Better

When I do chores, I have a fairly simple rubric:  it has to be better at the end than at the beginning.  Maybe I did not sweep up every single leaf in the yard or get every last weed.  Maybe I could have done slightly more scrubbing in the tub.  But I am satisfied if the end result is an improvement.

The beauty of this rubric, which makes it particularly applicable to fitness as well as chores, is that it rewards progress.  Many of us have perfectionist tendencies.  The desire to Do It Right can get in the way of doing it at all.  We might not be able to spend two hours a day at the gym completing exemplary reps for every single muscle group, plus cardio, warm-up, cool-down, flexibility work, balance training, and mindfulness.  But a ten-minute walk outside at lunch time can do wonders for our mood and will, in fact, help us along our fitness journey.  It might even encourage us to do it again.

In this fallen world, none of us gets to be absolutely perfect.  Let’s work to be just a little bit better instead.

Monday Workout: Plyo!

This week we’re getting into plyometrics a little.  That’s just a fancy way of saying that there will be jumping involved.  If you have knee problems or jumping is otherwise not appropriate for you, swap the plyojacks and jump lunges for modified jacks and regular lunges.  Four rounds.

1 min cardio
plyojacks	20
deadlifts	20
curls	10
jump lunges	20
bench press	20
Arnold press	10
Russian twist	10

Friday Reading Report: Metabolic Metaphors!

This is only sort of about what I’m learning in my nutrition text.  In my defense, at some point learning has to connect with experience and with previous knowledge.  We have to create something new out of what we knew and what we now know.

I’m just getting started on the metabolism chapter.  It has been many years since I considered the Krebs cycle (now, apparently, more commonly called the citric acid cycle, at least in nutrition circles).  However, what caught my attention was the cost of glycolysis. 

Glycolysis is the breakdown of glucose.  It is one of the energy pathways in the body.  The thing is, in order to begin, the body has to add energy to get energy.  There are, in effect, start-up costs.

What is not to like about a metabolic metaphor?  There are so many things in our lives that give us energy.  The thing is, we need to give them some energy first.  Sometimes it is easy to invest that little bit of energy to get more.  Sometimes we need to figure out where that initial energy can possibly come from.  We might need a boost to get started.

I’m here if anyone needs a little starting energy.