Ow!

Sometimes it seems like colder weather just brings out the aches and pains.  I like to whine about stuff as much as the next person, but eventually I want to deal with the issues, so here are some thoughts about what to do when it all hurts, since a Hawaiian vacation is not on the horizon any time soon.

 

On the prevention side of the equation, we can make sure that we get enough of a warm-up before we work out.  If, like me, other folks are impatient, it might be a good idea to re-brand the idea as “not going at top speed/weight/intensity from the starting buzzer.”  Also, it is best to get a little warm before starting to stretch—cold muscles are cranky about flexibility just like cold rubber bands don’t like stretching much.  Choosing the right workout intensity is also a good idea to help keep things from hurting too much—a little soreness is a good thing, but we need to dial it down if we’re still feeling it after two days.

 

Then there is the palliative side of things.  (Insert usual disclaimer here.  I am not a doctor or a physical therapist.  I do not diagnose or treat illness or injury.  I am a trainer giving generalized advice for non-injury soreness.  Injured people should seek out qualified medical professionals.)  The old trainer’s mantra is RICE:  rest, ice, compression, elevation, or in other words, take it easy, chill it, wrap it, and hold it above the heart until the swelling goes down.  In addition, if there is soreness but no swelling, warmth can be helpful.  I am a big fan of Ibuprofen for those who can take it or other OTC pain relievers—no pain is better than pain!—but not if it means that we’re just going to go out and do more of what made us sore in the first place.  Massage can also make us feel like whole new humans.  If the budget doesn’t allow for massage, foam rollers, tune-up balls, or other SMR tools might do the trick.

 

It is okay to rest and recover.  It is how we come back stronger.

How to weather...

As I am typing this, the weather outside is gray.  It has been raining and it is thinking about raining more.  (When I post this, it could be fabulously sunny, but gray will return at some point this winter, I’m sure.)  This kind of weather can cause our spirits to dip.  I have a couple of fitness suggestions that may help.

 

First, get in some cardio.  We need the mood-boosting power of heavy breathing on gray days more than ever!  It can be extra hard to get out of the nice warm bed to get started, so get creative with the bribes if needed.  The effects are actually worth it.  I promise.

 

Second, when possible, get outside, even if it is yucky.  Somebody said that there is no bad weather, just bad gear and they have a point.  A warm and waterproof jacket can make the difference between misery and adventure.  Wellies (maybe even silly, bright-colored ones!) can turn a squelching death march into a splashing fun-fest.  We need natural light and fresh air.

 

Bonus points for combining cardio with outside.

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: 12 Days of Christmas

This might be my very favorite workout.  Yes, it is challenging, but it’s also a good way to see what happens when we do something out of the ordinary.  We do it twice a year, once sometime in the summer and once, like now, when it is seasonally appropriate.  (I know the twelve days of Christmas actually start on Christmas Day, but I’m not working then.  Feel free to do it again, though!)

 

For those of us who have NOT done this one before, here is how it works.  On the first “day” of Christmas we do one push press.  Hooray!  Day one is done!  However, then we have day two, on which we do two goblet squats and one push press.  Day three brings three overhead presses, two goblet squats, and one push press.  Most of us want our first rest after day five.  We want to try to keep our rests to the spaces between the days, but since those last days are pretty cardio intensive, this may not work; rest when needed.

 

Also note that if a particular exercise is not appropriate, substitutions can be made (knee people might want to sub out the jump lunges, for example).

 

And yes, I do know that this workout involves doing 42 burpees (I did the math!).  The good news about that is that there will definitely not be any burpees next workout.  It’s a rule.

 

All right.  Enough explanations.  Here’s the workout.  Go through it all once!

 

1 push press

2 goblet squats

3 Overhead press

4 1 leg squats each leg

5 deadlifts

6 burpees

7 pushups

8 renegade rows

9 mountain climbers

10 jump lunges

11 kb swings

12 plyojacks

 

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