The past 9 days have been an incredible journey.

As most of you know, I suffered a serious spinal fracture last year, had an emergency operation in Peru to fuse 3 of my vertebrae together, and have spent the past 12 months working with severe chronic pain treated with the only thing that would even touch my affliction: narcotic pain medication, namely MS Contin, or morphine.

I have spent the past 12 months pining to be drug-free. For tons of reasons, but above all, I was incredibly unnerved at the prospect of having an opiate addiction on my hands. Yikes! Noooo thank you. So, when I finally got caught up enough in life to slow down, I welcomed the opportunity to ween off the medication.

Except that instead of weening, I decided to just go for it. Two more months of weening off of morphine seemed an awful lot like 2 more months-full of time to get addicted to a heavy narcotic drug that can practically gaurantee dependence.

Check this out, from Wikipedia:

In controlled studies comparing the physiological and subjective effects of injected heroin and morphine in individuals formerly addicted to opiates, subjects showed no preference for one drug over the other.

I didn’t really realize what the detox from the stuff was going to be like until the evening of Day 1, while I was dripping sweat while teaching a cardio kick-boxing class at the Seattle Athletic Club and realized that I was all of a sudden freezing cold … uh oh. This is going to suck. C’mon, I don’t have time for this!

For the next three days, I didn’t leave my bed except to drag myself to the bathroom, and even resisted eating and drinking to avoid the trips. I soaked my bed with buckets of cold sweat, my pillow dripped with tears, and I literally prayed for sleep in order to forget about the pain.

Oh yeah, the pain. Narcotic pain medication is different than stuff like Tylenol in that it sends little plugs to fill up your pain receptors, and so in response, your body produces tons more receptors. So when I took all those plugs away, agony ripped through my body equal in abundance only to actually breaking my back in the first place. I nodded in and out of consciousness thinking that I was back in a hospital in Lima … waiting for an operation … will I walk again?

Ugh.

Day 4. I leave the upstairs. Morphine withdrawl, similar to heroin, gives the detoxer an incredible physical shit-storm of flu-like symptoms and I finally felt like I could see the end of the physical sickness.

I walk down the stairs. I sit on the couch and for the first time I’m hungry. For ice cream! And guess WHAT: when you’re detoxing from drugs with heroin-like withdrawl symptoms, you get to eat as much ice cream as you want.

In the next 2 days I ate:

1 pint of Haagen-Daz Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream
1 pint of Haagen-Daz Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream
copius amounts of nectarines, peaches, pineapple, and these incredible vegan cookies from Emerald City Smoothie that I am now obsessed with and mostly can’t stop thinking about: Alternative Baking Company

The following day, still craving my decadent diet, I realized that I should probably not continue with my gluttony. I know, I know, I deserved the ice cream, but holy cow, I was just going through it waaaay too fast. So, I discovered something AMAZING.

Safeway Select chocolate sorbet!! ZERO FAT and tastes just like ice cream! Except that I was fully aware of the lack of fat grams and responded by eating the entire pint in one sitting. It was really awesome though

Finally on Day 6 I got the energy to drag myself back upstairs and take a shower. The withdrawl process also gave me an incredibly acute sense of smell and … well, I was pretty ripe at that point. For the sake of Colin, my AMAZING caretaker, I washed up.

On Day 7 I went back to work and trained some of my favorite clients. I got to see Leah Isaacson do 3 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 5 push-ups, 5 sit-ups and 5 squats, talking the entire time, unwinded. And that was just her warm-up. Daaaamn.

The preceding week zapped my energy, ate away muscle tissue, and teaching was out of the question in the near future, but I’ll be damned if I go an entire week without seeing my boot campers!! So in reconditioning, I pushed through two yoga classes on Day 7 and 8 and reminded myself what I had learned exactly 12 months ago yesterday: take baby steps, baby steps, baby steps.

And here I am. Day 9. And YOU guys are my inspiration. YOU guys are my heroes. You boot campers who show up to class and push through your walls and fears. You clients who enter my training gym unable to do 10 push-ups and walk out months later doing pull-ups for your warm-up.

I may not be 100% quite yet, but I’m back from the dead. I suffered and died, and then I clawed myself out of hell one baby step at a time. And I’m back, baby. BOOYAH!

