Monday Workout: Both!

I love compound exercises and asymmetric ones, too.  So this week we get both!  Hooray!  Three rounds.

 

squat raise	30
flies	20
pushups	10
lunge punches	30
bench press	20
curls	10
1 arm clean and press	30
1 leg squat	20
brains	10

Thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Things to be grateful for today in our bodies include:

 

1.     Food!  It fuels us and tastes good!

2.     Feet!  They take us where we want to go!

3.     Brains!  Consciously and unconsciously, brains figure out how to make all our body parts work and work together.

4.     Muscles and bones!  They move us and they support us, no matter what we are doing.

 

Now go eat.

Automatic Tools?

I’ve been reading about various tech processes and came across an interesting distinction that, of course, I want to apply to fitness.  To make processes easier, we can automate them, or we can use tools.

 

An automated process doesn’t require human action.  It just happens, on its own.  Sadly, fitness does require human action, but when we have a fitness habit, it almost feels automatic.  We get up and we work out before our brains even engage.

 

Mostly, though, we use tools in fitness.  Some of those tools are things like workout sheets that remind us to do cardio and strength training and stretching and balance work.  Others are pieces of equipment ranging from supportive shoes to 50-pound dumbbells.

 

Both tools and automation are handy.  We want them to make our workouts easier!

 

Go play.

Planning, or how not to be a bear

“Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it. And then he feels that perhaps there isn't. Anyhow, here he is at the bottom, and ready to be introduced to you. Winnie-the-Pooh.”  Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

 

I think we all feel like Pooh from time to time.  The stairs of life take over and we don’t have time to figure out a better way.  But, for better or worse, we are not bears of very little brain, so it is time to talk about… planning.

 

One part of the better way is figuring out how to make fitness fit into our lives.  We all want to live longer, be happier, have better sex, have more energy, and all the other good things that come from having a fitness practice, but then those stairs happen and we’re bumping our heads again.  What to do?

 

We start small.  And we commit.

 

I personally like small commitments that happen every day.  This takes the thinking out of it.  I know I get up in the morning and brush my teeth and do a couple more things and then I work out and then I shower.  Some people do well with weekday habits or weekend habits.  Do whatever works.  But make a plan.  Something like:  “I’m going to walk around the block every morning this week.”  It’s not too hard or too big.

 

Then we plan for contingencies.  Because life.  The plan might then be something like “I’m going to walk around the block every morning this week unless it is raining, in which case I will do some yoga in the kitchen.” 

 

Alternatively, we can set minimums:  “I’m going to walk around the block at least five mornings this week.”  That means that we have some grace on that day we forget to set the alarm and that other day when we’ve already done our five days and we can smugly rest.

 

Any plan is better than bumping down the stairs on the back of our heads.

 

Monday Workout: Simple

Because we’re all busy with Thanksgiving this week, I didn’t put anything new or fancy in the workout.  We have enough on our minds and our workout should be simple.  Three rounds.

 

jacks	30
deadlifts	20
Arnold press	10
kb swings	30
kb twists	20
kb 8s	10
mountain climbers	30
renegade rows	20
pretty princesses	10

Aaah.

Want to do something in every category of exercise today?  I’ve got you covered.

 

1.     Cardio:  Go for a walk.  Just for fifteen minutes.

2.     Weight training:  do three sets of 20 squats with a minute rest between them.  (If you are really pressed for time, you can use the rest period to do core or balance.)

3.     Core:  one set of 10 pretty princesses.

4.     Balance:  one set of 10 calf raises.  (Bonus points:  do them on one foot at a time!)

5.     Stretch:  stand in a doorway with your arms outstretched.  Lean forward.  Feel your chest open.  Say aaah (that part’s optional).

6.     DONE!

Don't ask them anything heavy, though...

Weight lifting makes us stronger, but that’s not even the best reason to do it, or not necessarily.  (If our goal is to be stronger for the sake of being stronger, then it is the best reason.  In that case, we should stop reading and go lift some weights.  Nothing to see here.)

 

If our goal is weight loss, lifting is our friend.  It builds lean body mass, which burns more calories than our fat mass does.  It increases our metabolisms.  And, while doing all of that, it makes us look better even before we lose any weight.

 

If our goal is to live a long and healthy life, weight training has our back there as well.  Working with weights keeps our bones strong as well as our muscles.  Strong bones resist breaks.  Additionally, working with weights improves our core musculature, which helps prevent falls.

 

If we love a sport, weight lifting is still a useful pastime.  Increased strength translates into increased speed and performance.  Basically, it teaches us to play harder and faster.

 

Go say hello to the dumbbells and barbells.  Tell them I sent you.