Reflect: Cardio 1

News flash from Captain Obvious:  it’s December and that means we’re coming up on the end of the year.  That means we have an opportunity to reflect on where we are and what we’ve done over the last year and maybe also an opportunity to choose some gifts for ourselves for 2026.  Over the course of the month, I’ll talk about a bunch of different things we might want to evaluate and celebrate.  This first week, I’m going to talk about cardio.

Cardio exercise is not the main focus of my work with my clients for the very good reason that it’s dumb to pay me to watch cardio.  Of course, the kind of workouts I design do get people’s heart rates up and clients will be getting some cardio intervals built in to their weight workout.  It’s just not the main goal.

 

Ideally, the time my clients spend with me working out is not the entirety of their workout time.  I sincerely hope they are getting in some cardio and maybe more weights when they’re on their own.

 

Cardio fitness is one of the things that first pops into mind when folks think about what being fit means to them.  We all know what it’s like to get to the top of a long hill feeling out of breath and unclear on our reason for continuing to live and it’s not a good feeling.  We all like to feel like our hearts and lungs are up to whatever it is we have in mind.

 

There are actual assessments of cardio fitness.  (If you want one, let’s talk.)  But most of us know when we’re at the level we’d like to be.  Take a minute or two and think:  are you where you want to be?

 

If so:  good on you.  If not, I have some suggestions tomorrow.

Monday Workout: Flexible

This workout is a flexible one.  Folks who want more challenge can add the back lunge to the step ups or swap renegade rows for the regular ones.  If jumping is not appropriate, folks can still get their rotational work done with curtsies.  And plain lateral raises are always available for those who don’t want to be on hands and knees.  Whatever folks choose, aim for three rounds.

 

step ups	30
rows	20
kickbacks	10
suitcase swings	30
bench press	20
quadruped lateral raise	10
skater jump/curtsy	30
flies	20
pretty princesses	10

 

Thursday List: 5

Things I am grateful for, for real.

 

1.     Awesome family and friends.

2.     Eggs.

3.     Murder mysteries.

4.     Cardio exercise, especially spin and swimming.

5.     Sweaters.

 

Obviously not an exhaustive list.  What’s on yours?

Gratitude 2

I have a Secret Weapon that helps with gratitude practice.  I learned it from the amazing and talented Bronwyn Emery of Live. Write. Be.

(This is a plug for Bronwyn and her coaching services.  She is an awesome and talented person with a gift for drawing good work out of people who write.  Check out what she has to offer here.)

 

If gratitude practice in the classical sense doesn’t work, may I recommend What Went Well and Why.  Here’s how it works.  Every day, you notice three things that went well and you write them down and then you also write down why they went well.  The trick is that you have to say what you did to make that thing go well.

 

Let me give an example.  Let’s say you notice that you had a fabulous workout.  That went well.  When it comes to why, you don’t get to say it was because your trainer is amazing.  You need to look at what you did and maybe you’ll write that it went well because you actually showed up instead of crawling back in bed or because you have finally figured out how to breathe and do pushups at the same time or because you didn’t let how mad you were at your boss derail you, but in fact used the rage as power.

 

What I like about this practice is that not only does it train us to notice the good stuff like gratitude does, but it also builds a sense of agency in us.  Things went well and it wasn’t all blind luck or other people being fabulous, but rather because we did stuff.

 

Try it!

Gratitude 1

For Reasons, I tend to resist gratitude practice.

By Reasons, I mean that gratitude practice doesn’t play particularly well with my depression.  The Monster gets gleeful when I look around at my life and all the many blessings I have because he gets to point out that I have all that and I am still a depressive and that’s just messed up on a whole different level.  I mention this in case anybody else has a similar Monster.

 

My experience notwithstanding, there is research that says that practicing gratitude is good for us.

 

In point of fact, even I benefit from it at the times when the Monster is under the bed or wherever he goes when he’s not actively sitting on my chest.

 

It doesn’t have to be complicated.  I can be grateful that there are dogs sleeping under the tables on the patio at the café where I like to write blog posts, or that there is a moon in the sky when I get up in the dark, or that it is not actually possible to stab annoying people through my computer screen when they say irritating things in Zoom meetings.  There aren’t rules, really.  I can be snarky and grateful at the same time!

 

The point of the practice is that we notice.  We have, evolutionarily, a negativity bias.  Times being what they are, it is not surprising that many of us conclude that everything is terrible.

 

That might even be mostly true.  But, again, there is sunlight on raindrops and hot cocoa and the sound of little kids laughing.

 

Let it transform us.

Monday Workout: Distraction

There is a fair amount of weight-bearing on the arms in this workout.  That’s all right:  the hamstring curls will distract us.  (Or, as always, we can choose to modify.  We are adults and can make our own good decisions.)  The short circuit means—you guessed it—four rounds.

 

1 min cardio
mountain climbers	30
renegade row	20
hamstring curls	10
burpees	10
flies	20
plank to pike	10

 

Thursday List: 3

Experiments to try:

 

1.     Eat a new food.  This can be as simple as trying a veggie you’ve never had or as complicated as taking a trip to the library to check out a cookbook for some kind of cuisine that is new to you.

2.     Have a movement snack.  You know that time in the afternoon when you think about having a cookie or another cup of coffee just to get through whatever the afternoon holds?  Try taking a five minute walk, or doing a minute of squats, or a few stretches instead.

3.     Turn off the extras.  This one can be hard.  Instead of jumping on the treadmill or bike or elliptical or whatever and plugging in to the music or TV, just go.  Even better, take the workout outside and do it without the distractions.  You might learn stuff about the content of your head or about how your body works or other things I haven’t thought of yet.