Body, baby!

As I have been returning to work, thanks to the technological wonder that is Zoom, I have been talking with lots of people about what equipment they have or might want.  I love toys and I have pretty much one of everything (and sometimes more!), but we don’t need a lot of stuff to get a good workout.  We come with body weight built in!  And even if we happen to reduce the amount of that body weight as a result of working out, we can STILL use it to good effect with some simple tricks.

 

Take, for example, our friend the pushup.  (Haven’t made friends with pushups yet?  No worries.  They work even if we don’t like them.)  People new to pushups may find the classic position of hands on floor, body long, balls of feet on floor too much of a challenge.  We have lots of choices for modifications.  We can put our knees on the floor instead of our feet.  We can put our hands on a sturdy table or chair.  We can stand facing a wall and put our hands there.  All of those modifications make the pushups less work.

 

As we progress, the classic position might not be enough of a challenge.  We can then make modifications like putting our feet up on a bench or chair.  We can make the work asymmetrical by raising one hand on a box or block.  We can add instability with an exercise ball.

 

The short version is that when we use our brains, we don’t need a lot of equipment to use our bodies!

 

Go play.