Monday Workout: Different!

End of the month means a different kind of workout format!  Do as many rounds as there is time for!

 

Elevated glute bridge	30
reverse lunge to press	40
db floor chest press	40
underhand bent over row	40
squat pop up	10
skater jump	40

The Amazing Stickie and Glute Push-Through with Activation

The Amazing Stickie knows that an exercise doesn’t have to involve tons of movement to be effective.  Today she is doing glute push-through with activation, which is a fairly subtle motion.

She stands with her feet about hip-distance apart and then extends one leg behind her with the ball of the foot on the floor, keeping her knee straight and her hips even.  Then she contracts her glutes to shift her hips forward without changing the position of her feet.  After a set of ten, she switches feet and does it again.

Effects of Strength Training - 15

I don’t know about you all, but I rarely think about how quickly my digestion processes what I eat.  But an efficient trip in and out is generally a good thing.  (I think we also have all, from time to time, wished that our guts would just get ON with it!)

Strength training tends to increase “gastrointestinal transit speed,” which means that we get better at getting what we need out of what we eat and ditching the remainder.  No one wants a bunch of waste piling up.

 

Work out:  go better.

Effects of Strength Training - 14

Strength training helps with our heart health by improving our blood lipid profiles.  Fewer lipids like cholesterol and triglycerides in our blood mean that we have a reduced risk of heart attack.

Pump some iron; dump some lipids.

Monday Workout: Been A While

It’s been a while since we did balance work.  Same goes for the burpees.  We’re fixing that today.  Three rounds.

 

(lunge) punches	30
1 leg deadlift	20
1 leg squat	10
mountain climbers	30
rows	20
burpees	10
suitcase swings	30
kickbacks	20
brains	10

 

The Amazing Stickie and Bear Hold Plank Drag Through

Today the Amazing Stickie is working all kinds of things at once by doing Bear Hold Plank Drag Through.  She begins in a quadruped position with a dumbbell near her right hand.  To begin, she lifts her knees just off the ground and keeps them there throughout the exercise.  Then she reaches her left hand under her torso to grab the dumbbell and drag it over to her left side.  She repeats the exercise, dragging the weight with her right hand.

When learning this exercise, it is all right to put the knees down to rest as often as needed.

 

A set of ten is good.

Effects of Strength Training - 13

So we all know we want low blood pressure, or at the very least to avoid high blood pressure.  Strength training, while we are doing it, raises our blood pressure, but in a temporary way that has a longer term benefit:  it lowers our resting blood pressure.

In short, by temporarily adding stress to our bodies, we teach our bodies to deal with it.  That makes our blood pressure lower over time.