When the Amazing Stickie wants the benefits of plyometrics plus some extra ab work, she chooses to do plank jacks.
She begins in the classic plank position, her hands directly under her shoulders and her body a straight line from the top of her head to her ankles. Then, keeping that straight line, she jumps her feet apart and then back together. That is one rep.
Try a set of thirty.
Go play.
Sometimes our workout equipment needs to be reminded that we love it. Here are a couple of things to think about:
Inflating the stability ball: If it’s getting a little squishy, it’s time to get out the foot pump and add air. Bonus points: stomping on that thing counts as part of the workout!
Lubricating the cardio stuff: It depends on what kind of equipment we’re talking about here, but most stuff with moving parts needs some lube from time to time. This might mean the pedals of an elliptical or the wheel of a stationary bike or the chain of a real bike.
Checking for wear: Things that have straps or springs or chains may need an eye cast over them. We need to replace frayed or stretched or rusty bits before they break, just to be safe.
Cleaning: Of course we wipe down the sweaty bits every time we work out, right? That’s just good manners. But dusting the weight rack, wiping down the weights, sweeping and vacuuming the floor are all important things to do, too.
Go play.
Captain Obvious here: not all our fitness comes from actual workouts. Here are some things that count toward fitness:
Moving. It’s a little extreme to decide to go live somewhere else just for the fitness benefits, but all that packing and schlepping of boxes does in fact make us stronger. This item is here to alleviate any guilt anyone might have for missing workouts during a move: you are doing enough.
Gardening. OK, not the kind where you sit in the shade and pull a weed every once in a while and you drink a lot of lemonade (although it does sound fun). The kind where you need to mix a bunch of compost and vermiculite into your garden beds, rake up a bunch of debris, or lug a bunch of 5-gallon plants to their new locations.
Housework. Again, not the light swishes of a feather duster. More the heave-the-vacuum-up-the-stairs sort of housework, or the kind where all of a sudden there are fifty seven things in the wrong place and you need to run all over the place putting them where they belong because company is coming and God forbid they see you make messes sometimes.
Shopping. That twenty pound bag of dog food counts as weight lifting. Ditto the bulk rice, the cases of fizzy water, and the twenty cans of on-sale soup. Depending on where you’re shopping, you may also have to walk miles and miles (looking at you, Costco).
Pro tip: if you get sweaty and/or breathless, it counts as exercise.
Go play.
This week we’re doing asymmetric work and balance work. And burpees because it’s time. Three rounds.
leg kicks | 30 |
Arnold press | 20 |
burpees | 10 |
| |
split squat pulldown | 30 |
1 leg deadlift | 20 |
1 leg squat | 10 |
| |
oblique knee-ups | 30 |
(lunge to) twist | 20 |
femur arcs | 10 |
The Amazing Stickie loves plyometric exercises. (Those of us who have knee issues may not. If this hurts, don’t do it.) Today she is practicing depth jumps. There are multiple ways of doing this exercise, but this time Stickie is focusing on a simple version.
She begins standing on a sturdy step, box, or bench. She steps down to the ground and immediately jumps up into the air as high as she can. Then she gets back up on the box and does it again. She likes to do sets of thirty, but we can choose how many we want to try.
Go play.
One reason I love working with new people is that it makes everything fresh again. (It’s not just that new people haven’t gotten entirely fed up with my jokes yet.) I get to see my exercise repertoire through their new eyes and in the context of a unique body.
In our workouts, we want a balance between what we are used to (our own bodies and their lovable or deplorable quirks, our tolerances and preferences, our comfortable sense of where we are in space) and what is new (a different exercise! Hey! I’m stronger now! What do you mean I need to improve my alignment now that I have a clue what I’m doing?).
We work from what we know to what we don’t know. We use the endurance we build to try harder things. We use the strength we create to move more efficiently. We use the character we develop to tackle workout (or life) challenges.
I learn when my clients learn. It’s a beautiful thing.
Last month I took a couple of trips to a higher altitude, one to go skiing and one to visit my son and daughter in law. I’m noticing that as I get older, the altitude affects me more. Here’s how to deal with it while working out:
Slow down. The upside of feeling the altitude is that our heart rates increase all by themselves. This means we don’t need to work out as hard to get cardio benefits. The downside is that we may have to take more breaks or longer rests to get our heart rates back down.
Hydrate. This is always a good idea, but at altitude it’s particularly important because it can help alleviate the headaches that come along with height.
Remember to breathe. Again, this is always essential, but more so at altitude. It’s good to do breathwork before going to altitude so that we already know how to focus on the breath, but even a few conscious, deep breaths can make a difference.
Go play.
