Posts from the ‘Move’ Category

Apr 23

In the Swimming Pool

photo by ian barbour, via flickr creative commons

I’ve been swimming a bit these days, as I have two majorly inflamed tendons in my right ankle that are limiting my workout options (and also making me VERY CRANKY). Despite knowing that it’s great, low-impact training and having grown up splashing in lake water from sunrise to sunset, I can only seem to get myself into the pool if I’m a) injured, b) pregnant, or c) training for a triathlon (there’s obviously no “D,” all of the above given these options). Squarely in category A and aspiring to get back into category C by summertime, the steady black line on the pool’s bottom is quickly becoming my training partner these days.

Although the act of swimming definitely feels more arduous than effortless for me, there is one thing I do really love about the sport: it’s an equalizer. Everyone (who has been taught to stay above water) can do it in some way, shape or form…and many people can do it for a long time….even a lifetime. My dad has been swimming a mile a day for more than 40 years, and he’s still going strong.

I first realized the equalizing power of the pool a few years ago when I was pregnant with my first child. I captured my thoughts in a brief essay I wrote for a web essay project the design firm IDEO was running (the topic was aging). I dug it up last night because I thought it would fit well into this post (and remind me that swimming can indeed be magical). Here it is:

At T-minus-three days and counting until our first child is due, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the swimming pool lately. And considering how everyone – old people, toddlers, college students, and even bored-looking lifeguards – seems to love a bulging pregnant belly, the art of making friends on the pool’s edge has been easy. Warm smiles and friendly banter greet me as I descend into the bliss of weightlessness at lunchtime every day, and in just a few short months, I’ve been able to learn a little bit about a lot of people’s families, jobs, passions, and daily routines.

The diversity of the lunchtime swim crowd is amazing, as people of all shapes and sizes wearing brightly colored suits and caps convene to prepare for triathlons, shed a few pounds, rehab a bum hip, relieve the stress of the workday, or simply fulfill an element of their social calendars. In the pool, with white hair masked by swim caps and aching joints floating alongside sinewy muscles, age somehow seems to lose relevance. As I swim steady strokes in my lane, I love the mental image of my unborn son in the same pool as an art history major, a competitive triathlete, a retired professor, and a great, great grandmother of six.

As our society approaches an imminent and dramatic demographic shift, I think often about what sort of country my son will grow up in. What sort of social problems will he set out to solve, and who will he look up to? How will he view his parents and his grandparents and his neighbors? For the optimist in me, many of these answers are found in the waves of the swimming pool. Handling this shift is about being able to co-exist with and learn from people representing a broad range of ages and backgrounds. It’s about not caring what color the hair is underneath the cap or what stroke the person in the next lane is doing. It’s about finding our collective strength. Oh, and a few endorphins never hurt.

And if you’re not into essays, but you are into workouts, here’s the one I’ve been doing lately:

100m freestyle followed by 15 pushups on pool deck
200m freestyle followed by 15 pushups on pool deck
400m freestyle followed by 15 pushups on pool deck
600m freestyle followed by 15 pushups on pool deck
400m freestyle followed by 15 pushups on pool deck
200m freestyle followed by 15 pushups on pool deck
100m freestyle followed by 15 pushups on pool deck

Are you a swimmer? If so, were you “born or made?” What keeps you coming back to the pool, and what’s your favorite swimming workout?

Apr 17

3 Comments

Fit Parents

A few months ago, someone saw me running my kids to school in the stroller and said,”I can’t believe you’re still exercising. I gave that up once I had kids.” I wanted to say, “Oh really, did you stop breathing too?”

This person unfortunately seems to be not an outlier, but the norm. According to a 2010 Gallup study, among Americans aged 18-50, those with children at home are less likely to report frequent exercise than their childless peers. And parents who have a child younger than four report lower levels of frequent exercise (24.5%) than their fellow parents with older kids (25.7%). Not surprisingly, parents are also slightly more likely than those without children to be overweight or obese.

Here’s the thing: without a doubt, becoming a parent (or starting anything else that requires a ton of time and energy) puts constraints on when and for how long you can work out. It’s damn hard to fit it in some days. But my (admittedly harsh) point-of-view is that people who don’t exercise when they have kids (but still claim they want to) haven’t stopped because of the kids themselves; they’ve quit because they have consciously or unconsciously decided that workouts are no longer a priority in their life. I should note here that there’s a whole separate group of people who never made exercise a priority pre-kids, and therefore face the challenge of starting a new habit in a very busy phase of life (this post is targeted more to group #1).

