Share your best fitness tip, pose, exercise, activity

[bounceswoosh]

sorry about the weird spelling.....chock?

Chalk =)

This doesn't really explain it, but discusses it: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/112473/why-do-we-chalk-it-up-to-something-or-someone

 

[santacruz skier]

Chalk =)

This doesn't really explain it, but discusses it: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/112473/why-do-we-chalk-it-up-to-something-or-someone

Thanks.. After I posted, I thought "that's not right." It's not a chock full of nuts...... but then "chalk" looked funny too. And for once , autocorrect did not challenge me....

 

[newboots]

sorry about the weird spelling.....chock?

I chalk that up to you being chock full of exercises.

 

[MsWax]

I teach BodyPump once a week, and it's great for a full body muscle conditioning. I also try to run 2x/week for cardio. Then it's either hiking/skiing on the weekends, or a longer run. Some weeks I'm better at sticking to this schedule than others...

 

[va_deb]

I've been doing the Perfect Workout; it's slow-motion strength training with heavy weights for 20 minutes twice a week, no rest between machines to keep your heart rate up. It's a good full-body workout, and it's been helpful for my core and legs in particular -- and hopefully that will help my skiing.

They have a lot of studios in CA, Northern VA and MD, Texas, Philadelphia, Chicago and a few other places. If anyone wants a referral code for a free workout, let me know.
https://www.theperfectworkout.com/

I'm definitely going to look at some of the ski-specific videos y'all have posted, too.

 

[bounceswoosh]

Not sure where to post this, but here goes.

So, I've been doing a very particular type of stretching called PNF to help loosen my hip flexors and quad muscles.

The Sunday yoga class consists of an hour of hot flow followed by a half hour of longer floor poses. Think at least one minute - often several - in the same pose, letting it slowly settle in. We did a weird one to stretch the quad. I would have trouble describing it. Now, I am generally speaking pretty inflexible, and I usually feel most stretches immediately. But I couldn't find the stretch in this one. It just felt comfortable. So I asked the instructor to come take a look. She was, well, frankly surprised. I found the tiniest sensation of stretch when I really worked at it, but still, not much.

Those PNF stretches rock! I told my instructor about them after class, and she confirmed that she knew about them, and that they're great. She then suggested another great PNF stretch - which I've already forgotten. Like, I don't even remember what body part. I'll have to ask her.

Oh, also. Deadlifts are still my favorite exercise. I feel so powerful. Sadly, they're irritating my shoulder right now. Well, everything is irritating my shoulder. My trainer had me modify by using the trap bar, which is this weird hexagon you stand inside so that the lift is completely straight up and down, rather than the bar being in front of you. That may help. But anyway, I've been doing lots of dead lifts and lots of shoulder exercises. And they've paid off!

* DH commented on the ease with which I moved our tires + wheels in and out of the back of the car. I remember when they felt crazy heavy, and when you add how big they are, it was just safer to let DH do it. Now they're easy, except that it would be easy to lose grip because of the slippery plastic bags around them. (Is it great for my shoulder? No, no it is not. But I can do it!)

* Chair pose in yoga got a LOT easier after a couple of months of weight lifting. Like, oh, is this supposed to be hard?

* Mountain biking - I think this is largely core from the evil decline situps I'm doing. It became a lot easier to keep my balance. And when I took advantage of the mini-jumps in the trail, I had better control and could feel that the back end of the bike got more air than I used to.

Lifting is *so* fun and *so* rewarding.

So I talked to my trainer. Hey, soon I'll be skiing 2-3 days a week. I'm not really sure how much exercise I'll actually get skiing - it depends on how my knee holds up. And I know I need to do yoga to improve my shoulder. And I need to lift. And with all that, I haven't even addressed getting my heart rate up, which doesn't happen unless I'm mountain biking.

Okay, says he. You have five (four) days to work with. I want you to do two days of lifting. I'll teach you how to combine a strength workout with HR stuff so that you get them both in the same workout. Then you'll also do two days of hot yoga. Studies are showing that exercising in extreme heat reduces the risk of non-injury mortality (presumably there's some limit to this. You have to die eventually!).

And I'm like, dude, that's four days a week. When do I see my husband? Or cook?

He says, well, you can do the lifting and the yoga on the same day. And it's only an hour for each. Four hours. That's not so bad, right?

And I agreed, except later, I thought, no. It takes a solid 1.5 hours to do the current lifting regimen from warmup to completion, plus shower and travel time. My typical yoga class takes 1.5 hours ... plus shower and travel time.

But, okay, yes, if I plan it right - it should be doable. Maybe.

I suspect my ski days will be half days at best. With his help, we're finding ways to improve my knee, but I would expect that skiing continues to challenge it for quite some time.

 

[Keepur]

Lifting is *so* fun and *so* rewarding.

I love lifting, too! It's awesome when you can tell you're getting stronger based on the weight you lift increasing, and especially in just doing daily activities. I've always had weak shoulders and needed physical therapy for injuries, but lately I love love love shoulder exercises.

And I agreed, except later, I thought, no. It takes a solid 1.5 hours to do the current lifting regimen from warmup to completion, plus shower and travel time. My typical yoga class takes 1.5 hours ... plus shower and travel time.

But, okay, yes, if I plan it right - it should be doable. Maybe.

Also, I'm not an expert and have no idea what your current regimen is like, but I have found doing supersets can sometime cut down on the time I spend working out.

I wanted to try Leg blasters again before the ski season started, but was having knee issues with my shoes and haven't done any lately. Oh well.

 

[bounceswoosh]

Also, I'm not an expert and have no idea what your current regimen is like, but I have found doing supersets can sometime cut down on the time I spend working out.

