Noteworthy

Welcome to December!  Today would be a good day to take a snapshot of our current situation.  If you are so inclined, get out a piece of paper or start typing.  Here’s what we want to know:

 

1.     Current measurements:  that would be height, weight, and circumference measurements.

2.     Current cardio plan:  what we’re doing, for how long, and how intensely.  If we have access to the data through a smart watch, we can note our HRV.

3.     Current resistance training plan:  what we’re doing, with how much weight, how often.  Alternatively, we can do one-rep max workout and log the results.

4.     Anything else we think we might want to change.  This is our “before” picture, so if we want to, say, change our diet, we might want to write down what we’re eating now.  If we want to change our sleep habits, we might want to write down how much sleep we got last night and when we went to bed.  The first step to change is data!

 

Go play.

Thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Things to be grateful for today in our bodies include:

 

1.     Food!  It fuels us and tastes good!

2.     Feet!  They take us where we want to go!

3.     Brains!  Consciously and unconsciously, brains figure out how to make all our body parts work and work together.

4.     Muscles and bones!  They move us and they support us, no matter what we are doing.

 

Now go eat.

Aaah.

Want to do something in every category of exercise today?  I’ve got you covered.

 

1.     Cardio:  Go for a walk.  Just for fifteen minutes.

2.     Weight training:  do three sets of 20 squats with a minute rest between them.  (If you are really pressed for time, you can use the rest period to do core or balance.)

3.     Core:  one set of 10 pretty princesses.

4.     Balance:  one set of 10 calf raises.  (Bonus points:  do them on one foot at a time!)

5.     Stretch:  stand in a doorway with your arms outstretched.  Lean forward.  Feel your chest open.  Say aaah (that part’s optional).

6.     DONE!

It's a Beautiful Day!

Sometimes it seems like workouts are all slog, all the time.  Here are four ways to find joy in workouts:

 

1.     That sense of accomplishment.  It can be tiny, like, “Hey!  I showed up today with shoes on and everything!”

2.     That sense of progress.  “A year ago, I couldn’t lift this!”

3.     That great song.  Maybe the workout itself is terrible, but the beats rock.

4.     That shower afterward.  Ahhhhhhh!  It feels so good! 

Four Starting Places

When we need to start over, we need to start somewhere.  Here are some possible places to begin and why we might choose them.

 

1.     Cardio.  It boosts mood, increases energy, helps brain function, and burns calories.

2.     Weights.  Weight training increases lean body mass, reduces fat, and burns calories.  It also increases our sense of efficacy.

3.     Food.  Eating foods that are good for our bodies can change our mood, help our digestions, reduce fatigue, and generally make us feel better.

4.     Mindbody Exercise.  Yoga and Pilates can reduce stress, increase flexibility, and help our bodies feel better overall.  They help us breathe and remain present. 

Good Form!

What is good form?  Here are five questions to ask to check form:

 

1.     What are my abs doing?  They should be engaged.

2.     Are my joints lined up?  Knees should align with ankles, for example.

3.     Are my shoulders out of my ears?  This is a particularly good question to ask when lifting things overhead.

4.     Am I using the right amount of effort?  Too much is as bad as too little.  Sometimes body parts we are not trying to work keep “helping” us, which just makes us tired and tense.

5.     Am I breathing?  Holding the breath is not useful.

Five

(I am not a dietician or a nutritionist.  I have, however, studied fitness nutrition and it is within the scope of my practice to make general recommendations about food.  However, there are more expert experts out there and anyone with deeper needs can and should consult them!)

 

We know when we don’t feel great.  Sometimes we don’t know why.  Here are five food culprits that might be contributing to our malaise.

 

1.     Alcohol.  No, I’m not here to take away your weekly beer or that special glass of wine.  I’m just suggesting that we notice how it affects our sleep and our energy levels.  Those of us who may be menopausal might discover that we have more hot flashes when we drink.  Just think about it.

2.     Water.  This one is where we can, most of us, increase our intake to feel better.  Dehydrated people are grumpy people.

3.     Caffeine.  I know it is easier to get caffeine than sleep, but it’s worth the effort to get the sleep.  Really.

4.     Dairy.  As we get older, many of us find that digesting dairy products is not as easy as it used to be.  Plant-based substitutes may make things more comfortable.

