Barebones Beginner's Guide to Working Out

Here is a very basic exercise technique overview for those of you who are just starting out.  It is best to learn proper technique from the beginning so that you develop good habits that deepen as you progress.  It is recommended that you work with a trainer to learn safe movement patterns.

Enjoy!

General Technique: Video

hops and jumps: land as quietly as possible, focus on decelerating jumps by bending knees, when in doubt hop. Aim for forefoot first landing

squats: Keep your knees behind your toes & over your ankles. Press through a triangle from your heel to the ball of your foot to just below your little toe. Keep your spine long, neutral and aim for upright -though a slight forward lean will occur (do not round your back).

lunges: keep your knee over your ankle, behind your toe, keep your torso upright.

rows: engage your shoulders - draw your shoulder blades down and back as though you are creating a part line down the back of your shirt.  Keep your shoulders in this position for the duration of the exercise.  when doing body-weight rows, keep your body in an upside down plank position.

chest presses: keep your shoulders engaged!  If it is a body-weight exercise such as a push-up, keep your torso in a firm plank-position even though your shoulders are engaged.  When doing yoga style planks you will be creating space around your shoulder blades by pressing your rib cage upwards - please make a note of this difference when moving between the two positions.

shoulder presses: keep your arms in line with your shoulders, not in front.  when pressing up, keep your shoulders relatively down - if you look in the mirror, your shoulders should be below your ears.

dips: keep your shoulders down, ribs up.  Shoulder and elbow angles should both move to 90 degrees when in the dip.  bend your knees if you need to in order to reduce difficulty.

ab work: draw belly button to spine and move carefully.  when in doubt, reduce the range of motion, keep your low back in contact with the floor when doing leg raises etc..  (There is scientific discussion as to the relative risk of performing sit-ups with regard to disk compression. It is suggested that plank work is effective for strengthening the core).

Sample Beginner Workouts:
(Note: These workouts can be scaled up or down depending on your experience and current fitness level)

Warm-up:
Begin each session with a dynamic warm-up of:

a. Circle your joints and perform dynamic stretching as needed for approximately 5 minutes (this includes forward leg swings, high knees, lateral leg swings, gentle head circles, shoulder rotation, hip circles)

b.walk or jog for 5 minutes

Cool-Down:
For now, spend 5-10 minutes post-workout stretching into the passive stretches of your choice.  Include a chest-opening stretch/doorway stretch, hamstring stretch, hip opener, quad stretch, cat-cow, and childspose with alternating hand positions.

Workout One:
20 squat jumps or hops
10 full or knee push-ups
10 dumbell bent over rows
20 squats
10 shoulder press
front plank x 20 seconds
repeat x 2, rest as needed

10 chair dips,
10 dummbell biceps curls
repeat x 2-3, rest as needed

10 burpees (push-up-jump-up or step-to-plank, step-to-stand)
repeat x 2, rest as needed

Workout Two:

5 - 10 x 30 second run/walk intervals (sprint/jog if you are able)

20 seconds walking lunges with biceps curls, 20 seconds triceps dips, 20 seconds rest
x 2 -4 sets

20 seconds band or dumbell row, 20 seconds shoulder press, 20 seconds rest
x 2-4 sets

30 seconds leg raises (keep low back flat to floor), 30 seconds supermans (face-down, arms and legs come off the ground together for a 2 count)
x 2-4 sets

5 - 10 x 30 second run/walk (sprint/jog if you are able)

As always, try this at your own risk, consult your physician before beginning an exercise program.  




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Decision

Self-care is incredibly cool. It is a power system between you and you, and you and the world.

I have recently chosen to tackle some of the themes that I have allowed to drain my energy as part of a (halfway done) 24 month self-imposed challenge to determine whether I continue on in my current career.

Part of this process involves playing a game with my mind:

Every time there's a choice to be made with regard to food, rest, exercise, schedule, professional sevices offered, commuting, energy exchange, social time, etc, I choose the option that objectively best supports me. I take a moment to dump habit, emotional pull, sabotage patterns, faulty reasoning and old stories. Note: I only take a moment. I'm not going for perfection, I am going for improvement.

This process is cool because it is reasonably fast - almost like having a rubber band around the wrist as a reminder to reframe each decision. Big results come from small changes in choice.

Remember to be graceful in this experiment. Be calm when energy surges back from areas of pervious drain. Be gentle with self and the people who are impacted by new decisions.

Choose a designated time period to try this out, say one hour to start. See if you like it, then expand the time period.

What different decisions will you make?

Effort Less

ealThe right answer and the next step come from calm.

