#yeah my actual routines are very flexible because is so much easier to keep them

[readyourimgaines]

The Little Things

Summary: Derek knew fully well that moving in with Spencer was going to bring around some changes. Dr. Spencer Reid was different and Derek loved him for it. There were little quirks that the doctor showed at work and some Derek was still learning. So there must be some at home.

And a special thanks, of course, to @chaoticgremlinwholikescheese​ for helping me compile this list!

1. Alphabetizing Movies by Title

“Pretty Boy?” Derek was crouched down in front of their TV looking for their movie while Spencer did the dishes. The latter hadn’t seen Happy Gilmore and Derek couldn’t let that stand. 

“Yeah?” Spencer called from the kitchen. 

“I can’t find it?”

“What?” Spencer stepped away from the sink and went to the living room. Water dripped from his fingertips. “The movies are alphabetical. It’s between Hamlet and Ice Age.” He went to Derek’s side and gestured to the movie. “I was going to order them by director, but Hotch said most people don’t know directors very well. Which is a shame because J.J. Abrams destroyed Star Trek but Guy Riche-” 

Derek pressed a kiss to Spencer’s lips with a fond smile. Spencer blinked. 

“Sorry,” the doctor blushed. 

Derek just chuckled. “You know you’re adorable, right, Pretty Boy?” 

“You may have mentioned it a time or two,” Spencer laughed. 

“You can tell me all about directors later,” Derek promised. “I know a bit about the mainstream guys, but not a whole lot.”

“All you really need to know is that J.J. Abrams kills anything he touches and Peter Jackson doesn’t get as much attention as he should.”

*****

2. Morning Rituals

One thing that Derek very quickly learned about Spencer was that he 

had a specifically timed morning ritual when not on a case. And that if it was broken or disturbed, the whole rest of the day would go down hill like a train on greased tracks. 

He woke up at 6:17, was in the shower by 6:25, eating breakfast by 7:00, his bed made by 7:30, and shoes on his feet by 7:32. The last half hour before they left at 8:00 was free game. 

The first morning in their new place was the roughest. Spencer went 

about his usual morning, but Derek didn’t usually wake up until 7:45 because he took less time to get ready and ate in the car. So when Spencer finished breakfast and went back to their room to make the bed but Derek was still asleep… He paced for the next fifteen minutes and his head nearly went through the ceiling when Derek’s alarm went off. 

Spencer almost had a panic attack as he fumbled his way through making their bed and cramming his feet into his shoes. Needless to say, the extra half hour was spent- in vain- trying to calm the doctor down. None of the rest of the day lined up properly and Spencer was on edge and fidgety. Hotch even had to gently remind him to focus a few more times than the usual redirection of infodumps. 

That was the first and only time Derek didn’t follow Spencer’s morning routine. He found the same day that Spencer had a much simpler night ritual: Snack (sometimes) at 10:10, teeth brushed by 10:25, in bed by 10:35, reading until (supposed to be) 11:18, and then lights out. This routine was much more flexible and relaxed.

Derek found waking up and going to bed at the same time every day made the former much easier. He also found that Spencer reading to him most nights- no matter the book or topic- was very relaxing. And of course there were nights when Derek read to Spencer.

*****

3. Sugary Coffee

Derek took a sip of coffee from his travel cup and whistled. “Think I got yours, Pretty Boy. There’s enough sugar in this to hype up a six year old’s birthday party.” 

Spencer braced himself and took a sip of the coffee in his own cup. He was pleasantly relieved when the bitterly sharp taste expected never came. “I-I put sugar in both of them. I wasn’t thinking,” he said sheepishly. 

Derek shrugged. “You know what they say: I’ll try anything once.” He chuckled. “I’ll just brush my teeth for an extra three minutes.” 

Spencer scoffed as he got into the passenger seat of Derek’s car. “Who knows? Maybe you’ll like it. You don’t get the caffeine drop when the eight hour half-life is over.” 

“Is that why you put so much sugar in coffee?” Derek raised an eyebrow, thinking he already knew the answer. 

“And coffee tastes like battery acid. I’d rather drink vinegar than black coffee.” Spencer shuddered. 

Derek chuckled but didn’t say anything else as he pulled onto the street.

*****

4. Cuddly Sleeper

Even though Spencer wasn’t huge on PDA like Derek was, he sure was a cuddly guy. The second the door closed, he was a six foot koala. That included in bed- but usually not until after he was asleep. 

Some nights, Spencer would fall asleep reading. So Derek would take his book, close it, gently remove Spencer’s glasses, and turn out the lamp. Nine times out of ten, Spencer was curled up against his side before Derek was asleep himself. 

At first, Derek found himself wondering why Spencer wasn’t nestled against him before sleep took him. But after a while, it sunk in that the doctor unwound by reading. 

The look on Spencer’s face when he curled into Derek’s side always sent the older man over the moon. The absolute peace on the doctor’s face. One night, Derek almost woke Spencer up laughing. Derek rolled over to out the lamp and Spencer had gripped Derek’s arm tighter and whined in his sleep. Derek then had to assure his boyfriend- in soft whispers as to not actually wake him up- that he wasn’t going anywhere. 

Spencer never thought to question why his book and glasses were gone when he woke up.

*****

5. Leaves Books Everywhere

Anyone who had a 30 second conversation with Spencer- anyone who glanced at Spencer- could tell the man read more than he did anything else. 

Derek picked up the doctor’s satchel once and was moderately surprised the slim man hadn’t dislocated his shoulder with how heavy the bag was. But Spencer didn’t only keep books in his bag. No. They were all over the place. 

Their bedroom, the craft room where Derek made floor plans for his renovations, the kitchen, the dining room, the living room. Even both bathrooms and the basement. 

When the two first moved in together, Derek debated building an extension onto the living room for a library. He still debated it from time to time (just in case). But as time wore on, Derek grew to appreciate the countless (if seemingly random) books around the house. 

Spencer would read when Derek was working on floorplans, so Derek would read when Spencer worked on an academic paper or consult. 

“What’re you reading?” Spencer asked one night, finally looking up from his notebook. He was writing an essay on how handwriting analysis could help catch a serial killer and/or rapist. 

“I don’t even know,” Derek chortled. “Uh..” he looked at the cover, “it’s Introduction to Law by Joanne Banker and Yvonne Ekern.” 

“Oh! Hotch loaned that to me yesterday,” Spencer noted. “I should get that back to him soon.” 

Derek just shook his head. “You know, Pretty Boy, I didn’t read this much in college.”

Spencer smiled. “See? Maybe there’s a good side to not spending thousands of dollars on building a library,” he teased.

6. The Nightlight

In the bedroom, in the outlet closest to the door was a nightlight. But not just any night light. This nightlight made the move in the front pocket of Spencer’s satchel. 

“So what’s the story behind this platypus, Pretty Boy?” Derek had to ask one night as Spencer turned it on. “Because you’ve had this since before we were dating.” 

“My uh- my mom’s went on a sort of field trip with her hospital a couple years ago. It was on one of her good days. She saw this in the aquarium’s gift shop and bought it for me.”

“That’s pretty cute,” Derek encouraged. He knew Spencer didn’t open up about his mom often so Derek tried to learn everything he could about the woman during the rare occurrences. 

“We named him,” Spencer laughed. “Alfred Nicholas Brian Reid.” He giggled. “I just… He helps.”

*****

+1. Bleeding/Infected Hangnails

Spencer usually had something to stim or fidget with. A strip of paper, a pen or pencil to twirl, a shirt with a loose thread, something. On the off chance that he didn’t, the doctor somehow decided that his fingers were good enough. If Spencer didn’t have a hangnail, he’d start one. 

This was the one and only thing about Doctor Spencer Reid that Derek Morgan hated. He could see the minute flinch when Spencer held a utensil wrong and it pressed on the swollen skin. He heard the soft hiss when Spencer got tomato or orange juice in the broken skin. 

What Derek hated even more than that was when the hangnail would get infected. The skin around the nail or turn a greenish-yellow and harden. Which, in turn, gave Spencer another thing to pick at. 

“Pretty Boy, you gotta stop,” Derek sighed. He’d gone into a convenience store to get them something other than coffee- but tastier than water- to drink. While inside, he bought a box of Band-Aids and a tube of anti-bacterial cream. 

Spencer snapped out of his daze. “What?”

“Picking at your nails.” To prove his point, Derek took Spencer’s hand in his to show him, as well as to stop his current picking. “I know you’re worried about the case, Baby, but we’ll catch the son of a bitch and put his ass behind bars like we always do. You gotta stop destroying your hands.”

“I didn’t realize I was,” he admitted. 

“I know,” Derek said softly. He applied the cream and a Band-Aid to each finger that needed it (five in total between both hands). “We just gotta get you a couple of those fidget cubes Garcia has.”

Tag List: @mayonnaiseismycomfortfood​

[chyrstis]

I won’t ask for much (but just this once, I’d like you) 5/10

Here’s the halfway point, and it’s a bit of a whopper. I think this is probably my favorite chapter out the entire thing, with the first a very close second. The talk by the fire was one of the earliest scenes that gelled for me when planning the entire fic out, and I knew that if I wasn’t able to write much else, I at least wanted to get that part down on paper.

And if things go according to plan, I might have a little something extra to add to this tonight. ;)

Pairing: Sharky Boshaw x John Seed Rating: E (but only for Ch. 10, the rest are a solid T) Word Count: 7.3K  

Link to AO3!

Ch. 1 / Ch. 2 / Ch. 3 / Ch. 4 / Ch. 5 / Ch. 6 / Ch. 7 / Ch. 8 / Ch. 9 / Ch. 10

(and there’s a bonus fic to go with this one too)

—

Sharky steals a boat. It just happens to be John’s boat, and when it’s damaged along with his boathouse, John proceeds to lay out a means of having Sharky pay him back. [No Cult AU]

———–

Maybe the work schedule wasn’t as ironclad a thing as it used to be.

John liked routine, sure, and had been real anal about it when Sharky had first started out, but there was a flexibility to it now. It was no longer always about when, so long as it was done, and he could work with that.

So, he took a morning off when he needed it. Took on a few more jobs around town for anyone willing to let him shoulder it, and if there was any overlap, all it took was one message to clear it up. John was willing to work with him now, and that alone was a relief.

...But if some nights lead to more chances to hang with him one-on-one without working, Sharky didn’t complain either. Got more time around John’s plane, and even got to pitch in when it came to working on his car too.

The real shocker for him on days when he did have to work, though, had been the fresh boards and nails set. The signs that someone else had been working down there when he hadn’t.

When he’d asked, John didn’t confirm it. He didn’t deny it either, but after ten minutes of standing around and talking with him, he grabbed a nearby hammer and took a spot right next to him. Went right to work, without even batting an eye, and Sharky couldn’t believe it. Grinned brightly at him as he punched him in the shoulder, and found he wanted John there for once.

This was starting to feel a whole lot like he’d made a friend.

One that was cagey in a whole lot of ways still, and one he couldn’t exactly pop down on the couch with for a weekend of pizza, beer, and porn to sort through, but close. And thinking it over, he didn’t find himself minding the change all too much either.

But some nights John needed to shift things around, and when Sharky woke up that morning nursing a hangover, he had a message waiting for him.

Family, John mentioned, the text sent at an hour that made his head pound harder. Have to reschedule. Sorry.

no bg deal he sent back, fumbling at his phone. hollar if you need me ltr no plns

Then went right back to sleep. With the day open, he spent the morning seeing how long he could go without pants before anyone else dropped by.  

All too quiet after that, he’d nearly gone stir crazy when Hurk called, wanting his expertise on a special job. One that was better suited to two heads rather than his one. Or better yet, four hands, each for holding a stick of their brand of high explosive. That’s how they fished, and sure, it stirred up every other critter in the area, but as long as they weren’t ambushed by bears or cougars, it was a risk worth taking.

Mid-throw was when his phone went off. Just a message, not a call, but it made his pipe bomb go wide, and nearly had the two of them go for a dunk themselves.

Change in plans. Come over.

No further clarification, no explanation from John; just those words. Not that he went off on long tangents through text, but it was the quickest turnaround Sharky had seen yet, and he actually pulled out his phone to call him.

Holding a finger to one of his ears to block some of the sound, he waited. Heard the echo of an explosion in one, and ringing in the other only to get nothing but John’s voicemail.

“Hey, I’m going to have to cut out on this.”

“Now?” Hurk asked, with a stick of dynamite in each hand. “Just when I was thinking of getting ol’ Sally out?”

Sharky never held up well in the face of his cousin’s disappointment, especially when he pulled out that tone of voice, but held strong. 

“Yeah, sorry. It’s…I’ve got this weird message to check out, and you can never tell if it’s gonna be the good kind or the bad kind until it’s hitting you in the face, and there’s not a whole lot to go on here.”

“Fine, get on out, go, go, go. I’ll be here for a while, but if I catch something cool you’ll be sad you missed out.”

Pulling up to John’s place, Sharky still hadn’t pinned down what the problem was. The boathouse catching fire wasn’t likely. He’d put out any cigarettes over by the picnic table, ‘cause he’d made too much progress there to blow it now.

Ticking off other options on his fingers, he narrowed them down as he made his way to the front, and was still down to two when he hit the doorbell.

The door swung open, but John wasn’t the one waiting on the other side.

It was Jacob Seed.

Ex-military. Private. Rocked the rowdiest set of scars he’d ever seen on a person. At least, judging from the ones he could see on his face. Probably hunted guys in the woods for sport, or at least thought about it, and had the training to do it if he wanted to.

Sharky could count on his fingers the number of times he’d run into the guy outside of the odd job in the mountains, but he knew he wasn’t the kind, friendly, approachable type. No, standing taller than most, Jacob didn’t trade more than a handful of words with anyone outside of Eli Palmer, and maybe the local hunters up north.

And if he thought John was bad, Jacob’s stare was a full-blown weapon. It made Sharky squirm on the spot. 

“Uh, yo.”

“Boshaw.”

“How’s it going?” he asked, smiling a little too wide to keep it casual.

Jacob shrugged. “It’s going. You?”

“Kinda. Something’s always going. it’s just not going much right now if you get what I’m-well, what I’m getting at.”

Get what I’m getting at? What the hell was that?

The longer Jacob kept him there, the more he was going to try and fidget his way out of there, and he knew he was being read. Maybe even being messed with at this point, but he didn’t cut and run. Not yet.

“Is John around?”

“You here for something?”

“Yeah it’s…you know about the whole working-with-your-younger-bro thing, right? How I’m down by the river, putting shit up, and trying to make that entire area pretty again? Well, he got a hold of me. Mentioned wanting to work, and thinks he can snap his fingers and I’ll jump or something.”

Jacob’s glance took on an amused bent. “Does he? How high?”

“Uh, I can jump up to three, maybe four feet, but that’s not…it isn’t-”

That was it. That was it in a nutshell, and joking about it didn’t make it any easier to swallow.

Groaning, he crossed his arms and didn’t even bother looking Jacob in the eye this time around. “So, is he here, or…?”

Jacob moved his head, motioning behind him, and stepped aside. “He’s upstairs.”

With the path now open, Sharky took it a little faster than needed, not wanting to hang back too much or stay close to Jake. But that left him standing in the middle of John’s ranch house - and seeing the whole thing in full for the first time was a lot to take in at once.

Because when he’d mentioned loving nature shit, this was that on steroids. Like someone had told John this was what a cabin should’ve looked like instead of what one actually was. The antlers, the chandelier, the fucking bear skin rug? All surrounding one giant, roaring fireplace? It wasn’t even cold yet, and John had the whole thing done up to the nines.

That had him chuckling as Jacob took a few steps towards him. 

“Something funny?”

Jolting slightly, Sharky shoved his hands into his pockets.  

“I, uh…no. Okay, a little. You ever see those Hallmark movies? The ones set at Christmas, or just up in the mountains?”

Jacob craned his head towards him. 

“Y’know, the kind where two people are snowed in, having to wait it out and huddle for warmth and shit?”

“No.”

Okay, so maybe he hadn’t seen too many either, but he’d seen the one. Hadn’t even been one of those parody pornos dressed up as one, so he had some genuine experience there.

“Well, uh, the place looks like that. Like, John’s staging it for something along those lines. Just for cuddling, huddling, and uh…yeah. Holiday stuff.”

“Stuff.”

“Stuff and things, yeah.” That actually got a snort out of Jacob, and Sharky gave himself a mental pat on the back. “I’m serious. Like that couch is primed for mistletoe and some uh, ho ho-holy shit, I’ll stop now.”

There was the sound of a door being slammed, and Sharky jumped. Seconds after, he caught John on the upper level as he strode towards the stairs, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Sharky called up to him. “Yo, man. Thought I’d need to-“

That’s when he caught the dark look crossing John’s face for the first time. That, and the actual speed with which he was walking. Asking was a mistake, but it was out of his mouth before he could stop it.

“Uh, John? You okay, amigo? You want me to come back another-“

John grabbed his arm as he passed by, and dragged Sharky along with him. Right past a concerned Jake, and right past the front door, leading him down towards the dirt road.

“Whoa, hey, wait!”

Nothing clicked, not his words and not the way he tried to pull away. John was a man possessed, focused only on a single point, and that didn’t sit well with him at all.

“Seriously, dude, stop!”

Sharky planted his feet, and yanked his arm out of the grip. That brought John to a stop, and Sharky watched him slowly turn towards him. Breathing harder than he should’ve been, Sharky took off his cap and brushed a hand through his hair. 

“What the fuck, man?”

Tense, and with his jaw locked, John didn’t even bother giving him a response. Just a stare that would’ve killed any other person dead if he’d had the ability. Still, he wasn’t chasing him off, or leaving, and that made Sharky keep on trying.

“You wanna talk or something? You really look like…”

“What I want,” John bit out as he walked right up to him, “is to get as far away from that fucking house as possible. I don’t care where as long as it’s not here.”

Sharky sucked in a breath, not prepared for that level of venom or John’s sudden proximity, and let it out. “Uh, okay. Shit, let’s…let’s go then. Not like I was in the mood to work anyway.”

Shuffling around him, Sharky started back towards his car, and waved for John to follow.  The heat of his stare wasn’t as bad from this distance, but it didn’t let up until John dropped it to climb into the passenger side of the vehicle. He fired the car up after that, hoping the damn thing wouldn’t stall, and the two sped out of there before anyone could come calling.

“Now I know what works for me whenever shit like that gets me down.”

Sharky turned on the radio only for John to flip it off. Balking at him again, Sharky noted that this time the road was the one having to deal with John glaring at it, and he tried to keep as light a tone as he could manage.

“Anyway, you need an outlet. Something to kick all that negative shit in the balls hard enough to make three family lines regret it. So, you can shrug it off, get up, and go back to living life like you want to. Maybe this won’t be your thing every time, but I think you might like this.”

“…Like what?”

“Well, I’d explain it to you, but this is one of those things where it’s better just to give it a try. Not to spoil any of the surprise as we head on out, but it rhymes with…shit. What rhymes with burn?”

Urn. Turn. Learn. Yearn. That was a good one. Not that he needed it for anything, but it was good to know. Fuck. Did he say burn out loud too?

Swearing under his breath, Sharky shook his head. “Anyway, a little ‘Burn, Baby, Burn’ never hurt anyone. Least, not anyone worth knowing.”

John said nothing, leaving Sharky to listen to the sound of the road as it crunched underneath the car’s tires, but right as he’d started tapping out an uneven rhythm on the steering wheel just to break it up, he heard him sigh.

“Hey, I promise it won’t be lame. Yeah, it’s not for everybody, but…”

He stopped talking when he saw John place his head in his hand. Covering his eyes, Sharky heard the catch in his breathing, and wished like hell he had the right words for him.

Unable to offer anything else, Sharky shifted his eyes back to the road. “Yeah.”

---

“Now I know you’ve seen it once before, and it ain’t fancy,” Sharky said after pulling up to his house, “but I’ve got a place to sleep, a rocking sound system, and when I need it, lots and lots of storage space for…stuff. Like real fun stuff, but not the illegal kind, ‘cause I don’t want you thinking that. Well, not a lot of it, just some of it.”