5.     Sugar.  Empty calories.  Inflammatory.  Addictive.  Tasty, but is it worth it?

Four Things

Sometimes workouts are not as fun as they could be.  Here are four things to make them more fun:

 

1.     Bring a friend.  Having someone to talk to or suffer alongside helps a lot.

2.     Turn up the tunes.  Loud music drowns out the screaming of muscles, too.

3.     Get silly.  Wear the crazy shirt or the weird hat.

4.     If all else fails and you STILL hate the workout, please try a different one.  There are so many out there!  Keep experimenting!

Gimme a reason (or five)

Sometimes we just need a reason to work out.  Here are five to choose from today:

 

1.     Because I told you to.  I’m an expert.  I know you should.  Now get to it.

2.     Because you’ll feel better afterwards.  Really.  The endorphins will move in your body and you’ll have a sense of accomplishment.

3.     Because it’s fun.  Fine, you’ll have to pick a workout you actually like.  Go biking, go dancing, play dodgeball with the kids.  Just get sweaty and breathless.

4.     Because you can have a treat afterwards.  (Be careful with this one, because it is hard to out-exercise a whole cake.)

5.     Because you look cute when you work out.  Really.  You do.

 

Go play.

More balance

I was writing about balance yesterday.  Here are four good balance-improving exercises:

 

1.     Single leg squats:  If necessary, hold on to a counter or a sturdy chair at first.

2.     Single arm clean and press:  the asymmetric nature of the exercise helps us recruit the core more.

3.     Single leg deadlift:  Begin using no weight and progress to holding dumbbells

4.     Round lunges:  The change in direction as we lunge front, side, and back makes us very conscious of the core control we need to succeed.

Four for Shoulders

Since I’ve been talking about shoulders all week, I figured I should finish up with my favorite shoulder exercises.  Here are four:

 

1.     Supine arm twist:  I admit that this is one of my favorite exercises, period.  Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor.  Extend your arms straight up over your chest and put your palms together.  Keeping the palms together, move the arms from side to side.  The pelvis stays level the whole time.  Do ten reps keeping the head still, ten more with the head moving with the arms, and a final ten with the head going the opposite direction as the arms.  For bonus points, put a pair of yoga tune up balls between the shoulder blades; it will be uncomfortable, but it will work out a lot of knots.

2.     Spinal extensions.  There are lots of these, ranging from cobra to upward dog to dart to scarecrow.  Any back bend will do.  Whichever one you choose, make sure to inhale as you bend back and exhale as you return to neutral.  Also, pay attention to what the shoulder blades are doing.  Ideally, they stay flush to the ribcage and float smoothly over its surface.

3.     Shoulder flexion in the scapular plane.  This is a variation of lateral raises.  Instead of raising the arms straight out to the side, the arms come up at a diagonal (in the same plane as the scapulae, which point diagonally out from the spine).  This allows more optimal muscle recruitment.

4.     Pushups.  The perfect pushup, from a shoulder mechanics perspective, begins with the hands directly under the shoulders.  The hands should be facing directly forward or maybe a tiny bit turned out.  During the lowering and lifting phase of the pushup, the elbows should point back toward the heels, not out to the side.  Pushups can be done from a floor plank position, from the knees, or against a wall, depending on personal preference and level of training.  Again, the shoulder blades should stay resting against the rib cage.

 

Go play.

I love avocado toast

So I’m not going to go all “Stop spending on avocado toast and you can afford a house” on anyone.  I am going to suggest a couple of ways to save money and promote health at the same time.  Here are four:

 

1.     Don’t meet for coffee.  Meet your friends for a walk or jog or bike ride.  It’s cheaper and better for us.

2.     Eat your veggies.  In season produce is cheaper than meat and we all need the vitamins and minerals in those fruits and veggies.

3.     Drink water.  From the tap.  This might mean we have to plan ahead and bring water with us when we exercise or go places, but it’s cheaper and better for the environment.  Even if we get all fancy and add a slice of lemon it’s still cheaper.

4.     Skip the car trip.  Try walking or biking or public transit to get where we’re going.  Again, cheaper and better for the environment and better for our bodies to get a little bonus movement.

 

Go play.

Time Out

Finding time to work out is challenging, but here are three places you might be able to find some and one place we don’t want to look.

 

1.     Between the couch cushions.  Ok, not really, but couch time is one of the easiest places to repurpose time.  Do we really need to watch five episodes of that show?  Maybe we could cut it down to four and do a workout.

2.     Looking at you, Facebook/Insta/Whatever.  We all love to scroll, but maybe we should spend some time doing stuff we want to post?  Let’s show our friends that we’ve been to the gym.

3.     Coffee.  Not the drink, the activity.  Of course we need to catch up with our friends, but we don’t have to do it sitting down.  Meet up with buds for a walk or run or swim.  It’s a good-for-us kind of multitasking.

