Go Outside and Play

I love gyms.  They take out a lot of the uncertainty about working out.  The handy machines tell me how fast I’m going and how steep the incline is.  The pool is measured for me.  The weights are labeled, so there is no question about how much I’m lifting.  And it never rains inside.

Life, however, does not happen in the gym.   When I scramble down a rocky path to get to the beach, I’m not taking regular steps on a smooth surface at a given rate.  Trying to avoid getting wet in puddles or in waves requires different skills, as does balancing on rocks of varying size and stability.  Then there is the backpack on my back and the heavy camera that swings crazily around my neck.

When I work with clients on balance in the studio, we sometimes recreate unstable surfaces with the BOSU or the turntable or the sea urchin (that piece of equipment may have a real name, but I don’t know what it is…).  We stand on one foot.  We practice moving sideways and diagonally and backwards.  That helps some.

But nothing helps like going out into the real world with its wind and rocks and slippery seaweed.  Sometimes we need to go outside and play.

Sometimes stopping

Over the weekend, I started to do my heavy lifting workout.  Heavy lifting is not something to do alone, which is why I do it on the weekend:  my spotter is home then, although he often finishes breakfast while I get the warm up and the first few lighter sets done.  I didn’t get very many sets in this time.  Something wasn’t right on my second set of squats.  I switched to deadlifts, which took out most of the pain, but not all of it.

So I stopped.  Not because I wanted to stop.  I have as much stubbornness as anyone and no silly barbell is going to tell me what I can and can’t do, thank you very much.   But I realized that I would tell my client to stop.

It was hard.  It was frustrating.  I was mad as I dragged my hurting behind up the stairs to the shower.  And it was the right decision because now I am not in pain.

Next time I do heavy lifting, I will do some extra warming up.  Between now and then, I’ll be seeing how my body works in cardio and Pilates and yoga contexts.  This is the only body I get, so I need to take care of it.  Most of the time, that means making it a little uncomfortable, pushing it to go a little faster, a little longer, a little harder.  Sometimes it means stopping.

Monday Workout: Yes, there are burpees

There are always some exercises that are unpopular.  Most of the time it is because they are hard.  There is only one way to make them easier:  practice.  This is why we have burpees in this week’s workout.  They’ll be over soon.  Really.  Three rounds.

bosu step ups	30
bosu squats	20
burpees	10
Xiser	30
bench press	20
YTA	10
overhead high knees	30
rows	20
pretty princesses	10