John was looking around now, taking in the area as he and Sharky got out, and Sharky led him out across the lawn.

“My house is your house, so settle on in and pull up a chair. The show’ll start soon as I can get this all together, and make it one worth waiting for.“

He shoved some wood into the area designated for his bonfires, and patted himself down before heading over to where he kept his propane. Rooting through the items, he picked up the bottle of lighter fluid – he’d start small, no need to have a full blow-out right off the bat – and glanced over his shoulder to see what John was doing.

He had approached the firepit while Sharky was busy; still silent, but looking closely at it.

“You doing good there, amigo?”

John’s head angled towards him. “Well enough.”

That he’d said anything at all was an improvement, but Sharky didn’t believe it for a second. Not with his back towards him, as he walked back to the pit.

John watched closely as Sharky sprayed the wood liberally with the lighter fluid. Then added more after, and when he tipped it over to slap at the bottom of it to get the last few drops out, John finally spoke up. 

“You’re not serious.”

“Can’t have a decent barbeque without flames, man.”

“That many?”

The wry look he gave him stopped Sharky in his tracks. Or maybe it was the way the corner of John’s mouth was inching up. In spite of everything, he’d managed that at least, and Sharky felt his mouth go dry.  

“Uh, yeah.”  He held out a matchbook to him, and hoped he could keep it steady. His voice was a lost cause, but his next few words were better in line. “Kinda disappointing if you light it up only to have it fizzle out. Can’t get any perks out of that.”

“And this was your plan all along?” John’s odd semi-smile stayed in place, and only seemed to grow. “To invite me here to burn it off? Literally?”

He wasn’t wrong, but seeing as this was his usual go-to and yet not, Sharky really didn’t want to get into the nitty-gritty of it all. Not now, at least.

“You wanted out, and no other place in the county’s better prepped for this, so a quick ride to Boshaw Manor made sense. I know when shit’s gone south and there’s no hope of me shaking that feeling, this works, and I try to foster an environment here that’s all about letting loose when you need it. Pants-free preferred and encouraged, but by no means required.”

“Good to know,” John teased.

He hoped like hell John couldn’t clearly see what was happening with his face right now, but at this distance it was impossible not to.

“But you, uh… You seriously looked ready to rip a bear’s fucking head off, and I thought it’d help. So, here. Light it, and after we pop one off, maybe we can get more going. Kinda sad as is right now.”

Waving the matchbook in the air, he grumbled to himself as he dropped his eyes. But he felt John take the matches, and looked up again in time to see him light one.

John watched the flame dance in front of him for a few seconds, shielding it from the breeze with his hand. Leaning over to peek at it, Sharky nearly brushed shoulders with him, and wondered how long he was willing to hold onto it.

Pretty long at this rate, as the flames licked the wood and traveled towards his fingers.

“You gonna drop that?”

“In time.”

“‘Cause that’s going to get you if you let it stick around any longer.”

Not that he hadn’t let himself get distracted by the warmth of the fire before. How it flickered as it moved, wanting it all that much closer as it inched its way down towards him.

“Surely you don’t think I’m not paying attention to it.” Irritation crept into John’s voice, but he still wasn’t dropping the match.

“Seriously, man, I can treat a rowdy-ass burn if I have to, but that shit’s going to bite.“

“Charlemagne, I have it handled-“ John flicked his hand fast as he yelped in pain.

The match went out, leaving the two standing there in front of the neglected pit. Sharky tried not to, but there was no way he could keep the laugh from slipping out. John’s sharp look shut him up a second later, only breaking eye contact to keep on waving his hand.

“Yo, you okay?”

“Fuck,” John muttered, blowing on his fingers. “Everything’s fine.”

Sharky didn’t nudge him with his shoulder, but was tempted to as he watched John continue to try and sooth the burn. 

“Sure about that? I can be back in two shakes of a jackrabbit’s tail if you want.”

John didn’t waste time lighting the next match. “I’m fine.”

His hands went up, backing off completely. But at that point he had something else to focus on. The fire was dancing in the wind again, and when John let the match fall into the pit, Sharky didn’t take his eyes off of it for a second.

The warm glow took, then grew. Rising slowly but surely as the fire found its footing, and he let out the breath he was holding. There it was. The feeling that washed over him, one that sank down deep into his bones.

Like coming home, in a way. Every time.

Sighing in contentment, he gave John a quick once-over. His attention was on the fire too, locked onto it as he slowly rubbed his fingers together. No one ever seemed to respond to it like he did, but the focus was there, his eyebrows drawn together as he kept on studying it.

John still kept on rubbing at his fingers, though. He had to bother the singed one, even if he was too stubborn to bring it up again.

Sharky stepped back, and gave John a light tap to the shoulder. 

“Be right back. Gotta grab something.”

Jogging over to his house, he pushed open the door and made a beeline straight for his bathroom. Anything he had for first aid was scattered across the property if not left outside, so one minute became two, then became five as he rooted around the place.

Fishing the tube of burn cream out, he sighed in relief.

It had taken the edge off of some of his worst ones - the scars on his sides and back tingling as he subconsciously recalled them. Considering how often he tangoed with fire at all, he’d all but accepted it at this point, and was glad that John wasn’t rocking anything worse than what would be a light blister.

Band-aids were down to slim pickings, however. There were only five left, but he picked the best fit and made his way back out to the pit, taking a short stop by the fridge for beer and one hastily-filled glass of tap water.

Water was the last thing on his mind most nights, but John needed something out there, and Sharky tried not to stress over it too much as he rushed back out.

John started when he handed it over. 

“What’s this?” He took the glass, and eyed its contents.

“Water. You know, for drinking?” A sheepish grin inched across Sharky’s face as he made the motion with his hand. “Didn’t want to leave you hanging without anything, and my fridge’s full up with beer, so…”

“Ah. Thank you,” he said, losing the suspicious tone immediately.

He took a light sip of it and Sharky didn’t miss the way he wrinkled his nose. Probably better used to the fancy stuff they’d filter before bottling, but John still held onto it. Doing that instead of spitting it out onto the ground earned him a point or two on the ‘Don’t be an asshole’ scoreboard, but Sharky would never admit it to him.

“And those?” John asked.

“I know you said you were fine, but here.” Sharky handed the items to him, and John set his glass down. “Best stuff for burns around. Slap some of this on, and in a day you won’t even feel it.”

“Are those…dinosaurs?” John held the bandage up, flashing the green tyrannosaurus rex at him.  

“Yeah, man. Dinosaurs are badass. I don’t know if Jurassic Park was your thing or not, but I had that on repeat for a good three months after it came out. Solid gold right there, and great for hand-holding or grabbing during any tense shit.” He held his hand up as he leaned in, and waggled his eyebrows. “Guaranteed. Like sixty to seventy-five percent chance of getting some action too.”

John furrowed his brows, and kept the band-aid pinched between his fingers. Both unimpressed and unconvinced, which disappointed Sharky a little, but didn’t surprise him much either.

“Anyway, that was the first one I grabbed, but I think there’s another in there if you’re more of a triceratops fan. Or raptors?”

John slowly shook his head. “I’ve-I don’t have a preference.”

“Well, there you go. And I know you like blue and all, but green’s clearly the superior color here. Just saying.” 

He clapped him on the back, and John gave him a withering glance before putting it on.

Dragging over a couple of chairs, Sharky popped them close to the pit - but not close enough to catch any sparks - and settled in. He kicked back and wished he could’ve propped his feet up, but with the other chair in use he had to make do, and leaned as far back as the worn fabric would let him. It strained against the motion, but held, and he knew there was a still a fair chance he’d bust a hole in it, or topple over. Just not now, at least.

“…How did this start?”

Glancing over at John, Sharky sat up when he realized he’d asked him a question. “What?”

“How, or when did you start doing this? The fires? Or, whatever this ritual is.”

“Ritual? This ain’t anything fancy like that.” Rubbing the back of his neck, Sharky let out a long whistle. “But fuck, how many years has it been now?”

Well over twenty. Since that day when he’d had skating on his mind, that and Wendy. He had such high hopes going into the day only to find a whole other thing worth keeping on for.

“Would you believe my first time was at a skating rink? This old place that used to be down by Fall’s End. Neon lights, tricked out wallpapers, and all the oldies you could ask for?”

“Concerning you? Yes.”

John sounded so sure of it. Like he could see the memory just as clearly as Sharky did. That got a warm laugh out of him.

“Imagining that sticky carpet, the flat soda, and those tunes? Real nice, right? It was the highlight of my month. Getting invited out there, pulling off some of my finest moves out on the floor. But I had to set the mood before heading in, and had a roll of quarters ready and everything.”

A grin settled in, almost fond as he recalled the start of it. The promise had been there, all right. He’d finally get a chance to say something. Do something, instead of dreaming about it. Funny how he’d dive into so many other things without thinking, but this? This he’d thought about. Over and over. Wanted it right.

“So?” John’s voice cut through again, shaking him out of it. “What happened?”

“I really wanted to ask this girl Wendy out. Had some good one-liners going, and had watched plenty of movies beforehand that I knew she liked. Wanted to really wow her, and show her what’s what.”

That had been the first pass of the plan. It seemed foolproof. Then he’d reached the rink after he’d crammed one too many quarters in the jukebox. Took one good look at her as he skated up, and…

John’s growing frown mirrored his own. Maybe even too well.

“It, uh-it didn’t go like I wanted. Went with my gut once I saw her, and thought I’d just -my hands started going everywhere.”

Confused, John thought over his words, and Sharky hoped he wouldn’t have to spell it out.  “You grabbed her?”

“I…might’ve grabbed something.”

Realization hit John hard. “You groped her?”

“Like I said, it could’ve gone a lot better! Instincts being bad and all.” Dodging his eyes, Sharky held up his hands and faced the fire. “Look, it was a dumbass move, and I got a skate to the balls for it. Still, really wish I’d tried dancing instead. No way she would’ve turned down a date with a dude pulling off a solid moonwalk. On wheels.”

“Surely,” John huffed.

Flipping him off, Sharky sighed before continuing. 

“So, I head out back. Figure I could light up a cig or something. Take the edge off that way. Well, I decided I’d light a trash can on fire too. See if I liked it, and soon the whole damn back-alley’s on fire. Like burning high with no hope of stopping. It spread, took half of the place out in the process, and yeah, it sucked. But it sucked a whole lot less after seeing that too.”

“That was…not the story I was expecting it to be.”

“Lot of people say that after hearing it. And that’s all of like, three people that even bothered listening to me while I was telling it, but it is what it is. Sucks that it took out that place, though. Seriously, had a great sound system there and everything.”

John raised a hand to his mouth, eyes on the fire instead of on him, and smiled. “Thank you. You didn’t need to share that with me.”

“Eh, it’s nothing. You asked, and I told you what’s what.”

“Not everyone’s as comfortable doing that. And certainly not even half as honest.” John folded his hands on his lap, and leaned forward to rest his forearms on his thighs. “It was Joseph. Tonight, back at my ranch. He wanted to talk. This typically isn’t a problem, but he decided to do what all older brothers believe is their right, I suppose.”  

“What, like go over some fantasy football stats? Or more like rite-of-passage-type stuff, ‘cept the holy kind. ‘Cause he’s not gonna take you to a cathouse, or nothing.”

“Please never say that again,” John said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Uh, which part? The football, or the...er, the part where he’s trying to help you get laid, except not?”

“That one. You see, he wanted to talk expectations. My role in the family overall, and how he wants me to rise to them.”

“That’s uh, kinda harsh. Assuming he said some pretty rowdy shit to you.”

“Not all of it,” John admitted, “but it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Usually when talking about regrets and hopes for the future, not all parties will be on the same page. He was on one, and I the other, and…I didn’t handle it as gracefully as I would’ve liked.”

“But did you think he was right?”

“I don’t know. It’s too soon to say, and I’m still not inclined to agree considering how he presented it to me.”

“But you know why he did that, right?”

John’s eyes were still on the fire, but caught his when he turned away from it. “Do you have any siblings?

Sharky shook his head. “Uh, no. Parents never planned for any of that, and they sure as hell weren’t planning on me. I’m one of those miracle babies. The kind that defy expectation, if you will. They swore up and down they’d used the pill, bagged that shit, and tried damn near everything to keep from throwing a bun in that oven. Still, nine months and some change later I popped out. Was as meant to be as my Grandmama swore I was, and…it’s weird in a way. Knowing that, and still knowing the other end of it too.”

“That you weren’t wanted?”

John was looking at him differently now. Catching something Sharky wasn’t sure even he’d see after checking five times in the mirror for it, and didn’t seem as cagey as before.

“I had someone that did want me. Wasn’t the one that had me to begin with, but that’s alright. Family’s not always blood - not directly. I got Hurk, I got my Auntie. Maybe even Xander, if she plans on keeping him around, but they give a shit about what happens to me. Let me know at least once a week too if they ain’t too busy to stop by, so it’s gotta be nice in some ways. Having brothers. Having that, at least.”

Taking in a deep breath, Sharky didn’t know how to tackle this next part. Knew he was probably going to be like a bull in a china shop, but he’d try. He had to.

“Now I don’t know enough about you all to really say much, so tell me to fuck right off if you need me to, but…they seem like the caring kind. Even though Joe’s got his whole family unit going on - his weird, not-a-cult, but kind-of-a-cult aside. And Jake’ll always give me the creeps, but I feel like you’d also warn me if he was setting me up to head out into the woods and fight me - mano a mano, ‘Most Dangerous Game’ style - so I think we’d be all right.”

“They’re not one, and he’s not about to,” John replied. “And maybe it isn’t your place to say.”

That shut his mouth. “…Sorry.”

“But you’re right.” Shifting his gaze to the ground, John’s next few words were softer, almost too quiet to hear. “Both of my brothers are all I have in this life. The ones that I would do anything for, and for years we truly thought we’d lost each other. There was no finding our way back after being separated and sent to different families. Different homes.”

John flexed his fingers, stretching them out before tightening them into a fist.

“I…was not fortunate in that regard. While I now had many opportunities open to me, I would’ve traded them in a heartbeat. Because there was evil in that house, and it was regularly visited upon me. And to cope, I needed an outlet. A way to take away what I couldn’t fix. What I couldn’t change, or stop, and make it all disappear.

“So, I turned to other sources. Went well out of my way to open myself up to new experiences. Things to excite, to make me feel…something. Anything, and no price was too great. I couldn’t see it for what it was, and was content to let it all eat me from the inside out. Because that was what gave me relief, and if they hadn’t found me when I needed them most…” John shrugged a shoulder. “I would’ve let it.”

“Fuck, I-uh, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I didn’t share that to make you feel sorry for me, or to let it be an excuse. It was a little…honesty given, for honesty gained, if that makes any sense.”

Blowing out a breath, Sharky nodded. “Kinda. Think I get what you mean there.”

“And tonight, you were right. I needed an outlet, and you… You reached out to me without even thinking twice about it.” There was a sincerity there that surprised him. No dancing around it, no downplaying it. “You had no reason to open up your home to me, or do anything at all to help, but you did.”

“No reason not to.”

“Charlemagne. I haven’t given you much reason to do any of this, considering why we’re speaking at all to begin with.”

John had a point. One Sharky wasn’t going to argue, but he’d clearly overlooked a lot of the things he’d done to keep them on speaking terms. Or hell, even get friendly, because they were straddling that line, and had been ever since he’d stuck around to help him with the plane.

“Okay, so you did show up here on my doorstep. Used some strong words to get me to do some shit for you, and generally acted like a mega-dick. Admitting that’s the first step towards fixing it. ‘Cause my guess’s you wanna fix that, right?”

John pursed his lips, but said nothing. Just stared at him while his jaw tensed.

That had Sharky raising his eyebrows.  “Dude, you seriously aren’t even gonna pretend to say yes to that? Not even try it?”

Glancing away, John closed his eyes. Took in a deep breath, and held onto it before sighing loudly.

“What the fuck?” Sharky muttered, watching him reach for his back pocket. “There’re like baby steps, and then you come in with this whole twelve step thing you’ve gotta work through, like it’s just that hard not to be a colossal d-”

“Done.”

Sharky paused as he took in what John held up. It was his phone.

Rolling his eyes at his confused look, John handed it over to him and pointed at the screen.  “It’s gone.”

“What’s gone?” Sharky flipped through the folder John had pulled up, not sure what he was looking for. “Like the porn you knew I was gonna search for after taking this?”

“No, not that,” John replied, grinding his teeth. “The recording.”

“The…” Holy shit. “You got rid of it. Like, no back up, no nothing?”

“That was the only one.”

Gone. That weight - what was left of it - gone.

Sharky laughed. Laughed as relief settled deep into him, and it was the sweetest thing.

Sure, John could’ve been lying to him. Could’ve had three different places where he was stashing the file for a rainy day, but he found he believed him. He wanted to take his word for it, and found he didn’t have to jump through too many hoops for it either.

“That’s-that’s uh, thanks.”

“Thank you. For proving me wrong in a lot of ways.”

Proud motherfucker that he was, that statement nearly bowled Sharky over. But he seemed to mean it too, and he flashed John a bashful grin.

“So, uh going back to before. You need to be cool to others. Treat ‘em nice, especially if you know they’re in the middle of a rough patch, and you count too. You needed something to take the edge off, and with drinking out, there were only two options left. Sex, and burning shit, and seeing as I don’t even know what your type is, I went for the easy one.”

“Easy?” Giving him a curious look, John leaned towards him. “That arson would be the easier option at all’s fascinating to me, because then I have no choice but to ask.”

“…Ask what?”

“What is my type?”

He one-hundred percent felt John’s focus now, and might’ve felt his palms start to sweat. “You want me to guess?”

“I want you to try.”

That was a tougher question than it should’ve been, and all the answers Sharky thought he had promptly left the building.

“Uh…fuck. The ladies in the catalogs. Victoria’s Secret models. Sports Illustrated, but the swimsuit issue. Porn stars. Top dollar escorts,” he said, spit-balling for whatever a rich lawyer might like. Or Bruce Wayne. Same difference. “But the kind with nice shoes, and those big-ass fur coats.”

Or was he going more for what he’d like if he had boatloads of cash to blow? And a music video to make? Maybe. Judging by the look John was giving him, though, he didn’t agree.

“Jesus, I don’t know. You asked! So, I guessed. Thought I’d get something close if I kept on going.”

“Well, you weren’t.”

“Yeah, yeah. And you’re telling me you wouldn’t be dicking down every woman in the valley if they asked?” Sharky took a drink of his beer, and couldn’t help but grumble his next few words into it. “I know I would.”

“You’d what?”

He coughed, beer going right down his windpipe. That was the kind of shit that should’ve slipped out when he was buzzed, and he wasn’t even there yet.  And judging from John’s response, wasn’t great to hear out loud either.

“Aw, fuck. Uh, sorry. Didn’t…didn’t mean anything weird by it. Just that you’ve got a lot of women looking - er, wanting - some real one-on-one time with you, that’s all. And if I were you, I’d take them up on it.”

John snorted, “Is that so?”

“I’m serious!” Sharky insisted, flashing an awkward grin. “Not to do any ego-jerking or anything, but you’re a good-looking guy, dude. Who’d blame ‘em for trying?”

He’d meant to look away after that, but John held his stare. Gave him a look that was like a Rubik’s Cube, and the more Sharky tried to pin down exactly what it was, the more he kept on scrambling anything and everything just to match up a single side.

“I see.” John wet his lips, dropping his eyes to his bandaged finger as he rubbed it together with his thumb. “Well, I’d hate to keep them waiting any longer than I already have. Or to disappoint them, but a few may need to wait their turn.”

“Why’d you say that?”

“Because surely their male counterparts deserve a chance as well? Seems only fair.”

John lowered his lashes as he looked over at him this time around, and Sharky must’ve blinked at him fifty times before his words registered.

“Oh. Oh,” he said, watching John nod his head along with him. “Well, it’s uh, I’m a…I don’t think I got anything right there, huh?”

Face burning hot, he crossed his arms and felt like kicking himself. Mostly for the whole conversation leading up to this, but now was a close second.

“Hard to be right about something you didn’t know.”

