One of the great things about this workout is that each day is a little harder than the day before. It's not just the adding of an additional exercise, but the fact that I'm getting stronger. Let's say I'm capable of lifting ten pounds with my arm. When I flex that muscle through a range of motion, it offers me ten pounds of resistance. So I work out and get a little stronger. Suddenly that same movement is offering twelve pounds of resistance. Then fifteen. Then twenty.
Each day not only adds an additional exercise but it makes all of the previous exercises harder than the day before. It may seem simple, but this workout actually hits your body and promotes fitness from a half-dozen different directions at the same time.
Not bad for something you can do at home without any equipment.
Exercise:
This morning's workout went like this...
Table Top - three times (from Day One)
Hug and Release - one time, ten repetitions (from Day Three)
Elevation - one time, ten repetitions (from Day Four)
Lift - one time, ten repetitions (from Day Five)
Tic Toc - one time, ten repetitions (from Day Six)
Plank - three times (from Day Eight)
Tiny - one time, ten repetitions (from Day Nine)
...and a new exercise: Hang.
Hang is a yoga move and marks one of two transition points in the morning workout. The second will come a bit farther down the road. Standing up straight with my feet and legs together, I bend at the waist, point my fingers at my toes, and simply relax or "hang" there. It's done for a count of thirty.
Strength is only one component of fitness. Weight loss is another. Flexibility is a third. There are more. When I designed a workout plan, I wanted one that incorporated all of the various aspects of fitness into one daily plan.
The No Excuses Workout does just that.
Cardio:
It's reached the point where counting blocks is a little crazy (I think I'm up to sixteen) so now I go for time. Today I Walked With Purpose for twenty minutes - ten minutes out, ten minutes back. I was scheduled to walk sixteen blocks this morning, so walking ten minutes out and then walking home doesn't seem so bad.
PM Workout:
Tonight's workout will add one workout and increase the repetitions of all the exercises from ten to twelve.
Twist (No Shout) - one time, twelve repetitions (from Day Two)
Bobble Head - one time, twelve repetitions (from Day Three)
Too Sexy - one time, twelve repetitions (from Day Four)
Popeye - one time, twelve repetitions (from Day Five)
Kick Back - one time, twelve repetitions (from Day Eight)
Flight - one time, twelve repetitions (from Day Nine)
And Pump.
Making two fists and placing my thumbs together (like I was holding a single pencil between both hands) I place my hands in front of my pelvis allowing them to hang at arm's length. I then pull my navel toward my spine. For a count of four and flexing through the entire movement, I focus on my shoulders and pull my hands up to my chin. Shifting my focus to include my chest, I push my hands back down to their starting point. My hands never pull apart at any point throughout the movement and I flex through the entire thing.
That's one repetition.
Tonight I'll do twelve.
Another day - and I can really see and feel a difference.
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