Monday Workout: Lunge Jumps!

It has been a while since we did lunge jumps.  No time like the present!  Three rounds.

 

lunge jumps	30
renegade rows	20
curls	10
woodchoppers	30
skullcrushers	20
pushups	10
squat to leg lift	30
deadlift/good morning	20
Russian twist	10

 

Workout: All the Fun!

We’ve got all kinds of fun today.  Some balance work, some rotation, and some plain old compound exercises.  Three rounds.

 

step ups	30
flies	20
pushups	10
squat raise	30
bench press	20
overhead press	10
lunge twist	30
1 leg squat	20
brains	10

 

Summer Vacation

Welcome to summer!  For my summer “vacation” this year, I will not be posting my usual four times per week.  I will continue to post the Monday workout, so as not to leave anybody without a workout to do (that would be terrible!).  My goal for myself is to rest, refresh, and learn some new stuff so that when I return to regular blogging in the fall I will have good things to say!

See y’all in the fall.

 

(I AM still working, so if anybody needs training or Pilates, y’all can still hit me up!)

Monday Workout: Knee Friendly

This is a great workout for those of us whose knees are not always friendly.  Three rounds.

 

kb swings	30
kb twist	20
kb 8s	10
step touch	30
rows	20
reverse fly	10
woodchoppers	30
kickbacks	20
scissor legs	10

Thursday List: Joy Bringers

 

Other ways to bring joy to workouts:

 

1.     Do something silly.  Never tried Zumba?  How about tai chi?  Laser tag?

2.     Do something new.  A new hike, a new bike, a new adventure!

3.     Do it with friends.  But make sure it’s not all chat and no moving!

4.     Do it loud.  Music helps.  Really.

5.     Do it.  Yep, sex counts.

Not Just Blah Blah Lift Lift Run Run

I have more to say about joy and working out.  Sure, on some level, we just have to get our workouts done.  Blah blah lift lift run run, right?

But really, when we work out, we are giving ourselves a gift.  The time we spend working out is invested in improving our quality of life, and often in increasing our quantity of life.  We work because life is good and we like it and we want to feel good in it.  We work out of love.

 

That’s great as far as it goes.  I love a high-level perspective.  But then I’m looking at the burpees and lunges I have planned and maybe I’m not feeling the love.

 

There are two ways to deal with this.  One is:  skip the damn burpees.  There are very few exercises that we actually have to do.  We can work our muscles some other way.  The other is:  get them done quick and get on to what we want to be doing.  Think of the exercises we don’t like but need to do as vitamins or vaccinations or something slightly unpleasant that saves us from something truly unpleasant.

 

Look for the joy.

Should

I am as apt as anyone to get stuck in the shoulds.  We are surrounded by responsibilities and tasks.  Fitness so often gets shoved in with all the other stuff we’re supposed to do.  But what if we approached it a different way?

What if workouts were fun?  What if we found joy in what we did with our bodies?

 

Humans need to play.  All humans.  Not just the young ones.  Our brains and our bodies work better when we give them things they like to do.

 

Here’s how this could work.  Instead of thinking “I need to get 30 minutes of cardio exercise today,” I could think “I get to walk and see what’s blooming in my neighbors’ yards” or “I get to play pickleball with my friends” or “I get to swim today!”

 

Instead of “I have to lift weights today,” I could think “I wonder how many different pieces of equipment I can use in my workout today” or “I bet I can lift more than last time” or “If I finish by this time, I can give myself a prize!”

 

Try it!