Principally, I take photos of flowers

Fitness, not surprisingly, is usually about goals.  I love goals.  (And yelling “Goal!!!!!”)  Goals have all kinds of usefulness.  And yet, they are limited.

What we need even more than goals, is principles. 

OK, Smarty-Pants, what exactly do you mean by that?

Goals, by nature, are specific.  I want to lose ten pounds, buy a bikini, and climb Mt. Everest.  Principles are more overarching.  I want to live a healthy and adventurous life.  When we focus solely on goals, we might miss out on other things we also want, things that add richness to our experience.  We don’t get closer to buying a bikini by trying a new yoga class, but it is definitely part of a healthy and adventurous life.

Knowing our principles allows us to make good decisions.

Monday Workout: Back to Basics

Sometimes we go back to basics.  This is usually the first workout I do with a new client because it touches all the bases and adapts well to all fitness levels.  Three rounds.

step ups	30
squats	20
curls	10
woodchoppers	30
rows	20
pushups	10
mountain climbers	30
overhead press	20
lunges	10

Stand up and fly right...

Sometimes we need to be strict with ourselves.  At least I do.  I promised myself one week of eating only what I was supposed to eat.  Apparently, I like to let myself off the hook more often than I thought.  I didn’t.  I made it through the whole week without cheating.  And then I kept going.

In the more than two weeks since then, I’ve eaten four things that were not on the list.  Two of them were straight-up bad for me and two were just foods that I personally am choosing not to eat (one chicken and one fish).  It has been interesting.  I found myself craving salad, which essentially never happens.

What else might I learn if I get strict?  How about you?

Lift up your mind...

When we think of mindful movement, I think we tend to imagine yogis or tai chi masters moving slowly through their routines.  That is definitely part of it, but we can do any kind of movement mindfully.

We can, for example, think about where we feel a particular kind of lift as we are moving the weight through the air.  Does it feel the same on both sides?  What parts of our bodies want to move even though they aren’t part of what we are moving, say, the standing leg’s hip shifting out to the side as we raise the “working” leg?  We can proceed through observation toward mindfulness.

As we learn more about our bodies, we can tune in more deeply.  We can learn where our serratus anterior is and why we might want to engage it as we raise our arms (to keep our shoulders out of our ears).  We can think about how our bones move, about where our muscles pull, about why tightness in our tissues keeps us from full range of motion.

Maybe we learn that an exercise is not right for us.  Maybe we learn that we have improved since last time we tried.  Maybe we can shift our form with a change in breath.

What can we learn when we pay attention?

Photo is from the BAMPFA of a shared bike

Exercise is good not only for us, but for the world.  When we get out of our cars, we reduce pollution.  Walk, run, bike, or pogo-stick to get those errands done.  Your body and the rest of humanity will thank you.

(Note:  this is the bonus-points kind of exercise, unless you are commuting or doing enough to get in at least half an hour a day.)

Monday Workout: Stability Challenge!

This week we have a few exercises that challenge us to keep stable.  We use our abs to strengthen our abs!  And yes, we do have to do burpees.  I’m doing them, too.

1 min cardio
high knees	20
burpees	10
ball flies	20
curtsy to balance with overhead	20
roll out abs	10
bridge with leg raise	20

Friday Book Report: Number the Stars

Lois Lowry’s book Number The Stars won a Newberry award.  It is also the current selection of the Andrew Luck book club for “rookie” readers (a.k.a. kids and people who like books for kids; the veteran book is on order and I will read and report when it gets here…).  Andrew Luck is my favorite current quarterback because he does things like create a book club to inspire kids to read as well as move.  That is fitness for life.

But what about the book?  It’s amazing.  Not an unexpected result from the writer who gave us The Giver as well.  It is a timely choice, as well, in that it is the story of a little girl in Denmark during World War II who helps protect her Jewish friend and her family from the Nazis.  We all need to be reminded that many small acts can add up to great things when we come together to resist wrong.

Read the book yourself.  Or read it to a kid.  Or get a kid to read it to you.  Share it.  Live it.  Let’s make the world better.