Monday Workout: Heavy

This week we’re going to do something a little different.  We’re going to do a single rep maximum workout.  That “we” is important because lifting heavy is not something to do all alone.  (If you do not have a partner, you can still lift heavy-ish, but please do NOT try to go to a single rep max without a spotter.)

 

Here’s how it works:  for each exercise, we begin with ten reps of a weight we can do easily.  The exercises I’ve listed below are in pairs, an upper body with a lower body.  This is so we can do more work in less time:  the lower body rests while the upper body works and vice versa, although as we get closer to our single rep max, we will probably want plain old still rest between sets.  So:  we do a set of the lower body exercise, then a set of the upper body exercise.  For the next set, we increase the weight.  After a couple of rounds, we will find that we want to reduce the number of reps.  This is good.  Eventually, we will increase the weight to the point that we can only complete one beautiful rep.  The “beautiful” is also important:  when we are lifting heavy, bad form can hurt us.  Our partner can help us keep an eye on our form so that we don’t start doing things ugly.

 

Lifting heavy can take a long time.  I usually only do one pair of exercises per heavy workout because it can take 45 minutes to an hour to go from my warm-up weight to my single rep max with the appropriate rest intervals.  Also, whichever pair of exercises we choose to do first will be our best.  All those max weights add up over time, so we shouldn’t expect the same performance from the last pair as the first pair if we keep going.  This is also why it is a good idea to rotate what we do first.

 

As always, if what I’ve said doesn’t make sense or you have questions, ask me!  I’m here to help.

 

Now:  here’s the list.

 

Basic Heavy Workout
5 minute cardio warm-up
	Start	Finish
squats
bench press
deadlift
flies
lunges
rows
abs
SMR and stretch

 

Questions...

When I meet with clients for the first time, I ask them tons and tons of questions.  Some of them are the expected health questions about heart disease and injury and other important stuff for safety.  The more interesting questions, however, concern history and preferences.  When we are getting back into working out, here are some questions we can ask ourselves:

 

1.     What fitness stuff have we done in the past?  Maybe we played softball when we were nine, or did gymnastics, or lived to tackle quarterbacks.  Some of us rode bikes everywhere or swam as much as possible or danced all night.  Even if we haven’t done whatever it was in a long time, the body remembers and has built patterns around that activity that we can use or reprogram.

2.     What do we do in our spare time?  (“Spare time”—that’s funny!)  Do we like to cook?  Watch movies?  Garden?  Shop?  Read?  Build battle-bots?  Please notice that this is not about fitness or fitness-related activities, just stuff we like to do.  When I ask clients this question, I am looking for information about things like whether they like to be inside or outside, sitting or standing, intellectually challenged or soothed.  This helps me plan workouts that meet them where they like to be.

3.     What fitness activities do we actually like?  Very few people hate every single possible kind of fitness activity.  And most of us can get all the fitness we need without having to suck it up and do unpleasant things most of the time (there will always be a few necessary evils, but we try to minimize those).  There are approximately eighty-seven gazillion kinds of cardio with new ones springing into existence every moment.  Trainers and instructors everywhere constantly come up with new kinds of classes that blend cardio and weights and flexibility and all kinds of good stuff.  With all those choices, we can find something that is fun, even if the usual choices don’t do it.

 

With the answers to these questions, we can begin to piece together workouts that feed the body and don’t deplete the soul.

Like a Bridge...

Bridging is one of my favorite exercises.  It occurs in both Pilates and yoga in a lot of different variations, but all of them help with spine flexibility and mobility.  More importantly, bridging feels good.

 

First, the disclaimers:  people with osteoporosis can still do bridging, but they should not do the versions in which the spine peels up or down one vertebra at a time.  In their cases, they should keep the spine moving as a unit.  It is also worthwhile for people with high blood pressure, glaucoma, any spinal injuries, or difficulty with weight bearing on feet or shoulders to check with their doctors about the advisability of doing this movement.  ALWAYS prioritize safety and STOP if a movement feels wrong.

 

Now that that is out of the way:  how do we do it?  Good news!  We get to lie down!  Find a firm but comfortable surface to lie on.  A bed will work, but a carpeted floor or a yoga or squishy mat on a hard floor is better.  Face the ceiling and bend knees so that feet are flat on the floor.  Take a couple of breaths.  Gently encourage the shoulders away from the ears and towards the hips.  Feel better yet?

 

Then we start to move.  I am going to describe the articulated bridge first; if you have osteoporosis, don’t do this kind.  Inhale.  When it is time to exhale, pull the belly button down toward the floor.  This will tilt the pelvis so that the tailbone comes a little away from the floor.  Continue to tilt the pelvis until it lifts the spine, vertebra by vertebra, into the air.  This means that the feet are supporting more weight.  The knees may want to splay out or knock together, but work to keep them in line with the hips and ankles.  As we reach the end of our range of motion, our hamstrings may cramp a little (or a lot).  While this is painful, it is not actually harmful; hamstrings are really good at whining.  To reduce the suffering, press the knees away from the head to give the hamstrings a little more space.  Eventually, we will find ourselves with our pelvises in the air, our feet pressing firmly into the ground, and our head, neck, and shoulders supporting the other end of our bodies.  Ideally, we are a fairly straight line from our shoulders to our knees; in real life, many of us have very tight hip flexors, so we may not be able to lift our hips that high.

 

Take another breath in.  Now we reverse the process to come back down.  Exhale and lower the body back to the ground, focusing on the vertebra closest to the head first and then continue on down the chain until the pelvis is back on the ground.  I particularly like to focus on pulling the hips away from the head during the lowering process because it adds some length to the parts of the spine that get compressed with all the sitting we do.  (If we have a friend with us, we can help each other by gently pulling the hips toward the heels during the lowering phase.)