“Saying weird-ass shit to you’s not cool to begin with. Expecting a pity pass for it’s worse, and then there’s whatever the fuck this is, so I’m sorry. It’s lame as hell, but I’ve gotta get an apology out at least. And it’s probably the last thing you wanna hear or talk about, but you do whatever the hell makes you happy, long as no one’s getting hurt or nothing,” he said, wanting to get the words out, even if they weren’t neat. “And, we uh, we can talk about something else now.”

John laughed; the sound lighter than he expected. “Uncomfortable?”

“No. Kinda. Just…I’m not a talker. If you need someone to head on up, make a speech using all of the right words,  making it pretty and all, you don’t go busting down my door. ‘Cause there’s ways of saying things, so it’s all meaningful and nice with no hurt feelings involved, and that ain't it. Shit, you’ve made a whole career out of it.”

Sharky tapped the bottle against his shin, and sighed.

“When I open my mouth, people usually start throwing stuff at me instead of listening. Beer, shoes, lawn ornaments, darts, you name it, I’ve dodged it. Or had someone try to hit me in the junk for it, so thanks for not doing that. And sorry again. Probably say that a couple more times before the night’s out.”

“…Hitting you would be the last thing on my mind. I promise you that.”

Dead serious, he wasn’t sure what to make of John’s tone, or the way he was looking at him.

So, after downing the rest of his beer, Sharky went for the next best thing. Nervous laughter, and more blushing like an idiot. He’d never stop at this rate.

Rubbing his hands together, he hopped up out of his seat after that. John was too intense to stare down for long, and he put some distance between them, set on hunting down the first major firework of the evening.

“Okay, so this one I usually save for the festies,” Sharky began, carrying it over in his hands. “It’s my own personal formula. Ran through it a few times trying to see if I could get the right amount of fizz, bang, and pop that everybody loves without losing a finger, an eye, or most of my hair again.”

“Did you now?” John snorted. “It’s a miracle it grew back.”

“More like both eyebrows, but yeah, ‘cause I need to keep this around,” Sharky replied, framing his jaw with his hand. The wink was extra, but that didn’t stop him. “Chicks dig guys with a little scruff to ‘em. The look’s ‘sexy renegade’, but the kind that’ll still treat you right.”

“No doubt.”

Looking him over, John tilted his head as he considered him. Let his attention focus in on him closely, until Sharky was on the verge of snapping his fingers in front of him to break the spell he’d somehow cast.

“It suits you.”

John could’ve slapped him, and it would’ve been less of a surprise than that. “Say what?”

“It suits you. Keep it to that, though. Any more and I think you’re guaranteed to lose more than an eyebrow the next time any of this backfires.”

In the back of his mind he registered John’s statement – an actual compliment which only confused him more – but didn’t get much further than that. That’s when he caught the smile John was now wearing. This one he’d earned for sure, and didn’t want to risk losing.  

Kicking his brain back into gear, Sharky blew out a breath. “So, uh…let’s see. Lighting this up, so we can have one kick-ass party. Just getting right on that shit.”

The red rocket was stabbed into the ground to the left of the pit, and Sharky held out his lighter to John. He still had the matches from earlier, but this way was easier.

When all John did was give him a questioning glance, Sharky flicked his eyes towards the rocket. “Yo, you know this whole thing’s for you, right?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. So, you kick it off. I’ve got a firework in every color, though you might want to aim them all over yonder. Nearly lit the field up straight ahead of here last time, and my PO and I ain’t gonna see eye to eye on this if another starts. Cool?”

Dropping his attention to the lighter, John reached for it. Turned it over in his hands as the corners of his mouth curved up, and eventually aimed some of that glance his way.

“Cool.”

[faunaflanaganarchive]

here we go again | fae

Who: Fauna Flangan and Jae Puckerman @puckerjae What: Bingo Card Mamma Mia Roleplay (Fauna), Use of clothes as bondage (Jae)  Where: Jaes place When: Wednesday 09/09/20

Rorys card was ridiculous and that was the point of it, so Fauna didn’t feel at all nervous dressed up in the seventies flairs that glittered with every step that she took. “I know I look mad, but please don’t laugh Sir.” She teased lightly, passing her microphone from one hand to the other.

Jae was still getting used to so many people calling him 'Sir' for this bingo event, but the scene he had in store with Fauna was silly enough to distract him from that feeling. He couldn't help but laugh at her get-up. "You look adorable, tho. I could never laugh at you. I love it." He leaned back on the couch, ready for the performance. "Serenade away..." “Thank you, I’m never one to half do a costume so if I commit to something then imma do it all the way.” She promised, and then started up the music on her phone. Wiggling her butt as she completed a very over the top version of Super Trooper from the movie. Thinking the whole situation was funnier because he didn’t know the film at all. Jae nodded, he did like the commitment. He also didn't know what to expect, so when the music started blaring and she started singing and swaying her hips, it was hard for him to comprehend what the song was even about and even more what the movie was about to have a song like this in the movie. Still he took it for what it was and realized Fauna had an amazing voice. He wanted to dance along but also didn't want to  embarrass himself. So he just watched with a huge smile on his face, clapping loudly when it finally came to and end. "Oh - wow. That was great!" Fauna was a little out of breath by the time she was finished, but she always enjoyed putting on a show. “Thank you ever so much Sir, hopefully ive tempted you into watching the movie sometime.” The brunette responded, slotting the little microphone into her belt. "I'm not just saying this, I promise, but I really might have to watch this. I'm thinking and hoping that maybe you could watch it with me? Cause I feel like I'm gonna need a lot of things explained." the performance ending meant that it was time for his turn of the deal and he was suddenly nervous. Maybe they should have lead with his part and relaxed after with the performance. She took a shaky breath and looked over her ensemble. "Okay. Can you take of the jacket and pants?" He asked trying to figure out how he would use those items for bondage. “Of course I’ll watch it with you Sir! half of the fun of Mamma Mia is someone singing along to all the songs and giggling at all the cheesy jokes with you.” The brunette replied, and then nodded. “Sure, honestly these things are so long.” She told him as she wriggled her way out of the pants and trousers. “The legs are pretty long so you could probably tie me to something using them?” She suggested. "We'll have to set that up some time." Jae was looking for more small talk, to put off the rest of the scene, but he knew he would have to do it eventually so he took her suggestion in stride and got to what they were there to do. "Yeah, that sounds great. Thanks." He looked around the room and pointing to the table. "Maybe we can sit you on top and tie you to the table top here. and tie your hands to your legs, stretch your body a little. What do you think?" Fauna nodded easily. “No worries at all Sir, creative problem solving is fun.” She told him, and then wandered over to the table hopping up on top. “Sounds good to me, I’ve never been tied with my own pants before so this is definitely something new!” Jae was pleasantly surprised by how well this was going with Fauna. Especially when considering how weird some of these bingo slots were. They were having fun with it though and Fauna definitely made it easy for him. He smiled at her comment. "First time for everything, right?" He held his hand out to her to help her get settled on top of the table. "Ready?" He asked, taking the pants in his hands and kneeling down in front of the table. Fauna had no trouble submitting to Jae, he didn’t make her feel small or worried that he was going to take advantage of her. She simply felt like she was helping out a friend which was something she always liked to be able to do. “Indeed Sir, you never know it could become your go to bondage.” She chattered, stretching out her limbs for him to make it easier. “Ready when you are.” She agreed Jae chuckled a bit. He would probably never use articles of clothing again, but she was right, he needed to keep an open mind. Once she gave him the go ahead and stretched herself a bit, he separated both pant legs and scooped the underside of the table with it, then tied them around the thickest part of her thighs, to ensure that it would keep her in place. The fabric was a little too thick for his liking when it came to tying it, but he managed, double knotting it to ensure it would stay put. "How does that feel?" Fauna imagined that it would be pretty hard to work with the denim and almost felt bad that she hadn't worn something that might be a little bit easier to use. She lay as still as she could to try and make it easy for him as he worked, watching as he knotted the fabric. "Feels tight enough Sir, I don't think I could escape." She commented. "Awesome." He pulled on the knot again to make sure because he needed that one to be strong for the next one to work. He offered her his hand again, pulling her up into a sitting position and pulling her arms forward so that her wrists were touching her ankles. "Is that too much? How does that feel?" Fauna smiled at him, taking his hand and balancing in the sitting position that he had placed her in. It was the second time she'd been tied up in the past couple of days, so it really wasn't all that much of an imposition. She could easily touch her wrists to her ankles thanks to cheerleading so she shook her head when he asked if it was too much. "It's fine thank you Sir, cheerleading flexibility comes in handy." It seemed as though Jae had lucked into having Fauna as a partner for this particular scene, she was more than accommodating and seemed like the perfect fit for this type of bondage. She was easily pulled forward and stayed there effortlessly as he got the jacket ready to tie her wrists to her ankles. "That's right, I did see you out there during the game. Awesome." He tucked the jacket beneath her feet then pulled her forward a little bit more, wanting to really get her to stretch out. When the knot was complete, he tugged at that one as well to ensure she was secure. "Awesome, that worked out better than I thought. How are you feeling? Is it stretching you out at least a little bit?" Fauna hadn't done a lot of bondage that was for anything beyond just holding her in place, or for like sex reasons so she actually enjoyed the challenge aspect of being stretched out. "Thank you, I literally had no idea how much I was going to enjoy cheerleading until I started doing it." She leaned further forward for him as he tied her wrists to her ankles. "It definitely feels like a stretch." She confirmed, feeling the familiar pull of exercise in her muscles. "It say it's working pretty well Sir!" "Well you definitely look like you're having a hell of a lot of fun out there while you're cheering." The casual conversation helped Jae stay centered and grounded. When she confirmed it was a stretch, he smiled. It was what helped him, putting a challenge ahead of him so that when that particular task or challenge was met, he could feel accomplished. "Okay cool, awesome. Good." He pulled back a little bit and took out his phone. "I think ten minutes in that position just to make it ache a little then we're done?" He swiped up. "Would if be okay if I snapped a couple of photos of you like this?" "It's a clique but cheering really is a sport to me, like the achievement of getting a stunt right and the thrill of flying.. it's really something." Fauna explained, and nodded along with his assessment of ten minutes. "Ten minutes sounds good Sir, honestly Alexis and Q will be glad of the extra work out it will put me through." The brunette joked, and then nodded. "Snap away, I'm sure I look hella weird." "Are you kidding? It's definitely a sport. The way you guys are being thrown into the air like that? Most people could never." Jae was not just gassing her up. He found some of their routines just as, if not more exciting than the actual game. Especially when it was in terms of adrenaline pumping. She continued to make him smile and make him feel proud of the work he was doing in regards to this scene. "Cool, thanks." He just wanted to commemorate some of the more bazar memories, and this definitely counted as one of them. Once he got a few pics, he showed her. "It kind of looks normal when you ignore the denim and pleather," he commented. “Eh some people have teased me when I called it a sport.” she confessed. “But honestly I’m literally at my pique physical health right now, I’ve never worked so hard.” She allowed herself to focus on stretching the muscles for a moment, not wanting to go into cramp by moving anything wrong. “I doubt that, but send one to me will you when we’re done Sir? . I think I’d like to put it on my wall of photos.” "You don't have to convince me, I totally believe you." He couldn't help but laugh at her reaction to his comment. It did look odd, there was no way around that, but the position itself looked exactly like something he'd seen during his research. He couldn't wait till his body was stretched and pulled as the result of predicament bondage. He had time now when he checked his phone for the time and sent it to her quickly before kneeling down in front of her to better see her face. "We're almost there. Just like another minute or so." He changed positions, sitting down completely and crossed his legs before putting the phone down, ready to untie her when it went off. “Honestly I might have to do this to get my hamstrings stretched before I do my next handstand training.” Fauna mused, her muscles burned but it was definitely more of a work out than it was sexy to her. Even with Sawyer she wasn’t so sure she could see it as a kink. “No worries Sir, I do the splits for half an hour sometimes.” She admitted, waiting for the timer. The talk of encouragement was probably more for himself than for her, but he was grateful she was acknowledging him. It seemed like no more time had passed at all before the timer was going off. He swiped it off then moved to untie the jacket first but before he let it loose completely, he grabbed her hand to keep her from springing back too much on her own. He dropped the jacket then stood, only to help lay her back on her back so he could untie the jeans from her ankles. He massaged the muscles there for a moment then did the same to her wrists. "How you feeling?" When the timer went off, Fauna moved her neck around a little and then gratefully moved her wrists back as she was untied. “Thank you Sir.” She acknowledged as he untied the jeans and helped her to loosen her muscles a little. “Like I just did a handstand for ten minutes.” She laughed. “But fine.” Jae laughed along with her, finally relaxed because the scene was finally over. He held his hand out to her and helped her up off the table and held his hand up for a high five. "That was weird, but also awesome. Thanks for helping me out, Fauna. You can go back to just calling me Jae now," he offered with a smile. She jumped down from the table happily, giving him a big high five and then doing a quick stretch of her back. “No problem at all Jae, it was a total pleasure. Getting to perform Mamma Mia is always a dream come true.” JaeToday at 20:52 He went back to his usual self, rubbing the back of his neck with a small smile. "Next week I'll text you then? About watching Mamma Mia?" “Please do, because I’m absolutely holding you to that.” She warned him before giving him a smile and then a wave before slipping off.

[evilprincesskeri]

Teen!Dean - Part Six: Pick and Roll

Bobby looked up from his spot at the kitchen table and squinted at him suspiciously.  “You’re going to a high school basketball game?”

“Yeah, well, what else am I going to do here Bobby?  It’s been a month.  You won’t let me go find Dad.  So, yeah, I’ve gone native.  What about it?”

Bobby put his hands up in front of him to forstall more arguments.  “I’m not gonna stop you from going to do a little bit of living while you got the chance.”  

“This is not my life Bobby.  I’m a Hunter, that’s my life - and at this rate I’m gonna have to match a corsage and a cumberbund and I only know what one of those is for.”  Dean huffed in frustration and kicked the door frame.  “You aren’t worried about him, Bobby?”

“Ain't my job to worry about your old man.  He’ll be back when he’s done chasing his tail.” Bobby stood up, and crossed the room to lay a hand on Dean’s shoulder.  “Boy, there ain’t much in a Hunters life but blood and pain.  You get a chance to have a little bit of something else - you gotta grab ahold of that.”

Dean scoffed, and headed for the door.  “I guess cheerleaders are a good way to pass the time.”  

“Take Sam with you.” Bobby suggested.

“No way!” Sam shouted from the study across the hall at the same time Dean did. Sam lowered the lore book he was reading and grinned over top of it.  Dean couldn’t help but grin back at the little nerd surrounded by all the occult books the little egghead could devour.  

“I’ll be back late.” Dean said as he bounded down the stairs into the early spring evening.  He drove back to school at a leisurely pace.  The route was familiar so his mind kept drifting to an image that had been stuck in his head for a solid week now.  His mind lingered on the memory of a wisp of blonde hair caught among obscenely thick caramel coloured lashes and those coffee colored eyes.  With effort he pulled his mind away from the thought.  Again. Instead he focused on Jenna’s familiar curve of cleavage and the way the sweater of her uniform pulled up from the waist so you could see her tummy peek out easily enough.   Although, going to a school game of any sort was a new low, cheerleaders really were the best way to pass the time.

He pulled into the parking lot, surprised to find it nearly full.  He parked and walked around to the gym doors, following the crowd of teens and parents.  Once inside he found a spot mid-way up the bleachers that was dead center, so he had a good view.  

The cheer squad were milling around on the court, some still arriving.  Mostly the girls, Jenna among them, stood in a clump chatting and laughing.  The last of the three male cheerleaders walked up to the bench where the the other two were sitting and dropped his duffle on the floor.  He said his hellos and then brushed a lock of blonde hair out of his eyes.  Dean held very still as he watched the gesture lift the bottom edge of his sweater to allow just a glimpse of his tummy.  He licked his lips thoughtfully as he remembered the first day he’d come to see Jenna at practice.  It had been Brandon that she had been talking to as he walked up that day.  Realizing that he was staring he dragged his eyes back to Jenna and the girls and tried his best not to think.  At all.  

It didn’t work.  He’d been thinking about all the books Brandon had suggested, the passion in his voice when he talked about all the subtleties of Shakespeare's lesser known works and had wandered off on a tangent about the Sonnets.  It had all seemed like so much chick-flick lovey dovey BS before, but Dean had found himself sat at a corner table in the library yesterday leafing through a ‘Collected Works’ during his free period.

Once the game started and the cheer squad got going it was easier to stay focused on Jenna and the other girls.  They were front and center, and very… energetic.  Still, he had never before noticed how much work male cheerleaders did, but he found himself impressed.  They smiled, kept pace with the girls bouncing, blended into the routines doing occasional acrobatics themselves all while lifting, catching and stabilizing the girls.  

He thought he finally understood why a guy would choose to be a cheerleader.  There were some perks.  Still, the dichotomy of Brandon’s cheerleading and his tutoring activities struck Dean as at odds with one another.  The guy read voraciously, was good enough at math to get paid to tutor it, and was a cheerleader; it was an interesting combination.  

At half-time Jenna, and two of the other girls, started their routine with an acrobatic set of flips and cartwheels to the center of the court and slid down into the splits when they landed.  Dean leaned forward, a smile pulling up the corners of his lips as he remembered how she had shown him just how flexible she was in a different context.  The girl was bendy.  Brandon stepped close to Jenna and offered her a hand. Taking his hand she got up in a whirlwind spin of legs, and with Brandon’s help continue the momentum, she spun up along the length of his torso until she basically sat on one of his shoulders.  Shoulders that were surprisingly broad and well muscled.  

Dean simmered with confusion and did his best to keep his attention on Jenna.  She was delicious; and he meant that both figuratively and literally.  Her barely contained breasts bounced wildly and her short skirt regularly flipped up flashing the audience.  Her outfit was designed to tantalize.   It should not take this much effort on his part to focus on her.  Instead, he kept finding his eyes drifting back to the intriguing triangle that Brandon’s wide shoulders and narrow waist drew.  Or the way the muscles in his thighs were outlined through the tight polyester pants when he squatted before going into a lift.

He told himself he was just impressed.  Or surprised.  Brandon had struck him as scrawny at Jenna’s house but he’d been dressed in loose fitting layers and jeans.  He’d just assumed he was gangly and skinny because of the nerdy stuff.   And, to be fair… he was skinny; but the shoulders took him by surprise.  

As the game ended and the bleachers emptied, Dean dug his book out of his pocket and read in his seat until the crowd started to thin.  When there the majority of the crowd was off the bleachers and were clumped around the doors Dean put the book away and headed down to greet Jenna.  She was excited to see him, or was still riding the adrenalin from the performance, because she threw herself at him and wrapped her legs around his waist to kiss him.  After kissing him she slid down his body and bounced away saying “I need a shower, and then we’re gonna go do something fun.  Because I’m totally hyped and we gotta go DO something.”  

Dean chuckled “Alright, are you going to be long?”

Jenna laughed “I’ll be quick.  I promise, don’t bail.”  Jenna took off after the other girls who were headed toward the changing room.    

Dean shrugged “Sure.”  He glanced at the crowd of people clumped at the doors around the doors.  They didn’t seem to be going anywhere as they were moving in a ‘calm and orderly manner’ out the door on their way out to the parking lot.  He turned around to head back to the bleachers to wait, until Jenna was done or the people at the doors were gone, which ever was first.  He was surprised to see Brandon was sitting on a bench hunched over a book.  Dean’s brows furrowed as he realized where he had been hiding those shoulders earlier this week.  Brandon slumped his shoulders forward, making them look narrower and himself shorter than he actually was.  It was a neat trick.

Dean took a few strides over and plopped unceremoniously down next to him.  “What’cha reading today?”

Brandon’s head shot up and he jumped sideways on the bench by almost a foot.  He held the book between the two of them like a shield; his breath coming short and fast.  There was genuine terror in his eyes.

“Woah, woah, woah…” Dean held his hands up at his sides.  “Didn't mean to startle you there.”

Brandon swallowed hard and made a visible effort to calm himself.  He set the book slowly down on the bench between them, cover side up; The Cat Who Walks Through Walls.  Then, after a moment, he blinked at Dean in confusion  “Uh.  Sorry… I uhm?  What?”  