See you in boot camp. And keep inspiring each other.

Madelyn

Leah Isaacson, one of my top personal training clients, is always telling me about delicious and healthy recipes in between sets and after class. She’s one of those people who finds something she like and just runs with it, and awesome healthy food is one of her things. (Nailing close-grip push-ups and busting out pull-ups is another one of her things, but we’ll talk about that in tomorrow’s post.)

She recommends this dish for busy people because it is super easy to make, keeps really well in the fridge if you make a bunch for the rest of the week, and even gets better after it’s had time to settle for a couple days.

Leah says:

“I had this from the Metropolitan Market prepared food section last week for lunch.  I love it, so I looked at the ingredients, picked them up from the store, looked online to get some ideas about recipes and meshed a bunch together.”

Curried Couscous and Chickpea Salad

2TBS curry powder
1.5 cup couscous
2-1/4 Cup water or veg. broth (I did half and half)

Place a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Add Curry powder, stir for 1 minute, this releases the flavors. Add water or broth, bring to boil. Stir in couscous, cover and remove from heat. Let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork and set aside to cool.
Mix together and add to cooled couscous:
1-1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4-1/3 chopped parsley
1 chopped red pepper
1 can rinsed garbanzo beans
1/3 chopped onion (I used red)
1/3 cup currants (can use raisins or dried cranberries)

Dressing to be mixed into the couscous/veggie mixture:
Whisk together:
6TBS Apple-Cider Vinegar
1/3 cup Olive Oil
2-3 TBS Curry powder (more or less depending on preference)
Salt and pepper to taste.

Poor dressing over cooled couscous. Place in refrigerator until ready to chow it up! You really can add whatever veggies you want: carrots, cucumber, etc. I ended up adding extra curry powder and making a tiny bit more of the dressing.

Happy cooking!

Madelyn

One of my most common requests from clients and friends is for abdominal exercises they can do at home. Rolling V-ups are an awesome, integrative exercise that uses not only your entire abdominal muscle group, but recruits your lower back, your hip flexors, and a bit of your lower and upper body as well.

This is a challenging exercise and I might even categorize it as “advanced”. But what the heck, you’ve GOT to at least go ahead and give it a try. Check it out!

Doesn’t that look awesome?? I know, I know. It really does. And it is.

Here’s an ab workout that incorporates the rolling V-up, as well as other exercises that engage similar muscle groups.

Rolling V-up Party

• 5-8 rolling V-ups (each time you perform a V-up counts as 1 rep)
• 20-30 bicycle crunches, fast
• 5-8 rolling V-ups
• 20-30 bicycle crunches, slow
• 20 twisting hip raises (each lift+twist of the hips counts as 1 rep; to make less challenging, don’t twist, simply lift)
• 20 leg lifts (to make less challenging, place hands beneath hips)
• 5-8 rolling V-ups
• 10 reps of:  in a squat position, jump/explode up, and land in a lunge position. Perform 2 jumping lunges, then jump back to a squat position. From there, drop into a push-up, perform a push-up, then spring hands to feet, trying to land in a squat position. Repeat the sets of jumping squats and lunges, then go back into the push-up and keep it going
• Repeat a total of 2 times for beginners, and use the lower end of reps. For the advanced or ambitious, perform 3-4 rounds total, using the higher end of reps.

Have fun!

-Madelyn

The peak of summer brings outdoor boot campers in hoards. Class has been huge lately, upwards of 20-something people ready to run, sprint, push, lunge and kick ass all over the park. Well, maybe not everyone . . .

When class is that big, odds are good that at least one person in the crowd will have some condition or injury that keeps them from running with the rest; i.e. plantar fasciitis, or in one case lost knee cartilage from an early career of competitive gymnastics, or in another case, a painful broken toe.

So! What’s the answer to these problems? In the past, (and I would like to refer to this time period as “PG”, as in “Pre-Genius idea”), the injured or mildly handicapped person would stay by the yoga mats and perform extra squats or maybe some ab work, but mostly it would be drills that I would come up with off the cuff and quickly toss at the said individual, and sometimes, they would barely be getting really into their drill by the time that the runners were done running.

