Monday Workout: Plank Jacks!

Plank jacks give us bonus points for doing cardio while having to control our abs.  I love bonus points.  Even people who don’t love jumping can usually do plank jacks because it’s not a full-body impact.  Three rounds!

plank jacks	30
deadlifts	20
dips	10
lunge punches	30
flies	20
pushups	10
(jump) squats	30
upright rows	20
femur arcs	10

In which trying works out to doing

We all have times when we’re tired or sick or stressed out and working out seems absolutely impossible.  Sometimes working out really is impossible, like when we are restricted to bed rest.

The rest of the time, even when it seems like too much, we can try.

Trying, in this context, does not mean thinking that maybe we will do it later when we are not so tired/stressed.  (Sickness is a special case.  It is bad karma to infect other people with our germs.  Also, there are times when our bodies need all their resources for recovery and we don’t want to give them more to work on.)  Trying means lacing up the shoes and starting.  Maybe we walk instead of run, or maybe we stop after half an hour instead of an hour, or maybe we choose light weights or an easier class, but we actually show up and do something.

What often happens when we try is that we end up less tired or stressed.  When we’ve been sick and we are stiff with holding still, that first gentle workout back can make a huge difference in our mood.

I’m not suggesting that we beat ourselves about the head until we go sweat buckets doing the hardest workout ever.  We need to be kind and to use our good judgment.  But most of the time, a nice little nudge toward moving will help us feel better.

No, it isn't the jokes about my dungeon equipment...

The single thing I like most about Pilates is the way it develops proprioception, which is a fancy word for how we figure out where our bodies are in space.

The Pilates exercises encourage us to tune in to the nuances of our movements, focusing on the details and the qualities as well as the quantities of particular gestures.  Some of us discover that we like to tilt our heads one direction or the other, or that we believe the center line of our bodies lies two inches to the left of actual center.  We may find that mirroring an exercise with our hands helps our feet do the right thing, or that a small shift in the pelvis makes all the difference in balance or low back pain.

The lessons of Pilates apply in our other workouts and in our lives.  We get to approach how we move with curiosity, comparing how we think we are doing with how we are actually doing, making little adjustments that shape the whole.

It is one way to map our bodies and that comes in handy.