“No problem man.  It’s a good book.” Dean flashed a warm smile, feeling bad for having sat down so abruptly.  “Seems like you’re into it, though.”

Brandon blinked owlishly, staring at Dean as though he might not be real.  Or worse.  “What?”  He said again, but then, before Dean could answer he continued, his voice shaky and confused.  “Oh, the book… it’s one you’ve read?”  

“Yeah.  Some of it gets a little rambly, but Heinlein can be like that.”  

Brandon nodded and his eyes darted to the doors, to all the doors; the exit to the parking lot and the doors to the school and changing rooms.  “Uh.  Yeah… a little… rambly.”  

“Man, are you okay?” Dean asked leaning forward in concern.  

Brandon finally took a deep steadying breath and squared his shoulders.  “I uh, didn’t realize you were here… and didn’t… uh.  I wasn’t paying attention like I should have been.  What are you doing here?”

“Jenna wanted me to see the routine.  She wants to go out.”

Brandon nodded.  “Ah.  That makes more sense.”  

Dean very nearly asked what he meant by ‘more’ sense, but, Brandon was rattled so he let it go.  “I didn’t realize you were… er, on the team.”

“Yeah.  I’m super manly so I can see how it would be a surprise.”  

The sarcasm in Brandon’s voice made Dean laugh.  “Well, seems like it’s got it’s perks.  Full access.”  

“Uh… yeah.  Sure.”  Brandon was less nervous now, but his eyes kept moving, as though he were on look out for something.  It reminded Dean of how he felt when he was on a Hunt, but, there was nothing dangerous in this school.  Nothing here at the game either.  

Dean wanted to ask about it, but, got the sense that if he did it would only make things worse.  He rested his forearms on his thighs and turned his attention away from Brandon to the slowly thinning crowd near the door.  “I’ve been reading Catch 22.”  He said

“Oh.”  Brandon’s voice tried hard for neutrality.  

“Yeah.  It’s a strange book.”  Dean was unsure what he was doing here.  When he’d seen Brandon sitting here he’d been excited for the chance to get to talk to him again, but it didn’t seem like Brandon felt the same way.  It had been a whole school week since that day at Jenna’s and he hadn’t even seen Brandon since then, but he’d picked up Catch 22, he’d read Shakespeare, and he couldn’t get that little wisp of hair out of his mind.  

“... yeah.”  Brandon agreed and he seemed to debate what to do next.  He chewed on his thumbnail and swallowed nervously.  

Dean glanced sideways at him.  “Jenna’s got some family thing tomorrow.  You want to grab a pizza and talk about weird ass books?”  

Brandon stared at Dean for a long moment.  Those dark chocolate eyes swam with a torrent of emotions, but eventually he nodded.  “Uhm, yeah.  Tomorrow?”  

“Yeah.  There’s this dive of a pizza place I found.   All of the tables wobble and the wallpaper is peeling, and I think it might be a mob front, but god love ‘em they can make a pizza.  Tony’s.”  

Brandon blinked in bewilderment.  “On 12th?  I know it.”  

“Yeah.  That’s the place.  I have some stuff to do tomorrow morning, but could be there by 1 or so.”  

By now the crowds had pretty much cleared out and Jenna came bounding across the Gym with the rest of the girls.  They were all showered and preened.  Jenna was wearing a short pleated skirt and shirt with a heart shaped cut out over her chest.  Her jacket was on, but unbuttoned and her hair was down out of the braid it had been in.  Dean grinned at her as she approached.  He stood as she got close and she stepped into his arms to give him a short but very wet kiss.

After the kiss she seemed to notice Brandon.  “Oh! Thanks for keeping Dean company again B.”

Brandon’s cheeks flushed pink, and those dark eyes fluttered over Dean’s face and then down at the ground.  “Sure, Jenna.  I was waiting for my dad to pick me up, so it’s no big deal.”  

Dean wrapped an arm around Jenna and asked her “Where are we off to?”  She told him where ‘the gang’ was planning to go after the game.  Before turning to leave Dean looked back to Brandon “Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” Jenna asked “Is B gonna tutor you, so you can like… pass any of your classes?”

Brandon nodded stiffly, his shoulders were already sagging back into their slump.  “Yeah.  Tutoring… tomorrow at 1.”  

Dean gave Brandon a slight scowl before deciding, once more, not to argue the point.  As he left with Jenna he fought the urge to look back over his shoulder at Brandon.  Something was off with him, but, now wasn’t the time to push him about it.  The after party wasn’t some Hollywood fiction; Sure… pop music blared from the stereo loud enough to wake the dead and the beer was free flowing - in cans, not from a keg - but there was no dance floor.  No teen drama.  Just… 8 couples who had found a quiet place to make out or have sex.  

He was glad that Jenna had drawn a hard line in the sand because by 11 she was so drunk she was barely awake.  He poured her into his borrowed junker, drove her back home and helped her unlock the front door before he headed back to Bobby’s.

Bobby was, of course, still up when he returned.  His feet were propped on his desk, a glass of whiskey in his hand while he paged through a thick old tome.  “Midnight is late now?”

“Eat me.”  Dean said without malice and went to grab a bottle of beer from the fridge.  He plopped down on the couch and propped his foot on the stack of books on the floor in front of him.  

“Feet off the books boy.”  Bobby grumped.  “No cheerleader tonight?”

Dean grudgingly dropped his feet to the floor.  “We hung out for a while.  Then she drank her third beer and pretty much passed out.” Dean took a swig off his beer.  “What are you workin on?”

“Hunter in Des Moines is up against what he thought was a vengeful spirit.  Little girl keeps popping up, wreaking havoc.  She’s killed three people so far, but no one knows who she is and everyone who sees her gives a different description.  Something just ain’t sittin’ right with me about it.”

Dean pursed his lips and nodded.  No name meant they couldn’t dig up bones, no bones to burn meant the spirit was free to do what spirits did.., so that sucked.  He took another pull from his beer and sat in silence as Bobby went back to his reading.  

Bobby looked up about 10 minutes later and set his book aside “You got somethin on your mind?”

“Nah.”  Dean started.

“Okay, so, you’re just sitting here watching me read hoping your pretty face is gonna inspire me?” Bobby joked.  

“Can you take Sam shopping tomorrow?  He’s got some project he needs supplies for, and I told him I’d take him, but I got plans tomorrow now.”

“I thought the cheerleader had family stuff to do tomorrow?”

“No, not like that.  Jenna’s fine and all, but it’s not like we’ve got a lot to talk about.  Gonna grab a pizza and hang with this guy I met.”

“Awww.  Did you make a friend?” Bobby smirked and took a swig of his whiskey.

“Shut up.”  He took a final swig of beer and set the bottle on the table, before storming out of the room. 

Like what you just read?  Go back to the beginning: Part One: Arrival Part Two: Too Cool For School Part Three: The More You Know… Part Four: Ground Rules Part Five: Puzzle Peices

[johnclapperne]

How to Warm Up Properly and Avoid Injury

Getting hurt sucks!

We exercise to lose weight, build muscle, and feel better about ourselves, right?

Well, it’s pretty tough to do any of those things lying on a couch with a pulled hamstring/groin/face.

Okay you can’t pull your face, but I’m trying to prove a point here so shut it. 

Every day I cringe as I watch people wander into a gym, immediately lie down on a bench, and start cranking out their workout with a heavyweight within seconds.

These are the people that end up hurting themselves and missing weeks/months due to ignorance/apathy.

Joke time: Which is worse, ignorance or apathy?

Don’t know, don’t care! ZING!

Luckily, you’re smarter than the average bear, which is why you’re reading Nerd Fitness.

Today, you’re gonna learn all about the importance of warming up BEFORE every workout. On top of that, I’ll even teach you HOW to warm up.

My guess is that you’re warming up because you want to make sure you don’t injure yourself while training.

In addition to warming-up, there’s another key component to injury prevention: doing the exercises correctly and having a good plan to follow!

If you’re not sure how to strength training yet, or you’re looking to start with bodyweight training and graduate to weight training, I’m here for ya!

We made this massive free guide that covers all of this in-depth so you have all the answers and confidence you need to get started.

Check out our free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know when you sign up in the box below and join the Rebellion!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

Why warm up?

Above all else, the most important thing you can do when working out is warming up properly.

Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Come on.  Surely it’s not the MOST important thing…”

To which I’d reply: “First, don’t call me Shirley.  Secondly, if you don’t have enough time to warm up, then you don’t have enough time to work out.”

Boom!

So WHY is it so important? 

Think of your muscles like rubber bands.

If you spend all day sitting at a desk, hunched over a keyboard, those rubber bands have gone almost completely unused. Now, combine this lack of movement with some cold winter weather – your bands are now extra tight and constricted. Then, go to a gym and immediately start lifting heavy weights or sprinting really fast – those cold, unstretched rubber bands get pulled apart very quickly and will snap.

#Fail.

So, what about just regular, static stretching then? Unfortunately, just doing static stretching before a workout can overextend those muscles and actually rob them of the power and strength necessary for your actual workout.  #failagain

For that reason, dynamic warm-ups are the winner!

Think of it like a pregaming for your muscles – except replace “alcohol” with “awesome.”  By jumping around and getting your muscles loose, active, warm, and ready for action, you will keep yourself strong and injury free.

On top of that, doing a dynamic warm-up can help activate your central nervous system, priming your muscles for a great workout that produces your best effort.

Add “improved blood circulation” to the list of benefits of warming up, which will help you perform well in each exercise.

Need another reason? When your body is properly warmed up, your muscles and joints are ready for maximum flexibility, which means you can perform each exercise with PROPER form (like deep squats, for example) that maximize results and minimize the risk of injury.

So, whether you are running or strength training…a proper warm-up is probably the most important 5-10 minutes of your day. 

Still with me? 

Good. Let’s take you through my favorite warm up.

The Dynamic Warm Up

Now, this warmup video I have below is relatively advanced, so you might need to make adjustments to suit your level of fitness.

In fact, this particular warm-up might be more difficult than your actual workout, especially if you’re following something like The Beginner Bodyweight Workout.

THAT’S OKAY (I put a second example that’s easier below!)

Do what you can, adjust the exercises in this warm up so you can complete it, and go from there. See the next section for some suggestions on how to scale this warm-up to your level.

Here is this warm-up written out:

2-3 minutes of jump rope (who cares if you mess up, push yourself!)

50 jumping jacks (pull your shoulder blades back, extend arms and really focus on the movement)

20 bodyweight squats

5 lunges (each leg)

10 hip extensions

5 hip rotations each leg (like you’re stepping over a fence)

10 forward leg swings (each leg)

10 side leg swings (each leg)

10-20 push-ups (scale based on your level of fitness)

10 spider-man steps (each leg)

Yes, there is a lot of work put on your hips, butt, legs, and core. As nerds/desk jockeys, these tend to be the muscles that are the tighest and least active, and thus most susceptible to an injury.

If your arms and chest are particularly tight or sore, you can throw two more movements as well: 

Arm swings (holding your arms straight out to the side, and then swing them and cross them in front of your chest)

Shoulder rotations (holding your arms straight out to the side, and move your arms in a circular motion, making bigger circles each time)

When it comes time for your workout, if you are doing heavy strength training (with barbells or dumbbells), make sure you do some warm-up sets before jumping into the weight you’ll be training with for EACH EXERCISE. Always start with a set using just the bar to work on your form and get your body used to the movement.

Then, do a few sets of just a few reps with increasing weight (but won’t tire you out) and THEN start your workout.

The BEginner Warm Up: Variations

Here are some other options for warming up if the above seems too daunting:

The above video comes from Senior Female Coach Staci Ardison, whose success story is here (and she’s now a lead trainer in our NF Coaching Program)

Don’t overthink this: Your goal is to elevate your heart rate, put your muscles and joints through their range of motion to warm them up and make sure everything is functioning properly, and preparing your body to strength train!

So, marching in place while swinging your arms. High knees. Toe touches. Leg swings. Punches and kicks. Get your limbs moving!

This will get you prepped for a day of getting stronger.

If you read the above paragraph and thought “Yes I am doing strength training, please tell me more Steve! More!” Firstly, thanks for saying please – your mom taught you well. Next: we created a guide that answers all of the questions you might have about strength training, weight training, training in a gym, how much weight to lift, and how much to warm up with.

You’re a nice person, so I’ll send it to you fo free! Simply join our Rebellion by signing up in the box below and I’ll send you Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know so you can train worry free starting today!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

To answer your first few questions…

What if I don’t have a jump rope? Suck it up and go buy one! They’re dirt cheap, and a helluva way to start off any warm-up. Yeah, you might have crappy coordination, and you could even end up with bruised shins (and a bruised ego) to start out. Stick with it, improve your coordination, and get your body primed in just a few minutes.

Steve, I can’t do jumping jacks/I live on the second floor. Now, if you happen to be pretty overweight or live on the upper floor of an apartment building, then jumping jacks might not be an option for you. That’s okay – the reason I love jumping jacks is that they work out all four of your limbs at once and get you bouncing around. So instead, channel your inner Chuck Norris and do punches and kicks with each leg. I don’t care if you can’t kick higher than your shins and your punch wouldn’t kill a fly…just get those limbs flailing and warmed up!

Um, your warm-up is tougher than my actual workout! The dynamic warm-up above is designed for people who are doing serious training. If you are doing heavy deadlifts and squats and overhead presses, a proper warm-up could keep you out of a career-ending injury. However, if you are just getting started with exercise and you’re only doing bodyweight exercises, obviously 20 real push-ups during your workout isn’t possible…

THAT’S OKAY. Think of the above as the warm-up you aspire to complete. In the meantime, do the best you can. Let’s say:

Jump rope for 30 seconds

20 leg swings and arm circles

10 squats

5 lunges

5 elevated push-ups or 5 wall push-ups

Follow the rest of the routine as planned if possible.

In this routine, your warm-up will act as part of your workout, as you’ll be doing the same functional movements. Do the BEST you can, keep track of your results for your warm up too, and improve with each workout.  With enough consistency and persistency (not a word, but rhymed better and sounded way better than persistence), you’ll be busting out the full warm-up routine before kicking ass at your actual workout!

Any more brain busters?

Hopefully, this is a post you bookmark, as it’s probably one of the more important ones I’ve ever written.

What other questions can I answer for you about warming up properly?

I’m here to help!

Also, if you made it this far, I have a hunch you’ll love our free, massive guide on all things strength: Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. If you’re worried about any aspect of strength training, this guide will cover it and give you the confidence to get started:

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

-Steve

PS: What should you do after your workout? Stretch!

###

All photo sources can be found right here.[1]

Footnotes    ( returns to text)

Hook, Resolutions, Happytrooper, Sunday, Decathlon.

https://ift.tt/2kAEsNt

[neilmillerne]

How to Warm Up Properly and Avoid Injury

Getting hurt sucks!

We exercise to lose weight, build muscle, and feel better about ourselves, right?

Well, it’s pretty tough to do any of those things lying on a couch with a pulled hamstring/groin/face.

Okay you can’t pull your face, but I’m trying to prove a point here so shut it. 

Every day I cringe as I watch people wander into a gym, immediately lie down on a bench, and start cranking out their workout with a heavyweight within seconds.

These are the people that end up hurting themselves and missing weeks/months due to ignorance/apathy.

Joke time: Which is worse, ignorance or apathy?

Don’t know, don’t care! ZING!

Luckily, you’re smarter than the average bear, which is why you’re reading Nerd Fitness.

Today, you’re gonna learn all about the importance of warming up BEFORE every workout. On top of that, I’ll even teach you HOW to warm up.

My guess is that you’re warming up because you want to make sure you don’t injure yourself while training.

In addition to warming-up, there’s another key component to injury prevention: doing the exercises correctly and having a good plan to follow!

If you’re not sure how to strength training yet, or you’re looking to start with bodyweight training and graduate to weight training, I’m here for ya!

We made this massive free guide that covers all of this in-depth so you have all the answers and confidence you need to get started.

Check out our free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know when you sign up in the box below and join the Rebellion!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

Why warm up?

Above all else, the most important thing you can do when working out is warming up properly.

Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Come on.  Surely it’s not the MOST important thing…”

To which I’d reply: “First, don’t call me Shirley.  Secondly, if you don’t have enough time to warm up, then you don’t have enough time to work out.”

Boom!

So WHY is it so important? 

Think of your muscles like rubber bands.

If you spend all day sitting at a desk, hunched over a keyboard, those rubber bands have gone almost completely unused. Now, combine this lack of movement with some cold winter weather – your bands are now extra tight and constricted. Then, go to a gym and immediately start lifting heavy weights or sprinting really fast – those cold, unstretched rubber bands get pulled apart very quickly and will snap.

#Fail.

So, what about just regular, static stretching then? Unfortunately, just doing static stretching before a workout can overextend those muscles and actually rob them of the power and strength necessary for your actual workout.  #failagain

For that reason, dynamic warm-ups are the winner!

Think of it like a pregaming for your muscles – except replace “alcohol” with “awesome.”  By jumping around and getting your muscles loose, active, warm, and ready for action, you will keep yourself strong and injury free.

On top of that, doing a dynamic warm-up can help activate your central nervous system, priming your muscles for a great workout that produces your best effort.

Add “improved blood circulation” to the list of benefits of warming up, which will help you perform well in each exercise.

Need another reason? When your body is properly warmed up, your muscles and joints are ready for maximum flexibility, which means you can perform each exercise with PROPER form (like deep squats, for example) that maximize results and minimize the risk of injury.

So, whether you are running or strength training…a proper warm-up is probably the most important 5-10 minutes of your day. 

Still with me? 

Good. Let’s take you through my favorite warm up.

The Dynamic Warm Up

Now, this warmup video I have below is relatively advanced, so you might need to make adjustments to suit your level of fitness.

In fact, this particular warm-up might be more difficult than your actual workout, especially if you’re following something like The Beginner Bodyweight Workout.

THAT’S OKAY (I put a second example that’s easier below!)

Do what you can, adjust the exercises in this warm up so you can complete it, and go from there. See the next section for some suggestions on how to scale this warm-up to your level.

Here is this warm-up written out:

2-3 minutes of jump rope (who cares if you mess up, push yourself!)

50 jumping jacks (pull your shoulder blades back, extend arms and really focus on the movement)

20 bodyweight squats

5 lunges (each leg)

10 hip extensions

5 hip rotations each leg (like you’re stepping over a fence)

10 forward leg swings (each leg)

10 side leg swings (each leg)

10-20 push-ups (scale based on your level of fitness)

10 spider-man steps (each leg)

Yes, there is a lot of work put on your hips, butt, legs, and core. As nerds/desk jockeys, these tend to be the muscles that are the tighest and least active, and thus most susceptible to an injury.

If your arms and chest are particularly tight or sore, you can throw two more movements as well: 

Arm swings (holding your arms straight out to the side, and then swing them and cross them in front of your chest)

Shoulder rotations (holding your arms straight out to the side, and move your arms in a circular motion, making bigger circles each time)

When it comes time for your workout, if you are doing heavy strength training (with barbells or dumbbells), make sure you do some warm-up sets before jumping into the weight you’ll be training with for EACH EXERCISE. Always start with a set using just the bar to work on your form and get your body used to the movement.

Then, do a few sets of just a few reps with increasing weight (but won’t tire you out) and THEN start your workout.

The BEginner Warm Up: Variations

Here are some other options for warming up if the above seems too daunting:

The above video comes from Senior Female Coach Staci Ardison, whose success story is here (and she’s now a lead trainer in our NF Coaching Program)

Don’t overthink this: Your goal is to elevate your heart rate, put your muscles and joints through their range of motion to warm them up and make sure everything is functioning properly, and preparing your body to strength train!

So, marching in place while swinging your arms. High knees. Toe touches. Leg swings. Punches and kicks. Get your limbs moving!

This will get you prepped for a day of getting stronger.

If you read the above paragraph and thought “Yes I am doing strength training, please tell me more Steve! More!” Firstly, thanks for saying please – your mom taught you well. Next: we created a guide that answers all of the questions you might have about strength training, weight training, training in a gym, how much weight to lift, and how much to warm up with.

