To-Don't List

It seems like my to-do list just keeps getting longer.  Here are some things we can all take off our fitness lists:

 

1.     Trash talk.  I don’t mean the funny kind that motivates us.  The kind where we spend a bunch of time beating ourselves up about how we aren’t working out enough or we’re eating too much or whatever.  It doesn’t help.

2.     Comparisons.  That guy over there may in fact be able to bench press our entire body, but that is him.  That woman may look exactly like a supermodel, lack of body fat included, but we may not have those genes.  We have to do our workout, not somebody else’s.

3.     Competition.  This one is related to the comparison one.  Our workout is not better because we lifted more than that other person.  We are not even better because we lifted more than we did yesterday.

4.     Stuff we really hate.  There are so many kinds of exercise out there that we really don’t have to do anything we detest, or at least not very often (looking at you, lunges).  We can find other ways to work the same muscle groups or get in the cardio or build our flexibility and balance.

Keep it in my head if you want

I love to give people information.  I’m not sure I could stop if I wanted to.  My clients get used to (I think) the facts I inflict on them while they work out.  I tell them what exercises are for, which muscles are working, what those muscles are called, how many variations there are of any particular exercise, why it’s good for us to do any particular exercise, and on and on.  Sometimes they even pay attention!

 

The thing is, one of the points of having me there is so that my clients don’t have to have all that information.  They can keep it in my head instead.  It can be a lovely thing to have someone else do the planning and the thinking so we can just show up and do.

 

The information is there if we want it, but we don’t have to know any of it!

Don't succumb!

At this time of year, it’s easy to succumb to excess.  There are cookies everywhere.  Ads suggest that we buy 37 new kinds of gizmos.  We want to squeeze in just a bit more fun.  I’m not here to judge or to suck the joy out of the holidays.  I AM here to hint that maybe enough is enough.

 

The good news about that idea is that it works in multiple ways.  (I love efficiency!)  Deciding we have had enough cookies does mean that we have to stop snarfing them down (boo!), but deciding we’ve done enough cardio for today also means that we get to stop now and rest (yay!).

 

Of course, I have a couple of notes about this whole idea of enough.  There is no deprivation in enough.  We are not going to go hungry, or skip celebrating, or never have another treat again.  We are just going to stop when we are pleasantly satisfied.  Similarly, enough is not exhausting.  We work out until we are tired and then we go do something else.

 

It takes a while to train our brains to recognize enough, but it is so worth it.

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: All the things

This week’s workout is pretty well-rounded.  We’ve got cardio, upper body, lower body, balance, and core all represented.  As always, substitute as needed.  Three rounds.

 

step ups	30
bench press	20
round lunges	10
jacks	30
flies	20
1 leg squats	10
clean and press	30
rows	20
pretty princesses	10

 

Shopping List

Want to give yourself a fitness gift?  Here are some suggestions (Note:  see yesterday’s post on not giving anyone else fitness gifts unless specifically asked.):

 

1.     Time.  Time is the most common reason people cite for not working out.  Before we go spending a chunk of change, it might be worth considering that we should just pencil in some dates with ourselves for getting sweaty.

2.     Lessons.  Whether we’re interested in skiing or weight lifting or horseback riding or fencing, we can always use an upgrade to our wetware.  Don’t forget that cooking classes can be part of our fitness arsenal.

3.     New shoes.  Not just so that people ask if we can run faster now.  Shoes do in fact wear out and getting support where our bodies meet the world most often is a good idea.

4.     Something fun.  Yes, I know we need to work out to be healthy humans, but that doesn’t mean that we have to wear old baggy sweats and drink raw eggs like Rocky.  Maybe our workouts would be a lot better in cute clothes, or with more music, or with the cool gizmo of the week.

Step Away from the Shake-Weight and the Air Fryer

Welcome to December, month of gift-giving.  Which is to say it is time for my yearly helpful reminder:  do not give passive-aggressive fitness gifts.

 

What fitness gifts qualify as passive-aggressive?  Any exercise equipment or clothing, any cooking/diet supplies, any subscriptions or books about fitness or exercise or healthy diets that were not specifically requested by the recipient are passive-aggressive.  We may think we are being helpful by giving Uncle Larry some yoga classes—that dude needs to chill out before he has a heart attack—but no, we are not being helpful and may in fact be adding to Uncle Larry’s stress.  It may be abundantly clear to everyone that Mom could use some larger exercise pants, but it is not up to us to address that unless she asks us to do so.

 

It is, however, entirely fine to buy ourselves fitness gifts.  We could probably use some chill time and some new exercise pants as well.  And, again, if our loved ones ASK for fitness gifts, we can shop to our little hearts’ content.

 

Be kind.

Not the Easy Way

Some portion of us got up Monday morning, took a look at the scale, and went into Vengeful God(dess) mode.  Now that it is Tuesday, we’re tired from all that frenetic exercising and we’re not feeling better or thinner or lighter.

 

May I suggest a different approach (and maybe theology, although that is well outside my area of expertise)?  How about some love?

 

When we treat ourselves with love, even when we make less than optimal decisions, we are much more likely to succeed and we’re definitely going to be happier.  Starting from love helps us begin right now—we can’t change the past, so yelling and carrying on about it is not going to make a difference.  Love is a forward-looking thing that can envision our better selves.  It encourages us to take steps, even hard steps, to move toward our ideals.  (Note:  ideals, in this context, have little to do with the weird body-image messages we get from our culture and advertising, but everything to do with our personal values for health, beauty, and happiness.)

 

Starting from love, we recognize that we have time to make incremental changes, ones we can live with in the long term.  We are able to balance our long-term need to build good habits with our short-term need not to croak over dead while working out.  We can gently remind ourselves, as if we were our favorite toddler, that while cookies are delicious, we do also need to eat the occasional vegetable.

 

Perhaps what I am trying to say is that we’re not letting ourselves off easy when we begin from love.  We are giving ourselves a reason to choose the best options, which will sometimes be pie and more often sweaty breathlessness.

 

Go play.