Cardio Favorites 2

My other favorite cardio exercise is swimming.  I have said, semi-seriously, more than once, that my personal aromatherapy scents are chlorine and sunscreen and maybe a hint of grape soda because those are the smells of my childhood summers.

Swimming is a great cardio exercise for a bunch of reasons.  It’s not an impact sport, so it’s easy on the joints.  The water provides resistance, so it’s a good amount of work.  The work is in water, natch, so there isn’t that uncomfortable sweaty feeling.

 

There’s a funny thing about swimming for me.  I am not a particularly great swimmer.  I couldn’t do a flip turn to save my life and I have never met a pair of goggles that I like.  What’s great is that it doesn’t really matter.  I get a perfectly good workout and I have a fabulous time.  Over time, I am improving, but I don’t have any Big Goals about swimming, except not drowning.

 

Go play.

Cardio Favorites 1

For years, August has been, to be polite, not my favorite month.  I have learned not to plan to get anything in particular done during August.  This year, my coping strategy is:  lean into my favorite things.  All month, I’ll be highlighting my favorite fitness things!

This week, I’m starting with my favorite cardio exercises because there really is nothing better for lifting mood than getting in some heart-pounding work.

 

My very favorite cardio comes from bikes.  There is no quicker way to make me feel like an ecstatic nine-year-old than to pop me on a bike.  I like the kind of work I do when I ride, I like getting outside, I like zooming around.

 

When it is dark or wet, I have my spin bike, which is nearly as good.  The scenery isn’t much, but I have good music and a distinct lack of excuses to get going.

 

What’s your very favorite?  (More of mine tomorrow!)

Monday Workout: Upper and Core

One of the things we’re working on this week is weight bearing on the upper body.  For bonus points, all the exercises that work on that also work on our core strength.  Three rounds.

 

step touch	30
renegade rows	20
hip rotations	10
step ups	30
good morning/deadlift	20
diamond pushup	10
woodchoppers	30
skullcrushers	20
plank up down	10

  

Thursday List: 8

More possible interdependencies to explore:

 

1.     Yoga and stress reduction

2.     Cardio exercise and anxiety management

3.     Exercise/movement and general mental health

4.     Outdoor time/movement/sun exposure

5.     Hydration and mood

6.     Sleep and performance

7.     Pilates and balance work

8.     Social interaction and movement

Interdependence: Work, rest, eat

Workouts, as we know, don’t occur in a vacuum.  It’s hard to breathe there.  (Sorry/not sorry for the joke.)  Our workouts are part of the larger picture of our lives.

This means that we can’t just keep working out more and more.  We may try to do that and we find that it doesn’t end well.  We get frustrated because we’re working so hard and we’re not getting the results we want.

 

Workouts require the support of adequate rest and good nutrition.  If we’re not sleeping and we’re living on sugar and caffeine, we’re not going to sustain a healthy workout load.  We need all the pieces of the puzzle.

 

So:  eat well, sleep well, work enough to get tired and hungry.

Interdependence: Pilates and weights

One way that interdependence plays out in workouts is in the synergy between weight training and Pilates.

As everyone knows, I offer both personal training and Pilates.  When asked which one someone should do, I usually say that both are good, and not because I want more business.  Both are good, and they’re better together.

 

Here’s why.  Weight training increases our strength.  It’s where we build lean body mass, encourage our metabolism, and acquire what we think of as “tone.”  Those are all good things.  However, if we want the most benefit from the work we do with weights, we need to hone our form.

 

This is where Pilates is so beneficial.  In Pilates, we train our proprioception (five dollar word for “knowing where our bodies are in space”).  We work on our alignment.  We challenge our stabilizing muscles.  We open up both our range of motion and our control of that range.  When we apply our Pilates skills in our weight training context, we get better results.

 

Conversely, when we bring our strength to Pilates, we open up more of the repertoire.  We can tackle some of the challenging exercises without worrying that our basic strength isn’t up to them.

 

All that said, some of us do better starting with one or the other.  If you want guidance, you know where to find me.

Monday Workout: Extra

End of the month means extra challenge!  We’ve got a little of everything in this workout:  balance, cardio challenge, lateral movement, stability work, and, of course, weights.  Four rounds.

 

1 min cardio
Bulgarian split squat	30
flies	20
Arnold press	10
squat raise/tick tock	30
bench press	20
windscreen wipers	10

 

Thursday List: 4

Independence vs. Interdependence

 

1.     “I want to win.” vs. “We can win together.”

2.     “I can do it myself.” vs. “No human is an island.”

