Big or small

Nature, by way of genetics and epigenetics, has given each of us our own body type.  We have to work with what we’ve got.

Some people stay thin no matter what they do.  At first glance, this might be enviable.  It certainly has advantages for the ice-cream addicted.  However, just being thin is not the same as being fit.  Thin people may lack the motivation to build muscle mass, which may impact their bone density.  They may not see the point in doing cardio exercise, or any exercise.  For thin people, the focus should be on ensuring that body composition is appropriately lean and on functional fitness for quality of life.

The rest of us may find our motivation dropping when all our exercise hard work does not enable us to eat cake with impunity.  People who tend to put on pounds need exercise to bump up metabolism and burn calories.  Changing body composition by increasing muscle mass improves health, mood, and appearance.

No matter who we are and what nature has given us, we can benefit from fitness.

Monday Workout: Body Weight

I am away this week visiting my parents while my dad has knee surgery.  In theory, there is a gym where they live, but just in case, I am planning an all-body-weight workout.  This means no excuses! Four rounds.

1 min cardio
squats	20
pushups	10
lunges	20
mountain climbers	20
pretty princesses	10
brains	10

Friday Book Report: Grit

Angela Duckworth’s book Grit inspires me.  We all have moments (and I sure have a lot of them!) when it doesn’t seem like we are enough, whether that’s smart enough, strong enough, cool enough, or whatever.  In those moments, grit can come to our rescue.

The central thesis of her book is that hard work beats talent, pretty much every time.  She has gobs of research to back up that thesis.  That in itself is good news because it means that we can do something to get where we want to go.  The underlying premise is pretty cool, too: who we are and what we are capable of are not carved-in-stone permanencies.  We may not be able to do the Big Thing yet, but we can work our way up to it.  The universe is changeable and moldable and we can make a difference.

The other big takeaway is deliberate practice.  Hard work and lots of hours are key, but the kind of hard work matters.  That is to say, showing up is a great place to start and going through the motions is probably better than not, but real improvement starts with mindful, challenging, stretch work.  Pushing the limits of our capabilities, failing, reevaluating, and trying again teach us what we need to know.

I highly recommend this book.

Plans!

A well-planned exercise program addresses several needs.  A really well-planned one addresses them all and keeps it efficient and interesting and maybe even fun.  Hiring the right trainer can take care of that, but if you prefer to design a program for yourself, you probably want to include:

1.     Cardio.  If your heart and lungs don’t work, you die.  Increasing their efficiency makes everything better.  We are all happier when we can get to the top of the stairs with breath left over.

2.     Strength.  Besides the fact that we need to move ourselves and other heavy objects all the time, strength training improves our metabolisms, builds and maintains our bone density, and makes us look cuter.

3.    Flexibility.  While we might want to look like classical statues, we probably prefer being able to move.  Flexibility training allows us to use all those lovely muscles we have built.  Range of motion can be a determining factor in our quality of life, whether that means we can reach the stuff on the shelves above our heads or do a killer butterfly stroke.

4.     Mindfulness.  This is about breathing and not being stressed, but it’s also about coordination and grace.  We can learn where we are in space and use our powerful brains to move our beautiful bodies skillfully.

5.     Enjoyment.  Finding exercise that gives us joy beyond the relief that it is over can make all the difference.  Maybe that’s loud music or a funny exercise buddy rather than the perfect sport.  Whatever it is, look for the play aspect.

I didn't ask why, but you can...

Sometimes events make us consider the Big Questions.  While, thankfully, my kids and husband and I are all healthy, our wider family has been facing a variety of health issues.  It is to be expected, of course, as our parents and aunts and uncles get older, but that doesn’t make it easier or more fun.

There are at least two kinds of Big Questions.  One kind speaks to long term thinking.  What do we want our lives to add up to?  Where do we want to end up?  How can we make sure that we are healthy and happy as long as possible?  These are the questions that spur us on to move our bodies and save our pennies and build our skills.

The other kind, at least the way I’m thinking about it today, speaks to living in this moment, this one we have right now.  How do we promote joy?  How do we reduce suffering?  How do we shift toward the good and beautiful and right?  These questions wake us up and tune us in.  This is how we breathe.

I am not going to propose answers.  My answers might not be correct or useful.  I do think I know some useful questions, though.  Let’s think about them together.

Stretch, but not until your limbs fall off...

All of us need to stretch more.  Our sedentary lives stick our muscles together.  Our bursts of activity create strength that could use a bit more looseness.

Of course, we could just do it.  We could put stretching on our lists of things to do and tick it off every day.  If that works, great!

However, most of us don’t.  We finish a workout and we’re tired and stretching seems like one thing too many.  We promise ourselves we’ll do it later.  And then we get distracted by the hot shower and the commute home and it doesn’t happen.  Here are two things we can do to get the stretching in:

1.     Get someone else to make you do it.  Maybe that means taking a yoga class or Pilates.  Maybe you work out with a trainer who plans it in at the end for you.  We are good and obedient people, most of the time.  If someone is standing there telling us to do it, we will.

2.     Tie it to something else.  I, for example, call my parents every Saturday morning.  If I promise myself that I will stretch while I am chatting about what Peanut (their dog) did, I get off the phone with longer muscles and Good Daughter Points (not to be sneezed at!).  It might work to tie stretching to doing the dishes (hi there, calves!) or checking email (piriformis stretch anyone?).  We can find something we do anyway and let stretching piggyback on it.

Monday Workout: Dead (or alive!)

Because I love squats so much, I sometimes forget about deadlifts.  I am fixing that this week.  Choose a heavy weight for the deadlifts and rows and go lighter on the curls than you might otherwise because of the lunge part.  Four rounds.

1 min cardio
deadlifts	20
lunge to curl	20
plyojacks/jacks/mod jacks	20
rows	20
plank	max time
side plank	max time