You’re a nice person, so I’ll send it to you fo free! Simply join our Rebellion by signing up in the box below and I’ll send you Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know so you can train worry free starting today!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

To answer your first few questions…

What if I don’t have a jump rope? Suck it up and go buy one! They’re dirt cheap, and a helluva way to start off any warm-up. Yeah, you might have crappy coordination, and you could even end up with bruised shins (and a bruised ego) to start out. Stick with it, improve your coordination, and get your body primed in just a few minutes.

Steve, I can’t do jumping jacks/I live on the second floor. Now, if you happen to be pretty overweight or live on the upper floor of an apartment building, then jumping jacks might not be an option for you. That’s okay – the reason I love jumping jacks is that they work out all four of your limbs at once and get you bouncing around. So instead, channel your inner Chuck Norris and do punches and kicks with each leg. I don’t care if you can’t kick higher than your shins and your punch wouldn’t kill a fly…just get those limbs flailing and warmed up!

Um, your warm-up is tougher than my actual workout! The dynamic warm-up above is designed for people who are doing serious training. If you are doing heavy deadlifts and squats and overhead presses, a proper warm-up could keep you out of a career-ending injury. However, if you are just getting started with exercise and you’re only doing bodyweight exercises, obviously 20 real push-ups during your workout isn’t possible…

THAT’S OKAY. Think of the above as the warm-up you aspire to complete. In the meantime, do the best you can. Let’s say:

Jump rope for 30 seconds

20 leg swings and arm circles

10 squats

5 lunges

5 elevated push-ups or 5 wall push-ups

Follow the rest of the routine as planned if possible.

In this routine, your warm-up will act as part of your workout, as you’ll be doing the same functional movements. Do the BEST you can, keep track of your results for your warm up too, and improve with each workout.  With enough consistency and persistency (not a word, but rhymed better and sounded way better than persistence), you’ll be busting out the full warm-up routine before kicking ass at your actual workout!

Any more brain busters?

Hopefully, this is a post you bookmark, as it’s probably one of the more important ones I’ve ever written.

What other questions can I answer for you about warming up properly?

I’m here to help!

Also, if you made it this far, I have a hunch you’ll love our free, massive guide on all things strength: Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. If you’re worried about any aspect of strength training, this guide will cover it and give you the confidence to get started:

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

-Steve

PS: What should you do after your workout? Stretch!

###

All photo sources can be found right here.[1]

Footnotes    ( returns to text)

Hook, Resolutions, Happytrooper, Sunday, Decathlon.

https://ift.tt/2kAEsNt

[almajonesnjna]

How to Warm Up Properly and Avoid Injury

Getting hurt sucks!

We exercise to lose weight, build muscle, and feel better about ourselves, right?

Well, it’s pretty tough to do any of those things lying on a couch with a pulled hamstring/groin/face.

Okay you can’t pull your face, but I’m trying to prove a point here so shut it. 

Every day I cringe as I watch people wander into a gym, immediately lie down on a bench, and start cranking out their workout with a heavyweight within seconds.

These are the people that end up hurting themselves and missing weeks/months due to ignorance/apathy.

Joke time: Which is worse, ignorance or apathy?

Don’t know, don’t care! ZING!

Luckily, you’re smarter than the average bear, which is why you’re reading Nerd Fitness.

Today, you’re gonna learn all about the importance of warming up BEFORE every workout. On top of that, I’ll even teach you HOW to warm up.

My guess is that you’re warming up because you want to make sure you don’t injure yourself while training.

In addition to warming-up, there’s another key component to injury prevention: doing the exercises correctly and having a good plan to follow!

If you’re not sure how to strength training yet, or you’re looking to start with bodyweight training and graduate to weight training, I’m here for ya!

We made this massive free guide that covers all of this in-depth so you have all the answers and confidence you need to get started.

Check out our free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know when you sign up in the box below and join the Rebellion!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

Why warm up?

Above all else, the most important thing you can do when working out is warming up properly.

Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Come on.  Surely it’s not the MOST important thing…”

To which I’d reply: “First, don’t call me Shirley.  Secondly, if you don’t have enough time to warm up, then you don’t have enough time to work out.”

Boom!

So WHY is it so important? 

Think of your muscles like rubber bands.

If you spend all day sitting at a desk, hunched over a keyboard, those rubber bands have gone almost completely unused. Now, combine this lack of movement with some cold winter weather – your bands are now extra tight and constricted. Then, go to a gym and immediately start lifting heavy weights or sprinting really fast – those cold, unstretched rubber bands get pulled apart very quickly and will snap.

#Fail.

So, what about just regular, static stretching then? Unfortunately, just doing static stretching before a workout can overextend those muscles and actually rob them of the power and strength necessary for your actual workout.  #failagain

For that reason, dynamic warm-ups are the winner!

Think of it like a pregaming for your muscles – except replace “alcohol” with “awesome.”  By jumping around and getting your muscles loose, active, warm, and ready for action, you will keep yourself strong and injury free.

On top of that, doing a dynamic warm-up can help activate your central nervous system, priming your muscles for a great workout that produces your best effort.

Add “improved blood circulation” to the list of benefits of warming up, which will help you perform well in each exercise.

Need another reason? When your body is properly warmed up, your muscles and joints are ready for maximum flexibility, which means you can perform each exercise with PROPER form (like deep squats, for example) that maximize results and minimize the risk of injury.

So, whether you are running or strength training…a proper warm-up is probably the most important 5-10 minutes of your day. 

Still with me? 

Good. Let’s take you through my favorite warm up.

The Dynamic Warm Up

Now, this warmup video I have below is relatively advanced, so you might need to make adjustments to suit your level of fitness.

In fact, this particular warm-up might be more difficult than your actual workout, especially if you’re following something like The Beginner Bodyweight Workout.

THAT’S OKAY (I put a second example that’s easier below!)

Do what you can, adjust the exercises in this warm up so you can complete it, and go from there. See the next section for some suggestions on how to scale this warm-up to your level.

Here is this warm-up written out:

2-3 minutes of jump rope (who cares if you mess up, push yourself!)

50 jumping jacks (pull your shoulder blades back, extend arms and really focus on the movement)

20 bodyweight squats

5 lunges (each leg)

10 hip extensions

5 hip rotations each leg (like you’re stepping over a fence)

10 forward leg swings (each leg)

10 side leg swings (each leg)

10-20 push-ups (scale based on your level of fitness)

10 spider-man steps (each leg)

Yes, there is a lot of work put on your hips, butt, legs, and core. As nerds/desk jockeys, these tend to be the muscles that are the tighest and least active, and thus most susceptible to an injury.

If your arms and chest are particularly tight or sore, you can throw two more movements as well: 

Arm swings (holding your arms straight out to the side, and then swing them and cross them in front of your chest)

Shoulder rotations (holding your arms straight out to the side, and move your arms in a circular motion, making bigger circles each time)

When it comes time for your workout, if you are doing heavy strength training (with barbells or dumbbells), make sure you do some warm-up sets before jumping into the weight you’ll be training with for EACH EXERCISE. Always start with a set using just the bar to work on your form and get your body used to the movement.

Then, do a few sets of just a few reps with increasing weight (but won’t tire you out) and THEN start your workout.

The BEginner Warm Up: Variations

Here are some other options for warming up if the above seems too daunting:

The above video comes from Senior Female Coach Staci Ardison, whose success story is here (and she’s now a lead trainer in our NF Coaching Program)

Don’t overthink this: Your goal is to elevate your heart rate, put your muscles and joints through their range of motion to warm them up and make sure everything is functioning properly, and preparing your body to strength train!

So, marching in place while swinging your arms. High knees. Toe touches. Leg swings. Punches and kicks. Get your limbs moving!

This will get you prepped for a day of getting stronger.

If you read the above paragraph and thought “Yes I am doing strength training, please tell me more Steve! More!” Firstly, thanks for saying please – your mom taught you well. Next: we created a guide that answers all of the questions you might have about strength training, weight training, training in a gym, how much weight to lift, and how much to warm up with.

You’re a nice person, so I’ll send it to you fo free! Simply join our Rebellion by signing up in the box below and I’ll send you Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know so you can train worry free starting today!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

To answer your first few questions…

What if I don’t have a jump rope? Suck it up and go buy one! They’re dirt cheap, and a helluva way to start off any warm-up. Yeah, you might have crappy coordination, and you could even end up with bruised shins (and a bruised ego) to start out. Stick with it, improve your coordination, and get your body primed in just a few minutes.

Steve, I can’t do jumping jacks/I live on the second floor. Now, if you happen to be pretty overweight or live on the upper floor of an apartment building, then jumping jacks might not be an option for you. That’s okay – the reason I love jumping jacks is that they work out all four of your limbs at once and get you bouncing around. So instead, channel your inner Chuck Norris and do punches and kicks with each leg. I don’t care if you can’t kick higher than your shins and your punch wouldn’t kill a fly…just get those limbs flailing and warmed up!

Um, your warm-up is tougher than my actual workout! The dynamic warm-up above is designed for people who are doing serious training. If you are doing heavy deadlifts and squats and overhead presses, a proper warm-up could keep you out of a career-ending injury. However, if you are just getting started with exercise and you’re only doing bodyweight exercises, obviously 20 real push-ups during your workout isn’t possible…

THAT’S OKAY. Think of the above as the warm-up you aspire to complete. In the meantime, do the best you can. Let’s say:

Jump rope for 30 seconds

20 leg swings and arm circles

10 squats

5 lunges

5 elevated push-ups or 5 wall push-ups

Follow the rest of the routine as planned if possible.

In this routine, your warm-up will act as part of your workout, as you’ll be doing the same functional movements. Do the BEST you can, keep track of your results for your warm up too, and improve with each workout.  With enough consistency and persistency (not a word, but rhymed better and sounded way better than persistence), you’ll be busting out the full warm-up routine before kicking ass at your actual workout!

Any more brain busters?

Hopefully, this is a post you bookmark, as it’s probably one of the more important ones I’ve ever written.

What other questions can I answer for you about warming up properly?

I’m here to help!

Also, if you made it this far, I have a hunch you’ll love our free, massive guide on all things strength: Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. If you’re worried about any aspect of strength training, this guide will cover it and give you the confidence to get started:

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

-Steve

PS: What should you do after your workout? Stretch!

###

All photo sources can be found right here.[1]

Footnotes    ( returns to text)

Hook, Resolutions, Happytrooper, Sunday, Decathlon.

https://ift.tt/2kAEsNt

[albertcaldwellne]

How to Warm Up Properly and Avoid Injury

Getting hurt sucks!

We exercise to lose weight, build muscle, and feel better about ourselves, right?

Well, it’s pretty tough to do any of those things lying on a couch with a pulled hamstring/groin/face.

Okay you can’t pull your face, but I’m trying to prove a point here so shut it. 

Every day I cringe as I watch people wander into a gym, immediately lie down on a bench, and start cranking out their workout with a heavyweight within seconds.

These are the people that end up hurting themselves and missing weeks/months due to ignorance/apathy.

Joke time: Which is worse, ignorance or apathy?

Don’t know, don’t care! ZING!

Luckily, you’re smarter than the average bear, which is why you’re reading Nerd Fitness.

Today, you’re gonna learn all about the importance of warming up BEFORE every workout. On top of that, I’ll even teach you HOW to warm up.

My guess is that you’re warming up because you want to make sure you don’t injure yourself while training.

In addition to warming-up, there’s another key component to injury prevention: doing the exercises correctly and having a good plan to follow!

If you’re not sure how to strength training yet, or you’re looking to start with bodyweight training and graduate to weight training, I’m here for ya!

We made this massive free guide that covers all of this in-depth so you have all the answers and confidence you need to get started.

Check out our free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know when you sign up in the box below and join the Rebellion!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

Why warm up?

Above all else, the most important thing you can do when working out is warming up properly.

Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Come on.  Surely it’s not the MOST important thing…”

To which I’d reply: “First, don’t call me Shirley.  Secondly, if you don’t have enough time to warm up, then you don’t have enough time to work out.”

Boom!

So WHY is it so important? 

Think of your muscles like rubber bands.

If you spend all day sitting at a desk, hunched over a keyboard, those rubber bands have gone almost completely unused. Now, combine this lack of movement with some cold winter weather – your bands are now extra tight and constricted. Then, go to a gym and immediately start lifting heavy weights or sprinting really fast – those cold, unstretched rubber bands get pulled apart very quickly and will snap.

#Fail.

So, what about just regular, static stretching then? Unfortunately, just doing static stretching before a workout can overextend those muscles and actually rob them of the power and strength necessary for your actual workout.  #failagain

For that reason, dynamic warm-ups are the winner!

Think of it like a pregaming for your muscles – except replace “alcohol” with “awesome.”  By jumping around and getting your muscles loose, active, warm, and ready for action, you will keep yourself strong and injury free.

On top of that, doing a dynamic warm-up can help activate your central nervous system, priming your muscles for a great workout that produces your best effort.

Add “improved blood circulation” to the list of benefits of warming up, which will help you perform well in each exercise.

Need another reason? When your body is properly warmed up, your muscles and joints are ready for maximum flexibility, which means you can perform each exercise with PROPER form (like deep squats, for example) that maximize results and minimize the risk of injury.

So, whether you are running or strength training…a proper warm-up is probably the most important 5-10 minutes of your day. 

Still with me? 

Good. Let’s take you through my favorite warm up.

The Dynamic Warm Up

Now, this warmup video I have below is relatively advanced, so you might need to make adjustments to suit your level of fitness.

In fact, this particular warm-up might be more difficult than your actual workout, especially if you’re following something like The Beginner Bodyweight Workout.

THAT’S OKAY (I put a second example that’s easier below!)

Do what you can, adjust the exercises in this warm up so you can complete it, and go from there. See the next section for some suggestions on how to scale this warm-up to your level.

Here is this warm-up written out:

2-3 minutes of jump rope (who cares if you mess up, push yourself!)

50 jumping jacks (pull your shoulder blades back, extend arms and really focus on the movement)

20 bodyweight squats

5 lunges (each leg)

10 hip extensions

5 hip rotations each leg (like you’re stepping over a fence)

10 forward leg swings (each leg)

10 side leg swings (each leg)

10-20 push-ups (scale based on your level of fitness)

10 spider-man steps (each leg)

Yes, there is a lot of work put on your hips, butt, legs, and core. As nerds/desk jockeys, these tend to be the muscles that are the tighest and least active, and thus most susceptible to an injury.

If your arms and chest are particularly tight or sore, you can throw two more movements as well: 

Arm swings (holding your arms straight out to the side, and then swing them and cross them in front of your chest)

Shoulder rotations (holding your arms straight out to the side, and move your arms in a circular motion, making bigger circles each time)

When it comes time for your workout, if you are doing heavy strength training (with barbells or dumbbells), make sure you do some warm-up sets before jumping into the weight you’ll be training with for EACH EXERCISE. Always start with a set using just the bar to work on your form and get your body used to the movement.

Then, do a few sets of just a few reps with increasing weight (but won’t tire you out) and THEN start your workout.

The BEginner Warm Up: Variations

Here are some other options for warming up if the above seems too daunting:

The above video comes from Senior Female Coach Staci Ardison, whose success story is here (and she’s now a lead trainer in our NF Coaching Program)

Don’t overthink this: Your goal is to elevate your heart rate, put your muscles and joints through their range of motion to warm them up and make sure everything is functioning properly, and preparing your body to strength train!

So, marching in place while swinging your arms. High knees. Toe touches. Leg swings. Punches and kicks. Get your limbs moving!

This will get you prepped for a day of getting stronger.

If you read the above paragraph and thought “Yes I am doing strength training, please tell me more Steve! More!” Firstly, thanks for saying please – your mom taught you well. Next: we created a guide that answers all of the questions you might have about strength training, weight training, training in a gym, how much weight to lift, and how much to warm up with.

You’re a nice person, so I’ll send it to you fo free! Simply join our Rebellion by signing up in the box below and I’ll send you Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know so you can train worry free starting today!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

To answer your first few questions…

What if I don’t have a jump rope? Suck it up and go buy one! They’re dirt cheap, and a helluva way to start off any warm-up. Yeah, you might have crappy coordination, and you could even end up with bruised shins (and a bruised ego) to start out. Stick with it, improve your coordination, and get your body primed in just a few minutes.

Steve, I can’t do jumping jacks/I live on the second floor. Now, if you happen to be pretty overweight or live on the upper floor of an apartment building, then jumping jacks might not be an option for you. That’s okay – the reason I love jumping jacks is that they work out all four of your limbs at once and get you bouncing around. So instead, channel your inner Chuck Norris and do punches and kicks with each leg. I don’t care if you can’t kick higher than your shins and your punch wouldn’t kill a fly…just get those limbs flailing and warmed up!

Um, your warm-up is tougher than my actual workout! The dynamic warm-up above is designed for people who are doing serious training. If you are doing heavy deadlifts and squats and overhead presses, a proper warm-up could keep you out of a career-ending injury. However, if you are just getting started with exercise and you’re only doing bodyweight exercises, obviously 20 real push-ups during your workout isn’t possible…

THAT’S OKAY. Think of the above as the warm-up you aspire to complete. In the meantime, do the best you can. Let’s say:

Jump rope for 30 seconds

20 leg swings and arm circles

10 squats

5 lunges

5 elevated push-ups or 5 wall push-ups

Follow the rest of the routine as planned if possible.

In this routine, your warm-up will act as part of your workout, as you’ll be doing the same functional movements. Do the BEST you can, keep track of your results for your warm up too, and improve with each workout.  With enough consistency and persistency (not a word, but rhymed better and sounded way better than persistence), you’ll be busting out the full warm-up routine before kicking ass at your actual workout!

Any more brain busters?

Hopefully, this is a post you bookmark, as it’s probably one of the more important ones I’ve ever written.

What other questions can I answer for you about warming up properly?

I’m here to help!

Also, if you made it this far, I have a hunch you’ll love our free, massive guide on all things strength: Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. If you’re worried about any aspect of strength training, this guide will cover it and give you the confidence to get started:

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

-Steve

PS: What should you do after your workout? Stretch!

###

All photo sources can be found right here.[1]

Footnotes    ( returns to text)

Hook, Resolutions, Happytrooper, Sunday, Decathlon.

https://ift.tt/2kAEsNt

[ruthellisneda]

How to Warm Up Properly and Avoid Injury

Getting hurt sucks!

We exercise to lose weight, build muscle, and feel better about ourselves, right?

Well, it’s pretty tough to do any of those things lying on a couch with a pulled hamstring/groin/face.

Okay you can’t pull your face, but I’m trying to prove a point here so shut it. 

Every day I cringe as I watch people wander into a gym, immediately lie down on a bench, and start cranking out their workout with a heavyweight within seconds.

These are the people that end up hurting themselves and missing weeks/months due to ignorance/apathy.

Joke time: Which is worse, ignorance or apathy?

Don’t know, don’t care! ZING!

Luckily, you’re smarter than the average bear, which is why you’re reading Nerd Fitness.

Today, you’re gonna learn all about the importance of warming up BEFORE every workout. On top of that, I’ll even teach you HOW to warm up.

My guess is that you’re warming up because you want to make sure you don’t injure yourself while training.

In addition to warming-up, there’s another key component to injury prevention: doing the exercises correctly and having a good plan to follow!

If you’re not sure how to strength training yet, or you’re looking to start with bodyweight training and graduate to weight training, I’m here for ya!

We made this massive free guide that covers all of this in-depth so you have all the answers and confidence you need to get started.

Check out our free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know when you sign up in the box below and join the Rebellion!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

Why warm up?

Above all else, the most important thing you can do when working out is warming up properly.

Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Come on.  Surely it’s not the MOST important thing…”

To which I’d reply: “First, don’t call me Shirley.  Secondly, if you don’t have enough time to warm up, then you don’t have enough time to work out.”

Boom!

So WHY is it so important? 

Think of your muscles like rubber bands.

If you spend all day sitting at a desk, hunched over a keyboard, those rubber bands have gone almost completely unused. Now, combine this lack of movement with some cold winter weather – your bands are now extra tight and constricted. Then, go to a gym and immediately start lifting heavy weights or sprinting really fast – those cold, unstretched rubber bands get pulled apart very quickly and will snap.

