Monday Workout: TRX

It’s TRX week!  TRX is awesome because it works the core with every exercise while also offering a supportive environment for knees.  Three or four rounds, depending on your time/energy.

1 min cardio
atomic oblique pushup	20	mid calf
side plank with rotation	20	mid calf
sprinter start with hop	20	long
chest press deep angle	20	long
1 leg squat with hop	20	mid length
kneeling roll out	20	mid calf
TY deltoid fly	20	mid length
back row, deep angle	20	short
hamstring curl	20	mid calf

Friday Reading: What I Learned About Diet Plans From My Text, Plus My Own Thoughts

We are surrounded by diet plans.  Almost every magazine by the grocery check-out offers a new one.  Our friends try keto or paleo or vegan.  We see an ad about weight loss by eliminating these two foods or combining these six or eating only while showering (OK, I made that last one up, but it’s almost plausible…).  Some of them work; some not so much.

Here’s how to figure out which ones are which.  It’s a two-pronged approach.  Step one is check the research, if any.  (If there isn’t any, that is a good indication that success is unlikely.)  Many of the miracles promised by various odd food plans come from the fact that people who follow them end up eating fewer calories than usual, not because of the mystical properties of combining or avoiding.  Checking in with a nutritionist or doctor can also help.

Step two, if the plan we are considering makes it past step one, is to try it.  We are all individuals with unique variations on the basic chemistry.  We need to see if the plan in question works for us.  “Works,” in this context, means that when we eat according to the plan, we feel good, we lose weight, and we improve on things like glucose and cholesterol levels in our blood.

When we don’t follow the steps, we can deprive ourselves of needed nutrients.  Take, for example, lactose intolerance.  Some of us are truly lactose intolerant (more likely among Native Americans, African-Americans, and Asian-Americans); some of us lose weight when we eliminate dairy because our major source of dairy is deep dish pizza.  We might be fine with yogurt, which could help us meet our calcium requirements.

Let’s be smart, people.

The uses of Pilates...

Some folks wonder what exactly Pilates is FOR.  It’s not exactly weight training and it’s not quite as meditative as yoga and there’s so much weird equipment.

While what Pilates is for does vary some from person to person depending on individual needs and experience, here are a few things that it can improve:

• Range of Motion.  Many very strong people spend so much time strengthening and contracting muscles that they end up with limited movement options.  Pilates can open up more space.

• Balance.  Falling down is bad.  Sprained ankles and thrown-out backs are also bad.  Good balance helps prevent injury.  And we all like to be graceful (or at least not entirely clumsy…).

• Posture.  Posture doesn’t sound all that sexy, but really it is.  In our screen and chair culture, we create a lot of back and neck pain for ourselves.  Pilates helps us undo the damage and even create better ways of interacting with our environments that don’t hurt us.  Also, we look thinner when we stand with better posture.

Try it!