Two kinds of people, one task

There are a lot of ways to divide up the motivations people have for wanting to do fitness activities, but one useful way to think about why we choose to exercise is to ask ourselves if we want to do it for direct or indirect reasons.

 

A direct reason to exercise would be something like enjoying the actual process.  This tends to apply to people who play sports or who get addicted to the mood boost that comes with cardio.  Dancers and those who do expressive sorts of exercise have direct reasons.

 

Indirect reasons are for those of us who don’t really like exercising all that much.  This does not mean that indirect reasons are less important or less powerful.  People who want to keep up with their grandchildren, who want smaller jeans, who want to carry more grocery bags at once and the like are folks with indirect reasons.

 

It’s easy to get the first group of folks to go play.  They already love it.  That second group needs reminding of the connection between the thing they don’t love so much and the reason they are doing it.  It also helps if we can find some kind of exercise that is more fun in the process for those people.

 

No matter what, we can all find a way to do this.

Flexible Pilates

One of the many things I like about Pilates is that it works the body differently than straight weight training.  This means that we can fit it into our fitness schedules in multiple places.

 

On weeks with heavy weight workouts, we can use Pilates as an active recovery, focusing on the way it builds flexibility and mobility.  When we are doing more endurance-based weight training, Pilates complements that work with its focus on core and balance.  No matter what kind of other workouts we are doing, Pilates helps us refine our proprioception (our sense of where our bodies are in space), the quality of our movements, and our use of breath.

 

As with all our fitness activities, we can do Pilates in adaptable ways that suit where we are in the moment.

Monday Workout: Body Weight

Body weight is a perfectly good thing to use for working out.  So, since we all have some, there are no excuses!  If jumping is not good for your body, feel free to substitute the non-jumping versions of exercises.  Use a soft ball (tennis ball?  Koosh ball?  sock ball?) for the ball wall toss.  Three rounds should do it!

 

jump lunges	30
1 leg squats	30
pushup to side plank	10
jump squats	30
transverse punches	30
1 leg ball wall toss	10
plank	hold
superman	hold

It's a stretch

 

Sometimes we need a checklist.  Today I offer some essential stretches:

 

1.     Neck.  Tilt the head toward one shoulder.  This can be made more intense by pressing down on the head with a hand.  Repeat other side.  Some people need to be careful making neck circles, so try half circles.

2.     Shoulders.  Circle them forward and back.

3.     Chest.  Stand in a doorway.  Grab the frame with both hands and lean forward until you feel a stretch across the chest.  This can also be done one side at a time.

4.     Sides.  Stand up straight.  Reach one arm as high as possible into the air and then lean toward the opposite side of the body.  Repeat other side.

5.     Back.  Do the Olympic Salute, arms up in the shape of a Y, chest lifted toward the ceiling, abs engaged.

6.     Waist.  Lie on your back on the floor.  Bend your knees toward your chest.  Let them fall first to one side of the body and then the other.

7.     Quads.  Roll to one side.  Keep your thighs in line with each other.  Bend the top knee so that you can reach back and grab your ankle.

8.     Hamstrings.  Sit up.  Extend your legs out straight in front of you.  Reach for your toes (If you have osteoporosis, keep your back flat while doing this).  Both flat back and rounded back versions feel good.

9.     Ankles.  Circle them in both directions and then point and flex feet.

10.  Whole body.  Stand up.  Reach for the sky.  Shake it all out.

 

Feel better?

Not into pain

A lot of people, when they hear what I do, assume I am some kind of sadist.  They joke about the tortures I inflict (or maybe they’re not joking???).  This is a complete misunderstanding of what I do.

 

Yes, people do pay me to get them to do what they don’t want to do.  Yes, sometimes the things they need to do are uncomfortable.  But no, I do not want people to hurt.  Not even a little bit.

 

Pain, in my profession, is often glorified.  We see or hear “inspiring” stories about Suzy the Amazing Athlete who finished the ultra double extra horrible long race of ordealness with two broken legs, a concussion, and cancer.  I do not recommend aspiring to this kind of achievement (no offense, Suzy…).  I do not want my clients to work until they are injured.  I want them to stop when they have worked all they can in a safe way.

 

Pain’s purpose is to get our attention.  When we try to lift a weight that is too heavy, our bodies signal us with a big fat OW so we stop, not so we pretend to be all super extra macho and keep on going.  Pain alerts us to places where we need to adjust our form.

 

Now, let’s go back to that discomfort thing.  I do believe that not all workout activities that are good for us are always easy and fun.  We will get sore and tired.  Discomfort is like pain’s early warning system—we stop before we get from discomfort to actual pain.  So yes, if a person works out with me and has to do, say, hamstring curls, that person will probably not be comfortable during the process.  But this is just how hamstrings express their indignation that they are having to do more than the usual amount of work.  They’ll get over it.  And they’ll get stronger.

 

We deal with pain by seeing our medical professionals, discomfort with our friends rest, ice, and ibuprofen, and we work out to strengthen our minds and bodies.

 

Short version:  pain is bad, discomfort is all right, and I believe in doctors, ice, rest, and ibuprofen.

Adapting is a challenge...

It’s a new month.  A lot of folks I know are using the opportunity to start new projects, begin or reboot work on some goals, and generally turn over a new leaf.  I love that!  It’s all exciting and new and wonderful.  We dive in to our new workout or sport or activity with fresh enthusiasm.

 

And then, on day two, we are tired and sore.

 

We’re using muscles we may not know we had, or the usual ones in different ways.  Our bodies, like the stubborn toddlers they are, throw tantrums:  THIS IS NOT THE SAME!!!!

 

This is important:  do not spank your inner toddler (or your outer one, if you have one…).  It won’t help.  It will not encourage that change-resistant being to accept that we are doing something new that will probably turn out to be fun.  Right now, the toddler just knows that this is not the usual breakfast/blankie/routine.

 

We need to be patient with ourselves.  We need to talk nicely to ourselves.  Unlike toddlers, we can be reasoned with.  Also, we have access to a lot more resources.  We remind ourselves about why we are changing things up (because we want more energy or smaller jeans or open jars or a view of our toes) and we reward ourselves for good behavior (hot bath anyone?) and we take care of ourselves (yes, I’d love some ibuprofen…).

 

New growth can be painful at first.  But it is so worth it!  We can do this.

Monday Workout: Medicine Balls!

This week I feel like having a ball.  So we’ll use medicine balls in our workout.  (Sorry about the pun… ok, I’m not actually sorry.)  If there are no medicine balls available, no worries!  Substitute something like flies for the rescues and jacks or burpees or jump lunges for the ball slams.  The rest of the exercises can be done with dumbbells.  Do three rounds.

 

woodchoppers	30
twists	20
rescues	10
ball slams	30
curls	20
pushups	10
overhead high knees	30
skullcrushers	20
Russian twist	10