This week we’re working chest muscles from two angles with pushups and bench presses. Which do you like better? Three rounds.
step ups | 30 |
rows | 20 |
pushups | 10 |
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jacks | 30 |
lunge twists | 20 |
overhead press | 10 |
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squat to leg lift | 30 |
bench press | 20 |
brains | 10 |
Pilates has become one of those popular shorthand things for chi-chi things that snooty skinny people do in their adorable workout clothes. Snooty skinny people in adorable clothes are certainly welcome, but so is everyone else (although snootiness is best left at the studio door; it gets in the way of concentration). Here are four reasons why Pilates practice helps all of us.
1. We all need core strength. Core strength is essential to reducing lower back pain, which afflicts nearly everyone at some point. All of us chair warriors need to give our cores some love.
2. We could use an upgrade to our balance. One of the biggest risks to our independence as we grow older is falls. The statistics are not pretty. Fall prevention is all about working on balance and Pilates helps us improve it.
3. We would like to stand up straight. Spine health, general alignment, and the aforementioned core strength all contribute to good posture and Uncle Joe is all about improving posture.
4. We’re stressed out and need to breathe. In the larger sense, Pilates is a mind-body exercise and so can help with reducing our stress. In the direct sense, Pilates focuses on when and how to breathe to improve our function.
Everyone is welcome in my studio.
There are plenty of benefits of workouts that we don’t get right away. None of us is going to lose twenty pounds in one workout or go from couch to marathon after one visit to the treadmill. However, there are some instant rewards from working out.
One of those is an increase in energy. This may be counterintuitive to someone who is feeling the fatigue right after finishing, but it’s real. Our bodies like to move and give us more energy when we do it.
Another is a boost to our cognitive function. Anybody who has taken a walk around the block to clear their head intuitively gets this. We all can use more brain power!
Then there is the metabolism boost. When we lift weights, our bodies burn more calories both right away and for the rest of the day. This can increase our weight loss or allow more cookies, depending on our goals.
A slightly less instantaneous, but still swift benefit is that working out helps us get better sleep. With about a third of Americans getting inadequate sleep on a daily basis, this is definitely useful.
These little instant-gratifications can help motivate us to stick out the workouts until the longer-term benefits show up.
It is often tempting to try to work out as fast as possible. We want to get it over with and get on with the rest of our lives. I get it. But I would like to talk just a little bit about time under tension.
Time under tension is exactly what it sounds like: it is how long our muscles are working while we lift weights. The more time under tension, the more work we are doing and thus the more opportunity to get stronger. In other words, it is harder to hold a weight up longer, so it works better.
That’s the basic picture. Now let’s add a few details. Weight lifting has three phases, called the concentric contraction, the isometric contraction, and the eccentric contraction, or, in plainer language, the up, hold, and down parts. Increases in time under tension can happen in all three phases, depending on our goals.
Power lifting is all about being able to produce strength fast, so if that’s the goal, the concentric (or up) phase needs to be as fast as possible without sacrificing form. Building maximum strength responds better to a slower tempo, something like a four-beat lift, a two-beat hold, and a four beat lower. (Working that eccentric/down contraction is both really challenging and really good for building strength! Don’t let gravity be the boss!) Those of us who are working to build up our muscle endurance by doing lots and lots of reps might want to try a two-beat lift, a nearly-zero hold, and a two beat lower.
As always, it is worth experimenting to find our own best pattern.
The first exercise in each set is designed to get hearts pumping. This makes the two exercises that follow more challenging. The rest between sets lets our hearts slow back down, so they are ready for the next intense interval. That’s the design, but if reality suggests a rest before the end of the set, that’s what should happen. There are lots of valid ways to use these workouts and please note that there is no time limit! Three rounds.
suitcase swings | 30 |
deadlifts | 20 |
kickbacks | 10 |
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kb swings | 30 |
kb twists | 20 |
kb 8s | 10 |
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woodchoppers | 30 |
lunge to curl | 20 |
pretty princesses | 10 |
I have been training clients virtually for a while now, so I am using whatever they have available to them in the way of equipment. I’ve never been a person in favor of buying two of everything, so here is my short list of home fitness equipment. Please note that none of it is essential; there are many perfectly good body-weight workouts that can keep us fit and healthy. That said, here’s what is nice to have.
1. Dumbbells. If budget allows, the adjustable ones are nice because you get lots of weights and they don’t take up space. If budget does not allow, a set of light dumbbells and some slightly heavier ones are good. (Test this out in the store: the light ones should be about right for ten lateral raises and the heavier ones should be about right for ten rows.) Dumbbells can double for most things we can do with kettle bells and medicine balls (exception: do NOT slam your dumbbells into the floor like a medicine ball. You will not like the results.)
2. Stability ball. It takes up less space than a bench and adds an ab challenge to exercises.
3. Slider disks. These open up a variety of challenges for cardio in small spaces and also come in useful for clients with knee issues who need to strengthen the muscles around the knees. Bonus: they’re cheap and small.
4. Yoga strap. A belt or scarf also works. Helpful for stretching and some stability-building exercises. Alternatively, a resistance band with handles can be used for a lot of stuff. Again, inexpensive, flexible, and small.
5. Foam roller, tune-up balls, etc. These help develop mobility and flexibility and they feel good.
6. Mat. Again, not necessary if you have a floor that is pleasant to lie on. Nice for padding the knees in certain positions, but a big towel can also work.
What I have listed fits in about 9 square feet, so not a lot of room.
The other morning I was doing my yoga and meditation, like every day, and I had to drag my mind back to my breath over and over again. The thought drifted through my head that I’m all in favor of being present in the moment, but do I have to KEEP being present? There are an awful lot of moments.
The answer, of course, is yes, but it is also no. Yes, I need to keep trying to be present in this moment and no, I’m not going to succeed every moment.
Being present to our workouts helps in a lot of ways. When we are doing something difficult, staying focused on the present moment increases our likelihood of using good form. We learn more when we stay present, which can, in time, make what is difficult today easier on another day. Also, by being present, even when the exercise is unpleasant (hiya, lunges!), we implicitly recognize that we will not always be doing lunges, so we can take heart. Staying in the present helps us manage our fatigue; we can recognize when we have had enough and when we might be able to do a little bit more instead of assuming we are done when we finish the tenth rep of whatever we are doing. Finally, using breath as a technique for staying present reminds us to breathe. Too often we forget to breathe while working out.
Presence is a skill, just like squats or downward dog. The more we practice, the better we do.