Now, in this new and enlightened era, which I will refer to as “AG”, or “After Genius idea”, boot campers of all types, backgrounds, and even fitness levels can come to class and have just as many activities prepared for them as all the other kids!

But how can this be accomplished?? The same way an enormous variety of other tasks are completed: a DRY ERASE BOARD!!!

I love dry erase boards for numerous reasons which I won’t go into at the moment, but I happen to have a spare one (note that this indicates that I have more than one white board) because I was shopping at Target the other day and saw a really cool blue one. Yup, the sentence ends there. That’s pretty much the only reason I got it–because it was really cool and blue. And…well, it was there, at Target, and you know how it gets in there, you fall under this retail spell where you start buying all sorts of crazy gadgets and products and maybe bathing suits that you don’t really need and then you walk out of the place with an entire cart-full of stuff when you only went in for dog food and toilet paper.

Sooo….

I have this dry erase board! And my genius idea is that I will write on this nifty blue dry erase board a specific list of activities for those who can’t run to do while others are doing laps or sprinting. This way, the tasks won’t be off the cuff, instructions won’t be given in a hurry, and non-runners can have just as much of a valid task to do as the runners.

By golly, I think this is just great.

There is a possible hitch in this idea, however.

If you’ve taken my classes, you’ve probably heard me tell the participants to go at their own pace, to feel free to modify any activity or sit anything out to rest. As an instructor, there is a fine line to walk in making sure that participants work at a level that is suitable for them, yet at the same time pushing and motivating them to accomplish things that they wouldn’t or couldn’t normally do on their own.

I realize that some boot campers may want to do dry-erase-board-tasks and opt out of running, because I get the feeling that not all of us love to run and it’s possible that some may even hate it. I would like to take this opportunity to openly discourage those who don’t want to run, to choose not to run. Because chances are, if there’s an exercise you don’t like to do or is challenging or difficult for you, you should probably be doing more of it. Then, when it slowly but surely becomes easier, you’ll probably start to enjoy it! So boot campers, please keep running unless:

1. you can’t run because of a physical condition such as plantar fasciitis or lost knee cartilage,
2. you have an injury like a sprained ankle or a broken toe,
3. you’re in a late term of pregnancy, or any term of pregnancy where you don’t feel comfortable running,
4. lastly, and don’t abuse this one: if you’re just having a crappy day and you feel weak and tired and it’s just a miracle that you even made it to class at all. Because even I have days like that

Okay! So this Thursday’s indoor Body Blitz, tomorrow, will be the first day of our new AG life. There will be a super neat-o dry erase board on the sign-in table in the gym at Miller and before class I’ll quickly go over a variety of low-impact alternatives that can be subbed in for any activity that you are restricted from doing.

And now I will just wait for my next genius idea! Until then, happy fitness, and if it applies to you, happy running!

Madelyn

I had the opportunity to teach one of Matt’s “Project Playtime” adventure boot camps last night, and it was uh-MAZE-ing.

We Capitol Hill-ites  are hard-pressed to leave our beloved “hill”, especially to go as far north as Magnolia. So when Matt asked me to cover a couple of his MadAbs Ballard boot camps, I was pretty stoked on the idea for a change of scenery–albeit a forced one! And since I had to relocate our usual Thursday night class at the Miller Community Center to sub for Matt, twelve die-hard MadAbs boot campers packed snacks and made the journey north last night to attend Project Playtime’s Thursday night class in Discovery Park. And I’m happy to say that we all loved our forced field trip!

We met in the east parking lot of the park, by the Visitor’s Center, and jogged a mile to the North Bluff, stopping to do strengthening drills three times along the way, which also allowed those who needed to walk enough time to catch up and still time left to participate in the drills. Those who chose to ran ahead did so, those who wanted to take it slowly did so, and we all met in the middle! It worked out perfectly.

Once we were up on the bluff, the sun’s dusky reflection on the Puget Sound provided enough of a breathtaking view that most of us forgot how much we normally hate running. Or we forgot about work that day, and all the drama and problems with no solutions melted away for the remainder of class. We ran together, picking out routes and trails along the way, stopped to do some core work in the sand, and picked up and dusted off just in time to head back to our cars before it even started to get dark.

