I just returned from a trip to Western PA, where we celebrated my parent’s 70th birthdays. So if you see Mom and Dad this summer, wish them a very happy birthday.  

I also did some SnapChamping* with my niece and nephew while I was home. On a side note, this is what it looks like when I swap faces with my brother. (And consequently, what it would like like if I didn't pluck my chin hairs for a few months in a row).

Freaky right? I always knew we looked a bit alike. 

Aside from trying not to feel 110 years old while playing with technology, I also managed to get a workout in, which was an accomplishment for me.

Like many people, I struggle to workouts when I travel. I’m a creature of habit and much like my struggle to train around an injury, any kind of travel throws me completely off kilter. (And as I’ve mentioned before, kilter is where it’s at. I don't know what it is, just that I want to be there). Once you take me out of my regular gym and regular routine, I feel lost. Add the exhaustion of traveling on top, and it becomes that much more challenging to make exercise a priority.

Before your next trip, rather than bagging your training altogether, try some of these tips to help get a workout or two in the books. 

1. Set a workout goal before the trip

I’m notorious for packing workout clothes* with good intentions and then not following through. My last two trips to PA however, I changed my approach. I both packed some workout clothes and set a very specific goal of hitting a minimum of one workout. I was gone for four days this past weekend, and two of those were travel days. But my goal was one good workout, which was much more doable than three. 

I set the minimum standard of one because I knew I could do that. Had I set my goal at three, I might have realized on day two that I couldn’t possibly achieve that number, and that would have made it easier to bag all three. So for this trip, I set the bar low enough to trip over. 

And I tripped over it. Win. 

2. Choose a travel workout that you can do for your destination

At Spurling, we provide all of our clients with travel workouts upon request. Some clients are off on business trips with no idea what the hotels might be like, and others are off on beach vacations and camping trips.  

Depending on needs, we design either a bodyweight circuit, or a more advanced circuit if the client happens to own a band or a suspension training system. Speaking of which…

3. If you travel a lot, consider purchasing two pieces of equipment

My parents clothesline pole made a perfect spot for a 20 minute circuit. No, I didn't crack the cement at the base of the pole. At least I don't think so...

I take two pieces of equipment with me when I’m on the go. A Jungle Gym **(suspension training system), and a band. Both sound fancier than they are. The suspension training system is this: two handles that can be wrapped around a tree (or my parents clothesline pole), or closed in the door of a hotel room. It costs 50 bucks on Amazon. 

The band costs less than 20 bucks. 

With those two pieces of equipment I can get in a full body workout that burns calories and fries my muscles. 

4. Plan the workout routine before you travel

If you happen to have a coach, ask him or her for a workout plan before you leave. If you don’t, you can google bodyweight workout that you can do in your hotel room, on the beach, or next to the pool. Or while your dad is mowing the lawn...(If you don't know what these exercises are, head on over to my YouTube channel where you will find many of the videos for these.

A1. TRX Rows
A2. TRX Jump Squats
A3. BW Lunge with Overhead Reach
A4. Jumping Jacks
A5. TRX Bodysaws
A6. Banded push press

If you don't have any equipment you could do this routine:

A1. BW Squats
A2. Jumping Jacks
A3. Push Ups
A4. Single Leg RDL
A5. Plank
A6. Mountain Climbers

Do this routine three-five times with roughly 10-12 reps per exercise and I promise you, you’ll feel less guilty about that margarita with dinner.

And don’t feel guilty about a margarita. You’re on vacation. 

*I know it's actually SnapChat, but to be clear, that's all I know about it.. 

** TRX is a brand of suspension training system, so you'll see many exercises described as TRX, which is less of a mouthful than Jungle Gym. 

When the Pittsburgh Pirates finally broke through their 21 year losing streak and made the playoffs, I used this expression. 

"I'm so excited I peed a little."

When I deadlifted a personal best 275lbs last December, I was only half-kidding....

In 2013 there was a video made during the Crossfit Games asking women whether or not they pee themselves during workouts. In fact, at the beginning of the video, which you can watch here, many women confess that they pee during a double under, which is a form of jumping rope. 

Dustienne Miller.

Pelvic floor dysfunction is far from funny, despite the jokes we make, usually to make ourselves feel better. It affects women of all ages, some of whom have had children and some who haven't. Jumping jacks have some women running to the bathroom and others who are just like...um...no. None of those for me thanks. I have to pee just watching you do those. 

