bag, just in case.
  • Spare tubes/tubular tire
  • CO2
  • Inspirational note or picture.  This is always nice to have…  You can even write a note to yourself with some words of encouragement.

Run Special Needs – This bag will be available to you, usually right around the halfway point of the run.  This bag will be dropped off race morning. Some items for this bag include nutritional items and comfort items.

  • Nutrition – bottles of your special sauce, gels, bars, caffeine, and electrolyte tabs, etc.
  • Something yummy – if things aren’t going well, it can be nice to have a special treat that you know will sound good.  I always put a king size Snickers Bar in my special needs bag, just in case.  Yep, I put one in each of my special needs bags.  J
  • Comfort items – extra pair of socks, long sleeve t-shirt, etc.
  • Vaseline/Body Glide

What you put in your particular bags is a very individual decision.  You have control over what you want out there on race day.  Know that Murphy’s Law is always in effect during those precious 17 hours.  I like to have a system of redundancies.  Think of a squirrel stowing nuts away for the winter.  Before I had laser corrective surgery, I had contact lenses stashed in every bag…  It is better to pack it and not need it, then to leave something out because you “probably won’t need it”.  Also, don’t forget to fully utilize your family and friends as Ironsherpas.  They will want to help and giving them a specific task, i.e. carrying your equipment and/or dropping off your special needs bags will give them a mission and save you the walk up the road.

*Be sure to read the athlete guide to confirm when and where to deliver each bag.

Athlete, Coaching, Podcasts, Triathlon

Ironman 70.3 St. George Race Review

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[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4902348/height/90/width/480/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/” height=”90″ width=”480″]st-george-him-bike-profilest-george-run-profile

30 Day Paleo Challenge, Adrenal Health, Athlete, Coaching, Eating

Paleo 30 Day Challenge with Coach BK Lecture 1

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[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4883519/height/90/width/480/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/” height=”90″ width=”480″]

www-bonniekissinger-com%2fpaleo

Coach BK offers free athlete health assessments, which includes an online form to fill out and a 30 minute rockstar chat on the phone to go over the form results.  Coach BK will provide 3 action steps to help you get to the next level of your training.  START HERE >>> Athlete Health Assessment Form

collage

 

Athlete, Coaching, Podcasts, Race Review, Triathlon

Ironman Lake Placid Race Review

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[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4883485/height/90/width/480/theme/custom/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/” height=”90″ width=”480″]lake-placid

 

Moira Easton Horan, Amy Stone and  and Kristen Larimer chat about the logistics and everything to do with Ironman Lake Placid.

Coach BK offers free athlete health assessments, which includes an online form to fill out and a 30 minute rockstar chat on the phone to go over the form results.  Coach BK will provide 3 action steps to help you get to the next level of your training.  START HERE >>> Athlete Health Assessment Form

lake-placid-bike-profile

 

 

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