I loved class at Discovery Park so much, I plan on doing a park “Run and Romp” there later this month! We’ll do a similar easy jog, with lots of strengthening drills along the way. I can’t believe I haven’t forced myself to get out of the hill and over to Discovery more often!

Keep your eyes peeled for a newsletter email about some special Saturday and Sunday boot camps. In the meantime, go check it out yourself! And have an amazing run.

Madelyn

One of the many things that I love about my job is seeing the same people that come in to class a bit unsure of themselves kicking ass two months later. Their first couple boot camps wind them easily, and may find themselves taking frequent breaks to suck in air, or maybe they stop because their body just didn’t want to keep going; they just couldn’t do any more lunges. Seeing those same people two months later is one of the best rewards that my job gives me. These people are no longer doing push-ups on their knees, and they’re pushing themselves way past that point where they used to quit. It makes me burst with pride.

It’s a certain look that people get, a very distinctive expression that comes across someone’s face when they’ve just broken down a wall that had been blocking them from the next level of intensity of their workout. I am just as human as everyone else, and I started out as that newbie, taking nearly violent gulps of oxygen like a guppy on dry land during my first classes. And I remember the first couple of times when I stared that wall down, square in the eye–that wall that said, “Eh, that’s probably enough. You can stop now.”

After that wall came down, and I crested a new level of intensity, another wall popped up. And this one wasn’t so nice. It said something like, “Oh HELL no, there’s no fucking way you’re breaking me down. You’re staying right where you are, on this side of the wall like the bitch that you are.” Well. That wall sure as shit had to go. But big, bad, scary walls like this one don’t come down nearly as easily as the first.

The thing that kept me fighting was remembering what it felt like to see the beautiful clear view span out in front of me after knocking that first barrier down. It was like I had a brand new beginning, like I’d just gotten a giant jolt of energy. I held onto what it felt like to keep on pushing, even though everything in front of me was telling me to quit.

When I see a student hesitate on number 25 of a set of 30, the point where they’ve quit in every class before this, and then when I see them pick themselves back up and perform number 26, then 27, then squint and push through number 28, then pick up steam and bust out numbers 29 and 30…when I see that happen, I remember what it felt like to break down that big, nasty, ugly wall that told me I couldn’t do it. I remember what it felt like, and I get that sense of liberation again. And I remember that if I don’t give up, I can achieve anything I put my mind to.

So hold on to those memories and feelings of breaking down your walls. And most importantly, never give up. Never, ever, ever give up.

This post is dedicated to: Margaret Schwertner and Marianne Hathaway, two all-stars of the highest degree. Thanks for always shooting for the moon. Because even if you miss, you’ll still be a star.

See you tomorrow!

Madelyn

With Seattle’s sun-kissed summer fully upon us, having an arsenal of exercises that require no equipment other than your own bodyweight helps broaden your workout horizon by letting you work out anywhere. And if you’re setting off for a vacation in a more tropical climate this summer, remember that having to trudge through a sandy beach floor pretty much guarantees a harder workout.

Already took your beach vacation in February when Seattle is covered by a 9-month hangover? No problem! Just take your workout to Alki beach in West Seattle! Or, keep it simple and head over to your closest neighborhood park. Just get your buns out of the gym and into the sun!

I’m going to try to give you with one new move every week so that you may arm yourself with a never-ending stream of exercises to use on a sunny day. Grab a buddy, your girlfriend or boyfriend, slap some sunscreen on, and break a sweat under the sun!

This week’s move:
the burpee broad jump

First of all, I’m sure that the standard burpee needs absolutely no introduction, because … c’mon, we all freaking LOVE BURPEES, right??!!! Definitely! But just in case you haven’t had the pleasure of getting to know the world’s greatest and most beloved exercise, check out the following clip. Keep in mind that this is the most advanced performance of the burpee, and beginners shouldn’t expect to perform the burpee in such a fluid movement. It’s totally normal to break the burpee down like this:

• Step 1: get into a push-up position.
• Step 2: perform a push-up.
• Step 3: after your push-up, jump your feet as close to your hands as you can, preferably just outside your hands.
• Step 4: explode up into a jump, reaching your hands over your head and clapping them together.
• Step 5: drop back down into push-up position and repeat until nauseous.

