Fear, Scars, Tools

Recently I listened to a webinar about fascia (which was fascia-nating, natch!).  One of the presenters made the comment that scars keep growing.  I don’t think she meant it literally, although that’s possible.  It made me think.

Injuries are troublesome.  They keep us from doing the stuff we want to do.  But even after they’re physically healed, they can keep affecting what we do.  Some of that has to do with scars and scar tissue.  We are not going to be exactly the same.  But a lot of it has to do with how our brains have changed.

 

We’re a little more anxious after an injury.  We hesitate.  We overthink movements that used to be smooth and unconscious.  We keep the injury alive in our heads long after it is gone from the body.

 

Fear is a tool that helps keep us safe.  It also can hold us back unnecessarily.  We need to remember that we are in charge of our tools.  We can choose when to use our fear to keep us safe and when to discard it to move freely.

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: Weight Bearing

The last set in this workout is all weight-bearing on the arms.  If that is not appropriate, sub regular jacks or regular rows for one or both of the first two exercises.  Three rounds.

 

kb alternate arm swing	30
kb bottom up press	20
kb halo	10
split squat pulldown	30
bench press	20
lateral raise	10
plank jacks	30
renegade row	20
plank	10

The Amazing Stickie and Book Opening

The Amazing Stickie enjoys twists, and not just in plots!  Today she is working on Pilates by doing book opening (see what I did there?).

She begins lying on her side with her arms stretched in front of her at shoulder level and her knees bent.  As she inhales, she lifts the top arm and arcs it over her body until it is resting on the ground.  Her lower body, however, stays still.  The end position looks like her top half is lying on her back and her bottom half is lying on her side.  Then she exhales and brings herself back to the starting position.  She usually does four or five repetitions on each side.

 

A variation of this exercise is called Around the World.  From the starting position, Stickie circles her upper arm up over her head along the floor, through the end position of the basic exercise and then down toward her feet before coming back to the start position.  As she moves her arm, she moves her head to keep her hand in view, which entails raising it off the floor as she gets to the part where her arm moves toward her feet.  The whole time, her knees stay pressed together and still.  She does two to four reps on a side.

Look! A Pretty Picture, Too!

Today I’m going to keep it simple.  If you can, when you read this, stand up and stretch for a minute.  Take a couple of deep breaths.

Feel better?  I hope so!

Go Play

I feel like I talk a lot about how good it is to try new things in fitness.  It’s also good to let old things go when they don’t serve us anymore.

I’m probably thinking about this because I’ve recently been doing my spring cleaning (yes, I know it isn’t spring, but fall cleaning doesn’t have the same ring).  I’ve been purging worn-out clothes and weird coffee mugs, craft projects that didn’t exactly succeed, kitchen gadgets I don’t like, and all kinds of other stuff.  Except books.  The books stay.  But I digress.

 

Sometimes our old fitness patterns wear out.  We find that we don’t like lifting heavy anymore and want something that focuses on endurance, or balance.  Maybe we want to dance instead.  Or maybe we loved taking ballet for years, but we find that we don’t love it now the way we used to.  It is all right to stop doing things.  Yes, even if you bought a bunch of expensive stuff to do it with.  Sell it or give it away and move on to what gives you joy.

 

Carrying the weight of guilt or of expectations does not build fitness.  It just makes us tired.

 

Go play.  At whatever you want.

Monday Workout: Sneaky

There are some sneaky core exercises in this one.  Guess where they’re hiding!  Three rounds.

 

jacks	30
flies	20
YTA	10
squat raise	30
curls	20
truck driver	10
clean and press	30
1 leg squat	20
V sit press	10

The Amazing Stickie and Dart

Today the Amazing Stickie is working on Pilates by doing dart.  This is a spinal extension exercise, so it makes her feel good.

She begins by lying on her belly with her arms down by her side.  She inhales and peels her upper body up off the floor segment by segment while lifting her arms behind her as if she were trying to touch her toes.  Then she exhales back to the starting position.  After a couple of reps like that, she inhales to the top position and then pumps her hands up and down with her arms straight a few times before lowering back to start.

 

She does as many reps as feel good.