Outside!

Since my studio is currently shut down for seeing clients, I’ve been doing some hiking.  I am pleased to say that plenty of other people are, too, while keeping an appropriate distance from anyone they don’t already live with.  Dogs are happy!  People see trees!  There is fresh air!  Not the same walls and ceiling and floor as the rest of the time!

I am not an expert hiker, by any stretch of the imagination.  That said, I have some thoughts on what makes hiking more fun for me and possibly for other non-experts.  Some of this is generally good fitness advice, but one thing that isn’t is:  take lots of pictures.  I like taking pictures pretty much everywhere, but I get much nicer pictures on hikes because trees and lichens and fungi and flowers and all the rest of nature is so darn beautiful.  Also, it is a good reason to stop when I could really use a moment to breathe on the ten millionth hill.

Because I have issues with my feet, I wear hiking-appropriate shoes most of the time.  On uneven surfaces, we need grippy soles and supportive structure.  Layering clothes, preferably with pockets, work best.  Bring water.

Other than that, go on an adventure!  We don’t have to go far or fast to have a good time and get the benefits of being out and moving.

Go play!

Monday Workout: Build your own!

To help out my clients and friends who are trying to work out at home, I offer the choice workout template to plug into my usual 30-20-10 format:

Choice Workout: Choose three from each column
30	20	10
woodchoppers	squats	med ball rescues
mountain climbers	lunges	round lunges
jacks	deadlifts	lateral raise
plank jacks	bench press	skullcrushers
jump squats	fly	YTA
jump lunges	row	pushups
ball slams	kickback	burpees
overhead high knees	curls
opposite knees	reverse fly
clean and press
1 arm clean and press		Russian twist
		pretty princesses
		brains
		femur arcs
		quadruped
		roll out abs

Here is how it works:  Choose three exercises from each column, making sure the third choice from the 10 column is below the break.  Plug them into the format.  For example, you could choose:

from the 30's	woodchoppers, mountain climbers, jacks
from the 20's	squats, bench press, rows
from the 10s	round lunges, lateral raises, pretty princesses

Your workout, then, would be three rounds of this:

woodchoppers	30
squats	20
round lunges	10
mountain climbers	30
bench press	20
lateral raises	10
jacks	30
rows	20
pretty princesses	10

What you choose should depend on what is appropriate for your body and what you have space/equipment to do.  Some exercises, like squats, work with body weight as well as with bar- or dumbbells.  Bench press, on the other hand, works best with weights (If you don’t have weights, do pushups!  It works similar muscle groups, gives an ab bonus, and requires no equipment!).  Modify, get creative, and get moving!