The Amazing Stickie and Double Leg Stretch

This week, the Amazing Stickie is working on spinal flexion and abdominal strength by doing Double Leg Stretch.

She begins curled into a ball with her head and upper back off the floor.  From there, she extends her arms and legs up toward the ceiling, maintaining her upper back and head off the floor.  She circles her arms and legs around until she is back in position with arms and legs toward the ceiling and then returns to the starting position.  She thinks it is kind of like doing elementary backstroke in swimming, except that her head and shoulders are lifted.

Not Horrible

Yesterday I wrote about horrible workouts.  Today I want to remind us all that workouts don’t have to be horrible.  We just need to find something we like or something we like about what we don’t like much.

It’s easiest, of course, if we happen to like workouts.  It doesn’t take much convincing to get me to swim or ski or bike.  I’m down to play pickleball or rollerskate or ice skate.  For some of us, this means we have to spend a fair amount of time experimenting.  We may not take to the first dozen things we try, or it might take a while to find the right instructor.

 

When we don’t love something (fun fact:  I don’t actually love lifting weights), we have to find ways to make it more fun.  Doing it with a buddy can help.  Fun music goes a long way toward making the time go by.  And never discount bribery as an option (although it might be best if the bribe was not edible, for best results.).

 

We can do this.

The Worst

Several careers ago, I had a commute.  The company I worked for bought a bunch of tapes about various business topics that we could check out.  When we returned them, we were supposed to write a paper about what we learned.  I don’t remember what benefit we got from the exercise besides learning stuff.  I listened to a lot of them because I’m that person.

It's been about a zillion years since those days, so I can’t tell you who the particular time management guru was who taught me the concept of Worst First, but I am thankful to them all the same.  It has been useful far beyond that job.

 

Here’s the gist.  When we look at the list of things we need to accomplish, one way to help us get them done is to do the most awful one first.  This avoids that procrastination thing where we spend all day doing anything we can to skip that one.  Once the horrible thing is over, the rest of the day seems lighter and better, like walking downhill instead of up.

 

I mention this because for many of us, working out is that horrible thing.  If we do it first thing in the morning, it’s done and we’re free of it and the worry about it for the whole rest of the day.  Putting it off until the evening just gives us a chance to think of all the reasons why we really shouldn’t have to do it at all.

 

In a perfect world, working out would not be horrible.  But I get it that it can be.  If it is, get it over with and then get on with life!

Monday Workout: Busy!

This week we’re doing a shorter circuit.  We’ve got plenty of compound exercises to keep us busy and make us strong.  Four rounds.

 

1 min cardio
(lunge) punches	30
rows	20
Arnold press	10
burpees	10
clean and press	20
brains	10

The Amazing Stickie and Double Leg Kick

The Amazing Stickie is working on extension in her entire body today:  spine, shoulders, and hip flexors!  To do this, she is doing Double Leg Kick.

She begins lying on her belly with her face turned to one side and her hands clasped at her lower back.  From there, she bends her knees, flexes her feet, and pulses her heels toward her behind as if she were trying to kick herself in the butt.  Then she does a whole lot of things at once:  she turns her head back to a neutral position, she lifts her chest off the floor, she lifts her arms away from her back, stretching them toward her legs, and she extends her legs along the floor.  When she lowers back to the starting position, she turns her head to the other side to repeat.  She always does an even number of reps so she can do both sides the same number of times.

Captain Obvious says...

I’m putting on my Captain Obvious cape for this one:  doing the same thing over and over is boring.

Worse, it has diminishing returns.  Assuming that we’re all not as afraid of boredom as I am.

 

When we do the same workout, or the same kind of workout, every single time we hit the gym, it is, of course, easier.  There’s a reduced cognitive load.  In other words, we don’t have to think about what we’re doing.  Our bodies know what to do and they get on with it, brain optional.

 

The thing is, bodies are efficiency experts.  They don’t want to work hard unless we make them.  They’re always saving something in case we have to run away from a hippopotamus or something.

 

One way to get bodies to work harder is to give them something novel to do.  (No, not a novel to read.  That’s for AFTER the workout.)  Trying a new sport or a new piece of equipment or a new class or a new instructor wakes the brain up.  We have different challenges for our bodies to face.  Our bodies move differently in Zumba versus swimming.  At least I hope so.

 

We are going to like some kinds of moving more than others.  It is perfectly okay to have favorites.  We just need to throw ourselves a monkey wrench from time to time.

 

Go play.

The Jerk Has a Point

Accountability is a great thing.  I can make up all kinds of fabulous goals while I am sitting there by myself.  We all can.  Pretty soon we’re floating on a cloud of perfection, basking in the sun of our intentions.  And then some jerk comes and asks us when we’re going to do the work to make it real.  Sigh.

The jerk has a point, though.  We have to put in the work to make our dreams.

 

Accountability comes in many forms.  Those of us who wear Wristy Overlords (that’s a fitness tracker or Apple Watch, y’all) have an accountability tool right there at the end of our arms.

 

If W.O.s are a little too passive-aggressive for our taste, we can get a friend to help us.  Choosing the right friend, however, is key.  First of all, we need to make sure that we’re not going to get mad at our friend for doing what we ask.  It is not cool to fly off the handle at them when they ask us, nicely, if we went for our walk today.  We also need to consider if the friend we’ve chosen will ask us.  We all have some wonderful friends who love us to death, but can’t possibly remember to check in about the workout on any regular basis.  Some of our friends will not be supportive of our goals and so should not be our accountability buddy; they’ll be telling us “supportive” stuff about how we’re just fine the way we are and so on, but not pushing us to do what we’ve decided we need to do.  It is often best to choose a friend who also wants to be held accountable so we can do it for each other.

 

Finally, we can hire somebody.  I am right there, through my clients’ workouts, holding them accountable to their goals.  Sometimes the fact that they pay me is what makes them show up (I hope to keep it fun enough and effective enough that that’s not the ONLY reason, but it is all right if it is.).

 

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