Monday, April 29, 2024

Monday Workout: Short and Different!






End of the month means time for a shorter circuit just to wake up our bodies with something different.  Four rounds!

 

1 min cardio

 

 

 

mountain climbers

30

lunge twist

20

1 leg squat

10

kb swing

30

renegade row

20

chest lift

10

 

Thursday, April 25, 2024

The Amazing Stickie and Medicine Ball Chest Pass






Today the Amazing Stickie is working with medicine balls again.  This exercise can be done alone or with a partner.  When Stickie does it by herself, she thinks of the part where she goes to fetch the ball as part of the work, but having a friend does make it easier.  Either way, she begins standing in good posture, holding the medicine ball at her chest with her elbows a little out to the side.  Using her arms, she thrusts the ball forward and tosses it away from her.  Sets of 10 are good.

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Substitute!






Sometimes the person we are when we plan our workouts is not the person we are when it comes time to do the workouts.  This can happen for any number of reasons (alien invasion, cranky baby, sore hammies…).  Why it happens is not that important.  Having a backup plan is, however, helpful.

I was recently reading a habit blog that suggested making a list of things that make us feel good for those times when we need to be reminded of how to feel good.  I am shamelessly stealing the concept and applying it to our workouts.  We need to make a list of exercises or a list of workouts that make us feel good.

 

In practice, this might mean that when we look at our planned workout, see that there are burpees, and think we might die right then, we choose, instead, to substitute an exercise we like for the burpees, like maybe flies.  Another way this could work is that we could look at our planned weight workout, recognize that we’re sore already, and choose some restorative Pilates instead.  We can all adapt.  We just have to remember to plan for it!

 

Go play.

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

When it hurts...






We all overdo ourselves from time to time.  Maybe we were on vacation and we were hiking and it turned out to be more strenuous than we expected.  Maybe we were trying to impress that cute person in the gym and we lifted more than was good for us.  Maybe it was just one of those days.  Now everything hurts.  What do we do?

First, we need to decide if we’re sore or actually injured.  If we think we might have an injury, we want to seek qualified medical advice.  (I am not a doctor, a physical therapist, or anything like it, so I do not diagnose or prescribe treatment; get real help when needed!)

 

If we’re just really darn sore, I can make some suggestions that might help.  Pain, while useful in keeping us from doing too many dumb things, is not a fun thing to experience.

 

Take ibuprofen or your favorite OTC pain reliever as appropriate.  This is not being wimpy.  Pain relief is a good thing.  We are nicer when we don’t hurt.

 

Use ice or heat.  Ice is particularly good for anything that feels inflamed or swollen.  Heat soothes when things feel tense.  Bonus points for heat in the form of a soak in Epsom salts, which will add to the soothing.

 

Move a little.  This one may sound counterintuitive.  We got this way from moving too much!  But a little gentle movement really will help the body heal by keeping everything from stiffening up.

 

Rest.  Duh.  We need to stop doing what made us sore until we feel better.  A good night of sleep or two will also help.

Monday, April 22, 2024

Monday Workout: Compound






We’re all about the compound exercises this week to build our metabolisms and challenge our bodies.  Three rounds.

 

plank jacks

30

lunge to curl

20

Arnold press

10

 

 

sumo squat to high pull

30

flies

20

1 leg deadlift

10

 

 

leg kicks

30

bench press

20

pretty princess

10

 

Thursday, April 18, 2024

The Amazing Stickie and Medicine Ball Soccer Throw






The Amazing Stickie loves to play with medicine balls.  Today she’s doing medicine ball soccer throws.  (She’s demonstrating doing it by herself, which means that after each throw, she has to walk and pick up the ball to do the next throw.  She could also do this with a friend and they could toss the ball to each other.)  She begins standing with good posture holding the medicine ball behind her head.  Maintaining good posture, she lifts the ball over her head and tosses it in front of her.  Sets of 10 are good.

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Injury Prevention, part 2






Yesterday we discussed in-workout strategies for injury prevention.  Today we’ll look at general lifestyle choices that help.

The first big thing to do to prevent injury is to get enough sleep.  Tired people make mistakes and workout mistakes make injuries.  Getting enough sleep can be a challenge in our all-hustle-all-the-time culture, but please, let’s fight the dominant paradigm enough to get our rest.  It’s worth it.

 

Another basic choice for injury prevention is proper nutrition.  When we don’t have the nutrients we need to build our bodies or to run our cellular processes, we are less resilient, more likely to get hurt, and more likely to take a long time to heal.  Our bodies can only run so long on caffeine and sugar.  Throw the cells a vegetable now and then, please.

 

Another thing we can do to help keep ourselves injury free is to reduce our overall muscle tension.  The cheap way to do that is to spend quality time with a foam roller or tune-up balls.  The luxurious way is to make massage a habit.  The time and money we spend on relaxing are investments in our wellbeing.

 

So:  sleep, eat, relax.