Monday Workout: Mat

August seems like a good time to get back to the basics, so this week, we have a Pilates mat workout.  It should take about half an hour if you take your time.  If you hurry, you can be done quicker, but that’s not really the point, is it?  Do as many reps of each exercise as seems good to your body.  Remember to breathe.

 

pelvic clock

bridging

dead bug/femur arcs

chest lift

hundred

dart/press up/swan

scarecrow

quadruped

leg pull

leg pull front

side kick

mermaid

saw

standing roll down

More outside!

Here are four things to do for our health that get us out of being stuck at home, at least briefly.

 

1.     Walk/run/bike the neighborhood.  Take the dog.  Or the kids.  Or the spouse.  Or find a friend and do it in a socially-distanced and responsible fashion.  Even if all you see are cars and concrete, at least it is not the same walls.

2.     Go to the farmer’s market.  Or the produce stand.  Get some veggies and some fruits.  Your nutrition is important!

3.     Stand in the sunshine.  Or sit there.  Maybe read or do some gardening.  What do we get out of it?  Vitamin D, which is an essential nutrient and one that most of us could use more of.  It helps keep our bones strong and aids our immune system.  Also, a little sunshine feels good.

4.     Visit the beach.  Please remember to wear your mask and to keep a safe distance from other people.  The negative ions in the air make us feel good.  Bonus points for swimming, digging in the sand, sailing, rowing, paddleboarding, or kite sailing.

 

Go play.

This day

I know I repeat myself.  It’s not just because I’m a mom.  It’s also because we often need to hear things a few (or a few hundred) times before they sink in.  Today’s repetition:  we work out with the body we have today.

 

Today’s body is amazing, all by itself.  It breathes!  It digests!  It feels!  It thinks!  It even moves us around!

 

However, today’s body may not be the body we happen to want it to be, in this moment.  We may find it to be more tired than we’d like.  Or surprisingly flabby in places.  And when did that exercise get so hard?  Have our ankles always done that?  Maybe we remember some other day, when we were younger/thinner/stronger/more flexible.  This is not that day.  We are not going to do what that body did.  We are going to do what this body can do, which will make this body even more awesome for next time.

 

While we are working out with today’s body, we need to focus on what we are doing.  That phantom body of the past is just a distraction.  Even that ideal body of the future is not a useful thing to keep in mind in the moment.  We need to be present, to do this work on this day to the best of our ability right now.

 

Go play.  And don’t make me tell you again.  (Just kidding:  I’ll tell you again.)

August (and sometimes I take pictures of fish instead of flowers!)

We all have our own rhythms in our lives.  Cue Thoreau and his different drummer, which is lovely, but not what I mean.  What I mean is this:  we need to find the times when we work best and we need to avoid over-criticizing ourselves when we try to do stuff in the times when work is naturally more difficult for us.

 

On a daily basis, this means that we all have a preferred time of day for working out.  I am happy to work out in the morning, but if my only choice is an evening workout, I am—how to put this—grumpy. 

 

That daily rhythm is fairly easy to perceive, but there are larger ones, too.  I know better than to start anything on a Thursday.  In fact, I have gone as far as calling Thursday the Official Day of Getting Nothing Done.  If I don’t do anything, cool; I expected that.  If I somehow manage to accomplish things anyway, I get to feel like I’m extra-special.

 

Which brings me to August.  August is the Thursday of months.  It is the low point of my personal energy and enthusiasm.  Now, when it’s a whole month that is problematic, flat out quitting is really not the best choice.  Enter the extremely low standard.  Maybe it’s a walk around the block most days.  Or five minutes of yoga.  Or one day of spin each week (obviously not on Thursday!).  What we want is to create a feeling of success amidst the general suck-i-tude (no, that is not really a word, but I’m sure it makes sense).

 

In all of it, evenings, Thursdays, and Augusts, we need to be kind to ourselves and remember that we are valuable even when we don’t do all the things.

Monday Workout: TRX

I’m ready to pretend we’re back to normal.  So this week’s workout is TRX-based.  Maybe not everyone has a TRX available.  Good news!  The exercises work just fine on the ground.  If you have TRX, two rounds are probably enough; if not, do three or use your good judgment.  Actually, always use your good judgment.

 

TRX
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
low row (mid)	20
burpee (mid calf)	10
crunch	10
hamstring curl	10

Five...

We all want to be healthy.  Here are five kinds of exercise that will help with that:

 

1.     Cardio:  get the heart moving, improve mood, burn calories, reduce stress.

2.     Strength:  get stronger (duh!), increase metabolism, shape body, reduce fat.

3.     Balance/Core:  avoid injury, improve grace, feel cool

4.     Flexibility:  improve mobility, avoid injury, reduce stress.

5.     Mind/Body:  improve proprioception, relax, avoid injury

 

Short and sweet today!  Go play!

Move then sit

I’ve been doing yoga all month.  Yoga was not intended as an exercise thing in the beginning.  All those poses are designed to train our bodies so that we can meditate and be still.

 

Maybe not all of us are that interested in meditating (although it is, in fact, good for us!), but almost all of us could use a little help with that sitting still thing.  Many of us have desk jobs and if that isn’t sitting still, I’m not sure what is.  (Confession:  when I had a desk job, I always made a point of going to ask that question in person just so I could stand up and move around.  Copies?  Sure, I’ll go make them at the copier way over there…)

 

Even if the idea of yoga doesn’t make our hearts sing, we can apply the general principle.  Which is:  we sit better if we also get to move.

 

Do the workout, then do the work.  It helps.