For the Brain

It’s not a secret that I think exercise is good for our wellbeing.  Healthy bodies make life better.  But exercising is also helpful for our brains.

Interestingly, I find that this works in two opposite ways.  One of those ways is that exercise, especially cardio, allows us to zone out.  The rhythm of walking or swimming or biking or running produces an almost meditative effect on our little monkey minds.  Our thoughts (assuming that what we’re doing does not end up focusing on “OW!”) can wander around and we don’t get attached to them.

 

The other way is that exercise can compel us to focus on just one thing:  what we are doing.  This tends to happen when we’re doing something less familiar or something where a lot of things have to come together to make the motion work.  All our worries about the past and all our compulsive plans for the future fall away leaving us with just where our bodies are in space right this minute.  We have to be present.

 

Both of these can leave us, after our workout is done, feeling more creative and sharp.

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: Various Core

This week we have exercises that challenge our core in various ways.  Three rounds.

 

jacks	30
bench press	20
lateral raise	10
sumo squat to high pull	30
flies	20
renegade row	10
1 arm clean and press	30
curls	20
plank up down	10

 

The Amazing Stickie and Frog Reverse Hyperextension

The Amazing Stickie loves different ways to work her body.  Today she is doing the frog reverse hyperextension on the bench.

To begin, she puts her torso on a bench, holding on with her hands, knees bent and feet together hanging off the end.  Then she extends her legs straight back behind her until she is a straight line from head to heels.  She lowers back to the starting postion to complete the repetition.  Sets of five are good.

Neutrality not Stillness

Recently I was watching a webinar about Pilates topics.  Most of it was not super engaging, to be honest, but one concept in particular stood out:  neutral, in our bodies, is dynamic.

I think that most of us conceive of neutral in our bodies kind of like that poor guy in the Operation game, except standing up.  We’re still, arms at our sides, facing front.  That’s just not real.

 

Our bodies are constantly moving.  Don’t believe me?  A hand on our chest or belly while we inhale and exhale should convince us.  Our outsides may be relatively still, but inside all kinds of stuff is rushing around:  blood, food, air, lymph, nerve impulses.

 

Neutral, in this context, is a place of rest amid the busyness.  Neutral is where we don’t have to do a bunch of work to hold some arbitrary position.  To paraphrase Anne Morrow Lindbergh, we need to find our still axis within the revolving wheel of our movements.

 

This is where we breathe and come home to ourselves.

Burn(out), Baby...

Burnout is real.  The Mayo Clinic talks about signs of job burnout here.  But we get it in exercise, too.  When we find our workouts end up giving us less overall energy, when we stop making progress, when everything hurts, when we can’t sleep well or recover well, we might be looking at a burnout situation.

Usual disclaimers here:  I am not a doctor, physical therapist, psychiatrist, psychologist, or nutritionist.  Those are useful professionals to consult.  My specialty is exercise.

 

The first thing we want to do when we suspect burnout is to stop.  Yes, I know this is very very hard.  We have real pressures to keep going.  There are a couple of ways to address those pressures.  One is to be countercultural by remembering that we are valuable intrinsically, not just because of what we do or accomplish.  Another is to Jedi mind-trick ourselves by remembering that taking a break now will improve our overall productivity.  Maybe we use both?

 

How long we stop will depend.  We need to take a moment or two, while we’re not doing All the Things to take stock of the situation.  Here are a few questions to ask:

 

Am I eating foods that are good for me?  In appropriate quantities?

Am I getting enough sleep?

Am I having any fun?

What is important to me?

 

The answers to those questions might reveal some interesting pathways to get out of the burnout hole.  We can’t get anywhere without decent fuel.  We require rest.  Not everything has to be difficult and painful and unpleasant.  Some things that we do might not be in line with what we really want.

 

We only get one life.  Let’s do our best with it.

Monday Workout: Coordination and Control

We’re working on coordination and control today!  Three rounds.

 

woodchoppers	30
kickbacks	20
Arnold press	10
kb swings	30
kb twists	20
kb 8s	10
squat heel lift	30
underhand bent over row	20
windscreen wiper	10

The Amazing Stickie and Dumbbell Knee Banded Hip Thrust

Sometimes the Amazing Stickie wants to use All The Things.  Today she’s doing dumbbell knee-banded hip thrusts, for which she needs a bench, a dumbbell, and an exercise band.

She secures the exercise band around her thighs just above her knees.  She holds a dumbbell by the ends with both hands at her waist.  She sits on the floor next to the side of a bench with her shoulder blades against the bench.  From there, she lifts her hips until she herself is bench-shaped, keeping the exercise band taut around her legs.  Then she lowers back toward the floor without actually putting her behind down on the floor.  A set of ten is good.