We are doing a couple of exercises this week that focus on the back of the body. This is good because we tend to emphasize the muscles in the front. Deadlifts work the whole back of the body, squats and lunges work our glutes, and the renegade rows work our lats, among other things. Three rounds.
squat raise | 30 |
deadlift | 20 |
kickbacks | 10 |
| |
mountain climbers | 30 |
renegade rows | 20 |
pushups | 10 |
| |
clean and press | 30 |
(lunge to) twist | 20 |
brains | 10 |
Yesterday I talked about different reasons we might want to work out. Here are five to consider:
1. To look cute. Yep, it’s a real reason and totally all right.
2. To feel better. We like that after-exercise high.
3. To feel better, another way. We want to lower our blood pressure, or manage diabetes, or strengthen our hearts, or just get out doctors and loved ones off our backs.
4. To get to do more fun things. Maybe we want to be able to play on the playground longer with our kids or grandkids, or do a walking tour in the Himalayas. Working out helps us build up our strength and endurance to do those things.
5. To get revenge. In the sense of living a long and healthy life, anyway.
Why do you want to work out?
When I meet with clients for the first time, I ask them why they are here. (Not in the existential sense; that is way beyond the scope of my practice!) People tell me about things they want to be able to do, events they have coming up, dire warnings from their doctors, all kinds of things. This is important, because it helps me know how to program for their different goals and what motivates them.
The thing is, sometimes we (yes, me, too!) think that some reasons for exercising are better or more acceptable than others. We’re willing to admit that it would be nice to get to the top of the stairs without being out of breath, but maybe less willing to say that what we really want is to buy smaller jeans, or to blow away that old flame at the 85th reunion, or to feel more comfortable in a bathing suit.
Eventually, the truth comes out. And you know what? I don’t judge. My job is to help my clients reach THEIR goals, not some ideal set of goals approved by the surgeon general or their moms or the latest research into longevity. I am here for my clients, whatever their goals.
When we describe how we move in fitness, we divide the body into three planes. One imaginary plane splits us into right and left halves, one splits us into front and back halves, and one splits us into top and bottom halves, as if we were the hapless assistant in a magician’s show. The three planes are called, respectively, the sagittal, the frontal, and the transverse.
When we swing a leg back and forth in the hip socket or raise an arm in front of us in a “Halt!” kind of way, we are moving parallel to the sagittal plane. This is the plane that most of us feel most comfortable in because that’s how we walk and run and so on.
The frontal plane, confusingly, is the plane we are moving parallel to when we shuffle side to side or do jumping jacks. Practicing this kind of movement helps with sports like basketball and tennis and with everyday actions like getting in and out of cars. Work in the frontal plane can also help us practice motions that keep us from spraining our ankles as we strengthen the muscles on the inside and outside of our legs.
The transverse plane is for twisting. Think about golf swings and racquet sports, salsa dancing, and getting out of bed in the morning. We sometimes don’t like working with transverse plane exercises because they tend to require a little more balance control and thus more core work.
Working in all three planes, separately or together, is what helps us prepare for whatever life throws at us.
This week I’m focusing, again, on compound exercises for the very good reason that the things we do in our regular life are usually complex movements involving multiple muscle groups. Also, we get more calorie burn in the moment and we boost our metabolisms. Three rounds.
kb swings | 30 |
kb twists | 20 |
kb 8s or overyets | 10 |
| |
squat to leg lift | 30 |
lunge to curl to overhead press | 20 |
lateral raise | 10 |
| |
woodchoppers | 30 |
row to kickback | 20 |
pretty princesses | 10 |
We may have come to terms with the idea that we need to get some sleep, but how? Here are five suggestions:
1. Ditch the caffeine. Before y’all get out your pitchforks, let me suggest that at least reducing the intake can help. Please note that for some of us the process of weaning ourselves off of caffeine can be long and challenging and even painful, but it can definitely be worth it.
2. About that alcohol… If the pitchforks are out, might as well use them. Alcohol affects different people differently, but in general it tends to make it easy to go to sleep and hard to stay there. At least observe the effects and see.
3. Get some exercise. Cardio during the day seems to help folks sleep at night. Some people like evening exercise because there is a natural energy dip a few hours after a workout and that can coincide with bedtime.
4. Keep it cool. Most of us sleep better in a cool room.
5. Keep it dark. Our inner beasts are programmed to wake in the light, so we need to give them plenty of dark time.
What are your favorite sleep aids?
Sleep is one of the most overlooked parts of fitness. Culturally, we frown on sleep. Sleep is for lazy people, or children, or boring people who don’t have anything better to do. Sure it is, but the rest of us should be getting more sleep, too.
Sleep gives our bodies a chance to repair the wear and tear of our days. It helps our brains reset. It solidifies learning.
If that’s not enough motivation for those of us who want to maximize our workout time, let me offer this: people with adequate sleep make more progress than people without it. We work out better and harder and stronger on a good night of sleep and we are a lot less likely to get injured when we are not sleep-deprived.
Work then rest.
