Dirt is ok

I admit there is not much to like about living in a pandemic.  However, one bright spot is that we are all realizing the magic of outside.

I’ve been pushing myself to go outside for years.  (I had to overcome a family culture that did not believe in dirt, among other things…)  When I could do distance biking, it was an easy sell because I loved it.  After that became less available to my body, it took a while to find something else, but now I love going hiking with my kid.

When we were out last week, we saw dog-walkers, trail runners, and mountain bikers.  In the past we have come across kids investigating pretty much every leaf and rock and stump and lichen and bug and their mostly-patient parents.  The very air is different under trees or near water or both.

We are blessed to live so close to so many beautiful places.  Pop on those shoes and go… it’ll be fun!

Monday Workout: All Balls

I like this workout because medicine balls are fun and my particular ones are colorful, so it is a pretty workout, too.  Rescues and slams are hard without a medicine ball, but feel free to substitute other exercises in their place if you are using dumbbells instead.  Three rounds.

All Medicine Ball
woodchoppers	30
twists	20
rescues	10
ball slams	30
curls	20
pushups	10
overhead high knees	30
skullcrushers	20
Russian twist	10

Zzzzzz

I’m tired today, so here is a self-serving list of five reasons to take a nap:

1.     We are, as a group, underslept.  More than a third of us get fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night.  Catching up is not bad.

2.     It reduces stress.

3.     It keeps us from overeating.  Seriously.  Tired people eat more.

4.     It makes us more productive later.

5.     It feels good.  Yes, this is a totally valid reason.

As we say around my house, don’t bite the bedbugs; they hate that.

You Don't Have To Like It, But You Do Have To Do It

Let me get this out of the way first:  I have nothing against gratitude or positivity or cheerfulness.  Well, not much, anyway.  I even have a gratitude practice in my daily journaling.  It has documented benefits and increases joy and all that important stuff.

It can also be annoying as hell.  And sometimes counterproductive (check out Bright-Sided by Barbara Ehrenreich if you’re interested.)

There are times when the best thing we can do is to acknowledge how we really feel, even if it is not the socially acceptable positive emotion other people would like us to experience.  In other words, sometimes whining is good for the soul.

What whining is not is an excuse to avoid doing the unpleasant whatever it is.  Those lunges aren’t going to do themselves.  If bitching about them the whole time gets us through, that’s awesome.  The lunges are done and we might even have come up with some creative new ways to describe how much we hate them.

The best part?  Afterwards we get to feel extra virtuous because we’ve done something we have admitted is hard and terrible.

Two questions and a disclaimer

Some weeks go better than others.  We all know this, but we could consider planning for it.  (No, this does not mean that we pencil in three days of hiding under the covers, or at least not necessarily.)  I find that there are two questions to ask and that there is one important disclaimer when it is time to figure out what we’re going to do for fitness when things go wrong.

One question is:  what’s the minimum I need to do to maintain my health?  For most of us, half an hour of walking per day at a moderate pace is about right as a minimum, whether we do it all at once or in two or three chunks.  We cope better with whatever the heck life is throwing us when we are healthy, so finding that half hour is worth the trouble.  And then don’t think about it anymore.

The other question is:  what part of my fitness activities makes me feel good?  When stuff gets hard, some of us find that we need the mood-lift of cardio or the stress relief of yoga.  Doing the things that help us manage our emotions and our stress when stuff gets hard is not selfish.  We are giving ourselves coping tools so that we can do what needs to be done.

And the disclaimer:  There are times when we don’t need to do any fitness activities at all.  If we can’t find a half hour, if we don’t want to face exercise, if we just can’t do one more thing, that is all right.  Fitness is not another thing to beat ourselves up with—it is there to make us happier and healthier and it will still be there when we have enough spoons to get back to it.

Monday Workout: Body Weight or More

This week we’re back to body weight workouts.  Of course, if weights are available, add them as desired.  Do as many rounds as feel good or as time allows (try for at least 3).

squats	20
1 leg squats	10
lunges	20
pushups	10
punches	20
pretty princesses	10
brains	10

Ideas for balancing...

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post about balance, here are five balance exercises to try.  If your balance is poor, make sure that there is something close by that will help you stabilize (chair, wall, sturdy friend).

1.     Brush your teeth standing on one foot.  We have to stand there anyway; we might as well practice balancing.  One side will be much easier than the other.  Do that side first.

2.     Play 1 leg catch.  This is best with a friend, but it is also possible to use a wall to “throw” the ball back to yourself.  Again, do the hard side first.

3.     Do 1 leg weight passes.  I use a kettle bell for this, but any weight you can comfortably hold in one hand will work.  Stand on one leg and hold the weight in one hand.  Pass the weight across your body in the front and transfer it to your other hand.  Pass the weight around behind you and give it back to the first hand.  Repeat five times, then reverse directions.  Then do both directions while standing on the other foot.

4.     Do round lunges.  Changes of direction challenge our balance.

5.     Do any of the exercises you do normally on a BOSU or any other unstable surface.  For safety, use less weight than you do when you do the exercise on the ground.

Have fun!