3.     “I want to be strong.” vs. “I use my strength to help.”

4.     “I want to be fit.” vs. “My fitness allows me to take care of people I love.”

Interdepence

Interdependence has a lot of relevance in a workout context.  As I’ll be talking about over the rest of the month, the different kinds of workouts we do are interdependent, as are the things we do outside of our workouts.

Today, though, I want to focus on how our workouts make us better community members.  When we get strong and fit, when we take care of our own health, we increase our ability to give back to the people around us.

 

We are soaking in a culture that wants us to believe in competition as a supreme virtue.  That same culture feeds us the idea that we can be “self-made.”  Let’s reality-check that a little.

 

Competition, maybe, has its place.  When it is used for good, it can spur us on to achieve more than we might otherwise.  However, I think we all get farther when we rely on cooperation.  When we work together to make sure we all succeed, not only do we all have success, we have a nicer environment in which to enjoy that success.

 

And we do need other people.  We are social animals.  When we were children, we needed parents or other caregivers to feed and tend us.  As adults, we thrive best when we are surrounded by family and friends who love us and whom we love in return.

 

In a workout context, what this means is that when we individually get stronger, we all get stronger.  When we encourage each other, we all do better.  And, sometimes, we are willing to do things for other people that we’re not willing to do for ourselves.  When my kids were small, I needed to be strong and healthy to be there for them.  As our parents age, we need to be strong and healthy to help them out, too.  We have to pay forward the gifts we have been given.

 

I know this is really abstract and high-level, but we need to know why we are lifting those heavy weights and sweating it out on the treadmill.  It’s to make the world better.

Independence, Part 9

Up to this point in the month, we’ve been talking about independence as a list of things we get to do or not do.  But that’s only part of the story.

When we are independent, we take on a good chunk of responsibility.

 

There is a security inherent in being dependent.  We know what to do.  We know what the consequences are when we don’t do what we’re supposed to do.  We understand the rules.

 

When we are independent, we have to make our own order.  We have to figure out how to live healthy and happy lives without infringing on other folks’ ability to live their healthy and happy lives.

 

We have to find the balance between taking care of ourselves and taking care of our duties to our family and friends and larger society.  Sometimes a workout gets top priority.  Sometimes we miss one because we have a sick kid or a work deadline.  We need to stay tuned in to all the shifting priorities.

 

Because, truth is, we are both independent and interdependent at the same time.  We don’t get healthy and happy alone.

 

I’ll be exploring that over the next while.

Monday Workout: Good Move

I love a good balance move.  Those single leg deadlifts challenge us.  And, if we choose to do the YTA on one foot, we get extra bonus balance points.  Three rounds.

 

kb swings	30
kb twist	20
kb 8s	10
1 arm clean and press	30
1 leg deadlift	20
YTA	10
(lunge) punches	30
overhead press	20
plank to pike	10

 

Independence, Part 8

Things we are free from and for, a list of affirmations:

 

1.     We are free to be healthy.

2.     We are free to be happy.

3.     We are free to choose our own goals.

4.     We are free to set our own ideals.

5.     We are free from the expectations of others.

6.     We are free to work out in the way that works best for us.

7.     We are free to be strong, fit, and fabulous, however we define those terms.

Independence, Part 7

Today’s declaration of independence is that we are independent of stupid opinions.  This is similar to what we talked about yesterday, but perhaps a little more personal.

A whole lot of people seem to think they are entitled to have opinions about what we do.  We can’t control what goes on in their heads.  Usually we have enough to do dealing with what’s in our own heads.  But, there those folks are, spouting off about how we should or shouldn’t do whatever it is we’ve decided to do.

 

When those folks are motivated by our “own good,” it can be hard to blow them off.  But until they live in our skin, they really don’t get a vote.  Our loved ones love us.  They worry when we change, even when we start changing for the better.  Sometimes they do have skills or experiences we don’t have, but that doesn’t mean that what they know is right for us.  We need to find our own paths.  With people who are motivated by love of us, our technique is this:  Thanks for your input.  I’ll consider what you say.

 

(Some people are not even a little bit motivated by our best interest.  They want to control us or keep us small or weak or unhealthy for their own reasons.  When we get up the courage to be our fabulous selves, they get mad and manipulative.  If thanking them for their input doesn’t do the trick, it is all right to choose not to deal with them at all.  We are not put here to be abused by other people.  Please do whatever is necessary to get out of unsafe circumstances.  Really.)

 

Working out is hard enough.  We don’t need to add emotional workouts on top.

