We’ve got a short circuit this week. Use your favorite cardio for the minute (I use my spin bike, but jacks or jump rope or running in place or whatever gets your heart rate up is fine!). Four rounds.
1 minute cardio | |
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woodchoppers | 30 |
flies | 20 |
burpees | 10 |
opposite knees | 30 |
lateral raise | 10 |
brains | 10 |
More ways to get efficient!
1. Do balance work. This can be as simple as swapping single leg squats for regular ones, or doing regular squats on a bosu. Same time, more benefits!
2. Use the free weights. Machines are great for some purposes, but when we choose free weights, we automatically add stability and coordination to the benefits we are getting from our lifting. (Be safe, though. Spotters are useful!)
3. Use microwave time. Sure, we could just stand there while we wait for our ramen or our coffee, but a minute is a great amount of time to use for pushups or squats or even just standing on one foot for balance practice.
Yesterday I wrote about the kind of efficiency that comes from doing a bunch of stuff at once. There is also an efficiency that comes from doing one thing at a time. This is what I love about Pilates.
When we do Pilates, we are focusing in on what we are doing. We move on purpose, in coordination with our breath. We think about the movement. That level of thought puts us in touch with the mind body connection.
With attention, we are able to refine our movements. We learn where we need to work a little more and where we need to ease up a bit. We discover flow.
Then, when we go back to our other workouts, we find that our bodies move better.
I love efficiency. I love tools that can do lots of different things and activities that tick multiple boxes at the same time. This is why I’m always looking for ways to get the most out of my exercise time.
One of my favorite exercise efficiency tools is the compound exercise. When we use lots of muscles and joints at the same time, we burn more calories, improve our stability, train our coordination, and just get done sooner.
Similarly, I love circuits because not only do we get in our weight training, but we also pack in some cardio at the same time. For even more bonus points, we are, by design, doing that cardio in intense intervals, the most efficient way to build our cardio capability.
Other ways to add value to the time we are spending exercising include adding a social element (classes, exercise buddy) and taking it outside (fresh air, nature!).
Go play.
We are working in multiple planes this week, which is good for balance. Three rounds.
squat raise | 30 |
lunge twist | 20 |
YTA | 10 |
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kb alt arm swing | 30 |
kb hammer curl | 30 |
kb halo | 10 |
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step ups | 30 |
1 leg deadlift | 20 |
femur arcs | 10 |
I asked y’all for your favorite proactive practices (a.k.a. things that We Now can do for We in the Future) yesterday. Here are mine:
1. Make a workout plan for the week. This can be as simple as knowing that weight days are Tuesdays and Thursdays and Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are for cardio, with yoga on Saturday and Sunday for rest. Or you can get fancy and make a spreadsheet that lists exactly what you’re planning to do each day down to exercises, weights, and reps.
2. Pack the bag. Or repack it. What we need in that bag varies by activity, but stocking the stuff we need before we need it is just smart. That way we don’t get caught without our emergency snack or our goggles or that extra shirt we like.
3. Put out the clothes. This is a variation on packing the bag for those of us who roll straight from bed to workout. If the clothes are right there, we can get dressed and going before we’re awake enough to think of excuses.
4. Put out the water bottle. Heck, if you’ve got an insulated one or you like your water at room temperature, you can fill it ahead of time. Cold-water lovers can prep the water and leave it in the fridge, but personally, I forget stuff I can’t see, so I do better filling at the last minute with cold water and ice.
5. Choose the music. That might sound silly, but I can spend forever scrolling through playlists to find the right one. If I choose ahead of time, I don’t stand there wasting time; I just get to work.
One of my favorite quotes from my homie Ralph Waldo Emerson is this one: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” So I’m now going to say something that, on the surface, contradicts what I said yesterday about how we need change to thrive. We also need habits.
When we are doing hard things, like working out, it helps if we make the process easy on ourselves by reducing the load elsewhere. Routine is really good for this. It’s a lot easier to work out if my gear is right there when I roll out of bed, I know what I’m going to have for breakfast, and I have a workout plan. We can prep all those things ahead of time so that we don’t have a bunch of excuses about why we can’t go, or so that we get there smoothly with all the right stuff. Then we have enough spoons left to do the actual workout.
What is your favorite thing that You Now can do for You In The Future?