 

Here’s the place we don’t want to take the time from:  sleep.  We need it to be healthy, good humans.

Four ZZZZ

Sleep can be a scarce commodity in our world.  Here are four ways to promote better sleep.

 

1.     Ditch the caffeine.  Yeah, I know.  Many of us just can’t cope without our morning coffee, but doing the work to wean ourselves off of it can be worth it.

2.     Get some exercise.  Working harder, paradoxically, can help us feel more rested because it promotes easier and deeper sleep.

3.     Turn off the light.  Yes, even the little ones on the computer monitor.  We sleep best in the dark.

4.     Make it a habit.  We tend to do best when we go to bed and get up at the same time every day.

7 Delicious Things

  

Eating in season helps us with our healthy diets.  Here are seven things to eat in August.

 

1.     Summer squash.  Also, if we don’t eat them, they will take over the world.

2.     Tomatoes.  Caprese anyone?  How about some fresh tomato sauce?

3.     Corn.  On the cob, in relish, in soup!

4.     Cucumbers.  Maybe with some hummus?

5.     Melons.  All of them.  So yummy.

6.     Stone fruit.  Peaches!  Plums!  Apricots!  Hooray!

7.     Blackberries.  Cobbler anyone?

It makes us happy plants?

Sometimes I joke with my clients that we are playing Workout: The Drinking Game.  This is because I am always reminding everyone to drink water.  Here are four good reasons to do that:

 

1.     It makes us nicer.  Dehydrated people are crabby people.

2.     It helps us avoid headaches and nausea.  Do I need to say more about that?

3.     It helps us eat only the calories we need.  We often think we are hungry when really we are thirsty.  Drinking first ensures that we are not solving the wrong problem when we eat.

4.     It makes our bodies work better.  Pretty much all of our body processes function best with optimal hydration.

 

Go drink.

Four ways to rest

I might have overdone myself last weekend.  It happens.  Here are some ways to rest:

 

1.     Sleep.  This is the big one and the obvious one and it is always all right to get some if we need it.

2.     Nap.  If we don’t have time to catch up for real on our sleep, we can grab a little bit.

3.     Stroll.  This is not the time to tackle that hike with big hills.  This is just a gentle, short little walk that helps our muscles move enough that they don’t freeze in place.

4.     Stretch.  Again, not the time for three hours of hot yoga.  Just a little bit of movement, a chance to let the muscles relax and lengthen.

 

Go play, but gently.

How to choose

This week’s workout had some choices in it.  Here are some ways to figure out when to make a workout harder and when to make it easier.

 

1.     I’m bored.  Time to make it harder!  It’s hard to be bored when we’re out of breath.

2.     I’m hurting.  Time to make it less hard, at least on the part that hurts.

3.     I didn’t sleep well.  Less hard, or at least a longer warm-up

4.     I’m stressed.  This one can go either way.  If we enjoy taking things out on our weights that we can’t take out on our actual stressors, harder is a good thing.  If we need to conserve energy to deal with life outside the gym, easier might be a good choice.

 

Go play.

Five

Sometimes we have one of those weeks.  Here are five treats we can give ourselves that don’t involve calories:

 

1.     Nap.  Yep.  It’s good for you.

2.     Walk.  A little change of scene is helpful, as is the mood-boosting power of cardio.

3.     Bath.  Swim works, too, but I’m thinking of the luxurious feeling of soaking right now.

4.     Connection.  Call a friend or text or meet up for a chat.  We feel better when we are surrounded by people who care about us.

5.     Choose some music.  Maybe you need to chill out to some classical or maybe you want to boogie in the kitchen.  Pick something that makes you happy.

 

Enjoy!

Go Team!

Working out is a team sport.  Here are some possible members (besides ourselves, of course!) for our teams:

 

1.     Our doctor.  Doctors provide data about lots of health markers for us and fix us when we are broken.

2.     Our trainer or coach.  These folks help us figure out what to do with our bodies and help keep us safe while we do it.  They watch our form and encourage us to keep showing up.

3.     Our chiropractor.  Adjustments can, for some people, make the difference between suffering and comfort.

4.     Our massage therapist.  They work magic on our sore bits.

5.     Our nutritionist.  They know how to feed us better than we do ourselves.

6.     Our physical therapist.  When we need to come back from injury, they help us do it safely.

7.     Our cheering squad and workout buddies.  These are the folks who want us to succeed.

 

Who’s on your team?