More balance

I was writing about balance yesterday.  Here are four good balance-improving exercises:

 

1.     Single leg squats:  If necessary, hold on to a counter or a sturdy chair at first.

2.     Single arm clean and press:  the asymmetric nature of the exercise helps us recruit the core more.

3.     Single leg deadlift:  Begin using no weight and progress to holding dumbbells

4.     Round lunges:  The change in direction as we lunge front, side, and back makes us very conscious of the core control we need to succeed.

Balance

When we work out, we are constantly seeking balance, literally and figuratively. 

Literally, as we move, we are using our core musculature to stabilize ourselves so we don’t fall, no matter what our arms and legs happen to be doing.  This happens whether we are thinking about it or not, but we can make a conscious effort to do asymmetric exercises to improve our skill more intentionally.

 

We’re also balancing a bunch of abstract concepts as we plan and execute our workouts.  We have to work enough and rest enough.  We need to work the top and bottom halves of the body, as well as the right and left halves.  We need to do our cardio, but also our weight training (oh, yeah:  and flexibility!).  We need to fit all of this stuff in the limited time we have available so we can live the rest of our lives.

 

For both the literal and figurative challenges, the answer is the same:  we need to know where our center is.  When we strengthen our cores and our commitment to our core values, the balance improves.

 

Go play.

Don't Skip

Sometimes life gets a little crazy.  We take on extra tasks at work, or we have family issues arise, or we get a new puppy, or any number of other things.  We get stressed.  We feel like there’s not enough time.  And we seriously consider skipping our workouts.

 

Let’s do them anyway.  Here’s why.

 

First, it’s the oxygen mask thing.  We have to take care of ourselves in order to do all those other things we are supposed to do.  If we neglect our health, we aren’t going to last long enough to finish that important project or help that kid or train that puppy.  Sometimes that might not feel all that motivational because, really, it would be nice if someone else dealt with those things; fortunately, I have another good reason.

 

Endorphins.  When we work out, our body feels better and our brains do, too.  We get all those natural feel-good chemicals flowing and we end up less stressed out, more cheerful.  We may not be able to take things out on our coworkers or family or pets, but we can certainly take stuff out on the weights; they don’t mind.

 

For bonus points, we also get stronger when we work out.  Strength is a useful skill for many tasks in the gym and in the wider world.

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: Planes

This week’s workout has us working in multiple planes.  We’re lunging in every direction, moving the arms up, down, and to the sides, and we’re doing some twisting.  Three rounds.

 

suitcase swing	30
plie bend extend	20
Arnold press	10
woodchoppers	30
rows	20
round lunges	10
jacks	30
bench press	20
Russian twist	10

 

Four for Shoulders

Since I’ve been talking about shoulders all week, I figured I should finish up with my favorite shoulder exercises.  Here are four:

 

1.     Supine arm twist:  I admit that this is one of my favorite exercises, period.  Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor.  Extend your arms straight up over your chest and put your palms together.  Keeping the palms together, move the arms from side to side.  The pelvis stays level the whole time.  Do ten reps keeping the head still, ten more with the head moving with the arms, and a final ten with the head going the opposite direction as the arms.  For bonus points, put a pair of yoga tune up balls between the shoulder blades; it will be uncomfortable, but it will work out a lot of knots.

2.     Spinal extensions.  There are lots of these, ranging from cobra to upward dog to dart to scarecrow.  Any back bend will do.  Whichever one you choose, make sure to inhale as you bend back and exhale as you return to neutral.  Also, pay attention to what the shoulder blades are doing.  Ideally, they stay flush to the ribcage and float smoothly over its surface.

3.     Shoulder flexion in the scapular plane.  This is a variation of lateral raises.  Instead of raising the arms straight out to the side, the arms come up at a diagonal (in the same plane as the scapulae, which point diagonally out from the spine).  This allows more optimal muscle recruitment.

4.     Pushups.  The perfect pushup, from a shoulder mechanics perspective, begins with the hands directly under the shoulders.  The hands should be facing directly forward or maybe a tiny bit turned out.  During the lowering and lifting phase of the pushup, the elbows should point back toward the heels, not out to the side.  Pushups can be done from a floor plank position, from the knees, or against a wall, depending on personal preference and level of training.  Again, the shoulder blades should stay resting against the rib cage.

 

Go play.

The shoulder bone's connected to...

One of the things I love about Pilates is that it helps us understand that our bodies work as a whole.  A problem that manifests in one place may have its origins somewhere else entirely.  And, addressing a problem anywhere in the body will help the whole body work better.

 

For example, the most common shoulder problem is impingement.  It tends to manifest as pain in the front of the shoulder because the humerus rises up too high and squishes stuff into the acromion process at the top of the shoulder blade.  (“Squishes” is a technical term, obviously.)  Resolving the problem, however, involves working with the muscles in the back of the body, specifically the rhomboids, the lats, the serratus anterior, and the lower traps.

 

As we work on the impingement, we are likely to find that posture improves, which can impact everything from lower body alignment to breathing.  Cool, right?

Winging it

I go to continuing education so you all don’t need to.  My most recent classes were about shoulders.  I learned a lot, which will obviously percolate into my training and my blog over the next while, but today I want to demystify a term that I’ve heard a lot in gyms and studios:  “winging” shoulder blades.

 

We all know that’s not ideal, but we don’t really know what it means or what to do about it.

 

Let’s start with a little bit of anatomy.  The shoulder blade is the site of a ton of muscle attachments.  It has true joints with the upper arm (the humerus), and with the collar bone (the clavicle).  While it lies on top of the rib cage, there is no true articulation between the ribs and the shoulder blade.  This is the key fact that relates to shoulder blade winging.

 

If everything is working like it should, the shoulder blade will slide freely along the ribcage, toward or away from the spine or toward or away from the head.  Sometimes it gets stuck or it pops away from the rib cage:  this is winging.

 

To prevent shoulder blade winging, we need to make sure that the rotator cuff muscles are strong, as well as the pectorals, the traps, and the rhomboids.  Also, we need to wake up one of my favorite muscles, the serratus anterior.  Additionally, (and this is the fun part), we need to make sure that none of those muscles are holding on too tightly—that means massage or chiro, depending on what’s going on.

 

Working with a trainer can help resolve any winging issues.  At the very least, having a workout buddy who can see what’s happening with our back when we are doing pushups (for example) can help a lot.

 

Go play.