Two Turns from Zero

by Stacey Griffith

  When I was determined to keep myself away from my old unhealthy lifestyle, I decided the only way I could heal myself was through exercise. But I took a very important lesson from my dad’s slowly-stretching-out-every-day routine when I also decided I needed a kind of exercise I’d never done before. I knew if I took on something that ended up being too easy for me physically, I would become bored and that could cause me to slip back into old bad habits I didn’t want to do.

  I decided I would take up yoga, and to get started I signed on to do a two-month course in Mysore, India. This was not New York trendy yoga—it was Sri K. Patthabhi Jois Ashtanga yoga, the real deal.

  In Mysore, I stayed with my friend Kelly in a beautiful little house. I found the course incredibly therapeutic, but at the same time, I realized real-deal Ashtanga yoga was not for me. I need loud music and fast movement to stay committed—that’s just how I’m hardwired. But there was no way I was going to quit my stint there because it was such an incredible adventure, and because I had made my mind up to stick out what I had committed to do.

  So while I was doing my yoga poses for hours every day and still reaping its rewards and becoming more flexible than I ever thought possible, I kept coming up with all these ideas of how to improve the yoga experience for me.

  After three months of study in India, 2001

  I suddenly realized one day that I wasn’t just going to teach yoga—I was going to adapt the best principles of yoga (being present, focus on breathing, learning stillness, visualizations, meditations, using your own body strength without any props, core strength, flexibility) and put them to music and create my own workout system.

  I wouldn’t ever dream of calling it yoga, because the yogis would have been appalled—and after all, it wasn’t real yoga! But it was the kind of exercise and mindfulness I knew I liked, and I liked it because it worked for me. I also figured my students would like the more dynamic aspects of it, too.

  At the same time, with exercise giving me the physical rush and emotional discipline that were healing everything I was suffering from, there was no way I was going to stop doing it. So that was my way of turning my own knob way past zero—and that is what’s brought me to the place of calm and peace and accomplishment as a teacher I never thought I’d find.

  Visualization—Motivation for Any Workout

  Use this visualization when you find yourself asking why you should even bother working out. You know why you should, but sometimes your brain takes over from your body. You know that getting a move on isn’t just about physicality—it’s about finding the mental focus and feeling it in your heart. In this moment, I would use a song you love with a strong beat that will help you focus while you visualize. Also, read how to do it first, then put the book down, the song on, and give it a shot!

  Note: This visualization technique will only work if you back it up with the action that will actually take you there. Here’s what I mean by this: If your meditation is about having flatter abs, don’t think about lunch—think about dropping on the floor and doing the planks or the sit-ups after you do the meditation. This is the trick to putting the meditation to actual work; see it first in your head . . . then go friggin’ do it! You have to truly believe in what you see in your mind. When you start doubting, you unwind the process. . . . Do not doubt! Then get into action!

  1.Close your eyes and picture yourself in your absolute favorite destination, looking the way you’ve always wanted to look. You have to create a genuine focus on what you’re about to do and how you plan to do it. You can’t stop thinking about what you want to look like, because if your mind drifts, you start thinking about other things. As you think, breathe . . . deeply, and with each breath, feel the changes as if they are showing up every time you inhale and exhale.

  2.Continue to see yourself down to the clothes you’re wearing, the way you feel in them, and the shoes on your feet. Be strong. Imagine your body changing into exactly what you’ve always wanted it to be. Everything about you is changing. Every day it’s changing for the better. What is that? you ask. That’s mind, body, soul. That’s what makes you want to cry! You imagining yourself as a better version of you should bring tears to your eyes. Being in shape and having the body you want is an emotional and physical labor of love.

  3.The key to putting this all together is finding the workouts, the movements, the rituals of exercise to get you in motion and keep you in motion. As you continue to visualize yourself, think about what it is that makes you happy and excited when you do it—this could be running, speed walking, swimming, indoor cycling, tennis, whatever . . .

  After your visualization, your next step is making the right time to bring motion into your life, as well as finding a teacher to give you instruction for your sport or activity. We live in a wonderful Internet age of Google and other search engines where you can get a lot of information. Try out a few different instructors to see who suits your personality. Sometimes it takes a while to find the perfect fit. Be patient and have fun while you’re looking!

  DON’T LET FEAR HOLD YOU BACK

  Not long ago, a woman named Denise came up to me before class started and said, “I have to let you know that I might not be able to do the push-ups today because I had a mastectomy.” I thanked her for telling me and asked her how long ago she’d had it. She told me it had been a year. Wait a minute—a year?

  “Come with me,” I told Denise as I took her out to a quiet corner in the hallway. “Okay, tell me, if you can, what’s really going on. You’ve had a year to heal, which should be long enough for you, physically, at least. Is that true?”