In an effort to better understand what's really going on and what women can do about it, today's guest post comes from Dustienne Miller, a board certified women's health clinical specialist and yoga teacher based in Boston. Her physical therapy practice, Flourish Physical Therapy, emphasizes the importance and of pelvic and orthopedic wellness. 

KL: Thank you so much for shedding more light on this topic Dustienne. Let's start with the basics: what is pelvic floor dysfunction?

Dustienne: Hi Kim! This is a great question and thank you for bringing attention to this topic. A lot of women I work with believe that leaking during workouts is normal, especially after having a baby. While this is a common experience, it is not normal. It is a sign that the core is compromised.

Our bodies are wildly complex with hormones, menstrual periods, pregnancies, and deliveries. Tack on to that a prior hip or back injury and the body has to work even harder to stabilize the pelvis.

No woman should feel ashamed for leaking during workouts. If she is comfortable wearing a pantyliner, that’s fine, but there is another option: to rehabilitate and feel more in control.

KL: What causes it?

Dustienne: We look at the core as a canister where all walls must activate for optimal stability. The human “canister” is made up of the:

• abdominal wall

• diaphragm (even up to the vocal cords)

• multifidi (deep segmental back stabilizers)

• pelvic floor 

Leakage occurs when the physical demand of the exercise or activity is more than the system can handle. Some common symptoms of compromised stability are:

• If you lose support in the abdominal wall, you might have a diastasis recti.

• If you lose support in the back, a disc herniation may occur.

• If you lose support in the pelvic floor, you might experience urinary leakage or pelvic organ prolapse. 
   

A simple way to practice supporting the pelvic organs is lifting the pelvic floor muscles up and in while sneezing, coughing, and lifting. This movement is referred to as a kegal exercise. Pelvic floor muscle contractions are enhanced when coordinating with the breath as explained in this video about pelvic floor movement with the breath. When performing a squat, inhale on the descent. As you push through your feet, legs, and glutes to come back upright, exhale and pull your lower abdomen and pelvic floor muscles in towards the spine. This same principle can be applied to lifting grocery bags and children.

Kim: Are there specific exercises you can do to help prevent the leakage? We tend to use PRI drills at Spurling, such as the one below. We try not to do them with the full foam roller like I did in this video though, because that just looks awkward: 

This is a very brief explanation of a version of the 90/90 hip lift; concentrate on full inhales and full exhales doing five breaths.

Dustienne: Doing breath work in different positions, like the 90/90 Hip Lifts, are great. Once you understand the concept of coordinating your breath using your pelvic floor, you can integrate it into your workouts and you'll strengthen your pelvic floor as you strengthen your other muscles. 

Any exercise that strengthens the hip external rotators also strengthens your pelvic floor via the obturator internus muscle. The clamshell exercise is one example. 

Lay on your right side with your knees bent. Engage your lower abdomen. Keep your trunk and pelvis still as you lift your left knee up towards the ceiling. Repeat 30 times and switch sides. For more load, loop a resistance band around the thighs.

Dustienne: Your core is key; fellow physical therapist Julie Wiebe has an informative post about strengthening your core. It's written for runners, but you don't need to be a runner to see it's benefits. 

(Note from KL: These posts I did on core exercises here and here might also come in handy.)

Lastly, yoga has proven to significantly reduce urinary incontinence. One study showed over a 50% reduction in leakage. Anyone looking for a yoga based pelvic floor strengthening program can check out my DVD on optimizing bladder control and strengthening your pelvic floor.  

KL: Is there anything in particular women can do during exercises such as jumping jacks or jump rope to help prevent this?

I look at core activation with lower load tasks to predict where someone is losing stability. 

For example, if someone demonstrates poor hip stability in one legged stance, they will have less stability as the load increases with jumping. 

Rather than trying to fix the problem during a high level activity, look at breaking the task down. Retrain motor programs so that the body automatically fires the deepest muscles of the core. You can start with single leg weight shifts and test your balance. If you demonstrate poor hip stability with your trunk leaning off to one side, there could be even less control as you increase the demand of jumping and running. 

KL: Where can women go to find more information?

Physical therapists with special training in pelvic health can offer individualized evaluation and care. We evaluate your spine, pelvic girdle, hips, pelvic floor…the whole system to make sure you are firing muscles optimally.

       You can find someone in your location here:

• APTA Women’s Health Section physical therapist locator

• Herman & Wallace practitioner directory

About our guest: Dustienne Miller is a board certified women’s health clinical specialist and yoga teacher based in Boston. Her physical therapy practice, Flourish Physical Therapy, emphasizes the importance of pelvic and orthopedic wellness. She is passionate about using yoga as a holistic treatment modality. Check out her blog at www.yourpaceyoga.com.

