Speed

Taking tai chi class has, as expected, given me new things to think about.  One of those things is tempo.

I have, basically, two speeds:  full on and total stop.  Naturally, this makes tai chi with its deliberate pace something of a challenge for me.  That’s a polite way to say it’s flipping hard.  My brain feels like it has to hurry through the moves lest I get left behind.  It doesn’t understand that no one is actually going to be leaving the park until class is over.

 

I know I am not the only one who hurries when I’m doing something hard.  My clients do it, too.  For some things, getting through quickly is good.  But maybe, just maybe, if we all slow down a little, we can learn something different.

 

Maybe slowing down will let us be more precise in our movements.  Maybe we can realize that we’re feeling an exercise more in one part than another.  Maybe, as we breathe, we can come to a new understanding of what we’re doing and it might make us have more compassion toward our bodies.

 

Maybe not.  But it’s worth a try.

Monday Workout: Differently!

This week we’re doing my second-favorite kettlebell set because I like to do things differently sometimes!  Three rounds.

 

jacks	30
deadlifts	20
1 leg squat	10
kb alternate arm swings	30
kb hammer curls	20
kb pushups	10
mountain climbers	30
renegade rows	20
V sit press	10

The Amazing Stickie and Pushup Renegade Rows

When the Amazing Stickie gets bored with plain old pushups or plain old renegade rows, she mixes things up by combining them!

 

She begins in plank position, her hands on dumbbells directly below her shoulders.  She lowers herself to the ground by bending her elbows, keeping her elbows in close to her body.  Then she straightens her elbows to return her to plank.  From there, she rows one arm up off the ground and replaces it.  That is one rep.  She repeats the pushup and then rows with the other arm.

 

Sets of ten are a good place to start. 

Hard

There is a difference between playing hard and playing well.  I care way more about one than the other, both for myself and for my clients.  Here’s why.

When we play hard, we are fully present.  We are investing in what we are doing.  We’re giving our best effort, even if that effort does not result in certain objective measures of success.

 

Playing well can come from playing hard, but it isn’t a given.  Some of us have more natural talent for things like tennis or swimming or skiing or football.  Some of us, no matter how hard we try, are never going to be graceful dancers or accurate basketball shooters.

 

People who play hard do tend to improve because they are focused, but they also, at some level, keep in mind that what is happening is play.  We need to take things both seriously and lightly, to strive to improve but to enjoy what we’re doing even while we suck at it.

 

Happiness comes from playing hard.

Over and over, but anew

I am a Pilates instructor, but I’m also a person with a personal Pilates practice.  I have my favorite exercises, the ones that I need to work on, and the ones that are good for me even when I don’t enjoy them.

To avoid settling into too much of a Pilates rut, I try to ensure that I cycle semi-regularly through the entire repertoire.  None of the exercises, at this point, will feel totally new to me, but every time I cycle through, I do manage to have little epiphanies.

 

There are the good kinds of realiziations, like when I notice that I’m stronger, or that something that used to be hard is just a little challenging.  There are the moments when I figure out another benefit of an exercise, or how it relates to another exercise, or how to modify something for myself or for my clients.

 

There are the less-good realizations.  Things like noticing that my lumbar spine really doesn’t want to flex and that is that.  I see the correlations between days when I sit too much and how my hips feel in motion the next day.  I remember that I really really really have to do flexibility work every day lest I become about as malleable as a brick.

 

What I love is that my attention to the same old exercises teaches me new things, over and over.

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: Ring my Bell

It’s a great day for kettlebells!  Three rounds.

 

kb swings	30
kb twists	20
kb 8s	10
squat raise	30
bench press	20
curls	10
woodchoppers	30
rows	20
brains	10

The Amazing Stickie and Lunge to Curl to Overhead Press

As we all know, the Amazing Stickie doesn’t like to waste time.  When she needs to get in and out of the gym quickly, she chooses compound exercises like lunge to curl to overhead press.

She chooses the weight for this exercise based on what she uses for overhead presses because if she chooses based on what she uses for curls, she won’t be able to complete as many reps with good form.

 

To begin, she stands with good posture, holding the dumbbells at her sides.  She lunges forward on one leg making sure to keep her torso over her hips.  Then she curls the weights up to her shoulders.  She then raises the weights overhead.  As she lowers the weights back down to her sides, she also steps back to her starting position.  Then she repeats on the other side.

 

Sets of thirty are good.