My message here is for the parents out there who aren’t exercising, but WANT to be. It IS possible. And worth it…after all, shouldn’t taking care of ourselves be at the top of the list once we have kids — maybe even higher than it was before? Being good to our bodies gives us the energy to play with our sweet little rugrats and improves our odds of living to see them grow up. Choosing a workout over morning TV sets a good example, making cycling or swimming or yoga seem cooler than Dora the Explorer. And moreover, exercise is a way to get time on your own or with loved ones to rejuvenate and release stress and re-connect.

So if you have kids, are thinking about having them, or have a loved one who has them — and you’d like to keep exercise in your life — here are a few simple ideas to keep in mind.

Find something you love to do. Similar to the way Sheryl Sandberg argues that it’s important for people to find a career they’d want to return to after having kids, I think it’s important for people to find a workout (or ideally lots of kinds of exercise) they love before having kids. After all, it’s a lot easier to continue a habit than it is to try to create a new one…especially in the whole new world of parenting.
Create ways to exercise as a family. Workouts don’t have to mean time away from kids. Two ways we integrate our kids into our exercise time are 1) running with stroller + bike, and 2) going to the track to run intervals while our kids play in the grassy area in the middle.
Do a Saturday morning handoff. Sometimes I’ll go to yoga early in the morning while my husband hangs out with the kids. He’ll then bring the kids to the studio, I climb into the driver’s seat and he heads into the yoga studio for his class. This is a popular one for parents who have the luxury of a partner with whom to share parenting duties.
Try a pre-dawn workout. Yes, it’s painful, but it’s possible. And it’s a surefire way to get a workout in while the munchkins are still deep in sleep.
Integrate exercise into your everyday. Exercise doesn’t have to leave you a sweaty mess. Sometimes the most effective way to work it in is to try smaller increments during the day. Walk to the park instead of driving…bike to work…dance after breakfast…stretch before bed. Make exercise a lifestyle rather than an event.

I love my family more than anything in the world, but I also know what I need to do to be a great mom and partner. And for me, getting a regular workout is and always has been a non-negotiable. And my kids are more than alright.

How about you? If you have kids — or a thriving hobby or anything else that takes a disproportionate amount of time — how do you fit in workouts? Do you like to work out with your family, or is it your precious solo/grown-up time? And if you’re not fitting it in, but want to, what small changes can you make to make room?

Apr 12

Barre Primer

photo by anya quinn via flickr creative commons

I’ve been wanting to do a post for a while comparing all of the barre classes springing up across the country, as they’re all so different. Well + Good NYC published one this morning, so no need to re-create the wheel. If you’re interested in barre and trying to figure out which class is right for you, this slideshow is worth a view! Happy Friday!

Apr 10

The Toughest Footrace on Earth

Today marked the end of the fourth stage of the Marathon des Sables — a 150-mile footrace across the Sahara dubbed “the toughest footrace on earth.” Now in its 28th year, the MdS as it’s most commonly called is a six-stage, self-supported adventure race across the desert. Self-supported means that you carry everything you’ll need throughout the race (clothes, food, sleeping stuff, etc); the only support offered by the race is water and a tent to sleep in. Here’s what the six stages (over seven days) look like:

Day 1: 29km
Day 2: 36km
Day 3: 40km
Day 4: 82km
Day 5: Rest Day
Day 6: 42km
Day 7: 21km

I spectated this race (well the start and finish of it) in 2005 when my husband participated, and can attest to the fact that it’s grueling, thrilling, and very, very special all at the same time. It takes an extremely strong person to put in all the training and do all of the preparation required to get to Morroco, have the courage to start, and have the stamina and commitment to finish the race. I was moved to tears at the end of it, and now — eight years later — I still find myself transported to the unforgettable experience.

If you’re interested in learning more, here’s a video that will inspire you to cheer this year’s participants on…and maybe even do the event yourself one day!

Apr 4

3 Comments

Curtis Camp

My former running partner and dear friend Karisa Curtis is working with a team to start up a new fitness concept called Work in Progress (WIP) in West Hartford, CT. I can’t imagine a better person to get a new gym off the ground. Karisa is an elite athlete (ran at cross-country and track at Brown and qualified for the World Triathlon Championships in Kona), and she’s also a super fun, awesome, motivating person and badass mom to two adorable little kids. That’s a long way of saying, I’d totally trust her workout advice and personal training over almost anyone else’s.

