It is totally all right to take the Christmas week off. However, if you really want a workout, here’s one. Do three rounds.
step ups | 30 |
bench press | 20 |
round lunges | 10 |
| |
jacks | 30 |
flies | 20 |
1 leg squats | 10 |
| |
clean and press | 30 |
rows | 20 |
pretty princesses | 10 |
The Amazing Stickie, like most of us, does not love doing lunges. However, she does love the effects of having done lunges. Sometimes she chooses to do jump lunges to get the benefits of lunges, plus some cardio, all while getting it over quickly. There are two ways to do jump lunges and both of them are good.
For the first way, Stickie gets into a good lunge position. Notice that her front shin is perpendicular to the floor and her knee is aligned over her toe. Her back thigh is also perpendicular to the floor and her back heel is in line with her knee. Her shoulders remain over her hips throughout the exercise because Stickie does not like to cheat herself by letting her torso tilt forward. Using the power of both bent legs, she jumps up into the air and lands again in a good lunge position with the same leg in front.
The second way is just like the first, except that in the air, Stickie switches which leg will land in front. This way is a little bit more of a core and balance challenge due to the switch.
Stickie does sets of 15 on a side when she does not switch legs and sets of 30 when she is switching legs.
The holidays are basically here. For most of us, even when the holidays are fun, there is a stress component. Our routines are disrupted. We eat different food. We struggle to fit in workouts. Here are a couple of coping techniques.
One is: take the holiday. When I say this, I am not authorizing anyone to eat fudge for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I am saying: it is all right to relax and enjoy some treats. Eat a vegetable once in a while over the week and please stay hydrated. Take a stroll with the grandkids or all by yourself to get some space from the crush of family and friends, but don’t freak out if you work out slightly less. Bodies and souls need rest as well as work. The workouts will be there when you’re ready to come back to them.
The other is: give yourself the gift of self-care. Aunt Gertrude may not be thrilled that you turn down her famous pie, but she’ll live. You may have to adapt the timing of workouts around family events, but if you really want to fit in a workout, you’ll manage, even if you show up late for the big family Monopoly-fest. Or you can start or renew the tradition of the big afternoon football game for all ages prior to the feasting.
Whichever you choose, you are doing a great job. Allowing ourselves the grace to choose a peaceful path through the holidays, whether we stroll along it slowly or do it with sprint intervals, is a great way to make life more carefree and less stressful.
Pilates, like yoga, comes in flavors. There is a classical repertoire, handed down by dear old Uncle Joe Pilates, but different schools and individual teachers take what he gave us and add a dash of this or that. Some studios specialize in what I might describe as power Pilates, maybe incorporating weights. Other studios blend more freely with yoga. Nearly every studio adopts some of the really cool tools that have come into existence since Uncle Joe left us: the BOSU, the Oov, and other gizmos.
I mention this because some people have tried one kind of Pilates and have decided that they do not like it, thanks very much. I confess that if Pilates was purely the mat exercises, I might be one of those people: I love my reformer and my trap table and all my other furniture.
Finding the Pilates class or one-on-one instructor that is right may require experimentation. As everyone knows by now, I am a big fan of experimentation. In other words, ask a bunch of questions and try a few different styles before you give up on Uncle Joe entirely.
Go play.
It’s that time. Tradition must be upheld. Here is how the Twelve Days of Christmas workout works: on day one, we do one push press. We wipe our brows with relief. Day one is over. But then we move on to day two, when we do two goblet squats and one push press. Still not so bad. Spoiler alert: by the end of this workout we will have done 42 burpees. Yes, I am a terrible Santa and probably not actually the True Love. On day twelve, we do the whole enchilada: twelve plyojacks, eleven kettlebell swings, ten jump lunges, nine mountain climbers, eight renegade rows, seven pushups, six burpees, five deadlifts, four single leg squats on each side, three overhead presses, two goblet squats, and one push press. We try to keep our rests to the space between the days, but rest when necessary. Then we are safe until sometime in the summer, when we have a Hot Christmas.
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 |
The Amazing Stickie is fond of kettle bells because their shape creates opportunities to challenge her muscles in different ways. Today, she is doing the kettlebell bottom up press. She begins holding a kettlebell with the handle underneath and the weighty part pointing up at her shoulder. Then, keeping the heavy part up, she presses the kettlebell overhead. (Of course she keeps her shoulder blades down and against her ribcage the whole time!) She lowers the kettlebell back to the starting position to complete the rep. Five reps on a side is a good number to start with.
Exercising when it is cold can be a challenge. Heck, getting out of bed when it’s cold can be a challenge. However, I have some ideas to share about how to deal with freezing fitness.
First of all, we need layers. Maybe lots of them. I was slow to adapt to the whole purpose-built fitness clothes thing, but the fabrics are worth it for the way they breathe. We stay warm, the sweat “wicks” away, and we don’t end up dragging a fifty pound soggy t-shirt over our head at the end when it’s time to shower. (I personally run hot these days, so I’m kind of minimalist on the layers and I take them off pretty soon, but I understand that I am at one end of the spectrum.) Hats, gloves, and warm socks can make a huge difference, as can a layer that stops the wind/rain/weather from attacking us.
Second, we need to take a little longer on the warmups. I hate warmups. I want to get to work. But they’re useful, especially when it is cold. Our muscles need a chance to get used to moving. Do a gentle cardio warmup and then some stretching before the real deal.
Finally, even though it is cold, we need to stay hydrated. Drink that water.
Now go play.
