Louder for the folks in the back

I have a contentious relationship with comparison and competition.  On a day-to-day  basis, I think they do way more harm than good.

 

I’ll talk about the good, such as it is, first.  When we work out, we use comparison in a long-term way to help us meet our goals.  Think before and after photos, or the change in how much we can lift after six months of diligence, or the way our pants become much looser in the waist over time as we keep doing our daily tasks.  Competition, for some people, is very motivating, but it tends not to be good for relationships.  If we find it helpful, we need to ensure that we are competing with ourselves, trying to beat our personal bests, whatever those are, rather than crush the person one weight rack over.  And that’s about it for the good side, in my opinion.

 

As I say over and over again, we can only work out with today’s body.  Comparing what we do today with what we could do when we were twenty doesn’t make any sense because we are not that person any longer.  Our bodies today have very specific needs and come to work out after a particular amount of sleep.  We work on the energy of today’s breakfast and we have to harness our minds away from today’s unique set of stressors to be present during the workout.

 

It’s even worse if we compare ourselves to famous athletes, movie stars, or even that guy over there in the corner hogging all the 45 pound plates.  We can only do what we can do.  Let’s not waste space in our heads with whatever other people can do.  Or not do.  Which is where the competition comes in.

 

There will always be somebody faster than we are, or stronger, or more flexible.  There will always be someone whose best is not as good as ours.  Beating those people or losing to those people is completely not relevant.  We need to do our work, period.  Our goal is to be our best, not somebody else’s best, no matter how cool they are or how much easier their workout might be.

 

Let’s be ourselves in the gym and let other people take care of themselves.

Monday Workout: Upper!

We’re doing a little more overhead work this week.  This helps us work on keeping our shoulders healthy and strong.  Three rounds.

 

mountain climbers	30
squats	20
lateral raise	10
jacks	30
flies	20
Arnold press	10
clean and press	30
rows	20
brains	10

Pour a nice tall glass of...

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m having to work harder than usual to stay hydrated these days.  Here are a few reasons why it is worth it:

 

1.     It helps us stay cooler.  Really.  Yes, we are self-regulating about temperature, but we all can use a little help.  Water is one of those helps.

2.     It makes us nicer.  Dehydrated people are grumpy people, often because they are headachy and fatigued.

3.     It makes most of our body processes work better.  We need water even more than we need food to run our personal chemistry sets.

4.     It can help us lose or maintain our weight.  No calories and a feeling of fullness?  Sign me up!

Paradox Land is a nice place to visit

I hang out in paradox land a lot.  It’s a useful place once we get used to it.  Today’s bulletin about cognitive dissonance is about form in exercise.

 

On one hand, perfect is the enemy of the good.  Any workout is better than no workout.  This is absolutely true.  We don’t want to sweat the small stuff when what we really want is to sweat.

 

But then there is that other hand.  That hand reminds me that when we don’t pay attention to our form, we get hurt.  We also train our bodies to do things poorly, which may not cause injury, but sets us up for chronic pain or weird overuse suffering.

 

Once again, the middle way comes to the rescue.  We want to be mindful enough about form to avoid getting hurt and not so mindful that we paralyze ourselves trying to execute perfection on the very first day.  Good form is a process, not an achievement.  We may not be capable of getting our knees in the right place on our first squats, but as we get stronger and build our endurance, we learn how to engage the right muscles to do better and better.  We refine as we go on.

 

In short, working out is a skill like any other skill.  We improve when we practice.  Good guidance at the beginning helps us stay safe while we learn how to take care of ourselves. 

No, I can't make you...

I am an enabler, and I’m proud of it.  A lot of people think that my job is to make people work out.  It’s not.  I’m there to help people work out.  I can’t make anybody do anything (if I could, my house would be cleaner, there would be world peace, and really comfortable clothes would be the peak of style).

 

What I can do is give people the tools to motivate themselves and the skills to do a good job of working out.  I encourage.  I share my knowledge and experience and observations.  And then I stand there and watch them go.  That last part, being present, is part accountability and part support.  I do have a Mom Look, but, as I have realized over time, the reason the Mom Look works is because moms love us and want us to succeed.

 

I am here to enable folks to reach their potential.

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: Christmas in July

It’s time for the 12 Days of Christmas in July.  We do this workout twice a year, once in December and once some time in the summer and I’ve decided that now is the time.  Here’s how it works:  On the first “day,” we do one push press.  Then it is magically the second day right away and we do two goblet squats and one push press.  The third day follows immediately on the second and we do three overhead presses, two goblet squats, and one push press, continuing on until we have completed all twelve days.  We try to keep our rests to the ends of the days (most people want their first rest after day five and before the burpees start), but rest whenever necessary.  And yes, I do understand that we end up doing 42 burpees before we are done with this workout; I am probably not your true love, but I will make all of us stronger.  As always, modify as needed for your body.

 

1 push press

2 goblet squats

3 Overhead press

4 1 leg squats each leg

5 deadlifts

6 burpees

7 pushups

8 renegade rows

9 mountain climbers

10 jump lunges

11 kb swings

12 plyojacks

 

New Month!

It’s a brand-spanking-new month, so it might be a good time to make a goal or two.  Here are some possibilities:

 

1.     Work up to that 150-minutes-per-week moderate exercise that is recommended for all adults.  That’s 30 minutes of brisk walking on weekdays.

2.     Ditch the added sugar.  We don’t need those extra calories.

3.     Add some weights.  One or two weight training workouts per week can really amp up metabolism, shape the body, and encourage weight loss.

4.     Drink water.  Lots of it.  Most of us walk around slightly dehydrated, which is a good way to get tired and cranky.

5.     Get some sleep.  The average American gets less than 7 hours of sleep per night.  Literally everything works better for us when we are well-rested.

 

As always, make bite-sized goals with a bit of wiggle room in them and focus on the successes!