Subjective

Yesterday we talked about objective measurements of how hard we are working out.  Today, we’re going to listen in on what our bodies are telling us.  This is crucial, because we are far more than a bunch of numbers and we are the ultimate bosses of ourselves.

One way that trainers are taught to assess how hard a person is working out is to ask them about their “rate of perceived exertion.”  This is a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being asleep and 10 being about to die.  We want to aim for about a 7 or 8 on the scale, otherwise known as “This is hard, but I’m managing, as long as you don’t ask me to talk too much at the same time.”  (There are slightly less goofy tags for the various levels, if you want to look them up, but silly is more memorable in my book.)

 

Some days are just hard.  Maybe we didn’t sleep well.  Maybe we’re (extra) stressed.  Maybe traffic was terrible, or we have a mystery pain in our shoulder.  Even if our objective measurements, like HRV, show that we should be able to handle a tough workout, it might not be true.  We need to be mindful.  If we’re having trouble concentrating, for whatever reason, it is not a good day to lift heavy or to take on a new challenge in our workout.  It is perfectly all right to focus on stretching, on yoga, on deep breathing exercises.  Some days the right answer is to take a walk, or even a nap.  The body knows when we are listening to it.  It appreciates our concern and will tell us when it is ready to go hard again.

 

Go play.

Objective

How hard are we really working out?  There are a bunch of ways to tell.  Today I’m going to talk about objective measurements and tomorrow the subjective ones.

When we’re doing cardio, we want to check in with our heart rate.  In these days of smart watches and fitness trackers, that’s pretty easy:  we just look down.  But what does the number mean?  (Sorry, there’s about to be some arithmetic.)  The easiest way to calculate a person’s max heart rate is to subtract their age from 220.  Then we calculate the cardio range as 65 to 85% of that number.  Let me use myself as an example.  I am 57, so my max heart rate is 163.  The bottom of my cardio range is 65% of 163, or 106 (rounded up from 105.95).  The top of my range is 139 (rounded up from 138.55).  If I glance down and I’m not even hitting 100 on the heart rate, I need to kick it up a notch.  (I worry a lot less about the top end of things.  Most people feel terrible and slow down automatically when they get past 85%.

 

The rest of the objective measures are less immediate.  HRV, for example, is something we need to benchmark before we use because it is a highly individual measurement.  In other words, we don’t want to compare our HRV with anybody else’s.  Our trackers/smart watches measure this for us and can give us an average over a week or month or longer.  In general, a higher number is better.  If we see that our trend is improving over time, we’re working hard enough.

 

When the number on the scale is not moving, it is not necessarily time to panic.  We can check our body fat percentage with a handheld gizmo and see if that number is changing over time (Lower body fat percentage is better, to a point.  Feel concerned if it is below about 10%.).  We may be adding muscle, which weighs more than fat, so the number on the scale will stay the same even as we change our body composition.

 

Finally, we can look at our workout sheets.  If the number of reps we are completing and/or the weights we’re using are getting larger, we’re doing things right.

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: As Many

 

Time for a month-end short circuit!  Do as many rounds as you can in the time you have!

 

 

1 min cardio
	20
woodchoppers	20
bench press	10
YTA	30
Bulgarian split squat	30
rows	20
pretty princesses	10

 

Thursday List: Boredom Busters

Yesterday I talked about boredom in our workouts just a bit.  Here are some boredom-busters:

 

• Do it backwards.  If you normally do cardio first, do weights first.

• Change the tempo.  Working faster or slower than usual can stimulate muscles in a new way.

• Change the venue.  Take it outside, or inside, whatever is not usual.

• Try that class.  You know, that one you’re intrigued by

• Go along with a friend.  Do what she does for a day or a week.

• Change the playlist.  New music can be really motivating!

Spring Clean the Workout

It might just be me, but I love spring cleaning.  It feels so good to have everything fresh and tidy!  This is a good time to spring clean our workout routines, too.  Here are a couple of questions to ask to help with that process:

Is what I’m doing working?  The answer to that question, of course, depends on your goals.  If, for example, you discover that you are not, in fact, getting stronger with your current weight training program, it’s time for a change.  Or if you discover that the workouts are great, but you’re eating less fabulous foods, it might be time to examine the connection between the gym and the kitchen.

 

Am I bored?  Both brains and bodies get bored.  If you don’t even need to wake up entirely to do the workout, chances are you are bored and could use a fresh take.  If a workout that used to give you the progress you wanted has stopped, it might be that your body is ready for a new challenge.

