Fresh: 4

More strength fresheners:

 

1.     Change the tempo.

2.     Try a circuit.

3.     Swap machines for free weights or vice versa.

4.     Change the usual order.

Fresh: Strength 2

Another approach to freshening our weight workouts is to adjust the variables.  These include the number of reps, the number of sets, and the intensity (or what weight we use as a percentage of our single rep maximum).

Captain Obvious would like a word here.  We don’t want to increase all the variables at once.  If we choose, for example, to do a lot more reps, we’re going to need to choose lighter weights.  We need to be fresh-minded (yes, I just made that word up), paying attention to our bodies as we work to know when we have had enough.

 

Again, we don’t have to switch all the variables for all our workouts.  Making one a week or one a month different can be plenty to keep our bodies entertained and growing.

Fresh: Strength 1

When it comes to strength training, freshness can be a challenging concept.  Strength training is one of those things that thrives on habit and routine.  The trick is to make change part of the routine.  In fact, without a certain amount of freshness, our strength training can’t get best results because our bodies develop in response to the stresses we put on them.  If we’re always doing the same things the same way, we stop growing.

One easy way to freshen things up in the weight room (ok:  not just by cleaning it, although I am 100% in favor of cleanliness and fresh air in the weight room) is to try a new exercise.  If finding a new exercise seems like a lot of work, make it even simpler and try a variation on an exercise already in your repertoire (e.g., swap the regular squats for jump squats, sumo squats, prisoner squats, goblet squats, or any of the other million different kinds).

 

Another approach is to combine exercises into compound movements.  This is where we do things like lunge-to-curl or push presses.  Not only does this give us a new take on the component parts, but it also works more of our bodies at once, which is just efficient!

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: Deceptive!

Farmer carry is one of those deceptive exercises.  We’re just walking around with weights; how hard can it be?  When I deep clean the studio, I do a LOT of farmer carries and let me say:  it is not easy.  Use the heaviest weights you can manage.  Three rounds.

 

db circles	30
skullcrushers	20
shoulder tap pushups	10
squat to leg lift/ticktock	30
flies	20
lateral raises	10
farmer carry	30
bench press	20
pretty princesses	10

 

Fresh: 3

Three ways to make cardio fresher:

 

1.     Change the speed.

2.     Change the time.

3.     Change the intensity.

 

Up or down!  You pick!

Fresh: Cardio 2

Maybe we really love what we are already doing for cardio.  I mean, you can have my spin bike when I’m dead and not before, for example.  Even so, we can freshen up our routines with a couple of tweaks.

In my experience, we all have a preferred spot on the continuum between time and intensity.  That is to say, some of us would rather work really hard for not very long and others of us would rather spend a longer time working less hard.  This is all just fine, but we can mix it up just a little and get lots of benefits.  Maybe one workout a week is longer or faster or otherwise harder (think:  hills).  If we are doing something with a cadence like running or biking, we can shift it faster once in a while.

 

Even changing up something as basic as what we listen to while we go can make things new.  Heck, grab a buddy and listen to them for a workout instead of whatever is on your playlist!

 

It seems worthwhile to note here that not all things we do to entertain ourselves while working out are equally useful.  For example, I love to read, but I can’t work out hard enough while also tracking words across a page.  If I want to read and workout, it’s going to have to be audiobooks.  (Other folks’ mileage may vary and it depends on many factors including the stability of the modality, the fitness level of the person working out, and even the size of the print.)

 

Essentially what I am saying here is:  get playful.  Experiment.  Do something novel and see if it is fun.

Fresh: Cardio 1

This week, I’m going to talk about refreshing our cardio exercise.

When most of us think about the gym, what we think of are those long rows of treadmills and other cardio machines.  We think:  boring.  We think:  I can think of so many other ways to spend half an hour or more.

 

Good news:  cardio doesn’t have to involve any of those machines unless we want it to.

 

Literally anything that gets our heart rates up for a reasonable amount of time counts as cardio.  So, yes, helping your cousin move definitely counts.  The kind of yard work many of us need to do at this time of year in which we have to haul a bunch of new dirt and compost for the garden and we make 500 or so trips to the green bin to dump in weeds and other stuff we’re clearing out counts.  Pretty much anything that involves heavy lifting counts.

 

If our lives don’t happen to involve any of those above activities, we still have lots of non-machine things to choose from, including a bunch of sports and other outdoor activities.

 

A couple of rubrics:  keep it fun, get breathless, and do it often!