IGNITE. Hot Mama’s latest fitness program. And to be honest, the program that I poured my heart, soul and brains into. I’ve worked on IGNITE for the past 10 months. I’ve tweaked it, added to it, altered it, threw it out, started again, changed it some more and finally it’s ready…for everyone.
So, why is this program so personal? Simple. It helped me be me again.
As many of you know in March of last year I tore my ACL. I realize people do this every day. I realize that so many worse things could have happened to me. HOWEVER, for someone who lives and breathes fitness, for someone who has quite a bit of stress and uses exercise to relieve my aforementioned mountain of stress…this is a mighty big deal. I run to de-stress. It’s what I do. I run. I run and run and run. And I come home refreshed, energized and focused. At the end of a run, I am 100% me.
Take that away? You’ve taken away who I am for months on end. That sounds dramatic…but that’s how it felt.
During the months between injury and surgery and the weeks after surgery, I was miserable. I tried so hard to remain positive. To continue to motivate and inspire all those around me. But, I was angry and sad and so unbelievably stressed out. So…I ate a lot of peanut butter cups and drank a lot of wine. I didn’t work out. I got snappy with my kids, with my husband. I had no patience. I had no drive. I was exhausted. I wanted to crawl into a hole and flash my middle finger at everyone jogging past me. I cried. A lot. In secret.
When I was finally given the go ahead to get on a treadmill and start walking, I was BEYOND thrilled. I put on my stretchy pants (thank GOD for stretchy pants), laced up my sneakers…and walked. For the first bit, just a little walk on the flat. But, within a week, I got to push myself. I started hill repeats at a walk. And, if anyone tells you that you cannot get a good workout by walking, I beg to differ. You absolutely can. So, I walked. I hill climbed. I cried. I released. It was so friggin’ good.
I got off the treadmill one day and thought “Alright Lindsay, get your shit together. You know how to do this. You know how to create your joy. Now’s the time to do that for you”. So, I sat down and designed “Burn”…the most difficult level of IGNITE. (And yes, I started with the most difficult, because…um…I’m me). I talked my bestie into trialing out this program with me and asked her for feedback and we started my 28 Day program (yet to be named).
Based on how my body responded and Jody’s feedback, I tweaked IGNITE as we went. I’m not sure how many emails I sent to her saying “Delete Workout 4, use this one instead” or “Change exercise 5 in Workout 2 to be this instead”. Meanwhile…I was changing. It wasn’t even losing weight (although that did happen), it was how I FELT. I was energized. I was charged. I wanted to do more, lift more, BE more. I played with my kids. I smiled. I think I saw my husband for the first time in months. Really saw him. I was me again.
28 days after I started IGNITE, I looked at Jody and thought “Jeez…she looks awesome. I’m really good at this!” (HA!). I also thought “I bet there are a lot of people out there who are “stuck”. I bet there are a lot of people that could use the feelings that this program can…well…ignite.
From a place of self-loathing, sadness and pain, I was able to use my knowledge and create a program that, absolutely, lifted me up and fueled my life with positivity. I couldn’t be more proud of this program. It is 100% my most personal program yet.
After I designed “Burn”, I figured that because I’m me, because I like to push and drive and dig and I know my programs can be really hard, that I’d best create two other levels of IGNITE. So, I designed Fuel for my Beginner Mamas and Flash for my Intermediates. Every level is designed to challenge you at the level that YOU are at.
So, that’s how IGNITE started. That’s its journey. You can bet your buns when we release I will be going for a good long run. This program is all of me and releasing something so personal is a little daunting. My hope is that you try it. That you have MASSIVE success with it. That you feel the way it made me feel.
Mama, if you’re stuck in a rut, if you don’t know what to do, if you want more energy or if you’re simply looking for a bombass challenge…IGNITE is for you. From my heart, soul and brainpower…IGNITE is for you.
I cannot wait for you to try it. I really can’t.