#Fail.

So, what about just regular, static stretching then? Unfortunately, just doing static stretching before a workout can overextend those muscles and actually rob them of the power and strength necessary for your actual workout.  #failagain

For that reason, dynamic warm-ups are the winner!

Think of it like a pregaming for your muscles – except replace “alcohol” with “awesome.”  By jumping around and getting your muscles loose, active, warm, and ready for action, you will keep yourself strong and injury free.

On top of that, doing a dynamic warm-up can help activate your central nervous system, priming your muscles for a great workout that produces your best effort.

Add “improved blood circulation” to the list of benefits of warming up, which will help you perform well in each exercise.

Need another reason? When your body is properly warmed up, your muscles and joints are ready for maximum flexibility, which means you can perform each exercise with PROPER form (like deep squats, for example) that maximize results and minimize the risk of injury.

So, whether you are running or strength training…a proper warm-up is probably the most important 5-10 minutes of your day. 

Still with me? 

Good. Let’s take you through my favorite warm up.

The Dynamic Warm Up

Now, this warmup video I have below is relatively advanced, so you might need to make adjustments to suit your level of fitness.

In fact, this particular warm-up might be more difficult than your actual workout, especially if you’re following something like The Beginner Bodyweight Workout.

THAT’S OKAY (I put a second example that’s easier below!)

Do what you can, adjust the exercises in this warm up so you can complete it, and go from there. See the next section for some suggestions on how to scale this warm-up to your level.

Here is this warm-up written out:

2-3 minutes of jump rope (who cares if you mess up, push yourself!)

50 jumping jacks (pull your shoulder blades back, extend arms and really focus on the movement)

20 bodyweight squats

5 lunges (each leg)

10 hip extensions

5 hip rotations each leg (like you’re stepping over a fence)

10 forward leg swings (each leg)

10 side leg swings (each leg)

10-20 push-ups (scale based on your level of fitness)

10 spider-man steps (each leg)

Yes, there is a lot of work put on your hips, butt, legs, and core. As nerds/desk jockeys, these tend to be the muscles that are the tighest and least active, and thus most susceptible to an injury.

If your arms and chest are particularly tight or sore, you can throw two more movements as well: 

Arm swings (holding your arms straight out to the side, and then swing them and cross them in front of your chest)

Shoulder rotations (holding your arms straight out to the side, and move your arms in a circular motion, making bigger circles each time)

When it comes time for your workout, if you are doing heavy strength training (with barbells or dumbbells), make sure you do some warm-up sets before jumping into the weight you’ll be training with for EACH EXERCISE. Always start with a set using just the bar to work on your form and get your body used to the movement.

Then, do a few sets of just a few reps with increasing weight (but won’t tire you out) and THEN start your workout.

The BEginner Warm Up: Variations

Here are some other options for warming up if the above seems too daunting:

The above video comes from Senior Female Coach Staci Ardison, whose success story is here (and she’s now a lead trainer in our NF Coaching Program)

Don’t overthink this: Your goal is to elevate your heart rate, put your muscles and joints through their range of motion to warm them up and make sure everything is functioning properly, and preparing your body to strength train!

So, marching in place while swinging your arms. High knees. Toe touches. Leg swings. Punches and kicks. Get your limbs moving!

This will get you prepped for a day of getting stronger.

If you read the above paragraph and thought “Yes I am doing strength training, please tell me more Steve! More!” Firstly, thanks for saying please – your mom taught you well. Next: we created a guide that answers all of the questions you might have about strength training, weight training, training in a gym, how much weight to lift, and how much to warm up with.

You’re a nice person, so I’ll send it to you fo free! Simply join our Rebellion by signing up in the box below and I’ll send you Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know so you can train worry free starting today!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

To answer your first few questions…

What if I don’t have a jump rope? Suck it up and go buy one! They’re dirt cheap, and a helluva way to start off any warm-up. Yeah, you might have crappy coordination, and you could even end up with bruised shins (and a bruised ego) to start out. Stick with it, improve your coordination, and get your body primed in just a few minutes.

Steve, I can’t do jumping jacks/I live on the second floor. Now, if you happen to be pretty overweight or live on the upper floor of an apartment building, then jumping jacks might not be an option for you. That’s okay – the reason I love jumping jacks is that they work out all four of your limbs at once and get you bouncing around. So instead, channel your inner Chuck Norris and do punches and kicks with each leg. I don’t care if you can’t kick higher than your shins and your punch wouldn’t kill a fly…just get those limbs flailing and warmed up!

Um, your warm-up is tougher than my actual workout! The dynamic warm-up above is designed for people who are doing serious training. If you are doing heavy deadlifts and squats and overhead presses, a proper warm-up could keep you out of a career-ending injury. However, if you are just getting started with exercise and you’re only doing bodyweight exercises, obviously 20 real push-ups during your workout isn’t possible…

THAT’S OKAY. Think of the above as the warm-up you aspire to complete. In the meantime, do the best you can. Let’s say:

Jump rope for 30 seconds

20 leg swings and arm circles

10 squats

5 lunges

5 elevated push-ups or 5 wall push-ups

Follow the rest of the routine as planned if possible.

In this routine, your warm-up will act as part of your workout, as you’ll be doing the same functional movements. Do the BEST you can, keep track of your results for your warm up too, and improve with each workout.  With enough consistency and persistency (not a word, but rhymed better and sounded way better than persistence), you’ll be busting out the full warm-up routine before kicking ass at your actual workout!

Any more brain busters?

Hopefully, this is a post you bookmark, as it’s probably one of the more important ones I’ve ever written.

What other questions can I answer for you about warming up properly?

I’m here to help!

Also, if you made it this far, I have a hunch you’ll love our free, massive guide on all things strength: Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. If you’re worried about any aspect of strength training, this guide will cover it and give you the confidence to get started:

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

-Steve

PS: What should you do after your workout? Stretch!

###

All photo sources can be found right here.[1]

Footnotes    ( returns to text)

Hook, Resolutions, Happytrooper, Sunday, Decathlon.

https://ift.tt/2kAEsNt

[joshuabradleyn]

How to Warm Up Properly and Avoid Injury

Getting hurt sucks!

We exercise to lose weight, build muscle, and feel better about ourselves, right?

Well, it’s pretty tough to do any of those things lying on a couch with a pulled hamstring/groin/face.

Okay you can’t pull your face, but I’m trying to prove a point here so shut it. 

Every day I cringe as I watch people wander into a gym, immediately lie down on a bench, and start cranking out their workout with a heavyweight within seconds.

These are the people that end up hurting themselves and missing weeks/months due to ignorance/apathy.

Joke time: Which is worse, ignorance or apathy?

Don’t know, don’t care! ZING!

Luckily, you’re smarter than the average bear, which is why you’re reading Nerd Fitness.

Today, you’re gonna learn all about the importance of warming up BEFORE every workout. On top of that, I’ll even teach you HOW to warm up.

My guess is that you’re warming up because you want to make sure you don’t injure yourself while training.

In addition to warming-up, there’s another key component to injury prevention: doing the exercises correctly and having a good plan to follow!

If you’re not sure how to strength training yet, or you’re looking to start with bodyweight training and graduate to weight training, I’m here for ya!

We made this massive free guide that covers all of this in-depth so you have all the answers and confidence you need to get started.

Check out our free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know when you sign up in the box below and join the Rebellion!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

Why warm up?

Above all else, the most important thing you can do when working out is warming up properly.

Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Come on.  Surely it’s not the MOST important thing…”

To which I’d reply: “First, don’t call me Shirley.  Secondly, if you don’t have enough time to warm up, then you don’t have enough time to work out.”

Boom!

So WHY is it so important? 

Think of your muscles like rubber bands.

If you spend all day sitting at a desk, hunched over a keyboard, those rubber bands have gone almost completely unused. Now, combine this lack of movement with some cold winter weather – your bands are now extra tight and constricted. Then, go to a gym and immediately start lifting heavy weights or sprinting really fast – those cold, unstretched rubber bands get pulled apart very quickly and will snap.

#Fail.

So, what about just regular, static stretching then? Unfortunately, just doing static stretching before a workout can overextend those muscles and actually rob them of the power and strength necessary for your actual workout.  #failagain

For that reason, dynamic warm-ups are the winner!

Think of it like a pregaming for your muscles – except replace “alcohol” with “awesome.”  By jumping around and getting your muscles loose, active, warm, and ready for action, you will keep yourself strong and injury free.

On top of that, doing a dynamic warm-up can help activate your central nervous system, priming your muscles for a great workout that produces your best effort.

Add “improved blood circulation” to the list of benefits of warming up, which will help you perform well in each exercise.

Need another reason? When your body is properly warmed up, your muscles and joints are ready for maximum flexibility, which means you can perform each exercise with PROPER form (like deep squats, for example) that maximize results and minimize the risk of injury.

So, whether you are running or strength training…a proper warm-up is probably the most important 5-10 minutes of your day. 

Still with me? 

Good. Let’s take you through my favorite warm up.

The Dynamic Warm Up

Now, this warmup video I have below is relatively advanced, so you might need to make adjustments to suit your level of fitness.

In fact, this particular warm-up might be more difficult than your actual workout, especially if you’re following something like The Beginner Bodyweight Workout.

THAT’S OKAY (I put a second example that’s easier below!)

Do what you can, adjust the exercises in this warm up so you can complete it, and go from there. See the next section for some suggestions on how to scale this warm-up to your level.

Here is this warm-up written out:

2-3 minutes of jump rope (who cares if you mess up, push yourself!)

50 jumping jacks (pull your shoulder blades back, extend arms and really focus on the movement)

20 bodyweight squats

5 lunges (each leg)

10 hip extensions

5 hip rotations each leg (like you’re stepping over a fence)

10 forward leg swings (each leg)

10 side leg swings (each leg)

10-20 push-ups (scale based on your level of fitness)

10 spider-man steps (each leg)

Yes, there is a lot of work put on your hips, butt, legs, and core. As nerds/desk jockeys, these tend to be the muscles that are the tighest and least active, and thus most susceptible to an injury.

If your arms and chest are particularly tight or sore, you can throw two more movements as well: 

Arm swings (holding your arms straight out to the side, and then swing them and cross them in front of your chest)

Shoulder rotations (holding your arms straight out to the side, and move your arms in a circular motion, making bigger circles each time)

When it comes time for your workout, if you are doing heavy strength training (with barbells or dumbbells), make sure you do some warm-up sets before jumping into the weight you’ll be training with for EACH EXERCISE. Always start with a set using just the bar to work on your form and get your body used to the movement.

Then, do a few sets of just a few reps with increasing weight (but won’t tire you out) and THEN start your workout.

The BEginner Warm Up: Variations

Here are some other options for warming up if the above seems too daunting:

The above video comes from Senior Female Coach Staci Ardison, whose success story is here (and she’s now a lead trainer in our NF Coaching Program)

Don’t overthink this: Your goal is to elevate your heart rate, put your muscles and joints through their range of motion to warm them up and make sure everything is functioning properly, and preparing your body to strength train!

So, marching in place while swinging your arms. High knees. Toe touches. Leg swings. Punches and kicks. Get your limbs moving!

This will get you prepped for a day of getting stronger.

If you read the above paragraph and thought “Yes I am doing strength training, please tell me more Steve! More!” Firstly, thanks for saying please – your mom taught you well. Next: we created a guide that answers all of the questions you might have about strength training, weight training, training in a gym, how much weight to lift, and how much to warm up with.

You’re a nice person, so I’ll send it to you fo free! Simply join our Rebellion by signing up in the box below and I’ll send you Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know so you can train worry free starting today!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

To answer your first few questions…

What if I don’t have a jump rope? Suck it up and go buy one! They’re dirt cheap, and a helluva way to start off any warm-up. Yeah, you might have crappy coordination, and you could even end up with bruised shins (and a bruised ego) to start out. Stick with it, improve your coordination, and get your body primed in just a few minutes.

Steve, I can’t do jumping jacks/I live on the second floor. Now, if you happen to be pretty overweight or live on the upper floor of an apartment building, then jumping jacks might not be an option for you. That’s okay – the reason I love jumping jacks is that they work out all four of your limbs at once and get you bouncing around. So instead, channel your inner Chuck Norris and do punches and kicks with each leg. I don’t care if you can’t kick higher than your shins and your punch wouldn’t kill a fly…just get those limbs flailing and warmed up!

Um, your warm-up is tougher than my actual workout! The dynamic warm-up above is designed for people who are doing serious training. If you are doing heavy deadlifts and squats and overhead presses, a proper warm-up could keep you out of a career-ending injury. However, if you are just getting started with exercise and you’re only doing bodyweight exercises, obviously 20 real push-ups during your workout isn’t possible…

THAT’S OKAY. Think of the above as the warm-up you aspire to complete. In the meantime, do the best you can. Let’s say:

Jump rope for 30 seconds

20 leg swings and arm circles

10 squats

5 lunges

5 elevated push-ups or 5 wall push-ups

Follow the rest of the routine as planned if possible.

In this routine, your warm-up will act as part of your workout, as you’ll be doing the same functional movements. Do the BEST you can, keep track of your results for your warm up too, and improve with each workout.  With enough consistency and persistency (not a word, but rhymed better and sounded way better than persistence), you’ll be busting out the full warm-up routine before kicking ass at your actual workout!

Any more brain busters?

Hopefully, this is a post you bookmark, as it’s probably one of the more important ones I’ve ever written.

What other questions can I answer for you about warming up properly?

I’m here to help!

Also, if you made it this far, I have a hunch you’ll love our free, massive guide on all things strength: Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. If you’re worried about any aspect of strength training, this guide will cover it and give you the confidence to get started:

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

-Steve

PS: What should you do after your workout? Stretch!

###

All photo sources can be found right here.[1]

Footnotes    ( returns to text)

Hook, Resolutions, Happytrooper, Sunday, Decathlon.

https://ift.tt/2kAEsNt

[anneriddle19]

10 Things to know about the social services field

 I know what you’re thinking, “okay, social services is all a bunch of do-gooders” “World changers” “fixers” ect.. Well, while some of that is true, there is so much more to the field of social services and even more to be said about the number of people who had no formal social services training, but somehow found themselves in the midst of this absolute shit storm. Well, welcome to the circus folks, hope you brought some tap shoes and your clown costume because as a social worker you will be preforming in it. Let’s have a look at the field of social services and all of its glory... which brings me to my first point. I know, you’re already thrilled about this read.

1. There are very few ‘Glamorous’ social services jobs.

 I know what you’re thinking, I thought the same thing.. ‘But wait, what about school social workers, they look cute, provide some counseling and get summers off’ WRONGO. If I remember my highschool days as vividly as I believe I do, and trust me I truly wish I did not.. You were either in one of three groups. 

Group 1, the obvious the popular kids..who more often than not were kinda assholes to everyone outside of their group. However, I will say lets acknowledge the ever common exception which is the perfectly beautiful jock who was insanely popular and also the nicest guy on the planet.. right? right. Okay, maybe that was just at my school. 

Group 2, the kids that were neither here nor there (this is where I was) I wasn’t necessarily unpopular, but I absolutely didnt find myself invited to the parties where all the cool kids hung out. The one or two times I was invited I felt like I was being done some type of favor, I remember wanting to ask “did your mom talk to my mom” (this literally stems back to my mom making all of my friends throughout childhood but thats another blog for a day I’ve had a glass of wine or two) After group 2 is the apparent and ever present group 3. Even if most of us dont want to admit it a lot of us might have floated in and out of that one, those were the rebels, the tough kids, the ones labeled as weird and the ones more often than not that may have known the ISS teacher quiet personally. No shame on those kids, I was in there a few times too. Point is, who do you think the school social worker/counselor is working with? The kids who have supportive parents and a great home life.. again WRONGO, those kids that got caught smoking pot in the theater? Yep, those are the kids a social worker is more likely to come in contact with. The kids who did coke off a bathroom toilet? Yep, those kiddos too. Most prominently, the kids that dont have the home life a lot of us were fortunate enough to have, yeah those kids.. I think that sounds pretty tough, I’m sure its an incredibly rewarding job... but just like any other facet of social services comes with some really hard clients. This was just one example. The reality is social workers dont have clients referred to us because their life is perfect. Its often the very opposite.

2. You’re going to get cussed at. 

It will more than likely happen DAILY. You might as well accept that now and just buck up, because this is true in every facet of social work. it does not matter how well you do your job, how great your case notes are, or if you are completely caught up on every bit of your paperwork (dont worry I’m getting to the paperwork) someone somewhere is going to probably call you a dumb bitch, and all you can do is smile at them.. well for the most part. I would highly suggest putting some of that great social work training to use and refraining from smacking that absolute shit out of that person. Take my word for it, that happens to me all the time, I just smile and nod. 

3. Case notes will very literally END you just accept it now

You will NEVER (I’m sorry that’s a little harsh) IT IS INCREDIBLY UNLIKELY that you will ever find yourself sitting in your office.. if you even have one of those amazing private spaces... scrolling through cute pictures of puppies and doing some online shopping because all of your case notes are done. Just go ahead and accept it now and your life will be SO much easier. In the age of technology we live in now, everything has a GIF to describe it. So if social work case notes were a GIF, they would come in the form of an infinity pool. 

4. An acceptance of dark humor is an actual requirement for this job

People are going to say some weird shit to you and around you. Nope, I’m not talking about your clients I am talking.. you heard it here first folks, Co-Workers. Now, let me first say your Co-Workers in social services are your saving grace and should be treated as such 24/7, 365. These people are in this crazy shit with you..so that is why this point has to be made. You are going to have some weird occurrences, and if it doesn't happen on almost a daily basis you may actually be the secretary. BUT, it is so important to remember that everyone copes with things differently, and I’ve found a lot.... I mean A LOT use dark humor as a coping mechanism and that is totally fine. Just know, if you enter the field of social services this is something you will come into contact with. I am always a fan of speaking your mind, if someone says something that takes things a little too far I’m all about telling them to take it down a notch..but if it is a co-worker who is just trying to cope the best way they know how, grin and bear it or walk away. 

5. You HAVE TO learn how to cope with the stresses of this job or you will be eaten alive.

There will be nights (I know because I’ve had them) where you wake up from a nightmare only to realize it was some horrible thing that you heard or saw at work that day. There will be times when a client tells you something that makes you feel like you’re throwing up.. but they may have just gotten started telling their story. There will be long meetings, butting heads with clients and co-workers, lost files, misplaced info, and on top of that there will be more days than not where you bring that all home with you (lets be honest god bless the people who actually date social workers because you are the real MVP). When I say cope, I do not mean go home and go out drinking with your buddies, even though if I’m being honest, most of us have done it that way. You have got to find ways of doing things that bring you happiness and incorporate that into your every day routine. If that means the only thing that really makes you feel better is chocolate ice cream, well I’m sure Sam’s club sells in bulk. If it’s the gym, get after it girlfriend.. WHATEVER it is, do it, and do it often. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had instructors tell my classes that we have to take care of ourselves, and it wasn't until recently that I really started to. It will not only help you feel better but it will make you a better social worker. The more clear your mind is the better you can focus, and we all know this job requires your full and undivided attention.

6. It is perfectly OK to be tired

I mean this physically, spiritually and emotionally. It is perfectly okay to acknowledge that today you just werent as on top of your shit. Maybe you snapped at a client, maybe youre behind on your paperwork, maybe you’re starting a new job and you feel like you’re kinda drowning. Oh wait, that last one might have been me. Just let those feelings exist, notice their presence and move on with your day. No one is a perfect social worker, and quiet frankly I wouldn’t want to be. Sometimes the best thing for a client is to see that their social worker is just like them, we struggle to and remind yourself that is part of this job. 

7. Dont ever forget why you started

Everyone has a reason that they chose the journey of social work. Never lose sight of you reasoning, this is much more than a profession, it is a calling.

8. Learn to love the chaos

Everyone says that a huge part of social services work is flexibility. As a new social worker its incredibly easy to become super overwhelmed when you have a million different things going on, multiple clients at one time, phone calls coming in (the works). I promise you there will be a day where your life slows down and you will wish you could be right back in this middle of that chaos. I remind myself of this everyday. Take a deep breath, you’re fine you were totally made for this.

