Fresh!

When we start something new, we have a lot to learn and we know it.  Maybe when we try an activity for the first time, we discover that we have way more body parts than we suspected, each determined to go in a random direction.  Our muscles get sore and our brains hurt from trying to integrate a whole bunch of information at once.

The good part is that we also make rapid progress.  The first month can be one of huge gains in cardio fitness in particular.  As we figure out the form for our weight lifting and our bodies adjust, we may lift more each workout for a while.

And then the progress seems to stop.

Please note that I said “seems.”

What happens is that we get all the easy gains out of the way in the beginning.  Now that we know more or less what we’re doing, the changes are more gradual and more subtle.  We’re less sore, but we’re also habituated to our new activity level.

If we’re lucky, we keep perspective on how far we’ve come and how much better we feel now that we’re moving more.  If not, we might feel like quitting.  That never works.  What does work is keeping things fresh and new for our bodies and brains.  On days when we don’t feel particularly creative, that can be as simple as adding another set, or doing a shorter set with heavier weights.  It could mean trying a different class, or swapping swimming for biking or stairs for elliptical.  Maybe it is as simple as taking the workout outside.

We do have to keep working, but we can make it more interesting for bodies and minds.

Monday Workout: 12 Days of Christmas In JULY!

This 12-days-of-Christmas (in July this time!) might be the most notorious workout I do with my clients.  It is not an easy workout, but my clients who have been with me a while have realized that it’s not as hard as they first thought because, amazingly, they’ve made a bunch of progress.  It is all right to go slow and to rest when needed, although we try to make the rests happen between “days.”

Here’s how it works.  On the first “day,” we do one push press.  Day over!  Hooray!  Then it is day two and we do two goblet squats and one push press.  Day three we do three overhead presses, two goblet squats, and one push press.  Yes, I do realize that this workout has burpees in it and that we end up doing 42 of them before we are done.  Since I am giving this gift, I may not be everyone’s true love this time.

When we have finished all twelve days, that’s it.  We get to stretch and go home.

1 push press

2 goblet squats

3 Overhead press

4 1 leg squats each leg

5 deadlifts

6 burpees

7 pushups

8 renegade rows

9 mountain climbers

10 jump lunges

11 kb swings

12 plyojacks

Four things

Fitness does not happen just in the gym or just with a trainer.  This should not be big news.  Here are some things we can all do in our regular lives to increase our fitness:

• Stand on one foot.  Balance is a skill that pays off in the long run.  It helps us avoid injury, or worse, embarrassment!  Practice while doing the dishes, brushing teeth, in line at the store.

• Squat.  I love chairs, but they steal strength and range of motion from us.  Those of us who would like to avoid ending up in a nursing home need to practice squatting and getting up and down from chairs and the floor without using our hands.  Need to pick up the dirty socks from the floor?  Squat to do it.  Package on the porch?  Squat to lift.  Or we can challenge ourselves to squat for time:  can we make it through the commercials during the game in a squat?

• Cut the added sugar.  It is just extra calories.  It’s addictive, inflammatory, and bad for the environment.

• Sleep.  We are not robots.  We need to rest.  Those of us who struggle with the whole productivity thing can justify it by noting that we work better afterwards; the rest of us can just luxuriate knowing that our bodies and minds will be healthier for it.