Back Talk

I talk to my Apple Watch.  Also my spin bike, my weight rack, my dog, and a lot of other things and creatures that don’t often answer me.  Recently, I told my watch that I don’t want to set a different, higher goal for my activity.

Why not?  I mean, doing more is better, right?  I want to do All The Things, All The Time, surely.

Nope.

The way I use my device, its job is to help me take care of my minimums.  Sure, I almost always get a lot more than 30 minutes of exercise a day and burn more than the calorie limit on my move target.  It’s not hard for me to stand up and move around in twelve separate hours of the day.

What is hard is keeping perspective.  Even for me, a fitness professional, fitness is not all of my life.  If I hop on the train of escalating expectations (wow, that is a weird picture…), I am asking for a terrible crash when I hit the wall of time/energy/space limitations.  To use a different, possibly less unwieldy metaphor, life is a long journey with no reward for finishing early.  When I put in my 30 minutes of exercise, I know I’ve made enough progress for this day and I can take care of all the other things with a clear conscience.

I do get that other people may have different perspectives.  Some of us thrive on beating yesterday.  I’m not here to say that my way is best for everyone.

Do what works, no matter what your watch tells you.

Monday Workout: TRX

By special request, the TRX is back this week!  Hooray!  I love the TRX because it is both supportive and challenging.  If a particular exercise seems too scary or challenging with the addition of the TRX, adapt and do it on the ground instead (say, mountain climbers, planks, or clock press).  Please note that anybody who did last week’s workout can take the pushup option instead of TRX burpees because there is a rule about not having to do burpees two weeks in a row.  It is hard to say how many rounds to do with TRX because some people find it so much more difficult than others.  Do one to three rounds depending on time, energy level, and enthusiasm.

TRX
1 min cardio
squat row (mid)	20
mountain climber (mid calf)	20
clock press (long)	20
overhead squat (long)	20
crossing balance lunge (mid)	20
plank (mid calf)	30 sec
crunch	10
hamstring curl	10
low row (mid)	20
burpee or pushup (mid calf)	10

Ab-solutely

Every single workout I plan involves at least one abdominal exercise.  Here are five reasons why:

• Strong abdominals help prevent lower back pain.  When our abs aren’t doing their job, the lower back has to take up the slack.

• Abdominal work improves posture.  Good posture makes us look and feel better.

• Strong abs help us balance.  Balance keeps us from falls.  Falls are at best embarrassing and at worst dangerous, so the fewer falls the better!

• Abdominal control improves our breathing.  Do I need to explain why breathing is important?

• Lovely abdominals make us look good, which may be petty, but hey, we get all those other good things, too.