So…I asked Karisa to put together a simple 45-50 minute workout that can easily be done at home, as I’m always looking for fitness inspiration and I’d guess you are too. Here it is…let’s call it “Curtis Camp”…

What You’ll Need:

Stopwatch or a timer app (an easy one for the phone is called Seconds Pro, which lets you set up the several timers you need for this workout using “Round Timer”)
Dumbbells (10-25 lb)
2 small towels (washcloths)
Exercise bands (optional, if you have them)

The Warmup:

5 minutes of foam rolling, if you have a foam roller
10 minutes of running, pedaling on a stationary bike/bike in a trainer, or a variety of dynamic lunges, stretches, and jumps or drill-like exercises (high knees, butt kicks, leg swings, fast feet, skipping, bounding, etc)

Core Workout: 5 total exercises: 50 seconds work/10 seconds rest

High plank (hands on ground)
High plank, drop down to low plank (elbows on ground, thumbs facing to sky), back up to high plank, alternating sides coming up
Spiderman low plank (alternating right knee towards right elbow, left knee towards left elbow)
Side plank (switch sides after 25 seconds)
Glute bridge (on back, feet flat and knees up, arms at side and palms up, lift hips to sky and hold)

Ramp Up: 12 rounds of 8 seconds work/12 seconds rest

Stationary sprints (knees up high and as fast as possible), face down on stomach for rest

Main Circuit: 5 rounds of 5 exercises, 30 seconds work/15 seconds rest (continuous)

Push ups (progression: can put a band around lower back for more resistance, elevate legs on a coffee table, roll a medicine ball or basketball from hand to hand in between pushup) **drop to knees if needed
Burpees
Mountain climbers (option: if you have hardwood floors, put a small towel like a washcloth under each foot and alternate sliding each foot in from plank position as fast as possible)
Hamstring curls (lie on back with towels under feet, lift hips up to sky, slide feet all the way out and all the way in without dropping hips to floor; can also use a large exercise ball instead of towels)
Squat and press with dumbbells (rack dumbbells at shoulders facing forward like flashlights and squat all the way down so that elbows touch knees; as you come up, press dumbbells overhead)

Finisher: 8 rounds of 20 seconds work/10 seconds rest

Jump squats (squat low, jump high; progression: hold squat during rest)
Never ending ladder for 4 minutes: 3, 3, 6, 6, 9, 9, 12, 12, 15, 15, etc. alternating between doing burpees and pushups

FINISHED!

Doing this workout at full intensity takes self-discipline, focus and commitment…but if you can make it through, this is an amazingly efficient and effective workout. Thanks, Karisa — for the motivation and the inspiration!

What are your favorite workouts to do at home? What keeps you going (a workout partner, music, etc)?

Mar 28

1 Comment

Six Races That Push Human Limits

I read an article this morning about The Barkley Marathons, a 100+ mile footrace on unmarked trails in Tennessee. This race is totally insane (read the article…even if your only reason is to have some good dinner table conversation up your sleeve). The cumulative elevation gain can be as much as 60,000 feet. Only 35 people can start the race each year (and less than 2% of them finish), and the race starts before it even starts, as participants have to figure out how and when to sign up. And there’s some token quirkiness involved too — participants have to find pages of books along the course and tear them out to prove they followed the correct route.

This article led me to some quick research I’ve been meaning to do for awhile about what the craziest, hardest, and or most bizarre organized physical events across the globe. Here are a few I either knew about or stumbled across tonight…

Siberian Black Ice Race — This race claims to be “longer than England, colder than vodka, and harder than granite.” It starts in Irkutsk, which sits on the short of Lake Baikal (the deepest lake in the world…and the most freezing, according to my toes) and traverses 379 miles of Siberian tundra on foot. Participants are required to be self-sufficient throughout the race.
Spartan Death Race — Wood chopping and carrying, rock lifting, fire building, and memorization, this 48-hour adventure race works the body and the mind. Only 10% of competitors finish.
The Atlantic Rowing Race — Every two years, rowers race from the Canary Islands to the West Indes. The next race is slated for December of this year
The Iditarod — This is an 1868km dogsled race across Alaska (that my adorable and insane husband wants to do someday). With wind chill, temps can get down to -73C, and the event can take up to 15 days (of sitting in raging snowstorms) to finish.
Finland’s Wife Carrying World Championships — Male participants carry their wives through a 250-meter course including obstacles. All to win their weight in beer!

What’s next — airborne flip contests in space? What’s your take on these races — totally insane or totally awesome? Do you have any crazy races on your calendar?

And if you’re more into reality than insanity, check out a few I mentioned last week.

Mar 26

2 Comments

Yoga in the Living Room

admittedly not my living room, but only yoga photo i could find!

