Perfect Practice

We get better at what we practice.  (I hope this is not some big revelation to everyone!)  From this premise, I have two points I would like to make.

 

First, practice does not mean just showing up and going through the motions of our workouts.  That just makes us better at doing a half-assed job.

 

The second point is related to the first.  Good form is crucial, because when we are practicing, we are learning form along with improving our fitness.  We don’t want to imprint bad form in our minds and in our muscle memory if we can help it.  A second set of eyes on us, especially a trained set of eyes, can help us know if we are practicing good form.  That said, our form doesn’t have to be perfect from day one; we can refine it as we get stronger/more flexible/more fit/more knowledgeable.

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: Core

We are working on our asymmetric exercises this week, which helps improve our balance and our core strength.  Three rounds.

 

kb swings	30
kb twist	20
kb 8s/overyets	10
1 arm clean and press	30
(lunge to) curl	20
pushups	10
woodchoppers	30
rows	20
pretty princesses	10

 

Four ZZZZ

Sleep can be a scarce commodity in our world.  Here are four ways to promote better sleep.

 

1.     Ditch the caffeine.  Yeah, I know.  Many of us just can’t cope without our morning coffee, but doing the work to wean ourselves off of it can be worth it.

2.     Get some exercise.  Working harder, paradoxically, can help us feel more rested because it promotes easier and deeper sleep.

3.     Turn off the light.  Yes, even the little ones on the computer monitor.  We sleep best in the dark.

4.     Make it a habit.  We tend to do best when we go to bed and get up at the same time every day.

Stressing the Strategies

All of us face stressful times every once in a while.  (If stress gets chronic, that’s a whole different story for another day.)  It’s really easy to decide that we’re going to cope with the stress with a pint of ice cream on the couch, but if we can manage it, there are better options.

 

One of those options is making sure we get in some cardio.  Cardio improves mood, helps us sleep better, and makes our brains work more effectively.  We get bonus stress-busting points if we can take our cardio outside in the fresh air, so stressful times are a great time to go for a walk or a run or a swim.

 

Another important self-care option when we are under stress (or any time, really) is making sure we drink our water.  Dehydrated people are crabby people.  Or, to put it another way, we don’t need our bodies to be stressed while our minds are already trying to cope with stress.  Feeding ourselves healthy food on a regular basis helps, too.

 

Finally, stress is tiring.  We are allowed to rest.  In stressful times, it is all right to nap and to do what we can to ensure that we get our full nights of sleep.

 

Fitness pretty much comes down to this:  move, eat, drink, and rest.

Don't Die

The goal of fitness, in the largest sense, is promoting optimal health.  I like to focus on the positives, but today, I want to discuss some of the negative things that fitness helps us avoid.  Our vocabulary word is comorbidities.

 

Comorbidities are conditions that make it difficult for us to be healthy.  There are lots of them, but here are a few of the most common and how fitness helps us reduce them.

 

Heart disease is a very common comorbidity.  When we do our cardio exercise, we are reducing our susceptibility to clogged arteries and heart attack.  We also improve our lung function, which helps us avoid things like COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease).

 

Type 2 Diabetes is another increasingly common comorbidity.  Both cardio and weight training help keep this one away.  Cardio increases glucose tolerance in the body and weight training increases lean body mass.

 

While I believe that healthy bodies come in every size, excess body weight can, in some circumstances, put us at higher risk, so overweight is considered a comorbidity.  Our work at the gym helps us avoid overweight or reduce it when we also work on eating foods that are good for us.

 

We want to have long, happy, and fun lives.  Working on our fitness now will help us live better.

Monday Workout: All Kettlebell Classic

Sometimes life gets busy or complicated.  For those times, I keep a stockpile of old workouts just in case.  This workout is all kettlebell, but can also be done with a dumbbell if you don’t have a kettlebell.  Three rounds.

 

kb swings	30
kb twists	20
kb 8s	10
kb one arm clean/press	30
kb goblet squat	20
kb overyets	10
kb overhead high knees	30
kb overhead triceps	20
kb pushups	10

7 Delicious Things

  

Eating in season helps us with our healthy diets.  Here are seven things to eat in August.

 

1.     Summer squash.  Also, if we don’t eat them, they will take over the world.

2.     Tomatoes.  Caprese anyone?  How about some fresh tomato sauce?

3.     Corn.  On the cob, in relish, in soup!

4.     Cucumbers.  Maybe with some hummus?

5.     Melons.  All of them.  So yummy.

6.     Stone fruit.  Peaches!  Plums!  Apricots!  Hooray!

7.     Blackberries.  Cobbler anyone?