Once you start working out more frequently and it becomes a habit, you get to learn your body. You may make a few mistakes, overdo one session and you get really sore, or start sprinting too quickly and pull a muscle, but eventually you discover what it is you need to do to feel consistently great, maintain your weight, and have a healthy energy level.
Today, I was pretty sore from doing snatches yesterday. It didn’t help that my desk work kept me seated for most of the day as a high-visibility project kept me glued to my seat. Since I didn’t move around much, my body didn’t recover as well.
Yesterday it seemed like a good idea to do a lot of push ups and stomach work for today’s session, but knowing where I was on my recovery road—still sore—and that I had a four day break from training since I was in Wisconsin, I took it easier.
* * *
8 Dive Bomber Pushups
This is the first thing I felt like doing. It seemed a good idea to arch my back rearward since it had been slumped forward for much of the day.
8 Deck Squats
I thought I would match the upper body with the lower body. Deck squats are a great mobility movement and a coordination movement. They work your legs, but also your stomach, and, in higher reps, your wind.
20 Push ups
I wasn’t going to do my usual 3 sets of 30 push ups today. 20 felt like the right amount.
20 Deck Squats
Matched the upper body again. I was starting to get pretty warm at this point!
Neck Bridges
I support myself with my hands when I do these usually. It’s a good exercise, but you have to ease into it. I did 10 back and forth (nothing side-to-side).
30 leg raises
Just a simple stomach exercise. The travel and sleep schedule switch messed up my elimination and doing stomach exercise can help massage the internal organs and speed up the process a bit.
Forward somersaults
Movement is a huge part of training. Tumbling exercises are great to keep one feeling youthful.
Planks
This works the stomach in the way in which it is meant to function—supporting. I did the sides for 30 seconds each and then the front (think standard push up position) for 1 minutes.
One legged squat
Did 2 on each side. This is more of a stage move for me than anything else. I prefer standard squats, but throw these in from time-to-time.
Cossack stretch
I did the cossack stretch and moved back and forth to exercise the legs a little bit more. Went back and forth three times.
* * *
I finished up with a few miscellaneous stretches. You’ll notice most of the time the reps are kept pretty low. Keeping the reps low allows full concentration and helps you learn how to better use your body.
It’s kind of like a speech. Some people ramble a lot and their talk is very unfocused. Then a pro comes along and says the same thing in a few words and the audience gets it. Your body is like the audience, feed it highly focused and concentrated exercise and it gets the point better than that sporadic let-me-read-a-magazine-while-I-run-on-the-treadmill crap.
Related posts:
Comments on this entry are closed.