How much work is actually needed to get something done or to get to the next level?  Is the task itself as difficult as the emotional machinations that accompany it?

Aligning with right effort is a skill.  Wanting something intensely and over-efforting does not improve the chances of getting it.  Working effectively, objectively, and taking more definitive action-steps helps.  Discipline is required to work appropriately and then let go.  This frees up energy for other things and prevents tunnel vision.

In the gym, complete the volume of work assigned.  Outside the gym, stick with the nutrition guidelines.  Release angst relating to work volume and food. Use that extra energy for something inspiring.

What are 3 ways you can effort less?

Real vs Perceived Limits

When planning for a competition or an event that will test performance it is helpful to differentiate between real and perceived limits.

Real limits are those things that are either physically impossible at this time, are physically impossible permanently, are currently lacking in skill development, or are emotionally beyond reach.  There is something calming about recognizing these limits.

Perceived limits are the angst-ridden limits.  These are things that feel impossible but are possible.     These are skills that have been developed but are unused.  These are emotions with unpleasant yet inaccurate correlations.

Instead of burning energy on inner-conflict, make a list of real vs perceived limits.

Choose 1-2 alternate plans of action to "answer" attacks on real limits.

Choose 1-2 perceived limits to address per event or per season.  Practice the experience of breaking through the perceived limit.

Then go compete in the event.

The Arch-Nemesis

How many arch-nemeses are on your list? How do you respond to their presence in your life?

Sometimes they can be used as motivators - in competition - competing against the same person year after year, using the interaction to hone game strategy and skill.

Other times they kick you where it hurts, and the way to solution is unclear, especially when in social setting.

It is possible to view an arch-nemesis as an external representation of the stuff that's hard to process internally. Instead of putting on the inner-vision blinders and pretending that the issues aren't there, the arch-nemesis provides live action proof that there is work to be done as long as the hurt stays active. These people are reminders that we do not live in a bubble.

Part of inter-relating is figuring out how to turn these conflict-oriented connections into something more productive. Did the arch-nemesis interaction highlight personal feelings of anger or reactivity or rejection or betrayal? How does the arch-nemesis likely feel in all of this? How is it easier to handle the person out there than the inner feelings of both parties?

Why is this even a topic in a fitness blog?

Its really about preventing derailment. Its about maintaining clear perspective. Its about allowing the things that are beyond control to exist while still being effective.

Arch-nemeses show up. They are going to be there. Flowery forgiveness is not often viable, especially when intuition warns against it. Arch-nemeses are some of the best indicators that we have a pulse, and are on a powerful trajectory.  Arch-nemeses assure us that we are interacting in the world, and help to alleviate the fear of offending people or making enemies, because they already fulfill that role. They keep us honest. 

Failure: an Outcome

Last week this quote flashed around my social media pages and I even received it via text. It wouldn't go away.

"It was scarier not to try than to try and fail." - Carrie Wilkerson

I've been risk-discussion averse for a long time, mostly due to my own unresolved feelings about failure. As I write this today, I find that I'm glad I have not succeeded in some things I intensely attempted. Figuring this out has not been pretty, but it is important. Future choices will be built on these acknowledgments.

Many high-stake personal and professional risks totally bomb in terms of outward success. A lot of people don't talk about it. After a few well thought out risks go wrong, it can be tough to step back onto the ledge. It can feel irresponsible to dare to go for it again. That's why I want the "Now That You've Failed" guide.

The "Now That You've Failed" guide would be a great feedback manual. It would welcome the reader to the post-risk-recovery area, the other side of the fear of failure. The place where courage is acknowledged, strengths and weaknesses are assessed, and the faulty game-plan is reverse-engineered to evaluate the exact moment(s) it went wrong. How else can progress occur?

I am especially in favor of the fail fast model. If its not working, make it not work quickly! Figure it out and move forward. Lingering too long, trying to save a sinking ship is unnecessarily draining.

Sometimes success/fail measures in life are more like getting a belt promotion in martial arts. You do some things pretty well. Sometimes you make stupid mistakes, or miss your angle (repeatedly, for years). Some days you bang your head against the steering wheel of your car (I do this), ready to quit, but you don't. Then out of seemingly nowhere you get a promotion. Then you must train harder and smarter, and do it all again.

Does failure motivate or defeat? A giant trajectory follows the answer. The experience of losing begins to eliminate the fear of losing, building a stronger constitution. Learning from mistakes makes the likelihood of success much higher. Finding the right balance between sanity and reaching too far too fast is vital.

Failure happens, sometimes a lot. Failure is no reason to stop pursuing something important.

As Dave Checkett said: “Success builds character, failure reveals it.”