Enough

Current events have me thinking about rights and privileges, needs and luxuries.  I am always thinking about how the microcosm influences the macrocosm and vice versa.  What does this have to do with fitness?

 

Health.  We, the people, need more of it.  My profession tends to cater to the people with disposable income and there is plenty of work for me to do with them, but one of the reasons I post a workout every Monday on the blog is to make my work more accessible to people without disposable income.  I do believe that healthy bodies promote healthy minds.  Healthy minds create healthy structures, and healthy structures help us all thrive.

 

One of the basic concepts that I keep returning to is enough.  I think this is a tough one for our society.  We have been taught that more is always better.  It’s not.  We don’t always need more calories.  We don’t even always need more exercise.  We need the right amount.  And all of us need to have enough for us to have true health.

 

We can’t control big things.  We are only the boss of ourselves.  Start by doing the small things that promote our own health and move from there.

 

What are we hoarding?  What are we lacking?  How can we share our abundance with others and meet some of our needs through their extras?  Cooperation is a basic part of connection, which is a basic part of health.  Let’s be kind and generous and helpful and healthy together. 

Monday Workout: Stability!

This week we’re working on a lot of stability exercises.  These are really good for making workouts challenging without using a lot of heavy weights.  As always, adapt for your needs.  Three rounds.

 

mountain climbers	30
overhead squats	20
Arnold press	10
1 arm clean and press	30
kickbacks	20
round lunges	10
overhead curtsy	30
1 arm deadlift	20
Hundred	10

Five snacks

Snacks are important.  Most of us do pretty well at choosing well during meals, but those snacks can undo all our good work.  Here are a few good snack choices:

 

1.     Clementines.  They’re small, sweet, and full of fiber and vitamins.

2.     Apples and nut butter.  The nut butter gives us a bit more protein and some healthy fats to make us feel full longer.  The apples provide sweetness, fiber, and vitamins.

3.     Veggies and dip.  Dip, in large quantities, is not our friend, but if we have a smidge with our celery, that’s all good.

4.     Yogurt and fruit.  If dairy doesn’t work, try coconut or soy yogurt.  Choose wisely, though, because a lot of yogurts are full of added sugar.

5.     Cheese and whole grain crackers.  By now, you’ll have noticed a theme:  a fiber-rich thing paired with a fatty/protein food.  This gives us what we need to feel full.

Ask!

We are really good at deciding that something needs to be done about our fitness.  And then… we aren’t sure where to begin.  There are, of course, many ways to answer that implied question.  Here are a few things to consider:

 

What do we want to be able to do?  Some of us want to lift heavy things.  Some of us want to run long distances.  Some of us just want smaller jeans.  We want to start with the things that will put us on the path to our actual goals.  So, if we want to lift heavy objects, we begin with weights; if we want to run long distances, we start with short ones; if we want to get smaller jeans, we burn calories.

 

What do we like to do?  Pretty much all of us need to do some cardio exercise of some kind, but there are zillions of kinds out there.  People who detest running might like skiing or dancing or swimming.  Some of us love biking or skating.  Working out is difficult enough without the added disincentive of talking ourselves into doing something that we hate.

 

What do we need to do?  If we are starting from the couch, we need to check in with our doctors to make sure that we are clear to exercise.  Most people starting from the very beginning need to build up some basic endurance before getting fancy:  this means working up to 30 minutes of cardio five days a week.  Those of us with heart issues, blood pressure issues, bone density issues, and the like will need to listen carefully to what the doctor says to stay safe and healthy.

 

Need some guidance?  Ask me!!!!

Enthusiastic Tortoise

Enthusiasm is a wonderful thing.  We need it.  And we also need to remember that it lies to us.  We get all excited:  we’re going to do All The Things!  We’re going to eat only whole foods, exercise for three hours a day, lose 50 pounds, and meditate like a guru!  And on the second day, we’re exhausted and crabby and we find ourselves sitting on the couch eating Oreos out of the package.  Or maybe that’s just me.

 

What we want to do is use our enthusiasm wisely.  Let it help us get out of bed in time to work out, but don’t let it convince us to try to do everything at once.  It is hard to sustain our enthusiasm over time—this is why all those Rocky movies have workout montages—we want to fast-forward to the results!

 

We may have a whole bunch of really wonderful, important goals for our fitness.  It really is best to get excited about consistent, small steps.  We need to learn the tortoise’s lesson again and again.

Monday Workout: Whole!

I love whole body exercises.  We’re amping up our squats this week by making them overhead squats, getting everything moving with kettlebell (or dumbbell) swings, and challenging our core with plank jacks!  Three rounds, modified as needed for YOUR body.

 

kb swings	30
kb twists	20
kb 8s	10
plank jacks	30
overhead squats	20
curls	10
clean and press	30
flies	20
quadruped	10

Friday Reading Report: Intangibles

It has been a while since I read a book that was even tangentially fitness-related.  But at last, the incomparable Joan Ryan has a newish book out, Intangibles:  Unlocking the Science and Soul of Team Chemistry. 

 

I have been reading and enjoying Ryan’s work from the time she used to write for the San Francisco Chronicle sports page.  Her book Little Girls in Pretty Boxes about the participants in women’s gymnastics and figure skating sounded an early (ignored) alarm about the abuses that those athletes were subject to in pursuit of some societal ideal of what gymnasts and figure skaters should be.  Her other books are also entirely worth reading for the grace of her prose and the depth of her insight and knowledge.  So now you know:  I’m a fan.

 

All the things I like about her work are present in this current book.  She brings her inquisitive mind and deep experience to bear on what team chemistry is (or isn’t).  She does not shy away from the people who flat out deny that it exists.  It is a useful reminder to all the data nuts out there that just because something can’t be quantified does not mean that it doesn’t exist.

 

Defining team chemistry turns out to be a difficult question in and of itself.  She writes, “I had experienced it myself in my first job out of college, in the Orlando Sentinel’s sports department.  We were a tight-knit staff of a few rookies like me and a slate of veterans who deleted our adverbs and introduced us to scotch.” (p. 7)  Ultimately, she ends up defining it as a complex of factors that improve performance.

 

She does research with psychiatrists and coaches and members of teams that had notoriously good chemistry.  She develops a series of archetypes that teams need to have good chemistry.  It’s all useful and fascinating, full of great stories and memorable characters.

 

My caveat:  the book has a bit of an identity problem.  It’s mostly a sports book, but it is also trying to be a business book.  From time to time, Ryan tries to make the point that business teams need the same kind of performance-enhancing chemistry as well.  Maybe so.  Managers have been using sports analogies roughly forever, so a more direct application of sports science might make sense.  Also, professional sports are, in fact, businesses.

 

I’m still a fan.  I hope lots of people go out and buy her book because more people need a little Joan Ryan in their lives.  She tells a great story and she finds great stories to tell.