Mother May I: Far

There might be a theme emerging here.  Yesterday, I said we didn’t have to go far if we didn’t want to.  Today I would like to emphasize that we are allowed to go far, too.  Just because somebody else thinks is silly to ride 100 miles on a bike or run a marathon or do a triathlon doesn’t mean we need to listen to them.  Some of us really love our endurance events and that’s cool.

The overarching principle here, as in the whole month, is that we get to choose what our workouts are based on what works for us.  We are allowed to have whatever workout we want.

 

Anybody who argues with us about this can be ignored.

 

Go play.

Mother May I: Not Far

This week’s permissions are similar to last week’s.  Today, we have permission not to go far.

While it is true that often the hardest part of a workout is starting it, we can get overwhelmed by the sense that we can’t just run; we have to run far.  We can’t just go for a swim; we have to do a gazillion laps.  And so on.

 

Some days, we just don’t have a lot of oomph to work with.  On those days, we do, in fact, get credit just for showing up.  We may not build a lot of muscles in our body, but our character muscles get bigger.

Monday Workout: Bit Different

The end-of-month circuit, as usual, is a bit different.  My goals with the shorter circuit include some cardio challenge (see woodchoppers immediately after a minute of cardio of choice, and back to back burpees and tap backs), some endurance challenge (doing the other exercises in the circuit after the cardio bits without resting), and practice with challenge (hiya, burpees!).  As always, I love my compound exercises that work a bunch of stuff at once.  Ideally, we do four rounds, but use good judgment about what is best.

 

1 min cardio
woodchoppers	30
flies	20
burpees	10
tap backs	30
bench press	20
brains	10

  

Mother May I: 3

When we’re kids, people bribe us to do stuff.  Behave at the doctor?  Get a sucker.  Good report card?  Pizza for you.  Now that we’re adults, we get to set our own rewards for working out.  May I suggest:

 

1.     Massage.  Or a hot bath.  Or anything that makes your body feel fabulous.

2.     Milestone treats.  Chop up that big goal and reward yourself for each segment.  This could be a scale number, a distance reached, a weight lifted, or whatever else you’re measuring.  Make it small enough to be manageable but big enough to be meaningful.

3.     New gear.  Who doesn’t love getting new workout clothes?  Or comfy shoes?  Or a cool new thingamajig for that activity we love?

Mother May I: Go Slow

Yesterday, I reminded us all that we can go as fast as we want to.  Today I want to clarify:  that might mean not going fast at all.

We can choose the pace we like best for our workouts.  Some of us prefer to work out longer at a more manageable pace compared to our hare friends.  Tortoises have just as much fitness success.

 

One application of this principle is that nobody has to run who doesn’t want to.  We can get just as much fitness from walking.  The best exercise is the exercise we will do.

 

Go play.  At your own pace.

Mother May I: Go Fast

If you want to, you have permission to go fast.  You don’t have to wait for anybody else.  You don’t have to waste any time.  As long as you are working with good form, you can go as fast as you want and that is entirely good.

A lot of us who were raised female got the message that we shouldn’t be too fast or too good at stuff.  It might cause awkward questions.  We don’t need that kind of baggage.  We can run as fast as we possibly can and no one gets to tell us not to.

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: Still Obsessing About Balance

Balance requires lots of things, from proprioception to strong stabilizers and more.  The compound exercises here and the ones that work asymmetrically help us improve balance.  Three rounds.

 

jacks	30
skullcrushers	20
renegade rows	10
kb alt arm swing	30
kb hammer curl	20
kb halo	10
1 arm clean and press	30
Arnold press	20
windscreen wipers	10

 

Mother May I: 4

Today’s permission has a bunch of flavors.  We have permission to play games.  Here are some ways that might play out (pun intended).

 

1.     Literal games.  We can get our workout while playing football or pickleball or soccer or water polo or baseball.

2.     Mind games.  We can see if we can trick ourselves into doing one more rep or one more sprint.

3.     Distracting games.  On a long run or bike or hike?  Play the alphabet game like you did when you were stuck in the car as a kid.  Or I Spy.  Or race other people to landmarks (with or without telling them!).

4.     Streak games.  How many days in a row can you show up at the gym?  How many workouts can you make it before you need new shoes?  How long can you go before washing that lucky shirt (actually, please don’t do that one.  The other people in the gym don’t deserve that.)

Mother May I: Swear

This particular permission may be controversial and we may have to use our good judgment in how we deploy it.  We have permission to swear.

Let me digress into a (relevant) story.  Back when I was a freshman in high school lo these many years ago, I had to take P.E.  For me at the time, this was akin to getting a daily bout of measles or flu or something.  I had to play sports I didn’t choose or like in the middle of the day, getting all sweaty, and then I had to go do more school after that.  Some of my P.E. teachers were stellar human beings.  Others were… not.  One of those others happened to be a football coach who liked to make inappropriate comments to young female students such as myself.  This same coach wrote me up for saying a bad word after getting kicked in the shins playing soccer.  Girls were not supposed to swear.  I spent many early mornings before school running laps to offset that bad report and save my grade, so I had plenty of time to ruminate on the unfairness of it all—the boys didn’t get written up for swearing.  I guess I built some character?  I definitely hardened my resolve to smash the patriarchy, even if I didn’t know what that exactly was when I was fourteen.