What's a superset? *uses google* I suspect that's going to play into my trainer's plan for me. He has a good reason for everything he has me do, and the results have always been great, so I will follow his timings. For example, I always do 3 minutes between deadlifts, period. Set a timer and everything!

 

[Kimmyt]

I have been doing supersets since I started working out again and its good. We are doing it to increase endurance to increase my climbing ability, but the side benefit is definitely reduced time of workouts! Today I did 2 supersets of tricep centric work-

superset 1: bicep curls with tri extension, TRX standing pushups, barbell pullovers
superset 2: cable push/pulls, cable straight arm pull downs, cable squat press

Then some finger strengthening stuff to strengthen my injured tendon: barbell rows holding with digits 3/4/5 and weight supported hangs on the hangboard for 20s at a time.

 

[Kimmyt]

I wanted to try Leg blasters again before the ski season started, but was having knee issues with my shoes and haven't done any lately. Oh well.

Have you tried them barefoot? The reason I ask is that if you don't have fairly flat (like lifting type) shoes, then it can actually be better to do squats and stuff barefoot or in sockfoot. I pretty much exclusively lift in my socks, unless I'm doing just upper body stuff and its been working well.

 

[Keepur]

@bounceswoosh After I posted, I thought *duh*, you have a trainer and probably have a routine already figured out! That's awesome. I use a timer, too! Sometimes for smaller or more simple workouts I will record on an app called Jefit(I think) and it has a timer built in as well.

 

[Keepur]

I have been doing supersets since I started working out again and its good. We are doing it to increase endurance to increase my climbing ability, but the side benefit is definitely reduced time of workouts! Today I did 2 supersets of tricep centric work-

Good examples! I don't have a trainer and just make up random workouts for myself, haha, so mine are a little more basic. But that is great that you are using them to increase endurance and getting the added benefit of saving time!

Have you tried them barefoot? The reason I ask is that if you don't have fairly flat (like lifting type) shoes, then it can actually be better to do squats and stuff barefoot or in sockfoot. I pretty much exclusively lift in my socks, unless I'm doing just upper body stuff and its been working well.

I usually wear converse-style flat shoes or just socks (benefit of using a makeshift home gym) for lifting. I think I last did leg blasters with my running shoes. I can't remember the incline on those. Should I try doing barefoot or with converse? I believe it was probably the jump lunges that gave me knee problems. Probably my form :(

 

[bounceswoosh]

The reason I ask is that if you don't have fairly flat (like lifting type) shoes

Wait wait. I use lifting shoes because they RAISE my heel to accommodate my limited ROM. If I don't have them, I do squats on the edge of a wrestling mat so that my heels are raised.

 

[Keepur]

Wait wait. I use lifting shoes because they RAISE my heel to accommodate my limited ROM. If I don't have them, I do squats on the edge of a wrestling mat so that my heels are raised.

I am the opposite of an expert so you probably know better. I think lifting shoes are common for some people doing squats. People also put their heels on a weight plate too, to raise their heels. I think flat shoes are more common for deadlifts though.

Ankle mobility, hip flexion, narrow or wide stance are probably other factors.

I have no credentials so I'm really just posting my thoughts/ideas. I also have a lot of ankle mobility so that plays into what I wear.

 

[Kimmyt]

Yeah, I think a lot of people use converse style shoes or flat shoes, but true lifting shoes do have some drop. The important part being that the sole is pretty firm in those, no? Doing a squat and especially something plyometric like jumps etc in a running shoe, which has quite a bit of drop and also a really squishy unstable sole is not going to be great for knee and ankle stability, imo. That being said, I'm not an expert lifter either, I have just been poking around some forums and reading stuff (plus I'm too cheap to buy lifting shoes and am not lifting super heavy weights anyway).

 

[bounceswoosh]

Yeah, I think a lot of people use converse style shoes or flat shoes, but true lifting shoes do have some drop. The important part being that the sole is pretty firm in those, no? Doing a squat and especially something plyometric like jumps etc in a running shoe, which has quite a bit of drop and also a really squishy unstable sole is not going to be great for knee and ankle stability, imo. That being said, I'm not an expert lifter either, I have just been poking around some forums and reading stuff (plus I'm too cheap to buy lifting shoes and am not lifting super heavy weights anyway).

True - they're very stiff.

 

[Gloria]

Shoes very important. Chucks and bare feet are good for squats and deadlifts to a point. When weight gets heavy you definitely need shoes to support your feet but not everyone will benefit from a weightlifting shoe, there are lots of supportive crosstrainers that are more practical as well. Weightlifting shoes explained:
https://blog.beyondthewhiteboard.com/2017/01/31/what-when-why-weightlifting-shoes/

 

[bounceswoosh]

Shoes very important. Chucks and bare feet are good for squats and deadlifts to a point. When weight gets heavy you definitely need shoes to support your feet but not everyone will benefit from a weightlifting shoe, there are lots of supportive crosstrainers that are more practical as well. Weightlifting shoes explained:
https://blog.beyondthewhiteboard.com/2017/01/31/what-when-why-weightlifting-shoes/

Interesting. That article says:

(Also, don’t be a jabroni and deadlift in lifting shoes- the raised heel is actually antithetical to your desired goal.)

I'm specifically deadlifting in lifting shoes at my trainer's suggestion. Hrmmm.

 

[Gloria]

Interesting. That article says:



I'm specifically deadlifting in lifting shoes at my trainer's suggestion. Hrmmm.

Why is your trainer suggesting you deadlift in weightlifting shoes?

 

[bounceswoosh]

Why is your trainer suggesting you deadlift in weightlifting shoes?

We haven't talked about it in a while, but I believe it's because I have limited range of motion in my ankles. Same reason I have heel lifts in my ski boots. (I do calf stretches every day, both straight and bent knee - doesn't seem to do much!)