  She nodded, so I went on. “So I need you to let go of that mentally,” I added. “Let go of your diagnosis. Let go of your mastectomy. Let go of everything that happened. Don’t let that be what’s identifying how and who you are. This is a new you. Letting go of what happened last year is the best thing you can do right now. We’re going to rebuild you in every possible way, and you’re going to be the strongest student in my class today. Do the push-ups today and don’t be afraid to do them the best way you can. If you feel any discomfort at all from the scar tissue, then please listen to your body and go easy. It doesn’t matter if your form isn’t perfect or if you can’t go all the way down and up. Don’t even think about that. I know you can do it.”

  PLAYLIST

  FOR AOA

  These songs will help you get into the groove, and stay there.

  Aerosmith

  “Sweet Emotion”

  Toni Braxton

  “You’re Making Me High”

  Coldplay

  “Hymn for the Weekend”

  DNCE

  “Cake by the Ocean”

  Kirk Franklin

  “Brighter Day”

  FUTURPOETS

  “Superman”

  David Guetta

  “Lift Me Up (Mylo Mix)

  George Michael

  “Faith” (Aeroplane Remix)

  Bruno Mars

  “24K Magic”

  Justin Timberlake

  “Can’t Stop the Feelin’”

  Her eyes filled with tears that she quickly blinked away.

  “You’re still here, and you need to kick ass,” I added. “So let’s freaking kick ass today!”

  “Thank you, Stacey,” she said as she turned to go back inside.

  I kept a careful eye on her during class, and when we got to the push-ups I saw she was doing them. And doing them really well, I might add. That’s when I moved near her and gave her a big smile and a thumbs-up.

  When the class was over, I stood by the door as I always do to fist-bump my students as they leave, giving them the acknowledgment they deserve for their hard work. Denise smiled when she saw me.

  “That was the best advice ever,” she said. “You really got me through it.”

  “I’m glad,” I replied. “I knew you weren’t going to hurt yourself. You’re strong now. You’re so much stronger than you think.”

&nb
sp; Denise had finally allowed herself to push past the fear. Her muscles were sturdy; her brain was not. She was still thinking of herself as a victim rather than a warrior who’d fought the enemy that had tried to kill her—and vanquished it.

  The new determination on Denise’s face made me think of another one of my longtime students, Maria Pargac, whom I told you about on page. Her late-stage breast cancer had spread to some of her lymph nodes. Her oncologist told her it wasn’t looking good, that it was likely terminal. During surgery, most of her pectoral muscle was removed, and she was told that due to the trauma, she’d never have muscles there again.

  Maria was determined to get better, and she asked me for help. When we would focus before class, I would tell her to visualize her pec muscles coming back, to see herself as whole and strong again. Well, you should see Maria’s pec muscles now from doing all the push-ups in class—muscles her doctors were sure would be gone for good. I would love to see the look on those doctors’ faces now when she goes in for her checkups! She is beyond buff. I am in awe of her guts and determination.

  The difference between Denise and Maria was stark. Maria told herself on day one of her diagnosis that she was a general in the army of her life, and she was going to defeat the enemy, whatever the doctors said. Her disease actually empowered her. She fired up her mental cancer carpet duster, and she started using it to beat that old rug to get all the entrenched dirt and grime out until she won.

  Denise took a different approach. She, too, was a general, but it took her much longer to fight the battle. She had a lot more fear to conquer. Finally, it was power she got from exercise that gave her the last bit of courage she needed. Denise needed me to tell her it was okay to be fierce—and to freaking kick ass.

  Time to Shed the Excuses

  I’ve been working as a fitness professional for so long I could swear I’ve heard every possible excuse a person could come up with to skip their workouts. Here’s a list of some of them, matched up with what you can tell yourself when one goes through your mind.

  No, I Can’t

  Oh Yes, You Can

  I don’t have the time.

  You have time to shop, to prepare your meals, to go get your hair done for special occasions. You spend time taking care of your kids, and now it is time to take care of yourself.

  A gym membership is too expensive.

  Exercise is free. Walking is one of the best exercises for you, and it doesn’t cost anything. Working out to exercise shows on TV or via streaming is free. (There are lots of incredible workouts on YouTube, and they’re all free!) In addition, what else are you spending money on that you can cut down on or eliminate?

  I’m afraid to use the equipment in the gym.

  It’s always a good idea to hire a professional personal trainer for a session or two when you go to a gym—they’ll show you the right way to work out for your body. This will not only prevent injuries but improve your workouts right away. Many people get hurt because they don’t know the right way to use weights or equipment and are too shy to ask. Speak up. Ask for help! You’re paying to be there!

  I don’t have space in the house.

  You can leave the house and take a walk.

  I don’t have the right gear.

  You can wear anything comfortable to exercise. Think of what cavemen wore to do it. There’s no reason to spend a lot of money on designer clothes that you’re going to sweat in, right?

  I just had surgery, and I’m sore.

  Discuss when you can start a modified program with your surgeon and/or physical therapist. Start slow and listen to your body.

  I have exercise-induced asthma.

  See a pulmonologist. An inhaler might help a lot. Exercise can actually improve lung function, but be sure not to overdo it. (Asthma is no joke. Always, always consult your doctor before you do any kind of exercise.)

