No More Flabby Arms

 Wave Goodbye to Mr. Pizza-man.

Have you ever waved to someone you know and realized that your arm flab was doing it's own waving too? Oh yeah, most of us know a little something about that. So we've got to get those arms ship-shape!

Push-ups are a great answer to this problem! Not only do push-ups work our whole arm, they help strengthen other areas too: shoulders, back, abs, even our wrists! Push-ups can even help our posture.

Can't do a push-up? No problem. You have to ease yourself into it slowly, and eventually you'll be doing push-ups like a pro and you can kick those girly knee push-ups to the curb.

Step 1: Find a wall - Start your push-ups against a wall. Stand in front of the wall. The closer you stand to the wall, the easier the push-ups will be. Make sure you don't make it too easy or you won't get any benefit from the workout. Place your feet together and your hands on the wall just wider than shoulder width apart. Don't lock your knees.

Step 2: Push! - Lower your body toward the wall, keeping your head aligned with your back. Make sure your abs are tightened. Lower and raise your body slowly - too fast means you are using momentum, and not your muscles to do the work.

Step 3: Go Lower - Once you can do a few sets of wall push-ups easily, you need to progress to harder types of push-ups. You can make the following transitions once your sets become easy for you:

*Stairs/Chair - Stairs are great because you can pick a level and when that level becomes easy you can simply go down one stair until it becomes easy. If you don't have access to stairs, improvise! Look around. You can use a chair, dining room table, counter top. Just make sure the object is stable and secure. You don't want to fall on your face!
*The Floor - Finally! Now you should be able to do properly formed push-ups, without using your knees.

Just remember, it might seem like it is taking for ever while you are in the moment, but once you master it, it doesn't seem anywhere near as long. Plus, it's a great confidence boost!

Simple push-ups not enough for your competitive soul? Mix it up! Try one-handed or one-legged push-ups for extra variety.

Happy Monday!

The photo can be found here.

Lets Get This Started

 May Our Treadmills Get More Use Than This One!

Before I post anything, let me add in this teeny tiny disclaimer. I'm not an athlete. I'm not a trainer, but I do know a small thing (or two) about working out. Ok, so maybe I don't know all that much. I know what I've read, researched, and done (and I'm learning more all the time), but I'm nowhere near knowledgeable enough to give any real advice to anyone. I'm simply posting what I DO just in case you might need a little more inspiration. If I post something that you don't think you can do, then don't do it. Or check with a trainer or your doc first. Deal? Ok then let's get this show on the road.

The general structure of my routine is pretty basic:

Warm up- You know, get my heart pumping a lil bit.

Daily walk - I like to change the locations of my walks so that the scenery is always fresh and new. But I also like to spice up the TYPE of walk once in a while too. 

Daily Strength Moves - I do strength moves daily. My laziness and procrastination requires this. It doesn't take much for me to fall out of the habit. However, we have to remember the Number One Rule for strength training: Don't do it on consecutive days! So how do we get around this so that we can work out two days in a row? We get creative.The following is an example of what I might do in a given week:

Day 1 - Cardio & Upper Body (arms and shoulders)
Day 2 - Cardio & Lower Body (Legs)
Day 3 - Cardio & Core (Back and Mid-Section)
Day 4 - Cardio Only
Day 5 - Repeat Day 1
Day 6 - Repeat Day 2
Day 7 - Repeat Day 3

Of course, Day 1 and Day 5 of the following week will be days of Cardio Only.

By doing the routine this way, we are still obeying the rules. We are never working out the same muscles two days in a row. One thing to make note of: Some moves work out more than just their main targeted muscle groups. For example, some upper and lower body moves also target the core. However, if you just did the core the previous day (or if you are going to do the core the following day), pick upper and lower body moves that have minimal core interaction. We don't want to over stress your muscles. This could cause injury.

If you have a move that you love that targets multiple areas significantly, you could go ahead and combine those areas for that day, making sure that you don't do them again the next day.

Cool Down - This is usually similar to my warm-up. The idea is to ease your body into less activity while still moving. An effective cool down can limit or prevent soreness the following morning.

So, that is the basic skeleton of my workouts. Since we all know how much I like to change things up, some weeks might look different, but I'm still going for the same goal: Getting my rear off my desk chair and getting outside.



The photo can be found here.