 

Ta da!  We did it!  Do a couple more just for fun.  Your spine will thank you.

 

Now for the variations:

 

“Lunar lift.”  This is the osteoporosis-friendly version.  Instead of peeling the spine up and down a vertebra at a time, the pelvis “blasts off” straight up, keeping the spine moving as a unit.

 

“Chip and dip.”  Peel up to the top of the motion as usual.  On the way down, imagine there is a tortilla chip on each hip bone.  Scoop up imaginary salsa and guacamole with each hip as the spine lowers down one vertebra at a time.

 

“With block.”  This is my new favorite version.  At the top of the motion, take a yoga block and slide it under the hips so that the pelvis can rest on it.  This gives a bit of traction to the spine and really allows the compression to relax out.  Stay for a few breaths before taking the block out and peeling down as usual.  Note:  the orientation of the yoga block under the hips will depend on the flexibility and size of the human doing the motion; don’t overdo!

 

Go try it out!

Repeat

As I’ve been talking about over the last few weeks, I’ve been moving.  Moving definitely counts as workout.  I can’t even describe how many times I’ve gone up or down stairs, how many boxes I have lifted.  Then there is the stretching—I’m short and shelves are often not—and the bending, because boxes to be unloaded hang out on the floor when I get tired of lifting them.

 

Which brings me to today’s topic:  repetitive stress.  I am a fitness professional, but this does not give me immunity from injury or stress, sadly enough.  Due to my dissolute previous life in office management, I have threatening carpal tunnel in my wrists.  Add in some years of long-distance biking and the result is:  forearm tendonitis.  I’m not here to whine (well, maybe a little…), but to talk about what to do when we have to do stuff that is not entirely good for us.  I am just an example in this case.

 

So.  The first thing to do with repetitive stress stuff is to figure out what support structures we can use.  In my case, I wear wrist wraps and elbow wraps (what they advertise as support for tennis elbow) whenever I am going to do a bunch of lifting or I need to bear weight on my arms (like in yoga) or I have to do grip things (like biking or carrying boxes).  This is not unlike a person with a complicated knee wearing a brace.

 

The second thing to do is to treat the body with respect.  I kind of fail at this, until I am forced to concede.  Do not follow my example in this.  Sometimes respecting the body means getting help.  Sometimes it means setting limits:  I can lift that lighter box, but not that heavier one.  Sometimes it is about knowing when to call it a day.

 

The third thing is to know what to do if we happen to overdo it.  This might include ibuprofen, ice, heat, massage, foam rolling, and screaming loudly.  We want to rest sometimes.  We should pay a little bit of attention to hydration and eating decent food.

 

When the big event is over, it is important to thank the body for what it managed to do.  And then it needs a real rest.

Monday Workout: Kettlebells!

Some weeks I have to think really hard about what I want to put in the workout.  This week, for some reason, I just knew it was time for a kettlebell workout.  For this workout, we want several different weights because we can swing a much heavier kettlebell than we can use for overyets.  (If no kettlebells are available, dumbbells will also work.)

 

Do three rounds.

 

kb swings	30
kb twists	20
kb 8s	10
kb one arm clean/press	30
kb goblet squat	20
kb overyets	10
kb overhead high knees	30
kb overhead triceps	20
kb pushups	10

Choose your favorite!

I’m in the mood to have fun.  So here are four things that are just plain fun but also count as workouts:

 

1.     Dancing.  Find the best beat, or the silliest pop song, or the most inspiring ballet music and get moving!  What else are we going to do while we wait for dinner to be ready?

2.     Biking.  Whether we break out the bike shorts and spiffy jersey or just put on our red tennies and grab our tasseled handlebars, biking is fun.  We can get a bell or a unicorn helmet or a really cushy seat or whatever accessories we need to put us over the top.

3.     Kid’s games.  Play foursquare or handball.  If you live with enough people in your circle, play some tag.  Draw your own chalk obstacle course on the sidewalk.

4.     Walking the dog.  (If you don’t have one, see if you can borrow one.)  Dogs are in the moment.  Walk with a dog and greet all the happinesses in your path.

 

Don’t like my list?  Make your own!

Not even good for nachos...

Doing workouts is not like shopping at warehouse stores.  Or at least not in this way:  we don’t always get the best value from the ginormous pack.  Professional athletes need to work out a lot.  Regular humans don’t need quite so much.  Remember that enormous bag of tortilla chips that seemed like such a good deal?  The one that was the size of a ten-year-old?  And the first few inches of chips were great, but then everyone was sick of chips and by the time the semester ended there was this looming rock of stale corn products that everyone was afraid to approach?  Yeah, not such a good choice after all, right?

 

The metaphor got maybe a little out of control there, but there is a point in there somewhere.  And it is:  we need to work out the right amount for our goals.  If our goal is basic health, we want to commit to about 30 minutes of moderate cardio (it’s moderate if we have enough breath to chat, but not enough to sing) at least five days a week, one or two sessions of weight training on non-consecutive days, and some daily stretching/balance/core work.  That may sound like a lot if we’ve just been holding down the couch, but it averages out to less than an hour a day.  (Also, if we have been truly holding down the couch for weeks or months, we want to work up to that 30 minutes of cardio over a month or so…)

 

If we want to lose weight, it gets slightly more onerous, but only slightly.  We need to make the cardio a little harder and a little longer.  We want to commit to two or three weight training sessions a week.  And yes, we still have to do the stretching/balance/core stuff.  We also need to keep track of what we’re eating so we don’t undo all our good work at the gym.

 

And when we’re done with our workouts, we get to stop and rest.  We don’t need to do another hour on the treadmill or elliptical trainer or four hours of weight lifting.  Remember the chips:  more is not always better.