I wasn’t able to get a workout in during the day yesterday, and even worse, I spent most of the day sitting (blech). So I was bound and determined to get some sort of exercise before the day’s end, even if it meant after getting the kids to bed and returning some emails…which is what it indeed was. And at 9pm, I finally started moving through a vinyassa yoga practice guided by Jason Crandall on YogaGlo. YogaGlo is an online yoga experience, streaming hundreds of classes (some taught by famous teachers, including my favorite NYC yoga instructor, Elena Brower), into your home. Classes range from 5 minutes to 120 minutes in duration, and easy to very challenging in difficulty. A “membership” offers unlimited streaming for $18/month (you can do a 15-day trial first, which is what I did last night).

Before weighing in on the class, three disclosures:

#1: I’m admittedly a total snob about fitness classes

#2: The idea of a “canned” workout on TV conjures up weird images of Richard Simmons and unpleasant memories of the old Buns of Steel tape I used to do with my friends in high school

#3: If you would have told me a few years ago that I’d be streaming a yoga class on my computer with my Spotify yoga playlist in the background, I never would have believed it. But there I was, hanging on Jason’s every move for 60 minutes

So, the final verdict? While I didn’t love it and would have rather been in a live class with candles and drums and fire dancers and beautiful, sweaty people…I actually didn’t mind it. It did the job. It motivated me to finish 60 minutes of yoga at a time of day when I was highly unlikely to do it on my own. And it was actually moderately difficult (fast pace, lots of arm balances). I even think I’ll try another class before my trial runs out. It’s definitely not the same as a real, live yoga class, but if you live in a place where there aren’t great teachers/studios available, or if your only option is to do a class while your kiddos slumber, it’s a pretty darn good option.

How do you feel about home workout DVDs? Love them or loathe them? Have you found any that work well for you?

Mar 20

1 Comment

Le Jogging

A friend recently sent me a blog post about running in Paris, or “Le Jogging” (thanks Kim), which was a great commentary on how different cultures think about exercise. Here’s an excerpt I loved:

“While I get the sense that Parisians are becoming more and more intrigued by fitness, there is still something funny about watching a Parisian jog with intent….I’m referring to the ones who run as if they’re making a pact to themselves that they can still smoke and drink to their heart’s content as long as they squeeze in a half-hour circuit; their stride is wobbly and their cheeks are betterave (beet) red. I’m convinced they would much rather be in bed, sweating à deux.”

Like food, the ways people around the world think about exercise (what it is, why it matters, when and how to do it) vary dramatically. I saw this firsthand during the summer of 2007 when I joined a team of 20 runners to run around the world (literally) for safe drinking water. We ran relay-style, 24 hours a day from NYC to NYC via Boston, Dublin, Paris, Minsk, Moscow, Ulan Bator, Beijing, Hiroshima, San Francisco, Chicago, and Toronto (you can see the full route in a very beautiful book called Blue Planet Run, available on Amazon). It took us 95 days to circumnavigate the globe — with each of us running 10 miles per day.

Along the way we learned a ton about the way that people live, and as a byproduct of being on the road at all hours of the day and night, how people think about exercise. To start, I learned that “formal” exercise is flat out foreign in some places (“no, I’m not being chased”)…clear skies and fresh air shouldn’t be taken for granted (think insane horseflies in Belarus and oppressive smog in China)….workout fuel doesn’t need to come wrapped in plastic (beer, yak cheese, and horse meat do just fine for many)…and exercise doesn’t to be an “activity,” it can be a way of life. More on all of this to come…

The world is a big place, and travel is the best reminder that what we think is “normal” might not look that way somewhere else. What has travel taught you about exercise and overall well-being? Has travel changed the way you live your everyday life?

Mar 14

2 Comments

Can Firewalking Really Make Exercise Fun?

Oyster Race 2012!

For some of us, exercise is fun. Exhilarating. Maybe even one of the highlights of our days.

But for others, it’s a chore. Something they dread. Maybe even something they only do under duress. Gretchen Reynolds profiled this type of exerciser in her recent column, “When Exercise Stresses You Out,” in which she reports on a study published by scientists at UC-Boulder’s Center for Neuroscience. The study, which was conducted on rats (who were assessed as happy or anxious), found that “even forced exercise increases stress resistance.” This means that even if you don’t WANT to exercise, you’ll likely end up glad you did after it’s over. The bottom line is, no matter how exercise happens…and how much you naturally enjoy the process or don’t…it IS good for you.

