Karen, Author at GoodFitFam

Better Know a Lift – The Bench Press

March 5, 2018 by Karen Leave a Comment

Bench Press For Women

Last fall I competed in a charity powerlifting meet held at my gym. Coming out of retirement was the best thing I could do to challenge myself. Powerlifting consists of three lifts, the deadlift, the squat and the bench press.

Amongst women, squats are universally beloved, deadlifts are enjoying a CrossFit resurgence, but the bench press’ popularity is about the same as Congress. I’m here to say it’s time to take back the bench. Push-ups are not enough, you need variety to challenge the muscles including the chest. Ignoring muscles groups is not a good idea if you want to fire up your metabolism.

Get the form down first. Go super light, by using just the bar or even just a broomstick. There are a variety of angles you can use by adjusting the bench from decline (hitting the lower portion of the chest) to flat to incline (hitting the upper chest) and with each, your form needs to be on point. Avoid relying too much on your secondary muscle groups – shoulders and triceps.

StrongLifts has a terrific definitive guide to the bench press. Read it here.

Again, start with light weights. Don’t add more weight until you can hit 12 reps with good form. Hitting PRs (personal records) on the bench is an incredible confidence boost because it takes a more mental focus and the numbers don’t go up as fast as the other big lifts. Keep notes on your phone to track your numbers. PRs are motivational and it’s fun to see how far you’ve come.

It looks like I’ll be competing in July at my home gym – LiftVT. This time I come armed with experience and better resources, who said age matters? I’ve been relying on tips from the fail-proof Charles Poliquin. Focusing on my bench, I turned to Charles and found this ditty to move past my plateau on the bench. I’ll also be working out with trainers to

As usual, we’re focusing fast productive 30-40 minutes workouts to get this done before the workday, so it’s a piece of CP’s recommended workout, not the entire routine.

5 sets, Heavy 4-6 reps Supine Reverse Grip Incline Dumbbell Press– rest 10 seconds Decrease weight 30% for 10-12 reps

Dumbbell Press-rest 90 seconds

Supine Grip Chin-Ups 6-8 reps

5 sets, Dips

Kneeling Cross Cable FLYS 8-10 reps

Instagram is an amazing resource. Lots of folks are sharing

The Strength Sensei Himself.

If there is one area where advice in strength training is more often than enough moronic, it is for warm-ups. You know the type that recommends this to warm up: cariocas to warm up for squats, having intercourse with foam rollers for hours on end, twenty minutes on the cardio bike at 70% of max heart rate, cluster sets on the dance pole… Here 3 simple rules to warm-up properly and make sure your warm-up doesn’t take twice as long as the actual workout #strengthsensei #warmup #workout #training #simplerulesforsuccess #playtowin #gaincity #strength

A post shared by Charles R. Poliquin (@strengthsensei1) on Feb 26, 2018 at 7:43am PST

Also, Powerlifting Stefi Cohen who can deadlift 500lbs worth of Owen Wilson heads!

Owen Wilson PR @snatchinsnacks

A post shared by Stefanie Cohen (@steficohen) on Jan 19, 2018 at 2:46pm PST

Teaching Vocabulary With Chapter Books

February 2, 2018 by Karen Leave a Comment

We are always looking for chapter books that appeal to our 6-year-old twin boys for shared book reading.

Whether it’s on the couch, in the hammock or a bedtime story. We can’t get enough of a good series that keeps us looking forward to what’s going to happen next.

We’re super excited for the upcoming 4th book of Upside Down Magic, Dragon Overnight by Sarah Mlynowski,‎ Lauren Myracle, and‎ Emily Jenkins

The fourth book came out January 30th. If you haven’t read the first 3, we highly recommend it. The Upside Down Magic series is about a group of misfits that learns to foster, embrace, and celebrate their differences.

Nory can’t control her wonky magic and turns herself into a dritten (yes a dragon/kitten hybrid) instead of a perfectly formed cat.

After many misadventures, she learns being out of the ordinary is extraordinary. It’s a great read to support kids who are just starting school and provides teachable moments for embracing differences in learning styles and abilities.

Looking to amplify learning from shared book reading? Here is a research-based strategy to explicitly teach vocabulary, it’s called Text Talk. I use this with my kids, preschoolers, and Kindergarteners. It’s easy and fun, the kids eat it up!

Find a Tier 2 word to teach your children.

Once you find a Tier 2 word:

Contextualize the word.
Provide a simple definition of the word.
Have the child(ren) repeat the word.
Take turns using the word in different context with your child(ren).