Here’s a pro pumpin’ them out:

So a burpee broad jump is like a regular burpee, only waaaay awesome-er. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: drop into plank and perform a push-up.

Step 2: jump feet to hands.

Step 3: come up to standing, then sink down into your legs, ready to jump as far as you can.

Step 4: explode up from your partial crouch into a big, broad leap.

Step 5: BAM! Nailed it! From here, drop back into plank position, sink immediately into a push-up, and repeat the whole sequence again. And again. Annnnnd... again.

So I know what you’re thinking. You’re saying to yourself, “Stupendous! So I have this really SPECTACULAR exercise, but what can I do with it? Is there a workout or routine that I can make out of it?” Don’t fear, I have your answer right here!

Perform 5 rounds for time:

• 10 burpee broad jumps
• 20 triceps dips on a park bench or chair
• 30 side lunges  (15 ea. leg)
• 40 bicycle crunches

Do the workout, post your time! I’m going to do it right now, and I’ll post after it’s done. YAY!

Happy jumping,

Madelyn

I frequently get requests for ideas to make salads and raw veggies more delectable without adding all the extra fat, calories, and especially processed junk that comes from a bottle of dressing that could easily outlive my dog if left with its seal unbroken on a grocery store shelf.

I attribute my many creative ideas for dressing veggies to the Juicy Cafe, which has been a huge part of my adult life. Abigail Stansfield and Jeff Patterson asked me to come work for them nearly five years ago, and took me under their wings as a young 21-year-old party girl who loved fitness but didn’t have a clue about nutrition. They taught me how to eat clean, whole foods made of nothing but…clean, whole foods! Quite a concept right?

At the Juicy Cafe (formerly known as Juice It), the small, familial staff works together to make sauces and dressings from scratch using fresh fruits and vegetables and their juices, fresh herbs, spices, and wholesome oils. The fresh batches of sauces are made first thing in the morning, and because there are no artificial ingredients or preservatives, the sauces are never used for more than one or two days.  The lack of shelf-life that these healthy toppings have is their only downside, but we found a simple way to help extend their freshness without adding any processed ingredients: we simply add a pinch of raw sugar to each container, and this natural preservative helps extend the sauce’s life.

The tzatziki sauce (pronounced tuh-zeke-y by us gringo non-Greeks), my very favorite, is also one of the most simple to make, and doesn’t require anything to be juiced. And although I do love eating wholesome, clean foods, I’m still human and I totally crave buttery, creamy sauces every once in a while, just like you! Not only is this low-fat sauce just the ticket to satisfy my creamy craving without ingesting a stick of butter, but its main ingredient, Greek yogurt, can be used in place of tons of fattening condiments, like sour cream and even mayonnaise!

All of us at the Juicy Cafe make our sauces a little differently, so each batch has just a touch of each of our unique flavors. But here’s the thing: because we make several pints of sauce at a time, we don’t really, um…measure. At all. That’s another thing that Juicy turned me onto: not worrying that if I didn’t follow a recipe to the T that my kitchen would turn into a biohazard zone. If I just kind of “eye it”, it ALL TURNS OUT OKAY. Amazing!! So don’t worry about winging it in the kitchen with sauces or soups. There’s always a brother or something to feed stuff to if you really mess it up, and I don’t think you will:)

Tzatziki sauce

In a blender combine:

• 2 medium cucumbers, diced (I like English cucs, but regular ones are totally fine too)
• 1/2 cup of olive oil (this varies quite a bit! Add more for a thinner sauce, or just keep it at a half a cup and add additional water)
• a couple big pinches of salt to taste
• a tablespoon of dried dill (again, pretty much just guessing. Just start small and add more to taste. Don’t worry, you can’t go wrong! It’ll be delicious:)
• 2-ish cups of low-fat Greek yogurt
• a bit of water, if desired, for ease of blending or to thin sauce

This is an awesome salad dressing, and goes really well on salmon or chicken dishes, too. The above recipe makes a large amount, like enough to have a few friends over for dinner and have a little left over. The left-overs will only last a week or so, but the ingredients are so inexpensive, that wasting a bit on your first try won’t break the bank.

