Uncle Joe, Noted Efficiency Expert

Somehow, efficiency has gotten a bad rap.  I mean, who doesn’t want to get the work stuff done quickly and then get on to the fun stuff?  (Hint:  it’s our broken system in which finishing tasks quickly wins us… more tasks.  But I digress.)

In fitness, there are two kinds of efficiency we want to pay attention to, because they do in fact make the work get done better so we can do fun stuff.  The first one is structural efficiency.  Structural efficiency is kind of an elaborate description of alignment.  If we begin our motion from an aligned place, everything goes better.  Specifically, we want our basic standing position to have our ears aligned over our shoulders, which should be aligned over our hips, which should be aligned over our knees, which should be aligned over our feet.  Nothing should be twisty or tilted.

 

Functional efficiency is the efficiency of movement.  It is recruiting the right muscles at the right time with the right degree of force for the task at hand.  We don’t want to waste energy swatting a fly with the kind of effort we’d use to hit a home run.  Nor do we want to struggle to move the couch because we can’t get our legs to cooperate.

 

There are many ways to build our structural and functional efficiencies.  One of the best and most fun ways is through Pilates.  Uncle Joe has lots of tricks to teach us about aligning ourselves and portioning out our power in appropriate doses.

 

Want to try?  Hit me up!

Monday Workout: All The Things

This week we’re doing a fair amount of overhead work, plus a little balance and twisting.  Three rounds.

 

push press	30
rows	20
1 leg deadlift	10
leg kicks	30
skullcrushers	20
kb bottom up press	10
reverse lunge twist	30
bench press	20
pretty princesses	10

 

The Amazing Stickie and Roll Up

Today the Amazing Stickie is working on her spinal articulation.  People who have osteopenia and osteoporosis should not do this exercise; Stickie has no actual bones, so this is not a problem for her.

She begins lying on her back with her arms at her sides (beginning with arms overhead is also all right).  She takes a big inhale.  As she exhales, she curls herself up until she is in a sitting position with her back straight and her arms extended in front of her in what she and I like to call Zombie Position.  She takes a big breath in and then as she exhales she curls back down to the starting position.

 

For those of us who find this too difficult, Stickie is also demonstrating the assisted version of the exercise, which begins with the legs in tabletop position.  The extra leverage from the weight of the legs helps us get our spines off the floor.

 

No matter which option we choose, three to five repetitions are enough.

Another really short one!

So if we got up feeling like not working out again this morning, I have bad news:  we need to do it.  Let’s go. 

Might be my shortest post ever!

Sometimes we get up and we just don’t want to work out.  If today is one of those days, it is all right.  We get to have one every once in a while.  Go rest.

Monday Workout: Heavy

I am on vacation this week.  So here is an opportunity to hit the gym and do a heavy workout with a buddy to spot you. 

Here’s how it works.  Begin (after the warm up) with the first pair of exercises.  Choose a weight for each that works for ten reps.  Do a set of ten of each.  Then increase the weight a little for each, reducing the numbers of reps as needed.  Continue to alternate exercises until you can only do a single rep.  Take a longer rest, drink some water, and move on to the next pair (if you have the energy.  It is totally ok to spend half an hour doing squats and bench press to the 1 rep max and then go straight to abs, SMR, and stretching.)  Continue until you run out of energy or time.  Write down the starting and ending weights for each exercise!

 

Basic Heavy Workout
5 minute cardio warm-up
	Start	Finish
squats
bench press
deadlift
flies
lunges
rows
abs
SMR and stretch

The Amazing Stickie and Arm Arcs

The Amazing Stickie likes to ensure that her shoulders function like they should.  She does arm arcs to assist her in keeping them both stable and mobile.

She begins by lying on her back with her knees bent and feet flat on the floor.  (It would also be all right for her to extend her legs long, but it’s usually more comfortable to work with the knees bent.)  She has her arms down by her sides.  For the full length of her inhale, she raises her arms until they are over her head.  Then, for the full length of her exhale, she lowers them back to the starting position.  At first, this seemed like a very slow pace, but now Stickie enjoys it.  She does a set of ten.  Then, to make things more interesting, she puts one arm overhead and one down by her hips to start.  Then she swaps their positions.  Even though her arms are moving in opposite directions, Stickie maintains her shoulder blades in a neutral position on both sides.

 

Sometimes for fun, Stickie does the same exercise lying on a foam roller (roller along her spine) or on an Oov.  It feels extra good and adds more challenge.