9. Find what grounds you

For me that’s my mom and dad. Theyre actually the best people I know and my best friends. Isn’t that neat and incredibly cheesy all at the same time? But seriously, whether you are grounded by your faith, friends, family (or anything really) make yourself aware of those things and keep what grounds you close to you because on your WORST days, that can sometimes be the only thing that will keep you sane. 

10. Recognize your worth

Not everyone was made for this field and that’s perfectly okay. Some people love having normal jobs and normal lives with a white picket fence and two golden retrievers. Not us, we love working for little to no pay, with the most difficult of the difficult. Some really tough clients are handed to us and we work with these people to transform their lives into what they had hoped to see their lives looking like. We provide people with guidance and wisdom and hopefully allow people to see themselves how we see them. Worthy. Everyone deserves the right to be treated fairly and everyone deserves to receive help.. and we just so happen to be the people who offer that. You don’t go into social services seeking gratitude, you go into it because you love people, even when they dont love you back, and you believe in people even when they cant believe in themselves.... and that makes you worth quiet a bit, if I do say so myself. Pat yourself on the back every once in a while and smile knowing you are making ‘the impossible job’ a possible one. 

-cheers to my fellow social workers, may your humor be dark, may your people be supportive and may your self care involve a good balance of chocolate and cardio

A

[itsjaybullme]

Dolph Lundgren Has Planted His Feet Firmly Back in Hollywood, and Has No Plans of Leaving

Per Bernal

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2015

He couldn’t stay Ivan Drago forever. The flat-top was bound to go out of style, the Rocky franchise had reached its peak, and besides, he wasn’t even Russian. But here’s the biggest reason why Dolph Lundgren (who’s from Sweden, by the way) had to move on from Drago: Because men get older.

[RELATED1]

Rocky IV hit theaters 30 years ago, in 1985. Hard to believe, right? Lundgren is 57 now, and naturally, he looks different than he did then. The resemblance is there, of course, since he’s still tall and blonde and handsome, but he’s not carrying quite as much muscle, and his skin has weathered a bit.

The most interesting part? Lundgren is actually better now.

Real men age

Per Bernal

Because real men change, mature, evolve, adapt. Their value isn’t tethered to youth. Lundgren was in Europe for the better part of the ’90s and 2000s—out of sight, out of mind to American moviegoers—but he never stopped working, and he never stopped training.

“Comparing myself now to then, I would say I’m a little more skilled now,” Lundgren says. “I’m more proficient in martial arts. Because at that point [training for Rocky IV] I’d given all that up, because I just wanted to learn how to box for the movie, and I wanted to lift weights. I try to keep the martial arts skill because, one, I use it in my movies, and, two, it makes me feel good to be able to walk into a dojo in Sweden, Australia, or America, wherever I am, and not seem like a chump.”

Courtesy Image

“Whatever happened to Dolph Lundgren?” was probably asked thousands of times in America following Rocky IV and his role as He-Man in 1987’s Masters of the Universe. What happened was, he went on to have a successful career as a movie star, with more than 60 total acting roles on his résumé as well as a handful of producing, directing, and writing credits. It’s just that most of this occurred outside the United States. For a good while, he was one of the busiest action stars you never heard anything about, at least not in this country.

Making movie magic

That all changed about five years ago after he landed a role in the action-star-loaded cast of The Expendables and moved back to America. Since then, he’s appeared in both Expendables sequels as well as several other U.S.-based productions, including Universal Solider: Day of Reckoning with Jean-Claude Van Damme and even a one-off appearance earlier this year on the comedy TV series Workaholics. His latest film, Skin Trade, which he produced, co-wrote, and starred in, is scheduled for release May 8.

[RELATED2]

So is it fair to say that Dolph Lundgren has made an American comeback?

“Yeah, that’s fair,” he says. “I was in Europe focusing on my kids. I wasn’t focusing on the business. You have to be in America to do well in show business, especially with the types of movies I do, preferably in Hollywood. There’s a certain energy in the States, and that’s the reason I wanted to come here as a kid when I was only 14 or 15. The last five years, I’ve slowly worked my way back into the business and into the popular culture here, and it feels good. Europe is a great place, but somehow in America if you put in the hard work, you know it’s going to pay off, whereas in other places it’s not so certain.”

Much of the hard work Lundgren refers to happens in the gym. He was very active as a child growing up in Sweden, playing ice hockey and starting karate at a young age. (He earned a third-degree black belt as an adult in 1998.) After moving to America for college on academic scholarships and eventually pursuing an acting career, he got more serious about lifting weights. He trained with Sylvester Stallone for Rocky IV and even worked out for a time in the ’80s with Lou Ferrigno at Santa Monica Body Building Center in California.

His workouts have changed since then, but not all that much. At 6'4", he never had the build to lift prodigious weight; he says he never went above 300lbs or so on the squat or deadlift, even in his younger years. But his training has become more diverse, more fluid than structured.

“I’m more conscious of injuries now than I was when I was 27, so I do more rehab work, more balance work, and more work on the smaller muscles like the rotator cuffs and hip flexors. But I do try to keep some heavy lifting in my routine.

“For being 30 years older, the only difference is I have to take care of myself a little more when I’m not training. In those days you could go out and have 10 tequila shots, stay up all night, and then go to the gym in the morning. If I did that now,” he says with a laugh, “I’d be struggling.”

Per Bernal

He typically trains four or five days a week, implementing a variety of training styles and modalities. For example: He does traditional weight training with the squat, bench press, deadlift, military press—and curls—a couple of days a week; he also mixes in more “functional” training by using a Bosu ball and incorporating strongman lifts, particularly heavy sandbag carries; and he keeps up with his martial arts skill training and hits a heavy bag for conditioning. When he doesn’t feel like lifting in the gym, he loads up a backpack with extra weight and goes for a long hike; he swims when an Olympic-size pool is available to him, such as when staying at a nice hotel; he stretches regularly to maintain flexibility for his martial arts; and he also meditates daily.

“I get bored with too structured of a workout,” Lundgren says. “I think there’s a benefit to having a regimented schedule, like getting up at the same time every morning and having breakfast. But if I have a new workout coming up, it’s exciting for me. If I have the same workout for four weeks, and I’ve done that, it just becomes something like self-punishment. I meditate every morning, and that really helps. It’s like they say: Life becomes a glide instead of an effort. It’s true. Life becomes easier. You don’t hold on to things as much.”

[RELATED3]

Lundgren stays focused

Lundgren’s training may not always be regimented, but he stays consistent with it. Always has. This has obviously helped him land roles throughout the years, most of which have required him to be in shape and proficient at fighting, but Lundgren also credits his active lifestyle—not just the meditation—for improving his mental state.

“All the things I do in my training have helped me feel better and more fit but also more balanced,” he says. “And I think it’s helped me deal with a pretty tough business without getting lost in it. It’s paid dividends for me even in just the last year or two. When I moved back to L.A. and did the first Expendables, I started to put more of an emphasis on my training and meditation and focus a little more on my career. But it takes a while for things to develop. You have to do the roles, and then the movies have to be edited and put out there, and people have to see them. So there’s, like, a two-year or more delay before it gets out there in the ether. I’m feeling good about it now, and people are catching up to it a little more. It gives me a grounded feeling.”

At 57, Lundgren is by no means the old man of Hollywood. Stallone is 68, Schwarzenegger, 67. Lundgren looks forward to having many productive years left in him as an actor, writer, producer, and director. He cites Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood as two other Hollywood stars doing some of their best work in middle age and beyond, and he hopes to fall into that category. But as much as he looks to a bright future, he can’t help but look back at himself 30 years ago as Ivan Drago, the role that launched a career still going strong through stints in Europe, Asia, America, and places in-between.

When asked what he sees when he looks at the 30-year-old photos of himself in Rocky IV, Lundgren says, “In painting they used to call it ‘the artist as a young man’—the artist always paints himself younger than he is. There’s a magic kind of energy there when I see pictures of myself as Drago. I see the innocence in my eyes. It’s like a boyishness that’s wonderful and beautiful, but I had to go through so much to get to where I am today. I wouldn’t want to do it again, so it’s a bittersweet experience. It’s like in meditation: You have to accept the impermanence of existence. Nothing is permanent. Everything blossoms and dies. So I think two things: I feel happy for having had the opportunity to be in the business and being in shape, and I’m glad I’m in shape now. I’m trying to squeeze as much out of it as I can. I want to keep acting and producing and directing and being fit…and being thankful that I’m still around.”

[RELATED4]

from Bodybuilding Feed http://www.muscleandfitness.com/athletes-celebrities/interviews/dolph-lundgren-plans-stay-spotlight via http://www.rssmix.com/

[neilmillerne]

How to Warm Up Properly and Avoid Injury

Getting hurt sucks!

We exercise to lose weight, build muscle, and feel better about ourselves, right?

Well, it’s pretty tough to do any of those things lying on a couch with a pulled hamstring/groin/face.

Okay you can’t pull your face, but I’m trying to prove a point here so shut it. 

Every day I cringe as I watch people wander into a gym, immediately lie down on a bench, and start cranking out their workout with a heavyweight within seconds.

These are the people that end up hurting themselves and missing weeks/months due to ignorance/apathy.

Joke time: Which is worse, ignorance or apathy?

Don’t know, don’t care! ZING!

Luckily, you’re smarter than the average bear, which is why you’re reading Nerd Fitness.

Today, you’re gonna learn all about the importance of warming up BEFORE every workout. On top of that, I’ll even teach you HOW to warm up.

My guess is that you’re warming up because you want to make sure you don’t injure yourself while training.

In addition to warming-up, there’s another key component to injury prevention: doing the exercises correctly and having a good plan to follow!

If you’re not sure how to strength training yet, or you’re looking to start with bodyweight training and graduate to weight training, I’m here for ya!

We made this massive free guide that covers all of this in-depth so you have all the answers and confidence you need to get started.

Check out our free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know when you sign up in the box below and join the Rebellion!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

Why warm up?

Above all else, the most important thing you can do when working out is warming up properly.

Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Come on.  Surely it’s not the MOST important thing…”

To which I’d reply: “First, don’t call me Shirley.  Secondly, if you don’t have enough time to warm up, then you don’t have enough time to work out.”

Boom!

So WHY is it so important? 

Think of your muscles like rubber bands.

If you spend all day sitting at a desk, hunched over a keyboard, those rubber bands have gone almost completely unused. Now, combine this lack of movement with some cold winter weather – your bands are now extra tight and constricted. Then, go to a gym and immediately start lifting heavy weights or sprinting really fast – those cold, unstretched rubber bands get pulled apart very quickly and will snap.

#Fail.

So, what about just regular, static stretching then? Unfortunately, just doing static stretching before a workout can overextend those muscles and actually rob them of the power and strength necessary for your actual workout.  #failagain

For that reason, dynamic warm-ups are the winner!

Think of it like a pregaming for your muscles – except replace “alcohol” with “awesome.”  By jumping around and getting your muscles loose, active, warm, and ready for action, you will keep yourself strong and injury free.

On top of that, doing a dynamic warm-up can help activate your central nervous system, priming your muscles for a great workout that produces your best effort.

Add “improved blood circulation” to the list of benefits of warming up, which will help you perform well in each exercise.

Need another reason? When your body is properly warmed up, your muscles and joints are ready for maximum flexibility, which means you can perform each exercise with PROPER form (like deep squats, for example) that maximize results and minimize the risk of injury.

So, whether you are running or strength training…a proper warm-up is probably the most important 5-10 minutes of your day. 

Still with me? 

Good. Let’s take you through my favorite warm up.

The Dynamic Warm Up

Now, this warmup video I have below is relatively advanced, so you might need to make adjustments to suit your level of fitness.

In fact, this particular warm-up might be more difficult than your actual workout, especially if you’re following something like The Beginner Bodyweight Workout.

THAT’S OKAY (I put a second example that’s easier below!)

Do what you can, adjust the exercises in this warm up so you can complete it, and go from there. See the next section for some suggestions on how to scale this warm-up to your level.

Here is this warm-up written out:

2-3 minutes of jump rope (who cares if you mess up, push yourself!)

50 jumping jacks (pull your shoulder blades back, extend arms and really focus on the movement)

20 bodyweight squats

5 lunges (each leg)

10 hip extensions

5 hip rotations each leg (like you’re stepping over a fence)

10 forward leg swings (each leg)

10 side leg swings (each leg)

10-20 push-ups (scale based on your level of fitness)

10 spider-man steps (each leg)

Yes, there is a lot of work put on your hips, butt, legs, and core. As nerds/desk jockeys, these tend to be the muscles that are the tighest and least active, and thus most susceptible to an injury.

If your arms and chest are particularly tight or sore, you can throw two more movements as well: 

Arm swings (holding your arms straight out to the side, and then swing them and cross them in front of your chest)

Shoulder rotations (holding your arms straight out to the side, and move your arms in a circular motion, making bigger circles each time)

When it comes time for your workout, if you are doing heavy strength training (with barbells or dumbbells), make sure you do some warm-up sets before jumping into the weight you’ll be training with for EACH EXERCISE. Always start with a set using just the bar to work on your form and get your body used to the movement.

Then, do a few sets of just a few reps with increasing weight (but won’t tire you out) and THEN start your workout.

The BEginner Warm Up: Variations

Here are some other options for warming up if the above seems too daunting:

The above video comes from Senior Female Coach Staci Ardison, whose success story is here (and she’s now a lead trainer in our NF Coaching Program)

Don’t overthink this: Your goal is to elevate your heart rate, put your muscles and joints through their range of motion to warm them up and make sure everything is functioning properly, and preparing your body to strength train!

So, marching in place while swinging your arms. High knees. Toe touches. Leg swings. Punches and kicks. Get your limbs moving!

This will get you prepped for a day of getting stronger.

If you read the above paragraph and thought “Yes I am doing strength training, please tell me more Steve! More!” Firstly, thanks for saying please – your mom taught you well. Next: we created a guide that answers all of the questions you might have about strength training, weight training, training in a gym, how much weight to lift, and how much to warm up with.

You’re a nice person, so I’ll send it to you fo free! Simply join our Rebellion by signing up in the box below and I’ll send you Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know so you can train worry free starting today!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

To answer your first few questions…

What if I don’t have a jump rope? Suck it up and go buy one! They’re dirt cheap, and a helluva way to start off any warm-up. Yeah, you might have crappy coordination, and you could even end up with bruised shins (and a bruised ego) to start out. Stick with it, improve your coordination, and get your body primed in just a few minutes.

Steve, I can’t do jumping jacks/I live on the second floor. Now, if you happen to be pretty overweight or live on the upper floor of an apartment building, then jumping jacks might not be an option for you. That’s okay – the reason I love jumping jacks is that they work out all four of your limbs at once and get you bouncing around. So instead, channel your inner Chuck Norris and do punches and kicks with each leg. I don’t care if you can’t kick higher than your shins and your punch wouldn’t kill a fly…just get those limbs flailing and warmed up!

Um, your warm-up is tougher than my actual workout! The dynamic warm-up above is designed for people who are doing serious training. If you are doing heavy deadlifts and squats and overhead presses, a proper warm-up could keep you out of a career-ending injury. However, if you are just getting started with exercise and you’re only doing bodyweight exercises, obviously 20 real push-ups during your workout isn’t possible…

THAT’S OKAY. Think of the above as the warm-up you aspire to complete. In the meantime, do the best you can. Let’s say:

Jump rope for 30 seconds

20 leg swings and arm circles

10 squats

5 lunges

5 elevated push-ups or 5 wall push-ups

Follow the rest of the routine as planned if possible.

In this routine, your warm-up will act as part of your workout, as you’ll be doing the same functional movements. Do the BEST you can, keep track of your results for your warm up too, and improve with each workout.  With enough consistency and persistency (not a word, but rhymed better and sounded way better than persistence), you’ll be busting out the full warm-up routine before kicking ass at your actual workout!

Any more brain busters?

Hopefully, this is a post you bookmark, as it’s probably one of the more important ones I’ve ever written.

What other questions can I answer for you about warming up properly?

I’m here to help!

Also, if you made it this far, I have a hunch you’ll love our free, massive guide on all things strength: Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. If you’re worried about any aspect of strength training, this guide will cover it and give you the confidence to get started:

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

-Steve

PS: What should you do after your workout? Stretch!

###

All photo sources can be found right here.[1]

Footnotes    ( returns to text)

Hook, Resolutions, Happytrooper, Sunday, Decathlon.

https://ift.tt/2kAEsNt

[ruthellisneda]

How to Warm Up Properly and Avoid Injury

Getting hurt sucks!

We exercise to lose weight, build muscle, and feel better about ourselves, right?

Well, it’s pretty tough to do any of those things lying on a couch with a pulled hamstring/groin/face.

Okay you can’t pull your face, but I’m trying to prove a point here so shut it. 

Every day I cringe as I watch people wander into a gym, immediately lie down on a bench, and start cranking out their workout with a heavyweight within seconds.

These are the people that end up hurting themselves and missing weeks/months due to ignorance/apathy.

Joke time: Which is worse, ignorance or apathy?

Don’t know, don’t care! ZING!

Luckily, you’re smarter than the average bear, which is why you’re reading Nerd Fitness.

Today, you’re gonna learn all about the importance of warming up BEFORE every workout. On top of that, I’ll even teach you HOW to warm up.

My guess is that you’re warming up because you want to make sure you don’t injure yourself while training.

In addition to warming-up, there’s another key component to injury prevention: doing the exercises correctly and having a good plan to follow!

If you’re not sure how to strength training yet, or you’re looking to start with bodyweight training and graduate to weight training, I’m here for ya!

We made this massive free guide that covers all of this in-depth so you have all the answers and confidence you need to get started.

Check out our free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know when you sign up in the box below and join the Rebellion!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

Why warm up?

Above all else, the most important thing you can do when working out is warming up properly.

Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Come on.  Surely it’s not the MOST important thing…”

To which I’d reply: “First, don’t call me Shirley.  Secondly, if you don’t have enough time to warm up, then you don’t have enough time to work out.”

Boom!

So WHY is it so important? 

Think of your muscles like rubber bands.

If you spend all day sitting at a desk, hunched over a keyboard, those rubber bands have gone almost completely unused. Now, combine this lack of movement with some cold winter weather – your bands are now extra tight and constricted. Then, go to a gym and immediately start lifting heavy weights or sprinting really fast – those cold, unstretched rubber bands get pulled apart very quickly and will snap.

#Fail.

So, what about just regular, static stretching then? Unfortunately, just doing static stretching before a workout can overextend those muscles and actually rob them of the power and strength necessary for your actual workout.  #failagain

For that reason, dynamic warm-ups are the winner!

Think of it like a pregaming for your muscles – except replace “alcohol” with “awesome.”  By jumping around and getting your muscles loose, active, warm, and ready for action, you will keep yourself strong and injury free.

On top of that, doing a dynamic warm-up can help activate your central nervous system, priming your muscles for a great workout that produces your best effort.

Add “improved blood circulation” to the list of benefits of warming up, which will help you perform well in each exercise.

Need another reason? When your body is properly warmed up, your muscles and joints are ready for maximum flexibility, which means you can perform each exercise with PROPER form (like deep squats, for example) that maximize results and minimize the risk of injury.

So, whether you are running or strength training…a proper warm-up is probably the most important 5-10 minutes of your day. 

Still with me? 

Good. Let’s take you through my favorite warm up.

The Dynamic Warm Up

Now, this warmup video I have below is relatively advanced, so you might need to make adjustments to suit your level of fitness.

In fact, this particular warm-up might be more difficult than your actual workout, especially if you’re following something like The Beginner Bodyweight Workout.

THAT’S OKAY (I put a second example that’s easier below!)

Do what you can, adjust the exercises in this warm up so you can complete it, and go from there. See the next section for some suggestions on how to scale this warm-up to your level.

Here is this warm-up written out:

2-3 minutes of jump rope (who cares if you mess up, push yourself!)