Now, if you’re reading this blog, you’re likely a relatively avid exerciser (or at a minimum, you like the idea of it). So how can you get your more sedentary friends on board? Beyond sending them this Reynolds’ article, one simple idea is to pull together a team to do a fitness event together (even people who hate exercise like fun + friends + beer at the end). There are tons of amazing events to choose from these days, offering everything from climbing walls (Warrior Dash) to fire walking (Tough Mudder). These team-based events are doing a great job of bringing the “hardcore” into the every day, and giving everyday (and new) athletes cool and fun ways to exercise. Beyond the super famous ones I just mentioned, there are a few other great races out there you might want to pull a team together to try.

Oyster Racing Series: One of my personal favorites, the Oyster is a team-based urban scavenger hunt including activities ranging from three legged races to kayaking to paddleboarding to finger painting…all connected by running/walking and biking. There are full and half Oyster distances…something for everyone!
Rugged Maniac: A 5k obstacle course, some people call this the warm up to the Tough Mudder. This year, participants in 21 cities across the U.S. slide down 100’ water slides, jump over fire, crawl through tunnels of mud and face a host of other challenges all while running through a combination of forests, fields, motocross tracks and ski slopes!
Gladiator Rock ‘N Run: I used to love watching American Gladiators on Saturday mornings…they had such cool names and were such specimens! Founded by a real-life Gladiator, this race gives you a chance to be a Gladiator or a Goddess for a mud-filled day.

And if your friends aren’t into obstacles and mud and beer, there are tons of other options — road races, Zumba marathons, entering triathlons as a team, running relays like Hood to Coast, or even doing a day-long hike as a group (the Dipsea trail is a great one here in the Bay Area).

What events have you done with a team that you’ve loved? Were they a good way to motivate friends to try something new? Did they change the way you or your friends were thinking about exercise? Please share…and just as importantly, think about what’s the next big event on your calendar!

Mar 6

1 Comment

Working Workouts into Busy Lives

In response to yesterday’s post about the need for parenting resources for the grown-up/grown-up relationships, not just grown-up/kid relationships, a few people reached out to me saying “Yes, of course parents need to take care of ourselves. But how do we actually do it? How do we make changes in our days and our lives that help us take better care of ourselves and our relationships?” They’re right — the preaching is the easy part and the practice is the hard part. For parents and for anyone else with “projects” that demand a lot of time (avid surfers, musicians, artists, volunteers, elder caregivers, etc), figuring out how to keep the self-care and relationship development pieces on the burner at all when the stovetop is really full is tough and individual, requiring thinking and intention and commitment.

I’m using this blog as a formal exploration of my quest to do this, and as I’ve been “living out loud,” I’ve become more conscious of trade-offs and more creative about working the things I need most into my days and life. For example, in my wellfesto, I committed to “exercise as much as my time and body allow…” How beautifully vague, right? But this simple statement has helped me frame the role of exercise in my life from “must-run-10-miles-every-morning” to “how much time do I have for exercise and how does my body feel today?” This simple shift has helped me let go of the rigidity that brings with it self-doubt and frustration, while reminding me that this is a top priority in my life and something I need in order to feel like myself. Yes, a 10-mile run at 8am is still my preference, but on days when my body or schedule make that difficult, I’m OK with other, “more integrated” options. Here are some of them:

Having a 15-minute dance party (including jumping, handstands, etc) with my kids after breakfast and before school/work
Doing walking (personal and work) meetings (you can get miles in every day just doing this)
Biking to and from work
Prioritizing a quick lunchtime workout (tabata is super efficient)
Jumping rope (calories burned and “high” to time ratio is incredible)
Simple circuit of push-ups, tricep dips, sit-ups in the morning and at night

Oh yeah, and just to add fuel to the current work-from-home fire Marissa Mayer has started, working from home is a huge help in integrating workouts (headstands in conference rooms are awkward and multiple showers per day are a waste of time and water)! For more about this and how to integrate exercise and work, check out my earlier post on this topic.

How do you work workouts into busy days? And how do you ensure you prioritize them on not-as-busy days? Do you like coupling workouts with other things (work, kids, etc), or do you like them to stand on their own?

Posts from the ‘Move’ Category

In the Swimming Pool

Fit Parents

Barre Primer

The Toughest Footrace on Earth

Curtis Camp

Six Races That Push Human Limits

Yoga in the Living Room

Le Jogging

Can Firewalking Really Make Exercise Fun?

Working Workouts into Busy Lives

Get Ideas In Your Inbox

Recent Posts

Archives

Wellfesto

Tags

Categories

Blogs I Follow

Contact Me

Pages

Categories

Search