Five by five!

Some of us love cardio.  Some of us love weights.  (Some of us love the couch most of all.)  All of us can use a little motivation, so here are five reasons to do cardio and five to lift weights, just in case the couch is winning today.

Good reasons to do cardio:

• It burns calories.

• It invigorates the brain and clears the mind.

• It improves mood.

• It helps prevent cardiovascular disease.

• It builds endurance for other fun stuff.

Good reasons to lift weights:

• It makes us stronger, so we can carry our own stuff and open our own jars.

• It builds bone density, making us more resilient as we age.

• It increases our metabolism.

• It makes us look better.

• It is empowering.

Go do it!

No, they're not rose-colored

I still sometimes forget that I wear glasses.  I often remember because things are blurry, either because I haven’t yet put them on in the morning or because the lenses are smudged.  Either way, I can’t see properly until I fix it.

Obviously, this is a metaphor.   There are two things that all of us need to do to ensure that we are seeing clearly.  One is to focus on the appropriate stuff.  Some of us take the long view, exclusively, missing the stuff right under our noses; others obsess on the minutiae and get lost in the details.  We have to employ our corrective lenses to address the difficulties.  In a fitness context, this means that we need both process goals (show up for workout!) and performance goals (run the 5K, bike the century, lift the record-breaking amount!).

The other thing we need to do is get the fingerprints, splatters, and dirt out of the way.  Maybe this means that we work out even if the kids don’t want us to go, or we feel like we don’t have time, or we’re tired.  Maybe this means we stop assuming we are lazy or weak or ugly.  Maybe we realize that we actually detest aerobics classes, but are perfectly happy listening to the latest vampire novel while running along the beach.  Clarity allows for decent planning and planning enables success.

We can do this.

Monday Workout: Core in Motion!

This week we are working core via burpees, renegade rows, and pretty princesses.  If we do our skullcrushers standing, we will also be using abdominals to avoid excessive arching in the lower back.  Four rounds!

1 min cardio
squats or bosu squats	20
bench press	20
burpees	10
deadlifts	20
renegade rows	10
skullcrushers	10
pretty princesses	10