I’m going to give you 2 good reasons why you should get your shoulders as strong as possible.  First of all, you DON’T ever want to have shoulder surgery.  Of all the post-surgical patients we treated at our physical therapy centers, shoulders were amongst the toughest to treat.  The pain is tremendous and the rehab is no fun.  Secondly, having strong shoulders makes you look better.  Your posture will improve by helping you get rid of those rounded shoulders and guess what?  You’ll even look thinner!  Bigger shoulders make your waist look smaller (remember wearing shoulder pads in the 80’s?)

I asked Christie Matkozich PT, CSCS, Director of Personal Training at the Gainesville Health & Fitness Center, to show us her favorite shoulder sculpting exercises.  Christie oversees over 40 Personal Trainers and is responsible for over 700 training sessions per week.  To top that off, Christie is also a licensed physical therapist.  In other words, she REALLY knows her stuff.

Do the following exercises 2-3 times per week over the next month.  If you do, I promise you’ll definitely notice a significant increase in strength!  If any of the exercises are painful, try a lighter weight.  If that still hurts, stop and contact a local physical therapist.  He or she will be able to create a plan best suited for you.

1. Arnold press

Stand with two dumbbells positioned in front of your shoulders, palms facing body and elbows under your wrists.

Begin the movement by bringing elbows out to your sides. Continue to raise elbows outward while pressing dumbbells overhead until arms are straight. Lower to the front of shoulders. Repeat 10-12 times.

2. Deltoid Matrix

Grasp dumbbells in both hands. Position dumbbells in front of thighs with your elbows straight or slightly bent.

Raise dumbbells forward and upward until upper arms are horizontal.  Slowly move arms out to the side (form a T) from that position.  Lower dumbbells and repeat.

3. Single Arm Rear Delt

Lie on your side–either on a bench or raised platform.  If you’re doing this at home, your bed would work great.  Separate your legs for support. Grasp dumbbell in front of your chest with arm extended.

Raise dumbbell from starting point until arm is vertical. Maintain fixed elbow position (10° to 30° angle) throughout exercise.  Lower and repeat.   To protect your neck, keep your shoulder down—try not to hike it up to your ear.

So get started today!  Who doesn’t want sleek and sexy shoulders this summer?  Let me know how you like the results.

Get Strong and Smile,

Molly

How many times a day do you have negative thoughts about yourself? Count them all.  Like when you glance at yourself in the mirror and see something you don’t like or when you get aggravated at yourself for doing something stupid—like forgetting to bring your grocery list to the store.

I ask this question to my clients and get some scary numbers.  One woman told me that she had about 50 negative thoughts about herself each day.  50!  If you have 50 negative thoughts per day, this translates into 350 bad thoughts per week—and over 1400 per month.  How can you possibly stay positive about yourself when you’re feeding your brain all these horrible thoughts?

Changing the way you think is not easy—but it can be done.  Like changing any bad habit, it takes time, patience and a lot of work.  If you struggle with negative thoughts, I suggest you read the book The Secret by Rhonda Bynre.  While parts of the book are a bit cheesy—like the author not needing reading glasses anymore because she convinced her brain that her sight was perfect. I tried telling my 46 year old eyes that for a few weeks but I still can’t read the label on my conditioner in the shower. But the book is worth reading and I’m sure you will come away with some really good ways to become a more positive person. 

The following are some of my favorite messages in her book:

“You have the power to change anything, because you are the one who chooses your thoughts and you are the one who feels your feelings.”

“Your current reality or your current life is a result of the thoughts you’ve been thinking.  All of that will totally change as you begin to change your thoughts and your feelings.”

“If you think unkind thoughts about someone else, you will experience those unkind thoughts manifested.  You cannot harm another with your thoughts, you only harm YOU.”

Some women who think negatively about themselves are also extremely negative towards other people. My friend Christine calls them “Energy Drainers” because after spending time with the person, you feel like the life has been sucked out of you.  Energy Drainers are not happy when others succeed. If you know someone like this, just remember that their unhappiness is theirs—not yours.  You don’t need to own any of it.

Cliff Clavin, the famous postal worker from Cheers, was always negative.  It got so bad that he asked his doctor to adhere electrical probes to his body that would give him a shock every time he said something negative.  Take a few extra minutes and watch this hilarious piece about the extremes Cliff took to try to stop his negativity!   I hope you don’t need to take such drastic measures!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZag1zlecGI

Think Happy Thoughts,

Molly

I want you to do something for ONE DAY.  I want you to focus on just two things:  smiling and your posture.  That’s it…end of article.

Seriously, I want you to focus on this all day.  Not for just a moment…all day.  You’re probably saying to yourself that you smile every day and you always stand up straight so why bother taking this challenge?  If this is true, that’s fantastic.  But if you’re like most people, it’s simply not the way we go through our day.  Look at the people you see on your way to work—whether you’re on a bus, in your car or on a train.  LOOK at them.  Most people look like they are dreading their day.  They aren’t smiling.  They aren’t laughing.  They don’t look happy.

Let’s start with the smile—an easy, happy smile.  You already know that it takes more muscles to smile than it does to frown (well, this has never actually been proven, but I believe it and it sound good).  But that’s not why I want you to smile today.  Smiling (like yawning) is contagious.  When you smile at people, they will usually smile back.  I find it interesting when I smile at someone; many times it seems as if I completely catch her (or him) off guard.  A small percentage of people will start looking at the ground and walking faster—like you’re scaring them.  The good news is that most people will happily smile back. 

What you may not realize is that you can change an entire person’s day with your smile.  It’s free and it’s powerful…so do it.  And guess what?  Smiling will make YOU feel better!  If you smile, even when you don’t feel like it, your mood will elevate.  Even though you may know you’re “faking” the smile, your body doesn’t know it.  So smile…you and everyone around you will have a happier day.

The second thing I want you to think about today is your posture.  It is so easy to not pay attention to the way you stand (which is how your present yourself).  Have you ever noticed what you do when you walk through a department store or any other place that has a lot of mirrors?   You immediately straighten up when you catch a glimpse of yourself.  This is because most of us have poor posture.  Why?  Because it’s so much easier to slouch than it is to stand up straight.

When you focus on good posture, you will look taller (duh), look thinner (awesome) and you’ll look more confident.  And there’s nothing sexier than a confident woman.

So, take the challenge today:   STAND UP STRAIGHT and SMILE—show the world your sexy self!  Then, turn one day into a week.  One week into a month.  One month into a year.   It’s NOT hard to do.

And for all my dog lover friends, you know that dogs smile…I miss my Samantha.  She smiled at me every single day of her life.  And guess what happened?  I smiled right back at her–every single day.

Be confident and share your smile,

Molly