 

Independence, Part 6

While we are getting independent this month, another area we can explore is freedom from stereotypes.

Such as:  women can’t lift heavy.  Or men are inflexible.  Or old people can’t be strong.  Or people with (fill in the condition) can’t do things.

 

People who are alive have the ability to change.  It’s kind of definitional.  (When dead people change, it’s not exactly on purpose and we really don’t need to talk about that.)  The cool thing about our bodies is that they change in response to what we do.  If we practice getting faster, we get faster.  If we practice getting stronger, we get stronger.

 

So maybe at the start, women who have been told for a lifetime that it’s unladylike to lift weights and get strong don’t lift really heavy weights.  We lift weights that are heavy for us.  As we progress, we continue to lift weights that are heavy for us until someday we are lifting weights that the Almighty They think are heavy.  Usually by that point we don’t care what They think, or if we think about Them at all it is with a little burst of I-showed-YOU.

 

I’m not going to say that limitations aren’t real.  Gravity exists.  Our bodies can tolerate only so much work before they break.  But for most of us, the limitations are much farther away than we think they are.  If a stereotype isn’t helping, ditch it!

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: Weight Bearing

One of our focuses (foci?) this week is weight bearing on the arms.  Not only is this good for our arm strength, but also for our cores.  Three rounds.

 

jacks	30
(lunge to) curl	20
pushups	10
squat raise	30
kickbacks	20
quadruped lateral raise	10
db circle	30
row	20
lateral plank walk

 

Independence, Part 5

Some ideals we can declare independence from:

 

1.     Cultural body image

2.     Ableist ideas of what we should do

3.     Fanatical adherence to rubrics about exercise and nutrition

4.     “Healthy” stuff that makes us feel bad

Independence, Part 4

Another thing we can declare independence from is ideals.  Don’t get me wrong:  I am an idealist.  But we live in the real world, which is often less than ideal.

In our workouts, there are lots of folks out there who will tell us what the ideal routine for us is.  They’ll give us helpful information about heart rates, duration, volume of training, speed, tempo, and all kinds of other stuff.  It’s not that that stuff isn’t useful; it just might not work for us in our particular circumstance.

 

In an ideal world, we’d all get 150 minutes of moderate cardio exercise every week.  Expecting to meet that standard when we haven’t been off the couch in years is not realistic or workable.  Some of us are coming back from injuries, or have difficulty finding a safe place to work out.

 

The ideal workout, from a practical perspective, is the one we do.  It’s the one that empowers us to do the other stuff we want to do, like live a long time or play sharks and minnows with the grandkids in the pool.  Sure, we can aim for the ideals, but we shouldn’t be upset when our ideal is not somebody else’s.

 

Go play.

Independence, Part 3

One of the biggest things we can declare independence from in our workout life is other people’s goals.  This can be a challenge.

What do I mean?

 

Let’s say, for example, that I have just hopped on a bike for the first time in years.  I have a great time.  And, as I start telling people about it, they start telling me about century rides, or hill rides, or single track mountain bike rides.  They suggest different shoes or fancy gear or maybe even a brand new bike.  All of that is intended to be helpful, but mostly it’s discouraging.  I’m at the very beginning.  I want to pedal and have fun and I don’t want to overthink things.  I need to declare my independence from their ideas about what I need to do and do what I want.

 

Or, another example.  Imagine I have never been to the gym before.  I think I might like to try some stuff there and I tag along with a friend, who happens to be a true gym rat.  He shows me his heavy lifting routine, which takes approximately two hours and involves really big dumbbells and barbells.  I go home and think:  I am never going back there again.  It’s too hard and scary.  Instead, I can declare independence from my friend, however well-meaning he is, and I can start with a short workout that is appropriate for my own body.

 

One more.  Imagine I have a routine in which I go to the gym for a Zumba class every week.  I have friends there.  It’s fun.  I feel energetic and good at the end.  But imagine I have a less-helpful friend/partner/parent who thinks I’m not doing enough because I’m not losing weight.  I can declare independence from that person and do what makes me feel powerful and good in my skin.

 

We are all unique snowflakes.  We all have things we like and dislike.  The best workout is the one we will actually do.

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: Practical

We’re doing some lateral motions this week and some practical stuff.  So, basically, it’s like life, which often goes sideways and requires us to carry stuff.  Three rounds.

 

skater jump	30
bench press	20
squat pop up	10
farmer carry	30
underhand bent over row	20
db hip thrust	10
leg kicks	30
flies	20
side banana