 

I am not saying that we should all be dropping F-bombs all over the place.  Context is important in swearing as in everything.  What I am saying is that the occasional swear word is good for the soul.  In fact, actual research has found that swearing reduces our sensation of pain.  What could be more useful in a workout than that?

 

Workouts are not tea parties.  We do not have to be perfect ladies and gentlemen while we work out (even though we do have to have good gym etiquette—we are not barbarians!).  If a good cuss word gets us through to a personal best, that’s f-ing awesome.

Mother May I: Have My Feelings

Today we have permission to love our workouts or to hate them.  In other words, we get to feel however we feel.

When we’re doing something really hard and it isn’t going super well and we’re tired and grumpy, it’s good to remember that we don’t have to like the process of what we’re doing.  We certainly need to work out, but we don’t need to add pressure to ourselves to think it is the best thing ever all the time.

 

On the other hand, some folks really want us not to like our workouts.  (This is not their business, but this does not stop them.)  For their own reasons, they seem to need us to hate the gym or weights or exercise generally or whatever.  Ignore them.  We have permission to have fun at Zumba or on our bike or doing a personal record lift.

 

Workouts are enough work all by themselves.  We don’t need to add a bunch of emotional work on top.  Really.

Monday Workout: More Balance

One thing I get from doing my continuing education courses is new variations on exercises.  This week, we’re doing round lunges, but instead of just lunging front, side, and back, we’re adding the diagonals (lunge front, lunge diagonal front, lunge side, lunge diagonal back, lunge back, lunge diagonal back across, lunge front diagonal across).  It’s a lot of directional change, but it’s practical for life, which doesn’t always move the way we expect.  Three rounds.

 

db circles	30
bench press	20
round lunges	10
mountain climbers	30
flies	20
pushups	10
squat to leg lift	30
rows	20
brains	10

 

Mother May I: 4

Unless we are dead, we are eating something at least occasionally.  Eating is natural.  It’s essential!  And yet, somehow, I still feel like I need to remind us all that we have permission to eat.  Here are some things we are allowed:

 

1.     Vegetables.  The more, the merrier!  Eat as many colors as possible!  Eat them in salads, soups, on the side, on top, or underneath.

2.     Fruits.  Whole is better, but juice is ok, too.

3.     Protein foods.  What these are vary by human.  It’s good to choose lean proteins and maybe a fair amount of plant-based protein for optimal health.

4.     Treats.  Yes:  we are allowed treats.  We just need to remember that they are sometimes foods.

Mother May I: Lift

Today, I’m granting everyone permission to lift weights.  Any weights you want and can move with good form.

Sometimes we might feel intimidated by the weights.  We might not know exactly what to do with them.  (This is what trainers are for!)  And sometimes there are some large, muscular types hanging out by them acting like they are their weights.  They are not.  We are allowed to use them, too.

 

Here is how:  put on our grown-up pants, walk over to the weights, and use them.  If someone is already using them, we ask, politely, “Can we work in?”  The answer to this question should be yes.  If it is not yes, it is ok to go check with gym management because working in is good gym etiquette.

 

Some of us may think that we shouldn’t lift weights because we are too (choose one:  old, female, weak…).  This is not true.  We may want to choose the weight we lift carefully and appropriately for our skill level and strength, but nearly everyone can and should lift weights.

 

Go do it!

Mother May I: Sweat

In May, we celebrate Mother’s Day.  I’m going to do it a little differently (you’re shocked, right?).  We’re going to play Mother May I with fitness topics.  Here’s my thinking:  sometimes what we really need on our fitness journey is someone to give us the permission we need.  For this month, I’m “Mother” and I am here to grant you leave.

So let’s get started.  Today, you all have permission to sweat.

 

Personally, I am good at sweating.  I could be sitting there in a freezer and I’d be sweating.  I’ve mostly made peace with this, but there were times when I was younger when this did not feel like a Good Thing.  (Thanks, patriarchy!  Not!)  As a result, I was a little shy about exercising.  I mean, who wants to spend forever doing their hair and makeup and then just drip all over it?  (Again, thanks, patriarchy.)

 

Here in this century, maybe we can understand that there are times to get sweaty and then times to get clean.  Sweat is a useful marker that tells us we are working hard and making progress toward our goals.  The gym is there to sweat in, not to pose in.  (If you want to pose there, you do you, but please, don’t hog the good machines or the free weights.)

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: Balance

I’ve had balance on my mind lately, so we’re working it with the calf raises and the squat heel lift.  Three rounds.

 

ball to knee	30
calf raises	20
quadruped lateral raise	10
squat heel lift	30
kickbacks	20
db pullover with bridge	10
plank jacks	30
good morning/deadlift	20
pretty prinesses	10