Pacific Strength

I dusted off my jump rope recently & I’ve been loving the sweat sessions I’m getting in. I try to do it outside ☀️, with different intervals, & for varying durations. Depending on the day, I will either feel like a kid again 👧, jumping & trying tricks, or I channel my inner Rocky. 🥊 There are so many different ways to train strength, conditioning, mobility… and so many things we do have overlap. It’s fun to try something new or dust off an old fav. What form of training do you love to do but haven’t done in a…

Funny how a different perspective changes things.  I woke up recently with a pimple on the end of my nose. Rudolph style. I’m 42 years old & I’m thinking “Why on earth is this happening?”, “What am I doing wrong?” & “Boy, do I look stupid.” I wasn’t stressing a ton about it, but I was annoyed.  Then a friend came over. In frustration & in an attempt to point out the elephant in the room, I acknowledged the pimple on my nose. & without missing a beat, she said, “It’s your body reminding you that you still have a…

  Hey! 👋 Val here to tell you: you’re going to be ok. If you miss your training, you’ll be ok. If you over-ate, you’ll be ok. If you’re worried about how you’ll do all the things this summer AND get your training in, you’ll be ok. Whatever’s going on, you’ll be ok. You may mess up, but you’ll figure it out. Are you trying? Are you thinking about how you can be better? Do better? Are you looking for solutions? Are you digging deep? Keep moving. Keep trying. Dig when you need to. Hop over that hole when you’re…

The proverb goes: The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. What are you waiting for? There’s no better time to start. Action is better than inaction. Even if you “just” have 10 minutes. Start. Don’t wait. There’s never a perfect time. The best time is now. Go for a walk. Do 10 squats/pushups/lunges every day. Do. The. Thing.

Summer is coming Kids look forward to summer. Parents try to make sure we have all of our ducks in a row to set ourselves & our kids up for success.  We want to enjoy the summer with our kids AND not completely let all of our routines go. How do we do that? 1️⃣ By acknowledging that summer will shake up our routine.  Sometimes we just need to say it out loud. No matter how prepared we are or how much we plan, summer with kids is hectic. 2️⃣ By being flexible.  Know that you can shift any training…

No need to over-complicate things. Especially strength training. It’s easy to get in the weeds when you think of all the things you ‘could’ do today for your training. But if you have a bit of analysis-paralysis… Keep it simple! Pick a lower body movement. Pick an upper body movement. Do 3-5 sets of 10 of each. I didn’t get great sleep, I’m going for a walk with a friend later, but it’s been a couple days since my last strength training session, so this is what I did today: 3 sets, 10 reps each, squats + pushups (pushups at…

Strength is a skill. You can learn how to be strong. It’s not something only some people are born with. You can learn to do a push-up. You can learn yo do a pull-up. You can learn better form & deadlift really heavy. It takes a willingness to learn. It takes time. It takes effort. I believe it’s a worthwhile pursuit. Because life is better when you’re strong. #findyourstrength #fitnessthatfitsyourlife #learntobestrong #andthengetstrong #strongfirst

Requirement for training with me: remain curious. “Curiosity is a willing, a proud, and an eager confession of ignorance.” -S. Leonard Rubinstein I didn’t like that quote at first… but when I sat with it for a bit, I got comfortable with what he was saying: When you admit that you don’t know something for sure, you’re willing to learn.  And *that* is what you need to be able to make progress. Curiosity. A willingness to learn. Are you willing to learn what will work for you? I promise to be a curious trainer: to ask questions, to learn from…

No movement is off-limits. Fitness people typically like to tell people what to do 🙋‍♀️ & they have a big list of what NOT to do too. Ex: I used to tell people “no kipping pull-ups”… you’re more likely to get hurt. While that may be true, there is a time & place for kipping pull-ups. Ex: I used to think walking was lame & a waste of time (I mean, why not just run & get it over with?). Now, I love my walks & count them as part of my training & also meditation. Things have changed &…