 

Can I please go outside now?  It’s warmer and less likely to storm on us, so this is a good time to take the workout into the fresh air.

 

Go play.

Subtle

Pilates can be a subtle practice.  Most of the time when we do it, we don’t end up sore.  We might feel tired, but we’re also energized in a calm kind of way after our sessions.  It can be hard to notice what Pilates does for us.

Until we skip it a while.

 

I notice the lack of Pilates when all of a sudden those problem areas of my body start whining again.  I find my range of motion decreases.  So does my flexibility and my balance.  I move with less grace.  And the hamsters in my head start their obsessive running.

 

The good news is that Uncle Joe is always there, ready for us, however we show up.  When we breathe and move mindfully, we tap into the Pilates magic.

 

Poke me if you want to try it!

Monday Workout: Transverse

We’ve got all kinds of good stuff this week working in the transverse plane and also working with weight bearing on the arms.  Three rounds.

 

kb swings	30
kb twist	20
kb 8s	10
jacks	30
renegade rows	20
squat pop up	10
curtsies	30
overhead press	20
brains	10

 

Thursday List: April Produce

The Amazing Stickie is taking some much-needed time off, so we have the return of the Thursday List.

 

This week’s list is produce in season for April!  Hooray for spring!

 

• strawberries

• asparagus

• artichokes

• snap peas

• spring onions/garlic/leeks

• fennel

• rhubarb

• baby carrots

• radishes

 

Yummy! (Well, except for the carrots.  I hate carrots.  More for the rest of y’all.)

Age Appropriate

As I mentioned, April is my birthday month.  That mean—news flash!—I’m getting older, just like everyone else.  Workout needs change a bit as we age, so here are some things older adults might want to focus on.

Number one is balance.  Falls are one of the biggest risks we face as we age.  The data on what happens after we fall and break a hip is not pretty.  It might be time to seek out that Pilates or yoga class.  There are other simple things to do in daily life that help, too, like practicing standing on one foot while waiting for the microwave to be done.  Balancing on one foot while brushing our teeth is also a useful challenge.  In our regular workouts, we can focus on our asymmetric exercises (e.g., single leg squat, one arm clean and press) to help with balance.  And let’s not forget our friends the core exercises.

 

Number two is strength training.  We lose muscle mass and bone density as we age.  Strength training is our number one tool to combat the forces of age.  We need to lose our fear of heavy lifting, too:  it’s more effective for our goals.  (Note:  heavy lifting does not mean that we all rush out and lift 3 million pounds.  It means that we lift weights that are relatively heavy for us, around 70 to 85% of our single rep max for each exercise.)

 

Bonus points go to folks who exercise with friends for the social interaction (caveat:  you can’t just chat and pretend to work) and for folks who get outside while they get their heart rates up.

 

As always, it’s worth checking in with your medical professionals to make sure that you are choosing appropriate exercises for your personal condition.

 

Go play.

Happy Birthday To Me...

April is my birthday month, so I’ve got presents on my mind.  Here are some presents I am giving myself over the next year:

Cardio:  Most of the time, cardio comes to me in the form of time on my spin bike, or, as I like to call it, the Magic Mood-Fixing Machine.  I know cardio burns calories and does good stuff for my heart and plenty of other things, but the real reason I do it is because it makes me feel good.  Period.  When I’m not getting it on the spin bike, I get my cardio playing pickleball (bonus points for being social!) or walking/hiking/swimming (bonus points for outside time!).

 

Weight Training:  I love feeling strong.  My bones also need to be strong as I get older.  I need an amped-up metabolism and a body with more lean mass.

 

Pilates:  Uncle Joe knows what my body needs.  Doing Pilates refines my movements, improves my balance, and creates mobility in a frame that is particularly good at being immobile.

 

Yoga:  Times are stressful.  I need to chill out, get flexible, and breathe.

 

Water:  I need it inside and out.  I want to drink it, swim in it, and soak in it.

 

What gifts do you all want for yourselves?

Monday Workout: Balance

Balance comes from lots of things, but mostly practice.  So we’re practicing with our round lunges this week.  Three rounds.

 

tap backs	30
bench press	20
round lunges	10
suitcase swing	30
flies	20
quadruped lateral raise	10
opposite knees	30
curls	20
toe reaches	10

  

The Amazing Stickie and Dumbbell Frog Pump

Today the Amazing Stickie is working on her amazing behind by doing dumbbell frog pumps.

She begins lying on her back with dumbbells held at her hips and her legs in butterfly position (feet together, knees out).  From there, she lifts her hips toward the ceiling and lowers them.