This is just one of the many fun teaching activities you can use with children to increase their success and enjoyment with literacy. You can learn more by registering to take the Building Blocks of Literacy workshop at http://www.buildingblocksforliteracy.org/

Increase Your Optimism, Gratefulness & Technique for 2018

January 3, 2018 by Karen Leave a Comment

Optimistic, Grateful Kids

It’s the third day of the new year. We’re bringing many of the same challenges with us from the previous one. Staying healthy with kids is hard and being productive is impossible. We’ve listened to hundreds of podcasts over the year and here are four takeaways to help us be better parents and hopefully have kinder, happier kids.

Teach your kids to be optimists.

Your kids Don’t owe you anything. You chose to have them. These first two are from Mike Maples Jr’s podcast interview with Tim Ferris.

You can’t be grateful and angry at the same time. Focus on gratefulness and be sure to ask your kids what they are grateful for daily.

Focus on technique and not competitiveness. Being competitive is natural.

We hope to explore each of the four, more in-depth in future posts but let’s focus on the Gratefulness Happiness Link with a Ted Talk.

From Ted X: The one thing all humans have in common is that each of us wants to be happy, says Brother David Steindl-Rast, a monk and interfaith scholar. And happiness, he suggests, is born from gratitude. An inspiring lesson in slowing down, looking where you’re going, and above all, being grateful.

If getting healthy for the new year is one of your resolutions check out

Teaching Social Thinking With Graphic Novels

October 9, 2017 by Karen Leave a Comment

Graphic novels are a great way to teach adolescents and adults social communication. Lorena Alvarez’s brilliant graphic novel, NightLights, demonstrates subtle but complex nonverbal language. The novel’s captivating visuals paint a landscape rich with social interactions. Did you know 84% of our communication is non-verbal language? It’s the downfall of using text messages when trying to start a romantic relationship.

From NightLights by Lorena Alvarez

Scenes such as the one above demonstrated the hidden rules of social communication. These are the rules we don’t talk about but are supposed to know. There are a number of distinct social interactions we can pull from this single scene. They range from positive to negative, and some ambiguous ones up for interpretation.
For example, Who is already in trouble? Who is about to get into trouble?
Who has exciting news and how do we know?
Which girl is interested in hearing this exciting news?

This artwork pairs emotion with explicit tone via text.

Nightlights follows a young girl struggling to find confidence and fighting off negativity. There is a distinct similarity yet opposition in the metaphoric character, Morfie. A subtle distinction that introduces internal perspectives. The possibilities for teaching social communication and thinking are endless.

The story is a gripping metaphor. Vague enough for many readers to layer their own personal experiences. There are many graphic novels to choose from for all ages but Nightlights deserves to be highlighted. I have used this one with a wide range of clients. It has captured their attention as well as mine time and time again; allowing for repeated exposure which provides scaffolding opportunities and application of learned skills.

A masterpiece in graphic novel literature and therapeutic materials!

Enjoy!!!!

Dinner Time Dichotomy

April 11, 2017 by Karen Leave a Comment

Dinner time is no easy feat for families with children. It starts the day they’re born when they sleep all day and then become colicky when it’s time for the parents to eat dinner. Then comes toddlerhood when they do everything with the food but eat it. Food is on the floor, the ceiling, in their hair and every crevice that’s impossible to clean but not in their mouths. Preschoolers aren’t much better; this is when they decide to assert their independence by saying, “I don’t like it.”

It’s no wonder parents wave the white flag and become short order cooks by making separate meals each night. One meal that ensures Child #1 will eat and another meal that Child #2 will eat, plus one for the parents. It feels like it takes three meals in one night for it to feel like a successful dinner.

Successful family dinners are not meant to please everyone. The reality is to plan and cook one well-balanced meal, regardless of your families response (rejection). Here’s how:

Be authoritative and set the menu, allowing input from family members.
Family-style meals, keeping it simple.
Stick to the meal time structure, if the kids choose to pass on dinner remind them it is their choice not to eat.
If your child chooses something else, have them make it themselves. Remember, being authoritative means you provide the what (nutritious foods), they choose the how much and whether not.

The more you accommodate personal preferences, the more unsuccessful mealtime becomes. The variety of meals shrinks and parents quickly fall into a rut. Parents who cater to each family member inadvertently create a meal time dichotomy of we eat this, and the kids eat that. If you’re finding yourself in this stressful situation then I highly recommend the following resource:

Fearless Feeding is a book about childhood nutrition that will calm and empower parents, provide step-by-step feeding guidance at every child development stage and teach parents the skills they need to get healthy meals on the table fast.

Bon appetite!

Go Strong Mamas!

BONUS: We love Gordon Ramsey’s YouTube channel, he’s generous with tips and advice as well as incredible recipes. Here’s a recent one where he shares some delicious lunch recipes for kids.