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We made it!  After today, we don’t have to deal with 2019 any longer.  If it has been a great year, we get to take that momentum into 2020; if not, we can shake the dust of it off our feet and burst into the future.

However, before we blow this joint, we need to take a look at what we did.  This is a great time to evaluate how our workouts have been working for us.  Do we feel stronger?  Leaner?  More energetic?  More flexible?  Do we want to continue as we have been, or change things up?

Some of us are happiest with a fuzzy, general sense of How Things Are Going.  This is a totally valid way of being in the world, especially if we like the results we are getting.

For those of us who like statistics and measurements and close tabs on things, we can review our data, because those of us who like this stuff have the data.  Were two workouts a week enough, or would we do better with three?  Are we taking too long to recover, so we really should lighten things up?  I will simply suggest that now would be a good time to take a data snapshot, which might include current weight, current measurements, current body fat percentage, current times for distance (if tracking a cardio-type thing like running/swimming/biking), current max weights (if working on strength, or any other piece of data that we want to be able to evaluate next year.  We start from where we are; these measurements are like body GPS.  (And, yes, I would be happy to help with the measuring.)

All this stuff can bring up a lot of Big Feelings.  This is important:  we are not our measurements, not our weight or height or IQ or net worth or shoe size.  We are so much more than some collection of numbers.  If the numbers are too stressful, we can skip them and go back to thinking about things like how we feel after we’ve done a workout, how our breath moves in our bodies after yoga, how hard things get easier when we practice.

Whether we measure or not (or have a trusty someone else measure and keep the numbers secret from us in a sealed location away from all eyes until it is time to see how far we’ve come), we are here now.  Where we go next is up to us, and I’ll share some thoughts about that in the next post.

Monday Workout: Not Tying One On

We made it to the last workout of 2019!  Good on us!  What better way to tie one off than with battle ropes (no, I am not making a resolution to give up puns.)?  Three rounds.

rope double slams	30
deadlifts	20
pushups	10
rope alternating slams	30
bench press	20
dips	10
rope circles	30
rows	20
brains	10

Not optional

So we can all take a deep breath now, right?  We have gifted and feasted and sung and played.  Maybe we have to deal with the inevitable detritus today, but that seems positively manageable compared to the lead-up to the holiday.

While we’re taking that breath, we can consider how best to move today.  Maybe more deep breaths are in order and something gentle and lengthening?  Pilates or yoga would be a good choice.  If we feel a bit of a letdown after all the excitement, the mood-boosting of some cardio could help.  And if we happen to have some residual stress or even frustration or anger, what better place to take it out than in the gym?  The weights do not have feelings to hurt, so we can grunt and yell at them as much as we want until we feel better.

Please notice that I’m not considering the movement optional.  We don’t have to do a lot of moving today, but we do have to do just a little because it really will leave us better afterward.

Go play.