The Transcendentalists were a gang, right?

My homie, Ralph Waldo Emerson, wrote that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”  Just remember that if you happen to notice that what I’m writing about now is different than what I posted yesterday.

When we work out, things go better if we use our brain muscles at the same time.  We can use our brains to keep track of all those surprising appendages that go every which way when we least expect it.  Brains allow us to remember to keep our abdominals engaged, our shoulders out of our ears, and our knees aligned over our middle toes.  Moving mindfully creates pathways for our neuromuscular system, which in turn creates the possibility for fluidity and grace.

We can focus on the movement and on the moment, being where we are and doing what we are doing.  It makes things better.

Another picture with no relation to the text, but it has a fish on a bench!

Most of us don’t spend a lot of time thinking about brushing our teeth.  We just do it, maybe even half asleep, hair sticking up in all directions, in the semi-darkness of an early morning bathroom when we’re not quite ready to flip the switch on the day.  And, amazingly, over the course of the two minutes or however long we spend, we wake up and find ourselves slightly more refreshed and usually a little minty.

With the exception of the minty part, this is how workouts should be:

•Inevitable.  We’re going to do it.

•Automatic.  We don’t have to do a lot of planning or organizing.  We just get it done.

•Not focused on appearance.  No one is looking at our hair.  Really.

•Invigorating.  We feel better at the end, more awake, more ready to face the rest of life.

I’m sure there’s a way to make workouts minty, but that would be beyond the scope of my ability—y’all can experiment and get back to me on that.

Casing the Joint

Every body has its issues.  Learning to adapt to those issues helps us not only stay fit, but become more fit.

Take, for example, knee problems.  Once physical therapy is completed and a doctor says it is all right, a person with knee issues can return to working out.  However, he or she might want to keep some things in mind.

• If it hurts, don’t do it.  Yes, this is obvious, but also often ignored.  Seriously.  DON’T DO IT.  I’m not talking about the mild discomfort that comes from working out after a long layoff.  We all know the difference between pain that comes from working out the kinks and the kind that means we are doing damage.  Damage is bad.  Don’t go there.

• Warm up.  The warm-up does not have to be a separate section of the workout, unless a person prefers to do it that way by doing some cardio before starting to lift weights.  (Stretching is best done when the body is at least slightly warm, not first thing.)  Doing the first few sets with lighter weights or gentler range of motion can allow the body to warm up while doing the workout.

• Range of motion is important.  This is one of those places to use good judgment.  Joints that don’t move become stiffer over time.  We need to push, gently, at the edges of our range of motion to ensure that we maintain or increase what we have.  Also, many joints are synovial, which means that they get nutrients not from the blood supply, but from the very act of moving.  Feed the joints!  Bend, bend, bend!

• Pay attention to form and alignment.  A lot of injuries begin with bad form.  Paying attention to proper alignment trains the body in good patterns that strengthen key muscles and promote pain-free movement.

• Joints do not get stronger; muscles do.  People who want injury-resistant knees need to work the quads, hamstrings, adductors, and abductors (although most people should prioritize the last three of those, since we tend to work the quads all the time).

• Don’t forget self-care.  Massage, hot tub, ice, ibuprofen, whatever it takes to make you feel better at the end.