 

A set of ten should be good.

Oilcan

I’ve talked before about what I call my oilcan exercises—the things I do every day to keep me from feeling like the Tin Man, all squeaky, rusty, and immobile.  I put together sets of oilcan exercises for my clients, too, because we need to move our bodies more than once or twice a week.

Oilcan exercises don’t have to take very long.  They make a great warm up or cool down for our other workouts, or they can be a stand-alone thing to do on rest days.  We want to make it easy to get these things done, so we don’t want hours and hours of stuff that we won’t do.  At most, they should take ten or fifteen minutes, but five is more likely.

 

What the oilcan exercises are varies by person.  Each of us has different problem areas.  A person with knee issues will focus on stuff to strengthen and protect the knees.  People with back pain have a different set of things to do.  Over time, we need to evaluate what we’re doing and see if we can give up some things or need to add a few new ones.

 

Want your own set?  Poke me and we’ll talk.

After Injury or Surgery

Recovery from injury or surgery can be really frustrating.  Those of us who rely on movement for mood and stress management can get a little squirrelly while we (impatiently) wait for the body to heal.  But, trust me, it is worth it.

 

Any injury that requires medical attention is something that your trainer needs to know about.  I want to know what the doctor has to say about when my clients can return to workouts, what movements they should avoid, and how to help them get back to normal safely.  Often this means that I don’t get to see them until they are released from physical therapy.

 

Physical therapists are awesome humans who know how to safely rehab people’s injuries or post-surgical selves.  They are kind people who hurt us for our own good as we regain strength and confidence.  When they say we’re good to go, we can get back to our normal workouts.  The things they have us do may not be as fun as our usual workouts, but diligently doing the exercises they give us makes the difference between coming back strong and maybe not getting to come back at all.

 

When we do return to normal workouts, we need to expect that it will take a bit of time to get back to where we were when we left off.  This is normal, if frustrating.  Remember:  we can only work out with today’s body.

 

Worst case, we focus on exercising our patience. 

Monday Workout: Glutes

It’s time to work the glutes!  Among other things, of course.  Three rounds.

 

 

step up (reverse lunge)	30
deadlift/good morning	20
donkey kick	10
1 arm clean and press	30
rows	20
bridge chest press	10
opposite knees	30
kickbacks	20
plank walk	10

  

The Amazing Stickie and Cossack Lunge

The Amazing Stickie has amazing hips and legs, natch.  Today she is working on them by doing Cossack lunge.  She begins standing up straight with her hands clasped in front of her chest.  She takes a giant step out to one side, externally rotating both legs and bending the knee toward which she is stepping.  (Most people should probably not go past the point where the thigh on the stepping leg is parallel to the floor, at first.) The foot on the the non-bent leg should be pointing up toward the ceiling (i.e., heel on the floor, toes up!).

 

If you have knee problems, this exercise is one to approach with caution.  Don’t do it if it hurts.

Stickie does twenty or thirty for a set. 

More About Couches and Cake

Yesterday, joking around, I said that my best advice was to lie on the couch and eat cake.  There are, however, times when that might actually be the best advice.

As a fitness professional, it is my job to get people to move and to make general suggestions about healthy diet (specific suggestions and menu planning are the province of dieticians and nutritionists, who have a whole bunch more education than I do on the topic and a different scope of practice).  While I admit that I have The Very Best Clients Ever, who may not be a representative sample of folks in general, I have to say that sometimes they could use a bit of a break.  I love exercise, but, like everything else, too much is too much.

 

This is a bit of a digression, but only a bit:  if I had been consulted about the fitness app for the Apple Watch, I would have explained about rest days.  We do not need to work out seven days a week.  That seventh day is for resting.  As we get more fit, resting might mean a gentle walk or a couple of stretches rather than straight-on couch time, but the point remains:  we all need to rest.

 

Similarly, I don’t see the point of life without cake.  OK:  slight exaggeration.  Life is better with cake and other festive foods.  We need celebration as well as rigor in our lives.  I’m not advocating for diving face first into the chocolate cake on a daily basis, but maybe we can step away from the danger of orthorexia (yes that’s a real thing, an eating disorder in which people get obsessed with eating only healthy foods).

 

Work hard.  Eat right.  And sometimes take a break.

Best Advice

Today I’m going to share some of my very best advice on exercise and diet.  Here we go:  lie on the couch all day and eat cake.

 

April Fools!

 

(Seriously:  move a little and eat a vegetable.)