Mix!

I talk a fair amount about how we need to mix things up.  Bodies like change.  That’s the positive reason to do it.

There is also a negative reason.  When we always do the same thing, we put ourselves at risk for overuse injuries.  They even have names like Tennis Elbow or Yoga Butt (no, I did not make that up and it doesn’t refer to how a behind looks, but to a pain at the pelvic end of the hamstrings.).  Good form can help to prevent or improve some of those overuse issues, but our best plan really is to find a mix of things we love so our bodies don’t wear out any one part.

And no, substituting spin bike for regular bike doesn’t count.

Balance is one of my favorite words.

When it comes to working out, we need to balance patience and impatience.  Patience comes in useful often.  We have to rest between sets for better performance.  It takes more than one workout for the numbers on the dumbbells to go up or the numbers on the scale to go down.  Sometimes we even have to slow down and learn things to improve our form.

Impatience, however, is what pushes us along.  When we start working intervals in our cardio to amp things up, it is impatience at work.  Choosing short, intense, efficient workouts can be another symptom/benefit of impatience. 

As usual, I am in favor of both.  We need to take the time we need, but we don’t need to take extra.  We can do this.

Monday Workout: Ropes (the balls are just a nice picture)

It seemed like a good week for ropes.  They work the body hard without overtaxing knees or requiring a lot of impact.  Three rounds.

rope double slams	30
bench press	20
reverse flies	10
rope alternating slams	30
flies	20
pushups	10
rope double dutch	30
kickbacks	20
Russian twist	10