Friday exercise: lateral raise

Today the ever-gorgeous Stickie is demonstrating the lateral raise.  As you might expect from the name, it involves raising dumbbells to the side.  It is a simple exercise, which means it is a great opportunity to pay attention to some form details that are often ignored.

Of course, Stickie begins with good posture.  It is hard to see in the picture, but her abdominals are drawn in and up.  Her ears are lined up over her shoulders, which are lined up over her hips, which are lined up over her ankles.  Her knees are straight but not locked.

When Stickie raises the weights, her arms float up, her wrists stay neutral, and most importantly, her shoulders stay out of her ears.  Shoulders make lousy earrings.  Also, the resulting tension in your traps can cause headaches, among other things.  One way to help keep those shoulders down is to imagine that each arm is a railroad crossing barrier and the shoulder blade on that side is the counterweight.  As the arm rises, the shoulder blade drops down toward the hips, keeping the shoulders where they are supposed to be.

The primary muscles working on this exercise are the deltoids—the ones that make your shoulders look good when you go sleeveless.  They are not big muscles, so you may find that you want to use an unexpectedly light weight.  This is perfectly wonderful because form is always better than big numbers.

Enjoy!

C is for Cookie, and Calculus, and Crunch

When I was in school, math was not my favorite subject.  As I informed my parents, nervously, “C is for Calculus…”  (They did not care.  It turns out that I was the one who cared about my grades.  That one C turned out to be useful.)  I have come to appreciate some of the coolness of math over time, but it will always remain a challenge for me:  my math gear grinds slowly.

I am not at all suggesting some sort of training program in which we have to integrate an equation while lifting heavy objects—that’s crazy talk.  Weight training is about physics more than math!  (Like the two can really be separated…)  This is about the C.

With a C grade, a person can go on to the next level.  The problem is that all that stuff that makes the difference between the C and the A is missing, making the next level harder.  We don’t get out of learning that information; we have to do it in the context of learning what builds on it.

This is extremely relevant to fitness.  We all have our macho moments in which we want to lift that personal record setting weight right now, darn it.  It will get up off the floor or the rack one way or another if we bust a gut doing it.  And we probably will.

In fitness, we need to get an A in form at each step in order to progress safely to the next one.  Not only does this help prevent injury, but it gives authenticity to each success.  No one really wants to brag, “I can bench press x zillion pounds with crappy form.”  Or, “Yeah, I got the y million pounds unracked and lifted once, but then I had to go into physical therapy for a month.”

Fitness is a class in which we all have to get 100%.

No forklifts, at least while your forks are recovering

I am not the boss of the universe.  In general, this is probably all for the best, but sometimes it annoys me.  I get frustrated when there are limits to what I can do at any particular time.  I stomp around and look for that magic wand that clearly should be somewhere.  Then I take a deep breath and get back to work.

Sometimes we can’t do all the fitness things at once.  Injury can keep us from certain kinds of exercise.  A large upcoming challenge in one branch of our fitness training might mean that we have to focus more exclusively on that and let some other kinds of training slide a bit until we are done.

This is all okay.  It challenges yet another kind of fitness, brain fitness, as we seek to improve our agility by juggling our priorities and our flexibility in adapting to whatever priorities come out on top.

Anything we do is better than nothing.  Setbacks and delays happen.  Adapt and come back ready to work when it is appropriate.  And if I find the magic wand, I will be sure to let everyone know.

And there was dynamite, too!

I have a song stuck in my head.  It’s about John Henry.  In case you don’t remember, he is the man/legend who outperformed a steam drill with his hammer.  He won the contest, but the exertion killed him.

We all have our own metaphorical version of the steam drill.  We are going to lift that nice round number weight if it is the last thing we do.  We are going to catch up to that person who always laps us on the track one of these days.  We are not going to let some stupid hill defeat us.

Here’s the thing:  dying doesn’t seem to be a lot of fun.  Injury is definitely not fun.  I love big goals, but let’s take the long view, defeating one mini drill at a time, coping with the soreness, gaining strength, endurance, and power, and then tackling the next drill.

We may not be legends, but we will be happy and healthy, and that’s pretty good.

Friday Exercise: Dead Lift

Today the beautiful Sticky is demonstrating the dead lift.  This is an excellent exercise for the back of the body.  I have drawn her using a barbell, but dumbbells also work.

With the barbell on the floor, bend over and grip the bar.  If you are using a particularly heavy weight, you can make the grip easier by turning one hand over.  Keeping your spine neutral and your knees straight (but not locked!), hinge upward until you are standing erect.  The barbell does nothing:  it is the “dead” part of the dead lift, just hanging there at the end of your arms.

Speaking of arms, ideally you do not let the weight of the barbell pull your shoulders toward the floor (that pesky “keep your humeral heads centered” again!).  You will want to keep your abs engaged throughout the movement to protect your lower back.  Also, only lower as far as you can maintain the neutral spine.  Lower back problems are NO FUN AT ALL and so are NOT ALLOWED.  You will also perhaps notice that your hamstrings are tight when you do this.  This is a good reminder to go stretch after you are done.

Go play!

Book Report Thursday: Food Matters

Mark Bittman’s book Food Matters outlines a way of eating that is socially responsible, environmentally friendly, and, you know, good for you.  This is a man who likes food, so you will not end up eating a bunch of twigs and pretending you like it if you follow his advice.

What we see a lot of in our culture is the worship of protein.  Protein is essential to our bodies, but we don’t have to worry about it.  Vegans have to think about it a little bit, but everyone else:  no problem.  We get plenty to meet our needs.  What Bittman does, in suggesting that we eat like vegans until dinnertime, is bring some useful perspective.  Plant-based foods are better for our bodies, better for the environment, and don’t all taste like kale (Plenty of people love kale.  I am not anti-kale, I just like other leafy greens better.).

Bittman describes what works for him.  This is a useful example for all of us.  What works for him might not work for the rest of us.  We are individuals and need to find our own paths to what works.

Best of all, there are recipes!  I find it much easier to get inspired with recipes.

If I had a hammer...

I like my Fitbit.  I even have a cool fancy bracelet for it made by my friend Suzanne.  But it is not the key to my fitness.

Part of the problem is that I am lazy.  Not so much in the sense that I won’t get off the couch (I’m still on tv restriction), but in that I don’t have the time/energy/patience to log all the non-step-taking activities I do, like Pilates and spin class.  I really tried to log my food, but found it a pain in my patella (a phrase invented by my then-3-year-old).  When they make a truly psychic tracker that knows everything without me having to enter anything, I’ll be right there.

I use my Fitbit to keep me honest with myself.  Too many days of minimal steps and I know I’m slacking.  I personally don’t find the little badge things motivational.  Its little messages seem slightly passive aggressive, encouraging me that I’m almost to my goal and then calling me an overachiever when I surpass it.

I’m talking about the specifics of one tool, but the point is broader:  no one magic piece of equipment is going to transform us.  I could write a similar post about my relationship with my spin bike or my weight rack or my Pilates reformer.  The tools don’t do the work; we do.

Remember that you are the boss of you, not your Fitbit, not the voices in your head, not the refrigerator, not even your trainer.  You do the work; you get the credit.