Monday, December 7, 2020

Monday Workout: Challenge






We’re continuing to work on stability with a side of upper body strength.  All these asymmetrical exercises give us extra core challenge!  Three rounds.

 

suitcase swings

30

renegade rows

20

1 leg bridge

10

squat or jump squat

30

flies or 1 arm flies

20

YTA

10

 

 

overhead march

30

twist

20

plank/side plank

 


Thursday, December 3, 2020

Only Two






Today’s list is short, but not sweet.  Here in the holiday season, I would like to remind everyone of my two favorite nutritional guidelines:

 

1.     Eat vegetables.  Lots of them.  Lots of different kinds.  Lots of different colors.  They add vitamins, minerals, micronutrients, and fiber to our diets.  They taste good.

2.     Drink water.  A lot of us go around slightly dehydrated all the time.  This makes us cranky, sore, headachy, and inefficient.  Water helps a lot of our bodily processes work.  Some of us find that it helps us control our appetites.  We know if we are drinking enough water if we have to go to the bathroom every hour or so.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Instructive Fictional Story







There are many reasons to look askance at Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  What is up with a little girl barging into people’s houses?  And what kind of parents don’t comfort their little one when disaster strikes?  And what laws of physics govern the temperature of porridge anyway?  These issues aside, Goldilocks has one useful thing to demonstrate to us in our fitness journey:  the just right.

 

I’m sure we all know the feeling we get when we overdo the workout.  We curse whoever invented stairs.  We count the seconds until we can have another dose of ibuprofen.  We vow never to move again, ever.  That would be the Papa Bear Too Hot Porridge problem.

 

But we also know the feeling when we’ve been stuck at our desks too long.  Our backs whine at us.  Our hips freeze in an uncomfortable bent position.  We know exactly what our shoulders sound like because they are glued up by our ears.  This is the Mama Bear Too Cold Porridge problem.

 

We want to aim for Baby Bear.  Goldilocks likes Baby Bear’s choices.  Baby Bear works out enough that he is not too sore but enough that he’s not too stiff either.  He is tired enough at the end of the day to sleep well in his just right bed.  Of all the people in the story, it is Baby Bear who is most likely to live happily ever after, once he gets some breakfast and fixes his chair.

 

Be like Baby Bear. 

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Cautionary True Story






Last week, my dad fell.  What does that have to do with fitness?  It’s a cautionary tale.

 

See, my dad is in his eighties.  When he was young, he played pretty much every sport there was.  He also smoked for more than 40 years.  One of those things resulted in worn out knees and the other in lung surgery.  He has a variety of other typical health issues in a person of his age and lifestyle, controlled by various medications.

 

Aging happens to all of us whether we like it or not.  However, we have some choices to make.

 

See, when my dad had a knee replacement, he didn’t like doing his physical therapy exercises.  They hurt.  They were hard.  He shirked them as much as possible.  And now his replacement knee does not work as well as it should and he chose not to get the other knee replaced because he was unhappy with the results on the first one.  In other words, he still has two bad knees.

 

The bad knees mean it is hard for him to move from sitting to standing and it is challenging to walk.  So most of the time, he doesn’t do it.  What that means is that he has very little cardio endurance, which makes it harder to go for a walk, which means he is even less likely to do it.  See where I’m going here?

 

But last week, he and my mom took their little dog for a short walk to the end of their block.  On the way back, my dad lagged behind.  He wanted to stop at the end of their walkway by the car to catch his breath.  My mom took the dog inside.  And then my dad fell.

 

End result:  a visit from the paramedics, bruises to elbows, knees, and pride.  He is going to be all right, but he would be better if he had done some preventive work.

 

The take-aways:

• put up with a little discomfort now in keeping up the cardio

• our privilege level does not translate into speedier or better healing; we still have to work.

• consistent, small actions make big differences

• always listen to your physical therapist, even if you do not like what they say

 

Go play.

Monday, November 30, 2020

Monday Workout: I suggest...






We are continuing to work with multi-joint exercises and compound movements.  These challenge our metabolisms and our core and our coordination (and they make us good and tired at the end!).  As always, modify for what works in YOUR body.  This workout doesn’t have any jumping, but you can add it if you want to increase the challenge; conversely, if your knees do not play well with lunges, substitute something your knees like better.  You are the boss of your workouts!  I will, however, strongly suggest three rounds.

 

lunge with curl

30

squats

20

lateral raise

10

1 leg chop

30

deadlifts

20

pushups

10

 

 

standing mountain climbers

30

skullcrushers

20

chest lifts

10


Thursday, November 26, 2020

Number 7 is in the photo!






Here we go:  ten things I am thankful for this year.

 

1.     Health.  If we’ve learned anything this year, it’s that we can’t assume health will continue.

2.     Safety.  I am blessed to live in a safe place where I don’t have to fear for my loved ones.  (Worry is another thing, but I’m focusing on the good stuff today!)

3.     Nature.  Without being able to go play outside, I would be even crazier than I am already.

4.     Exercise.  I like how it makes me feel.

5.     Food.  I have more than enough and this is not something to be taken for granted.

6.     Love.  I have family and friends who are dear to me and who haven’t flung me into outer space yet (if that’s not love, I don’t know what is!)

7.     Flowers.  I know I take innumerable pictures of flowers, but they remind me of the beautiful parts of the world.

8.     Books.  Whether I’m reading for information or pleasure or both, they add happiness to my life.

9.     Puns.  Laughter is crucial to life.

10.  Socks.  (You knew there had to be at least one random thing on this list, right?)  They’re warm and I have lots of silly ones.

 

What’s on your list?

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Kicking and screaming do burn calories, but there are better ways...






Some of us find holidays more stressful than fun.  I get it.  And I have a suggestion, unless even one more suggestion is too much and will cause explosions/meltdowns/tantrums.  Find a way to do some cardio.

 

Now, depending on the tantrum, it might qualify all by itself, but it might not be the best cardio choice.  If the weather permits, I am particularly in favor of outside cardio right now—run, walk, skip, play tag with your bubble-mates or foursquare or football, bike.  If it doesn’t, inside cardio is also good:  stair intervals, kitchen dancing, stationary biking, whatever is available.

 

Here’s why:  cardio exercise reduces stress.  It improves our mood.  It gets our circulation moving.  It helps our brains work.  It makes it easier to get good sleep.  We may not be able to run away from our problems, but running might help us cope with them better.

 

Go play.