50 jumping jacks (pull your shoulder blades back, extend arms and really focus on the movement)

20 bodyweight squats

5 lunges (each leg)

10 hip extensions

5 hip rotations each leg (like you’re stepping over a fence)

10 forward leg swings (each leg)

10 side leg swings (each leg)

10-20 push-ups (scale based on your level of fitness)

10 spider-man steps (each leg)

Yes, there is a lot of work put on your hips, butt, legs, and core. As nerds/desk jockeys, these tend to be the muscles that are the tighest and least active, and thus most susceptible to an injury.

If your arms and chest are particularly tight or sore, you can throw two more movements as well: 

Arm swings (holding your arms straight out to the side, and then swing them and cross them in front of your chest)

Shoulder rotations (holding your arms straight out to the side, and move your arms in a circular motion, making bigger circles each time)

When it comes time for your workout, if you are doing heavy strength training (with barbells or dumbbells), make sure you do some warm-up sets before jumping into the weight you’ll be training with for EACH EXERCISE. Always start with a set using just the bar to work on your form and get your body used to the movement.

Then, do a few sets of just a few reps with increasing weight (but won’t tire you out) and THEN start your workout.

The BEginner Warm Up: Variations

Here are some other options for warming up if the above seems too daunting:

The above video comes from Senior Female Coach Staci Ardison, whose success story is here (and she’s now a lead trainer in our NF Coaching Program)

Don’t overthink this: Your goal is to elevate your heart rate, put your muscles and joints through their range of motion to warm them up and make sure everything is functioning properly, and preparing your body to strength train!

So, marching in place while swinging your arms. High knees. Toe touches. Leg swings. Punches and kicks. Get your limbs moving!

This will get you prepped for a day of getting stronger.

If you read the above paragraph and thought “Yes I am doing strength training, please tell me more Steve! More!” Firstly, thanks for saying please – your mom taught you well. Next: we created a guide that answers all of the questions you might have about strength training, weight training, training in a gym, how much weight to lift, and how much to warm up with.

You’re a nice person, so I’ll send it to you fo free! Simply join our Rebellion by signing up in the box below and I’ll send you Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know so you can train worry free starting today!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

To answer your first few questions…

What if I don’t have a jump rope? Suck it up and go buy one! They’re dirt cheap, and a helluva way to start off any warm-up. Yeah, you might have crappy coordination, and you could even end up with bruised shins (and a bruised ego) to start out. Stick with it, improve your coordination, and get your body primed in just a few minutes.

Steve, I can’t do jumping jacks/I live on the second floor. Now, if you happen to be pretty overweight or live on the upper floor of an apartment building, then jumping jacks might not be an option for you. That’s okay – the reason I love jumping jacks is that they work out all four of your limbs at once and get you bouncing around. So instead, channel your inner Chuck Norris and do punches and kicks with each leg. I don’t care if you can’t kick higher than your shins and your punch wouldn’t kill a fly…just get those limbs flailing and warmed up!

Um, your warm-up is tougher than my actual workout! The dynamic warm-up above is designed for people who are doing serious training. If you are doing heavy deadlifts and squats and overhead presses, a proper warm-up could keep you out of a career-ending injury. However, if you are just getting started with exercise and you’re only doing bodyweight exercises, obviously 20 real push-ups during your workout isn’t possible…

THAT’S OKAY. Think of the above as the warm-up you aspire to complete. In the meantime, do the best you can. Let’s say:

Jump rope for 30 seconds

20 leg swings and arm circles

10 squats

5 lunges

5 elevated push-ups or 5 wall push-ups

Follow the rest of the routine as planned if possible.

In this routine, your warm-up will act as part of your workout, as you’ll be doing the same functional movements. Do the BEST you can, keep track of your results for your warm up too, and improve with each workout.  With enough consistency and persistency (not a word, but rhymed better and sounded way better than persistence), you’ll be busting out the full warm-up routine before kicking ass at your actual workout!

Any more brain busters?

Hopefully, this is a post you bookmark, as it’s probably one of the more important ones I’ve ever written.

What other questions can I answer for you about warming up properly?

I’m here to help!

Also, if you made it this far, I have a hunch you’ll love our free, massive guide on all things strength: Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. If you’re worried about any aspect of strength training, this guide will cover it and give you the confidence to get started:

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

-Steve

PS: What should you do after your workout? Stretch!

###

All photo sources can be found right here.[1]

Footnotes    ( returns to text)

Hook, Resolutions, Happytrooper, Sunday, Decathlon.

https://ift.tt/2kAEsNt

[joshuabradleyn]

How to Warm Up Properly and Avoid Injury

Getting hurt sucks!

We exercise to lose weight, build muscle, and feel better about ourselves, right?

Well, it’s pretty tough to do any of those things lying on a couch with a pulled hamstring/groin/face.

Okay you can’t pull your face, but I’m trying to prove a point here so shut it. 

Every day I cringe as I watch people wander into a gym, immediately lie down on a bench, and start cranking out their workout with a heavyweight within seconds.

These are the people that end up hurting themselves and missing weeks/months due to ignorance/apathy.

Joke time: Which is worse, ignorance or apathy?

Don’t know, don’t care! ZING!

Luckily, you’re smarter than the average bear, which is why you’re reading Nerd Fitness.

Today, you’re gonna learn all about the importance of warming up BEFORE every workout. On top of that, I’ll even teach you HOW to warm up.

My guess is that you’re warming up because you want to make sure you don’t injure yourself while training.

In addition to warming-up, there’s another key component to injury prevention: doing the exercises correctly and having a good plan to follow!

If you’re not sure how to strength training yet, or you’re looking to start with bodyweight training and graduate to weight training, I’m here for ya!

We made this massive free guide that covers all of this in-depth so you have all the answers and confidence you need to get started.

Check out our free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know when you sign up in the box below and join the Rebellion!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

Why warm up?

Above all else, the most important thing you can do when working out is warming up properly.

Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Come on.  Surely it’s not the MOST important thing…”

To which I’d reply: “First, don’t call me Shirley.  Secondly, if you don’t have enough time to warm up, then you don’t have enough time to work out.”

Boom!

So WHY is it so important? 

Think of your muscles like rubber bands.

If you spend all day sitting at a desk, hunched over a keyboard, those rubber bands have gone almost completely unused. Now, combine this lack of movement with some cold winter weather – your bands are now extra tight and constricted. Then, go to a gym and immediately start lifting heavy weights or sprinting really fast – those cold, unstretched rubber bands get pulled apart very quickly and will snap.

#Fail.

So, what about just regular, static stretching then? Unfortunately, just doing static stretching before a workout can overextend those muscles and actually rob them of the power and strength necessary for your actual workout.  #failagain

For that reason, dynamic warm-ups are the winner!

Think of it like a pregaming for your muscles – except replace “alcohol” with “awesome.”  By jumping around and getting your muscles loose, active, warm, and ready for action, you will keep yourself strong and injury free.

On top of that, doing a dynamic warm-up can help activate your central nervous system, priming your muscles for a great workout that produces your best effort.

Add “improved blood circulation” to the list of benefits of warming up, which will help you perform well in each exercise.

Need another reason? When your body is properly warmed up, your muscles and joints are ready for maximum flexibility, which means you can perform each exercise with PROPER form (like deep squats, for example) that maximize results and minimize the risk of injury.

So, whether you are running or strength training…a proper warm-up is probably the most important 5-10 minutes of your day. 

Still with me? 

Good. Let’s take you through my favorite warm up.

The Dynamic Warm Up

Now, this warmup video I have below is relatively advanced, so you might need to make adjustments to suit your level of fitness.

In fact, this particular warm-up might be more difficult than your actual workout, especially if you’re following something like The Beginner Bodyweight Workout.

THAT’S OKAY (I put a second example that’s easier below!)

Do what you can, adjust the exercises in this warm up so you can complete it, and go from there. See the next section for some suggestions on how to scale this warm-up to your level.

Here is this warm-up written out:

2-3 minutes of jump rope (who cares if you mess up, push yourself!)

50 jumping jacks (pull your shoulder blades back, extend arms and really focus on the movement)

20 bodyweight squats

5 lunges (each leg)

10 hip extensions

5 hip rotations each leg (like you’re stepping over a fence)

10 forward leg swings (each leg)

10 side leg swings (each leg)

10-20 push-ups (scale based on your level of fitness)

10 spider-man steps (each leg)

Yes, there is a lot of work put on your hips, butt, legs, and core. As nerds/desk jockeys, these tend to be the muscles that are the tighest and least active, and thus most susceptible to an injury.

If your arms and chest are particularly tight or sore, you can throw two more movements as well: 

Arm swings (holding your arms straight out to the side, and then swing them and cross them in front of your chest)

Shoulder rotations (holding your arms straight out to the side, and move your arms in a circular motion, making bigger circles each time)

When it comes time for your workout, if you are doing heavy strength training (with barbells or dumbbells), make sure you do some warm-up sets before jumping into the weight you’ll be training with for EACH EXERCISE. Always start with a set using just the bar to work on your form and get your body used to the movement.

Then, do a few sets of just a few reps with increasing weight (but won’t tire you out) and THEN start your workout.

The BEginner Warm Up: Variations

Here are some other options for warming up if the above seems too daunting:

The above video comes from Senior Female Coach Staci Ardison, whose success story is here (and she’s now a lead trainer in our NF Coaching Program)

Don’t overthink this: Your goal is to elevate your heart rate, put your muscles and joints through their range of motion to warm them up and make sure everything is functioning properly, and preparing your body to strength train!

So, marching in place while swinging your arms. High knees. Toe touches. Leg swings. Punches and kicks. Get your limbs moving!

This will get you prepped for a day of getting stronger.

If you read the above paragraph and thought “Yes I am doing strength training, please tell me more Steve! More!” Firstly, thanks for saying please – your mom taught you well. Next: we created a guide that answers all of the questions you might have about strength training, weight training, training in a gym, how much weight to lift, and how much to warm up with.

You’re a nice person, so I’ll send it to you fo free! Simply join our Rebellion by signing up in the box below and I’ll send you Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know so you can train worry free starting today!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

To answer your first few questions…

What if I don’t have a jump rope? Suck it up and go buy one! They’re dirt cheap, and a helluva way to start off any warm-up. Yeah, you might have crappy coordination, and you could even end up with bruised shins (and a bruised ego) to start out. Stick with it, improve your coordination, and get your body primed in just a few minutes.

Steve, I can’t do jumping jacks/I live on the second floor. Now, if you happen to be pretty overweight or live on the upper floor of an apartment building, then jumping jacks might not be an option for you. That’s okay – the reason I love jumping jacks is that they work out all four of your limbs at once and get you bouncing around. So instead, channel your inner Chuck Norris and do punches and kicks with each leg. I don’t care if you can’t kick higher than your shins and your punch wouldn’t kill a fly…just get those limbs flailing and warmed up!

Um, your warm-up is tougher than my actual workout! The dynamic warm-up above is designed for people who are doing serious training. If you are doing heavy deadlifts and squats and overhead presses, a proper warm-up could keep you out of a career-ending injury. However, if you are just getting started with exercise and you’re only doing bodyweight exercises, obviously 20 real push-ups during your workout isn’t possible…

THAT’S OKAY. Think of the above as the warm-up you aspire to complete. In the meantime, do the best you can. Let’s say:

Jump rope for 30 seconds

20 leg swings and arm circles

10 squats

5 lunges

5 elevated push-ups or 5 wall push-ups

Follow the rest of the routine as planned if possible.

In this routine, your warm-up will act as part of your workout, as you’ll be doing the same functional movements. Do the BEST you can, keep track of your results for your warm up too, and improve with each workout.  With enough consistency and persistency (not a word, but rhymed better and sounded way better than persistence), you’ll be busting out the full warm-up routine before kicking ass at your actual workout!

Any more brain busters?

Hopefully, this is a post you bookmark, as it’s probably one of the more important ones I’ve ever written.

What other questions can I answer for you about warming up properly?

I’m here to help!

Also, if you made it this far, I have a hunch you’ll love our free, massive guide on all things strength: Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. If you’re worried about any aspect of strength training, this guide will cover it and give you the confidence to get started:

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

-Steve

PS: What should you do after your workout? Stretch!

###

All photo sources can be found right here.[1]

Footnotes    ( returns to text)

Hook, Resolutions, Happytrooper, Sunday, Decathlon.

https://ift.tt/2kAEsNt

[albertcaldwellne]

How to Warm Up Properly and Avoid Injury

Getting hurt sucks!

We exercise to lose weight, build muscle, and feel better about ourselves, right?

Well, it’s pretty tough to do any of those things lying on a couch with a pulled hamstring/groin/face.

Okay you can’t pull your face, but I’m trying to prove a point here so shut it. 

Every day I cringe as I watch people wander into a gym, immediately lie down on a bench, and start cranking out their workout with a heavyweight within seconds.

These are the people that end up hurting themselves and missing weeks/months due to ignorance/apathy.

Joke time: Which is worse, ignorance or apathy?

Don’t know, don’t care! ZING!

Luckily, you’re smarter than the average bear, which is why you’re reading Nerd Fitness.

Today, you’re gonna learn all about the importance of warming up BEFORE every workout. On top of that, I’ll even teach you HOW to warm up.

My guess is that you’re warming up because you want to make sure you don’t injure yourself while training.

In addition to warming-up, there’s another key component to injury prevention: doing the exercises correctly and having a good plan to follow!

If you’re not sure how to strength training yet, or you’re looking to start with bodyweight training and graduate to weight training, I’m here for ya!

We made this massive free guide that covers all of this in-depth so you have all the answers and confidence you need to get started.

Check out our free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know when you sign up in the box below and join the Rebellion!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

Why warm up?

Above all else, the most important thing you can do when working out is warming up properly.

Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Come on.  Surely it’s not the MOST important thing…”

To which I’d reply: “First, don’t call me Shirley.  Secondly, if you don’t have enough time to warm up, then you don’t have enough time to work out.”

Boom!

So WHY is it so important? 

Think of your muscles like rubber bands.

If you spend all day sitting at a desk, hunched over a keyboard, those rubber bands have gone almost completely unused. Now, combine this lack of movement with some cold winter weather – your bands are now extra tight and constricted. Then, go to a gym and immediately start lifting heavy weights or sprinting really fast – those cold, unstretched rubber bands get pulled apart very quickly and will snap.

#Fail.

So, what about just regular, static stretching then? Unfortunately, just doing static stretching before a workout can overextend those muscles and actually rob them of the power and strength necessary for your actual workout.  #failagain

For that reason, dynamic warm-ups are the winner!

Think of it like a pregaming for your muscles – except replace “alcohol” with “awesome.”  By jumping around and getting your muscles loose, active, warm, and ready for action, you will keep yourself strong and injury free.

On top of that, doing a dynamic warm-up can help activate your central nervous system, priming your muscles for a great workout that produces your best effort.

Add “improved blood circulation” to the list of benefits of warming up, which will help you perform well in each exercise.

Need another reason? When your body is properly warmed up, your muscles and joints are ready for maximum flexibility, which means you can perform each exercise with PROPER form (like deep squats, for example) that maximize results and minimize the risk of injury.

So, whether you are running or strength training…a proper warm-up is probably the most important 5-10 minutes of your day. 

Still with me? 

Good. Let’s take you through my favorite warm up.

The Dynamic Warm Up

Now, this warmup video I have below is relatively advanced, so you might need to make adjustments to suit your level of fitness.

In fact, this particular warm-up might be more difficult than your actual workout, especially if you’re following something like The Beginner Bodyweight Workout.

THAT’S OKAY (I put a second example that’s easier below!)

Do what you can, adjust the exercises in this warm up so you can complete it, and go from there. See the next section for some suggestions on how to scale this warm-up to your level.

Here is this warm-up written out:

2-3 minutes of jump rope (who cares if you mess up, push yourself!)

50 jumping jacks (pull your shoulder blades back, extend arms and really focus on the movement)

20 bodyweight squats

5 lunges (each leg)

10 hip extensions

5 hip rotations each leg (like you’re stepping over a fence)

10 forward leg swings (each leg)

10 side leg swings (each leg)

10-20 push-ups (scale based on your level of fitness)

10 spider-man steps (each leg)

Yes, there is a lot of work put on your hips, butt, legs, and core. As nerds/desk jockeys, these tend to be the muscles that are the tighest and least active, and thus most susceptible to an injury.

If your arms and chest are particularly tight or sore, you can throw two more movements as well: 

Arm swings (holding your arms straight out to the side, and then swing them and cross them in front of your chest)

Shoulder rotations (holding your arms straight out to the side, and move your arms in a circular motion, making bigger circles each time)

When it comes time for your workout, if you are doing heavy strength training (with barbells or dumbbells), make sure you do some warm-up sets before jumping into the weight you’ll be training with for EACH EXERCISE. Always start with a set using just the bar to work on your form and get your body used to the movement.

Then, do a few sets of just a few reps with increasing weight (but won’t tire you out) and THEN start your workout.

The BEginner Warm Up: Variations

Here are some other options for warming up if the above seems too daunting:

The above video comes from Senior Female Coach Staci Ardison, whose success story is here (and she’s now a lead trainer in our NF Coaching Program)

Don’t overthink this: Your goal is to elevate your heart rate, put your muscles and joints through their range of motion to warm them up and make sure everything is functioning properly, and preparing your body to strength train!

So, marching in place while swinging your arms. High knees. Toe touches. Leg swings. Punches and kicks. Get your limbs moving!

This will get you prepped for a day of getting stronger.

If you read the above paragraph and thought “Yes I am doing strength training, please tell me more Steve! More!” Firstly, thanks for saying please – your mom taught you well. Next: we created a guide that answers all of the questions you might have about strength training, weight training, training in a gym, how much weight to lift, and how much to warm up with.

You’re a nice person, so I’ll send it to you fo free! Simply join our Rebellion by signing up in the box below and I’ll send you Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know so you can train worry free starting today!

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

To answer your first few questions…

What if I don’t have a jump rope? Suck it up and go buy one! They’re dirt cheap, and a helluva way to start off any warm-up. Yeah, you might have crappy coordination, and you could even end up with bruised shins (and a bruised ego) to start out. Stick with it, improve your coordination, and get your body primed in just a few minutes.

Steve, I can’t do jumping jacks/I live on the second floor. Now, if you happen to be pretty overweight or live on the upper floor of an apartment building, then jumping jacks might not be an option for you. That’s okay – the reason I love jumping jacks is that they work out all four of your limbs at once and get you bouncing around. So instead, channel your inner Chuck Norris and do punches and kicks with each leg. I don’t care if you can’t kick higher than your shins and your punch wouldn’t kill a fly…just get those limbs flailing and warmed up!

Um, your warm-up is tougher than my actual workout! The dynamic warm-up above is designed for people who are doing serious training. If you are doing heavy deadlifts and squats and overhead presses, a proper warm-up could keep you out of a career-ending injury. However, if you are just getting started with exercise and you’re only doing bodyweight exercises, obviously 20 real push-ups during your workout isn’t possible…

THAT’S OKAY. Think of the above as the warm-up you aspire to complete. In the meantime, do the best you can. Let’s say:

Jump rope for 30 seconds

20 leg swings and arm circles

10 squats

5 lunges

5 elevated push-ups or 5 wall push-ups

Follow the rest of the routine as planned if possible.

In this routine, your warm-up will act as part of your workout, as you’ll be doing the same functional movements. Do the BEST you can, keep track of your results for your warm up too, and improve with each workout.  With enough consistency and persistency (not a word, but rhymed better and sounded way better than persistence), you’ll be busting out the full warm-up routine before kicking ass at your actual workout!

Any more brain busters?

Hopefully, this is a post you bookmark, as it’s probably one of the more important ones I’ve ever written.

What other questions can I answer for you about warming up properly?

I’m here to help!

Also, if you made it this far, I have a hunch you’ll love our free, massive guide on all things strength: Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. If you’re worried about any aspect of strength training, this guide will cover it and give you the confidence to get started:

Download our comprehensive guide STRENGTH TRAINING 101!

Everything you need to know about getting strong.

Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.

How to find the right gym and train properly in one.

I identify as a:

Woman

Man

-Steve

PS: What should you do after your workout? Stretch!

###

All photo sources can be found right here.[1]

Footnotes    ( returns to text)

Hook, Resolutions, Happytrooper, Sunday, Decathlon.

https://ift.tt/2kAEsNt