Fitness Friday
Only one gold star this week for me.
Monday:
I went to the gym, and busted holy ass. I was a total rock star, even though my knee was kinda bothering me, and all the kiddos were back, so I wasn't able to do a cardio warmup, I had to go directly to weights, and do cardio in the middle. Ah well. Such is life. The students will get busy soon enough, and it will start to taper as early as next week.
As much as I am a No Excuses! GO! kinda gal, there is a certain level of reality. I have been 'extra girly' this week, which is annoying (and surprisingly crampy this month), but it has also been BOOTY ASS cold this week. I was cold this morning with 2 leg layers, knee length boots, 3 top layers (one wool, one courderoy)and a coat, etc. Gym ready clothes would have been completely, ridiculously, unacceptable.
AAAANYWAY.
hhd had asked in my last post about my CrunchyBits(tm)
I went into some detail about them as an answer, but I will delve into it a bit more.
ok, so I used to use the WaPo fitness page as an exercise pointer, as they clearly had nothing to sell or gain from posting stuff. But as is the case on things like this, things got shuffled around and they either got taken down, or moved somewhere obscure.
here is a good breakdown of good basic crunch form. I attempt to get my shoulder blades off the floor when I don't have an added weight. A rhythm is good for that, every 5th, 10th... whichever.
Straight leg lifts:
With your back flat, (and your arms at your side, palms down) keep legs and feet as together as you can, and lift from floor to vertical. Motion should be steady and controlled, don't touch the floor before moving vertical again.
here
For *more* challenging, (or for fewer reps) go at half speed, or try and lift your hips off the floor once your legs are vertical.
Knee bent lifts:
start in same position, but with knees bent and feet flat on floor. Keeping knees bent, bring knees up as far as you can towards your chest. This should be done relatively slowly, to mitigate the momentum assist.
Reverse Crunches can also be done instead.
Hybrid of the two:
start with straight legs, and as you raise your legs, bend them up to your chest and then straighten out. Again, slowly and deliberately.
specific website recommendations:
http://www.stumptuous.com/
http://www.yogajournal.com/
Both are a wealth of information, woman friendly, and reality friendly.
for the yoga bits involved in the CrunchyBits, I use the following poses:
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/474
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/470
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/472
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/2468
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/786
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/2467
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/491
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/476
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/789
Not all at once mind you, as I am usually doing CrunchyBits in about 15-20 min timeframe, and the Crunchy part usually takes at least 5-10.
Saturday afternoon looks remarkably reasonable at a balmy 14F.
Maybe I will do a brisk cemetery walk. any Pgh'rs interested?
I think the game is Sunday, yes?
Monday:
I went to the gym, and busted holy ass. I was a total rock star, even though my knee was kinda bothering me, and all the kiddos were back, so I wasn't able to do a cardio warmup, I had to go directly to weights, and do cardio in the middle. Ah well. Such is life. The students will get busy soon enough, and it will start to taper as early as next week.
As much as I am a No Excuses! GO! kinda gal, there is a certain level of reality. I have been 'extra girly' this week, which is annoying (and surprisingly crampy this month), but it has also been BOOTY ASS cold this week. I was cold this morning with 2 leg layers, knee length boots, 3 top layers (one wool, one courderoy)and a coat, etc. Gym ready clothes would have been completely, ridiculously, unacceptable.
AAAANYWAY.
hhd had asked in my last post about my CrunchyBits(tm)
I went into some detail about them as an answer, but I will delve into it a bit more.
ok, so I used to use the WaPo fitness page as an exercise pointer, as they clearly had nothing to sell or gain from posting stuff. But as is the case on things like this, things got shuffled around and they either got taken down, or moved somewhere obscure.
here is a good breakdown of good basic crunch form. I attempt to get my shoulder blades off the floor when I don't have an added weight. A rhythm is good for that, every 5th, 10th... whichever.
Straight leg lifts:
With your back flat, (and your arms at your side, palms down) keep legs and feet as together as you can, and lift from floor to vertical. Motion should be steady and controlled, don't touch the floor before moving vertical again.
here
For *more* challenging, (or for fewer reps) go at half speed, or try and lift your hips off the floor once your legs are vertical.
Knee bent lifts:
start in same position, but with knees bent and feet flat on floor. Keeping knees bent, bring knees up as far as you can towards your chest. This should be done relatively slowly, to mitigate the momentum assist.
Reverse Crunches can also be done instead.
Hybrid of the two:
start with straight legs, and as you raise your legs, bend them up to your chest and then straighten out. Again, slowly and deliberately.
specific website recommendations:
http://www.stumptuous.com/
http://www.yogajournal.com/
Both are a wealth of information, woman friendly, and reality friendly.
for the yoga bits involved in the CrunchyBits, I use the following poses:
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/474
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/470
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/472
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/2468
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/786
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/2467
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/491
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/476
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/789
Not all at once mind you, as I am usually doing CrunchyBits in about 15-20 min timeframe, and the Crunchy part usually takes at least 5-10.
Saturday afternoon looks remarkably reasonable at a balmy 14F.
Maybe I will do a brisk cemetery walk. any Pgh'rs interested?
I think the game is Sunday, yes?