  I have an injury.

  All athletes get injured at some point—it goes with the territory. They rest and heal until they’re given the go-ahead to start working out again, and then they’re right back at it.

  Everyone is going to make fun of me.

  If anyone is so shallow as to judge another person’s body or abilities, they’re losers who aren’t worth thinking about. Besides, people are almost always much more concerned with their own workouts than they are with looking at or thinking about anyone else at the gym or anywhere else.

  I do understand why these excuses are said. Finding time can be hard. Going from inactive to active is hard. Feeling that you’re being judged (even if you’re not) is a valid fear—walking into any new gym or studio can be daunting, even for experienced exercisers. Learning how to do any new sport or dance moves or exercises is sometimes really tough. Especially if doing so came much more easily to you when you were younger. As we get older, flexibility or stamina don’t come as easily anymore. You can also be experiencing a painful twinge of ruefulness about your own mortality. But are you going to wallow in it? Of course not! You’re going to get up and kick ass today!

  So when I hear any of these excuses, I always walk my students through whatever it is they’re saying, and together we find solutions. There’s always a solution.

  Especially when it comes to the time factor. Most people think exercise must be done in chunks of at least thirty minutes, but that’s not true. A study done at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, with results published in 2016, found that you can reap the benefits of just one minute of intense exercise each day—not that you should do so little, but your body instantly responds.

  There have been other, numerous studies showing that those who split their exercise time into ten-minute increments were more likely to exercise consistently. In one study, women who divided up their exercise sessions lost more weight after five months than women who exercised for twenty to forty minutes at a time.

  In a landmark study conducted at the University of Virginia, exercise physiologist Glenn Gaesser, PhD, asked men and women to complete fifteen 10-minute exercise routines a week. After just twenty-one days, the volunteers’ aerobic fitness was equal to that of people ten to fifteen years younger. “It would be useful for people to get out of the all-or-nothing mind-set that unless they exercise for thirty minutes, they’re wasting their time,” he said.

  I saw this myself in 2007 when I worked on a program called Healthy Upgrade Team with Brooke Shields for Colgate, an ad campaign targeting women to help them take better care of their teeth. My part of the process was to challenge women to get moving. I came up with a regime that had them scrubbing pots in a circular pattern, brushing their teeth with extra oomph, mopping the floor with their feet—you get the idea. The women we worked with didn’t equate cleaning with exercise until we showed them how pushing a heavy vacuum back and forth did wonders for their arms and butts.

  It makes sense; when you’re actively cleaning, your body is in motion. You just need to take the time to focus on the kinesiology of how you’re actually using your muscles, instead of just performing the task. You will be surprised how sore you can get from mopping the floor with your feet!

  I know it is more challenging today to be active than in previous generations. As unfathomable as it might seem to anyone born after 1970, back in the day, people actually had to get up to answer the telephone and change the TV channels; they even had to wash all the dishes by hand.

  Decades ago, kids walked or biked to school. Now there are buses and carpools. These same kids would come home from school and then go out to play. Now helicopter parents are too scared not to have a GPS blinking on their little ones’ cell phones.

  If you had to research a project, you’d go to a library and stand in front of the card catalogue and then walk around the shelves and reach up and down for the books you needed. Now all you have to do is hit the search button on your browser. Sedentary jobs have increased 83 percent since 1950; physically active jobs now make up less than 20 percent of our workforce, compared to 1960, when about half of
the US workforce was physically active.

  THE THIRTY-SECOND T-SHIRT WORKOUT

  You can do this either sitting or standing. This sequence is surprisingly tough, especially when you keep a lot of tension on the shirt (or you can use a towel). For a harder workout, you can repeat this up to one hundred times if you want to go crazy! Knock yourself out.

  1.Grab a T-shirt and hold it with one hand at each end.

  2.Position your hands at 9 and 3 on the clock and move the T-shirt from side to side for 5 seconds.

  3.Move your hands to 12 and 6 on the clock. Hold the hand at 12 steady while circling the hand at 6 as if you are stirring a pot of thick oatmeal.

  4.Move your hands to do a bicep curl, and then when your hands are at shoulder height, extend them upward, over your head. Do as many as you can for 10 seconds.

  5.Move your left hand to forehead height, palm facing out, and your right hand in the bicep curl position. Move the T-shirt up and down on a diagonal for 5 seconds. Switch sides and repeat. Do not overextend the upper arm too much—it’s not about moving the T-shirt too high but about feeling the tension in your triceps.

  The consequences and problems from lack of movement are deadly. In all, sedentary lifestyles lead to an estimated 5.3 million premature deaths a year worldwide, right up there with smoking.

  Half an hour of brisk walking every day can do more for your long-term health than all the efforts of a dozen doctors and their medication. (The key word is brisk, as you need to get your heart pumping, as Dr. Steinbaum explained on page.) Thirty minutes is all you need—whether from walking, jogging, running, using machines at the gym, biking, dancing, or swimming. Every day.