Give it a whirl and let me know what you think! Or if you nailed down actual portions!!

Happy dressing,

Madelyn xo

I hate it when I go so many days without writing in the Fitnasty Blog that ideas begin to build up, and I feel like I have so many ideas that I have too many ideas. Then I’m like, “Well I certainly don’t have time to write four blog posts today, that would be too much in one entry anyway, and what if I write one today and then don’t have enough time tomorrow or the next day  for the others so that all the ideas go in chronological order, and, and….AAAGH!”

So! Because stressing out about having too much happenings and news to report on is totally silly, I’ve just decided to jot down all the latest news, tips, and information in an efficient bullet-point style! Here we go:

1. MadAbs has a new industrial-size, extreme, super fan! Although figuring out ways to keep cool while we work out is not nearly as relevant this week as it was on Saturday, when Seattle’s temperature hit an unheard-of 93 degrees, the indoor class is growing bigger, and therefore hotter as we kick ass and get fitnasty in the Miller Annex Gym. Even the highest velocity fans from Target weren’t really doing the trick, so I’ve special ordered one from my local Capitol Hill hardware store, Pacific Supply, and am expecting it either today or tomorrow. Yay!
2. I’m SUPER excited to say that MadAbs is offering a new class to our weekly schedule! Our new low-impact, deep-strengthening “Core Cruch” class hits all layers of your abdominal and lower back muscles by using them in conjunction with intense strengthening exercises using the stability ball, your body weight, and a yoga mat provided by MadAbs. Other results of this class will be stronger muscles in your hips, glutes, and groin, as well as toned arms and triceps. Yup, it’s pretty much the greatest class of all time. RAD!
3. My boyfriend just recently passed the Level I certification for CrossFit (yay!!), so I wanted to surpise him with a congratulations dinner when he got home. But I figured anything unhealthy wouldn’t really be appropriate to celebrate his official entrance to the professional fitness world, but I reeeeeeally wanted to make (and, well, um I was kind of craving it too) chicken tikka masala. The issue, however, is that most Indian food is made with quantities of butter and cream that is so high that even a server at an Indian restaurant once declined to answer my inquiry as to how much fat was in our dinner. Yikes! But it’s so delicious! So I found a solution and stumbled across a healthy recipe for the dish. Check it out on allrecipes.com: Chicken Tikka Masala. The recipe only called for 1 tablespoon of butter! And because it called for 1 cup of heavy cream, I made a simple modification. Instead of using the cream and a can of tomato sauce, I used skim milk and a small can of tomato paste. Ta-da! A truly healthy dish. I served it with brown Jasmine rice and a super delicious fruit and berry salad made with plain organic yogurt. Delish! And Colin was absolutely tickled pink by the gesture. And I cured my craving for Indian food. We all win!

Do you have a favorite recipe of an ordinarily fattening dish, modified to be low-calorie and still delicious? Let me know in your comments! And while you’re thinking of that, go ahead and pencil in your first Core Crunch class into your planner! It starts this Friday, July 16th, from 6:30-7:15 pm in the Miller Community Center. Hooray! And once there, you can enjoy our new enormous super-fan.

See you Friday!

Madelyn

Late evening strolls with my dog through the neighborhood will always be one of my fondest memories of living in Seattle. Every year in the summer, I try to set at least one or two nights a week to enjoy the warmth of dusk. I put aside my cell phone, let go of my to-do list, and make a few laps around the neighborhood. The only other thing I aim to do besides breathing the evening air: I pick a flower here and there to make a beautiful wildflower bouquet to brighten up my apartment.

Once I’ve picked enough pretty little flowers here and there, I head back to my home and arrange them in one of my mom’s old canning jars. The color and smell of the flowers adds a whole different dimension to my day and reminds me to stop, smell, see and enjoy summer time in Seattle.

That little walk, free of all of my usual constant technological and social stimuli, breathes new life into my soul, the flowers warm my heart to see everyday, and the light exercise before bed is just what I need to end a perfect day.

And once the flowers start to lose their leaves, I know it’s time for another evening stroll.

Go pick your own bouquet! Bring Seattle’s summer beauty into your home.

-Madelyn xo