Today the Amazing Stickie is working her amazing abdominals by doing Captain’s Chair.
She begins sitting on the edge of a box, leaning back slightly, hands behind her. From there, she lifts her knees toward her chest and then lowers them back to the starting position.
Ten reps is a good set.
November is a month of gratitude.
No month of gratitude would be complete without a shout out to my clients. I am privileged to work with and for some truly remarkable people.
As I watch them get stronger, I am inspired. When they have setbacks, they trust me to figure out how to get them back on track. They teach me so much.
Thanks, y’all, for putting up with me!
November is a month of gratitude.
I am grateful for the Internet today. While we certainly have to be careful to evaluate the quality of the information we find there, we have access to so many more resources than ever before as we figure out how to create health in our lives.
Need a new workout? No problem. What to do for that achy knee? (The Internet is no substitute for actual medical care, but can provide handy tips for stuff that doesn’t need a doctor’s attention!) Veggie box came full of kale and no idea what to do with it? Zillions of recipes are right there!
What’s your favorite fitness site?
Another month is coming to an end, so we get a shorter circuit. Four rounds.
1 min cardio | |
| |
kb swings | 30 |
bench press | 20 |
hamstring curls | 10 |
tap backs | 30 |
flies | 20 |
plank up down | 10 |
The Amazing Stickie loves using a pullup bar. Today she’s using it with an exercise band to do dead hangs.
She uses a looped exercise band, pulling one end through the loop to secure it to the pullup bar. Then she puts her feet in the band, holding on to the bar with her arms bent and her chin over the bar. She slowly lowers herself until her arms are fully extended and then pulls herself back up.
A set of ten is great.
November is a month of gratitude.
I am thankful for foam rollers, yoga tune-up balls, tiger tails, ducks, and all the various tools that allow for self-myofascial release (SMR). In other words, the gizmos that help me get rid of the stiffness and soreness in my body.
There is nothing better than a good massage, but until such time as I win the lottery, I won’t be getting massage as often as I would like. (I tried convincing my sons that one of them should marry a massage therapist, but they apparently used different and probably better criteria in choosing their partners.) SMR is a great way to keep me happy between massages. Plus it feels really good and encourages my flexibility.
What’s your favorite feel-good fitness thing?
November is a month of gratitude.
Today I am thankful for my two favorite fitness uncles, Uncle Joe and Uncle Patanjali.
Uncle Joe is Joseph Pilates, visionary creator of the eponymous system. His determination to create health and “spontaneous zest” in his own life and the lives of others has been transformative. I am thankful for the training I have had in his methods because it makes me a better mover and teacher.
Uncle Patanjali is credited with systematizing the huge complex that is yoga into sutras. The practice of yoga brings peace to my body and my mind.
Who are your fitness heros?
This week we have options. Choose the squat pop up if you want extra bonus points. Three rounds.
jacks | 30 |
Arnold press | 20 |
squat pop up or pushups | 10 |
| |
1 arm clean and press | 30 |
flies | 20 |
YTA | 10 |
| |
overhead curtsy | 30 |
deadlifts | 20 |
toe reaches | 10 |
The Amazing Stickie loves step ups, but sometimes she wants a bit more challenge. Today she’s doing power step ups.
She begins with one foot up on a strong box, step, or bench. She pushes herself up onto that foot and lifts her other knee high, hopping up above the box. After landing back on the box, she returns her foot to the floor. Her arms swing as she moves for extra bonus calorie-burning points. She usually does a set of 15 or so on one leg and then switches to the other side.
November is a month of gratitude.
I am thankful, today, for weights. Not just heavy things, but specifically weights. Of course, we can get strong by lifting couches or groceries or growing children. We can use our muscles to lift our own body weight in various ways.
But the person who decided that having a set of measured weights in graduated sizes is a genius. With measurement comes the ability to track and plan and plot progress. We can benchmark where we are and we can add incrementally to our challenges so we can develop in a healthy way.
Also: weights are much easier to grip than couches or children.
What is your favorite piece of fitness equipment?
November is a month of gratitude.
Today I am grateful for the parasympathetic nervous system. (Now that’s a sentence I never expected to write!) The world out there likes to encourage me to be best buddies with my sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for stress reactions like the fight-or-flight response. But my parasympathetic nervous system offers a respite from that.
Tapping into deep breathing allows me to relax and heal, to rest, to repair the results of the day’s stresses, even if those stresses are good things like a hard workout, a challenging situation well-resolved, or a novel experience.
What’s your favorite way to find relaxation?
We’ve got lots going on today with compound exercises. Ramp up that metabolism, baby! Three rounds.
tap backs | 30 |
farmer carry | 20 |
renegade row | 10 |
| |
woodchoppers | 30 |
good mornings | 20 |
lateral raise | 10 |
| |
suitcase swing | 30 |
side lunges | 20 |
side banana | 10 |
The Amazing Stickie knows that a great way to power up her workouts is to add plyometrics. Today she’s doing plyometric pushups from her knees. (It is also ok to do these from regular pushup position, but it’s harder!)
She begins in modified pushup position, a straight line from her knees to the top of her head. She bends her elbows as she would for a regular pushup, but then explodes upward so that her hands leave the floor at the top of the pushup. That’s one rep. Sets of ten are good.
November is gratitude month!
Today I am grateful for my body. I mean, without a body, where would I be?
My body takes care of all kinds of stuff without me even noticing. I don’t have to remember to breathe (although sometimes it helps!). I don’t have to figure out how to digest my food or keep my internal temperature at a healthy level. When I get a scrape on my knee, my body just fixes it! Blood moves all by itself. Even my lymph system does whatever it is it does without any interference from my conscious mind. And that’s just the maintenance portion of the show.
When I want to go somewhere, my body gets me there. When I want to move things, my body coordinates all the bones and muscles to get it done. I have my own personal meat monster to do my bidding!
Then there is the joy my body provides. I get to feel the sun on my face. I rejoice in flowers (obviously!). Tasting food, listening to music, smelling herbs or petrichor, all the pleasures of the world are brought to me through my body.
Thanks, body!
November is a month of gratitude. There is plenty of research out there that suggests that practicing gratitude is good for our health. For Reasons (OK, because gratitude practice tends to backfire when my personal Depression Monster is in residence: how can I be dealing with the DM when I have so much to be grateful for? And we spiral from there…), I am not a Gratitude Journal kind of person, but that does not mean that it doesn’t work in the general sense; it just doesn’t work for me. That said, I am going to practice some gratitude here this whole month.
So: what am I grateful for today? Cardio exercise. When I am crabby and cranky, odds are good that some quality time on my spin bike will do the trick to fix my mood. A walk outside has a similar effect, plus no one will hear me grumbling.
Even if I’m not feeling like grousing, cardio is something wonderful for me. It makes my brain work better, increases my available energy, and burns calories.
Anybody else grateful for a pumping heart?
This week, burpees are back. Sorry/not sorry. Three rounds.
mountain climbers | 30 |
bench press | 20 |
burpees | 10 |
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kb alt arm swing | 30 |
kb hammer curl | 20 |
kb halo | 10 |
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squat raise | 30 |
flies | 20 |
Russian twist | 10 |
