Fall fall fall

Early in the morning, it’s possible to tell that the season is changing—maybe not so much in the afternoon when it is still so warm out.  It takes a little longer to get light, the morning air is a little crisper, and even my furry alarm clock is likely to sleep past five a.m.  Some of us will rejoice in the change and some not so much.  The thing is that, rejoicing or bewailing notwithstanding, the change is going to happen.

Well, of course it is.  And why do I bother to point this out?  Because it is happening in our bodies, too.  Every day we get up with a changed body.  We are a day older.  We feel the results of how we moved or ate or slept.

We may not have any control over the tilt of the planet, the rotation of the earth, or the revolutions of heavenly bodies, but we can take some measure of control over how our bodies change over time.  None of us are going to manage to stave off aging and death forever, but we can choose to wake up stiff from building muscle mass rather than from building our reputation as a champion binge-watcher.

I am a fan of fall.  To me, it is a season of huge energy as the old stuff withers away and space is created for new growth.  The heat-induced lethargy of summer fades away and I find myself ready for whatever comes.

If change is inevitable, let’s choose how we’re going to direct it!

Monday Workout: Rope a not-dope (because we use nice language here about ourselves...)

When I first got the battle ropes, I wasn’t sure I was going to like using them.  Now I know:  super fun and useful!!!  When something facilitates multi-joint exercises, raises heart rate, and remains friendly to people with knee issues, I am all over it!  Three rounds.

rope double slams	30
deadlift	20
pushups	10
rope alternating slams	30
squats	20
lateral raises	10
rope circles	30
rows	20
Russian twist	10

Top Five!

We all have favorite exercises.  Here are five of mine and the reasons they are my favorite:

1.     Squats.  I love squats best.  They are the one exercise that I want everyone to do.  They have variations that work for pretty much every human because we all have to stand and sit.  Squats are a compound exercise, meaning that they use lots of joints and thus work multiple muscle groups at once.  They are practical and easy to learn.  Watching someone’s squat form tells me more than any other single exercise about what a person needs to work on.

2.     Pushups.  Again, pushups have about a gazillion variations so that almost everyone can do them.  They are also a compound exercise, working upper body and core at once.  While pushups can be done with equipment, none is actually required.

3.     Deadlifts.  Another compound exercise!  (Sensing a theme here…)  What I like about deadlifts is that they use the entire back of the body.  We’re really good at working all the muscles in front, but we neglect the hamstrings, glutes, and back muscles.

4.     Rows.  Yet another compound exercise!  In our society of chair-warriors, we need to do things that help us maintain our posture.  Rows work the back muscles that get weakened when we slouch through the day.

5.     Pretty princesses.  It was hard to pick a favorite abdominal exercise because I like all of them, but pretty princesses work all of the abdominals, so I pick them because they are efficient.  And yes, they, too, are a compound exercise.

What are your top five?