Sunday morning I tossed up a post about not sleeping. 

Specifically, I wrote about whether or not ignoring your sleep habits could be one of the key missing components in your effort to lose weight and get yourself and your body back in whack. (It stands to reason that if you're out of whack, then whack is where you'd like to be.) 

The short answer is yes, sleep is crucial for health and fitness. But it's one thing to know you have trouble sleeping and another thing to figure out what to do about it. 

I often have trouble falling asleep at night. Knowing this, I put off getting into bed. Because my first two hours in bed are usually a party for one on the hamster wheel of life. But the cycle continues, as I go to bed later and later because I hope that by getting in bed later, I'll fall asleep sooner.  

And also I want to poke people who just fall asleep when their heads hit the pillow. Or who nap on airplanes.

There's a good chance these are morning people. In theory, sleep should be pretty straight forward. When it gets dark outside, we observe the rules of our circadian rhythm, and go to bed. Then we wake up when it's light out. 

But that's only theory. 

The reality is that most of us get in bed when it's dark out and then spend another 30 minutes or more on our phones or other electronic device. 

If nothing else, you've learned about my spectacular decisions regarding my hair while reading this blog. 

Replacing my books with the kindle app on my iPad was likely the worst decision I made since frosting my hair.  

And I think we can all agree, looking at the picture off to the right, that was a bad idea. Because, you know, blonde on me is actually orange.

1. Put the screen away two hours before you go to bed. 

Do yourself a favor, and as hard as this is, try to eliminate screen time for an actual two hours before you go to bed. Because I currently spend a lot of time in the car, I have an Audible subscription and listen to a lot of books on tape (because I can't stop calling them books on tape even though we passed tape in 1994.) 

The small amounts of light from these devices pass through the retina into a part of the hypothalamus, the area of the brain that controls several sleep activities, and delay the release of the sleep-inducing hormone, melatonin. 

And let's face it, sending work emails or worse yet, reading work emails in the last few minutes before bed does little to soothe the mind. A stressful email read can elevate your cortisol levels at the exact time when you need them to be lower.

2. Make the room as dark as possible.

And speaking of melatonin levels, one sure-fire way to suppress them is to let a bunch of artificial light in. Aside from the occasional hotel room, I don't ever remember sleeping in total darkness. Whether it was from a street light outside or a digital clock, there was always some type of light in my room. 

Since I've started sleeping with a mask over my eyes, I've slept a little bit better. Not a lot, but a little. 

3. Kick the cats off the bed. Seriously. Do it.

We have two cats. I don't really talk about it because dogs. Specifically, Rooney. But Rooney sleeps in his own bed in his own room downstairs, because he would take up the entire bed and also dog fur.

The cats however, are a different story. And I don't know about you, but like any ridiculous pet owner, I don't feel like I can disturb the cats when they take up all of my foot space and I end up chewing on my knee caps to sleep around them. 

Do yourself a favor and kick them off. They will move, and if you're lucky, they will re-locate to their own beds. 

BECAUSE THEY HAVE SEVENTEEN OF THEM.

4. Get nine hours of sleep

Hahahahaha...oh wait, you're not kidding?

That's about how I feel when someone suggests nine hours of sleep to me. And I don't even have kids. On days when I have to be at the facility by 5:30 a.m. and I'm an hour away, I'm getting up before 4:00 in the morning. Nine hours of sleep would require me getting into bed at 7:00 p.m. 

And on those nights, even if I did get in bed at something reasonable like 9:00, I still wouldn't fall asleep. So I know that at least twice a week, I can't get nine hours of sleep. But I can work towards that average on the other days. 

5. Limit caffeine intake

Hahahahaha! Oh wait, this one too?

Part of my current cycle is lacking sleep and using caffeine to fuel myself throughout the morning, and sometimes into the afternoon. The reality is you should cut off the caffeine in the morning, and worst case scenario, nine hours before you go to sleep. 

Swap that 2:00 diet coke out for a nap. 

Oh right, you probably can't do that at your desk. Instead, swap the mid-afternoon caffeine out for a short walk, outside, around the hallways, or what-have you.

I realize that's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of dealing with the maddening struggles of sleep quantity and quality. For a more in depth look at sleep, check out this article by the maker of Athletic Greens on sleep and cortisol levels.